Greetings all.
I too had problems trying to use this tutorial to make new regions. My problem was that the game would CTD when attempting to start a new campaign. The log file would say something about regions missing from the string table. After much tinkering, trial and error I finally got it to work. I'm not really a modder and attempted multiple fixes at once, so I'm not entirely sure what the actual problem was. However, I'll post my method of adding new regions in the hopes it will help some of you out.
Note: The vast majority of the credit goes to Xerces as most of the steps are identical to his. Cheers mate.
Note 2: My preferred way of getting mods to work is the io.file_first method. That may even be why the tutorial didn't work for me...
First of all, I would advise backing up the following files, in case anything goes wrong:
data/world/maps/base:
map_regions.tga
descr_regions.txt
descr_sounds_music_types.txt
data/world/maps/campaign/imperial_campaign:
descr_regions_and_settlement_name_lookup.txt
descr_strat.txt
descr_mercenaries.txt
data/text:
imperial_campaign_regions_and_settlement_names.txt
Finally, make sure you have a file called imperial_campaign_regions_and_settlement_names.txt.strings.bin in the data/text folderand that it is NOT set to Read Only. If you dont, use the unpacker to extract it.
Now you should be ready to begin...
Navigate to data/world/maps/base.
1. Convert map_regions.tga to a BMP using IrfanView. Open the BMP with Paint. Add regions to the map using unique colours making sure you write down the colour code. Add settlements to the regions using a black dot and ports with a white dot. Save the file, and convert the BMP back to a TGA with IrfanView, overwriting the original file.
2. Open descr_regions.txt and add your region to the list. The easiest way is to simply copy the stats of an existing settlement similar to the one you are adding. Then change the region name (Example_Province) and settlement name (the first word directly beneath the region name), writing both down for future reference. Then change the colour code to exactly what you wrote down in step 1. Save the file.
3. Open descr_sounds_music_types.txt. Add your new region to the relevant section based on its location. Save the file.
Navigate to data/world/maps/campaign/imperial_campaign.
4. Open descr_regions_and_settlement_name_lookup.txt. Add your region and settlement name, and save the file.
5. Open descr_strat.txt. Find the section relating to the faction you would like to be the initial owner of your new settlement, and add it to the end of the existing settlement list. Again, you could copy/paste the stats for an existing settlement and simply change the name and founding nation. Save the file.
6. Open descr_mercenaries.txt. Add your province to the relevant pool based on its location. This will determine the kind of mercenary units that are available to recruit. Save the file.
Navigate to data/text.
7. Open imperial_campaign_regions_and_settlement_names.txt. Add your region and settlement to the list. Save the file and make sure it has the READ ONLY attribute.
Navigate to data/world/maps/base.
8. Delete map.rwm.
9. Go back over everything you've just done to make sure there are NO spelling errors or typos.
And that should do it... your new region should now appear when you start a new campaign.
For those that didn't notice, the differences are the editing of descr_mercenaries.txt to allow the recruitement of mercs in your region, adding your region to descr_regions_and_settlement_name_lookup.txt, and making sure imperial_campaign_regions_and_settlement_names.txt.strings.bin exists in the data/text folder and is not Read Only.
Hope this helps some of you get your new regions working.