CoP Random New World: How to share/reuse maps; quickly generate new maps in-game (2024)

Every Random New World map is based on a unique seed. This seed specifically identifies the exact map you got. There are millions of such seeds.

We hope that in future patches, PDS will extend the RNW feature so that it shows you in the UI what your seed is, and allows you to specify a known seed for generating a new map.

However even before that happens, we can share seeds and use them to re-generate existing maps that we know we like.

It's possible to generate maps using a known seed in two ways - editing a save game, and using the Console.

It's also possible to use the Console to generate new maps, from newly generated random seeds. If you want to quickly generate a bunch of maps this is much faster than going back to the Main Menu and starting a new game each time.

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The RNW seed is saved into the save game. So any time you have saved a non-Ironman RNW game, you can later look up its seed.

How to find your existing seed:

1. For any non-Ironman game that has RNW enabled: open any save in a text editor, such as Notepad.
2. Near the top of the file (around line 15-20, find the line:
   • random_world=123456...
3. Copy the number after the =. That is your seed.

You can edit a save, put in a seed, load that game, and everything seems to work fine - the natives move to appropriate new locations.

It thus appears that the map setup routine does a complete refresh of the whole new world, including re-creating the native nations and all their province assignments.

This should only be done on a Day 1 game, or at the least in a save where the natives haven't expanded out, and the Old World haven't expanded into the New World! I have no idea what happens if you try this for a game where nations from the old and new worlds have already mixed Probably it will get very confused and may just create an unusable save.

Always take backups before editing a save!

Instructions for re-using old/shared seeds via save game editing:

1. Start a new non-Ironman game with Random New World (RNW) enabled;
2. Save it as soon as the game opens; don't unpause.
3. Open that save in a text editor, find the random_world= line near the top, and replace the seed number with your existing one.
4. Save, close the editor, and then load the game in EU4.
5. The game will handle the work of re-positioning the natives in the appropriate locations, overwriting whatever province assignments came from the map you originally generated in this save.

In a non-Ironman game, you can use a Console command to generate a new random map, either using an old/shared seed, or randomly generating a new one.

To do this, you open the Console and execute the command:

map_random [seed=...] [<restore>] [<nosmooth>] [<nosmoothcoasts>] [<topology>] [<terrain>] [<colormap>] [<minimap>] [<rivers>] [<trees>]​

Like for save game editing, these commands will do a complete refresh of the New World, updating everything correctly such as moving the natives around and updating province assignments. And it does it live, without saving/reloading.

Same caveat applies about only using this on Day 1, or at least only in games where Old World and New World remain unmixed.

Therefore it may well be that there is no need to edit any save; you can start a new game as normal and then use the Console command to load an old seed or generate a new map. This will be quicker and less error prone than editing a save game file.

Finally, note that it is not necessary to start or load a game with Random New World enabled in order to use this Console command. It works for any game, even where Random New World was not ticked from the main menu when creating it.

1. The [square brackets] is syntax indicating that the specified argument is optional. In this case, all arguments are optional.
2. Running the command with no arguments at all generates the map for seed=13. The seed of 13 appears to be hardcoded into the command.
3. Specifying seed=<num> will generate the map for that specified seed.
   1. <num> is any number between 0 to 2147483647 (it will accept higher numbers, but will process them as 2147483647)
   2. It also accepts the value -1, which will randomly pick a seed. It will tell you what seed it used.
4. Specifying restore will give you the real world map; as if you had started a game with Random New World disabled.
5. The other arguments re-generate the current map (if seed= is not also specified), changing options or only running a specific part of the generation process.
   1. They are more for experimenting and debugging and are unlikely to be used much for normal games.
   2. I have not been able to see any effect from most of the arguments - possibly they cause a re-read of file map/random/tweaks.lua, and are used for testing changes to those parameters.
   3. One exception I've found so far is the rivers argument which generates a new set of random rivers for the current map.

1. Start a new non-Ironman game.
2. Leave the game paused on Day 1.
3. Open the Console (with the ` key on a UK/US layout; other keyboards may vary. Sometimes it's double-quote. Check the Wiki page on the Console for more details.)
4. In the Console, type:
   • map_random seed=1234567
     • Where 1234567 is the seed you want to use
5. Map generation will occur, and after a little while your game is updated with the new map, with moved natives etc.
6. Save the game, and continue from there.

1. Start a new non-Ironman game.
2. Leave the game paused on Day 1.
3. Open the Console
4. In the Console, type:
   • map_random seed=-1
5. Map generation will occur using a new random seed - same as when you start a new game from the Main Menu.
   1. After generation is complete, you will see the seed it used in the Console window; so you can record it and re-use it later if you wish.
6. To quickly take a look at the map, type the following command in the Console to turn off Terra Incognito:
   • ti
7. Repeat steps 4-6 as desired to see more maps.
8. Run the ti command again to re-hide everything behind Terra Incognito once you want to start playing properly.