add-ideology

---

name: add-ideology description: Add a new ideology to the TTA mod. Handles all required files: ideologies.txt, national_focus.txt, Election.txt, poptypes, localisation CSVs (cp1252), country party definitions, start decisions, and history files.

Add Ideology to TTA

Add a new ruling-party ideology to the Victoria 2: The Third Age mod. Every ideology must appear in exactly 10 locations or the CI check fails.

Information to Gather First

Ask the user for the following before starting. Confirm before proceeding.

• Ideology key - snake_case identifier, e.g. line_of_uri (used in code everywhere)
• Display name - human-readable, e.g. Line of Uri (used in localisation)
• Ideology group - the group in common/ideologies.txt this belongs to, e.g. dwarves_nobility
• Color - RGB triple, e.g. { 80 80 90 }
• Affected countries - list of TAG codes and their country file names (e.g. BLU / Ered Luin)
• Party name(s) - the TAG_partyname key and the leader's display name for each country (e.g. BLU_uri_vi / Uri VI)
• Poptype boosts - what culture(s) and/or religion(s) should get a x2 multiplier in poptypes (e.g. has_pop_religion = dwarven, is_culture_group = dwarves, has_pop_culture = longbeard)
• Party policies - trade, tax, language, diplomatic, war, good_evil_alignment for each country's party block
• Start flag - usually set_country_flag = ideologies_<ideology>_active plus optionally set_country_flag = nobility_deactivated
• Decision file - which decisions/*.txt file gets the start decision

In this project, TAG is a 3-letter country code. Country files are at common/countries/CountryName.txt and history/countries/TAG - CountryName.txt.

Step-by-Step Changes

Work through these in order. Complete each file before moving to the next.

1. common/ideologies.txt - Define the ideology

Find the ideology group (e.g. dwarves_nobility = {) and add the new ideology block before its closing }. Insert it adjacent to similar ideologies in the group.

	<ideology_key> = {
		color = { R G B }

		add_political_reform = { base = 0 modifier = { factor = 1 ruling_party_ideology = <ideology_key> } }
		remove_political_reform = { base = 0 }
		add_social_reform = { base = 0 modifier = { factor = 1 ruling_party_ideology = <ideology_key> } }
		remove_social_reform = { base = 0 }
		add_military_reform = { base = 0 modifier = { factor = 1 ruling_party_ideology = <ideology_key> } }
		add_economic_reform = { base = 0 modifier = { factor = 1 ruling_party_ideology = <ideology_key> } }
	}

2. common/national_focus.txt - Promote and demote focuses

In promotion_ideologies: insert promote_<ideology_key> adjacent to related promotes (e.g. near other dwarf ideologies):

	promote_<ideology_key> = {
		ideology = <ideology_key>
		loyalty_value = 0.005
	}

In demotion_ideologies: insert demote_<ideology_key> in the same relative position:

	demote_<ideology_key> = {
		ideology = <ideology_key>
		loyalty_value = -0.005
	}

3. localisation/politics.csv - Ideology display name

CRITICAL: Use Python to write this file - it is cp1252 encoded. Edit tool will corrupt non-ASCII characters.

Insert after the nearest existing ideology's _uh line. Use a Python anchor replacement:

path = 'localisation/politics.csv'
with open(path, 'rb') as f:
    content = f.read().decode('cp1252')
anchor = '<adjacent_ideology_key>_uh;<Adjacent display text>;x\n'
insert = '<ideology_key>;<Display Name>;x\n<ideology_key>_uh;<Display Name> supporters will vote for all reforms while in power.;x\n'
content = content.replace(anchor, anchor + insert, 1)
with open(path, 'wb') as f:
    f.write(content.encode('cp1252'))

4. localisation/countries.csv - Party leader names

CRITICAL: Use Python (cp1252).

For each country's party, add TAG_partyname;Leader Name;x. Insert near other entries for the same country (the file is loosely grouped by country):

path = 'localisation/countries.csv'
with open(path, 'rb') as f:
    content = f.read().decode('cp1252')
anchor = '<adjacent_TAG_partyname>;<Adjacent Leader>;x\n'
insert = '<TAG_partyname>;<Leader Name>;x\n'
content = content.replace(anchor, anchor + insert, 1)
with open(path, 'wb') as f:
    f.write(content.encode('cp1252'))

If multiple countries share the same party key format, add each one separately.

5. localisation/modifiers and flags.csv - Three entries

CRITICAL: Use Python (cp1252).

