modding campaign map

[stradar1]

To be honest I really don't think hes going to show us how he did it.

[spartan_warrior]

To be honest I really don't think hes going to show us how he did it.

To write a tutorial about modding the campaign map, which adequately describes the intricate, complex process, would take quite a lot of time. Something which I do not have a lot of now between school and other things in my life. If people are interested in modding they can try figuring it out, its definitely possible I was able to do it. If people started showing interests in mapping, and start testing things out and run into problems I will gladly help them out. But I am not going to spend time making up a tutorial if no one else is interested or willing to at least figure things out for themselves.

[stradar1]

. But I am not going to spend time making up a tutorial if no one else is interested or willing to at least figure things out for themselves.

Love the attitude......... Lmao

[spartan_warrior]

Love the attitude......... Lmao

I don't see you contributing to modding the map, besides myself, only one other person has shown active interest in trying things out and even he hasn't been around for several months. The fact is the campaign map is a complex group of files, if you aren't willing to at least try it on your own and grasp its basic structure then no tutorial is going to help.

[stradar1]

if you aren't willing to at least try it on your own and grasp its basic structure then no tutorial is going to help.

Listen I respect ur efforts and I am glad you put time into it but you are wrong on that people can definitely learn from tutorials. Its just knowing where to start and what is needed thats a good start of course just because I did not contribute time to you or anyone else does not mean im not deserving. Trust me if I knew a few things here and there its would something worth doing. If I have no idea where to start with these files its not that easy. But its fine so be it what it is.

[r3deed]

he is our only hope. trial and error may brings specific question. but also takes a lot of time like in the study of modding ETW map. modders were testing empire total war campaign map. it appears that both shogun and empire have different way of composing campaign map. good luck in your quest.

[GideonAI]

Just like to say that I am waiting to mod the game to see how moddable Rome 2 is at release. The mod that I'm planning is quite a massive undertaking and I wouldn't want to spend dozens of hours building something that could be made more easily with Rome 2. I'm sure that many people who have read this thread think likewise.

[Kraut and Tea]

I only have one question for spartan_warrior:

If you review the time and effort it took to split a province, would you considere it worth the effort and a efficiant way of working on the map?

[spartan_warrior]

I only have one question for spartan_warrior:

If you review the time and effort it took to split a province, would you considere it worth the effort and a efficiant way of working on the map?

Yes, once you get familiar with the structure of the campaign map, splitting provinces is not a lot of work. Once you know what needs to be done you could probably create a new functional province in under 2 hours.

Editing the existing maps is quite feasible and efficient. However, planning on creating an entirely new map from scratch is something entirely different.

If anyone shows interest in trying to mod the maps I will gladly help them out with any problems or questions, but I just don't have the time to write up a through tutorial currently.

[grateful]

I am not a expert like lots of people here probably, only waiting eagerly for a break-through which you've archived, Spartan_warrior. If a through tutorial is not feasible, maybe only some lead-ups will be good enough to allow people who have the knowledge and motives to crack the ice. I mean something like where to look at, how to start, what to be aware of etc. Then we can see how far things can go from there. Anyway, if that is still not possible, guess we just have to sit back and wait or expect some miracles to happen in Rome 2.

[Kraut and Tea]

Yes, once you get familiar with the structure of the campaign map, splitting provinces is not a lot of work. Once you know what needs to be done you could probably create a new functional province in under 2 hours.

Editing the existing maps is quite feasible and efficient. However, planning on creating an entirely new map from scratch is something entirely different.

If anyone shows interest in trying to mod the maps I will gladly help them out with any problems or questions, but I just don't have the time to write up a through tutorial currently.

I might give it a try, and should I get stuck I will come back to your offer of assistance.

[uanime5]

If anyone shows interest in trying to mod the maps I will gladly help them out with any problems or questions, but I just don't have the time to write up a through tutorial currently.

I've tried to mod this map but am having problems. Basically I opened the shogun2.max file using Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010 64-bit, moved the "town:jap_omi:region_specialty" in the Omi region to another location within this region, and saved the shogun2.max.

