Custom character backgrounds

Guide by TheMadProphet

CharacterCreationState is a Game State which controls what options should be displayed during character creation.

We can create and inject our own CharacterCreationState, which can either extend or completely replace the existing options.

By default, game uses SandboxCharacterCreationContent, which is created inside SandBoxGameManager:

private void LaunchSandboxCharacterCreation()
{
    CharacterCreationState characterCreationState = Game.Current.GameStateManager.CreateState<CharacterCreationState>( new object[] { new SandboxCharacterCreationContent() } );  
    Game.Current.GameStateManager.CleanAndPushState(characterCreationState, 0);
}

Using harmony, we can modify this method and insert our own state:

[HarmonyPatch]
public class CharacterCreationPatch
{
    [HarmonyPrefix]
    [HarmonyPatch(typeof(SandBoxGameManager), "LaunchSandboxCharacterCreation")]
    public static bool LaunchCustomCharacterCreation()
    {
        var characterCreationState = Game.Current.GameStateManager.CreateState<CharacterCreationState>( new CustomCharacterCreationContent() );
        Game.Current.GameStateManager.CleanAndPushState(characterCreationState, 0);

        return false;
    }
}

Finally, we will need to implement CustomCharacterCreationContent.

It can be implemented either from scratch (by inheriting CharacterCreationContentBase), or it could extend the existing options (by inheriting SandboxCharacterCreationContent).

Example: Adding new options

This is a starting file for adding new options. It includes optional AddOption method, which makes adding new options a bit easier and more readable.

public class CustomCharacterCreationContent : SandboxCharacterCreationContent
{
    protected override void OnInitialized(CharacterCreation characterCreation)
    {
        base.OnInitialized(characterCreation);  // Keep old options

        // And add a new option in childhood stage
        AddOption(
            characterCreation,
            CharacterCreationMenu.Childhood,  // At which stage should this option be shown
            new TextObject("your curiosity for the arcane."),  // Option title
            new MBList<SkillObject> { DefaultSkills.Charm },  // Which skills to increase
            DefaultCharacterAttributes.Social,  // Which attribute to increase
            FocusToAdd,  // Default 1
            SkillLevelToAdd,  // Default 10
            AttributeLevelToAdd,  // Default 1
            new TextObject("Lorem ipsum")  // Description text
        );
    }

    // Helper method to add new options
    private static void AddOption(
        CharacterCreation characterCreation,
        CharacterCreationMenu menu,
        TextObject text,
        MBList<SkillObject> skills,
        CharacterAttribute attribute,
        int focus,
        int skillLevel,
        int attributeLevel,
        TextObject description
    )
    {
        var characterCreationMenu = characterCreation.CharacterCreationMenus[(int)menu];
        foreach (var cultureCategory in characterCreationMenu.CharacterCreationCategories)
        {
            cultureCategory.AddCategoryOption(
                text,
                skills,
                attribute,
                focus,
                skillLevel,
                attributeLevel,
                null,  // Option condition: a delegate that returns true if the option should be shown
                null, // On select: a delegate that is called when the option is selected
                Empty, // On apply: a delegate that is called when the option is applied (If this is null skills won't increase, so we need to pass at least an empty method)
                description
            );
        }
    }

    private static void Empty(CharacterCreation characterCreation) { }

    private enum CharacterCreationMenu
    {
        Parents,
        Childhood,
        Education,
        Youth,
        Adult,
        Age
    }
}

For more advanced options and customization (e.g. changing character, pose, etc.), you can have a look at the existing options in SandboxCharacterCreationContent.