RTW Realism Mod V2.0 is out

[Arakasi]

I figured some of you might want to know it. The guys over at TW Center have gotten version 2 of this mod out. It does a bunch of things like add some new provinces, add some new units and remod some units, and has some adjustments to make infantry (especially spear and pike) stronger. Enjoy.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=12408

Edit: Of course there are still some bugs in it, but we're working that out.

[Beirut]

Ahh, and a great big thank you to those who mod so that we may play. ~:cheers:

[Oleander Ardens]

I will surly give it a try, I like to know what our histo-mates at TWC did :bow:

OA

[Leet Eriksson]

Great mod thanks alot :bow:

[ToranagaSama]

EXCELLENT! Thank you for the heads up.

[Thoros of Myr]

Yes, just had a go, it's great so far...

[King Azzole]

Doesnt appeal to me.. .They removed some of the units I liked and made changes that seem "weak." Sad cause I like some of the unit renames and whatnot. I guess ill have to wait for Blind King of Bohemia to mod, his mod was 99% of what I wanted in MTW im sure he will do the same for RTW.

[Samurai Waki]

I hope that a BKB mod will come in time, but right now the totalrealism mod seems to be working fairly well for me.

[khelvan]

What did the BKB mod have that you liked? Was it a realism mod?

[King Azzole]

It added like 12 new factions to SP and over 100 new units, one or two were alittle fantasy like, for example you could train "Champion Berserkers" as the Norse faction, which only came 1 in an entire unit but could kill like 30-40 by himself before being killed. He didnt take units OUT. I refuse to use the realism mod cause you cant customise certain things. I like the screeching woman. I like the wardogs. Why should I be forced to use those if I want to use the other features?

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Innitially I liked BKB's MOD very much, but then I started playing MedMOD... :cool:

[enkidu]

I think its great. I can finally take a moment to enjoy the battles. Keep them coming ~D

[Arakasi]

Well this is a realism mod. They took out the screaching women and dogs because there is no historical basis for them being used in battle, at least not actively. They were used as support (women) and for guarding (dogs). But not in large formations. As for new units and new factions, they have added some new ones and are going to continue to add more. They've not quite figured out how to add new factions, but that is one of the things they plan to do for version 3.0.

Anyways the mod is 2.2 now and pretty stable. I think most of the initial bugs got worked out.

[hoom]

Wow, this is great so far :)
I guess this is pretty much why CA pushed the fact of the modability of RTW.
I think they knew they were making it arcadey for the mass market but also knew from past experience that someone would put out a mod that would put the game in its right glory :charge:

[lars573]

Well judging from the description this mod is a steaming pile that I'm never going to touch. I like headhurlers and wardogs.

[Arakasi]

It is a realism mod. If you don't want those units then don't play it. No one is forcing you to. This was more for the people who post in the Europa Barbarorum thread. It does have things in it to slow down killing speed and movement speed though, if that's what you want. However if you want to use mods based on slowing down killing speed, or adding new skins, or changing enemy AI, then go to the TW Center and check it out.

It also does some changes to make Egypt a bit less pharoah egyptian and more ptolemic. Although there will likely need to be more reskinning. I just have two copies of the game installed. When I want to play realism I play this and when I want to play the vanilla game I play that. Although I have been playing more of the realism one, because I enjoy the changes to the game.

[Boudicca]

I dont´t think its a big problem to reactivate wardogs...as far as I´ve seen, they are still in the units file, only set to "slave", which means that they can only be found in Rebel armies if at all.

[Rosacrux redux]

Very good effort, lads! I like it! It has a classy touch (a-la Medmod - if that's not sacriledge ~;) WesW's mod was the sole reason I played MTW for two years) and it brings some extremely welcomed additions and especially changes (pharaonic egypt anyone?).

So, I have already installed it and I am playing the first campaign (as my fav. culture, the Seleucids in V.Hard/Hard). Up to now it looks extremely promising and I haven't encountered any bugs and/or erratic behaviour.

Looking forward to version 3.0.

