[OUTDATED RELEASE] Westeros: Total War v0.53

[Darkstar]

Introduction:

Westeros: Total War is a modification for Medieval 2 Total War: Kingdoms. It is based on the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' (ASoIaF) novels by George R.R. Martin.

This is an alpha release, which means that unfortunately it is not feature-complete. The purpose of this release is to test the mod for stability and identify any issues resulting from our conversion to Kingdoms compatibility. This is a public milestone build, and is not the latest developmental version of the mod.

Several features of the mod, such as AI have not been implemented, and as such the mod is unbalanced. Many of the graphics, text and skins are placeholders and are not polished. We recommend playing factions that are skinned for the best possible experience: House Stark, Joffrey and Tully.

Download and Installation:


As there are far more advanced submods out there, this version is now discountinued. HxM



Installation: Please start from a clean install of M2TW: Kingdoms patched to 1.5. Extract this zip file to your Medieval II Total War\mods folder. It should create a folder named Westeros in that directory. Launch the mod using the batch file in that directory.

Steam Users (ZIP-Version):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1. Install as directed
2. Browse to C:\Program Files\Steam\Steamapps\Common\Medieval II Total War\mods
3. Rename one of the Kingdoms campaign folders (Americas, Brittania, Crusades, Teutonic) to something else
4. Rename the Westeros folder to the name you changed in step 3
5. Select the name you used from the Launcher

Attention Steam users:

- refer to my tutorial Creating a World - Mod Install for Steam on how to do it your way



Important note regarding crashes:

I will only entertain questions that have to do with the game start. So if your game crashes after a few rounds, please post in another thread or open your own.
Do the following when encountering an error on game start:

1. To get more detailed information, proceed as follows: open ...\Medieval II Total War\mods\Westeros\Configuration.cfg with Notepad, remove the existing hash sign (red) and add a new one (blue), save. Quote:
[log]
to = logs/M2TW.system.log.txt
#level = * trace
#level = * error

2. Start your game again
3. Post here stating when the crash happened (eg which screen, what button pressed last) and which message (if any) you got.
4. Compress your log and attach it with your post.

. Attached Files westeros.system.log.zip (5.20 MB, 151 views)

Mod Features:

*New graphics and banners for all Westerosi families
*Three fully skinned factions: Stark, Tully and Joffrey
*Detailed campaign map of Westeros
*Long summers and vicious winters, with proper aging (courtesy of GrnEyedDvl)
*Garrison Script for Dorne
*Foreign faction leader death notifications (courtesy of Blood, Broads and Bastards)
*Outriders that can steal enemy supplies
*Assassin Hiring
*Claiming Kingship
*Various optional events (inspired by Anno Domini)
*Bloodline traits for all major families (courtesy of BBB)
*Completely new Westerosi Ancillaries (and there are a LOT of them!)
*Office ancillaries for noble houses and Kings (inspired by BBB)
*Heraldic ancillaries (inspired by BBB)
*Campaign AI by XAI (not 100% implemented)
*Battle AI by XAI
*Westerosi Guilds, including assassins, alchemists and Faith Militants. Not perfected though, purchase with caution.
*Balanced Victory Conditions for noble Lords and Kings

Changelog v0.53

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

- Correctly integrated the v0.51 patch

Changelog v0.52

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

- Converted WTW 0.51 to Kingdoms using barebones mod by GrnEyedDvl. All recruit_priority_offset in EDU are set to 0.
- Fixed post conversion crash. Error in text\export_vnvs.txt. Rebuilt file from scratch. Some trait descriptions need to be updated still
- Fixed duplicate text in Jaime Lannister bio
- Fixed typo in guilds "RansomeType"
- Integrated XAI - Need to review descr_faction_standing.txt

