[MOD] Plausible flags for Anglo-Saxon England and Wales

[Taghan]

Steam workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2218743248

A small mod to fix the jarringly terrible default flags for Wales and Anglo-Saxon England.

From the mod description:

The default flags for Anglo-Saxon England and Wales are, frankly, quite terrible. This mod changes them to more accurate and / or believable versions.

England:
By default, Paradox used a four-legged Welsh (!) dragon from the 1959 flag of Wales (!) as the symbol of Anglo-Saxon England. This mod changes it to a more believable white wyvern.

Wales:
By default, Paradox used the personal coat of arms of Llywelyn the Great, and later, Owain Glyndwr. This doesn't make much sense for Welsh rulers in previous historical eras or, really, for any character actually available in the game. This mod changes it to the Draig Aur (golden dragon) flag. Although also flown by Owain, the golden dragon had a very ancient historical precedent in Wales, including use by the semi-legendary Uther Pendragon. It is a much, much more believable symbol for a Welshman of any dynasty to use.

 

[Battlex]

View attachment 617812

Steam workshop: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2218743248

A small mod to fix the jarringly terrible default flags for Wales and Anglo-Saxon England.

From the mod description:

Why a golden dragon and not a red dragon for Wales?

 

[Taghan]

Why a golden dragon and not a red dragon for Wales?

Both colours were used historically. The red dragon flag was indeed in use by Cadwladwr of Gwynedd (as is plausibly represented in-game as the COA of Gwynedd) and was adopted by the early modern Tewdwr (Tudor) dynasty. The golden dragon was however, the only real-life, pan-Welsh medieval design that I was able to find a direct reference for.

I used the golden dragon based off of this flag: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_Dragon#/media/File:Y_Draig_Aur_Owain_Glyndŵr.jpg

Welsh Dragon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Darrigan]

I also commented this on the Steam page; quick tip:

Hi! You can make this mod compatible with other COA mods simply by copying the parts on k_england and k_wales from 01_landed_titles.txt to a new .txt-file (you can choose whatever name) and then adding this new .txt-file to the ...\common\coat_of_arms\coat_of_arms folder. Afterwards delete the 01_landed_titles.txt file.

The game will then only overwrite England and Wales, and not every other title.

Also works for changes in most other .txt-files.

 

[Darrigan]

Also, something that I'm not fully aware of: will this break iron man? Flag modding didn't hurt in earlier PDX-titles, but unsure with the current structure...

 

[Taghan]

I also commented this on the Steam page; quick tip:

Hi! You can make this mod compatible with other COA mods simply by copying the parts on k_england and k_wales from 01_landed_titles.txt to a new .txt-file (you can choose whatever name) and then adding this new .txt-file to the ...\common\coat_of_arms\coat_of_arms folder. Afterwards delete the 01_landed_titles.txt file.

The game will then only overwrite England and Wales, and not every other title.

Also works for changes in most other .txt-files.

Thanks, I'll try to change this once I figure out how to modify a mod I've uploaded to workshop. I have no idea how to do this.

EDIT: This doesn't work, unfortunately. When I do this, the flags don't show up, and it breaks the mod.

 

[Darrigan]

Thanks, I'll try to change this once I figure out how to modify a mod I've uploaded to workshop. I have no idea how to do this.

EDIT: This doesn't work, unfortunately. When I do this, the flags don't show up, and it breaks the mod.

That's strange. It definitely works for me...

I tried it quickly by changing the flag of c_brabant to that of k_england_france. Created a file in [moddir]\common\coat_of_arms\coat_of_arms named brabant.txt and only put this in it:

Spoiler

@smCastleX = 0.27
@smCastleY = 0.23
@smLysX = 0.23
@smLysY = 0.26
@smCross = 0.22

