Ground of Aces Modding
Loading...
Searching...
No Matches
Changing game data with a CSV mod

Table of Contents

Most of the numbers that drive Ground of Aces - what a building costs, how fast a plane flies, how much a meal lifts a crew member's mood - live in data tables. A mod can change any of them without touching the game's code, by dropping a small file into its own folder.

This page is the complete reference: where the files go, what the two file formats look like, what the game checks before it accepts a value, and what every table and column means.

Every table section in The tables starts with a link to the built-in file, so you can open the real thing in the browser or save it and copy its header row.

Note
Nothing here can permanently damage your game. A value the game cannot use is refused and written to the log with the reason; the built-in value stays. Removing the mod folder restores everything.

One mod is one folder in your Mods folder, and the data tables go into its CSV/ subfolder:

Mods/
my_balance_mod/
config.json optional
CSV/
VehicleData.csv whole rows
Variables.json single cells

Where the Mods folder is, what config.json may contain and how several mods are ordered is explained once, on How mods work. The one rule that matters here: if you give the mod an Id, it must be 3–64 characters of lower-case letters, digits, _, . or -, starting with a letter or digit; anything else is ignored without a message and the lower-cased folder name is used instead.

Only files directly inside CSV/ are read - subfolders are ignored.

Your first mod

Make the wooden wall cost one plank instead of two. Create Mods/my_balance_mod/CSV/ResourceCost.json containing:

{
"Commands": [
{ "Command": "Replace", "Id": "wall_wood", "Cells": { "Planks": 1 } }
]
}

Start the game and the wall costs one plank. That is the whole mod - no manifest, no registration.

The two file formats

A file is named after the table it changes, matched exactly, capital letters included: VehicleData.csv, never vehicledata.csv. A file naming a table that does not exist is skipped, and the log says so.

You may use either format, or both. Within one mod the .csv files are applied first and the .json files after, so a command can refine a row a CSV file added.

Single cells - <Table>.json

A list of commands, run top to bottom. This is the format to reach for: it touches only the values you name and leaves everything else alone.

{
"Commands": [
{ "Command": "Replace", "Id": "gladiator", "Cells": { "Fuel Capacity": 350, "Movement Speed": 7 } },
{ "Command": "Add", "Id": "storage_box", "Cells": { "Planks": 3, "Metal": 1 } },
{ "Command": "Remove", "Id": "Chair", "Columns": [ "Tarp" ] },
{ "Command": "Remove", "Id": "Drawer" }
]
}
Command Fields What it does
Replace Id, Cells Changes only the listed cells of an existing row. Everything else keeps its value.
Add Id, Cells Adds a new row. Only possible in ResourceCost and PropsInfluence (see Adding and removing rows).
Remove with Columns Id, Columns Clears the listed cells of a row.
Remove without Columns Id Removes the whole row. Only in ResourceCost and PropsInfluence.

Rules of the format:

  • Plain JSON - no comments, no trailing commas.
  • Command and Id ignore capitalisation. The keys inside Cells and the entries in Columns are column headers and must match exactly, including spaces.
  • Values may be written as JSON strings, numbers or booleans - 300, 1.5, true and "300" all work.
  • An empty string, a string of only spaces, or null in Cells clears that cell, the same as listing it under Columns in a Remove.
  • Remove does not take Cells; list the cells to clear in Columns.
  • At most 200 commands per file. A file that does not parse, or has no Commands, is skipped whole.
  • Each command is judged on its own - a bad one is skipped with a warning and the rest still apply.

Whole rows - <Table>.csv

A spreadsheet carrying complete rows. Use this when you would rather edit a table in a spreadsheet program and ship the finished rows.

Name,Value
TurboTimeScaleMultiplier,20
RandomActionChatProbability,0.6
  • The header row must list exactly the table's columns: the id column first, then every value column, in any order, none missing and none extra. The id column's own header is ignored, so only the value columns have to match.
  • Include only the rows you want to change - a file does not have to cover the whole table.
  • A row whose id matches a built-in row replaces that row completely. Ids ignore capitalisation.
  • Give every row the same number of cells as the header row. A short row makes the file unreadable and the whole file is skipped; extra cells beyond the header are silently ignored.
  • A cell that contains a comma must be quoted, as a spreadsheet program does: "Sleep,Chill". A line break inside a quoted cell is not supported - it ends the row.
  • At most 200 rows per file. Fully blank lines and lines starting with # are ignored, so you can leave notes. A line that starts with an empty id cell but has other cells is read as a continuation of the row above, and that row is then refused as spanning several lines.
  • The same id on two separate lines makes the file unreadable; on two neighbouring lines it is treated as one row and refused.
  • Each row is judged on its own - a bad row is skipped and the built-in row stays.

