BigMap 0.99 for M2TW

[Dagda]

Understood; following reading that thread (which I hadn't seen before) though, if the presence/lack of roads can have such a straightforward impact on basic pathfinding, it seems prudent just to make dirt roads standard, particularly given the timeframe of M2TW and that there were some form of dirt roads (often the remnants of old Roman roads) in most areas.

I second this motion!

[repman]

@redmark
there will be no scotland stall if you enhance the movement points as in my addon to Spurius map

repman

[vindex246]

My main concern as we go forward is the compatibility of mods based on the Big Map 0.99 and the upcoming patch. When the patch comes out, it MAY make changes to some of the files used to create the Big Map ... presumably Spurius is going to come out rapidly with a post-patch Big Map, correct? What I don't want to do is make a lot of provinces and changes and then have to do it all over again once the patch comes. Thoughts?

[DrJambo]

Spurius,

Nice work!

Just hope that with all the requests and features being added, that there will remain an option just to use the basic stuff. For instance, all I'd like to see is the bigger map, proportionally adjusted unit movement points, and the land bridge from England.

is it possible to keep what a user wants tick-box based (i.e. optional)?

[lawngnome]

I will third the request for basic roads in every province. By this point travel was much easier than 1,000 years ago, but still not streamlined. So upgrades of 'paved roads' and 'highways' would work better than just dirt/paved. It does also seem to help the AI when there are roads present, so the AI will have an easier time getting around from the very beginning with dirt roads. This may be a lot of work, though, as many CA roads are illogical and poorly done in some areas, so they need to be redone

[Vimes]

@DrJambo - I agree with what you have requested. Whilst the feature list that is being added / considered seems to be really impressive I do find myself only wanting those features that you have noted, at least for my first few campaigns.

[Spurius]

My main concern as we go forward is the compatibility of mods based on the Big Map 0.99 and the upcoming patch. When the patch comes out, it MAY make changes to some of the files used to create the Big Map ... presumably Spurius is going to come out rapidly with a post-patch Big Map, correct? What I don't want to do is make a lot of provinces and changes and then have to do it all over again once the patch comes. Thoughts?

OK, first a thx back to everyone enjoying it and using it. K, bit of a long post:

Anything the patch does to break the map shall be instantly fixed, if neccessary (but it won't).

On the other hand, since EVERYBODY is free to use BigMap in any way he wishes, with a credit, and people have modded the maps to smithereens already real cross-compatibility between versions etc is a fast fading thing, of course. Can only help people with advice on how to easily glue any changes they made into a newer version, if they need help with that, which I doubt

Will also put up a 'dev kit version' this weekend with all versions so far in one file, plus all options in separate folders for easy cut and paste DIY work, with the latest version ofcourse, a mod switcher version with the movement points.

Later versions of that kit will have empty 120 and 199 kits, too. Just 'settlement_1' etc and 1 one faction on the map, ready for anything.

Will make a last .99h version first this weekend - finally have some spare time again - mod switcher version, new movements and latest version maps, and with just a plain vanilla campaign, no extra stuff.
Hope it's going to be savegame compatible, no guarantees tho - different coastlines, have to change ports etc ...

Then will I make the switch to 1.0, which will be a definite goodbye to old campaigns - ALL geographical changes and then some will totally alter the layout, so have to make a clean break somewhere. Will include a vanilla campaign, by my version of it.

Late Era is on hold until I get my historical info, hopefully Saturday.

OK, basic roads everywhere sounds fair enough, but the movement points already do a lot, as repman has pointed out. It will already alter ai behaviour on the camp map significantly.

After that, it's unpacker time I hope, and it's creating REAL new maps from scratch for me - also on a free-for-all basis - and dive into some hardcore coding.

All huge maps, with empty sets of files etc, covering just about any area I feel like doing. Carribbean & Middle America, Meditteranean Islands/Holy Land, and Eastern Map with good part of India etc, all based on sat maps (well, the layout, initially) are on my list so far.

But any cool suggestions are always welcome - just as a general area - they will only be available in DIY format, for modders only. No going to include any campaign with those.

Guess you'll be seeing fully modded campaigns on them in a jiffy anyway, once it lands on the harddrive of the right fanatic ...

So next update this weekend.

[Rothgar]

You make me feel like dancing

[Pode]

Spurius, you drink for free the next time you're in Washington DC (so long as you send me a PM first).

[turd]

u need to smooth it out considerably in future versions to bring it to the same quality as CAs work

[Damocles]

Spurious,

I have been considering a late era game as well. Though I was thinking of putting it at the apex of the Angevin Empire.

