Been looking at mods...

[TeutonicKnight]

Ok, I've been playing all this time with only Carl's bugfixer 1.13/1.14, but since he's taken up with other things and it doesn't look like anything is coming out soon, I'm in the mood to check out some other people's work.

I downloaded Stainless Steel 3.2 last night. It's interesting. The big change I noticed was that everyone gets really, really bloody and casualties are significantly higher. I'm not sure I like it, though. I did appreciate the new provinces and it seems that he reskinned some things, but I think I'm looking for something a bit more revised.

Unfortunately, it is very hard to find a *completed* modification when you don't know what you are looking for. I'm finding many threads that just died for whatever reason, or threads that have nice concepts but nothing to download.

When I played RTW, I used the Total Realism Platinum Edition. It did a wonderful job of taking a game that had gotten a bit stale to me, and reviving it, rebalancing it, and making an amazing new game out of it.

What I'd really like to see is a mod that lets me spend much more time in the gunpowder eras, and from a much earlier time in the game. I prefer to play on a 1tpy ratio, and of course then you never get to gunpowder until the game is already over.

If something like that isn't available, what mods do something like RTRPE? I'm looking for something focused on historical accuracy, that maybe limits the number of seige weapons the AI builds, and doesn't get all goofy with over the top effects. I certainly like flavored units, so that the endless armies of Spear Militia vs. Spear militia go away, but I don't want to see anything like "Dwarven Axemen" or "Dragonriders". :)

Let me know what you think. Oh, and if it's not done and ready to play, don't bother telling me about it. I've spent hours lately looking at stuff that's not done. It's done when it's done, and when it's done I'll take a look.

[TeutonicKnight]

Since no one can respond to the above, how about this?

Is there a big map mod that just increases the number of provinces without changing anything else in the game?

[socal_infidel]

Might want to check out:

1. Deus Lo Vult (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=309)

2. The Long Road (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=315)

3. My own humble mod, Pro Deo et Rege (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=437)

For just a mod that adds more provinces, try Regions & Provinces BigMap Stand-alone.

Cheers!

[TeutonicKnight]

Thanks, mate. I'll check them out tonight. :)

[TeutonicKnight]

Ok, I've tried those mods briefly, as well as the new Stainless Steel 4.0.

They all have some nice things to them, but the gameplay is too far from vanilla for me.

I downloaded RP BigMap, I'll install that tonight. It looks like it doesn't have a bat file to start it up though, so I'm not sure how to make it work with Carl's Problem-Fixer Pure.

[Skott]

Lands To Conquor is another good mod. Its the one I reccomend to people for a first mod. Its probably the the mod closest to plain vanilla. All the good mods deviate from the vanilla game to a degree. If you want to keep it vanilla as possible but only want small changes then its best to just mod the parts you want yourself.

[TeutonicKnight]

I'll take a look at that as well.

Most mods seem to use the bat file method. I like that, it's pretty sweet how I don't have to copy folders anymore.

But what I am not sure about is how to mod the mod. F.ex. if I want to drop the rate of rebel spawns, or alter the rate of years per turn, do I mod the files in the main game folder or do I have to alter files inside the mod folder?

It gets very confusing. :)

[socal_infidel]

Just mod the files within the particular mod you're playing's data folder. So for example, if you want to change the rebel respawn rate for Land to Conquer, just edit the descr_strat file within the LTC2.3 folder.

[TeutonicKnight]

I tried this last night. I went into the folder for a mod, and altered the data that I usually do.

When I started a new game, I picked my faction, selected start, and .... nothing. It went back to the custom vs. campaign selection screen.

When I unchanged my changes, it worked again.

Very strange. But hey, ultimately I don't care because usually all I change are rebel spawn rates and end dates. I can kill off rebels easily enough, and I can keep playing even after the game ends, so what the hell. It's all good.

[james924]

hey, dude
I was looking for the same thing as you. I found it, but people seem to only like things that CHANGE EVERYTHING in the game so this wasnt too popular. And because its not popular nobody has mentioned it. Its called the regions and provinces mod. THE ONLY THING it does is add a crap ton of historically and geographically accurate regions to the start map. Most of them are controlled by the rebels. THis does TWO things to the gameplay experience.
#1 It took me about 20 yrs to conquer all of the british isles before i even moved to anything else.
#2 The AI factions have an ass load of rebel provinces to eat up, imagine what this does to their income, and production. The AI rate of expansion is astronomical simply because there is more to work with. Within about 50 turns, ALL rebel regions belonged to someone and some factions had already almost destroyed others. No more boring, uneventful scotland, they are actually someone you have to worry about now!


This is a great mod and again, if your simply looking to make the game more detailed and complex by adding regions, thats exactly what it does, no more no less.

I would suggest changing your time setting to 1 instead of 2 yrs per turn. Especially for this mod, its great. Y
ou might also want to lower the amount of rebels that start in some of the cities. I actaully started with NO rebels ANYWHERE so the AI expansion was ridiculous and DANGEROUS. It was quite an experience.

[ForgotMyOldNick]

Sounds good, where can I get this one James?

[james924]

REGIONS AND PROVINCES

OK so I've done some research and I'm quite suprised. I downloaded the 2.1 version of the regions and provinces mod i told you guys about. I assumed it was the most recent because its 2.1 while the other is 1.5. What i DIDNT notice was that the 1.5 was for "Regions & Provinces Big Map" which is the latest one. So this whole time I've been playing 2.1 with the regular map and in fact this new one 1.5 has everything from the one I told you about PLUS an IRELAND FACTION Woohoo! As well as a swedish and mali faction.

This mod has its own installer which is very convenient so you dont have to mess with files and, once again, the big thing is the SIMPLICITY! there are no retarded changes like in some mods that change everything just for the sake of being different. If you want to play Creative Assembly's Total War only with a few regions and factions added, rather than some other person's attempt and remaking the entire game, this mod is for you.

The most recent one with the Irish and Swedes and Malis is here:
http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/medieval2totalwar/mod/12822.html

But a complete list of all versions of the R&P mod can be found here:
http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/mods/medieval2totalwar/mod/category41.html

It looks like somebody (not sure if its the R&P author) made a heraldry addon for it with some interesting features. I havent tried it but it might be cool.

Have fun everybody!