A Fates Modding Guide on Setting up the Paragons
Hello! Welcome to the first part of the revised modding tutorials. My name is Lumi and I will be explaining how to setup your Paragon programs, as well as importing prerequisite items into your new modded profile.
Before We Begin
I would like to thank Moonling for creating the original guides using the old Paragon program.
I would also like to thank Thane for creating the tools we use today for modding the 3DS Fire Emblem games.
So without further ado, let's get started.
Prerequisites
These are the programs you will need to download in order to get started, as well as the JSON import files to prevent ID conflicts.
- New Paragon by Thane. This is the current tool most modders will use.
- Old Paragon by Thane. This is used for creating imports and export JSON files, as well as doing the actions mentioned if the mod comes with the files.
- DLC Imports JSONS. These are files you should import into your mod profile before getting started. This will help prevent ID conflicts when creating new Items and Classes. These JSONS were created by Moonling. (This step is necessary if you plan to add any new Items or Classes to Fates.)
- A Dump of Fates. It's recommended to have one from Special Edition, but you can mod for Conquest or Birthright. (Don't ask us for where and how. You can figure that out on your own).
Setting up the Paragons
Both Paragons are pretty simple to install! I will explain how, as well as show images of the process.- Download and extract both programs to their own respective folders. Name them however you wish so you can remember them. I named both of them based off their dated creations respectfully.
- Both Paragons setup almost the exact same way. There are only a few minor differences, but to keep it simple, I will provide a screenshot with both windows side by side.
New Paragon (Left) and Old Paragon (Right)
- Name: Your profile name. Only required in New Paragon.
- Language: The games origin language. In my case, it is EnglishNA.
- Game: The game we're modding for is Fates, so choose FE14.
- Extracted RomFS Directory/ROM Path: Click the "..." and search for your romfs folder on your PC. The RomFS is the folder you dumped for your game. For example, 0004000000179800 is the folder with base game files for FEF:SE. The folder must contain the base game files in order for it to count as RomFS Directory.
- Output Directory/Project Path: This is your folder where any and all changes you make will be stored and saved.
You know when you've done everything correctly if Paragon allows you to open the profile and these menus appear.
Successfully created profiles for New Paragon (Left) and Old Paragon (Right)
Now that we have successfully made profiles, its time import the JSONS mentioned before! Importing these JSONS are best practice, as they fill in the missing IDs from the DLC. This helps prevent future issues from popping up when it comes to items and classes.
Importing JSONS with Old Paragon.
Most people will probably skip this step, but it is still VERY NECESSARY to do this to prevent ID mismatch. This is also important if you plan on adding any new classes and items into the game.
1. First, we're going to open the profile we made for the mod. Click on "File" on the top right corner and navigate to the "Import" Option.
2. From there, we are going to locate the JSON files of the DLC imports. Make sure you extracted them from the ZIP file.
You know it worked if it says "Import Succeeded!" on the bottom left.
Once you're done, click "File" once again and save it! You're done! You're ready to start modding Fates! If you have any questions, please leave them down below in the comments or feel free to join my Discord! I'd be more than happy to help you get started!
