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Dev Diary #116 - Great Mods

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.

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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.

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SYt1ZJv-oU-KPC4eNBuh8ScNGgqEEDz0Z13jevp0m5VcHdR59giPCPr2Xa3UTtXDaKPmX3RDKDBhAcnMJYREuANYt7iUSqTZSmZkLfDFNKhuf5F6djVNeWFJePV7scBBtWNN0ugx



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.
 
Interesting. So this definitely means that pre-existing wonders from before the period can be modded it. There is so much potential with that idea that it's hard to stop imagining what could be.
 
Do Great Works _have_ to be visible on the map? For example, if a modder wanted to make the Paris catacombs-type Great Work, which would not be map-visible, would an excavation-type wonder be possible?
 
Do Great Works _have_ to be visible on the map? For example, if a modder wanted to make the Paris catacombs-type Great Work, which would not be map-visible, would an excavation-type wonder be possible?

Even if it for some reason was impossible, couldn't you just put an empty model there?
 
Great to see all of this moddability! Personally I'm interested by everything covered here, except the 3D models that I will never have the talent to modify. :( I can't even do 2D, so 3D is definitely beyond me. Although hopefully both existing artists and new artists can emerge using this possibility.
 
Even if it for some reason was impossible, couldn't you just put an empty model there?

"You see that single black pixel in Paris? Yeah, that's the entrance to the catacombs."
 
"You see that single black pixel in Paris? Yeah, that's the entrance to the catacombs."
I just don't like kludges. So while a placeholder icon on the map "would" work, a not_displayed_on_map flag would be better.
 
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.

iz_0e1cxetocV-z0VmrXSOpzlwNt5uKdAMfcKzNjEUtHn-48tLJ8PWNzhxBmcbBxln4hvYP53XxOQuYSN_mCB0-VPN-vVcWDBV4PbVJfHFtlkY4svUyB-YpCULjDWqi1Jam1eScQ



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.

7LT-5g1gASkemfbtJOwpfsEcXQ25KxKvyWgtUs2vFMGEeVhevBOPZm2vUvKj-HmepQoWvEqzvD1jQyVhffJIj-JxsrVIWg_UiZv7QFCmFnvDZIW7nL6ZvTvM5SQY0srAu607p9tg
SYt1ZJv-oU-KPC4eNBuh8ScNGgqEEDz0Z13jevp0m5VcHdR59giPCPr2Xa3UTtXDaKPmX3RDKDBhAcnMJYREuANYt7iUSqTZSmZkLfDFNKhuf5F6djVNeWFJePV7scBBtWNN0ugx



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.
This looks like very useful stuff for modders, that's always helpful.
 
on the front page this does not specify what game its for.

(in fact I managed to get all the way here, typing in a response, and STILL dont know what game its for)


edited to add - its CK2.
 
I remember reading in one of the previous threads that the wonders are always owned by the top liege rather the county owner, is this still the case and any chance of making this moddable on a per wonder basis?
 
I just don't like kludges. So while a placeholder icon on the map "would" work, a not_displayed_on_map flag would be better.
I can look into making a flag like that. Should be easy but you never know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
I remember reading in one of the previous threads that the wonders are always owned by the top liege rather the county owner, is this still the case and any chance of making this moddable on a per wonder basis?
That is still the case and won't be moddable I'm afraid :/
The fact that there is one wonder and one top owner per province is something we are utilizing in code.
It would take us a decent amount of time and probably create a heap of bugs to change that at this point.
 
Very cool! presumably with the availability rules, one could add unique upgrades for Great Works with availability based upon bloodlines? I'm thinking of the Architect-type bloodlines specifically.
 
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.

Damn, this is amazing. The potential for mods of all kinds is massive! More roleplaying options are always welcomed.
 
I can look into making a flag like that. Should be easy but you never know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What if we just don't add a model line to the wonder?
 
That is still the case and won't be moddable I'm afraid :/
The fact that there is one wonder and one top owner per province is something we are utilizing in code.
It would take us a decent amount of time and probably create a heap of bugs to change that at this point.
Then again couldn't modders go around this by adding effects just to local province + flags effecting local province's rulers.
 
Great to see all of this moddability! Personally I'm interested by everything covered here, except the 3D models that I will never have the talent to modify. :( I can't even do 2D, so 3D is definitely beyond me. Although hopefully both existing artists and new artists can emerge using this possibility.

The actual 3d modeling isn't necessarily the hard part, I used to create models for zoo tycoon 2 way back in the day and it was more down to getting good reference shots to model off in blender and putting the time in to details to make it look good, its time consuming but not hard. The real hard part is creating a good texture for it in Gimp...

That is where we probably both stumble...