An easy way to have nations annex other nations

[magusx]

I will explain a simple way to have one nation annex another nation by editing the scripting.lua. There are two ways to do this: 1.) On a certain turn number 2.) On the turn following capturing certain defined regions (same as the standard spain:newspain, french:louisiana, britain:thirteen colonies). I am by no means an expert, it is just my intention to maybe give an unthought of idea to the modding community.

1.) Here goes the simple run through:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This code in the scripting.lua will simply have britain annex france as both when being played by a human and when being played by the AI. The function FactionTurnStart is already a part of the main campaign. If you wish to edit another of the campaigns you will need this code at the bottom next to the rest of the event CallBacks. This will enable the turn increments which will be explained.

scripting.AddEventCallBack("FactionTurnStart", OnFactionTurnStart)

and here is the britain annexes france code

local function OnFactionTurnStart(context)	if conditions.FactionName("britain", context) and conditions.FactionIsHuman("britain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("britain", "france", 0, 0, context)
        end
	if conditions.FactionName("britain", context) and not conditions.FactionIsHuman("britain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("britain", "france", 0, 0, context)
        end
        end

Simple enough. Britain will annex france on turn 0, meaning as soon as it reaches their turn before they hit the next turn button. By editing the first 0 after france you can define the first turn the annex may take place, by editing the second 0 you can define the maximum amount of turns before the annex takes place. For Instance if you wanted britain to annex france on exactly turn 2 (the turn following their first turn) then the code would be 2, 2. if you wanted britain to annex france between their 4th and 6th turn then 4, 6. They could annex them on the 4th or 5th, and will definitely annex them by the end of their 6th turn in this case.

Now Let's do a more complex Annex where multiple nations will annex other nations on set turns.

Here:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

For this one we will have britain annex portugal, france annex spain on turn 5, and russia annex sweden between their 4th and 10th turns.

local function OnFactionTurnStart(context)	if conditions.FactionName("britain", context) and conditions.FactionIsHuman("britain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("britain", "portugal", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("france", context) and conditions.FactionIsHuman("france", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("france", "spain", 5, 5, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("russia", context) and conditions.FactionIsHuman("russia", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("russia", "sweden", 4, 10, context)
	end
	if conditions.FactionName("britain", context) and not conditions.FactionIsHuman("britain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("britain", "portugal", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("france", context) and not conditions.FactionIsHuman("france", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("france", "spain", 5, 5, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("russia", context) and not conditions.FactionIsHuman("russia", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("russia", "sweden", 4, 10, context)

	end
        end

The code can be just like so, having as many nations as you want annexed, or as few as 1. The first If function defines when the country is a human, the second If function defines when the country is being played by AI. If you only wanted a player to be able to annex the countries, and not the AI's then you would merely delete the elseif function where the conditions FactionIsHuman("nation tag") has the not in front of it.

Now Let's do where nations annex multiple nations on set turns.

Here:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

This time let's have Savoy annex Perisa, Italian States, and Genoa on their 1st turn. Then let's have the Huron natives annex the iroquois between their 1st and 2nd turn and the cherokee on their 3rd turn. And Let's make this function NEVER happen when the nations are played by the AI.

local function OnFactionTurnStart(context)	if conditions.FactionName("piedmont_savoy", context) and conditions.FactionIsHuman("piedmont_savoy", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("piedmont_savoy", "safavids", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("huron", context) and conditions.FactionIsHuman("huron", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("huron", "iroquoi", 1, 2, context)
	end
        if conditions.FactionName("piedmont_savoy", context) and conditions.FactionIsHuman("piedmont_savoy", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("piedmont_savoy", "papal_states", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("huron", context) and conditions.FactionIsHuman("huron", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("huron", "cherokee", 3, 3, context)

        end
        if conditions.FactionName("piedmont_savoy", context) and conditions.FactionIsHuman("piedmont_savoy", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("piedmont_savoy", "genoa", 1, 1, context)
        end
        end

What you should have noticed here are that nation tags are sometimes not as simple as you would think. For instance Persia = safavids and Iroquois = Iroquoi. I will include a list of all nation tags at the bottom of this post for ease as I had to hunt them down by opening the startingpos.esf file with an editor. You should have also noticed that multiple nation annexes cannot exist in the same If function and that they can stand all by themselves as is the case where Savoy annexes Genoa. All If functions must end. If condition blah then blah end. The double end you see at the bottom: the first end finishes the If function and the second end finishes the function FactionTurnStart at the very top. It seems complex but it is really rather simple. You're just telling the game to stop and head onto the next task. The final end at the bottom is telling the game there will be no more actions. The necessity for having the EventCallBack as mentioned in the first spoiler is to have the game redo these tasks each turn.

