AI Battle Formation Mods

[Lysander13]

Ave fellow EB fans,


The following download is a zip file that contains several folders with installers within. This download will provide the EB Player with the opportunity to play EB using alternative Battle AI Formations and/or Player Formations. The EB Player will have the option to install either Darth Formations 16.2, Sinuhet’s 7.0 AI Battle Formations, and/or Marcus Camillus Player Formations with new formation buttons for the Roman UI. Provided with MC’s Player Formations will be his readme.txt file, which if one is inclined, can be referred to as a guide if need be. As it illustrates the proper unit mixture for sharp looking Republican and Imperial Legion Formations at it relates to this add-on. All the while, maintaining the ability to draw upon various non-roman formations as well. I’ve also taken the liberty of including an EB Archive installer. In which all modified files affected by the various add-ons included in this download, will be in their original form. So if at any point, the EB Player is so inclined, he or she can revert back to their original installation, simply by running the installer and pointing it towards the root directory of their EB installation.

These add-ons are intended for EB v1.1 installed on RTW 1.5. However, can be used and installed in the same fashion with no conflicts, if you happen to run EB with the BI executable ( 1.6 ) or ALEX.exe. These add-ons are also compatible with most unofficial fan made mods floating around the EB forums. As long as the unofficial mod that is to be used in conjunction with one of these add-ons doesn’t have it’s own formations or happen to be a mod-foldered mini mod. Then all should be good to go. The various add-ons and edited files provided here, merely reflect my “tastes” in gameplay and in the editing process. In that respect, perhaps they will suit others as well.

Credits:

Darth Vader: For permitting me the opportunity to share a modified version of his Darth Formations 16.2 code with my fellow EB Players.

Sinuhet: For permitting me the opportunity to share a modified version of his 7.0 AI Battle Formations code with my fellow EB Players.

Marcus Camillus: For graciously giving me leave to include his player formations mod in this download.

Snake_IV: For his formation buttons for the Roman UI.

Last, but certainly not least…….

The entire Europa Barbarorum team for their hardwork and dedication to providing us their fans, with a truly rich and unique gaming experience centered in the Classical World we all love and they have managed to bring to life in details to numerous to name.



Installation Instructions:
1) Unpack download in a place of your choosing.
2) Choose add-on and go into it’s respective folder.
3) Run installer located in folder and point towards the root directory of your EB installation.
For example I call my installation Europa Barbarorum. So were I to point the Installer to my root directory….it would look like this…….
C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Europa Barbarorum…
yours may be something like this….
C:\Program Files\Activision or The Creative Assembly\Rome-Total War 1.5…
4) Once target line is acquired, finish running the installer. It will take care of the rest.

Final Note: If installing Darth Formations along with MC’s Player Formations. MC’s Player Formations must be installed second in the installation procedure. The order is of no consequence if installing MC’s Player Formations with Sinuhet’s.


Vale,
Lysander13

Download Link:
http://files.filefront.com/AI+Battle.../fileinfo.html

[mcantu]

You have no idea how long i've been waiting for something like this!!!

[Thaatu]

[mlp071]

Great job

I am glad to see more variations in battle tactics for EB.It just makes EB more enjoyable and better

[Lysander13]

Thanks mlp. It was actuallly with your encouragement that i decided to seek permission and upload these edited files in the first place. I have always enjoyed playing EB with either Darth's or Sinuhet's AI, perhaps there will be others who enjoy one or the other as well.

On a side note, for those who haven't done so already; if you choose to use one of these formation mods or really even if you don't, I would go ahead and make one small change to the edu. It involves the class line entry in the edu. Change all units that have a class line entry of "skirmish" to "missile".
( There's about 37 or so) It appears as of the next release this will be done anyway ( MAA i believe said so more or less recently in a thread around here somewhere ) but it's something simple so you might as well just get it over with now. So you won't have to ask yourself why on some occasions you'll see Velites, Peltastai or some other unit affixed with the skirmish tag lining up somewhere they shouldn't be. Not to mention mcantu pointed out that this small change seems to solve AI spamming javelin units in campaign. Which makes perfect sense when you think about it because sometimes a javelin unit affixed with the skirmish tag will be placed in an infantry slot within the formation and on the same token it seems be spammed as an infantry unit in campaign when it's obvious that shouldn't be the intent. It seems the code is remnant to some extent but appears to me anyway not fully functional perhaps. Anyway, in case someone doesn't know what in hades i'm talking about here is the code for the edu....

in your text editor use the replace function (ctrl-H for notepad users)
in the find what box copy/paste the following entry:

class            skirmish

in the replace with box copy/paste the following entry:

class            missile

Click replace all and save.

[Patriote]

edu = export_descr_unit ???

[delablake]

thank you very much, I'll go and try this out in my new campaign!

And this is for you:

[mlc82]

Just saying thanks for this!

