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GE Patcher Tutorial (latest)

Warning

This tutorial is only works for versions 0.3.X.

GE Patcher is a tool used to modify Plants vs. Zombies 2 Gardendless game data, supporting custom modifications to plants, zombies, upgrades, the shop, levels, and more.

The version provided on the official website has the GE Patcher tool built-in to the PC build.

Prerequisites

  1. JSON editor (VSCode/Notepad++ recommended)
  2. Game version ≥ 0.3.0
  3. Property Reference.

The Basics

Press F12 when the game starts to open the developer console. In the Console tab, you should see something like this:

[GE Patcher] BaseDir: C:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\com.pvzge.app

This path is GE Patcher's main directory and where patch files are loaded from. If you want to see exactly where the files are loaded from, enter the command gePatcher.help().

Once you see the title screen, you can now load your patch. Entering gePatcher.init() into the console will load your custom files.

After modifying a JSON file, please run this command again to apply the changes.

File Structure

To start your patch, create a patches folder within com.pvzge.app with the following structure (not all files have to be present):

patches/
└── jsons/
    ├── features/
    │   ├── PlantFeatures.json
    │   ├── PlantProps.json
    │   ├── PlantAlmanac.json
    │   ├── ZombieFeatures.json
    │   ├── ZombieProps.json
    │   ├── ZombieAlmanac.json
    │   ├── UpgradeFeatures.json
    │   └── StoreCommodityFeatures.json
    └── levels/
        └── [LevelName].json (does not support JSON5)

The features directory contains Features, Props, and Almanac files for modifying plants, zombies, upgrades, the shop, etc.

Files under the levels directory are used to replace levels. If you want to get the original levels, try to find similar ones in vanilla PvZ2 (extracting PvZ2 files is out of the scope of this guide).

Anything you don't modify will default to the base-game properties.

Features Files

Features File Structure

Features files contain the basic properties of plants, zombies, and upgrades. The file structure is as follows:

PlantFeatures.json

{
  "PLANTS": [
    {
      "CODENAME": "peashooter"
    }
  ],
  "SEEDCHOOSERDEFAULTORDER": ["peashooter", "sunflower"],
  "BASEUNLOCKLIST": ["peashooter", "sunflower"]
}

ZombieFeatures.json

{
  "ZOMBIES": [
    {
      "CODENAME": "tutorial"
    }
  ]
}

UpgradeFeatures.json

{
  "UPGRADES": [
    {
      "CODENAME": "upgrade_starting_sun_lvl1"
    }
  ]
}

Key Notes

  • The PLANTS、ZOMBIES and UPGRADES arrays define modifications to existing entities.
  • SEEDCHOOSERDEFAULTORDER sets the order of plants. The order of the array is the order they appear in the almanac, seed chooser, etc.
  • BASEUNLOCKLIST defines plants unlocked by default on new player profiles.

Features Modification Rules

Features modification rules apply to PlantFeatures、ZombieFeatures and UpgradeFeatures files。

Each object in the PLANTS (or ZOMBIES, UPGRADES) array will be merged into the original JSON after matching by the CODENAME field. The merging rules are as follows:

  • Array Elements: If the property type is an array, each value in the array will be merged according to element order. If a value in the array is an object, it will be merged recursively. If a value in the array is a primitive type, it will directly overwrite the value in the original JSON.
  • Object Merging: If the property type is an object, it will be merged recursively. If there are attributes with the same key within the object, the value in the original JSON will be directly overwritten.
  • Primitive Attributes: For primitive attributes with the same key, they are directly overwritten, i.e., replacing the value in the original JSON.

For other properties, such as SEEDCHOOSERDEFAULTORDER/BASEUNLOCKLIST, the original array is simply replaced.

Therefore, for any plant/zombie that needs modification, you must add an object to the PLANTS (or ZOMBIES) array, and the CODENAME field of this object must match the original plant/zombie in the JSON. For plants/zombies that do not need modification, this object does not need to be added.

Within a single plant/zombie object, only the CODENAME needs to be filled. Other fields not filled will remain unchanged. If modification is needed, the corresponding fields must be added.

Important

  • Avoid modifying critical properties like ID or _CARDSPRITENAME to prevent crashes or other unwanted bugs.
  • GE Patcher cannot create new plants, zombies, or anything like; it only modifies existing entities.

Example

To change the Peashooter's background to "epic" and the Sunflower's name to "Happy Flower":

{
  "PLANTS": [
    {
      "CODENAME": "peashooter",
      "OBTAINWORLD": "epic"
    },
    {
      "CODENAME": "sunflower",
      "NAME": {
        "en": "Happy Flower",
        "zh": "快乐花"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Props/Almanac Files

Props File Structure

Props files contain the gameplay properties of plants and zombies. The file structure is as follows:

PlantProps.json

{
  "objects": [
    {
      "aliases": ["peashooter"],
      "objclass": "PlantProperties",
      "objdata": {
        "ShootInterval": 1.35,
        "ShootIntervalAdditional": 0.15,
        "PlantfoodPeaCount": 60,
        "Cooldown": 5,
        "CooldownFrom": 1,
        "SunCost": 100,
        "Toughness": 300,
        "Family": "Peashooter"
      }
    }
  ]
}

ZombieProps.json

{
  "objects": [
    {
      "aliases": ["tutorial"],
      "objclass": "ZombieProperties",
      "objdata": {
        "ZombieSort": "Normal",
        "CannotBeTossedByCitron": false,
        "WalkSPS": 0.185,
        "Toughness": 190,
        "EatDPS": 100
      }
    }
  ]
}

Key Notes

  • The objects array defines the objects that modify existing plants/zombies.
  • The aliases array indicates which plant/zombie the object belongs to. Right now, GE Patcher only reads the first item of this array.
  • The objclass indicates the type of the object, and its value must be PlantProperties or ZombieProperties depending on what you're modifying.
  • objdata contains the gameplay properties of the plant/zombie.

Almanac File Structure

Almanac files contain the Almanac information for plants and zombies. The file structure is as follows:

PlantAlmanac.json

{
  "objects": [
    {
      "aliases": ["peashooter"],
      "objclass": "PlantAlmanacProperties",
      "objdata": {
        "Elements": [
          {
            "TYPE": "SUNCOST"
          },
          {
            "TYPE": "RECHARGE"
          },
          {
            "TYPE": "TOUGHNESS"
          },
          {
            "TYPE": "DAMAGE",
            "VALUE": 20
          },
          {
            "TYPE": "RANGE",
            "SORT": {
              "en": "Straight",
              "zh": "直线"
            }
          },
          {
            "TYPE": "FAMILY"
          }
        ],
        "Introduction": {
          "en": "Peashooters are your first line of defence. They shoot peas at attacking zombies",
          "zh": "豌豆射手是你的第一道防线。他们会向僵尸发射豌豆。"
        },
        "Special": [],
        "Chat": {
          "en": "\"What is it like being famous?\"asked Peashooter while sipping his bottled water,\"I can't talk right now, I'm finishing my merchandising deal. Hold my fir coat.\"",
          "zh": "“成为名人是什么感觉？”豌豆射手问了一句，抿了一口自己的瓶装水，“我现在没法说话，我正在完成我的销售项目，帮我拿一下我的毛皮大衣。”"
        },
        "DisplayOffset": {
          "x": 0,
          "y": 0
        },
        "BriefIntroduction": {
          "en": "Shoots peas at the enemies",
          "zh": "向僵尸发射豌豆子弹"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

ZombieAlmanac.json

{
   "//": "basic",
   "aliases": [
      "tutorial"
   ],
   "objclass": "ZombieAlmanacProperties",
   "objdata": {
      "Elements": [
         {
            "TYPE": "TOUGHNESS",
            "SORT": {
               "en": "Average",
               "zh": "一般"
            },
            "PROGRESS": 0.25
         },
         {
            "TYPE": "SPEED",
            "SORT": {
               "en": "Basic",
               "zh": "普通"
            },
            "PROGRESS": 0.5
         }
      ],
      "Introduction": {
         "en": "Regular Garden-variety zombie.",
         "zh": "普普通通的前院僵尸。"
      },
      "Special": [],
      "Chat": {
         "en": "Basic Zombie hates the term \"Basic\". He doesn't consider himself some generic foe or common corpse. He's individual, darn it, and he's going to make a difference even if it kills you.",
         "zh": "普通僵尸讨厌被称作“普通”。他不认为自己只是一个平凡的敌对者，甚至只是个随处可见的死尸。他可是很独立的，该死的，而且在你死之前他都会对局面造成影响。"
      },
      "DisplayOffset": {
         "x": 0,
         "y": 0
      },
      "DisplayScale": {
         "x": 1,
         "y": 1
      }
   }
},

Props/Almanac Modification Rules

Props modification rules apply to PlantProps and ZombieProps files. Almanac modification rules apply to PlantAlmanac and ZombieAlmanac files.

Each object in the objects array is merged into the original JSON after being matched by the aliases field, using the same rules as for the Features files.

+For any plant/zombie you want to modify, you must add an object to the objects array. That object must have an aliases property with the plant/zombie you want to modify's codename. +Note: Only the first element of the aliases array is used to match the plant/zombie for modification. +For plants/zombies that you don't want to change, you don't need to do anything - it'll default to vanilla properties.

Within a single object, objdata contains the gameplay properties or Almanac information of the plant/zombie. Only the properties that need to be modified should be added. Properties not added will default to vanilla properties.

Important

  • Almanac files are only used to modify the Almanac information of plants/zombies and do not affect the actual in-game stats of the plants.
  • Array attributes in objdata, such as Elements in Almanac files, will be merged according to element order. To modify the value of an item in the original array, you need to make the modification at the same position in the array.

Level Files

Place custom level files in patches/jsons/levels/[LevelName].json.

  • Filenames must match the in-game level ID (e.g., egypt1.json).
  • Use gePatcher.showLevels() to view original level IDs (requires initializing GE Patcher first).
  • JSON5 levels are not supported and will not load.

Store Files

StoreCommodityFeatures.json replaces in-game store categories:

{
  "Plants": [], // Plants
  "Upgrade": [], // Upgrades
  "Gem": [], // Gem items (purchased with coins)
  "Coin": [] // Coin items (purchased with gems)
}

Note: comments are supported in JSON.

Omit categories you do not modify.

Debugging

  1. Check the console for errors during loading.
  2. Common errors:
    • ❌ Failed to load...: JSON syntax error.
    • ❌ Level file not found: Filename mismatch.
  3. Validate JSONs with tools like JSONLint.
Official website of PvZ2 Gardendless: pvzge.com
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