Vanilla Balance Mod v1.1 and v1.2 released!

[Barbarossa82]

Dear Org users,

I am proud to present the full release version of Vanilla Balance Mod, a mini-mod for Rome Total War 1.5, the aim of which is to remove some of the inherent biases in the Imperial Campaign which cause the same factions to quickly become superpowers in every game, while others are eliminated before they get close to deploying their most advanced and characterful troops. With VBM, the Imperial Campaign is less predictable in its results - the Gauls may rampage through Northern Italy, Carthage may conquer all Sicily and rule the Western Mediterranean, while war in the east could see the Seleucids or Pontus emerge as a superpower.

Naturally the nations which habitually did well in pure vanilla can still end up winning through in VBM, but there is a good deal more variety and it takes longer for eventual victors to emerge.

The changes which have been made are minimal in scope and in particular effort has been made to ensure that no faction is either unviable or unduly easy when played by a human player. Inevitably, due to the various boosts and penalties which have been given to various factions, the original campaign difficulties have shifted somewhat - playing as the Gauls, Carthage or the Seleucids is somewhat easier under VBM than pure vanilla, while the British, Scipii, Spanish, Egyptian and Numidian campaigns are harder. However none of the campaigns played with VBM are harder than the hardest campaign under pure vanilla, or easier than the easiest.

There are two versions of VBM, 1.1 and 1.2. v1.1 is for players who currently play pure vanilla 1.5, while 1.2 is for those who play 1.5 with player1's BugFixer installed.

By kind permission of player1, VBM 1.2 includes material from player1's BugFixer. Thus, installing VBM 1.2 will not result in the loss of BugFixer changes, and using the uninstall procedure described below will restore 1.5 files as modified by BugFixer, rather than pure vanilla. There will therefore be no need to reinstall BugFixer after uninstalling VBM 1.2.

Download Vanilla Balance Mod v1.1 here

Download Vanilla Balance Mod v1.2 here

Size: 4.37MB

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===========VANILLA BALANCE MOD V1.2===========
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README CONTENTS
===============

1. Introduction
2. List of Changes
3. Installation Instructions
4. Uninstallation Instructions
5. Credits


1. INTRODUCTION
========================================================

Vanilla Balance Mod v1.1 ("VBM") is a mini-mod for Rome Total War, the aim of which is to remove some of the inherent biases in the Imperial Campaign which cause the same factions to quickly become superpowers in every game, while others are eliminated before they get close to deploying their most advanced and characterful troops. With VBM, the Imperial Campaign is less predictable in its results - the Gauls may rampage through Northern Italy, Carthage may conquer all Sicily and rule the Western Mediterranean, while war in the east could see the Seleucids or Pontus emerge as a superpower. Naturally the nations which habitually did well in pure vanilla can still end up winning through in VBM, but there is a good deal more variety and it takes longer for eventual victors to emerge.
The changes which have been made are minimal in scope and in particular effort has been made to ensure that no faction is either unviable or unduly easy when played by a human player. Inevitably, due to the various boosts and penalties which have been given to various factions, the original campaign difficulties have shifted somewhat - playing as the Gauls, Carthage or the Seleucids is somewhat easier under VBM than pure vanilla, while the British, Scipii, Spanish, Egyptian and Numidian campaigns are harder. However none of the campaigns played with VBM are harder than the hardest campaign under pure vanilla, or easier than the easiest.
By kind permission of player1, VBM 1.2 includes material from player1's BugFixer. Thus, installing VBM 1.2 will not result in the loss of BugFixer changes, and using the uninstall procedure described below will restore 1.5 files as modified by BugFixer, rather than pure vanilla. There will therefore be no need to reinstall BugFixer after uninstalling VBM 1.2



2. LIST OF CHANGES
========================================================

INTERFACE
* All factions are now playable except for the Senate and the Rebels
* Leader portraits, maps and campaign descriptions for all factions that lacked them
* Revised maps for factions whose starting positions have changed
* For reasons of personal taste, some province names slightly altered where the original name was the same as that of a faction - e.g. the province of Armenia being part of the Kingdom of Armenia. These provinces now have the suffix "proper", e.g. Armenia Proper, Numidia Proper.
* There is a bonus cheat/feature, enabling the "perfect spy". This allows the player to see details of army composition and city details as if you had a spy right next to them, no matter how far away they are. To activate, press F1 while on the campaign map to bring up the keyboard shortcuts scroll. Click on the question mark and when the advisor appears, click the "show me how" button to activate the script. You can deactivate it at any time by repeating this process. For best results, use with the fog of war off.

