EVENT CREATION GUIDE

Two Rules of This Mod

A news_event is a normal event in every other way: it can go to one country only, have several options, and have effects.

Contents

• 1The files you touch
• 2Write the event
• 3Write the texts
• 4Make and register the picture
• 5Decide who sees it
• 6Decide when it fires
• 7Test it
• 8Checklist
• 9Common mistakes

1The Files You Touch

2Write the Event

Create a file in events/, for example events/DVE_ROM_2025.txt.

add_namespace = dve_rom

news_event = {
	id = dve_rom.2
	title = dve_rom.2.t
	desc = dve_rom.2.d
	picture = GFX_news_event_DVE_rom_january_strikes

	is_triggered_only = yes

	option = {
		name = dve_rom.2.a
	}
}

Line by line

• add_namespace = dve_rom: must be at the top of the file, once. Every id in the file starts with this name. Pick a name nobody else uses. Already taken: dve_news, dve_rom, dve_lba, dve_frapro, dve_itapro, dve_mayday, and the same names ending in _send.
• id = dve_rom.2: namespace, a dot, a number. An id must be unique in the whole mod. If two events share an id, only one of them works. Search the mod for the id before using it.
• title / desc: localisation keys, not the text itself (see step 3).
• picture: the sprite name of your panel (see step 4). Leave the line out for an event with no picture: the window then shows the WORLD NEWS header with an empty screen.
• is_triggered_only = yes: the event fires only when something sends it. Always include it, otherwise the game fires it randomly for every country.
• option: one button. name is the localisation key of the button text. Effects go inside the option.

An option with effects

	option = {
		name = dve_rom.2.a
		add_stability = -0.05
		add_popularity = { ideology = progressive popularity = 0.02 }
	}

popularity = 0.02 means +2%. The ideology must be one of the 14 groups of the mod: progressive, revolutionary_socialism, vanguard_socialism, authoritarian_socialism, totalitarian_socialism, liberal, centrist, conservative, reactionary, authoritarianism, autocracy, absolutism, ultranationalism, fundamentalism.

For several buttons, write several option blocks. AI countries pick an option by themselves.

3Write the Texts

Create localisation/english/DVE_ROM_2025_l_english.yml. The name must end in _l_english.yml.

l_english:
 dve_rom.2.t:0 "The January Strikes"
 dve_rom.2.d:0 "First paragraph of the text.\n\nSecond paragraph."
 dve_rom.2.a:0 "Hope the people get what they want."

4Make and Register the Picture

By hand

1. Open a template from tools/panel_templates/: panel_COUNTRY_EVENT.png, panel_WORLD_NEWS.png, or panel_no_label.png if you want to write your own header text.
2. Resize or crop your photo to 557x372.
3. Paste it with its top-left corner at x = 12, y = 60.
4. Save as PNG in gfx/event_pictures/DVE_news/, for example news_event_DVE_rom_january_strikes.png.

With Python and Pillow

python3 tools/dve_event_panel.py photo.png "COUNTRY EVENT" gfx/event_pictures/DVE_news/news_event_DVE_rom_january_strikes.dds

Register it

Add a block inside spriteTypes = { ... } in interface/DVE_event_panels.gfx:

	spriteType = {
		name = "GFX_news_event_DVE_rom_january_strikes"
		texturefile = "gfx/event_pictures/DVE_news/news_event_DVE_rom_january_strikes.png"
	}

The name here is what you write after picture = in the event. The texturefile must match the real file name exactly, including capital letters and the extension.

5Decide Who Sees It

AOnly one nation sees it

Send the event to that country's tag:

ROM = { news_event = { id = dve_rom.2 } }

Only the player of Romania sees it. Its options and effects apply to Romania only.

If the effect already runs "as" Romania (for example inside a Romanian focus, a Romanian decision, or the option of another Romanian event), you do not need the tag:

news_event = { id = dve_rom.2 }

BEvery nation sees it

Send it to all existing countries:

every_country = { news_event = { id = dve_rom.1 } }

CEvery nation sees it, but only one gets the effects

Send it to everyone as in B, and wrap the effects in a check on the tag:

	option = {
		name = dve_frapro.1.a
		if = {
			limit = { tag = FRA }
			add_popularity = { ideology = progressive popularity = 0.02 }
			add_popularity = { ideology = vanguard_socialism popularity = 0.05 }
		}
	}

Everyone reads the event; only France gets the popularity change. Other countries see the button with no effect listed.

6Decide When It Fires

All scheduling goes in a file in common/on_actions/, for example common/on_actions/DVE_ROM_2025_on_actions.txt.

