modding-guide

Tutorial 3 - Making a new production chain

For our next mod we are taking another step in a more advanced mod. We are going to make a new production chain and a new good. We are not going to make it that complex for now and start with a basic production chain and one new product. We are going to make citrus tea.

What are we going to do?

We are going to use an already existing good (citrus) to create a new good (Citrus Tea).

We will be creating:

• Icons
• Specialist
• Product (Citrus Tea)
• Production chain (Citrus Tea production chain)
• Building that produces our good
• Citizen needs (Citrus Tea as a Luxury Need for Engineers and Investors)
• Triggers to activate everthing ingame
• Building texture. No 3D-modelling yet, just the texture.

This can be a big step because it has a lot of small steps we need to take. But do not worry, we are going to do this step by step.

Our mod structure

Compared to the previous mod we will now have some more folders and files we need to create. We will call our mod “Tutorial Specialists” The structure now will look like this:

• [Gameplay] Tutorial Citrus Tea
  • data
    • config
      • export
        • main
          • asset
            • xml file (assets.xml) which contains all the logic for our mod.
      • gui
        • xml files containing the translations for text in every language
          • texts_english.xml
          • texts_french.xml
          • texts_german.xml
          • …
    • graphics
      • buildings
        • production
          • production_citrus_tea
            Contains production_citrus_tea files that describes the new building. - maps
            Contains maps which are the materials/textures of our building. diff, mask, metal and norm file.
      • icons
        • Custom graphics we use in our mod. Icon for Citrus Tea and icon for specialist.

Start with the icons

The icons we need for this mod are:

• Citrus Tea good
• Specialist

Citrus Tea

If we look at what is already available in the game we have the Hibiscus Tea and citrus. Both icons can be recycled to make a new Citrus Tea icon.

For the Citrus icon we go to data18.rda/data/ui/2kimages/main/3dicons/icon_citrus_0.dds and convert the dds to a png.

To convert the dds file we can use different tools:

• https://www.xnview.com/
• https://www.aconvert.com/image/dds-to-png/

For the Hibiscus Tea icon we go to data16.rda/data/ui/2kimages/main/3dicons/goods_africa/icon_hibiscus_tea_0.dds and convert the dds to a png.

We do some magic in our photo editing program and voila, we have a nice result.

Specialist

For the specialist, let’s take a man and name him Tony Lipus, Citrua tea smasher. We go to the data2.rda/data/ui/2kimages/main/3dicons/specialists/systemic/icon_farmer_106_0.dds and convert this dds to a png.

We do again some editing magic to get the result below. Changing some colors.

So, we now have our icons and can start with the next step.

Our GUIDS

Let’s start with defining all the GUIDS we need for this mod.

• 1742008803 (Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher)
• 1742008804 (Tony Lipus description)
• 1742008805 (Citrus Tea Good)
• 1742008806 (Citrus Tea Good description)
• 1742008807 (Citrus Tea Chain)
• 1742008808 (Citrus Tea Chain description)
• 1742008809 (Citrus Tea Dryer Building)
• 1742008810 (Citrus Tea Dryer Building description)
• 1742008811 (Trigger unhide)
• 1742008812 (Trigger unlock)

Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher

Let’s start with our specialist. We know from the previous tutorial how to create a new specialist. So that should not be that hard. See this as an extra exercise.

Steps we need to take:

• Create the translations
• Create the specialist with his proporties
• Add to rewardpool
• Add to trigger

Create translation

Create the translation for our name of our specialist and the description.

<ModOps>
  <ModOp Type="add" Path="/TextExport/Texts">
    <!-- START SPECIALIST - Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher -->
    <Text>
      <GUID>1742008803</GUID>
      <Text>Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher</Text>
    </Text>
    <Text>
      <GUID>1742008804</GUID>
      <Text>Tony does not like the hibiscus tea. He prefers citrus fruits and made sure his tea is better then the hibiscus tea. He bottles some extra lemonade without any additive sugar. Sugar is the new smoking!</Text>
    </Text>
    <!-- END SPECIALIST - Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher -->
</ModOps>

Create our specialist

We already created his name with main GUID (GUID 1742008803) and description (GUID 1742008804). The icon is also already created and we know the path to the icon.

We need to define what we want to do with the specialist. Tony is a specialist for the building that processes Citrus to Citrus Tea, the Citrus Tea Dryer (GUID 1742008809).

Let’s make it a Legendary Specialist (Rarity & ItemType) item for the Guildhouse (Template & Allocation), because it is a specialist for a production building.

A production boost is always good (ProductivityUpgrade), so let’s do that already for 60%.

In the description we talk about Tony hating additive sugar in Lemonade (GUID 133185) and making sugar free lemonade. This can be an extra good he produces when producing Citrus Tea. Let’s say every 4 cycles.

The building he will have effect on (ItemEffect) is one of the buildings we still need to create, Citrus Tea Dryer (GUID 1742008809).

For Expeditions (ExpeditionAttribute), he is male (PerkMale) and is good at Medicine - 50 and Diplomacy - 15.

Let’s also give him a reduction for the workforce of 30% (BuildingUpgrade).

  <!-- START SPECIALIST - Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher -->
  <ModOp GUID="191388" Type="addNextSibling">
    <Asset>
      <Template>GuildhouseItem</Template>
      <Values>
        <Standard>
          <GUID>1742008803</GUID> <!-- SPECIALIST - Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher -->
          <Name>Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher</Name>
          <IconFilename>data/graphics/icons/icon_tony_lipus.png</IconFilename>
          <InfoDescription>1742008804</InfoDescription>
        </Standard>
        <Text>
          <LocaText>
            <English>
              <Text>Item Template</Text>
              <Status>Exported</Status>
              <ExportCount>1</ExportCount>
            </English>
          </LocaText>
        </Text>
        <Item>
          <MaxStackSize>1</MaxStackSize>
          <Rarity>Legendary</Rarity>
          <ItemType>Specialist</ItemType>
          <Allocation>GuildHouse</Allocation>
          <TradePrice>1250000</TradePrice>
          <TradePriceOnlineCurrency>1250000</TradePriceOnlineCurrency>
        </Item>
        <FactoryUpgrade>
          <ProductivityUpgrade>
            <Value>60</Value>
            <Percental>1</Percental>
          </ProductivityUpgrade>
          <AdditionalOutput>
            <Item>
              <Product>133185</Product> <!-- Lemonade -->
              <AdditionalOutputCycle>4</AdditionalOutputCycle>
              <Amount>1</Amount>
            </Item>
          </AdditionalOutput>
        </FactoryUpgrade>
        <ItemEffect>
          <EffectTargets>
            <Item>
              <GUID>1742008809</GUID> <!-- Citrus Tea Dryer -->
            </Item>
          </EffectTargets>
        </ItemEffect>
        <ExpeditionAttribute>
          <BaseMorale>0</BaseMorale>
          <ExpeditionAttributes>
            <Item>
              <Attribute>PerkMale</Attribute>
              <Amount>1</Amount>
            </Item>
            <Item>
              <Attribute>Medicine</Attribute>
              <Amount>50</Amount>
            </Item>
            <Item>
              <Attribute>Diplomacy</Attribute>
              <Amount>15</Amount>
            </Item>
          </ExpeditionAttributes>
          <ItemDifficulties>Hard</ItemDifficulties>
        </ExpeditionAttribute>
        <BuildingUpgrade>
          <WorkforceAmountUpgrade>
            <Value>-30</Value>
            <Percental>1</Percental>
          </WorkforceAmountUpgrade>
        </BuildingUpgrade>
      </Values>
    </Asset>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END SPECIALIST - Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher -->

Add to rewardpool

Adding the specialist to some rewardpools should not be that hard anymore. Pick some you like maybe? We take the following for now:

• 192840 - Specialists - Europe and SA Goods - Legendary
• 193963 - Specialists - Europe and SA Goods - Legendary - Guild
• 193079 - Specialists - Investor Specialists - Legendary

  <!-- START  ADD TO REWARDPOOL - Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher -->
  <ModOp GUID="192840,193963,193079" Type="add" Path="/Values/RewardPool/ItemsPool">
    <Item>
      <ItemLink>1742008803</ItemLink> <!-- SPECIALIST - Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher -->
    </Item>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END ADD TO REWARDPOOL - Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher -->

Add specialist to trigger

We will already create our main triggers that we will use for the other assets of this mod.

