Erannorth Chronicles – World Map Expansion and New Events Challenges Modding Guide

The sandbox mode and how locations are handled have seen many improvements in the second iteration of Erannorh’s modding engine that Chronicles is using. So even if you modded locations in Erannorth Reborn, toi’ll probably want to read this guide and take advantage of the new features.

I will barely be scratching the surface of these systems. But hopefully will get you started understanding more the vanilla location files, and eventually expand them and create your own.

World Locations Primer

Emplacements

• All Map location contents and properties are moddable through their location.json files but their spot in the map, IDENTIFIANT & Location name can’t be altered.
• Par exemple, tu peux’t really change Lanmerih’s position (or name) sur la carte, but you can create your own areas in Lanmerih and/or edit any existing ones.
• Each location can have up to 20 Domaines.
• Vanilla Location .json files are located in ../Expansions/Erannorth Chronicles/Locations/ and in the case of your mods must be placed in ../Mods/[Your Mod]/Emplacements

Major and Minor Locations

From a modder’le point de vue, both are the same. To bring them to the life you create or edit their location.json files. From world building perspective Major locations signify iconic/important landmarks or Towns. While Minor Locations, smaller settlements like thorps, potential player homes, or settings for your own adventures.

Laisser’s hover over a few of them and see what they mean to us (as modders).

Major Location:

Minor Location – Point of Interest:

Minor Location – Currently Empty/Unused:

Basic Location Properties

• LocationName & IDENTIFIANT: The location name and the ID.
• IsStartingLocation:true or false. Only one should be set as true. Alternative starting locations are usually defined in players’ Subspecies perks. But can be given as backgrounds too etc. So there isn’t really a need to edit this property unless you want to use a different initial player fallback location than Lanmerih.
• HasTown: true or false. Create a settlement in this location.
• TownName: [Town name]. Sets the settlement name. Ce n'est pas le cas’t really have to match the location’Le nom de.
• AvailableActionTier: [Étage]. What actions tiers and expertise ranks can be found in this Town. c'est à dire. 3 means up to Tier 3 or Expertise 6 (2xTier).
• Each location in Chronicles can have up to 20 différents domaines. Each area can have its own Stage either procedurally generated or with custom nodes. x below can be for every field a number between 1 à 20. i.e x => 1 to declare the first area etc.
• Area_x_GraphicSet: You can use vanilla stage graphics sets [Arid Hills,Fleurs de cerisier,Coastal,Cultist Lair,Diable’s Gardez,Eerie Clearing,Ruines oubliées,Frozen Mesa,Gambling Parlor,Navire fantôme,High Garden,Icy Mountains,Infernal Gate,Jungle River,Lush Forest,Marsh,Mistwood Overlook,Moonstone Mines,Old Ruins,Old Temple,Scorched Fields,Naufrage,Contrebandier’s Den,Submerged Temple,Treacherous Dunes,Valley Overlook,Witch Hut,Witch Lair]
• Area_x_Name: The name of the area.
• Area_x_isProcedural: true or false. Set the area to procedural or custom. Procedural stages never include a town node & may or may not include a boss as defined by Area_x_CompleteRequirements below.
• Area_x_Length: If the area is procedural how many nodes does it has?
• Area_x_UnlockRequirements: a comma-delimited Requirements string for the Area to show up. i.e Level:5, Classe:Vampire. The area will be only available to level 5 vampire characters.
• Area_x_CompleteRequirements: This field can be set to « Chef », « Défi », « Fin de partie », « Événement::Nom de l'événement » or left empty «  ». Nous’ll cover this later in more detail.
• Area_x_isRepeatable: true or false. Define if the area is repeatable or a one-off adventure.
• Area_x_MinEnemyTier: Min Enemy Tier
• Area_x_MaxEnemyTier: Max Enemy Tier
• The Base Enemy Max Level will be set temporarily to a value in between Min & Max Tiers. c'est à dire 3 à 6, may set enemy Max level to 4 and the Boss to D4. Normal Enemies will then be level 1-4 while exploring this area. Next time you visit the same area can be different ie 1-3 and the Boss D3. etc..
• Area_x_Nodes: A list of your custom nodes if the stage is not procedural. Nous’ll cover this later in more detail.
• « Area_x_Rewards »:A list of card names, to award for completing this area. if left empty or has fewer rewards than needed they are randomly generated.
• « Area_x_CoverArtwork »: »ArtworkName », you can set a Cover Artwork for this area.
• « Area_x_Description »: »Short Description using <br> to indicate new lines ». You can set a Flavor Description for this area.

Imports & Exports

• Exports & Imports, are string lists containing a locations exports & imports (should match the tags you have set in your commodities)
• i.e Let’s say we have 2 Commodities: Spice & Sucre
• if in a location they are Imports ( « Imports »:[« Spice », « Sucre »], ) it means that they are not native, have to be imported thus are more expensive to obtain than normal.
• if in a location they are Exports ( « Exports »:[« Spice », « Sucre »], ) it means that they are in abundance, thus are cheaper to obtain than normal.

Custom Graphic Sets

Aside from providing your own graphic sets, you can also modify the look of the vanilla stages.

• Modders can change the various Vanilla stage graphics with their own by placing their artworks (rec. 1920×1080) in Mods/ModName/CustomArtworks/Tales
• These files must correspond to a vanilla graphic set prepended with Set[Vanilla Stage].png ie. « SetJungle River.png »
• Vanilla Stages have the following names: Arid Hills, Fleurs de cerisier, Coastal, Cultist Lair, Diable’s Gardez, Eerie Clearing, Ruines oubliées, Frozen Mesa, Gambling Parlor, Navire fantôme, High Garden, Icy Mountains, Infernal Gate, Jungle River, Lush Forest, Marsh, Mistwood Overlook, Moonstone Mines, Old Ruins, Old Temple, Scorched Fields, Naufrage, Contrebandier’s Den, Submerged Temple, Treacherous Dunes, Valley Overlook, Witch Hut, Witch Lair.
• You can alternatively override all game stages (or those you didn’t provide a special graphic for) with a single graphic by providing a « SetUniversal.png »

Anatomy of a Repeatable Area

This is a repeatable area inside Nereis.json.

"Area_1_GraphicSet": "High Garden",
"Area_1_CoverArtwork": "High Garden",
"Area_1_Name": "Nereis Outskirts",
"Area_1_isProcedural": vrai,
"Area_1_Length": 12,
"Area_1_UnlockRequirements": "",
"Area_1_CompleteRequirements": "",
"Area_1_isRepeatable": vrai,
"Area_1_MinEnemyTier": 5,
"Area_1_MaxEnemyTier": 7,
"Area_1_Nodes": [],
"Area_1_Rewards": [],

Maintenant laisse’s say that I don’t like the environment and want to turn it into a coastal area. Scouring through the location files I dig up this area in Herman’s Rest.json:

"Area_2_GraphicSet": "Coastal",
"Area_2_Name": "Herman's Cove",
"Area_2_CoverArtwork": "Crique",
"Area_2_isProcedural": vrai,
"Area_2_Length": 12,
"Area_2_UnlockRequirements": "",
"Area_2_CompleteRequirements": "",
"Area_2_isRepeatable": vrai,
"Area_2_MinEnemyTier": 5,
"Area_2_MaxEnemyTier": 7,
"Area_2_Nodes": [],
"Area_2_Rewards": [],

Parfait! So I need to change the Graphic Set to « Coastal » and my cover artwork to « Crique », comme je ne fais pas’t want to provide my own artwork and use the build in-game graphics.

"Area_1_GraphicSet": "Coastal",
"Area_1_CoverArtwork": "Crique",
"Area_1_Name": "Nereis Outskirts",
"Area_1_isProcedural": vrai,
"Area_1_Length": 12,
"Area_1_UnlockRequirements": "",
"Area_1_CompleteRequirements": "",
"Area_1_isRepeatable": vrai,
"Area_1_MinEnemyTier": 5,
"Area_1_MaxEnemyTier": 7,
"Area_1_Nodes": [],
"Area_1_Rewards": [],

How can I make the game recognize this change? Do I provide the whole Nereis.json file?

Absolument pas! my modded Nereis.json should include just:

"IDENTIFIANT": "Nereis",
"Area_1_GraphicSet": "Coastal",
"Area_1_CoverArtwork": "Crique",

I place it in Mods/My Custom Locations Mod/Locations and I am done.

