Bored with Realism? Try Totally Random!

[Epistolary Richard]

Totally RandomÔ Total War

What is it?
This is a new provincial campaign for the Julii family in which they start off not with their usual starting territories of Arretium and Ariminum but with a single completely random territory somewhere on the map. And when I say random, I mean it. You won't know where you're starting from. I won't know where you're starting from.

Why? Well, just for something different, a new challenge of carving out an isolated Roman state in the middle of the steppe, deep in the desert or in the forests of Western Europe. It's fun!

How big is it?
Approx. 0.7meg

Mod compatibility
This campaign requires you to have the vanilla map files either in the base folder (where they are when you install it) or in the Totally RandomÔ campaign folder itself. It also specifies vanilla unit names for the troops listed in descr_strat so that may need updating if you're using a modded game as well. Minor adjustments such as merely adding new troops/formations/stat adjustments should be able to be used in conjunction.

Install instructions
1) Download Random_Julii2.zip
2) Place the Random Julii campaign folder in Data\world\maps\campaigns alongside the Imperial Campaign and the Sons of Mars campaign.

Then you'll be able to launch it from the Single Player menu as a Provincial campaign.

Commentary
This mod is the culmination of a few hours work I put in testing out an idea that actually paid off. Many thanks to Sfwartir for putting together the city co-ordinates even though he couldn't see any possible way they might be useful!

So let's see the mod in action:

Here's the launching screens:


And here's some of the various different locations you can start your Julian Empire from:

A Sicilian Stronghold? Challenge Carthage & Numidia for Northern Africa? Pre-empt the Brutii in Greece?


Found your nation in the Bosphorus? In Rich Asia? In the darkest European forests? It's totally randomÔ!


And as an added benefit, the senate missions will follow where you have gone So, you won't be told to take Segesta while you're fighting the Nabateans.

[shifty157]

Your starting province could be absolutely any province on the map? Including one in the middle of another faction? Including another factions capital? Including Rome itself?

Thats pretty awesome. You should give that out to other mods as well as allow for all of the factions to be used. Hell go all the way and give every faction a random starting province. Itd be a bit of work but itd be pretty great. No two games could ever be the same.

[dark]

yeah, very cool idea
but i have the same question as the guy above
i didnt bother to read the whole script, but have added all provinces to it?

dark89

[Epistolary Richard]

Your starting province could be absolutely any province on the map? Including one in the middle of another faction? Including another factions capital? Including Rome itself?

Actually, I didn't include Rome. The game doesn't like it. The Senate get ousted, but they don't get destroyed, it gets messy. I also excluded the other 4 Roman starting provinces, simply because if you're landed in one of those the Senate demands that you give it back, which is pretty tough when you have no diplomats and no other cities. Apart from those 5, it's all the provinces.

Hell go all the way and give every faction a random starting province. Itd be a bit of work but itd be pretty great. No two games could ever be the same.

True, but it would end up as a bit of a Rebel Total War don't you think? If there were only 20 faction occupied provinces at the start...

[Spidr]

Beautiful Work

Spidr

[King Ragnar]

Looks pretty cool.

[Divinus Arma]

True, but it would end up as a bit of a Rebel Total War don't you think? If there were only 20 faction occupied provinces at the start...

That could actually end up kind of cool!

Think about it...

Every province on the map given to either a single faction or a rebel.

You never know where you would be, or who you would encounter...

That would be sweet! Plus with a one province starting limit, every faction is on the same page...

It would be evn better if you could incorporate this with RTR 6!!!!

DO IT DO IT DO IT!!!!!!

Rome Total Random!!!!

[Reidy]

are you still able to play Vannila with this?

[Oaty]

It is still the vanilla game except on the starting position of the Julii. And the mod does not overwrite any existing files so no need to uninstall it unless you're really desperate on space.

[nic_vee]

Damn this game is like Civilization 3. Sounds totaly awsome

[Reidy]

could you possibly make it a bit more random? i got put in Locus gothi 3 times out of 5.

[Epistolary Richard]

Hmmm... I'll see what I can do

[Epistolary Richard]

King Jim II I've now put a _more_ random version in its place

The reason you kept getting Vicus Gothi was that that is the default territory I assigned them, so if all the other probablilities failed then they would at least get a single territory. I've just upped the probablility of the other cities to reduce the chance that none of them will be picked.

[Divinus Arma]

So are you able to do the totally random thing I mentioned?

[Epistolary Richard]

I don't think it would be possible to be honest. The reason the only faction included is the Julii is because any other factions are destroyed if they have no settlements lists in descr_strat, which is what you would need to have it totally random.

[zukenft]

hmm...aside from it's tedious to set the probability for each city for each faction, I don't think "reemerging" factions would be detrimental to the game... except that you can't really destroy a faction.

But! this is a great way to make a faction reemergence!

[Epistolary Richard]

Yep, but it only works for one faction. To do it for the other factions you'd have to give them an isolated province somewhere where they could exist until they 're-emerged'. It's techincally possible, but it would have to be incorporated into a major mod for people to bother with it as it's a lot of map changes - and most major mods like using up their provinces for other things!

[Divinus Arma]

hmmmm. thats a shame

[Captain-Tiguris]

What of units?

Are you making new units?

[Al Khalifah]

How is the actual code behind this working ER ?

Would it not be possible to create using (for example) VB a utility that the user would run before starting the game that will randomise the starting provinces by editting the descr_strat file. This could assign each faction a starting province (or cluster of provinces).

What do you think? - I haven't downloaded it myself yet.

[Epistolary Richard]

The code is just a campaign script, much like the Prologue, except that the scripted part of it only lasts a couple of seconds (long enough to pick a settlement) and then the game proceeds as normal.

I'm sure it would be possible to write something that generates a new descr_strat file, but something like that would be beyond my abilities to write. This particular mod doesn't use any file swapping at all.

What of units?

Are you making new units?

Nah, at the moment this is just an easy to drop-in provincial campaign, it would be possible to completely randomise all troop recruitment but it would require significant changes to export_descr_unit, descr_model_battle, export_descr_buildings, plus copying around loads of unit and unit_info cards. I don't think people would want to bother with all the usual install and uninstall for a little novelty mod.

[Alameda]

is this mod compatible with the latest RTW patch? I guess 1.5, and BI (not relevant here is 1.6)

TY for a reply.

[Epistolary Richard]

Haven't tried it, but there's no reason that it shouldn't be.

[Myrddraal]

ER, as I see it, the mod isn't quite totally random, theres a probablility of each province being chosen as it goes through the list right?

Well if you make the probability very low and equal for each province, then put the whole lot into a while loop which gets broken when a province is chosen, then the probability of a particular province being selected will be more even across the board.

[Stalins Ghost]

Cool! Nice idea.

[The Wandering Scholar]

VERY INTERESTING!

[shoenjumpman]

hey guys im new and i just downloaded the random julii mod and when i tried to get it working when it tp;d me to choose my faction there were none. can someone plz help? tyvvvvm

[shoenjumpman]

ok im verrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy srry but now i tried downloading it again but this time the 1st campain screen i clicked julii but on the 2nd screen it dosent have the factoin leader face or the goal and it also wont let me start



someone plz help!

[anelious phyros]

Um, not to be like the first guy but I've got a era. When ever I click the arrow to start it puts right back on the start. This is what happened to me with the Sicily campaign map which is like yours.

My version is 1.5, it might just not work.....

[anelious phyros]

Bad news I just copied the imperial folder and called it Test_1, and it worked perfectly.