The main problem of course, is that there were alot more factions in 1300, and as of now, we're forced to only use existing factions. So Castile and Aragon have to be 'combined', etc. But at least with the Angevins, Sicily would be controlled by the French, and the Sicily faction might be possible to be modified to represent another...Or maybe just have Sicily represent the Angevins. Though, Charles of Anjou always did what his brother, King Louis said.

It was interesting since at this point, Charles of Anjou was King of Sicily and Naples, Overlord of Tunisia and even controlled the Morea and Durazzo and a bunch of Aegean islands.

I am personally a fan of 'limited' focus eras, but with say 1 year per turn, or 0.5 per turn. For instance, I am also considering a Crusader States mod, that would only last from 1090 to 1200ish but would be 0.5 per turn. But first I would have to figure out how to create a Crusader Horde faction.

[Spurius]

u need to smooth it out considerably in future versions to bring it to the same quality as CAs work

Yes, you are right there - or were, maybe .

Here's the simple version of the considerably smoothed already .99h map,

normal campaign, with extra movement points, and simple version of my agents mod (can both be disabled).

Multi-option verion coming up later this weekend, same for devkit and Late Era update.

This version has roads everywhere, still need to put evey army back in his settlement though - will be fixed in the next update, too.

This is the modswitcher version and creates its own BigMap folder, but no knowledge of those is required.

Installation is a total nobrainer, just point it to your normal M2TW folder, and Install. It will create all the necessary files and launch Medieval 2 Total War with BigMap, and next time you just click the Launch_BigMap.bat it created in the main M2TW folder.

Has identical loader screens for now, but better than nothing, I thought. Will add a full set next time.

To disable the agents mod go to the BigMap\data folder and delete the 2 files that begin with 'export', to remove the added movement points, delete the file that begins with 'descr'.

Download Link 1

Download Link 2

(will update the OP tomorrow if I have the full version done)

[Re Berengario I]

You'd also need to fix the descr_event.txt file concerning positions of the various events like black plague, earthshakes, etc...

I will do it myself sooner or later (busy with other more important things atm) like probably other modders who are including your map in their work, but if someone want to play with just your mod installed it's something you need to take a look at.

BTW, thanks for all your efforts (that saved me a lot of time) as this message could wrongly be seen like a whining post

[Vimes]

How strange....

Installed your .99h and it started up as it should on finishing the install and so I started a game, to find....

No sound, apart from the music.

Tried again, starting this time from the bat file, as noted, with the same result. Checked the sound settings and everything is ok there. Started a regular campaign, no mod, and the sound is back to normal.

So no sound, apart from music, for me...!!!

[Rothgar]

Good stuff man, how would we mesh this with DLV?

[Spurius]

How strange....

Installed your .99h and it started up as it should on finishing the install and so I started a game, to find....

No sound, apart from the music.

Tried again, starting this time from the bat file, as noted, with the same result. Checked the sound settings and everything is ok there. Started a regular campaign, no mod, and the sound is back to normal.

So no sound, apart from music, for me...!!!

Yep, due to a file mix-up the sound got bugged (was trying to change things there too, sorry ) , and two other files from the late era mod, since I had to test on that - it has everything with harbours etc.

Reuploaded to both links above, so in case of doubt, or any problem, those versions are okidoki now, just redownload from either link and reinstall, no need to throw anything away, just restart your campaign - or you get a few events a bit too early.

Anyway, all fixed.

[Vimes]

Thanks for the quick update to resolve the sound issues, it now works fine

I read within this thread of some peoples concerns over the limited range of movement, more of a problem now with such a large map. It is great that you have increased the movement of each character but was it really necessary to also have roads built...? IMO increasing the range of movement would have been suffice without adding roads to the settlements. I do like starting a campaign from the basics and building the roads between those settlements was all part of that.
I would think that with the increase in movement the AI isn't going to suffer just because it hasn't got roads...?

[Spurius]

It is great that you have increased the movement of each character but was it really necessary to also have roads built...?

Necessary is a very big word in my vocabulary, Vimes

No roads version descr_strat.txt for .99h

Just unzip to BigMap\data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign and start a new campaign - no roads anywhere.

[Tom Servo]

Spurius it would be great if you could upload a stripped version with just the increased sized and maybe the heightmap options without all the other changes.

[Spurius]

Well, if you read a few posts back carefully - this IS totally strippable - giving you exactly what you want, and with the devkit and full version coming up where that is an option too - you can glue at your hearts' desire, I think.

Still wondering if sep downloads or one big installer is the way to go, that's all. Could make one basic version, give it a registry key so any updates find it automatically (also check the right version ) and the rest would be separate patches for that, just dl what you want extra and patch - could be total nobrainers too, while a selection menu could be a bit overwhelming, maybe - and has only 32 flavours, max - not kidding, that might not be enough.