HowTo: Set up MTW2 for modding

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TheRagMan 14:42 07-13-2009

Hi all, I'm new here and used all the data here to set up my mod environment

.

Here's my contribution, as a token of my gratitude

.

It's a batch file you can run from anywhere on your computer, all you have to do is to write the full path to your M2TW install location where indicated

Code:

:: turn off echoing back of commands
@echo off

:: clear the screen
cls

:: You MUST write after the = mark the full path to your own M2TW
:: install location
set M2TW=C:\Program Files\SEGA\Medieval II Total War\

:: Don't modify those variables unless you really know what you're doing
set UNPACKER=%M2TW%\tools\unpacker
set DEST=%M2TW%backup\
set MAPS=%M2TW%data\world\maps\
set DESTBASE=%DEST%data\world\maps\base
set DESTCAMP=%DEST%data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign

:: This will show you which directories are used before going on
echo M2TW install location: %M2TW%
echo Source of backup: %MAPS%
echo Backup of base location: %DESTBASE%
echo Backup of campaign location: %DESTCAMP%
echo Destination of unpacked files: %DEST%
pause

:: This creates destination directories
mkdir "%DESTCAMP%"
mkdir "%DESTBASE%"

:: This copies contents from the map directory and saves it to destination
xcopy "%MAPS%base" "%DESTBASE%" /s /e
xcopy "%MAPS%campaign\imperial_campaign" "%DESTCAMP%" /s /e

:: This actually unpacks the files to your destination backup location
chdir /d "%UNPACKER%"
unpacker.exe --source=..\..\packs\localized.pack --destination=..\..\backup –verbosity=1

:: This performs the mandatory renaming of descr_geography* files
move "%DEST%data\descr_geography_new.db" "%DEST%data\descr_geography_new.db.back"
move "%DEST%data\descr_geography_new.txt" "%DEST%data\descr_geography_new.txt.back"

:: A little pause so you can read the results
pause

Thanks.

piaoliang 14:48 12-10-2009

hi! i'm new to modding m2tw. i've gotten everything right so far, i have downloaded patch 1.1, unpacked the files, deleted the descr_geography_new.db and descr_geography_new.txt files, and i picked the io.file_first method

mymod is working fine and nothing is crashing so far. my only problem is, the changes i make don't happen either

i tried changing the imperial_campaign_regions_and_settlement_names file by changing london to asdfg for trial and it hasn't changed in the game. also, i see a difference in the instructions, coz my file looks like this.