Anatomy of a Challenge

Challenges are similar, but instead of being procedural we specify manually the nodes like so:

"Area_4_GraphicSet": "Smuggler's Den",
"Area_4_Name": "Galdorak's Lair",
"Area_4_Description": "According to the old Hermit an evil Galdorak witch plots his demise. He sounds a bit half crazy, but is willing to offer you a valuable family heirloom if you kill her to protect him.",
"Area_4_CoverArtwork": "Grotte",
"Area_4_isProcedural": FAUX,
"Area_4_Length": 5,
"Area_4_UnlockRequirements": "",
"Area_4_CompleteRequirements": "Défi",
"Area_4_isRepeatable": FAUX,
"Area_4_MinEnemyTier": 1,
"Area_4_MaxEnemyTier": 1,
"Area_4_Nodes": [
"DungeonEntry",
"Faction:Galdorak Horde",
"Faction:Galdorak Horde",
"Chef:Galdorak Wisewoman - Niv 3",
"Poitrine"
],
"Area_4_Rewards": [],
"Area_4_RewardsToPick": 2,

• • Le « Poitrine » in the end marks it as a Treasure Hunt, mais ça’s really just a Challenge.
  • Galdorak Wisewoman – Niv 3 est-ce que’t really a boss that’s why I am specifying her level.

Creating Challenge Chains

To create a Challenge chain, all I need to do is set my UnlockRequirement as Challenge:[Name of Previous Challenge]

"Area_5_GraphicSet": "Lush Jungle",
"Area_5_Name": "Ascetic Life",
"Area_5_Description": "The old Hermit hires you to accompany him in the woods. Your field trip proves more dangerous than you expected. ",
"Area_5_CoverArtwork": "Chaos Hound",
"Area_5_isProcedural": FAUX,
"Area_5_Length": 5,
"Area_5_UnlockRequirements": "Défi:Galdorak's Lair",
"Area_5_CompleteRequirements": "Défi",
"Area_5_isRepeatable": FAUX,
"Area_5_MinEnemyTier": 3,
"Area_5_MaxEnemyTier": 3,
"Area_5_Nodes": [
"DungeonEntry",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Chef:Chaos Hound"
],
"Area_5_Rewards": [],
"Area_5_RewardsToPick": 2,

Editing a Challenge

Maintenant laisse’s say that in Ascetic Life challenge I want to fight the Underworld. And as a boss face off both Horatio Bonwell and the Chaos Hound! You can have either one boss or two bosses together, by using Boss: Boss1+Boss2. c'est à dire.

My custom Nereis.json could have the following:

"IDENTIFIANT": "Nereis",
"Area_5_MinEnemyTier": 5,
"Area_5_MaxEnemyTier": 5,
"Area_5_Nodes": [
"DungeonEntry",
"Faction:Pègre",
"Faction:Pègre",
"Faction:Pègre",
"Chef:Horatio Bonwell+Chaos Hound"
],

The Area_5_MinEnemyTier & Area_5_MaxEnemyTier will affect the random enemy levels, as bosses’ stats are fixed. Donc ça’s up to you to decide what level the player should be around and adjust them accordingly.

Adding a Brand New Challenge

To add a new Challenge or area, take a number that doesn’t exist in the JSON file. c'est à dire. Raven has reserved up to 7, for Nereis, and perhaps he will expand it later. So I should be safe claiming index 12 for my mod.

I must define all fields this time:

"Area_12_GraphicSet": "Lush Jungle",
"Area_12_Name": "Le Four-headed Beast",
"Area_12_Description": "As you relax in a tavern, the bard sings of the three-headed beast that lives in Nereis Rainforest and guards a mythical treasure. The song is (at least half) based on facts, as anyone who went to find this treasure never returned to confirm its existence. Maybe it will be worthwhile to investigate?",
"Area_12_CoverArtwork": "Hydre",
"Area_12_isProcedural": FAUX,
"Area_12_Length": 6,
"Area_12_UnlockRequirements": "",
"Area_12_CompleteRequirements": "Défi",
"Area_12_isRepeatable": FAUX,
"Area_12_MinEnemyTier": 9,
"Area_12_MaxEnemyTier": 9,
"Area_12_Nodes": [
"DungeonEntry",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Faction:Galdorak Horde",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Chef:Four Headed-Hydra",
"Poitrine"
],
"Area_12_Rewards": [],
"Area_12_RewardsToPick": 2

I just copy-pasted the area 7 ici, and changed the Boss to Four Headed-Hydra who doesn’n'existe pas, unless I define it as an Enemy too, and the name (Challenge names must be unique) to The Four-headed Beast. Not many points in originality if I was a modder, but you get a point.

