Culture Files

File Location

data/<namespace>/culture/<name>.json

The file ID is the culture ID. For example, data/examplepack/culture/fisherfolk.json is the culture examplepack:fisherfolk.

Minimal Example

A complete culture in one file. The naming block lists its given names and family names in place:

{
  "schema": "townstead:culture/v1",
  "name": "Fisherfolk",
  "naming": {
    "given": {
      "male": ["Bram", "Corin", "Oskel"],
      "female": ["Marit", "Neva", "Sölvi"]
    },
    "family": {
      "type": "inherited",
      "names": ["Netley", "Saltmarsh", "Tidewell"]
    }
  }
}

Full Example

{
  "schema": "townstead:culture/v1",
  "name": { "translate": "culture.examplepack.fisherfolk" },
  "demonym": {
    "singular": { "translate": "culture.examplepack.fisherfolk.demonym.singular" },
    "plural": { "translate": "culture.examplepack.fisherfolk.demonym.plural" },
    "adjective": { "translate": "culture.examplepack.fisherfolk.demonym.adjective" }
  },
  "naming": {
    "given": "examplepack:fisherfolk",
    "family": { "type": "inherited", "list": "examplepack:fisherfolk", "descent": "either" }
  },
  "settlement_names": "examplepack:fisherfolk",
  "faction_names": "examplepack:fisherfolk",
  "clothing": {
    "types": [{ "select": { "material": "wool" }, "rate": 3 }],
    "livery": "examplepack:fisherfolk/oilskin"
  }
}

Fields

Field	Required	Description
`schema`	No	When present, it must be `townstead:culture/v1`.
`name`	No	The name that players see. Plain text or a text component such as `{"translate": "<key>"}`. The default is the file path.
`demonym`	No	What the culture’s people are called. See Demonym.
`naming`	No	A naming tradition written in place. See Personal Names.
`naming_tradition`	No	The ID of a naming tradition file. Townstead ignores it when the file also has `naming`.
`settlement_names`	No	The ID of a settlement-name list.
`faction_names`	No	The ID of a faction-name list.
`clothing`	No	Clothing preferences and the default livery. See Clothing.
`parent`	No	A culture ID. The culture is then a subculture of that culture.
`spirit`	No	For a subculture: Community Spirit axes that draw people to it. See Subcultures.
`forms`	No	For a subculture: the founding profiles that its towns use. See Subcultures.
`legacy_ids`	No	Old IDs of this culture. Villagers and villages that recorded an old ID use this culture.

A culture with no naming tradition does not change names. Its people are named by their region.

Demonym

"demonym": {
  "singular": "Fisherman",
  "plural": "Fisherfolk",
  "adjective": "Fisher"
}

Field	Required	Description
`singular`	Yes	One person, such as “Highlander”.
`plural`	No	Many people. The default is `singular`.
`adjective`	No	The adjective. Lines that ask for the adjective use `singular` when it is missing.

Conversation lines show demonyms with placeholders such as {self_demonym}. See Text & Placeholders.

Translations

Text fields accept plain text or a text component. Use {"translate": "<key>"} to translate the name or the demonym, and put the keys in a lang file in the data pack:

data/<namespace>/lang/<locale>.json

{
  "culture.examplepack.fisherfolk": "Fisherfolk",
  "culture.examplepack.fisherfolk.demonym.singular": "Fisherman"
}

A demonym in plain text is the same in every language. To make a demonym agree with gender or case in other languages, see Translations.

Loading and Errors

Townstead reads culture files when data packs load, and again after /reload. A file with the same namespace and path as a file in a lower pack replaces that file.

A file with an error does not load, and the other files still load. The game log shows each problem and a summary:

Could not load culture examplepack:fisherfolk
Culture examplepack:merchants has parent examplepack:fisherfolk which is not loaded; it stands alone
Loaded 9 culture(s)

Problems that stop a file from loading:

a schema that is not townstead:culture/v1;
a parent that is the file’s own ID;
a negative weight in spirit or forms;
a form with no profile;
a legacy_ids entry that is the file’s own ID, or that is repeated.

Problems that only report a warning:

a naming block with no usable given names. The culture loads with no naming tradition.
an unknown spirit axis in spirit. Townstead ignores that axis.
a parent that is not loaded, or a chain of parents that loops. The culture loads as a top culture.