Hi EatYerGreens-

These are the first names in my forenames list from HEATHEN_HEROES.txt:


// 22: heathen_forenames
ADD_FORENAMES::
"William"
"Michael"
"John"
"David"
"Randolph"
"Robert"
"Richard"
...

This is my list of famous kings:

FAMOUS_KINGS:: FN_HEATHEN 7
//name no. c d p a portrait vnv
0, 1, 4, 5, 2, 4, -1, mightywarrior2 (William 1)
0, 2, 4, 5, 2, 4, -1, mightywarrior2 (William 2)
1, 1, 4, 5, 2, 4, -1, mightywarrior2 (Michael 1)
2, 1, 4, 5, 2, 4, -1, mightywarrior2 (John 1)
3, 1, 4, 5, 2, 4, -1, mightywarrior2 (David 1)
4, 1, 4, 5, 2, 4, -1, mightywarrior2 (Randolph 1)
5, 1, 4, 5, 2, 4, -1, mightywarrior2 (Robert 1)

Here is my entry in the startpos file:

SetStartLeader:: FN_HEATHEN 0 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

Those last seven numbers indicate how many kings of each name have existed before the game starts. So if you want Henry V to show up and not have to wait for 4 other King Henrys, you can do this. Assuming Henry is the second name in your forenames list, your entry would look like this:

SetStartLeader:: FN_HEATHEN 0 7 1 4 0 0 0 0 0

The first time a Henry becomes king, the game will take the corresponding number (4), + 1, and he will be Henry V. You can't control the exact year, but you can at least control what number he starts with when he does become king.

The heir's names are not random. Every time a new one is born, the game takes the next name in the list. So in my case, the game starts with William I. He has six sons named (in order): William, Michael, John, David, Randolph, Robert. Whichever one of these sons survive to become king, he will be either: William II, Michael I, John I, David I, Randolph I, or Robert I. His first son will be named Richard and the next one rolls back to William.

As you can see by my test setup, whoever becomes the second king should be a famous king, and it just doesn't work. All the names and numbers work, but the stats and VNV are random just like all the other kings. I usually get William II as my next king, and he never has the right attributes. I've never seen a famous king appear in the game (modded or unmodded) with the correct attributes. Only the starting king seems to work.

It will be difficult for you to duplicate historical succession, but you can try to come close by adjusting the order of the names in your forenames list and setting the appropriate numbers for what number you want each king name to start with. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like you will be able to give them the appropriate personalities when they do become king.

It just occurred to me, you probably already knew all that, but just in case, that's my understanding of how it works and it may be useful for the next guy who tries. I've tested it every way I know how. If you come up with better results, I would be interested in hearing. Good luck with your modding!

-OldSchool