Colors+

Colors+ is a UE4SS Lua mod for Star Wars: Zero Company that adds a Custom Color picker to the game's customization screens: any color, not just the preset swatches, with a live preview.

It writes the chosen color into the same customization data a swatch pick uses, so the game saves it like any other color. The mod never calls save functions or edits save files, and colors stay after it is removed.

Features

• A color box, hue slider and hex input under supported color choices.
• Main-menu character creator and the barracks character editor: clothing and armor, hair, skin (including race-specific skin bundles such as Zabrak tones), makeup, tattoos, and horn and scar HSV adjustments.
• Droids: head, body and legs colors on astromechs in the creator and the barracks, including the story droid BR-1.
• Armory → Customize Weapon: the Paint Color of blasters. Drafts only touch the armory preview, so Location and Paint Finish can be changed while the picker is open.
• Apply keeps the color; Cancel returns to the previous one.
• Armor wearing a color the palette no longer offers (for example from an unlocker mod) can still be changed.
• Works in every game language; the picker's own buttons are English.

Not supported: the base game's eye choices, lightsabers, and ZCUnlocked's Bolt Color and blade rows (their colors come from ZCUnlocked's own store). Mouse only.

Using Colors+

Click CUSTOM COLOR under a color choice, pick a color, then Apply or Cancel.

Where	Apply	Leaving
Main-menu creator	Writes the character's color for this visit	Save the character to keep it; leaving without saving restores the original
Barracks editor	Writes the character's color	Kept (the barracks has no save step) and saved with the game
Armory	Writes the weapon's paint; the game saves it at once	Nothing to do

Picking a stock swatch afterwards replaces a custom color as usual. Player instructions (also the basis of the mod page) are in src/ColorsPlus/README.md.

Requirements

• Star Wars: Zero Company
• UE4SS for Zero Company: the recommended build (v3.0.1 Beta, a1e7f571)

Steam build	Status
25134257	Tested
24874058	Tested

Steam is the tested launcher. Later builds may work but are unverified until tested.

Installation

Download the release ZIP from Nexus Mods, not GitHub's source-code archive. The ZIP keeps ColorsPlus as its top-level folder and includes metadata for both mod managers below.

With a mod manager

• Zero Mod Manager (formerly ZCOM Mod Manager): open Install, drop in the ZIP, then confirm Colors+ is enabled under Mods.
• Zero Company Mod Command: drag the ZIP into the Hangar Bay and check that it's enabled.

By hand

1. Install UE4SS for Star Wars: Zero Company.
2. Extract the ColorsPlus folder into SWZeroCompany/Binaries/Win64/ue4ss/Mods/.
3. Check that ue4ss/Mods/ColorsPlus/Scripts/main.lua exists. Install the whole folder; main.lua loads the other modules and Assets/.
4. If your UE4SS setup ignores the packaged enabled.txt, add ColorsPlus : 1 to ue4ss/Mods/mods.txt.

Updating and uninstalling

Close the game, then install the new ZIP the same way. By hand, copy it over the old folder so Recovery/ is kept. Only one copy may be installed: test builds up to 0.3.0 used a Colors_Probe folder, so delete that. Restart the game after installing or updating; don't use UE4SS's Reload All Mods.

To uninstall, disable or remove it in your mod manager, or delete the ColorsPlus folder. Custom colors stay on your characters and weapons, and saves load fine without the mod.

Compatibility

• Character Overhaul Suite (MinervaMagicka): compatible.
• ZCUnlocked (Smexy): mostly compatible. Its Bolt Color and lightsaber blade rows don't get the button; those colors come from ZCUnlocked's own store.
• Ship Paint and Hangar Lift (Coppershore): not tested yet.

Troubleshooting

Colors+ writes two logs beside the installed mod:

• colors_plus_probe.log: detailed events (capped at 4 MB).
• colors_plus_performance.log: 5-second timing summaries while the picker is in use (capped at 1 MB).

At the cap, a log moves to <name>.previous.log and a fresh one starts. UE4SS.log remains the startup and crash log.

Sweeping the mouse quickly across the swatches can close the picker; the previous color is kept, so just open it again.

Reporting a bug

Open an issue with:

• the game build and UE4SS version;
• other customization mods installed;
• what you were customizing (character race, slot or weapon) and the steps to reproduce it; and
• colors_plus_probe.log, colors_plus_performance.log and UE4SS.log.