We know how the triggers work. We just need to define when to trigger the trigger. In our case, we need citrus to be available to make citrus tea. Citrus is one of the Tourist goods that unlocks at a certain amount of tourists. So we can only unlock Citrus Tea when we can actually also make citrus. We unhide everything for Citrus Tea at 750 tourists and unlock everything at 1250 tourists. In this case we do have 2 separate triggers. One for unhide and one for unlock

  <!-- START TRIGGER -->
  <ModOp Type="addnextSibling" GUID="130248">
    <!--UNHIDE - 750 Tourists -->
    <Asset>
      <Template>Trigger</Template>
      <Values>
        <Standard>
          <GUID>1742008811</GUID>
          <Name>MOD Trigger</Name>
        </Standard>
        <Trigger>
          <TriggerCondition>
            <Template>ConditionPlayerCounter</Template>
            <Values>
              <ConditionPlayerCounter>
                <PlayerCounter>PopulationByLevel</PlayerCounter>
                <Context>601379</Context> <!-- Tourists -->
                <CounterAmount>750</CounterAmount>
              </ConditionPlayerCounter>
            </Values>
          </TriggerCondition>
          <TriggerActions>
            <Item>
              <TriggerAction>
                <Template>ActionUnlockAsset</Template>
                <Values>
                  <ActionUnlockAsset>
                    <UnhideAssets>
                      <Item>
                        <Asset>1742000200</Asset> <!-- SPECIALIST - Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher -->
                      </Item>
                    </UnhideAssets>
                  </ActionUnlockAsset>
                </Values>
              </TriggerAction>
            </Item>
          </TriggerActions>
        </Trigger>
        <TriggerSetup />
      </Values>
    </Asset>
  </ModOp>
  <ModOp Type="addnextSibling" GUID="130248">
    <!--UNLOCK - 1250 Tourists -->
    <Asset>
      <Template>Trigger</Template>
      <Values>
        <Standard>
          <GUID>1742008812</GUID>
          <Name>MOD Trigger</Name>
        </Standard>
        <Trigger>
          <TriggerCondition>
            <Template>ConditionPlayerCounter</Template>
            <Values>
              <ConditionPlayerCounter>
                <PlayerCounter>PopulationByLevel</PlayerCounter>
                <Context>601379</Context> <!-- Tourists -->
                <CounterAmount>1250</CounterAmount>
              </ConditionPlayerCounter>
            </Values>
          </TriggerCondition>
          <TriggerActions>
            <Item>
              <TriggerAction>
                <Template>ActionUnlockAsset</Template>
                <Values>
                  <ActionUnlockAsset>
                    <UnlockAssets>
                      <Item>
                        <Asset>1742000200</Asset> <!-- SPECIALIST - Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher -->
                      </Item>
                    </UnlockAssets>
                  </ActionUnlockAsset>
                </Values>
              </TriggerAction>
            </Item>
          </TriggerActions>
        </Trigger>
        <TriggerSetup />
      </Values>
    </Asset>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END TRIGGER -->

Perfect! We now have our specialist ready to use!

Citrus Tea, the new good

Time to create our new good. We already have the icon for it. The rest is also not that complicated. A good has not that many proporties.

addNextSibling, Template, GUID, name, description, text

We will be adding this new good to the list of goods right after for example fish (GUID 1010200)

The template we use for a new good is <Template>Product</Template>.

  <!-- START ADD GOOD - Citrus Tea -->
  <ModOp Type="addNextSibling" GUID='1010200'>
    <Asset>
      <Template>Product</Template>
    </Asset>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END ADD GOOD - Citrus Tea -->

We add the GUID, name, icon and GUID of the description.

  <!-- START ADD GOOD - Citrus Tea -->
  <ModOp Type="addNextSibling" GUID='1010200'>
    <Asset>
      <Template>Product</Template>
      <Values>
        <Standard>
          <GUID>1742008805</GUID>
          <Name>Citrus Tea</Name>
          <IconFilename>data/graphics/icons/citrus-tea.png</IconFilename>
          <InfoDescription>1742008806</InfoDescription>
        </Standard>
      </Values>
    </Asset>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END ADD GOOD - Citrus Tea -->

Then we add the fallback text.

  <!-- START ADD GOOD - Citrus Tea -->
  <ModOp Type="addNextSibling" GUID='1010200'>
    <Asset>
      <Template>Product</Template>
      <Values>
        <Standard>
          <GUID>1742008805</GUID>
          <Name>Citrus Tea</Name>
          <IconFilename>data/graphics/icons/citrus-tea.png</IconFilename>
          <InfoDescription>1742008806</InfoDescription>
        </Standard>
        <Text>
          <LocaText>
            <English>
              <Text>Citrus Tea</Text>
              <Status>Exported</Status>
              <ExportCount>1</ExportCount>
            </English>
          </LocaText>
        </Text>
      </Values>
    </Asset>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END ADD GOOD - Citrus Tea -->

Product

Next is the important part of the product. It defines the most important proporties of the product.

StorageLevel

This can be:

• Building
• Area

Building is used for alle production goods.

Area is used for all “workforce products”.

In our case it is a production good so, building.

ProductCategory

Products are categorised. We have different categories:

• 11702 - Product Category Resource
• 11703 - Product Category Intermediate Good
• 11704 - Product Category Supply Good
• 11705 - Product Category Happiness Good
• 11706 - Product Category Money Good
• 11707 - Product Category Construction Material
• 11708 - Product Category Public Supply
• 11709 - Product Category Public Happiness
• 11710 - Product Category Public Money
• 134777 - Product Category Bus Need
• 135875 - Product Category Commercial Supply

In our case, it is the Product Category Happiness Good (GUID 11705).

BasePrice

We define a basprice for our good.

CivLevel

This will define on which citizen level the good is used. In our case it will be used for Engineers and Investors. So, CivLevel 4.

AssociatedRegion

Define where this good is assosiated with. There are a couple of regions we can choose from:

• Moderate (Old World)
• Colony01 (New World)
• Arctic (Arctic)
• Africa (Enbesa)

We can combine multiple regions. For example for us the citrus comes from the New World and we produce the good in the Old World. So both are associated with our good.

ProductionRegions

RegionType

Define where this good will be produced. There are a couple of regions we can choose from:

• Moderate (Old World)
• Colony01 (New World)
• Arctic (Arctic)
• Africa (Enbesa)

We can also combine multiple regions. But we only need 1 in this case. It will only be produced in the Old World.

RequiredDLCs

Lock the good if the required DLC is not available. We already saw this list before but here it is again:

• 410003 - Imperial Pack
• 410021 - Season Pass Player Assets
• 410069 - Season 2 Pass Reward
• 305 - Season 3 Pass Reward
• 25945 - Season 4 Bonus Content
• 410079 - Amusements Pack
• 116630 - Holiday Ornament Pack
• 4100010 - The Anarchist
• 410040 - Sunken Treasures
• 410041 - Botanica
• 410042 - The Passage
• 410059 - Seat Of Power
• 410070 - Bright Harvest
• 410071 - Land of Lions
• 410083 - Docklands
• 410084 - Tourist Season
• 410085 - The High Life
• 24961 - Seeds Of Change

We need in our case the Tourist DLC (GUID 410084).

<Product>
    <StorageLevel>Building</StorageLevel>
    <ProductCategory>11705</ProductCategory> <!-- Happiness Good -->
    <BasePrice>150</BasePrice>
    <CivLevel>4</CivLevel>
    <AssociatedRegion>Moderate;Colony01</AssociatedRegion>
    <ProductionRegions>
        <Item>
            <RegionType>Moderate</RegionType>
            <RequiredDLCs>
                <Item>
                    <RequiredDLC>410084</RequiredDLC> <!-- Tourist Season -->
                </Item>
            </RequiredDLCs>
        </Item>
    </ProductionRegions>
</Product>

ExpeditionAttribute

Define a flat base amount for morale and a flat amount if you want to add a specific attribute to the good.

We already saw the list but here it is again:

• Crafting
• Diplomacy
• Melee (Force)
• Might (Naval Power)
• Navigation
• Medicine
• Faith
• Hunting

In our case we add 0 base morale but an extra attribute of 20 medicine.

<ExpeditionAttribute>
    <BaseMorale>0</BaseMorale>
    <ExpeditionAttributes>
        <Item>
            <Attribute>Medicine</Attribute>
            <Amount>20</Amount>
        </Item>
    </ExpeditionAttributes>
</ExpeditionAttribute>

If we combine all this we get:

  <!-- START ADD GOOD - Citrus Tea -->
  <ModOp Type="addNextSibling" GUID='1010200'>
    <Asset>
      <Template>Product</Template>
      <Values>
        <Standard>
          <GUID>1742008805</GUID>
          <Name>Citrus Tea</Name>
          <IconFilename>data/graphics/icons/citrus-tea.png</IconFilename>
          <InfoDescription>1742008806</InfoDescription>
        </Standard>
        <Text>
          <LocaText>
            <English>
              <Text>Citrus Tea</Text>
              <Status>Exported</Status>
              <ExportCount>1</ExportCount>
            </English>
          </LocaText>
        </Text>
        <Product>
          <StorageLevel>Building</StorageLevel>
          <ProductCategory>11705</ProductCategory> <!-- Luxury Need -->
          <BasePrice>150</BasePrice>
          <CivLevel>4</CivLevel>
          <AssociatedRegion>Moderate</AssociatedRegion>
          <ProductionRegions>
            <Item>
              <RegionType>Moderate</RegionType>
              <RequiredDLCs>
                <Item>
                  <RequiredDLC>410084</RequiredDLC> <!-- Tourist Season -->
                </Item>
              </RequiredDLCs>
            </Item>
          </ProductionRegions>
        </Product>
        <ExpeditionAttribute>
          <BaseMorale>20</BaseMorale>
          <ExpeditionAttributes>
            <Item>
              <Attribute>Medicine</Attribute>
              <Amount>20</Amount>
            </Item>
          </ExpeditionAttributes>
        </ExpeditionAttribute>
      </Values>
    </Asset>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END ADD GOOD - Citrus Tea -->

Adding the good to ProductStorageLists & ProductList

We have created the good, but the next step in the process is telling the game to which ProductStorageList and ProductList we want to add the good. If we go to the warehouse or harbour, the goods are divided in different categories. We have to add our good to all the lists we want.

There are a lot of ProductStorageList and ProductList available, and it is hard in the beginning to find the right lists you need. The only advice I can give in the beginning is to find the first list in the assets.xml and then go through all of them. Then add every list you encounter and think your product can fit in.

ProductStorageList

To start we will add our product to the ProductStorageLists. We can now go through the whole assets.xml and search for all <Template>ProductStorageList</Template> and take the ones we need and add our product to those lists also. There are 8 lists in total and 2 of them are the right fit for this good. 120055 (StandardProductStorageList) and 120057 (StandardMarketplaceModerateStorageList).

• 120055 - StandardProductStorageList
• 120056 - StandardOilHarborStorageList
• 120061 - StandardCoalStoneStorageList
• 120057 - StandardMarketplaceModerateStorageList
• 120058 - StandardMarketplaceColonyStorageList
• 120059 - StandardMarketplaceArcticStorageList
• 122362 - StandardMarketplaceAfricaStorageList
• 120060 - EmptyStorageList

We go and look in the assets.xml for this list to be able to know what the path is we need to do the right Type=”add”.

<Asset>
  <Template>ProductStorageList</Template>
  <Values>
      <Standard>
          <GUID>120055</GUID>
          <Name>StandardProductStorageList</Name>
      </Standard>
      <ProductStorageList>
          <ProductList>
              <Item>
                  <Product>120008</Product>
              </Item>
              <Item>
                  <Product>1010196</Product>
              </Item>
              <Item>
                  <Product>1010200</Product>
              </Item>
              <Item>
                  <Product>1010195</Product>
              </Item>
              ...
          </ProductList>
      </ProductStorageList>
  </Values>
</Asset>

So, if we look at the path we should:

  <!-- START ADD GOOD TO StandartProductStorageList -->
  <ModOp Type="add" GUID='120055,120057' Path="/Values/ProductStorageList/ProductList">
    <Item>
      <Product>1742008805</Product> <!-- GOOD - Citrus Tea  -->
    </Item>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END ADD GOOD TO StandartProductStorageList -->

ProductList

We can now go through the whole assets.xml and search for all <Template>ProductList</Template> and take the ones we need and add our product to those lists. This amount of ProductList is a lot longer. There are at the moment of writing this tutorial 102 ProductLists.

For easy access I added them underneath and put them together based on their function:

Main tab with all products in the kontor.

• 502017 - FarmerUnlockGoods
• 502018 - WorkerUnlockGoods
• 502019 - ArtisanUnlockGoods
• 502020 - EngineerUnlockGoods
• 502066 - EngineerUnlockGoods_WithoutOil
• 502308 - TouristUnlockGoods
• 502021 - InvestorUnlockGoods
• 502134 - ScholarUnlockGoods
• 502022 - JornaleroUnlockGoods
• 502023 - ObreroUnlockGoods
• 502024 - ExplorerUnlockGoods
• 502025 - TechnicianUnlockGoods
• 502219 - TechnicianUnlockGoods_WithoutScrap
• 502071 - ShepherdUnlockGoods
• 502072 - ElderUnlockGoods
• 502175 - ScrapForInKontorFilter

For the idividual tabs (resources, materials,…):

• 501995 - FarmerConsumerGoods
• 501996 - WorkerConsumerGoods
• 501997 - ArtisansConsumerGoods
• 501998 - EngineerConsumerGoods
• 501999 - InvestorConsumerGoods
• 502000 - JornaleroConsumerGoods
• 502001 - ObreroConsumerGoods
• 502002 - ExplorerConsumerGoods
• 502003 - TechnicianConsumerGoods
• 502073 - ShepherdConsumerGoods
• 502074 - ElderConsumerGoods
• 502133 - ScholarConsumerGoods
• 502309 - TouristConsumerGoods
• 501957 - ConstructionMaterials
• 502168 - ConstructionMaterials_AfricaSort
• 502221 - ConstructionMaterials_WithoutScrap
• 502049 - RawMaterials_Europe
• 502050 - RawMaterials_SouthAmerica
• 502051 - RawMaterials_Arctic
• 502075 - RawMaterials_Africa
• 502037 - AgriculturalGoods_Europe
• 502038 - AgriculturalGoods_SouthAmerica
• 502039 - AgriculturalGoods_Arctic
• 502076 - AgriculturalGoods_Africa
• 502043 - IntermediateGoods_Europe
• 502044 - IntermediateGoods_SouthAmerica
• 502045 - IntermediateGoods_Arctic
• 502077 - IntermediateGoods_Africa
• 502031 - AllConsumerGoods_EuropeSort
• 502034 - AllConsumerGoods_SouthAmericaSort
• 502035 - AllConsumerGoods_ArcticSort
• 502081 - AllConsumerGoods_AfricaSort
• 502052 - AllRawMaterials_EuropeSort
• 502053 - AllRawMaterials_SouthAmericaSort
• 502054 - AllRawMaterials_ArcticSort
• 502082 - AllRawMaterials_AfricaSort
• 502040 - AllAgricultureGoods_EuropeSort
• 502041 - AllAgricultureGoods_SouthAmericaSort
• 502042 - AllAgricultureGoods_ArcticSort
• 502083 - AllAgricultureGoods_AfricaSort
• 502046 - AllIntermediateGoods_EuropeSort
• 502047 - AllIntermediateGoods_SouthAmericaSort
• 502048 - AllIntermediateGoods_ArcticSort
• 502084 - AllIntermediateGoods_AfricaSort
• 501955 - AllGoodsWithoutStrategicGoods
• 501961 - StrategicGoods
• 501992 - LuxuryGoods
• 501993 - BasicNeedGoods
• 501994 - HeatGoods

For the workforce boost menu. Position matters!

• 502004 - FarmerWorkforceGoods
• 502005 - WorkerWorkforceGoods
• 502006 - ArtisanWorkforceGoods
• 502007 - EngineerWorkforceGoods
• 502008 - JornaleroWorkforceGoods
• 502009 - ObreroWorkforceGoods
• 502010 - ExplorerWorkforceGoods
• 502011 - TechnicianWorkforceGoods
• 502069 - ShepherdWorkforceGoods
• 502070 - ElderWorkforceGoods

Session goods:

• 502012 - ModerateSessionGoods
• 502013 - SouthAmericaSessionGoods
• 502014 - ArcticSessionGoods
• 502085 - AfricaSessionGoods

Docklands importers. Position matters!

• 502233 - Tattershire_ImportGoods
• 502234 - Feedl_ImportGoods
• 502235 - Chanteuse_ImportGoods
• 502236 - Qinsa_ImportGoods
• 502237 - OldLevants_ImportGoods
• 502238 - Kitea_ImportGoods
• 502239 - PromistTrust_ImportGoods
• 502240 - Ganymedia_ImportGoods
• 502242 - Docklands_ImporterGoods

Not sure what those do:

• 502016 - AllGoodsUnlock_EuropeSort
• 502065 - AllGoodsUnlock_EuropeSort_WithoutOil
• 502027 - AllGoodsUnlock_SouthAmericaSort
• 502067 - AllGoodsUnlock_SouthAmericaSort_WithoutOil
• 502028 - AllGoodsUnlock_ArcticSort
• 502068 - AllGoodsUnlock_ArcticSort_WithoutOil
• 502078 - AllGoodsUnlock_AfricaSort
• 502080 - AllGoodsUnlock_AfricaSort_WithoutOil
• 502220 - AllGoodsUnlock_EuropeSort_WithoutOil_WithoutScrap

Not used anymore:

• 501954 - AllGoods_OLD
• 501956 - ConsumerGoods_OLD
• 501958 - RawMaterials_OLD
• 501959 - AgriculturalGoods_OLD
• 501960 - IntermediateGoods_OLD

Which ones are we going to use? Well, let’s go through the whole list. Important to know is that the order we put the good into the list is important. If we would just use Typ=”add” it will be added at the end of the list. If we want to add it immediatly after a certain good we use Type=”addNextSibling” or the one before an item Type=”addPrevSibling”.

Our good Citrus Tea is a luxury good available for Engineers and Investors. It is produced by Workers in the Old World. It is an Old World session good. We will make it availble for selling in Docklands by one of the sellers (Old Levant & Co.).

So we are using:

• 502020 - EngineerUnlockGoods
• 502066 - EngineerUnlockGoods_WithoutOil
• 501998 - EngineerConsumerGoods
• 502031 - AllConsumerGoods_EuropeSort
• 501992 - LuxuryGoods
• 502005 - WorkerWorkforceGoods
• 502012 - ModerateSessionGoods
• 502237 - OldLevants_ImportGoods
• 502242 - Docklands_ImporterGoods

We combine some of them to make sure we can add them right after the same products in the lists.

  <!-- START ADD GOOD TO ProductLists -->
  <ModOp Type="add" GUID="502020,502066,501998,502031,501992,502012" Path="/Values/ProductList/List">
    <Item>
      <Product>1742008805</Product> <!-- GOOD - Citrus Tea  -->
    </Item>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END ADD GOOD TO ProductList -->

  <!-- START ADD GOOD TO WorkerWorkforceGoods - after bread (1010213) -->
  <ModOp Type="addNextSibling" GUID="502005" Path="/Values/ProductList/List/Item[Product='1010213']">
    <Item>
      <Product>1742008805</Product> <!-- GOOD - Citrus Tea  -->
    </Item>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END ADD GOOD TO WorkerWorkforceGoods -->

  <!-- START ADD GOOD TO OldLevants_ImportGoods + Docklands_ImporterGoods - after Hibiscus Tea (114390) -->
  <ModOp Type="addNextSibling" GUID="502005" Path="/Values/ProductList/List/Item[Product='114390']">
    <Item>
      <Product>1742008805</Product> <!-- GOOD - Citrus Tea  -->
    </Item>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END ADD GOOD TO OldLevants_ImportGoods + Docklands_ImporterGoods -->

Building Citrus Tea

Now that we have our product and we made sure the product is visible in our kontor, it is time to make the building that will actually produce our new product.

The code of the building

We are going to make a production building. This building has a certain template: <Template>FactoryBuilding7</Template> and add it as a next sibling after one of the first buildings, in our case 1010343 (Farmer Residence - ResidenceBuilding).

<!-- START PRODUCTION - Citrus Tea -->
<ModOp Type="addNextSibling" GUID='1010343'>
    <Asset>
        <Template>FactoryBuilding7</Template>
        <Values>
          ...
        </Values>
    </Asset>
</ModOp><!-- END PRODUCTION - Citrus Tea -->

We can go to our assets.xml file and search for multiple examples to see how this template is structured and what kind of possibilities it has. We will not cover all possibilities for now, but just the ones we are going to use in this building.

Standard

This part should not have any secrets anymore for us. We can easily fill this in with all our info.

<Standard>
    <GUID>1742008809</GUID>
    <Name>Citrus Tea Dryer</Name>
    <IconFilename>data/graphics/icons/citrus-tea.png</IconFilename>
    <InfoDescription>1742008810</InfoDescription>
</Standard>

Building

This part contains a couple of different parts. We will only use 2 for this building.

BuildModeRandomRotation

<BuildModeRandomRotation>90</BuildModeRandomRotation>

Define how many degrees you can rotate the building when placing the building.

• 90
• 180

We choose for rotation 90 degrees.

AssociatedRegions

<AssociatedRegions>Moderate</AssociatedRegions>

Defines in which region we can build this building.

Regions:

• Moderate
• Colony01
• Arctic
• Africa

In our case moderate. Because it is only buildable in the Old World.

Cost

Every building has a building cost. Depending on what you need you can add the different building materials. You can add whatever you want. Not only normal building materials can be used. For example weapons or even consumer goods can be used.

<Cost>
    <Costs>
        <Item>
            <Ingredient>1010017</Ingredient> <!-- Coins -->
            <Amount>6000</Amount>
        </Item>
        <Item>
            <Ingredient>1010196</Ingredient> <!-- Timber -->
            <Amount>25</Amount>
        </Item>
        <Item>
            <Ingredient>1010205</Ingredient> <!-- Bricks -->
            <Amount>15</Amount>
        </Item>
        <Item>
            <Ingredient>1010218</Ingredient> <!-- Steal Beams -->
            <Amount>5</Amount>
        </Item>
    </Costs>
</Cost>

For our Citrus Tea Dryer building, we need to have 4000 coins, 25 timer, 15 bricks and 5 steal beams.

Object

Within the object we can define the model of the building we are creating. For now let’s just use the link to a model we will be creating later in this tutorial. We link to a .cfg file. This is a file that references to model, the textures, ect. But more about that later in this tutorial.

We can add multiple variations for the building.

<Object>
    <Variations>
        <Item>
            <Filename>data/graphics/buildings/production/production_citrus_tea/production_citrus_tea.cfg</Filename>
        </Item>
    </Variations>
</Object>

Selection

There are a couple of possibilities but for this we only going to use ParticipantMessageArcheType. This defines which portrait we will show in the menu at the bottom right that pops up when selecting the building.

• [NONE]
• Resident_tier01 - Farmers
• Resident_tier02 - Workers
• Resident_tier03 - Artisan
• Resident_tier04 - Engineers
• Resident_tier05 - Investors
• Resident_tier01_atWork - Farmers
• Resident_tier02_atWork - Workers
• Resident_tier03_atWork - Artisan
• Resident_tier04_atWork - Engineers
• Resident_tier04_atWork - Investors
• SA_Resident_tier01 - Jornaleros
• SA_Resident_tier02 - Obreros
• SA_Resident_tier01_atWork - Jornaleros
• SA_Resident_tier02_atWork - Obreros
• Arctic_Resident_tier01 - Explorers
• Arctic_Resident_tier02 - Technicians
• Arctic_Resident_tier01_atWork - Explorers
• Arctic_Resident_tier02_atWork - Technicians
• Africa_Resident_tier01 - Shepherds
• Africa_Resident_tier02 - Elders
• Africa_Resident_tier03 - Scholars
• Resident_Tourist
• Campaign_character_01_demolition_expert
• Void_Trader
• Third_party_05_Sarmento
• GGJ_Yaosca

<Selection>
    <ParticipantMessageArcheType>Resident_tier02_atWork</ParticipantMessageArcheType>
</Selection>

For this building, we will use the Old World Worker workforce, so Resident_tier02_atWork.

Text

We have again some basic fallback localization text.

<Text>
    <LocaText>
        <English>
            <Text>Citrus Tea Dryer</Text>
            <Status>Exported</Status>
            <ExportCount>2</ExportCount>
        </English>
    </LocaText>
</Text>

SoundEmitter

This will define which sounds will be played when clicking the building or zoom in to the building.

<SoundEmitter>
    <ActiveSounds>
        <Item>
            <Sound>270300</Sound> <!-- Tea Spicer sounds -->
        </Item>
        <Item>
            <Sound>270266</Sound> <!-- Tea Spicer sounds -->
        </Item>
    </ActiveSounds>
</SoundEmitter>

For our building we will reuse the existing Tea Spicer sounds. To find those sounds we can search for the Tea Spicer building in the main assets.xml and look for this part.

