Confoederatio Studios (also known as Confoederatio) is a loose organisation of programmers, researchers, and artists that primarily evolved out of the grand-strategy modding and development community (in particular Midnight/11:59), having built auxiliary tools and models for the simulation and interpolation of real-world historical data. Over time, we have decided to focus more on research, technical frameworks, modelling software, and other applied tools and critical infrastructure necessary to continued knowledge production.
Confoederatio is split into four divisions: CAD (Confoederatio, Artistic Division); CRD (Confoederatio, Research Division); CTD (Confoederatio, Technical Division); and the Preservés. Grand-strategy development responsibilities rest solely with CTD, whilst CRD works purely on academic-related research and dataset production that may be of use to grand-strategy games and modelling. Each division may be recognised by their colour code, with the exception of the Preservés, which uses the Southern Cross as its coat of arms. CAD is represented in orange, CRD in teal, and CTD in neon green.
Question categories, apart from general questions, are arranged alphabetically. You can use Ctrl + F to find answers of interest.
General.
- How are Confoederatio websites managed?
Confoederatio websites, alongside official socials are under the control of CAD and routinely managed by Confoederatio members. All websites focus on customisability for end-users and open-end commentary and editing. This is true of documentation (as seen in Confoederatio Docs), as well as Confoederatio (Website) and Confoederatio Blogs. As of 23 March 2025, only Confoederatio Docs is operable, and the remaining two websites are both under development by CAD under OPTERÉ.
- How are Confoederatio websites split up?
Confoederatio websites are split up by function, with Confoederatio intended to serve as the organisation's main page and website, Confoederatio Docs for developers and users that rely on both maintained and legacy projects as a unified ecosystem or framework, and Confoederatio Blogs for postings or explainers not deserving of either CAD/CRD/CTD.
- What is Midnight?
Midnight is the main Confoederatio Discord server used for communication. Since we are most active on that platform and it skips usual formalities, we can answer instantly there. You can join Midnight here.
Confoederatio, Artistic Division.
- Does CAD have projects independent of other divisions?
Yes, CAD often manages standalone artistic projects that aren't for technical/research purposes, much like how other Divisions often have independent projects (i.e. Naissance GIS being a standalone project from CTD, for which Ampersand Mod Creator is used as the principal ‘grand-strategy’ province-based GIS instead). CAD is also closely tied to the Preservés, with which it shares much of the translation and digitisation work.
- What is the purpose of CAD?
CAD was originally created as Cats And Vultures to focus on artistic projects as well as UI/UX and graphics design for Confoederatio software, including icons, branding, logos, trailers, intros, and other such digital media.
- Why does CAD manage Confoederatio websites and socials instead of it being an independent division?
Since CAD focuses on branding and graphics design, an internal decision was made at the start of 2025 to transfer all Confoederatio web assets and socials to CAD for operation and build-up. There are simply not enough dedicated personnel at Confoederatio to warrant the creation of an entirely new Division separate from CAD to manage these profiles, as we are extremely stretched for manpower.
- Why does the name used for CAD occasionally differ across social platforms?
CAD originated under a legacy name known as Cats and Vultures before being brought under the broader Confoederatio banner.
Confoederatio, Research Division.
- Does CRD maintain white papers or grey literature beyond what is made publicly accessible?
Yes, CRD does maintain grey literature, taxonomies, and sub-research grade literature, particularly in the realm of logistics and systems design. Because these technical drafts are not sourced, they are not recommended for anything beyond expository research use and not published with formal branding. The rigour of various papers and projects are marked internally from Q-LOW (Low Quality), Q-MED (Medium Quality), Q-HIGH (High Quality), with unsourced technical drafts occupying Q-LOW.
- Why does the name used for CRD occasionally differ across social platforms?
CRD (Confoederatio, Research Division) was initially founded as Boomsbury as a play on Bloomsbury in that its projects have a tendency to self-implode. The projects presented on this website, as well as Confoederatio's GitHub are fully operable or finished to an acceptable degree, but numerous internal projects have previously gone ahead and been suspended, or are awaiting refactor and revisit.
Confoederatio, Technical Division.
- Does CTD only work on grand-strategy mods?
No. CTD has also produced stand-alone grand-strategy games, and works on critical technical infrastructure (i.e. software engines and framework libraries under UF) that are not directly related to grand-strategy but necessary to other projects. These games are principally Triumph & Tragedy I and Triumph & Tragedy II covering the time domain 1500-2092, though smaller grand-strategy games have also previously been in development or are suspended (i.e. Auction Gambit, Empires Undone, Project Trinity).
- Is CTD the same as Confoederatio Studios?
No. Confoederatio Studios handles all parent technical projects and is used for coordination between CAD, CRD, and CTD, whilst CTD refers only to technical and non-research projects that are deemed necessary.
- What is the difference between AnalyticalEngine and Gamechanger?
AnalyticalEngine is a Java-based modding engine that open-sources AOC3, whilst Gamechanger is a Node.js-based modding engine for the Triumph & Tragedy series compatible with Ampersand Mod Creator (for mapmaking). One can also modify Ampersand Mod Creator to function as a scenario editor, and scenarios can be created via console commands through Gamechanger.
- What is Universal Framework or UF?
Universal Framework is the one framework to rule them all: it is a unified CLI/Electron/Node.js-based framework that performs tasks ranging from matrix operations to CURL and Automated Backup and Restoration (ABRS). Various versions are typically imported into different Confoederatio projects, and it is principally designed for developer ease-of-use.
You can find UF's documentation here.
Preservés des Confoederatio (Preservés).
- Are all digital documents held in physical form?
Whilst many Digital Preservés documents are held in physical form, this is not guaranteed for all documents in digital form, and there are generally more documents, books, and atlases held in digital form than in the Physical Preservés, as we work to make our physical collection a subset of our digital collection.
- Are there undigitised or untranslated documents left in the Preservés?
Yes. Most foreign-language documents in the Preservés remain untranslated, and digitisation efforts for physical archives have been relatively slow thus far. If you know Spanish, German, French, Italian, Russian, or another major cartographic language, please get in touch at vf.confoederatio@gmail.com.
- How large is the Preservés?
In terms of its cartographic collection, it contains roughly ~4000 standalone documents (with atlases and books counting as a single document), making it roughly the same size in this category as the National Library of Scotland as a point comparison, though it is managed by a skeleton crew. We physically possess various regional and historical atlases such as the Times Survey Atlas (1920), Stielers Handatlas (1898), Atlas Larousse Illustré (1900), Gran Atlas Aguílar (1954), a complete TAVO set, multiple Westermann editions (1956, 1962, 1995), etc.
You can find the complete listings of the Digital Preservés here.
You can find the complete listings of the Physical Preservés here.
- Why isn't it named Confoederatio Archives, or something similar?
The term ‘Archives’ are used for local folders within the context of Confoederatio to denote previous builds or unnecessary files that have been cached for future reference if need be. The term Preservés (from Benerian) was used instead to instantly convey the idea of an actual physical archive and repository where old books and documents are stored rather than a simple local folder stashed somewhere in some digital project.
General.
- Did Confoederatio use to have more members?
In a certain sense. Previous organisations now merged into Confoederatio used to have additional members and associates that have since moved on (i.e. 11:59 Development Team, Midnight, Boomsbury, etc.), though Confoederatio as it currently stands is a tight-knit group. Few have directly expressed interest in joining, though we always welcome any new contributors in any research domain, so long as they are willing to make that research open-source.
- Do Confoederatio members have academic backgrounds?
We have backgrounds in subjects, not backgrounds in academia. In particular, most of us are self-taught or autodidactic, although we principally are majors in interdisciplinary subjects which broadly align with our research goals (i.e. anthropology/computer science/data science). Because much of our work is applied and relatively niche - especially regarding datasets, complex modelling, and scientific software, and maintain a broad range of technical projects, it simply doesn't make sense to join academic publication lifecycles.
We produce what research we do in our free time, and they should be judged by their content and rigour, not authorship.
