Using -mod:my_mod

[Encaitar]

How to use the -mod:my_mod command line switch

Here is a quote (I believe from CA although I cannot find the source anymore) that explains a bit more about this switch:

The command line option for modding is there in previous builds as well, but is not fully implemented. In the patch build, most significant files go through a directory switching mechanism (though not quite all, unforunately). It is controlled via the -mod command... For example, -mod:my_mod will cause the game to look for the descr_ files in the my_mod directory rather than in the data directory.

The difference between the 1.2 exe's use of the shortcut and that in earlier builds is that in 1.2 it will actually look for a requested file under data if it cannot find it under my_mod. This allows you to do partial mods, changing only one or two files. The earlier build insists that you duplicate all of the descr_ files plus the contents of the world directory. The 1.2 build also applies the directory switching to a larger variety of files.

Since this system refers to the descr_ files first and foremost it allows you to mix and match your own content with that from vanilla RTW quite easily, since most of the files the engine loads up are specified in the descr files. For example, if you don't like the Germanic double-handed axeman's model, you can just duplicate descr_model_battle.txt in your mod directory, supply a new cas model there as well and redirect the model type entry in descr_model_battle to the new file.

Now onto the guide:
Firstly, you must have RTW v1.2 for this to work.

1. In the root directory of Rome - Total War (i.e. the one that has the .exe in it), create a folder for your mod - in this example we will call it "my_mod"

2. Place any modified descr_ and export_descr txt files (that would normally go in the Data folder) that your mod uses in this my_mod folder.

3. Run the game with the command line switch "-mod:my_mod", where "my_mod" is the name of the folder created in Step 1. An example of how your run command might look is:
run "C:\Program Files\Rome - Total War\RomeTW.exe" -mod:my_mod
Note that the switch should be outside the quotation marks that surround the path of the exe file. Also, the '-' in front of the switch is not necessary (you can just use "mod:my_mod" if you wish).

Additional: how to use provincial campaigns with the -mod:my_mod switch

i) Place all world files in the Data\world\maps\campaign\my_campaign\ folder as per usual.

ii) Create the folder my_mod\world\maps\campaign\my_campaign and copy the following files into it from the Data\world\maps\campaign\my_campaign\ folder:
descr_strat.txt
leader_pic_{faction}.tga
map_{faction}.tga
(So in actual fact these files don't need to be in the data\etc folder, but can just be in the my_mod\etc folder)

iii) As per Step 3 above.


Note: When running RTW with the -my:my_mod switch, custom battles do not seem to work (at least, I have been unable to get them to). Battles in campaigns do though.

[Monkwarrior]

Please, correct me if I am wrong, but from this tutorial it seems to me that in the new campaign we cannot show new symbols, buttons and banners (models and textures?).
Is that true?

I was thinking in the possibility of describing the new path for models, textures, symbols and banners in this way:
In the new descr_model_battle.txt file

texture				gauls, my_mod/models_unit/textures/unit_barb_infantry_gaul.tga

In the new descr_model_strat.txt file

texture				egypt, my_mod/models_strat/textures/diplomat_egypt.tga

and so on.

Has anybody tried this before?
In any case, I didn't find the same possibility for info_cards and unit_cards.

[Encaitar]

An easier solution in cases where the file is referenced from one of the descr_ txt files would be to give your modded version of the texture a different filename, but put it in the normal folder. So your code might look something like this:

texture				gauls, data/models_unit/textures/my_mod_unit_barb_infantry_gaul.tga

You'd then put this modified descr_ txt file in the my_mod folder.

[DimeBagHo]

1. To get custom battles working you need to include a bunch of files from data/world in your mod folder. For XGM the installer just copies the entire contents of data/world to xgm/data/world before installing the rest of the mod. I have never bothered to figure out exactly which files are needed.

2. For most files the exe will look in mymod/data first to see if there is a modified version, but it will not do this for .CAS files, so you need to go through the text files and specify the location of modified .CAS files.

In most cases the text files expect a location relative to the install folder, like data/models_unit/foo.CAS, which you can change to mymod/data/models_unit/foo.CAS. But in some cases the location is specified relative to the data folder itself, like say models_building/foo.CAS. Here you need to give the location as ../mymod/data/models_engine/foo.CAS. The ../ tells the exe to look one level up.

3. One bonus that comes with using -mod:mymod is that replacing unit and unit info cards is much easier. The exe will check in the mymod folder before looking in the packs.

[kleemann]

Hi to everybody,

Where i can find information about RTW-s using -mod:my_mod.
I want to make mod swich for BI. I don't want to overwrite original files and the mod managing is a lot easier then.
If i use "RomeTW:BI.exe" -mod:my_mod then i get CTD when puting BI files into that folder, what's the problem?

[player1]

1. To get custom battles working you need to include a bunch of files from data/world in your mod folder. For XGM the installer just copies the entire contents of data/world to xgm/data/world before installing the rest of the mod. I have never bothered to figure out exactly which files are needed.

2. For most files the exe will look in mymod/data first to see if there is a modified version, but it will not do this for .CAS files, so you need to go through the text files and specify the location of modified .CAS files.

In most cases the text files expect a location relative to the install folder, like data/models_unit/foo.CAS, which you can change to mymod/data/models_unit/foo.CAS. But in some cases the location is specified relative to the data folder itself, like say models_building/foo.CAS. Here you need to give the location as ../mymod/data/models_engine/foo.CAS. The ../ tells the exe to look one level up.

3. One bonus that comes with using -mod:mymod is that replacing unit and unit info cards is much easier. The exe will check in the mymod folder before looking in the packs.

The biggest drawback of -mod:my_mod is that while it works nice for pure RTW mods, it's horrible for BI mods.

Since BI itself is sort of "RTW -mod:bi", in order to make -mod:my_mod work for BI you need to copy entire BI folder to your mod folder in order to make it work.

[DimeBagHo]

The biggest drawback of -mod:my_mod is that while it works nice for pure RTW mods, it's horrible for BI mods.

Since BI itself is sort of "RTW -mod:bi", in order to make -mod:my_mod work for BI you need to copy entire BI folder to your mod folder in order to make it work.

There are ways around this in fact. Some files can simply be skipped (finding out which ones is a pain, but I think the animation folder is one - because the BI animations are all included in the RTW animations files now). With a lot of others you can edit the text files to tell the engine to look for them in the BI folder. You could do this with all of the unit models, textures, and sprites for example (and it would be pretty easy - just a search and replace in DMB for "data/"/"bi/data/" would probably do the trick. In theory you could do this for a lot of other files, although tracking down where the locations are specified in the text files can be a pain in some cases.

Obviously this takes a lot more start-up effort than an equivalent mod for RTW though. *Edit* Actually this seems like a pretty useful community service that someone could do - constructing a base BI mod that contains as little of the original BI folder as possible, with all the basic text file edits taken care of. *Edit 2* Just looking over the BI files I think you could use this method to avoid copying most of the files - but there is really no way to avoid copying almost all of the ui folder - which is about 232 MB.

[kleemann]

In this case it seems to be easier to overwrite BI files than mess with extra bi install. Hard-disck has limited space

In my case 8 Gb of RTW is too much..

[Frans Ubberdork]

I have noticed that when you use the -mymod switch to mod BI, that it still loads as if you are playing vanilla RTW.

My problem is that I have the RTW vanilla game modded so it will tell me unit celtic maiden not found or something like that.

Is their anywork around for this?

Thanks,
Tom

[player1]

The thing is that playing BI is same as using -mymod:bi

So, only way to mod BI and use -mymod to run a mod is to copy all contents of BI folder to new mod folder and then add moded files.

I complained about this when BI game out, but developers haven't had will to change it.

They said that if game checked 3 folders (mod, then bi then base), it would load too slow.

[Stuie]

I'm converting yet another mod to use the -mod: switch. The campaign loads and plays with no problem, but battles (both Custom Battles and in-Campaign) result in a CTD right after the load bar finishes. If I dump the mod on top of the vanilla data folder, it works fine.

Any ideas?

[Stuie]

I'm converting yet another mod to use the -mod: switch. The campaign loads and plays with no problem, but battles (both Custom Battles and in-Campaign) result in a CTD right after the load bar finishes. If I dump the mod on top of the vanilla data folder, it works fine.

Any ideas?

Never mind - it was bad path info for the sprites. All better now.

The end result is that RTR Platinum can be played with the -mod: switch. See here:
http://forums.rometotalrealism.org/i...howtopic=18727

[DimeBagHo]

You mean the whole RTR mod? That's awesome, you've done us all a service. :) I'll have to give RTR a try again.

[Stuie]

You mean the whole RTR mod? That's awesome, you've done us all a service. :) I'll have to give RTR a try again.

Yes, the whole RTR mod. I only did the -mod: switch work - the conversion to RTW v1.5 was done by a team lead by LestaT, Ryman2489 and some others over at the totalrealism site. There are still some rough edges and balancing to be worked out, but the current beta version is quite stable and playable.

[Monkwarrior]

Could you then rewrite the tutorial for RTW 1.5 and BI 1.6 (in fact, two tutorials)? It is important to know which files must be modified to include new paths and which ones can be kept as they are.

It would be also nice to include a method to create automatically the right new desktop shortcut, as this is probably the less friendly point for the user (and also for me as developer )

[Stuie]

Could you then rewrite the tutorial for RTW 1.5 and BI 1.6 (in fact, two tutorials)?

Ok - when I have time - hopefully this weekend.

What I'll do is take a completely different mod that I've never touched before and convert it to use the -mod: switch, and I'll take notes along the way. Anyone want to suggest a mod? I'll use DarthMod if no other suggestions are forthcoming.

Doing it for BI is a little more complicated because you need to include a .bat file that copies a bunch of the BI files to a new folder, and then overwrite the vanilla BI files in the new folder with your modded files. But I'll see if I can't come up with a) a tutorial and b) a standard .bat file to do the copying.

[Monkwarrior]

Ok - when I have time - hopefully this weekend.

What I'll do is take a completely different mod that I've never touched before and convert it to use the -mod: switch, and I'll take notes along the way. Anyone want to suggest a mod? I'll use DarthMod if no other suggestions are forthcoming.

Great!
I can't wait.

[Stuie]

EDIT: I found a couple more issues to iron out, so I'll repost this when I have a chance to sort things out.

[Stuie]

**Note that these pre-supposed that the mod you are adapting to use with the -mod: switch is RTW v1.5 compatible.**

I used SPQR 6.1 instead of Darth because I don't like the services hosting DarthMod - way too slow.

Anyway, this turned out to be a lot easier than I expected.

1. Create a new folder in your RTW directory and name it after the mod you want to convert. I created a folder called "SPQR".

2. Run the installer for your mod, but target the new folder instead of the RTW folder - thus, I used "C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\SPQR" as the target for the installer.

3. Create a new shortcut for the RomeTW.exe, and add "-show_err -mod:SPQR" to the target, replacing SPQR with the name of your mod folder.

Easy enough so far. Now to update some files:

4. Files that need updating:

a) descr_model_battle.txt
- rename paths for any unique sprites
- rename paths for any unique models

Example - Roman Hastati. Note that the bolded lines are the only ones I've changed - the game will find the correct skins without changing the path, but needs to be directed to the models and sprites.

type				roman_hastati
skeleton			fs_fast_pilum, fs_s1_gladius
indiv_range			40
texture				romans_julii, data/models_unit/textures/SPQR_INFANTRY_JULII_HASTATII.TGA
texture				romans_brutii, data/models_unit/textures/SPQR_INFANTRY_JULII_HASTATII.TGA
texture				romans_scipii, data/models_unit/textures/SPQR_INFANTRY_SCIPII_HASTATII.TGA
texture				romans_senate, data/models_unit/textures/SPQR_INFANTRY_SENATE_HASTATII.TGA
texture				slave, data/models_unit/textures/SPQR_INFANTRY_REBEL_HASTATII.TGA
model_flexi_m			SPQR/data/models_unit/hastati_high.cas, 15
model_flexi_m			SPQR/data/models_unit/hastati_med.cas, 30
model_flexi_m			SPQR/data/models_unit/hastati_low.cas, 40
model_flexi			SPQR/data/models_unit/hastati_lowest.cas, max
model_sprite		slave, 160.0, SPQR/data/sprites/romans_scipii_roman_hastati_sprite1.spr
model_sprite		romans_senate, 60.0, SPQR/data/sprites/romans_senate_roman_hastati_sprite1.spr
model_sprite		romans_scipii, 60.0, SPQR/data/sprites/romans_scipii_roman_hastati_sprite1.spr
model_sprite		romans_brutii, 60.0, SPQR/data/sprites/romans_julii_roman_hastati_sprite1.spr
model_sprite		romans_julii, 60.0, SPQR/data/sprites/romans_julii_roman_hastati_sprite1.spr
model_tri			400, 0.5f, 0.5f, 0.5f

b) descr_model_strat.txt
- rename paths for any unique models (model_flexi_m)

Same as for DMB above, but this time in the strat file. Again, only the models need to be changed, not the skins.

c) descr_sm_resources.txt
- corrent pathing to any unique resource items/icons

Example - note that lt did not change the icons, just the model. If the icon is unique, that needs updated path info as well.

type				pigs
trade_value			0
item				SPQR/data/models_strat/resource_legion_shield_numidian_standing.cas
icon				data/ui/resources/resource_lead.tga

type				dogs
trade_value			0
item				SPQR/data/models_strat/resource_legion_shield_roman_standing.cas
icon				data/ui/resources/resource_lead.tga

d) descr_projectile_new.txt
- again, update any model paths for unique projectiles.

For SPQR, I had to modify one item - small_onager_rock.

projectile bullet

damage		30
radius		0.2
mass		0.1
area		0.7
min_angle	-60
max_angle	70
velocity	60
ground_shatter
display 	particle_trail shatter_dust shatter_debris vanish_debris invert_model_z
model		SPQR/data/models_missile/small_onager_rock.cas,  max

e) descr_sm_factions.txt
- unique faction symbols and loading logos have to be installed in the vanilla data folder, but you can add an additional folder layer so as not to overwrite the vanilla files, or give the symbols/logos unique names. I added an SPQR folder and referenced it in the descr_sm_factions.txt file like this:

faction						romans_julii
culture						roman
symbol						models_strat/SPQR/symbol_julii.CAS
rebel_symbol				models_strat/symbol_slaves.CAS
primary_colour				red 165, green 20, blue 20
secondary_colour			red 0, green 0, blue 0
loading_logo				loading_screen/symbols/SPQR/symbol128_julii.tga
standard_index				0
logo_index					23
small_logo_index			248
triumph_value				5
intro_movie					fmv/intros/julii_intro_final.wmv
victory_movie				fmv/victory/julii_outro_320x240.wmv
defeat_movie				fmv/lose/julii_eliminated.wmv
death_movie					fmv/death/death_julii_grass_320x240.wmv
custom_battle_availability	yes
can_sap						yes
prefers_naval_invasions		no

The same can be done for the movie files.

So in the example above, the faction symbol and loading logo will be the modded version, while the slave symbol (used when the faction's unit turn into rebels, or for sub-faction rebels) will be the vanilla version.

f) descr_standards.txt
- again, these need to live in the vanilla data folder as far as I can tell, so unique naming or additional folder structure is needed. I again went with folders, adding an SPQR folder to house the unique symbols. These are the symbols that appear on the campaign map unit flags. This is the entire file, bolded where I made changes for SPQR; the remaining symbols use the vanilla files.

