Victoria 3 How to Mod a New Technology

July 2024 · 3 minute read

Adding a new technology in a Victoria 3 mod is very easy and takes just 5 steps!

Contents

Intro

I am making this guide assuming you already know how to create your mod folder and upload a mod…

This guide is specifically for how to make new technologies or modify existing technologies in Victoria 3.

Step 1: Create Common Folder

Go to the folder for your mod and create a folder named EXACTLY (this name is how the game finds your files) “common”. Like in the picture.

Step 2: Make Technology Folder

Within the common folder, make a new folder named EXACTLY “technology” like in the picture.

Step 3: Era and Technologies Folders

We are almost close to something interesting now! Within the technology folder make two more folders with EXACTLY the names you see in the picture. You get the drill by now.

Step 4: Eras

Within the eras folder you need to create a .txt file of any name. eg: “my_eras.txt”

When you open “my_eras.txt” you can type out something similar to what I have shown you here. The technologies are divided into eras with specific start years. If you want an era starting in 430 AD? no problem! Want an era starting in 1975 AD? Go for it. Before you code any techs you need to define your eras here so you can use them later. The game will automatically adjust the in-game era numbers to whatever sequence you need.

If you are sticking to the vanilla timeline you can ignore this step, but remember to add the correct era to any technologies you add.

Step 5: Technologies! Finally!

If you are adding new techs:

In the technologies folder make a new .txt file of any name. eg: “my_techs.txt”

If you are modifying existing techs:

Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Victoria 3\game\common\technology\technologies

Copy the 3 text files and paste them to your mod folder.

If you are adding new techs AND modifying existing ones:

In the technologies folder make a new .txt file of any name. eg: “my_techs.txt”

Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Victoria 3\game\common\technology\technologies

Open the original files and copy/paste the code for ONLY THE TECHNOLOGIES YOU WANT TO CHANGE into your brand new tech file “my_techs.txt”. Both new and old techs should be in there. This helps with compatibility because you aren’t changing the entire file. It also makes it easier because all your changes are in one place.

Once you followed the previous part to get the correct file to write in, start changing your techs! Look at the vanilla files in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Victoria 3\game\common\technology\technologies to get a feel for how existing tech works. In the example in my picture I created a technology called “peasant levies” available in 1400. “peasant levies” is required to unlock “trade muskets”. That is really the only special syntax of technologies.

The era you define is what defines the cost of the technology. If you want to make a tech more expensive you have to make the entire era more expensive. You cannot make individual techs cost more or less to my knowledge. The tech tree is auto-generated for you, so you dont need to mess with GUI to make it, literally just define the prerequisites and you are done.

To make it look pretty you need to make icons for your tech and pick the right modifiers, but you can probably figure that out on your own.

Good luck modders!

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