c_brabant = {
    pattern = "pattern_checkers_02.dds"
    color1 = "red"
    color2 = "blue"
    colored_emblem = {
        texture = "ce_fleur.dds"
        color1 = "yellow"
        color2 = "yellow"
        mask = { 2 }
        instance = { position = { 0.10 0.00 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.30 0.00 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.50 0.00 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.70 0.00 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.90 0.00 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.00 0.20 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.20 0.20 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.40 0.20 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.60 0.20 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.80 0.20 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 1.00 0.20 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.10 0.40 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.30 0.40 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.50 0.40 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.70 0.40 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.90 0.40 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.00 0.60 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.20 0.60 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.40 0.60 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.60 0.60 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.80 0.60 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 1.00 0.60 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.10 0.80 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.30 0.80 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.50 0.80 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.70 0.80 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.90 0.80 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.00 1.00 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.20 1.00 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.40 1.00 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.60 1.00 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 0.80 1.00 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
        instance = { position = { 1.00 1.00 } scale = { @smLysX @smLysY }  }
    }
    colored_emblem = {
        texture = "ce_leopard_passant_guardant.dds"
        color1 = "yellow"
        color2 = "blue"
        mask = { 1 }
        @leopard_scale = 0.38
        @leopard_x = 0.31
        @leopard_y = 0.25
        @leopard_y_offset = 0.14
        #top right
        instance = { position = { @[1-leopard_x] @[leopard_y-leopard_y_offset] }     scale = { @leopard_scale @leopard_scale }  }
        instance = { position = { @[1-leopard_x] @leopard_y }                         scale = { @leopard_scale @leopard_scale }  }
        instance = { position = { @[1-leopard_x] @[leopard_y+leopard_y_offset] }     scale = { @leopard_scale @leopard_scale }  }
        #bottom left
        instance = { position = { @leopard_x @[1-leopard_y-leopard_y_offset] }         scale = { @leopard_scale @leopard_scale }  }
        instance = { position = { @leopard_x @[1-leopard_y] }                         scale = { @leopard_scale @leopard_scale }  }
        instance = { position = { @leopard_x @[1-leopard_y+leopard_y_offset] }         scale = { @leopard_scale @leopard_scale }  }
    }    
}

Spoiler

Result is as it should be:

Spoiler

Spoiler

What does it do with you? Does it crash your game? Or are the new flags just not showing up?

 

[Taghan]

Got it to work. I changed the name of the .txt file and it suddenly worked, for whatever reason. Thanks for the help!

 

[Taghan]

Frustratingly, the flags keep reverting when I restart the game. Is there some kind of gfx cache somewhere? Even midway through gameplay, the English flag keeps turning back into the vanilla one. It's very, very strange.

 

[mechl]

Frustratingly, the flags keep reverting when I restart the game. Is there some kind of gfx cache somewhere? Even midway through gameplay, the English flag keeps turning back into the vanilla one. It's very, very strange.

From what I could tell the English flag is dynamic and set by an event based on who controls it.

The file is coa_events in the events folder.

coa.10 = {
    type = character_event
    hidden = yes
    trigger = {
        any_held_title = { this = title:k_england }
    }
    immediate = {
        if = {
            limit = { coa_switch_to_saxon_trigger = yes }
            title:k_england = { set_coa = k_england } # reset
        }
       
        if = {
            limit = { coa_switch_to_norman_trigger = yes }
            if = {
                limit = { coa_england_switches_to_france_coa_trigger = yes }
                title:k_england = { set_coa = k_england_france }
            }
            else = {
                title:k_england = { set_coa = k_england_norman }
            }
        }
    }
}

 

[Taghan]

From what I could tell the English flag is dynamic and set by an event based on which dynasty controls it.

It can switch between the Anglo-Saxon version and the Norman one, but it's the former that I modified and it nonetheless keeps changing. The Welsh flag also keeps reverting randomly to vanilla. If I start a new game, they're both the modified version, and if I load my savegame after starting a new game, I also get the modified versions. However, if I load my savegame without starting a new game first, both flags are vanilla.

It's very odd.

 

[mechl]

Hm I loaded the game in multiple ways (restarted the game and loaded right to an auto save and a manual save) and it kept the k_wales flag each time. Not sure what exactly could be going on then.

 

[Taghan]

Hm I loaded the game in multiple ways (restarted the game and loaded right to an auto save and a manual save) and it kept the k_wales flag each time. Not sure what exactly could be going on then.

It might have something to do with it being a pre-existing savegame. Something's wonky somewhere under the hood, in any case.

 

[Darrigan]

Hm I loaded the game in multiple ways (restarted the game and loaded right to an auto save and a manual save) and it kept the k_wales flag each time. Not sure what exactly could be going on then.

You have to start an entirely new game. Not 100% sure, but I understand it as follows: When you start a new game, a new save is created in. In this save, the game writes a whole bunch of information that it takes from the game files. For example: who owns what title, who follows what religion. If you'd start a game, not even play one single day, quit out, change who holds the kingdom of France in 1066 through modding and reload the day one save game, Philip Capet will still be king because that's how it is written in your save file.

Things are the same for flags, I believe: the new save file loads all information on flags (it's scripted now, no more single images for each title) from the game files and then works with that information. If you'd again quit on day one and mod a flag, the save file will still have the old information on that flag.

As such, I believe (but not tested it yet!!) that you can also change CoAs directly in the save file.

I don't have the time to test this theory, but would be great if someone could and give feedback.