Wartower's Wonderful World of Mods

[Wartower]

Welcome to WWWoM!

Purpose: This will be the first of several (hopefully) threads aimed at introducing mods to those players who have never played or heard of them. It is also my goal to put the spotlight on various wips that might be languishing in the "never-to-be-completed" dungeon, but seem to have great potential and could use the help of other modders. Lastly, I plan to highlight those mods that have been released for M2TW and Kingdoms, and do a lot of patting on the back for making this a game with a great shelf life.

Definitions:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

A "mod", for those of you who don't know, is a modification of some sort to the game. Mods come in a very wide variety of forms, from tiny alterations of code that simply change sounds, speech, text, 2d art, etc., to giant changes to playability and graphics! As mods grow in size, so do the things that they alter. In fact, there are some modifications that utilize the core game engine, but feel like a completely different game altogether. And yes, you can do modifications too! There are a myriad of different tools, just on this website alone, at your disposal. So, to clarify, mods come in many shapes and sizes. Mini, Large, Super, Sub, Major, etc., are ones that you will come across. They all do different things to the game and can even be combined with one another to create superb enhancements to the game as a whole.

Some of you may have seen the term, "Vanilla" used on these forums. As you're hopefully aware of the actual definition, I will just say that as it pertains to Medieval 2: Total War, vanilla just means the game itself with zero modifications.

A "wip" is not something you can use to spank your partner, nor does it refer to the "miracle" or "cool" varieties of food products. Instead, it is a simple abbreviation for, "work in progress". This typically refers to a mod that is being worked on and has yet to be released to the public at large. However, since mods are constantly being patched and/or updated, I suppose one could consider almost all "active" mods to be wips. But for our purposes here, let's just say that wips are unfinished products.

Alright then, let's get to it, shall we! Great. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I know that there are a lot of you out there who love your M2TW Vanilla style, and that's fine by me! But I also know that there are at least a few folks left who have just gotten bored with the basic version of the game, but who are not yet ready to put it on the shelf. Lastly, there are those out there who think that mods are unreliable, unstable monstrosities that are just too much of a pain to fiddle with. Wrong-o!!

Mods keep this game alive for me, and for many others. It is my dream to convert the entire human race into modders so that I can have a virtual "all-you-can-eat" buffet of neverending variations to the game! The conversion has already begun.

In the next two posts, I will take the time to highlight a released mod, and a wip. I have a lot more things to look into and I want to do this right. I am ready, for the most part, for the first two I will present. Ultimately, I just want to raise the awareness level of mods to a new level and in my own way, thank every modder who has ever dared to alter a line of code to enhance the gaming experience for the rest of us! So, thank you MODDERS!

Stay tuned...

*Disclaimer*

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I am not creating a mod, but instead, highlighting wips and released mods in the hopes of enlightening those who have never tried them. Also, it is my sincere desire to get modders to come together even more to help each other finish projects that may be lagging behind due to a lack of resources and manpower. It is not my intention to critique or bring negative attention on any mod. I have my personal favorites and so do you!

Wartower's Wonderful World of Mods would like to begin the show by highlighting a great released modification for Medieval 2: Total War. Featuring a campaign with a whopping 900 turns, "The Long Road" offers players a large custom map that uses the maximum 199 regions and spans from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caspian Sea! Also included in this mod is an Era System for units based on Armor and Weapon Techology, new factions, a role-playing aspect through the use of Traits and Ancillaries, and Lord, Duke, and Emir Titles with Coats of Arms for all Provinces.

"The Long Road" features a Custom Advanced Campaign AI, an Area of Recruitment/Zone of Recruitment Mercenary Guild, with dozens of new units for Mercenary and Faction use! Drooling yet? You should be.

To begin your journey down "The Long Road", go here!
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=98729

Well, that's all for now. Stay tuned for where the spotlight will shine on the next released mod!

Wartower's Wonderful World of Mods brings you Part II of our feature presentation. It is now time to direct your attention to a work in progress that you may not know about. Westeros: Total War is a total modification set in the world of bestselling author, George R.R. Martin's, "A Song of Ice and Fire" series. Yup, that's right. The epic saga of betrayal, loss, and war unfolding in the fantasy world of Westeros is being developed for your gaming enjoyment by modders right here at the Total War Center.

For details about this much anticipated release, please click here!
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=169166

Sorry so short folks, but I have a mod to play! Tune in next time when more mods hit the red carpet and are forced to shy away from the glare of WWWoM's spotlight!

Thanks for your time!

[France]

Horray! Now all those new guys have a mod to play.

