Changes to export_descr_unit not working?

[StreetPizza]

Hello again, M2TWers out there. I have a pretty noob-y question on modding the export_descr_unit file:

I'm running Windows 7, so when I ran the unpack, everything that should have ended up in "data" ended up in a compatibility file. I tried editing the export_descr_unit file in the compatibility file to lower the prices of certain units (not because I want to cheat, I just want to see if it works so I know how to mod if I want to) but when I turned on the game, the prices and all the other attributes I edited were still the same as the default version.

Then, I copy-pasted everything over into C:\Program Files (x86)\SEGA\Medieval II Total War\data and edited the export_descr_unit file now in the proper directory, but that didn't work either--none of the edits I made are showing up. How can I get get around this and make my edits work?

I already have my medieval2.preference.cfg file looking like

[video]
widescreen=1
[game]
allusers=1
[io]
file_first = true

and the file is set to read only and I have deleted the two geography files that cause the game the crash if I enter battle, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

[Kandid]

Hi StreetPizza --- I'm not on Windows, so I can't help you there, but here are my suggestions:

Use a modfolder when editing text files. This method is far, far superior and saner. You don't need to worry about geography files (the ones that cause CTD) or anything like that. You can google for a modfolder (there's one by alpaca, I think, but that one's pretty messy), or just download one of the smaller, simple modfolder-ed mods out there (I recommend http://t-a-w.blogspot.com/2009/11/me...centrated.html for its simplicity; even this mod has a few unnecessary files in it so it's not the bare minimum modfolder you need, but it's close enough), and replace all the files in there with your vanilla ones. The biggest advantage of using a modfolder is: you only include those files that you edit and are necessary, and any file that you did not touch are automatically loaded from the vanilla packed files by the game.

You shouldn't blindly copy-paste (and overwrite) files/folders in bulk into your installation directory... even after making backups, I still wouldn't do it. Since you copy-pasted and wrote over your installed files, there's now a chance that a file resides in there that might differ from the pristine vanilla version. You should probably reinstall m2tw then get a modfolder and start from there.

Happy modding!

[Ishan]

Simple solution download Bare Geomod and put your modded file there in its data folder and launch the game.

[StreetPizza]

Thanks for the advice! I'm sorry for not having responded sooner--I was a bit busy with schoolwork (and still am. boo hoo.). I'm following your advice right now and re-installing with Windows's User Account Control off (I had already uninstalled because I was afraid I had done something I shouldn't have in the data files) and I'll download one of the mods you guys recommended. I'm kind of gravitating towards the concentrated vanilla mod because after a little bit of reading up, I think I like some of the modifications the modder's doing.

So just as a reminder (since I've been away from M2TW for a few weeks now and have forgotten what little I had known previously), to achieve the goal of modding units that I had originally wanted to achieve, I just unpack the files from the mod into my M2TW and data folders, change my medieval2.preference folder to the orders I had in my first post, and start editing since export_descr_unit comes with the mod and is ready for editing, right?

Edit: It worked! Thanks for your help!

[Ishan]

Glad to help mate.
If you need anything else then feel free to ask here in this thread of yours.

[Kandid]

Glad you got everything set up!