Final version of the MTW XL mod

The final version of my mod is out now. It has:
- New versions of Early, High and Late.
- New map with 9 extra provinces.
- 17 new factions. Included are: Armenians, Bohemians, Bulgarians, Crusader States, Cumans, Genoese, Hospitaller Order, Irish, Lithuanians, Norwegians, Portuguese, Scots, Serbians, Swedes, Teutonic Knights, Venetians, and Volga Bulgarians.
- The unplayable factions can now be played (Burgundians, Golden Horde, Novgorod, Papalcy)
- Lots of New units
- Landbriges removed
- New Hospital, Bank and Royal bank building added.
- 3 pagan religious buildings added.
- Pagan shaman, Emissaries, spies and assassins
- New unit stats (Units have more correct stats, higher morale. Battles are now much harder and fun!)
- Improved AI (Build better units, better empire building)
- New trade structure (The AI can't handle a trade network in the original game, giving the player a big advantage. Trade income has therefore been reduced and farm income increased by 30%)
- GA mode playable with all factions
- New GA and Prebattle shields for all factions
- Old game still playable, but only with the 9 new provinces.
- Auto-install (very easy install)
- English and Spanish language
- New music (large version only)
- MTW: VI needed


Here is the link for the new mod :evilgrin:


The small version:
http://www.3ddownloads.com/strategy-..._XL2_Light.exe

The big one:
http://www.3ddownloads.com/strategy-...W_XL2_Full.exe


More info, click here:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=31201

Enjoy!!! :charge:

Aah, forgot to put this in thew mods forum?

And are you open to critisism? Cos if not then don't read the following.

I'll try to be as constructive and helpful with this stuff about your mod, which I am sure you worked very hard on.

A lot of mods are designed to look good primarily and nothing else, especially gameplay is one thing that I dislike about many mods. HTW is the only one I have played so far that actually got it right, but on first glance yours did not (on first glance, I mean) This is because:

-I was playing as the Scots on early, who have a terrible economy and who I even got a massive rebellion which crushed me in the first year, even when I built peasants and watch towers and had very low taxes for.

-All *playable* factions should have reasonable economies as well as either a strong balance of fairly good provinces or at least a decent capital.

-In many mods I also find the problem of 'being swallowed whole' where one faction can easily destroy another on the first turn (eg. prussia and poland on NTW) Has this changed in yours?

-Factions need to have variety, at least *playable* factions do, to stop the game from being stale and yawnsome. This is why the Burgundians where not playable (even though they emerge in the late period, but that could have been changed) and why the Aragonese where only made playable in VI.

-I find that in many mods factions are not only strong, but also able to build their best units right away. In the original MTW, I liked how you had to work hard for particular units, e.g. Gothic Knights. But in say HTW, the Spartans/Lakedemoni can get their superb hoplites right at the start, and for not that high a cost either. NTW did quite well with this however.

-The only mod I ever generally play is the MedMod, simply because the gameplay is considered above all else, especially the graphics which are all clones. But I don't really care about graphic cloning, as long as the gameplay is good.

-I hope that if your mod doesn't already have all of these things, it should be put in. I like the new factions and provinces (which are what by the way?) more than the BKB ones. (BKB is still good)

Thank you for your time spent reading this, and I hope that you will take what I said (even slightly) into account.

Erm...................the links lead nowhere.

@Silver Rusher
I have done a lot of editting to help out the small factions. The beta was not that much balanced, but this have changed now. I like some of the things about medmod, specially the big stacks comming your way. The new polish provinces should help out the poles, but also the bigger buildup of units should make things harder. The first mod I made was mostly about graphics and more factions, my new mod is more about gameplay. The beta was a test of my ideas for new gameplay

@Spartiate
The server has properly crashed. If it dosn't get online tonight, then it can be downloaded at 3Ddownloads when Tosa uploads it. I will post the link as soon as it happens. :wall:

Wow, with all these new factions and provinces, AS WELL as specially tweaked gameplay. I think it's good that landbridges have been removed, as it was boring to just be able to move from corsica to sardinia, but now with that possibility of it being impossible due to blockades, it will add a lot to the strategic element. (hopefully) And mods with strategy considered are always worth downloading, maybe even buying.
Do the new units have new graphics? If so, can I see them?

Plus, what are the new provinces?

