Medieval: Total War XL

[VikingHorde]

This may have been asked before but I haven't found it. I'm currently playing the papacy in early but it seems that I'm unable to build a chapterhouse in order to start crusades eventhough crusades are part of my GA goals.

Thanks in advance

I will write it down in my "what to do" text file, so that it can be corrected in the update. I will properly release a new mod version, so that people can download the mod without needing the update.

@Aenlic
It's nice to get some help, because the mod needs some final ajustment. It will properly be the final update, so I want as many things corrected and the help makes it a lot easyer

[bretwalda]

I don't know whether it has been mentioned or even implemented, but I think it would be nice to let all Catholic nations to be able to crusade. First, because all Catholic factions had (historically) crusade of some sort, second because we are changing history, thus any nation may be in a position to be a major pious and crusading faction. So please consider to allow chapter houses for all Catholic nations in your next release

[Pericles]

VikingHorde:

Here is a possible suggestion for you to include in your next update:

I have been playing as the Crusaders and I noticed that the stats for both the horse and foot versions of the Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights are the same respectively.

Here is my suggestion:

Make the Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights all cost the same, but give them some different stats. For example, the Templars could have a melee bonus; the Hospitallers could have a charge bonus; and the Teutonic Knights coud have an armour bonus, etc....

This would give the player some interesting choices - what should he buy and upkeep?

I would suggest giving them TWO DIFFERENT bonuses each.

I would also suggest doing the same thing for the foot versions of these knights.

Cheers!

[Pilsette]

Which files i have to edit to change the language into german? I think it is possible, isn't it?

[VikingHorde]

@bretwalda
I will consider adding crusades to all Catholic factions, but will need some feedback on it

@Pericles
It sounds cool enogth, it could add some extra flavor to the game

@Pilsette
You will need to translate all/most files in the loc\eng folder, but only the new stuff inside the files. If you do some copy and pasting of the new stuff (to your old german MTW files), then there will be a lot less work to do

[bretwalda]

@bretwalda
I will consider adding crusades to all Catholic factions, but will need some feedback on it

Point taken
Please give your feedback here!

[Pericles]

@bretwalda
I will consider adding crusades to all Catholic factions, but will need some feedback on it

Sounds good - it is a game and should be fun. :)

Second, many different nations sent troops on crusades, even though they were led by the French or English, etc. So, smaller crusades would be fun.

@Pericles
It sounds cool enogth, it could add some extra flavor to the game

cool - glad to hear it.

I edited the factions in my own game and it is a lot more fun. It makes the players have to decide between which to buy - makes for some nice choices.

The nice thing is, it's very easy and fast to do....

Cheers!

[Weebeast]

I've enabled crusades to all catholics since second week I got XL. Historically they could if they wanted to participate and had money. Since there's no such thing as "participate" in MTW - I can't donate troops by dropping down my men into ally marker (could've been fun and I would've prefered donation system than having my units messed up lol), so I gave crusade access to all catholics.

Anyway, of course in my games not all catholics crusaded often like french (due to behaviour probably) but it wasn't a bad thing. Well, at least whatever faction became a superpower at least could act like a superpower. Polish did send a crusade to my land (I was Byzantines). Yes, the "Pope has requested catholic factions to crusade against your faction" message did come up lol.

[Belisario]

Hi VikingHorde!

I haven't finished yet the work about the Castilian-Leonese because of I have been so busy that I had not free time lately. However, I hope to be on time for the new version of the mod.

[VikingHorde]

Hi VikingHorde!

I haven't finished yet the work about the Castilian-Leonese because of I have been so busy that I had not free time lately. However, I hope to be on time for the new version of the mod.

It's okay, I have not had much time for modding my self, but hope to get some more time soon. Work is taking up a lot of time right now, but good thing it doesn't stay that way too long . Im looking forword to the next stuff

[Martok]

Hey VH, I have a quick question for you. You didn't tinker around with the castle defenses at all, did you? I'm specifically curious if you altered the effectiveness of ballista towers in any way.

[VikingHorde]

I have made some changes to some projectile stats, but I can't remember if I have changed the balista. I know thougth that boild oil have been made more effective

[Martok]

Thank you kindly!

Now if I could just get MTW to run again, I could get back to playing....

[DukeofSerbia]

Hello VikingHorde.

