This thread is for discussions and feedback related to the AAA mod series.
You can, if you want, open up a new thread about whatever topic you wish to discuss in the forum if you feel it warrants one.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: When will # be done? / Any news? / Updates? / Progress? / Where are my #?
A1: When I have time and also feel like modding, progress will be made. While doing character appearance mods is easy in theory (e.g. make variantmeshdefinition file, replace existing general's files with your own, done), I put a lot of time and effort into these ones since thousands of variants need to be created for age, rank and season. I also not only do retextures of existing assets, but I also go out of my way to make entirely new assets from scratch (modelling, texturing, exporting etc) if they haven't already been made by CA. I'll let you all know in my own time when noteworthy progress has been made - don't rush me/pile on pressure, otherwise it'll give you a rushed mod and/or have the inverse effect of making me want to do it.
Q2: I've just started using this mod and I've noticed that none of the characters wear helmets? Why?
A2: Rank 1 generals don't have helmets. This has been done intentionally so that the player can see at a glance whether or not a general is totally inexperienced (i.e. has never fought and won a single battle before) and also to see the recruitable candidates' full facial features so that you can recognise them as a politician. It is also a noticeable way to test to see if the mod is working as intended - when a general gets to rank 2, they will acquire their first helmet. If you would like all starting characters to have a bit more variety in their ranks upon starting a new game, I suggest using a mod like Skidvar's Starting Ranks (vanilla).
Q3: Is this mod compatible with # mod?
A3: This mod should be compatible with all mods (as said before, it only changes character appearances - nothing major), but there might be a few minor hiccups depending on whether or not the mod you're using affects character art sets for certain cultures or factions, makes changes to existing vanilla content (e.g. models, textures, shield patterns) and other things related to character appearances. If you are unsure whether or not a mod works well with AAA, take a look at the list of mod combination test reports here (coming soon - text is placeholder for a new thread to be made). If you run into any issues, let us know in the AAA: Bug Reports / Other Issues thread.
Q4: Is this mod save compatible?
A4: Yes, even after updates - it only adds character appearance-related files (which, when running, overwrite existing ones below the load order). It doesn't add any scripts, startpos edits or whatever which causes serious incompatibilities. You can enable / disable the mod(s) at any time without consequence.
Q5: Should I enable all the mods at the same time?
A5: That's up to you, each one changes different culture's / faction's appearances. If you want the full AAA character experience without interruption, enable all of them. If you only want to cater for a specific campaign, check out the coverage of each mod on the Future Roadmap thread (coming soon) to see which ones you need to cover all factions on the campaign you're playing on.
Q6: Are all the AAA mods compatible with one another?
A6: Yes, they are. You can enable all at the same time without consequence. However, be mindful that there is a mod limit for Total War: ROME II - if you go over 35 enabled mods, you will encounter strange graphical issues. This is a bug CA introduced with Patch 18 (Empire Divided) which hasn't gone away, nothing to do with AAA.
Q7: I want to play with this mod in a multiplayer campaign, but I get a "version mismatched" notification when my friend tries to join / when I try to join my friend's server? Why is this?
A7: All players must have the same mods enabled to be able to play with one another - check your enabled mod lists in the launcher before playing the game. This goes for any mod, no matter how small. AAA has been successfully tested to work on multiplayer many times without issue. Here's a screenshot of both AAA: Greek Generals and AAA: Roman Generals in action, showing two different ranked / aged / located faction leaders (Benjin = Egypt, Faction Leader = Rank: 3 (early helmet + early cloak), Age: Young, Climate: Warm. Joshua hygaard = Rome, Faction Leader = Rank: 2 (early helmet), Age: Young, Climate: Cold).