FactoryBase

This is an important part of the building. This will define what the building will process as input goods (FactoryInputs) and produce as output good (FactoryOutputs), the time it will take to process the good in seconds (CycleTime) and if this building is the main factory that produces this good. If you create a building that produces the same good as a vanilla building you set the IsMainFactory to 0 and not 1.

• FactoryInputs
• FactoryOutputs
• CycleTime
• IsMainFactory

<FactoryBase>
    <FactoryInputs>
        <Item>
            <Product>133097</Product> <!-- Citrus Fruits -->
            <Amount>1</Amount>
            <StorageAmount>10</StorageAmount>
        </Item>
    </FactoryInputs>
    <FactoryOutputs>
        <Item>
            <Product>1742008805</Product> <!-- GOOD - Citrus Tea -->
            <Amount>1</Amount>
            <StorageAmount>10</StorageAmount>
        </Item>
    </FactoryOutputs>
    <CycleTime>60</CycleTime>
    <IsMainFactory>1</IsMainFactory>
</FactoryBase>

In our case we have Citrus Fruits as an input good. We process 1 ton every cycle and we can store 10 tons. Every cycle we produce/output 1 ton of Citrus Tea. We can also store 10 tons of it. A cycle takes 60 seconds. This building is the main factory that produces Citrus Tea.

Maintenance

Every building has an upkeep in most cases coins and workforce.

Workforce

• 1010052 - Farmer Workforce
• 1010115 - Worker Workforce
• 1010116 - Artisan Workforce
• 1010117 - Engineer Workforce
• 1010128 - Investor Workforce
• 1010366 - Jornalero Workforce
• 1010367 - Obrero Workforce
• 112653 - Explorer Workforce
• 112654 - Technician Workforce
• 114340 - Shepherd Workforce
• 114341 - Elder Workforce
• 124478 - Scholar Workforce

<Maintenance>
    <Maintenances>
        <Item>
            <Product>1010017</Product> <!-- Amount of coins upkeep -->
            <Amount>150</Amount>
            <InactiveAmount>50</InactiveAmount>
        </Item>
        <Item>
            <Product>1010115</Product> <!-- Amount of Workforce - Workers -->
            <Amount>40</Amount>
        </Item>
    </Maintenances>
</Maintenance>

We choose 150 coins as upkeep costs. When the building is set to pause it still costs 50 coins upkeep. We match our workforce with the choosen ParticipantMessageArcheType, in our case 40 Worker workforce.

Industrializable

We can electrify a building to get a productionboost of 100%. We set the value to 1.

<Industrializable>
    <BoostedByIndustrialization>1</BoostedByIndustrialization>
</Industrializable>

We are now done with our building. This part of the code should look like this:

<!-- START PRODUCTION - Citrus Tea -->
<ModOp Type="addNextSibling" GUID='1010343'>
    <Asset>
        <Template>FactoryBuilding7</Template>
        <Values>
            <Standard>
                <GUID>1742008809</GUID>
                <Name>Citrus Tea Dryer</Name>
                <IconFilename>data/graphics/icons/citrus-tea.png</IconFilename>
                <InfoDescription>1742008810</InfoDescription>
            </Standard>
            <Building>
                <BuildModeRandomRotation>90</BuildModeRandomRotation>
                <AssociatedRegions>Moderate</AssociatedRegions>
            </Building>
            <Cost>
                <Costs>
                    <Item>
                        <Ingredient>1010017</Ingredient> <!-- Coins -->
                        <Amount>6000</Amount>
                    </Item>
                    <Item>
                        <Ingredient>1010196</Ingredient> <!-- Timber -->
                        <Amount>25</Amount>
                    </Item>
                    <Item>
                        <Ingredient>1010205</Ingredient> <!-- Bricks -->
                        <Amount>15</Amount>
                    </Item>
                    <Item>
                        <Ingredient>1010218</Ingredient> <!-- Steal Beams -->
                        <Amount>5</Amount>
                    </Item>
                    <Item>
                        <Ingredient>1010207</Ingredient> <!-- Windows -->
                    </Item>
                    <Item>
                        <Ingredient>1010202</Ingredient> <!-- Reinforced concrete -->
                    </Item>
                </Costs>
            </Cost>
            <Object>
              <Variations>
                <Item>
                  <Filename>data/graphics/buildings/production/production_citrus_tea/production_citrus_tea.cfg</Filename>
                </Item>
              </Variations>
            </Object>
            <Selection>
                <ParticipantMessageArcheType>Resident_tier02_atWork</ParticipantMessageArcheType>
            </Selection>
            <Text>
                <LocaText>
                    <English>
                        <Text>Citrus Tea Dryer</Text>
                        <Status>Exported</Status>
                        <ExportCount>2</ExportCount>
                    </English>
                </LocaText>
            </Text>
            <SoundEmitter>
                <ActiveSounds>
                    <Item>
                        <Sound>270300</Sound> <!-- Tea Spicer sounds -->
                    </Item>
                    <Item>
                        <Sound>270266</Sound> <!-- Tea Spicer sounds -->
                    </Item>
                </ActiveSounds>
            </SoundEmitter>
            <FactoryBase>
                <FactoryInputs>
                    <Item>
                        <Product>133097</Product> <!-- Citrus Fruits -->
                        <Amount>1</Amount>
                        <StorageAmount>10</StorageAmount>
                    </Item>
                </FactoryInputs>
                <FactoryOutputs>
                    <Item>
                        <Product>1742008805</Product> <!-- GOOD - Citrus Tea -->
                        <Amount>1</Amount>
                        <StorageAmount>10</StorageAmount>
                    </Item>
                </FactoryOutputs>
                <CycleTime>60</CycleTime>
                <IsMainFactory>1</IsMainFactory>
            </FactoryBase>
            <Maintenance>
                <Maintenances>
                    <Item>
                        <Product>1010017</Product> <!-- Amount of coins upkeep -->
                        <Amount>150</Amount>
                        <InactiveAmount>50</InactiveAmount>
                    </Item>
                    <Item>
                        <Product>1010115</Product> <!-- Amount of Workforce - Workers -->
                        <Amount>40</Amount>
                    </Item>
                </Maintenances>
            </Maintenance>
            <Industrializable>
                <BoostedByIndustrialization>1</BoostedByIndustrialization>
            </Industrializable>
        </Values>
    </Asset>
</ModOp><!-- END PRODUCTION - Citrus Tea -->

ItemEffectTargetPool

We now have our building ready to use. In the game we have items that can boost buildings. But to be able to boost those buildings we need to add those buildings to a certain pool.

For example in our current situation, we have a building that produces tea, this is a drink. There are more then 130 different pools we can use and add our building to. Go to the main assets.xml and search for <Template>ItemEffectTargetPool</Template>. Go through all those ItemEffectTargetPools and look at the ones we need.

• 6000018 - all production
• 193856 - all production except powerplant
• 193875 - all production boosted by electricity
• 193778 - all drinks production
• 190897 - all food productions

We choose the add type, and add those to the right GUID’s and the correct path within the pool.

<!-- START ADD BUILDING TO ALL ITEMEFFECTTARGETPOOLS  -->
<ModOp Type="add" GUID='6000018,193856,193875,193778,190897' Path="/Values/ItemEffectTargetPool/EffectTargetGUIDs">
    <Item>
        <GUID>1742008809</GUID> <!-- BUILDING - Citrus Tea Dryer  -->
    </Item>
</ModOp><!-- END ADD BUILDING TO ALL ITEMEFFECTTARGETPOOLS -->

Productionchain

Create productionchain

When we want to build our new building that produces our new good, we go to the building menu and we can see the production chain of to produce that good. In our case the good Citrus Tea, and the chain where we want the citrus orchard with an arrow to the new building, the Citrus Tea Dryer.

To do this we need to tell the game to create that productionchain. We will be creating a <Template>ProductionChain</Template>. Search for this template to see an example. We will add our new productionchain as a next sibling right after the first productionchain (500091).

<!-- START PRODUCTION CHAIN - Citrus Tea -->
<ModOp Type="addNextSibling" GUID='500091'>
    <Asset>
        <Template>ProductionChain</Template>
        <Values>
            <Standard>
                <GUID>1742008807</GUID> <!-- CHAIN - Citrus Tea  -->
                <Name>Citrus Tea</Name>
                <IconFilename>data/graphics/icons/citrus-tea.png</IconFilename>
                <InfoDescription>1742008808</InfoDescription>
            </Standard>
            <ProductionChain>
                <Building>1742008809</Building> <!-- BUILDING - Citrus Tea Dryer  -->
                <Tier1>
                    <Item>
                        <Building>133031</Building> <!-- BUILDING - Orchard: Citrus Fruit -->
                    </Item>
                </Tier1>
            </ProductionChain>
            <Locked />
            <Text>
                <LocaText>
                    <English>
                        <Text>Citrus Tea Dryer</Text>
                        <Status>Exported</Status>
                        <ExportCount>2</ExportCount>
                    </English>
                </LocaText>
            </Text>
        </Values>
    </Asset>
</ModOp><!-- END PRODUCTION CHAIN - Citrus Tea -->

The new part in this template is the <ProductionChain> part. This contains the different buildings, starting with the final building that produces our final good.

We then go 1 tier deeper to our orchard building. We use the correct GUID’s as a reference.

Add to building menu

Now that we have our productionchain, we need to add this chain to our buildingmenu. Otherwise the game will not show it and you will not be able to build the building.

There are different buildingmenus. Search for <Template>ConstructionCategory</Template> to find all the different constructioncategories.

The 2 big categories are the one where the buildings are grouped based on the citizen tier, and the other one is the one where it is grouped based on the function. They are also grouped per session type.

We will be using:

• 25000192 - moderate construction menu 4 (tier) > Engineers
• 500945 - moderate construction menu needs (category)

We add the chain as a next sibling to both ConstructionCategories at the right path.

We do add something new here that we did not see before. We want to add this chain in the buildingmenu at a specific point. For example, after of before another chain instead of at the end. We use for example [Building=’500902’] for this at the end of the path. We declare the GUID of another chain, and our new chain will be added as the next sibling of this chain. To know where you can add it you can go ingame and see the different positions in the buildingmenu and look up the chain with the GUID search from https://schwubbe.de/modding_blog.php#beitrag15, or you can go and look in the assets.xml to find the position in the corresponding ConstructionCategory and search with https://schwubbe.de/modding_blog.php#beitrag15 for some of the GUID you can see there to know which position you want.

We will put it after 500902 (Coffee) for both construction categories.

<!-- START ADD CHAIN TO BUILDING MENU ConstructionCategory - Engineers / moderate construction menu 4 (tier) (25000192) -->
<ModOp Type="addNextSibling" GUID='25000192' Path="/Values/ConstructionCategory/BuildingList/Item[Building='500902']">
    <Item>
        <Building>1742008807</Building> <!-- CHAIN - Citrus Tea  -->
    </Item>
</ModOp><!-- END ADD CHAIN TO BUILDING MENU -->

<!-- START ADD CHAIN TO BUILDING MENU ConstructionCategory - Consumables / moderate construction menu needs (category) (500945) -->
<ModOp Type="addNextSibling" GUID='500945' Path="/Values/ConstructionCategory/BuildingList/Item[Building='500902']">
    <Item>
        <Building>1742008807</Building> <!-- CHAIN - Citrus Tea  -->
    </Item>
</ModOp><!-- END ADD CHAIN TO BUILDING MENU CATEGORY -->

Add consumption

We created our new good, created the building that produces the good but still need to link this new good to our actual population we want to consume the good. The Citrus Tea will be a luxury good for Engineers and Investors.

Every citizen tier has a list of goods they consume or need. This list can be found in the <Template>PopulationLevel7</Template> for the specific citizen tier.

Go to the main assets.xml and search for <Template>PopulationLevel7</Template>. You will find 13 population tiers at the moment. Let’s go to Moderate Population 4, this is the Engineers.

If we go down the structure we see <PopulationLevel7> followed by <PopulationInputs>. We then have a list of <Item> nodes. All those <Item> nodes are inputs the ingineers require. For example, the first we see is GUID 1010217, which is Canned food.

<PopulationLevel7>
  <PopulationInputs>
    <Item>
      <Product>1010217</Product>
      <Amount>0.00034188</Amount>
      <SupplyWeight>12</SupplyWeight>
      <MoneyValue>40</MoneyValue>
    </Item>
    ...
  </PopulationInputs>
</PopulationLevel7>

Apart from the GUID for the required good, we see some other things depending on the good. For some of the goods we see a Amount, SupplyWeight, MoneyValue, HappinessValue, FullWeightPopulationCount or NoWeightPopulationCount.

Amount

This wil determine the amount that will be consumed by this population tier. Be aware of balancing this value. This value seems really weird and is not that easy to understand.

Example for Coffee for Engineers:

The value we see there is 0.000784314. This is the amount what 1 resident consumes every second. So, to know how much 1 residence (so 1 building of that citizen) consumes every minute we need to multiply that amount by 60 and then by the amount of max residents a residence can house.

0.000784314 x 60 x 40 = 1,8823536 ton/min

Example for Penny Farthings Investors:

0.000833333 x 60 x 50 = 2,499999 ton/min

SupplyWeight

This defines how many residents that good or service if being fully supplied attracts to the residence. This is used for basic needs. For example if SupplyWeight is set to 20, when fully supplied the good er service, 20 extra residents will be added to that residence.

MoneyValue

This defines the amount of money you will get by providing this good or service to this citizen tier. The amount is multiplied by the amount of citizen that is inside this residence divided by 100. So if you want 10 extra coins with a farmers good, you use 100, because there are 10 farmers.

Example for engineers: There are 40 engineers. Canned food has a MoneyValue of 40. So, ingame you will get 40*40/100, so 16 coins.

HappinessValue

Same as for the MoneyValue, but for happiness. Basic needs provide money and add extra citizen. Luxury goods mostly give money and happiness. This HappinessValue is a flat amount.

FullWeightPopulationCount

FullWeightPopulationCount defines the max population for which you could get a penalty for happiness for not fullfulling this luxury need.

NoWeightPopulationCount

NoWeightPopulationCount defines at which citizen level we unlock this good or service and it will start have an impact on this citizen tier.

So, let’s see what we want now for our 2 citizen tiers. We will be adding extra goods to the alreay existing PopulationInputs. We look at the structure of the citizen tier for the path where we have to add our new good.

Then we decide the values for amount, happiness and money. We do not take the other into account for now.

  <!-- START ADD TO CONSUMED GOODS - Engineers -->
  <ModOp Type="add" GUID='15000003' Path="/Values/PopulationLevel7/PopulationInputs">
    <Item>
      <Product>1742008805</Product> <!-- GOOD - Citrus Tea -->
      <Amount>0.000130719</Amount>
      <HappinessValue>3</HappinessValue>
      <MoneyValue>80</MoneyValue>
    </Item>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END ADD TO CONSUMED GOODS - Engineers -->

  <!-- START ADD TO CONSUMED GOODS - Investors -->
  <ModOp Type="add" GUID='15000004' Path="/Values/PopulationLevel7/PopulationInputs">
    <Item>
      <Product>1742008805</Product> <!-- GOOD - Citrus Tea -->
      <Amount>0.000261438</Amount>
      <HappinessValue>5</HappinessValue>
      <MoneyValue>120</MoneyValue>
    </Item>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END ADD TO CONSUMED GOODS - Investors -->

Boostable factories

Another extra addition we can do is make sure the new building, the Citrus Tea Dryer has boostable working conditions. We can add the new building to that BoostableFactories list.

We have a look in the main assets.xml where we can find this list and make sure to add it with the right ModOp.

  <!-- START ADD TO WORKING CONDITIONS - Workers -->
  <ModOp Type="add" GUID="25000087" Path="/Values/WorkforceMenu/BoostableFactories">
    <Item>
      <Factory>1742008809</Factory> <!-- BUILDING -  BUILDING - Citrus Tea Dryer -->
    </Item>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END ADD TO WORKING CONDITIONS - Workers -->

Add other things to triggers

We already added our specialist to the trigger, but we still need to add the other things to the triggers so they are unlocked ingame.