I remoded points for GA which were wrong for some factions in early_xl and high_xl. Just look into files - Cumans have wrong in high_xl, Russians also, and some other factions.

I remoded Homelands for GA 33% and I will finish soon this.


Here is the map of Early_XL:




Here is the map of High_XL:




I think that maps are some 90% accurate.

[Justiciar]

Should England only have Normandy at the start of the Early Era? Their King at the beginning is William II, so I'm guessing that's the case.. meh. This mod still roxxorzoogles.

[VikingHorde]

@DukeofSerbia
Thanks for replying at the forum, because it's the best way of getting other peoples views on the changes. Some of my original changes to the map was made for balancing the factions. Factions like genoa and venice might get some problem being so small, but I could balance that.

[Belisario]

Hi VikingHorde!

Excuse me for my delay, I've had some minor problems with my pc. I've been working in the Castilian and Norwegian factions, and I hope finish this works soon. Looking up information for the Norwegian faction arouse a doubt in me; I read that the Scandinavian languages derived from a common ancestor, the Old Norse, used as written standard language during the Middle Ages (at least until the 13th century). My question is, should we use a list of Old Norse forenames and surnames in the XLMod? I suspect the current list of Danish names in the game is a listing of modernized Old Norse names (besides, it include a lot of names in its English form).

[Martok]

Even if the proposed map for the Early area is more historically accurate, I would prefer to keep it the way it is currently, in the interests of game balance. With the proposed changes, Venice and Genoa would be way too small (heck, probably even the Fatmids/Egyptians would be somewhat underpowered). On the flip side, letting the Turks start with the Holy Land is way too much. I could *maybe* see the Turks starting with Antioch, but even that could seriously upset the balance.

Belisario: Good question about the Scandanavian names. I don't know if Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish were sufficiently evolved at that point to be considered separate languages or not. Good thing VH is actually from Denmark, and that he probably is more familiar with the subject than I am.

[Aenlic]

I've been playin a lot of XL lately. I have a few suggestions to improve game balance, if such changes are in your plans, Viking Horde.

Economy. Some of the factions are seriously underpowered economically in the Early Era game and could use a little adjustment. In comparison to the richer factions, for example. the Fatimids in the Early Era, from the beginning of the game the faction can actually produce more florins than can be spent, even building everything possible in every province, from troops to buildings. This condition exists for some other factions, as well, such as the Byzantines, once a few farms are built. It is most obvious with the Fatimids, however. While not always historically accurate, a few changes might help.

By comparison, the northeastern factions are severely handicapped. Even owning every province from Moldavia east to Khazar and north to Finland, everything north and east of there, no matter which of the factions gains all that territory - Novgorod, Volga Bulgar, Kievan, Lithuanian, etc. - ends up losing money, even concentrating on building farms for income and limiting troops. This handicaps the AI when playing these factions. Playing these factions is very difficult economically; so it must be near impossible for the AI. Once the AI conquers all of the steppes, it actually starts to lose money and has to stop building units.

My recommendation to fix it is to slightly increase trade in the steppe provinces. Volga Bulgaria, for example, was historically a rich source of goods - from salt to furs and even come ores. The same for many of the other steppe provinces. A slight adjustment in trade goods at these locations might help make the steppe factions more of a challenge for the richer factions to the south and west.

Shipping and sea trade routes. The AI is just retarded when it comes to building trade routes. I've been playing Scandinavian factions recently and been surprised to see a Seljuk ship in the Baltic - alone. I routinely play using the "-ian" test function and looking, I find that the Seljuks had only one ship and they sent it to the Baltic. Just plain idiotic. The only solution which seems to work to force the AI to make sensible use of their ships is to remove a couple of seas from use, like Wes W did in his mod. I think if you delete two seas and make the appropriate connections around them via the neighboring provinces list, the AI will act better. The two culprits are the Ionian Sea and the Sea of Marmara. Removal of these two seas and making connections through them helps the AI create more effective trade routes.

One minor suggestion on names, which Belisario can certainly help with in his researching, is to make the Genoese names more Germanic than the Venetian and Papist names. At the time, Northwestern Italian names were much more closely related to the German and German/Northern Lombard than to the more common Italian names of the east and south. This can be seen in the Savoy names of the period, as well as the names of the Margraves of Montferrat and Tuscany and those of the rulers of Monaco (who came originally from Genoa). Names like Rainier or Adalbert instead of Adalberto. Wido instead of Guido. Amadeus, Humbert, Odo. Names like that. It's just a minor suggestion; but would help separate the Genoese from the Venetians and Papists much better.

