How to use Claude to mod 7 Days to Die
A developer supplied Claude Code with local C# and XML references to update and create 7 Days to Die mods. Three mods were released, with performance work continuing on one.
news.ycombinator.com
Suggested prompt
Suggested prompt written by Agents In Use, not the source author. Replace bracketed inputs and review tool permissions first.
Use the C# and XML references in [reference directory] to investigate [feature or bug] in [game mod]. Find the relevant existing behavior, implement the change, and explain how I can test it in [game version].
Reach people exploring AI agents
See placements →Evidence at a glance
Sourced account- Source poster / publisher
- neodon
- Original account
- Read the source ↗
- Published
- Source link checked
- Reported result
- The author released SteelUI compatibility fixes, the new Smarter-Tools mod, and More-Gore-Continued. The latter still had serious performance issues under investigation.
- Human involvement
- The author prepared the reference extraction setup and distinguished working results from attempts that failed; detailed review steps are not described.
A linked account supports attribution. It does not mean we independently reproduced its result.
Report an issue with this case
Open correction emailOpens your email app with the case link included. Nothing is sent automatically.
How the agent did it
- Created a CLI script to disassemble relevant game DLLs and copy XML information.
- Collected the extracted C# and XML in a refs directory inside the repository.
- Used Claude to search the references and implement features or bug fixes.
A developer with no previous game development experience used Claude Code to modify 7 Days to Die. Their setup centered on a command line workflow rather than the Unity editor, which they had not installed. The game's modding work mainly involved XML, XPath, and C#.
The author created a script that disassembled relevant game assembly DLLs into C# and copied information from XML files into a repository directory called refs. That directory contained about 800,000 lines of C# and 300,000 lines of XML. According to the post, Claude could search these references for a few minutes to work out a feature addition or bug fix.
The author reported releasing three mods since early January: compatibility fixes for SteelUI, a new Smarter-Tools mod with changes to tool behavior, and More-Gore-Continued. The last still had serious performance problems, with improvements underway. Working results initially required five to ten attempts; later, one to three attempts were often enough.
Who it's for: Developers interested in game modding who can prepare local code references and evaluate iterative changes.
Prompt
Suggested prompt (written by Agents In Use, not the author's)
Source: Hacker News · neodon
Frequently asked questions
Did the author need to install Unity?
The author said they had not installed Unity and were using a CLI setup with disassembled C# and XML references.
Were all three released mods working without issues?
No. The author specifically reported serious performance issues in More-Gore-Continued and said work on those problems was making progress.
More details
Remaining steps
- Iterated toward working results and released three game mods.
About this account
Claude searched the supplied reference directory and worked out feature additions and bug fixes through repeated attempts.
Platform: Hacker News. Attribution: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46944841. Prompt: Suggested (written by Agents In Use, not the author's). Sourced by the Agents In Use pipeline.
Credit: neodon on Hacker News
Source published
Added to Agents In Use
Source checked
Tools and topics
Claude Code · CLI · DLL disassembly script · XML/XPath
Game modding · C# · XML · 7 Days to Die
Editorial completeness: 100/100. Measures documented fields, not agent performance or verified outcomes.