New installer for Europa Barbarorum with Barbarian Invasion

[Ferromancer]

2009-01-04: Installer updated to EB 1.2
2009-02-02: Includes 1.2 permanent fixes as of 2009-02-01
2009-02-05: Increased compatability with other mods, can play videos
2009-02-15: Fixed bug where the EDU could not be processed by non-english machines.
2009-07-12: Fixed bug where some files had "imperial_campaign" instead of "barbarian_invasion". Added alternate brightness settings. Added giant tree removal.
2010-07-05: Added a number of fixes to the installer, but not many changes to content. Most importantly, a check if the user has version 1.6 of BI, and a check if the user installed to program files in Vista/Windows 7.

Here is a revamped description of my installer that allows you to play Europa Barbarorum with Barbarian Invasion. It now works with EB 1.2! I will try to give as accurate as a description of how it works as well as what I've changed from the previous version. Basically it runs as an installer and gives you several options.

Fixes:
This will install the permanent and optional fixes to EB1.2 as described by the EB 1.2 fixes post. Note that if you install this option, it will not be removed by the uninstaller, so that EB with RTW will still have the fixes.

Main:
Checking this box will allow you to play ANY VERSION of Europa Barbarorum with Barbarian Invasion, past, present, and future. It will basically be the same EB as you're used to, only the AI will be much more advanced and challenging, and will be able to conduct naval invasions. The AI will also retrain units. If you only check this box, other mods can be installed after this installer without being screwed up.

Unit Abilities:
Adds the shield_wall ability to: hoplites, non-makedonian phalanx who had the phalanx ability removed in version 1.1, units with large shields who are either "displined" or "highly trained" (e.g. Hastati, but not Rorarii).
Schiltrom: HAS BEEN REMOVED from the installer due to its extreme bugginess. The AI will get confused and "abandon" units that have schiltrom enabled. Also, sometimes schiltromed units will be unable to fight back, resulting a unit that will be massacred without inflicting to much as a single scratch.
Warcry: Psychotic barbarians (such as naked fanatics) whose ferocity is indicated by their unit description.
Can Swim: skirmishers and lightly armored infantry living near water, light and medium cavarly units.

Night Battles:
Generals now have a chance to acquire the "night battles" trait and fight battles at night for a combat bonus.

Torches:
Adds little torches to your units during night battles to spice up your night life.

Hide Banners/Triangles:
This optional item allows you to remove the floating banners and selection triangles for a more realistic and cinematic experience. If you end up not liking this feature, you can restore it by running the trivial script that comes with EB.

Alternative brightness settings:
Added the option of increasing game brightness, using files that the EB team had included with the game. The default brightness is very dim even on bright monitors.

Giant tree removal:
I am including this fix from Centurio Nixalsverdrus because I feel that this is actually a very serious bug from the original game. There are these giant trees that are so large they cause issues with AI pathfinding and make the battlefield almost impossible to see. If selected, this feature will reduce their size to a more realistic one. See https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=112360 for more information.

Victory Conditions:
This copies over the victory conditions text file made by konny from the thread https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=86313 to correct certain problems with the AI, namely, that previously they would not attempt to fulfill their victory conditions and simply attack in every direction, or not attack at all. Now they should expand in a realistic and relatively historical manner.


Some notes on the shieldwall and unit stats:
Some units in regular EB already have what's called a "pseudo shield wall". Basically, the unit spacings were tweaked so that the troop would look like it has a shield wall, but doesn't exactly behave like one. In early versions of this installer, I simply added shield wall without removing the pseudo-shield-wall because it was tied to the "loose" formation. In EB 1.x, pseudo-shield-wall was implemented as the default close formation. Let me attempt to visualize this for you:

Old EB:
normal -> pseudo-shield-wall
EB 1.x:
pseudo-shield-wall -> quasi-loose formation
EB for BI:
true shield wall -> normal -> true loose formation

In order for this to work, I had to change unit spacings, so that units in shield_wall mode wouldn't get squished together and bounce around. These unit spacings are the only stats that have been modified. No other stats have been changed.

Also, the multiplayer backup directory is completely untouched, so BI multiplayer *might* be possible at some point in the future using the trivial script. I welcome any ideas for implementing this in your replies.

I have moved this installer into the public domain, which is now hosted at Sourceforge.
Download it now!

NOTES ON MOD COMPATIBILITY:
I have put a lot of work into creating a C# dll that will parse txt files and update them when neccessary. In English, this means that if this installer is installed last, it should be compatible with *any* mini-mod for EB.

NOTES ON SAVE GAME COMPATABILITY:
Saved games from vanilla EB should be playable. You will get all the new unit abilities and the enhanced AI. The only exception is night battles; you'll have to start a new game to enabled them.

LUCKY BONUS:
As promised, here are some pictures that I've taken on my honeymoon in Greece, Italy and Turkey that have all kinds of pictures of ruins, as well as vases depicting ancient battles, as well as genuine bronze armor and weapons:
Click here to see neat old stuff!