And a request to the guys doing this mod.

It's about the Greek city states. The way you have set them up they have no chance of getting off, they are too easy a prey. Also, since I love playing with them, I'd welcome the addition of some units (Athenean hoplites, buildable in Athens, for instance, as another elite - but not uber-elite like the Spartans - hoplite unit) and the tweaking of their naval power (after all, even if that's before the RTW timeframe, they were famous for their great naval skills).

Great job, ride on :charge:

[Bushido]

I believe that there are a few bugs still in the air. Let me tell you all a tale of legionare Bob, a man who could.

I had just started a new campaign as the mighty Roman family, Brutii. My initial conquest of Appollonia was rakin in much needed denari when my spy reached Thermon and saw a full stack of hplites prancing back and forth near our mutual border. I, being the spiritual successor of Alexander the Great, ask myself: "Would good ol' Alex put up with this kind of aggravating moves near his border? I think not!". So I set forth with my army of 3 early hastati, 2 early principi, 2 velites, 1 unit of equites and 1 barbarian light cavalry which was my reward for taking a city from the rebels and my 4 star general and his trusty sidekick James (he preferred the name Gaius the Heir).

When I reach my destination I do not see any enemy stacks in sight and begin sieging Thermon. Confident in my impending victory I press the 'End Turn' button. What is this?! The nice mannered greeks are attacking me with 1800 men, including a unit of Spartan Hoplites?! Those treacherous currs! I dig in and organize my battle line, hoping that the reinforcements sallying forth from Thermon appear somewhere far away from my force. My general gives truly an uplifting speech which ended in instructions to wear the funny hats so the Moon people wouldn't be able to read their thoughts or some such. Hmmm, my best general had gone funny in the head. Now that is depressing.

To make a long story short (I do not wish to tire you with a description of the wondrous battle I fought up to that point. Needless to say that my plan was perfect, execution top notch and men willing to die for our noble cause. Too bad that the enemy reinforcement materialized behind my battleline. Why do my reinforcements mill in the corner on the other side of the battle map... in the wrong bloody country!?!?)

The battle could go either way at this point. The Spartan hoplites were content with chasing my barbarian cavalry around the map and then limping back to battle, exhausted. I had routed a phalanx after phalanx but my men were torn between two fronts. I had just routed another phalanx and ordered my men to charge uphill at another phalanx threatening to envelope my principes who were tied in a bloody melee with armoured hoplites. Now here comes the funny part. As my unit of hastati closed in on the phalanx who had afixed their spears/pikes/pointy sticks at my charging men I saw something wonderful. One of the hastati guys, let's call him Bob, jumped 3 meters in the air and landed in the middle of the greeks. The battle was lost at this stage since I was too busy trying to stay on my chair and laughing. And the Spartan hoplites were returning into the fray... In the end I had fought one memorable battle, killed over 1000 greeks and lost 650 romans and witnessed a definite proof of the superhuman strenght of the roman legions.

I do not know if it was the pinball effect what happens when cavalry crashes into a group of infantry sending them flying in all directions or if Bob tried to do like the cool kids riding the horses and jumping over the pikes.

Sorry for being so longwinded. I have too much fun writing. That's what my literacy proff is always saying.

[vodkafire]

I have 2 questions before I try this mod:
1. Can I play an old save with this?

2. Do the new skins work with the gloss-fix mod?

[mandrake]

I have 2 questions before I try this mod:
1. Can I play an old save with this?

2. Do the new skins work with the gloss-fix mod?

what's the gloss-fix mod?

[Gregoshi]

Well judging from the description this mod is a steaming pile that I'm never going to touch. I like headhurlers and wardogs.
lars if you can't provide constructive criticism of someone else's creative endeavor, then please don't bother commenting at all. A few people worked hard to provide a mod some in the community might enjoy. They don't need insults tossed their way as a "thank you" for their efforts. If the mod isn't your cup of tea, politely ignore it. Thank you.

