[HOI4 Modding] Creating a new province

Welcome to the advanced modding tutorials!
In this lesson we will learn how to add a new province to the world map.
If you have a complicated questions that can't be answered here properly (for example if you want to attach a screenshot) you are welcome to use the topic on the Paradox forums, I am always looking there for questions:
forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...
Here are the download links to the various tools used during The Iron Workshop lessons.
Notepad++ Download:
notepad-plus-plus.org/downloa...
Gimp Download:
www.gimp.org/downloads/
Gimp DDS plugin:
www.mediafire.com/download/t1e...
XnConvert:
www.xnview.com/en/xnconvert/#d...
If you have any questions regarding the video or any of the software don't hesitate to ask in the comments :).

[@Arranus]

TIW: First you need Notepad ++ Then you will need Microsoft paint MAC users: Intense screaming

[@Arranus]

Before any one comments i know mac can use others like photoshop!

[@elliotbull3085]

@@Arranus all this ignores the fact that hoi4 is windows exclusive lol

[@Arranus]

@@elliotbull3085 wait I didn't even know that

[@user-fb9ql8bm2e]

@@elliotbull3085 that’s false I have played it before on Mac OS. But I downloaded windows on my computer so I can mod

[@kalev76]

For definition.csv ID;R;G;B;Land/Sea/Lake;Coastal;Terrain;Continent

[@demolition_lovers]

^EXTREMELY IMPORTANT Thanks!

[@aarnijarvelainen8499]

HighRock thanks a lot!

[@CrumpetCraig]

Thanks

[@PhonicArchaeology]

You my good sir are a scholar and a gentleman.

[@c0nceited822]

thank you for this, for some reason this isn't anywhere on the wiki or documentation

[@Starsky3022]

4:40 Copy relevant files to the mod folder 12:00 Create definition entry 17:50 Making changes to the visual representation of the province terrain 22:05 Making sure the state is part of a supply area

[@sketchyboi8868]

Where’d u get those files from tho

[@sketchyboi8868]

Whats the vanilla folder

[@Starsky3022]

@@sketchyboi8868 Your installation folder and in there within /map EDIT: I'd like to point out though that this video is probably outdated. Since NSB changed how supply works

[@NoName-os3jp]

16:02 it follows the specified format: Province ID; R value; G value; B value; Province type (land|sea|lake); Coastal status (true/false); Terrain; Continent (integer) Continets: 1=europe 2=north_america 3=south_america 4=australia 5=africa 6=asia 7=middle_east

[@BacktoClashi]

OMG TY SO MUCH❤

[@TheGloriousLobsterEmperor]

MY GOD I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

[@thezombiecreeper]

So now Puerto Rico is 4.8964% harder to conquer

[@poiuytrewq11422]

I used this to create an entirely new province in the middle of the ocean, which worked. Good tutorial.

[@tavasp]

If u were making it in the ocean ud need to change heightmap.bmp too

[@forcetimer71]

all that work for an ocean province 💀

[@gmodgrunt]

btw, i think the supply zones have been removed due to the No step back DLC, so that's no longer a worry. other than that this video still holds up!

[@hippugamer6689]

ty

[@jammin5563]

So I can just skip the step

[@GlitchGoblin]

Only if there was a mod where the number of provinces in the world is x20. Meaning there are a shit ton more little tiny provinces everywhere making for an epic large scale battle.

[@ada3549]

Thank you! now i just made a square shaped state for my own country :)

[@thegesor7729]

*Never done mods before* Eh I'm a fast learner Nevermiiind

[@dodolulupepe]

this is really not the tutorial you should start with, start with making a country or state, it's MUCH, MUCHHHH easier

[@majorearl12]

I was needing this for my mod on the workshop lol. I had tried it in GIMP thinking it was perfectly fine. Eventually gave up on it.

[@TheIronWorkshop]

Hopefully this time it will go better :)

[@majorearl12]

The Iron Workshop Hopefully, thanks for the videos! Keep it up!

[@perfectlybalancedasallthin9319]

Awesome tutorial! :) Can you make a tutorial on how to edit the height map?

