Vanilla Balance Mod v3 Released

Vanilla Balance Mod v3

I am proud to announce the release of Vanilla Balance Mod v3, the final, finished edition of my limited mini-mod for vanilla RTW v1.5 that seeks to enhance the balance and replay value of the campaign. VBM reduces the effect where the same factions (Britons, Egypt) storm over the map predictably in almost every game while others (Seleucids, Carthage, Gaul, Germany) are wiped out very early before getting a chance to deploy their best units. This is achieved by fine-tuning faction starting positions, starting denarii and unit rosters. Please see the Readme document below for full details of the changes made.

Vanilla Balance Mod v2 starting map:
https://img90.imageshack.us/img90/62...ewcamp2cv2.jpg

The new Carthaginian provinces of Numidia Punica and Corsica, and the new Seleucid province of Lycaonia:
https://img90.imageshack.us/img90/24...hagece9.th.jpg https://img155.imageshack.us/img155/...sicavf9.th.jpg https://img137.imageshack.us/img137/...oniaww5.th.jpg

New Carthaginian Scutarii and non-phalanx German spear warband:
https://img92.imageshack.us/img92/98...ariivs5.th.jpg https://img90.imageshack.us/img90/69...earscs7.th.jpg

Some examples of campaign progression under VBM, with only the AI playing under test mode:

https://img222.imageshack.us/img222/6513/224bcyi7.jpg
Campaign 1 at 224 BC: Dacia, Seleucids & Carthage winning

https://img222.imageshack.us/img222/8456/186bcgo7.jpg
Campaign 2 at 186 BC - Gaul, Egypt and Carthage winning

https://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6223/232bcyw3.jpg
Campaign 3 at 232 BC: Germania and Seleucids winning


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
===========VANILLA BALANCE MOD V3===========
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


README CONTENTS
===============
1. Introduction
2. Version Information
3. Requirements/Compatibility
4. Principal changes From v1
5. List of Changes to Vanilla Game
6. Installation Instructions
7. Uninstallation Instructions
8. Credits


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

Vanilla Balance Mod v3 ("VBM") is a mini-mod for Rome Total War, the aim of which is 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.
VBM is not a panacea. Many of the factors which cause predictability and repeating history are inherent in RTW and are beyond the scope of my abilities as a modder to rectify. In particular, the Steamroller Effect whereby the "flow" of a war does not tend to change once an early tipping point has been reached, is difficult to remedy. Nevertheless, with Vanilla Balance Mod it is far less predictable which nation will be the beneficiary of the effect, and those that lose out now tend to last a little longer in most cases. A VBM campaign map at 200BC will normally be far more diverse than that of vanilla Rome.
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.



2. VERSION INFORMATION
========================================================

Unlike previous editions of VBM, v3 comes in one single version, which is compatible with player1's BugFixer.

By kind permission of player1, Vanilla Balance Mod v3 incorporates changes made by BugFixer, the popular unofficial patch for vanilla that solves many graphical, trait and other bugs with the main game. This means you can install VBM straight over a copy of vanilla RTW that has BugFixer installed, without losing BugFixer's enhancements. Note that uninstalling VBM will restore pure vanilla files, so if you want to carry on using BugFixer, you must reinstall it after uninstalling VBM.
BugFixer is highly recommended for the best results from VBM, see https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=55464 for details and download.

There is no longer a version designed to be used purely over non-BugFixed RTW. VBM v3 will install fine over non-BugFixed RTW and will restore non-BugFixed RTW.


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

Vanilla Balance Mod REQUIRES ROME TOTAL WAR VERSION 1.5. Whilst it may work with eaerlier versions, VBM can accept no respnsibility for any loss of functionality, CTDs, or other problems which come from installing it over 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 or 1.3.
Vanilla Balance Mod does not require Barbarian Invasion or Alexander expansion packs to be installed.
If using BugFixer, Vanilla Balance Mod v3 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.

Q: Is Vanilla Balance Mod compatible with Mod X?
A: Vanilla Balance Mod is, obviously, a mini-mod for vanilla and is therefore totally incompatible with "coversion" mods which change RTW into a different game, for example Europa Barbarorum or Rome: Total Realism. Other mini-mods which affect unit skins/attributes are not generally compatible with VBM as installation of VBM would overwrite the files that describe unit behaviour and attributes. Other mods that do not have this effect, such as those that change faction symbols or AI formations, should be compatible. However, no guarantee is given on the subject - or any other for that matter ;-) Note that uninstalling VBM will restore vanilla files and is therefore likely to cripple any mod or tweak that uses files also used by VBM. You will have to reinstall that mod after uninstalling BugFixer.



