First, thanks for making these excellent mods.
The only problem is that Japan, UK & Canada start with the debilitating tech backwater situation, and it takes years to grow to a technologically-advantaged society even after investing in science, tech, stem cell research etc. While there are less developed pockets of civilization, not to mention cheapskate or badly-run businesses in these lands, overall they’re advanced countries and shouldn’t be considered backwaters.
I can’t find any way to start without the tech backwater situtation, and I don’t have Excel, so I couldn’t edit the csv “situation” file even if I knew how. Is there another way to make it so I can start playing these countries without “tech backwater?”