[@Lupus_Solitarius]

Now, I can finally make Germany a mess! >:D

[@EternalMuscovite]

Noooooooo

[@perunproductions9126]

Im actually doing the same thing lol, aswell as making accurate Ottoman Borders in the Arabian Desert

[@jammin5563]

Same XD 300 Province germany >;)

[@shenrontan6931]

How about 1 pixel-province error? I tried going for decisions.csv and find the province so i can repaint them but they are still appearing at the error log

[@DimitrovPlays]

how would I put cities in a province (graphics)

[@darekkonik9186]

I have absolutely no idea why, but while following everything you did, it didn't work at all and the game crashes during loading. The issue is with the "map" folder. I have no idea what I could do wrong, I checked every file three times. Could you take a look at it? I already contacted you on the Paradox forum.

[@FlagSpeedArts]

Thank you so much

[@The_Y2K_Survivor]

I can't add new provinces without being thrown into nudge every time I load up the game. Fallowed the video step by step and have the same error log as vanilla but STILL the wont break out of nudge.

[@specialunit0428]

Does this tutorial work for creating lakes? I am currently making a mod and I want to replace a city province with a lake. Will this work?

[@varwym5709]

I have a problem, it saying found invalid province in nudge in buildings when I try to validate all states

[@taiyc1]

thanks alot!

[@jamesmoran8294]

The number at the end is continent-based

[@armando3699]

You don't have to put the rgb and province id into the definition. If you launch the game after adding the new province to provinces.bmp the game will do it for you and all you have to do is the terrain and is it coastal etc.

[@Natogoon]

No it doesn't.

[@quantumLocked033]

@@Natogoon It does though, I had accidentally created another province and it auto-created it.

[@KeliFox]

@@quantumLocked033 same, i created 3 new provinces and when i got into hoi4 in debug mode, the provinces were already pretty much done

[@cubefard264]

I created a couple islands using the video but they were underwater can you a tutorial about that?

[@jaykilbourne1110]

Tried to use GIMP to edit the province BMP file. Game crashes every time on load-up. But paint works just fine....

[@diesesphil]

doing this in 2021, wondering about the victory point system and the map folder at the end of the video

[@ChrisBazy]

thank you it works

[@Minisculev2115]

This honestly wasn't as bad as I thought

[@henarkforrestal]

welp, added 1 province and the game said F you, and gives me a List stating that X amount of provinces that doesn't exist don't have a continent or anything ells.... any fix?

[@HavocMusic1759]

if you followed the tutorial i dont know, but one good way is go into debug mode and hover over a province in a game, it will give you a province id like 6259 (part of jutland i think)

[@HavocMusic1759]

sorry im late

[@sten828]

If I want to add building slots then adding provinces won't help? or will it? sorry i'm not sure how to ask my question, "how do I create more provinces to build in"

[@KsPRNightrmare]

Building slots are determined by the type of state it is, which is found in history folder. A city type state will have more building slots than say a rural state type or a wasteland state type.

[@pillbox2079]

Ah, finally I came do this tutorial to make new provinces in my mod. Thank you very much! I had a problem with the game not detecting my continents, but I fixed it no problem. Will you be reviewing more HoI4 mods soon? I will be having a big update in a day or two.

[@pillbox2079]

Am.... I have a problem. The pathfinding in the new provinces is messed up. I order the division to go left, but it goes right. Has this happened to you? There are no errors at the start of the game.

[@TheIronWorkshop]

Not something that I encountered... How many provinces did you add? Does it happen in all of them? And yeah I am planning on doing more mod reviews.

[@pillbox2079]

@@TheIronWorkshop I have added 4 more and then used two other (existing) to make one state.

[@pillbox2079]

@@TheIronWorkshop Ok, I have found the issue. I have forgotten to place the unit positions properly in the new provinces while in the Nudge. That cause the pathfinding issues that I had. Thank you for the response anyway! Have a good day! ^.^

[@TheIronWorkshop]

@@pillbox2079 Ahh yes, always do that for new provinces. Glad you got it solved 👍

[@choisaucechoiski1911]

Hello Brother TIW, awesome vid thx for the tutorial! is creating an island province any different than what you speak of in this vid? if so do kindly tell plz thx

[@Baltazarelarabe2024]

More please!

