Barbarossa82's Gold Mod Collection: Vanilla Balance Mod; VBM for BI, Alexander Reborn

[Barbarossa82]

Presenting...

Barbarossa82's Gold Mod Collection

The final, complete versions of my mini-mods for Rome - Total War, Barbarian Invasion and Alexander. (Yes, I know I've said "final" dozens of times before, but this time it's true!)

The collection comprises:

Vanilla Balance Mod v5.1

* See more variety as any faction could win - Seleucids take the east! Carthage invades Italy! Gauls ravage the West! Macedon retakes Alexander's empire!
* Conquer with a clear(er) conscience as you Suppress, instead of Exterminating, settlements!
* Play as any faction, complete with selection maps and leader pics!
* Play as a unified Rome, with or without the Senate! (optional, 3-family system still default)
* See cool new Greek and Hellenistic strat map captain models!
* Landbridges help AI empires expand realistically!
* Fully BugFixer compatible!
* Many, many more changes, see below for full details.


Vanilla Balance Mod for Barbarian Invasion v3.1

* Play as any faction, with full maps and leader pics!
* Lead the Romanised celts of Britain in a Romano-British Provincial Campaign!
* See the Lombardi and Burgundii ravish Western Europe!
* Fight many more night battles!
* Watch the AI use landbridges to construct coherent empires!
* Keep Rome pagan with soaring Pantheons to the old gods!
* Fully BugFixer compatible!
* Many more changes, see below for full details.


Alexander Reborn v1.1

* Enjoy a tougher challenge as Alexander the Great, with the Greeks and Indians to fight!
* No more "Alexander the Butcher" with better public order!
* Play as Darius and save the Persian empire from the Macedonian upstarts!
* Play as Porus and carve out an Indian empire!

See the posts below for full details and downloads.

[Barbarossa82]

+++++++++++++++++++++++
==VANILLA BALANCE MOD V5.1==
++++++++++++++++++++++
by Barbarossa82


CONTENTS
===============
1. Introduction
2. Mod Requirements and Compatibility
3. Principal Changes From v4.0
4. List of Changes
5. Installation Instructions
6. Using Unified Rome
7. Uninstallation Instructions
8. Credits


1. INTRODUCTION
=================================

Vanilla Balance Mod v5.1 ("VBM") is a mini-mod for Rome Total War, which has two basic aims:

* To remove some of the inherent biases in the Imperial Campaign which cause the same factions to quickly become superpowers in every game, while others are eliminated before they get close to deploying their most advanced and characterful troops. With VBM, the Imperial Campaign is less predictable in its results - the Gauls may rampage through Northern Italy, Carthage may conquer all Sicily and rule the Western Mediterranean, while war in the east could see the Seleucids, Egypt, Armenia or Pontus emerge as a superpower. Naturally the nations which habitually did well in pure vanilla can still end up winning through in VBM, but there is a good deal more variety and it usually takes longer for eventual victors to emerge. A VBM campaign map at 200BC will normally be far more diverse than that of vanilla Rome.

* To make a series of minor completion and preference adjustments to the game including upgraded non-Roman generals, greater variety of names, replacing Extermination with Suppression etc.

The changes which have been made are minimal in scope and in particular effort has been made to ensure that no faction is either unviable or unduly easy when played by a human player. Inevitably, due to the various boosts and penalties which have been given to various factions, the original campaign difficulties have shifted somewhat - playing as the Gauls, Carthage or the Seleucids is somewhat easier under VBM than pure vanilla, while the British, Scipii, Spanish, Egyptian and Numidian campaigns are harder. However none of the campaigns played with VBM are harder than the hardest campaign under pure vanilla, or easier than the easiest.

With regard to history, VBM is not a historical or realism mod, but every change to faction starting positions and unit rosters has a historical basis. Overall VBM is certainly no less accurate than vanilla 1.5.

Some examples of AI campaign map progression under VBM v5.1, at around 200 BC...

https://img408.imageshack.us/img408/5230/campaign1yu5.jpg...https://img249.imageshack.us/img249/2314/campaign2vj1.jpg...https://img249.imageshack.us/img249/2440/campaign3dt5.jpg



2. REQUIREMENTS/COMPATIBILITY
=================================

VBM v5.1 is a mini-mod for vanilla Rome v1.5. Installation over eariler versions of RTW is not supported.

By kind permission of player1, VBM v5.1 includes material from BugFixer, the popular unofficial patch for Rome: Total War that fixes many glaring and underlying bugs with the campaign. This means that you can install VBM straight over BugFixed RTW 1.5, without losing any of the fixes implemented by BugFixer. BugFixer is highly recommended for the best experience from VBM, see https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=55464 for details and download. It is not a prerequisite however, as VBM will install fine over pure vanilla.
If using BugFixer, Vanilla Balance Mod v5.1 is tested with BugFixer v3.36. It has not been tested with other versions, but no problems are anticipated if used with an earlier version.

VBM should be considered NOT COMPATIBLE with any other mods.




3. PRINCIPAL CHANGES FROM v4.0
=================================

See "full list of changes" for a full description of each of these changes.

* Added landbridges to promote development of realistic-looking transcontinental empires
* Implemented new optional Unified Rome mode
https://img123.imageshack.us/img123/9962/uniromejc1.th.jpg (https://img123.imageshack.us/my.php?image=uniromejc1.jpg)
* Implemented new captain models for Greek Cities, Macedon, Seleucid Empire and Thrace
* Gave Eastern factions the ability to build sewers and paved roads
* Other small balance changes to various factions




4. LIST OF CHANGES TO VANILLA GAME
=================================

FACTION CAMPAIGNS
* All factions are now playable except for the Senate and the Rebels
* The game no longer revolves entirely around Rome, so factions' victory goals are individually tailored to their likely real-life ambitions. Whilst every faction must still conquer 50 provinces, the specific territories that must be included in those 50 now vary from faction to faction. For example the Spanish must conquer 50 provinces while ensuring that their empire includes Baetica, Taranonenis, Hispania and Celtiberia. Victory goals for the Roman families, the Gauls, the Germans and Carthage still include conquering Rome. The Successor kingdoms represented in the game - Macedonia, the Seleucid Empire and Egypt - share the goal of reuniting Alexander's empire by taking Pella, Antioch, Seleucia and Alexandria.
* Leader portraits, selection screen maps and campaign descriptions have been added for all factions that lacked them
https://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6532/titlescreenlv0.th.jpg (https://img265.imageshack.us/my.php?image=titlescreenlv0.jpg)
* Revised faction selection maps for factions whose starting positions have changed
* Completed text for victory and defeat screens for every faction. No more lame generic "You have won, all your people celebrate" text when playing as Numidia, Dacia etc., the victory text for these is now just as specific and stirring as for the main factions!
* For reasons of personal taste, some province names slightly altered where the original name was the same as that of a faction - e.g. the province of Armenia being part of the Kingdom of Armenia. These provinces now have the suffix "proper", e.g. Armenia Proper, Numidia Proper.
* Spelling of the province of Medea corrected from Media.
* Capital of the province of Macedonia is now Pella, not Thessalonica
* There is a bonus cheat/feature, enabling the "perfect spy". This allows the player to see details of army composition and city details as if you had a spy right next to them, no matter how far away they are. To activate, press F1 while on the campaign map to bring up the keyboard shortcuts scroll. Click on the question mark and when the advisor appears, click the "show me how" button to activate the script. You can deactivate it at any time by repeating this process. For best results, use with the fog of war off.
* The range of names for women in the Pontic, Armenian and Thracian factions has been increased to reduce the problem of repetitive family names. In pure vanilla it has been known for a general from one of these cultures to have a wife and three daughters all with the same name! Thrace and Pontus have gained some carefully-selected and appropriate names from the Macedonian list, while Armenia has received a small number of names from the Parthian list. These are culturally appropriate and historically justifiable (at least no less historic than pure Vanilla).
* All factions now have a public order bonus attached to the Government building in any settlement, ranging from 5% for a Governor's House to 25% for an Imperial Palace.
* Greek factions (Greek Cities, Macedon, Thrace and the Seleucid Empire) now have new captain models on the strat map more appropriate to advanced civilisations - no more ridiculous bare-chested generals strutting around! The Greeks use a Hoplite, while the others use a Phalanx Pikeman.
https://img159.imageshack.us/img159/2524/greekcaptcg2.jpg https://img123.imageshack.us/img123/7049/macedoncaptainpb9.jpg

