Custom Characters System

A FRAMEWORK, not a content pack. On its own it adds NO characters. Instead it

provides the machinery that character "add-on" mods plug into, plus a set of

quality-of-life improvements to how the game handles its own people.

Think of it as the engine; character packs (and the Character Creator app) are

the content that rides on top of it.

WHAT IT DOES

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1. CHARACTER INJECTION (automatic, no code)

At launch it scans EVERY installed mod's folder for character data:

BepInEx/plugins/<AnyMod>/Data/Characters/*.json

BepInEx/plugins/<AnyMod>/Data/Names/*.json

BepInEx/plugins/<AnyMod>/Data/Portraits/*.json

...and merges it into the game. So a character pack is just data files -

drop it in, launch, and its people appear. No DLL, no manual editing.

2. DATE-BASED UNLOCKING

Characters can be set to appear only from a given in-game date. A character

flagged with starterState 64 and a "Condition":"DATE:>=DD-MM-YYYY" stays

locked until that date is reached, then unlocks automatically as the campaign

progresses (checked every month).

3. GENERATION / AGE / HIRING TUNING (config-driven)

Improves how the GAME generates its own talent and department heads:

- deeper, more varied talent pools per profession

- more realistic age spread (older, more believable veterans)

- female scriptwriters enabled

- deeper hiring-candidate lists and a configurable salary-per-level curve

All of this is adjustable - or revertible to vanilla - in the .cfg (below).

THIS MOD SHIPS ZERO CHARACTERS - that is by design. Add character packs on top.

- BepInEx 5.4.23.5 (x64)

- Ket_ImageManager - REQUIRED for character PORTRAITS to display. The framework

injects character data (names, stats, professions, unlocking) on its own, but

the portrait images shipped by add-ons are served by Ket_ImageManager.

1. Install BepInEx 5.4.23.5 (64-bit / x64) for Hollywood Animal. The game folder

must contain a "BepInEx" folder and "winhttp.dll". (Run the game once with

BepInEx installed so it creates its folders.)

2. Install Ket_ImageManager as well (needed for character portraits - see

Requirements).

3. Open this .zip. Copy its folders INTO your game's BepInEx folder so they merge:

plugins\ -> ...\Hollywood Animal\BepInEx\plugins\

patchers\ -> ...\Hollywood Animal\BepInEx\patchers\

config\ -> ...\Hollywood Animal\BepInEx\config\

Choose YES / Replace if Windows asks to merge.

4. Launch the game.