Detailed unit statistics file?

[Dorkus]

I know it's early, but does anyone have a detailed unit statistics file?

I rembmer there was a really nice excel file for medieval.

I'm not necessarily looking for that at this point (too early).

But any statistics from teh strategy guide (including terrain, formation bonuses) would be very nice.

[econ21]

With Medieval, it was actually CA who provided a really nice Excel file. It gave the tables for different characteristics (weapons, armour, troop quality etc) and so showed how the stats had been derived (even highlighting "fudge factors"). I wonder if they will be providing something similar this time round?

[Dorkus]

With Medieval, it was actually CA who provided a really nice Excel file. It gave the tables for different characteristics (weapons, armour, troop quality etc) and so showed how the stats had been derived (even highlighting "fudge factors"). I wonder if they will be providing something similar this time round?

Interesting. How did we get it the first time around? Is there someone we can PM?

I usually spend more time looking at statistics and making calculations than actually playing the game. hehe

[Spino]

Good call Dorkus, I was thinking about this last night. I always play Medieval with a custom unit & building spreadsheet on hand.

So bump goes the thread...

[Dorkus]

bump

[RedKnight]

Actually, the detailed MTW files come from a plain text file in the MTW directory, CRUSADERS_UNIT_PROD11.TXT. Although it's a bit of work to whack it into a spreadsheet. A very quick glance (searching for .txt's) looks like the info is gonna be somewhere in the RTW\Data directory or subdirectories. Wow, what a mess!

[JeromeGrasdyke]

A very quick glance (searching for .txt's) looks like the info is gonna be somewhere in the RTW\Data directory or subdirectories. Wow, what a mess!

The file you're looking for is called export_descr_unit.txt ... the format is explained at the top, although it does assume some understanding of the basic mechanics of the underlying system. The descr_*** and export_descr_*** text files are loading scripts which control almost all parts of the game engine from the tech trees to the models and animations - the main difference between the two sets is that the export_descr_*** files are automatically generated from spreadsheets or tools. These all live in the main data directory.

There will eventually be a modding guide which will explain them in more detail and provide some general rules on writing mods, although that probably won't be finished until most of the team has come back from holidays.

[TosaInu]

The file you're looking for is called export_descr_unit.txt ... the format is explained at the top, although it does assume some understanding of the basic mechanics of the underlying system. The descr_*** and export_descr_*** text files are loading scripts which control almost all parts of the game engine from the tech trees to the models and animations - the main difference between the two sets is that the export_descr_*** files are automatically generated from spreadsheets or tools. These all live in the main data directory.

There will eventually be a modding guide which will explain them in more detail and provide some general rules on writing mods, although that probably won't be finished until most of the team has come back from holidays.

Interesting. Is it possible to have different mods at the same time (mods subdirectories) or do you need to replace the files used by the default game?

Control game engine. Does this include things like gamespeed, routing tresholds, the hardcoded bonusses found in STW/MTW and such?

[Dorkus]

The file you're looking for is called export_descr_unit.txt ... the format is explained at the top, although it does assume some understanding of the basic mechanics of the underlying system. The descr_*** and export_descr_*** text files are loading scripts which control almost all parts of the game engine from the tech trees to the models and animations - the main difference between the two sets is that the export_descr_*** files are automatically generated from spreadsheets or tools. These all live in the main data directory.

There will eventually be a modding guide which will explain them in more detail and provide some general rules on writing mods, although that probably won't be finished until most of the team has come back from holidays.

thanks so much jermoe. Really appreciate it.

By the way, great work on another fantastic game. if this isn't at least strategy game of the year, it'll be highway robbery.

[RedKnight]

Thanks, Jerome! When I said it's a mess, I didn't mean that in a bad way - just that there were a lot of files to look through. Thanks for showing us which!

One thing I don't think we had for MTW, is an explanation of the savegame structure. I see RTW uses a similar compressed format - i.e., not plain English/XML/whatever that can be readily figured out. I sincerely hope CA can provide a guide to the savegame file, or a utility to access it. This will eventually allow the community to make a lot of utils for the game, adding value to it at no cost to CA (except the time taken to show the savegame structure).

Put it in the queue of ideas, if you'd be so kind! And thanks again for the great game!

[tombom]

Interesting. Is it possible to have different mods at the same time (mods subdirectories) or do you need to replace the files used by the default game?

Well this is the one thing I wanted in Rome - if they don't have it and don't introduce it in a patch,
.

[Puzz3D]

The RTW unit stat file does not contain movement speeds for each unit. This is very disappointing for me because I can't play the game with the running speeds the way they are. It's unrealistic and reduces your ability to control multiple units. To me it fails in both realism and gameplay. Slowing everything down with the terrain effect speed modifier isn't a great solution, but I'll have to try it.

Tosa,

There are a couple of files that list the names of stat files. So, it might be possible to have different sets of stat files, but I don't see how you would select the different sets from within the game.

[PaolinoPaperino]

Hi Yuuki,
I wanna just add that I do not have the game yet,
but guyson italian sites told me there is already a mod about this issue here:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9703

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

There will eventually be a modding guide which will explain them in more detail and provide some general rules on writing mods, although that probably won't be finished until most of the team has come back from holidays.

Thanks for this answer, JeromeGrasdyke !!! I was really hoping for enlightnement on this subject.

BTW, could you answer a quick question about the modding hability of RTW in regard to MTW? Twice as powerfull, 50% easier or what?

[barvaz]

You mean, RTW still uses that horrible, badly designed, barely documented, decorated with spelling mistakes text format to describe units???

Hmmmm…I don’t have the game yet, tell me it’s not true.

I remember when I first saw the units file in MTW, I was sure it was something I just downloaded from one of the community sites that someone threw together and not something that you put on the final production CD.

What happened to XML or at least some logical format that both machine and Human can easily parse/read? I mean, if you intend your users to tinker with it, do it in a decent format that conforms to industry standards and if you intended to keep it private, why bother with a separate text file?

Seriously, no disrespect to the developers who created one of the best strategy games in all times (they must know how to do things right, no?) but I’d be thrown down the stairs if I even suggested something like that as a public format in an official product of the company I work for.

- barvaz