RELEASED (pre-alpha)
On behalf of the Dominion of the Sword team I would like to present to you the pre-alpha version of the mod:
>>> Mirror 1 <<< (Gamefront, you may need to swap the extensions with part name, i.e. 7z.001 instead of 001.7z)
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
>>> Mirror 2 <<< (Google Drive) Recommended since it's the easiest
>>> Mirror 3 <<< (Torrent, thanks to Vipman!)
>>> Mirror 4 <<< (Mega)
Thank you
To everyone who supported DotS over the years either as an active developer or a fan. We could not get here without you and we may yet get to full release with you. Thank you!
Disclaimer
The version of the mod is pre-alpha. The mod is by no means finished or even considered playable. It can be run and many features are present but many others are missing and required to provide a real experience.
License
Medieval II Total War EULA applies in full.
TWC user agreement applies in full.
All third party tools in this release are provided as is. They remain the intellectual property of their authors under specified licences and are meant for developing the mod. They should not be redistributed without specific consent of their authors. They are NOT required by the mod to run.
Prerequisites
Medieval II Total War
Kingdoms Expansion
Patch 1.4 or 1.5 (1.5 is recommended)
Installation
1) The download contains one 7z file (used for good compression ratio). In order to unpack it you will need WinRAR or 7zip or any software that supports 7z archive format.
2) Move the unpacked /Dominion_of_the_Sword/ directory to you M2TW/mods/ directory. The resulting directory structure should look like this: .../Medieval II Total War/mods/Dominion_of_the_Sword/
Note for Steam users:
All you need to do is copy the medieval2.exe and rename it kingdoms.exe, keeping it in the same main folder. To run Dominion all you need to do is run steam. Then go into the mods/ folder where you installed Dominion and click on the the MS-DOS- command file named dominion_of_the_sword (see below). The mod will now run. If you make a shortcut to this you can drag and drop it to your desktop.
For more readSpoiler Alert, click show to read:
Usage
The mod can be run by dominion_of_the_sword.bat that should be located directly in the /Dominion_of_the_Sword/ directory mentioned in the Installation.
NOTE: The first time the mod runs it will likely take several minutes to initalize all the resources. Do not panick. It may also crash in the end of this process. Try running it again and only if it crashes for the second time refer to the FAQ below.
Interested in DEVELOPING DOMINION OF THE SWORD ?!
This section is intended for anyone willing to participate in developing the DotS either in collaboration with the original team or on their own.
Tools
Essential mod tools used in creation of DotS are provided in this release. Many other tools are available on demand.
- Rebuild (Rebuilds the entire mod - its text files - using other tools from the data spreadsheets)
- DotS Replicator (Replicates segments of code using self-containted template language and populates the templates with actual data from yaml dataset)
- G2DC (Converts spreadsheets to yaml datasets)
- ModelDbFinisher (Finishes some complicated structures of modeldb file after it was generated by DotS Replicator)
- TFM (Text File Merger, merges the files using given parameters)
These are available´if you contact us:
- Automap (DotS Automap is a utility that can build a new image based on information contained in several other images and manipulation parameters defined in an XML input file)
- Bloodlines (Generates bloodlines traits)
- DotS Parser (Ancillary and titles parser)
- EDB2G (converts existing EDB file into data spreadsheet usable by Google Spreadsheets)
- EDCT2G (convertss EDCT file into data spreadsheet usable by Google Spreadsheets)
- DOTS Edu-matic (Adaptation of EDU-matic with DotS units and settings)
- LogScript (Tool that is using M2TW logging mechanism to read arbitrary commands issued by campaign_script.txt to manipulate with the mod files on the fly, i.e. swapping COAs and other files loaded on demand rather than on start-up)
- PSF Resource Locator (Creates an image that represents all PSFs and/or resources, the image can be overlayed over map_regions.tga or enlarged to overlay over map_ground_types.tga in order to provide hints for possible errors or terrain/border manipulation
-DotS Titles (Tool that generates code for advanced titles system)
Resources
DotS is heavily resources dependent mod. All decisions in its design were backed by research. The research however is not in a ready-to-be-made-public state but on demand we could grant access to parts of it. However in this release we provide the DotS Code series of resources:
DotS Code
DotS Code - Names
DotS Code - Archives
These are the user-friendly styled spreadhseets that represent vast range of values used by in-game files. When downloaded and put into Rebuild Tool they are used to rebuild the mod and update all game files accordingly based on the custom templates (created by Resurrection) of the game files.
Rebuild
There is a manual in Rebuild sub-directory of this release. Read it please.
How to develop DotS?
You have two options. You can use old-fashioned manual modding or Rebuild. In order to use Rebuild, you will need to copy DotS Code and Dots Code - Names google spreadsheets to your Google Drive and rename them back to their original names. Then, when you are done editing them, download them as text (*.tsv) files, overwrite those in /Rebuild!DotS Code/ and run Rebuild.bat for full rebuild or any of the convenience batch files that rebuilds only specific parts of the mod.
DISCLAIMER: Rebuild is not fool-proof and does not check whether your data is valid. That means that if you put invalid entries into the DotS Code they will be used and the mod will not work as a result. Take care when editing DotS Code, read comments and follow the pattern of the data already present. It also helps to know what the game files expect but it is not strictly necessary.
NOTE1: The full rebuilds takes a lot of time. Depending on your system it can take 5-15 minutes. Use convenience batch files whenever you can.
NOTE2: EDU is disabled in Rebuild but can be re-activated. Simply copy EDU sheet from DotS Code - Archives to YOUR DotS Code and rename it back to EDU. In Rebuild.bat you need to uncomment the section for EDU. Alternative is to use DotS Edu-matic.
NOTE3: Rebuild is re-creating text files (including modeldb file) so that you do not have to. However the resources you reference in the code (i.e. battle/strat models, portraits, ui etc.) must be present in the mod when you run it. It is your responsibility to provide these resources and you must do it manually - Rebuild cannot help you there.
How to colaborate with DotS Team?
If you wish to develop DotS "officially" you should contact us (either Resurrection or Hengest). There are generally two options:
- You have developed some part of the mod and you wish it became part of the official release. Contact us, show us your DotS Code (including your resources), we will review it and incorporate it into the mod.
- You wish to develop under our guidance. This has benefits of help from us and research/other resources we have gathered. Contact us and we will hook you in.
FAQ
Mod crashed twice on start-up.
Try deleting contents of the /data/sounds/ EXCEPT for the music.dat file. Run the mod again and it should refresh these files which will take several minutes (and may crash again) but it should work afterwards.
I have other problem/question.
Post questions in FAQ sticky topic and problems as regular forum threads for now. Thank you.
Can I use Rebuild in my own mod?
Yes you can but you will have to adapt it yourself (Resurrection can help you with it) and you should give credit where credit is due. :-)
Originally Posted by Vipman
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