Adding New Faction from Nothing – Step by Step

[diddy381]

Thanks, I knew there must be something like that to allow you to actiivate the other files!

[diddy381]

I'm currently getting an unspecified error everytime I try to end turn for the second time of a game where that is what I get as a pop up and it is also all that the log tells me when the game crashes, is there any way to fix this?
I have attached the log if that is any help

[Miguel_80]

If you have added factions created from nothing in the campaign, make sure you have general’s bodyguard unit in the new factions.

If not, when it appears an adopted general, will fail. Usually to the second or third turn.

[Gigantus]

Ah yes, the 'Harakiri General' - a source of hilarity when watched in the right frame of mind.

Export_descr_units (EDU)

This file lists details and for us importantly ownership of (battle) units. You can add the ‘ottomans’ to the ownership of the units in the same way as in the EDB just change the ‘Find what:’ to ‘turks’ and the ‘Replace with entry:’ to ‘turks, ottomans’. You have to have a unit with the ‘general_unit’ attribute for your faction, otherwise your new generals (adopted or coming of age) will die heroically in battle immediately!

[diddy381]

Thanks for all of the help so far, I've got the game running qute well at the moment, I'm just editing the strat map models for each faction at the oment. I've decided not to do battlemap models, for now, as I almost never fight battles, I am right though in thinking that this shouldn't cause any problems for the game?
My other question is about the settlement flags, the ones that appear over a settlment when no army is present and when you can only see the settlment when it is surrounded by the fog of war, how are those flags changed, I've seen that it is the .cas files but I haven't been able to find anything on editing them so I have new ones for new factions.
I was also wondering about the sounds at the moment I have the wrong accents for factions I tried following a tutorial to change this but I was unable to get the right result I just lost all sound, however I think that this may be to do with the fact that I am modding the darthmod files and that not all of the files are found in darthmod.
Any help with these issues would be greatly appreciated.

[Gigantus]

Settlement flags - Creating a World - Editable Settlement Faction Symbols

For existing ones have a look into the ...\data\models_strat\textures folder, there you will find #banner_symbol_[faction name].tga files which are linked to the symbol_[faction_name].cas files in the model_strat folder.

[darthxeion]

Hi i read the tutorial here, and it was a great help, and so far it works, but i have one bug here, i created a shadow faction of for example venice, and everytime if this shadow faction of venice gets destroyed, he told me as venice player, that i lost the game?
Something is wrong with the system, it thinks when shadow_venice has lost the game, that original venice has lost the game too.
i checked very often the win conditions but everything is right there, and the system.log dont show me anything.
Does anyone maybe know where this failure come from?

I have now found the solution, very dumb failure:

i did twice times shadowed_by in the sm_factions, but it should be 1x shadowed_by and 1x shadowing.

[MaidenHunter]

Help me I can't get start When i enter Grand campaign There is no faction that i added to play ! so I Ignore bout it So I try to enter Grand campaign With Original Faction but .. my screen goes back to Main Menu

[Gigantus]

If you get crash back to menu then have a look into the log, there should be a detailed message about the error in there. In most cases it involves the descr_strat file.

[JackSnow]

I need some help, I'm trying to make a new faction in King of River and Hills, but it doesn't have the banner.xml file so I really dont know what to do.

[Gigantus]

See here how to extract individual files from the packs: Creating a World - Unpacking the Game

[fuzzyballs01]

I've spent two days trying to add a new faction into stainless steel 6.4, and it crashes to desktop without an error when I start it up
should I just give up? I triple checked everything already

is this even correct?