NON-ROMAN GENERALS
* All non-Roman factions use the upgraded version of their generals' bodyguards from the beginning of the game. This does not affect the Britons

BRITONS
* Starting denarii reduced
* Samarobriva lost to Gauls
* Navy decommissioned
* Family member Belenus moved to Great Britain, his army disbanded
* Chariot morale reduced

GAULS
* Samarobriva gained from Britons, modest garrison installed

GERMANS
* German Spear Warband is no longer phalanx-capable. Has same stats, abilities and costs as the regular warbands of other barbarian factions

SPAIN
* Carthago Nova lost to Carthage
* Family member Matugenus moved to just South of the Pyrenees
* Morale and formation settings for Iberian Infantry and Scutarii swapped, since from their descriptions and the levels of barracks buildings required to train them, it seemed inappropriate that Iberians should be more disciplined than Scutarii
* Iberian Infantry defence skill slightly increased

CARTHAGE
* Starting denarii increased
* Spy on Sicily moved closer to Messana to prioritise war with Scipii instead of Greece
* Navy slightly strengthened
* Medium-level barracks in Carthage, sufficient to raise Libyan Spearmen
* Hasdrubal's elephants on Sicily confiscated
* Carthago Nova gained from Spain, with garrison.
* Carthage can now recruit Scutarii at a City Barracks.
* Changes to Scutarii and Iberian Infantry noted under Spain apply to Carthage too.
* Two new provinces added to the Carthaginian empire: Corsica (capital: Alalia) and Numidia Punica (capital: Hippo Regius)

BRUTII
* Amulius Brutus loses Natural Military Skill trait

GREEK CITIES
* Diplomat moved from Sicily to Aetolia
* Spartan Hoplites now have a standard bearer

PONTUS
* Chariot morale reduced
* Scythed Chariots can now be recruited only from a level 2 smith and above instead of level 1. Chariot archers are recruitable only with a level 3 smith.
* Trader removed from Mazaka

SELEUCID EMPIRE
* Starting denarii increased
* Militia Barracks in selected cities allow training of Levy Pikemen from the start of the game
* Sidon gained from Egypt with garrison
* Some other starting garrisons increased, with a unit of cataphracts in Hatra (most nations get a "bonus late military unit" which they can't recuit, the Seleucids originally didn't).
* Better walls around Antioch and Hatra
* Chariot morale reduced
* Scythed Chariots can now be recruited only from a level 2 smith and above instead of level 1

EGYPT
* Shrines removed from all cities to make presence of garrison more necessary
* Sidon lost to Seleucid Empire
* Numerous adjustments to cost of recruiting and maintaining units, to bring them into line with similar sized units with similar stats from other factions.
* Bonuses and immunities of Egyptian troops when fighting in hot conditions removed. Although characterful, this created an unfair advantage over Egypt's enemies, since the faction almost invariably fights in hot conditions. They now suffer the same heat penalties as equivalent units from the Greek and Carthaginian cultures.
* Chariot morale reduced, and they can now run amok.
* Base farming levels of Nile provinces very slightly reduced. They still collectively constitute the world's most fertile region though.
* Scythed Chariots can now be recruited only from a level 2 smith and above instead of level 1. Chariot archers are recruitable only with a level 3 smith.
* Starting chariots disbanded
* A few other starting troops disbanded

REBELS
* Garrisons of Petra, Bostra, Ancyra, Nicomedia and Apollonia increased, within reason




3. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
========================================================

1. From within the Vanilla Balance Mod v1.1 WinZip archive, click "Extract" to bring up the extraction dialogue box. In the box marked "extract to", type or navigate to the location of your Rome - Total War directory. So, if you installed in the default C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War directory, the "extract to" box should read "C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War" (without the quotes).

2. Select to extract "all files", and make sure the option boxes for "use folder names" and "overwrite existing files" are ticked (checked).