4. PRINCIPAL CHANGES FROM v2
========================================================

* Fixed an unlikely but aggravating bug which could trigger a CTD if a faction captured the city of Nicomedia very early in the game
* Fixed an issue where uninstalling VBM would leave the game unable to display any unit information text
* Added victory conditions enhancement and completion segment (see below for details)
* Added extermination modification segment (see below for details)
* Added traits tooltips modification segment (see below for details)
* Added reintegrated events segment (see below for details)
* Consolidated mod into single version



5. LIST OF CHANGES
========================================================

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 Thessalonica, Antioch, Seleucia and Alexandria. Every non-Roman faction now has a Barbarian Invasion-style map showing its victory conditions on the faction info scroll.
* Leader portraits, selection screen maps and campaign descriptions for all factions that lacked them
* 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.
* 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.

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 almost always survive to 200BC at least, and will expand to powerful empires in 40-50% 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.
* 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

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)
* Starting denarii increased
* Forces on Sicily slightly rebalanced
* Medium-level barracks in Carthage, sufficient to raise Libyan Spearmen
* Carthage can now recruit Scutarii at a City Barracks (thanks to professorspatula for unit cards and implementation help)
* Changes to Scutarii and Iberian Infantry noted under Spain apply to Carthage too.

Brutii
* Amulius Brutus loses Natural Military Skill trait

Greek Cities
* Diplomat moved from Sicily to Aetolia
* Spartan Hoplites now have a standard bearer

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.
* Trader removed from Mazaka

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
* Militia Barracks in a few selected cities allow training of Levy Pikemen from the start of the game
* 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.

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.
* 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

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

EXTERMINATION
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 settlement", you are now given the option to "sack settlement" (not to be confused with the horde-sacking in BI). The text descriptions are now more consistent with the unbridled looting and burning 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. In addition, a law bonus has been added to government buildings, ranging from 5% for a Governor's House to 25% for an Imperial Palace, which should reduce the need for sackings.

TRAITS (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 has 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.


6. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
========================================================

a) Run the downloaded file and follow the onscreen instructions. So much easier than v1!
b) Navigate to your Rome - Total War directory (normally C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War) and locate the folder named "VBM Uninstall RENAME ME". Rename this folder. Taking the "RENAME ME" part off the end should be enough. This allows uninstallation of VBM without messing up your game (don't worry if you forgot - see Uninstallation Instructions below)


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

a) Run the program "Uninstall VBM" located in your RTW directory. This deletes VBM's own files.
b) Remeber the folder in your RTW directory called "VBM Uninstall RENAME ME", that you renamed while installing? Open up that folder, select the "Data" folder inside it, and paste it into your RTW directory (not the "Data" subdirectory). VBM is now uninstalled and your game is playable as pure vanilla again.

Q: I didn't rename the folder that was called "VBM Uninstall RENAME ME", I ran the uninstaller, and now that folder has disappeared and I can't run RTW! Help!!
A: Don't panic. Just reinstall VBM, this time following the instructions about the renaming, and then uninstall it as described above. Everything should be fine.


8. CREDITS
========================================================
Mod Creator and Programmer: Barbarossa82
Scutarii unit cards: professorspatula
BugFixer content incorporated by kind permission of player1.
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 v3 Here (7.74MB)

Thanks Barbarossa, you're right on time for Xmas ^^


Now, I have a couple of idiot-friendly questions

Q: Will I be able to play my saved game or will I have to start a new campaign ?

Q: What about bugfixer? Must I install it before installing VBM ? Can I install it after ? Do I really need to install it ?

Q: Is VBM compatible with Darth formations ?

Hi Poulp', hope you enjoy VBM. Your questions answered:

Q1) No, it is not savegame compatible because of the changes to the map. So you must start a new campaign when you use VBM.

Q2) BugFixer is recommended for a better game experience, but not necessary. You don't have to install it before installing VBM. If you do want to install it, make sure you install it before you install VBM and not afterwards - the compatibility only works in that direction!

Q3) Probably. I haven't tested it with Darth's formations so I can't guarantee that it will be; but I believe Dath's files and VBM's files don't overlap. Therefore it should be ok - if not, sorry!

Hope it works well!

Hi Barbarossa, good to see that this mod continues.

