Stainless Steel 5.1b Fix Pack 2.00 + Icon Pack... =)

[Echad]

Stainless Steel Fix Pack
by Echad

Included:

Hotfix #1 by King Kong,
all the previous versions of my Fix Pack,
Lusted's FINAL Battle & Campaign AI,
wolfslayer's smoke/effects fix beta 1.4,
Milan to Genoa conversion fourth beta,
Quark's SS 5.1 Traits Fix v1...
...and much more!

Introducing:

my Icon Pack (as a separate download),
SJ's Region Fix (correct region names),
Dave Scarface's Recruit Priority for the AI and
Real Combat updated to 1.41 with my tweaks...

Version 2.00

For complete list of what's changed, read the readme! =)

Recent Update:

2.00 - Jubilee!!! =) This is a huge update... Whole Real Combat updated to 1.41, added Recruit Priorities,
and tweaked the EDU more; separated the icons pack... Fixed the wrong religion temples for Late Era
to the Catholic ones, added Greek Wonders to Late Era; updated crusader mercs' icons. Edited small
mistakes in Expanded.txt, hint: Romans. Most regions are renamed to authentic ones as well! =)

Also added optional No Supply & Severely Wounded Traits, Halved Units Mod, updated Native Faction Names,
fixed Field Cost Script, added Vanilla Faction colours and made wolfslayer's effects fix optional, as per requests.

DOWNLOAD Fix Pack.

Icon Pack - Features new icons for Genoa, Venice, Sicily, Papacy and Hungary, new small icons for Genoa and Hungary,
strategic map banner icons for all Italian Factions, and strategic map banner for cities under fog of war for Genoa.



As well as featuring the Denmark fix and revised faction colours; designed to go on top of the Fix Pack.

DOWNLOAD Icon Pack.

The version 2.00 is absolutely save-compatible may have some compatibility issues
with the 1.90, 1.80 and 1.81, please read this
for solution, but it is not save-compatible with earlier than 1.80 versions.

Stay tuned for new updates!

For all the fixes to take effect you should delete the map.rwm files in:

"Medieval II Total War\mods\Stainless_Steel\data\world\maps\base" and
"Medieval II Total War\mods\Stainless_Steel\data\world\maps\campaign\custom\Late_Era_Campaign".

You should make sure the game is not running during the install and reboot a computer after...
Then start a new campaign to make the game generate the new map.rwm files.

Scroll down to read the notes and the readme.

Link for the ones who cannot read the instruction. Thanks y2day for it!

The link to make it compatible with BGRIII. Thaks Byg! =)

This one is for Real Recruitment. Credit goes to Quark. The recent Real Recruitment comes with a compatibility patch. B)

README:

This is my fix pack for Medieval II Total War: Kingdoms mod Stainless Steel, version 5.1b by King Kong.
It was first made to fix the wrong appearing Denmark icons on the campaign UI, that author simply forgot to
add, then it grew into collection of fixed files. =)

I thought to drop this Fix Pack as the Hotfix #1 was released, but the files there were undocumented, and
I needed to surf through the countless emty folders just to see what files from the Hotfix I do miss, so I
kept and further updated my Fix Pack. B)

It features the complete official Hotfix #1 (including my fixes) and all fixes, that I found on the forums
and/or made myself, update to AI and some minor enchancements.

It usually has the most "hottest" fixes right from the forum's "kitchen".

DISCLAIMER:

I am by no means responsible if this will corrupt your save, broke your game installation, format your
hard disk, steal your girlfriend or just choke you to death with your mouse cable. I compiled it myself
and checked it on my computer - so all should work properly... The only issue I hadn't checked myself may
be with frenzied mice, as I use cordless mouse myself and cannot check, will it choke or not, so I suggest
everyone to use tail-free mice too, as there is no way they can choke you. =\

P.S. Batteries died, now sitting with the old mouse - still not tried to kill me, but who knows? =)

NOTES:

Install only the last version... It includes all previous versions and the Hotfix #1 with it.

The 1.80 version and later are NOT save-compatible with the previous ones, as well as SS 5.1b
without Quark's Traits Fix - the game will still load, but you will get some weird ancillaties and traits.

The 1.80 to 2.00, on the other hand, are fully compatible between each other.

If you are going to use Byg's BGRIII, see above for compatibility patch.

