Issues with character names

[shoukko]

Hey guys, I hope you can help me out. I've been following the deRougemont Tutorial on modding character names for Medieval 2 Total War, but when I start up a new campaign I keep getting characters with names that I've removed from the respective factions name list in "descr_names".

For example: I remove these names from English faction and the Norman list below it; Davy & Dangerfyeld from "descr_names", but they keep appearing in my campaign.

I was wondering if anyone could give me a few pointers as to where I might be going wrong?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: I'm trying to play the vanilla Medieval Total War II grand campaign as England. I have Kingdoms installed and latest patches applied.

[valvegas1]

did you remove them from the names.txt file in the text folder and delete the strings.bin file of the same name in that folder?

if not then try that and see if that helps....

[shoukko]

did you remove them from the names.txt file in the text folder and delete the strings.bin file of the same name in that folder?

if not then try that and see if that helps....

I've deleted the strings.bin file but not removed the names from the names.txt file. I was under the impression that you just had to remove the names from the descr_names.txt file. I'll give that a whirl today. Thanks

My guess: you are not using the file_first entry in your CFG file. You need to add this entry to the CFG file and then make it read-only - otherwise the entry will get deleted the next time you start your campaign.

[io]
file_first = true

I would suggest not to start modding the original installation. Use this instead, it's a mod folder that enables you to play the grand campaign with kingdom's features. Copy your files there and edit them in that folder.

Could you tell me where to find that file?

I'll take a closer look at that mod in an hour (when I finish work ;P). I have all the original files backed-up on a memory stick so if I do screw up I can replace the files with no problem. Thanks for your reply, I'll let you know how things go!

[Gigantus]

My guess: you are not using the file_first entry in your CFG file. You need to add this entry to the CFG file and then make it read-only - otherwise the entry will get deleted the next time you start your campaign.

[io]
file_first = true

I would suggest not to start modding the original installation. Use this instead, it's a mod folder that enables you to play the grand campaign with kingdom's features. Copy your files there and edit them in that folder.

[Greek Firethrower]

Sorry Gigantus for answering for you.

Could you tell me where to find that file?

I'll take a closer look at that mod in an hour (when I finish work ;P). I have all the original files backed-up on a memory stick so if I do screw up I can replace the files with no problem. Thanks for your reply, I'll let you know how things go!

You'll find this file in your same Medieval II Total War folder(where your data-folder is, too).
It's an .CFG file and called medieval2.preference.

I hope it helps.

[shoukko]

Sorry Gigantus for answering for you.



You'll find this file in your same Medieval II Total War folder(where your data-folder is, too).
It's an .CFG file and called medieval2.preference.

I hope it helps.

Thank you. Found it, backed it up, then edited.

Combining both methods I think I've managed to do it. Just played through a new campaign for a dozen turns and got a husband for my princess called "James" and not "Barnaby of Biggleswade", and then found a wife for my faction heir, one "Emma of Normandy". A big improvement on "Jakemina Scrope" (which sounds like some sort of STD ).

Thanks for your responses

[valvegas1]

Not a problem at all...Glad to be of assistance...

[shoukko]

I've been encountering new issues with custom character names, but I didn't think it was worth creating a new thread.

I keep getting a lot of characters with blank names. The names are in the respective factions lists in "descr_names.txt", they're listed in "names.txt", "descr_names_lookup.txt" and the names are in the "descr_strat.txt" and "names.txt.strings.bin" file. The medieval2preference.config file also has the appropriate entry in it. I'm completely stumped. Oh, and to make matters worse, the game is not generating a new "names.txt.strings.bin" file, so I'm having to enter those manually via this app.

Maybe I'm entering the names incorrectly? In the "names.txt" and "names.txt.strings.bin" files, I'm entering names as follows:

{Adhemar}Adhémar
{Aimery}Aimery
{d_Alencon}d'Alencon
{de_la_Pole}de la Pole
{de_Saint-Saens}de Saint-Saens

as far as I'm aware, that's the correct way.

Any thoughts?

[Gigantus]

Your data entry as per the examples is correct. It will be most likely your conversion of the txt file to string that is the problem.
QuickFix: replace the first line with the fancy sign in names.txt with the first line from a txt file you know converts properly.

[Ishan]

1) lookup files are not used in M2TW, so drop that and don't bother with it.
2) Make sure your descr_names.txt is saved as ANSI type text document and no special characters, or spaces are used in it.
3) Names.txt should be saved as UNICODE text type.

[shoukko]

I think I've finally got it. I'm going to post what I did here for anyone that stumbles across this thread and has a similar problem to what I had (blank character names after adding names).

I initially tried to edit the files in the vanilla folder with backups on a memory stick. The backups on the memory stick were what I actually worked on, making sure I'd followed this tutorial to the letter. I'd fire up the game, start a campaign as England, and each time several characters & captains would have no names and brides for my princes would have no names too. I went over everything twice, making sure I'd do everything, but all the posts I found about changing character names and editing the files (txt and txt.strings.bin) were so vague and varying that it was more guess-work than anything else.

I did a full re-install of Medieval 2 Total War Gold Edition patched to 1.5. I then installed both of the BareGeoMods made by Gigantus and proceeded to edit the names.txt, descr_strat.txt and the descr_names.txt files then fired up the BareGeoMod .bat. I started a campaign as usual expecting frustration and disappointment, yet lo, everything was perfect. There was no William Plantagenet, no Jakemina Scrope and no Barnaby the Conqueror. Joy.

So, after a sleepless night and lots of caffeine I have learnt a valuable lesson. Those mods you guys make a there for a reason. And they rock. And you do too.

And I'm a big noob.

Merry Christmas, and a happy new year to you all