A Little Help Please

[ReluctantSamurai]

Could someone direct me to a discussion of how to remove ports from a factions building tree?

My specific goals are this (if they are even possible):

Disable the SPQR ability to produce fleets. IMHO, it's more than enough that the other three Roman factions spam fleets at a prodigious rate without adding Senate fleets.......

Remove the ports in the Red Sea and Caspian Sea so the Parthians and Egyptians stop spamming useless fleets that do nothing but become a drain on their economy.

As a side note....how does one go about removing Pharaohs Bowmen & Pharaohs Guards from Eggie troop availability? They are overpowered as it is and some balance with the Selkies in the ME is in order, IMHO.......

[jcd1993]

I can help with the ports business.

What you will have to do is open up "RTW/Data/world/maps/base/map_regions.tga" in an image editor program that can handle TARGA files, such as PhotoShop or the GIMP, (which I currently use, due to it being free).

You will notice that it looks identical to the ingame map, except for the vivid colours designating different territories (the compliation of RGB that makes up each region is unique, i.e you won't find R 23 G 109 B 55 twice due to how settlements are built up in the regions, but that is relative to a more complicated aspect and unrelated to this so I will leave it for now). If you take a closer look at individual territories you will notice that that in every region there is a black pixel (which is where the settlement is located) and in most regions there is a white pixel (which represents the port). To remove the port you simply have to use a colour selector tool, then click the territory containing the port you wish to remove so that you have its colour-ID (for example we will use RGB values of R 1 G 1 B 1 for Port A). You then simply have to replace the white pixel that represents the port with the colour of its "mother-region", so you end up with an entire region of R 1 G 1 B 1 with a settlement shown by R 0 G 0 B 0 (black dot), and NO WHITE DOT (R 255 G 255 B 255) on the border between the region and the sea.
Finally after you have edited the regions (I presume at least four?) you simply have to delete the file "RTW/Data/world/maps/base/map.rwm" (This has to happen, I'm not sure entirely why, all I know is that the campaign won't run if it isn't deleted. The game creates a new map.rwm file that is based upon the file you have changed when starting a new campaign, you will notice a delay once you have selected your faction and clicked continue the first time after deleting map.rwm.)

Its a strange concept I know, especially with the pixel editing. Once you get used to it you can create entirely new regions to add a greater tactical edge to the campaign.

I'm not sure how exact this help will be as I am completely shattered at the time of writing, I'm not entirely sure I even answered the question, but if I did, good luck :)

[Aradan]

Firts of all, back up any files before you change them.

Disable the SPQR ability to produce fleets. IMHO, it's more than enough that the other three Roman factions spam fleets at a prodigious rate without adding Senate fleets.......

Go to export_descr_buildings.txt, and fine the "port_buildings" tree, and make the changes highlighted in bold (ie replace "roman", that allows recruitment for all roman factions, with the names of the 3 specific factions):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

building port_buildings
{
    levels port shipwright dockyard 
    {
        port requires factions { barbarian, carthaginian, eastern, parthia, egyptian, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {
                recruit "naval boats"  0  requires factions { barbarian, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { carthaginian, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { eastern, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { egyptian, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { greek, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { romans_julii, romans_scipii, romans_brutii, }
                trade_fleet 1 ;trade_base_income_bonus bonus 1
            }
            construction  2 
            cost  800 
            settlement_min large_town
            upgrades
            {
                shipwright
            }
        }
        shipwright requires factions { barbarian, carthage, eastern, parthia, egyptian, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {
                recruit "naval boats"  0  requires factions { barbarian, } 
                recruit "naval large boats"  0  requires factions { barbarian, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { carthaginian, } 
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { carthaginian, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { eastern, } 
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { eastern, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { egyptian, } 
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { egyptian, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { greek, } 
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { greek, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { romans_julii, romans_scipii, romans_brutii, }
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { romans_julii, romans_scipii, romans_brutii, }
                trade_fleet 2 ;trade_base_income_bonus bonus 2
            }
            construction  3 
            cost  1600 
            settlement_min city
            upgrades
            {
                dockyard
            }
        }
        dockyard requires factions { carthage, eastern, parthia, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {
                recruit "naval boats"  0  requires factions { barbarian, } 
                recruit "naval large boats"  0  requires factions { barbarian, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { carthaginian, } 
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { carthaginian, } 
                recruit "naval quinquiremes"  0  requires factions { carthaginian, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { eastern, } 
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { eastern, } 
                recruit "naval quinquiremes"  0  requires factions { eastern, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { egyptian, } 
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { egyptian, } 
                recruit "naval quinquiremes"  0  requires factions { egyptian, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { greek, } 
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { greek, } 
                recruit "naval quinquiremes"  0  requires factions { greek, } 
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { romans_julii, romans_scipii, romans_brutii, }
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { romans_julii, romans_scipii, romans_brutii, }
                recruit "naval quinquiremes"  0  requires factions { romans_julii, romans_scipii, romans_brutii, }
                trade_fleet 3 ;trade_base_income_bonus bonus 2
            }
            construction  5 
            cost  3200 
            settlement_min large_city
            upgrades
            {
            }
        }
    }
    plugins 
    {
    }
}

