I (finally) present....RTW modding for dummies!

[Mikeus Caesar]

Contents:

• Intro
• Making all factions playable
• Editing money
• Editing starting armies
• Useful Links

Intro

Hello, this guide has been made for all you people who are new to RTW modding, and will give you simple instructions on how to mod simple things that most people seem to want to mod. I have made this, because from what i can tell, there aren't any simple guides for people who just want to edit simple things.

~~~REMEMBER, ALWAYS MAKE BACKUPS OF FILES THAT YOU ARE EDITING~~~

Making all factions playable

This is one of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to RTW. For some reason, CA decided to let you play only the three Roman factions first, and then once you beat the game, you can still only have 11 factions. To unlock all of the factions, you must first go into your RTW files. Go to Data, then to World, then Maps, then Campaign, then Imperial_Campaign and finally go into the descr_strat.txt file. At the top of all the writing, there will be a list that looks like this:

campaign		imperial_campaign
playable
	romans_julii
	romans_brutii
	romans_scipii
end
unlockable
	egypt
	seleucid
	carthage
	parthia
	gauls
	germans
	britons
	greek_cities
end
nonplayable
	romans_senate
	macedon
	pontus
	armenia
	dacia
	scythia
	spain
	thrace
	numidia
	slave
end

First, cut and paste all the factions from Egypt to Greek_Cities under romans_scipii. Then, do the same for the end nonplayable civs, except for the slaves. Now, go in the game, and abra-cadabra, you have all the civilisations, ready to play.

Editing Money

Most of you probably already know that there is a money cheat, add_money, and that it only gives you 20000 Denari each time you put it in and can only be used once, but by editing the files, you can have your culture start with 99999999 which would mean never worrying about money again. First, go to the descr_strat.txt file. Decide which faction you want to play, and scroll down descr_strat until you find it. Let’s say you want to play the Germans:

faction	germans, balanced mao
denari	5000

This is the first two lines for the Germans. The second line is what matters. Just change the amount of money, 5000, to 99999999. Now go to the game and you have 99999999 Denari. Simple! This is especially handy if you are playing a faction like the Germans, who’s economy goes down hill very quickly if you are inexperienced at handling a bad economy.

Editing Starting Armies

If you have managed to do the first two tutorials, then this one shouldn’t be any harder. As you know, whatever faction you decide to play starts with some starting armies of basic troops. But, with the Romans, they start with basic troops such as Hastati, Velites and Principes and most people who are new to the game want to play with the kind of troops most people imagine the Romans using, such as Legionnaires. An easy way to do this, is go to your descr_strat files again. Lets say we want to play as the Carthaginians. Go down to them, and find this part:

character	Hanno, named character, leader, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 65, , x 96, y 49 
traits GoodCommander 2, GoodDefender 1, PublicFaith 1, GoodAdministrator 2, GoodTrader 1
ancillaries spymaster
army
unit		carthaginian general's cavalry early				exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit		carthaginian cavalry				exp 0 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit		carthaginian elephant forest				exp 0 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit		carthaginian infantry				exp 0 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit		carthaginian infantry				exp 0 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit		merc balearic slingers				exp 2 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit		merc numidian cavalry				exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0

This is the Carthaginian faction leader, Hanno. Let’s say you don’t want him to start with these troops. Maybe you want him to start with Armoured Elephants and Sacred Band Infantry at full armour, weapons and Experience. Go to C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\export_descr_unit.txt, it should open automatically. Once in it, press Ctrl+F and search for whatever unit it is you want e.g. Sacred Band Infantry. It should go to carthaginian sacred band infantry. Copy+Paste sacred band infantry over carthaginian infantry in the Descr_strat files. Now, when you start the game, rather than having an Iberian Infantry in this army, there will be a Sacred Band Infantry unit in its place. Do the same for all the units in this infantry, replacing them with what you like, such as Heavy Onagers and Armoured Elephants. Now, if you want to change the quality of Armour, Weapons and their Experience points, go to this line: exp 0 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0 and change exp 0 to exp 9, armour 0 to armour 3 and weapon_lvl 0 to weapon_lvl 3. Now when you start the game, your units should be whichever one’s you picked with whatever levels you set. This is one I made earlier, for the Greeks:

character	Kleomenes of Sparta, named character, leader, command 0, influence 0, management 0, subterfuge 0, age 56, , x 138, y 46 
traits GoodCommander 2, NaturalMilitarySkill 1, GoodDefender 1. Austere 2, Intelligent 1
ancillaries wrestler

army
unit		greek general's guard cavalry early				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek cavalry				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek cavalry				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek cavalry				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek hoplite spartan				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek hoplite spartan				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek hoplite spartan				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek hoplite spartan				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek hoplite elite				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek hoplite elite				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek hoplite elite				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek hoplite elite				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek hoplite elite				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek hoplite elite				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek hoplite elite				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek hoplite elite				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek archer				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek archer				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek heavy onager				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3
unit		greek heavy onager				exp 9 armour 3 weapon_lvl 3

But remember, when you are looking for the unit you want for your army, check at the bottom of the unit for this:
ownership carthage
If it doesn’t say your faction where Carthage is, or your faction type e.g. Barbarian, then don’t use that unit, or it could cause damage to the game.

Useful Links

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=77 contains more detailed guides for those who want to get to know more in-depth modding.
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=73 A good place to ask any questions you may have about modding.

~~~REMEMBER, ALWAYS MAKE BACKUPS OF FILES THAT YOU ARE EDITING~~~