¬
{Acre}Acre
{Acre_Province}Acre Region
{Adana}Adana
{Adana_Province}Adana Region
{Ajaccio}Ajaccio
{Ajaccio_Province}Ajaccio Region
{Aleppo}Aleppo
{Aleppo_Province}Aleppo Region
{Alexandria}Alexandria
{Alexandria_Province}Alexandria Region
{Algiers}Algiers
{Algiers_Province}Algiers Region
{Angers}Angers
{Angers_Province}Angers Region
{Antioch}Antioch
{Antioch_Province}Antioch Region
{Antwerp}Antwerp
{Antwerp_Province}Antwerp Region
{Arguin}Arguin
{Arguin_Province}Arguin Region
{Arhus}Arhus
{Arhus_Province}Arhus Region
{Baghdad}Baghdad
{Baghdad_Province}Baghdad Region
{Bern}Bern
{Bern_Province}Bern Region
{Bologna}Bologna
{Bologna_Province}Bologna Region
{Bordeaux}Bordeaux
{Bordeaux_Province}Bordeaux Region
{Bran}Bran
{Bran_Province}Bran Region
{Brazil}Brazil
{Breslau}Breslau
{Breslau_Province}Breslau Region
{Bruges}Bruges
{Bruges_Province}Bruges Region
{Bucharest}Bucharest
{Bucharest_Province}Bucharest Region
{Budapest}Budapest
{Budapest_Province}Budapest Region
{Bulgar}Bulgar
{Caen}Caen
{Caen_Province}Caen Region
{Caernarvon}Caernarvon
{Caernarvon_Province}Caernarvon Region
{Caesarea}Caesarea
{Caesarea_Province}Caesarea Region
{Caffa}Caffa
{Caffa_Province}Caffa Province
{Cagliari}Cagliari
{Cagliari_Province}Cagliari Region
{Cairo}Cairo
{Cairo_Province}Cairo Region
{Caribbean}Caribbean
{Caribbean_Isles}Caribbean Isles
{Cholula}Cholula
{Cholula_Province}Texcoco Region
{Constantinople}Constantinople
{Constantinople_Province}Constantinople Region
{Cordoba}Cordoba
{Cordoba_Province}Cordoba Region
{Corinth}Corinth
{Corinth_Province}Corinth Region
{Cracow}Krakow
{Cracow_Province}Krakow Region
{Damascus}Damascus
{Damascus_Province}Damascus Region
{Dijon}Dijon
{Dijon_Province}Dijon Region
{Dongola}Dongola
{Dongola_Province}Dongola Region
{Dublin}Dublin
{Dublin_Province}Dublin Region
{Durazzo}Durazzo
{Durazzo_Province}Durazzo Region
{Edessa}Edessa
{Edessa_Province}Edessa Region
{Edinburgh}Edinburgh
{Edinburgh_Province}Edinburgh Region
{Florence}Florence
{Florence_Province}Florence Region
{Fortaleza}Fortaleza
{Frankfurt}Frankfurt
{Frankfurt_Province}Frankfurt Region
{Gaza}Gaza
{Gaza_Province}Gaza Region
{Genoa}Genoa
{Genoa_Province}Genoa Region
{Granada}Granada
{Granada_Province}Granada Region
{Halych}Halych
{Halych_Province}Halych Region
{Hamburg}Hamburg
{Hamburg_Province}Hamburg Region
{Helsinki}Helsinki
{Helsinki_Province}Helsinki Region
{Hohenstauffen}Staufen
{Hohenstauffen_Province}Staufen Region
{Iasi}Iasi
{Iasi_Province}Iasi Region
{Iconium}Iconium
{Iconium_Province}Iconium Region
{Innsbruck}Innsbruck
{Innsbruck_Province}Innsbruck Region
{Inverness}Inverness
{Inverness_Province}Inverness Region
{Iraklion}Iraklion
{Isle_of_Crete}Isle of Crete
{Isle_of_Cyprus}Isle of Cyprus
{Isle_of_Rhodes}Isle of Rhodes
{Jedda}Jedda
{Jedda_Province}Jedda Region
{Jerusalem}Jerusalem
{Jerusalem_Province}Jerusalem Region
{Kiev}Kiev
{Kiev_Province}Kiev Region
{Leon}Leon
{Leon_Province}Leon Region
{Lisbon}Lisbon
{Lisbon_Province}Lisbon Region
{London}London
{London_Province}London Region
{Magdeburg}Magdeburg
{Magdeburg_Province}Magdeburg Region
{Marrakesh}Marrakesh
{Marrakesh_Province}Marrakesh Region
{Marseille}Marseille
{Marseille_Province}Marseille Region
{Metz}Metz
{Metz_Province}Metz Region
{Miccosukee}Miccosukee
{Milan}Milan
{Milan_Province}Milan Region
{Moscow}Moscow
{Moscow_Province}Moscow Region
{Mosul}Mosul
{Mosul_Province}Mosul Region
{Naples}Naples
{Naples_Province}Naples Region
{Nicaea}Nicaea
{Nicaea_Province}Nicaea Region
{Nicosia}Nicosia
{North_America}North America
{Nottingham}Nottingham
{Nottingham_Province}Nottingham Region
{Novgorod}Novgorod
{Novgorod_Province}Novgorod Region
{Nuremburg}Nuremburg
{Nuremburg_Province}Nuremburg Region
{Oslo}Oslo
{Oslo_Province}Oslo Region
{Palermo}Palermo
{Palermo_Province}Palermo Region
{Pamplona}Pamplona
{Pamplona_Province}Pamplona Region
{Paris}Paris
{Paris_Province}Paris Region
{Prague}Prague
{Prague_Province}Prague Region
{Ragusa}Ragusa
{Ragusa_Province}Ragusa Region
{Rennes}Rennes
{Rennes_Province}Rennes Region
{Rheims}Rheims
{Rheims_Province}Rheims Region
{Rhodes}Rhodes
{Riga}Riga
{Riga_Province}Riga Region
{Roman_Province}Rome Region
{Rome}Rome
{Ryazan}Ryazan
{Ryazan_Province}Ryazan Region
{Sarkel}Sarkel
{Sarkel_Province}Sarkel Region
{Smolensk}Smolensk
{Smolensk_Province}Smolensk Region
{Smyrna}Smyrna
{Smyrna_Province}Smyrna Region
{Sofia}Sofia
{Sofia_Province}Sofia Region
{Stettin}Stettin
{Stettin_Province}Stettin Region
{Stockholm}Stockholm
{Stockholm_Province}Stockholm Region
{Tbilisi}Tbilisi
{Tbilisi_Province}Tbilisi Region
{Tenochtitlan}Tenochtitlan
{Tenochtitlan_Province}Tenochtitlan Region
{Thessalonica}Thessalonica
{Thessalonica_Province}Thessalonica Region
{Thorn}Thorn
{Thorn_Province}Thorn Region
{Timbuktu}Timbuktu
{Timbuktu_Province}Timbuktu Region
{Tlaxcala}Tlaxcala
{Tlaxcala_Province}Tlaxcala Region
{Toledo}Toledo
{Toledo_Province}Toledo Region
{Toulouse}Toulouse
{Toulouse_Province}Toulouse Region
{Trebizond}Trebizond
{Trebizond_Province}Trebizond Region
{Tripoli}Tripoli
{Tripoli_Province}Tripoli Region
{Tunis}Tunis
{Tunis_Province}Tunis Region
{Valencia}Valencia
{Valencia_Province}Valencia Region
{Venice}Venice
{Venice_Province}Venice Region
{Vienna}Vienna
{Vienna_Province}Vienna Region
{Vilnius}Vilnius
{Vilnius_Province}Vilnius Region
{Volga-Bulgar_Province}Volga-Bulgar Region
{Yerevan}Yerevan
{Yerevan_Province}Yerevan Region
{York}York
{York_Province}York Region
{Zagreb}Zagreb
{Zagreb_Province}Zagreb Region
{Zaragoza}Zaragoza
{Zaragoza_Province}Zaragoza Region

