The Dungeon's FAQ

This is a work in Progress,

feel free to use this thread to suggest new Q&A's that you feel should be here,

this is seperate to the Editing Guides many members of the Dungeon Crew are currently working on,
this is intended to be for quick and easy questions.


Before you post a bug report, make sure it's not caused by one of these...
How Do I change Landbridges?
Content of the LocFiles
How Do I reset the Date?
Can maps be autodownloaded? (No - read more)
All About the Starspots/Spawn Points for Maps
Patch 1.1 Compatability between different language versions
Reload command line switch, Stats versions and Online Play
Can I make Fordable Water? Stop Water Lapping? - No (to both) - read more

Good idea having a FAQ.

A few that seem to crop up from time to time ...

FAQ: How can I add a new faction to the game ?
FAQ: How can I play as one of the minor factions ?
FAQ: How can I change the faction colours ?
FAQ: What should I use to view/edit the BIF's/TGA's/LBM's ?
FAQ: How can I make such a unit available to such a faction/such a period ?
FAQ: How can I change the price or other statistics (eg: strength) for a unit ?
FAQ: How do people edit Crusader_unit_prod11 ?
FAQ: I've changed Crusader_unit_prod11 and I now get error messages when MTW loads ?
FAQ: How can I change the Vices and Virtues for my leaders ?
FAQ: How can I create new maps or change provinces ?
FAQ: How can I change the Glorious Achievements ?
FAQ: I've changed one of the Early/High/Late scripts but it does'nt now show up as selectable in MTW ?


Barocca - if we suggest new FAQ's do you want us to provide a brief answer as well (although most/all FAQ's are answered in one or other threads the answers may be spread over several threads/posts). Let me know.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Wellington @ Dec. 15 2002,02:49)]Good idea having a FAQ.
A few that seem to crop up from time to time ...

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]FAQ: How can I add a new faction to the game ?

---

this is a guide style Q, too long for an FAQ

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]FAQ: How can I play as one of the minor factions ?FAQ: How can I change the faction colours ?
FAQ: What should I use to view/edit the BIF's/TGA's/LBM's ?
FAQ: How can I make such a unit available to such a faction/such a period ?
FAQ: How can I change the price or other statistics (eg: strength) for a unit ?
FAQ: I've changed Crusader_unit_prod11 and I now get error messages when MTW loads ?
FAQ: How can I change the Vices and Virtues for my leaders ?

---

FAQ stuff - can you point me at threads that answer these please (for palying minor faction including titles, heirs and so on...)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]FAQ: How do people edit Crusader_unit_prod11 ?
FAQ: How can I create new maps or change provinces ?

---

thes are guide style Q's, too long for an FAQ

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]FAQ: How can I change the Glorious Achievements ?
FAQ: I've changed one of the Early/High/Late scripts but it does'nt now show up as selectable in MTW ?

---

FAQ stuff - can you point me at threads that answer these please

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Barocca - if we suggest new FAQ's do you want us to provide a brief answer as well (although most/all FAQ's are answered in one or other threads the answers may be spread over several threads/posts). Let me know.

---

providing me with a link to any thread that you think covers the Q would be brilliant, time is short for me this week, i need all the help i can get,

if you know the answer off the top of your head, and it's really simple, i will glady accept your explanations.

now with the guide style Q's,

when the guides are written we will add them to the list for the FAQ,
as well as to the main guide listing,

thus we will be covered by referring peeps to FAQ
agreed?
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ns/biggrin.gif

Yeah,

I appreciate some of those FAQ's require long winded answers and/or are fully covered in existing Guides. But, to my mind, I think a FAQ should be a "first point of reference" that may simply point the questioner to a more fuller explanation.

Also, some FAQ's don't have a positive answer. I would think (IMHO) it would be just as well to include such FAQ's and explain why it can't be done.

I'll sift though a few threads and try to collate brief replies to some of the following.

i agree wholeheartedly,

those nine questions represent about 5 hours work, tracking down the answers, and editng the formatting - you would not believe how many nested tables i had to wade through to tidy them up,
so all help graciously accepted
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ns/biggrin.gif

here's a couple other Q's that come up from time to time:

***********************************************************

Q: Why wont my custom castle maps show the castle walls falling over when i play them in custom games?

A: There is a small bug (in ver. 1.0 and 1.1) that prevents this from occurring unless you reboot the game; then they will work fine.

**************

how do i change the tech tree (or one item within it)?

***************

Q: Can I get the ai to build more ships, and if so, then how do I do it?