4. Click extract.

5. Delete the following file:
Rome - Total War\Data\world\maps\base\map.rwm
Vanilla Balance Mod v1.1 now installed.




4. UNINSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
========================================================

1. Open the folder "VBM Uninstall for BugFixer" within your Rome - Total War directory. Select the "data" folder within this directory, copy it and paste it into your Rome - Total War folder, agreeing to overwrite current files. This will resotre pure vanilla 1.5 RTW files as modified by player1's BugFixer over the VBM versions.

3. Delete the following file:
Data\world\maps\base\map.rwm

2. Optionally delete the following files (they are not doing any harm and are fully compatible with pure vanilla 1.5):
Data\UI\UNITS\CARTHAGE\#scutarii.tga
Data\UI\UNIT_INFO\CARTHAGE\SCUTARII_INFO.tga
Data\scripts\show_me\perfect_spy
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\unlocked.txt
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_armenia.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_britons.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_carthage.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_dacia.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_egypt.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_gauls.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_germans.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_greek_cities.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_macedon.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_numidia.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_parthia.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_pontus.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_scythia.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_seleucid.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_spain.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\leader_pic_thrace.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\map_armenia.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\map_dacia.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\map_macedon.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\map_numidia.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\map_pontus.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\map_scythia.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\map_spain.tga
Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\map_thrace.tga




5. CREDITS
========================================================

Mod Creator and Programmer: Barbarossa82
Coder/Tester/Ideas: Byzantine Emperor
Ideas: Woad Warrior
Scutarii unit cards: professorspatula
BugFixer content incorporated by kind permission of player1
Additional thanks: Seasoned Alcoholic
Wikipedia (for material used in faction descriptions)
Creative Assembly (for making the game in the first place)

[Byzantine Emperor]

Downloaded.

How can I test the campaign (for balancing) without affecting any outcomes?

(I tried playing as the Senate but the Scipii wiped me out)

[Barbarossa82]

If you start the game with the -ai command line parameter, then whatever faction you choose to play as in the campaign should be controlled by the AI, just like the other faction. The campaign will be on auto-run with just the AI playing. (quite difficult to stop in my experience, you have to press "ESC" a couple of times before it snaps out of it).

[Byzantine Emperor]

Will try right now...

Started a campaign with ai controlled Julii.

I will tell you the outcomes.

[Byzantine Emperor]

As you can see the Gauls have forced the Julii back for some reason.

No developments in Britain, Spain or Scipii

The Carthaginians have started conquering in Africa after losing out in Sicily to the Greeks.

Brutii have done relatively nothing.

Macedon have kicked the Greeks out, bar Aetolia. They even sent an army to Italy by sea

The Dacia/Thrace situation has turned out strangely, Thrace beating Dacia, Scythia beating Dacia and Scythia also being beaten by Thrace. Macedon may later intervene.

In the east, Seleucids are dying out Pontus and Egypt are doing their vanilla run and Armenia have conquered Selucia.

[Barbarossa82]

Thanks for the info and testing efforts, Byzantine Emperor. I have never, ever seen the Greeks take over Sicily like that!
Disappointing to see the Seleucids collapse as usual though - last time I tried a campaign with v1.1 (absolutely the same as you have) they became a superpower.
Let's see how further campaigns turn out, then we can adjust VBM as and how necessary.

[Byzantine Emperor]

I used 1.2 with Player1's bugfixer. Would that change my outcome over yours?

[Barbarossa82]

It could do. VBM was designed and tested for 1.5, so I don't really know what different outcomes would be experienced with different versions. However, I wouldn't say that the outcome you observed is impossible with a properly functioning version of the mod, the aim wasn't to simply replace old superpowers with new ones but to try to diversify which powers would end up supreme.
The main determnining factor with the Seleucids seems to be how Pontus fares. If Pontic expansion stalls and they fail to take over Ancyra and Nicomedia early, the Seleucids will now become a megapower and trash Egypt. If on the other hand Pontus and Armenia get their act together early and mount powerful attacks on the Seleucids, then they will still go into collapse (although it normally takes considerably longer under VBM than under pure vanilla).
At least in your campaign there was still some variety in the middle east, since the Ptolemies have only absorbed two Seleucid provinces and Armenia and Pontus are both expanding.