Create A Decoration Variant¶

This example describes the safe planning process for creating a new decorative buildable based on an existing one.

It is more advanced than changing a cost because it requires copying an entity and assigning a new GUID.

Goal¶

Create a new decorative building variant by copying an existing decoration entity.

This page explains the workflow and safety checks. It does not prescribe one exact final decoration because visual assets and build menu behavior should be tested locally.

Step 1: Pick A Similar Decoration¶

Decoration data appears in:

game-gdb/core/gdb/decorations.gd.xml
game-gdb/decorations1/gdb/decorations.gd.xml

Use:

rg --no-ignore "Entity Name=|Buildable|Building|UiBuildingGroup" .\game-gdb\core\gdb\decorations.gd.xml .\game-gdb\decorations1\gdb\decorations.gd.xml

Pick an existing decoration that is close to what you want.

Step 2: Copy The Whole Entity¶

Copy the complete entity, not only the Building component.

Keep the component structure intact:

Building
Buildable
AspectBuildup
placement components
visual/audio components
child structure, if present

Step 3: Assign A New GUID¶

The copied entity must get a new unique GUID.

In PowerShell:

[guid]::NewGuid()

Replace only the copied entity's own Guid attribute first.

Do not change referenced GUIDs unless you intentionally want to point to different resources, categories, notifications, or assets.

Step 4: Change Safe Display Fields¶

Good first changes:

internal Name attribute
Building/Name
Building/Description
Buildable/SortOrder
construction cost amount

Be careful with:

Mesh
Icon
terrain blocking
GridSize
category GUIDs

Step 5: Validate References¶

Run:

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\validate_database.ps1
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts\analyze_database.ps1

Then search the new GUID:

rg --no-ignore "NEW-GUID-HERE" .\game-gdb

For a new decoration entity, the new GUID may appear only once unless you also added menu/unlock/objective references.

If the decoration does not appear, inspect:

Buildable
category references
sort order
unlock-related fields
package loading
whether the copied entity is abstract or template-only

Compare against the original decoration until you find the difference.

Risk Summary¶

Edit	Risk
Copy existing decoration and assign new GUID	Medium
Change display text keys	Low to medium
Change construction cost amount	Low to medium
Change category	Medium
Change mesh/icon paths	High
Change placement/grid/terrain blocking	High

This is a good example to attempt only after simple cost edits are working.