Creating a World - Starting Steam Mods the easy Way

[Gigantus]

This tutorial is available as PDF

Introduction

It would appear that three rather cumbersome methods are widely used to make mods Steam compatible:

1. Renaming the mod's folder to one of the original kingdom campaigns, eg crusades
2. Creating new desktop short cuts via the launcher
3. Using the Steam launcher option the old RTW command line style way

Implementation

All of the above aren't really necessary unless the method described below doesn't work at all (it's a long story why that may happen and cannot be fixed), in fact a one time copy\rename action will make nearly every mod playable from it's desktop shortcut. Here is the step by step way how to do it:

Manual Method

The tried and tested method for a long time now:

1. Locate the steam folder containing the game's executable: in your Steam game library right click Medieval II: Total War and select 'Properties' in the drop down menu. In the new window click the 'Local Files' tab and then click 'Browse Local files'.
2. Make a copy of the medieval2 application file: select\highlight the file, press Ctlr+C and then press Ctlr+V. This will create a file named 'medieval2 - Copy' - now select\highlight this file and press F2, this will allow you to change the name of the file. Proceed and rename it to kingdoms, press return once you are finished.

Installer Method

For some reason a code by Meloo182 that automates the above procedure has been lingering in the depth of the Stainless Steel forum. I have now put it into installer which you can download here.
After downloading simply run the installer from your download directory and make sure it points to your Steam directory - unless your registry is messed up it should do so automatically.
Note: some Antivirus programs (eg Norton) might block\remove the installer when it is run due to the procedure. In this case you will either have to temporarily disable the AV and download\run the installer again or use the manual method.

You will now be able to start mods directly from their desktop shortcut. There is however the usual exception: mods that are created for the base version of the game will not work as they will need extensive modification, only mods created for the kingdoms version will work.

Error Solving

Underneath a list of possible reasons why the short cut method will not work after creating the kingdoms application file:

• The mod has been installed into the wrong folder: to check, simply right click the mod's original desktop shortcut and choose 'open file location'. Make sure the path to this folder looks similar to this: ...\Medieval II Total War\mods\MyFavoriteMod. If it is somewhere else then the easiest way is to delete the folder and it's desktop short cut and install again. More experienced users can try their hand at moving the folder into the right directory - a new desktop shortcut for the BAT file will need to created then.
• You misspelled the name of the executable when you copied it: it has to be kingdoms.exe, to check in your Steam game library right click Medieval II: Total War and select 'Properties' in the drop down menu. In the new window click the 'Local Files' tab and then click 'Browse Local files'.
• There are some entries in the Steam launcher options: in your Steam game library right click Medieval II: Total War and select 'Properties' in the drop down menu. In the new window click the 'General' tab if not open already and click on 'Set launch option' - delete any content and click 'OK'.
• The mod is not created for kingdoms: to check, simply right click the mod's original desktop shortcut and choose 'open file location'. Now right click the highlighted BAT file and select 'Edit' from the drop down menu. Check if it says medieval2.exe somewhere in the command line, example: start medieval2.exe @mods\MyNewMod\Configuration.cfg If that is the case then the mod is not playable in Steam regardless of the method used, it needs to list kingdoms.exe in the original BAT file.
• There is no desktop short cut: Locate the Steam folder containing your mod's BAT file: in your Steam game library right click Medieval II: Total War and select 'Properties' in the drop down menu. In the new window click the 'Local Files' tab and then click 'Browse Local files'. Now open the 'mods' directory and then locate and open the folder of your mod. Rightclick the BAT file, it is listed as 'Windows Batch File' in the type column and then choose 'Send to\desktop (create shortcut). You can now rename the short cut (F2, remember?) and give it it's own icon by right clicking it and choosing 'Properties' and then 'Change Icon' - browse to the mod's folder which usually contains an icon and select it.

Note: If all of these checks have failed then you will have most likely installed one of the 'faulty' game versions that do not accept this method, unfortunately there is so far nothing to fix this. You can however use the 'Alternative Launch Option' method underneath to start your mod.

Alternative Launch Option

The drawback of using the default Steam 'Launch Option' function to start a mod is that it restricts you to playing that very mod when starting the game. The alternative is fairly easy and uses the very same entry of the launch option, example:

@mods\name_of_mod\name_of_file.cfg

This will create a custom desktop shortcut for your mod:

1. Right click the game in your Steam library and choose 'Properties'
2. Click on the 'Local Files' tab and then on 'Browse Local Files'
3. In the browser right click the medieval2 file and click 'Send To\Desktop'
4. Close the browser and right click the new short cut on your desktop and choose 'Properties'
5. In the 'Target' box go to the end of the entry, add a space and then copy the code from above, change the 'name_of_mod' part to the folder name of your mod and the 'name_of_file' part to the name of the mod's CFG file
6. Click OK and then change the name of the desktop shortcut by selecting it and pressing F2

A note to mod developers

All the above can be totally avoided by using the universal bat file principle. You only need to adjust your CFG file's name to the name used in the BAT file, the BAT file itself needs no adjustment. The code for the most recent version of the BAT file is underneath:

@echo off
title Gig's Universal Batch file
cd ..\..
IF EXIST kingdoms.exe (start /affinity 1 /high kingdoms.exe @%0\..\Configuration.cfg) ELSE (
IF EXIST medieval2.exe (start /affinity 1 /high medieval2.exe @%0\..\Configuration.cfg) ELSE (
    echo.
    echo ERROR: Cannot find the M2TW or Kingdoms executable.
    echo You probably installed this mod into the wrong folder.
    echo.
    pause
  )
)

It works by first calling the kingdoms executable (CD version) and if it isn't present then the medieval2 executable (Steam version) is used. If neither file is present (a sure sign of wrong installation) then an error message is displayed in the DOS window.

