Discussion and Announcements

[Agathon]

If this reply seems late, DBHo, you've probably guessed that I've been playing, re-skinning units, adding units, and otherwise modding slightly and then playing the 4.1.6 version. As a campaign player I try to struggle through 1 to 3 turns a night and commit myself to keeping permanent saves every 2.5 years (in the game).

This brings me to another pet project I'd like to work at: Geography.

I'm sure you've noticed this before, so if this seems a bit anal, try to bear with me. I liked the older arrangement of Dalmatia and Illyria where the former was a long coastal province running up the length of the Adriatic between Epiros and Pantavium (Venice), and the latter was an equally long ponderous land-locked country that was roughly representing the same area as the interior of the former Yugoslav state. I noticed that the remapping of the provinces has altered the way the AI coming from Italy (Gauls or Red Romans mostly) approaches these provinces.

Another oddity is Ambracia, which historically was located exactly where the port for Thermon and Aetolia is located on the strategy map. Where Ambracia now appears is actually where Apollonia was in vanilla RTW. Oddly enough, this is where the Historical Apollonia was too. A bit further north, and it would be Epidamnus (the obscure little colony that touched off the Peloponnesian War). I know that it's pointless to say this, since enlarging the land mass of Korfu island to that of a Rhodes or a Mytilenian Lesbos to accommodate a settlement would look ridiculous on the map, but I'd have favored a settlement that represents ancient Corcyra. Again how this could have been done is beyond my imagination!

One thing I should intend to remedy, (if only because it drives me nuts), is the unusual province with Tomi in it. Drawing on historical geography or whatever, I think the province should be divided in half with the Lower Ister or Danube river forming the dividing frontier between Tomi (south of the Danube) and Istria (north of the river) on the Black Sea.

If it's possible to do this, I'll consult the necessary tutorials on making new provinces out of whole cloth.

I know I sound like a solid Hegemonia fan when I rant about the geographical eccentricities of a huge map like the XGM mundus magnus. (Try finding a place to plunk down a fort on the Island of Lesbos, and yet you can put a fort on the southern tip of Rhodes and it seems smaller)!

Anyway, I'm really pleased that you like the appearance of the names file in the game. I've been saving a few screenshots of things that I've been tweaking in my intallation of XGM, since you pointed out those most excellent skins by Hades and Webbird.

I've tried to impliment some of Webbird's thinking on new units in my copy, and I think the AI in XGM is extremely flexible and supportive of new units. (It surprises me that the Seleucid AI will recruit in massive quantity anything that looks and feels better than thoriphoroi at slightly higher cost than thorikitai or levy phalangites).

Since I respect the these things as the domains of their designers, I won't go into much detail about some of the unintended uses I've found for these things in my own personal copy of XGM, but I could be willing to volunteer all the dirty details in e-mail upon request.

[DimeBagHo]

This brings me to another pet project I'd like to work at: Geography .... If it's possible to do this, I'll consult the necessary tutorials on making new provinces out of whole cloth.

There are two limitations you would have to deal with. One is that the Mundus Magnus map is already at the limit of the number of provinces the game can support. So if you want to add new provinces, you need to cut some old ones. The other is that any change to the boundaries of a province will break saved game compatibility. That may not be a problem if you just want make these changes for your own use, but I try to maintain saved game compatibility as long as possible in XGM. Simply changing the boundaries is pretty easy though. You just need to edit map_regions.tga with something like photoshop.

The easiest changes to make are name changes for settlements. All you need to do is change the displayed names in [rome]/xgm/data/text/imperial_campaign_regions_and_settlement_names.txt.

I'm always interesting in new ideas for units, so feel free to e-mail your screenshots and ideas. If I like them enough I will try to get permission from whoever created the skins.

[Agathon]

DBho,

Rather than fool with the map and geography, I went into the text directory and started editing the names of greek ancillaries. This led me to try the hellenization of some of the names of the more curious professions.

For the fun of it, I translated the 'courtesans' to 'hetairai.' I found an entry for someone called a 'floozy.' I decided to render the term with the slightly more businesslike greek term 'porne' meaning Ho. This made me feel brave enough to change 'catamite' to the slightly more graphic greek 'paidiopornos' or Boy-ho. [relax, Special Agent Eavesdropper, FBI, I'm no page and DBHo isn't anything like my congressman].