LANDBRIDGES
New land bridges - narrow stretches of water which can be passed by both ships and armies - have been added to the campaign map to compensate for the poor Naval invasion AI, and to promote the growth of realistic-looking empires that straddle bodies of water. The new landbridges are:
* Strait of Gibraltar, between Baetica and Mauretania.
* Strait of Messina, between Sicilia Romanus and Bruttium.
* Hellespont, between Propontis and Phrygia
* Dardanelles, between Propontis and Bithynia.
You can now expect to see empires that take in both Greece and Asia Minor, while Carthage sometimes invades southern Italy from Sicily if the Scipii are defeated.
https://img249.imageshack.us/img249/3348/landbridgeqn2.jpg

EXTERMINATION AND PUBLIC ORDER
The problem: In pure vanilla, you have the option to "exterminate" a settlement you conquer, and the game tells you how many people will be killed. Because of squalor, culture penalty and distance to capital, extermination can quickly become the rule rather than the exception as your empire grows. This not only makes it hard to roleplay a faction with any degree of humanity, but is quite unhistorical. Organised mass slaughter of the majority of a settlement's population was historically rare. More likely was a situation where a commander would allow his troops to basically run riot, looting, raping, pillaging and generally brutalising the settlement. The difference here is that a lot of the locals would just flee or be turned out of their homes rather than being rounded up, executed and buried in a mass grave as RTW's text and graphics imply.
The solution: Text, the "exterminator" line of traits and graphics have been changed to make it a bit more ambiguous what exactly is happening in the settlement you decide to exterminate. Instead of the option to "exterminate populace", you are now given the option to "suppress populace". The text descriptions, graphics and sounds are now more consistent with the spontaneous depredations of a victorious army set loose by their commander, rather than the 20th-century-style industrialised genocide implied by the original text. Of course if you're a complete git who loves the idea that your troops go around wiping out entire populations, the new text is ambiguous enough to allow you to believe that.
https://img46.imageshack.us/img46/9364/suppressionoptionkb4.th.jpg (https://img46.imageshack.us/my.php?image=suppressionoptionkb4.jpg) https://img212.imageshack.us/img212/501/suppressiondz7.th.jpg (https://img212.imageshack.us/my.php?image=suppressiondz7.jpg)

TRAITS
Under pure Vanilla, it was very easy for characters to pick up bad traits (especially corruption, expensive living and drinking-related traits) purely from living in a highly developed city or an economically powerful faction. This effectively meant that the player was being punished for success. The trait system has been very slightly tinkered with to moderate this, without in any way detracting from the characterfulness of the game (we still want to get hilariously debauched characters every now and then!)
* Treasury thresholds for corruption traits substantially increased
* Probability of picking up expensive living and drink traits slightly reduced
* Added possibility of picking up "Good Administrator" trait from Academy line of buildings
* Increased chance of getting positive skill traits from Academy line of buildings.

NON-ROMAN GENERALS
* All non-Roman factions use the upgraded version of their generals' bodyguards from the beginning of the game. This does not affect the Britons. This compensates for the unfairness of the general upgrade function being dependent on the Marius reforms for all cultures, rather than just the Romans.

FACTION REBALANCING
* Summary: Various factions have been strengthened and weakened by having their starting denarii, starting provinces, armies, and sometimes units tweaked. This has been pretty successful in generating a balanced campaign. Carthage, the Gauls, the Germans and the Seleucids - the four big losers under pure vanilla - now usually survive to 200BC at least, and will expand to powerful empires in 30-50% of campaigns.

Britons
* The Britons have been banished from the mainland and had their navy disbanded. They no longer rampage across the continent immediately. Typically an AI-controlled British faction will cross the channel in approximately 200BC. This leads to longer Gaulish and German survival.
* Eburacum is now ruled by a rebel British tribe at the start of the game.
* Morale of British Chariots has been reduced as they were over-valued in auto-calc.

Gauls
* Samarobriva gained from Britons, modest garrison installed

Germans
* German Spear Warband is no longer phalanx-capable. Has same stats, abilities and costs as the regular warbands of other barbarian factions, including warcry ability
https://img90.imageshack.us/img90/6974/vbmgermanspearscs7.th.jpg (https://img90.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vbmgermanspearscs7.jpg)

Spain
* Carthago Nova lost to Carthage
* Morale and formation settings for Iberian Infantry and Scutarii swapped, since from their descriptions and the levels of barracks buildings required to train them, it seemed inappropriate that Iberians should be more disciplined than Scutarii
* Iberian Infantry defence skill slightly increased

Carthage
* Carthaginian empire now larger at game start, with Carthago Nova gained from Spain and two totally new provinces: Corsica (capital: Alalia) and Numidia Punica (capital: Hippo Regius)
https://img90.imageshack.us/img90/2452/vbmcarthagece9.th.jpg (https://img90.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vbmcarthagece9.jpg) https://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2232/vbmcorsicavf9.th.jpg (https://img155.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vbmcorsicavf9.jpg)
* Starting denarii increased
* Forces on Sicily slightly rebalanced
* Carthage can now recruit Scutarii at a City Barracks. Compete with unit cards and sprites (thanks to professorspatula for unit cards and implementation help)
https://img92.imageshack.us/img92/9893/vbmscutariivs5.th.jpg (https://img92.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vbmscutariivs5.jpg)
* Carthage can now recruit two new archer troop types - levy-class Libyan Archers from a Level 2 missile building, and professional-class Poeni Archers from a Level 3 missile building. Complete with unit cards, descriptions and sprites (unit cards created by Storm_Of_Horus and originally appearing in the "Carthaginian Archers Reloaded" mod at TWCenter).
https://img212.imageshack.us/img212/2415/libyansyr4.th.jpg (https://img212.imageshack.us/my.php?image=libyansyr4.jpg)https://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1743/poenibl1.th.jpg (https://img46.imageshack.us/my.php?image=poenibl1.jpg)
* Changes to Scutarii and Iberian Infantry noted under Spain apply to Carthage too.
* Carthage can now build the top level of temples (Temple Complexes) in Huge Cities.
* Carthaginian Paved Road building card no longer shows pyramids in the background!

Numidia
* Numidia now uses the appropriate Eastern faction intro and victory movies.

Roman Families
* Praetorian Guard and Urban Cohorts can now be recruited only in Italy (including Segesta, Mediolanum, Patavium and all Sicilian cities), reducing the unrealistic Praetorian-dominated armies often seen in late game.
* First Cohorts can now be recruited in each Roman family's starting capital, as well as Rome. Early Legionary Fist Cohorts can be trained at an Army Barracks and Legionary First Cohorts at an Urban Barracks in Arretium, Capua, Rome and Tarentum. However, they now take longer to build and are more expensive than in vanilla.

Greek Cities
* Diplomat moved from Sicily to Aetolia
* Spartan Hoplites now have a standard bearer
* Spartan Hoplites can now be recruited in Corinth, Athens and Thermon as well as their original recruitment centres at Sparta and Syracuse.

Pontus
* Chariot morale reduced
* Scythed Chariots can now be recruited only from a level 2 smith and above instead of level 1. Chariot archers are recruitable only with a level 3 smith.
* Pontus can now build sewers and paved roads.

Seleucid Empire
* Starting denarii slightly increased
* Completely new province of Lycaonia (capital: Iconium) in Asia Minor bridges gap between Sardis and Tarsus, improving empire's cohesion and survivability
https://img137.imageshack.us/img137/2696/vbmlycaoniaww5.th.jpg (https://img137.imageshack.us/my.php?image=vbmlycaoniaww5.jpg)
* Sidon gained from Egypt with modest garrison
* Some other starting garrisons increased, with a unit of cataphracts in Hatra (most nations get a "bonus late military unit" which they can't recuit, the Seleucids originally didn't).
* Better walls around Antioch and Hatra
* Chariot morale reduced
* Scythed Chariots can now be recruited only from a level 2 smith and above instead of level 1
* In one of the most successful bits of modding, removed the river crossing from the river between Armenia and Assyria, ending the Armenians' manic obsession with Hatra and greatly improving the chances of the Seleucids surviving the first 50 years.

Parthia
* Parthia can now build sewers and paved roads.

Egypt
* Shrines removed from all cities to make presence of garrison more necessary at start of game
* Sidon lost to Seleucid Empire
* Numerous adjustments to cost of recruiting and maintaining units, to bring them into line with similar sized units with similar stats from other factions.
* Bonuses and immunities of Egyptian troops when fighting in hot conditions removed. Although characterful, this created an unfair advantage over Egypt's enemies, since the faction almost invariably fights in hot conditions. They now suffer the same heat penalties as equivalent units from the Greek and Carthaginian cultures.
* Nubian Spearmen can no longer form a phalanx, but to compensate they now come in a larger 60-man unit. They have identical stats to Eastern Infantry, including cost.
https://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1144/nubiansee1.th.jpg (https://img46.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nubiansee1.jpg)
* Chariot morale reduced, and they can now run amok.
* Base farming levels of Nile provinces very slightly reduced. They still collectively constitute the world's most fertile region though.
* Scythed Chariots can now be recruited only from a level 2 smith and above instead of level 1. Chariot archers are recruitable only with a level 3 smith.
* Starting chariots disbanded
* A few other starting troops disbanded

Armenia
* Armenia can now build sewers and paved roads.

