Useful Links for R:TW
Most of this information was originally compiled by Kekvit Irae and therother over the years. I've transfered "ownership" of it to myself so I'm able to keep it updated and ensure all links remain valid. Just so you know, that means that I've ripped Kekvit's name off it and stuck my own on instead - that's why the date is just under two years before I joined.
Thank you Kekvit and therother for all your previous hard work on compiling and maintaining this highly useful list of links
Useful R:TW Links
First and foremost, the Guild FAQ (and rules):
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=45416
Download Servers
- Totalwar.org "Mizus" server
- Totalwar.org Links and Downloads Manager - essentially a bit more of a friendly front end to the Mizus server. It's not quite quite complete though.
- AtomicGamer - contains a few files not on the .Org's server and can be useful if Mizus suffers a downtime.
- TWC Download Server
Official PatchesBear in mind that the White Label edition of the game and the SEGA Gold edition do not need patching. You can check which version you have by going into the "Options" menu on the games opening screen and looking at the number in the top left hand corner of the window.
- Patch 1.6 for BI/R:TW - this patch also patches R:TW to v1.5. (53.6 MB)
- Patch 1.5 for R:TW (without BI installed) - you will need 1.3 installed first. (24.7 MB)
- Patch 1.3 for R:TW (without BI). This is for vanilla R:TW (without BI) only. You do not need to download this patch if you already have BI installed, but you do need to download it (or patch 1.2) should you wish to patch R:TW without BI to v1.5. (101MB)
- Patch 1.2 for R:TW. This is for vanilla R:TW (without BI) only. You do not need to download this patch if you already have BI installed, but you do need to download it (or patch 1.3) should you wish to patch R:TW without BI to v1.5. This patch is probably the best solution for a 1.5 upgrade due to its smaller size and its lower number of reported problems compared to v1.3. (41.4 MB)
- Patch 1.1 for R:TW - addresses mainly multiplayer issues (game stability, performance and synchronisation) and reduces strength of elephant units. You don't need this patch to install 1.2 or any subsequent patches. (8.8 MB)
Other Official Downloads
- Official Barbarian Invasion Demo (220 MB)
- Official R:TW Demo (162 MB)
- Offical CA Alternate Skin for the Spartan Hoplite - extract the archive directly into your R:TW directory. Typically this will be "C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Rome - Total War" (in the case of the Gold Edition) or "C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War" in the case of the non-Gold versions. (648 KB)
GuidesGeneral
- frogbeastegg's Guide to Rome: Total War and the Barbarian Invasion - a very comprehensive guide
- Quietus' Rome: Total War Guide - an advanced guide, with detailed information on all facets of RTW.
- Dave 'Fargo' Kosak's Guide to RTW - IGN version of the Smackus Maximus guide.
- Doug Radcliffe's Rome: Total War Game Guide on GameSpot
Specific Topics
- Console commands and command line options - bear in mind that not all of these work.
- Tamur's Diplomacy Guide – everything you could ever want to know about diplomacy.
- Sinner's Temple Guide – complete list of all the temples for each faction, and their effects.
- Soulflame's Unit Guide v1.2 – Exhaustive list of all the units, and their stats.
- Spino's Campaign AI Settings – a quick guide to the personalities of the various factions under AI control.
- geraldtan's advanced traits spreadsheets.
- Strategic Command Center's Unit Guide – web guide for unit stats in RTW.
- rumcajsz's RTW and RTR political maps - useful maps for both the normal game, and the Total Realism mod.
- Silver Rusher's Eastern Army construction guide.
- Flying Pig's Admiral's Guide to Naval Warfare
- Woad Warrior's R:TW Battle Guide
- The Stranger's R:TW Tactic's Guide
- Caius' Basics of descr_strat guide - covers the basics of making all factions playable and editing rebel spawn rates.
- There is also the well developed TWC Wiki.
FixesGame workarounds and CTD fixes
Fan-made Patches
- BUG-FIXER - an unofficial patch for Rome: Total War 1.5/BI v1.6 which fixes many issues.
- Discovered bugs: Unit bugs 1 & 2, Trait bugs.
Forum Info
- The Guild FAQ - Collection of useful information that answers many commonly asked questions, as well hints and tips on Forum usage. Includes the Forum Rules.
- Synopsis of the Guild Forums - run-down of current forums, each with a short description. It's a little outdated, not covering some of the newer forums, but it gives a synopsis of most forums in the database.
- Signature Picture Rules - the rules on pictures in signatures.
Useful Information posted by CA Devs
- Shogun's FAQ over at the .com (thanks to therother)
- Shogun's FAQ by Captain Fishpants here in the .Org (thanks to therother again)
- Culture and Unrest Public Order Penalties – info from JeromeGrasdyke.
