Vanilla Balance Mod v2 Released

[Barbarossa82]

Vanilla Balance Mod v2

Need something to revitalise the vanilla campaign in the remaining weeks before M2TW and EB 0.8 come out? Well...

I am proud to announce the release of Vanilla Balance Mod v2, a limited mini-mod for vanilla RTW v1.5 that seeks to enhance the balance and replay value of the campaign. VBM reduces the effect where the same factions (Britons, Egypt) storm over the map predictably in almost every game while others (Seleucids, Carthage, Gaul, Germany) are wiped out very early before getting a chance to deploy their best units. This is achieved by fine-tuning faction starting positions, starting denarii and unit rosters. Please see the Readme document below for full details of the changes made.

Vanilla Balance Mod v2 starting map, and a VBM campaign at 200BC (140 turns):


The new Carthaginian provinces of Numidia Punica and Corsica, and the new Seleucid province of Lycaonia:


New Carthaginian Scutarii and non-phalanx German spear warband:


Thanks to everyone who downloaded, played with and gave feedback on Vanilla Balance Mod v1. Your feedback has been very helpful and has led to improvements in balancing which have helped bring this project closer to its goal.

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===========VANILLA BALANCE MOD V2 README===========
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README CONTENTS
===============

1. Introduction
2. Version Information
3. Requirements/Compatibility
4. Principal changes From v1
5. List of Changes to Vanilla Game
6. Installation Instructions
7. Uninstallation Instructions
8. Credits


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

Vanilla Balance Mod v2 ("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.
VBM is not a panacea. Many of the factors which cause predictability and repeating history are inherent in RTW and are beyond the scope of my abilities as a modder to rectify. In particular, the Steamroller Effect whereby the "flow" of a war does not tend to change once an early tipping point has been reached, is difficult to remedy. Nevertheless, with Vanilla Balance Mod it is far less predictable which nation will be the beneficiary of the effect, and thost that lose out now tend to last a little longer in most cases. A VBM campaign map at 200BC will normally be far more diverse than that of vanilla Rome.
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.
With regard to history, VBM is not a historical or realism mod, but every change to faction starting positions and unit rosters has a historical basis. Overall VBM is certainly no less accurate than vanilla 1.5.



2. VERSION INFORMATION
========================================================

Vanilla Balance Mod v2 comes in two versions, v2.1 and v2.2. The ONLY difference between these versions is support for player1's BugFixer.

By kind permission of player1, Vanilla Balance Mod v2.2 incorporates changes made by BugFixer, the popular unofficial patch for vanilla that solves many graphical, trait and other bugs with the main game. This means you can install VBM straight over a copy of vanilla RTW that has BugFixer installed, without losing BugFixer's enhancements. Uninstalling VBM v2.2 will leave BugFixer intact if it was on your system before you installed VBM, so there will be no need to reinstall BugFixer.
BugFixer is highly recommended for the best results from VBM, see https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=55464 for details and download.

VBM v2.1 does not incorporate BugFixer changes - it should be uninstalled over pure vanilla and will restore pure, unBigFixed vanilla when uninstalled.



3. REQUIREMENTS/COMPATIBILITY
========================================================

Vanilla Balance Mod REQUIRES ROME TOTAL WAR VERSION 1.5. Whilst it may work with eaerlier versions, VBM can accept no respnsibility for any loss of functionality, CTDs, or other problems which come from installing it over 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 or 1.3.
Vanilla Balance Mod does not require Barbarian Invasion or Alexander expansion packs to be installed.
If using BugFixer, Vanilla Balance Mod v2.2 is tested with BugFixer v3.36. It has not been tested with other versions, but no problems are anticipated if used with an earlier version.

Q: Is Vanilla Balance Mod compatible with Mod X?
A: Vanilla Balance Mod is, obviously, a mini-mod for vanilla and is therefore totally incompatible with "coversion" mods which change RTW into a different game, for example Europa Barbarorum or Rome: Total Realism. Other mini-mods which affect unit skins/attributes are not generally compatible with VBM as installation of VBM would overwrite the files that describe unit behaviour and attributes. Other mods that do not have this effect, such as those that change faction symbols or AI formations, should be compatible. However, no guarantee is given on the subject - or any other for that matter ;-) Note that uninstalling VBM will restore pure, out-of-the-box vanilla files and is therefore likely to cripple any mod or tweak that uses files also used by VBM. You will have to reinstall that mod after uninstalling BugFixer.



4. PRINCIPAL CHANGES FROM v1
========================================================

* New installer and uninstaller - VBM now has a proper install program and ships with an uninstaller for greater accessibility.
* New province of Lycaonia added in southern Asia Minor, improving Seleucid cohesion and survivability.
* Numerous small adjustments to faction strengths using finance and buildings - Seleucids reined in slightly, slight boots to Scipii
* Fixed a bug where Carthage lost the ability to train Scutarii after upgrading barracks above a certain level (thanks to Stalin for spotting it)
* Fixed a bug where description text for Spartan Hoplites was missing



5. 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. This compensates for the unfairness of the general upgrade function being dependent on the Marius reforms for all cultures, rather than just the Romans.

BRITONS
* The Britons have been banished from the mainland and had their navy disbanded. They no longer rampage across the continent immediately. Typically an AI-controlled British faction will cross the channel in approximately 200BC. This leads to longer Gaulish and German survival.
* Morale of British Chariots has been reduced as they were over-valued in auto-calc.

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
* 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
* Carthaginian empire now larger at game start, with Carthago Nova gained from spain and two totally new provinces: Corsica (capital: Alalia) and Numidia Punica (capital: Hippo Regius)
* Starting denarii increased
* Forces on Sicily slightly rebalanced
* Medium-level barracks in Carthage, sufficient to raise Libyan Spearmen
* Carthage can now recruit Scutarii at a City Barracks.
* Changes to Scutarii and Iberian Infantry noted under Spain apply to Carthage too.

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
* Completely new province of Lycaonia (capital: Iconium) in Asia Minor bridges gap between Sardis and Tarsus, improving empire's cohesion and survivability
* 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 at start of game
* 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


6. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
========================================================

a) Run the downloaded file and follow the onscreen instructions. So much easier than v1!
b) Navigate to your Rome - Total War directory (normally C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War) and locate the folder named "VBM Uninstall RENAME ME". Rename this folder. Taking the "RENAME ME" part off the end should be enough. This allows uninstallation of VBM without messing up your game (don't worry if you forgot - see Uninstallation Instructions below)


7. UNINSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
========================================================

a) Run the program "Uninstall VBM" located in your RTW directory. This deletes VBM's own files.
b) Remeber the folder in your RTW directory called "VBM Uninstall RENAME ME", that you renamed while installing? Open up that folder, select the "Data" folder inside it, and paste it into your RTW directory (not the "Data" subdirectory). VBM is now uninstalled and your game is playable as pure vanilla again.

Q: I didn't rename the folder that was called "VBM Uninstall RENAME ME", I ran the uninstaller, and now that folder has disappeared and I can't run RTW! Help!!
A: Don't panic. Just reinstall VBM, this time following the instructions about the renaming, and then uninstall it as described above. Everything should be fine.


8. CREDITS
========================================================

Mod Creator and Programmer: Barbarossa82
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)


Download

===No longer available, new version planned. See below===