Printable View
Hello all,
The new large map for VanillaMod is almost finished and below you can find a preliminary final version for your viewing pleasure.
Once a few more regions have been added and the finishing touches put on, you will find it available and integrated into VanillaMod.
All credit and praise for this map go to irishron who is braving summer temperatures to work on it!
https://img217.imageshack.us/img217/...regionsbl6.jpg
I like it!
Too bad I just downloaded 2gb of Stainless steel. Might have to play that a bit first :laugh4:
Map is looking great - am really looking forward to seeing the finished thing. And with new map textures (e.g. Map Mod) it should look brilliant.
But how do you get the map working with VM? Will you include some instructions or will you update the VM 0.92 release with the new map included? Apologies for questions, but I just don't know how these things work!
Meanwhile, I've been trying out other mods, but I have to say that - as usual - I come back to Vanilla mod. Why? Because it's the only playable mod out there! Although there are some great mods, all the ones I try are plagued by CTDs. Vanilla Mod is stable and has great game play.
I have taken the liberty of augmenting Vanilla Mod to suit my own preferences. I also wanted to learn some basic modding skills. What I did was:
1. Added new new faction symbols and loading screens
2. Added new quotations for loading screens
3. Added totally new music for all factions
4. Re-named the factions according to a cool historical map I found for 11th-century Europe
5. Added CNP
6. Added 1 year per turn script
7. Added Byg's Grim Reality III
8. Added Mentor Mod
9. Added Burrek's Knights and Knaves plus Byzantime Armor upgrades
10. Added the Blood, Broads and Bastards Mod
11. Added Map Mod mapping textures
12. Added Realistic Building Tree mod
13. Added Real Combat Mod
14. Added XAI Mod
15. Added Judaic and Coptic religions
16. Made some tweaks to EDU and EDB
17. Reduced charge distance for cavalry
18. Increased movement points for strat map
19. Tweaked settlement mechanics, making religion more important and plagues more devastating
20. Made Inquisition start later
I probably changed some other stuff, but cannot now remember. I did all this stuff as an exercise - just to learn how to do it. But Vanilla Mod is great without all this stuff. It's a really stable and playable mod. Many thanks!
Map is now almost done. Just a few quick fixes to have it ready.
Now, before you get too excited, while the map itself is almost done, its decor and placement is not. So rebels and starting garrisons need to be allocated, resources placed etc.
Especially with resources, I am not too versed in historical literature to know which regions should have what where, so I may upload the map once its fully done and recruit some of you to help me with that if you are willing. You will for your collaboration of course be credited in the readme and forum. :bow:
Just an update for everyone:
The map itself is pretty much done now, we've been spending the past month researching historic names of settlements and provinces to make it as authentic as possible.
However, the reason it is not being released just yet is because we also want to ensure that the pathfinding is perfect and that the AI will always act smartly in taking nearby settlements and doesn't "accidentally" go off course too often.
I believe that once it is done, VanillaMod will then have the most polished and working map of all mods that are currently out there, as most modders don't bother coding in pathfinding for 100% of provinces.
This process may take anywhere up to another month, maybe a bit longer for polishing up event scripts on final coordinates.
At this point, I must once again express my utmost delight at having such a dedicated and hard working mapper in irishron2004. Thank you so much for working tirelessly on creating the perfect map.
If there is a huge demand for the map right now though, I will consider putting up the current version, keeping in mind that the pathfinding is currently only a tiny bit better than that of the basic M2TW map.
How it looks
Please comment ~:)
If the current map is uploaded, also keep in mind that the resources aren't finished yetQuote:
Originally Posted by FactionHeir
Looking good FactionHeir :2thumbsup:, I should be starting Monday at the latest :smash:
just my 2 cents. i would prefer a polished version of the map to be released as it wouldnt be enjoyable to play an incomplete map. keep up the good work anyways. :yes:
Will using the larger map be optional in VanillaMod? While I appreciate the work put into this, from other mods it seems to me that adding territories tends to throw balance out of whack pretty badly.
Yes it will be optional. There will then be 2 versions: One with the expanded map, one with the normal map.
It's looking great ! Is it possible to have a couple of campaign map screenshots ? Are there any adjustments made to terrain and weather ?
Things are still being worked on. The campaign map isn't fully decorated yet :tongue2:
Ron's suffering from some hot weather where he lives so he only gets to work an hour or two a day on it.
I've been pretty busy recently, so I haven't had a chance to work on the resources, I should be able to start on Thursday
In the meantime enjoy this smilie depiction of any nation with gunpowder versus the pre-Kingdoms Byzantines (Byzantines in the middle)
:smg: :surrender2: :surrender: :hmg:
Cool, will keep an eye out.
I, too, am keeping an eager eye on this thread. I hope a lot of campaign screenshots will be shown here (I:heart:maps)... and soon. I'm hoping to get to try and enjoy this mod while summer is still going on. :sunny:Good luck to your crew
Thanks guys ~:)
I'll see what I can do as soon as I get some updates myself :tongue2:
In the meantime, here you can see the names of all regions and settlements on the map so far:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=105567
Feel free to contribute to their accuracy.
Any update on the large map?:yes:
BTW, finally got VanillaMod to work for Vista. Just needed to upgrade to patch 1.2
I've started work recently and have not had much time to spend on VM or TW at all.
The map's done, but I still need garrisons for settlements and resource allocation across the map. If someone would be willing to do that, that'd be great.
Im not tryin to rush you, but could you name a date? Actually, a month is good enough.
well i could say december, but that could mean 2009 too :grin:
I think realistically probably January or Feb unless someone offers to help with the above.
OMG, nice! If I could be of any help, I'd offer it. However, I have no skills in map modding... :sad:
The rest work to be done has fairly little to do with map modding and more with descr_strat modding.
It involves placing resources (and I don't know their historic locations currently), settlement garrisons, wandering stacks and what-not.
I suppose I could help with that, albeit not with the historical locations of the resources. I'm currently celebrating Christmas with my large, extended family for the next day, and engaging in a crazy shopping spree on Boxing Day. I'll holler back at you afterwards in a PM.Quote:
Originally Posted by FH
:smile:
:bow:
How are you (and the map progress) doing?:wink:
edit: 7,777 posts, nice! Have you tried your luck at a casino?
Ehm well, busy with other stuff really. The map's done, just needs resource placement, adding in garrisons and starting population and structures. Also just renumbering the various history scripts to fire at the new locations.
Could use a hand as its very menial work :grin: