My experiment: Spain

[Kaidonni]

Okay, here is what I am planning to do. After getting bored with the Scipii 1.3, VH/H (I can't patch successfully for some reason or other...it says there's no previous installation of BI on the computer...I want to put 1.5/1.6 on...), I've decided that I will experiment, perhaps on VH/H or H/H, with Spain. I have recruitable generals, and my own personal mod that divides all unit costs, upkeep and upgrades by 4 (generals actually cost double to build what they originally did). I think it'd be a good idea to keep people appraised of the situation of my campaign, so I've started a topic on it. I might start the campaign tonight...plus, I'll turn on prefers_naval_invasions for Carthage, the Brutii, the Scipii and Britannia to see what that does. Wish me luck ...I might need it.

[roman_crusader]

hmm, this will prove very interesting....
a faction that is basically carthage with barbarian troops, sandwiched between a better barbarian faction, the impending threat of rome, and with nothing to defend urself with but weak carthagian infantry and cav, plus random fanatics.

good luck. build generals, they r almost ur only hope...

[Kaidonni]

Nah, slingers and Skirmishers, Round Shields and Long Shields...flanking is the key. Especially with Skirmishers and Slingers...however, I wanted to mod them to give them Archer Warband...unfortunately, the files aren't unpacked...grrrr.

[Legionary Jezza]

well unpak them then

[Kaidonni]

I can't recall where to get the pak extractor from. Besides, I've decided I want to try Dacia on H/H too. That's me though...I chop and change. Still, Spain would be a good experiment somewhere down the line. Fun, anyway. For the AI, probably. I like being optimistic .

On the Dacian hand of cards...tested them on Hard custom battle, 4 warband, 3 naked fanatics, 2 chosen sword, 2 falxmen, 2 archers, 2 chosen archers, 2 barbarian noble cav, 2 barbarian cav and early barbarian warlord...kicked the living daylights out of a Roman army, the Brutii...1 early general, 3 velites, 4 hastati, 4 archers, 4 princepes, 4 triarii...don't know why it was so easy. Perhaps because I used flaming arrows at one point, and warcry as the Brutii charged me. Or I put the wrong difficulty on...My cav didn't get to do much until the entire Brutii army was routing...and I hadn't enveloped the Brutii or anything. Oh, their faction leader did get bogged down, though. However, I thought it would still have been far harder versus a Roman faction...

[Legionary Jezza]

thats a good army idea gl with that

[roman_crusader]

chosen swordsmen and falxmen are actually pretty strong u know... probably better than iberian infantry...
and chosen archers are better than the early roman archers too, so yeah...

[Legionary Jezza]

there better than the early roman archers yes but not as the auxillia archers

[roman_crusader]

of course...
so then i would expect the dacians to win, easy...
and the fanatics scare the pants, or rather, those skirt things, off romans

[Legionary Jezza]

they would win if they start to attack rome b4 the marius reforms

[Kaidonni]

I'll be going for Thrace first, namely Tylis. Then possibly Campus Getae, though on H/H the Thracians might be broken by then. I won't mod the descr_strat.txt, so I need to build a Warlord's Hold in Campus Iazyges. I like the fact that it is easy, from a Large Town, to get Naked Fanatics, Falxmen, Warband, Barbarian Cavalry, Warhounds and Archer Warband...considering that archer units for numerous sides come in from an Archery Range...Numidia gets archers from Practice Ranges, etc. I like archers.

I've considered ditching Dacia because of their starting position (I love how Britannia starts off...all nice and secure). However, a challenge is a challenge. I will use the armies in Dacia to attack Tylis, and focus on building a protective/police army for Tribus Iazyges (I always have police armies to deal with rebels, and I don't want the Germanians, Macedonians or Scythians creeping up on me without having any defensive army at the ready).

Plus, I've dissolved the secondary colours of each faction, replacing them with the primary colours. Meaning that no border lines of provinces show up. I can see my empire a lot better. Thus, today I begin my conquests. Hopefully I survive. Turtling is not an option at the start. Once I have three/four regions in total, then I can probably think about consolidating my power.

Thus, the rule of Xyraxes begins...what will this Dacian faction leader accomplish in his lifetime? Dah duh daaah...