On the subject of Norse names. I've read that Icelandic is the closest thing currently to Old Norse. Icelandic versions of names might be closer than modern Scandinavian. But you, obviously, would know more than me on that!

Good luck. And I'm looking forward to the update. XL is a joy to play. And the music is great too!

[VikingHorde]

@Belisario
Most of the norman names are very old danish names, but I don't know if the norce had other ones. Today danish has been influenced by german and even english, but at that time it was properly more alike. I think it would be okay to use the danish names, but im no expert.

@Martok
I agree with you that there would be a lot of balance problems by reducing some factions, but some minor changes could be possible. I will try and look at my maps and maybe reduce the size of some of the bigger factions.

@Aenlic
It sounds like good changes to the game, I have seen some money problems with the eastern factions too. Originally in the game, the steppes did not have any factions and provinces were rather poor so upping the income would be good
I don't know about the Italian names, because im no history buff like many other guys at the forums .

[Belisario]

One minor suggestion on names, which Belisario can certainly help with in his researching, is to make the Genoese names more Germanic than the Venetian and Papist names. At the time, Northwestern Italian names were much more closely related to the German and German/Northern Lombard than to the more common Italian names of the east and south. This can be seen in the Savoy names of the period, as well as the names of the Margraves of Montferrat and Tuscany and those of the rulers of Monaco (who came originally from Genoa). Names like Rainier or Adalbert instead of Adalberto. Wido instead of Guido. Amadeus, Humbert, Odo. Names like that. It's just a minor suggestion; but would help separate the Genoese from the Venetians and Papists much better.

On the subject of Norse names. I've read that Icelandic is the closest thing currently to Old Norse. Icelandic versions of names might be closer than modern Scandinavian. But you, obviously, would know more than me on that!

Hi Aenlic, it's a pleasure to see you! I've had some problem with my pc (motherboard burned ), but I hope recover it this monday. With respect to the Medieval names, I recommend you this excellent web page:

http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/

[Aenlic]

Nice web site, Belisario. Thanks!

[Martok]

VH, I meant to ask if you're going to revise the unit roster for the Cumans--specifically in regards to the Bashkorts. I've been playing around with them lately, and I agree with Haruchai's assessment that their disappearance in the Late period is indeed a sore loss. It definitely makes things more difficult when you no longer have a true anti-cavalry unit--as anyone who's played the Byzantines can tell you!

[VikingHorde]

VH, I meant to ask if you're going to revise the unit roster for the Cumans--specifically in regards to the Bashkorts. I've been playing around with them lately, and I agree with Haruchai's assessment that their disappearance in the Late period is indeed a sore loss. It definitely makes things more difficult when you no longer have a true anti-cavalry unit--as anyone who's played the Byzantines can tell you!

Jepp, I know . I have written all the posted stuff in a text file, so that I will remember it . My number one faction is the Byzantines and having no good anti-cav units is not very cool.

[Deus ret.]

? IIRC you added in those Latin mercenary pikemen as anti-cav units for the Byz in high and late. While being quite expensive they actually do a very good job on their position. I seldom had trouble against cav-heavy armies as long as I employed a sufficient amount of them.

[Third spearman from the left]

Hi VH,
just a quick question about the XL STARTPOS text files. The other day I was making some changes to the XL late period, I wanted a more advanced game in terms of buildings and so went about increasing the numbers of buildings in each province. I added a few castles and made some existing ones in cit's of fortress. But when I went to load the game the XL LATE PERIOD had disappeared??? Is there a limit on buildings in the text files?

[Belisario]

Hi VikingHorde! My pc is repaired at last; I can play Rome Total War now and I am fascinated, but I don't lose interest in Medieval Total War XL. I have evidence to prove this statement, a list of twenty heroes for the Byzantines. The current Byzantine heroes are preserved with some corrections: correct birth dates, more proper transliteration from the original Greek names (e.g. Ioannes Bekkos instead of John Beccus), and revised short biographical outlines. I try to make these more concise. I will prepare a list of proper Byzantine names soon.

