Create Your Own Map in Crusader Kings 3! - Custom Map Tutorial

Feel free to subscribe and leave your tutorial ideas in the comments below!
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This is how to create your own custom map in Crusader Kings 3:
1. Download Blank Map Mod forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...
2. Change the path in the descriptor file
3. Edit the heightmap.png (either draw your own in photoshop or create one in azgaars fantasy map)
4. Export the heightmap as grayscale into your map_data folder, replacing the heightmap.png
5. Open the mapeditor, using -mapeditor as your launch option in the steam game settings
6. Repack your heightmap in the map editor for it to be shown
7. Keep on editing your heightmap/edit the visual terrain in the map editor until you are happy with it, then save it and close the editor
8. Open the provinces.png (found in map_data) with Photoshop
9. Select your landmass from the heightmap and duplicate it to the provinces.png
10. Make it one color by adding a color overlay
11. Remove all the transparent pixels, tutorial here:
• In the Layers panel, Ctrl+click (or, if on mac Cmd+click) the layer thumbnail to turn its transparency into a selection.
• Use Select Edit in Quick Mask Mode to enter Quick Mask Mode.
• Use Image Adjustments Threshold and set the Threshold to 255, to remove all transparent pixels.
• Push Ctrl+i (or if on mac Cmd + i) to inverse the mask.
• Exit Quick Mask Mode with Select Edit in Quick Mask Mode.
• Make sure the layer is selected and press Delete to remove the transparent pixels.
From graphicdesign.stackexchange.c...
12. Start painting your provinces, each with an individual RGB-color and no half transparent pixels
13. Export your file as a png to replace the provinces.png
14. Now edit the definition file (map_data) to add your provinces, using the following pattern and the RGB-colors of your provinces:
id;R;G;B;name;x;
15. Check if your provinces were added in the map editor
16. Now add your provinces to the landed_titles.txt (common folder) using the following pattern:
e_empire_tier = {
color = { 0 0 0 }
color2 = { 255 255 255 }
capital = c_county_tier
k_kingdom_tier = {
color = { 0 0 0 }
color2 = { 255 255 255 }
capital = c_county_tier
d_duchy_tier = {
color = { 0 0 0 }
color2 = { 255 255 255 }
capital = c_county_tier
c_county_tier = {
color = { 227 115 149 }
color2 = { 255 255 255 }
b_test1 = {
province = 1
}
b_test2 = {
province = 3
}
}
}
}
}
17. Create the province locators (building, player stack, combat, siege), duplicating the existing entries to add your number of provinces
Edit the map objects in the map editor using the auto-nudging tool, remember to save the game after

[@NerdSquadGaming117]

For those who are wondering, using 2 as province ID doesn't work because its already set as a sea zone province in the "default . map" file (spaced because YT thinks its a link), which can be found in map data. You can remove it from the brackets in "sea_zones = LIST { 2 }" and then use it in landed titles. It bothered me so much that I had to skip the number two in my defines, so I spent waaay too long searching for this in the files lmao, hope this helps someone!

[@truelingoism]

much thanks!

[@Nerdlore.]

Custom culture tutorials would be awesome. Great video, worked perfectly.

[@flinkerCK]

Noted for the next few tutorials, thank you!

[@eskija1035]

This is absolutely, positively, awesome! Not to mention wildly helpful. Seeing how to create custom characters for any given start date would be wonderful :)

[@flinkerCK]

Thank you so much! Noted for the next tutorials :)

[@nathanielhm]

Just wanted to say that your original series from two years ago remains the most useful single resource for ck3 modding out there. I would not have been able to enter the modding scene at all if not for you, so just, thanks!

[@Lightclaw]

Honestly, please do another one. Super helpful; Especially since they're long and basically unedited- better honestly.

[@Rayblov]

If anyone's having an issue with "Failed to set up terrain for map editor". from the experiences I've seen, it come about from people who aren't using photoshop not following/missing the instructions from 3:40 to 3:50, on GIMP this can be achieved when you export the image. at the last step of the export, one of the default options is "automatic pixelformat" and this needs to be switched to "16bpc gray". Hope this helps anyone struggling!

[@yewty9894]

after a couple thousand hours, the old map has started to become boring. would love to see a new map mod.

[@mariusmuhle4679]

This is exactly what I needed. Good video!