I've done some playtesting of my own (using the -ai command line):

Playtest 1; 270BC to 200BC

https://img220.imageshack.us/img220/...aytest1cu6.jpg

The Germans, Greeks, Thracians, Seleucids and Pontus all seem to be doing well. There has been a constant struggle for Sicily, now Carthage owns all of it. The Julii have recently experienced a sudden rise to power, now facing Germans, Spanish and Carthaginians. The Germans have expanded well with the absence of Briton on the mainland, and just took Patavium right from under the Julii's feet. It may not last much longer, but it has weakened the Julii. Greece has united it's homelands, and stopped the Brutii expansion. Thrace is a bit of a mystery. They just seemed to take Dacia with no trouble, now they threaten Scythia. Pontus has attacked the Seleucids and Armenia in equal measures. What I fear is a sudden explosion in their power when they reach a position like this, as I saw in a vanilla campaign once. Seleucids have gone above and beyond my expectations, and, after a brief borderline 'staring contest' with Egypt, stormed their lands. What you see there in that main screen is Carthage's struggle with the Julii newcomers.

Playtest 1, continued; 200BC to 160BC

https://img99.imageshack.us/img99/76...est1ctdpb3.jpg

From the old update a great many things have happened. The Seleucids have combined with Armenia, Pontus and Parthia and now rule the east. The Greeks have slightly expanded and periodically ruled northern Italy. Thrace has also continued to expand. Probably the Romans have changed the most. The Julii have rampaged over the Germans, leaving them very weak. Although you can't really tell, the Julii have a strong grip on Spain. The Scipii are dead, I think their last family member died. The Brutii, however, claimed Sicily in just a few turns and now own allmost all the former Carthaginian non-Spanish holdings. The reforms have kicked in.

Conclusion: The Julii seem to be able to brush anyone they please aside, they have never struggled, even when they periodically lost northern Italy to the Germans, and then Greece. Brutii may have just had a lucky shot, but they also seem to have won in Africa with almost no casualties. I am pleased with Thrace and the Seleucids :beam: .

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Barbarossa82

Q3) Probably. I haven't tested it with Darth's formations so I can't guarantee that it will be; but I believe Dath's files and VBM's files don't overlap. Therefore it should be ok - if not, sorry!

Hope it works well!

---

It seems to work with "Generic Standalone Darth Formations 16"

Thanks for your campaign reports, Byzantine Emperor. I was pleased to see the Greeks expanding, as under my playtests they almost always got steamrollered by the Brutii or Macedon.
I'm interested to see how the Seleucids do under v3. In my games they generally best the Egyptians about 3 campaigns out of 5.
The poor performance of the Scipii in most campaigns is a bit of a worry but rather intractable. If they succeed on Sicily early in the game they normally wipe out Carthage quite quickly, so having Carthage triumph on Sicily is important. Under VBM v3 the Scips have a hard time and normally get kicked off Sicily about 60% of the time. They don't normally get wiped out though; although for the sake of diversity I would rather see them go than the Carthaginians.

Playtest 2:

270BC to 200BC

https://img258.imageshack.us/img258/...aytest2zu1.jpg

This time around the Seleucids have again taken domination, and Parthia and Armenia are clinging on for their lives. Greece, however, has had a strong holding in Asia Minor until the Seleucids took out Pontus and Colchis rebelled. The Scipii have taken domination of Sicily and Africa this time, and Gaul is almost destroyed. Briton has not yet moved. The Germans have once more become a powerhouse, but one that is again under danger from the Julii. The Julii are again very powerful, taking most of Gaul, Spain and Greece (!?). The Thrace-Dacia war has not moved so much this time. The Brutii own southern Greece.

200BC to 150BC

https://img226.imageshack.us/img226/...est2ctdsx5.jpg

The Julii have exploded in power. All the nearby rebel lands were part of the Julii empire a turn or two ago, and they will be reconquered soon. The Brutii, despite strong Seleucid resistance, managed to conquer most of their provinces about 1 province every 2 turns. The Scipii have launched constant skirmishes against Cyrene. The Britons are STILL in Britain. Scythia is on the brink of elimination.

Conclusion: Again, the Romans have dominated, in particular the Julii and the Brutii. I have almost never seen a Roman eliminated by war (except for once when I made all the Romans start at war :sweatdrop: )

That's cool. I haven't tried to stop the Romans ultimately winning, although it is known for at least one of the families to be knocked out in VBM - usually the Scipii but sometimes the Julii. I'm very pleased to see the variety in campaign outcomes. I just played a test where the Egyptians slaughtered the Seleucids and absorbed most of their lands, with the Parthians taking the rest.

