Submod for Falcom Total War 3 [WIP]

[Alwyn]

Impressive units and UI modding!

[Metal.Pigeon]

I was suddenly inspired to work on the Papal States, whose roster is kind of a blanket of the various Italian republics since obviously there's only one Italian faction in the mod. Just as the other European unique professional units have faction-specific 15th century headgear, the Papal soldiers will wear barbutes.

Just like Milan in vanilla, they'll generally dominate skirmish battles with their Genoese crossbowmen due to their good missile attack and high defence, but there's more to the faction than just that; they have very solid infantry choices as well as a few unique cavalry units, though cavalry isn't exactly meant to be a strength of theirs and their non-crossbow missile options are subpar. Campaign-wise, I finally enabled the player to call crusades if they are playing as the Papal States (vanilla and most mods don't allow this since the Papacy wasn't meant to be playable), and while there isn't much to do in Europe once Italy is conquered, the Papacy will be in one of the better positions to muck about in the Middle East due to their geographical location and the fact that they probably won't get backstabbed by any of their Catholic neighbours as often.

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Levy units/artillery crews:

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Generic professional units:

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Generic knights: Remember that elusive "Banneret Knights" unit I kept promising that I was working on? They're done now and are shown below.

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Lancieri Comunale ("Communal Spearmen"; unique unit):

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Nobili Signori ("Noble Lords"; unique unit): Elite heavy spearmen able to form a shield wall; something almost all Western European factions lack. They're the replacement of the old Papal Guard unit.

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Fanti da Mar ("Marines"; unique unit): Venetian marines, filling a similar role to the Venetian Heavy Infantry in vanilla. I might give them warhammers in a future release. Some feathers would be nice too.

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Guardia Svizzera ("Swiss Guard"; unique unit): A contender for the strongest infantry in the game, along with the Roman varrangoi and the Japanese oban. A 15th century model is currently being made, since while the Pontifical Swiss Guard wasn't officially founded until the early 1500s, Swiss bodyguards did serve the Pope in the 1470s. Regarding the armour colours: the higher-ranking members of the Swiss Guard today wear black and gold armour, and I really didn't know how else to make them look elite without giving them knightly armour which just seemed wrong.

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Balestrieri Genovesi ("Genoese Crossbowmen"; unique unit): Elite pavise crossbowmen, with identical stats to generic crossbowmen except in three areas: they have a higher missile attack, slightly longer range (they will always get the first volley off against enemy crossbowmen), and more ammunition. In custom battles, France will now get access to them as well.

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Lanze Spezzate ("Broken Lances"; unique unit): A nice middle-ground between the Men-at-Arms and mounted knights. They'll be more mobile than knights as well because their mounts are unarmoured.

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Bande Nere ("Black Band"; unique unit): The Black Bands of Giovanni were some of the first mounted arquebusiers in Europe and reputed to have been the finest Italian troops during the Italian Wars.

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There's "only" three Catholic factions left now: Portugal (will be a clone of Castile with one or two unique units), Poland, and Denmark.

[sullivanclan1]

I like it! Will all the unit cards be there when the submod comes?

[Metal.Pigeon]

Eventually, yes. For early releases, probably not; using placeholder vanilla icons will be quicker and should be good enough for unit identification. Plus, all I really know in terms of modding is editing models, textures, and text files.

Unless you're volunteering to make them, in which case I would be very grateful and that would speed things up quite a bit.

[Metal.Pigeon]

Hey everyone, it's been a while. I've decided to put together a beta release for this mod, even though there's still a lot of work to do, as you'll likely be able to tell from the fact that only a third of the factions are complete.

So what will you be able to do? Custom and multiplayer battles are fully functional using the units and factions that I've left unlocked, although balance is still a work in progress. The campaign won't crash immediately upon starting it, but it is most certainly not in any real playable state. I'm hoping to accomplish two things with this release: 1.) to get some feedback on the unit rosters and 2.) to have some battle map playtesting so when the final release does come, it'll be reasonably balanced. Do note that everything is subject to change; not all the rosters are 100% complete (the Mongol roster is currently lacking Chinese and Middle Eastern units, for instance) and there are a few placeholder models and unit names. The unit cards are also definitely a work in progress.