[@WmJared]

Aw yeah time to merge this and artifexian and biblioridian theorycraftin and see if I can actually crank out a mod now thank you for this definitely will watch whatever create custom stuff videos you put out!

[@barbariancataphract5103]

Also there is a nice way of getting sensible heightmaps onto custom coastlines - there are Earth's satelitary heightmaps available online, where you can render needed parts and then you can copy it into the heightmap and play with it until you get the desired shape!

[@FieryDawn]

Thank you so much for this! I finally got started on building my own mod for my own fantasy world. I would love to have you explain start dates and character placements if you could.

[@flinkerCK]

Will do in a video soon!

[@davidrittle5980]

I don't have photoshop, I use gimp, and i'm not used to image editing but eventually I got the 16-bit grayscale stuff to work! Thank you for your extremely helpful tutorial videos, I'll be keeping an eye on your channel!

[@flinkerCK]

Great to hear, thank you very much!

[@slctd_chrctr]

I use GIMP (thanks to you btw !) and I'm currently stuck at the 16-bit grayscale step. How did you manage to convert your image into 16 bits ? I have selected the option but once exported the image is still in 64 bits, I can't go further just because of this -_-'

[@katelyn3928]

Where do you put the color code for the sea at? I've got it coded as a province in my definitions spreadsheet cause I don't know where else to put it, and it causes weird issues in map editor.

[@elfousiantv5445]

im trying to make a map with custom resolution thats 1:1 so 5504x5504 but at the top some of the map is always black every file is in the right width and height any fix to this?

[@slctd_chrctr]

Hey, I feel stupid, my image is on GIMP, followed every steps, I've selected 16 bits before exporting but the image is still in 64 bits and I have NO IDEA how to fix this. Also tried with Photofiltre but since it's black/white it won't let me choose any bit option. Any help please ?

[@TypicusTatarus]

What should i do with the fact, that in the game i can not see cities, men and armies movements, until i face them or click on their tile to estimate a battle? I created map with Azgaar's help and it would be terrible to fix placement of thousands objects for each province, instead of correct auto-nudging or whatever, to understand in the end, that it does not reveal normal gameplay. Does anyone know how to deal with invisible armies?

[@supercraftmcproductions7703]

How would you make it so the province names don't start with c_ or b_? When I try to remove those letters, it seems to say the naems are invalid

[@crazyhercules9442]

Can it be downloaded via the steam workshop? I’m new to modding and I don’t yet know how to work with Atom. I need a lot of help.

[@user-lh7mr7mn3i]

Hi, I would like to know what tools are needed for a real world altitude map

[@agustinglenny]

Any idea of tools like azgaar for making real world maps? like importing an image as the base

[@Bruh-mb2jc]

Good video!

[@Herbacz]

In have the Xbox gamepass version on my PC. Is there a way I can launch the game in the map editor?

[@MrJEverettW]

In my map editor my null province has an error, how can I get rid of that?

[@user-rp1uo6ey8v]

Hi! I have a question about sea provinces. I saw that you can define a province as a "sea_zone" in the "default.map" file but where do you give it a name (like "sea_number1" that will be used for localization)?

[@flinkerCK]

I think it takes the province name as the actual name, defined in the definition file :)

[@user-rp1uo6ey8v]

@@flinkerCK Yes you are right! I thought it was just a commentary. Thank you for your answer :) (and for your work :D)

[@syk2973]

Thank you for this!

[@brady3610]

at 8:00 what button did you press on your keyboard to get the layers to switch? im new and i cant figure out what you did to mask it

[@DaBEAST101606]

i have the same question

[@ray.plays.games.]

I don't suppose you have any advice on reading through crashlogs? After I do steps 16 and 17 the game crashes when loading Edit: fixed it literally minutes after commenting - it was the classic issue of missing a }

[@stoutcrow]

I'm using Krita, and can't figure out how to do the half-transparent pixel thingy :/

[@joshuajames919]

Is there any way to add a fictional Isle to the regular game/map?

