How-to: make battle_models.MODELDB more readable

**MIKE GOLF** · July 30, 2014, 03:00 PM

After playing around with things, I finally got the unit to show up. There is something about putting a unit model last that really screws things up. It wasn't until I moved the unit further up in the file that it worked. Now I just need to figure out why it is showing up as a silver surfer unit.

**caratacus** · July 30, 2014, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by MIKE GOLF

After playing around with things, I finally got the unit to show up. There is something about putting a unit model last that really screws things up. It wasn't until I moved the unit further up in the file that it worked. Now I just need to figure out why it is showing up as a silver surfer unit.

Hmm....The order in the list shouldn't make any difference. Are you sure a unit with the same name isn't already in the battle_models file? The silver surfer is usually because the texture file can't be found. Check that the battle_model entry is exactly the same name as the texture it relates to. Another possible cause might be a problem recognizing the animation file, so check that Bowman/Swordsman is used by another unit in the game. If not, substitute with another animation used by an archer which also uses a sword.

**Gigantus** · July 31, 2014, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by MIKE GOLF

After playing around with things, I finally got the unit to show up. There is something about putting a unit model last that really screws things up. It wasn't until I moved the unit further up in the file that it worked. Now I just need to figure out why it is showing up as a silver surfer unit.

I do that as a matter of habit.

Silver Surfer - the texture for that faction does not match the faction's entry in the modelDB (if that faction has an entry

), eg typo or the texture doesn't exists or is in the wrong folder.

**lampros69** · December 29, 2014, 09:45 AM

Ah, great - this is what I was looking for indeed!

**Vythodias** · September 04, 2015, 02:05 PM

After really exploring this thread, I thought I'd try my luck here as there seem to be several expert-respondents who really know what they're doing. I'll just copy-paste the entire quote from the topic: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...lls-Total-War/

Greetings all,

Amazing mod, wonderfully done. Many an hour invested in it already. My two favourite games have always been the Total War games and Elderscrolls series, and I've played both for ages, so naturally this is like crack to me. Thank you so much for making it and sharing it with the world! Now sure there are some minor niggles and quibbles, but these passing details pale into relative insignificance when considering what's been accomplished. Regarding some of the people who are whining about some of the units (mages, etc.) being overpowered - manipulating the descr_unit file is straight forward enough, so this is very easy to customize to taste, so to speak.

With that being said, I am now on turn 35 or thereabouts and I have profoundly mixed feelings, because I identify as a Nord and with the Nordic culture in general, but I'm also incredibly loyal to the Empire. Like, ferociously so. ("Nords have never been fair-weather friends", afterall) So... I tried to do a silly thing. I tried to add Imperial captains with every Nordic regiment, and I thought I successfully did it too; at least, I think I came close. I attempted this by simply copy and pasting the officer value from the Imperial faction, into the Skyrim faction; seemed pretty straight-forward to me.

It isn't. Oh, my dear God, it is not. It is complicated! Serious coding is required apparently. Ref:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...r-new-factions

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...-more-readable

It requires a level of understanding that I just don't seem to have. I looked long and hard at the battle_models.modeldb file and after a while (and a stiff drink) I began to see a discernible pattern but, I fear that I'm just not savvy enough to figure out how to alter that file. Not in such a way that doesn't risk contaminating the core modeldb file and inevitably corrupting the entire Mod as a result. So, to recap... I have Imperial Captains (Which is awesome! And, anyone who says otherwise is a filthy Stormcloak traitor) on the field, leading Nordic regiments, but they naturally render on the Battle Map with no textures - just the ghostly silver-surfer thing. Which, I don't need to tell anyone, that's kind of a mood-killer.

In conclusion - is there any brave soul... any kind fellow traveler... any bored genius, that would be knowledgeable, hospitable and accommodating enough to help me with this? I would be immeasurably grateful. Any thoughts or insight would also be welcome. Unless you're a Stormcloak, in which case I'd rather be forced to eat my own testicles then receive help from an ignorant-traitorous-bigot. (Half-joking)

Any insight into my little problem would be profoundly appreciated. Just looking for someone to break things down in dummy talk for me.