The strangest challenge came from an ancillary called something like 'keeper of the royal backside.' The easily compounded term, 'euruproktouphagos,' sprang to mind. It has two advantages. The first being that if you don't know attic greek, it has no easily discernable meaning. The second being, that in attic greek, if you know its three compounded parts, the meaning is as cute as it is precise. Euros is wide almost in the sense of being open or loose; Proktos is the body part studied by the modern proctologist whose professional name is derived from it; and phagos is an eater. If you think europroktos is a rank term, you haven't encountered the ancient 'lakkoproktos' which refers to a concave part of one's anatomy that actually resembles a cistern which is even wider, more open and (to greek minds) exists as a collector of fluid.

So much for that. As for editing these things, "It's a dirty job ..." but I had to do it. I also had some fun with the descriptions. I've been making some added changes to names. I need to 'proof' the files, but I'll be sending them to you soon.

[Kieran]

I have down loaded the Extended Greek Mod and it will not work at the moment, the back ground appears but nothing else will work. Can any of you help me?

[Roman_Man#3]

i had the same problem. it finally came down to i had tried to install another mod, and xgm wasnt compatible with it. so i deleted the folder for the mod, reinstalled rtw and tried again. it worked. and for easier switching of mods, i would suggest the mod switcher for the future.

[Kieran]

I don't mean to sound thick, but this is my first time at trying to install a mod, so I need it in fairly basic instructions.

[Tellos Athenaios]

If only you could give some technical information...

Well then, check your version of RTW. A clean 1.0 build? Patched till 1.5? Downgraded from RTW Gold? Using BI? In short everything.

For as far as I know: 1.0 patched to 1.2 to 1.3 and then to 1.5 should work fine for the standard version of XGM. Check wether or not those patches aren't corrupted, if need be download them again. (Corrupted patches are a known issue with EB.)

If you are using BI then you should make sure you use the BI installer instead of the 'ordinary' one (inside the package, so no extra downloads required). Maybe you didn't do that, and if so reinstall the whole lot properly.

If you have a downgraded version then you should be aware that various issues with mods exist. You could try to find some help by searching trough the FAQ and known issues threads of some of the hosted mods. (I don't know much about the downgraded version except that people with it seem to have more of a problem with playing (total conversion) mods.)

If all this fails you can always try and redownload the mod itself, and reinstall. Corrupted downloads are a common pain in the ass, especially since the files are pretty big and therefore 'often' get screwed up during the downloads. (For example this problem occurs quite often with downloads of EB.)

If all fails, you could of course describe step by step all of your actions and hope for the best - that is that someone has a flash of insight and provides you with the solution.

If all is well then...

[DimeBagHo]

Kieran: The advice you have been given so far is generally right. You need a clean install of RTW 1.5/1.6. The most likely problem is that you game is not patched to 1.5/1.6.

Agathon: Sounds great - I look forward to seeing the results when you are done.

[william the bastard]

Hi Dime,

First, Congratulations for you work. i enjoy it for a while!
Regarding Independants Greek cities, will they be playable in the final relaease? Or using BI, some of them like Syracuse or Pergame could be emergants factions ??

anyways keep it up

[DimeBagHo]

You can play the Independent Cities if you want to (just move them from the unplayable to the playable section at the top of [rome]/xgm/data/world/maps/campaigns/[campaign_name]/descr_strat.txt. However, because it is a rebel faction your campaign will end as soon as the parent faction (the GCS) is destroyed. That's the reason why I haven't made them playable by default.

[ByzantineKnight]

I tried the game but whenever I tried to do a night battle on the campaign map it said that my general was unable to get it... Under what conditions will a general get a "Night Battle" trait?

[DimeBagHo]

Generals need five command stars before they get the night battle trait.

[ByzantineKnight]

Generals need five command stars before they get the night battle trait.

Ok, thanks!!!

There is no other requirements for getting Night Battle traits, as in defeat 90% of the enemy on the field and have 5 stars?

[Helgi]

Been playing XGM since 2.4 or 2.5, never really had an issue with downloading XGM, it's pretty straight forward and easy

[DimeBagHo]

ByzantineKnight: Nope, that's all you need - five stars.

Helgi: I strive to make it as easy as possible. Cuts down on the support issues that way. :)

[DimeBagHo]

XGM version 4.1.12 is now available for download.

You can get it here.
You can see the readme here.

