Hello!
I hope you’re all excited for the 2nd of April when we will be releasing our next update. In the meantime, we thought we would run you through some of the modding possibilities with this new feature.
But before we dig into that, we just wanted to announce that we have changed the in-game name of “Wonders” to “Great Works” and “Upgrades” to “Features”. The reason for this is that we wanted the in-game name to match the update name and also that we didn’t want the terminology to limit what the system could be used for.
With that out of the way; on to modding!
Adding New Great Works/ Modifying existing ones.
We’ve created a new database for the different types of Great Works that can be constructed in the game. At the top of the Great Work definitions file, we have added a template which you can use as a basis for your own ones.
In these files we can both define new Great Works that can be used to populate the world or manipulate the attributes of the original ones. The setup here will allow us to define different graphics settings, gameplay rules (e.g. which rulers are allowed to start a construction), and which modifiers that should be applied when it is fully built.
We also define the number of feature slots that should be available for customization of the Great Work and have it subscribe to a list of potential feature candidates.
Adding Great Work Features
The Features for the Great Works are defined in a separate database. This structure will allow us to reuse various features across multiple types of constructions (see the previous picture).
As with Great Works, we have added a template to the top of the features file for you to use. You can add both unique features, that can only be built on specific great works, and also more generic ones that can be reused.
Features of the Great Works can also be manipulated to have different gameplay rules for availability, different costs, and apply different modifiers to their owner and location.
Wonder and Upgrade Flags
Both the great works and the features can have flags. Using flags is a good way to keep track of special qualities (see for example the “scary” flag in upgrade_spikes) and these can efficiently be evaluated by triggers in other parts of the game code to fire special events or manipulate different game outcomes.2D picture modding
To modify the 2D art for the great works, all you need to do is make a strip of images, one for each stage and one for it being damaged. This can replace the image for an existing great work or be used for a brand new one. We also have a generic great work picture, which can be used as a placeholder if you don’t have your own images.
It is also possible to modify or add to the background images. If the background images are made into a strip, the background will be randomly selected from the images in that strip. There is also the option to set ‘is_in_water‘ in the great work definition if you always want to have the water background or to set ‘allow_coastal’ to use it only if the province the great work is built in is coastal.
3D Model modding
The map model for a great work can be switched out and rescaled using a text editor and its position on the map can be changed using Nudge, but for creating new models or changing the existing ones, some experience with Maya and the .mesh exporter is required.
Wonder History
If you want to create a historical great work and reflect what happened to it over the course of history, you can do that by adding it to the history of the province it belongs to. From there, you can decide on which date a stage was added or when a feature was constructed. You can also set custom names and descriptions that reflect the great work at that point in history. If something bad happened to it throughout history, there is also the option declare it damaged.
I hope you’re all excited for the 2nd of April when we will be releasing our next update. In the meantime, we thought we would run you through some of the modding possibilities with this new feature.
But before we dig into that, we just wanted to announce that we have changed the in-game name of “Wonders” to “Great Works” and “Upgrades” to “Features”. The reason for this is that we wanted the in-game name to match the update name and also that we didn’t want the terminology to limit what the system could be used for.
With that out of the way; on to modding!
Adding New Great Works/ Modifying existing ones.
We’ve created a new database for the different types of Great Works that can be constructed in the game. At the top of the Great Work definitions file, we have added a template which you can use as a basis for your own ones.
In these files we can both define new Great Works that can be used to populate the world or manipulate the attributes of the original ones. The setup here will allow us to define different graphics settings, gameplay rules (e.g. which rulers are allowed to start a construction), and which modifiers that should be applied when it is fully built.
We also define the number of feature slots that should be available for customization of the Great Work and have it subscribe to a list of potential feature candidates.
Adding Great Work Features
The Features for the Great Works are defined in a separate database. This structure will allow us to reuse various features across multiple types of constructions (see the previous picture).
As with Great Works, we have added a template to the top of the features file for you to use. You can add both unique features, that can only be built on specific great works, and also more generic ones that can be reused.
Features of the Great Works can also be manipulated to have different gameplay rules for availability, different costs, and apply different modifiers to their owner and location.
Wonder and Upgrade Flags
Both the great works and the features can have flags. Using flags is a good way to keep track of special qualities (see for example the “scary” flag in upgrade_spikes) and these can efficiently be evaluated by triggers in other parts of the game code to fire special events or manipulate different game outcomes.2D picture modding
To modify the 2D art for the great works, all you need to do is make a strip of images, one for each stage and one for it being damaged. This can replace the image for an existing great work or be used for a brand new one. We also have a generic great work picture, which can be used as a placeholder if you don’t have your own images.
It is also possible to modify or add to the background images. If the background images are made into a strip, the background will be randomly selected from the images in that strip. There is also the option to set ‘is_in_water‘ in the great work definition if you always want to have the water background or to set ‘allow_coastal’ to use it only if the province the great work is built in is coastal.
3D Model modding
The map model for a great work can be switched out and rescaled using a text editor and its position on the map can be changed using Nudge, but for creating new models or changing the existing ones, some experience with Maya and the .mesh exporter is required.
Wonder History
If you want to create a historical great work and reflect what happened to it over the course of history, you can do that by adding it to the history of the province it belongs to. From there, you can decide on which date a stage was added or when a feature was constructed. You can also set custom names and descriptions that reflect the great work at that point in history. If something bad happened to it throughout history, there is also the option declare it damaged.
