Artifacts in Pax Nova are fairly rare. Normally they provide a chance of a boost to a resource like Influence or Research, but artifacts can also be used to trigger quests. Some artifacts can be combined to result in a new artifact. All artifacts can be converted into Aether or Credits if the player doesn't use them. All modded artifacts are controlled by the Artifacts.xml file found in the localization folder within your mod. At the moment, only English is available, so place your files there.

Files included in your mod entirely replace the base game. The files provided by Grey Wolf contain all of the content in the base Pax Nova game. You should add any additions to these files at the end of these files and provide an ID for each entry that is in sequence with what's already in the file. If you remove entries, such as factions or the main quest, from your mod files it will not fall back to the base game and they will not exist when you use your mod.

Similar to Quests and Events, Artifacts are split into three sections. The first section contains the basic information about the artifact like the name and description of what the possible effects are, the rarity and value are the primary components of this level.

The second section, <ArtifactEffects>, defines the effects that will trigger when using the artifact. This section is usually one good outcome and one ok outcome though artifacts that trigger quests do only have a singular outcome.

The final section, <ArtifactCombination>, is rarely used but lists the ID's of the artifact you can combine with as well as the artifact you'll be given if you do. Because this section is limited, I'm not breaking it out of the base artifact container.


<ArtifactName></ArtifactName>
The name of the artifact displayed in the artifact list, the artifact description panel when its selected, and in the tooltip when hovering over the artifact.

<ArtifactFullName></ArtifactFullName>
The name of the artifact that's pulled in when the artifact is found when exploring points of interest or referenced in a sentence. These should always be a/an preceding the artifact name as they will be placed in sentences like this: "After a long search, the crew found what appears to be an Odd Fossil."

<ID></ID>
The ID for the artifact. Used when given as a reward or when combining artifacts. Must be consecutive starting with the last ID in artifacts.xml which is currently 14.

<ArtifactDetails></ArtifactDetails>
The text description of the artifact that's shown when selected in the tooltip.

<ArtifactSpriteID></ArtifactSpriteID>
The ID of the image used for the artifact. Select from the list earlier in this guide. New art can't currently be added here, but if that changes in the future artwork should be 900x900px PNGs.

<ArtifactType></ArtifactType>
The Rarity levels for the artifact. Use the values previously in this guide.

<ArtifactEffects></ArtifactEffects>
A list of effects and the probability they will be triggered. Effects are listed earlier in this guide and are the things the player gets from using the artifact like Influence or Knowledge.

<ArtifactCombination> </ArtifactCombination>
The container for the tags that tell the game which artifact you can combine with and what artifact you'll get.

<ArtifactToCombineWithID></ArtifactToCombineWithID>
The ID of the artifact that you can use to combine this artifact with to form a different artifact.

<ResultingArtifactID></ResultingArtifactID>
The ID of the artifact you'll get if you combine this artifact.

<AetherValue></AetherValue>
How much Aether you will receive if you choose to scrap the artifact for Aether.

<FundsValue></FundsValue>
How many credits you'll get if you choose to scrap the artifact for credits.

<ArtifactEffectType></ArtifactEffectType>
The thing that happens if triggered. This can be selected from the list earlier in this guide. Usually adds Knowledge, Research, or Influence but not limited to that.

<Var1></Var1>
The amount of the ArtifactEffectType that is given to the player. If you are given influence, this tag says how much.

<Var2></Var2>
Unknown, but currently unused for Artifacts. Leave set to "0" (zero).

<Chance></Chance>
How likely this particular effect will trigger when the artifact is used. Setting this to 1.1 seems to indicate this effect will trigger every time the artifact is used. If you have multiple effects, make sure you don't exceed 1.0.

<EffectString></EffectString>
The text description of what happened when the player used the artifact and this effect was triggered. For example: "This artifact has generated +3 #KNOWLEDGE#."

These options determine the rarity of each artifact from common to unique. Unique currently only shows up on the Emperor's Soul artifact found in minor faction stations in space and may indicate that it can't be found at random though that seems unlikely given the UniqueUnfoundable type used exclusively for rewards in the main quest line.

Rarity
Common
Rare
Unique
UniqueUnfoundable

This section determines the effect the artifact can have when used, if any. I don't think there's any limit to the number of effects you can have, but it does appear that the odds of activating them should equal 100% using decimals. Artifacts that have one effect that triggers when used seem to be set to 1.1 or 110%.

Please note that this list may not be exhaustive. It only contains options listed in existing artifacts.

General
None
AddQuest
UnlockQuest

Research
AddKnowledge
AddResearchProduction
AddToOurCurrentResearch

Paths
AddEmberPath
AddEnlightmentPath

Diplomacy
AddInfluence

Resources
GenerateAether

This section provides a list of the artifact images that exist and the ID to reference them for your artifacts. Having a visual reference makes it easier than just guessing which image you'll get or trying to remember what another event used.

There's no way to add your own event images right now. Hopefully that will change in the future. If it does here is the information for creating your own images:

Size: 900x900px
Smaller images may be used, but should be square.
Format: PNG

ArtifactSpriteID: 0


ArtifactSpriteID: 1


ArtifactSpriteID: 2


ArtifactSpriteID: 3


ArtifactSpriteID: 4


ArtifactSpriteID: 5


ArtifactSpriteID: 6


ArtifactSpriteID: 7


ArtifactSpriteID: 8,9


ArtifactSpriteID: 10


ArtifactSpriteID: 11,12?


ArtifactSpriteID: 13


ArtifactSpriteID: 14


ArtifactSpriteID: 15

Taking all of the parts from earlier in the guide, here's a simple example of an artifact that gives the player a 50% chance of getting either +10 Aether or +3 Knowledge. This would be placed at the end of the file right after the last artifact: