Bwians guide to changing a factions name
Credit for the bulk of this goes to the guys ( Vlad and DukeofSerbia) whose adding a new faction tutorials guided me to finding most of this out. All I wanted to do was to change the name of a faction, without trying to build a complete new faction. This tutorial is aimed at showing you how!
edit: Extra special credit to Gigantus .... whose info on faction names would have been of invaluable help...had I found it!
Step 1:
The main campaign naming starts with the expanded.txt file. This lives in the data/text folder, and should be copied over into you MOD folder before you make any changes. The file inds up as a 'bin' file, but the game will create this from the .txt file if the bin file is not present. You have to remember to delete hte bin file after every test or your changes will not take effect. I was , of course, far to experienced a modder to make that mistake .......
So...first, we open up the expanded.txt file and find the part where the main faction is named. For hte text I am changeing 'Egypt' to 'Restless Dead' as used in my Warpstorm mod. The section we will change first looks like this:
Do NOT change the parts in the curly brackets. The changes I made were these:Code:{EGYPT}Egypt {EGYPT_STRENGTH}Relies on powerful cavalry, particularly the Mamluks. {EGYPT_UNIT}Mamluks {EGYPT_WEAKNESS}Lacks heavy infantry, particularly in the late period.
Run the game, and the changes should be visible when you go to the 'start campaign' screen.Code:{EGYPT}Restless Dead {EGYPT_STRENGTH}Undead units cause fear in the living. Units cheap and fearless {EGYPT_UNIT}Chariots {EGYPT_WEAKNESS}Lacks heavy infantry, particularly in the late period.
The faction anme and the unit strengths and weaknesses are changed, as is the name of the featured unit. If you go to the custom battle screen, you will also find the names and unit strengths/weaknesses is used here. Great....lots of changes from virtually no typing!
There is more though, but we will finish off the changes to the campaign start screen before we go on to the other parts of expanded that we must change.
The unit picture:
If you go to your 'data/menu/symbols folder', there is a folder called 'fe_faction_units' in there. Each faction has a picture. Find hte one relevant to your faction, and replace it with an identically sized image, saved in TGA format. I used a nice screenshot I had taken of my chariots.
The campaign text:
If we go back to our data/text folder, there is a file called campaign_descriptions. It is also a bin file, so we edit the txt version, deleting the bin file every time when we test. Find the section that relates to the faction we are modding, and edit the details there. Again, do NOT touch the section in curly brackets.
original....
Our version...Code:{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_EGYPT_DESCR}At a time where religious intolerance is common throughout the known world, Egypt stands out as an enlightened melting pot of religions and ideologies. Descendents of Mohammed's daughter Fatima, the Fatimid rulers of Egypt are Shiite Muslims, but Sunnis, Jews and Christians still hold offices and government positions. Unlike the age of the Pharaoh, bloodline is now considered secondary to ability and talent in Egypt, making it a very progressive and balanced nation. After being assimilated into several empires over the past couple of millennia, the people of the Nile have proven to be culturally flexible and great survivors.\n\nFor all its merits, the Fatimid dynasty was once a little mightier than it is now, with its borders receding after a reign of madness and mismanagement by Caliph Al-Hakim. Fortunately for the Egyptians, none of their neighbours are bearing down upon their lands - in fact, expanding in any direction shouldn't prove a problem. The Moors lie much too far to the west to be considered an immediate threat, and the Holy lands beyond Gaza are presently ruled by petty Sheikhs and Emirs that are backed by none of the major empires.\n\nThough the problems facing the Egyptians close to home aren't anything a decisive ruler can't deal with, any Egyptian forays into the Holy lands will no doubt be subject to Catholic invasion from across the Mediterranean. Regular military pilgrimages by European Christians to Jerusalem seem an inevitability, as do counter-attacks from other Muslim powers such as the Turks. Expand and consolidate quickly and the world could be your oyster. {IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_EGYPT_TITLE}Egypt
