At the Main Menu, choose Editor.
From the scenario list, choose one of the scenarios and click “Create Mod”. This will open the folder on the computer where Mods are saved.
Enter the name of the new scenario and click Save. The window will close and the Scenario list will be updated with the new scenario name.

From the Main Menu, click Editor. Choose the scenario to edit form the list and click Edit Mod.

The Save button is always present in the lower right corner. Each time the player saves, a notification screen appears to either confirm the changes have been saved, or inform the player why they have not.

1. Click Scenario > Global Data tabs.
2. Change the date in the Start Date box
3. Set the Turn Duration, and the End Date will be automatically generated. Each turn is one week.

Preexisting nations are not independent nations at the start of the scenario, but annexed or colonized by other nations. Examples include India, Syria, or the Congo, to name a few. Players can make any of these preexisting nations active using the editor. Once active, they will function as all other nations. They are playable and come complete with full flag sets for all four ideologies.
To activate (using India as an example):
1. Select Scenario > Nations tab.
2. Click Add to Open the Create New Nation panel.
3. Under Display Name, enter: India.
4. Click in the Nation Templates menu, scroll to and select India.
5. Choose Ideology from menu options, then at the bottom click OK.
6. Click Region Paint > Owner Controller tab.
7. Choose India. Once region Paint is active any region clicked will switch to the selected nation.
8. Click a number of regions on the map in the Indian subcontinent area.
9. Click Scenario > Nations > India.
10. Click the Capitol City menu to view all the cities within the regions just selected in Step 8. Choose one as the Capitol City.
11. Click Apply (This is below the Research Box. If not visible expand the Edit Nation panel by dragging the lower left corner).
12. Save the scenario to effect your changes. The Flag will update to the new owner when the editor is restarted.

Players can now add research, arms and resources, and adjust the Ideology sliders, but the steps above are the minimum required to activate preexisting nations.

Players can also create entirely new nations. Newly created nations will display default flag and icons, but an entirely new default set is automatically created that players can edit with a graphics program such as Photoshop ® to make custom flags and icons.

To create a new nation you will first need to make a Nation Template:
1. Select Templates > Nation Templates tabs.
2. From the list of nations, click the Add button.
3. Enter the name of your new nation in the text box and click OK.
4. Click Templates > Nation Templates tabs again to update the list.
5. Click your new Nation’s name from the list to open the Edit panel.
6. Note two display names. The top is the actual nation name, the bottom is how people in the nation should be referred to. For example: “Italy” and “Italian”.
7. Click the colored square to open the slider controls. Adjust to create a custom color for your nation on the map. NOTE: If possible, choose a contrasting color to the regions of nations adjacent to where you plan to create yours.

Now that you’ve created a template, you will need to create the actual nation, including at least one land region and one city to assign as a capitol.
1. Select Scenario > Nations tabs.
2. From the list of nations, click the Add button.
3. Enter the Display Name of your nation, and find the Nation Template you just created from the menu list.
4. Choose an Ideology, then click OK.
5. The new nation now appears on the nation list.
6. Click the Region Paint tab and select your new nation from the list.
7. On the Map click in at least one region containing a city that your new nation will own and control.
8. Return to Scenario > Nations tab and select the new nation.
9. Click in the Capitol City box and choose a city from the regions chosen in step 7.
10. Click Apply.

Players can now add research, arms and resources, and adjust the Ideology sliders, but the steps above are the minimum required to create a new nation.

See the Activating Preexisting Nations or Creating New Nations sections to see how Ideology is initially set.

Once initially set, the player can use the ideology section of the Edit Nation panel to adjust the relative balance between the four ideologies in the game. Each ideology can be locked and unlocked to allow the player to add and subtract an ideological percentage. When any value is changed, the other unlocked ideologies will automatically adjust to keep the total at 100%. Any locked values will not change. Having one dominant ideology will make the nation more stable at the outset, while evenly balancing percentages between two or more ideologies creates a less stable nation.

1. Select the Scenario > Nations tabs.
2. Choose a nation from the list
3. Use the drop down menu next to Capitol City to set the new Capitol.
4. Click Apply and Save the scenario.

The editor allows you to change the owner and controller as well as the nationality of regions very quickly using the Region Paint tool.
1. Select the Region Paint tab
2. Choose Owner Controller or Nationality tab
3. Choose a nation from the list, which then appears in the box in the upper left corner
4. Click any region you wish to instantly change the property selected in Step 2.

NOTE: It is still possible to press and hold down the left mouse button to shift the map without changing the region when in this mode.

1. Clicking any land region will open the Edit Land Region panel.
2. The list of all regions appears in a column at left, and can be sorted alphabetically by owner or name. This panel allows players to edit almost every possible region property: Owner, controller, population, colonial status, city architecture style, demographics, transportation and defensive infrastructure.
3. Players can add to existing resource producers or create new ones. Players are also able to add or change which historic nation lays claim to that region.

1. Left-click to select any unit on the map
2. Right-click the destination region
3. When confirmation screen appears, click Yes.

1. Select Templates > Unit Templates tabs
2. Choose the unit to modify
3. Once any of the properties are adjusted, the Revert and Apply buttons appear
4. When changes are complete, click Apply and Save the Scenario.