[@koki1460]

hi can i expand any province whit just painting its color over other one? edit: also if someone can explain to me how to expand province

[@ggeshundra]

the number at end is on which continent province will be

[@equaius893]

if you just want to change the shape of already existing provinces do you have to do this?

[@alexmor7379]

No

[@Nova-kq9ek]

thanks man!!! with this i can make a LOTR map, i just know how to make new states but thanks!!!

[@babitzky9807]

Imperio Mexicano with the nudge tool you can make a bunch of provinces into a state. in the History/States folder you can then assign the states to a nation (also new created nations ofc)

[@Nova-kq9ek]

Bab itzky sorry but where can i find that tool? Or do that

[@majorearl12]

Just look at the earlier videos of Iron Workshop. He has shown to get the debug mode which is how you get the extra cool stuff.

[@Nova-kq9ek]

+Mackenzie Braden but debug mode is not the same than the nudge tool or that thing that he said

[@majorearl12]

Imperio Mexicano Launch your game in debug mode, on the main menu there will be a new option called Nudge

[@johannesgames0425]

Can someone please tell me why my provinces map doesn't link with my definition?? Every RGB is correct but he still says that my newly created provinces don't have pixels in provinces.bmp??? Please help me!!

[@J_Gamer_Mapping]

The Errorlog says: " prov 13218 has no continent ", even though I wrote " 13218;155;131;218;land;false;urban;1 " in the \map\definition.csv file. How can I fix that?

[@thebitch7457]

you have to write 34y65783t3465iubdfgsysk5834658;58e578f3l;;;55845

[@J_Gamer_Mapping]

@Justha214 Yeah, I got it. Still thanks for caring after quite a long time! ^^

[@SlimeMasterNate]

@@J_Gamer_Mapping What was the solution? I'm currently having that problem and I can't figure it out.

[@vargasmfa933]

una pregunta en que carpeta sacas los archivos "definition" y building"

[@Cookie-oy7jr]

Map

[@GamingWithAle]

How can I modify the number of military factories? I tried to go to the files, but it didn't work, maybe I made something wrong, can you explain to me how to do it? For example how to change ussr max factories

[@KsPRNightrmare]

Change it in the state file inside the history folder

[@geicolizard6776]

Can you use this to make Islands?

[@fandral92]

I know that this vid is 6 years old, but i was wondering, can you expand already existing provinces? Like, if you draw on the map with an already existing color, ill that territory be included in the province which that color belongs to?

[@KeliFox]

Yeah you can, whever you select a color of an already existing province, you can easily expand them

[@Cobra103play]

MY BRAAIN IT'S MELLLLTING!!!

[@TheIronWorkshop]

You are now officially a mooder!

[@babitzky9807]

Dude, this is great Kreygasm I wanted to do a Spartakusaufstand mod with a map that is just a big German and you fight in the communist coup (you can obviously chose a side) I wasn't able to do it but I'm sure this will help! thanks a lot!

[@TheIronWorkshop]

Glad to help

[@kzh2313]

+The Iron Workshop hey is there a way to change the cities victory points??

[@babitzky9807]

kz h Yes, you gotta go to the history/states folder, select the state you city is in, there you will find a vicotry points section. example: 64 (Brandenburg) history> victory ponits = {3521} (Berlin) = 50, you can add another province or change that value

[@kzh2313]

Bab itzky i've tried that but it didn't work

[@babitzky9807]

kz h To change the value you have to enter the province id, not the state id, did you mind that?

[@MBKovas]

After editing the provinces file with just 1 new province (id 13236) the game crashes and the log says that "provinces 13237, 13238, 13239... etc. have no continent". I never added these provinces, but the game must have read the provinces file incorrectly which is why it created an additional bunch of provinces (in the map folder in "Documents", not the mod folder itself). Why does the game have problems reading just one additional color and thinks that I have added like 6 colors?

[@gulbogiii]

I had the same problem, I don't know why it happens bit I fixed it by adding new provinces all the way to the last number where it indicated x province had no continent. You have to repeat the same process for every single one of them.

[@Game5Dub]

You might have anti-aliasing on in paint.net

[@alforest4709]

I am guessing that with no step back and the removal of the old supply system you do not need to assign provinces to a supply area. Is this true?