The archive is self-extracting, if you want to view it without unpacking,
right-click and choose "Open with WinRAR", or whatever program you are using.

INSTALLATION:

Just extract the files into your Medieval 2 Total War root directory. The files will install in correct
folders by themselves... All viruses go yo your windows/system32 folder. Joke. Funny, isn't it? =\

Look for optional components in "Optional" directory under Medieval 2 Total War root folder.

The new Icon Pack is now a separate download form the Fix Pack, but the readme is shared between the two.

If you want no new icons, but the Denmark Fix, just install the Denmark Fix over the Fix Pack, DO NOT
install Denmark Fix, if you're going to use the new icons, or you have installed the older version,
since it is already in the Icons Pack! =|

If you are to install any other mod for Stainless Steel, be sure to install it after my pack. If it uses
the same files, you should either notify author to make them compatible with these fixes, or just merge them
yourself, probably using ExamDiff, WinMerge or similar program. Don't ask me, which are they - use Google!
Remember, Google is your friend! =)

VERSION HISTORY:

2.00 - Jubilee!!! =) This is a huge update... Whole Real Combat updated to 1.41, added Recruit Priorities,
and tweaked the EDU more; separated the icons pack... Fixed the wrong religion temples for Late Era
to the Catholic ones, added Greek Wonders to Late Era; updated crusader mercs' icons. Edited small
mistakes in Expanded.txt, hint: Romans. Most regions are renamed to authentic ones as well! =)

Also added optional No Supply & Severely Wounded Traits, Halved Units Mod, updated Native Faction Names,
fixed Field Cost Script, added Vanilla Faction colours and made wolfslayer's effects fix optional, as per requests.

1.90 - A lot of Expanded.txt edits and corrections - right faction names/ruler titles for Islamic
factions, Lithuania is now Grand Duchy of Lithuania, corrected Kievan Rus' spellings and more...
Genoa updated with new descriptions... Hagia Sophia icons updated; made the Field Cost Script optional.
Revised faction colors to more authentic and diverse ones and added new Hungary icons.

Added optional No-Borders Mod, Field Cost script and Native Faction Names project! =)

1.81 - Fixed the wrong catapult/mortar angle AGAIN, seems that I used the wrong source file for 1.80,
fixed the wrong appearing Hagia Sophia icons, and corrected the description for it and the Great Aqueduct.

1.80 - Applied Quark's Traits/Ancillary fixes, his Hansetic League HQ fix, Horsebreeders Guild in Castles,
Useless Guilds/Ammendements and Greek Wonders; Added new descr_projectile.txt with Mortar Angle Fix,
Rus' Varangian Archers Texture Fix and Scandinavian Guard New Icon contributions by wolfslayer...
Since this version has a lot about the traits - reworked the Milanese ones to show as Genoese.
Also changed all zero radii for weapons to 0.1 and tweaked some minimap colours. Whew, all. =)

1.71 - Fixed the wrong catapult/mortar angle and interface glitch. Thanks wolfslayer and me.

1.70 - Tweaked map colours more, added Lithuania temples fix, LUSTED'S FINAL AI, Aragon Galley info picture,
updated inteface a little, updated mortar angle, put stupid disclaimer and reformated readme a little...
Also updated Genoa icons with adding completely new small ones, including the missing for custom battles.
Added changed .bat with suicidal window as a bonus.

1.60 (New Year) - Used most optional components as obligatory, added Genoa, updated Smoke/Effects fix...

1.50 - Added Rocket Angle Fix, Crusader Knights Correct Icons, Correct Aragon Feudal Knights Info,
Correct Aragon Dismounted Feudal Knights Info, Sir Altman's disabled unit fixes and optional
No Unit Indicator Arrows, SQUARE SMOKE FIX and Greek Flamethrower fix.
Also placed missing sprites in the right folder (me neat)... =\

1.40 - Correct Coat of Arms for Hamar, Ship Supply traits _finally working fix, added optional Hellfire15's
No-Borders Mod, Reduced Dust and No Permanent Arrows components; created KoJ Family Tree + No-Borders
compatible version, made all the optional fixes self-installable and reformatted readme much.

1.30 - Lusted's AI update is now of version 4, added Canons of the Holy Sepulcher info fix,
Aragon Dismouted Feudal Knights info fix and optional Kingdom of Jerusalem Family Tree...

