Which file to change?

[ryan1992reading]

For text editing to have a effect, i know you have to add the line [io]
file_first = true

however I am not sure where to add it to?

At first I thought u added it to the preferences file but then I also read that you change the config file and i am not entirely sure what this is?

would the fact that I am attempting to mod a Kingdoms campaign make any difference in which file i need?

thanks in advance for any help

[Gerin]

you can add it to the medieval2.cfg file in your med2 directory or put it into the startup line in the
properties of the short cut.

[Azim]

The preferences file and the config file are the same thing. The preferences file should be named medieval2.preferences.cfg. Make sure to set the file to read only once you finish editing it, or there will be a chance that the game will overwrite the file the next time you play.

[ryan1992reading]

cheers, if adding it to the preference file, do you have to leave a blank line between the last text and the "io file first thingy"?

[Azim]

If there is already an [io] entry, then you have to add the file_first = true line under [io]:

Change this

[io]
some_other_option = true

[misc]
some_other_other_option = false

To this

[io]
some_other_option = true
file_first = true

[misc]
some_other_other_option = false

Otherwise, just add this

[io]
file_first = true

to the end of the file.

[ryan1992reading]

cheers, I did that and made the notepad file read only but it still rewrites the preference file when I restart the Americas application.

I understand it needs to change back to a cfg file but how do you do this?

I originally changed it by changing the .cfg to .txt but how can you go back because when I tried the same thing, it just renamed the file medieval2preferences.cfg etc

[Azim]

When you save the file, you have to choose Save As->All files instead of Save As->Text file. If you choose save As->Text file, it will automatically append .txt to the end of your filename.

[ryan1992reading]

after I had added the "iou file first etc"

I saved the preferences file as a text document so it was named "medieval2prefrences.cfg" and made it read-only

however it still just creates a new preference file anyway and overwrites whatever I edited and creates its own new cfg file

any more help would be appreciated I think I am just slow

[Azim]

Not medieval2prefrences.cfg, medieval2.preferences.cfg. Remember to save as "All files" instead of "Text files".

This is taking a while, so let me just give you step by step instructions.

1. Open Windows Explorer. (On XP and earlier, Start->Run, then enter explorer into the pop up. On Vista, Start->Accessories->Run, then enter explorer into the pop up.)
2. In the address bar at the top, enter your M2TW install location. This will probably be C:\Program Files\SEGA\Medieval II Total War
3. In the file display, look for medieval2.preferences.cfg (This may appear as medieval2.preferences if you already have a file association for ".cfg"
4. Right click on the file and select Open With..., or Open With->Choose Default Program... or simply Open, whatever option is available.
5. A dialog box will pop up. If there is a choice between Use a web service to find the correct program and Select a program from a list of installed programs, chooseSelect a program from a list of installed programs
6. Enter C:\Windows\notepad.exe in the pop up box. Check the Always use this program to open this type of file box.
7. The file should open up in Notepad, a simple text editor which comes with Windows.
8. Make whatever edits you like to the file.
9. When you are done, go to File->Save As...
10. In the save dialog, enter medieval2.preferences.cfg Set the Save as Type option to All Files (It will be on Text Documents by default, but this will add ".txt" to the end of your file name)
11. Close notepad. Go back to explorer and open up the medieval2.preferences again. (This time, you should only have to double click the file in explorer to open it.) Make sure the changes were saved. If the changes were not saved, read the next step, otherwise, skip the next step.
12. If the changes were not saved, the problem is that you have a file named medieval2.preferences.cfg.txt (It may only show up as medieval2.preferences as well. In this case, use Notepad to open the file instead of explorer.) Notepad saved the changes into this file instead of the acutal preferences file. If this is the case, delete the file by right clicking it in explorer and selecting Delete
    Go back up a few steps to re-write the changed to your preferences file.
13. If the changes were saved to the file, right click on the file in explorer and select Properties. The properties tab is very different in different versions of Windows. In Vista, select the General tab in the properties pop up and check the Read-only checkbox. I don't remember how to do this in XP. You'll have to search around a bit.
14. You're done, run M2TW and make sure everything works.

[ryan1992reading]

cheers thanks that has sorted it!

now I expect this is a well known problem with a well known solution but I could not find it in the stickies...

when you have edited the preference file and added the io filefirst= true etc.

it seems to have made all the text in the game such as the options menu disappear.

how do I fix this?

thanks for the help

[ryan1992reading]

sorry no need! did more searching and found myself

thanks for your help everyone, much appreciated