while the guide says it should be something like
{London} London

note that the guide says it has a tab spacing in between the } and the L in London

i'm not sure if this is the problem, but it seems like it. i also tried adding a tab in between mine, but still no effect.

i repeat, i can play the game just fine. i just can't mod it!

do i have a different version of the game? is there something i'm missing here? please help me. thanks!

Philbo 18:02 12-13-2009

Just wanted to say thanks for this tutorial!

Looking forward to some modding fun!

twoshoes101 20:59 02-07-2010

i downloaded the 1.1 version and did the set up. i went into the tool folder and tried the unpack_all.bat it operates up as far as about 22000/36000 files. then it stops and the window closes. the game works are usual and there isnt any noticible changes.
no extra information is to be seen anywhere in the medieval 2 data folder

any help would be much appreciated

GeneralMikeIII 04:54 06-14-2010

Are you running Vista or Windows 7? Try checking this out:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...er-Using-Vista

Hakomar 04:48 07-03-2010

What do I do if I use steam? My computer rejects the disk version for some idiotic reason, so I must use steam, but the medieval2.exe @mymod.cfg doesn't work because it uses a different launcher.

Squid 14:59 07-03-2010

You can modify the launch options for med2 (or kingdoms) to use a specific configuration file, or you can use my tool over at Total War Center which allows you to modify the kingdoms launcher screen to add additional mod to it.

Hakomar 15:47 07-03-2010

How do I modify the launch options? I can't access TWC for some reason.

Squid 00:28 07-04-2010

Its one of the options when selecting a game but before launching it in steam.

Hakomar 02:27 07-04-2010

I know the set launch options, just what do I put in it?

AndorranPrince 23:57 07-04-2010

I can't find the text folder :'( Help?

Squid 02:23 07-05-2010

You need to unpack the game first, please read the first post in the thread at least before asking questions.

Hakomar 09:51 07-06-2010

What do I put in the launch options Squid?

Squid 15:54 07-06-2010

It was in the last part of the first post put @mymod.cfg
in the launch option where the mymod.cfg is replaced by the name of the config file you want it to use.

Hakomar 23:51 07-06-2010

Oops. Sorry for wasting yoir time, but thanks for the help squid.

Potent_Schraphlon 12:40 10-20-2010

Hi. I'm completely new to modding and don't really know what I'm doing. So I followed these instructions using the options to directly edit the .strings.bins and the io.file_first and I have a couple of questions:
1. I don't have a mymod folder, I'll just be changing the original files. Is that right?
2. Will this allow me to change unit stats, and if so, how do I do that?

Squid 03:14 10-23-2010

1. Yes
2. Same way you would in a mod folder (EDU).

Potent_Schraphlon 11:34 10-24-2010

I've got it sorted now, thanks for the help.

BHCluster 22:29 11-06-2010

First of all thank you alpaca for this tutorial...

I have followed it to the letter but it didn't work at all, for me that is so I did a bit of experimenting and solved the problem, and this is what I did:

1. Installed the game (Medieval II Total War)
2. Installed patch 1.1 than 1.2
3. Followed your instructions in Section 1 to the letter
3.1 Edited the "unpack_all.bat" found in the "Medieval II Total War\tools\unpacker" folder by right clicking on the "unpack_all.bat" file and selecting properties and under "Atributes:"removed the tick from the box, and then clicked Apply and then OK.
3.2 Then right clicked again on to the "unpack_all.bat" file and then selecting Edit after which I have changed the existing text to "unpacker.exe --source=..\..\packs\*.pack --destination=..\..\backup --verbosity=1" after which I have clicked File -> Save and then closed file.
3.3 Now I have double clicked the "unpack_all.bat" file and entered "Y" 3 times after which I have waited until it has finished extraction.
3.4 [COLOR="Red"]Deleated "descr_geography_new.db and descr_geography_new.txt" as instructed.
4. Used your mod folder installer.
5. Double clicked onto the "mymod.bat" after which everything worked fine.