Rebels
* Garrisons of Petra, Bostra, Ancyra, Nicomedia and Apollonia increased, within reason

TRAIT DESCRIPTIONS (COMMAND/MANAGEMENT/INFLUENCE)
The problem: In pure vanilla, the tooltips that appear when you hold your pointer over a character's command stars, management scrolls or influence wreaths do not reflect that character's ability. For example, a character with one command star is described as a useless general. However, once the first generation of leaders has died off, you are likely to find that the average character has 0-1 stars/scrolls/wreaths. Therefore having one point of management/command/influence really makes you ever so slightly above average in that department - that's why they affect the game positively rather than negatively!
The solution: Tooltip text has been changed so that the scale between zero points and ten points now runs average - genius, rather than complete idiot - genius. Of course you can still get traits like "useless administrator", "bad attacker" etc., but if you have at least one point of ability in those areas then you are deemed to have a basic grasp of what you are doing rather than being a cretin.

EVENTS
Quite a few of the historical events found in the campaign don't actually happen as no date had been set for them. With a bit of historical research to find out when they happened, they are now back in the game. Look out for espionage in carthage and the completion of the great library at Alexandria. These have no effect on gameplay, they just restore a little flavour that CA put in and then took out for some reason.


5. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
=================================

Vanilla Balance Mod v5.1 comes with a smart installer. The installer will create a backup of your original data so that when VBM is uninstalled, your original files will be restored. However, you are strongly advised to make your own backups for added peace of mind before installing VBM.

To install, run the program "VBMSetup.exe", being sure to specify the correct location for the install. This should be your Rome - Total War directory, which is usually either
C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\ (original version), or
C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Rome - Total War\ (Gold Edition or Eras)


6. USING UNIFIED ROME
=================================

Vanilla Balance Mod v5.1 can optionally be played with a unified Roman faction instead of the three separate families used by pure vanilla. When playing with a unified Rome, the Senate can be either included or excluded. WARNING: When playing as unified Rome without the Senate, DO NOT CLICK on the Senate Offices button. You will get a CTD.

Switching between the original three families and the two versions of the unified Rome is easy. Simply double-click on one of the following batch files located in your Rome - Total War directory:
UniRomeS.bat - sets up Rome - Total War to be played with a unified Rome and a Senate.
UniRomeNoS.bat - sets up Rome - Total War to be played with a unified Rome and no Senate.
VBMOrig.bat - sets up Rome - Total War to be played with the original three Roman families.

When using a unified Rome, Rome begins in control of the provinces of Etruria, Umbria, Latium (either Rome or the Senate), and Campania. Apulia is under Greek control, while Bruttium and Sicilia Romanus are rebel.

Credit to Kaweh K for the unified Rome faction symbols and banners.



7. UNINSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
=================================

Simply run the program "VBMUninstall.exe" in your Rome - Total War directory.


8. CREDITS
=================================

Mod Creator and Programmer: Barbarossa82
Scutarii unit cards: professorspatula
Carthaginian archers unit cards: Storm_Of_Horus
BugFixer content incorporated by kind permission of player1.
Unified Rome faction symbols: Kaweh K
Additional thanks: Seasoned Alcoholic
Wikipedia (for material used in faction descriptions)
Creative Assembly (for making the game in the first place)


DOWNLOAD

Download Vanilla Balance Mod v5.1 Here (16.5MB) (http://www.mizus.com/files/files/RTW/Stats_mods/VBMsetup.exe)

[Barbarossa82]

==================================
==VANILLA BALANCE MOD FOR B.I. v3.1 README==
==================================
by Barbarossa82


CONTENTS
=================
1 - Introduction
2 - Principal Changes From Previous Version
3 - List Of Changes To Vanilla BI
4 - Requirements/Compatibility
5 - Installation Instructions
6 - Uninstallation Instructions
7 - Credits


1. INTRODUCTION
=================

Vanilla Balance Mod for BI v3.1 (VBM-4-BI) is a micro-mod which extends certain features of Vanilla Balance Mod v5 (VBM) to Barbarian Invasion, the expansion pack for Sega/Creative Assembly's Rome: Total War. It also makes some very small modifications to BI to increase completion and improve gameplay balance.
Because BI in general is a much better balanced game than the Imperial Campaign in RTW, the changes required are smaller. The dynamics of the period (large but fragile Roman empires, small but powerful Barbarian states) are well reflected already in BI and are not altered by VBM-4-BI. What VBM-4-BI does is to add certain aesthetic/completion/atmosphere elements from VBM v5 into BI, and to make some minor changes to trait awards. See below for a full list.
VBM-4-BI is designed to be used by people already using Vanilla Balance Mod v5 for the Imperial Campaign.


2. PRINCIPAL CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS VERSION
=================
* Micromod is now known as "Vanilla Balance Mod for BI".
* Added Romano-British Provincial Campaign
* Reformed command star system to increase number of Night Battle-capable generals
* Added landbridges
* Repositioned Vandals
* Toned down Persians

3. LIST OF CHANGES
=================

FACTION CAMPAIGNS
* All non-emergent factions except the Rebels are now playable
* All factions have a campaign description, a leader pic, a victory movie, a faction selection screen map and an in-game victory conditions map. Credit to Professor Spatula for his superb maps.
https://img412.imageshack.us/img412/3615/selectionav2.th.jpg (https://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=selectionav2.jpg)
* The Sassanid faction is now known as "the Persians", in accordance with usual historical practice in describing the Sassanid state. The term "Sassanid" is still to be found in a few places, like the faction selection screen and unit info scrolls. This is personal preference really, but I prefer to refer to the faction by the name of the nation, not its ruling dynasty. The Persians have had their starting buildings and forces slightly reduced, otherwise they roll over the Eastern Roman Empire too easily.
* The Vandals have been repositioned somewhat west of their original starting position, increasing the chances that they will set off the Burgundii and Lombardi in a tide of hairy Germans heading for the Western Empire.
* Peasants no longer suffer a penalty to their effectiveness at maintaining public order.

LANDBRIDGES
The Landbridges have been carried over from VBM v5.1, except for the Hellespont (hordes are too obsessed with Ephesus otherwise).

ROMANO-BRITISH CAMPAIGN
It is now possible to play as the Romano-British in an alternate-history Provincial Campaign which simulates a Roman withdrawal from the island several decades earlier than is historically attested. The Romano-British begin in control of Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. To play the campaign, choose "Romano-British Campaign" from the main menu, then "Sceptred Isle".
https://img403.imageshack.us/img403/9039/romanobritsmu1.th.jpg (https://img403.imageshack.us/my.php?image=romanobritsmu1.jpg)

EXTERMINATION
* Carried over the changes to extermination descriptions/graphics/traits from VBM v5, so that Extermination is replaced by Suppression. The huns still use the old "pile-o-skulls" graphic though, as they really did get up to that kind of thing.

ROMAN EMPIRE
* Both the Western and Eastern empires now have the ability to build Corvus Quinquieremes and Deceres from a Dockyard. These ships were already defined in the vanilla BI game, and the Eastern Empire even started off with a Corvus Quinqireme. However, there was no way to build them. Their cost has been slightly increased to compensate for their ready availability. Unit cards are provided - I actually made these before I figured out that there are no faction-specific naval unit cards in BI (lazy CA!), so they are a bonus.
https://img412.imageshack.us/img412/9823/decerexh1.th.jpg (https://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=decerexh1.jpg) https://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5551/corvusgs4.th.jpg (https://img204.imageshack.us/my.php?image=corvusgs4.jpg)
* Both the Western and Eastern empires can now upgrade their pagan temples to Mithras and Sol Invictus to Pantheons in a Huge City, so there is not such a disadvantage to remaining Pagan. These have the same cost and build times as the pantheons from the Imperial Campaign, with appropriate bonuses. Building cards and building browser pics have been implemented. They also appear on the battle map, though I can't explain how I got this to work!
https://img412.imageshack.us/img412/2842/pantheonwm8.th.jpg (https://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pantheonwm8.jpg) https://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1639/battlemapin9.th.jpg (https://img263.imageshack.us/my.php?image=battlemapin9.jpg)
* The Eastern Empire has lost the 5% happiness bonus it once got from its government buildings. I doubt this will have much effect, but the Eastern Roman Empire Rebels need all the help they can get.
* Stats of WRE's Sarmatian Auxilia and Scholae Palatinae tweaked so that SPs have higher attack and armour to reflect their higher cost and longer buildtime.