[@musculusmaximus6937]

Besten Dank nochmals für deine Hilfe, jetzt funktioniert es bei mir auch 😁

[@flinkerCK]

gar kein ding :)

[@ameneverdone1293]

@flinker Hallo, ich bin sehr dankbar für deine Tutorials. Ich stehe vor einigen Problemen, und hoffe dass du mir helfen kannst. Zum einen Wird bei mir, anders als bei dir aus Minute 12:31 nicht die Provinz [0] Null Provnice angezeigt, außerdem ist meine gesamte Map im Editor mit grünen Streifen übersähnt, nur einige außnahmen von Provinzen sind davon nicht betroffen. Außerdem, wenn ich den Auto-Merge für die Objekte verwende, passiert leider nichts. Ich würde mich sehr über eine Antwort freuen. Wenn man dich persönlich in einem Gespräch erreichen könnte, wäre das natürlich klasse, auch wenn ich verstehen kann dass du sehr beschäftigt mit deinen eigenen Sachen bist.

[@jacyntosoares8399]

i dont know why but when i put provinces in the game the game dont load, i just get an eternal load screen

[@capybara8157]

Thanks my man

[@pancakesomeone9766]

Does anybody know how to create a layer from background for gimp?

[@marlene3344]

wow Great Video 🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@Erstgjjn]

nice video

[@spartanh3478]

I try to update Edo's France mod (Very old), i think there is a map issues who keep the game crashing, error saying : can't set priority for province ID : (many line with numbers like 7943) This ID lies outside the maximum number of provinces available ( 4306 ) (always 4306) I dont know what to do lol

[@patricthomas]

How do you change the names of the counties (off of c_county_teir), ect any changes on their names in landed_titles.txt breaks the game?

[@flinkerCK]

You have to change the localization of the titles, take a look at one of my past videos on how to do that

[@myrelia3915]

Greetings Flinker! I have a question about map modding. Whenever I try the mod in-game, the sea also turns to another province's color, although I did distinguish it. Do you know why this might be? Thanks in Advance

[@flinkerCK]

Hi! Try saving everything that is sea as a transparent layer, just remove any kind of colour and make it transparent

[@myrelia3915]

@@flinkerCK Hey Flinker! Thanks, that seems to have done the trick. However, now that I have a transparent sea in province.png, I am confused how I am supposed to connect islands with each other. Is there perhaps an option I am missing? Thanks again!

[@flinkerCK]

I understand, it‘s also possible to create sea provinces, although i am not sure how to distinguish them. So you would just seperate the sea into different provinces and you then have to tell the game that these provinces are sea. Maybe ask the guys in the ck3 modding discord on how to do that

[@myrelia3915]

@@flinkerCK Thank You Very Much! I will look into this.

[@mindful-madness]

Thanks for this update

[@Ze0SIX]

Hey man really nice video its short and you explain the important parts. i do have a question though: could you show your photoshop setup for the heightmaps? im getting errors even when opening and just saving the empty heightmap.

[@Ze0SIX]

okay after trying for hours i achieved it. i gained the ability to read. it turns out i really really really have to save it as a copy.

[@flinkerCK]

When that solved that for you, great!

[@evan_iz_navarry]

Nice video) Is it possible to make a guide to supplement the standard map? For example, there is an empty area or an island in vanilla. Yes, the algorithm will be similar. But still...

[@flinkerCK]

Thank you! Are you thinking of adding areas to the vanilla map or do you wish to edit existing ones?

[@evan_iz_navarry]

@@flinkerCK I am interested in both options. First, adding new provinces to the standard map. Secondly, there are many mods where the whole world is represented and it seems that there is already a height map. Is it possible to add provinces there?

[@flinkerCK]

@@evan_iz_navarry yes you can certainly do that, you can edit the existing landed_titles and you can also edit a larger heightmap, which is not included in the basic game. You would need to take a modded heightmap or create your own one for that.

[@Flos974]

It doesnt work. What could I do ?

[@sukago]

I want to know why the provinces drawn on the sea are all judged as land provinces. It has been changed many times but the same

[@nutella_man7075]

My mapeditor loads in the usual European map for some reason, I've saved the heightmap and I have the mod enabled and selected.

[@flinkerCK]

Yeah that is a weird bug that i also had a lot. On which version are you running the game?

[@thischannelisnowdefunct]

Also does the dimensions of the png file have to stay the same for it to work?

