WINDOWS VISTA USERS, READ THIS!!!

[Spartan198]

Before I begin,I hope this thread is placed in the right location,but if not I'm sure someone will move it (though it is technically a modding topic).

I run my Total Wars on Windows Vista and from what TruePraetorian has told me,Vista locks the game files so that modding them is incredibly difficult.

But,alas,I have had a breakthrough!

If you want to edit your game files in any way,follow these four rediculously simple steps:
(1) Uninstall Rome and its expansions (but be sure to remove the expansions themselves first - not related to the process,but the manual says to do it).
(2) Begin reinstall process.
(3) During said reinstall process,you will be prompted what file name to save the data under.
(4) DO NOT save it under Creative Assembly,but instead just name the file yourself (I named mine "Travis Rome Total War",for example).

And you're done! Follow the rest of the installation process as you normally would,and it leaves your game files free and open for alteration!

PS - As anyone familiar with the modding scene will tell you,editing the files is risky and done at your own risk,as even the simplest mistake will adversely affect your game (but not your system,as far as I know).

-- You're welcome,and have fun.

PPS - If any veteran modders wanna post any other advice on this topic, please do. I'm not aware of exactly every way modding affects the game.

Edit: Please not that my R:TW is from the Eras box set with Rome and Barbarian Invasion on the same CD,henseforth I was able to save it all in one file,but I see no real reason the same process wouldn't work when installing Rome and BI seperately,as you would only have to do it twice instead of once. But I'm not gonna bother with it for the Alexander expansion for obvious reasons (obvious to anyone who's played it,anyway),so if anyone wants to,I see no reason it wouldn't work with that,either. Let me know if it does or not.
BTW,I'm no expert modder (or even a novice) or anything like that,so there's not really anything else,mod-wise,I can tell you. Sorry about that.

[Makanyane]

Good advice I think, but I thought from hearsay that part of problem with Vista / mods / modding was that RTW tries to install by default to the 'program files' directory and Vista tries to lock the Program Files....


did you also change that part of the installation path?

[Spartan198]

No,everything I did is listed above. Just changing the file name before saving the info was it. I even went in and changed all factions to playable status (but it's best to leave SPQR and SLAVE as unplayable,as Accounting Troll mentioned in his Macedon guide),and was able to save the changes without any trouble.

[Barbarian]

There is an easier way to do it, without uninstalling.

Open your Rome: Total war folder, where all the data for the game, the expansions and the mods are. Make a right click on any blank space in it.

A list of options will appear. Choose Properties, then Security, and you will see the the list of all users. Some of them do not have the permission to moddify the files.
So, find a buton Edit, click on it, and click on the continue, when the verification window appears.

Now, choose every user one by one, as I don't know exactly which one must be given the permission, and tick the box "Full control" for each of them.

After that, choose OK or Apply. It may take some time till the computer sets the security options for all files, for me it took about 1-2 minutes.

After that you can freely modify any files in the RTW folder, thus also the files of the mods.

Note: You can change the security settings for each file individually, when you alter it, but I see it more usefull to change it for the whole folder and be at peace for the rest of my life (or untill I reinstall RTW )

[Spartan198]

There is an easier way to do it, without uninstalling.

Open your Rome: Total war folder, where all the data for the game, the expansions and the mods are. Make a right click on any blank space in it.

A list of options will appear. Choose Properties, then Security, and you will see the the list of all users. Some of them do not have the permission to moddify the files.
So, find a buton Edit, click on it, and click on the continue, when the verification window appears.

Now, choose every user one by one, as I don't know exactly which one must be given the permission, and tick the box "Full control" for each of them.

After that, choose OK or Apply. It may take some time till the computer sets the security options for all files, for me it took about 1-2 minutes.

After that you can freely modify any files in the RTW folder, thus also the files of the mods.

Note: You can change the security settings for each file individually, when you alter it, but I see it more usefull to change it for the whole folder and be at peace for the rest of my life (or untill I reinstall RTW )

That was the method that TruePraetorian told me about when I PMed him a week or so ago,but I couldn't get it to work.