faction belgium, balanced smith
ai_label catholic
denari 15000
denari_kings_purse 2000
settlement castle
{
level large_town
region Antwerp_Province
year_founded 0
population 4800
plan_set default_set
faction_creator belgium
building
{
type core_castle_building fortress
}
building
{
type castle_barracks garrison_quarters
}
building
{
type hinterland_castle_roads c_roads
}
building
{
type castle_port c_port
}
building
{
type hinterland_farms farms
}
building
{
type equestrian stables
}
building
{
type missiles practice_range
}
building
{
type castle_siege c_catapult_range
}
}
character Aedan Cousland, named character, male, leader, age 43, x 93, y 197
traits Factionleader 1 , GovernorInclination 1 , Western_Edu 1 , GoodCommander 2 , Intelligent 2 , GoodAdministrator 2 , Austere 1 , PublicFaith 1 , CrusaderHistory 1 , BattleChivalry 1 , StrategyChivalry 3 , ReligionStarter 1
army
unit NE Bodyguard exp 3 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit Crossbow Militia exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit Crossbow Militia exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit Crossbow Militia exp 2 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit Spear Militia exp 2 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit Spear Militia exp 1 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit Light Men at Arms exp 2 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit Light Men at Arms exp 2 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit Spear Militia exp 0 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
unit Spear Militia exp 0 armour 0 weapon_lvl 0
character Vivian, princess, female, age 17, x 158, y 200
traits IAmPrincess 1 , NaturalPrincess 2 , GoodPrincess 1
character_record Payge, female, age 19, alive, never_a_leader
relative Vivian, Payge end

[Gigantus]

you have a women problem

vivian's entry is fine (no father, but may work) - her being married to paygne who has no father is not.

In other words: your family tree is completely messed up.

Wether that is the actul fatal error I don't know as there are a fair number of files that need editing and any of these may cause a fatal error.

[chassepot]

I follow this tutoriel but when i want to lunch a great campaign, i have bug. The game don't lunch my party.

I do a mistake, but i don't understant why i have a scrip error.

21:45:54.836 [script.err] [error] Script Error in data/world/maps/campaign/imperial_campaign/descr_strat.txt, at line 24, column 5
Expected start date of campaign or battle.

My line 24, is hungary but i don't have a column 5
[SPOIL]
; Custom campaign script generated by Romans Campaign Map Editor

campaign imperial_campaign
playable
england
france
hre
spain
venice
sicily
milan
scotland
byzantium
russia
moors
turks
egypt
denmark
portugal
poland
normans
saxons
end
unlockable
hungary
end
nonplayable
papal_states
aztecs
mongols
timurids
slave
end


start_date 1080 summer
end_date 1530 winter
timescale 2.00


marian_reforms_disabled
rebelling_characters_active
gladiator_uprising_disabled
night_battles_enabled
show_date_as_turns
brigand_spawn_value 20
pirate_spawn_value 28
[/SPOIL]

Thanks for your help

[Gigantus]

These are all standard factions, please describe which faction you implemented and what you did.
Which editor are you using to work with the TXT files?

[skylli]

I hope someone is still reading this
So i tried adding a new faction to DaC(maybe this guide isnt for that?), and i did all the steps but when i start the game i get a crash right before the movies would start
my log says this:
19:49:34.061 [system.rpt] [always] CPU: SSE2
19:49:34.062 [system.rpt] [always] ==== system log start, build date: Sep 5 2014 version development ===
19:49:34.066 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_0.pack
19:49:34.067 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_1.pack
19:49:34.068 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_2.pack
19:49:34.069 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_3.pack
19:49:34.070 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_4.pack
19:49:34.070 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/localized.pack
19:49:39.513 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 1, column 1
Expected 'building', found ''

and when i go to the file i can see that i didnt edit line 1 at all
and i used notepad++ for all the text changes

[Gigantus]

Well, something is definitely wrong with that file, my guess would be formatting, UTF instead of ANSI (shows in the bottom right with Notepad++). Try this: open the file with the regular Notepad, then 'save as' and in the 'Encoding' drop down choose 'ANSI'.