- What does the actual schedule of Confoederatio members look like?
Since none of us are professionally employed at Confoederatio, and it is not an incorporated organisation but merely an online one - quite busy. We often have real-world academic assignments and tasks to take care of, and as such, some managed projects may go on hiatus for up to a month. We also manage a diverse range of projects, meaning that although many of them are brought to an operable state, many of them may not get new updates until further notice.
- Where are members from?
Most Confoederatio members are from the United States, although associated members have historically come from other nations as well (i.e. France, Brazil, the Netherlands). We do not affiliate with any nation in particular.
Recruitment.
- Do I need real-world expertise to become a Confoederatio member?
Whilst real-world experience in an academic, industry, or technical field is obviously ideal, it doesn't matter so long as you broadly know what you are doing. If you have a research objective in mind, we can additionally lend you whatever experience we have to help you accomplish your objective and get up to speed as quickly as possible - we focus on applied knowledge, not gatekeeping and theory.
We would, however, recommend basic technical and scientific literacy.
- How do I join Confoederatio?
You can join Confoederatio by contacting any extant Confoederatio member and simply asking to join. The private messages and emails of Confoederatio members are always open for this purpose, with Vis Tacitus currently deciding admissions.
- Who is considered a Confoederatio member?
Anyone that wishes to be known as such and actively contributes to Confoederatio projects.
General.
- How are names for projects chosen?
Names for Confoederatio projects are generally chosen thematically, with Benerian often serving as a baseline reference for names. These are typically prefixed with Project, and all Projects are assigned a numerical 4-digit ID by which they can be identified in passing. On occasion, non-thematic codenames are chosen, particularly when it is unsure if a project will make it through to its conclusion (i.e. Auction Gambit, Snow, or Cemetery Grey).
- How are numbers for projects chosen?
Numbers are conventionally chosen sequentially (with a gap of at least 5 between projects), with the first 100 numbers (0-100) being reserved for specific Confoederatio-level projects. These numbers may only be 4 digits, and may therefore run up to 9999, though they rarely exceed 2400. Gap rules are required as future projects may fork existing projects (i.e. production vs. release builds), in which case they cluster near specific numbers. 1857, 1858, and 1859 are all varying projects related to T&T2.
CAD.
- Is Anno still ongoing as a project?
Anno has been abandoned as a project by CAD, though its files are still publicly accessible here.
- I want to use CAD icon sets. Where can I find them?
Most CAD icons are available as assets in specific Confoederatio repositories on GitHub, or alternatively on DeviantArt. These icon sets can be found as follows:
- Where can I find legacy CAD projects?
Most legacy CAD projects are available either on DeviantArt or on Discord, the latter of which may be used as a mirror.
CRD.
- Eoscala 1.0/Velkscala 0.5:
- Is the model code for either Eoscala/Velkscala currently operable?
As of 23 March 2025, the model code for Eoscala/Velkscala is provided on GitHub purely for expository purposes. Without base input data (144GB), they cannot be efficiently recreated, though you can attempt to wrangle these input files yourself. Base input files for reproducibility will be provided in future updates.
- What do the rasters for Eoscala/Velkscala represent?
Rasters for Eoscala/Velkscala are encoded in 32-bit integer RGBA format representing a positive integer from 0 to 4.294.967.296. Each pixel value may be decoded using ((r << 24) | (g << 16) | (b << 8) | a) >>> 0, with the actual stock being mentioned in the relevant base paper (currently Eoscala 1.0/Velkscala 0.5 here).
- Where can I find the methodology for Eoscala/Velkscala?
The methodology for Eoscala 1.0/Velkscala 0.5 can be found here.
It utilises intermediate economic activity rasters in an OLS high-lambda Ridge Regression model trainedd on Kummu-extended G-Econ/SEDAC data from 1990 to 2015AD. This data was then worked backwards on HYDE-McEvedy demographic and land-use data to generate gridded base maps of potential economic activity. Resultant activity rasters were then scaled to Nordhaus-De Long macroeconomic estimates, with Maddison (Rosés-Wolf adjusted) regional and national subdivision scaling.
