So you like a certain faction, but you hate their starting position? You want to move the faction, but you can't because your kings must be crowned at a certain city? This tutorial will show you how to change the city in which your king is crowned and open up whole new possibilites for gaming in DLV.
This tutorial will use the Teutonic Order as the example faction. This faction is an excellent choice for a migration game since historically they didn't even exist as a faction at the game start date of 1180. They are also a faction that have great units (I love those Teutonic knights!) but a poor starting position. They are surrounded on three sides by rivals: Lithuania to the east, Kiev to the south, and Poland and the mighty HRE to the west. The remaining border is bounded by the Baltic Sea, so opportunities for expansion are limited.
I will not go into details on how to relocate your faction as experienced DLV players will already know how to do that. I will skip ahead and tell you how to edit the game files. So you've moved your armies through enemy territory and established yourselves in your new homeland. Now the only thing remaining is to move your capital to ensure that future rulers will be crowned at your new capital. This example assumes that you have migrated your Teutonic hordes through Russian territory to the Crimean Peninsula and conquered the city of Cherson.
The first thing to do is save your game and exit. Then you're going to open the game files. These are usually found in C:\Program Files\SEGA\Medieval II Total War\mods\DLV_ext\data, but your configuration may be different. Look for a file called export_descr_ancillaries and double-click on it to open it. You will see a bunch of text that makes no sense, but just ignore that. Be sure to save a backup of this file just in case something goes wrong.
You are looking for a specific file, so the best thing to do is use the CTRL+F function to find it quickly without having to scroll through all that text. Type "crown_teutons" into the box that comes up, and you will immediately be taken further down the text. You will still need to click the "find next" button three times in order to find the appropriate section. You should now see the following text:
Trigger crown_teutons_01
WhenToTest CharacterTurnEnd
Condition EndedInSettlement
and SettlementName Thorn
and IsFactionLeader
and not CultureType middle_eastern
and not CultureType greek
and not I_WorldwideAncillaryExists crown_teutons
AcquireAncillary crown_teutons chance 100
The next thing you will do is change the line "and SettlementName Thorn" to "and SettlementName Cherson". Your text should now look like this:
Trigger crown_teutons_01
WhenToTest CharacterTurnEnd
Condition EndedInSettlement
and SettlementName Cherson
and IsFactionLeader
and not CultureType middle_eastern
and not CultureType greek
and not I_WorldwideAncillaryExists crown_teutons
AcquireAncillary crown_teutons chance 100
This will take effect immediately, so save the edited file and reload your saved game. The next time you have a new ruler, he should be crowned in Cherson instead of Thorn.
Now to make this a true capital and give your ruler the "at the seat of power" trait, you will need to edit the "export_descr_character_traits" file, which is also located in C:\Program Files\SEGA\Medieval II Total War\mods\DLV_ext\data. When you open it, you'll want to find (CTRL+F) "seat_of_power_teutons". You should see the following lines:
;------------------------------------------
Trigger Seat_of_Power_teutons_01 ;King get +1 Authority when at the capitol
WhenToTest CharacterTurnEnd
Condition EndedInSettlement
and SettlementName Thorn
and FactionType teutons
and IsFactionLeader
and Trait Seat_of_Power = 0
Affects Seat_of_Power 1 Chance 100
;------------------------------------------
Trigger Seat_of_Power_teutons_02a ;when the King is away from the capitol, he loses this benefit
WhenToTest CharacterTurnEnd
Condition EndedInSettlement
and not SettlementName Thorn
and FactionType teutons
and IsFactionLeader
and Trait Seat_of_Power = 1
Affects Seat_of_Power -1 Chance 100
;------------------------------------------
Trigger Seat_of_Power_teutons_02b ;when the King is away from the capitol, he loses this benefit
WhenToTest CharacterTurnEnd
Condition not EndedInSettlement
and FactionType teutons
and IsFactionLeader
and Trait Seat_of_Power = 1
Affects Seat_of_Power -1 Chance 100
;------------------------------------------
Trigger Reconciled_to_Nobility_teutons_01
WhenToTest CharacterTurnEnd
Condition EndedInSettlement
and SettlementName Thorn
and FactionType teutons
and IsFactionLeader
and FactionIsLocal
and Attribute Authority > 5
and Attribute Subterfuge > 8 ;has the crown
and Trait Offensive_To_Nobles = 1
Affects Reconciled_to_Nobility 1 Chance 33 ;we've averted civil war
;------------------------------------------
On each line, edit the "SettlementName" line so that it reads Cherson instead of Thorn. The edited file should look like this:
;------------------------------------------
Trigger Seat_of_Power_teutons_01 ;King get +1 Authority when at the capitol
WhenToTest CharacterTurnEnd
Condition EndedInSettlement
and SettlementName Cherson
and FactionType teutons
and IsFactionLeader
and Trait Seat_of_Power = 0
Affects Seat_of_Power 1 Chance 100
;------------------------------------------
Trigger Seat_of_Power_teutons_02a ;when the King is away from the capitol, he loses this benefit
WhenToTest CharacterTurnEnd
Condition EndedInSettlement
and not SettlementName Cherson
and FactionType teutons
and IsFactionLeader
and Trait Seat_of_Power = 1
Affects Seat_of_Power -1 Chance 100
;------------------------------------------
Trigger Seat_of_Power_teutons_02b ;when the King is away from the capitol, he loses this benefit
WhenToTest CharacterTurnEnd
Condition not EndedInSettlement
and FactionType teutons
and IsFactionLeader
and Trait Seat_of_Power = 1
Affects Seat_of_Power -1 Chance 100
;------------------------------------------
Trigger Reconciled_to_Nobility_teutons_01
WhenToTest CharacterTurnEnd
Condition EndedInSettlement
and SettlementName Cherson
and FactionType teutons
and IsFactionLeader
and FactionIsLocal
and Attribute Authority > 5
and Attribute Subterfuge > 8 ;has the crown
and Trait Offensive_To_Nobles = 1
Affects Reconciled_to_Nobility 1 Chance 33 ;we've averted civil war
;------------------------------------------
You will have to cycle through one turn for the changes to take effect, but you ruler should now have the "at the seat of power" trait.
You can do the same thing with any faction. Move your armies across Europe and relocate whole factions without being limited by the game!