Changelog v0.51

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

- filled up missing unit cards and unit info cards
- added hammerhorn ancillary (text, enum, export)
- added LordSnow's portrait for Joffrey, loras, jaime, lancel, theon
- removed knights templar (EDB)
- removed Billmen
- added Heavy Billmen and Bill Militia to Renly roster
- halved heretic spawn rate
- fixed the no-skin bug of the Dornish peasant archers
- Ironmen Warriors, Ironmen Raiders and Ironmen Axemen no longer use Stark shields but vanilla Denmark ones
- free upkeep bonus added for castle buildings (1/2/3/4 units for Wooden Castle/Castle/Fortress/Citadel respectively)
- more units now have the free upkeep ability
- added starting armies for the factions
- gave starting ancillary titles to Tywin, Trebor , Franklyn, Harmen, Anders, Leyton, Paxter, Yohn, Renly, Horton, Tremond, Qorgyle, Mooton, Balon
- fixed descriptions for the nobility titles of Stonedance, Saltpans, Raventree
- changed the money script, increased the donation to the AI
- changed the AI in debt script
- lowered the king's purse for all factions (makes it harder for the player)
- fixed the duplicate paragraph in Jaime's biography
- removed most armour upgrades for the Ironmen Warriors and Ironmen Raiders because they lack a skin
- added Jaime's armour, Nightfall, Oathkeeper, Lady Forlorn, Heartsbane
- corrected quote #99

Special Features:

Spies:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The idea is Westeros didn't actually have something like a spy. The closest is the little birds of Varys, but they don't go out scouting armies or opening gates. Some folks back at westeros.org suggested that the spy's role could be changed to something like the outriders, which were used extensively around the Riverlands.

Like the original spies, outriders can go anywhere and are hidden to enemy factions. As Tywin himself learned when he got tricked by Robb, outriders are vital to uncovering enemy hosts lying in ambush and following enemy moves behind the fog of war. Unlike the original spies, outriders don't usually infiltrate enemy settlements inducing unrest and opening gates. They can still try, but the stakes are much higher.



But that's not all. In addition to all the tweaks, I have written an raid script for the outriders, giving them the ability to steal supplies(money) when they successfully spy on an enemy army. When you've successfully raided someone or was harassed, an event will pop up to notify you.



The amount of ouriders and their abilities are much tuned down, so you won't need to worry about being swamped by enemy agents like in vanilla. However, it is still advised to keep your own outriders to guard your hosts and not leave your troops scattered across the field, which will make them easy prey for enemy raids.

Assassins:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

There are currently three kinds of assassins in Westeros:TW, two of them from those ancient guilds we've heard so much about. Yeah you guessed it, we're putting the Faceless Men and Sorrowful Men up for hire.

Once you managed to get a Sorrowful or Faceless guild in your city(should be pretty rare in itself, and you can only have one), I have scripted an event that will pop up at random, from which you can choose to hire one of these prestigious assassins.

If you accept, the money will be automatically paid(watch out for the costs!), and the boogieman springs up next to your city.


To represent their guild-trained professional skills, these guys won't need your leveling up like in vanilla. Instead, they'll come with developed subterfuge skills and ancillaries, and their kill rates are much higher than vanilla. To give you an idea, a Faceless costs enough dragons to feed a host, but with one I could basically slash anybody in the world, including faction leaders with the highest security. Sorrowful Men are less expensive and less skilled, but they can still handle most targets and big ones if you feel lucky enough.

But here's the catch. As hired contract killers, they aren't in for life. After a successful kill, these assassins will return to their guilds to await your next summon. This is to avoid them tipping the balance for factions that acquired the guilds. How and when to use them to your best interests is up to your good judgment.

Claiming Kingship:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Again inspired by some folks back at westeros.org, this time we're going to let you put a crown on yourselves. As we all know, this mod is focused on the War of the Five Kings, a time when all sorts of people are calling themselves King.

After you have fulfilled certain conditions, your nobles will become restless and sick of serving Baratheons, when their oath was sworn to the Targaryens. You will be given the choice to ascend:


If all conditions are met and you choose to declare yourself King, you will be crowned the next turn. You will enjoy all sorts of advantages such as a shiny new title, special Crown ancillaries, higher global standings, and various hidden effects, but also take heart that other self-styled Kings will not be pleased by new competition.


