2023 Install Guide for Imperator II v 2.1 Full & Steam Rome TW Gold Edition

[LWC]

[Admins may want to Sticky this... Thru much trial & error, finally got Imperator II v2.1 Full to work on Steam Rome TW Gold Edition, which has Barbarian Invasion (BI). Simple guide below...]

Most use Steam these days, and what's available for Rome TW is the Gold Edition that has BI... And, if you want Imperator II, it may be confusing with the prior versions, hot fixes, and patches, plus some host sites no longer have the files for download.

Even after install, you may get frozen launches or error messages like "Horde_Min_Units...not supported" This is due to the Imperator II mod being a Barbarian Invasion mod. The manual launch of Imperator II (Campaign or Marian) or Steam launch may not launch the mod via BI, but via Rome TW instead...hence the errors.

Therefore, forget about the prior versions, patches, or hot fixes, just go straight for the Imperator II v2.1 Full download here at TWCenter and follow the guide below:

* Hassle-free 2023 Install Guide for Imperator II v2.1 Full & Steam Rome TW Gold Edition *

1) Clean install of Steam's Rome TW Gold Edition - make sure no prior Rome TW or mod folders exist - Rome TW should be v1.51 and BI should be v1.6 - you can check the Options screen after starting each game;

2) Download the zipped Imperator II v2.1 Full from the Sticky labeled "Imperator II Downloads" here;

3) Copy & Paste or drag the zipped file into the installed Rome TW Gold main folder… c:/Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Rome Total War Gold;

4) Extract the zipped files therein - in the main Rome Total War Gold folder as well - this is the mod installation, folks;

5) Click and select your preferences for Formations, Landscape, Strat Flags… DON'T click on Campaign or Marian startups yet, you'll get faulty launches - this is only the 1st half of process;

6) Load Steam and go to your Library;

7) Right click on “Rome: Total War” in the Library game list on the left side;

8) Select Properties from the drop down menu;

9) Select the “General” tab - should see it automatically;

10) In the Launch Options section, select “Launch Rome: Total War Barbarian Invasion” from the drop down menu;

11) Then in the Advanced Users Launch Options section, type verbatim the following...

12) -mod:IMP -nm

Bona Fortuna, folks. Next time you click on Play for Rome:Total War in Steam, Steam will launch the BI modded to Imperator II v2.1 Full.