TOOLTIPS
* Carried over the traits tooltips descriptions changes from VBM v5 to BI.

TRAITS
* Some small adjustments have been made to traits to prevent factions being punished for success. Corruption traits now kick in at a higher treasury level, while Academy-line buildings are now more likely to provide positive traits, including the Good Administrator trait.
* It is now easier to get command stars, and the Night Fighter trait is gained at 3 stars rather than 4. Look forward to many more night battles!

PERFECT SPY
* Added the "perfect spy" cheat/feature, as found in VBM v5. However in VBM-4-BI, this is activated using the advisor at the Game Options screen (where you can choose save/load etc) rather than the Keyboard Shortcuts screen, as that doesn't appear to work.


3. REQUIREMENTS/COMPATIBILITY
=================
VBM-4-BI v3 requires the following:

* Barbarian Invasion expansion pack patched to 1.6 (Eras/Gold Edition is shipped pre-patched)
* Vanilla Balance Mod v5.1 MUST BE INSTALLED

Like VBM v5, VBM-4-BI v3 is compatible with player1's BugFixer. This means if you install VBM-4-BI, it will go straight over the top of BugFixer without damaging any of its changes and fixes, they will still be present in the campaign.
BugFixer is highly recommended for the best experience from VBM-4-BI, but is not required.
VBM-4-BI v3 has been tested with BugFixer 3.36. Earlier versions should work too but have not been tested.


4. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
=========================

Simply run the downloaded file VBM4BISetup.exe and follow the onscreen instructions. Make sure to tell the installer the correct directory - it'll probably be different to the default if you have RTW Gold. The required directory is your "BI" folder, which will normally be either:
C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\BI\ (original), or
C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Rome - Total War\BI\ (Eras/Gold)


5. UNINSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
=================

Run the program "VBM4BIUinstall" program located in your Rome - Total War\BI directory. Your original files will be restored.

NB: Because BI and RTW are interlinked and rely on some of the same data, uninstalling one can affect the other. For this reason, uninstalling VBM v5 from the Imperial Campaign while leaving VBM-4-BI v3 installed over BI will lead to the reversion of the extermination pics in BI to their original versions. To avoid any unforeseen weirdness, players with RTW Gold or BI should either have both VBM v5 and VBM-4-BI v3 installed, or have them both uninstalled.


6. CREDITS
=================

Mod creator and programmer: Barbarossa82 of the totalwar.org forums
Faction selection screen and ingame maps: Professor Spatula
Creators of the original Rome - Total War and Barbarian Invasion: Creative Assembly
Source of info for faction descriptions: Wikipedia
BugFixer content incorporated by kind permission of player1


DOWNLOAD

Download Vanilla Balance Mod for BI v3.1 here (3.9MB) (http://www.mizus.com/files/files/RTW/Stats_mods/VBM4BISetup.exe)

[Barbarossa82]

======================
===ALEXANDER REBORN v1.1==
======================

by Barbarossa82


CONTENTS
====================

1 - Introduction
2 - List Of Changes To Vanilla Alexander
3 - Requirements/Compatibility
4 - Installation Instructions
5 - Uninstallation Instructions
6 - Credits


1. INTRODUCTION
====================
Alexander Reborn is a mini-mod for Creative Assembly's Alexander expansion pack for Rome - Total War. Its principal features are:
* Revitalised Alexander campaign with the Greek Cities and Porus's India to subdue as well as Persia
* Option to play as Persia
* Option to play as India


2. LIST OF CHANGES
====================

GENERAL
* Extermination is now Suppression, as in Vanilla Balance Mod v5.0 and Vanilla Balance Mod for BI v3.0. The associated epithets have been removed too, so no more finishing the campaign as "Alexander the Butcher"!
* Macedonian faction now uses a phalanx pikeman as its strategy map captain model.
https://img212.imageshack.us/img212/626/alexcaptainys0.jpg
* Persian Immortals are now better armoured and have a Standard Bearer
* The ridiculously numerous and absurdly experienced and armoured Dahae have been toned down.

CAMPAIGN SWITCHING
There are now three campaigns that can be played under Alexander Reborn - the Alexander Campaign, the Defence of Persia Campaign and the Rise of India campaign. To select which campaign the game uses, simply run the appropriate batch file in your Rome Total War\Alexander directory. These batch files are:
macedon.bat - sets up Alexander Reborn to play the Alexander the Great campaign.
persia.bat - sets up Alexander Reborn to play the Defence of Persia campaign.
india.bat - sets up Alexander Reborn to play the Rise of India campaign.

ALEXANDER CAMPAIGN
* There are two new enemies for Alexander to confront as he begins his quest for world domination. The Greeks, resident in Sparta, put up resistance using their traditional hoplite tactics. Will Alexander's modern Phalanx be able to overcome this time-honoured fighting style? And in the far east, Porus and his mighty armies of India threaten to stomp all over the Macedonians with their terrifying, painted war elephants. Alexander must now take the Indian capital in order to complete his quest.
* A new unique "building" in Pella, the Authority of Alexander, gives the Macedonians a 100% public order bonus in all settlements - no more exterminating your way around the map (the real Alexander didn't, except when people really ticked him off).
https://img451.imageshack.us/img451/6931/alexauthorityre9.th.jpg (https://img451.imageshack.us/my.php?image=alexauthorityre9.jpg)

DEFENCE OF PERSIA CAMPAIGN
It is now possible to play as the beleaguered Persian Empire, beset by enemies on all sides! As Darius III Codomannus, you must contend with the vast invasion force sent by Alexander to invade Asia Minor, while simultaneously protecting your Eastern provinces from the onslaught of the ambitious Indian king Porus.
https://img212.imageshack.us/img212/4259/alexinvadesqn5.th.jpg (https://img212.imageshack.us/my.php?image=alexinvadesqn5.jpg) https://img382.imageshack.us/img382/3185/alexporushn7.th.jpg (https://img382.imageshack.us/my.php?image=alexporushn7.jpg)

RISE OF INDIA CAMPAIGN
It is now possible to play as Porus, the Indian king ruling the lands in the northwest of the subcontinent. While the Macedonian invasion thousands of miles to the west distracts the persians, the Indians must seize their chance to overrun eastern Iran. The Indian faction, as implemented in Alexander Reborn, includes:
* Campaign Map general and captain models
* A full selection of Indian male and female names
* Appropriate Indian building descriptions, including Hindu temples to three gods, Indra, Saraswati and Vishnu
* Purpose-created "empty fort/city" banner
* A new unit, Indian City Militia, a basic spear-armed levy suitable for garrisoning your cities.
* Levy archers and their female equivalents now take only 1 turn to recruit.
https://img382.imageshack.us/img382/6454/alexindiarp1.th.jpg (https://img382.imageshack.us/my.php?image=alexindiarp1.jpg)



3. REQUIREMENTS/COMPATIBILITY
====================

Alexander Reborn requires RTW: Alexander v1.9. It should be considered incompatible with any other mods for Alexander.


4. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
====================

Simply run the downloaded file AlexRebornSetup.exe and follow the onscreen instructions. Make sure to tell the installer the correct directory - it'll probably be different to the default if you have RTW Eras. The required directory is your "Alexander" folder, which will normally be either:
C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\Alexander\ (original), or
C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Rome - Total War\Alexander\ (Eras/Gold)


5. UNINSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
====================

Run the program "AlexRBUninstall" program located in your Rome - Total War\BI directory. Your original files will be restored.


6. CREDITS
====================

Mod creator and programmer: Barbarossa82 of the totalwar.org forums


DOWNLOAD

Click here to download Alexander Reborn v1.1 (11MB) (http://www.mizus.com/files/files/RTW/Stats_mods/AlexRebornSetup.exe)

[Roman_Man#3]

Excellent Barbarossa! Can't wait to play!

Sorry Barbarossa if you wanted to reserve another post

[the greek]

AWESOME!! looks kickass ,downloading now!

[Caius]

I will download it.

[Makanyane]

Looks great, well done :2thumbsup:

(P.S. having the +++ and === as one long 'word' for posts 2 and 3 is making the text width scroll off the side of a small screen, eg mine, any chance of editing that to be a bit shorter?)