Note that methodologies are subject to iterative improvements over time.
- Why do Eoscala and Velkscala use different version numbers?
Simply put, Velkscala is incomplete, whereas Eoscala is a complete dataset ready for use between 10000BC and 2022AD. Therefore, Velkscala gets the demarcation 0.5 (as it is half complete), and Eoscala the demarcation 1.0. These versions are to be updated independently over time, as both projects are mutually linked.
We also plan on adding in future metrics such as gridded historical Gini estimations via cluster analysis on gridded GDP per capita with historical adjustments, or gridded labour statistics, though we are working on improving base fundamental models for the time being.
- Naissance GIS:
- What is a GIS? What does it do?
A geographical information system (GIS) is principally used for map production and statistics. In particular, geographical statistics.
- Why not just use QGIS?
Naissance GIS is designed from the ground-up for historical data processing and 3D compatibility, rather than being a glorified image editor. It also comes with full undo/redo trees and built-in version control. Naissance is currently in beta, with most fundamental features being complete, although the software as a whole is not yet feature complete. Due to issues with QGIS and statistical specialisation, we highly recommend looking either at JOSM for full cartographic editing, or at Inkscape for map production.
Eoscala/Velkscala-raster based techniques can also be copied in the meantime for raster gridmap processing instead of using QGIS, though it will undergo a routine refactor from April to May of 2025.
- Will gridmap editing be supported?
Gridmap editing and related modelling will likely be node/script-based with a separate tab editor in the future. These gridmaps may be overlaid and grouped similar to vector-based entities on the main map editor, but it will effectively be standalone software without further integration when first introduced to Naissance.
- Project Humanity:
- How can I open Project Humanity Head/Tail Model files?
Project Humanity files carry the file extension (.mdl), and can be opened by Vensim, which is typically used for rapid prototyping, CLDs, and System Dynamics. Various stocks and flows may be customised, although models are not geospatially tied, and Vensim is not necessarily optimal for agent-based simulations.
- What is Project Humanity?
Project Humanity is a collective project aimed at creating persistent cognitive architectures that can be used in software, gaming, and simulatory AI to imbue agents with ‘personality’. This is done in particular by developing a long-term cognitive architecture over an agent's lifecycle and tying it to their upbringing and environment - this long-term model can then be hybridised with a short-term cognition model such as SOAR or ACT-R to create a general model of human behaviour.
- What is Project Humanity in plainspeak?
Simulate people's brains and behaviour to an acceptable degree.
- Project Satsecrér:
- Is the data for Satsecrér open-sourced?
The data for Satsecrér (Satellite Secrecy) was not open-sourced as much of it was mainly sensitive/classified information which we were in the process of sorting through. Since Satsecrér is not currently a priority, this data is not necessarily relevant to current military operations (especially given that it was gathered prior to 2023), and so it was simply judged to not be in the public interest.
- What was Project Satellite Secrecy/Satsecrecér?
A live tracking map of military ORBATs, bases, logistics, and all related information that could be found via OSINT techniques and automated scrapers and AI agents.
- Will Satsecrér ever be resumed?
It is possible that we may resume Satsecrér in the future after other projects have been brought up to an acceptable degree, but we feel that it is more important for CRD to focus on Eoscala/Velkscala, Naissance GIS, and Project Humanity first rather than continually developing better AI processing agents and scrapers for OSINT purposes, which other organisations would have currently done far better than us, as they have more dedicated teams and higher personnel counts (i.e. ISW, Livemap).
CTD.
- 11:59:
- Is 11:59's mod launcher for AOC2 still operable?
11:59 mod launcher downloads (for other mods) likely no longer work for AOC2 as the mod launcher has not been maintained since 2019. All modding efforts have been moved onto AOC3, meaning that you should look for further AOC-related support there instead.
- Where can I find previous builds of 11:59 for AOC2?
Previous builds of 11:59 for AOC2 are available over on ModDB, and can be found here.