Rules that apply everywhere

Columns only take the kind of value they already hold

A column that holds numbers in every built-in row takes only numbers; one that holds TRUE/FALSE takes only those. Movement Speed = fast is refused. Columns that hold text are freer, but most of them still have a rule of their own - the tables further down say which values each one accepts.

Empty cells

A cell may only be left empty in a column where the game already leaves some row empty. Everywhere else, blanking a cell is refused, because the game has no "no value" case for it.

Two columns are special and are filled in for you instead of being left blank:

  • Any ResourceCost cell you leave out, clear, or set to "" becomes 0. An Add therefore only needs the resources that actually cost something.
  • Associated Task in BuildingComponents becomes None, meaning "this object gives no task".

Adding and removing rows

You are normally changing cells of rows that already exist. Whole rows can only be added or removed in two tables, because everywhere else the game and your save files expect a fixed set of ids:

Table Rows can be added or removed
ResourceCost yes, for any built-in object or aircraft id
PropsInfluence yes, for any built-in object or aircraft id
every other table no

An added row must use an id that already exists as a building object or an aircraft - you are giving an existing thing a build cost or a mood effect it did not have, not inventing a new thing.

Rows that take up several lines

A few tables spread one row over several lines, because that row holds a list - a task with several settings, a mood effect with one variant per bed type. A single mod row cannot express a list, so those rows are refused. The table sections below name them.

In ResourceCost only, some rows carry a leftover heading in their Money cell and so count as several lines. There a whole-row CSV is the fix: it rewrites every cell and tidies the row up at the same time. The affected ids are KickstarterCustomMonument, RadioTower, window_wood, window_tent, window_brick, window_hangar, window_concrete, Distillery, ParkingLarge and gravel.

Checking what happened

Every accepted change and every refusal is one line in the game's log, Player.log, which lives in USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Blindflug Studios\Ground Of Aces\ on Windows - the same folder that holds Mods (there is an HTML version in the same folder that is easier to read). The label at the start of each line is the mod's id.

[Mod my_balance_mod] CSV/ResourceCost.json command 1 replaced cells Planks of row 'wall_wood'.
[Mod my_balance_mod] CSV/VehicleData.csv overrides built-in row 'gladiator'.
[Mod my_balance_mod] CSV/PropsInfluence.json command 4 removed row 'Drawer'.

A refusal names the file, the row or command number, and the reason:

[Mod my_balance_mod] CSV/VehicleData.json command 3 rejected: 'Fight Power' exceeds 2x the highest built-in value (60).
[Mod my_balance_mod] CSV/AirBaseData.json command 1 rejected: 'Missions Per Week' holds numbers in every built-in row; 'seven' is not one.
Note
These lines are written at Info and Warning level. The shipped game currently logs errors only, so you will see them in a development build or in the Unity editor; in the release build, check the effect in the game instead - load a level and look at the value you changed.

A misspelled table name or a header row that does not match still produces a skipped: line naming the file. If you see no [Mod …] lines at all, the game did not pick the mod up: the CSV/ folder was still empty when the game started (press Refresh in the Mods window), the mod is switched off in the Mods window, or the mod folder is a symbolic link or junction, which is never followed.

Finding a table's column headers

The game ships header templates for four tables in Ground Of Aces_Data/StreamingAssets/Modding/Templates/. For the rest, the column list is in this page - or ask the game: write a deliberately wrong header, load once, and the log prints the columns it expected.

Load order

Mods are applied in the order described on How mods work - Workshop first, then local ones, lower LoadOrder first. When two mods change the same row, the later one wins for the cells it touches: a whole-row CSV replaces everything an earlier mod did to that row, a Replace only the cells it names. A mod switched off in the Mods window contributes nothing.

When changes take effect

CSV tables are rebuilt every time a level is loaded - return to the main menu and load again. The same happens when the main menu or the map editor opens. Edit a file while a level is running and the change appears on the next load, so you can iterate on values without restarting. A file you keep open in a spreadsheet program is still read.

A brand-new mod folder, a CSV/ folder that was still empty when the game started, or a changed config.json needs the game to look at the mod list again: press Refresh in the Mods window (main menu → Mods) and then load a level, or restart the game. (Developers: reload_mods in the cheat console of a development build does the same.)

The tables

Thirty tables can be modded. Three files that exist in the game but are not loaded - ResourceDegradation, StartTimeValues and StateInfluence - cannot.

Each section lists the columns, what values they take, and what the built-in rows use. Where a column has no special rule, only the generic ones above apply.

Aircraft and base

VehicleData - aircraft

Built-in file: VehicleData.csv

One row per aircraft. Rows cannot be added or removed.

Column Value Built-in range Notes
Name localization key airplane/spitfire must not be empty
Type Fighter, Bomber, MultiRole, Special
Crew comma list of seats; repeat a role for two seats Pilot, "Pilot,Gunner,Navigator" roles: Pilot, Gunner, Navigator, BombAimer, FlightEngineer, RadioOperator
Runway Tier whole number 1–5 above 5 and no airstrip can serve it
Parking Size whole number 0–2 above 2 and it can never park
Victory Points Cost whole number 0–12 0 makes it free
Movement Speed whole number 5 taxi speed; 0 and it never reaches the runway
Landing Length whole number 60–170 longer than any buildable strip and it can never land
Health whole number 100
Initial Integrity whole number 1000 hours of wear the aircraft can take before it is worn out (1000 h ≈ 41 days)
Fuel Capacity whole number 200–1260
Voxel Size AxBxC 10x0x10
Fight Power min-max 0-0 … 43-60 0 ≤ min ≤ max, and max at most twice the highest built-in value
Bomb Power min-max 0-0 … 50-80 same
Recon Power min-max 5-10 … 42-60 same
Manoeuvrability min-max 2-10 … 28-50 same
Transport Capacity min-max 1-5 … 60-90 same
Stealthiness min-max 10-48 … 88-98 same
Wreck Resource Type /-list of resources Metal/RepairParts both wreck columns set, or both empty
Wreck Resource Amount /-list of whole numbers 10/5 same length as the type list
Low Caliber Ammo Capacity whole number 0–3300 GunAmmo carried; 0 = none
High Caliber Ammo Capacity whole number 0–300 AntiAirAmmo; 0 = none
Plane Bombs Capacity whole number 0–32 PlaneBombs; 0 = none
Attention
An aircraft already parked at your base keeps the health, integrity and fuel capacity it was built with. Only newly delivered aircraft pick up changed values - so a save made while a mod was active keeps that mod's numbers even after you remove it.

AirBaseData - the HQ rank ladder

Built-in file: AirBaseData.csv

Rows 1–6, one per base category. All six must exist and their ids cannot change.

Column Value Built-in Notes
Airstrip Tier whole number 1,2,3,4,5,5 required to reach the rank
Minimum Airstrip Count whole number 1–5
Minimum Parking Count whole number 1–20
Missions Per Week whole number 6–18 slots the week offers; 0 and no missions are scheduled
Minimum Missions Per Week whole number 2–10 above Missions Per Week makes the quota impossible
Minimum Success Rate fraction, not percent 0.4–0.8 above 1 is unachievable
Available Shipment Slots whole number 4–8 0 disables supply

AirstripTiers

Built-in file: AirstripTiers.csv

Rows 1–5.

Column Value Built-in Notes
Length whole number 80,120,140,160,200 tiers match on "length or more", so keep them ascending
Width whole number 12,14,18,22,26 same
Material text dirt, sand, gravel, concrete, tarmac must not repeat another tier's material; it also names the ResourceCost row that prices the surface
Biome Id whole number 6,20,22,15,13 ground painted under the finished strip
Build Time whole number 5,2,2,2,2 in-game minutes of work per tile for one crew member; two workers halve it

Biomes

Built-in file: Biomes.csv

Rows 0–23, the ground types. All columns are numbers, so this table is easy to tune safely.