The major changes are:

XGM Version 4.1.12

-Added Noble Cavalry to Iberia
-Added Royal Stables to Iberia
-Added Scythian Cataphracts to Scythia
-Scythian Early Generals now use Scythian Lancers
-Scythian Late Generals now use Scythian Cataphracts
-Added Royal Stables to Scythia
-Added Militia Cavalry to Thrace
-Removed Light Cavalry from Thrace
-Moved Thracian Cavalry to Cavalry Barracks
-Added Heavy Cavalry to Thrace
-Added Noble Cavalry to Thrace
-Added Megas Hippodromos to Thrace

XGM Version 4.1.11

-Converted Noble Cavalry to Heavy Cavalry
-Converted Gothic Cavalry to Noble Cavalry
-Added Noble Cavalry to Gauls
-Added Royal Stables to Gauls
-Bug fixes

XGM Version 4.1.10

-Added Large Cities for Barbarians
-Added Stone Walls for Barbarians
-Added Dockyards for Barbarians
-Added Guildhall for Barbarians
-Added Cesspit and Cesspool for Barbarians
-Added Hundredmen Hall for Iberia
-Iberian Bull Warriors moved to Army Barracks
-Added Royal Cavalry Stables for Germans
-Gothic cavalry moved to Royal Stables
-Added Agema Hypaspists to Macedon
-Updated Darth Formations
-Minor bug fixes

[DimeBagHo]

XGM version 4.1.13 is now available for download.

You can get it here.
You can see the readme here.

The major changes are:

-Added AOR Dacian Falxmen (recruitable by Barbarian factions in Dacia)
-Added Hundredmen Hall (level 4 barracks) to Germans and Gauls
-Re-named Chosen Axemen to Double-handed Axemen
-Moved Berserkers to level 4 barracks
-Added new Chosen Axemen unit to Germans
-Removed Naked Fanatics from Iberians and Germans
-Re-named Naked Fanatics to Gaesatae
-Moved Gaesatae to level 3 barracks
-Moved Chosen Swordsmen to level 4 barracks-Iberian Infantry re-named to Caetratii
-Round Shield Cavalry converted to light lancers

[Agathon]

I just sent you some screenshots with brief comments. I hope you enjoy them. (I sent them as "whole screens" so you could also see some of the unit cards from the side I made player-active).

[Helgi]

[quote=DimeBagHo]Helgi: I strive to make it as easy as possible. Cuts down on the support issues that way. :)
And that's one reason why XGM is great and has been always great. like also what you did the Scythians
Keep up the great work.


[quote=DimeBagHo]XGM version 4.1.12 is now available for download.

You can get it here.
You can see the readme here.

The major changes are:

XGM Version 4.1.12

-Added Noble Cavalry to Iberia
-Added Royal Stables to Iberia
-Added Scythian Cataphracts to Scythia
-Scythian Early Generals now use Scythian Lancers
-Scythian Late Generals now use Scythian Cataphracts
-Added Royal Stables to Scythia
-Added Militia Cavalry to Thrace
-Removed Light Cavalry from Thrace
-Moved Thracian Cavalry to Cavalry Barracks
-Added Heavy Cavalry to Thrace
-Added Noble Cavalry to Thrace
-Added Megas Hippodromos to Thrace

[DimeBagHo]

Agathon: Thanks for sending the screenshots. I don't think I'll be using any of those skins myself, but I was inspired to make a few new skins of my own for some of the Hoplite units.

Possible new skin for Carthaginian sacred Band.



Possible new skin for the Basilikon Guard.



Possible new skin for AOR Hoplites.

[DimeBagHo]

XGM version 4.1.15 is now available for download.

You can get it here.
You can see the readme here.

The major changes are:

-Re-skinned Carthaginian Sacred Band
-Re-skinned Basilikon Guard
-Re-skinned AOR Hoplites
-Viking temple now obsolete
-Temple of Woden converted to violence
-Temple of Donar converted to forge

[Cesare diBorja]

You know, the Macedoniansinvented the Gastrophetes crossbow and the Oxibeles(torsion tension crossbow) duringthe reign of Philip, Alexander's father.
The torsion crossbow had a quarter of a mile range(425 yards).

[Agathon]

Forgive my lapse into total ignorance, DBHo, but what is "AOR" exactly?

As for the Egyptians, I suppose the Basilikon Guard is okay, but as you know, I've never considered the Ptolemaic army as something that was transported to the 3rd century BC in the way-back-machine from bronze age Egypt. I'm sure there were some trappings of "Coptic" Egypt to be found where it was tactically harmless to have them, but the Ptolemaic armies were greek armies nevertheless and weren't likely to be wearing linen and cotton headdresses when their opponents were wearing (more impermeable) Phrygian and Thracian helmets.

