New campaign maps for Medieval XL, Caravel, and Vanilla

[Durango]

Hello dear MTW players!

I have, since a while back, created a different take on the classic parchment map for the brilliant XL mod (Update: and for vanilla MTW and the Caravel mod) by Viking Horde, and I thought I'd share it with you all. Ever since I first studied the original map released together with vanilla a couple of years ago, I wondered how much time CA really had to render the pseudo parchment. Some things were left in that should've been cleaned up, and regions often had a dry and sparse look, sometimes almost like a wasteland.

When Tyberius put together a new map for his awesome graphical upgrade, I was immensely inspired and went to work with
my own rendition, utilizing a couple of his ideas along with my own. I did not copy and paste anything from his work, but merely used
the same sources and image editing techniques to achieve something very similar yet different.

My aim with the map was therefore to a) correct the errors, mistakes and "roughness" b) give the map a more clear and
historical feel c) make the colors a little more robust and vivid. I believe that the end result is quite satisfactory considering these
goals.

Here are some of the changes made:


New, more "chartlike" sea names
Sea monsters and ships added to the seas
(Optional) land borders similar to the map by Tyberius, but these are not by the coasts
Islands cleaned up
Removed ugly bevel effect around steppe provinces, so the entire map now has the same "height"
Some provinces have more content (ex. Serbia no longer looks like a parking lot)
Complete reworking of the Scandinavian, Baltic and Russian areas
New province names
Lithuania no longer flat, but lush as it should be
A little more color added to the whole map
Mountains added in Italy and Greece
More grass patches added throughout the map
Rock desert provinces toned down
New trees for Temperate and Sand Desert provinces, and shading added under trees in Rock Desert and Arid lands
Middle eastern water fixed


Screenshots of some of the changes:


https://img806.imageshack.us/img806/1093/scandinaviaremake2new.jpg (https://img806.imageshack.us/i/scandinaviaremake2new.jpg/)


https://img840.imageshack.us/img840/9493/britanniaremake2new.jpg (https://img840.imageshack.us/i/britanniaremake2new.jpg/)


https://img841.imageshack.us/img841/8669/holylandremake2new.jpg (https://img841.imageshack.us/i/holylandremake2new.jpg/)


https://img16.imageshack.us/img16/7987/stepperemake2new.jpg (https://img16.imageshack.us/i/stepperemake2new.jpg/)



https://img529.imageshack.us/img529/2484/balticremake2new.jpg (https://img529.imageshack.us/i/balticremake2new.jpg/)



https://img412.imageshack.us/img412/2309/italiaremake2new.jpg (https://img412.imageshack.us/i/italiaremake2new.jpg/)



https://img696.imageshack.us/img696/9844/balkanremake2new.jpg (https://img696.imageshack.us/i/balkanremake2new.jpg/)



https://img411.imageshack.us/img411/8776/iberiaremake2new.jpg (https://img411.imageshack.us/i/iberiaremake2new.jpg/)


https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4251/maltafixed.jpg (https://img220.imageshack.us/i/maltafixed.jpg/)

https://img715.imageshack.us/img715/7122/rhodesfix.jpg (https://img715.imageshack.us/i/rhodesfix.jpg/)

https://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7666/seamonsters.jpg (https://img231.imageshack.us/i/seamonsters.jpg/)

https://img638.imageshack.us/img638/2408/seatextsandships.jpg (https://img638.imageshack.us/i/seatextsandships.jpg/)

I would like to thank Viking Horde for creating one of, if not the best mods for any game, anywhere! And Tyberius, for
great minds think alike regarding the graphical style that suits MTW, and for the great features of his map that I was inspired by.

Download links for MTW XL with or without Tyberius add-on:

XL MAP WITHOUT BORDERS (http://www.atomicgamer.com/file.php?id=89586)

XL MAP WITH BORDERS (http://www.atomicgamer.com/file.php?id=85015)

XL TEMPERATE MAP WITHOUT BORDERS (http://www.atomicgamer.com/file.php?id=94771)

Download link for original MTW (any version) or the Caravel Mod:

VANILLA/CARAVEL TEMPERATE MAP WITHOUT BORDERS (http://www.atomicgamer.com/file.php?id=95061)

Installation instructions:

Download any of the map files and place it in the Textures\campmap directory in your main Total War\Medieval folder. There
is a file called Maptex2 there and you should overwrite it. And also, the low resolution campaign map is not included in this download,
so if you (for some reason) are playing the blurry version in your game, my map won't show up.

