Add support for game Crusader Kings III

[LonerEmperor]

This template is useful to add basic support using https://github.com/ModOrganizer2/modorganizer-basic_games.

If you are vaguely familiar with programming you can try following the instructions on that link to get something working yourself. If you have trouble with that please fill in this template.

Please provide the following information for the game (remove the optional lines you do not use):

• Name: Crusader Kings III
• Short name: crusaderkings3
• Nexus ID [optional]: crusaderkings3
• Executable: ck3.exe
• Launcher [optional]: dowser.exe
• Data path: \Steam\steamapps\common\Crusader Kings III
• Documents path: \Documents\Paradox Interactive\Crusader Kings III
• Saves directory [optional]: Path to the folder containing save games (this default to the path above).
• Save extension [optional]: Extension of the saves
• Steam ID [optional]: ID of the game on Steam (if the game is on Steam).

Provide additional details regarding the game that could be required for the plugin.

[AidanMaskelyne]

I've given it a shot, here's the repository for the new plugin if you would like to test it, as I am unable to myself. My repo

[LonerEmperor]

I downloaded and extracted your files to plugins\basic_games.

I was able to overwrite some files.

Confirmed \MO2\plugins\basic_games\games\game_crusaderkings3.py

But when I launch MO2, it still doesn't see CK3 as a supported game. Even if you manually choose CK3's installation folder where ck3.exe is, it would say "folder does not seem to contain a game that MO can manage."

[AidanMaskelyne]

Are you using the 2.5.0-RC version of Mod Organizer? I'd say give it a shot with the latest release candidate. Also, is ck3.exe in the root directory of the steam game folder (e.g. steamapps\common\Crusader Kings III\ck3.exe)?

[AidanMaskelyne]

@LonerEmperor I've tweaked the plugin a bit, it should now work. Try downloading and extracting 2.5.0-RC, and just download my plugin file manually and put it in plugins\basic_games\games alongside all the other game_xxx.py files. Then launch MO2, creating a portable instance and it should detect your game.

[LonerEmperor]

I finally got MO2 to recognize CK3 as a supported game. Thanks for your effort.

Now, the challenging part is adding mods. I tried adding my CK3 mods using MO2. MO2 would successfully launch the game but mods won't show in-game.

I also tried adding CK3 mods manually but still won't show in-game when launched from MO2.

[AidanMaskelyne]

If you just have a brief look inside the files, can you just verify the paths are correct? I had to go through multiple websites and may have copied something incorrectly. You'll only need to look at the stuff such as GameDataPath = ....

[LonerEmperor]

That's too technical for me. What do you mean? Which files would you like me to check?

[AidanMaskelyne]

Here:

    GameDocumentsDirectory = "%DOCUMENTS%/Paradox Interactive/Crusader Kings III"
    GameDataPath = "%GAME_DOCUMENTS%/mod"
    GameSavesDirectory = "%GAME_DOCUMENTS%/save games"
    GameSaveExtension = "ck3"

Do these paths look about correct to you? The GameDataPath directory is where the mods go. This website says that the mods get installed in Documents/Paradox Interactive/Crusader Kings III/mod.

[LonerEmperor]

Yeah. The file locations are correct. However, one thing I've noticed is that MO2 doesn't place the .mod file directly in the GameDataPath.

I'm not sure if you're aware that mods in CK3 have 2 components:

1. The actual mod folder; and
2. The .mod text file for the same mod folder.

So inside the GameDataPath, "%GAME_DOCUMENTS%/mod" you should see:

[MOD_NAME]
[MOD_NAME.mod]

where

[MOD_NAME] is the mod's folder where all the mod files are, and
[MOD_NAME.mod] is a text file that makes the game see the mod and all other info about the mod.

But when a mod is installed using MO2, it only can install the mod's folder [MOD_NAME] but it doesn't install the .mod file directly into the GameDataPath.

I think this is the reason why CK3 mods become unavailable when launched from MO2.

[AidanMaskelyne]

Have you double checked that the files are correct in the mod in MO2?

[LonerEmperor]

Hi,

It's been a while. Been very busy with work that I didn't have time to play.

To answer your last question, "Have you double checked that the files are correct in the mod in MO2?"

Yes, I've checked that the mod files are correct in MO2 because all I need to do is install it (from the right side of MO2) and click the box so it will have a check in it to enable that mod (from the left side of MO2).

But as I mentioned before, if you install a CK3 mod manually, you should have 2 things in the GameDataPath,

a folder [MOD_NAME]
and
a text file [MOD_NAME.mod].

These 2 are very important because, from what I've read, the text file ".mod" tells the game that the modifications/overrides/etc are inside the folder. Without the ".mod" file, the game can not see the mod folder.

But when installing a mod using MO2, it only installs the folder and the ".mod" file is nowhere to be found.

Thanks.