[@PigIA]

Hello! Sorry to bombard you with messages. I am just having trouble with the provinces. I encountered this same issue last time. When I try to define the provinces, it crashes, like you, I think this has to do with the definition of the second province, so first, I added back the second province and edited all the other provinces in both documents to match, still crashed. Then I tried to remove the 2nd province entirely. Still crahsed. Can you tell me how you got this to work?

[@PigIA]

Found the solution! Turns out it was a problem with the image software, as ck3 only accepts certain image formats

[@flinkerCK]

Okay, can you launch the game with the definition file being empty? And if no, did you export your provinces.png correctly, did you save it as a copy? Try removing parts to figure out what exactly causes the crashing. If all of that doesnt work, send me your files on discord and i will take a look

[@flinkerCK]

Great, yeah that makes sense!

[@WmJared]

So your issue with province 2 may be that at 10minutes it shows your second province is all the ocean. The RGB is the color the ocean uses as background for provinces in your original define folder. I wonder if ending the definitions file with the sea defined as a province would help, I can try to check slowly tomorrow

[@flinkerCK]

Thats actually a good point, i will check that, thanks!

[@christianflores4911]

so update (I'm not tech savy at all, plus I'm a newborn to the modding scene first ever attempt at modding from scratch.)

[@rumplebutts6442]

Wait what did you do to make the map generators water black

[@flinkerCK]

you can do that in the ocean tab

[@mehwhatever9726]

How do you do filling with photoshop without making transparent pixels?

[@flinkerCK]

I am not sure, you can do that by drawing the outline of your circle first and then fill it in, or just do it with the pencil tool

[@Yaguermeister]

Does this work for Victoria 3?

[@Erstgjjn]

can you show us how to make major rivers? I couldn't find it anywhere.

[@flinkerCK]

Hi, major rivers are pretty much just ocean, so they are painted pink in the river map. But i can show that in my next tutorials as well

[@spaghettiwizard830]

Is there a way I could do this without Photoshop, tried using my computers own software and it didn't work😢

[@flinkerCK]

gimp should work :)

[@Gaadjuh]

... I downlowd the game by PC xbox game pass and i don't know how to have the map editors, i need help pls

[@sirteshi3804]

dont know if you still need help but im not sure if you can use mapeditor with pc gamepass. You could atempt to load the game in debug mode by going into game settings while on the paradox launcher then scrolling down and clicking launch in debug. After that play as the blank starting country already there with the cutom map download and click the tilda on you keyboard. there may be an option saying open map editor. Im not sure though map editor just might not be supported for pc gamepass ck3.

[@jayoxman9829]

These tutorials are very helpful- do you have a discord server?

[@amabamo5769]

ty

[@Sire1510]

Hey man can show us how to make custom cultures and faiths if you know how? thanks.

[@flinkerCK]

Noted for a future video!

[@ezboiezman6768]

hello can you teach how can i add more barony duchis kingdoms empires in map ? and if you can teach how to add more castels citys holysites and empty holdings ? that be great

[@flinkerCK]

Will do so in the coming tutorials!

[@Thelazycouchguys]

Azgaar is giving me a map that is way more gray, and doesnt have the black for water which is making my CK3 map mode get a really weird heightmap

[@PigIA]

Does the river map tutorial you made for your old tutorial still work?

[@flinkerCK]

I think so, yes. Was watching it myself the other day because i forgot how

[@ApolloFlies]

I’m too poor to afford photoshop is there any other photo editor you recommend?

[@flinkerCK]

GIMP does a great job!

[@jcw4969]

Everything works until I get to provinces.png. Whenever I try to add more than one province, it crashes! For some reason, everything else works fine only when I try to add more provinces.

[@flinkerCK]

Are you sure that you dont have any transparent pixels in your provinces.png? And did you save it correctly?

[@Hiraeth23-ff1bf]

Did you manage to find a solution, I have the same issue.

[@cjamaster44]

How do you change the background color to black in the map generator?

[@flinkerCK]

It is the ocean color that you have to change :)

[@cjamaster44]

Where do I edit that?

[@cjamaster44]

@@flinkerCK Where do I go to change that?

[@flinkerCK]

First you deselect the heightmap layer, then you go to the style tab and you select the element ocean

[@cjamaster44]

@@flinkerCK Thanks!

[@mehwhatever9726]

Would very much like to know how to create non-human races, modify in-game sliders etc.

[@Thatchycar516]

Did you find a solution?

