to size it up

**Caeser The III** · 05-06-2007, 23:54

Originally Posted by Kuni

How to Edit Preferences to Enable Old-Style User Interface a.k.a. "how do i like egt my troops on the bottem no commandes and the map in the top right corner????"
If you have Windows XP installed, and installed Rome: Total War in its default path:

Click on My Computer.

This will open the My Computer window.

Click on the Hard Disk Drive entitled C:

This will open the contents of C: directory.

Click on the folder titled Program Files.

This will open the contents of C:/Program Files/

Click on the folder titled Activision.

This will open the contents of C:/Program Files/Activision

Click on the folder titled Rome - Total War.

This will open the contents of C:/Program Files/Activision/Rome - Total War

Click on the folder titled Preferences.

This will open the contents of C:/Program Files/Activision/Rome - Total War/Preferences

Click on the text file titled Preferences.

This will open the text data in Preferences.txt

Press and hold the Control Key (labeled Ctrl), and while the Ctrl key is still pressed, press the F key. Once this is done, stop pressing the Control and F keys.

This will bring up the search function.

Type in minimal_ui and press the Enter key (It may be labeled Return, do not be confused by this.)

This will search for the text "minimal_ui" in the preferences.txt file.

Click on the cancel button on the Find popup.

This will get rid of the search function's Find Popup.

Replace MINIMAL_UI:FALSE with MINIMAL_UI:TRUE This can be done in different ways. Do not be ashamed to get an adult to help you, if you can't.

This will change the value MINIMAL_UI from False to True.

Press and hold the Control Key (labeled Ctrl), and while the Ctrl key is still pressed, press the S key. Once this is done, stop pressing the Control and S keys.

This will save preferences.txt and next time you play Rome: Total War, you will enjoy "egt my troops on the bottem no commandes and the map in the top right corner"

The End.

Note: You may have to Double Click instead of Click, depending on your Windows Preferences.

@ilikethisgame5: If I have not met your expectations, I will try to "say it in human form" more.

edit: yeah, guineawolf, apparently it's necessary.

on step 6 i clicked on preferences after that the icon says advice???/

**Roman_Man#3** · 05-07-2007, 01:17

Click on the text file titled Preferences.

This will open the text data in Preferences.txt

That clearly states what you need to do after opening the folder!! Read all the instructions

RM3

**Caeser The III** · 05-07-2007, 01:23

oh............so theres not two preferences icons to click on, only one?

**Roman_Man#3** · 05-07-2007, 01:35

in the "Preferences" FOLDER, open preferences.txt and proceed with his very in-depth guide.

RM3

**Caeser The III** · 05-07-2007, 01:39

i did that!typed in minimal_ui but is said"can not find minimal_ui"!

**mightilyoats** · 05-07-2007, 07:11

Meh... Dude, I really don't know what to say... Maybe leave the game alone. Play it like CA distributed it.

@Celt Centurion An interresting thing I noticed on increasing the pop in a town. You don't need to place the unit inside the town. It only needs to be within the borders of the region you wish to increase. So, just move them into the region, select all units (or the ones you want to disband) then press ctrl-D.

**Omanes Alexandrapolites** · 05-07-2007, 08:52

Hi ilikethisgame5,
Let's skip the search function. In your taskbar, in Windows Explorer, the program that opens when you click on "My Computer" type in the upper white bar either "C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Rome - Total War\preference\preferences.txt" should you have Gold edition or "C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\preference\preference.txt" should you have normal edition, non-Gold.