FAMOUS_HEROES:: FN_BYZANTINE 20
//hero name date, c, d, p, a, l, v, TYPE ID_REGION PORTRAIT
"Tatikios", "", 1050, 4, 3, 3, 3, 6, mightywarrior1, GENERAL, ID_LIMBO, -1 //General under Alexios I; great warrior, fought the Normans, Pechenegs, and Seljuks; guided the soldiers of the 1st Crusade as far as Antioch; date a guess.
"Nikephoros", "Bryennios", 1062, 2, 1, 4, 5, 7, affable1, GENERAL, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Soldier, Kaisar (caesar), and historian; known for his learning and approachable manner, refused to enter into the conspiracy set on foot by his wife, the princess and historian Anna Komnene; died 1137.
"Eumathios", "Philokales", 1065, 3, 3, 3, 4, 6, defender1, GENERAL, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Soldier and diplomat; as governor of Cyprus dealt with the leaders of the 1st Crusade; as Domestikos of Anatolia beat the Seljuks in 1110; date a guess.
"Ioannes", "Axuch", 1095, 3, 4, 1, 3, 6, loyal3, GENERAL, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Megas Domestikos (leading general) and close friend of Ioannes II; from Turkish origin, was taken prisoner as a child during the reconquest of Nicaea, 1097; secured the succession of Manuel I; date a guess.
"Andronikos", "Kontostephanos", 1115, 3, 3, 3, 3, 5, attacker1, GENERAL, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Megas Doux (High Admiral); beat the Normans of Antioch in 1143; led the Byzantine fleet in the unsuccessful attack that the Crusaders of Jerusalem launched against Egypt in 1169; date a guess.
"Theodosios", "Boradiotes", 1130, 1, 1, 4, 4, 4, no_v, PRIEST, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Patriarch of Constantinople, 1179-83; opponent of the Muslim religion, critic of union with Rome, and guardian of Orthodox morality; regent for the young Alexios II; died after 1183.
"Konstantinos", "Kalamanos", 1140, 4, 3, 2, 3, 6, captured1, GENERAL, ID_LIMBO, -1 //General of Hungarian origin; as governor of Cilicia under Manuel I helped the Crusaders of Antioch and Tripoli to repel Muslim attacks; captured by the Armenians in 1171; date a guess.
"Ioannes", "Kinnamos", 1143, 1, 0, 3, 4, 6, no_v, EMISSARY, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Imperial secretary to Manuel I and historian; his "Epitomes" is the most important source for the reigns of Ioannes II and Manuel I; died circa 1203.
"Alexios", "Branas", 1150, 4, 3, 3, 3, 5, attacker1, GENERAL, ID_LIMBO, -1 //General under Andronikos I; beat the Hungarians in 1183 and the Normans of Sicily in 1185; rebelled against Isaakios II, died in battle 1187.
"Niketas", "Choniates", 1155, 1, 0, 4, 5, 5, bookworm1, EMISSARY, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Historian, Megas Logothetes (chancellor), and governor of Philippopolis under the Angeloi emperors; after the 4th Crusade settled at Nicaea and devoted himself to literature; died circa 1215.
"Andronikos", "Palaiologos", 1200, 4, 3, 3, 3, 5, defender1, GENERAL, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Megas Domestikos (leading general) under the Nicaean emperors; governor of Thessalonika from 1246; his son, Michael VIII Palaiologos, became emperor in 1261; date a guess.
"Georgios", "Akropolites", 1217, 1, 0, 3, 4, 6, no_v, EMISSARY, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Megas Logothetes (chancellor), ambassador, and historian; delegate at Council of Lyon, an attempt to reunite Greek and Roman churches in 1274; died 1282.
"Ioannes", "Bekkos", 1235, 1, 2, 5, 4, 6, pious1, PRIEST, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Patriarch of Constantinople; supporter of union with Rome, was present at Council of Lyon, an attempt to reunite Greek and Roman churches in 1274; died 1297.
"Theodoros", "Metochites", 1270, 1, 0, 3, 5, 7, educated1, EMISSARY, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Chief adviser to Andronikos II, Megas Logothetes (chancellor), ambassador, poet, philosopher, and patron of the arts; died 1332.
"Ioannes", "Kantakouzenos", 1292, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, smarttalker1, GENERAL, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Chief adviser to Andronikos III and regent for the young Ioannes V; from 1347 ruled as coemperor (Ioannes VI), but in 1354 was forced to abdicate; then retired to a monastery and devoted himself to literature; died 1383.
"Gregorios", "Palamas", 1296, 1, 0, 7, 3, 5, pious3, PRIEST, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Hesychast theologian, monk of Mount Athos in Greece, and Archbishop of Thessalonika; died 1359, sanctified.
"Alexios", "Apokaukos", 1300, 2, 4, 3, 3, 6, secret_envy2, GENERAL, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Megas Doux (High Admiral) under Andronikos III; fought to control the regency of Ioannes V against Ioannes Kantakouzenos (later coemperor as Ioannes VI); killed 1345.
"Matthaios", "Asanes Kantakouzenos", 1325, 3, 4, 4, 3, 5, captured1, GENERAL, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Son of the coemperor Ioannes Kantakouzenos; from his Thracian domain led several wars against the Serbians; captured in 1357, then moved to Morea and in 1381 withdrew to a monastery; died 1383.
"Loukas", "Notaras", 1400, 4, 3, 5, 3, 7, mightywarrior1, GENERAL, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Megas Doux (High Admiral); during the siege of Constantinople, 1453, courageously defended the north-western Sea Wall and the Blachernae Palace, but finally was captured and executed; critic of union with Rome; date a guess.
"Georgios", "Sphrantzes", 1401, 1, 1, 3, 4, 7, no_v, EMISSARY, ID_LIMBO, -1 //Historian, Megas Logothetes (chancellor), and governor of Patras; captured at Fall of Constantinople, 1453, managed to escape and retired to a monastery; died circa 1478.

