How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
This has been asked in the mod workshop many times so i thought why not make a clear & detailed tutorial over it.
This only works on kingdoms.exe based mods & is fairly easy if you have already added units on battle map, if you haven’t then I urge you to read and understand this tutorial before you continue. In this step we would be modifying only 2 files, after which we can see unique battle models for our faction heir and faction leader.
First open the battle_models.modeldb file with notepad and add the following entry at the bottom or in between 2 units.
For faction leader add the following entry:
After this increment the serialization value at the top in your BMDB (modeldb) file by +1, save and exit the file. Then place the .mesh (3D battle model) file and its relevant textures in the directories\path mentioned in the BMDB entry you just added, if the files are not in the right location you will get a CTD, while trying to load a battle using your leader\heir. Do the same for faction heir also.
Lastly open the campaign_script.txt file, where you would be placing the script. Which is responsible and thus will replace the default battle model with the one you added.
Put the following script anywhere in between, like this:
Save changes to this file and exit. Launch the game now in campaign mode and try out a battle with your leader and you will find the intended 3D model assigned to him, something like this:
On another note you can have 2 types of battle models for your leader\heir depending upon his age; it adds more reality if the face of model is visible so it makes sense to use 2 models, young and old. In it you just have to add another condition of age like this:
And that’s it; hope this tutorial is somewhat helpful to the novices. If anyone has a question regarding this or has a problem understanding something, then please free to ask it here.
Last edited by Ishan; January 30, 2012 at 01:45 AM.
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
At last someone took the time to put this into proper form. Extra pat on the back for mentioning all the pitfalls. This goes into my collection of links.
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
I want to change the battle model of a general at the start of the campaign, I have the model and texture files ready, I want the changes to apply specificly to that general and not the others. I suppose I need to change modelDB and descr_strat and point the general to the correct textures and model. Which parts I need to edit for that ? (Mod: TATW 3.1)
Next Heir Ancillary (NHA) Sub-Mod for Stainless Steel & Third Age Total War
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
To change his start model you have to give him a unique trait and that trait should correspond to a particular level aimed in the descr_chracter.txt, this is well explained in the tutorial.
To change his battle model, just add the named of the battle model in front of its entry in the descr_strat.txt file.
For eg:
Code:
character Manuel Comnenus, named character, male, leader, age 46, x 32, y 132, battle_model Andronicus
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
Is that 10 strat map levels per faction, per culture or total?
My mods
-Mod Leader for the Wheel Of Time This is not the beginning, but it is a beginning
-Mod Leader for Shogun 2: Foreign Invasion if you want a mod with alot of units this is for you, not only is there the 40 units CA made theres planned to be atleast 177 NEW units when its done.
-Modder in the World War I and Shogun II project. The only full scale mod for FOTS and it plays nothing like FOTS. FOTS may have Gatling guns, WW1&S2 has tekidanto samurai, SNLF, MGs, kisho snipers, assault infantry(shotguns) just to name a few.
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
Like i said in the OP, levels depends on traits and thus on characters that can have them. So per faction that has that character. Like in the example i showed:
Code:
type named character
actions moving_normal, moving_quickmarch, garrison, assault, attack, besiege, entrench, ambush, diplomacy, bribe, exchange, building_fort, building_watchtower
wage_base 200
starting_action_points 80
faction england
dictionary 2
strat_model northern_general ;faction general (level 0)
strat_model northern_heir ;faction heir (level 1)
strat_model northern_generic_king ;faction leader (level 2)
battle_model Northern_General
battle_equip gladius, chainmail shirt helmet and rectangular shield
^Where red being the character (named character means general while general means captain in this descr_character.txt file). Blue its faction and 3 levels it has which i highlighted in black.
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
So if I make the traits right I can have 10 levels per faction, that's good to know.
My mods
-Mod Leader for the Wheel Of Time This is not the beginning, but it is a beginning
-Mod Leader for Shogun 2: Foreign Invasion if you want a mod with alot of units this is for you, not only is there the 40 units CA made theres planned to be atleast 177 NEW units when its done.
-Modder in the World War I and Shogun II project. The only full scale mod for FOTS and it plays nothing like FOTS. FOTS may have Gatling guns, WW1&S2 has tekidanto samurai, SNLF, MGs, kisho snipers, assault infantry(shotguns) just to name a few.
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
Ishan, I would like to express extreme gratitude for this. I had been trying to replace my campaign map models for quite some time and wanted to say thanks a gazillion times over. +REP. With your tutorial I figured out every single mistake along the way and goit it happening.
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
Hi, I;m trying to change the strat skin of a general I have made in the king of rivers and hills submod, I'm positive I've done everything but when I start the game he has the default skin with no traits or retinue at all
what have I done worng?
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
This is pretty simple really, read the tutorial again and check every step & make sure you're launching your game with IO command or using a mod folder.
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
Yes the model does work, and I have followed this and even copied what the mod creators have done. I'm assuming it has something to do with the trait itself because when I remove the trait from he character in descr_strat , all his other traits and stuff come back.
Does that help find what the cause is? thanks
EDIT: oh my this is embarrasing, it turns out there was a spelling mistake in the character traits file, it's all fixed now
Last edited by ButtSwag; September 16, 2012 at 02:48 AM.
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
Ishan, if character gets transfered from one faction to other, will the strat-model change to the one new faction has, or is there a way to keep the old faction one? If there is, I was wondering maybe there could be possibility to have a "fake faction" that you could use for spawns of one more set of unique models, and give them away straight away to new factions to have more than 10 unique ones. Or will the model always revert to the one the new faction has?
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
Never thought of the bribing possibilities, they usually revert to the receiving faction's texture. Not sure which would happen to a custom model without the required texture:
The game continues using the existing texture
The game crashes due to a lack of texture similar to the 'out of video' error
Re: How to add strat map character levels & change battle models
I remember many many moons ago when Kingdoms first came out I managed to bribe William Wallace in the vanilla game playing as England, his texture disappeared and I was left with a silver version of him on the battle map (ironically this incident was one of the first to pique my interest in modding).
I guess the way around this, and to address the problem of bribing named characters to your side, is by simply making them available to all factions in the game in the bmdb, just like you would for any shared units that more one faction could produce. You'd do the same in the descr_model_strat.txt by listing all factions and texture address.
Logically that should work ? Just loads more lines of text.