In the great file which opens up you will find many amazing options which can change many aspects of your R:TW playing experience. If you wish to change an option change TRUE to FALSE in the files and the option will be changed for something else. However you do have to bear in mind that some settings do not change like that and change differently - yet those settings can often be changed elsewhere so they are not really needed in the file. Here is a short guide which hopefully explains what each one of these great functions, or at least the ones that stupid old me understands, does:

SUBTITLES - creates subtitles for general's pre-battle speeches and the messages shouted out during the cut-scenes.
MORALE - turns morale on or off for non-arcade battles (for arcade battles this is off automatically).
FATIGUE - turns fatigue, whether men tire or not, on or off for non-arcade battles (for arcade battles this is off automatically).
LIMITED_AMMO - turns unlimited ammunition on or off for non-arcade battles (for arcade battle this is off automatically).
EVENT_CUTSCENES - turns the event cut scenes which occur when a general has died or a wall has been broken down.
VEGETATION - turns vegetation on the battlefield on or off.
AUTO_SAVE - turns auto save on or off.
SHOW_BANNERS - hides or shows the huge flying banners over the top of units.
UNIT_EXPERIENCE_UPGRADE_EFFECT - turns unit experience increases or armour upgrades on or off.
ENABLE_UNIT_SPEECH - stops or allows units from speaking when you order them to move or select them.
DISABLE_ARROW_MARKERS - when set to TRUE, the green arrows underneath units when selected are turned off.
LABEL_CHARACTERS - when set to TRUE it enables all characters to have their name shown on the strategic map like settlements are by default.
LABEL_SETTLEMENTS - toggles whether settlement's names and other basic details, such as happiness, status (such as rioting, plague and siege) and settlement income, are shown underneath the settlement on the strat map.
MINIMAL_UI - this is the great one you are looking for! It hides the large UI of the battle map and makes it more compact.
MUTE_ADVISOR - in effect this does what we always have wanted to do - it gags that irritating advisor woman - Victoria - and her evil twin Brother - Centurion Marcus - and causes them to be totally silent.
BLIND_ADVISOR - this handy tool removes the advisor's speech bubble from appearing when he/she wants to speak.
MICROMANAGE_ALL_SETTLEMENTS - this turns of auto-manage for settlements without a governor.
UNLIMITED_MEN_ON_BATTLEFIELD - this allows an unlimited amount of men on the battlefield at once - no longer do units have to wait their turn to fight with this great tool on TRUE!
CAMPAIGN_MAP_CAMERA_SMOOTHING - this makes the campaign map camera move nice and smoothly.
EDIT_SETTLEMENT_NAMES - this allows you to rename your settlements. It's a really cool tool - for example I once renamed Capua after my favourite Carthaginian general. This one is my personal favourite.

Hope this helps you ilikethisgame5, cheers!

BTW, you need R:TW 1.5 to do this correctly. For more information on the patching process, just ask.

**Celt Centurion** · 05-08-2007, 07:23

Originally Posted by mightilyoats

Meh... Dude, I really don't know what to say... Maybe leave the game alone. Play it like CA distributed it.

@Celt Centurion An interresting thing I noticed on increasing the pop in a town. You don't need to place the unit inside the town. It only needs to be within the borders of the region you wish to increase. So, just move them into the region, select all units (or the ones you want to disband) then press ctrl-D.

Thank You Mightilyoats. I didn't know that.

Strength and Honor

Celt Centurion

**guineawolf** · 05-12-2007, 13:04

Originally Posted by Roman_Man#3

in the "Preferences" FOLDER, open preferences.txt and proceed with his very in-depth guide.

RM3

my preference.text is beside preference folder not inside it,it is inside Rome:Total War folder............,is he reach it yet?

**guineawolf** · 05-12-2007, 13:12

me also cannot find minimal_ui too,and my RTW is version 1.1,is it relevant?

i think i show the content of my preference.text will be help...here it is:
SAFE_REFRESH:TRUE
USE_TRIPLE_BUFFER:TRUE
USE_WIDESCREEN:FALSE
SUBTITLES:TRUE
MORALE:TRUE
FATIGUE:TRUE
LIMITED_AMMO:TRUE
SUPPLY:TRUE
FOG_OF_WAR:TRUE
RESTRICT_CAMERA:TRUE
DEFAULT_BATTLE_CAMERA:RTS
SMOKE:FALSE
DESYNC:FALSE
SPLASHES:TRUE
GLINTS:FALSE
REFLECTIONS:TRUE
SHADOWS:FALSE
VEGETATION:TRUE
DETAILED_UNIT_SHADOWS:FALSE
GLOSS_MAPPING:TRUE
STENCIL_SHADOWS:FALSE
MULTI_TEXTURE:TRUE
AUTO_SAVE:TRUE
SHOW_BANNERS:TRUE
UNIT_SIZE:160
MASTER_VOL:100
SPEECH_VOL:100
SFX_VOL:100
MUSIC_VOL:65
CAMERA_ROTATE:50
CAMERA_MOVE:50
CAMERA_FOV:75.000000
ENABLE_AUDIO:TRUE
ENABLE_MUSIC:TRUE
DISABLE_BACKGROUND_FMV:FALSE
DISABLE_ARROW_MARKERS:FALSE
AUDIO_3D_PROVIDER:Miles Fast 2D Positional Audio
CLOUD_TRANSITIONS:TRUE
GRASS_DISTANCE:20
AA_QUALITY:AA_OFF
STRATEGY_RESOLUTION:1440x900
STRATEGY_32_BIT:TRUE
BATTLE_RESOLUTION:1440x900
BATTLE_32_BIT:TRUE
UNIT_DETAIL:HIGH
BUILDING_DETAIL:LOW
TGA_CAPTURE_WIDTH:1024
TGA_CAPTURE_ASPECT:1.333333
TGA_CAPTURE_INPUT_SCALE:1
TGA_CAPTURE_RESERVE_SPACE:FALSE
LABEL_CHARACTERS:FALSE
LABEL_SETTLEMENTS:TRUE
CAMPAIGN_MAP_MAX_SCROLL_SPEED_MIN_ZOOM:30
CAMPAIGN_MAP_MAX_SCROLL_SPEED_MAX_ZOOM:30
FIRST_TIME_PLAY:FALSE
ADVISOR_VERBOSITY:3
MUTE_ADVISOR:FALSE
BLIND_ADVISOR:FALSE
CAMPAIGN_MAP_CAMERA:SKIP_AI_FACTIONS
CAMPAIGN_MAP_SPEED_UP:FALSE
CAMPAIGN_MAP_GAME_SPEED:50
DISABLE_EVENTS:0
MICROMANAGE_ALL_SETTLEMENTS:TRUE
ADVANCED_STATS_ALWAYS:TRUE
UNIT_USE_SHADERS:TRUE
TERRAIN_QUALITY:HIGH
EFFECT_QUALITY:MEDIUM
VEGETATION_QUALITY:MEDIUM
KEYSET:0
UNLIMITED_MEN_ON_BATTLEFIELD:FALSE

i got a question to ask too,what will happen if i change UNLIMITED_MEN_ON_BATTLEFIELD:FALSE to TRUE?

**Omanes Alexandrapolites** · 05-12-2007, 14:20

Hi,

Originally Posted by guineawolf

me also cannot find minimal_ui too,and my RTW is version 1.1,is it relevant?

Sadly, it is relevant. The great feature of minimal_ui was intoduced in either patch 1.2 or 1.3 and is, sadly, not avaliable with anything below those versions. Sorry.

Originally Posted by guineawolf

i got a question to ask too,what will happen if i change UNLIMITED_MEN_ON_BATTLEFIELD:FALSE to TRUE?

Sadly, R:TW resticts the number of units on the battlefeild at once to a certain number. I'm sorry to say that I'm not quite sure what it is though, however I do think that it may be quite high. Instead of the men appearing on the field straight away, they are delayed till units are destroyed or taken out of combat. It is there to prevent R:TW, and possibly your poor old PC, from rendering more men than it can do without severe lag.

Removing it allows as many men on the field as you like at any time (yet if you have more than twenty units all those above twenty must be AI controlled), yet may cause some nasty lagging on the battle-map.

Hope this helps you, cheers!