//New hero forenames
["Tatikios"] {"Tatikios"}
["Nikephoros"] {"Nikephoros"}
["Eumathios"] {"Eumathios"}
["Ioannes"] {"Ioannes"}
["Andronikos"] {"Andronikos"}
["Konstantinos"] {"Konstantinos"}
["Alexios"] {"Alexios"}
["Niketas"] {"Niketas"}
["Georgios"] {"Georgios"}
["Theodoros"] {"Theodoros"}
["Gregorios"] {"Gregorios"}
["Matthaios"] {"Matthaios"}
["Loukas"] {"Loukas"}

//New hero surnames
["Bryennios"] {"Bryennios"}
["Philokales"] {"Philokales"}
["Axuch"] {"Axuch"}
["Kontostephanos"] {"Kontostephanos"}
["Kalamanos"] {"Kalamanos"}
["Kinnamos"] {"Kinnamos"}
["Choniates"] {"Choniates"}
["Palaiologos"] {"Palaiologos"}
["Akropolites"] {"Akropolites"}
["Bekkos"] {"Bekkos"}
["Metochites"] {"Metochites"}
["Kantakouzenos"] {"Kantakouzenos"}
["Apokaukos"] {"Apokaukos"}
["Asanes Kantakouzenos"] {"Asanes Kantakouzenos"}
["Notaras"] {"Notaras"}

[VikingHorde]

@Deus ret.
Jepp, i have added them to the byzantines and other othedox factions . They did not have any good anti cav units in the original game though.

@Third spearman from the left
I don't think there is a limit, but the period will not show if there is a error in the file. It is allways a good ides to make small changes or it could be almost impossible to find the problem. Bad spelling can often be one of the problems .

@Belisario
Cool, more good stuff, thanks! . I will add the info to my files .

[Shaun]

I have a question -

How do i edit Byzantine Inf to be better? what files dp i mod?

Oh, and about the Latin Mec pikeman, how do you get them?

EDIT - looking at the maps above, i do not seem to have the latest version, where do i get it?

[Peasant Phill]

Grinningman was unable to post this here as he is a junior member, so I post it for him.

I wanted to thank VikingHorde for the excellent mod, and make two requests for the next update.

First, it would be great if he could put naptha throwers back into the game, instead of the naptha catapult he's replaced them with. I play the Almohads a lot, and I find Naptha throwers are one of the only ways to deal with all the crusading Catholic super-knights in the late era. They are also fun to use when the enemy is crammed on a bridge :)

Second, it's really annoying that the AI always seems to use all its artillery for non-siege battles. Artillery is very little threat when used by the AI, so if there was a way to force the AI to keep artillery in the reserves for non-siege battles, that would be great.