Playtest 3; 270BC to 200BC:

https://img404.imageshack.us/img404/...aytest3vv1.jpg

The Julii have again done well (more so than I would like :sweatdrop: ) and Carthage is having trouble with the Brutii who have taken Sicily again. Greece is between Macedon and the Brutii. Briton has actually landed an army, but I don't know how well it will fare. The Thracians are very powerful, and they have started to push back the Germans, who were a superpower in the early game. The wast is very interesting. Old Seleucid lands have been distributed between Parthia, Egypt and Pontus. Armenia has the Pontic homelands, and has expanded into the steppes.

200BC to 130BC

https://img100.imageshack.us/img100/...est3ctdju5.jpg

The Julii and Brutii have expanded quickly on a grand scale, and I think the Julii have had a 'chance for power' (the first time i've ever seen this happen for the AI!) because they have taken Rome. Pontus has overrun the east and now is advancing on Egypt. Carthage and the Egyptians share Africa. Not much came of the Briton 'invasion' and the Thracian Empire has collapsed.

The end of the campaign, if you're interested:

https://img205.imageshack.us/img205/...est3endjb7.jpg

The Julii stopped where they were and seemed scared to make any naval invasion. The Brutii however just kept on the onslaught.

OK one little bonus for those of you who like VBM:

========================================================
=====VANILLA BALANCE MOD B.I. EXTENSION V1.0 README=====
========================================================
by Barbarossa82


CONTENTS
=========================
1 - Introduction
2 - List of Changes
3 - Requirements/Compatibility
4 - Installation Instructions
5 - Uninstallation Instructions
6 - Credits


1. INTRODUCTION
=========================
Vanilla Balance Mod BI Extension v1.0 is a micro-mod which extends certain features of Vanilla Balance Mod v3 to Barbarian Invasion, the expansion pack for Sega/Creative Assembly's Rome: Total War.
Because BI in general is a much better balanced game than the Imperial Campaign in RTW, the changes required are much 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-BIX. What VBM-BIX does is to add certain aesthetic/completion/atmosphere elements from VBM v3 into BI. See below for a full list.



2. 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 faction selection screen map and an in-game victory conditions map. Apologies for my poor Paint Shop Pro skills.
* 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.

EXTERMINATION
* Carried over the changes to extermination descriptions/graphics from VBM v3. The huns still use the old "pile-o-skulls" graphic though, as they really did get up to that kind of thing.
* Carried over the government building law bonuses from VBM v3 to make extermination less necessary. This replaces the Eastern Empire's happiness bonus from government buildings, and the barbarians' pre-existing law bonuses.
* Because of the potential confusion between sacking a settlement in the way that used to be called Extermination, and sacking it as a horde, the button to sack a settlement when you have taken it over as a horde now says "sack settlement and move on".

TOOLTIPS
* Carried over the traits tooltips descriptions changes from VBM v3 to BI.

PERFECT SPY
* Added the "perfect spy" cheat/feature, as found in VBM v3. However in VBM-BIX, 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-BIX v1.0 requires the following:
* Original RTW patched to 1.5, with Vanilla Balance Mod v3 installed
* Barbarian Invasion expansion pack, patched to 1.6.
Basically if you have RTW, BI, the 1.6 patch and VBM 3 installed, you're good to go.

Like VBM v3, VBM-BIX is compatible with player1's BugFixer. This means if you install VBM-BIX, 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. However, uninstalling VBM-BIX will restore pure vanilla files so you will have to reinstall BugFixer Part 2 over BI again if you want to keep its changes and fixes.
BugFixer is highly recommended for the best experience from VBM-BIX, but is not required. VBM-BIX will install fine over non-BugFixed BI and will restore non-BugFixed BI.
VBM-BIX v1.0 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 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.


5. UNINSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
=========================
a) Navigate to your Rome - Total War\BI directory and locate the folder named "VBM-BIX Uninstall RENAME ME". Rename this folder. Deleting the "rename me" part will be sufficient.
b) Run the "Uninstall VBM-BIX" program located in your Rome - Total War\BI directory.
c) Open the folder that you renamed in part (a), select the "data" folder inside, copy it and then paste it into your "Rome - Total War\BI directory. Select to overwrite any files with the same names. VBM is now uninstalled.

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 v3 from the Imperial Campaign while leaving VBM-BIX 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 v3 and VBM-BIX installed, or have them both uninstalled.


6. CREDITS
=========================
Mod creator and programmer: Barbarossa82 of the totalwar.org forums
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 VBM BI Extension Here (2.68 MB)