GUIDE: Specifics of Modding Alexander - TW

I haven't tried it but I wonder if you also need the
options bi
line in descr strat? According to this guide https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=59950
you needed that and the night battle line in RTW.

Thank you very much! Now it works. :beam:
We though it could be a problem with traits or some ATW limitation, but it is the "bi options". I can confirm you need this command to play night battles.

Is it possible to add custom campaign map textures to a modfolder in Alexander? I'm really confused.

Yes, why would it not be?

I was running into trouble with the../ tags and everything, but I got it sorted out now.

I'm not getting time to put together updates for the first post but if anyone wants to post an addition to the opening post then please post it and label it as such and I will include it. Remember to only submit tried and tested things. Thx

We have fixed immortal trait bug.. :san_wink:

Follow the link:curtain:

Is the faction limit the same as in RTW.exe (21)?

And does Alexander support superfactions, senate events and civil war?

Alexander is really starting to tick me off. I have a map ready to be put in, but it doesn't load on ATW. It works fine with RTW, but not Alexander.

Do I need something special to put into the map to make it run?

Roman_Man#3: Make sure you don't have any RGB 0,0,0 tiles in your map_heights, should cause a CTD if you have any.

Thanks. But I found the problem a while ago. I had a little typo in descr_win_conditions.txt

Well, if you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.

can ATW have emergent factions?

It doesn't support hording so I don't think so. Factions that emerge like the Slavs in BI have to be horde nations.

Some other method like shadowing might work in it though.

the romano-britons arent a horde nation, and they spawn on event just like the slavs. and what about the spawns_on_revolt, could that work in ATW?

The Romano_british emergence depends on hard coded triggers and the faction name "romano_british" - I seriously doubt the hard code for that is active in Alex, but you could try, you'd need to internally re-name a faction to find out though.

The spawned_on_revolt faction (ostrogoths) was a horde faction, I suspect it needs to be.

Shadowing ala empire_east and empire_east_rebels might work but that isn't quite the same thing.



Someone else might know more about this - I just know I tried getting a BI mod to run under Alex and first thing it fell over on was not recognising the horde sections in descr_sm_factions.

Re-emergence with loyalty and shadowing factions will work with the RTW and Alex exe's (I'm using this in XGM). Hordes don't work, so the mechanisms of emergence that require hordes won't work. I haven't tested the Romano-British mechanism.

Ok, thanks guys. Looks like I'll attempt a port to BI :furious3: :wall: :dizzy2:

is the emergent factions syntax the same as in BI, and how do you add loyalty?

As explained a few posts above, most of the emergent faction syntax won't work as horde nations aren't possible. As DimeBagHo explained shadowing will though, and that syntax in descr_sm_factions would be the same.

I think if you add shadowing it triggers loyalty, as that is part of what determines when characters rebel to shadow faction. Look at a BI descr_strat, there is line near top
rebelling_characters_active
which you probably need in your version.

You may also have to alter the interface files to get the loyalty logo.

To make loyalty more meaningful and give most starting generals a base level you will may need to look at the traits and copy over, or assign new ones that give a loyalty bonus / reduction. There are tutorials in the scriptorium about adding / changing traits.

whats the syntax for telling ai factions not to attack other factions?
does this go at the end of DS?
and finallry, does this stop those factions from ever attacking, or does it "wear off" after awhile?

For example:

Code:

---

faction        egypt, trader mao
ai_do_not_attack_faction gauls, scythia, pontus
denari        20000

---

The command is supposed to halt a faction from attacking other(s) until attacked, but afaik an attack can still happen, due to the hardcoded mechanism the AI uses to choose enemies...

How do you change the movie that plays behind the menu? I know its the "dump0000" file, and I've tried changing it, but it always overlooks the one I add and uses the vanilla RTW movie.

*If* it can be done, then you should probably put it in the mod pak. if it doesn't work from there (which I think will be the case) then you just can't have both yours and the vanilla one and you'll have to go with -nm. Otherwise you can mod the .lnt.

It can be done, it was done in LOTR-TW which is on alexander.

My bad, sorry. Yes indeed, LotRTW has its own dump0000, in its own menu folder.

They make a copy of vanillas and overwrite the vanilla with their own though.

isnt that the opening movie youre talking about roman_man#3?
i was talking about the looped movie clip that plays on the main menu, unless thats what you meant then disregard this

Oh, my mistake. Disregard my comment. Dump0000 doesn't have to overwrite the vanilla one.

still when i replace the vanilla dump0000 with a different one, it always uses the vanilla one in the root rtw menu folder. editing the .lnt didnt work for me either