- Where can I find 11:59 for AOC3?
Current alpha builds of 11:59 for AOC3 are available over on GitHub as part of AnalyticalEngine (where it is used as an example mod), and can therefore be found here.
- Ampersand Mod Creator:
- What is Ampersand Mod Creator?
Ampersand Mod Creator is a modding tool for Gamechanger-based games (namely Triumph & Tragedy I and Triumph & Tragedy II) for map-modding and setting adjacencies. Note that all province maps must be specified as (.svg) files, with province shapes being paths with unique numeric IDs. This can be done via Inkscape using object attributes. Once drawn, this .svg file can be loaded into Ampersand Mod Creator where adjacencies, terrain, and region data may be set.
- AnalyticalEngine:
- Do you plan on adding in-game mod editors to AnalyticalEngine?
In-game mod editors for AnalayticalEngine, as well as better mod management is planned as a post-release feature.
- How do I use AnalyticalEngine for use in AOC3 modding?
AnalyticalEngine loads in all mods contained in the basegame /mods/ folder by default, i.e. /mods/<mod_name>/. Any files contained within your mod folder that have the file extension (.ds) or (.js) are loaded by AnalyticalEngine as Deepscript files which are parsed upon game-load. These files utilise NashornJS, whose documentation you can find here.
- Why are there both GitHub and Steam versions, and how do I install AnalyticalEngine?
Both GitHub and Steam versions are provided for ease-of-access and public awareness, though best practices indicate that you should install from GitHub, particularly from the latest releases section found here. It is also possible to install from the Steam version here, though it is paradoxically slightly less convenient at the moment.
- Gamechanger:
- How do I use Gamechanger for use in T&T modding?
Keep in mind that it is recommended to first fork Triumph & Tragedy II before utilising Gamechanger to mod in your own systems and content. Current Gamechanger documentation can be found here, as it is a JSOL-based DSL. We are working on migrating this documentation to the current wiki.
- Scriptly:
- What is Scriptly used for?
Scriptly is a CLI template used for rapidly bootstrapping new applications and scripts that need to be accessed or edited in short order. With the exception of larger projects which are spun off into their own CLIs, developer QOL scripts used by Confoederatio are typically placed in Scriptly. Such CLIs are Node-based and come shipped with UF.
- Triumph & Tragedy:
- Can I install Triumph & Tragedy for my own server?
Yes, although it requires some more setup beyond the installer since emojis have to be uploaded across multiple servers and referenced back in your bot instance's settings. You can use the installer.bat file attached on the GitHub repository to attempt an install on Windows devices, whilst MacOS and Linux devices require manual installation by installing Node.js 16.9.0+ and Cairo Graphics.
You can find Triumph & Tragedy II's GitHub repository here.
- How do Triumph & Tragedy I and II actually differ?
Triumph & Tragedy I is a relatively simple multiplayer grand-strategy game, whereas Triumph & Tragedy II differs in complexity and scope by attempting to embrace full economic, combat, logistical, and demographic realism. Currently, Triumph & Tragedy II has reachedd Into Modernity, a build which can be found here.
- What do System Dynamics, Into Modernity, Proxy Cables, and Last Man Standing actually refer to?
They all refer to distinct update phases for Triumph & Tragedy II before the game is ready to be fully released and declared complete with the exception of various era-specific expansions. T&T2 is a multi-year project, and so not all of these updates can be completed at once.
- System Dynamics refers to the first refactor and restructuring for Triumph & Tragedy II; in particular, by porting T&T2 to the Gamechanger engine,
- Into Modernity overhauls the economy and demography of Triumph & Tragedy II to a realistic state. This is the current release,
- Proxy Cables is planned to overhaul T&T2's diplomatic and political mechanics,
- Last Man Standing is planne to re-overhaul military and combat mechanics to be fully modular and customisable per unit in addition to adding a Singleplayer mode with corresponding AI agents.
You can view the full planning document for Triumph & Tragedy II here.
General.
- How should words and dates be spelled and formatted?