Now let's do one final function where if Ireland were EVER to exist during the game then it would immediately annex what is left of Britain. A weird circumstance, yes, but hopefully will show some of you guys some extra potential for this event.

Here:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

If Ireland ever exists then it will annex Britain by this code. And as under NORMAL circumstances Ireland cannot be played by a human and so we will do this just for the AI.

local function OnFactionTurnStart(context)	if conditions.FactionName("ireland", context) and not conditions.FactionIsHuman("ireland", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("ireland", "britain", 0, 0, context)
        end
        end

Anytime in the game now if Ireland ever has a turn it will immediately annex all of Britain. Again the necessity to this happening exists in the EventCallBack function at the bottom as mentioned in the first spoiler.

2.) I have decided since the game calls for complex programming skills and editing skills, explaining this section will be near useless as the people who understand how it works will probably have a better understanding than I. And Annexing a nation by capturing certain regions, seems to be only accomplish-able by Britain, Spain, and France. Maybe Cherokee too.





And here is a list of the country tags:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Europe and Asia and India:
Great Britain = britain
France = france
United Provinces = netherlands
Spain = spain
Wurttemberg = wurttemberg
Westphalia = westphalia
Bavaria = bavaria
Saxony = saxony
Prussia = prussia
Poland-Lithuania = poland_lithuania
Russia = russia
Crimean Khanate = crimean_khanate
Sweden = sweden
Denmark = denmark
Savoy = piedmont_savoy
Genoa = genoa
Venice = venice
Italian States = papal_states
Knights of St. John = knights_stjohn
Portugal = portugal
Morocco = morocco
Barbary States = barbary_states
Ottoman Empire = ottomans
Persia = safavids
Georgia = georgia
Dagestan = chechenya_dagestan
Mughal Empire = mughal (this nation cannot be annexed by a human or the camera freezes, but they can be annexed by the AI)
Mysore = mysore
Maratha Confederacy = maratha (this nation cannot be annexed by a human or the camera freezes, but they can be annexed by the AI)

Americas:

Thirteen Colonies = thirteencolonies
New Spain = new_spain
Louisiana = louisiana
Iroquois = iroquoi
Cherokee = cherokee
Huron = huron
Plains Nations = plains
Pueblo Nations = pueblo
Pirates = pirates

Emergent Factions:

Ireland = ireland
Scotland = scotland
Colombia = colombia
Mexico = mexico
Quebec = quebec
Hessen = hessen
Greece = greece
Naples-Sicily = naples_sicily
Hungary = hungary
Afghanistan = afghanistan
Norway = norway
Mamelukes = mamelukes
Punjab = punjab
United States = united_states

I did my best to explain it where nearly anyone could understand. If I messed up on a part or something, I am sorry. Figured we might see a couple new mods, or some new actions in mods if I posted this. Anyways, Good luck, this little event modifier brought back what was nearly a dead game to me into a constantly changing one. Peace .

[magusx]

Yea, all the coding I put up there is useful too, but I realized something...if you want the nation annexed by both you and the AI then it can be done much easier with less processes lol. the nations tag for the Thirteen Colonies is also "thirteen_colonies". A mistake a made in the previous post.