[@flapjack6983]

I’m pretty sure they still use supply regions but very little

[@flapjack6983]

Nvm you gotta use supply_nodes and railways.txt instead of supply area

[@H3LLGHA5T]

Can anyone tell me how to add a strait?

[@tka9990]

I have a problem when i try to make mountains in the terrain.bmp, after do it and i start the nudge, the terrain it's all bugged, the textures are in places differents and looks horrible, how can i solve that?

[@flash2989]

Can you do tutorial how to add new cities?

[@kubar2320]

"[00:43:49][map.cpp:1207]: prov 13367 has no continent " (I made province 13367) Somebody know how to fix it?

[@kubar2320]

after I select country and click start game crush at initializig game, debug says nothing

[@Solstron]

I believe the numbers at the end of the line (in definition) are the continents. For example: The number 3 is North America. This had fixed it for me, if it doesn't work for you then I don't have any answers for you:/

[@dorchcorporation7578]

Now I can finally make the Doggerland

[@michaelweiske702]

Using colors to differentiate provinces... That's inspired. Using this method would allow over 16 million provinces. That's a province for every 13 square meters on earth!

[@TheIronWorkshop]

Now just need the processing power/optimization to handle all of that properly.

[@The_Deaf_Aussie]

Hi, I know this is a year after you uploaded this wonderful video, but, i am now interested to learn what that last number means in the definition file, also what TRUE and FALSE means in the same file?

[@kazabubu4419]

0 = water (lakes, oceans), 1 = land a bit late ik xd

[@onlinemediaarchive]

last step i had to do as soon as i started

[@Crimsrn]

when i hover over the province in nudge! it doesn't show the supply area id at all?

[@TheIronWorkshop]

Supply areas are gone since No Step Back see video about creating railways and supply hubs

[@Crimsrn]

@@TheIronWorkshop ah ok thx

[@internationalelementen4425]

If anyone gets crashes when the game launches, don't forget the save the provinces.bmp file in 24bit format, or else It'll crash the game!

[@1snowball]

How to create a river?

[@joseph-vw1wm]

game just crashes at startup no error codes nothing

[@rpwrtorwpr]

same

[@Arranus]

then you didnt do it in debug

[@camaradaayuso4347]

Im doing a mod on HOI3 but I have a problem when I realize changes in the provinces. Do you know that the process its the same like HOI4? Thanks!

[@jakub9802]

Did you succeded on creating new province in hoi3? Does the method from this movie works or did you had to do some other things? I would really aprecieate any tips if you have some :v

[@camaradaayuso4347]

@@jakub9802 Yes, I did it recently.

[@camaradaayuso4347]

@@jakub9802 First at all you should do a security copy of your mod. Then, go to map folder and open the map bmp with your graphic editor. I did it with Photoshop. Now turn the map, and modify with pixel tool with an aleatory color. That RGB code must write in the definition.txt with the code of the new province. In the localisation folder go to provinces.excel and put your code with the name of the place. Then you need to insert your new province in one region on the regions.txt. Now create a txt for your new province in the provinces folder (that it is in the history folder). May be you need to move airports, ports and another symbol positions of the province. For do that I use an editor of map for HOi3... Important: remember when you finished at edit the map, invert the map possition in Photoshop. Sorry for my english, I Was not the best student of my class...

[@camaradaayuso4347]

@@jakub9802 The editor of positions and more is called HoI3PosEd.

[@jakub9802]

@@camaradaayuso4347 Thank you very much :)

[@crafterchief3812]

I trued to make an new land mass but it wouldn’t show up on the map please help

[@Cookie-oy7jr]

Change the Height in the heightmap.bmp for it to show up.

[@kaleufarias7705]

I have a question, how do I merge 2 states?

[@TheIronWorkshop]

I will talk about that in an upcoming lesson on creating states, just need to get over a cold I am having :\

[@kaleufarias7705]

OK we are all waiting and improvements for your cold

[@WayneTheMewtwo]

how would I change a state's name?

