Patch 1.2 .rum files

[Parmenio]

There's a bunch of .rum files included in the 1.2 patch, seemingly linked to unit models. Additionally some modders have reported instability with their altered .cas files crashing the game.

Does anyone know what these new .rum files are?

[Duke John]

I wonder about them too. There are as many rum files as there CAS files, so I first thought they replaced the CAS files. But since their size is much smaller I doubt that. Perhaps they are related to some setting (shadows, reflection)?

Let's hope that CA clarifies this or that Vercingetorix performs his miracles again.

[Vercingetorix]

It is still not obvious to me what these files do. At first I thought they were a replacement for the old CAS files. However now I don't think so, they appear to be companion files which contain extra information. They contain some redundant information with the CAS files, and some new information, and also they missing information that is in the CAS files. I deleted all the .rum files and the game worked without a problem, which means these files can't be necessary. But then what purpose do they serve? And to make things complicated some custom models that worked in 1.1 now do not in 1.2, which makes me wonder if we need to create .rum files for our new models or if we can ignore them.

If CA could gives us a some information that would be grand (if anyone from CA responds could you please tell us if we should remain any hope of a sprite generator being released or if we should abandon such hope)

[Duke John]

Could it be possible that they are needed to make entirely new skeletons? That they are kinda replacing the entries in skeleton.dat (or whatever the file is)?

Edit: or perhaps not since they are present for all the LOD versions.

[Vercingetorix]

No I don't think so, they don't appear to contain any skeletal data (unlike the cas files). My best guess is that they are somehow related to animation to make it run smoother...but this is a guess. I'll need to analyze them some more, it can be slow work in hex. If I find out anything more I'll be sure to post.

[JeromeGrasdyke]

They're a simplified and optimised form of the .cas files, aimed at speeding up load and render times. The game at one time auto-generated them for any .cas files which are loaded as unit models, although I'm not 100% sure if that was left in for the patch exe.

[Duke John]

If RUM files are not present (because we added our own custom CAS file) would that be a reason for R:TW to become instable or to cause a CTD? Or in other words, are the RUM files vital for R:TW to run properly?

[JeromeGrasdyke]

Nope, they're just matched by name to the cas files. When the game parses descr_model_battle.txt and decides to load a .cas file for a certain battle, it first looks for the .rum, if it can't find it it will look for the original .cas, and then it will fail to load the battle if it can't find that.

[Duke John]

Thanks for the clarification.

[Sheep]

So... maybe we should all be making our models in RUM format then, huh?

[Shigawire]

Ho ho ho.. and sixty bottles o' RUM!


This problem is a mystery. Could it be related to some arbitrary polycount limit?
Illegal IK-linkages? etc..

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Thanks Jerome! RUM to ye!


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[{Pharaoh}Anubis{Pha}]

The .Rum files are fixes for the units,like little patches for the units,like for the archers so they will do a better job in not killing so many of your own troops when firing there vollies from close behind a formation of troops or defending the walls.To make the spartan hoplite at the rtw official site i just deleted the .rum files for the old spartan hoplite.This was the only thing i could do for the new model to show up properly and play in the game single or mp. you can dl the spartan hoplite here in our files link on left of navigation http://pharaoh-clan.com hf.

[Red Harvest]

Thanks, Jerome. This makes sense of it. It also explains why the game was so much faster loading after the patch. Unfortunately, I've had to fix the horse archer/chariot/camels with the thrown attribute so they skirmish, and the Egyptian oversize units (and shield), and give the slingers a bit of range. And now it seems to be longer loading again.

Now to see if I can get those pesky elephants firing again. Right now they fire once on the move and then just stop firing.

[{Pharaoh}Anubis{Pha}]

Yes jeromes theory sounds better,but you think the .rum files have anything to do with the unite textures? cause when i put the spartan hoplite model in model_unit folder and then ran the game the 1st time,the spartan hoplite looked very bad like both the models were converged as one,but when i deleted the .rum files for the spartan hoplite and then ran the game again the new model showed up perfectly

[shifty157]

Well it has to. Before 1.2 i had another skin and model for my spartan but after i installed 1.2 it has reverted back to the original vanilla skin and model. I havent checked if its replaced the modded skin/model entirely or if its just ignoring it (using the .rum instead of the .cas).

[lt1956]

Thats wierd because all the models for SPQR work fine and I didnt have to delete anything?

Lt

[Vercingetorix]

Thank you very much for responding Jerome. For those interested in what I could find about the files read this. The reason why I haven't released an update for the script with support for .rum files is because I have alot of other changes I want to make for a big update... But don't worry we'll be able to export to .rum.

[Lord Adherbal]

you rock the house Vercingetorix