1.20 - Updated Lusted's AI to match his third update, added Descr_Movies_Tracks file fix, King_Hamar file
placeholder, missing CAS files, missing Descr_Oil_Effects file and Cursor_Definition file fix, which I
forgot to upload in the previous version; changed the format of archive to SFX exe.

1.10 - Integrated the complete Hotfix #1, added Missing Antioch_Armenians_of_Cilicia_Sprite files,
Aragon Feudal Knights info fix, Cursor_Definition file fix and the optional Lusted's AI update.

1.01 - Fixed the small Denmark icons too, also added some more tweaks.

1.00 - Initial release - uber old, even older than the Hotfix!

SCREENSHOT:



This one showcases the fixed Denmark and new Genoa icons...

DOWNLOAD:

SS 5.1b Echad Pack 2.00

SS 5.1b Icon Pack 2.00

old files:

old 1.90 version

old 1.81 version ~mirror

old 1.80 version

old 1.71 version

old 1.60 version aka New Year Pack

old 1.50 version

old 1.40 version

old 1.30 version

old 1.20 version

old 1.10 + hotfix version

old 1.01 _before hotfix_ version

SS 5.1 Denmark Fix

If someone got trouble unpacking: WinRAR

[CharlesMarkley]

I fixed the icons for Denmark, that showed incorrectly, as of 5.1b, on the campaign interface...

I uploaded 2 files, the first one is a fix pack, which also includes William Wallace fix, Aztec walls fix and Aleppo/Scopia roads fix. The second one is just the updated textures.

To INSTALL: just unzip the files into your Medieval II Total War root directory, they will be automatically placed into the Stainless Steel mod folder.

Screenshot below:

Hi Echad,

I think Vienna had an incorrect road on one of the descr_strats as well. I have actually gone through quite a few of the .txt files and fixed column structure problems using ExamDiff (comparing to the retrofit and standard .txt files), but I still get CTD's.

To clarify about ExamDiff, it is a free program that allows one to check the differences between two files, including the .xml files, in the free version. The "pay" version allows comparison between folders. Many of the edits in SS5.1 to the .txt files do not follow precise column placements as in the standard or retrofit files.

One great example of this is in the EDU. The values for the units always begin in column 17 (using spacebar placeholders). Many of the new units begin in column 3 (three tabs). None of the retrofit or standard units follow this behavior.

The descr_strat however does use tabs for the buildings, and not the spacebar placeholders. Notepad shows this the best rather than Wordpad.

I'm found beginning in 4.1 that fixing these does clear up some issues, but not all of them. I am primarily basing all of this on the assumption that the disclaimer at the top states that the values are taken from a spreadsheet and they truly are programatically read that way, and its not some dumb disclaimer. I work with databases a lot and one left justification or being one placeholder off can cause problems with business data, so I'm carrying that mindset forward to the game coding. Alas, I am also not a programmer, but I can state that the retrofit and standard files follow the same behavior patterns, and I rarely, if ever, get CTD's in those games at all.

But I could be wrong.

Thanks for uploading the fixes. I always tweak my files a bit, so I've never really attempted "fixing" anything for the standard game.

G'night,

Mark

[CharlesMarkley]

Hi Echad,

I think Vienna had an incorrect road on one of the descr_strats as well. I have actually gone through quite a few of the .txt files and fixed column structure problems using ExamDiff (comparing to the retrofit and standard .txt files), but I still get CTD's.

To clarify about ExamDiff, it is a free program that allows one to check the differences between two files, including the .xml files, in the free version. The "pay" version allows comparison between folders. Many of the edits in SS5.1 to the .txt files do not follow precise column placements as in the standard or retrofit files.

One great example of this is in the EDU. The values for the units always begin in column 17 (using spacebar placeholders). Many of the new units begin in column 3 (three tabs). None of the retrofit or standard units follow this behavior.

The descr_strat however does use tabs for the buildings, and not the spacebar placeholders. Notepad shows this the best rather than Wordpad.

I'm found beginning in 4.1 that fixing these does clear up some issues, but not all of them. I am primarily basing all of this on the assumption that the disclaimer at the top states that the values are taken from a spreadsheet and they truly are programatically read that way, and its not some dumb disclaimer. I work with databases a lot and one left justification or being one placeholder off can cause problems with business data, so I'm carrying that mindset forward to the game coding. Alas, I am also not a programmer, but I can state that the retrofit and standard files follow the same behavior patterns, and I rarely, if ever, get CTD's in those games at all.

