Text Overhaul Mod 1.5b - Updated August 13th
Current Version: 1.5b - FCM and BGR III Compatible, instructions for how are in the Read-me within your Text folder after install. Back up your Text Folder before install. Check the 'Recent Changes Section:' at the bottom of the post to see what is new.
Brief Description:
This mod overhauls a massive amount of Text within Stainless Steel. It's aim is to create a more historically accurate interpretation of the Medieval Age. All changes are save-game compatible.
Changes consist of more accurate nation names, character and unit titles and names, traits and ancillary description changes, general events, city titles, and more immersive 'The King of so and so is Dead!' events for each nation. Also, though not the intent of the mod, there were many spelling errors fixed as well and it is guaranteed that none were added in the process.
Behind each change was a significant amount of research and fact finding to add aesthetic diversity to each nation. For example Papal Diplomats are now known as “Nuncio's,” and the heir to the Crown of Aragon is known as the 'Prince of Gerona.'
Version 1.0 (Initial Release)
Brief Nation-Name Overview:
'The Byzantines, Byzantium, the Byzantine Empire' are now known as 'The Romans, The Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans' and so on. What was known as the 'Byzantine Empire' in Medieval Total War was and is nothing less than the last standing sections of the Roman Empire. It is most commonly referred to today as 'The Byzantine Empire, or Byzantium' and the people 'Byzantines' because of a 16th Century error in clarity in a written work that from then on was continuously repeated. It ends here.
The main question is in what manner did they refer to themselves? They called themselves Romans, no-less, and everyone else was still a barbarian.
The Khwarezmian Empire is now the Khwarezmian Shahdom. Although they were an 'Empire' at one point, they never fully adopted the name. A 'Shahdom' is essentially a 'Kingdom,' as 'Shah' is the equivalent of a King, while the heir, 'Shahzade' means 'the son of the Shah' and like 'Prince' this term can actually be given to all the Sons of a Monarch or even other nobility, the ones who have it both in name and title are usually the major inheritors.
Ireland is now known as 'The Lordship of Ireland,' which is an accurate representation of their form of Government at the time.
Poland is now known as 'The Kingdom of Poland.' Now, oddly enough this was a hard decision between being called Duchy and Kingdom... as although the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor had lifted Poland to the status of a Kingdom, and the rest of Europe referred to them as such, it took Poland a few centuries to adopt the term themselves. I sided with the Vicar of Christ.
The Cumans are now known as 'The Cuman Khanate,' too many Cumans were dis-unified and fought in the service of other Lords and peoples to simply refer to them as 'The Cumans.'
The Fatimid Caliphate is now known as the 'Egyptian Caliphate,' not necessarily for increased realism, more of a 'lateral' move for the removal of Dynastic names, which cannot change in the game as dynasties come and go. A small change with little to no loss in historical accuracy.
The 'Rebel' Faction has been renamed to 'Independent Sovereignties,' as to better portray what they actually represent in the game. This goes down to every instance of rebels, armies are referred to as an 'Independent Army' and navies as a 'Pirate Fleet.' Cities at the Stone-wall level and above are deemed an 'Independent State' while under that, along with most castles up to fortress level are known as 'Independent Fiefs.'
Brief Title Overview:
The uses of 'Faction Leader' and 'Faction Heir' have been largely replaced as they are somewhat odd terms to describe medieval leaders. Kingdoms will have their Kings called Kings, Empires will have Emperors referred to as such and so on. Geography, religion, culture and historical truth have been taken into account for each one.
Example: The Prince/Crown Prince of England now features the accurate and unique variation of this title for the England of that period, 'Duke of Cornwall' and with 'Duke' before his name and 'Heir to the Throne' as his title within the Family Tree.
Example 2: The Holy Roman Empire's heir is now known as 'The King of the Romans,' and the title 'King' is before his name. This title was either given by the previous Holy Roman Emperor or the Electoral College of the Empire to denote a successor, sometimes after the death of the Emperor but also before as well. Although not entirely necessary, it was a clear stepping stone to the Imperial Throne.
To explain somewhat, the name of the Empire is odd enough, it was not a true descendant of the Roman Empire nor did it ever have the city of Rome under it's control, this title was, just like the name of the Empire, boastful. To think that the real Romans in the east looked kindly on it, they certainly did not, they frequently fought with the West as they repeatedly invoked 'Roman Heritage' in manners such as these when there was clearly none present or none deserved.