6.1From a focus, a decision or another event

Put the line from step 5 directly in the effect:

completion_reward = {
	ROM = { news_event = { id = dve_rom.2 } }
}

Add a delay with days or hours:

ROM = { news_event = { id = dve_rom.2 days = 3 } }

6.2On a fixed date in the first months (hours from game start)

The game starts on 2025.01.01 at 12:00. Count the hours from that moment to your date.

hours = (days between 1 January and your date) x 24 + (your hour - 12)

Days already passed at the start of each month: Jan 0, Feb 31, Mar 59, Apr 90, May 120, Jun 151, Jul 181, Aug 212, Sep 243, Oct 273, Nov 304, Dec 334. The game has no leap years: every year is 365 days.

One nation

on_actions = {
	on_startup = {
		effect = {
			if = {
				limit = { NOT = { has_global_flag = DVE_ROM_2025_scheduled } }
				set_global_flag = DVE_ROM_2025_scheduled
				ROM = {
					news_event = { id = dve_rom.2 hours = 42 }
				}
			}
		}
	}
}

Every nation

Do not schedule the news directly. Countries that are born later (civil war factions) and players who change tag would miss it. Schedule a hidden "sender" event instead, and let it deliver the news on the day.

In the events file:

add_namespace = dve_rom
add_namespace = dve_rom_send

country_event = {
	id = dve_rom_send.1
	hidden = yes
	is_triggered_only = yes

	immediate = {
		if = {
			limit = { NOT = { has_global_flag = dve_rom_1_sent } }
			set_global_flag = dve_rom_1_sent
			every_country = { news_event = { id = dve_rom.1 } }
		}
	}
}

In the on_actions file, inside the same on_startup block:

				every_country = {
					country_event = { id = dve_rom_send.1 hours = 1 }
				}

Every country receives the hidden sender at the same hour. The first one sends the news to all countries that exist at that moment; the flag stops the others from sending it again.

6.3On a date far in the future (checked every day)

For dates a year or more away, check the date daily instead of counting hours. on_daily_TAG runs every day for that country, as long as it exists.

One nation

on_actions = {
	on_daily_LBA = {
		effect = {
			if = {
				limit = {
					date > 2026.2.16
					NOT = { has_global_flag = dve_lba_1_fired }
				}
				set_global_flag = dve_lba_1_fired
				news_event = { id = dve_lba.1 hours = 6 }
			}
		}
	}
}

• date > 2026.2.16 becomes true on 17 February: always write the day before the one you want.
• hours = 6 makes it appear at 06:00 of that day.
• The flag makes it fire once.
• Inside on_daily_LBA you are already Libya, so no tag is needed.

Every nation

Use the same block but send to everyone. Use the tag of the country the event is about, so it only fires while that country exists:

	on_daily_FRA = {
		effect = {
			if = {
				limit = {
					date > 2026.9.16
					date < 2026.10.1
					NOT = { has_global_flag = dve_frapro_1_fired }
				}
				set_global_flag = dve_frapro_1_fired
				every_country = { news_event = { id = dve_frapro.1 hours = 8 } }
			}
		}
	}

The second date < line is a window: it stops an old save from receiving a pile of outdated events on the same day.

You can add any other condition to the limit, for example "only while France is not in its civil war":

				limit = { NOT = { has_country_flag = FRA_civil_war } }

6.4Every year on the same day

Schedule the first one from game start with a sender (6.2), and let the sender book itself again 365 days later for every country:

			every_country = {
				news_event = { id = dve_mayday.1 }
				country_event = { id = dve_mayday_send.1 days = 365 }
			}

Use a flag that expires so it can fire again next year:

			set_global_flag = { flag = dve_mayday_sent days = 30 value = 1 }

7Test It

1. Restart the game after changing files, and start a new game if you changed anything in on_startup (it only runs when a game begins).
2. Open the console and type the id to see the event at once, for the country you are playing:

   event dve_rom.2

3. To check effects that apply to one country only, switch to it first:

   tag FRA
   event dve_frapro.1

4. If something is wrong, open logs/error.log in the game's documents folder and search for your namespace or file name.

8Checklist

• add_namespace at the top of the events file, and the namespace is not used elsewhere.
• The id is unique in the whole mod.
• It is a news_event if it has a picture.
• is_triggered_only = yes is there.
• .t, .d and every option key exist in the _l_english.yml file.
• The localisation file is UTF-8 with BOM, starts with l_english:, and has no double quotes inside the texts.
• The picture is a 581x436 panel, and its sprite is in interface/DVE_event_panels.gfx with the exact file name.
• One nation: sent with TAG = { news_event = { ... } }. All nations: sent with every_country = { news_event = { ... } }.
• Effects meant for one country in an all-nations event are inside if = { limit = { tag = XXX } ... }.
• A flag makes it fire only once.
• Every { has its }.

9Common Mistakes