[belliger]

hally lysander.
i just wish to know what is the difference between these minimods; which is better and for which aim? and, moreover: is it EB 1.1 compatible?
thank you
belliger

[Ibrahim]

hally lysander.
i just wish to know what is the difference between these minimods; which is better and for which aim? and, moreover: is it EB 1.1 compatible?
thank you
belliger

they are all obvously modded for EB 1.1, so the files here in this thread are good to go. as for the diff-I dunno, I just picked randomly

[||Lz3||]

hally lysander.
i just wish to know what is the difference between these minimods; which is better and for which aim? and, moreover: is it EB 1.1 compatible?
thank you
belliger

well...

there are 2 darth versions...

original works best than 2nd version , but is only advisable to use it whit huge unit sizes , otherwise it wont work

darth 2nd version is the same as first but made compatible whit smaller unit sizes

marcus camillus is more specialized in roman formations,but also work whit every other faction (is an add on, you need to use first one of darth's or sinhuet's mod)

and finally sinhuet...heheh I haven't used that one... is kinda like darth's 2nd , but I heard it had problems whit reinforcements

[Lysander13]

hally lysander.
i just wish to know what is the difference between these minimods; which is better and for which aim? and, moreover: is it EB 1.1 compatible?
thank you
belliger

Ave belliger,

The difference between the AI Formation Mods lies in some of the coding and theory's reached thru empirical methods of testing. Which I won't bore you with. There is a distinct difference between the 2 versions of the DV Formations and that is one of them has been put forth with DV's width forcing omitted. If using DV Formations if that is your preference, I would recommend using the 1st version, IIRC. This version is original DV Formations with width forcing in place solely modded for compatibility with EB. I only included a 2nd version for those who do not like to or cannot play with unit size set on huge. Reason being is that with width forcing in place when playing on smaller unit sizes; it has the visual effect of the thinning of battle lines which some may not like since the formation set will override any EDU parameters.. However if this is something you don't mind you can certainly play with this version and as a matter of fact I would encourage the use of this version if one chooses to play with DV Formations. For those who choose to use the 2nd version with the width forcing omitted, keep in mind the formation sets were designed, coded and tested with this width forcing in mind. MC Player formations can obviously be used with either AI Formation Mod as it is of course for use by the player only.

As for which Formation Mod is better?
That's a matter of preference I suppose. I prefer both to standard stock AI. Between those 2, I personally prefer Sinuhet's Formations as I tend to prefer the behavior of the Battle AI ( All things being relative of course ) with these formations. However for a better result with Sinuhet Formations there are a few other files that could use tweaking so to speak. I did it for my own personal use with 1.0 and really liked the results. Unfortunately I have not gotten around to doing it for 1.1 as I'm probably the only EB fan who has yet to play a campaign in 1.1 and admittedly have not checked to see the differences between the files that's relative to AI Formations behavior in 1.0/1.1 and whether they have had a positive or negative result. For an example of what I'm talking about, play a battle in S.P.Q.R. ...or... RTR TIC both of which use Sinuhet Formations last I checked and you'll see what I mean. As a matter of fact for RTR TIC it was an EB Beta-Tester (mcantu) who did the tweaking of the other files I'm referring to and he did a really great job. However, they are compatible with 1.1 as several have already mentioned. Hope you find one of them to your liking.

Vale,
L13

[QuintusSertorius]

I'm going to give DarthMod a try, used to it from RTR of old anyway. Just as a thought, might be worth packaging up a "backup files" zip inside the bundle so people can easily go back to the original files if need be. I think that would add to the utility of the collection a great deal.

EDIT: Looks like there might be just that in there, however from the dates they're from 1.0, not 1.1.

[Lysander13]

Looks like there might be just that in there, however from the dates they're from 1.0, not 1.1.

That would be because there are no changes between versions of the files in question. Therefore no update to the archived files were needed.

@belliger

[Woreczko]

Minor glitch: In archived EB files, all UI files (battlepage_02.tga) are from barbarian UI. Others are missing. I foolishly overwrote the original ones without making a backup and now I`m stuck with barbarian buttons. If anyone would be so kind to upload EB 1.1 files from EB\data\UI\[culture]\interface\battlepage_02.tga, it would be greatly appreciated :).

[belliger]

thank you very much

[Atraphoenix]

thank you for this great submod.

I play mostly my old pal romani because they have best infantry.

also when I bored with them as the best cavalry faction I play Pahlava.

so for romani which mod or formation do you advise ; I am still happy with manipular formation .

for pahlava I find difficult to apply eastern skirmish formation. so same question again and AFAIK elephants is put as skirmish cavalry in the formations.

thanks for you and for all who gave their labour to this wonderful idea.

[Leão magno]

This thread has grown really big, and it earns this kind of good attention. I suggest that as soon as possible, the first post be edited to explain each formation basics for newbies. As for me, Sinuhet's still rocks! Great use of Elephantes by the way

[chenkai11]

Is it intended for EB1.2? The 1st post says intended for EB1.1, or may be no difference?

[Ludens]

They work perfectly well with EB1.2. Formation mods are largely independent from most other game files.

[Clye]

what files exactly does this modify? export_descr_unit.txt?

[Ludens]

No, only the two formation txt files (descr_formation.txt and descr_ai_formation.txt if my memory serves me correctly).

[Skoran]

3 questions

1) Is this also for 1.2?
2) Is this save-game compatible?
3) Which of the 3 do you people recommend?