Outside of Faction-Heirs and Faction-Leaders, the titles of Family Members, Generals, Spies, Diplomats and Merchants have also been specialized for each nation depending largely upon the Nation's form of government.
Example: Venetian and Genoese generals are known as 'Plutocrats,' rulers denoted by wealth, and Venetian and Genoese Family Members are known as 'Oligarchs' who are rulers denoted by belonging to or who have been brought into certain families who have and hold significant power within the state and make up it's government, true to the form of the Republic of Venice and Genoa.
Example 2: The Republic of Novgorod differs from the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa, as it should. Their Generals are known as 'Nobles' and their Family Members are known as 'Lords,' as although it was a Republic it was still fundamentally different than those found on the Italian peninsula.
In-addition to changes such as those, diplomats are now referred to as 'Ministers' for Kingdoms and Empires, while Republics have 'Commissioners' and as mentioned prior the Papacy has “Nuncio's.” All of which reflect the power they would have been realistically been placed with by the type of Government that sent them, and the general terms used for each at that time period.
The Roman Empire have 'Bureau Ministers, Bureau Spies, Bureau Curiales (Merchants) and Bureau Assassins.' What Bureau is this you ask? It is quite possibly the very first Central Intelligence Agency used by any Government, the 'BoB' or 'Bureau of Barbarians.' Which was widely considered, especially by this time-frame, to be the Empire's first weapon before anything else. It dealt with everything from every day diplomacy, to espionage missions, assassinations and grand larceny of sorts. It was the job of this bureau to track, stay in contact with, and undermine the 'Barbarians' which was essentially anything that was not Roman. Every option was to be exhausted to avoid war being brought to the Empire's borders, the Bureau saw to this.
Certain navies within the Mediterranean are more appropriately named fleets/armadas. Roman Armies and Navies are referred to as 'Themes.' The use of the word 'armada' was actually only used once in a historical reference to any one Nation's navy, and in only one battle, but it was romanticized forever afterward, and so for the culture who built that navy, it was attributed to them for more aesthetic diversity.
Capital Title Change Overview:
The titles for each faction's capital have been changed to display both more pomp and prestige for them being what they are, differentiating them from other towns and provinces. Note that this does not change the name of the city, just the title it is given.
Example: 'Capital of the Kingdom of Poland' rather than 'Capital of Poland.'
Brief Heir-Government and Trait Description Overview:
Governments with non-hereditary titles, where the head of Government is elected rather than chosen by blood-line, have 'Heir-elect' as their title within the 'Family-Tree' which is essentially in that instance a representation of the Oligarchy, Plutocracy or even collective Aristocracy that runs the government.
Each Government has different ways of choosing it's next ruler, and while it is hard-coded in the Game, to simulate this both with somewhat unrealistic adoptions and differing government types but only one system of actually doing it, trait descriptions and 'the King is dead!' events (more on this later) have been altered accordingly. For instance a Regent now has the same trait description as a normal leader, as he in the end either represents an appropriately elected ruler of a Government, or a new dynastic ruler which has every right to be as strong and respected as the last, (the one you start with). The actual effect though is still the same, a regent will not receive the authority bonus but this helps represent the constant uncertainty whenever power changed hands between families and people.
The most telling however is the trait description for the Heir Presumptive trait, which was formerly the 'regent to be' is now more appropriately seen as either a usurper, a popular electoral candidate, or simply of a weaker blood-relation to the former-ruler.
Example: This man is clearly poised to be the next on the Throne, by accrued power and titles or popularity, rightfully or not, blood-heir or not.
Brief Event Description Overview:
The 'End of a Dynasty' event is now appropriately named the same as if the new ruler was a member of the starting family. So it reads, for example: 'The King of England is dead!' This stops the 'King of so and so is Dead' event from almost disappearing from the Game as the AI starts to accrue more non-original family members than original ones. Giving each King, even later into the game, a proper swan song and ce'est la ve to their terrible power.
This will also detail how the new ruler was elected, determined by the type of government the faction boasted, and by whether or not he was a descendant of the 'royal founder' or the son of the regent who was in power when the first royal founder's line died out. The ones who are certainly of proper blood-right will be noted as such, while others who are not will be noted as such. Though for the possibility that one regent is succeeded by another regent who is actually a blood-relative, it too has a written clause labeling such a possibility, enabling a the more realistic scenario of multiple dynasties rising and falling from power.