Next I started up Bob. In the raw_data menu I selected clicked the campaign_maps/jap_shogun and campaign/jap_shogun folders and selected "all". In the retail menu I selected the "data" folder. I then clicked start and waited for the programme to finish.

When Bob was done I went to the retail folder and found that the mod.pack lacked any of the DB tables or esf files I needed. So after adding these files from the "working_data" folder I put the mod in the S2TW folder, started S2TW, selected Hattori, and found that their town was still in the same place.

Do you have any idea what I'm doing wrong?

[spartan_warrior]

I've tried to mod this map but am having problems. Basically I opened the shogun2.max file using Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010 64-bit, moved the "town:jap_omi:region_specialty" in the Omi region to another location within this region, and saved the shogun2.max.

Next I started up Bob. In the raw_data menu I selected clicked the campaign_maps/jap_shogun and campaign/jap_shogun folders and selected "all". In the retail menu I selected the "data" folder. I then clicked start and waited for the programme to finish.

When Bob was done I went to the retail folder and found that the mod.pack lacked any of the DB tables or esf files I needed. So after adding these files from the "working_data" folder I put the mod in the S2TW folder, started S2TW, selected Hattori, and found that their town was still in the same place.

Do you have any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Ok what I think you are doing wrong is that saving the shogun2.max doesn't actually do anything. What needs to be done is to create the desired .CS2 file. As you have probably noticed, everything in the MAX file is organized into layers, several of which correspond with with the names of the .CS2 files; these are really the only important layers, I generally delete everything else as they aren't needed to generate the map.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Once you have made your edits, what you want to do is export it and only its appropriate supporting data to the right .CS2. For example if you had made an edit to a region border what you want to do is select everything on that layer, which in this case is only a single polygon mesh, and export only the selected items as the regions.cs2 using the supplied CS2 importer/exporter. What I do at this stage is to toggle off all layers which are not involved with this file, and select everything that remains on and export only those selected objects to the .CS2 file.

So in your situation, since you made changes to a settlement location, what you should do it toggle off all layers except for the 4 settlement layers (settlements are divided across layers for ports, towns, trade node, and settlements). So what you want to do is select everything from these 4 layers and export it all as the settlements.CS2.

With that done you can then use BOB to process the data. I generally do this in two steps, first the campaign map, and once that's finished I then create a pack. I don't check both off for one process. I don't know if this matters, but it's how I have been doing it and it works for me.

[uanime5]

Ok what I think you are doing wrong is that saving the shogun2.max doesn't actually do anything. What needs to be done is to create the desired .CS2 file. As you have probably noticed, everything in the MAX file is organized into layers, several of which correspond with with the names of the .CS2 files; these are really the only important layers, I generally delete everything else as they aren't needed to generate the map.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Once you have made your edits, what to want to do it export it and only its appropriate supporting data to the right .CS2. For example if you had made an edit to a region border what you want to do is select everything on that layer, which in this case is only a single polygon mesh, and export only the selected items as the regions.cs2 using the supplied CS2 importer/exporter. What I do at this stage is to toggle off all layers which are not involved with this file, and select everything that remains on and export only those selected objects to the .CS2 file.

So in your situation, since you made changes to a settlement location, what you should do it toggle off all layers except for the 4 settlement layers (settlements are divided across layers for ports, towns, trade node, and settlements). So what you want to do is select everything from these 4 layers and export it all as the settlements.CS2.

With that done you can then use BOB to process the data. I generally do this in two steps, first the campaign map, and once that's finished I then create a pack. I don't check both off for one process. I don't know if this matters, but it's how I have been doing it and it works for me.

Thanks for explaining what to do with the CS2 files. I wasn't using export selected so I kept ending up with files that were 1GB.

Though I can now make a mod pack with the correct DB tables it doesn't include the esf files. Also the esf files in the working_data folder aren't being made correctly. For example the startpos is only 1.7mb, rather than 10mb, and has a compressed_data folder than isn't in the vanilla version. Any idea what could be causing this?

[spartan_warrior]

Thanks for explaining what to do with the CS2 files. I wasn't using export selected so I kept ending up with files that were 1GB.