[Barbarossa82]

Looks great, well done :2thumbsup:

(P.S. having the +++ and === as one long 'word' for posts 2 and 3 is making the text width scroll off the side of a small screen, eg mine, any chance of editing that to be a bit shorter?)

Toned down :smash:

[gaiusjulii]

I have to say Barbarossa82 Well done. I have been waiting to play for ages and I really like what you have done. So i say for a lot of people thanks.

Did you add any more provinces there seems a lot more?

[gummybear00]

Hi,

Is there a way to make this mod usable with the -mod command? It would make it a lot easier to install/uninstall and be more compartmentalized.

[Third spearman from the left]

Sorry to be the first to hit a problem but I do hope you can help.

I downloaded all three mods Rome/bi/alex and before installing them to my unmodded gold version I installed player1's 3.36 bugfixer.

The install went well and I tested BI and Alex and both worked fine. :2thumbsup:

However when I went to load Rome the following message appears early on

"Error in engine database, culture name not valid"
"Error loading engine database"

:oops:

Can anyone help me work out what is wrong? :help:

[Caius]

Have you copied all the files?

[Third spearman from the left]

Yes

[Barbarossa82]

All I can think of is that it might be a corrupt download.

[Third spearman from the left]

Fix: ok just in case anyone else has this problem.

First I ran a repair of the RTW folder using the RTW Gold disc. This got the game to load without error messages. I then installed the bug-fixer once more and then each mod in this order, RTW, BI, ALEX. One done the mod worked fine on all three games.

I will fully test over the weekend but looks good so far. More than likely I made a mistake somewhere along the way :oops:

Barbarossa82: Just out of interest does the senate AI react differently when playing as one roman faction and the senate? For example does it send armies to take nearby regions or give new senate missions to take target regions, that would have been scip of Brut missions.

Also with only two roman factions have you seen an even more "increased living rate" for other factions?

Thanks for your time and mod :2thumbsup:

[Barbarossa82]

Glad you were able to get it working, hope you enjoy the mods!

My experience in playing with the Unified Rome & Senate is that the Senatorial missions are an amalgam of those previously assigned to the Julii, Scipii and Brutii. So yes, you can get missions that would originally have gone to the Scipii or Brutii.

The survival rate implications are not so easy to judge. On the one hand, you don't have the early-game Roman attack against Greece and Sicily, each of which was impelled by Senatorial missions and the fact that each Roman family had its own strategic AI. As we all sadly know, a single RTW strategic AI has minimal competence in handling and balancing mulitple strategic goals simultaneously, so Greece in particular can normally breathe a bit easier for the first few years.

However, by mid-game, the single Roman faction is likely to be very powerful. It can turn out to be much more of a threat than the single Scipii and Brutii families, each of which could effectively be bottled up in their starting provinces and left to die out. Therefore, from the point of view of other factions, a single Rome likely begins its expansion more slowly and in only one direction, but will ultimately be a far greater strategic threat.

[Poulp']

the game doesn't generate a "map_heights.hgt" in the Data/world/maps/base folder

It doesn't mess up the gameplay while playing your VBM version, but the game doesn't load past the imperial campaign/faction selection menu once I've added new provinces.
(I deleted map.rwm BTW)

Investigation in process...

edit

message-less with show err
still, my guess is that I screwed up somewhere else in the process.

My thinking abilities should be far sharper after a good night's sleep

edit #2

got it
two differents garrisons overstaking and two provinces which shared the same names => fixed, the game works just fine
map_heights.hgt is not at fault, I was.

[TWConqueror]

Hi,

I've downloaded the mod but it won't work. I have the original RTW, do I need a patch?

[Barbarossa82]

As clearly stated in the mod requirements, you need 1.5. You should already have this if you have the Gold or Eras edition, otherwise you may need to download the patch.

What isn't working for you? The installer? The executable? Faction selection? Custom battles? Campaign map? Battle map?

[TWConqueror]

I'll download the patch and see what happens.

[PapaNasty]

Looks great, nice work :)

Is this able to be installed over older versions of VBM?

specifically VBM 4? :book:

[DUSAN THE MIGHTY]

Great mod.But I found mistake in RTW descr_strat.Because of that mistake it is impossible to upgrade towns as-Hatra,Sardis and Carthago Nova to large towns because of these line type core_building governors_villa .It should be type core_building governors_house.Only these 3 towns are bugged and modify the descr_strat.

[Hound of Ulster]

The link for the download doesn't work.

[Squid]

Works just fine for me. You do realize you'll have to wait for a bit in order for the download link to appear right?

[Hound of Ulster]

axifile says 'file id incorrect' when I tried to download the Alexander Reborn file.

[Squid]

My mistake you are correct, I downloaded the first download thinking it was all three, but the alexander download does not work. The RTW & BI downloads do work.

[Hound of Ulster]

The Alexander Reborn file is going to have to be re-uploaded by the looks of things. Can anyone do that?:jumping:

[Barbarossa82]

I've uploaded all the installer files to the Org. Hopefully they will shortly be hosted right here, and available for download. I'll make an announcement here when the new links are ready.

[Barbarossa82]

Great mod.But I found mistake in RTW descr_strat.Because of that mistake it is impossible to upgrade towns as-Hatra,Sardis and Carthago Nova to large towns because of these line type core_building governors_villa .It should be type core_building governors_house.Only these 3 towns are bugged and modify the descr_strat.

Thankyou for the report, always useful to have feedback!

I know I coded some towns to have a higher level government building than their population size would suggest, but that ought not to prevent you from upgrading them. For example if your town has 1200 inhabitants and a level 2 governors building, you won't be able to upgrade when your pop reaches 2,000, but you should be able to do so at the next level after that.

I will check it out though in case I made a mistake.

[Hound of Ulster]

thanks Barbarossa82, your the best.

can't wait to beat the crap out of that scumbag Alexander with the Immortals:jumping:

[Barbarossa82]

thanks Barbarossa82, your the best.

can't wait to beat the crap out of that scumbag Alexander with the Immortals:jumping:

Good luck, hope you enjoy it!

All mods within the Gold Collection are now hosted with the Org, all download links should now work!

[Caius]

When playing as unified Rome without the Senate, DO NOT CLICK on the Senate Offices button. You will get a CTD.
HAve you deleted the superfaction line? That could delete the Senate Tag.

[Makanyane]

HAve you deleted the superfaction line? That could delete the Senate Tag.
nope it doesn't - only thing that deletes the problem button (not tab) is internally re-naming the romans_senate faction, which is quite possible if you aren't using senate functionality but requires some careful modding of quite a few files.

[the greek]

is moral higher than in vanilla? , because that really annoyed me. good mod:2thumbsup:

[Barbarossa82]

Great mod.But I found mistake in RTW descr_strat.Because of that mistake it is impossible to upgrade towns as-Hatra,Sardis and Carthago Nova to large towns because of these line type core_building governors_villa .It should be type core_building governors_house.Only these 3 towns are bugged and modify the descr_strat.

Having investigated the matter more fully, I must say that you were right and I was wrong. Those towns are bugged. I will release a replacement descr_strat.txt, downloadable from the VBM 5.0 post, for those who want to play without encountering this issue.

Thanks again for your vigilance! :bow:

[Hound of Ulster]

if I installed the VBMods onto my Rome/BI diectory, will my current BI saves still work?

[Squid]

It will probably work, no guarantees, but any map changes (i.e. landbridges) won't appear until you start a new campaign.

[Hound of Ulster]

The mods work with previous saves, but I noticed a wierd cosmetic bug in my Persia and Eastern Empire campaigns. For some reason the world map and the detailed campaign map switch the faction control indicators in both Maurtenia and Arabia Superior (boundry color in campaign map, provience color in mini-map) between the factions controlling the two proviences at the time I installed the VBMods. When I place the cursor or have an agent in site of Dumatha, however it tells me that the provience is controlled by the oppisite faction as Tingi (In my Persia save, its ERE, in my ERE save, its Persia, with both 'switching' with the Berbers)

It doesn't seem to effect gameplay though.

I'll post an update when I take Dumatha with the Sassinsids the next time I play the campaign.

[Caius]

Hello Barbossa82,

Im glad I'm playing now VBM for RTW 1.5. Now, there is a Total War. (Hey, a nice phrase for advertising). Still, a bug is rounding up there, Cartago Nova is still having the error that doesn't allow this town to be upgaded to a Large Town. And I am also having a bug with Rome no Senate. It seems when I take certain town, it makes a CTD which damages the game and make it unplayable. Any help on this matter will be apreciated.