- Captain to General - info from Captain Fishpants on adopting Captains as family members.
- What do command stars do? - JeromeGrasdyke explains the bonuses conferred by the command rating of your general.
- Playing as the Senate - hatcat explains why it is not such a good idea!
- Q&A by JeromeGrasdyke – info from the R:TW lead programmer, primarily about modding, but there are also useful nuggets of information about the game itself.
- R:TW's trait system - info from Captain Fishpants on the new trait system.
- Pre-Battle Speeches - the good Captain gives some insight into the generation of your General's (hopefully) rousing speeches.
- Game mechanics questions - plenty of info from JeromeGrasdyke.
- How to negotiate a protectorate - courtesy of HatCat
Useful Tools
- d0t's best capital calculator - calculates the best position for minimising distance to capital public order penalties throughout your entire empire (broken link - if anybody finds a replacement link feel free to drop me a PM)
- Ravenous Bugblatter Beast's advanced version of the capital locator, which allows you to set the maximum unrest that distance from capital is permitted in each city when calculating the optimal capital. (partially broken link - the tool exists but is not fully functional containing a major issue which reduces its potential. If anybody finds a replacement link/tool feel free to drop me a PM.)
- Seppel's city growth rate calculator.
Research/Game Mechanics Links
Battle Map ResearchThe Research Subject Tree, in the Ludus Magna, indexes research threads more comprehensively.
- Horse archers in R:TW - Doug-Thompson and co. examine this unit type in detail. There is also an earlier version here.
- Elephants, healing, and multiple hit points - an investigation of how to deal with elephant units.
- Regarding spears and cavalry - discussion of the various bonuses given to cavalry and spear units.
- Best foot unit - an analysis of the best foot units in the game.
- The testudo - a discussion of the usefulness of this formation.
- Phalanx formation - a discussion on how to best use this formation.
- Battlefield AI - research on how the AI handles battles
- Effects of command - an investigation of the effects of command
- Missile attack index - a metric system for quantify the impact of various missile units
- Archery vs weather - research into the effects of weather conditions on archery
- Experience Research - an investigation into the effects and the general details of experience.
- AI mechanics - an interesting topic explaining why some factions always appear to fail and others always appear to very easily succeed, using the Seleucid Empire as an example.
Strategy Map Research
- Squalor – The population size for each level of squalor. Also covers garrison effects.
- Distance to Capital PO penalties - how this public order penalty varies with distance from the capital.
- Tax Income - info on the income from taxation at various population levels. Also contains zhuge's farming equation.
- Slaves Resource - info on the slaves resource generated by enslaving a settlement.
- Unrest Public Order Penalties – research on unrest.
- Culture Public Order Penalties – factors which count towards the culture public order penalty.
- Devastation - info on campaign map devastation caused by unfriendly units in provinces.
- Economic info - some basic experiments with economy.
- Trade - there is also this thread.
- Corruption - investigation of this distance-from-capital financial penalty.
- Governor's Admin income - an equation for calculating Admin income.
- AI personalities - research on the different AI personalities.
- Bribery - investigating the costs of bribing.
- Farming - research on farming income.
- Building Strategies - researching the effectiveness of various building strageties.
- Roads - looking in to the effects of roads, on income and Movement Points.
- Senate missions - examining the missions the Senate assigns.
- Battle Odds - investigating the odds of battle, as reported on the Campaign map.
- Garrison - how the number of troops vs settlement population affects the garrison bonus.
- Unit attributes - investigating the effect of the various unit attributes.
- Agents - researches the abilities of spies, assassins and diplomats
- Diplomat Influence - investigating the effects of influence on the effectiveness of diplomats.
Useful Research Tools
- GodsPetMonkey's Unit and Building Editors for RTW - useful tool for editing/viewing unit stats. Hadrian, who's link is broken in the thread, can be found here.
- ShellShock's RomeSAGE – save game modifier allowing difficulty changing mid game. Especially useful if you fancy adding a challenge later or are finding the game too hard.
- Finn's Rome: Total War Cheat unlocker – unlocks further RomeShell commands, and removes the one-a-game restriction. Download link can be found here (the one in the thread is broken). Ensure you read the thread prior to downloading though - there are important instructions in there required to make the mod work.
- ArtMoney - memory address editor, useful for editing money, populations, etc.
- XVI32 - a hex editor.
Historic Battlefield Tactics Discussions
If there's anything you want to add, feel free to drop me a PM. All links must relate to the vanilla aspect of the game, preferably at patch 1.6 (BI) or 1.5 (R:TW). Modding links belong in the modding forums rather than in the Colosseum (designed for discussion over the vanilla/lightly modified R:TW game).
Thanks
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