[Mouzafphaerre]

-
Congrats on completing your mod. :medievalcheers:
_

[vodkafire]

what's the gloss-fix mod?

It's a mod from TW center that fixes one of CA's mistakes, that makes the gloss for all the units the same and thus makes them all just super bright instead of proper gloss and reflection from armor and such. Basically it makes the "glints" option actually work instead of just uber brightness.

[Arakasi]

1. Can I play an old save with this?

Since some of the changes deal with things like the actual map, I doubt it. There have been new provinces added (which changes the map file), so I doubt it would work. What I've just done is copied the original rtw folder and use one for vanilla RTW and the other for

2. Do the new skins work with the gloss-fix mod?

I have seen some posts about this. I believe this is being worked on now. They've not incorporated that mod in with the RTW realism one yet. 3.0 will be around sometime, but probably at least not for another week or 2. This one is being tested more and some fixes are being made. Of course with a mod like this there are lots of things that people are figuring out, especially since many changes are not being done with the regular modding tools.

As for Greece, well in general they are increasing number of units of all types. As for specifics, you can go there and post in the thread and ask. I'm not one of the people actively working on the mod. Ships are being made more killable and longer to build, thus decreasing the number of uber fleets that tie up too much of the computer's income.

[Osbot]

I just started a campaign with this last night.

I was hesitant at first due to alot of the changes I disagreed with, but having started a Macedonian campaign and having the AI offer ZERO challenge with vanilla I gave it a shot.

It really, truely is an improvement. They seem pretty anal about force feeding you their version of "realism", but if you don't like some of the unit changes they've made it shouldnt be any real challenge to mod the units back in. Everything about the game is more challenging, while at the same time it doesnt seem to turn into the micro management nightmare vanilla does once your cities start to grow wildly out of control.

They are absolutely working in the right direction, while things are not perfect they are improving the strategic AI through many of the changes. No longer are you seeing a stack of 6 units come at you. If you're facing a local "super power" be ready for 20 stack armies, and more than one. As the Armenians right now, having pushed Parthia out of modern Turkey, i've got the Seleucids all up in my business. I've anhilliated 2, 20 stack hoplite armies with horse archer armies, and i've got a full 4 more 20 stack armies either in the process of sieging me, supporting a siege, or moving through my frontiers. My coffers are running dry due to the interruption of my trade network and soon i'll be in the red. If I were playing vanilla this run through, i'd already be making 20k+ per turn.

[ToranagaSama]

Just wanted to let you guys know, particularly those with comments and suggestions, that the two main authors of the mod probablay won't view your posts, as one of the authors isn't a member of the Org, and, I believer the other doesn't frequent the Org.

So, if you want to have input, unfortunately, you're probably going to have to join TWCENTER.

I haven't played the mod yet, as I wish to play thru a vanilla campaign first so I'll be better able to comprehend (and appreciate) the changes made; but I've been following the progress of the mod.

From what I understand, Total Realism isn't the MedMod, and the authors have stated that creating the equivalent of the MedMod is not their intent, but the mod sounds like the best thing going for the Hardcore vets, and those with Hardcore tendencies.

---

To those with the negative and *insulting* comments: HAVE SOME RESPECT!

The authors have invested, and continue to invest, a good deal of, time, effort and expertise, to bring about a Mod of THEIR! vision, and through true graciousness are presenting their Mod for the use of all. THIS is something to be respected whether you appreciate the outcome or not.


It added like 12 new factions to SP and over 100 new units, one or two were alittle fantasy like, for example you could train "Champion Berserkers" as the Norse faction, which only came 1 in an entire unit but could kill like 30-40 by himself before being killed. He didnt take units OUT. I refuse to use the realism mod cause you cant customise certain things. I like the screeching woman. I like the wardogs. Why should I be forced to use those if I want to use the other features?

Sounds like what you desire is something more along the lines of a *Total Fantasy* Mod. To each his own, but what do you mean: "...you can't customise certain things...."

---

Thank you, Gregoshi.