[Barbarossa82]

Hello Barbossa82,

Im glad I'm playing now VBM for RTW 1.5. Now, there is a Total War. (Hey, a nice phrase for advertising). Still, a bug is rounding up there, Cartago Nova is still having the error that doesn't allow this town to be upgaded to a Large Town. And I am also having a bug with Rome no Senate. It seems when I take certain town, it makes a CTD which damages the game and make it unplayable. Any help on this matter will be apreciated.

Hi Caius, glad you're enjoying the game and thanks for your feedback.

The Carthago Nova bug (also affects Sardis and Hatra) is fixed by the updated descr_strat.txt you can download from the first post. If you've tried this fix but it doesn't seem to be working, it could be because you're using an old savegame, or because Windows Vista Account Control is preventing you from overwriting the original file. You could check inside the descr_strat file inside your game's directory and compare the Carthago Nova entry to that in downloaded version to see which of these issues is the likely cause.

I have seen a few CTDs with the unified Rome but hoped I had ironed them out. Could you tell me which town is causing the problem? And also keep a saved game to send me if I need to see it? Many thanks.



The mods work with previous saves, but I noticed a wierd cosmetic bug in my Persia and Eastern Empire campaigns. For some reason the world map and the detailed campaign map switch the faction control indicators in both Maurtenia and Arabia Superior (boundry color in campaign map, provience color in mini-map) between the factions controlling the two proviences at the time I installed the VBMods. When I place the cursor or have an agent in site of Dumatha, however it tells me that the provience is controlled by the oppisite faction as Tingi (In my Persia save, its ERE, in my ERE save, its Persia, with both 'switching' with the Berbers)

It doesn't seem to effect gameplay though.

I'll post an update when I take Dumatha with the Sassinsids the next time I play the campaign.

Hi Hound of Ulster,
That's an interesting effect you describe, and not one I would have a clue how to cause if I tried! However it seems from your message that you may be using VBM-4-BI over a pre-existing savegame. Some weirdness must always be expected in such situations. My advice is always to start a new, clean campaign with VBM.

[Caius]

I thank you for this great mod.


The Carthago Nova bug (also affects Sardis and Hatra) is fixed by the updated descr_strat.txt you can download from the first post. If you've tried this fix but it doesn't seem to be working, it could be because you're using an old savegame, or because Windows Vista Account Control is preventing you from overwriting the original file. You could check inside the descr_strat file inside your game's directory and compare the Carthago Nova entry to that in downloaded version to see which of these issues is the likely cause.
I downloaded the fix you posted in the post, but such error still exists. I think this is because the starting population of Cartago Nova is 2000, and RTW make an error. I tried to change the governament place, but my in current campaign as Brittania Cartago Nova still is a town, despite the population is 2200.

I have seen a few CTDs with the unified Rome but hoped I had ironed them out. Could you tell me which town is causing the problem? And also keep a saved game to send me if I need to see it? Many thanks.
Its Sardinia. Sometimes I get a Regions_DB generic error when I exit the game, I started as Brittania, and there is not any trace of this bug. Since Rome did not invaded Carthage, such error doesn't exists.

Thank you for the sooner response.

Caius

[Barbarossa82]

I thank you for this great mod.


I downloaded the fix you posted in the post, but such error still exists. I think this is because the starting population of Cartago Nova is 2000, and RTW make an error. I tried to change the governament place, but my in current campaign as Brittania Cartago Nova still is a town, despite the population is 2200.

Its Sardinia. Sometimes I get a Regions_DB generic error when I exit the game, I started as Brittania, and there is not any trace of this bug. Since Rome did not invaded Carthage, such error doesn't exists.

Thank you for the sooner response.

Caius

I've checked the new descr_strat and it definately gives Carthago Nova a population of 1970. 2000 was the value from the old one which caused the bug. You must be experiencing a problem with overwriting the old file. And actually, I've just thought of why - it's to do with using the unified Rome switch. Solution - put the new descr_strat into your "VBMOrig" folder as well as into data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign.

I can see I'm going to have to release a new 5.1 installer :oops:

As for the Sardinia issue I'll look into it and see what's going on there.

[the greek]

is the moral higher in this mod?

[Caius]

is the moral higher in this mod?
Yes, I think chain routs are no longer effective.

[Hound of Ulster]

the AI in Alex Reborn could use a tweak. Even on the higher difficulty (I usually play M/M) the Defence of Persia campaign was too easy.

Make the Indians more aggresive.

[Quirinus]

Yes, I think chain routs are no longer effective.
Really? That's a pity, 'cos I think it added to the realism of the vanilla game battles.

Anyways, looks like a pretty sexy mod, but I'm playing on v1.3, can anyone tell me where to download the patch to v1.5?


My experience in playing with the Unified Rome & Senate is that the Senatorial missions are an amalgam of those previously assigned to the Julii, Scipii and Brutii. So yes, you can get missions that would originally have gone to the Scipii or Brutii.
What are the penalties for failing Senatorial missions, since there are no longer rival Roman factions to fight against in the civil war? How does Senate standing benefit/hurt you?

[Makanyane]

For 1.5 patch go to http://www.totalwar.com/
select 'Support' from side menu then go to 'Support-Rome' and scroll down...

One of the others can probably help more with rest of questions :bow:

[Barbarossa82]

Really? That's a pity, 'cos I think it added to the realism of the vanilla game battles.

Anyways, looks like a pretty sexy mod, but I'm playing on v1.3, can anyone tell me where to download the patch to v1.5?


What are the penalties for failing Senatorial missions, since there are no longer rival Roman factions to fight against in the civil war? How does Senate standing benefit/hurt you?

Actually I made only a very few changes to morale, almost all of them to reduce the morale of chariots. There shouldn't therefore be much difference in battle mechanics between VBM and pure vanilla.

The civil war/senate dynamic is obviously a lot limper when playing with a unified Rome. However, if your Senate standing dips too much you could still suffer financial penalties, exposure of negative traits amongst your family members, or your faction leader being ordered to commit suicide.

[Quirinus]

Actually I made only a very few changes to morale, almost all of them to reduce the morale of chariots. There shouldn't therefore be much difference in battle mechanics between VBM and pure vanilla.
I see. That's good for me. ^^

What happens if you refuse to commit suicide?

[Third spearman from the left]

Hey BAR82

Before I begin, can I just say well done on all three mods for the vanilla game, they have really given me an extended run on each game and made the AI just that bit better.

To my question, hope you don't mind me asking but I'm having a problem with a faction in BI and hoped you might be able to shed some light, since I'm using your mod with the rebel commander mod.

the link is as follows

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?p=1820158

called BI Slavs family tree.

I've not had much luck and thought you might be able to point me in the right direction.

Thanks again.

[Spartan198]

Wow! These mods look and sound incredible. Awesome job.

[Barbarossa82]

Wow! These mods look and sound incredible. Awesome job.

Thankyou kind sir :bow:


Hey BAR82

Before I begin, can I just say well done on all three mods for the vanilla game, they have really given me an extended run on each game and made the AI just that bit better.

To my question, hope you don't mind me asking but I'm having a problem with a faction in BI and hoped you might be able to shed some light, since I'm using your mod with the rebel commander mod.

the link is as follows

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?p=1820158

called BI Slavs family tree.

I've not had much luck and thought you might be able to point me in the right direction.

Thanks again.

Hi Third Spearman from the left,

thankyou also for your feedback. Mod compatibility is always a challenging topic - although VBM makes only very modest departures from Vanilla, it nonetheless makes changes to a number of "fundamental" files in order to achieve this. My general attitude would be to say that VBM should be assumed to be incompatible with any mod other than BugFixer or basic formation mods.

Since this only seems to happen when using the family tree, my instinct would be to say that it has something to do with descr_names.txt or a similar file (I think that's what it's called off the top of my head). However, VBM doesn't actually modify this file, so I'm rather at a loss.

Have you tried uninstalling both mods (thereby reverting to vanilla) and then installing Rebel Commander straight over Vanilla? If you still get the crash, this could indicate that the problem isn't connected to VBM.

[Joooray]

This sounds like a great mod, I haven't downloaded it yet because I'm still in the mid of an campaign I'd like to finish before installing your mod in order to avoid the difficulties that might occur.

Anyway I was wondering if you could evalulate a little about the weakend penalties you get from a prosperous economy. I don't mind the bad traits of the useless asassor or bad farmer family but the bad traits decreasing the managment skill really annoy me, because I have to queque buildings and such in order to stay under 50,000 d.
So is there a new border in RTW and BI from which on one will receive these bad traits or are they just less common to appear.

Anyway thanks a whole for your work.