Though I can now make a mod pack with the correct DB tables it doesn't include the esf files. Also the esf files in the working_data folder aren't being made correctly. For example the startpos is only 1.7mb, rather than 10mb, and has a compressed_data folder than isn't in the vanilla version. Any idea what could be causing this?

A startpos.esf of ~1.7mb sounds correct, CA changed the format of the esf some time ago to compress its size. Are you using TAW's esf tools to extract the sartpos? As that would give you the compressed folder. If you are, I would suggest using DAVE in TWeck instead, it makes startpos editing very easy.

Anyways, what I would suggest for a simple test, since it seems you are just moving an object on the map, not adding or removing anything. Is once you have exported your changes to the right CS2 file, just process the campaign map with BOB. So in the Raw data pane, navigate to the sho_japan campaign map folder, check the box and in the Consumer actions check all. Hit start to begin processing. Once it is finished the updated map files will be in the appropriate folder in the working data folder.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Now for tests like this, I don't use BOB to build the pack file, instead I stick with the PFM (I find it easier to set up files and replace certain files with it rather than BOB). With the processed campaign map data in the working data folder, I then usually create a new campaign_maps folder somewhere and paste the sho_japan folder from the working data into it. I then use the PFM to make a new mod pack with just my new campaign_maps folder. Once saved start up Shogun and make sure the mod is selected in the mod manager. When then starting a campaign you should see your new changes.

[♔The Black Knight♔]

Hey spartan, how hard would it be to blow up the map to make it larger? And split it up into more provinces?

[hellfire15]

Just blowing up the map increasing the pure amount of terrain that needs to be covered + increasing campaign length to balance it out would already be something I'd love to play

[uanime5]

A startpos.esf of ~1.7mb sounds correct, CA changed the format of the esf some time ago to compress its size. Are you using TAW's esf tools to extract the sartpos? As that would give you the compressed folder. If you are, I would suggest using DAVE in TWeck instead, it makes startpos editing very easy.

Anyways, what I would suggest for a simple test, since it seems you are just moving an object on the map, not adding or removing anything. Is once you have exported your changes to the right CS2 file, just process the campaign map with BOB. So in the Raw data pane, navigate to the sho_japan campaign map folder, check the box and in the Consumer actions check all. Hit start to begin processing. Once it is finished the updated map files will be in the appropriate folder in the working data folder.

Now for tests like this, I don't use BOB to build the pack file, instead I stick with the PFM (I find it easier to set up files and replace certain files with it rather than BOB). With the processed campaign map data in the working data folder, I then usually create a new campaign_maps folder somewhere and paste the sho_japan folder from the working data into it. I then use the PFM to make a new mod pack with just my new campaign_maps folder. Once saved start up Shogun and make sure the mod is selected in the mod manager. When then starting a campaign you should see your new changes.

Good news I finally was able to move a farm. I also learned 3 things.

1) You do need to make a new startpos because the startpos contains the coordinates of every settlement/town/port/farm/trade node.

2) If the coordinates of a settlement/town/port/farm/trade node in the regions.esf and startpos.esf don't match then TWS2 ignores both of these files and uses the vanilla version. This caused me a lot of problems because in ETW if the coordinates don't match ETW crashes, so I assumed that because TWS2 kept loading that BOB hadn't made updated version of these files.

3) For some reason BOB works better if you make then campaign_map files, then make the campaigns files; rather than making both at the same time.

[Ygge]

Great progress! I might try this myself.

[r3deed]

Good news I finally was able to move a farm. I also learned 3 things.

1) You do need to make a new startpos because the startpos contains the coordinates of every settlement/town/port/farm/trade node.

2) If the coordinates of a settlement/town/port/farm/trade node in the regions.esf and startpos.esf don't match then TWS2 ignores both of these files and uses the vanilla version. This caused me a lot of problems because in ETW if the coordinates don't match ETW crashes, so I assumed that because TWS2 kept loading that BOB hadn't made updated version of these files.

3) For some reason BOB works better if you make then campaign_map files, then make the campaigns files; rather than making both at the same time.

any hopes of modding etw map.