A: The quick answer is, yes, it can be done. To see how, check the appropriate guide.

***************

will a province that produces X tradable goods trade with another province that produces the same goods, and how do i change tradable goods and resources?

can i get the sahara as a playable province?

what are all these 'FreeXX' or 'slots' do and how do i use them?

how do i alter or make a new campaign map?

why do i need 4 different campaign maps?

**************

Q: How do I change the starting and ending dates for a campaign?

A: See Barocca's FAQ list here: http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin....;t=3461

**************

Q: How do I alter missile stats, e.g. accuracy, range, power, etc.?

A: The file for altering missile stats is 'ProjectileStats.txt', found in the 'Medieval - Total War' directory. See the Guide for more details.

**************

Q: My modded campaign doesnt show up in the campaign list. why?

A: The main reason for this is you have a typo in your Early.txt file. It may also be that you've erased a tab somewhere, but most common is a typo.

**************

Q: Is barocca really bald?

A: Not since he started using Rogaine for Modders.

**************

when i alter the lukmap in paint shop pro it alters my file size or wont save as the same file size. what do i do?

**************

Q: How do I remove land bridges for playability?

A: See Barocca's FAQ list here: http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin....;t=3461

***************

Q: How do I remove land bridges visually?

A: The part of the campaign map that you see is a 'window dressing' map. It's only function is to visually show various aspects of the terrain and the terrain itself. There are two maps involved with this, MapTex.tga and MapTex2.tga. One is for lower resolutions and #2 is for higher resolutions. These .tga files can be edited and used within the game and won't affect any of the game mechanics. They are ONLY a visual reference. Thus, if you wanted to erase the lines showing the land bridges, you would simply load the file up in a paint program that can handle .tga files, edit the map and save it with the same name. If you only ever play in lower resolutions, you should only have to edit the lower resolution map.

***************

Q: How do I alter the names and other visual stuff on a campaign map?

A: See the answer under 'How do I remove land bridges visually'.

**************

how do i load and save tab delimited files?

if train A leaves los angeles at 1 p.m. heading to new york at 90 mph, and another train leaves new york at 3 p.m. heading to los angeles at 100 mph, at what point will barocca miss each train if he's in chicago?

**************

Q: How do I alter the starting money for factions?

A: In the Early, High-, or Late.txt files, found in the campmap\startpos directory, find the spot in the file where it says:

//========================================
//Starting Treasury
//Sets the amount of cash available to
//each faction at the start of the game.
//you can specify 4 values for the four
//difficulty levels in the order EASY,
//NORMAL, HARD and EXPERT. Specify only one
//value to start all difficulty levels with
//the same size treasury.
//If you don't set this, the default
//is 2000 florins for all difficulty levels.
//========================================
SetTreasury:: FN_ALMOHAD 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_BYZANTINE 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_EGYPTIAN 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_ENGLISH 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_FRENCH 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_GERMAN_HRE 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_ITALIAN 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_POLISH 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_SPANISH 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_TURKISH 10000 8000 6000 4000

SetTreasury:: FN_HUNGARIAN 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_NOVGOROD 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_PAPIST 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_SICILIAN 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_DANISH 10000 8000 6000 4000
SetTreasury:: FN_ARAGONESE 10000 8000 6000 4000

Note: The AI seems to always use the 'Normal' setting for its starting money.

******************

How do i alter how many heirs i get and their sexes?

how do i alter my faction leaders?

how do i make historical battles?

how do i link historical battles for historical campaigns?

can i change or add to or delete items from the random battle list?

why do i keep getting the same battle when i play the random battles?

why is Target called Targ-etc?

can i alter the textures and tiles used in the game?

why do i get a message in MP games that a player has used more money than he's been allocated?

how do i use my altered stats in mp games?

how many different starting factions can one have in a campaign?

is there a manual for the map editor?

how does water work in the map editor?

how do i remove that lapping water in the map editor?

my map crashes when i make castles. why?

how do i edit the 'impassable' zones on my map?

can i alter the deep water on a campaign map to make it passable to all ships....and vice versa?

how do i edit the starting positions on a custom map?

how do i alter the weather so that it doesnt rain so much?

can i add new textures to the map editor?

are there going to be any more official tools or editors so i can alter all this stuff more easily?

if i start a modded campaign and then change the startpos files, will my current campaign be affected or do these files only affect a new campaign?

can i edit in a new faction during a running campaign?

how do i make a faction come in as an invader rather than as a starting faction?

can i alter the behavior of the AI in any way?