Here's a small list of what to expect:

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Playable Factions:
-Kingdom of France
-The Holy Roman Empire
-Crown of Castile
-The Papal States
-Kingdom of Hungary
-The Roman Empire
-The Kamakura Shogunate
-The Mongol Khanate
-Kingdom of Dai Viet

Gameplay Changes:
-Ballistae will shoot stone projectiles by default, allowing them to do some damage to buildings. By activating flaming missiles, they will shoot flaming bolts instead for use against enemy personnel.
-Mortars will use explosive shells by default, but you can activate flaming missiles for a nice firework display at the cost of accuracy.
-Naffatuns aren't present in this build, but the Asian equivalent, named Grenadiers, can swap between explosive and incendiary ammunition, both of which have drastically different effects.
-Cannons can now fire grapeshot.
-Most heavy spear/shield infantry will be able to form a shield wall, as well as a select few sword/shield units.
-Gunpowder units can fire by rank.
-Pikemen don't have secondary weapons and halberdiers will try to maintain formation better (hopefully).
-Four distinct tiers of cavalry were created: light melee cavalry move ≈30% faster, light missile cavalry move ≈20% faster, medium cavalry move ≈10% faster, barded cavalry move at the default speed, and very heavy cavalry move slower.
-Probably a lot of stuff I can't remember

Known Issues:
-Using the "Người Thượng" unit will cause the game to crash. This is because I didn't finish the unit model/textures yet.
-Hungary's "Hákovnice" unit is missing textures because I'm a buffoon.
-Hungary's "Cranequiniers" unit will cause a crash because I made a typo.
-Lots of really wack unit descriptions. A work in progress.
-When playing custom battles, do not set it to "All" periods, since it will cause crashes with a few factions. I recommend setting it to Late period, since it will show the entire intended roster without issue.

Other:
-New splash screen art created by yours truly!

Here's a download link. To install, just download, unzip, and place it into "Medieval II Total War\mods". Just a heads up; it's a big download because I didn't optimize it by deleting all the unused files yet. Still, I hope you enjoy what's done so far. If you have suggestions or questions, the best way to contact me is probably through Discord because I have it on my phone and can respond a lot quicker.

If you don't mind me, I'm going to disappear for another month.

[sullivanclan1]

So the team may have the release done by the beginning of October at the earliest? Just curious!?

[IGdood]

Attempted to play with the Dai Viet roster; crashes.

Last few lines of the log
21:20:57.930 [system.io] [warning] open: data/descr_oil_effect.txt is missing
21:20:57.930 [system.io] [warning] open: data/descr_fire_texture_list.txt is missing
21:20:58.359 [system.io] [warning] open: data/textures/#al_outline.tga.dds is missing
21:21:00.998 [system.io] [warning] open: data/unit_models/_Units/song/viet_highlander_lod0.mesh is missing
21:21:00.998 [system.rpt] [error] Uh oh. This isn't good. No idea why, but exiting now. Sorry pal.

[Metal.Pigeon]

@sullivanclan1: October of this year, probably not. But I have a LOT more free time now than I used to, so I would say a 2020 release is likely.

@IGdood: Oops, that's the Nguoi Thuong unit that's making it crash; it's the one Viet unit model that I didn't make yet and I forgot to disable it before zipping up (I was going to wait for AUH permissions and model them off the Khmers). There's also the French Garde Ecossaise unit that has a placeholder model, and I don't actually remember if I finished the Aventuriers unit or not...everything else should work, though.