Enjoy!

/Durango

[gollum]

Very nice work Durango! Well done. Thanks for taking the time to make this.

:bow:

[Pikenier]

Wow, a well done job Durango.
Only a quick question: I have installed XL 3.0 and Tyberius 3.0 addon. Does that make any difference when installing this map. Or is it only useable with XL3.0?

[Durango]

Thanks dudes! I appreciate it :smiley:

There are not many areas left to enhance in MTW, but not many have worked on the campmap throughout the years. Aside from balancing, which
is a neverending endeavor. In tandem with this map, I also changed the province climate zones in my home mod so that it would match the map.
Maybe this is something the dwindling MTW community would be interested in?

Pikenier: the map works with any version of XL. Have fun!

PS. You have a PM. Check your inbox.

[gollum]

Have you did the matching from all directions of invasion Durango?

[Durango]

Of course.

And another thing. I considered adding a river in Egypt, the great Nile. It was a fairly big oversight to have small rivers in ex. Spain
but not the fertile key to Egypt's wealth... but I decided to leave that for another time, mainly for balance reasons. Who knows what
consequences it would have to gain such a big defensive bonus as the Egyptians?

[gollum]

I see - good job. I agree with you about the Nile. In fact if you take out all rivers (hypothetically not you in your mod), the game becomes much more challenging. Imagine playing as the Novgorodians/Russians against the Horde without the river (Dnieper?) in Kiev... That would be fun...

[Mark]

Thanks Durango, I am downloading it as I post.

It looks swell.

[Durango]

Thanks!

One thing that got me to start dabbling on the map was the way northern europe was presented. Who came up with the idea that Scandinavia,
the Baltics and Russia should be frozen tundra? Ridiculous! With my changes, the north has the same character as the southern deserts. You
can now feel the dark forests and foreboding Viking lands...

I originally planned to cover the Khazar area with some sort of bush foliage, but decided against it so as to keep the steppes appropriately barren.

[gollum]

I think it may have been for representation reasons Durango. The original ideas seems to have been to be able to tell the terrain and environment by looking the province at the map. So say Aragon would have mountains and be lush. Castile hills and be arid etc. The steppes were meant to be flat and temperate and the tundric white was meant to link with that, i guess.

:bow:

[Raz]

Very, very nice campmap texture, Durango.
I can see you've put in a very large amount of time and effort into your rendition. Your work is certainly something of high quality. :2thumbsup:

PS: Your FAQ doesn't consist of any questions at all. :P

[Belisario]

Superb campmap, Durango. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[Durango]

Thank you very much!

[OmarPacha]

Very well done Durango; your map gives a new smell to all game\mod;
Just a bad thought, should I ask You to give a fix to my mod (Hyborian Age )
map too ? What about ?

[Durango]

Very well done Durango; your map gives a new smell to all game\mod;
Just a bad thought, should I ask You to give a fix to my mod (Hyborian Age )
map too ? What about ?

Sure, man. PM me the details and I'll see what I can do :smiley:

[Durango]

Updated with pictures and link to the new version of the map without borders. Personally, I think this looks nicer, no?

Also, coming soon... Caravel mod edition!

[gollum]

It would be an honour kind Sir
:bow:

[Durango]

New edition of the borderless map is finished. A sort of "Christmas" version with many more temperate trees
(and some mountains) in certain provinces:

https://img812.imageshack.us/img812/1126/serbiak.jpg (https://img812.imageshack.us/i/serbiak.jpg/)

https://img27.imageshack.us/img27/8013/centraleurope.jpg (https://img27.imageshack.us/i/centraleurope.jpg/)

https://img534.imageshack.us/img534/7702/irelandf.jpg (https://img534.imageshack.us/i/irelandf.jpg/)

These pictures are a small sample of how the map now looks. Overall I'm quite pleased with how it blends in with the
original terrain and how it gives character, particularly to central Europe. Ideally, the game can be modded to make
these provinces temperate on the battle map as well, as I have. If you don't know how, feel free to ask!