***************

Q: Can I add, alter or remove agents from the start-up?

A: Yes, agents can be added or removed as starting units in the game. This is done in the early, high, and late.txt files, near the bottom of the file. I haven't tried all the various agents, but I have added and removed princesses and emissaries personally.

****************

how do i play as the rebels?

is there a list of the cheat codes anywhere?

can i alter what units and buildings a faction or province gets at the start of a campaign?
**************

Q: Is there any way to return the game to seasonal turns rather than yearly turns?

A: No. However, one person did change the use of the term 'years' to 'turns'. See threads or guides for more info on that.

**************

how do i alter how much money is in the game?

can i make my own 3d models for a map, like cathedrals and monastaries and so on?

can i make my own buildings for the campaign game?

the ai builds ships, but they all just sit in one sea zone and dont spread out for a proper trade route; how can i get them to spread out and take advantage of trading better?

how do i get the AI to stop starting so many wars at sea?

how do i get the AI to accept more peace treaties, particularly later in the game?

do the developers ever visit in here?

i've made this cool mod; how do i get it made available and get others to use it?

what tiles or other features produce impassable zones on a custom map?

can i make water passable, you know, shallow water?

**************

Q: Can I install the game more than once on the same machine and have both copies work without screwing something up in one or the other?

A: Yes. Just make sure you set your path when installing a 2nd time to something other than what the first copy is using; otherwise you will just overwrite your original. If done correctly, you should see an entry on your 'Start\Programs' menu that says: 'Total War-alt', along with your first copy which just says 'Total War', and depending on whether you allowed this, a second desktop icon, with a slight deviation to it showing that this is also a 2nd entry.

***************

if i make this mod, can i post it without infringing on copyrights or trademarks?

if i make this mod and use pictures, or objects, or other items from another game within this game, and post it, will i be infringing on copyrights or trademarks?

can i use images from the game on my web site without fear of copyright or trademark infringements?

Q: Can the maps from Shogun and Warlords/Mongol Invasion be used in M:TW?

Q: Can I import the textures from STW/WE/MI to M:TW?


***********************************************************

bar,

i dont know exactly how you want all this stuff handled. how do you want this stuff handled and formatted and so on? you want every question and answer in a separate post or you want it all in one post or what?

i can help with some of this stuff from time to time and if you like, i can just edit this post with some answers if that's easier for you.

K.

Kraellin,

WOW I'm impressed

But ... FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions, this phrase generally refering to similar questions asked by various individuals over a period of time. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...icons/wink.gif

wellington,

yeah, i know, but let's take it from a newbie's viewpoint. some guy comes in with a question. he doesnt know if his question is 'frequently asked' or not. all he knows is he's got a question. where does he go?

if you've got several faq's and guides and search engines and so forth, where does he go and where will that take him if he does? if a faq is ONLY 'frequently' asked questions, the guy comes in, sees nothing in the FAQ and may figure, 'hmm, nothing here. guess they dont know'. to me, a FAQ is a place to start. it may link to longer explanations and guides and manuals and technical support and so forth, but it's THE place to start, thus, you want it to be like a sort of extended table of contents, extended in that it does also have some short answers instead of just being a table of contents. if the answer isnt short, then you simply link him to the guide/manual section.

and that, of course, is just one way to do it. you could do a formal table of contents/index thing, with the FAQ being linked to in there, or, have the FAQ as the main source and link the table of contents from there. but when i go to a site with a specific question, and particularly when i'm a newbie to that site, i want the faq to answer my question, and if it cant, then i want it to direct me to somewhere that can, no matter how obscure my question and no matter how many times someone else has asked it. ya see what i'm saying here? i just want an answer; i have no idea how many times it's been asked or not; a faq, to me, means, here are the answers in a short form; if you want a longer, more technical explanation, go here.

hehe, but that's just me. this stuff can and is done all sorts of different ways around the web, so, it's just a matter of organization of data so that folks can find it. tables of contents, faqs, indexes, searches... it's all just a way to find answers, so how do you make it easy for folks to find the answer to that one question that is just driving them nuts?

just as an example of how badly this can be done, i recently, yesterday in fact, tried to get a new piece of software working. i kept getting an error message on it. i looked at the offline help first. no answer. i went to their online tech support and read the faq. no answer and the question wasnt even listed. i then read a short manual thing. no answer. i read the long manual. no answer. i walked through the auto-find-and-fix thing. no answer. i tried fooling around with the software itself some more. no answer. finally, i found a readme that came with the software and it had one little reference that solved the problem, or least showed me what i needed to do first. quite amazing, actually. the error was listed when i ran the software and it even suggested some fixes, but those didnt work. it also had a system checker that showed one thing as possibly wrong, but there was no help info about that offline or online until i found that one little blurb in the readme.

