Mali Faction Preview

[Sher Khan]

Yeah, I checked both your version and his, but there's no real difference save for the cfg and bat files, which I editted differently here and there to different effect.

The releases simply do not have a maps/base folder.


I copied the Vanilla one into the Mali_Mod folder, and it WORKED.

To an extent. The campaign loaded, and I was master of Timbukto. However, my family members had no names, and they had no faction symbols, just a bare blue banner.

Custom battle gave me a CTD still.



I'd love to go further and dump the original into my data folder, but I'm in the middle of working on my own mod (that's also North Africa based) at the moment, so I can't at the momet..

[Caledonian Rhyfelwyr]

Thanks for that Khan, at least things are headed in the right direction now.

So the character names are not there.
The little building symbol on the map baners are not there.

Were the actual faction icons there?

And of course no joy in battles.

I'll start looking into this.

[Caledonian Rhyfelwyr]

I think I'm seeing some of the problems causes now. Hold on.

EDIT: The following files were missing that should have been there:

descr_character.txt
descr_names.txt
descr_banners_new.xml
symbols6.tga.dds

I'll get a new version ready for download, see if that works, should sort the campaign problems anyway.

[Sher Khan]

Okay, I did some more testing.

Again, I could start a campaign. No general names (but captains are fine and Norman ). No family tree either, just a nameless faction leader.

I wanted to test in-campaign battles, so I separated the general outside Timbuktu with his men and character_reset'd Captain Geoffry all the way to Arguin for an immediate fight.

No CTD. The battle loaded up fine. So I exited the campaign and went back to custom battle.

1st test: I recruited one of each unit Ghana could recruit from all eras vs a stock enemy (1 highlander).

No CTD. Everything looked like it was in order (though I believe the Ghana handgunners didn't have a unit image in its stat window in battle.

Next, I started a custom battle with all Ghana units that had an armor upgrade (those that didn't were not recruited, since their stability was proven).

CTD.


There's an error with one of the Ghana armor upgrades. That's what gave me the original CTD for custom battle.

[Miraj]

Very cool stuff. Nice to see another African faction.

[Caledonian Rhyfelwyr]

I'm just uploading the updated files. They're the ones in my above post, you can just add them manually.

EDIT: Also I'll try battles with my armour upgrades. It may well be the general.

[Caledonian Rhyfelwyr]

Khan, here are the files I think you need. Don't replace your banners folder, then new ones just there to show you the path for the new files.

http://rapidshare.com/files/79716146/aaaarggg.rar.html

Now I'll test custom battles.

EDIT: Interesting find. All units are fine with armour upgrade, but Ghanian Tribal Gunners are invisible on top of their horses. Couuld you check if they are causing your CTD's?

[Sher Khan]

Definitely the Bodyguard upgrade

You're missing a ME_Mail_Plate_Hvy_Mplate folder for the upgrade.



The names are now working, but I'm having the same problem with the banners not showing up.

[Caledonian Rhyfelwyr]

Ah, I'll get that uploaded right away.

So is that everything good now, except for the image on the campaign map banners?

EDIT: Here is the bodyguard textures:

http://rapidshare.com/files/79720122/arg2.rar.html

I'll look into the banners

[Sher Khan]

Yeah. For some reason they're still blank.

But everything else save the upgrade issue works like a charm.


Now to test the un-upgraded units in battle to see if they function like they should.

[Caledonian Rhyfelwyr]

Great, nearly there.

When you say blank, you mean the banners just don't have the symbol, and that they are still blue?

I had problems saving those files in the right format. There should be 3 different forms of symbols6 in the banners folder. Try deleting the 2 that are saved in different formats to the other symbols files there.

[Caledonian Rhyfelwyr]

I know there's some stuff still to do, since this is only a Beta version. If I get the banners fixed and get things up for anyone to download, then the following it still to do for the full version:

Change accents to Middle_Eastern.
Empty Settlement Flags.
The circular faction icon in bottom right of battle screens.
Tweak the positioning of the little symbols so they appear more neatly.
Add a unit_info pic for Ghanian Gunners.
Give generals and captains a unique battlemap skin.
Give Ghanian Tribal Gunners a skin and model for their armour upgrade .
Sort the poles on the battlemap banners, they have a blue texture.
Add Mali to the maps in the campaign selection screen, give Mali its own map.
+ any tweaks according to gameplay experiences.

[Sher Khan]

The symbols for unit flags in battle load fine, I believe. But yes, on the campaign map, there's just a bare blue banner.

Edit: Deleting the spare symbols6 files don't fix it.

[Sher Khan]

Well, hey, as it stands right now, you have a working faction mod ready for download.


Remember also the ME_Mail_Plate_Hvy_Mplate folder with a norman texture, because presently there's only the ME light mail folder allowing upgrades for those units, but not for the heavy bodyguard.

And perhaps change the voices from English to Middle Eastern.

[Caledonian Rhyfelwyr]

I have the bodyguard textures, just forgot to add them when uploading the files. You can download them here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/79720122/arg2.rar.html

Any joy working around with the symbols files?

Also forgot about the accents, had a bit of trouble editing those. Will be done for full version. Can't stand English accents in that game, not as bad as the French though. I mean purely in game, not real life.

[Caledonian Rhyfelwyr]

I'll have one last look at the symbols files.

If I have no joy, I'll upload the mod later tonight. I am falling seriously behind in my revision, exams in January.

Thank you so much for helping to get this mod sorted and ready for upload, no use making a mod if no-one can get it to work.

[Caledonian Rhyfelwyr]

I got a PM from Socal_Infidel regarding the banners, do you have time to try one last thing if I send you a pure .tga file for symbols6?

[Sher Khan]

Cheers. It was no problem at all, rather a great way for me to get some mod debugging experience (and I learned a lot in the past hour, lol).


Now I can play custom battles with fully upgraded Ghanian units. The issue is now fixed.

Edit: Hit me! I'll see if it works.

[Caledonian Rhyfelwyr]

Fantastic! Here is the file:

http://rapidshare.com/files/79725861/argx5000.rar.html

If this still does not work, I'll just stick the rest up for download anyway, its a minor issue and its only a Beta version.

[Sher Khan]

So I just dump this, right? What should I do about the symbols6.dds file? Leave it?


Edit: JOY. It now works. The Ghanian faction has its proper banners.