How to mod the BI version

[piko]

So I installed RTRPE 1.9 for BI, but I have run into a small problem, how do I mod it now?
What I want to do:
Make Parthia able to horde in descr_sm_factions.txt
Change descr_sm_factions.txt so that the rebel provinces don't have borders anymore.
Mod in some horde units for Parthia.

[Jamey]

First, the general answer to many modding questions:
http://www.twcenter.net/wiki/Categor...ding_Tutorials

For specifics, this should do the trick:
http://www.twcenter.net/wiki/Hording...tions_-_RTW/BI

[Salvor Hardin]

Hey, Piko, glad to see you around again. Although your avatar still scares the hell out of me

Let me see if I can help you:

1. Adding horde units to a faction:
- Open the EDU file. Select the unit of which you want to make an "horde version". For instance:

type             yuezhi horse archer
dictionary       rtr_bactria_horse_archer
category         cavalry
class            missile
voice_type       Medium_1
soldier          yuezhi_horse_archer, 24, 0, 7.4
mount            light horse
mount_effect     horse -3, camel -4, chariot -4,
attributes       sea_faring,hide_forest,cantabrian_circle,hardy,no_custom
formation        3, 4, 6, 6, 5,square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         4, 13, arrow, 130, 15, missile, archery, piercing, none, 25 , 1
stat_pri_attr    thrown
stat_sec         3, 15, no, 0, 0, melee, simple, piercing, knife, 0 , 0.8
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  1, 12, 1, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      -6, 0, -6, 1
stat_mental      14, normal, untrained
stat_charge_dist 40
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 450, 250, 104, 112, 720
ownership        thrace

You just need to change three things. I will underline them:

type             yuezhi horde horse archer
dictionary       rtr_bactria_horse_archer
category         cavalry
class            missile
voice_type       Medium_1
soldier          yuezhi_horse_archer, 24, 0, 7.4
mount            light horse
mount_effect     horse -3, camel -4, chariot -4,
attributes       sea_faring,hide_forest,cantabrian_circle,hardy,can_horde,no_custom
formation        3, 4, 6, 6, 5,square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         4, 13, arrow, 130, 15, missile, archery, piercing, none, 25 , 1
stat_pri_attr    thrown
stat_sec         3, 15, no, 0, 0, melee, simple, piercing, knife, 0 , 0.8
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  1, 12, 1, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      -6, 0, -6, 1
stat_mental      14, normal, untrained
stat_charge_dist 40
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 450, 0, 104, 112, 720
ownership        thrace

We have: changed the name of the unit, added the can_horde attribute and reduced the upkeep cost of the unit to 0. You must do this for each unit that you want to appear in the horde. After doing this, your game will not work

2.Making the faction able to horde:
1. Open descr_sm_factions. Look for the faction entry and add all the stuff that I write in black:

faction						thrace
culture						nomad
symbol						../77bc/data/models_strat/symbol_thrace.CAS
rebel_symbol				../77bc/data/models_strat/symbol_greek_rebel.CAS
primary_colour				red 255, green 255, blue 141
secondary_colour    			red 255, green 255, blue 141
loading_logo				loading_screen/symbols/symbol128_thrace.tga
standard_index				19
logo_index					249
small_logo_index			262
triumph_value				5
intro_movie					fmv/intros/greek_intro_640x480_bars.wmv
victory_movie				fmv/victory/greek_outro_320x240.wmv
defeat_movie				../77bc/data/fmv/lose/illyria_eliminated.wmv
death_movie					fmv/death/death_thrace_sand_320x240.wmv
custom_battle_availability	yes
horde_min_units				60
horde_max_units				100
horde_max_units_reduction_every_horde 20
horde_unit_per_settlement_population	300
horde_min_named_characters	4
horde_max_percent_army_stack 80
horde_disband_percent_on_settlement_capture 	33
horde_disband_percent_on_settlement_capture 	50
horde_disband_percent_on_settlement_capture 	100
horde_unit 					yuezhi horde noble horse archers
horde_unit 					yuezhi horde noble horse archers
horde_unit					yuezhi horde noble horse archers
horde_unit					yuezhi horde horse archer
horde_unit					yuezhi horde horse archer
horde_unit					yuezhi horde horse archer
horde_unit					yuezhi horde horse archer
horde_unit					yuezhi horde horse archer
horde_unit					yuezhi horde horse archer
can_sap						yes
prefers_naval_invasions		no

The only thing that I modify here is the horde_unit lines, in order to add the new units that I have created in the EDU file. I guess that the other parameters can be modified but, to be sincere, I do not think that they have a great impact in the game.

3. Other things: you need to copy some files from vanilla BI to your UI folder:
BATTLE3.RSD
SHARED2.RSD
STRAT3.RSD

4. Enhancing your mod: in the descr_banners file, add a line for the horde symbol to appear in the banners of the faction in the strat map:

banner_horde 0, 0, 1, 1, bi/data/textures/#horde_symbol.tga

Concerning the no-borders for the slave faction, as Florin told me, make the faction's primary and secondary colour the same in descr_sm_factions.