Most of you will already know that modding is short for modifying, and a mod is a modified version of the game. Rome Total War is divided into two parts, the code and the data. The code is the game engine, it determines most of how the game works at the basic level. The data is what the game loads. This includes the campaign map, unit stats unit and building descriptions and so on.



We can’t edit the code. Only CA can do that, but we can edit the data and this is what modding is. What we can’t edit is hard-coded, see a list of the hard-coded elements of the game here, but we can edit a lot. By editing a text file you can add an army here, change a factions starting cash and provinces, by editing a model and some text files you can create a completely new unit, by editing some image files you can make a completely new campaign map. You can make a new expansion for Rome, you can even make a completely new game…



And that’s what modders do, and you can download and play the fruits of their efforts. Getting slightly bored with Rome? Simply download a new mod and play away. There are three main types of mods: Those that focus on the current age of Rome – Total War, but edit it either to make it more realistic or have better gameplay, those that create a new Total War game based on a different era, such as Medieval times or the Napoleonic era or Ancient Japan etc, and finally those that aim to create a completely new game based on fantasy, or their own ideas, like Middle Earth, The Wheel of Time or Hoggy’s fantastic Blue Lotus.



Check here the list of completed mods

And find more mods still in development here in the Forge or the Hosted Mods section.



So you want to know how to mod? You’ve come to the right place. As modders work, they will often write guides and create tools to make modding easier. There is a huge collection of guides and tools out there, and if you need help on a particular question, there will almost always be someone who can help you in the General Modding Forum.



Our guides here at the .org are kept in the Scriptorium Subforum. A quick summary of whats availiable will shortly be posted here.




For more info on the structure of the modding forums, click here.



Enjoy the mods and the modding

-Myrddaal