And that completes the campaign start screen. The map shown for the faction must be changed ( that is in the campaign folder ) along with the campaign objectives. I will leave these for now, and add that part in when I get around to doing it for the mod itself.Code:{IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_EGYPT_DESCR}When they yet lived, the Lords of the Old Kingdom clung to life beyond the normal span of years. Every means was sought to extend their years, and the dark sorcerors found rich patrons in these lands. Yet, despite their every effort, they each fell into their graves victims of decay and decrepitude.Yet, in cruel irony, the Warpstorm found them sleeping in their graves and took them for it's own\n\nSent back once more in cruel parody of the life they once craved, they walked abroad once more to plague the living... hideous constructs of decayed flesh and bleached bone. Their former warriors and servants rose to serve their undying masters as they had pedged to do in life, and the hordes of the dead marched the land brigning destruction and despair wherever they trod. Unfeeling, unfearing, and without pity or mercy, the Restless Dead seek to extinguish the life that taunts them and bring the peace of the grave to all who still live. {IMPERIAL_CAMPAIGN_EGYPT_TITLE}Restless Dead
Going back to the 'expanded' file, there are a few more changes we need to make. If you scroll down the screen, you will find many more references to 'egypt' and 'egyption' names. All these need to be changed BUT...
Take VERY great care if you use the find/rep[lace function. NOTHING in the {} sections can be changed or you will break the game functions. Only the sections outside these can be altered. Here is a sample from the text:
Red bits must be untouched, green edited. Carry in with this through the whole text file. These are the flags that come up when you mouse over units or settlements on the campaign map.Code:{EMT_EGYPT_ADMIRAL}Egyptian Navy {EMT_EGYPT_ASSASSIN}Egyptian Assassin {EMT_EGYPT_CAPITAL}Egyptian Capital {EMT_EGYPT_CASTLE}Egyptian Castle {EMT_EGYPT_CITY}Egyptian City {EMT_EGYPT_DIPLOMAT}Egyptian Diplomat {EMT_EGYPT_DOCK}Egyptian Docks {EMT_EGYPT_FACTION_HEIR}Egyptian Faction Heir {EMT_EGYPT_FACTION_HEIR_NAME}Crown Prince %S {EMT_EGYPT_FACTION_HEIR_TITLE}Faction Heir {EMT_EGYPT_FACTION_LEADER}Egyptian Faction Leader {EMT_EGYPT_FACTION_LEADER_NAME}Sultan %S {EMT_EGYPT_FACTION_LEADER_TITLE}Faction Leader {EMT_EGYPT_FISHING_VILLAGE}Egyptian Fishing Village {EMT_EGYPT_FORMER_FACTION_LEADER_TITLE}Sultan {EMT_EGYPT_FORT}Egyptian Fort {EMT_EGYPT_FORTRESS}Egyptian Citadel {EMT_EGYPT_GENERAL}Egyptian Army {EMT_EGYPT_HUGE_CITY}Egyptian Huge City {EMT_EGYPT_LARGE_CASTLE}Egyptian Fortress {EMT_EGYPT_LARGE_CITY}Egyptian Large City {EMT_EGYPT_LARGE_TOWN}Egyptian Large Town {EMT_EGYPT_MERCHANT}Egyptian Merchant {EMT_EGYPT_NAMED_CHARACTER}Egyptian Family Member {EMT_EGYPT_NAMED_GENERAL}Egyptian General {EMT_EGYPT_PORT}Egyptian Port {EMT_EGYPT_PRIEST}Egyptian Imam
Also change {EMT_VICTORY_EGYPT} for the victory message, and the similar ambush/attack messages that crop up when you encounted another factions units.
Final part: Victory conditions.
In your campaign folder, 'Data/world/maps/campaign/imperial_campaign' you will fiond a text file 'descr_win_conditions'. Open this up and look at the section for the faction you are changing. Adapt the win conditions to suit whatever mod you want to make. Change the number of territories to be held, and the names of hte specific regions you want held. Make sure they match what you have in your mod!
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hes making one on everything 
