Family members/tree editing tutorial

[blindfaithnogod]

the that needs editing is the descr_strat.txt in the data/world/maps/imperial_campaign folder. or substitute any provincial campaign folder.

once you find that file open it and youll se something like this

campaign imperial_campaign
playable
romans_julii
romans_brutii
romans_scipii
end
unlockable
egypt
seleucid
carthage
parthia
gauls
germans
britons
greek_cities

next scroll down till you see the faction you want to edit. something like this

faction romans_julii, comfortable caesar
denari 5000
settlement
{
level large_town
region Etruria

year_founded 0
population 4000
settlement_tax 51
plan_set default_set
faction_creator romans_julii

next you will scroll down to this

character_record Amulius Julius, male, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 13, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Manius Julius, male, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 10, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Decius Julius, male, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 7, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Marcus Julius, male, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 3, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Faustina, female, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 48, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Poppaea, female, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 29, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Alypia, female, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 29, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Claudia, female, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 28, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Fadia, female, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 13, alive, never_a_leader

relative Flavius Julius, Faustina, Lucius Julius, Quintus Julius, Vibius Julius, end
relative Lucius Julius, Poppaea, Fadia, Decius Julius, Marcus Julius, end
relative Quintus Julius, Alypia, Amulius Julius, end
relative Vibius Julius, Claudia, Manius Julius, end

this is the text we need to edit to change the family tree. lets assume you want to add a new son. first check the descr_names.txt in the data folder to see what names can be used for the julii. then pick a name from there.
i have chosen Sextus Julius as my new son. so i first add him to the character record like this

character_record Sextus Julius, male, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 1, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Amulius Julius, male, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 13, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Manius Julius, male, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 10, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Decius Julius, male, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 7, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Marcus Julius, male, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 3, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Faustina, female, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 48, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Poppaea, female, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 29, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Alypia, female, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 29, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Claudia, female, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 28, alive, never_a_leader
character_record Fadia, female, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 13, alive, never_a_leader

next we need to assign his parents here

relative Flavius Julius, Faustina, Lucius Julius, Quintus Julius, Vibius Julius, end
relative Lucius Julius, Poppaea, Fadia, Decius Julius, Marcus Julius, end
relative Quintus Julius, Alypia, Amulius Julius, end
relative Vibius Julius, Claudia, Manius Julius, Sextus Julius, end

then just start the game as normal. also one more note. you need to follow the space and tab pattern already in the file. its not exact in this thing but its close so you can get the idea. i hope this is what you are lookin for.

[blindfaithnogod]

make sure you use the -show_err command on your shortcut. so it will tell you what you are doing wrong.

[Monkwarrior]

Only one more detail.
The game considers that the order the relatives appear is:
husband, wife, son1, son2....

But it is important: the sons (and daughters, here there is no difference) are in age order: example son1=14, son2=12, son3=6, son4=2.
If the ages stated above do not fit with this order the game will crash.
Cheers.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

The exact spacing and making the age of the children sequential have been great tips.

Let me make sure I understand one thing:
husband 53, wife 45, son 22, son 18, daughter 17, son 8
would this be ok, mixing the son/daughteers like that?

husband 53, wife 45, son 22, son 18, son 8, daughter 17
Then would this be incorrect, to give sons first, then daughters?

I think from what you said the first one is the right one, but I just want to be 100% sure. Thanks again guys! keep 'em coming!

[chemchok]

Yeah TA, make sure all the children are in age order, regardless of sex.

So... husband 53, wife 45, son 22, son 18, son 8, daughter 17 ...would be incorrect.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Hmm. Taking the surname off the kids on the last listed family (the bottom line of families in the .txt) and then removing those same children's surnames from the character description lines seems to have fixed at least one of the problems. No misspellings or anything like that, but maybe it just didn't like their last name ;-) Anyway, I'm thrilled to get this family working now. Playtesting and a decade in they are still doing well. Though Numidia is a crappy place to playtest.

[Myrddraal]

Anyone feel like doing a 'how to' on this?