so, ya see what i'm saying here? there was no ONE place i could go that would steer me to the right answer. i actually found it while looking to see if i couldnt bypass the software altogether. and this is what i dont want us to do. you generally want ONE SOURCE from which a person can track down his/her answer(s). START HERE is what i'm saying. whether you use a faq for this or a table of contents or a search engine thing or an index or whatever; there shld be ONE PLACE you go first and to which we can all refer someone's questions to and they can start tracking down answers from there. that's all :)

you and me and barocca and giskard and LK and doc and others are like the pioneers. we go out into the land of files and tear them apart and map things out and post notes about this and that and try out various stuff and that's what we do. we read each other's notes and maps and go, cool. and we're in here a lot and see a lot of the stuff that is posted and sort of know where to go and what to look for and we post our stuff and our mods and we're happy as clams on a beach. but there's another type that comes in here also. they're not pioneers, or maybe they're just late arriving pioneers, so they want to know the roadmaps that already exist without having to read the entire forum. or, maybe they're not pioneers at all. maybe they just want to make use of what's mapped out already or have something specific they're looking for, so, you want a roadmap available to them so we dont spend all our time answering the same questions over and over. so, the question is, are ew going to hand them 16 different road maps, or do we hand them one and say, START HERE. what you call that START HERE thing is just a matter of using something familiar that folks know is usually a START HERE sort of thing. so, is that a faq, a guide, a manual, a readmefirst, or what?

lol. ok, i've gotten carried away again. barocca, ban me now i cant seem to stop myself ;)

K.

Kraellin, i'm on my way to work,
i just had a quick browse,
if you would be so kind as to edit your post to include the answers that would be good,
for redundant Q's, i agree, we can have multiple Q's pointing at the same answer,
we will also link to guides and official doc's (tech/readme/known issues/ etc) from the FAQ as needed.

once the faq gets to a certain size i will probably organise it into sections, SP play, map making, etc etc...

if a Q could be in more than one section, then i will put it in more than one section
:-)
(time to go to work...cya)

little by little i'm editing in the stuff i know. however, i just dont know it all. you guys can help here. if you know an answer to any of my faq questions, either post the link to the answer in this thead and i'll link it into my post with the questions and answers, or, write a guide and let me know where it is and i'll link to it, or write up the answwer in here and i'll either quote to it or link it.

the same is true if you know any questions not covered here. just write up a post here and i'll quote to it.

K.

Sorry I tend to read a lot, snuck that one in there about Barroca being bald didnt ya. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ons/tongue.gif

Naagi http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/joker.gif

hehehe, a lot of my jokes get missed, naagi :)

K.

let me assure you i saw the jokes,
i'm just trying to decide which punishment avatar i should assign to Kraellin...
http://www.totalwar.org/barocca/alien1.gif-http://www.totalwar.org/barocca/baby-1.gif
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/joker.gif

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (barocca @ Dec. 21 2002,16:29)]let me assure you i saw the jokes,
i'm just trying to decide which punishment avatar i should assign to Kraellin...
http://www.totalwar.org/barocca/alien1.gif-http://www.totalwar.org/barocca/baby-1.gif
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/joker.gif

---

LOL, but wait, there is another funny one : http://www.orionshadows.com/pictures...rrshan_JPG.jpg

rofl. my bad ;)

K.

I should state for the record that imposition of any of those avatars is probably a violation of the 8th amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment

AMENDMENT VIII
"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted, nor heinous avatars like smurfs or ewoks inflicted." http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/joker.gif

note to self
.unfreeze. creates an heir automatically next turn,
(i think it also creates rebellions - as a penalty - not sure yet, needs more testing...)

i have got to make some time to do more work on this FAQ

in the meantime
another note to self

To remove the intro movies

in the same directory as the medieval executable create a blank notepad document called
skipcredits.txt
(all lowercase)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (barocca @ Jan. 16 2003,17:05)]i have got to make some time to do more work on this FAQ

in the meantime
another note to self

To remove the intro movies

in the same directory as the medieval executable create a blank notepad document called
skipcredits.txt
(all lowercase)

---

I'v been meaning to do that for months too http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ns/biggrin.gif
frequently forgoten task.
LK http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/joker.gif

Does anybody know of a good site with plenty MTW mods?