And, a little modding question, how on earth did you fit 9 more provinces and 14 factions? I thought that those were limited (factions: 32 and provinces: 99)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Silver Rusher

Wow, with all these new factions and provinces, AS WELL as specially tweaked gameplay. I think it's good that landbridges have been removed, as it was boring to just be able to move from corsica to sardinia, but now with that possibility of it being impossible due to blockades, it will add a lot to the strategic element. (hopefully) And mods with strategy considered are always worth downloading, maybe even buying.
Do the new units have new graphics? If so, can I see them?

Plus, what are the new provinces?

And, a little modding question, how on earth did you fit 9 more provinces and 14 factions? I thought that those were limited (factions: 32 and provinces: 99)

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The new provinces are Estonia, Scania, Mesophotamia (or something like that), Great poland, Lesser khazar, Murcia, Algarve, Levidia and Savoy.

The game is now set up in 3 independant campaigns, so that there allways will be the max amount of factions (30). The old setup wasted faction "spaces", because some factions are only in 1 or 2 periods. The hidden province Africa (Sahara) has been removed and 9 new ones have been added. Basicly Im trying to max all periods within MTW limits.

Sadly I don't have any pics on my HD, but I might add some later. The graphic changes I have made are only new shields and weapons. Most of the borring white shields have been replaced by new ones that has the faction colours (changes colour).

silver rusher, just wondering, are you a proffesional sycophant???? how can u say this:

-I hope that if your mod doesn't already have all of these things, it should be put in. I like the new factions and provinces (which are what by the way?) more than the BKB ones. (BKB is still good)

you are saying that u enjoy the new provinces, but u then contradict urself by asking what they are??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Duke Dick

silver rusher, just wondering, are you a proffesional sycophant???? how can u say this:

-I hope that if your mod doesn't already have all of these things, it should be put in. I like the new factions and provinces (which are what by the way?) more than the BKB ones. (BKB is still good)

you are saying that u enjoy the new provinces, but u then contradict urself by asking what they are??

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He might have just meant he likes how some of the bigger ones have been divided up or something, but can't remember the exact names of them. Not everyone has expert knowledge about middle ages political boundries.

Er this is for mtw or mtw/vi? ~:confused:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lonewarrior

Er this is for mtw or mtw/vi? ~:confused:

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It is for MTW VI with the 2.01 patch

as soon as i can d/l it and install you can be sure that i will do so. ~:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VikingHorde

It is for MTW VI with the 2.01 patch

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Excellent Thanks :2thumbsup:

it's excellent fun, play it. :duel:

I really liked some of the stat changes, fast Urban milita is defnitly an inetersting thing.
I could propably write some kind of unit guide to your mod, but I am too stupid to get the total unit change list out of the modded data, so you would have to e-mail it or pm it.


I planned it like this:
Example:
Unit: Lithunian infantry
Comparable too: Vikings/Byz Infantry
Stat line:

Other facts: Units of 100, pretty cheap, buildable from start.
Building reqs: Swordsmith + Level 1 armoursmith

Descritpion: Propably the best infantry of the east, they are even a match to the fearsome Byz Infantry. As a Lithunian player, these guys will be the mainstay of your army, I tend to use them in 33x3 formations as 50x2 gets a bit unwieldy. They can beat nearly anything if fighting in a wood, what they cannot beat can usually be swarmed by your numbers. In contrast to other Axemen, their good Leadership coupled with huge numbers offers them significantly better odds against Cavalry.
Like all mellee infantry, ridden bowmen of all kins can ruin their days, so be sure to support them against such foes.

Units to kill: weaker Sword types, Spears, Light Cavalry, Knight-like units und favorable conditions(e.g. in woods or if the Knights cannot get a charge bonus).

Units to watch out for: Ridden Archers, heavier heavy infantry (Varangarians, Chiv foot Knights etc.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mightypeon

I really liked some of the stat changes, fast Urban milita is defnitly an inetersting thing.
I could propably write some kind of unit guide to your mod, but I am too stupid to get the total unit change list out of the modded data, so you would have to e-mail it or pm it.


I planned it like this:
Example:
Unit: Lithunian infantry
Comparable too: Vikings/Byz Infantry
Stat line:

Other facts: Units of 100, pretty cheap, buildable from start.
Building reqs: Swordsmith + Level 1 armoursmith

Descritpion: Propably the best infantry of the east, they are even a match to the fearsome Byz Infantry. As a Lithunian player, these guys will be the mainstay of your army, I tend to use them in 33x3 formations as 50x2 gets a bit unwieldy. They can beat nearly anything if fighting in a wood, what they cannot beat can usually be swarmed by your numbers. In contrast to other Axemen, their good Leadership coupled with huge numbers offers them significantly better odds against Cavalry.
Like all mellee infantry, ridden bowmen of all kins can ruin their days, so be sure to support them against such foes.

