Key learning: V3 has NO replace_path. Must use same-named files to override. Country definitions: - Renamed 00_alt_history_countries.txt → 00_countries.txt (overrides vanilla) - Created empty 01_africa.txt, 01_pacific_and_australasia.txt, 99_dynamic.txt History overrides (empty files to prevent vanilla countries from loading): - common/history/states/00_states.txt (empty STATES block) - common/history/countries/ (444 empty override files) - common/history/population/ (373 empty override files) Removed invalid replace_paths from metadata.json Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Heritage fixes in cultures: - heritage_sinosphere → heritage_han (2 occurrences) - heritage_slavic → heritage_east_slavic (3) / heritage_south_slavic (1) - heritage_uralic → heritage_volga_uralic (1) STATE ID fixes in country definitions (13 corrections): - STATE_DENMARK → STATE_ZEALAND - STATE_MUKDEN → STATE_SHENGJING - STATE_KOREA → STATE_SEOUL - STATE_CASTILLA_LA_NUEVA → STATE_NEW_CASTILE - STATE_SERBIA → STATE_WESTERN_SERBIA - STATE_MONGOLIA → STATE_URGA - STATE_POZNAN → STATE_POSEN - STATE_EASTERN_RUMELIA → STATE_NORTHERN_THRACE - STATE_ANDALUSIA → STATE_UPPER_ANDALUSIA - STATE_KASHGAR → STATE_TIANSHAN - STATE_CENTRAL_THAILAND → STATE_BANGKOK - STATE_NIGER_BEND → STATE_TIMBUKTU - STATE_NORTH_AUSTRALIA → STATE_NORTHERN_TERRITORY Name hyphens → underscores (Bat-Noyon → Bat_Noyon, etc.) Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Mod files: - descriptor.mod + alt_song.mod (V3 launcher recognition) - common/religions/01_alt_religions.txt: volga_orthodox (Great Khanate state church) - common/cultures/01_alt_cultures.txt: 7 new cultures - northern_han (Jianzhou + north of Yangtze) - southern_han (south of Yangtze + Vietnam/Burma) - mongol_rus (Great Khanate ruling class) - novgorod_rus (Northern Ulus) - ukrainian (emerging identity from serf estates) - mongol_magyar (Hungarian Plain hybrid) - illyrian (unified South Slavic) Country definitions updated to use new cultures where applicable (Song → northern+southern_han, Jianzhou → northern_han, Great Khanate → mongol_rus, Northern Ulus → novgorod_rus, Illyria → illyrian, Australia → southern_han) Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
First mod file: common/country_definitions/00_alt_history_countries.txt Defines tags, colors, tiers, primary cultures, capitals for: - 5 Tier 1 great powers (Song, Rome, England, Germany, Ilkhanate) - 3 Tier 1.5 (Japan, Kalmar, Bohemia) - 5 Tier 2 (France, Aragon, Jianzhou, Portuguese S.America, Morocco) - 5 Tier 2.5 (Burgundy, Korea, Egypt, Castile, Illyria, Byzantium) - 8 Tier 3 (Great Khanate, Northern Ulus, Mongol Khanate, Poland GD, Bulgaria, Khoqand, Granada, E.Chagatai, Siam) - 5 Formable/releasable (Songhai, Maratha, Timurid India, Mysore, Australian colony) Uses existing V3 cultures/states as placeholders — custom cultures/religions to be added later. Mod directory structure: mod/common/country_definitions/ Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Medium nations: - Kalmar Union: three-crown confederacy, arms dealer, Vinland colony - Castile: inland Iberian + Portuguese protectorate + Granada tributary - Granada: 600yr Muslim survivor, flavor nation - Morocco: NW African great power, Sunni leader after Tunis fell, Fez as spiritual center - Grand Duchy of Poland: German puppet, "true Poland", Gdańsk port - Illyria: Italian vassal, South Slavic nationalism vs Roman integration - Byzantium: Italian vassal, surrounded, Anatolia claims, "Third Rome" vs Italian "Rome" - Bulgaria: independent, reduced, Orthodox revival - Bohemia: Germany's inseparable ally, precision manufacturing, "already succeeded" - Khoqand: Ilkhanate vassal, Timurid legacy, Chagatai reunification dream - Eastern Chagatai: tiny Xinjiang remnant, shared Chagatai/Timurid journal entries - Siam: SE Asian buffer state Small nations: - Indian states (Maratha, Deccan, Mysore, Rajput, Sikh) — Scramble for India - Chinese SE Asian polities (Borneo, Sumatra, Philippines) - Aceh remnant, Songhai, Australian settlements, various others Central Asian shared journal entries: Chagatai reunification / Timurid restoration Total playable nations: ~40+ Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Aragon: Fallen Mediterranean hegemon - Lost all Italian territory to Napoleon, keeps Sicily/Sardinia/Languedoc/Iberia - Hosts Pope-in-exile (asset + burden: moral authority vs impossible crusade demands) - Defends Languedoc vs French Francophone Project Portuguese South America: An entire continent with two exile courts - ALL of South America under Portuguese rule (not just Brazil) - Portuguese king + French king both in Rio - French king claims French North America, funds royalist agents - Independence movements in every viceroyalty (Río de la Plata most likely) - Slavery: last major slaveholding territory, abolition vs civil war - Amazon development, industrialization attempts Burgundy: The educated survivor - Last ruling Capetian dynasty (claims French throne) - FOUR possible identities: Real France / Burgundian nation / European bridge / Join France - Education = secret weapon (400yr church school tradition, highest literacy) - High-end manufacturing niche (Swiss model: quality over quantity) - France's Francophone Project = existential threat - Capetian Card as diplomatic tool (threaten but never use) - "Four centuries and we're still here" Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
70 years of post-revolutionary chaos (1765-1836): - Revolution → terror → military strongmen → authoritarians → finally stable republic (~1815) - Current republic is only ~20 years old, still fragile - From world's largest empire to continental rump state The Three Ghosts: Plantagenet Empire (lost England), Exile Court (king in South America), Lost Colonies (French North Americans) 5 core gameplay pillars: 1. Stabilize the Republic (institutional depth, reduce instability meter) 2. Industrial Catch-Up (electric-first strategy: skip steam, go straight to electrical) 3. Francophone Project (cultural sphere: Burgundy + Languedoc + N.American French) 4. Burgundy relationship (enemy → brother? 400 years of hostility vs cultural kinship) 5. Revanchism vs Acceptance (nationalist revenge vs pragmatic development) Unique industrial path: electric-first (no legacy steam infrastructure → competitive advantage?) Flavor: City of Light without empire, café revolution culture, passionate republicanism vs German bureaucratic republicanism Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
The anti-Prussia: no king, no militarism, no Junkers — 470 years of merchant governance Political system: Federal merchant republic (Bundestag + elected Chancellor) - Oldest federation in the world, deeply institutionalized - Hanseatic cities dominate through commercial voting weight - No monarch (monarchy question dead after ~250 years of republic working) - Member states with enormous autonomy (religion, law, education, taxation) Core weakness: Tier 1 economy with Tier 2 military - Merchant culture → military not prestigious, doctrine stale, officer corps uninspired - Military modernization is THE most urgent journal entry - "Trade Is Our Sword" works until someone brings actual swords Merchant patriciate: ~50-100 families, 400 years of wealth accumulation - Not nobles by title but functionally oligarchic - Workers' movement: world's OLDEST (470yr industrial working class) - Already has some welfare/insurance (merchants learned: prevent revolution) - Core political tension: merchant suffrage vs universal suffrage 5 gameplay pillars: 1. Military modernization (urgent, resisted by commercial culture) 2. Workers' rights (gradual reform vs conservative resistance) 3. North-South balance (Hanseatic Protestant vs Catholic Alpine) 4. Colonial companies (chartered firm management vs nationalization) 5. Polish puppet (Germanize vs propaganda tool vs autonomy) Flavor: "The Boring Superpower" — too stable for drama, plays like management sim Colonies: chartered trading companies (West Africa, Caribbean, Central America) Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
THE VECHE BELL DECISION: ring it = republic, keep crown = monarchy (irreversible) Path 3b-I: Northern Republic Bulwark (北方共和壁垒) - Ring the bell → restore veche → republic - Journal chain "Baltic Workshop": free trade zone, Hanseatic revival, industrial Novgorod, republican university, Baltic navy - Venice of the North: commerce-driven development, European integration - Small but sustainable Path 3b-II: Protector of All Rus (全罗斯保护者) - Keep the crown → monarchist principality - Journal chain "Liberation of the Rus": propaganda networks, de-Mongolization, refugee haven, Rus army, reclaim Rus lands when GK weakens - Each conquered territory gets de-Mongolization campaign (rename, tear down, restore) - Piedmont-Sardinia model: small state that eventually unifies a nation - Risk: overextension + "liberated" peoples may want THEIR OWN state Comparison table: Republic (Venice/Netherlands vibe) vs Protector (Piedmont/Prussia vibe) Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Vassal of Great Khanate, prince is Genghisid kinsman with succession claim. Historical precedent: ~1570s coup (Northern Ulus prince seized throne before). 260 years of waiting — every prince knows the precedent. Three-phase gameplay: Phase 1: PREPARE (build loyalty, wealth, connections, secret military while appearing loyal) Phase 2: THE MOMENT (when Great Khanate enters crisis → decision event: coup / independence / loyalty) Phase 3a: GREAT REBUILDING (if coup succeeds → inherited a collapsed empire) - Stalinist command economy: abolish serfdom by decree, mass labor mobilization - Mega-projects: Trans-Khanate Railway, new industrial cities, Volga Dam - Human Cost counter: millions of lives as "fuel of industrialization" - Drag Khanate from Tier 3 → Tier 2 in 20-30 years at enormous human cost Phase 3b: INDEPENDENCE (smaller but sustainable Baltic trading state) Flavor: "The Prince Who Waits", Novgorod's Ghost (hidden veche bell legend), Baltic Window to Europe Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>