All words should be spelled in non-Oxford British English with single inverted commas being used for quotes, and double inverted commas inside, i.e. ‘This is a quote’. As for dates, they should always be spelled DD Month YYYY as best practice, i.e. ‘15 March 2025’. They may be spelled numerically as dd.mm.yyyy, but only for timestamps or tabular data. AD/BC are always specified for dates where confusion may occur; BC is programmatically represented as a negative number, i.e. -2000 refers to 2000BC.
Numbers are to be formatted using European decimals (53,67 instead of American 53.67, and 53.000 instead of American 53,000). Additionally, thousands, millions, billions, trillions, quadrillions are to be denoted using letters as follows: k, mn, bn, tn, qd. Standard notation is otherwise used for most subjects.
- What citation format should I use?
Confoederatio uses APA numerical citations, where [1] is the first source used, and [n] the last source used in any paper. Try to be as specific with your sources as possible; they should be prefixed in a numeric bullet point list in a separate ‘Works Cited' at the bottom. Notes may accompany sources - they must be declared with the prefix ‘Note: ’.
- What do various acronyms used by Confoederatio mean?
For a full list of acronyms used by Confoederatio, see Acronyms.
- What is Benerian/Binerien?
Benerian is a pronounceable Latin-based digital shorthand used in internal Confoederatio communications (in contrast to other shorthand systems which are symbolic, defeating the entire point of using them digitally). As such, it is often provided as an alternative language to French, German, and English; those being the other languages supported by Confoederatio. Note that it uses an independent grammar structure and is polysynthetic grammar structure to achieve its brevity - in particular by drawing on Romano-Germanic morphemes.
- What timezone is Confoederatio in?
Confoederatio always runs on GMT+0 for coordination purposes. This means that clocks are typically set to the real-world location of Reykjavik, Iceland, as Reykjavik does not observe either Summer Time or DST.
Branding.
- What does Confoederatio's logo represent?
Confoederatio's logo, which may simply be referred to as the Hansard, is representative of two meanings - one being that of the organisation's roots in Cold War-related modding and grand strategy development. In this interpretation, the jack represents the world of the Cold War:
- 12 stars for a divided Europe,
- 6 white stars for the Western Bloc (1 for the United States as a superpower; 5 for the Western Union as an alliance [the direct predecessor to NATO and much of the EU], those member states being the UK, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands).
- 6 red stars for the principal nations of the split Eastern Bloc (1 for the Soviet Union as a superpower [it had 1 star on its flag]; 5 for China [it has 5 stars on its flag]). The 6 stars may alternatively represent each nation of the Warsaw Pact outside the Soviet Union.
- The Southern Cross in the middle as a representation of the Global South, around which much of the Cold War's hot and proxy conflicts revolved.
- A blue background representative of Earth.
Alternatively, it may be seen as a symbol of ever-present loyalty, research, progress, transparency, and incompleteness. In this interpretation:
- 12 stars as the symbol of perfection and entirety. These stars are angled to signify the ever-present imperfection and incompleteness of all research by nature.
- 6 white stars for tradition and principle - that being the colour of purity.
- 6 red stars for progress and effort - that being the colour of labour.
- The Southern Cross in the middle as a representation of exploration and discovery, akin to the motto Plus Ultra.
- A blue field representative of the colour of science, research, and international collaboration.
- What does the Preservés' logo represent?
The Preservés' logo, also known as the Austral Cross, is a coat-of-arms. It is deliberately designed such to signify an institution of some age, similar to its physical holdings. Its name in Binerien formaler (Formal Benerian) translates literally to the Confoederatio Archives.
- What is Hanseceltica?
Listenbourg. Narnia. Hanseceltica is a pseudonymous nation from which Confoederatio researchers claim to be from. A nation which, coincidentally, happens to have a slight majority which speaks Benerian. It is also a worldbuilding project managed by CAD, and a dummy nation used in various roles of contention (i.e. in wargames, as map samples, or where other dummy nations may be required as stand-ins).
It is also part of the tradition that all Confoederatio work be pseudonymous, rigourous, and open-source.