Change files name in mod

[jo_crespo112358]

Hi, first of all sorry for my english, it's not my native language. I am new to modding and I am creating a mod for stellaris, the mod allows you to have traits regardless of the species and make some incompatible traits compatible.

The mod only works if I keep the exact same file names of the game, for example if I copy and mod the file 04_species_traits without changing the name, it works fine, but if I rename it to, let's say mod_04_species_traits it does not work. I had seen that many modders change the files name in order to avoid conflict with other mods that use the same game files, I have some of those installed in my workshop and the files name are different, and they work fine, so I think I am doing something wrong, I don't know how to fix this issue, I will gladly appreciate help.

 

[CaesarVincens]

There's a good news/bad news situation here.
Good news is that it generally is possible to name your mod files however you like, the bad news is that if you're overhauling a system like traits, it's not going to be compatible with other mods that also overhaul traits generally.

The problem you've likely encountered for traits is that, when you name your modded traits file differently from the vanilla file, both files are loaded, and if the traits have the same script term trait_industrious for example, the game isn't sure how to handle it. How the game handles different files with the same script term varies (see https://stellaris.paradoxwikis.com/Modding#Overwriting_specific_elements), but an overhaul of vanilla script is not often compatible with other mods unless specifically made so.

 

[SirBlackAxe]

While using files with different names usually works, trait files are one of a few places where it specifically doesn't! Traits always require a full file overwrite to work properly.

It's a good idea to keep the link @CaesarVincens helpfully posted on hand to double-check how you're allowed to overwrite things, since it varies by which folder the file is in.