Here:

This code will have britain annex the thirteen colonies on turn 1. Both by the AI and a human player. no need for double lines of codes. I included the enable_auto_generated_mission in the coding too as I am sure most everyone would not want the AI to be even dumber than they already are lol. Not sure exactly what nations are included in the vanilla coding but I know for a fact this line of code gives Britain, France, and Spain a few attacking objectives. Not sure how the syntax of the coding is though for the objectives, it won't hurt including it though. IE: Britain will invade morocco via one of the missions, but if morocco is annexed by another nation the syntax of the code may cause Britain to not invade.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

local function OnFactionTurnStart(context)
	
        if conditions.TurnNumber(context) == 1 then
		scripting.game_interface:enable_auto_generated_missions(true)
	end
	if conditions.FactionName("britain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("britain", "thirteen_colonies", 0, 0, context)
        end
end

The elseif functions would be done the exact same way. Just remove the section of code identifying the condition of whether the nation is a human or not. Here is a complicated code I used for a mod. It annexes nearly every nation in the game and by viewing it one can easily see how it's done.

local function OnFactionTurnStart(context)

	if conditions.TurnNumber(context) == 1 then
		scripting.game_interface:enable_auto_generated_missions(true)
	end
	if conditions.FactionName("britain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("britain", "thirteen_colonies", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("spain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("spain", "new_spain", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("france", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("france", "louisiana", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("russia", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("russia", "poland_lithuania", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("ottomans", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("ottomans", "barbary_states", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("sweden", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("sweden", "denmark", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("austria", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("austria", "genoa", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("prussia", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("prussia", "hannover", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("portugal", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("portugal", "morocco", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("netherlands", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("netherlands", "knights_stjohn", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("safavids", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("safavids", "georgia", 0, 0, context)
	end
        if conditions.FactionName("russia", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("russia", "courland", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("france", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("france", "iroquoi", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("britain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("britain", "huron", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("spain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("spain", "pueblo", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("prussia", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("prussia", "westphalia", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("austria", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("austria", "papal_states", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("netherlands", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("netherlands", "pirates", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("portugal", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("portugal", "maratha", 0, 0, context)
        end
	if conditions.FactionName("austria", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("austria", "piedmont_savoy", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("russia", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("russia", "chechenya_dagestan", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("britain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("britain", "cherokee", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("prussia", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("prussia", "wurttemberg", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("portugal", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("portugal", "mughal", 0, 0, context)
        end
	if conditions.FactionName("britain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("britain", "inuit", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("austria", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("austria", "venice", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("prussia", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("prussia", "bavaria", 0, 0, context)
        end
	if conditions.FactionName("britain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("britain", "plains", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("prussia", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("prussia", "saxony", 0, 0, context)
	elseif conditions.FactionName("russia", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("russia", "crimean_khanate", 0, 0, context)
        end
	if conditions.FactionName("britain", context) then
		scripting.game_interface:grant_faction_handover("britain", "mysore", 0, 0, context)
        end
        end

Alternately, if a player wants to take an easy way out, just change the nation tags around in this big line of code. Removing not needed ones, adding, changing, etc. This way is a lot simpler than defining both as a human and as an AI player, but still knowing how to do the coding in the previous post is helpful as well. Code is read simply if nation = "nation tag" then "nation tag" annexes " annexed nation tag" on "turn number", "max turn number"

Enjoy

[Alwyn]

Thank you, magusx - as you said, this looks like a useful way to change the way that world events unfold. I can imagine this technique being used to set up challenging scenarios. For instance, I recently looked at an impressive Napoleon Total War AAR, Liberation, which starts with France in possession of much of Europe - this method could be used to set up situations like that.

[magusx]

Yea, I thought of creating a scenario very similar to just that. It would be better accomplished by editing the America campaign though. I might end up doing just that. It of course won't be as good or historically accurate as some people will make it, but if you're like me and just want some different things happening in the world besides the vanilla then yea it works. I only wish I knew how to make the AI smarter: 1.) making the unit builds and placements smarter 2.) giving them objectives for attack and defense 3.) fixing diplomacy where nations don't see "attacks of opportunity" so much. A game where the advanced setting = smarter AI not let's attack any human we border that won't vastly overpower us! lol. I also wish the event could be used to capture just regions and not entire nations, but meh, I'll take what I can get. Editing the startpos.esf is just a huge pain in the ***. Filled with far too much syntax for anything but an overhaul of the game.