[@Cookie-oy7jr]

localisation state_l_english or any other language

[@carbon7413]

i dont see the definition file aaaaaa

[@VeTRiX_exe]

i created a new state in romania. its working fine but its name is STATE_743 and not Constanta (i named it Constanta) can someone please help me ? and tell me how i can make the name appear in the game

[@HiddenCitizenAR]

you need to add your state in the localisation file.. create a subfolder in your mod folder called localisation, inside create a file yourmod_l_english.yml (or whatever language you use) and inside you have to put the next, in the first row put: l_english (must match with the language you put in the title), then in the second row you have to put: STATE_743:1 "Constanta".. and now you should see the correct name in your game

[@tancredi7106]

Tutorial for Islands and states please

[@Vk-wd5we]

States are generally easy, go into history/states. Create a new one, edit the file and assign the provinces you want assigned to it. There

[@unluckiestkidsstudios]

I can't find my new province

[@thatanoyinguy2556]

When I open hoi4 it just crashes when downloading history. Please help me.

[@backtothebrickstudios5320]

The same is happening for me.

[@LordDuncan7]

How To Create States???

[@The4Pikmin]

So, say i wanted to make an island in the Pacific. I create the provinces, then make a state?

[@TheIronWorkshop]

Exactly.

[@The4Pikmin]

@@TheIronWorkshop Alrighty, thanks!

[@salasM650]

how do you add rivers?

[@user-oo3oi9ki2j]

Do you still need to know?

[@salasM650]

Not for now thank you!

[@theholyorb7530]

Rivers.bmp in the map file

[@TheColombianSpartan]

That general is smoking a brush?! MacArthur rocks it tho

[@heha5495]

You haven't been making videos recently please add how to add a state tutorial

[@uselessuser5050]

This: www.reddit.com/r/hoi4/comments/4vpf1x/how_to_mod_in_a_new_state/d60cj4s It's not a video, but really simple to follow. I've found it the easiest to learn how to add new states and have been using it ever since.

[@Arranus]

copy the state file remove the province and put in new file EZ

[@Zurg-lx7vy]

I have no map folder.

[@tavasp]

The true/false in definition.csv means where it is bordering the ocean, and 0 1 or 2 makes it in the correct contitnent

[@vittoriovenetov9655]

This helps thanks

[@GoalHornsandGames]

How do you create custom wars?

[@TheIronWorkshop]

Watch for a video on that soon!

[@GoalHornsandGames]

Cool!

[@archaontheeverchosen]

Creating State tutrial please

[@kepler9860]

Its with the nudge tool

[@outdatedtank4542]

@@kepler9860 can you elaborate

[@kepler9860]

Oh, you select the provinces in nudge, make the name of the state, set the other things there ( Like suply for example ) and if i remember it comes up as a folder . I may not be 100% correct but I think its how it works

[@kepler9860]

And also you have to save it there too

[@outdatedtank4542]

@@kepler9860 thanks

[@bigpopparasta8133]

I don’t get what was so difficult with this...

[@_mrddew]

It’s gonna be difficult for beginners like me, but once you keep doing it, then it shouldn’t be difficult for you

[@fernit0505]

Ole ahí mi Españita

[@tzenf3008]

is it possible to make an ideology only for one country

[@theholyorb7530]

What do you mean?

[@Cookie-oy7jr]

Yes, if you make the ideology not to puppet boost or stage acoup's. (Exp) nationalist = { types = { nationalist_ideology = { } } dynamic_faction_names = { "FACTION_NAME_FASCIST_1" "FACTION_NAME_FASCIST_2" "FACTION_NAME_FASCIST_3" "FACTION_NAME_FASCIST_4" "FACTION_NAME_FASCIST_5" } color = { 0 0 0 } war_impact_on_world_tension = 1.0 faction_impact_on_world_tension = 1.0 rules = { can_force_government = no can_send_volunteers = yes can_puppet = no } modifiers = { } ai_fascist = yes # uses the fascist AI behaviour can_be_boosted = no }

[@Nova-kq9ek]

hey man,can you try a tutorial about how to chabge skins or models? i try but i only can do with commonwealth skins, i try use german or polish but i cant change it :/

[@TheIronWorkshop]

This is something that I have not experimented with since 3D modelling isn't my niche, and in order to change the models you need to teach people how to 3d model... I can't tech something I don't know, but perhaps in the future If I manage to get the hang of it I will :)

[@meemstar2333]

Maybe the dlc overwrites it?