Remove the ports in the Red Sea and Caspian Sea so the Parthians and Egyptians stop spamming useless fleets that do nothing but become a drain on their economy.

A different (slightly more complicated) approach, that will allow you to keep the ports, but just disable ships being trained there:

Go to world/maps/base/descr_regions.txt, and find the entries for the regions: Tribus_Alanni, Tribus_Sakae, Atropatene, Nabataea, Sinai, Middle_Egypt, Thebais. The sixth line of each entry is the resources section for the region. Add "no_ship" to the end of those regions' entries, so that they look like this:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Atropatene
	Phraaspa
	parthia
	Medes
	61 239 246
	slaves, no_ship
	5
	4

When you're done, save the file, exit and delete the map.rwm file you'll see in your base' folder.

Now go to export_descr_buildings. Near the top there's a line that starts with "hidden_resources". At the end of this line add the hidden resource you just introduced, no_ship, so that the line looks like this:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

hidden_resources sparta rome italy no_ship

Then, go to the "port_buildings" tree again, and at the end of the every line that allows ship recruitment add "and not hidden_resource no_ship", so that your recruitment lines look like this:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

building port_buildings
{
    levels port shipwright dockyard 
    {
        port requires factions { barbarian, carthaginian, eastern, parthia, egyptian, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {
                recruit "naval boats"  0  requires factions { barbarian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { carthaginian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { eastern, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { egyptian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { greek, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { romans_julii, romans_scipii, romans_brutii, } and not hidden_resource no_ship
                trade_fleet 1 ;trade_base_income_bonus bonus 1
            }
            construction  2 
            cost  800 
            settlement_min large_town
            upgrades
            {
                shipwright
            }
        }
        shipwright requires factions { barbarian, carthage, eastern, parthia, egyptian, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {
                recruit "naval boats"  0  requires factions { barbarian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval large boats"  0  requires factions { barbarian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { carthaginian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { carthaginian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { eastern, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { eastern, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { egyptian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { egyptian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { greek, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { greek, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { romans_julii, romans_scipii, romans_brutii, } and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { romans_julii, romans_scipii, romans_brutii, } and not hidden_resource no_ship
                trade_fleet 2 ;trade_base_income_bonus bonus 2
            }
            construction  3 
            cost  1600 
            settlement_min city
            upgrades
            {
                dockyard
            }
        }
        dockyard requires factions { carthage, eastern, parthia, greek, roman, } 
        {
            capability
            {
                recruit "naval boats"  0  requires factions { barbarian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval large boats"  0  requires factions { barbarian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { carthaginian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { carthaginian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval quinquiremes"  0  requires factions { carthaginian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { eastern, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { eastern, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval quinquiremes"  0  requires factions { eastern, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { egyptian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { egyptian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval quinquiremes"  0  requires factions { egyptian, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { greek, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { greek, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval quinquiremes"  0  requires factions { greek, }  and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval biremes"  0  requires factions { romans_julii, romans_scipii, romans_brutii, } and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval triremes"  0  requires factions { romans_julii, romans_scipii, romans_brutii, } and not hidden_resource no_ship
                recruit "naval quinquiremes"  0  requires factions { romans_julii, romans_scipii, romans_brutii, } and not hidden_resource no_ship
                trade_fleet 3 ;trade_base_income_bonus bonus 2
            }
            construction  5 
            cost  3200 
            settlement_min large_city
            upgrades
            {
            }
        }
    }
    plugins 
    {
    }
}

As a side note....how does one go about removing Pharaohs Bowmen & Pharaohs Guards from Eggie troop availability? They are overpowered as it is and some balance with the Selkies in the ME is in order, IMHO.......