Units to kill: weaker Sword types, Spears, Light Cavalry, Knight-like units und favorable conditions(e.g. in woods or if the Knights cannot get a charge bonus).

Units to watch out for: Ridden Archers, heavier heavy infantry (Varangarians, Chiv foot Knights etc.)

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A unit guide could be great. There is an exel file the root of the MTW folder (I think it's called xl_stats or something like that) that has info on unit stats. I will try to find the rest of the data not included in the file.


The mod is now moved to 3D downloads, the links on the top has been updated.

~:cheers:

Ok, I am waiting for it,

I just installed the new version of XL. Afwul lot of effort has gone into the mod and it shows. Good work! ~:cool:

I was wondering what would be the most challenging faction to play in the XL? I picked Serbs because they are in the middle of map and have only one province. However, their special sword units seems to make my life too easy. What do you think is the most challenging faction?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cruelsader

I just installed the new version of XL. Afwul lot of effort has gone into the mod and it shows. Good work! ~:cool:

I was wondering what would be the most challenging faction to play in the XL? I picked Serbs because they are in the middle of map and have only one province. However, their special sword units seems to make my life too easy. What do you think is the most challenging faction?

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Thanks ~:) I think the Armenians or scots are the hardest factions, maybe also the Lithuanians becase of the lack of good heavy cav (just like in history). The serb swordmen have about the same strength as verstern swordmen, but they also have a billmen kind of unit.

Well, the Lithunians certainly arent:P
Ask my Lithunain infanrty commander who is currently on garrison duty in Egypt, at 1160:p
The Lith infantry is simply amazing...

I would say Volgo Bulgarians in high, bascailly you got some ok Cav and the horde will be on your toes in 15 years.
I would say that Scotland is a bit easier than Armeina, storming engalnd is not that difficult, you got some ins for a reason.
In addtion, the English King start in France, so you will have free riegn for a while.
Armenia hmm...
I did not play with them, but their positon is certainly not favoruable.

Scots did not seem to be difficult. You are right about their cavalry, of course, but their position on the strat map is very good, their special spear unit is great and highlanders come very cheap. I conquered all English provinces on the island in 6 years, then built a navy and conquered Ireland. At that point I decided to quit the campaign because it seemed simply question of time when I would win. Sure, several AI factions had ships but I was building my navy up fast and soon they would not really had chance to invade British Islands. Once my homelands are secure and cranking out troops... no chance for the poor AI.

I picked Bohemians instead because I noticed that they got killed very early in all XL games I had started so far. They are indeed quite difficult! I built my army as fast as I could but very soon reached the point where I could not upkeep them. So, I decided to attack Germany who was strongest by the number of armies but who was fighting many of his neighbours. For the first 20 years or so I could only raid occasionally (hoping to get a province without a siege) but most of the time I defended Bohemia and survived only thanks to ransom money. Eventually, Germany's armies diminished (the usual kill+capture ratio was 1:12 in my favour and Germany was fighting other factions too) and I started serious offensive. In 20 years I have conquered most of what used to be Germany and Italy. Germans are doomed but I could still lose because my forces are spread thin and all my neighbours have big stacks on the border. They are my allies but .... you know. ~;)

In any case, the mod is very interesting! Thanks! :2thumbsup:

I have not tryed any of the factions my self, only used the -ian mode to balance the mod. It was only a gez :juggle2:
High period is properly more fun, because most factions are more developed. Even though the AI has a new setup, it still takes time for them to build up. Early expansion makes the game easier, but the game will get harder once the other factions gets up and running. Right now im playing as the byz in high period and there are stacks on all borders in 1221 (allies, but for how long). I only have one stack to defend all borders, but got lots of ships to move it around. Asia minor, constantinopel and greece is mine and im building lots of troops. I just hope I can build enogth in time :duel:

If anyone have found bugs or things that needs to be corrected, please let me know. I will put it all into a patch.
About making things harder, I have just herd at the .com that using "nuttermode" with the mod makes campaings insane. Sounds cool, haven't tryed it though.

~:cheers:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VikingHorde

If anyone have found bugs or things that needs to be corrected, please let me know. I will put it all into a patch.
About making things harder, I have just herd at the .com that using "nuttermode" with the mod makes campaings insane. Sounds cool, haven't tryed it though.