**Gigantus** · September 04, 2015, 11:22 PM

Changing your faction's captain is a two step issue:
1. An edit in a modelDB model entry
2. A change in descr_characters in the battle model reference

If you wish to use an existing battle model it is 'relatively' simple as edited modelDB files are usually formatted for easy reading. All that is required is to create a faction entry (consisting of two parts) in that model as otherwise you will have what is commonly know as 'silversurfer'.
First locate the model you wish to use. The easiest way is through the descr_character entry of the other faction - it's actually two models, one if the army is led by a family member (named_character) and the other if it is led by a regular unit (general). Underneath the sample for the general entry:

Code:

type            general

actions            moving_normal, moving_quickmarch, garrison, assault, attack, besiege, entrench, ambush, exchange
wage_base        300
starting_action_points    200

faction            england
dictionary        2
strat_model        1648_hauptmann
battle_model        Northern_Captain
battle_equip        gladius, chainmail shirt helmet and rectangular shield

Now search for that model in the modelDB file
The first part you need to concern you with is the body texture and sprite entry looking in principle like this:

Code:

7 england 
67 unit_models/_Units/1648_crew/textures/1648_crew_ug1_england.texture 
66 unit_models/_Units/1648_crew/textures/1648_crew_ug1_normal.texture 
52 unit_sprites/mongols_Mongol_Heavy_Lancers_sprite.spr

The numbers in front each line are called 'line count' and we get to that just now.
Copy a section of the faction that you had in mind and paste it right underneath this entry. Change the faction name to your new faction and change the line count number in front of it accordingly. Another number you will have to change is the 'faction count' This is the lone number at the top of this section, looking something like this, increase the number by one:

Code:

11 musketiereH 
1 1 
50 unit_models/_Units/1648_crew/musketiereH_lod0.mesh 6400 
29 
7 england 
67 unit_models/_Units/1648_crew/textures/1648_crew_ug1_england.texture 
66 unit_models/_Units/1648_crew/textures/1648_crew_ug1_normal.texture 
52 unit_sprites/mongols_Mongol_Heavy_Lancers_sprite.spr
6 france 
66 unit_models/_Units/1648_crew/textures/1648_crew_ug1_france.texture 
66 unit_models/_Units/1648_crew/textures/1648_crew_ug1_normal.texture 
52 unit_sprites/mongols_Mongol_Heavy_Lancers_sprite.spr

Now repeat these two steps for the 'attachment texture' section a bit further down.
Finally change the battle_model entry for your faction in descr_character to this model.

**Vythodias** · September 05, 2015, 04:55 PM

Thank you for the speedy response Gigantus! I really do appreciate your help.

To be honest with you, I've been at this all day now, and haven't made any progress. I tried following your instructions but I fouled up something somewhere and now the game won't even play. (I can't help but laugh) I beg your patience as I'm not very intuitive with this kind of thing. I'm right with you, successfully finding the right files, but when I get to this step here:

Now search for that model in the modelDB file
The first part you need to concern you with is the body texture and sprite entry looking in principle like this:

7 england
67 unit_models/_Units/1648_crew/textures/1648_crew_ug1_england.texture
66 unit_models/_Units/1648_crew/textures/1648_crew_ug1_normal.texture
52 unit_sprites/mongols_Mongol_Heavy_Lancers_sprite.spr

It is here where I get hopelessly lost. I don't see where this kind of code repeats anywhere near the captains in the modeldb folder. The code as it appear in my folder says

8 scotland (which I add, and this is Skyrim)
7 england (which is Tamriel in the mod)
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_officer_tx.texture
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_officer_nm.texture 0
(Nothing being mention regarding SPRITE)

Sprite isn't mentioned until much below when dealing with the units themselves.

The good news is, now that the mod doesn't play at all, I have no choice but to figure out how to read the modeldb file.

