Can you rename generals / family members?

[Tenchuu]

I don't see a tutorial for this. I know in M:TW2, while it was a pain in the butt, you could eventually change the names of the starting generals / family members, and you could also edit the names used by your faction when new general / family units are created.

Is this still an option? Does it essentially work the same way? Is there a tutorial for this?

[LiquidSantanero]

I think I know how, but please don't expect it to work for I yet have to find a way to make it work.

What I've done is:
1. use esf editor 1.4.6 to change a save game. When I was playing with the Tokugawa I wanted to have a known Tokugawa general in my family tree/consul? So I changed the 2nd general Matsudaira Hidenaga to Sakai Tadatsugu
I changed his age as well to reflect the exact age he was in 1545. It did show on the campaign map, but as greedy as I was I made some changes to the Oda as well and the game crashes. So I'm not sure if it works only when you make changes to the faction you are playing with. So I'll give you a quick guide on how I managed to change starting general.

1. Use ESF editor for either changing save game or extract the startpos file using pack file manager
2. when you have your save game/startpos.esf open click on campaign_env, campaing_model, world, faction_array
Faction array is a bit tricky since you have to search manually for the clan your playing with. (if you're modding your save game, then it is the first faction_array, faction)
3. to change your general/colonel you have to edit the file character_array, character, character_details, search for the character you want (look for the ones that are generals/ministers/colonels when you click on character_details) and, well, do I've to continue? It's quite clear what you have to do to change the name of your general.

When I changed matsudaira hidenaga to Sakai Tadatsugu, I used Tadatsugu (names_name_namesjapananese Tadatsugu in the 1st campaign_localisation slot (forenames only) and names_name_namesjapaneseSakai, in the 2nd campaign_localisation slot, (that slot is for surenames)

Sakai is not in the Tokugawa names list/database like names_name_namestokugawaSakai, it doesn't exist, so before you change names, make sure what are forenames and surenames and to which faction they belong to. I haven't tested for instance names_name_namesIgaHanzo 1st slot and names_name_namesIgaHattori 2nd slot. (was afraid of a CTD)

In the 1st date slot you can change the date that your general was born, but be careful, for I think 16 or 18 are the ages that you can have generals on the campaign_map. the 2nd slot I do not know, maybe the year of death, depending on how you would want your family tree started?

Anyways, hope this was helpful

[Warot]

Thanks for the tip LiquidSantanero , it was really helpful !

[chop.decipher]

I am writing this in 2022 and I can attest that this method still works.

Yes I still play this game