Can you mod the appearance of Generals?

[The Errant]

Some of the ingame generals are great looking. But some have only placeholders. Sometimes the placeholders don't look even remotely like a general of a certain faction should.
Is it possible to switch the placeholder for a general to any unit that has it's model ingame?
For example if I want to switch the Lusotannan general with the model for the Casse champion, can that be done.
If it's possible how do you do it in practice. What files and which parts need to be edited?

[Watchman]

descr_model_battle.txt. In this case you'd mainly just want to copy-paste the appropriate lines (texture and model_flexi) from the "officer_celtic_officer" entry (the Celtic unit officer one, if that's what you were talking about) into the "celt_general" entry (which the Lusotannan general is set to use in descr_character.txt), and comment out the originals with ";"s.

So basically what you have to begin with is

;PLACEHOLDER - LUSTIANIA
type celt_general
skeleton fs_dagger
skeleton_horse fs_hc_swordsman
skeleton_elephant fs_forest_elephant_rider
skeleton_chariot fs_chariot_sword
skeleton_camel fs_hc_swordsman
indiv_range 40
texture spain, data/models_unit/textures/officer_barb_general_briton.tga
texture slave, data/models_unit/textures/officer_barb_general_briton.tga
model_flexi data/models_unit/officer_barb_general_high.CAS, 8
model_flexi data/models_unit/officer_barb_general_med.CAS, 15
model_flexi data/models_unit/officer_barb_general_low.CAS, 30
model_flexi data/models_unit/officer_barb_general_lowest.CAS, max
model_sprite 60.0, eb/data/sprites/officers/ebsprite_officer_all.spr
model_tri 400, 0.5f, 0.5f, 0.5

and

type officer_celtic_officer
skeleton fs_swordsman_barb_big
skeleton_horse fs_hc_swordsman_big
skeleton_elephant fs_forest_elephant_rider_big
skeleton_chariot fs_chariot_sword_big
skeleton_camel fs_hc_swordsman_big
indiv_range 40
texture britons, eb/data/models_unit/textures/officers/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_britons.tga
texture slave, eb/data/models_unit/textures/officers/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_slave.tga
model_flexi eb/data/models_unit/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_high.cas, 15
model_flexi eb/data/models_unit/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_high.cas, 30
model_flexi eb/data/models_unit/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_high.cas, 40
model_flexi eb/data/models_unit/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_high.cas, max
model_sprite 60.0, eb/data/sprites/officers/ebsprite_officer_all.spr
model_tri 400, 0.5f, 0.5f, 0.5

(which actually has way more faction-specific texture entries but...). Copy-paste the aforementioned lines from the latter to the former so you end up with

type celt_general
skeleton fs_dagger
skeleton_horse fs_hc_swordsman
skeleton_elephant fs_forest_elephant_rider
skeleton_chariot fs_chariot_sword
skeleton_camel fs_hc_swordsman
indiv_range 40
texture spain, data/models_unit/textures/officer_barb_general_briton.tga
texture slave, data/models_unit/textures/officer_barb_general_briton.tga
texture britons, eb/data/models_unit/textures/officers/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_britons.tga
texture slave, eb/data/models_unit/textures/officers/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_slave.tga
model_flexi eb/data/models_unit/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_high.cas, 15
model_flexi eb/data/models_unit/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_high.cas, 30
model_flexi eb/data/models_unit/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_high.cas, 40
model_flexi eb/data/models_unit/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_high.cas, max
model_flexi data/models_unit/officer_barb_general_high.CAS, 8
model_flexi data/models_unit/officer_barb_general_med.CAS, 15
model_flexi data/models_unit/officer_barb_general_low.CAS, 30
model_flexi data/models_unit/officer_barb_general_lowest.CAS, max
model_sprite 60.0, eb/data/sprites/officers/ebsprite_officer_all.spr
model_tri 400, 0.5f, 0.5f, 0.5

Edit out the original celt_general lines with ; and change make the appropriate faction ownership changes, so you should end up with something like

type celt_general
skeleton fs_dagger
skeleton_horse fs_hc_swordsman
skeleton_elephant fs_forest_elephant_rider
skeleton_chariot fs_chariot_sword
skeleton_camel fs_hc_swordsman
indiv_range 40
;texture spain, data/models_unit/textures/officer_barb_general_briton.tga
;texture slave, data/models_unit/textures/officer_barb_general_briton.tga
texture spain, eb/data/models_unit/textures/officers/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_britons.tga
texture slave, eb/data/models_unit/textures/officers/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_slave.tga
model_flexi eb/data/models_unit/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_high.cas, 15
model_flexi eb/data/models_unit/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_high.cas, 30
model_flexi eb/data/models_unit/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_high.cas, 40
model_flexi eb/data/models_unit/ebofficer_officer_celtic_officer_psycho_high.cas, max
;model_flexi data/models_unit/officer_barb_general_high.CAS, 8
;model_flexi data/models_unit/officer_barb_general_med.CAS, 15
;model_flexi data/models_unit/officer_barb_general_low.CAS, 30
;model_flexi data/models_unit/officer_barb_general_lowest.CAS, max
model_sprite 60.0, eb/data/sprites/officers/ebsprite_officer_all.spr
model_tri 400, 0.5f, 0.5f, 0.5

and, unless I've suddenly completely forgotten how editing this thing works, your Lusotannan generals should now look like British unit officers in battle. Although IIRC they don't have a distinct "lesser_general" entry around, so captains will look the same since they use the same model (which goes for a fair few factions still stuck with placeholder officers, incidentally).
You can of course also delete the original celt_general lines as well, but I prefer to keep the originals around just in case.