Example (King): With the death of the late ruler of the Crown of Aragon, a blood-
heir has succeeded to the throne and continued his family's Dynasty. The other Royal and
Noble Houses know not whether to find fear or comfort in this knowledge.
Example (Regent): With the death of the late ruler of the Crown of Aragon, another
Lord of a different family or of a weaker line to the former one has positioned himself on
the Throne, rightfully or not. The other Royal and Noble Houses know not whether to find
fear or comfort in this knowledge.
Summary:
There are more changes than what is listed here, all instances where names were changed, they were changed every where, in the Campaign Description, Battle Descriptions, Unit Descriptions, Building Descriptions and Historical Event Descriptions and so on rather than in just one occurrence for better consistency. If you by chance encounter any problems, let me know, or if you have suggestions, I am always willing to get an earful.
This mod was made on the 6.1 version of Stainless Steel with Real Recruitment 1.0, Total Combat and RAJ 1.3 without Byg's BGR III mod and with no supply traits enabled (I find them interesting but currently too clunky). However there should be no major issues as most of the text required for the supply traits at least are present in the 6.1 text files and are simply never triggered.
Other aspirations for this mod are for it to eventually be implemented into SS 6.2, if there will be such a thing (fingers crossed) as so I do not have to add in these changes by hand again in the next release.
Work-in-Progress Section:
Version 1.6
Many more rewritten trait, ancillary and event descriptions to make them less mechanical, more immersive and more informative. And likely other small changes.
Recent Changes Section:
Version 1.5b
Minor editing of events, ancillaries and traits.
Version 1.5
The 'Man of the Hour' and 'Candidate for Adoption' interactive events are now worded appropriately.
Changed a few Roman Company Names and Descriptions to be more appropriate, to make them slightly more regional without ruining 'the best English translation for what they were called.' In-addition to extra historical background being introduced into the Descriptions.
Changed many instances of the word 'Settlement' for something more appropriate, often “Region Capital, Region, Regional Capital, or this Region's Capital” as the previous 'Settlement Reference' system would make you think or would hint that this is the only settlement in the entire region. When it was meant to be, and is, just the Capital, as in most regions there are any number of settlements both small, minor and large accompanying the main-settlement. The next Version of Text Overhaul (1.6) will likely see an even further reduction in the use of the word 'Settlement,' the some will always remain where it is actually appropriate.
Much of the User Interface options were re-worded, instances of the word 'Game' were replaced along with a few others with the words 'Campaign, Realm, Battle' and so on.
A lot of backwards compatibility was introduced to a line of events that was previously untouched by all the changes mentioned prior to this version, due to them being stored in another folder. Some of the events were even as out-dated as Vanilla, pre-S.S.
A few bad pre-existing (not mine) Title-Ancillary Description translations were fixed.
Many other small changes.
Version 1.4
Compatibility update. Now contains files that are compatible with the BGR III mod. Read the readme within the Text-folder for more details on installation.
Other small changes to Trait, Ancillary descriptions and text on the strategic map.
Version 1.3
Completely changed the way Agents and Settlements are perceived on the Strategic Map. For instance rather than 'English Castle' it will be shown as 'Castle - The Kingdom of England.'
This better notes which sovereignty has stamped their control on this castle. 'English' and such, is and are rather ambiguous terms, and can simply refer to a culture rather than a sovereignty.
The end result is something that looks better, sounds better, and makes more sense.
The Holy Roman Empire still features a few ambiguous 'Germanic XXX' for their towns and a few of their agents and characters, failing to necessarily note an 'Imperial' or 'Holy Roman Empire' after or before to simulate how the Emperor's sovereignty was not enitrely absolute, or the identity of a Town and the Empire being one and the same. This will likely be tweaked as time goes on to better illustrate this.
The Lithuanian Unit Names and Descriptions have been edited to fix serious translation and spelling errors.
Huge Cathedrals are now known more appropriately as Massive Cathedrals, as 'Huge' is an ugly, undeserving word.
Version 1.2c
The word 'Faction' has largely been made extinct as it was an odd thing to call a Kingdom, an Empire, a Republic, a Caliphate etc, etc, or any kind of large Nation. 'Faction' is almost equivalent to 'Guild' and something that usually exists or takes part within a Nation, rather than 'is one itself,' at least a prominent and independent one. They are now referred to as “Sovereignty's.”