[The Wandering Storyteller]

How to install for steam? I tried but Falcom total war III doesn't work

[Metal.Pigeon]

I'm modding using a Steam copy of the game, so rest assured that it will work with Steam. I probably should've mentioned that this is a standalone download rather than something to be added on top of a pre-existing Falcom download (one of the download links seems broken which is why I decided to make it a standalone download), but I'll walk through it here:

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1. Download this mod, which will be called "OROE_Beta_v1.7z". Unzip it. Inside should be a folder called "british_isles."
2. Go to your "Steam\steamapps\common\Medieval II Total War\mods" folder and rename any already existing "british_isles" folder to something else.
3. Move the newly downloaded "british_isles" folder into your "Steam\steamapps\common\Medieval II Total War\mods" folder.*
4. Go to Steam and launch the Britannia campaign. If you see something other than the default Medieval II or Britannia campaign splash screen, it's been installed properly.

*Of course, you could do the rename thing with any of the 4 campaigns.

This is how I downloaded it, but some people might run into a "kingdoms.exe" issue on Steam. I haven't had that problem, but this seems like a good guide to fix that. Or this.

[The Wandering Storyteller]

I'm modding using a Steam copy of the game, so rest assured that it will work with Steam. I probably should've mentioned that this is a standalone download rather than something to be added on top of a pre-existing Falcom download (one of the download links seems broken which is why I decided to make it a standalone download), but I'll walk through it here:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1. Download this mod, which will be called "OROE_Beta_v1.7z". Unzip it. Inside should be a folder called "british_isles."
2. Go to your "Steam\steamapps\common\Medieval II Total War\mods" folder and rename any already existing "british_isles" folder to something else.
3. Move the newly downloaded "british_isles" folder into your "Steam\steamapps\common\Medieval II Total War\mods" folder.*
4. Go to Steam and launch the Britannia campaign. If you see something other than the default Medieval II or Britannia campaign splash screen, it's been installed properly.

*Of course, you could do the rename thing with any of the 4 campaigns.

This is how I downloaded it, but some people might run into a "kingdoms.exe" issue on Steam. I haven't had that problem, but this seems like a good guide to fix that. Or this.

Metal Steam you are a legend

I followed the instructions of installing Falcom through a Spanish youtuber and the method came exe not working

I'm going to uninstall the mod, reinstall and then try this

[The Wandering Storyteller]

I uninstalled Falcom, installed this mod, played as Korea, attacked the first settlement and it crashed

Am I doing something wrong here?

[sullivanclan1]

That is why I am waiting for the submod to come out before I play this mod again. It gave me too many problems.

[Metal.Pigeon]

I uninstalled Falcom, installed this mod, played as Korea, attacked the first settlement and it crashed

Am I doing something wrong here?

The campaign isn't functional yet, sadly. Only late-period custom battles are stable (apparently early and high periods as Japan are having some issues, so I'm looking into it and will have it fixed for the next build; there's no way to avoid crashes when you select all periods though because of hardcoded MTW2 limits).

The campaign will get pretty much a complete overhaul (new map, settlements, factions, start/end dates, etc.) but none of it has been implemented yet since it's still a WiP. It's being worked on by other people while I focus on the models, so this won't really slow down development. In fact, it'll speed it up since I won't have to worry about the campaign myself and making models takes so long anyway.

That is why I am waiting for the submod to come out before I play this mod again. It gave me too many problems.

We're making every effort to stabilize this mod, hence why so much is being reworked from scratch. Unfortunately, that's also one of the reasons it'll take a while before it's fully playable. I am cutting some corners from my original plans though to speed things up for an initial full release; there's some extra units, models, etc. that can be added later.

[The Wandering Storyteller]

Thanks Metal,

Can you please help me with the steam installation of Falcom mod? Except how do I
a steam installation for this mod?

[Metal.Pigeon]

One of my team members uses a Steam version and had this to say:

"First, I took the medieval2 file, copied it to my desktop and renamed it to "kingdoms." I placed this renamed copy in my medieval 2 folder (This is to get mods to work). I took the british_isles campaign that comes in this mod folder (ORoE) and replaced the original british_isles folder that comes with M2's standard mod folder. Lastly, I launch the game through steam, it will bring up a list of editions of the game, and I click off the Britannia Campaign. This launches the mod."