;
;	this file describes the appearance of the strategy map banners
;

file_scale			0.185f
file_army_banner	data/banners/SPQR/strat_flag.cas				; can't have spaces
file_scale			1.0f
file_navy_banner	data/banners/navy_banner.cas

banner_star			0,       0.67969, 0.19141, 0.86719
banner_button		0.19922, 0.67969, 0.38281, 0.86719
banner_flag			0.58813, 0.01,    0.99,    0.99
banner_sail			0.01,    0.01,    0.42,    0.41

factions
symbols				banners/SPQR/symbols1.tga
symbols				banners/SPQR/symbols2.tga
symbols				banners/SPQR/symbols3.tga
symbols				banners/SPQR/symbols4.tga
symbols				banners/SPQR/symbols5.tga
rebels_factions
symbols				banners/symbols6.tga
symbols				banners/symbols7.tga
symbols				banners/symbols8.tga

That was all it took and I can now play SPQR with all* of its features, and without overwriting anything in my vanilla data folder.

*Ok - almost all... one issue that I have yet to figure out: if you have anything in your mod's data/loading_screen folder, no loading screens show up in-game UNLESS you provide ALL the loading screens for the game. I'm sure there's a solution, but I haven't had time to track it down yet. So the one thing I had to leave out of my SPQR installation was loading_screen_9.tga, and I'm left with vanilla loading screens.

This is just a quick first pass but should help. I'll collect my thoughts and clean it up at a later time. Also, make sure you leave -show_err in your shortcut and that should point you to any problems.

[Epistolary Richard]

Very helpful, Stuie. I've not had any success with it though with smaller mods - I've found I've had to have a world folder in there it to work. Any idea what the minimum world folder files are?

Edit: I have it down to the contents of the base and the imperial_campaign folder (though some of the UI elements there can be dropped). Any insight?

[DimeBagHo]

Stuie: I use just loading_ screen_1 in XGM and it works fine. It may be that the game looks for the screens in order starting from 1.

*Edit* One more thing. XGM modified some of the descr_sound*.txt files. Some users had a problem with missing sounds that was fixed by including all of these files, even the unmodified ones, in the mod folder (note that BI also includes all of them). Personally I never had, or at least never noticed, the problem, but some people said it makes a difference. :)

[Stuie]

Very helpful, Stuie. I've not had any success with it though with smaller mods - I've found I've had to have a world folder in there it to work. Any idea what the minimum world folder files are?

Edit: I have it down to the contents of the base and the imperial_campaign folder (though some of the UI elements there can be dropped). Any insight?

I've been meaning to do a "what's the minimum needed for a BI mod" write up, but haven't had time to do the necessary work (such as figuring what IS the minimum needed). When I have time I'll do the same for RTW.

@DimeBagHo - interesting about the loading screens. Guess I need to do more research - the one that wasn't working was loading_screen_9, so you may be correct about the order thing.

[Epistolary Richard]

Regarding the loading screen symbols - are you creating a separate folder within the vanilla folder or are they being referenced through the mod folder? The path you're describing looks like it's heading into the vanilla folder and my own attempts to run them through the mod folder have not been successful. Chivalry seems to leave this unchanged and yet their changed symbols show.

[DimeBagHo]

The path for most files is relative to the game directory, so it looks like data/[etc]. If you need to specify the path for those files then you can give it as [mymod]/data/[etc]. The path for some files is relative to the main data folder so, for example, the path might look like banners/[etc]. If you need to specify the path for file like that you can do it like this:

../[mymod]/data/banners/[etc]

The ".." tells the game to go up one level, to the main game folder, then look in the mod folder, and so on.

Here's the descr_standards.txt file from XGM for example:

;
;	this file describes the appearance of the strategy map banners
;

file_scale			0.185f
file_army_banner	data/banners/strat_flag.cas				; can't have spaces
file_scale			1.0f
file_navy_banner	data/banners/navy_banner.cas

banner_star			0,       0.67969, 0.19141, 0.86719
banner_button		0.19922, 0.67969, 0.38281, 0.86719
banner_flag			0.58813, 0.01,    0.99,    0.99
banner_sail			0.01,    0.01,    0.42,    0.41

factions
symbols				banners/symbols1.tga
symbols				../xgm/data/banners/symbols2.tga
symbols				banners/symbols3.tga
symbols				banners/symbols4.tga
symbols				banners/symbols5.tga
rebels_factions
symbols				banners/symbols6.tga
symbols				banners/symbols7.tga
symbols				banners/symbols8.tga

[Epistolary Richard]

Yes, I tried that for the loading screen symbols in descr_sm_factions but I just got a white square instead of the symbol. And Stuie has his mod folder inside the vanilla folder (or at least it appears) in that example. I would think perhaps it's something to do with the image itself but it works when it overwrites the original.

