A M&B:Bannerlord mod/API to allow for spawning troops and stacks independent of the games' main spawning system.
The nexus link with more Bannerlord content can be found at https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/411?tab=description
Each section has a bold sentence or two at the start to help those who want to read over the documentation quickly
Calradia at War is not any different than any other sub mod that makes use of the Custom Spawns API. It only has a different file path for easier debugging.
Calradia at War is simply a mod that runs on top of Custom Spawns API. It is one of many mods that has been developed with the API, though it holds a "special" position in the sense that there is a version of the API that comes packaged with Calradia at War. However, the way data is loaded and handled is no different than any other Custom Spawns mod, and multiple mods may use the API at once. The only difference is that the pre-packaged version can hold the API in the same file as Calradia at War rather than needing a separate submodule file.
This was a decision for facilitating ease of use, both for the developers of the API, and for the users. File juggling by the users is kept to a minimum, and the team working on the API can quickly test features by implementing content with the API in a short workflow.
The API replicates the XML modding workflow that Bannerlord uses for highest ease of use.
There are 3 different file locations that you need to be concerned with to use the API. The ModuleData folder of your module, the ModuleData folder of the Custom Spawns Clean API module or Calradia at War module (both can serve as the API but neither can exist together as CaW comes with the API), and a special CustomSpawns folder (named exactly that!) which holds all your API-specific content. We will refer to the CaW/API ModuleData folder as the API ModuleData folder.
We created an XML-based API to replicate the Bannerlord modding process. Here is a general overview of all the files you will be working with:
The API ModuleData folder houses all the config files (config.xml, custom_spawns_campaign_data_config.xml, and prisoner_recruitment_config.xml). The config.xml folder pertains to the mod in general, custom_spawns_campaign_data_config.xml pertains to specific campaign behaviours such as Devestation, and prisoner_recruitment_config.xml pertains to lords and garrisons automatically recruiting their own prisoners. All mods that use custom spawns share the same config file, and players changing values inside these config files affect all the mods.
Your ModuleData folder will hold content that Bannerlord code parses through, such as the Lords, Factions, etc. These are the files that you will have to link through your SubModule.xml file. Of specific interest to us is the XML file that you will create to specify Troop/Party Templates. This is done no different than how the game does it, so feel free to look at TaleWorld's implementation inside the Sandbox Module (look inside ModuleData/partyTemplates.xml). It is convention for CustomSpawns mods to name their troop templates' ids starting with "cs_". These party templates can be referenced back to CustomSpawns for your troop templates to spawn on the map (more on that later). YOU HAVE TO DO THIS if you want certain features to work. Also, it's cleaner, and prevents the API from messing with party templates that are vanilla or added through non-custom spawns mods.
The CustomSpawns folder must be placed directly under your Module folder. Currently, it contains the CustomDailySpawn.xml, CustomSpawnsSubMod.xml, Diplomacy.xml, CustomDialogue.xml, and NameSignifiers.xml files.