I'm not sure if Falcom is still compatible with Steam, since I downloaded it before we got the Definitive Edition update. That update is why newer owners have to do some finnicky things to get mods to work. I'm a veteran Steam owner, so I don't think I have the same issues.

EDIT: To make up for the fact that I made 6 posts in a row without any peeks at progress being made, here's a preview of the Ayyubid Caliphate. Their roster will be geared more towards infantry and heavy cavalry than other Middle Eastern factions. I'm all up for name suggestions since I don't speak Arabic.

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Adath (levy spearmen):

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Jund al-Rijal (professional spearmen):

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Mutatawwi'a (levy-tier light infantry; Jihad unit):

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Abid al-Shira (professional light infantry with precursor javelins; Ayyubid/Almohad unique unit):

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Karariya (elite heavy infantry):

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Thaqlah (professional axemen; Ayyubid unique unit):

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Tabardariyya (elite axemen; Ayyubid unique unit):

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Sa'aliks (levied archers):

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al-Rumat (professional archers):

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Noubai (elite Nubian archers; Ayyubid/Abyssinian unique unit):

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Jarkhiyya (professional crossbowmen):

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Naffatun: While they lack explosives like their East Asian counterpart, they carry shields. A fair trade in my book.

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Midfa (hand gunners):

Fursan (professional medium cavalry):

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'Rukban (semi-professional camelry; AoR/mercenary unit):

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Ghilmān (professional heavy cavalry):

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Khāṣṣakiyya(elite super heavy cavalry; Ayyubid unique unit):

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Maghrebis (semi-professional archer camelry; AoR/mercenary unit):

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Tawashi (professional archer cavalry):

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Shuj'an (elite crossbow cavalry; Ayyubid unique unit):

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Artillery Crew: The Ayyubids will have access to Ballistae, Trebuchets, Bombards, Mortars, and Mudafie (cannons)

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Units being considered:
-Mamālīk (Mamluks): Elite cavalry for the Ayyubids & Seljuks. Problem is giving them a role; elite archer cavalry?
-A proper javelin unit

[Greece]

Any news or previews about this mod ?

[Metal.Pigeon]

Sorry for the long hiatus; I've actually not done much for this mod as of late aside from deleting unused files. Here's the new Japanese captain model to prove that it isn't dead:

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[IGdood]

OWA MEN AH RUNNING FROM DA BATTLEFIELD

A SHAMEFUR DISPRAY!

[Metal.Pigeon]

Yikes, it's been a while. While the Chinese faction isn't quite finished yet, all their Song-era models are done. The Chinese have the largest roster of the East Asian factions and solid infantry and missile options, but have lackluster cavalry. Here's a small preview.

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Town Watchmen:

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Qiang Bing (Spearmen):

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Chang Qiang ("Pikemen"):

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Jin Jun ("Imperial Guard"):

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Zhong Dao Bing ("Heavy Swordsmen"):

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Qian Feng Jun ("Shock Infantry"):

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Levied Hunters:

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Gong Shou ("Archers"):

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Urban Militia:

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Zhong Nu Shou ("Heavy Crossbowmen"): I've seen some sources claiming that the Song used steel arbalests. No clue what they looked like, so I assumed they were similar in construction to European arbalests.

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Lian Nu Shou ("Repeating Crossbowmen"): Yes, they do actually have repeating crossbows.

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You Yi Qi Bing ("Light Cavalry"):

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Bei Wei Jun ("Towering Back Soldiers"): Statistically similar to the Vietnamese cataphracts, but cheaper and available earlier.

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Gong Qi Bing ("Archer Cavalry"):

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Unfinished units:

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-Wu Chong Bing: Gunners armed with European arquebuses.
-Shen Ji Ying: Elite soldiers armed with a rapid-firing multi-barreled gun.
-San Qian Ying: Elite cavalry armed with a multi-barreled gun.

Thanks to againster and the Shaoding team for being generous with their assets.