[Yuko]

nice topic i was one of those people who where happy with the vannilla game,and then i got my first mod and i realized that vannilla medieval 2 whas kind of boring.

[France]

SS 6.1 all the way.

[Yuko]

i really am enjoyng rennascence total war and for king or country

[Wartower]

Ahh, perhaps the easiest thing to do is to direct people to the following link. I had no idea this even existed, so if all I've managed to do is spotlight another great feature on these boards, then that's awesome too!

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=40

It seems to accomplish everything that I want to see done and has a lot more flair. I'm not great at creating bells and whistles of my own, but this forum magazine is certainly pleasing to the eye!

WWWoM will still continue, however, as I feel that there is a definite need to garner more interest for several mods that are feeling the effects of being shorthanded, and certainly deserve an opportunity to shine!

[silver_shadow14]

I recommend Stainless Steel 6.0/6.1 Link is here
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=159996

[Sher Khan]

I understand this sentiment, however I'm trying to decide what use this thread will be since we have the Front Page News and the Eagle Standard, not to mention the Mod Recommendations sticky at the top.

But, as long as we remember to use "Edit Post" before we double post, I'll be fine with this topic. Enjoy, and good luck!

[Wartower]

I understand this sentiment, however I'm trying to decide what use this thread will be since we have the Front Page News and the Eagle Standard, not to mention the Mod Recommendations sticky at the top.

But, as long as we remember to use "Edit Post" before we double post, I'll be fine with this topic. Enjoy, and good luck!

I wouldn't be crushed if you deleted it. However, these forums can be a rather large and confusing place. Like I mentioned before, I had never heard of the Eagle Standard until a few hours ago, and I have never visited the Mod Recommendations thread either. But one place that almost every visitor is sure to check out is the Main Discussion forums. Hence, the reason I started it here.

But if WWWoM must go, then we shall not sally forth and do battle with ye! Instead, we shall remain inside our Permanent Stone Fort until our food supplies run out.

[Sher Khan]

I wouldn't be crushed if you deleted it. However, these forums can be a rather large and confusing place. Like I mentioned before, I had never heard of the Eagle Standard until a few hours ago, and I have never visited the Mod Recommendations thread either. But one place that almost every visitor is sure to check out is the Main Discussion forums. Hence, the reason I started it here.

That's why I show mercy! I can understand fine, with all the threads I merge into the Mod Recommendations Thread, that new users may feel overwhelmed or wanting for better information on mods.

But if WWWoM must go, then we shall not sally forth and do battle with ye! Instead, we shall remain inside our Permanent Stone Fort until our food supplies run out.

Yes, I wouldn't recommend taking the fight to me. The balance of forces bar is decidedly in my favor.

[France]

Well said, I think this thread could help n00bs in our forum though, cuz vanilla sux.

[silver_shadow14]

I agree. I was new to mods when I came, now I only play S.S. for the most part.

[France]

Ya SS FTW

SS 6.1 is the only one I've played though lol.

[silver_shadow14]

I downloaded version 3 a week ago, then I realized that v6 was out lol

[France]

We probably shouldn't rout, else she'd take us captive!

[Wartower]

So there you have it folks. Diplomacy saves the day. The tiny faction of Wartower has been granted a reprieve and saved from utter destruction by becoming a vassal of Sher Khan's mighty empire. United, we shall bring the great mods and features of the Medieval world under more scrutiny than ever before.

Alright, seriously though, just having a moderator's presence here hopefully brings enough focus to this thread to get even more people playing mods. And her display of mercy just goes to show you what a great website the Total War Center really is.

Lastly, I have even managed to influence myself by posting this. The Long Road was the 2nd mod that I ever downloaded (Shwert und Speer Ultimate being the 1st) and after researching it in much greater detail, I realized that I needed to download it yet again. Yes, I need a bigger hard-drive so I can store all of these mods!

[France]

SS would really have noobs happiers than vanilla

[Wartower]

@France - No more shameless plugs for Stainless Steel. It's a masterpiece of a mod, but you're killing my joy here. Perhaps Sher Khan might be merciful enough to allow - "France's Fantastic Funland of Mods", but for now, leave the mod spotlighting to me.

[France]

I thought this thread was for us to post good mods or something.

[Pink Beard]

yarrggh
me pirate crew is going to swing the balance bar in our favour again

but darn sher khan has 10 dread. might cause a big rout...

but anyways my first mod was SS 4.1. then i saw there was a 5.1 so i downloaded that. and right after that i saw 6.1 was released

but now i'm fond of "Thera, a new beginning"