[PapaNasty]

It suddenly seems that the download link for VBM v5.0 for RTW doesn't work, is it just my browser or is the link broken?

[Joooray]

It suddenly seems that the download link for VBM v5.0 for RTW doesn't work, is it just my browser or is the link broken?

The link itself works with me, but the downspeed drops to something around 1KB/s after alf is downloaded.
But maybe that's because I use DownThemAll with Firefox and the page doesn't like Download-Manager. :shame:
I will try again later.

[Roman_Man#3]

Barbarossa, could you upload a mirror to a different site? Mizus is incredibly slow, for me at least.

[Joooray]

Barbarossa, could you upload a mirror to a different site? Mizus is incredibly slow, for me at least.

Had the same problem, took me an afternoon to download this thing. Including one time-out.

[Quirinus]

I've been playing with the VBM a lot more lately, and I've noticed a problem. Not a technical problem, more like a problem in gameplay.

In vanilla, the generals' bodyguard were already slightly imbalanced with the two hitpoints and replenishable numbers, making them invaluable as early-game shock cavalry, especially to cavalry-challenged factions. The vanilla generals' bodyguard was formidable but managable, and the upgrade with the reforms made them relevant in the late-game. These armoured bodyguards are virtually impervious to missile fire, and will eat through low-level infantry without significant losses. For example, a Macedonian general charging a militia hoplite (and even a Greek hoplite) unit head-on will probably suffer no losses upon initial impact as well as break the phalanx, and continue to decimate it. While this isn't that much of a problem in the late-game where armoured and Spartan hoplites are far more common, they insanely imbalance the early-game, providing a low-cost, two-hitpoint, very armoured and replenishable heavy cavalry from the start of the game.

Has anyone else felt this, or am I alone in this?

[PapaNasty]

The links seem to be working fine again :)

I too have found the early general cavalry to be quite potent and formidable, but there are a few ways around this. One, is to play on "very hard" settings where the AI units get stronger bonus' towards you, and the other, is to create your own "house rules" not control the way you play, so you don't exploit any advantages you know about.

One other thing I have noticed, playing the alternate campaign in VBM for BI, is that after capturing the northern celt settlements, I always get a crash after the option screen asking what I want to do with it. It happens in every campaign:thumbsdown:

Otherwise, all the changes and modifications are great!

[Quirinus]

I too have found the early general cavalry to be quite potent and formidable, but there are a few ways around this. One, is to play on "very hard" settings where the AI units get stronger bonus' towards you, and the other, is to create your own "house rules" not control the way you play, so you don't exploit any advantages you know about.
:laugh4: I'm a mediocre enough player that I don't need house rules to make my game challenging. It's somewhat the other way round, actually-- I was annoyed at the enemy's bodyguard being overpowered. In particular, one early-game battle as the Greeks against the Macedonians was narrowly won only because of the presence of Spartan hoplites-- the four Macedonian generals were mowing down my Greek hoplites and militia hoplites.

That, imo, is not how the generals' bodyguards are supposed to be used.

[Barbarossa82]

Hello VBM users, and sorry about the long silence and lack of updates. I'm now effectively retired from the Org and from modding generally, since I have to devote virtually all my time to my job these days. I don't envisage any further updates to VBM (except possibly just the one to integrate the bug fix into the download, if I ever get around to it).

Sorry about the Romano-British thing. I think I have a pretty good idea why that's happening, I just don't know if I can figure out how to stop it.

As for the generals' bodyguard issue, I'm caught between two unattractive options here. The problem really is that the modding I did here was forced upon me rather than chosen. In an ideal world, I'd like the generals' bodyguards to function in the way that CA originally intended - you would get a weaker unit earlier in the game, and a stronger one when you built your first Imperial Palace. However, this didn't work because CA messed up the code, and eventually they just hitched the whole thing to the Marian Reform rather than making the effort to actually fix it. So we ended up with a situation where non-Roman factions had to wait for the Romans to progress to the Marian era before their generals got upgraded.

This was obviously ridiculous because the ability to get your upgraded generals was out of your hands, and in fact you could be a victim of your own success if you wiped the Romans out before they reached the Marian period.

Because the upgrade feature was hardcoded and broken by CA, there were only two options I had to fix it - either restrict all factions to their early bodyguard unit, or to their late one. I picked the latter for two reasons:

1) Generals' cavalry should be their nation's best troops, which is why they are handpicked as bodyguards and lavished with equipment. It would make no sense if, just as your empire reaches its pinnacle and fields advanced armies, your generals' bodyguards have actually become quite a rubbish unit by comparison.

2) Although the powerful generals early in the game do create some imbalance, this is somewhat consistent with classical history - early in the period, when armies were small, individual men and their immediate retinues could make a substantial impact, which is why they tend to be mentioned personally - the Horatii, Hector, Agamemnon, Leonidas etc. As armies get bigger and more organised, their impact gets proportionately less.

So it's not a perfect solution by any stretch of the imagination, but sadly there wasn't a perfect option.

Anyway I'm really pleased to see that people are still playing VBM and if I do get any spare time at all I'll have a look at some of these issues and see if I can come up with a final update.

[domdombuba]

i just reinstalled rtw, and i remembered about this mod. unfourtunatley the links to the download do not work. is there any possible way to get the files for this mod?

[domdombuba]

hi again. i've downloaded the file and i have been trying to install it, i install it to the rome total war directory, yet when i launch the game the changes do not appear. i swear i'am using the correct install path, for i can visuall see the files in the right folder. i installed the bug fixer could this have contributed? thanks - dom.

[Barbarossa82]

Hi dom, sorry to hear you're having problems. Could you let me know what version of RTW you are using - original version with the latest patch, or the Gold Edition, or the Total War: Eras edition?

Also what version of Windows you are running?

Thanks

[domdombuba]

i'am using the gold edition on windows xp.

[Barbarossa82]

Are you sure you installed into the correct folder? If you have the Gold Edition, then your game may have been installed into the "Program Files\The Creative Assembly\" folder, instead of "Program Files\Activision", which is the default for the installer for Vanilla Balance Mod. The installer will let you browse for a different directory.

[domdombuba]

ok status update, i unistalled and reinstalled the files to the creative assembly file, then i installed the orig files to the rome total war directory, ran the morig (before i ran the program that shows up as a black data command screen). after that i went to play by launching rome total war. i get to the imperial campaign menu and start it up and it exits to the desktop. note i did install the bug fixer patches, but i also tried this without the bug fixer patch. another interesting thing, i don't know if it is suppose to do this, but during the unistastslling of vb the installer began copying files. Plaease help.
thanks - dom

[domdombuba]

sorry i also forgot to mention that the bi version keeps on telling me to select from a list when i try to play the campaign once the game has loaded. i also could not find the data command programs (black screen white text)like those in the orig version. thanks - dom.

[Barbarossa82]

Hi Dom,

It sounds like you have a corrupt or overly-modified installation of Rome: Total War. I would recommend the following sequence:

1) Back up any save games, screenshots etc. that you want to keep
2) Uninstall RTW
3) Manually select and delete the entire "Rome - Total War" folder.
4) Reinstall RTW
5) Install BugFixer
6) Install Vanilla Balance Mod
7) Install Vanilla Balance Mod for Barbarian Invasion.

Hope this helps.

[Barbarossa82]

I have now updated the mod collection, adding a new patch to each of the mini-mods. The errors/issues fixed are as follows:

VANILLA BALANCE MOD V5.1
* Fixed an issue where the government buildings in certain cities (Carthago Nova, Sardis and Hatra) could not be upgraded.
* Carthage now uses culturally-appropriate Eastern event pictures instead of Roman ones.
* Corrected a problem where 2-star generals were still described as idiots in tooltip text


VANILLA BALANCE MOD FOR BARBARIAN INVASION V3.1
* Fixed an issue where the Night Fighter trait was still being awarded at 4 command stars, not 3.
* 2-star generals' tooltip text fixed.


ALEXANDER REBORN V1.1
* Corrected a problem where Macedon had access to some improper units in custom battles
* Added "perfect spy" ability as in Vanilla Balance Mod (accessible through keyboard shortcuts advisor)
* Fixed an error where Greek Hoplites showed a brown peasant on their info scroll.
* Fixed error where Persian Immortals did not have standard bearer as advertised.
* India now has the ability to recruit mercenaries.

[Bejita231]

Where can i download this? it says im forbidden to get this file?

[tigger_t]

yeh i had the same problem. anyone know of another link to download theres files

[Barbarossa82]

Don't know what that was about, but seems to be fixed now.

[El Diablo]

Have just found this mod (the first real mod I have played).

Thank you for improving my game experiance hugely.