[drone]

Nice work, Durango. :bow:

[Durango]

Nice work, Durango. :bow:

Thanks! :bow:

I also have a MTW vanilla version of this one, which will be put up as well. I actually promised Gollum a version for his Caravel mod,
so it's better late than never I guess....

[blackjack83]

I must say that is Excellent works! Thanks Durango. The Best Medieval game will be true, for the modders keep on working to the same orient.
Still, I think that would be better if the fonts of province names is original one, it have more "Medieval taste", just my own opinion.

[Durango]

I must say that is Excellent works! Thanks Durango. The Best Medieval game will be true, for the modders keep on working to the same orient.
Still, I think that would be better if the fonts of province names is original one, it have more "Medieval taste", just my own opinion.

Hi blackjack83, glad you like the map :bow:

The fonts don't look quite as "early" medieval, that's true - I guess it's because I associate the originals with
something Anglo-Saxon, so IMHO it looks somewhat out of place in the eastern parts of the map. In fact, if
you download that style of font from the web, they are often called "English medieval" or "Robin Hood" etc.

[drone]

In my opinion, both fonts are nice, but I like the muted color over the purplish tint of the original.

[blackjack83]

THX Durango for your teach me knowledge of font. I just feel that new font with black color are quite "morden", like in word document.

[Durango]

THX Durango for your teach me knowledge of font. I just feel that new font with black color are quite "morden", like in word document.

Is that German? Anyway, they are certainly not some bloody Word document font :laugh4:
The font is 1543 Humane Jenson, a rather lovely and stylish take on the traditional block print.

[Cyprian2]

Very nice to see this still progressing, Durango. How's the Caravel version coming along? I've been enjoying the XL map very much. I also like your font choice, since I find Tyberius's a bit too much like a fantasy game.

[Durango]

Thanks, Cyprian2.

The Caravel version of the map (or rather the MTW vanilla version, since the provinces are unchanged) is actually
finished. I've been too laz...I mean busy to upload it yet, but I think I will now. Also, don't forget to check out my
new battlefield screams add on as well :bow:

(lastly, I have some more stuff to enhance MTW with if you're interested, but you'll have to ask me via PM)

EDIT: It's up. Merry Christmas everybody!

http://www.christmas-corner.com/images/christmas-smileys/candycane.gif (http://www.christmas-corner.com/images/christmas-smileys/candycane.gif)

[Cyprian2]

Cheers and congrats on the release, Durango. You've given the MTW community some great eye/ear candy! And there's more? Expect a PM from me soon, good sir!

EDIT: This is perhaps a silly question, but will this be savegame compatible with my current Caravel campaign?

[Durango]

Cheers and congrats on the release, Durango. You've given the MTW community some great eye/ear candy! And there's more? Expect a PM from me soon, good sir!

EDIT: This is perhaps a silly question, but will this be savegame compatible with my current Caravel campaign?

Thanks again, and yes, the map will work with saves regardless of when it's changed. In fact, you could Alt-Tab out of MTW anytime and replace the stratmap with a huge picture of Lady Gaga riding a moose and the game would be fine - as long as the file is a .tga sized 4096 x 3072...

:santa3:

[Stazi]

Very nice map :thumbsup:. That's exactly what I was thinking about when we talk a few months ago. I'm glad you did it.

[Durango]

Now that I think about it, yes it is in fact the kind of style you had in mind.... :yes:
Glad you like it. Still working on the LoTR mod?

[Stazi]

Still working on the LoTR mod?
I'm going to get back but I have very limited time now. Next month maybe.

[iLeeT_PeeP]

I noticed you have 3 different versions for the XL mod... Why so many and what are the differences of the 3?

[Durango]

I noticed you have 3 different versions for the XL mod... Why so many and what are the differences of the 3?

One map has visible outlines/borders around provinces, like the Tyberius map has.

Another map is like the first, but without the borders.

The latest map is my favourite and is available both for XL, XL+Tyb, Vanilla and Caravel. It keeps the same look, is borderless, and has many more temperate trees of my own making added - for a more diverse style.

Why the different maps? Well, choice is good, life should have a lot of choices. Why not download all three and have a look? If you need a program to view the .TGA files with, this is sufficient: http://www.irfanview.com.

:thumbsup:

[dimitrios the samian]

* bump *
Does anybody still have these 3 maps ?
Or are they available somewhere else ?
cheers

[virus_found]

bump

This is still needed very much.