Column Built-in Notes
Airstrip Tier 0–5 tier a runway laid on this ground counts as
Character Speed Modifier 1 … 1.2 0 freezes anyone standing on it
Airplane Speed Modifier 0.5 … 1.2
Degradation Penalty 0 … 0.2 extra wear on goods stored here
Fire Spread Modifier 0.5 or 1

ScrambleData - enemy aircraft in a scramble

Built-in file: ScrambleData.csv

Rows Fighter, Diver, Bomber. The names cannot change. All columns are whole numbers.

Column Built-in
PlaneHealth 18, 26, 34
PlanePower 23, 17, 14
PlaneWinDealDamageMin / Max 15–120 - damage to your aircraft when the enemy wins
PlaneLooseDealDamageMin / Max 5–25 - damage when the enemy loses

AttacksComposition - what an air raid is made of

Built-in file: AttacksComposition.csv

The row id is the raid severity. Normal play reaches 1–25; rows 99, 101, 200 and 300 are not reached by the normal severity ladder and are kept for special raids. The ranges below describe rows 1–25; the four special rows go beyond them (9-9 bombers, 10-10 divers, 0-0 fighters) and point at themselves in the last two columns.

Column Value Built-in (rows 1–25) Notes
Bombers min-max 0-0 … 4-6 whole numbers, 0 ≤ min ≤ max
Divers min-max 0-0 … 6-6 same
Fighters min-max 1-2 … 8-8 same
LowAttacks whole number 1–14 severity used instead when the map is set to easier raids - must name a row this table has
HighAttacks whole number 2–25 severity used when the map is set to harder raids - same

EquipmentData - AA guns, searchlights, towers

Built-in file: EquipmentData.csv

Rows are equipment ids: Bofors40mm, Searchlight, RadioTower, VickersGunAA, OerlikonGun, Lookout, ControlTowerMetal, ControlTowerBrick, ControlTowerConcrete.

Column Value Built-in Notes
Range number 10–70 0 makes the piece useless
Damage number 0–6 0 switches the whole weapon off - fire rate, ammo and aiming are then ignored
Fire Rate whole number 0–720 rounds per minute
Ammo Type resource name or None GunAmmo, AntiAirAmmo, None, 0 anything that is not a resource name (None, 0) means the piece stores no ammo
Ammo Capacity whole number 0–80 rounds loaded at once
Ammo Load Time number 0–6.5 seconds to reload
Ammo Storage whole number 0–500 0 means it never draws ammo
Damage Bonus number 0 or 0.25 granted to others in range (searchlight)
Firing Angle number 0, 140, 360 0 is read as a full circle
Aiming Speed number 0–170 degrees per second
Range Bonus number 0 or 16 granted to others in range (lookout)
Attacker Priority Bombers, Divers, Fighters, Nearest, None anything else falls back to None

Building and objects

BuildingComponents - objects and building parts

Built-in file: BuildingComponents.csv

One row per object, wall piece, floor, roof, workbench and piece of equipment. Rows cannot be added or removed.

Column Value Built-in Notes
Dimensions WxHxD, or dynamic/1x0x1 for roofs 1x3x1, 1x0x1, 2x2x2
Build Time whole number 0–420 in-game minutes of work for one crew member; two workers halve it
Health whole number 0–10000 the huge value marks the indestructible pieces
Associated Task task name or None Sleep, Chill, UseEquipment, PlayPiano, UseTrainingObject, MonitorAirspace, UseRadio, SaluteTheFlag, Grieve, ListenToMusic, PlayDartboard, PlayGuitar, PlayBilliardTable, UsePlanningBoard pointing an object at a task its art does not fit is allowed, and looks wrong
Users Limit whole number 0–5 0 on a usable object means nobody can use it
Is Wall Deco TRUE/FALSE
Is Floor Deco TRUE/FALSE
Is Fireproof TRUE/FALSE
Placement Requirement None, Indoors, Outdoors
Note
A Replace is checked against the finished row, so a row that leaves Dimensions or Users Limit empty cannot be patched unless you also set that cell in the same command - or ship the row as CSV. Empty Dimensions: PropagandaPoster, MusicPoster, AirplanePoster, CompanyMascotPoster, CurtainsClosed, CurtainsOpen, EntranceSign, tombstone, storage_box. Empty Users Limit: the workbenches and the three parking sizes.