So my Nereis.json mod this time should contain these lines:

"IDENTIFIANT": "Nereis",
"Area_12_GraphicSet": "Lush Jungle",
"Area_12_Name": "Le Four-headed Beast",
"Area_12_Description": "As you relax in a tavern, the bard sings of the three-headed beast that lives in Nereis Rainforest and guards a mythical treasure. The song is (at least half) based on facts, as anyone who went to find this treasure never returned to confirm its existence. Maybe it will be worthwhile to investigate?",
"Area_12_CoverArtwork": "Hydre",
"Area_12_isProcedural": FAUX,
"Area_12_Length": 6,
"Area_12_UnlockRequirements": "",
"Area_12_CompleteRequirements": "Défi",
"Area_12_isRepeatable": FAUX,
"Area_12_MinEnemyTier": 9,
"Area_12_MaxEnemyTier": 9,
"Area_12_Nodes": [
"DungeonEntry",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Faction:Galdorak Horde",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Chef:Four Headed-Hydra",
"Poitrine"
],
"Area_12_Rewards": [],
"Area_12_RewardsToPick": 2

Et ça’s'asseoir.

Merging All Three Mods Together

Now of course if we were to make this Nereis.json mod, we wouldn’t do three mods but one:

"IDENTIFIANT": "Nereis",
"Area_1_GraphicSet": "Coastal",
"Area_1_CoverArtwork": "Crique",
"Area_5_MinEnemyTier": 5,
"Area_5_MaxEnemyTier": 5,
"Area_5_Nodes": [
"DungeonEntry",
"Faction:Pègre",
"Faction:Pègre",
"Faction:Pègre",
"Chef:Horatio Bonwell+Chaos Hound"
],
"Area_12_GraphicSet": "Lush Jungle",
"Area_12_Name": "Le Four-headed Beast",
"Area_12_Description": "As you relax in a tavern, the bard sings of the three-headed beast that lives in Nereis Rainforest and guards a mythical treasure. The song is (at least half) based on facts, as anyone who went to find this treasure never returned to confirm its existence. Maybe it will be worthwhile to investigate?",
"Area_12_CoverArtwork": "Hydre",
"Area_12_isProcedural": FAUX,
"Area_12_Length": 6,
"Area_12_UnlockRequirements": "",
"Area_12_CompleteRequirements": "Défi",
"Area_12_isRepeatable": FAUX,
"Area_12_MinEnemyTier": 9,
"Area_12_MaxEnemyTier": 9,
"Area_12_Nodes": [
"DungeonEntry",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Faction:Galdorak Horde",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Chef:Four Headed-Hydra",
"Poitrine"
],
"Area_12_Rewards": [],
"Area_12_RewardsToPick": 2

And we’d leave alone any fields we don’t want to edit, (et don’t mind if they stay in their original form).

Claiming a Placeholder Location

The world is full of placeholders waiting to hold their own adventures. So go grab a location and tell your stories. Laisser’s say you want to have a dungeon underneath Greengale Mine.

Hovering over it shows me it’s not a Point of Interest. So Raven hasn’t done anything there yet. Probably my mod would be safe if I just use indexes above 12.

All I have to do is create a Greengale Mine.json.

Put the obligatory fields:

"IDENTIFIANT": "Greegale Mine",
"LocationName": "Greengale Mine",

And anything else I want in. Maybe my four-headed beast could live in there instead of Nereis?