In Notepad++ choose the 'Encoding' tab and choose 'Encoding in ANSI'.
While in Notepad++ also check if you have this option selected: Edit\EOL Conversion\Windows (CR LF)
Might as well check your setting for new TXT files while you are at it: Settings\Preferences\New Document - It should be set to 'Windows (CR LF)' and 'ANSI' as well as 'Normal Text' in the 'Default Language' drop down.
Ditto with the 'convert tab to space' setting (M2TW coding really doesn't like that): Settings\Preferences\Language - Tab Settings should be '(Default)' and the selection box 'replace by space' should be unticked

[skylli]

So i did all the thing that you suggested and something indeed happened but now I get another crash log, different and a bit more complicated so here it is:

19:20:02.996 [system.rpt] [always] CPU: SSE2
19:20:02.997 [system.rpt] [always] ==== system log start, build date: Sep  5 2014 version development ===
19:20:03.003 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_0.pack
19:20:03.003 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_1.pack
19:20:03.005 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_2.pack
19:20:03.006 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_3.pack
19:20:03.007 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/data_4.pack
19:20:03.007 [system.io] [always] mounted pack packs/localized.pack
19:20:09.927 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction scripts (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.927 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction milan (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction normans (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction scotland (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction timurids (bdg large_town vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction byzantium (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction moors (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction hungary (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction norway (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction saxons (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction egypt (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction ireland (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction mongols (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction teutonic_order (bdg large_town vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction venice (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.940 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction england (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.941 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction poland (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.941 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction france (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.941 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction aztecs (bdg large_town vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.941 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction hre (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.941 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction portugal (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.941 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction spain (bdg city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.941 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction khand (bdg city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.941 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction balchoth (bdg large_town vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.941 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction papal_states (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.941 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction united (bdg large_city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.941 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - culture db max settlement level differs from building db max settlement level for faction slave (bdg city vs clt huge_city)
19:20:09.941 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction sicily has gap in building prior to rebuilt_bridge (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.942 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction denmark has gap in building prior to rebuilt_bridge (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.942 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction normans has gap in building prior to rebuilt_bridge (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.942 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction turks has gap in building prior to rebuilt_bridge (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.942 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction russia has gap in building prior to rebuilt_bridge (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.942 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction sicily has gap in building prior to rebuilt_bridge (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.942 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction denmark has gap in building prior to rebuilt_bridge (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.942 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction normans has gap in building prior to rebuilt_bridge (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.942 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction turks has gap in building prior to rebuilt_bridge (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.942 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction saxons has gap in building prior to wooden_castle (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.942 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction saxons has gap in building prior to castle (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.942 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction egypt has gap in building prior to wooden_castle (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.943 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction egypt has gap in building prior to castle (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.943 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction ireland has gap in building prior to wooden_castle (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.943 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction ireland has gap in building prior to castle (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.943 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction mongols has gap in building prior to wooden_castle (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.943 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction mongols has gap in building prior to castle (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:09.943 [script.err] [error] Script Error in mods/Third_Age_3_mod/data/export_descr_buildings.txt, at line 16235, column 33
Building DB error - faction russia has gap in building prior to rebuilt_bridge (unavailable at level zero)
19:20:15.556 [system.rpt] [error] Medieval 2: Total War encountered an unspecified error and will now exit.

[Gigantus]

The script errors from the EDB ( a sure sign you managed to fix the previous issue) are non fatal - it's because of the fancy way to achieve those custom settlements afaik.

Which is bad news - because the crash will now be due to editing the files needed to implement a new faction. I am not very familiar with this tutorial anymore as I did one myself based on it, so I would like you to go through my tutorial and check each and every file listed in there to see if you indeed did the necessary edit\addition. Please continue posting there.

Edit: and set your log to trace - there is a six second gap between the last log message and the actual crash, an eternity in log terms. To do so, edit this log section line to look like this: level = * trace

[UrienRheged]

I know this is probably a bit useless by now but this guide is absolutely genius. I've added two factions now, they both work perfectly. Thank you SO MUCH, original poster.