As the timing and choice is given to the player, you can declare King boldly as soon as the conditions are met, or you can abide your time and make all your political maneuvers before claiming King. Or, you can lay low and keep to being a petty noble lord for the rest of your life. You can even take advantage of the system to avoid too severe diplomatic consequences, but that would be left for you to explore on your own.

Wait, is that it? Nah, there are many more aspects to the Kingship script, but it would be too spoiling to tell it all in one go. Hopefully we'll have time to talk about them soon.

Gameplay Advice:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Managing your family:
With the bloodline traits, you can keep track of your entire noble family with ease. However, it is easy for small families like Arryn or Stannis to dwindle and die off. The tip to keep your blood pure is obviously, never adopt. Also, some factions start off with no heir, so some generals are designated as heir. However, once you raised your own garden (as Lord Tywin puts it) you know what must be done to secure the throne for your own kin.

Managing armies and battles:
If you don't have experience with RealCombat, it's a unit balancing mod that emphasizes the importance of armored units. In vanilla, armor-clad knights die as easily as lowly peasants wearing boiled leather. In RC, a well-trained armored unit can stand up to peasants three times its number, and only be worn down by fatigue. Have no fear of imba however, for a well aimed cavalry can spell doom to the best armored knights on foot. But lowly spear-wielding peasants can slow down an armored charge long enough to bring your own forces to bear. In short, RC achived a much more tactical-inclined balance than vanilla. Combined-arms stacks are highly encouraged, and you could decide between expensive, hard to replenish elites vs commoner levies that are cheap and easy to mass.

Heraldic Ancillaries:
Most settlements have a heraldic anc which generals can acquire by staying in the town for one turn. For example, If you conquer Harrenhal and sit Ser Gregor inside, he'll be granted the title Lord of Harrenhal as an ancillary. The only exception are the capital settlements of each family, whose heraldry is automatically granted to the current faction leader. For example, if Tywin dies and Kevan becomes leader, he'll be automatically granted the Lord of Casterly Rock, without having to stay there one turn.

Office Ancillaries:
Each noble house has two basic offices to grant to generals or family members: Castellan and Master of Horse. Each King has the right to grant several additional offices to serve as his council: Hand of King, Master of Coin, Master of Ship, and Master of Law. Here's how you acquire these offices: (All of them require your general to stay inside a settlement)

Castellan: Stay in Capital, have more than 4 loyalty
Master of Horse: Train cavalry
Hand: have more than 2 authority
Law: Keep your townsfolks happy
Coin: Tax your town
Ship: Build a ship

Crowns and Ancillaries in general:
Watch out how many ancs your faction lead has when he claims king. The hardcoded max number of ancillaries per general is eight, so if he already has eight ancs, he won't get a crown. Some ancillaries are transferable, such as offices and heraldries, you could keep a few on your heirs and leaders to save spare ancillary space.

Regarding the advisor optional events:
Don't save in the middle of one, it won't pop up again when you reload.

Regarding Assassins:
Watch out where you're standing when you're spawning anything (assassins usually), keep the space around your capital's ports clear or you will be declined by the guilds.

Credits:

Team Members:
Gampie (mapping, coding, banners)
LordSnow (skinning, 2D art)
Blackfish (2d art)
TheKingSlayer (flavour text writer)
Daedalus V2.0 (flavour text writer)
BattleDrumz (skinning, 2D art)
stormbringer951 (flavour text writer, testing)
aeoleron9 (coding, ancillaries and traits)

Special Thanks:
Marcus, who was leader on the previous Westeros mod project
GrnEyedDvl, for his barebones mod and continuous support on the scripting front
xeryx, for his Campaign and Battle AI
Blood, Broads and Bastards
Anno Domini
RealCombat
portraits: Amok, Collectible Card Game of FantasyFlightGames
banners: Stig Greve, Amok, Virginia Norey
loading screens: Morano
ancillaries art: CCG, Amok