How to move a settlement/town/port/farm/trade node

[uanime5]

To move a settlement/town/port/farm/trade node you will need to:

1) Download the Official mod tools using Steam.

2) Either purchase a version of 3D Max or download a student version of 3D Max.
http://students.autodesk.com/

3) Ensure you have put the relevant version of the cs2_exporter.dle plugin (default location "total war shogun 2\modding\max_exporter") in both the "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\[version of 3D Max]\plugins" and "C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\[version of 3D Max]\plugins" folders. The [version of 3D Max] part refers to the name of which ever version of 3D Max you're using. If you don't put the plugin in the correct folder you will not be able to save your work as CS2 files.

I recommend reading this tutorial on the official modding tools
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=564514

and watching this video on 3D Max layers before attempting this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voxomHt7pkU

I'd also like to thank for spartan_warrior all his help.

3D Max

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1) Using 3D max open the "total war shogun 2\modding\raw_data\EmpireDesignData\campaign_maps\sho_japan\Shogun2.max".

2) In the region you wish to move something select the existing settlement (orange), farm (purple), town (brown), or port (green) and move it to the new location. In this example I'm moving a rice farm in the Omi region.



Unsure if removing a settlement from a road will affect the income of this settlement.

3) Hide all layers except the Settlements.cs2 [ports], Settlements.cs2 [settlements], Settlements.cs2 [towns], and Settlements.cs2 [trade nodes].



4) Hold down the <Ctrl> key and press the <A> key to select everything.

5) Press the 3DS button and in the pop-up menu select "Export", then select "Export selected". Export this file as the settlements.CS2 in the campaign_map folder you're editing.

Bob Part 1

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Bob is located in the "total war shogun 2\modding\binaries" folder.

1) In the "Raw Data" column go to the "EmpireDesignData/campaign_map" folder and check the "sho_japan" box. On the pop-up menu select "all". Then press the "start" button to build the regions.esf and pathfinding.esf.





2) Don't worry about any orange error messages. However the red messages mean that you've made a mistake in one of the files, so you need to edit the files it mentions.

3) One BOB has finished you need to add the new regions.esf and pathfinding.esf from the "total war shogun 2\modding\working_data" folder to a mod pack using the Pack File Manager (PFM). The regions.esf and pathfinding.esf need to go in the campaign_maps\sho_japan folder.

Bob Part 2

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Bob is in two parts because if you try to make the startpos.esf without using a mod pack containing the regions.esf and pathfinding.esf you made in Bob Part 1 then TWS2 will use the vanilla versions of these files instead. As the vanilla versions don't contain your changes the startpos.esf also won't contain your changes.

1) In the "Raw Data" menu go to the "EmpireDesignData/campaign" folder and check the "jap_shogun" box. On the pop-up menu select "all". Then press the "start" button to build the startpos.esf.



2) In order to create the startpos.esf BOB needs to start TWS2; so when prompted start TWS2. If you have the Steam version then you also need to have Steam running before you start TWS2.

When asked if you want to load a mod pack select the mod pack you made in Bob Part 1 that contains the pathfinding.esf and regions.esf you made. If you don' use a mod pack then TWS2 will use the vanilla versions of these files and produce a startpos.esf that won't work.

3) Don't worry about any orange error messages. However the red messages mean that you've made a mistake in one of the files, so you need to edit the files it mentions.

4) One BOB has finished you need to add the new startpos.esf from the "total war shogun 2\modding\working_data" folder to a mod pack using the Pack File Manager (PFM). The startpos.esf has to go in the campaigns\jap_shogun folder.

Once you've made your mod pack start up TWS2, select your mod, and the changes you made should be available. If you get the vanilla version of this campaign then it's possible that TWS2 is ignoring your esf files due to a problem in one of them.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Ygge]

This is great! +rep. Do you plan to go deeper and figure out how one add new regions and such?

[uanime5]

I have tried to add new farms and towns by cloning existing ones but had problems because I didn't know how to save the CS2 files. So I do plan to try and add one when I have some more time. I predict my main problem will be getting the startpos to contain any new town/farm.

Adding or removing regions will be more difficult as it involves figuring out how regions work in TWS2.