Greengale Mine.json

"IDENTIFIANT": "Greegale Mine",
"LocationName": "Greengale Mine",
"Area_12_GraphicSet": "Lush Jungle",
"Area_12_Name": "Le Four-headed Beast",
"Area_12_Description": "As you relax in a tavern, the bard sings of the three-headed beast that lives in Nereis Rainforest and guards a mythical treasure. The song is (at least half) based on facts, as anyone who went to find this treasure never returned to confirm its existence. Maybe it will be worthwhile to investigate?",
"Area_12_CoverArtwork": "Hydre",
"Area_12_isProcedural": FAUX,
"Area_12_Length": 6,
"Area_12_UnlockRequirements": "",
"Area_12_CompleteRequirements": "Défi",
"Area_12_isRepeatable": FAUX,
"Area_12_MinEnemyTier": 9,
"Area_12_MaxEnemyTier": 9,
"Area_12_Nodes": [
"DungeonEntry",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Faction:Galdorak Horde",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Chef:Four Headed-Hydra",
"Poitrine"
],
"Area_12_Rewards": [],
"Area_12_RewardsToPick": 2

And now Greengale Mine just became a new Point of Interest! Assuming Raven or another modder don’t use index 12, all our Greengale content will play along nicely.

Anatomy of Events

Your non-procedural areas can surely include events as their nodes. But in Chronicles, you can just trigger events directly instead of having first to enter an area.

c'est à dire. Laisser’s have look at Forest Lodge.json

"Area_2_Name": "Forest Lodge",
"Area_2_Description": "This secluded Forest Lodge is now free from bandits and all yours.",
"Area_2_CoverArtwork": "Forest Lodge Hut",
"Area_2_UnlockRequirements": "Défi:Fargal Redcloak's Gang",
"Area_2_CompleteRequirements": "Événement::Forest Lodge",
"Area_2_isRepeatable": vrai

After we defeat Fergal Redcloak (Défi:Fargal Redcloak’la bande), we can have the Forest Lodge as our base. Événement::Forest Lodge in complete requirements mark this as an Event, and it will trigger as event dialog instead of having us enter an area.

Laisser’s say you want to add an Event in your Greengale Mine.json.

Greengale Mine.json

"IDENTIFIANT": "Greegale Mine",
"LocationName": "Greengale Mine",
"Area_12_GraphicSet": "Lush Jungle",
"Area_12_Name": "The Four-headed Beast",
"Area_12_Description": "As you relax in a tavern, the bard sings of the three-headed beast that lives in Nereis Rainforest and guards a mythical treasure. The song is (at least half) based on facts, as anyone who went to find this treasure never returned to confirm its existence. Maybe it will be worthwhile to investigate?",
"Area_12_CoverArtwork": "Hydre",
"Area_12_isProcedural": FAUX,
"Area_12_Length": 6,
"Area_12_UnlockRequirements": "",
"Area_12_CompleteRequirements": "Défi",
"Area_12_isRepeatable": FAUX,
"Area_12_MinEnemyTier": 9,
"Area_12_MaxEnemyTier": 9,
"Area_12_Nodes": [
"DungeonEntry",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Faction:Galdorak Horde",
"Faction:Wildlife",
"Chef:Four Headed-Hydra",
"Poitrine"
],
"Area_12_Rewards": [],
"Area_12_RewardsToPick": 2
"Area_13_Name": "Logan's Plight",
"Area_13_Description": "One of the miners looks troubled. Perhaps you could talk with him.",
"Area_13_CoverArtwork": "Artworks/Dwarf Miner",
"Area_13_UnlockRequirements": "Défi:The Four-headed Beast",
"Area_13_CompleteRequirements": "Événement::Logan's Offer",
"Area_13_isRepeatable": FAUX
"Area_14_Name": "Logan's Forge",
"Area_14_Description": "Logan is happy to see you.",
"Area_14_CoverArtwork": "Artworks/Dwarf Miner",
"Area_14_UnlockRequirements": "QuestStateHelpedLogan:vrai",
"Area_14_CompleteRequirements": "Événement::Logan's Forge",
"Area_14_isRepeatable": vrai

After we defeat the Four headed beast in Greengale mines, we gain access to Logan’s Plight quest, which can trigger a mini-story/event called Logan’Offre S.

And then once completed, it could unlock Logan’s Forge through a quest state that we gave the player during Logan’s Plight. etc..

For these to work you need to create these events of course.

Mais ça’s how you’d go integrating your events with an area.