Units are always organized into groups, even if it is just a single unit. To Add:
1. Select Scenario > Armies tab
2. From the Controller menu, select the nation controlling the unit(s) and click the Add button at the bottom to open the Create New Unit Group panel.
3. Enter the Display Name
4. Enter the unit type: Army, Navy, Submarine, or Air Force
5. Open the Location menu. If Army or Air Force was chosen as unit type, this menu displays a list of all land regions controlled by the nation selected in Step 2. If Navy or Submarine, then sea regions are displayed.
6. Choose a location and click OK. The panel closes and the Armies list on the left.
7. Each army, air force or navy has a single default unit when created. See the next section to add more units to the group.

1. Select the group by clicking on it directly on the map. The group can also be accessed by going to the Armies Tab and selecting the nation controlling the unit to view the list and select a group to edit.
2. Once selected, the Edit Unit Group panel opens and a list of all units in the group is displayed.
3. To remove any unit on the list, click on it to highlight, then click Remove.
4. The Revert and Apply buttons appear. Click Apply to confirm removal and Revert to cancel.
5. To add a unit, click Add and a list of possible units displays.
6. Select the unit type to add, click OK, then Apply.
7. Alter the display name if you wish or the amount of arms carried.
8. This panel also allows players to rename units, adjust the amount of arms carried, and switch locations via the drop down menu.

1. Select any group and click the Duplicate Group button and confirm. A group with the same complement of units is created in that same region stacked with the group it was copied from. The new group has the same name with the word “copy” added at the end.
2. You can rename the Group in the text box.
3. Selecting a different region will move the unit to that region.
4. Apply.

1. Select any group and click the Delete Group button in the lower left corner of the Edit Unit Group panel.
2. Click Yes to Confirm.

1. Click the City tab
2. Click Add at the bottom of the left panel.
3. Choose the City name and region and Apply.
4. Adjust the location by resetting the coordinates.

1. Mouse over where you would like to place the city. Note the coordinates at the bottom left.
2. Enter the coordinates in the Location box at the center of the Edit City Panel.
3. Apply.

1. Click the Cities tab
2. Select a city from the left panel.
3. Once the Edit City panel opens, click Add in either box to open the list of possible buildings.
4. Choose one and click OK.
5. Apply.

1. Click the Colonies tab
2. Click Add to open the Create New Colony panel.
3. Type in a Display name.
4. Open the nation drop menu to choose the nation controlling the colony.
5. Next open the Nation Template menu and choose the nation being controlled by the colonizing nation.
6. Click OK and Apply.
7. To Delete, simply select a colony from the list and click Remove.

War Plans are preset options that may occur during the game. Often they have preconditions, i.e. nation X won’t attack unless it is at war with nation Y. If your mod is a variation on historical events of the WWII era, then leaving war plans as they are preset will keep all the plans present in the standard scenarios of the game. You can also add new plans and delete preset plans.

1. Click War Plan tab and select a plan.
2. Set or adjust weight. The Weight field is the percentage chance that the plan will be enacted.
3. The Aggression field is a number from 1-30.. The higher the number the greater chance the nation will be aggressive beyond the boundaries of the War plan.
4. Add or remove nations affected by plan.
5. Add or remove prerequisite operations.

1. From the War Plan tab, click Add in the left column.
2. Select a nation that will initiate the plan.
3. Select the new plan from the list.
4. From here, follow steps in Edit War Plan.
5. To remove, select a plan and click Remove.

1. Click Alliances tab to view existing alliances.
2. Click Add to select a nation for a new Alliance.
3. Click the Name of the Nation when it appears in the left column.
4. In the Edit Alliance panel, click Add.
5. Choose a nation to participate in the alliance and Apply.
6. Repeat previous step to add more nations to the alliance.
7. Click Remove to remove nations from the Alliance.

1. Click Wars tab to view wars underway.
2. Click Add and select an Attacking Nation, then OK.
3. From the same list, choose a defending nation, then OK
4. To Delete a war, click on it in the left column and click Remove.

1. From the Trade Agreements tab, click Add.
2. Choose Source Nation from the list, then OK
3. Choose Destination Nation, then OK.
4. In left Column, click on the Agreement (it defaults to Metals resource)
5. From Edit Trade Agreement panel, set Resource type and amount, then Apply.
6. To remove, click on Agreement in left column and click Remove.

1. From the Access Agreements tab, click Add.
2. Choose Granting Nation from the list, then OK
3. Choose Receiving Nation, then OK.
4. In left Column, click on the Agreement
5. From Edit Access Agreement panel, check Full Military Access, then Apply.
6. To remove, click on Agreement in left column and click Remove.

Because the game uses XML, it is fairly easy to change things not included in the editor’s current version. Look in your documents, these files are nested inside the Sandstone folder. The link is below (substitute YOUR-MOD-NAME-HERE with the name of the mod you are altering).

Libraries\Documents\Sandstone\Making History II\Mods\YOUR-MOD-NAME-HERE\modules\mh2 data\shared

Open the files using a text program like notepad. Before making changes, you may want to copy the default file and save it somewhere, so if you break something and you don’t know what it is, you can simply replace the modded file with the original file.

The file names will indicate what can be changed within. For example, you may want to make buildings more expensive, or alter terrain modifiers. Explore!