Modding Countries

Adding a new country to the game takes some work, but can be done. The countries are folders under the path \democracy 3\data\missions. Each folder contains a number of additional files and information. You also need to provide a large flag and small flag graphic, which are found in \data\bitmaps\flags (large) and data\bitmaps\missions (small).

File Structure

Inside the folder for your new country you need one text file and two more folders. The folder are 'overrides' and 'scripts' and the file is called countryname.txt where countryname is the same as the folder. That text file contains the majority of the information for controlling the state of the country, split into four sections called [config], [options], [stats] and [policies].

[config]

There are a large number of lines in this section which control how the country looks and behaves. Here is a breakdown:

currency	This is the text used to denote the currency for this country as is used throughout the GUI.
population	This is the amount of voters represented by each simulated voter. there are 2,000 simulated voters so divide the countries true population by 2,000 to get this figure
economic_cycle_start	The global economic cycle works on a sine wave, and this shows the percentage through the route o that sine wave that the missions starts at with regards to the state of the global economy.
min_income and max_income	The range, in the currency listed above, which voters salaries are distributed between. Makes no difference to the simulation, it is entirely for visual purposes.
min_gdp,max_gdp	Only the max works, and it is used as a scalar against which debt is measured to calculate debt as a percentage of GDP, and thus credit ratings. It is probably best calculated by comparing as nations debt against an existing mission nations debt and adjusting accordingly.
wealth_mod	A relative multiplier showing the cost and income of things relative to other countries. All policy costs and incomes and other values are multiplied by this amount. So again, it's best to compare a country to an existing one and pick an appropriate value based on the size of their economy.
	The level of government debt at the start of the missions.
name	Used internally
guiname	Displayed to the player.
names_file	filename of the file used to load in a list of first, last and surnames for ministers and citizens in this country. That file can of course be modded.
term_length	Default value.
max_terms	Default value.
details_image	Small graphic used on the choose mission screen.
description	Shown on the choose mission screen.
flag	Large flag background used in some screens.
apathy	Default value.
jobtitle	Allows swapping of 'chancellor,'prime minister' or whatever else the head of government should be called for this country.
GUID	Used to locate the mission in the list of missions on the choose mission screen.

[options]

This is a list of special values that turn on values that can be checked for items such as dilemmas. For example MONARCHY is set as an option, and can then be a pre-requisite for an event such as RoyalScandal. Anything can be added here, as a piece of text, and then checked for it's existence later as a pre-requisite.

[stats]

These are the lines of text data displayed on the choose mission screen, and can include anything of interest to the player.

[policies]

Each line in this section is a policy name and it's starting value. There are some 'uncancellable' policies which are always set (like labourlaws) and if their value is not overidden here, those policies will default to a value of 0.5. Any policy listed here is automatically set as active, with the slider set to the given value. It is entirely implemented at the start of the mission, and it's effects should be fully worked-through the simulation at the start of the game.

The overrides files

if you open up the folder called 'overrides' in any of the mission folders you will find a new bunch of text files. This is where you can put files that denote changes to the simulation that take place only for that mission. Each file represents a single override, and you can have as many as you like. The format is as follows:

TargetName	This helps identify the effect that you want to change in the game. This is the object name of the target of the effect. There does not already have to be an effect with this combination, it can be used to create entirely new effects between items just for this mission.
HostName	As above, but this is the target of the effect.
Equation	Either a new standard 'effect' style equation for this effect (perhaps stronger or weaker than the existing one) or the word DELETE meaning just remove the existing effect.
Inertia	Inertia that is applied to the given effect.

The scripts files

This folder contains scripts run at the start of that mission, basically to create grudges. See the 'Events' modding page for more details. The most obvious uses here are to create changes in the composition of voter groups for each country, but you may also wish to start off a country with a GDP boost or cut, or some other temporary or permanent feature to it's economy or society.