[DimeBagHo]

I just checked how I did things in XGM for the loading screen symbols. Macedon is the only one I changed, and the changed version shows up fine. The file is located in the mod folder with the same relative position, and same file name, as the vanilla version. Here's the Macedon section from descr_sm_factions.txt:

faction						macedon
culture						greek
symbol						../xgm/data/models_strat/symbol_macedon.CAS
rebel_symbol				models_strat/symbol_greek_rebel.CAS
primary_colour				red 0, green 0, blue 0
secondary_colour			red 255, green 75, blue 0
loading_logo				loading_screen/symbols/symbol128_macedon.tga
standard_index				4
logo_index					239
small_logo_index			253
triumph_value				5
intro_movie					fmv/intros/greek_intro_640x480_bars.wmv
victory_movie				fmv/victory/greek_outro_320x240.wmv
defeat_movie				fmv/lose/macedon_eliminated.wmv
death_movie					fmv/death/death_macedon_grass_320x240.wmv
custom_battle_availability	yes
can_sap						yes
prefers_naval_invasions		no

So it looks like it should all work fine if you just put the modified sysmbol in the mod folder like any other file. Are you sure there isn't some problem with the modified file itself?

[alpaca]

By the way, the minimum for a working mod folder is:
data/text/imperial_campaign_regions_and_settlement_names.txt
data/world/maps/campaign/imperial_campaign
data/world/maps/base

This can be run through the BI.exe as well, and it will just start vanilla RTW
Utilizing this is also a good method for testing things as traits, etc. before you put them in your mod for real ;)

[Macedonn]

I have RTRPE,
when i run mod:my_mod with RTW.exe everythink is ok,byt if i try to start game with BI.exe(becouse i like some special thinks from bi)the game crash.
Also i play uor xgm4.0.11 where i see that its posible to play mod:my_mod with BI.exe.
So the question is what other files should i add to my_mod folder ,to make game run with BI.exe,or there is something else that i must do to solve the problem.

[Foot]

I have recently finished converting Europa Barbarorum to use -mod: and there were only a couple of points that I felt needed addition to this thread:

Entries in *.txt files that reference files for Rome but do not include a directory structure beforehand cannot be told to given a different directory structure - it is inbuilt into the *.txt file.

For example in descr_aerial_map_ground_types.txt has this entry

cultivated_low		temperate_grassland_farm.tga	arctic.tga

as you can see it does not reference any folder beforehand and so adding eb/ as a prefix, to reference that file in a different folder, did not work

cultivated_low		eb/temperate_grassland_farm.tga	    eb/arctic.tga

The only alternative was to rename the files, I gave the updated files the 'eb_' prefix, so that they do not over-write the vanilla files. I then put these 'eb_' prefixed files in the appropriate folder (in this case data/terrain/aerial_map/ground_types/) and changed the entries appropriately.

cultivated_low		eb_temperate_grassland_farm.tga	    eb_arctic.tga

.

Also, as far as I can tell, you cannot add custom loading bars to your mod if you wish to use the command '-mod:' without over-writing vanilla files. Does anyone have any hints as to a solution for this. It is not referenced in a *.txt file as far as I can tell, but it will not show the custom loading bar!

Foot

[Teleklos Archelaou]

What happens to map.rwm or the files like descr_vegetation.db that regenerate when you load a game and then are saved - they don't save into the old files, do they? I mean, do they resave new versions at all, or do they save in the subfolders for your new mod, or do they save in the main folders over the vanilla versions?