~:cheers:

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ummm whats nuttermode? btw found no bugs so far.

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Originally Posted by Armchair Athlete

ummm whats nuttermode? btw found no bugs so far.

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I think it's some kind of code that you use just like cheat codes. I think it is written like this ".nutter." without the " ingame.

ahh yes now I remember, I think it is the cheat where everything is built in one turn? Thanks.

seems cool. I need to find time to test that.....

Just a question, as I'm not sure to have understood : the new faction are IN ADDITION to the old ones, or do replace them???

Quote:

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Originally Posted by el_slapper

seems cool. I need to find time to test that.....

Just a question, as I'm not sure to have understood : the new faction are IN ADDITION to the old ones, or do replace them???

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The Italians are replaced by the Venetians and Genoans. The swiss have been replaced by another faction, but all the rest of the old factions are there. :charge:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VikingHorde

The Italians are replaced by the Venetians and Genoans. The swiss have been replaced by another faction, but all the rest of the old factions are there. :charge:

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impressive. Sure I will test that this weekend(not possible at work)

Sounds good, Ive been planning to try to do a mod to add the Irish into the game so this should save me the tears and frustration!

When you say its an addon and you can still play the old mode, does this mean that when choosing your campaighn you have 7 options? I ask because more than one person plays the game on my pc and some of them may not appreciate a harder ai.

Yes, you will have 7 options. The campaigns with harder AI are marked with a XL (Early XL, High XL and Late XL). There is one change to the old campaings and that is the 9 extra provinces. The AI, units, factions ect. are the same. The change to the old game was done to make the mod more solid, because the mod and game would then share the same map.

~:cheers:

Sounds good, consider it installed and thoroughly enjoyed!

One question though... Is there a unit guide out there for this? It is kinda confusing to not know what faction gets what units and what buildings are needed! :dizzy2: If not, then I'll just figure it out on my own! Thanks! :beam:

There's no unit guide for XL (unfortunately).

Also, for future reference gimli: Most forums (including the Org) frown on "necro-posting", whereby you resurrect a very old thread like this one. I realize you probably did so only to avoid starting a duplicate thread -- which is commendable -- but in this case it's okay to just start a new thread to ask the question. ~:)

Too bad that there isn't one... thanks for the heads up, I didn't know that but I'll keep it in mind! :2thumbsup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gimli213

One question though... Is there a unit guide out there for this? It is kinda confusing to not know what faction gets what units and what buildings are needed! :dizzy2: If not, then I'll just figure it out on my own! Thanks! :beam:

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It's all about the joy of discovery. :2thumbsup:

Actually, there are readme files in both word and excel format, so one can see what requirements the various units have, including provinces for province restricted ones. As to what faction gets to build what units, you are on your own.

P.S. When I saw this topic my first thought was that VikingHorde will do yet another version of the XL mod. Sigh.

Ooh... I didn't get so far last time I installed XL mod (got annoyed that the Scots couldn't crusade, then reinstalled everything to try to fix some crash issues). Will probably reinstall again very soon though.

Could anybody spoil the surprise and tell me about Welsh Longbowmen (as opposed to just "Longbowmen")? Is it that they are different to normal Longbowmen, or...? Can only certain factions have them? (I don't think there is a Welsh faction to make use of them, so...)

You get the valor upgrade and they're avaliable to everyone. Longbows are only for the English. I loved my Armenian/Welsh Longbowmen.

Brilliant, thanks - that sounds fair for the other factions.

Are they also limited to just that region, by any chance? (It would sound reasonable and I think it would play well, too.)

I have played the XL mod a couple of times and I love it, Not noticed any bugs by the way, I have however decided to make the game in my eyes a little more interesting, by doing some modding of my own. I have reduced the starting amount of money for all factions, reduced europe to mainly all rebel lands and leaving only one province per faction I have also given the Rebels nice big armies to slow the AI in its tracks and also myself :-) I have also reduced all provinces to Farming level 2 and Motte and bailey fort as a starting tech level I have left certain provinces and evenly spaced across the campaign map with a medium level of tech and all of them rebel held with large well teched garrsisons. I have also increased the building time for castles of all levels except the fort which is now only 1 year and the rest takes longer. and Also I have started my campiagn from 401 with the high era to start at 1087 and the late at 1303.... this seems to vary the AI quite nicely in terms of expansion and even makes the game in my mind harder... Oh one more thing I have also made it so you need a ship to cross the sea oF mamaras between constantinople and Nicea. This seems seems to keep a leash on the byzantines expansion as they are the only faction I have left with a slight tech advantage from the start and they still have the islands with constantinople (this is the only teched province of the Byz), greece and bulgaria as I thought It would be a little more historicaly correct.

but reagrdless I think that XL is a sweet mod so thank you Vikinghorde for all the effort you have obviously put into this

I've never used mods before so I just have a few questions.