[@Mr.McMuffin]

Well seeming as you know how to do this pretty well, why don't you create a mod that adds way more provinces to cities in order to make fighting for them more realistic and fun. Like oh I took 3 provinces in Stalingrad but they still have 2 on the Volga, imma move a panzer division in there. Romania can you take my flank?

[@TheIronWorkshop]

I have my own mod to work on and it has far more to offer than just new provinces...

[@tubatootingraham8123]

can you remove provinces?

[@TheIronWorkshop]

Yes, just paint over them in the provinces.bmp file and remove any references to the province you removed.

[@E_Poltz]

how to windowed the game?

[@alexmor7379]

In the launcher

[@_gogoraine_1987]

Как хорошо когда ты из России и понимаешь что он говорит.

[@ParseeAikoku]

I just crash

[@Kurthlin]

Followed this tutorial, no errors but I can't move my units around my country edit: funny how I fixed this issue because I did something wrong at the terrain map??

[@Kurthlin]

@@user-xu1pd1tk3v Sorry, can’t do, maybe you’ve got to start searching for a new guide, this video series is pretty old after all.

[@GambinoTheGoat]

yus

[@squirrelystew8323]

5:01 💀

[@Nova-kq9ek]

do the new provinces in water ( so i can make a new scenario with only 2 countries or 3) please

[@TheIronWorkshop]

Good point, I will probably make a separate one on how to create sea\ocean provinces.

[@andro_king]

based Emperor: Battle For Dune enjoyer

[@knight905416]

Lets add Epstein's island! The Clinton's and Royals will love it!

[@drewdameron2677]

How about adding custom buildings and changing the amount of factories per state? Maybe advanced be province buildings :D

[@E_Poltz]

state_category = megalopolis

[@drewdameron2677]

Random Mystery erm, think you missed purpose of post... plus that is a base section already in files. I meant something totally different than your reply

[@E_Poltz]

Drew Dameron​ dude u kiding, go to the HOI4 files and the history, states, and find the one u want to change, open it and state_Category = megalopolis or mess up with buildings I can explain better but, to lazy XD

[@drewdameron2677]

Dude are you kidding... I was meaning Completely new buildings that are not in base game along with techs to unlock etc. So you say you are too lazy but apparently you presume without warrant also. its ok, I shall find out on my own, and do it myself. Seems asking how to increase from 25 to say 100 factories was too much for you, or better yet how to add proper new buildings for states/provinces/etc with proper techs was too much for you. I am sorry for being aggressive but dude, you asked if I was kidding, and didnt give me time of day to ask what I was actually meaning. Thus you were the one that attacked without warrant. I only stated you missed point and followup if a properly done would have been to ask what I meant, NOT say "ARE YOU KIDDING". Thus attack was not warranted. I asked for a particular thing, and now I guess it is better explained but in that, it took an attack to get it out, when it shoulda just taken a question. NOW For what I really meant, Adding more state categories to be able to add factories and like up to say 100, Adding buildings to provinces/states that are not in base game, Doing proper techs to unlock them, Can you add requirements(resources) for a building to be built, How many buildings can be put on the production screen with current GUI, How do you modify the Icons for productions(I know its in interface somewhere but where), list goes on but I believe anyone can get where I am going... Trying to make a total conversion mod and wondering if all this is possible.

[@E_Poltz]

Drew Dameron ok me vale madres, why you dont say "nee buildings", you said custom, wich is also easy, and thanks bor the biblie, but i hate god, cya

[@RyanPHoferJr]

how about victoria 2

[@TheIronWorkshop]

I really want to but lack of time doesn't allow that at the moment.

[@commandercody1210]

5:01 - dies

[@Mrpolice228]

Red Alert?)

[@user-ts5mn9lh4t]

нет блять блек алерт

[@IkeReviews]

You cant use ms paint anymore

[@alexmor7379]

I use Paint 3D (cause in Photoshop I can't save as .bmp)

[@kubar2320]

u can use paint.net

[@fpslevi3812]

Instructions unclear, no results

[@ShadowFire287]

How about actually linking what the heck your basic lessons are.

[@kazabubu4419]

vachina

[@_fil_1363]

Someone plese tell mə why moding is sooo.... Disgusting

[@TheIronWorkshop]

You should try HOI3 or Victoria 2 modding for a real taste of disgusting.