Unit Bug in the 3rd chapter of the Road to Independence

[Leonardo]

I've over the years always wonder why I couldn't merge the 1st Dragoons unit (that's included in the starting army for the Americans) with other Dragoons, unless the 1st Dragoon is first disbandoned then recruited in-game, especially after a battle.

Not long ago I found out why I couldn't merge the 1st Dragoons with other Dragoons, so I took two pictures from vanilla, ETF, and finally TAR.

Vanilla - 1st Dragoons vs Dragoons

ETF - 1st Dragoons vs Dragoons

TAR - 1st Dragoons vs Dragoons

Both ETF and TAR have this unit bug and I think DME might have this unit bug too, but I'm not entirely sure about that. Can anyone confirm that for DME?



I also know a lot of people are using Bran Mac Born's Empire Campaign AI mod and I wonder.

Has anyone notice this unit bug in Bran's Empire Campaign AI mod?

If not then perhaps a patch or an updated Bran's Empire Campaign AI mod is needed to fix the unit bug for the 1st Dragoons in the 3rd chapter in the Road to Independence.



However, I once knew how to change a thing or two in the game files, but that was a few years ago and now I don't remember the necessary steps I need to do to change anything in the Startpos.esf file.

All I know is that this one need OpenOffice, PFM, and maybe EasyEsf or the EasyDb tool.

[Alwyn]

I imagine that you noticed (as I did) that these units have slightly different statistics. They have different recruitment and upkeep costs. In vanilla, the 'defence' scores of the two dragoon units are different. This suggests that the reason why they cannot be merged is that they are different unit types. Perhaps one is a unit of 'dragoons' and the other is 'colonial_dragoons', or something like that. I think this means that you're right, fixing the problem would involve editing the startpos.esf, so that both units are of the same type.

You wrote that you don't know the necessary steps for startpos editing. I suggest using the startpos editing guide by husserlTW - there is a link there to this information on editing starting armies by Lazy Knight.

[Leonardo]

I imagine that you noticed (as I did) that these units have slightly different statistics. They have different recruitment and upkeep costs. In vanilla, the 'defence' scores of the two dragoon units are different. This suggests that the reason why they cannot be merged is that they are different unit types. Perhaps one is a unit of 'dragoons' and the other is 'colonial_dragoons', or something like that. I think this means that you're right, fixing the problem would involve editing the startpos.esf, so that both units are of the same type.

Hmm... It could be Colonial Dragoons as you said and I haven't thought about that before, but regardless what is what why CA did that in the first place is something I've no idea why at least I see no reason why doing that unless CA missed something there.

You wrote that you don't know the necessary steps for startpos editing. I suggest using the startpos editing guide by husserlTW - there is a link there to this information on editing starting armies by Lazy Knight.

Your first link goes husserlTW's modding work, but I assume you mean his masterpiece which the second link goes to. Thanks for the link to that post, very useful.

Yes, I know that tutorial. But it's just that I forgot one thing after exporting the TSV in PFM and last time I edit anything in a mod pack was 2-3 years ago. So I forgot a step or two.

[Alwyn]

Of course, it might not be Colonial Dragoons. I think that there is also an americas_dragoons unit (or a unit with a similar name - maybe american_dragoons). On reflection, this seems more likely than colonial_dragoons.

Yes, there are occasional quirks about the starting armies (if I remember correctly, one Italian faction has some Provincial Line Infantry at the start, which cannot be recruited without mods).

You're welcome! Yes, I know what you mean about forgetting the detailed steps involved in modding. Good luck!

[Leonardo]

Of course, it might not be Colonial Dragoons. I think that there is also an americas_dragoons unit (or a unit with a similar name - maybe american_dragoons). On reflection, this seems more likely than colonial_dragoons.

Yes, there are occasional quirks about the starting armies (if I remember correctly, one Italian faction has some Provincial Line Infantry at the start, which cannot be recruited without mods).

You're welcome! Yes, I know what you mean about forgetting the detailed steps involved in modding. Good luck!

So using your mod allows the player to recruit the Provincial Line Infantry unit. Correct?

[Alwyn]

Yes, that's right.

[Leonardo]

Yes, that's right.

I got try your mod some day. Thanks again for your assistance.

Perhaps you should add this "Some unit bugs also corrected" to the name of your mod. Just a thought.