How to Make a Mod -- Basic Questions

[JScott991]

I've played CK2 for a long time. And I've modified many, many files. But unfortunately, I've never learned to do actual mods, so every time a patch came out, it overwrote what I did. That's why two years ago, I copied all my files and started to play the game off Steam, using patch 2.7.something forever.

I think that's gotten a little dated at this point.

But I don't want to have to re-modify files every time a patch comes out.

Is there a guide to making mod files somewhere?

Basically, I do three to four key things (one of which is very annoying to redo) that I'd like to never change.

1. I change Greek Emperors' titles from Basileus to Emperor (same for empresses). This is incredibly annoying to redo because this information is buried in some random Localisation file that takes forever to find again.

2. I reduce the amount of gold it takes to make a gift (this helps me reduce the role of factions in the game).

3. I increase the size of the Varangian Guard.

4. I weaken Muslim nations in a few ways that I can't quite remember (I think it's just vastly increased decadence penalties).

5. I eliminate lots of the random Empire-level titles that aren't historical.

6. I modify a few titles and who holds them in the 867 start date (and I'd have to do even more of this because I noticed some weird Serbian Epirus duchy has been created in the newer patches).

Is it possible to do all of this in a mod that the game never overwrites?

Do I make one file? Lots of files? Can I just mod individual small parts of files?

Or this just a pipe dream and I should stick with 2.7 forever?

 

[faiuwle]

https://ck2.paradoxwikis.com/Modding#Mod_structure

Basically, your mod will be a directory with the same structure as the game files directory. If you name a file the same thing as a game file, it will override it. In some cases, like with the localization, you can redefine the object using the same tag in a different file and it will override the original if the filenames are in the correct alphabetical order.

 

[JScott991]

I followed a guide I found on the wiki, and I can't get my localisation file to override. Basically, I created a mod directory. Created a mymod.mod file and folder (it shows up in the launcher). Then I created a 00_mymod.csv file within a localisation folder.

I put this text in:

emperor_female_greek;Empress;Empress;Empress;;Empress;;;;;;;;;x
emperor_greek;Emperor;Emperor;Emperor;;Emperor;;;;;;;;;x

And nothing happens in game. Greek emperors and empresses are still Basileus and Basilissa.

I remember giving up on this two years ago and just going back to overwriting the base game files because I couldn't get this localisation stuff to work.

Edit: I put this text in front of it:

#CODE;ENGLISH;FRENCH;GERMAN;;SPANISH;;;;;;;;;x
PICK_YOUR_STARTING_ERA;Choose Your Favourite Stupid Era;;;;;;;;;;;;;x

And that text works. It replaces the default text. But I can't seem to replace Basileus or Basillissa.

 

[faiuwle]

As of the latest patch, all rulers of the Byzantine Empire are called Basileus regardless of what the localization says. Is that the title you're seeing it on? Also, don't include "male", I don't think that works.

 

[divineDerivative]

Try editing these lines instead:

BASILEUS_TITLE;Basileus;Basileus;Basileus;;Basileo;;;;;x
BASILEUS_TITLE_FEMALE;Basilissa;Basilissa;Basilissa;;Basilissa;;;;;x

 

[JScott991]

That did it!

Now on to actually the substance of my mod.