Mod Horizons - Rome Total War

[Shwei]

Rome Total War - Mod Horizons


Mod Horizons is a short mod for the main campaign of Rome Total War 1.5, created to make the campaign last a bit longer, and to make it more fun.

Here are some images of the Mod:
(If the images don't load, you can check them here: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/nYyv4O)











Although the Mod is lore friendly, it is not historically accurate. The goal is be more fun and more balanced for the playable factions.
As a quick summary, I have played Rome Total War for more than 1500 hours, and I took around 200 hours to create this Mod.
I got bored to see the campaign going the same way over and over again, that's why I created it.
I hope you can enjoy it!


Installation

To install, you just need to drag the mod files to the Game folder, and delete 2 files "map.rwm" and "map_heights.hgt" present on the "Base" game folder.
The installing instructions are on the video right bellow.




Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4niy...=GustavoPassos


More detailed info

Here are all the changes made on the campaign map:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Mod by: Gustavo Passos (Shwei)
Contact: gutogamesofc@hotmail.com


Modding info sources:

http://rtw.heavengames.com/rtw/mods/...ns/index.shtml
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...w-campaign-map
http://rtw.heavengames.com/rtw/mods/...es/index.shtml
http://rtw.heavengames.com/rtw/mods/...uildings.shtml
http://rtw.heavengames.com/rtw/mods/...ry/index.shtml
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...n-map-creation

[alhoon]

The most impressive to me was... the simulation. How did you manage to put the game in simulation? I would love to do that and jump in the game after 100+ turns.

[Leonardo]

The most impressive to me was... the simulation. How did you manage to put the game in simulation? I would love to do that and jump in the game after 100+ turns.

Agreed. I have always wanted to play a mod like this one.

Could you please correct the embedded video (installation) in the OP as it uses the old video BBCode to the new BBCode?



Nice work, thanks for sharing.

+rep

Btw... Why not upload it to TWC Download as it is smaller than 100 Mb? Of course if you can't do that I can do that for you, just let me know.

[Shwei]

The most impressive to me was... the simulation. How did you manage to put the game in simulation? I would love to do that and jump in the game after 100+ turns.

Thanks! To make the simulation work, I had to unlock the "Rebels" faction on the game files, and play with them. I just needed to press "End turn" every turn, and it would go as a simulated campaign, considering that the AI usually faces the rebels as an enemy all the time.

[Leonardo]

Ah, that is exactly what the Rebel Commander mod does.


@alhoon: That's easy to do that since it is just a simple script.

[Shwei]

Agreed. I have always wanted to play a mod like this one.

Could you please correct the embedded video (installation) in the OP as it uses the old video BBCode to the new BBCode?



Nice work, thanks for sharing.

+rep

Btw... Why not upload it to TWC Download as it is smaller than 100 Mb? Of course if you can't do that I can do that for you, just let me know.

Thank you so much! It took it quite some time to finish it. I hope you can have some fun with the mod if you ever get to test it

I don't know how to aply the new video BBcode [Edit 1: Just found out ]

[Edit 2: Nevermind the following sentence, I've just been able to upload the files. Thank you anyway] I would be very much appreciated if you could upload the Mod on the TWC Download section for me! I tried to do it, but I don't have permission for some reason, probably because I've just created this account.

[Leonardo]

Thank you so much! It took it quite some time to finish it. I hope you can have some fun with the mod if you ever get to test it

I don't know how to aply the new video BBcode [Edit 1: Just found out ]

[Edit 2: Nevermind the following sentence, I've just been able to upload the files. Thank you anyway] I would be very much appreciated if you could upload the Mod on the TWC Download section for me! I tried to do it, but I don't have permission for some reason, probably because I've just created this account.

You're welcome.

Of course I can do that, no problem, and here it is.

[Leonardo]

I installed the mod and after I checked that in-game I took a picture just to show how it looks like when playing Julii.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I also took the liberty to repack the archive a bit, only for personal use of course, and what I did was this.

1. Extracted the archive into an empty folder
2. Compared the file structure with vanilla and added the missing folders
3. Moved the mod files into the correct folder and overwrite when prompted
4. Created a new archive with better file structure than the original archive had


I even used the repacked archive to install the mod and as you can see in the image I managed to install the mod correctly.

So, this campaign as Julii will intresting to play and I can hardly wait to fight a battle plus discover the world by using the agents.

[Shwei]

I installed the mod and after I checked that in-game I took a picture just to show how it looks like when playing Julii.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I also took the liberty to repack the archive a bit, only for personal use of course, and what I did was this.

1. Extracted the archive into an empty folder
2. Compared the file structure with vanilla and added the missing folders
3. Moved the mod files into the correct folder and overwrite when prompted
4. Created a new archive with better file structure than the original archive had


I even used the repacked archive to install the mod and as you can see in the image I managed to install the mod correctly.

So, this campaign as Julii will intresting to play and I can hardly wait to fight a battle plus discover the world by using the agents.

Wow! Thank you for testing it! I'm happy to know that it worked haha. I'm glad to know that you intend to discover the map "again" haha, I believe that you will be surprised by some cities locations and also by some possibilities of expansion
I wish you some great fun In the meantime, I will be playing it as well to try to find any possible space that could have an improvement or even a fix.