Oh, right. The Celtic officer model uses the "_big" skeletons, so copy-paste those to the appropriate place as well and comment out the originals with ;. Else they're going to end up looking a bit odd.

[The Errant]

Thanks for the reply Watchman. I'll be sure to try this in my game.

Eventually the team will get around to making new models and skins for all the faction generals but the old default with the Catapracht armored general is not, in my opinion, even remotely plausible for an infantry general of any faction.

Or even a cavalry general outside Asia.

It's even worse playing the Sabyn. Whenever I see my catapracht armored general running around in the desert I get this nagging feeling he just woke up and is running around in the sand, waving a toy sword with a toy shield, and wearing a pyjama.

Somehow he looks completely ridiculous on foot but mounted the same general looks seriously badass. Weird.

[Watchman]

That just shows you have enough baseline common sense and such to realize just how silly and implausible it looks like. I've modded the Saba gens in my game to use Webbird's alternative Numidian general skin from one of his texture packs - it's not perfect, but passable enough.

Although I've been thinking of making them use one of the various Numidian Legionaires instead. A shield would really seem appropriate for a potentate on foot...

[The Errant]

Personally I would like to use the model of that new Lusotannan superunit Dosidataskeli or the Thorakitai Argyraspidai as the Sabyn general. The spear would have to be switched for a sword though.
The former looks seriously badass and as I understand it the eastern factions were more inclined to use scale armor for added protection than mail.
Also the Dosidataskeli are armoured in bronze rather than iron scale which due to the heat of the desert would appear a sound choise.
If I can't use that model I'll try to use any eastern unit model that uses scale armor and decent sized shield and a straight sword.
One of the Hayasdan units look promising in that regard. Mardig Sooseramartik. The Heavy Babylonian Spearman is also an option. That mace is AP after all.
There just something primeval in bashing somebodys head in with a mace. One of Artaserse's characters on his Wasteland AAR did it with such poetic grace I fell of my chair laughing while reading about it. BOING!

[Watchman]

I'm pretty certain the climate of Southern Arabia doesn't really encourage much too heavy armour. Nevermind in layers. And AFAIK bronze heats up in direct sunlight quite as cheerfully as iron.
Anyway, I know of one Seleucid Legionary design which has a neat big hexagonal shield, greaves, a kopis sword, a crested bronze helmet and several different texture versions for body armour - mail, silvered scales and bronze scales. Some javelins too, which I think would fit neatly in with the way the King's Elites use them even if you can't actually make the officer itself to.

I can try digging up the link.

[The Errant]

Please do dig up that link. Greaves would be good too, although the long coats that the Saba heavy infantry wear would be more accurate, but the general is supposed to be unique.
Besides family members would have the money to import superior armor from abroad if need be.
During the 0.80 build when the King's Elites were still using the Carthaginian Elite African Swordsmen skins I kept thinking some enterprising Phoenician armsdealer had sold part of the Carthie military inventory at inflated prices to my rich but gullible Arabian spice merchants.
Considering the Phoenicians reputadely sailed around Africa sometime in early antiquity, selling armor to the Sabyn wouldn't have been that far fetched.

[Watchman]

All the way round Africa and to the shores of Arabia would be a little much though. It took the Europeans rather further developed ships, plus initially the use of disposable supply ships that were ditched once their stores were used up, to make the trip in the early phases. The Phoenicians in general, and in particular the Carthaginians who did at least limited shipping along the Atlantic coastlines both north and south, may have been terrific sailors indeed but there are limits.

Going through Egypt and the canal between the Med and the Red Sea would seem a rather more practical way.

Granted, the Arabian dress code seems to favour long robes instead of for example the trousers of Persia (something of a "horse people" and "northern climes" affectation, that) or the tunics and suchlike of the Greco-Romans. AFAIK it is quite sensible and practical wear for arid desert climes, so that is only to be expected. But one cannot be overly picky with his placeholders.

[The Errant]

First two attempts to use different placeholders have failed. When I start a battle I get an error report that says it can't find the mesh for Macedonian hoplite TGA?
Might have to do with my attempt at using the Babylonian Heavy Infantry as the placeholder. I'll try with the Armenian Medium Infantry next to see if I can get that to work.

edit.