How it works

A color edit is drafted on the game's customization preview (the armory's preview weapon, or the editor's preview character), so the real character or weapon is only written on Apply. The exception is Zabrak skins with a material swap, which are drafted on the character itself with the original kept for Cancel. Apply writes the color into the live customization fragment, the same object a swatch pick creates, and refreshes it. Every step re-finds its objects by name and checks them first; anything unexpected is refused instead of guessed.

Unfinished edits are journaled under Recovery/ and replayed only after a Lua reload in the same game session; journals from an earlier session are archived, never replayed.

See docs/architecture.md for the character editors. The armory lives in armory_ui.lua (button and picker host) and armory_paint.lua (preview drafts and Apply); their header comments describe the measured game behaviour they rely on.

Repository layout

.
├── .github/workflows/release-nexus.yml   # manual Nexus release
├── CHANGELOG.md                          # player-facing notes per release
├── LICENSE
├── README.md
├── Zero_Company_UE4SS_Lua_Guide.md       # general UE4SS lessons
├── docs/
│   ├── architecture.md                   # how a character color edit works
│   ├── development-history.md            # detailed notes through 1.0
│   ├── nexus/                            # mod page summary and BBCode description
│   ├── practical-ue4ss-ui-modding-notes.md
│   └── ...                               # older investigations and reviews
├── src/ColorsPlus/                       # the distributable mod folder
│   ├── Assets/                           # picker gradient textures
│   ├── Recovery/README.txt               # keeps the journal folder in the ZIP
│   ├── Scripts/                          # main.lua and modules
│   ├── README.md                         # player guide
│   ├── enabled.txt
│   ├── modinfo.json                      # Zero Company Mod Command
│   └── zcom-mod.json                     # Zero Mod Manager
├── tests/                                # LuaJIT tests with UE4SS fakes
└── tools/
    ├── bump_version.py                   # version bump + changelog promotion
    ├── generate-picker-gradients.mjs     # regenerates Assets/*.png
    ├── nexus_changelog.py                # a release's notes as Nexus text
    ├── package.py                        # release ZIP (adds LICENSE)
    └── run-tests.sh

src/ColorsPlus is the distributable folder; tools/package.py zips it with the LICENSE and checks every script is reachable from main.lua.

Development

1. Clone the repository and copy src/ColorsPlus into the game's ue4ss/Mods folder.

2. Run the tests (needs luajit):

   tools/run-tests.sh            # every test
   tools/run-tests.sh armory_ui  # selected tests

3. Restart the game and test in game: the mod works on generated Blueprint classes, live widget trees and the game's own customization data, which the tests only fake.

Before a release, check at least:

• main-menu creator: Apply, Cancel, save, and leaving without saving;
• barracks editor: Apply, leave, then save and reload the game;
• armory: change Location and Paint Finish with the picker open, then Apply and Cancel;
• a Zabrak skin tone, a Default (empty) slot and an unlocker-mod armor color; and
• the armory with the game in another language.

Commit messages follow Conventional Commits (feat(armory): …, fix(hub): …, chore(release): v1.0.0).

Releasing

The manually run Release to Nexus Mods workflow publishes a release; use tools/package.py for a local, package-only build.

1. Add player-facing notes under ## [Unreleased] in CHANGELOG.md, grouped as Added / Changed / Fixed / Removed.

2. Bump the version with patch, minor or major:

   python3 tools/bump_version.py minor

   It updates modinfo.json, zcom-mod.json, Scripts/main.lua and the player README title, and turns [Unreleased] into the new version.

3. Run tools/run-tests.sh and python3 tools/package.py, then check dist/ColorsPlus-#.#.#.zip with a mod manager and a clean manual install. A built version is immutable: the packager refuses to overwrite a ZIP with different contents.

4. Commit (chore(release): v#.#.#), merge to main and push.

5. Run Release to Nexus Mods from the Actions tab. It needs the NEXUSMODS_API_KEY repository secret.

The workflow:

• requires modinfo.json, zcom-mod.json, main.lua and the player README title to hold the same #.#.# version;
• reads that version's notes from CHANGELOG.md;
• runs the tests and builds the ZIP with tools/package.py; and
• uploads it to Nexus as ColorsPlus v#.#.#.zip, finding the mod and its single active file through the API (exactly one active file is required).

Contributing

Bug reports, compatibility findings and focused pull requests are welcome through Issues and Pull Requests. Keep the game's own customization data as the only place a color is stored, and refuse unrecognized layouts rather than guessing.

Support

• Downloads: Nexus Mods
• Changes: CHANGELOG.md
• Bugs and requests: GitHub Issues

License

MIT © 2026 Chatter Chats. The release ZIP includes the license.