Archer Modding

[Servius]

I don't like how big archer units are. In most situations, in order for all of them to fire on a target, they can't be packed tigher than two lines deep. That makes for very long thin formations which take forever to turn and move around. But I like the size of the other units, so I don't want to change the default sizes.

Thus, I want to cut archer units in half but keep them as effective as before. I play on default, so I'm talking about cutting 60 archers down to 30. My question is, what variables, other than default unit size, should I change?

For the variables that depend on the number of men in a unit, I'll need to double those, but others may be variables linked to the unit itself, regardless of the number of men in it. Does anyone have any insight?

[Quokka]

A unit of 30 archers isn't going to be as effective as one of 60. The rows beyond 2 suffer some penalty but aren't totally ineffective, why not just take the penalty and leave them in 3 or 4 rows? Some of the more advanced Archers are going to become expensive, ie Master Bowyer + Military Academy + Swordsmiths Guild + 175 Fl for 30 Janissary Infantry. Is it going to be worthwhile?

A 30 man Archer unit is going to have serious troubles, it will be outnumbered by almost every other unit, except Naptha Throwers and Hashishin. It is going to have serious morale problems when the enemy is near as it can be outnumbered locally by just about any other unit.

That being said, if you do cut them down to 30 then just change the preferred # of rows down to 2 [FORMATIONS_PREFERRED_NUM_ROWS( 2 )], then they will appear in battle in the formation you like. Half the cost, the upkeep will halve by itself. You might want to change the General Candidature? all to DISCOURAGED. Ammo is per man so doesn't need changing.... Thats it I think.


change
Cost
# of Men
General Candidature?
Preferred # of Rows

[CBR]

You can use more than 2 ranks. Its a question of terrain too. And even if not all archers are firing the unit will just shoot for longer so you will get same overall result, it just takes longer.

Of course that wont help you if the enemy is charging you but if its a a defending unit that lets you shoot it to pieces it should work fine.

But if you really want to reduce their sizes to 30 and keep same killing power as a 60 men unit then you can either give them twice the ammo (56) or increase the missile lethality.

Ammo for each unittype is located in CRUSADERS_UNIT_PROD11.TXT and lethality is in PROJECTILESTATS.TXT. Both files are in the main folder. If you want to edit ammo for units in Viking campaign you use the VIKINGS_UNIT_PROD.TXT


The GnomeEditor is a nice tool for editing such things. Can be downloaded

here

Just remember to take backups of the files you edit.


CBR

[Servius]

Wait, so archer ammo is determined on an individual basis, so if half the third line isn't firing those arrows aren't wasted?

See, I used to never use archers when attacking, only when defending. And when I defended, I just created a semi-circular bunker in a corner or along a zone wall and packed those archers inside the spear wall, sometimes as deep as 5 rows, along with my cavalry and swords and HQ unit. But then I read in a guide that the best way to use archers in in 2 line, or 3 if you're on a hillside, so that they all have a clear LOS.

Here's a question: If the first two rows of archers fire off all their arrows, but the third hasn't fired any, once the first and second rows are out will they move back to the third row and move the third row guys, who still have ammo left, up to the front?

and another modding question...

I'm making the Papacy a playable faction. I have copied Hosp. FK, Knights Hosp., and Swiss Halberdiers and renamed them to Foot Knights of the Holy See, Knights of the Holy See, and Vatican Guard respectively. So far I have found every file I needed to copy and rename, save one.

In the unit build review panel, where you click on which units you want to build, you can right-click on each unit icon and a page will open to the right saying some historical info about the unit, and them some stats in text form like Excellent Attack and whatnot. I am looking for the file that has this information, because my new units have kept the lower half that had the stats, but the upper half with the historical tidbit is blank.

Also, where is the file where the unit's name is written? Like, Nubian Spearmen are called NegroSpearmen in the Unit_Prod file, but the game knows to show them as Nubian Spearmen in the interface. Where is the file that tells the game to display their name as "Nubian Spearmen"?

[CBR]

Yes the best way is to use them in 2 lines for maximum firepower and accuracy but can still be used in deeper formation. Normally I have them in 3-4 depending on how many.

Basically an archer unit have 28 x 60 = 1680 arrows. Doesnt matter how many arrows an invidual archer have shot as the arrows are just subtracted from the units total arrows. The first 2 rows will keep shooting even if they have shot 28 arrows.

Unit names can be found in the file NAMES.TXT located in the folder Loc/Eng. DESCRIPTIONS.TXT in same folder might be thing you want for your other question but Im not an expert on that one :)


CBR

[Servius]

bingo, thanks

[solypsist]

moved to dungeon

[ShadesWolf]

Hi Servius1234,

My suggestion would be to do some testing in custom battles.

Try differnt formations again the AI, who will usually select the correct formation.

I generally use wedge as it gives a good firepower advantage however it uses up a lot of arrows. But it is good for a good concentration of arrows at the enemy.....