**Gigantus** · September 06, 2015, 09:11 AM

Please copy the complete segment of that model entry here so I can have a look. There is a possibility that captains are not assigned sprites, the same way sprites are not assigned to mounts.

A segment for a model runs from the line below the weird number line until the next weird number line. There are two types of these lines:

16 -0.090000004 0 0 -0.34999999 0.80000001 0.60000002

and

0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0

**Vythodias** · September 06, 2015, 11:32 AM

Sure. Thanks for sticking with me, Gigantus.

15 tamriel_captain
1 4
76 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/tamriel_captain_lod0.mesh 121
76 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/tamriel_captain_lod0.mesh 900
76 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/tamriel_captain_lod0.mesh 2500
76 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/tamriel_captain_lod0.mesh 6400
5
8 scotland
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_tx.texture
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_nm.texture 0
7 england
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_tx.texture
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_nm.texture 0
7 normans
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_tx.texture
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_nm.texture 0
4 merc
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_tx.texture
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_nm.texture 0
5 slave
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_tx.texture
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_nm.texture 0
4
7 england
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_tx.texture
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_nm.texture 0
7 normans
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_tx.texture
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_nm.texture 0
4 merc
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_tx.texture
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_nm.texture 0
5 slave
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_tx.texture
86 unit_models/_Generals_and_Captains/tamriel_general/textures/tamriel_captain_nm.texture 0
4 4 None
15 MTW2_Non_Shield 0 1 18 MTW2_Sword_Primary 0 5 horse 18 MTW2_HR_Non_Shield 0 1 18 MTW2_Sword_Primary 0 8 elephant 18 MTW2_Elephant_Crew 0 1 18 MTW2_Sword_Primary 0 5 camel 18 MTW2_HR_Non_Shield 0 1 18 MTW2_Sword_Primary 0 -1 0 0 0 0 0 0

**Gigantus** · September 06, 2015, 08:31 PM

Look like:
1. You misunderstood the copying instructions
2. and the model has got no separate attachment texture or sprite (no sprites for captains\generals is common - no attachment textures is rare)

I am going to assume that the part I marked red is the original section and the one above the section you created. The solution to your problem is to simply delete the red part, you added 'scotland' (correctly) in the top section as you described in post #69 - you must have assumed that the whole section needed copying instead of just the one faction's (england) entry.

**Vythodias** · September 07, 2015, 01:50 AM

Look like:
1. You misunderstood the copying instructions
2. and the model has got no separate attachment texture or sprite (no sprites for captains\generals is common - no attachment textures is rare)

1. Yes. Yes, I did. Sorry 'bout that.
2. I came to the same conclusion yesterday. None of the captains, officers, generals had that kind of information attached...

Because of your last message, I was not only able to get the mod up and running again, I got the officers to finally show up! This makes me disproportionately happy; I seriously shouldn't be this happy. So, thank you. Seriously, thank you so much. You've made an old man happy.

Of course, the fickle vicissitudes of fate are cruel and unkind. Now that they've successfully rendered, (thanks to you tutelage) I noticed that when in Battle, their Imperial Banner doesn't show, and their capes are not rendering either. The officer's cape and banner are the same colour - not sure if that's relevant or not, but I thought I'd mention it. I refer to actual battle standards being held by the officers. Any insight?

**Gigantus** · September 07, 2015, 02:55 AM

Normally captains do not have a banner unless their model provides it, the regular banner is carried by a random soldier at the center of the unit. TATW has their battle banners disabled via a CFG entry anyhow as far as I remember.

Seeing that you are using the same model and texture for all captains I am thinking that maybe the cape is not displayed on purpose, maybe by deleting that part of the texture, thereby rendering it invisible.

Regarding the need of an incorporated banner: the example underneath is the banner officer from my RodG mod.