The 'Faction Leader' trait is now named as 'Sovereign' to coincide with the above.
The Generic terms for all Generals and Family Members for each Nations have been changed from General/Family Member to 'Leader.' As 'General' denotes someone who has predominantly spent his whole life looking at a military career, sometimes in his-own service, others under someone else. The fact that any of them would be labeled as such by simply taking a stroll is unrealistic, while the military career might be true, it will not be for all of them.
'Family Member' denotes some fantasy single-family nation that concerning the AI at least, never exists and so is also unrealistic. 'Leader' is open to all of these accounts if they are true while on the other hand, it is not, if they are not true. Of-course Generals and Family Members still retain titles such as 'Noble, and Oligarch' for their appropriate nations, the terms that were changed were the ones that were applied to every nation and could not be individualized.
Replaced many other instances of the word 'General' with something more appropriate. For instance, General's Bodyguards are now just 'Bodyguards' and the 'Greatest General:' from the faction-summary is now 'Greatest Commander:' to be more in line with what was talked about in the above paragraphs. The descriptions for the bodyguards were also edited to not mention a 'General' but rather a man, liege, master or 'influential person' whom they guard everywhere rather than just 'on the battlefield' as popularized in most of them. Again this is to get away from all of them being called Generals, to stop them from being immediately lobbed in with this title when it is not necessarily deserved, true, accurate or timely.
The position of 'Governor,' (the dominant family/general inside of a settlement managing it) is now called 'Overseer' as to relate that he may not hold the title and deed for that region, and so is simply over-seeing the land in the stead of someone else who is either abroad or present but simply too lazy or inept. If he does have the title it will simply note that he is currently seeing to the day-to-day affairs of his land, and if he himself has 'over-seer' ancillary, well then he is simply delegating and a over-seer without the title is delegating his duties even further.
'Noble Princesses' have been renamed for each applicable nation to have either 'Royal' or 'Imperial' in place of 'Noble' as Princesses are only so when they are the Biological (not married in) Daughter of a Heir or Sovereign, so they are Royalty or a member of the Imperial Family, no matter how the AI or Player chooses to handle his family tree.
The 'Family Tree' has been renamed 'The Tree of Influentials' to denote the likeliness that it is a list of multiple dynasties rather just one, and it still is an accurate name for even a single dynasty. This better simulates the multiple dynasties that both historically rose and fell for each nation but that will also inevitably come and go in Total War. This also helps explain the Republics, Lordships and even the two Empires within the Game, who acted essentially as Monarchies when they were in-reality either fully electoral or at least partially, or supposed to be but were not most of the time.
The words 'Troop, Troops, Unit and Units' were extremely reduced in number and replaced with variations of 'Warrior, Warriors, Soldier, Soldiers, Company and Companies.' Although not completely annihilated as for variety, both of them sounded a bit 'off' for that time period. Now while technically 'unit' is an accurate term in military terminology, it is the smallest rung in terms of size. The 'units' we use are almost exactly the same size as most medieval era companies, and so that is how they are phrased.
Novgorodian and Kievan 'Nobles' have been renamed to the more regional name of 'Boyars.'
A few instances of the word 'Ship' and 'Ships' was replaced with 'Vessel' and 'Vessels' for variety.
Version 1.2b
Rephrased most of the traits and ancillaries under the lines of 'Royalty,' 'Royal' and 'King' that could show on someone or in a nation that was a Republic (no Royalty, no King) or a Caliphate, an Empire, and so on.
Rephrased General, Family Member and Agent Traits and Ancillaries that made reference to a 'Kingdom,' under similar terms as stated above, the possibility of it actually belonging to a Republic, an Empire, a Caliphate etc, etc.
Make sure to back-up the files in your text folder.
Installation:
Extract into your Stainless Steel folder and play.
Compatibility:
In-general, if a mod edited any of the files within the text folder, many of the changes will be over-written if this mod is already installed and the other one is applied and vice versa.
Mods 'Made' Compatible:
FCM and BGR III
Credits:
King Kong and all the others for making Stainless Steel.
Download it here:
Reply With Quote
Re: Text Overhaul Mod
I had been meaning to do that for a long time.
Originally Posted by http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/m/mec/med-idx?type=id&id=MED13800
