Following the instructions - it isn't working. Trying to make some simple changes.

[frogbeastegg]

I’m trying to make some simple bug-fixing changes. They won’t work; the changes simply don’t show up in the game. I get no error messages, no crashes, no nothing. The game simply plays as though I didn’t alter a thing.

What I have done:

Copied M2TW from my original install on C: to my backup drive, G:. Why? Simple insurance: work on one copy and have the ‘proper’ one as back-up and a source of original files. It’s also guaranteed that the original edition will work properly in MP, should I go online.

Unpacked the edition on G:

Edited the export_desc_units file so the bugged two-hander units have the zweihander animation, this done by copying the word ‘zweihander’ from the soldier line of the zweihander entry and pasting it over the names of all the bugged soldiers, again in the soldier entry. Example:

 type             Billmen
dictionary       Billmen      ; Billmen
category         infantry
class            heavy
voice_type       Light
banner faction   main_infantry
banner holy      crusade
soldier          Zweihander, 48, 0, 1
attributes       sea_faring, hide_forest, can_withdraw
formation        1.2, 1.2, 2.4, 2.4, 4, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         15, 5, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_blade, slashing, axe, 25, 1.33
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    ap
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 3, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 4, 5, 0, 3, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        2
stat_ground      1, -2, 3, 2
stat_mental      5, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 230, 125, 75, 55, 230, 4, 50
armour_ug_levels 0, 1, 2
armour_ug_models Billmen, Billmen_ug1, Billmen_ug2
ownership        england
era 1            england
era 2            england
;unit_info        15, 0, 3

I gave the forlorn hope unit an extra HP, making them a 2HP unit.

 type             Forlorn Hope
dictionary       Forlorn_Hope      ; Forlorn Hope
category         infantry
class            heavy
voice_type       Heavy
banner faction   main_infantry
banner holy      crusade
soldier          Forlorn_Hope, 24, 0, 1.2
attributes       sea_faring, hide_forest, very_hardy, can_withdraw
formation        1.2, 1.2, 2.4, 2.4, 2, square
stat_health      2, 0
stat_pri         17, 6, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_blade, slashing, sword, 25, 1.3
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  7, 5, 0, metal
;stat_armour_ex   7, 8, 0, 0, 5, 0, 0, metal
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        5
stat_ground      1, -2, 3, 2
stat_mental      11, low, untrained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 620, 250, 75, 55, 620, 4, 150
armour_ug_levels 3, 4
armour_ug_models Forlorn_Hope, Forlorn_Hope_ug1
ownership        hre
era 2            hre
;unit_info        17, 0, 12

Done. I saved the file. I set up the ini file first thingy as described here.

Contents of mymod.cfg:

[io]
file_first = 1

[log]
to = logs/system.log.txt
level = * error

[audio]
enable = 1
master_vol = 100
music_vol = 60
provider = Miles Fast 2D Positional Audio
sfx_vol = 100
speech_enable = 1
speech_vol = 100
sub_faction_accents = 1

[camera]
default_in_battle = default
move = 50
restrict = 0
rotate = 50

[controls]
campaign_scroll_max_zoom = 30
campaign_scroll_min_zoom = 30
keyset = 0

[game]
advanced_stats_always = 0
advisor_verbosity = 0
ai_factions = follow
allusers = 1
auto_save = 1
blind_advisor = 0
campaign_map_game_speed = 99
campaign_map_speed_up = 0
campaign_num_time_play = 53
chat_msg_duration = 10000
disable_arrow_markers = 0
disable_events = 1
english = 0
event_cutscenes = 0
fatigue = 1
first_time_play = 0
label_characters = 0
label_settlements = 1
micromanage_all_settlements = 1
morale = 1
mute_advisor = 0
no_campaign_battle_time_limit = 1
pref_factions_played = 49
tutorial_battle_played = 0
tutorial_path = norman_prologue/battle_of_hastings
unit_size = large
use_quickchat = 0

[multiplayer]
hotseat_autoresolve_battles = 0
hotseat_disable_console = 1
hotseat_disable_papal_elections = 0
hotseat_save_prefs = 0
hotseat_update_ai_camera = 0
hotseat_validate_diplomacy = 1

[network]
use_ip = 
use_port = 27750

[ui]
SA_cards = show
buttons = show
full_battle_HUD = 0
radar = show
show_tooltips = 1
unit_cards = show

[video]
anisotropic_level = 4
anti_alias_mode = off
antialiasing = 0
assassination_movies = 1
autodetect = 0
battle_resolution = 1280 1024
bloom = 0
building_detail = high
campaign_resolution = 1280 1024
depth_shadows = 0
depth_shadows_resolution = 0
effect_quality = high
event_movies = 1
gamma = 128
grass_distance = 20
infiltration_movies = 1
no_background_fmv = 0
reflection = 1
sabotage_movies = 1
shader = 2
show_banners = 1
show_package_litter = 1
skip_mip_levels = 1
splashes = 1
stencil_shadows = 0
subtitles = 0
terrain_quality = custom
texture_filtering = 2
unit_detail = high
vegetation = 1
vegetation_quality = high
vsync = 1
widescreen = 0

Contents of mymod.bat:

 medieval2.exe @mymod.cfg

I double click on my bat file, game launches fine, loads a custom battle fine, plays out the battle fine – except my billmen are still bugged. As are my dismounted English knights, my heavy billmen, and all the other units I tested. They are lucky if three whole units of them manage to kill five men in a unit of khwarazmian cav.

I’ve tried using the halberd_militia animation as well. It also does not work.

The changes to the file definitely save.

After much too-ing and fro-ing I decided to do a simple building edit to see if that worked. I added a law+1 bonus to the first level farm. That doesn’t show up either.

Wondering if it was a problem with my having two installs I copied over all edited files and placed them in the right sections of my other install ,along with a copy of the ‘mymod’ preferences etc. Still doesn’t work, whichever copy of the game I launch with.

Help? All I want to do is fix the bugged units, try out the pikemen fix (remove their swords so they have to use pikes), sort out the traits and ancillaries, and maybe tweak a building or two. Simple stuff, I've done it before in RTW and MTW.


EDIT: for reference the complete list of units I'm trying to give the zweihander animation:
Billmen (x4)
Voulgier (x2)
Halberd Militia
Dismounted English Knight
Dismounted Noble Knight
Dismounted Portuguese Knight
Venetian Heavy Inf
Janissary Heavy Inf
Varangian Guard
Swiss Guard
Tabardariyya
Galloglaich
Obudshaer
Berdiche Axemen
Norse Axemen
Croat Axemen
Woodsmen
Transylvanian Peasants