**Vythodias** · September 16, 2015, 08:19 AM

Okay, after successfully having done it about a week ago, (thanks to your patient instruction, Gigantus) I was forced to do a fresh re-installation of the Mod and now I can't seem to alter the battle_models.modeldb file at all now, without CTD. I am sure, I am reading the code correctly and not making any parsing errors in the file, but still - any alteration - of the original file results in consistent CTD. Maddening.

So, I'd like to show the original code and then my own alterations to the file and if anything stands out, feel free to throw something at me:

Original code in question:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Altered Code, as rendered by me: (and quite possibly screwed up as a result)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Any mistakes that catch your attention? Because, I really have been quite careful and I am completely mystified as to why there would be a problem. Let me know what you think. Thanks in advance, by the way.

Edit: Okay... It just started working. Again.

I'm so confused.

**TAKEDA ⬤ SHINGEN** · July 02, 2018, 03:37 PM

What is "string lenght of" ? 68 (string lenght of ->) unit_models/_Units/EN_Peasant_Padded/mercenary_crossbowmen_lod0.mesh 121 (<- distance when it is used) and the last one, distance when it is used? Is it the setting for the different level of texture in the game settings?

**makanyane** · July 02, 2018, 04:08 PM

The 68 is the number of characters in
unit_models/_Units/EN_Peasant_Padded/mercenary_crossbowmen_lod0.mesh
that must be accurate or the game will crash.

the 121 should be the number of meters where it switches to the lod1.mesh setting - I think that applies at the higher level game settings - if you downgrade the video settings you might start with the lod1.mesh and not see the lod0 at all.

**TAKEDA ⬤ SHINGEN** · July 02, 2018, 04:34 PM

I'm trying to conclude my tweaks to start my AAR, but for reasons that I don't understand yet all unit that I've transferred to another faction appear as silver surfer...

Here's my battle_models txt and hope someone can give me a hand. I used the unit editor model tabs and it hasn't help.

What I'm trying to do is making Templar Sergeants, Templar Heavy Spear, Templar Longbowmen, Templar Crossbowmen, Templar Zweisomething and the Canon of the Holy Sepulchre available to all catholic faction. I've made the change in the EDU and EDB and those work well, it's really "just" this text file that I haven't figured out yet...

The modified one with Unit Editor :
Attachment 353994

The ss6.4 vanilla one :

Attachment 353995

Thank you!

**TAKEDA ⬤ SHINGEN** · July 02, 2018, 07:34 PM

And what is the differences between the battle_models in the data folder and the one in unit_models folder?

**TAKEDA ⬤ SHINGEN** · July 03, 2018, 10:15 PM

I do not know if I will be able to solve my problem, but I doubt that there is a better source than this one to help me and anyone who has the same difficulties. I will keep you informed, but of course it requires a good reading and a lot of testing, so it may takes a while.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...syntax-checker

p.s. I do not know if I will have permission, but I thought about writing a tutorial on this subject if my studies of this document and my tests are conclusive, since I feel the topics that are about this file are not satisfactory or very clear. It may also be a mere copy/paste of the one found in the link I shared, but since I didn't read it in its entirety, I'm not sure yet and the reason being that it is not present on this platform... which I find odd since TWC is THE reference for all TW games. Anywho, one thing at a time! Bonne soirée!

**Gigantus** · July 08, 2018, 09:54 PM

silver surfers - there is no texture entry in the modeldb file for that faction
battlemodels file - only the one in the unit_models folder is being used, the one in the data folder might be a RTW original (if it a different text formatting) or simply a back up.
other modeldb stuff you might want to check before embarking on your tutorial:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?631276
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?430723
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?196382
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?106265

**Sefe** · February 17, 2023, 01:18 AM

Sorry for resurrect the thread but I have a problem. I want to change the appearance of ee_spear_militia unit in the Total Vanilla Beyond mod to slav_levies of SSHIP mod.
I copy battle_models.modeldb codes of slav_levies from SHIP to ee_spear_militia in TVB. And then I copy the spirite files, texture files and and attachmentsets files. But when I launch the game, it keeps giving error and CTD ın the very first second (before the loading screen). Could you help me?