Thank you in advance. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/smile.gif

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (JANOSIK007 @ Feb. 21 2003,19:06)]Does anybody know of a good site with plenty MTW mods?

Thank you in advance. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/smile.gif

---

This one - if you can ever manage to actually download anything http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/frown.gif

How can I paste a picture on the post?

Apparaently this isn't a well know startpos command - people are still asking how to change the end date:

SetGameEndDate:: 2003

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (eat cold steel @ Mar. 04 2003,09:59)]Apparaently this isn't a well know startpos command - people are still asking how to change the end date:

SetGameEndDate:: 2003

---

ECS,

Nice info - thanks for that.

Any more 'hidden' startpos/script keywords or parameters that may be useful to this group, or that CA may reveal in the forseeable future?

Whilst it's always nice to receive new information - it's far better to receive KNOWN information ASAP Knowing this 6 months ago when MTW was released would have saved a lot of people a lot of time http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...icons/wink.gif

Target posted this when the patch came out. I posted this once upon a time too in the main hall. This is the list of command for the patched game, I think...

SetNeighbours
SetBorderInfo
SetActiveFaction
SetTreasury
SetRegionOwner
SetRegionCulture
SetTerrainDir
MakeUnit
MakeBuilding
PlaceLeader
SetStartDate
SetEarlyPeriodStartDate
SetHighPeriodStartDate
SetLatePeriodStartDate
SetGameEndDate
SetPeriod
SetStartLeader
AddHeir
SetOrigin
SetPort
SetCastle
SetNumCastleMapGroups
SetInitialAgIncome
SetAttributes
SetBattleMaps
SetCastleMaps
SetResources
SetTradableGoods
SetReligion
SetShieldImage
SetCulture
SetBehaviour
AddTitle
AddOffice
cd_predefined
cd_line
cd_hidden
cn_predefined
cn_title
cn_short_title
im_path
im_std
im_predefined
im_line
om_won_path
om_lost_path
om_std
om_predefined
om_line

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (eat cold steel @ Mar. 05 2003,05:20)]Target posted this when the patch came out. I posted this once upon a time too in the main hall. This is the list of command for the patched game, I think...

---

ECS,

WOW Never seen this list before.

I'm sure some of these startpos keywords (that modders ar'nt familiar with) will raise more questions than answers

I'll have to try a couple out and see what happens. I can probably have a quick stab/guess at some of the "new" ones. Expect a few queries on this.

Anyway, ECS, many thanks for your assistance. We all know how busy yourself/CA must be at this time what with VI and RTW - so taking time to provide us with such info is greatly appreciated.

Welly

wellingtom, you're right on the money.
does any one know what do the fallowing do, and how do you use them?
SetRegionCulture
SetTerrainDir
SetGameEndDate (just how do you use this)
SetNumCastleMapGroups
SetInitialAgIncome
im_path
im_std
im_predefined
im_line
om_won_path
om_lost_path
om_std
om_predefined
om_line

The short answer is I donno know. There are not used in the startpos that shipped with the game. They may or may not work but aren't really that important. This is what I think they do:

im is short for intro movie, om is outro after you've won or lost, in mpg format. _path_id expects a string like im_path_id:: "movie\start" without the file extension. _std_id is a subtitle delay in millisecond, it expects integer. Set _predefined_id to true if you have subtitle. _line_id are labels into startpos loc txt file. I think the outro command are not used at all, but the intro stuff may still work.

SetRegionCulture:: ID_LAND CATHOLIC_CULTURE
over write the culture of a region

SetTerrainDir:: "path to ground texture dir"

SetNumCastleMapGroups:: 4
specifies the number of castle map groups available not sure how it works exactly, but it is linked to the name of the castle maps.

set_init_agri_income_id:: 100
100 is the default, it scale the cash generate from fram up and down.

ECS is it possible to somehow eliminate the annoying re-appearnaces the pope makes after he is eliminated or is this hardcoded ? Just asking because it seems alot of people would like to be able to do this by modding?

ECS,

Thanks for your additional info on these keyword/parameters. It all helps. The keyword "set_init_agri_income_id:: 100" may be very useful. I'm playing around with this at present.

SoS,

The hardcoded elements of MTW in respect of The Pope/Papist faction, the Swiss, the Golden Horde are all annoying at times for modders. However, this is only to be expected. MTW is really based heavily on the Crusades and it would probably have been called CTW had it not been for the unfortunate politicvs surrounding the events of 9/11.