This tutorial is available as PDF

[Gigantus]

Update

Added the 'Installer Method' section for an automated procedure.

[Stynieke]

Wow. You're amazing. <3

[jhammons10]

Thanks a ton, huge help

[Prinz]

I'm confused, what makes you think there's a batch file?
The stainless steel desktop shortcut just leads to the launcher.exe.

[Gigantus]

Stainless Steel is one of the very few mods that have converted their BAT file into an EXE - I recently did so myself with my Bare Geomod set up. While mine is capable to work with the (steam) medieval2.exe file and (disk) kingdoms.exe file, SS's launcher works only with the kingdoms.exe - which means this method is still applicable.

It is actually described in the tutorial I wrote for the steam installation of Stainless Steel.

[Gigantus]

Update

Confirmed a method to enable reading of the mod's CFG file via the desktop\launch option method.

[Oldgamer]

I've spent countless hours playing Third Age: Total War, and since the last time I played, I bought a brand-new gaming computer.

Just now, I came back from Steam to tell you what a wonderful job you've done with this modification. Also, I've never played Version 3.2, before, so I'm sure that I'm in for a number of surprises! Your installation instructions were clear and concise, and I can load the mod from the desktop.

Two quick notes:

1. If you use Norton Anti-virus, the "Installer Method" won't work. Norton identifies the file as a threat, and deletes Meloo182's file. Just a quick note to help out with installation. The manual process worked flawlessly.

2. If the user has a computer like mine, with a hybrid hard drive (SSD drive C:, and SATA drive D the game should be located on the D: drive, because it has the most room (mine is 3 Terrabytes). You can fill the SSD drive up very quickly, if you're not careful.

[Gigantus]

Your AV observation is indeed helpful, I'll include it in the OP notes. Appreciated.

The game itself can always be moved to another drive if the need arises.

[Celtichugs123]

I STILL get this error even after doing above. Please help.

[Gigantus]

Please go though the error solving section steps.

[Bardha]

I followed the instructions above.

After clicking on the desktop icon of stainless steel, the mod starts loading and I can briefly see the crusader image. Then my computer notifies me about not using the optimal resolution and I drop out of the game back to the desktop. However, I am already using the 1366 x 768 resoltion, which is recommended. What should I do?

[Gigantus]

First time I hear about that. Start the main default game, then set your video resolution with the in game video options. Default is 1024*768.
After that try starting Stainless Steel again.

[Bardha]

I followed the instructions above.

After clicking on the desktop icon of stainless steel, the mod starts loading and I can briefly see the crusader image. Then my computer notifies me about not using the optimal resolution and I drop out of the game back to the desktop. However, I am already using the 1366 x 768 resoltion, which is recommended. What should I do?

[Bardha]

Sorry about repeating the same post twice. That was a mistake.

Changing the resolution in the default game doesn't seem to help. When I change it to 1366 x 768 and launch Stainless Steel, I still drop out of it after a few seconds, just like before. The only thing that changes is that I don't get the notifying message anymore in the lower right corner...

[Gigantus]

In other words you have no problem with the main game at that resolution?

There is a CFG file in the Stainless Steel directory called default: ...\steamapps\common\Medieval II Total War\mods\SS6.3\default.cfg
Open that file with Notepad and go to the [video] section. Replace the entries with this, it will force a low quality graphic setting which should allow you to get into the game:

[video]
anisotropic_level = 16
anti_alias_mode = off
antialiasing = 0
battle_resolution = 1024 768
bloom = 0
building_detail = low
campaign_resolution = 1024 768
depth_shadows = 0
depth_shadows_resolution = 0
effect_quality = lowest
gamma = 128
grass_distance = 20
ground_buffers_per_node = 4
ground_cover_buffers_per_node = 4
model_buffers_per_node = 4
no_background_fmv = 1
reflection = 0
shader = 1
show_package_litter = 0
skip_mip_levels = 2
splashes = 1
sprite_buffers_per_node = 4
stencil_shadows = 0
terrain_quality = high
texture_filtering = 0
unit_detail = low
vegetation = 1
vegetation_quality = low
vsync = 0
water_buffers_per_node = 4

If that works then we get to the next step: enabling you to alter\increase settings. If it doesn't work it would be great if you could get a screenshot with the error message.

[Bardha]

I tried your suggestion, but it doesn't change anything.

It's hard to take a screenshot of the message, as it last about only 1 second before disappearing and sending me back to desktop.

[Gigantus]

Have you run the SS_setup file once before you ran the SS_Launcher file?

You may actually have a better chance if you ask these questions in the Stainless Steel forum, seeing that you can actually start the mod (which is the sole purpose of this tutorial\guide) and this is mod specific.

[S/Sgt. BlackFish]

Hello Gigantus,
I am having issues updating from 6.3 SS to 6.4. I have 6.3 working great, but I dont know how to get 6.4 over top of it. How do I download a mod over another mod?
Thanks
-S/Sgt. BlackFish

[Gigantus]

I wrote a tutorial for the complete Stainless Steel installation, do have a look.