I looked at the FAQ here and the readme. As I understand I am supposed to install it, I did that but when I loaded the game nothing happened. It says in the FAQ to copy the files into the MTW folder. am I supposed to replace or simply add them?

Hi General-Winter (and welcome back BTW),
May I ask if you have Gold editon?

Good to be back, Omanes school and swords tends to take ones time out for other things.

Yea, I got Gold Edition.

Ah, I have Gold Edition too, and I found the install a little bit problematic. For some strange reason Gold Edition installs the game, by default, in a different location.

To install it on Gold Edition you need to open up the installer and follow all the instructions until you get to the part where it asks you where you wish to install XL to. You have to change the entry to "C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Medieval - Total War - Gold Edition". Then press go, and let the installer work it's magic. Afterwards, and after installing the patch, you can simply play away!

Cool!

Thanks Omanes

Hey just a quik question:

Are the Swabian Swordsmen still in the XL mod, and if so how can I get them?

I've tried looking around at the unit guides, but couldn't find anything.

The Swabians are still in the XL mod and they require the same things like in the unmodded MTW. Which is a swordsmith's workshop in the province of Swabia. Remember that this unit can only be trained in Swabia and only during the early period.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VikingHorde

Thanks ~:) Lithuanians becase of the lack of good heavy cav (just like in history). .

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In the beginning of my game as the Volga Bulgars (before I stomped them good).. The lithuanians had 6 provs, (Baltic states, Novro, Smolensk, etc)...

I hit them with heavy Cav... not the Bulgarian Royal Cav, since I wanted Horse archers, made sure I had 2 good generals (4/5 star) and I pounded them good

I loved it that Kiev (my ally) helped out and sent in a few stacks

Lithuania; I cant say is the hardest, since Lithuania took out Novrogrod just as I struck

I would think Armenia has that dubious title

Welcome to the Org, doctrellor. ~:wave:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by doctrellor

Lithuania; I cant say is the hardest, since Lithuania took out Novrogrod just as I struck

I would think Armenia has that dubious title

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I suspect most XL players would agree with you. With the possible exception of the Irish, the Armenians are probably the most difficult faction to play, especially in the Early period. The two times I played them, I got squished in no time flat -- being stuck in between the Byz, Eggies, & Seljuks isn't a very comfortable position. :sweatdrop:

I think that the Armenians in High are really easy! You bribe off Greece and/or Constantinople and then you have tons of money and access to Latin Auxillaries (plus an outlet from the Muslims into "friendly" Orthodox turf)! They also get the non-galley ships set which is nice... Their cavalry set is hard to beat! :knight:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Omanes Alexandrapolites

Ah, I have Gold Edition too, and I found the install a little bit problematic. For some strange reason Gold Edition installs the game, by default, in a different location.

To install it on Gold Edition you need to open up the installer and follow all the instructions until you get to the part where it asks you where you wish to install XL to. You have to change the entry to "C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Medieval - Total War - Gold Edition". Then press go, and let the installer work it's magic. Afterwards, and after installing the patch, you can simply play away!

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i can't thank you enough for posting this. i've tried and tried and tried to get the Tyberius patch to install on my computer but never had any luck...until i saw your post tonight. i've always been able to get XL installed with no problems but i could tell by some screenshots that i've seen in other threads that i didn't have the Tyberius patch installed. changing the file directory worked like a charm. thanks again.

when u download it do u have to save the file or run it?? cos i ran it the first time it took a long time downloading then it just made a file on my computer medival total war 3.0 XL and in that file was "uninstal medival total war 3.0 XL only. there was no game :S:embarassed::help::help::help::help:

First off, get the latest version of the mod from here: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=31201

Then save the mod file somewhere on your computer, your desktop for example. Then, when the download has finished, run it and go through the install instructions.

I love this mod , the only thing that bothers me a little is the low survivability of most of the factions , the arabs seem to steamroll everyone in the early era .

Norwegians are EASY , too .

Satyros