ECS/CA has/have confirmed in other threads two things -

1) VI will be based in a time perioed that does NOT rely on either the necessity for, or the emergence of, the Pope/Swiss/Golden_Horde. This makes VI especially attractive for modders.

2) the VI add-on will change some hardcoded constraints in respect of the MTW engine and Script files (the startpos files) in that -

- region/province names can be changed/modded to be whatever you wish them to be
- faction names can be changed
- faction colours can be changed

Implicit in this is that the VI add-on will remove several major obstacles to MTW modding.

Whether or not such 'obstacles' are removed for just the VI campaign or for the general MTW campaign as well is as yet unknown.

ECS - any confirmation/advice/input on this?

Welly

Thanks Welly I noticed those startpos codes you mentioned are those commands you jus add to the existing file Like SetGameEndDate::2003 do I just add the code to the date data array block that exists ?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (The Sword Of Storms @ Mar. 07 2003,10:42)]Thanks Welly I noticed those startpos codes you mentioned are those commands you jus add to the existing file Like do I just add the code to the date data array block that exists ?

---

I don't follow you here SoS.

ECS has advised us that the keyword "SetGameEndDate::2003" is avialable for determining the end date of a campaign. In one of the Script files, therefore, you can presumably add the line to set the end date of a campaign. For example, based on Early.txt, -


//========================================
//Start Date
//The year in which this
//campaign will begin
//========================================

SetStartDate:: 1087
SetGameEndDate:: 1090 // ADDED via ECS info SetPeriod:: EARLY
SetEarlyPeriodStartDate:: 1087
SetHighPeriodStartDate:: 1205
SetLatePeriodStartDate:: 1321



adding the line "SetGameEndDate:: 1090" would presumably allow the campaign to run for only 3 years I hav'nt tested any of this yet. I'm only basing the conclusion on ECS's info.

Note: LMM does NOT incorporate such an end date as yet (but the LMM generated Script can easily be amended to set an end date as such.

Welly

OK I understand the example you typed out is exactly what I was thinking you typed in the SetGameEndDate in the date array block . Have you had the time to get the LMM4V2 I believe you said was the version you were to mail me I have done all according to the docs with the LMM4V1 that I have. I finally got my holyland map 037 in I await further info. Thanks.P.S. I will put the SetGamEnd to the test this evening and let you know if you do not already do it yourself.

I don't know if this question belongs here, so anyways.

I have a major problem.

My CD-key isn't working. Whenever I insert it it sais that it is invalid. I've tried everything ( apitalizing everything, insering or deleting hyphen, I've tried it all ).

There must be somethimg wrong with the key and I would like to get another one.

For a while I didn't care so much, because I was playing the SP, but now I am more than ready to get into MP.

Please any of you Devs out there, I need your help.

The Horde, Swiss and Burgundian will always emerge at set time, the Papist however will only re-emerge if they existed in Rome before, if if you take out they faction altogether then they can't come back. Here is the deal, "if they existed in Rome before" what you can do is mod out ID_ROME from the game (or make a blank region and make that Rome like sahara - with no neighbour so the Papist will never get hold of it from the rebels,) the Papist will get one life only. Don't try the same with the other emerging factions, the only thing you can do with them for the time being is the fiddle with the year to stop them hitting their birthday. 1230 for the horde, 1280 - 1453 for Swiss. 1350 - 1453 for the Burgundian. I suppose you could give them their only little islands so they don't play a part on you campaign, but you'll still get their messages.

Problems with CD keys? Get in touch with Activision, they can issue you with a new one. Apparaently it's caps and zeros not O's.

So do I understand this right?
All we have to do to sort out rome is to
make it the sahara?

Or just have no entries for it in startpos?

That's so simple it's depressing it took six months
to find out http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/mecry.gif

I not complaining I'm just being emotional
http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ns/biggrin.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...s/rolleyes.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/frown.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/joker.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...cons/mecry.gif

LK did he say make it the or "like" Sahara I think you just make it impossible for the pope to be able to cross into rome and the re-mrgence prob is stopped sound right? whenI asked ECS I didnt think it was possible . SO do you just mod the connecting border info in startpos to make papal states to rome impassable? let me know. thanks

Actually, I am not sure if it will work or not, he will be out of the game but all the stuff to do with excommuication and granting crusades and stuff will still be in effect - he'll still meddle in your kingdom when even when he is off the map. Give it a try anyway, replace all ID_ROME with ID_AFRICA and ID AFRICA with ID_ROME.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (eat cold steel @ Mar. 10 2003,05:00)]Problems with CD keys? Get in touch with Activision, they can issue you with a new one. Apparaently it's caps and zeros not O's.

