KH Phalangitai available? SPQR already beaten - if dependent from some March of Time

[vollorix]

BG = bodyguards. Some factions get different, though not allways better, bodyguard units after the March of Time ( Pontos = worth: "ap" sword instead of previous cool mace - less lethality; Armenia = better - armoured Kataphrakts; etc. ).
If you want to grant a faction a settlement you should offer them some money, say 2k mnai, otherwise they´d reject... You could also install "Forced diplomacy" mod, then AI will most likely accept any treaty which is not contradicting with their vital interests, or is impossible for them to fulfill.

[Kleitos]

thanks vollorix - and reg. offering provinces i´ll try this next time when this option seems to be an interesting one.

but in this campaign i have to find out which kind of mod is to be done (without SPQR existing) respectively find someone who knows what in "EDB"? is to be done for that.

[Paltmull]

'EDB' is short for 'export_descr_buildings', which is a text file that can be found in your 'Rome Total War\EB\Data' folder. It is the file that tells what all buildings do, including which units you can recruit from which Barracks buildings, and what the requirements for those units are. Now, I have never edited the marian reforms requirement for any unit, but from reading Cute Wolf's post I think this is the way to go (I don't know how good you are with computers so I'll make it very basic ):

- First, make a copy of the EDB file, and put it someplace else.
- Open the EDB file (the actual one, not the copy (duh)) with a text editing tool, such as Notepad++ (the default windows tool works, but isn't very good and there's a major risk that you'll do something wrong)
- Using search (ctrl+F mostly), find all entries that begin with 'recruit "hellenistic infantry koinon phalangitai"' and delete the condition that says 'and marian_reforms'.
- Save and exit.

[Kleitos]

thank you very much Paltmull - yea you guessed it right, im total illiterate with computers (i mean in changing something in the intestines of it or in software) you described it unmistakable.

found there 13 entries (guess for the 13 provinces where the unit can be trained) and deleted in all the condition - there is an "y8" or "n8" before that condition (left them as they are) - only deleted the "and marian_reforms" and to be sure the space before it.

just tried it out - and it works! (and with backup of the original - guess when i start a new campaign i have to replace the edited edb with the original one again?.)

curiously i can train the Phalangitai only in Athenai - have level 4 or 5 factional MIC also in Demetrias, Ambarkia but no entry for the Pikemen.?

if i want to have the changings also for the other factions (late BG or whatever) like if the march of time took place anyway, so the AI factions also get their benefits, it will take some more modding i guess?

[Paltmull]

No problem, glad it worked :)

That's right, you shouldn't delete anything else than "and marian_reforms". The other things are other requirements, so don't mess with those.

Anyway, I just checked, and there are actually 26 entries. The other 13 are further down in the EDB. I guess that you have only altered the avaliability for a certain building level at the moment. So that probably explains why you can only recruit the Koinon phalangites in Athenai.

Unfortunately, I don't know how to change the bodyguard thing, so someone else is going to have to explain that. If you want to remove the march of time requirement for the Macedonian Reformed Phalanx, just look for the 'recruit "hellenistic infantry hysteroi pezhetairoi"' entries and do the same thing as you did for the KH phalanx.

And, yes, if you want to change things to the way they were before, you should replace the edited EDB with the backup copy. The other reason for making a backup is to avoid a lot of trouble if something would go wrong.

EDIT: Also, if you want to check the recruitment zones for certain units, I recommend using the 'Recruitment Viewer'. You got the option to install it when you installed EB. If didn't install it, you can find it here. The tool is a bit outdated so it might not be 100% correct, but it works most of the time.

[Kleitos]

13 more - ok thanks, i´ll try it with them too. ..good to know such things and mod a little around in case of need. ..it´s not so urgent with the changing of the BG´s for the other factions.

meanwhile my campaign has come to a point where i´m already f... drownin´ in money - with week Carthaginians in the west and the possibility to train Phalangitai as well ..well from now on it would be more an obligatory act.

decided to make a leap back in time and try a different, more risky strategy (with strong fragmented provinces) - gettin´ Massalia, and Syrakousai before the romans, takin´ care of the epeirots after and try to keep peace with Rome. so the march of time will hopefully take place for all factions, and first of all: to get these Massaliotai Hoplitai earlier not when the campaign is already done.
(with a spy in capua to boost their population a little, from time to time).

the rec. viewer - yes, a nice tool - together with that http://europabarbarorum.heimstatt.net/index.php site very useful.

but i know now what to do in such case for next (other) campaigns.

much obliged,
Kleitos