[Legionary Jezza]

ell britons can be hard there best are ionfantry thre chariots are a waste i think

[Kaidonni]

Hee hee...you need to use groups of light chariots of about, say, 8 or 10...the Gaul, on Hard battles, used to chase me around the map...once I'd run out of arrows, the infantry caught up...well, let's say, that was the end of the battle...for the Gaul. I absolutely perfected using groups of light chariots alone to harass the enemy, and by the time they caught up, they were too scared and tired, and thus routed. The ensuing mayhem saw lots of sliced up infantry. Chariot warfare is the only way to go, really, as the Britons. I once conquered Alesia with about 6 units of light chariots, lots of running about...cavalry charges could not even work against me. The Gaul had a pretty decent garrison, too. Just that chariots, used correctly, are a force unto themselves.

I've just had a brainwave...I don't really like Dacia's starting position, so I'm gonna mod it so that they start around Tara, on Hibernia. Just one Large Town settlement...they'll have some boats too. Or is that silly? Starting by Britannia? I just feel so insecure in Dacia's original starting position...

EDIT: Darn it, I could have editted my last post to include this post in...if a moderator wants to, they can merge this and my last post.

Done

[Seasoned Alcoholic]

Here is a link to Vercingetorix's x-pak:

Vercingetorix's x-pak extractor tool

Not sure if you need to use the extractor tool on an unmodified vanilla version of RTW, you may need to do some research on this.

As to your patch installation problem, you could try following (although you should expect to face CTDs due to conversion issues):

* Backup all of your modded work that you have done, keep it in a seperate location.

* Uninstall RTW (& BI) from your system.

* Now reinstall RTW (& BI), patch up systematically until RTW v1.5 (BI v1.6).

* Now run the x-pak extractor tool to unpack the .pak files

* Incorporate your modding work (which was kept seperate) one text file at-a-time, bug-hunting as you progress. Believe me, my experience of converting a mod from RTW v1.2 to v1.5 means that you will face plenty of CTDs in this transitional period, where you need to bring the older modded files up-to-date with the latest patch versions.

Of course, you don't have to do this, the thought of bug-fixing puts many people off altogether. I've used the above stages on numerous occassions - you get to the stage in modding where CTDs are of little concern because you build-up a knowledge base of the text files you work with.

If you mod things one stage at-a-time, you can see exactly where (and if) you go wrong. Making multiple changes and then testing these out is dangerous, especially modding multiple text files. This is because you risk cross-referencing a bug, and also working out which text file is the cause of the bug(s) is made even more difficult.

By using Vercingetorix's x-pak extractor tool, you can unlock many unused (or CA-reject / abandoned etc) models, skins, as well as a few UI cards. There are quite a few combinations that exist that were never implemented into the final retail version of RTW for some reason or another. IIRC, Spain (or Iberia) do have some archer models and textures in there if you're looking to use those in a mod. Just requires time testing the bits and pieces that are contained within the unpacked sub-directories.

If you go for it, good luck

[Legionary Jezza]

i was goona send himthe link oh well u beat me

[Kaidonni]

Oh, I've modified my mod mid-campaign (264BC Summer) so that the only costs divided by four are now the upkeep. General's Bodyguards still cost twice what they originally did. Took me about an hour to mod an unmodified expor_descr_unit.txt. Not too much trouble at all. Well, not when all you're modding is the upkeep per turn and making General's Bodyguards cost more. I've been playing as Dacia instead of Spain. Quite fun. Thrace won't give up without a fight...grrr...they killed over 1000 troops of mine, despite me winning a major battle outside Campus Getae! At least it wasn't an easy battle. Too many epic battles that result in me steamrollering my opponents and underestimating my forces. This time, 2:1...it was a challenge. The initial battelines got strewn all over the place...as they tend to do - especially when Thrace was using lots of skirmishing units. I lost 420 archers! lol...I now need to wait for some reinforcement archers to top up my army so I can take Campus Getae. I tell you, too many have died for the conquest of Thrace to be abandoned. King Vezina WILL finish what King Xyraxes (ruled 270BC - 265BC, born 330BC, died 264BC Summer) started - the conquest of Thrace and the expansion of the Kingdom of Dacia over much needed land. King Xyraxes' legacy lives on in his retinue, to be passed on down the generations.

Thanks for the link. If I look down the forums at totalwar.org, I should find a tutorial I was given on modding extra units into BI - should be similar. I remember Britannia has left-over, unused unit cards for Archers. If Spain has the left-over units, it might just make it easier. Indeed, I might play as Spain if I mod extra units in. For now, Dacia is my game. Spain will have to wait. Still, thanks for the links, etc - they should come in handy down the line somewhere. Spain should be a challenge when I get to them.

EDIT: Did as the pak extractor guide said...no textures opened. Just folders created...which is kind of wierd. All the folders are there, just empty...hmmm...hope RTW still works...it probably should. *Touch wood*