Most Egyptians in RTW look like Hollywood extras from Cecil B. DeMille's films "Cleopatra" or "The Ten Commandments." Since they must perform reasonably well in battle in their "climate" wearing what they must wear, they almost seem like fantasy units to me, ready to follow Yul Brynner into the red sea in heated pursuit of Charleton Heston.

The AOR phalangist and the Carthaginian Sacred band are excellent.

Don't take my comments about the Egyptian versus Ptolemaic units too much to heart. It's a pet peeve I had about vanilla RTW long before I started playing XGM, and it's not unlike the orthodox arguments I've read about all the skins with Classical "Corinthian" helmets, (an inaccuracy for which, (as you may have noticed), I possess a certain fondness). If you wish, I could send a few more pics to show you a couple of more "greeked-up" egyptian units that I've been trying out. Feel free to send me some of your saves if you are willing.

[DimeBagHo]

Cesare diBorja: As I understand it the gastraphete was invented way before Philip's time. It was used by Syracuse against the Carthaginians around 400 BC. Same goes for torsion weapons. But Philip and Alexander may have been the first to use them as field artillery.

Agathon: AOR = Area Of Recruitment. The AOR units are the ones available to multiple factions in certain regions.

Yes, the appearance of the Ptolemaic units is really fantasy. I've made changes to bring their unit types and stats more into line with historical reality. But I kept the vanilla style just to relieve the boredom of having five (eight if you include Pontus and the rebel factions) nearly identical looking hellenistic factions.

Oh, and I must admit I have a soft spot for Corinthian Helms myself. More pics would be great - you never know it might inspire me to do some more re-skins.

[Nom]

Halo DimeBagHo

i just installed the newest version and it will not work

error:Filename doesn t exist:data/animations/SG 01 idle 01.cas

[DimeBagHo]

That error is caused if the animations file is not generated correctly, which can happen for a few different reasons: (1) You have the wrong version of RTW (you need 1.5/1.6); (2) You installed XGM in the wrong place; or (3) One of the tools used to generate the animations file failed to execute correctly on your machine.

For (1) and (2) you should have recieved a warning during installation. For (3) you can try installing the animations file manually. You can get the animations pack here. Put it in [rome]/xgm/data/animations/.

[Cesare diBorja]

So why don't the GCS and Other Greeks get them, or the Romans even........




OK, DBH

[DimeBagHo]

Cesare diBorja: All of the civilised factions would have been able to make them, but by the RTW time period they were considered obsolete (having been replaced by larger weapons). I gave them to the Seleucids because of all the civilised factions they seemed to most likely to revive them (as a counter to the horse archers used by their opponents).

[Agathon]

DBHo,

Thanks for clarifying the term. And it actually happens that I chose an old skin from the center, (this time a bronze-gold armoured hoplite with Thracian style helmets whose colours fit in with the Ptolemaic armies) to act as so-called agema greek colonial allies. Since the Ptolemies (thanks mostly to their large well-equipped and ubiquitous fleets) seemed at one time or another to control or possess most ports in the Eastern Mediterranean and the the Southern Aegean seas (including Crete and Rhodes), you might say I made them an "AOR" unit for that part of the Map [Cnydos, Rhodes, Halicarnassus, Side, Tarsus, Salamis, Sidon, Alexandria and Cyrene].

I believe that historically a certain amount of units in any large Ptolemaic army detachment were probably what we could call anachronistic or fantasy units with alot of Coptic-Egyptian character, especially when members of the royal family were in command. I was merely suggesting that it would be perhaps more accurate and visually appealing as well if the Ptolemies had more or less equal mixes of represented cultures from their empire - say equally coptic-egyptian, meroe-ethiopian, greek and macedonian types of infantry and cavalry and largely egyptian-ethiopian types of missile units and axemen.

In comparison to the Ptolemies, the way I've observed it, the Seleucid forces are about one-third Eastern-Median-Persian types; and the Pontics and Armenians seem to be about two-thirds to four-fifths Eastern types; and the Thracians seem to be roughly one-half to two-thirds Barbarian. There's still a great amount of variety among greek factions nonetheless. Thanks for putting up with my nonsense.

[Miloshus]

SOS

I have installed the RTW, 1.3 and 1.5 update, but Xgm doesent work,
1.I have installed it
2.When I want to play imperial campaign some window appears
"Please choose an item from the list" and when I click Ok it just throws me back to singleplayer menu.
3. When I leave the game another window appears:" script error in
D:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\xgm\Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\descr_strat.txt
at line 22 column 1. Expected start date of campaign or battle"

If anybody knows what to do, please tell!!!!

(RTW Alexander is disaster)