Running multiple copies of TATW

[Alex-ander]

Running multiple copies of Third Age Total War (TATW)

By Alex-ander

I wanted to run a 1.41 vanilla copy of TATW for my hotseat campaigns and 1.4 copy of TATW with the RR/RC sub mod. I looked in the guides section but I could not find anything on how to run two or more different version of TATW. So I wrote my own

If you take a look at your SEGA\ Medieval II - Total War directory (or wherever you chose to install it), you will notice a mods folder. Most mods are installed in this folder. If you open the Third Age Total War folder you will see some files and folders. The important ones for us later are the TATW.cfg and TATW Mos-Dos.bat files.

Let's say you already have a TATW 1.4.1 installation and want to add a 1.4 version with the RR/RC sub mod. You can’t just install the 1.4 TATW again because the TATW installers will just overwrite any files in the TATW folder; you need to install them in some other directory (i.e. My Documents).

Run the TATW patches to 1.4, and extract the RR/RC sub mod into the TATW 1.4 folder. Choose the same directory for them all, My Documents). When you go to My Documents you will see a mods folder. Open it. Inside it is a folder called Third Age. You will need to rename this folder. Rename it to Third Age RR that’s what I called mine and move or copy it to the mods folder in your SEGA\ Medieval II - Total War folder. You will now have two copies of TATW in your Medieval II - Total War \mods folder one called Third Age 1.41 and one called Third Age RR.

Go to the Third Age RR. folder and open it. Right-click the Third Age. bat file and press "edit" Notepad ( i use Notepad ++ ) will open, and show these lines:

 
  cd ..\..
  start kingdoms.exe @mods\Third_Age\TATW.cfg
Only the last line matters. change it to 
 

   start kingdoms.exe @mods\Third_Age_RR\TATW.cfg

Now open the TATW.cfg file (Notepad or Notepad++) and change the following lines

   [features]
  editor = true
  mod = mods/Third_Age

to

     mod = mods/Third_Age_RR

If you now go to the Third Age RR folder and run the batch (.bat )file, it will start Third Age RR. Congratulations, you successfully installed two different versions of Third Age.

Short cuts
When I first clicked on the short cut for TATW 1.4 it was broken.
To repair it I did the following,

1 Click on the Mos-Dos.Bat file
2 Choose create new shortcut from the menu
3 Copy and paste the new short cut onto the desktop
4 click on the new shortcut and choose properties
5 Copy then paste the target and start in details into the target and start in boxes on the broken shortcut.

The broken shortcut will now work and you can delete the Ms-Dos shortcut

I also created a shortcut for the Third Age RR mod
1 Click on the Mos-Dos.bat file
2 Choose create new shortcut from the menu, copy it to the desktop
3 Click on the new shortcut and change icon, choose a new picture. I choose the ring from the Third Age folder
4 Press F2 and rename the new shortcut i called mine Third Age RR


Tips
I use the free program Notepad ++ it is a big improvement on notepad.

If you new mod does not work at first try changing the name of you new folder. First time I called it Third age 1.4 and it would not work when I called it Third Age RR it worked.

Keep all your downloaded patches and sub mods in a separate folder on another partition or HDD. Then if you screw up or need to reinstall TATW for any reason its very easy. And you don't need to re download all the patches again.

This method is a great way to try out the different sub mods without altering your vanilla TATW setup.

[Njordr]

Excellent guide, it's really useful. +Rep

[Jon03021]

Okay, I did everything you said. But, I don't think it worked. When i load the game it doesn't look any different. How come the mod isn't working? (This is my first time trying to install the mod)

[Alex-ander]

Ok you have 2 different versions of TATW eg 1.41 and one with RR/RC and 2 short-cuts is that right.

What happens if you click on the shortcut for the new version.

[Jon03021]

Ok you have 2 different versions of TATW eg 1.41 and one with RR/RC and 2 short-cuts is that right.

What happens if you click on the shortcut for the new version.

When I click on my RR RC shortcut, it loads the vanilla 1.4.1. The same when i load the bat file, so the shortcut is correct.

[Alex-ander]

If you have done it properly you should have extra files in your TATW RR//RC folder.

One of the files is called real combat 1.8 guide if that there?

[Jon03021]

If you have done it properly you should have extra files in your TATW RR//RC folder.

One of the files is called real combat 1.8 guide if that there?

Yes, it's there.

[Alex-ander]

All i can really think of is that you did not edit the .bat and .cfg files properly.

It defiantly works when i click on the RR short cut on my desktop it launches the RR/RC version of TATW.

Post you .cfg and .bat files and i will take a look.

[Jon03021]

All i can really think of is that you did not edit the .bat and .cfg files properly.

It defiantly works when i click on the RR short cut on my desktop it launches the RR/RC version of TATW.

Post you .cfg and .bat files and i will take a look.

Okay, here they are.

.cfg

[util]
no_animdb = 1

[features]
editor = true
mod = mods/Third_Age_RR
save_pref = 1

[io]
file_first = true

;[log]
;to=logs/auh.system.log.txt
;level =ai.ltgd trace
;level =game.script* trace
;file = game.script* logs/auh.script.log.txt
;file = ai.ltgd logs/auh.ai.log.txt
;level = * trace

;[ai]
;ltgd_logging = true

[log]
to = logs/system.log.txt
level = * trace
;level = * error


[video]
;windowed = true
;movies = false
show_banners = 1
grass_distance = 9000

[misc]
show_hud_date = true
;bypass_sprite_script = 1

[game]
unlimited_men_on_battlefield = 1
;event_cutscenes = 0

[multiplayer]
## comment/uncomment following line to disable/enable hotseat campaign
# playable = true
## faction mask for setting default starting factions in hotseat campaign
# factions = 1 # = england, 2 = france, 4 = hre, 3 = england+france, etc

[hotseat]
## disable start turn scroll in hotseat campaign
# scroll = false
## disable forced separate human faction turns (including diplomacy) in hotseat campaign
# turns = false
## enable cheat console in hotseat campaign.
# disable_console = false
## specify password for administrator access to the dev console when console disabled. Change 'password' to a suitable password
# admin_password = password
## enable camera updates during ai turn in hotseat campaign
# update_ai_camera = true
## enable voting in papal elections in hotseat campaign (only first valid human faction votes)
# disable_papal_elections = false
## disable forced autoresolve all battles in hotseat campaign
# autoresolve_battles = false
## disable diplomacy validation for incoming propositions
# validate_diplomacy = false
## disable forced relevant hotseat options to be saved with game.
save_prefs = true
## autosave hotseat game at start of players turn
# autosave = true
## save config file in save dir containing information about next players turn
save_config = true
## close medieval II directly after a hotseat autosave
# close_after_save = true
## sub directory name for hotseat save games
# gamename = hotseat_gamename
## ensure game data files used in previous save match current campaign data files.
# validate_data = true
## prevent game to load if savegame or data validations fail
# allow_validation_failures = false

[misc]
## specify the name of the save game to automatically load when Medieval II is launched
# bypass_to_strategy_save = game_name.sav

.bat

cd ..\..
start kingdoms.exe @mods\Third_Age_RR\TATW.cfg

[Alex-ander]

Your .bat and .cfg files look alright so hopefully you got it working.

I tested my instructions and the RR submod loads ok if you are still having problems i would try reinstalling the RR mod.