But I could be wrong.

Thanks for uploading the fixes. I always tweak my files a bit, so I've never really attempted "fixing" anything for the standard game.

G'night,

Mark

Here's an example file of one of my edits that didn't really change anything, except change the princess Yes/No toggle switch to align in the correct columns as per the OOB (out of box) standard file. I could just be totally anal about this, but I don't think so. I did QA for a software company for over two years and this is the kind of stuff that always popped up.

[Echad]

Oh, I read about Vienna, but it is described as a town and, as far as I can read, the road there is for town... If you, or anyone got some, even the most minor fixes for SS, please, post them, as I hate playing game with glitches.

About columns, the game engine probably detects them by the gaps (no matter, is it tab or space) and not rows... At least _most_ games are lined out like that.

About modding, I usually only edit some game data (like these text files), and majority of my modding experience is in texture/2d graphics jobs. I made the tweaks today because I am feeling uncomfortable playing a game, where the roads show incorrect and some battles (william) are not playable. The different faction icons on battle/campaign maps simply drive me mad.

[mailor]

Echad: +rep for you. Can you tell me what exactly has been changed in the EDB ? I highly customized my EDB and don't wanna go through my and your files manually to see what has been changed there. Thanks a lot!

EDIT: oops, nevermind. I should have read the readme in the first place ...

[Echad]

Updated...

[juanjeras]

if i install this....can i resume my saved game with normallity or will crash¿?

[CharlesMarkley]

if i install this....can i resume my saved game with normallity or will crash¿?

You really have to start a new game to rebuild a new map.rwm to get rid of the "bad" roads. You may have to delete the proper map.rwm to rebuild it properly with a new game. That's how I do it.

[Echad]

Of course, if you install it on a Stainless Steel 5.1... There are just fixes, some to prevent crashing and some for the mod to look like it was supposed to.

Edit: And in fact i've done these fixes during the playtrough of the game, as soon something irritated me, or some weird stuff catched my eye.

[King Kong]

Hi Echad,

A big thanks for this very good contribution!
Could be almost called a little patch.

+rep of course

[Echad]

Hi Echad,

A big thanks for this very good contribution!
Could be almost called a little patch.

+rep of course

Oh, of course it's not like this 400 Mb SS 5.1 patch... =\ And absolutely not like 600 Mb MIITW patch, for which I spent half a day downloading it. =)

Well, the only thing that freaks me out now is AI diplomacy, so, unless something gets in my way, or I would like to do a reskin, I have nothing to release...

~gone playing~

[Ataegina]

thanks for the denmark symbol fix

[Echad]

Updated my Fix Pack to feature all the Hotfix components it hadn't before and added a few fixes from the 5.1 bugs thread...

[irwinesca]

hi, my campaign crashes after turn 88. I'm playing Order of templars right now. I didn't have crashes or errors when I played the HRE campaign. My error says " Medieval 2: Total war encountered an unspecific error and will now exit" . does anyone encountered this? I already applied the hotfix... please help!

again thanks for the great mod

[Echad]

hi, my campaign crashes after turn 88. I'm playing Order of templars right now. I didn't have crashes or errors when I played the HRE campaign. My error says " Medieval 2: Total war encountered an unspecific error and will now exit" . does anyone encountered this? I already applied the hotfix... please help!

again thanks for the great mod

Wrong thread, go here.

[Echad]

Updated! Version 1.2 is now in SFX exe format...

[strife1013]

Can this bug be fixed? This is with the 5.1b patch and no other mods applied



Also would love it if we can get a family tree for the Kingdom of Jerusalem...

[republic_bohemia]

Can this bug be fixed? This is with the 5.1b patch and no other mods applied



Also would love it if we can get a family tree for the Kingdom of Jerusalem...

Yes me too.

[strife1013]

So I think I got the family tree working for the Kigndom of Jerusalem. Just went into the descr_sm_factions.txt file and changed these two settings from no to yes and skipped a few turns, got marriage offer for Baldwin and he had two children within the first ten rounds. However a "general" got a marriage offer as well and had a child. They are not in my family tree so dunno what to say about that lol. I've only skipped through ten turns so dont know the long term impacts.


can_have_princess yes
has_family_tree yes

[republic_bohemia]

Thanks men,I really have no modding skills what so ever lol,but I try.

Rep for you.++++