[@themastergomez7733]

OMG... I admire your time and your patience... Could you be able to make one for me? 🙏

[@Duchow0]

Very good tutorial! I did everything with Gimp and it's working mostly. The only problem i encoutered is when i try to rally the troops in game,it suddenly crashes. Any idea what may cause this problem?

[@flinkerCK]

Have you created the locators?

[@Duchow0]

@@flinkerCK I created locators for two baronies and i compared both mod and game files, but nothing seems to work for me :(

[@Duchow0]

I checked the structure of Almost Blank Map mod and it seems to be issue. Raw version of the mod works fine till i started raising troops then it crashes.

[@barbariancataphract5103]

Same

[@barbariancataphract5103]

@@Duchow0 I think it might be the case with Player Stack Locators, I think there should be three id's for each province or something

[@NamelessMF1658]

I mean what do I tho if I wanna make a specific map instead of just random generated one 🤷

[@flinkerCK]

Check out my old video on map modding for that, basically you just start drawing your map or you just paste it in your heightmap document

[@NamelessMF1658]

@@flinkerCK ohh thank you :D

[@Jack-bt7qg]

im stuck at starting up CK3 once heightmap is in, i created it with Krita, dont know where i went wrong

[@flinkerCK]

You probably didnt save it correctly, on which settings?

[@Jack-bt7qg]

I saved it as PNG, don’t know if your inferring to something else

[@Jack-bt7qg]

I may need to clarify, I drew my own map that I’ve had for a while and did that through Krita so it might be messed up a lot? I don’t know

[@flinkerCK]

In which settings did you save it? Grayscale and the correct bits?

[@Jack-bt7qg]

@@flinkerCK oh I might not have saved it like that, when I get home I’ll look at that, have you used Krita before? Would you know how to do that on there?

[@andronicu]

After i add the new heightmap.png when i open the editor i get a "Failed to load terrain" error

[@flinkerCK]

Did you save your heightmap as a grayscale image?

[@LukeTripp]

I’m having the same issue. I did save it as grayscale

[@LukeTripp]

I figured out the issue for me using gimp. When you go to export there is an option defaulted as automatic “pixelformat” that needs to be changed to 16bpc gray

[@reeceshugrue6167]

@@LukeTripp Thanks!

[@christianflores4911]

@@LukeTripp This is legit made me stop working and go to a different project for a week. This helps so much. I'm not tech savy at all yet I want to put my foot into modding from scratch.

[@martinsohajek6111]

How you got that black water????? 2:27

[@flinkerCK]

you can do that in the ocean tab

[@Mrprince4245]

When I tried to download the mod it’s two things there I don’t know which one to do

[@ave789]

Insert the folder and the file into Document/Paradox Interactive/Crusader Kings 3/mod

[@Mrprince4245]

@@ave789 and how do I do that?

[@ave789]

@@Mrprince4245 i genuinely don't know what you mean, is that hard to follow?

[@Mrprince4245]

@@ave789 like how do I insert what button do I press i’m not a computer dude like that

[@Mrprince4245]

@@ave789 sorry for my stupid mind but thank you I figured it out

[@notme437]

Does this work for 1.9.*?

[@flinkerCK]

Yes it should

[@notme437]

@@flinkerCK Awesome! Do you have a download of the provinces template anywhere? :)

[@andrymiolakolaka]

i wish there was a in game map editor in hoi4 like this

[@barbariancataphract5103]

"Failed to set up Terrain for Map Editor". Hmm, will try again, good tutorial though! You're doing a great job. Will try to fix it tho, not sure why it won't work.

[@barbariancataphract5103]

When I open the "default" map in the editor - it works. If I add anything and export again - it fails to set up. Hmm. And yes, I make sure it's grayscale and 16 bits.

[@flinkerCK]

Did you save it as a copy? Same resolution?

[@barbariancataphract5103]

@@flinkerCK I just did some random things, enabled my inner stubborn donkey, tried exporting in every way possible and finally got it to work! Thank you for the tips though ^^ Will see if the provinces and rivers work now :P

[@flinkerCK]

Very good, yeah i am often having the same issues over and over again just because i made a small error

[@truelingoism]

@@barbariancataphract5103 i'd love to hear how you fixed it, since, I get the same error on my end

[@thischannelisnowdefunct]

Does this work for 1.10.1?