Manually Installing CK3 mods - How To & Troubleshooting

[Guest]

It comes up a lot in various threads, but the process for installing a mod manually for CK3 is different from either installing from Steam Workshop or Paradox which will install automatically to the correct location.  Installing manually requires the user to ensure that the mod folder & accompanying .mod file are copied to the correct location and that the Paradox Launcher correctly finds the mod in order to run it with the game.

 

Downloading Manual Mods

 

Almost all manual mods will be downloaded in a compressed format for small file sizes and to ensure all files are grouped together for ease.  Typically this may be a zip or rar file.  Zip files can be opened natively in Windows, rar files may require additonal software, such as Winrar or 7zip in order to be opened and decompressed.

 

Once you have downloaded the zip file, you'll need to decompress (or unpack) the folder and .mod file to the correct location in order for the Paradox Launcher to locate the mod and allow you to include it in a playset.

 

You need to ensure your zip file is unpacked to the Crusader Kings III mod folder.  Your location may vary, but it is typically within your local PC equivalent of "My Documents".  See example 1 below. 

 

You must ensure you unpack both the mod folder and the .mod file that accompanies it.  This file contains the filepath that the Paradox Launcher will use to locate the mod, without it the game will know there is a mod, but will fail to find or load it.  See example 2 below.  In our example here we have installed Carnalitas by unpacking both the folder "Carnalitas" but also the accompanying .mod file "Carnalitas.mod" into the /mod folder location.

 

 

Once this is done you should be able to start the Paradox Launcher and find the mod within the tab "All installed mods".

 

If there is a red warning triangle next to the name of the mod, then the Launcher has not been able to correctly identify the file path needed to find the mod.  See troublshooting below.

 

If the mod is not visible within "All installed mods" then either you have not saved the mod to the correct location or the .mod file is missing.  Alternatively the mod you have downloaded may be missing the file descriptor.mod within the mod folder.  See troubleshooting below.

 

Once you have confirmed the mod is installed, it can be added to one or more playsets within the tab "Playsets".

 

After you have added the mod to a playset, simply select that playset when launching the game within the tab "Home.

 

 

Troubleshooting

 

Now, things can go wrong from time to time, sometimes there's a file missing or incorrect in the mod, but most of the time it's either user error in installing the mod, or more rarely, it's an issue with the Paradox Launcher being unable to navigate the folders.

 

 Check .mod file path matches the location of the mod folder

 

When you first attempt to run a mod the Paradox Launcher will open the accompanying .mod file and look to find where this file states the mod is located.  We can check this for ourselves by opening the .mod file using a basic text reader such as Notepad.

 

See example 7 below.  In this example we are opening the file Carnalitas.mod, using Notepad.

 

 

When we open a .mod file that the Paradox Launcher has not used before it will typically contain a file path that is very simple  path="mod/<MOD NAME>".  This is a shorthand relative location of the mod folder from the CK3 game to the mod that allows the Paradox Launcher to then map the file to the appropriate full path name corresponding to your local PC.

 

See example 8 below.  In this example we can see that the Carnalitas.mod file is instructing the Paradox Launcher to look at path="mod/Carnalitas"  this matches the name of the folder for this mod.

 

 

 

If you look at this same file after you have loaded the Paradox Launcher, the launcher will have edited this file to update the path to the full windows file location.  This file path should match the location to which you have unpacked the mod above (See example 1).  If it does not, you will need to correct this.  Potentially you may need to edit and save the .mod file (if for example the mod creator has left an incorrect path in the file), more likely you have unpacked the mod to a differnt folder location than the mod creator intended.

 

See example 9 below.  In this example we can see that the Carnalitas.mod file is instructing the Paradox Launcher to look at path="C:/Users/andre/OneDrive/Documents/Paradox Interactive/Crusader Kings III/mod/Carnalitas"  this matches the name of the folder for this mod (See example 1 above).

 

Note: File paths copied from Windows Explorer will include backslash "\" divisions between folders.  The .mod file path format uses forward slash "/".  If you are copying and pasting the location from Windows Explorer, please be sure to replace backslash with forward slash as appropriate.

 

 

Setting the .mod file to READ ONLY to prevent Paradox Launcher altering the filepath.

 

On rare occasions, you may find that the file path appears correct and the Paradox Launcher appears to correctly locate the mod as being installed (no red warning), but that when you start the game, the mod doesn't appear to be working.  This can be due to Crusader Kings III failing to read a valid filepath location.  This is often caused by having a "non-standard" character within the filepath.  (For example non-english language players may have an accent, umlaut or other marking in their native language but the Paradox launcher doesn't read it).

 

This error can sometimes be located in your game's error log file, where it will contain one or more lines with the phrase folder not found for dlc/mod.  For advice on how to locate your error log file, see the end of this post.

 

Good news: The game is smart enough to find mods using just path="mod/<MOD NAME>".

Bad news: The Paradox Launcher will keep overrwriting this path in the .mod file every time you launch the game.

 

To overcome this issue, ensure your desired .mod file is editted to use the path="mod/<MOD NAME>".  See example 8 above.  This can be done in notepad for example.  Save the changes you've made.  Then give the .mod file READ ONLY properties in Windows Explorer.  This will prevent the Paradox Launcher from overwriting the file path.

 

See examples 5 and 6 below.

 

 

 

Clearing the Paradox Launcher cache files

 

Sometimes you find that the mod is correctly located and the .mod file is mapping to the correct path and it still will not work.  Often this may be after you have corrected an error, moved or renamed a folder or otherwise potentially confused the Paradox Launcher.   If the red warning error is still indicating that the launcher cannot locate the mod, you can attempt to clear various Paradox Launcher cache files.

 

As the cache files can be stored in multiple locations, this may not be that straight forward.  See the Paradox Support for advice here:

 

https://support.paradoxplaza.com/hc/en-us/articles/360010684620-The-Paradox-Launcher-v2-doesn-t-work-

 

Locating your error log file

 

The error.log file (along with other files including debug.log) can be found in a similar location to the /mod folder as the /log folder is located within the same group of files.  See example 3 below for the /log folder location and 4 for the error.log file.  This file can be opened using a basic text reader such as Notepad (See example 7 above).

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by GallowsUK

[Guest]

POST RESERVED FOR UPDATE

 

Creating a Playset

 

All mods downloaded will only be loaded and used within the game if they are both included and enabled within a playset and that playset is actively selected before loading the game from the Paradox Launcher.

 

Playsets are selected at game launch within the Playset dropdown list (see example 0 below.

 

 

The playsets available are player defined, you must either create your own playset, or import one shared by another player (useful for ensuring all players have the same mods and load order in a multiplayer game).

 

You can create new playsets from either the dropdown menu or the Playset button in the game menu (see examples 1 &2 below).

 

 

When you create your playset, you will be able to both label it for reference and select which installed mods you wish to include and run the game with.  A player can have multiple playsets.  This might be particularly common when playing different total conversions (such as alternating between Elder Kings, Princes of Darkness and Lord of the Rings: Realms, for example).

 

Simply select the button "Add Mods" (see example 3 below) to call up your installed mods.  Then tick the box beside each to include them, before selecting "Add to playlist" (see examples 4 & 5 below).

 

 

 

 

Once added, you can choose whether or not a mod is enabled or disabled within that playset (see example 6 below).  For the mod to be loaded at game launch it must be enabled.  Inidividually disabling and enabling mods within a load set can be useful in troublshooting when looking to identify with mod or mods within a playset might be causing an error, a crash or simply conflicting with other mods.

 

To the left side of the mods listed in the playset is the load order.  This indicates the order in which each mod will be loaded over the top of the original game code, starting with mod 1 and progressing down the list in order.  (See example 7 below).

 

 

Load Order is IMPORTANT

 

How Mods can conflict

 

Fundamentally it is important to know that game mods work by changing the original game through one of two means.  These means can vary based on the individual file type or location of the file and how the underlying original game loads those files.

 

Some parts of the game can be ADDED to through adding new files, either with completely new functions, or by adding code to an existing function.  These types of changes are less likely to conflict between different mods, though this can happen.  For example if Mod A creates a new Christmas event for cutting down fir trees if you are in Norway, it's unlikely to conflict with Mod B that creates a new decision for african tribal religions.  However, it can occur.  For example, if Mod A and Mod B both created new 3d models for crowns and both were called the same name, then the game will only be able to choose to use the code and files for one of those crowns, not both.

 

Other parts of the game can be OVERWRITTEN by adding new files to completely replace existing files within the game.  These are often, but not always, caused by a fundamental change to an existing in game mechanic.  In addition, due to limitations of how the game reads certain files, some changes can only be made by overwriting rather than amending or appending new code.

 

As a result of how these modifications to the game code are made, it is extremely common for two or more mods that aa player might wish to use to impact the same areas of code, resulting in conflict where the code cannot be amended by both mods without one or other taking precedence.  Thus if Mod A is first in the load order, and Mod B is second in the load order, any conflicting code in Mod A will be replaced by Mod B.  This can result in features of Mod A not being present when both are loaded.  Swapping them in the load order would result in Mod A features being present, but Mod B features may be missing.  Thus these mods may be considered all or in parth incompatible unless one or both are changed to accomodate the other.

 

Many mods uploaded to the site here contain guidance as to which other mods the makers may be aware of compatibility

 

How Mods can be built upon other mods

 

Similarly to how mods themselves are built to take advantage and use the underlying orginal game's structures, mechanics, graphics, menus and other features, mods themselves can be made with the assumption and reliance upon the fact that other mods are assumed to both be installed by the player within the same playset, but also that they are earlier in the load order, so that the secondary mod may utilise the code provided by the earlier mod.  Examples of this reliance are common here with Carnalitas and Character Body Overhaul both commonly utilised by other mods (sometimes refered to as sub-mods), that build upon the features in these mods.  Thus it is important that any mod that is relied upon by another mod, must be in the load order prior to the mod that relies upon it.

 

Many mods uploaded to the site here contain guidance as to which other mods the makers may require in order for their own mods to function.

 

Mods can be moved up or down the load order (see example 8 below) manually, in order to ensure they are loaded in the correct order.

 

 

(To follow - Version warnings & guidance)

 

(To follow - Crashed game guidance)

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by GallowsUK

[nYidentity]

About mod comparitbility.

There is a good tool here for u to see which mods overwrite each other.

u just need to install python, select the file and run it. hen it will show u all the mods in conflict.(but only in ur currently selected playset!)

https://www.loverslab.com/topic/197895-tool-python-script-that-checks-what-files-that-mods-overwrite/?do=findComment&comment=3880363

 

 

After that if there is a conflict confict that i want to resolve, what I do is fire up android studio, connect it to git and use the compare feature. This makes things much much easier

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by nYidentity
delete personal info

[zenicwave]

i cant seem to edit the mod file. doing so to save makes it a txt file. idk how i got the others to work but this 1 specific will not change the directory in the .mod. Its called simple slits

[freedomf1ngers]

it says i need a .json file? 

 

[dariosarton]

I downloaded CKIII via Hydra, and the launcher tries to contact Steam, but I followed everysingle step and it still, didn't work, I'm kind of lost right now.

[Monedeath]

The "andre" in the file path given in the example shown was his (local system) windows user account name. Unless your user account name for windows also happens to be the same, it won't work that way. You need to change the user name portion to match your own.

Edited January 27, 2025 by Monedeath