I understand that this would have taken you a considerable amount of time for little to no reward.

So the last I can do is say "thanks" for a fantasic job and here have a balloon. :balloon2:

I especially like the one roman faction with Senate. A great mod.

Thank you...

[Barbarossa82]

Hi El Diablo, thanks for you message, it's really satisfying to know that you are enjoying the mod!

[peacemaker]

hey, i just downloaded the mod, and i'm really having fun. however, whenever i run "UniRomeS", i get this message:

Access denied
Unable to create directory - C:Program Files: all that stuff/data
0 File(s) copied
Could not find C:Program files: all that stuff/data/world/maps/base/map.rwm
You are now using a unified Rome with Senate
Press any key to continue.....


wow that was annoying to type out by hand. Anyway, it still shows up as 3 separate roman families. any insight?

still, im not playing romans right now anyways(greeks are awesome) so ill be busy. thanks for any help!

[Beunhaas]

Hey!

I'm having loads of fun with the mod for BI, with just 1 weird problem: all the ship units in my game seem to have the exact same stats. Does anyone have any idea how I can fix this? I already tried re-installing everything, but that didn't work...:no:

[Samofrome]

thank you Barbarossa82

[shinderhizzle84]

hello!

So, I'm starting to get slightly frustrated, since this mod seems like it's a really good one.

Whenever I try to start a new campaign, I get taken right back to the main R:TW menu. Why is this? I haven't changed any of the coding or anything, and am running patch v1.5.

Before I installed the mod, it worked fine, but now, I can't even start a new faction!

Can anyone help me out with this? I'm most definitely very eager to start playing with this mod.

[Barbarossa82]

Sorry to hear about your problems, shinderhizzle84. I've not heard of any such issue occurring before.

Can you tell me a little more about your system set-up? In particular the following:

* Which version of Windows you are running
* If it is Vista, is User Account Control turned on or off?
* Are you quite sure you had not modified the game in any way before installing VBM?
* Which version of RTW are you running? The original or Gold/Eras? If original, is it patched to 1.6?
* What folder is RTW installed in?

It's laborious, but you could try uninstalling VBM and RTW (copying your saved games first of course), then reinstalling in the following order:
1) RTW
2) 1.6 Patch for RTW (unnecessary if you have the Gold or Eras edition)
3) BugFixer (optional but recommended)
4) VBM
5) VBM for Barbarian Invasion (optional).

Good luck!

[black spider]

The host site seems to be down, though one can of course only hope it isn't permanently so.

From the description, this mod seems very well thought out and being a long-time vanilla player, I'd definitely like to get my greasy, unwashed fingers on this mod. So many nice touches that would improve the game and which are well beyond my personal ability to implement. Not that I wouldn't still tweak a few things, but this mod goes very, very far in getting the vanilla game to what it should be.

Nice work, Barbarossa, even if I can't actually download it at this time. :-)

[Madoushi]

Hey Barbarossa.

Cool mod, thanks for all your hard work!
Gonna try to d/l...

[TWConqueror]

When I try to start a campaign, I get a CTD. I am playing RTW Anthology on Windows XP with additional officers added to some units. How do I fix this?

[rara]

does this work with steam version?

[Techno Viking]

One of the starting family members in Romano British campaign is missing bodyguards (has unit archers instead)

[cris86]

Where can i download these mods now?

[Eregost]

Where can i download these mods now?

I would also like to know please, I've looked all over the internet and can't find a download link anywhere. If anyone could upload it, it would be highly appreciated, this mod is brilliant and I cannot stand vanilla RTW without it installed.

[alexandru227]

So did anyone found out where we can download this mod ? Come on... just upload it, someone has to have it.

[Eregost]

Ok people, I'm happy to announce, I found the mod files at long last! Check this link, they are here. https://forums.totalwar.org/mizu/mizus/files/files/RTW/Stats_mods/ Download VBMsetup for vanilla and VBM4BIsetup.exe for Barbarian Invasion.

[Sarkly]

I'd just like to note that the Alexander Download link is near the top of the directory provided by Eregost, under "AlexRebornSetup". Thought that might be a bit helpful for those still longing to play as Persia.

[Gaius Julius Caesar II]

hello!

So, I'm starting to get slightly frustrated, since this mod seems like it's a really good one.

Whenever I try to start a new campaign, I get taken right back to the main R:TW menu. Why is this? I haven't changed any of the coding or anything, and am running patch v1.5.

Before I installed the mod, it worked fine, but now, I can't even start a new faction!

Can anyone help me out with this? I'm most definitely very eager to start playing with this mod.

I found this mod mentioned in an old post in another forum and I thought I would give it a look.

I had the same problem and I fixed it by going to the
RomeTW.exe file and changing the properties by checking the box for "run this program as an administrator" under the compatibility tab.
I'm running Windows 7.0

[demon9675]

Hi all, sorry to necro this thread, as well as for the double post!

Had an issue which I resolved, but ran into another which is detailed below. Moderators, feel free to delete this post.

[demon9675]

Installing on Mac using Wine, I have run into some issues with VBM. VBM for BI works great, but the Imperial Campaign version no longer allows campaigns to start or save games to load (game either cdt or just returns to a previous menu). Luckily, I had backups of the old data files and those got everything working again. I know VBM was "working" because the starting maps for Spanish and Carthage when selecting a faction showed Carthago Nova now under Carthaginian control (and the Spanish now have a starting map, rather than an empty one).

Alexander Reborn causes the RTW app to fail to recognize Alexander as even being installed, and I cannot start it at all. The game gives me the option to re-download it, but this would obviously replace the modded files. Returning to an old backup of the Alexander data folder gets everything working again.

I'm about to give up, as this could very well be a Mac issue. I get that mods that aren't supported on Macs are likely to have problems on Macs, and that might be that! Still, any help would be appreciated.

Update After hours of tinkering, I realized I can get the Imperial Campaign running if I delete the map.rwm file in data/world/maps/base. I need to do this each and every time I want to play, however. If I don't, old vanilla saves will load with most of the mod's changes working (not the landbridges or new settlement in Asia Minor) but I cannot start new VBM campaigns or load VBM saves. When I delete map.rwm, old vanilla saves ctd when trying to load, so it's one or the other.

Still can't play Alexander Reborn at all, unfortunately, but that's less of a big deal for me.

I hope the above workaround helps anyone else with this problem, but if anyone here has had a similar experience and knows another way to fix it please let me know!

[demon9675]

Yeah, I'm a necromancer, I know.

Ran into another issue that may or may not be caused by VBM. Since I installed, battles involving chariots seem to cause CTD midway through (sometimes right when chariots begin to engage in combat). This is reproducible in custom battles, not just in the campaign. Sometimes I'm lucky and battles go off without a hitch, but usually they crash and keep crashing no matter how many times I reload. I find myself having to autoresolve battles against AI chariots. Haven't yet tested using the chariots myself.

Posted about it on official Total War forums and found an old 2015 post from someone else with the exact same problem. From what I can recall, this didn't happen until I installed VBM. Any other changes this mod makes to chariots besides reducing their morale?

Update: Crash only occurs against AI chariots; everything's fine when I'm using them.

Uninstalling VBM didn't help, uninstalling Bugfixer didn't help, and clean install of the entire game didn't help! So turns out this may have been the wrong thread to post this issue in anyway.

[Cviko]

Guys, the link is not working. I swear i remember playing this mod a years ago but i uninstalled it and now i cant get that mod again. Im at the edge of mental breakdown now, please help.
EDIT: i found it now, im so soooory for not letting dead posts rest. i was just flustrated and unpatient to read all the posts, i needed some time to calm myself ang go trought whole thread. learnt my lesson, you can remove this

[Ludens]

Guys, the link is not working. I swear i remember playing this mod a years ago but i uninstalled it and now i cant get that mod again. Im at the edge of mental breakdown now, please help.
EDIT: i found it now, im so soooory for not letting dead posts rest. i was just flustrated and unpatient to read all the posts, i needed some time to calm myself ang go trought whole thread. learnt my lesson, you can remove this

No problem. Glad you found it. I was about to start looking for it as well.

[thelastwind]

This is by far the best vanilla mod ever!!

[thelastwind]

Download link for all mod files via forums.totalwar.org

Rome total war
https://forums.totalwar.org/mizu/mizus/files/files/RTW/Stats_mods/VBMsetup.exe

Barberian Invasion
https://forums.totalwar.org/mizu/mizus/files/files/RTW/Stats_mods/VBM4BISetup.exe

Alexander
https://forums.totalwar.org/mizu/mizus/files/files/RTW/Stats_mods/AlexRebornSetup.exe