How do I make a mod directory?

[Ulyaoth]

I'm trying to make a little stupid mod for myself and I can't figure out how to make a mod directory so it won't mess up my default game. So far all I've done is make a new religion group and new religions, now I want to make a few new countries. But what do I do to separate them as a mod? Do I make a copy of the files I'm making and save them in the mod directory? Because I just tried that but nothing comes up in the game launcher. I made the text file called 'mymod' like the one guide says, and in that is

name = "Mymod"
extend = "common"
replace = "events"
extend = "history"
extend = "localisation"
extend = "map"
extend = "interface"
extend = "gfx"
extend = "sound"

Now what? I then put in a folder called mymod, in that a folder called common with the changed religion text file in it. What did I do wrong and how do I put further stuff in?

[aHuman(oid)]

Is the file Mymod.mod, Mymod.txt, or Mymod.mod.txt? Only the first will work, the others being problems caused by saving it as a text file. If this isn't it, is the capitalization of the .mod file and the folder the same?

That's all I can think of offhand.

[Ulyaoth]

Had it the second way, other than that everything's as you just said.

[aHuman(oid)]

Had it the second way, other than that everything's as you just said.

Well, is it working now that you've changed it to mymod.mod?

[Ulyaoth]

Nope.

[aHuman(oid)]

Could you attach the mod file & folder to a post so that I and others can look at it?

[Ulyaoth]

Here it is.

[DanaDark]

If all else fails, just edit someone else's .mod file to the way you want it and rename it.

[Ulyaoth]

If all else fails, just edit someone else's .mod file to the way you want it and rename it.

I did that and I still don't get it. They use some protracker module thing, how do I make one of those for my stuff?

[DanaDark]

I do not know exactly how to make one from scratch since its incredibly easy to just modify an existing one, I haven't bothered.

[Ulyaoth]

Well I changed the name but it still just links to the terra nova thing(what I downloaded). How do I edit it to make it work for mine?

[17blue17]

Well I changed the name but it still just links to the terra nova thing(what I downloaded). How do I edit it to make it work for mine?

If you just try to open a mod file by clicking on it windows gets confused because it thinks it is a movie file when in reality it is just a text file with a paradox made up name of .mod instead of .txt

So instead

step 1 ) You copy and rename an existing one making sure to leave it as a .mod file. The name should be the name of your mod. To make things easier don't use spaces - make it one word.
step 2 ) you open a text editor like note pad and then use note pad to open the mod file.
step 3) you change the information inside to point to your mod rather than the you copied it from. It should be fairly easy to see what I mean.

Once open it will look something like:

name = "Terra Nova 10.78 9/4/09"
extend = "common"
replace = "decisions"
replace = "events"
extend = "gfx"
extend = "history"
extend = "interface"
replace = "localisation"
extend = "map"
replace = "missions"

You change the first part to match the name of your own mod.

You leave the other lines alone except you can switch the words extend and replace.

extend means use all the stuff in the normal game except for the couple items you changed and put in your mod. In otherwords if there is a copy of a file in the normal game and a copy of the same file in your mod the game will use the one in your mod instead and use the rest of the files from the normal game.

replace means only use the stuff in your mod. To use this you have to have copied everything into your mod and if you forget something (other than events, missions, decisions which you can just copy what you want or make new ones) the game will not load.

You should always leave map as extend even if using a custom map - I know this seems backwards but trust me. Its just too easy to forget to copy something and it does not hurt to leave it extend. Can avoid hours of tracking down problems by leaving it extend.

For the other items the idea is that the more changes you make the more you want to use replace so you can make sure that nothing from the normal game gets mixed in with your changed files. Sort of a quality control that you have gone through and edited and fixed each file one by one to match perfectly with your mod. On the other hand you don't need to go this extreme if you are only going to change a few minor items in which case extend works fine.

[Ulyaoth]

Thank you! Finally got it now.

[Ulyaoth]

Ok, so I got that all working now I've got another problem. I made a new religion group and new religions and made new graphics for the religion icons, but they won't show up in game. They're named right, dds file, just appear blank in game.

Also, I made a new tech group for my new countries because I put them in America and I didn't want them knowing about Europe but also didnt want them to be backwards in tech, and I went and added that all the latin units were also in this tech group, but now going in the game the armies at start are still there, but they have no names or descriptions and I can't recruit more, is there more I have to change to allow that?

[17blue17]

Also, I made a new tech group for my new countries because I put them in America and I didn't want them knowing about Europe but also didnt want them to be backwards in tech, and I went and added that all the latin units were also in this tech group, but now going in the game the armies at start are still there, but they have no names or descriptions and I can't recruit more, is there more I have to change to allow that?

You did more work than you have to. There is an easier way.

Step 1) Add the new techgroup in the technology.txt file - be very careful to spell it exactly the same every where. I strongly suggest no capital letters. You also need to add to the localization files.

Step 2) Go to each country's history file and edit the two lines below:

technology_group = new_tech_group_name
unit_type = latin

This tells the country they are now in your new tech group but to keep using the latin units. This way you don't have to build new units.

Step 3) you have to fix all the province history files for the countries in the new techgroup for discoveries. For example any where you want them to know about needs to have discovered_by = new_tech_group_name

Step 4) It is a good idea to do a search of all the files in game for technology_group = and maybe add in your new tech group if it makes sense to do so. This way the events etc will work for your new tech group.


If you really want to keep your new units you still have to change the tech group name in the history file plus you need to add the new units in to the land.txt file in the common\technologies folder. You also need to add the units in each country's common file in the common country folder. Also add in the localization files.

I suggest you delete your new units and simply use the unit_type command above plus do the other things for the new tech group I mentioned.

Also you can really goof up the game with typos when you edit a lot of things like this. I suggest when done you use the new validator tool in the mod forum. Download from post 2 not post 1.

[17blue17]

Ok, so I got that all working now I've got another problem. I made a new religion group and new religions and made new graphics for the religion icons, but they won't show up in game. They're named right, dds file, just appear blank in game.

I think there is a guide for doing this. Some of the major items:

1) You were careful to spell the new religions names the same every where - if sometimes small case and other times with a capital letter it will not work. I suggest always using small case - no capitals ever.
2) You added the new religions to the country history files
3) You added the new religions to the province history files
4) You edited the domesticpanel.gfx file in the interface directory correctly
5) When you edited the graphics you also remembered to also edit the alpha channel.
6) You created both the icon_religion.dds and icon_religion_small.dds files
7) You created graphics for the new religion group in illustration_religion.dds
8) If you have an ATI graphics card the graphic file can not be longer than 2048
9) The graphic files are in the same exact order as in the religion.txt file

Once you get the graphics to show up in game they may not be lined up correctly - ie part of one and part of another or only half on the screen etc. If this is the case you will have to manually edit the graphics to space them more evenly which is a pain. Remember to also do the alpha channel.

[Ulyaoth]

Would someone mind looking over what I've done because it's still not working right for whatever reason.

[17blue17]

Would someone mind looking over what I've done because it's still not working right for whatever reason.

I downloaded and looked it over. Here is what I found

I used the new validator tool to test the mod and on top of finding a lot of errors in standard paradox there was a typo in your technology.txt file - specifically under american there was a missing = between start_level and 3 which then made the game also not understand the rest of the file.

As far as the religion graphics go there are some problems.

1) icon_religion.dds looks ok
2) icon_religion_small.dds - the alpha channel is all white which means everything will have a white background but that should be ok
3) illustration_religion.dds is missing the alpha channel - you need to fix

The big reason you are having problems is that you are missing the instructions for the game to use your graphics. To do this you need to

1) create a new folder in your mod named interface - this is separate from the one in the graphic folder. This interface folder is similar to common or history - see the normal game folders.
2) copy domesticpanel.gfx from the regular game interface folder into your mods interface folder.
3) This file is another normal txt file with a made up name of .gfx. You can open and edit in note pad. You need to change some things to tell your mod to use your new graphics - specifically the location of your new files and how many frames ( religion icons) you have. The items below are what you need to change (NOTE THE FIRST TWO ARE NEXT TO EACH OTHER - THEN THERE IS ONE YOU DON'T CHANGE - THEN THE THIRD ONE YOU CHANGE):

spriteType = {
		name = "GFX_icon_religion"
		texturefile = "mod\\mymod\\gfx\\interface\\icon_religion.tga"
		noOfFrames = 16 # increased by 3 for new ones
###		loadType = "INGAME"
		norefcount = yes
	}

	spriteType = {
		name = "GFX_icon_religion_small"
		texturefile = "mod\\mymod\\gfx\\interface\\icon_religion_small.tga"
		noOfFrames = 16 # increased by 3 for new ones
		loadType = "INGAME"
	}
	
	spriteType = {
		name = "GFX_illustration_religion_cathlic"
		texturefile = "mod\\mymod\\gfx\\interface\\illustration_religion.tga"
		noOfFrames = 5 # increased by 1 for new group
		loadType = "INGAME"
	}

Fix the above items and try it again. If it still does not work upload it again and I will see what I can do.

Hope this helps

Best Wishes

[Ulyaoth]

What's the alpha channel and how do I fix it? Is it a separate file or part of the graphic file itself? I'll look over and fix the other stuff and see if it works. thanks for all the help.

[Ulyaoth]

Ok, mostly working now. The icons appear but just a little bit off to the right being cut off, do I just fix that in the icon_religion file? Also, for some reason neither country can make ships. The land units are working fine now, just no ships.