ResourceCost - what something costs to build

Built-in file: ResourceCost.csv

One row per object or aircraft id, one column per resource. Rows can be added and removed. A removed row means "no build cost". A cost of 0 means "not required", so zeroing every column has the same effect. An added row's id must be an existing BuildingComponents or VehicleData id; anything else is refused as "neither a built-in prop nor a built-in plane".

Every cell is a whole number, zero or more. The columns are:

Money VictoryPoints Trash Wood Clay Sandbags Stone Food RawWater Herbs Metal Bricks
Planks Tarp Cement Fuel PurifiedWater Meals SimpleMedicine Intel Machinery Electronics
LuxuryGoods MilitaryConstruction Camouflage FoodRations StrongMedicine RepairParts GunAmmo
AntiAirAmmo PlaneBombs

Runway surfaces are rows here too - dirt, sand, gravel, concrete, tarmac - so changing gravel changes what a tier-3 runway costs per tile.

PropsInfluence - the mood effect an object radiates

Built-in file: PropsInfluence.csv

One row per object that lifts or lowers the mood of crew nearby. Rows can be added and removed; an object without a row simply has no effect.

Column Value Built-in Notes
Buff Name localization key prop_effects/organised_sleep must not be empty
Radius number 0.5–50 in tiles; the control towers reach 20, 30 and 50
Associated Tasks Or Action comma list of task names Sleep, "Sleep,Chill", UseEquipment must not be empty. A name that matches no task is accepted and the effect simply never fires
Effect 1 <signed number> <name> +0.5 Mood … +10 Mood, -1 Mood, -1.5 Energy, +2 Energy, +1 Confidence names: Mood, Confidence, Energy; the built-in rows go from -1.5 to +10
Effect 2 same, or empty
Effect 3 same, or empty no built-in row uses it

The sign is part of the number, so 1 Mood means +1. Names are matched loosely, so +1 mood works. A name other than the three above is stored as a special effect (the game uses -1 Accident on the three control towers); an invented name is accepted and does nothing.

MapObjects - trees, rocks, ponds and other harvestables

Built-in file: MapObjects.csv

One row per world object. Ids are used by map files and cannot change.

Column Value Built-in Notes
LocKey_Name localization key map.obj.tree.name
LocKey_Description localization key
Dimensions WxHxD 1x4x1, 2x2x2, 3x1x3
Resource Harvested resource name, or empty Wood, Stone, Herbs, Food, RawWater, Clay, Sandbags, Metal, Planks, Fuel, seeds empty means nothing to harvest
Farming Time whole number 0–400 in-game minutes of work per harvest for one crew member; two workers halve it
Resource Amount whole number 0–50 yield per harvest
Resource Total whole number 0–500 total before it is used up
Limited Harvest Amount whole number 0, 20, 30, 100 cap for endless sources; 0 = uncapped
Destroyed On Depletion TRUE/FALSE FALSE with Refresh Time 0 leaves something that can never be harvested again
Refresh Time whole number 0–21600 minutes until it regrows
Health whole number 1–2147483647 the huge value marks the indestructible ones
Is Fireproof TRUE/FALSE making trees fireproof removes fire spread from the map

GrowingData - saplings becoming trees

Built-in file: GrowingData.csv

Two rows, young_tree and young_tree_big.

Column Value Built-in
To a MapObjects id tree, tree_big
Min Hours whole number 672
Max Hours whole number 840

A sapling that is already on the map when a save is loaded draws its remaining time between half of Min Hours and Max Hours; only newly planted ones use the full minimum.

GardeningData - the four crops

Built-in file: GardeningData.csv

Rows grain, beans, potato, tomato.

Column Built-in Notes
Growth 3, 6, 15, 10 watered days until harvest - the plant gains one at midnight for every day its tile was watered; 0 is harvestable instantly
Food 3, 4, 20, 7 food per harvest
Seeds 2, 5, 3, 1 seeds per harvest; 0 makes the crop unsustainable
Regrowth only tomato is TRUE regrows instead of being consumed

Resources and crafting

ResourceData - what a resource is

Built-in file: ResourceData.csv

One row per resource, named exactly as the game names it.