[King Athelstan]

That presentation is stunning! Nice work dude! And the mod itself doesn't look half bad either

+rep and all that

[Leonardo]

You're welcome.


I forgot to tell you another thing and that's about updating the mod on TWC Download.

- Since I uploaded your mod on TWC Download, you are the author but not the uploader
- When you want to update it (need to have 25 posts first), remember to change who is the uploader in the "New Uploader" line otherwise you won't able to update it
- Post here regarding anything about TWC Download


I just notice there is a duplicate (yours) on TWC Download, so I am gonna to delete the upload I did yesterday.

[PrimoTw]

Shwei, thats incredible! Really outstanding presentation! From a fellow Brazilian player and TWC Member I could not be more proud of your work! This is just incredible professional.

Gonna test your mod soon when I have more time, but what about the faction and unit changes? Theres something detailing?

[Shwei]

That presentation is stunning! Nice work dude! And the mod itself doesn't look half bad either

+rep and all that

Thank you so much! I was planning to use only text, but the images work better for a more clear understading. Let me know what you think of the mod, if you get any interest on testing it

[Shwei]

You're welcome.


I forgot to tell you another thing and that's about updating the mod on TWC Download.

- Since I uploaded your mod on TWC Download, you are the author but not the uploader
- When you want to update it (need to have 25 posts first), remember to change who is the uploader in the "New Uploader" line otherwise you won't able to update it
- Post here regarding anything about TWC Download


I just notice there is a duplicate (yours) on TWC Download, so I am gonna to delete the upload I did yesterday.

Yes! Thanks to the Mod Administrator "lolIsuck" I was able to upload it, despite the fact that I was a new user in the forum. But I still thank you for all your help and support!

[Shwei]

Shwei, thats incredible! Really outstanding presentation! From a fellow Brazilian player and TWC Member I could not be more proud of your work! This is just incredible professional.

Gonna test your mod soon when I have more time, but what about the faction and unit changes? Theres something detailing?

I appreciate that! At first, I was only planning to display it on my portifolio at Artstation, and due to the amount of images and the strucutre of the presentation itself, I was a bit worried about being able to show the changes here in the forum. But thankfully it went all right

About the changes, some of the starting units for some factions were "upgraded"/buffed to give them a better chance of survival and even expansion, such as the seleucid empire, carthage and macedon. And although there are no new units on the mod, the configuration of the campaign map now allows the factions, a chance to improve and recruit their best units, which was not likely to happen in the vanilla game.

In detail, the changes to the factions were minor in terms of units, especially because I didn't want to create a new stats/cost structure for them. Instead, I felt that the game needed more balancing on the starting lands and the expansion possibilities, in a way that it would take longer for one faction to overcome another. At the beginning of the main campaing on the Vanilla game, there are some weakened factions such as Macedon, Seleucids and Parthia, that would normally be destroyed even before they get access to their best units. Now, these factions have a chance to protect themselves properly, and even to expand enough to maybe become an empire. Also, the Romans used to expand faster than any other faction, while the others would have to rely on luck to maybe get a chance to expand. Now the Romans will take more time before starting to expand as usual, due to some small threats around them. That gives the other factions enough time to get prepared for a more fair fight, making the campaign's course a matter of luck, instead of a matter of time for the romans to dominate as usually happens on the vanilla game. You may also see different outcomes on the expansion of some factions as it is shown on the Simulation 1 and 2 on the post.

Overall, those were the biggest targets of this mod. To give the playable factions a more fair fight, and a less predicted campaign outcome.

Please let me know if you have any questions, I will be happy to answer

I hope you can enjoy the mod!

[Lanjane]

Hello Gustavo!

Thank you very much for your awesome contribution to the community.
May I ask you the permission to use this map in a collection of provincial campaigns I gathered for my Barbarian Empires mod? - https://www.moddb.com/mods/lanjanes-barbarian-empires
Of course you will be fully credited in the campaign description!

Also may I invite you to our Rome: Total War modding community Discord?
We have a lot of modders, from the veterans including Europa Barbarorum developers team, Aradan, Makanyane, Gigantus and other famous people from TWC, to the new modders who just start to embrace the fun of ancient history and modding. We also have historians, archaeologists, artists and YouTubers in our community, and it's a nice and cozy place to talk about history, art and mods.
I'll leave a link just in case:
https://discord.com/invite/fsy69Ky

[Shwei]

Hello Gustavo!

Thank you very much for your awesome contribution to the community.
May I ask you the permission to use this map in a collection of provincial campaigns I gathered for my Barbarian Empires mod? - https://www.moddb.com/mods/lanjanes-barbarian-empires
Of course you will be fully credited in the campaign description!

Also may I invite you to our Rome: Total War modding community Discord?
We have a lot of modders, from the veterans including Europa Barbarorum developers team, Aradan, Makanyane, Gigantus and other famous people from TWC, to the new modders who just start to embrace the fun of ancient history and modding. We also have historians, archaeologists, artists and YouTubers in our community, and it's a nice and cozy place to talk about history, art and mods.
I'll leave a link just in case:
https://discord.com/invite/fsy69Ky

Sure! Feel free to do it! I hope it can be of use in your mod. If you need anything else in particular, please let me know

I thank you for the oportunity! I would be happy to part of the Discord group for sure!