• 1742000202 - Citrus Tea (Good)
• 1742000204 - Citrus Tea (Chain)
• 1742000206 - Citrus Tea Dryer (Building)

  <!-- START TRIGGER -->
  <ModOp Type="addnextSibling" GUID="130248">
    <!--UNHIDE - 750 Tourists -->
    <Asset>
      <Template>Trigger</Template>
      <Values>
        <Standard>
          <GUID>1742008811</GUID>
          <Name>MOD Trigger</Name>
        </Standard>
        <Trigger>
          <TriggerCondition>
            <Template>ConditionPlayerCounter</Template>
            <Values>
              <Condition />
              <ConditionPlayerCounter>
                <PlayerCounter>PopulationByLevel</PlayerCounter>
                <Context>601379</Context> <!-- Tourists -->
                <CounterAmount>750</CounterAmount>
              </ConditionPlayerCounter>
            </Values>
          </TriggerCondition>
          <TriggerActions>
            <Item>
              <TriggerAction>
                <Template>ActionUnlockAsset</Template>
                <Values>
                  <Action />
                  <ActionUnlockAsset>
                    <UnhideAssets>
                      <Item>
                        <Asset>1742008803</Asset> <!-- SPECIALIST - Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher -->
                      </Item>
                      <Item>
                        <Asset>1742008805</Asset> <!-- GOOD - Citrus Tea -->
                      </Item>
                      <Item>
                        <Asset>1742008807</Asset> <!-- CHAIN - Citrus Tea -->
                      </Item>
                      <Item>
                        <Asset>1742008809</Asset> <!-- BUILDING - Citrus Tea Dryer  -->
                      </Item>
                    </UnhideAssets>
                  </ActionUnlockAsset>
                </Values>
              </TriggerAction>
            </Item>
          </TriggerActions>
        </Trigger>
        <TriggerSetup />
      </Values>
    </Asset>
  </ModOp>
  <ModOp Type="addnextSibling" GUID="130248">
    <!--UNLOCK - 1250 Tourists -->
    <Asset>
      <Template>Trigger</Template>
      <Values>
        <Standard>
          <GUID>1742008812</GUID>
          <Name>MOD Trigger</Name>
        </Standard>
        <Trigger>
          <TriggerCondition>
            <Template>ConditionPlayerCounter</Template>
            <Values>
              <Condition />
              <ConditionPlayerCounter>
                <PlayerCounter>PopulationByLevel</PlayerCounter>
                <Context>601379</Context> <!-- Tourists -->
                <CounterAmount>1250</CounterAmount>
              </ConditionPlayerCounter>
            </Values>
          </TriggerCondition>
          <TriggerActions>
            <Item>
              <TriggerAction>
                <Template>ActionUnlockAsset</Template>
                <Values>
                  <Action />
                  <ActionUnlockAsset>
                    <UnlockAssets>
                      <Item>
                        <Asset>1742008803</Asset> <!-- SPECIALIST - Tony Lipus, Citrus tea smasher -->
                      </Item>
                      <Item>
                        <Asset>1742008805</Asset> <!-- GOOD - Citrus Tea -->
                      </Item>
                      <Item>
                        <Asset>1742008807</Asset> <!-- CHAIN - Citrus Tea -->
                      </Item>
                      <Item>
                        <Asset>1742008809</Asset> <!-- BUILDING - Citrus Tea Dryer  -->
                      </Item>
                    </UnlockAssets>
                  </ActionUnlockAsset>
                </Values>
              </TriggerAction>
            </Item>
          </TriggerActions>
        </Trigger>
        <TriggerSetup />
      </Values>
    </Asset>
  </ModOp>
  <!-- END TRIGGER -->

The creation of the building

The last step we need to take is the creation of the building for our Citrus Tea Dryer. For this tutorial we are not going to create a new building, but change some textures of and existing building.

We can have a look at some of the original buildings we will change. I looked ingame and the Artisanal Kitchen, Champagne Cellar or the Advanced Coffee Roaster are all good choices with some nice changes.

We will be using the Artisanal Kitchen.

Where to find the original building

First of all we need the original files for the Artisanal Kitchen. To find those files we need some thinking.

The Artisanal Kitchen is released in the original game, so we can find this building inside the data8.rda. But even then it could be a lot of opening folders before we finally would find it.

An easier way would be to find the path to this building immediatly. Let’s use our beloved website to find a GUID again. Go to https://schwubbe.de/modding_blog.php#beitrag15 and search for “Artisanal Kitchen”. We find the GUID 1010293.

Dive into the main assets.xml and search for <GUID>1010293</GUID>. You will find a <Template>FactoryBuilding7</Template> for this corresponding GUID. This is the place where we can find the original building and location.

Scroll down untill you encounter the <Object> part.

<Object>
    <Variations>
        <Item>
          <Filename>data/graphics/buildings/production/food_03/food_03.cfg</Filename>
        </Item>
    </Variations>
</Object>

We can see the path to a .cfg file, this is the one we need.

Copy the original building folder and rename

Now go to the extracted data8.rda folder and follow the path to find this specific cfg file. We actually need the complete folder data/graphics/buildings/production/food_03. Copy this folder to your location of this mod with the correct folder structure like you created and rename food_03 to production_citrus_tea.

If we have a look what is inside this folder we can see some different folders and files.

rdm

The first folder we will have a look at is the rdm folder. This contains the models of our building. All those files are in the .rdm format. We can not open this format with a standard program. If you want to have a look at the model you can use a rdm converter to convert to a more accessible format like glTF. This format can be opened by a standard Windows program.

• https://github.com/lukts30/rdm4

For now we will just convert the food_03_lod0.rdm to food_03_lod0.glb so you can have a look at the building we will be using. Open this food_03_lod0.glb with 3D-viewer which should be available out of the box on a windows computer.

We can turn around the building in this viewer. If we look at this model we can see all the different parts of the building, but we do not see the details like the windows, or the ground, or the walls. That is because the model itself does not contain those details. The modal is the raw structure.

0, 1, 2 (3, 4)

We can see different versions of this model, with at the end a number. The number refers to a version of the building with more or less details. Every building is build out of polygons. The more polygons, the more details but the more resources it needs to be rendered by the game. It is finding the balance between a lot of polygons to get the most beautiful building and making sure the building does not keep a big pressure on the processing of the game. A solution for that is to have different versions of every building.

If we are zoomed out, we are not able to see the details of the building because it is tiny. So no need to have all those details and there is no advantage of processing all those details. For that lower detailed buildings are used. If we are zoomed in, we do want to have all those details so we have a high quality/detailed version for when we are zoomed in and this puts a lot of pressure on the performance.

0 is the zoomed in version with a lot of details. 1 is the inbetween version and the 2 is the low version for zoomed out views. If you open the food_03_lod3 and put it next to the food_03_lod0 you will see a big difference in details. There are even really optimized versions 3 and 4 for some buildings.

For this tutorial we are actually not going to change the model itself. So we can actually delete the rdm folder. But now you have some basic knowledge about the models used in the game.

Maps

In the maps folder we can find all the textures/maps of the building. The building is a 3D model and this modal has textures/maps wrapped around it to give it his looks and details. We will be changing those textures to give the building another look.

The maps folder contains a lot of different textures/maps. For example the textures for the building itself, the texture for the ground underneath the building,…

All those files are the .dds format, but have different functions.

0, 1, 2 (3, 4)

We can see the same files with at the end a different number. The number represents different resolutions of the same file. Those files are used for optimization. The bigger files with more detailed textures are for when we are zoomed in. The smaller resolutions and less detailed textures is for more zoomed out views. 0 is the most detailed, 2 is the smallest and so, less details. Some buildings do even get 3 and 4 versions.

diff, metal, norm, mask

The way maps are wrapped around a building to give the building his look and feel is complex. I still do not completely understand everything but based on help of other people and what they told me I’ll try to explain this as good as possible. There are different layers of maps with their own function.

The first map we have is the diff version. This is the diffuse map. The diffuse map is basically the color texture of an object. It gives the model his look and feel. It is sometimes referred to as albedo or lambertian diffuse.

Example of the one for the Artisanal kitchen that we will be changing:

You can see all the different parts of the building stiched together. The rood, the walls, the sign, doors and windows. You can see this as a really big wrap of paper that is being glued on the model itself, piece by piece.

Every piece has coordinates, so if we want to reuse a piece multiple times to wrap on multiple places on our model we can just reuse that piece of the map and wrap it on multiple places on the model.

The next map we have is the metal version. This is short for metallic map.

Example of the one for the Artisanal kitchen that we will be changing:

If we compare this with our diffuse map we can see that they are actually alike, but with huge differences. The diffuse map uses a lot of color, but the metallic map only uses black or white with the possibility to be transparent.

The way this map works is for highlighting shadows on our building. The diffuse map is a flat image. This does create some feeling of texture and 3d, but it still has a flat feeling. With the metallic map we tell the light that falls onto the map to bounce or be absorbed. Based on that we can create shadows that help giving a more 3d feeling on the building.

Then we have the norm version. This is short for normal map.

Example of the one for the Artisanal kitchen that we will be changing:

This has a really weird color. The normal map reflects the smoothness or gloss of the map to give it some more realistic look.

A last map is the mask version. This map doesn ot look like it has a lot to offer. Not every building has this map.