Column Value Built-in Notes
Initial Integrity whole number 0–50000 hours before a pile spoils; 0 rots instantly
Carry Limit whole number 0–250 how much one person carries; 0 means it can never be moved
Stack Limit whole number 0–2000 pile cap outdoors
Double Stack Limit whole number 0–3000 pile cap in proper storage; below Stack Limit shrinks storage
Resource Tier Meta, Basic, Advanced, Military, Trash
Category Food, Seeds, or empty removing Food from everything edible means the crew can never eat
Always Degrades TRUE/FALSE spoils even under a roof
Explosiveness whole number 0, 2, 3 0 is inert
Flammable TRUE/FALSE
VariantAmountMapping /-list of whole numbers 1/2, 1 picks the pile's look

WorkbenchProjectData - crafting recipes

Built-in file: WorkbenchProjectData.csv

The row id is <Workbench>.<Output>. Rows cannot be added, so this changes existing recipes rather than introducing new ones.

Column Value Built-in Notes
Workbench Type workbench name FieldKitchen, IndoorKitchen, SawStation, Brickstation, CementMixer, MetalworksWorkbench, CanningStation, ElectronicsWorkbench, TailorStation, EspionageRadio, WaterCooker, HerbDryer, Distillery
Output Resource Type resource name
Output Resource Amount whole number 1–200
Input Resource Type /-list of resources, or None Food/RawWater, Metal, None None means made from nothing
Input Resource Amount /-list of whole numbers 2/2, 0 must have as many entries as the type list
Time To Craft whole number 10–180 in-game minutes of work for one crew member; two workers halve it
Valid Entry TRUE/FALSE TRUE left over; the game does not read it

ShipmentData - the supply catalogue

Built-in file: ShipmentData.csv

One row per orderable item.

Column Value Notes
Shipment Type Resource or Prop
Category Military, Miscellaneous or Large capitalisation matters - military is refused
Amount whole number, 1–5000 units delivered per slot
Slots whole number, 1–4 more slots than any rank offers makes the item unorderable

Crew

CharactersInitialStats - starting skills per job

Built-in file: CharactersInitialStats.csv

Rows are job and crew role names: Pilot, Gunner, BombAimer, FlightEngineer, Navigator, RadioOperator, RAFAirCrew, AAFCook, FieldMechanic, FieldEngineer, RAFMedic, AAFLabour, None, Custom.

Columns are the six skills - Flying, Shooting, Bombing, Endurance, Engineering, Navigating - and the value is a rank, 0 to 6, not a point total. 0 is Untrained and 6 is Ace. Keep it inside that range. Endurance also sets maximum health, which is why every row has at least 1 there.

CharactersStatsRankProgression - points per rank

Built-in file: CharactersStatsRankProgression.csv

Rows must stay Untrained, Rank1 … Rank5, Ace. LevelUpPoints (0, 10, 14, 22, 36, 58, 90) is the points total at which that rank is reached, and the rank is picked as the highest one a character has passed

  • so the values must ascend. Out of order, crew get stuck low or jump straight to Ace.

CharacterStatsCheck - what a rank is worth

Built-in file: CharacterStatsCheck.csv

Rows are the same seven ranks. For each of the six skills there are two columns: <Skill>Value is a flat bonus added to a mission roll, <Skill>Percentage is a fraction - 0.25 means 25%. Writing 25 gives a 2500% bonus. Column names cannot be renamed.

CharacterJobPriority - what each job is willing to do

Built-in file: CharacterJobPriority.csv

Rows are the job names: None, Custom, AAFCook, FieldMechanic, FieldEngineer, RAFMedic, AAFLabour, RAFAircrew.

There is one column per kind of work - Building, Gardening, CraftingAndRepairs, Labor, Cooking, Medicine, PlaneWork, Harvest, BaseSafety, Leisure, UseRecreationalItem, Socialize, ConsumeLuxuryGood, Train, Sleep, PilotPlane, FunctionalGroup, Emergency - holding a priority: 0 means the job never does this kind of work, 1 is the highest priority and 3 the lowest. (A medic has Building 0 and Medicine 1.) No column may be dropped or renamed.

These numbers also identify a job: a crew member whose priorities match a row exactly is that job, and one matching none is Custom. Give two jobs identical priorities and the game can no longer tell them apart.

CharactersData - names, nicknames and ranks

Built-in file: CharactersData.csv

Six of the eight rows are long lists - first names, surnames, nicknames, base crew ranks, pilot ranks - and cannot be changed.

