VanillaMod content

[Javolenus]

Hi FactionHeir,

Just wanted to say that I'm still happily playing VanillaMod. I've tried several other mods but keep coming back to this one, so many thanks.

Got a couple of question about content:

1. Did you include the CNP mod in VanillaMod?
2. Did you include any tweaks to the animations, such as Zxiang Animations?

I'm curious because these two mini-mods sound interesting. If they're not already in VanillaMod, do you know if they could be included? Or if I could somehow incorporate them?

Also, I'd be really keen to see the unit cards and skins from Ornamentum in VanillaMod. I think I've asked this before, but would it be possible to import the Ornamentum skins into VanillaMod?

Anyway, thanks again for a very stable and playable mod. Any advice concerning the above points appreciated.

[FactionHeir]

Glad you are enjoying my mod. Hopefully I should release an update to it within the next month (I will be less active for the next three weeks due to travel)

Not sure what CNP is. Haven't included any animation tweaks, but stats are adjusted and based on current animations.

If you can provide more info on either, I can give you a more definite answer on whether they can be combined. For the anmations tweaks, it may require a further rebalance of some units (such as 2H). IIRC, Zxiang's animations came out during 1.0 times (based on M2TW demo) and were deemed overpowered, but I there may have been changes over time.

Regarding unit cards, it depends on whether they change any file that VanillaMod already includes. If you can find conflicting files, I can examine them further.

[Javolenus]

Hi FactionHeir,

Thanks for getting back to me.

CNP is the Character Names Project, which claims to include historically accurate names for each faction. I don't think it changes anything else, and it is incorporated into some other mods (for example, Stainless Steel).

The animation tweaks interest me because I've spotted a few problems on the battle map. For example, when fighting a battle as England (against the Scots) early in the campaign, the following animation glitches occurred:

* Lances kept appearing then disappearing
* Units disappeared off the screen (leaving my archers firing into an empty space) then reappeared
* Units seemed to move too quickly or too slowly! For example, at times, infantry units were zipping around the battlefield almost as fast as cavalry

I also spotted some pathfinding problems on the battle map, with units unable to find their way through to the fighting if blocked by friendly troops. And some units just stand still in the middle of the battle and get slaughtered.

On the strat map I also noticed a weird thing. I selected some buildings to construct for Nottingham - a Bowyer and Stables - and I paid for their construction as normal. But next turn nothing was being constructed in Nottingham and those buildings were still showing as available to build - and yet I'd lost the money.

Otherwise I find this mod more stable and playable than others.

As for adding animation tweaks, I'm not really sure what to do. If Zxiang's animations are based on vanilla 1.0 then maybe it's not a good idea to copy over the files? Is there another option? I found that, animations-wise, the Stainless Steel mod was very good.

Finally, I mentioned the Ornamentum skins and unit cards. I really like these and would like to import them into VanillaMod if possible. The Ornamentum mod claims to change just skins and unit cards, but I once tried importing the files into VanillaMod and got a CTD. I have asked the Ornamentum guys for advice but the problem is that A) they're Hungarian and have limited English and B) they're graphic artists and not very up on the tech side of things. And so I've just shelved the Ornamentum thing, although I may experiment a bit further.

I think VanillaMod is very playable. I would like to enhance it by adding historical names (as in CNP), new skins/unit cards (as in Ornamentum) and sort out the animation glitches from vanilla MTW. But I'm new to modding and on a steep learning curve! And so any help or advice appreciated.

But I undetstand that the above points are personal preferences and that, basically, VanillaMod is very playable in its current form.

[FactionHeir]

I am rather surprised at what you found in terms of problems. Never had those happen to me. The units disappearing could be a graphics glitch with the normal game (you sometimes get ghost units popping up that are unrendered and then disappear again), unit moving too quickly is more likely an issue either with you accelerating the battle time (in which case all units zip around) or playing on a map where there is a paved road over otherwise very difficult terrain (roads make units move faster in battle while difficult terrain makes them move slower). Regarding Lancer disappearing, that is normal mechanics: They only appear at random or when the unit is charging. Otherwise they normally default to secondary weapons.

Strat map:
Are you sure you actually added them to the queue? Sometimes I think I did and then when allocating funds cancel some buildings to build some more elsewhere.

Regarding mods:
CNP should be fine then. I assume its a few name files and possibly a change to descr_strat and campaign_script. The latter two you will have to merge (use a program such as Compare It! and move over name sections only)

Animations likely won't be a good idea to use unless you want all 2H units to act like JHI (very powerful animation, would require significant stat decrease which may mess up autoresolve some more)


Thanks!

[Javolenus]

Hi and thanks for this quick repsonse. That's a good tip about the program Compare It! and I'll check it out.

Thanks also for the explanations re. animation glitches, which now make more sense. Actually there was a paved road where the infantry moved very quickly.

as for the building queue error, well, that might have been my error, I'm not sure, but I'll keep an eye on it.

Thanks again for help and support. And good luck with the update - looking forward to seeing it when it's ready!