Example of the farmers residence:

It is basicly a map with black. white and then red, blue or green highlighted parts. This map has an impact on the day-night cycle. It highlights parts at night or during other periods of the day to be dark or highlighted.

.bfg, .cfg, .fc, .ifo

Now that we have covered all the type of maps, we can get further into the rest of the files inside our building folder. And after that we will be performing the last steps in our new prduction chain mod and we will be creating our own look and feel for the building.

.bfg

Contains a lot of code that we will never have to adapt manually. If we reuse a building, we can just reuse this file. If we will create our own buildings in the future with 3D software like Blender, this will will be generated for us.

.cfg

This is the most important file for us at the moment in this tutorial. We will be diving deeper into this file in a moment. This file contains all the references to the model, the maps, extra assets that are placed into the model like lights or wooden boxes. All those references are based on a link to the original files.

.fc

This files contains all our animations and visual feedback. For exmaple shovelers or working people doing things around the model. This file can be manually adapted but for now we will nog do anything to it. Later we will see to generate this file based on an interface.

.ifo

This file contains regions in our model that are blocked or with specific functions. For this tutorial we will not be adapting this. Later this file will be generated.

Renaming and cleanup all files

We have all the files we need but we need to rename some things to make everything more clear.

In our building asset we put the link to our .cfg file of our building.

<Object>
    <Variations>
        <Item>
            <Filename>data/graphics/buildings/production/production_citrus_tea/production_citrus_tea.cfg</Filename>
        </Item>
    </Variations>
</Object>

Double check the path, and then rename the .cfg file from food_03.cfg to production_citrus_tea.cfg. Do the same for the .bfg, .ifo amd .fc file.

Changing the .cfg file

Now let’s open the production_citrus_tea.cfg file. This file contains a lot, but the code is actually not that hard to understand.

We see a lot of paths to files together with coordinates or other number references. Scroll through the file and try to understand step by step what you encounter.

You will see different paths to metal, diff, norm files. Those are all to the original folder of the Artisanal Kitchen and the original maps.

Examples:

...
<cModelMetallicTex>data/graphics/buildings/production/food_03/maps/food_03_metal.psd</cModelMetallicTex>
...
<cSeparateAOTex>data/graphics/effects/default_model_mask.png</cSeparateAOTex>
...
<cModelDiffTex>data/graphics/buildings/production/food_03/maps/food_03_diff.psd</cModelDiffTex>
...
<cModelNormalTex>data/graphics/buildings/production/food_03/maps/food_03_norm.psd</cModelNormalTex>
...

We also have the link to the original model, the .rdm file.

...
<FileName>data\graphics\buildings\production\food_03\rdm\food_03_lod0.rdm</FileName>
...

Underneath that we have references to .prp files. Those are all props. Extra decorations or small pieces added to the model based on other smaller 3d models from the game. There is an already huge library of props we can just put inside our model environments. Underneath for example a wooden box. You can follow the link of the path to find all the props available. Every DLC has his extra set of available props.

...
<Config><ConfigType>PROP</ConfigType>
<FileName>data\graphics\props\storage\wooden_box.prp</FileName>
<Position.x>0.865991</Position.x>
<Position.y>0.155854</Position.y>
<Position.z>-0.631792</Position.z>
<Rotation.x>0.000000</Rotation.x>
<Rotation.y>-0.306778</Rotation.y>
<Rotation.z>0.000000</Rotation.z>
<Rotation.w>0.951797</Rotation.w>
<Scale.x>1.000000</Scale.x>
<Scale.y>1.000000</Scale.y>
<Scale.z>1.000000</Scale.z>
<Flags>0</Flags>
</Config>
...

Check everything ingame

We have all the files and linked everything so we should actually be able to see our building in the building menu, see the good being produced, the good in the warehouse, the need for Engineers and Investors.

Check this ingame!

So, what are we actually going to do now? First we will make sure we change all the links to the new files we will be adapting, then we will add some other props to our file and then we will edit our maps and save them. That will be the last step and then we will be able to start our game with our new mod!

Changing the maps names and paths

The first step is changing all the paths and the filenames of the maps we will be changing. Now all those maps have paths to the original Artisanal Kitchen maps and still have those naming. But we put those files in another location and we will be changing those files.

The only thing we will be doing is changing some colors and some basic graphics. For that the only maps we will be adapting are the diff map versions. The metal and norm maps can just stay the same. So we can leave those links to the original files. That is again more performant then creating and loading exactly the same files.

Change the paths inside the production_citrus_tea.cfg for all the diff maps. data/graphics/buildings/production/food_03/maps/food_03_diff will be changed to: data/graphics/buildings/production/production_citrus_tea/maps/production_citrus_tea_diff

data/graphics/buildings/production/food_03/maps/food_03_conveyor_diff will be changed to: data/graphics/buildings/production/production_citrus_tea/maps/production_citrus_tea_conveyor_diff

data/graphics/buildings/production/food_03/maps/food_03_ground_diff will be changed to: data/graphics/buildings/production/production_citrus_tea/maps/production_citrus_tea_ground_diff

Tip: Use find and replace to make sure you changed everything correctly.

We now have changed all the paths, but offcourse not the files itself. Open the maps folder and have a look at all the files. To start delete almost all the files but keep only the diff files and also the biggest files, so the “0” - files. You can delete all the norm, metal and smaller files.

Changing the maps images

We are almost there. We now adapt our diff maps to have some different look and feel.

Lets have a look at our building, and our maps how it looks at the moment and what we can change.

If we look at the building we have a reservoir and a conveyor belt where now paprikas are on, but where we can put citrus fruits. We also have a billboard where we can put a new sign on for our Citrus Tea Dryer. We could also change the colors of the walls, the roof, ect. For this tutorial we are not going into to much detail.

I did some magic in Photoshop and this is the result:

Our building is now finished, but if we have a look at the other files, we also have a conveyor file and a ground file. If we look at both, we can see parpikas on those images. We should also change those.

Go to https://unsplash.com/s/photos/citrus-fruit and take one of the citrus fruit images to work with so we can fill our conveyor belt and ground pile of citrus fruits.

Again I did some magic in Photoshop and this is the result:

For further optimazation, we should also make the smaller versions of our images. We now have the 0 version, but we also need the 1 and 2 version. The 1 version is half the dimensions of the 0 version. The 2 version is half the dimensions of the 1 version.

We now have our images in png format, but we should convert those back to dds files. Do this for all files.

Adding or changing props

We are now at the final step in our process. This is the cherry on top but is not really needed. We already have a perfectly working mod.

If we go back to our production_citrus_tea.cfg file, after the link to our model, the .rdm file we have a list of props. Those are wall lamps, wooden boxesm barrel piles, trees or bushes.

Let’s search for <FileName>data\graphics\props\storage\wooden_box_pile_small_03.prp</FileName>.

...
<Config><ConfigType>PROP</ConfigType>
<FileName>data\graphics\props\storage\wooden_box_pile_small_03.prp</FileName>
<Position.x>2.121532</Position.x>
<Position.y>0.000000</Position.y>
<Position.z>1.277845</Position.z>
<Rotation.x>0.000000</Rotation.x>
<Rotation.y>0.016844</Rotation.y>
<Rotation.z>0.000000</Rotation.z>
<Rotation.w>0.999918</Rotation.w>
<Scale.x>1.000000</Scale.x>
<Scale.y>1.000000</Scale.y>
<Scale.z>1.000000</Scale.z>
<Flags>1</Flags>
</Config>
...

We can see the proporties of this prop. We have the path to the file, coordinates and scale. Let us do somthing funky and change this wooden box pile with a tree.

To find all the props we can have a look in the original files from the game. Every DLC has his own props. But we will now look into the props from the basegame. Those props are inside the data8.rda/data/graphics/props.

You can see different maps with all different props we can use. We will be using a tree, so we open the map terrain_props/vegetation/trees/moderate. We get a long list of all different trees. We will be choosing tree_moderate_10_var0.prp. Change wooden_box_pile_small_03.prp to tree_moderate_10_var0.prp in the cfg file. Also change the path to this prop so it is linked correctly, so from data/graphics/props/storage/ to data/graphics/props/terrain_props/vegetation/trees/moderate.

We do not need to add this prop to our modfolder. The path we declared to the original file is enough for the mod to pick this prop from the files and use it in our building.

We could change the coordinates or the scale, but we actually want this at the exact location and the scale can stay the same.

Start the game!

Congratulations! You have created a new production chain with a new good and a custom building!