The two you can change are the pilot ranks themselves, where Goal is how many successful missions earn the promotion:

Row Value Goal
OfficerCadet 2 3
PilotOfficer 3 10

MoraleValues

Built-in file: MoraleValues.csv

Name and value, all numbers: BaseMoraleBufferDays, MoraleLevelMin (-100), MoraleLevelMax (100), LeisureThreshold, MoraleTrendTreshold, MoraleBreakingThreshold, MoraleEffectPositiveThreshold, MoraleEffectNegativeThreshold, AirBaseMoraleGameOverThreshold.

Setting AirBaseMoraleGameOverThreshold above MoraleLevelMax loses the run immediately; putting MoraleLevelMin above MoraleLevelMax leaves every limit inverted.

MoraleInfluenceValues - what changes a crew member's mood

Built-in file: MoraleInfluenceValues.csv

Column Value Built-in Notes
Itentifier row id (note the spelling) Sleep, Chill, Panic, BaseAttacked
IdentifierType Task, TaskGroup, TaskCategory, WarPhase, GameEvent, - a type that does not suit the id means the row is ignored
Parameter the variant key; comma-separates aliases default, Prop.Bed, ResourceType.Meals no alias may be listed twice
Raw Parameter a note not read by the game
Confidence / Mood / Energy numbers -30 … 50
Influence Type Timed or OnEventTrigger

Timed values apply every tick and are therefore much smaller than OnEventTrigger ones. Copying a +20 event value into a Timed row pins a crew member's mood to the ceiling within a minute.

Six rows hold one variant per line and cannot be changed at all: Sleep, Eat, WorkOnWorkbench, UseRecreationalItem, MissionCompleted, Death.

Missions and time

FlightMissionData - the mission modifiers

Built-in file: FlightMissionData.csv

The row id names what is being measured: AirplaneIntegrity, AirplaneHealth, AirplaneFuel, Mood, Energy, Confidence, SeatsConfiguration, CrewHealth, CrewOnFire.

Column Value Built-in Notes
ModifierCategory a label low, high, zero, critical, mismatch
ModifierType SkillRollModifier or NoFlightModifier
ModifierRange min/max whole numbers 0/-5, 2/0 bonus applied to the roll
Parameter space-separated crew roles, or Default Default, CrewRole.Pilot every role must carry the CrewRole. prefix - a bare Pilot never matches, and neither does an unknown role
ThresholdRange min/max whole numbers 1/40, -100/-90, 50/100 the range of measured values this row covers

NoFlightModifier is the hard block that grounds an aircraft - out of fuel, or a crew member at rock-bottom mood. Widening its ThresholdRange grounds your whole squadron; setting it to something unreachable such as -1000/-999 effectively switches it off.

Rows spanning several lines and therefore unchangeable: AirplaneIntegrity, AirplaneHealth, Mood, Energy, Confidence.

TaskValues - durations and thresholds per task

Built-in file: TaskValues.csv

Three columns: the task id, a Variable Name and a Value.

Variable Name is the key the game looks the setting up by, so only Value can be changed. The names in use are Duration (minutes), Distance, Chance, ExperienceGain, HealthAmount, IntegrityAmount, IntegrityPenalty, ScheduleThreshold, ScheduleThresholdPercentage, ResourceToFuelRatio, Targets, Initiation and Active.

Tasks with several settings take up several lines and cannot be changed. These are: Chat, Chill, Panic, AirAttackPanic, CelebrateSuccessfulMission, BreakThings, RepairAirplane, MaintainAirplane, Refuel, RepairEquipment, RefillAirplaneAmmo, UseTrainingObject, the six …Simple… and six …Advanced… training tasks, and BeOnFire. Everything else - UseRadio, Eat, Salute, Bury, Recover, MonitorAirspace and the rest - has a single setting, almost always Duration (RefillEquipmentAmmo has only ScheduleThresholdPercentage), and can be changed normally.

Value also accepts text (one built-in row names a chair), so a non-number in a numeric setting is accepted and then fails when the task runs. This is the one place in this table where you can still write nonsense.

DaySchedule - the phases of a day

Built-in file: DaySchedule.csv

Four rows, 0–3.

| Column | Value | Built-in | |—|—|—| | Phase | Work, Leisure, Sleep | | (Alert and None are also accepted but are not meant for the schedule) | | StartHour | whole number, inclusive | 0, 5, 7, 22 | | EndHour | whole number, exclusive | 5, 7, 22, 24 |

The four spans are expanded hour by hour, so gaps and overlaps both matter: an hour no row covers has no phase at all and the crew idle through it. Keep the spans continuous from 0 to 24.

DayNightSystemData - sun and shadows

Built-in file: DayNightSystemData.csv

Name and value, all numbers, purely visual.

Row Meaning Built-in
Morning Time, Dawn Time, Day Time, Evening Time, Dusk Time, Night Time hour each lighting stage begins 4, 7, 10, 17, 22, 23
Sun Min Rotation / Sun Max Rotation sun elevation sweep, degrees 15 / 165
Sun Yaw Offset compass rotation -90
Sun Tilt degrees 10
Shadow Day Intens / Shadow Night Intens shadow strength 0.85 / 0

Keep the six time rows ascending and within 0–23, or the lighting stages flip back and forth.

GameGoalAlerts - when the game warns the player

Built-in file: GameGoalAlerts.csv

Name and value, all numbers, alerts only: LowMoraleThreshold (-50), CriticalMoraleThreshold (-65), LowFoodThreshold (20), FewLeisureItemsThreshold (5), MissionTimerMinutesThreshold (150), LowWaterThreshold (20).

General

Variables - the global number bag

Built-in file: Variables.csv

Name and value, 86 entries, each read by whichever part of the game needs it.

This column accepts anything, because a few entries hold text or a min-max range rather than a number. Write abc where a number belongs and it is accepted, then read as 0 - the feature quietly stops working and the log carries an error. This is the table to be most careful with.

Entries worth knowing before you change them:

  • TimeTickInterval (0.6666) - real seconds per in-game minute. Halving it doubles the speed of the entire game, including every timer balanced against it.
  • AirplanesLimit (24) - how many aircraft a base may own.
  • CharacterBaseHealth (7) - plus the Endurance rank, this is a crew member's maximum health. Below CharacterHeavyInjuryThreshold (3) everyone starts badly injured.
  • MaxVictoryPoints (12) - the aircraft-ordering budget.
  • ScrambleFuelNeeded (80) - flat fuel per scramble, whatever the aircraft.
  • AttackHourMin / AttackHourMax (12/23) - pulled back into 1–23 if you go outside it.
  • DiverBombFiresCount, BomberBombFiresCount, CharredTerrainRevertTimeDays - these three are min-max ranges, not single numbers.

Eight entries are left over and nothing reads them, so changing them does nothing at all: AttackedCharacterId, BikeMovementSpeedMultiplier, LichfieldIntroCrewMembersCount, AirplaneIntegrityModifierTreshold, AirplaneHealthModifierTreshold, AirAttackFighterHealth, AirAttackDiverHealth, AirAttackBomberHealth.

FeedbackVariables

Built-in file: FeedbackVariables.csv

The in-game feedback form: API Endpoint, Feedback Character Limit, Screenshot Height, Survey Link, Survey Link Demo, Survey Opened Player Prefs. There is no reason for a gameplay mod to touch this, and pointing API Endpoint elsewhere sends players' feedback to that address.

Worked example

Mods/my_balance_mod/CSV/ResourceCost.json - give the storage box a build cost, make wooden walls cheaper, and drop the chair's tarp cost:

{
"Commands": [
{ "Command": "Add", "Id": "storage_box", "Cells": { "Planks": 3, "Metal": 1 } },
{ "Command": "Replace", "Id": "wall_wood", "Cells": { "Planks": 1 } },
{ "Command": "Remove", "Id": "Chair", "Columns": [ "Tarp" ] }
]
}

Mods/my_balance_mod/CSV/Variables.json - speed up turbo mode and make crew chatter more common. Value in this table takes any text, so a typo such as 0,6 is accepted silently and then read as 0 - check the number twice:

{
"Commands": [
{ "Command": "Replace", "Id": "TurboTimeScaleMultiplier", "Cells": { "Value": 20 } },
{ "Command": "Replace", "Id": "RandomActionChatProbability", "Cells": { "Value": 0.6 } }
]
}

The same two changes as Mods/my_balance_mod/CSV/Variables.csv:

Name,Value
TurboTimeScaleMultiplier,20
RandomActionChatProbability,0.6
Generated by doxygen 1.12.0