---

I have tried going that, but they just tell me to try differnt things, which by the way I am sick of doing.

ECS I am curious as to what formula is used to determine a provinces base value , some of them seem low, When I mod this is one of the first things I adjust...Thanks

No formula - it was done through research and play testing. In debug mode it is possible to let the AI play itself without a human player, we did lots of runs and tweaked it until the playable factions all have a fair chance of winner the game. The value is just for the farm income, region with trade goods may have had their farm value tuned down. Feel free to play around with it.

I'm wondering if one possible guide for the farm value of province might be population estimates for the period? Better farm land means that an area can support a larger population.

I guess some areas might be richer per capita than others, but in the period, this consideration may be secondary. It's interesting that the world's population takes off with our ability to support it (industrialisation and associated improvements in technology).

I wonder what kind of historical data is available on this issue? How many equivalents of the Doomsday book were there?

Eat Cold Steel I am sure this has been asked before but I have not seen a definitve explanation, what do the numbers in this block actually stand for and can they be changed?I have tried some minor changes in mods, and have noted only name changes. Can you shed some light on this area for us. SetStartLeader:: FN_BYZANTINE 0 0 4 7 1 3 10 1 0
SetStartLeader:: FN_EGYPTIAN 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0

Another question for ECS , I would like to know what the FN_FREE slots are for I have heard conflicting views on this, some say they are hardcoded and for game expansion only , others contend you can add a new faction using the FREE slots . Can you explain ?

SetStartLeader:: FN_BYZANTINE 0 0 4 7 1 3 10 1 0
The first 8 names of a factions' name list are "Royal," ie that's the name king use to name their sons. These 8 numbers tells the game how many kings of those first 8 names there have been before the start of the period. So for example, the first English king with the name Edward from early period is Edward III rather than Edward I.

The maximum number of faction ever is 32. I donno what problems people have when using FN_FREE slots, as long as you don't change the label FN_FREE then you should be ok. If you have any specific question on using those extra factions then I'll try to answer them. The only problem I can see is not being able to set their colour, or maybe their faction shield?

The format of the startpos file will change slightly for vikings, where it will be easy to add factions and regions.

Thanks for the response, In regards to the FN_FREE I recently tried to add my own faction by using these slots I made entries in the Startpos/Early txt and Loc/Eng/names. for the shield I used the Default. and I think I covered all the bases as far as entries needed for a new faction. But when trying to play the game crashed. I did not get an error message it just would not boot up, any ideas?

I need more information than that, I maybe able to help you if you show me what you've added. Vikings is less than a month away, modding the game will be that much easier with the new keywords. I suggest you guys leave the harder stuff for later. You can even add new battle music

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (eat cold steel @ April 09 2003,11:24)]Vikings is less than a month away, modding the game will be that much easier with the new keywords. I suggest you guys leave the harder stuff for later. You can even add new battle music

---

My sentiments exactly.

Work on the stuff that won't
be changed.Lot's of that around. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ns/biggrin.gif


LK http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cg...ons/smokin.gif

Here are some tips from Lord of Storms

How to Declare New Trade Goods in VI

I have gone through the process of adding new trade goods for the Napoleonic Era Mod (just an experiment) and I thought I would share it:

First decide the name of your new trade good. For my experiment I chose Swords. You need to make entries in the following files:
Loc/Eng/Names under heading @{"tradeable good names"}then 2 entries in Loc/Eng/DEFREGSPEC under heading @{"goods names"} and tradeable_goods_intro_tooltips.

Then you need to repeat those same entries into the Loc/Eng/DEFAULT_REGION_SPECIFIC file (why they are similar I dont know; its not important). Then 2 entries in Loc/Eng/TOOLTIPS:
1 under heading@{"tradeable_goods_intro_tool_tips"} and 1 under the heading goods_working_tool_tips.

Then you need 2 bifs: 1 in Campmap/Parchments/Icons, and 1 in Textures/Campmap/Goods.

Then of course you need to make 2 entries in the Startpos 1 under DeclareTradeGoods, and 1 under SetTradeablegoods, to assign it to a province or provinces of your choice.