Again, export_descr_buildings.txt, go to the barracks building tree and find the recruitment lines for "egyptian elite guards" and outcomment those lines by adding a semicolon at their front, like this:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

                recruit "egyptian infantry"  0  requires factions { egyptian, } 
                ;recruit "egyptian elite guards"  0  requires factions { egyptian, } 
                recruit "greek hoplite militia"  0  requires factions { greek, }

Do that for all barracks levels where the unit is available.
Then go to the "missiles" building tree and do the same for "egyptian archer elite".

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

                recruit "egyptian archer"  0  requires factions { egyptian, } 
                ;recruit "egyptian archer elite"  0  requires factions { egyptian, } 
                recruit "egyptian onager"  0  requires factions { egyptian, }

That's it, save, exit, and enjoy.

[ReluctantSamurai]

Thank You, gentlemen.....I will try both methods for port removal/inactivate. The build ship/inactivate might be more fair as it still allows income from port trading while disabling the ability to build ships.

The unit removal was as I suspected but I wanted to be sure before altering files.

Again, many thanx.........

[gollum]

You may also want to delete from the campaign starting positions the goldmine the Senate has in Rome. It is partly responsible for the fleet spamming. It also helps if you reduce the population of all Roman towns at the beginning of the game.

[ReluctantSamurai]

gollum...I'm just looking for a bit more realism and balance. It makes sense that the Senate might have a "Royal Guard" so to speak (whether they had one historically or not), but after watching fleet battles for a couple of campaigns with fow disabled, the SPQR fleets (which almost invariably get a Seamaster) simply strangle factions like the Greek Cities and Carthage. I can't see any reason why they should get them so I'm going to try eliminating their capacity to build and see how that goes.....

I was also considering how to make Carthage more of a factor. I've played my last two campaigns with fow off so I could see how the AI handles all the factions. I was not surprised by how badly Carthage was done. In the last camp it went something like this:

"Garrison general in Syracuse moves most of his hoplites outside the city. The Romans seige the following turn. Hanno moves to engage the hoplites (no alliance with the Scipii) and destroys them. Hanno wanders around for several more turns before embarking on a single bireme fleet which is promptly sunk by the Scipii. Romans then invade Africa seiging and capturing Thapsus in short order. The Carthage garrison general then embarks a major portion of Carthage' garrison into a single bireme fleet which is promptly sunk by the Scipii."

Anyone who was just playing the game for the first time could have done better.....Africa was simply handed to the Scipii on a silver platter.

I've thought of beefing up the outpost at Caralis and giving it wooden walls so the Julii have to fight for it instead of landing and rolling it over the same turn, and making several other adjustments, but suggestions are welcome.

[gollum]

For Carthage usually i do the following:
Make Iberian infantry 60 men unit.
Replace Militia with Iberian infantry and drop all infantry units one tier down, that is:
1. Ib. Infantry
2. Libyan Spearmen
3. Poeni Infantry
4. Sacred band (taken out from Baal)

Also i (belive it or not) eliminate the Elephant units completely (as the AI favors them and does not build normal infanrty units, only that they can be defeated by the flame arrows easy peasy by the player), as well as the wardogs, camels, gladiators, arcani and warpigs, siege engines, chariots (other than british and egyptian general chariots which i leave in but nerfed considerably) and all archers/slingers other than horse archers. This makes carthage really worthwhile as they build up solid armies of infantry/cavalry. The disadvantage of the AI in handlins the archer units is also eliminated and battles are far more bloody affairs in which the AI can prove a semi-worthy opponent.

Whatever you do, reduce the speed by messing with the Terrain Movement Modifiers: all mods do so, a good average value for long/short grass is around 0.75 to 0.8 - you can give values to the others according to that, but never drop below 0.5, as the fatigue rates are just too high then.

Good luck and enjoy modding and playing your mod.