Can't make it work. Everytime I try I get a CTD with the same message: Generic Error. Failed to find texture eb/data/models_unit/textures/unit_greek_hoplite_macedon.tga

Everything else works fine. The game starts normally, the campaign starts normally, but as soon as it gets up to loading the battle once I've chosen to fight it out on the battlemap the CTD occurs. I have no idea what I've done wrong. Sigh.

Watchman would you kindly put up your modified files on some filehosting service like axefile. Having a working modified textfile should help in identifying the problem.

[Watchman]

My personal version of the DMB refers to some dozen or so non-EB skins and a few models which I use as placeholders. I don't really think that one will be terribly useful overall, since in any case the syntax used is no different from the ones I put in quotes earlier (which are direct copy-paste jobs from the vanilla EB DMB actually, modified on the fly according to how that file now is modified).

But greek_hoplite_macedon.tga ? Now that's odd, why should it even be looking for such a texture when there isn't a single reference for such in the EB DMB ? Can you describe in detail the modifications you tried - what entry, how etc. ? Did you remember to change the battle model references in descr_character.txt if necessary, and check there are no model/texture conflicts with other factions ?

That aside, I managed to dig up the Seleucid legionaire skins/models. Grab the second download link on this thread and see if they're any good. Here is another version, although not one well suited for representing a 270s BC Southern Arabian warlord IMHO - the lamellar in particular is rather anachronistic. This pack includes another version of the silver-scale variant (also in a higher-res version), as well as a Numidian version although I don't think that one fits the overall Saba look very well.

[Foot]

The problem is that you have given the model to a faction who aren't referenced in the texture lines. Add a new texture line for "saba", which is their internal name, referencing the texture you want to use. Also be careful about the spacing between the columns in the text-file, they must be exactly as they appear elsewhere.

Foot

[The Errant]

Partial success achieved.



As you can see I replaced the old general with the model of the Armenian medium infantry. Looks cool except for one thing. The spear. The unit itself is a imitation legionary, meaning it has both javelins and a sword.
My luck being what it is it looks like the javelin is stuck as the primary weapon instead of the sword.

Any idea how to fix this?

I would like to thank both Watchman and Foot. Watchman for the tutorial and Foot for pointing out what i messed up. It took a while but the info eventually got trough my thicker than average skull.

As a side note I also figured out how to add units into the game. Since the Sabyn were lacking in trainable King's Elites I made my own version of them. Here is the pic:



Thanks a million for the help guys. I really appreciate it.

[Watchman]

Oh yeah, precursor weapons are primaries aren't they ? That sucks. I don't think you can convince officer models to fight with something else (unless the appropriate skeleton does the trick), but at least you could make him use the fs_o_f_spearman overhand skeleton for it. Although I make my generals and officers use the "_fast_" skeletons, as the buggers often have to run back and forth a lot when the units change facings and such and if they pause to do that "yell orders and wave your weapon" thing, as they often do, they tend to end up lagging a whole lot behind.

Side note: for my Lusotannan generals I use the Spanish late bodyguard texture from Maximusminimus' Carthage mod. It's not really all that Lusotannan per ce, but in any case looks properly Iberian - if one now had to come up with justifications for placeholders, one could claim the bigwigs wear expensive and hence prestigious imported war gear.

[The Errant]

I'll start looking for a decent looking unit with just the sword as a general. The Casse Calawre if it dosen't have javelins. Shame though, I really like the model of the Armenian medium infantry. It suitably "eastern" with the light colours and scale armor. If I can't find a better alternative the armenian stays.
Despite the spear he's a lot better looking than the old placeholder.
I downloaded the Seleucid legionaries. Cool looking units. Unfortunately they give me alien feeling. Good but lacking the EB flavor. Don't know how to better explain it.
Will look into other options. Thankfully after considerable sweat this little peace of basic modding is now in hand.
Time to start tinkering again I think.

[Watchman]

Well, good luck and happy hunting then young padawan. May you find the suitable placeholder skin just for you.

[The Errant]

I had a crazy thought. Since the ; eliminates all the effect of entries pas this point in the textline, does there happen to be another symbol that will reactivate the line from said symbol forward.

If there is you could tell the game to ignore the primary weapon for a javelin thrower and force his secondary weapon, the sword or dagger to become his primary.

This would solve the problem with the generals showing up with their javelins instead of their swords.

Atleast this is what I'm hoping for. Haven't figured out any other way of forcing the secondary weapon to be the primary.

Hell. I'd make a new unit entirely just to a proper eastern general placeholder for those factions lacking one.

[The Errant]

Here he is. The new eastern general placeholder. He's now the proud general for Hayasdan, Pahlava, Pontos and Saba. Along with his original owner the Getai.

The new Getai general is so awesome looking I couldn't resist ripping him off the Getai to be my new eastern general.
With the scale armor, theuros type large shield and straight sword he looks suitably eastern for the job. Infinately better than the old one atleast.

Now I just have to find a replacement for the placeholder lesser general...

Thanks again guys for the help!

edit.


Lesser general found. The model is the german general with dacian skins.