[Patricius]

Total Realism has some measure of Total Subjectivity. Egypt, which for Ptolemy I Soter and heirs was 'spear won and fruit of his bravery' or more specifically a personal estate to fund endless wars, was called Egypt. It was not called the Ptolemaic empire. I have only looked at translated sources, not being able to read Greek, but Egypt is what is was called, from what I can tell. Given that the Ptolemies like all previous invaders were respectful of Egypt culture, albeit far more intrusive as administrators, leaving the name alone and all that signifies - pyramids, pharaohs etc. - would be correct. Egypt of the Ptolemies was the ancient state of time immemorial with a small Hellenic civil administrative and military class ruling.

Squalor itself should not be changed (slower growth was the means of tackling it). Ancient cities of a certain size, I mean a metropolis like Alexandria, were extraordinarily turbulent. Certain things like the mutual hatred of Greek and Jew in Alexandria, animinated the inhabitants. Riots alternating with a sense of repressed violence were usual in those cities. If Alexandria riot and throws my near full stack out, the game is not broken. Still occasional near 10% growth rates either signify mass immigration or an alien species, so it might be worthwhile.

None of this should be interpreted as real criticism. Kudos for a very fine piece of work ~:cheers: .

[khelvan]

Keep in mind that I do not believe the Rome Total Realism makers will ever see this thread. They seem to do all of their work over on TWCenter. As stated above, and from my own experience, RTR does some very good things, and some things I don't agree with. In any event they have done a wonderful job in putting out a good product very quickly.

However, here at the .org we are working on our own mod geared toward bringing the most historically accurate game experience to you as possible. Working hard on our first release, you can see what we are doing here: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=37988

...as well as in the very long thread above in the Colosseum.

Unlike RTR, I do believe our goal is to be to RTW what MedMod was to MTW. It is a community mod so everyone's help is welcome. Keep in mind that we seek historical accuracy first and foremost, so pedants are most welcome!

I would be most happy if someone who has studied combat of the period, especially classical naval combat, would come along and join us.

-khel

Edit: Please note that while we are called Europa Barbarorum, this is due to the history of the mod when it was intended as an aid for CA in making barbarian Europe more historically accurate. Since then as a community we took on the task of making the entire game more accurate. Cheers!

[Turbo]

I had high hopes for this mod but it is still in its infancy and needs some work to iron out some of the bugs. Some people in the community have made their own fixes to the MOD which helps.

There are a lot of things to like in this mod. The killing rate works extremely well, the best I have seen yet. The renaming of units are well done, and the game is more tactically challenging. There are a lot of well thought out enhancements.

Unfortunately the installation of the MOD is very problematic. After several frustrating CTD's and reinstalls I finally got the MOD installed. I noticed others had this problem.

What I personally don't like are the number of units excluded from the game. Some factions that originally had access to elephants no longer do. The Romans don't have archers, Gauls don't have druids, and no one is supposed to have access to wardogs or screeching women (I say that because some factions can still build them). Carthage is supposed to have archers but doesn't have them. Egypt don't have all their chariots. In short, its confusing, and I think that the gameplay suffers because of it.

There are also some new units and it takes some getting used to with some of the color selections (black for example), but they are useful additions. I experienced some bizarre changing of colors, etc. Some of the new provinces are buggy, but there are 3rd party fixes that reportedly fix them.

[Arakasi]

Yeah like I said there are plenty of bugs. When you are trying to do things like changing the maps and unit models without the 3d tools that were used to create them, it is bound to introduce bugs. However they have been pretty on top of things in trying to reduce them.

[USMCNJ]

i love this mod. it has one problem the generals have been made into gods.
i had 1 general unit of 21 kill 4 greek phalanx that had his surrounded

[Arakasi]

That's weird. You might have the old unit file that has some of the cavs defence jacked up. Then again generals have been made a bit tougher I believe so suiciding generals aren't as big a problem. Also anti-cav bonuses have been put up so phalanxes should defend alright. But still even with the mods a unit of 40 cav plowing into the back of an engaged unit of phalanx is still an easy kill. As it should be.