Three separate inserts are needed. Do all three in one Python script to avoid re-reading the file three times:

path = 'localisation/modifiers and flags.csv'
with open(path, 'rb') as f:
    content = f.read().decode('cp1252')

# promote entry  -  insert after nearest sibling's promote line
content = content.replace(
    'promote_<adjacent_ideology>;Promote <Adjacent>;x\n',
    'promote_<adjacent_ideology>;Promote <Adjacent>;x\npromote_<ideology_key>;Promote <Display Name>;x\n',
    1
)
# demote entry  -  insert after nearest sibling's demote line
content = content.replace(
    'demote_<adjacent_ideology>;Slander <Adjacent>;x\n',
    'demote_<adjacent_ideology>;Slander <Adjacent>;x\ndemote_<ideology_key>;Slander <Display Name>;x\n',
    1
)
# active flag entry  -  insert after nearest sibling's active flag line
content = content.replace(
    'ideologies_<adjacent_ideology>_active;<Adjacent> Active;x\n',
    'ideologies_<adjacent_ideology>_active;<Adjacent> Active;x\nideologies_<ideology_key>_active;<Display Name> Active;x\n',
    1
)

with open(path, 'wb') as f:
    f.write(content.encode('cp1252'))

To find the exact adjacent anchor strings, use:

python3 -c "
with open('localisation/modifiers and flags.csv', 'rb') as f:
    content = f.read().decode('cp1252')
for i, line in enumerate(content.split('\n')):
    if 'adjacent_ideology' in line:
        print(i+1, line)
"

6. common/countries/CountryName.txt - Party definition

For each affected country, open the file and add a party = { ... } block. Insert it before any existing party = { ... } blocks:

party = {
	name = "<TAG_partyname>"
	start_date = 2954.1.1
	end_date = 4000.1.1
	ideology = <ideology_key>
	trade_policy = <trade_policy>
	tax_policy = <tax_policy>
	language_policy = <language_policy>
	diplomatic_policy = <diplomatic_policy>
	war_policy = <war_policy>
	good_evil_alignment = <alignment>
}

7. decisions/DecisionFile.txt - Start decision

Add the hidden start decision block. This goes inside the political_decisions = { block. Insert after any existing start decisions:

	<ideology_key>_start_decision = {
		potential = {
			always = no
		}
		effect = {
			set_country_flag = ideologies_<ideology_key>_active
			set_country_flag = nobility_deactivated
		}
	}

Omit set_country_flag = nobility_deactivated if this ideology coexists with the generic nobility ideology rather than replacing it.

8. events/Election.txt - Events 14006 and 14007

Both events have the same structure - a series of state_scope blocks, one per non-default ideology. Find where the adjacent ideology's block is in each event, then insert immediately after it.

Event 14006 (positive - factor = 0.1):

		state_scope = {
			random_owned = {
				limit = { owner = { ruling_party_ideology = <ideology_key> } }
				state_scope = {
					any_pop = {
						ideology = {
							factor = 0.1
							value = <ideology_key>
						}
					}
				}
			}
		}

Event 14007 (negative - factor = -0.1):

Same block, but factor = -0.1.

Use grep to find the right insertion point:

grep -n "ruling_party_ideology = <adjacent_ideology>" events/Election.txt

This will show two line numbers - one in event 14006, one in 14007. Insert the new state_scope block after the closing } of the adjacent block at each location.

9. poptypes/*.txt - Eight pop files

Edit these eight files (NOT slaves.txt, tribals.txt, or bankers.txt):

• aristocrats.txt, artisans.txt, bureaucrats.txt, capitalists.txt
• clergymen.txt, craftsmen.txt, labourers.txt, soldiers.txt

In each file, find where the adjacent ideology's block ends and insert after it:

	<ideology_key> = {
		factor = 1
		# Must be active in the realm
		modifier = {
			factor = 0
			NOT = { country = { has_country_flag = ideologies_<ideology_key>_active } }
		}
		modifier = {
			factor = 2
			<culture_or_religion_boost_1>
		}
		modifier = {
			factor = 2
			<culture_or_religion_boost_2>
		}
		modifier = {
			factor = 2
			ruling_party_ideology = <ideology_key>
		}
	}

Common boost conditions:

• has_pop_religion = dwarven - dwarven religion
• is_culture_group = dwarves - any dwarf culture
• has_pop_culture = longbeard - specific dwarf culture
• has_pop_religion = human_faith - human religion
• is_culture_group = mannish - any human culture

Use grep -n "<adjacent_ideology>" poptypes/aristocrats.txt to find the insertion point, then apply the same relative location in all 8 files (the ideology ordering is consistent across all pop files).

10. history/countries/TAG - CountryName.txt - Starting state

For each affected country, make three changes:

1. Change ruling_party = <old_party> to ruling_party = <TAG_partyname>
2. Update upper_house = { ... } to use the new ideology:

   upper_house = {
   	<ideology_key> = 100
   }
   

3. Add decision = <ideology_key>_start_decision at the end of the file.

Validation

After all changes, run the check script from the repo root:

python scripts/check-ideologies.py

Fix any reported issues before committing. Common mistakes:

• Forgot one of the 8 poptypes
• Localisation anchor not found (Python replace silently does nothing if anchor doesn't match exactly - verify with a read-back check)
• Wrong TAG in countries.csv
• Missing _uh entry in politics.csv

Common Pitfalls

• Localisation files are cp1252, not UTF-8. Never use Edit/Write tools on them. Always use Python with open(path, 'rb') / .decode('cp1252') / .encode('cp1252').
• Python str.replace() is silent on no-match. Always verify by reading back and searching for the new line after writing.
• Party name in history must match the name in the country file exactly - e.g. ruling_party = DOU_skorgrim requires name = "DOU_skorgrim" in Dourhands.txt.
• The upper_house block replaces the old one - don't append to it, replace it entirely.
• Election.txt has two insertion points - one each for events 14006 and 14007. Don't miss the second one.