Thats about it I hope I did not leave anything out . If you try it out let me know. Enjoy. P.S. I have recently added Muskets and will be adding Gunpowder as new tradegoods. LOS

How to add Heores to VI, I have added customized heroes to VI for The Lords upcoming Napoleonic Mod, you can see the screenshots of Napoleon and The Duke Of Wellington in the Nap Mod thread in the dungeon. The process is quite simple if you go to Campmap/Names you will see 2 folders The Heroes Default and Vikings Heroes files read the headings they contain some useful info as to the files structure. It starts with the Heroes Name,(you must add heroes name to the Names txt under Hero forenames/surnames using a label[Hero Name ] then {Hero Name }) then date he will appear
(I found if you set the date 20 yrs prior to your campaign hero will show in the 1st year of play)then stats for Command,Dread,Piety,Accumen,Loyalty then a vice or virtue then type of hero anything can be added ,General,Inquisitor,Spy,Emissary etc.
Then you will see a refrence ID_LIMBO this means the hero will show in a random province belonging to the heroes faction. This can be changed to a specific province if desired as can all the other data listed and lastly you will see usually a -1 this points to the heroes portrait a -1 being random.
But you can specify a portrait also as you will see with the screenies of Napoleon and Wellington.(Portraits must go into your Heores Faction/Religions folder i.e. Catholic/Misc and given an appropriate #) Thats about it if I can help any further just ask P.S. The process seems more stable when overwriting an existing hero and changing the stats to suit your need also at the top of each factions heading you will see a number, example FRENCH {20} this is the maximum allowance of heroes for that faction.

How To Add Historical Formations to MTW's AI
While trying to entertain myself in between working on The Napoloenic Mod for VI, I was experimenting with getting the AI to use The Square as a defensive formation.
Using the info in the MTW formation data files provided by CA, available on the org's download page.
I found that the formations in the historical formations file can be adapted to the AI's special formation file.
I simply cut the desired formation from the historical file, and paste it in the AI special formation file.
The key in getting the AI to choose the new formation, was by changing the priority integer at the heading of the formation data.
My first attempt was with the Square formation, I raised the priority to 2, and started a custom battle
The AI formed into the square right away, you will notice this on the small inset map right away.
Then it seems to break up and regroups to form again .
I purposely waited on my attack to see what the AI would do,
and given the time they formed the MTW version of The Square
more of a 3 sided rectangle.
I attacked using only my Cavalry and charged the infantry
front line of the square, I was dismayed to see that the lines did not hold for very long, but in the face of a Cav charge I expected nothing less.
I then tried to change the compositon of the formation,
I was able to put the Generals Cavalry unit in the center of the Square.
And I was able to add the command line "Hold The Line"
I then tried yet another custom battle to see if the command
would help, alas it did not I did notice now given time between assualts they would always try to regroup and form the square with the generals unit protected in the center.
I then proceeded to experiment with various parameters
and was able to achieve varied results by changing the formation data, Formation unit composition, priority integers and also some tweaks to the unit prod.
Like cav defense bonus for Inf.,Disciplined,perfectly formed etc.just to see the effect.
So while not being a monumental discovery, I think it at least opens up some possibilties.
To try your own experiments just get the CA formation Data
which has some good info on file structure and keywords and parameters.
I eventually added The Block formation to the AI's formation file which was interesting.
The entire defensive force formed into a solid block
with the Generals unit protected to the rear.
When I get more time I will experiment further I thought I
would share my findings with my fellow modders.
Iknow someone will take this info to the next level, and who knows what they will come up with. Have Fun LOS P.S.This will work in both versions of MTW 1.1 and VI as the files are identical and have not changed from the last version.

To add a new building into the tech tree

Make all the required entries in build prod,
Thats the hardest bit, getting all the tabs correct

then add
["New Building"] {"new building"} to loc/names.txt
and
["New Building_desc"] {"this is the new building"} to loc/descriptions.txt,
along with the "completed" and "destroyed" entries.
["New Building_Completed"] {"New Building Completed."}
["New Building_Destroyed"] {"New Building Destroyed."}

plus bif's into
campmap/info pics/buildings
campmap/info pics/buildings/coloured
campmap/review panel/buildings

it's as simple as that :-)
cheers,
B.

Increasing or Decreasing the Value of Trade Goods,
from Razor1952

you can change the value of the trade goods

in the file startpos/early.txt or whichever era

DeclareTradegoods:: "GLASSWARE" 40
DeclareTradegoods:: "WOOD" 20
DeclareTradegoods:: "FURS" 40

The number indicates the value of that good in trade
just fiddle up or down for preference.

At the bottom if the list is also the import percentage. this is quite insignificant, but sets the percentage of the above figures to be used as the import rating for that good, when the AI trades with you.

Its currently set to 10/20% but raising it makes AI trade more worthwhile but will also give the AI factions more money from you trading with them