Hope this helps to those who had the same problem as I did...

Aragorn Ellesar 13:55 05-31-2012

Cant run the mymod.bat plz some help and sorry for wasting your time

TotalWarVet 19:38 09-18-2012

Hey there Alpaca et al. Haven't been on in a long time. My old mods were lost when my xp box went south about a year ago. Lost tens of hours of work. Finally reinstalled game on my new win7/64 bit box. Have all the files unpacked and have no probs editing the unpacked .txt files. One issue though. The only versions of python available these days are 2.7... and 3... (64bit & 32 bit). For some reason your python script to convert the strings.bin files doesn't seem to work anymore. Tried it on my new box using 64 bit python 2.7..then on an older vista box using 32 bit version and in both cases no luck. I have the .py file & the convert.bat in the text directory.

Found the issue with Alpaca's python script. The os.listdir function doesn't like the argument for the all option under Windows 7/Python 2.7... (not sure if I had the same issue under XP/Python 2.5). All you have to do is to actually list the files one per call of the .py script in a .bat file and it works.

Example: convert_2.bat (contents below)

strings_bin_converter.py imperial_campaign_regions_and_settlement_names.txt
strings_bin_converter.py battle_descriptions.txt

BTW, for all those interested, Orly Silva Junior's string.bin editor still doesn't work nor has it ever worked for me (didn't even work on my old xp box) eventhough .net framework is installed. All it does is show the contents and potentially allow additions and deletions, although I have never bothered to verify that it even does this.

Aragorn Ellesar, not sure what your issue is or whether it has been addressed elsewhere. I'd be happy to help if you let me know what you are doing and what is going wrong.

Tellos Athenaios 00:28 09-22-2012

Shameless plug: you might want to use the CUF tool. It understands both types of strings.bin files, and with the little script I wrote as proof of concept here you can use it to convert both types of file in both ways.

LanceM 20:52 11-06-2012

i have followed instruction i have edited names of the moors faction, now when i play there are no name for anyone, Help please.

luock 14:33 02-20-2013

I may sound like an idiot, but Kingdoms gets messed up and I can't play after I've unpacked. The vanilla one is fine but just not those.

xxmartinxx 15:11 02-18-2016

anything is fine, but when i end the deployment and click start battle, it crush and tell me the game encountered error and automatically exit. Why?? please reply,thank you......

jsommons27 03:08 10-06-2016

I am having issues with 1.1 as I have downloaded the files and followed the readme but when i go to run the convert.all.bat file it acts like it's opening a command prompt but nothing follows. I am new to mtw2 modding but I have experience modding skyrim, new vegas and other bethesda games just not in the scripting department. this seems like a great place to start learning it just hitting a few road bumps and need a bit of help. So I am no noob to say but in some aspects I am.

Anarchon 00:30 03-29-2021

This is wonderful. But I need something like this guide for RTW-Alexander under Steam.
Please can someone point me to somewher which has it.
Thx
Anarchon

Suraknar 09:13 03-31-2022

Originally Posted by Anarchon:
This is wonderful. But I need something like this guide for RTW-Alexander under Steam.
Please can someone point me to somewher which has it.
Thx
Anarchon

Hello,

Please look in the RTW Moding section in these forums :)

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forum...W-Modification

Cheers!

Suraknar 09:35 03-31-2022

Hey Alpaca!

By the way I reinstalled Medieval 2 Definitive Edition, on STEAM, got an urge to play again. (I think they should make a Medieval 3 at one point with updated tech et all bigger map etc and modern moding options with the Steam workshop and Assembly Kits).

I created a small mod in io.file_first mode for my pleasure and started a campaign only to remember that I needed to modify the turns per year and then one thing led to another and stumbled upon a script to add traits and triggers to make it 4 turns per year with random long or short winters and with traits so that characters age appropriately and all of the sudden I needed to have a mod folder hah!

So there I found your thread which helped remember all this, and came back to me fast, your guide was great to follow to refresh old notions.

All is working fine so far, so I thought to just share a few things along the way for others benefit.

We do not need batch files per se anymore, just create Windows shortcut of "medieval2.exe" and
add the switch "--features.mod=mods/YourModFolderName"

Use that to launch it the game with the mod. (no need to create any new .cfg file either)

I created a Custom Folder in "mods", and copied over the "data\animations", "data\fmv", "data\sounds" and "data\world" folders then cleaned it up a bit by removing norman campaign folders and added my moded files wherever applicable.

The best thing is that we can add some strings.bin files such as example "export.VnVs.txt" directly written in .txt format with only the parts we want to add and it parses them in to the bin files.

So I did not have to convert the .bin to .txt or use that tool to edit them directly (which maybe outdated by this version anyways).

So far so good all works, Cheers!

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