Adding in NEW FACTIONS to Rome Remastered

[komisarek]

We now have a possibility to add brand new factions to Rome Remastered. There is no limit, but the memory requirements will grow with each faction expotentially. Total Conquest at present has 51 factions with no problem.

Steps:
- Add all ownership entries in export_descr_unit. Minimum one unit.
- Add entires to export_descr_buildings
- Add entry to descr_standard (if new symbol). This might involve creating a new symbol file if you’ve run out of space. There are 4 per image here.
- New sounds (not explored by me) probably need to be added in the soundbank if you’re using a new culture
- Descr_sm_factions_difficulty.json contains faction difficulties
- Fill out a new entry in descr_sm_factions. If making a new faction banner, you can copy an existing cas and edit the texture by editing the file in a text editor. In my personal experience I had to scale it down though. Notepad++ is just fine, even if the texture name is of a different length than the original.
- Descr_sm_faction_logos.txt needs a new entry
- Descr_character.txt needs entries for all character types for new faction
- New entry required in descr_banners. These paths will also point you to files you need to change for the faction battle banners
- UI folder: faction_icons, and various unit info as well as captain banners (alive, rebels and dead). Game can ignore missing captain portraits.
- Text in campaign_description
- Text in expanded_bi. I like to prepare all entries at the bottom of the file for each faction
- Faction symbols in menu\symbols\fe_buttons_feral
- Add the faction to descr_faction_groups
- Add win conditions to descr_win_conditions.txt
- Descr strat

- You should have descr_sounds.txt and vanilla's (or edited) sounds folder in your mod
- Run the game with a command "snd_save_events". This will create music states. Otherwise you'll crash on custom battle.


You'll need to add an admiral texture as well, otherwise the ship will be transparent.
Descr_event_images < or something like that needs update to switch statements. Just add new ids where eliminated videos are.

[Ocyalos]

In Descr_event_images.txt the switch statement refers to a number:

switch		{
			case 0
			{
				movie		 center 320 240	data/fmv/lose/julii_eliminated.mov
			}
			case 1
			{
				movie		 center 320 240	data/fmv/lose/brutii_eliminated.mov
			}

Which number is the integer after "case" referring to?

[komisarek]

In Descr_event_images.txt the switch statement refers to a number:

switch        {
            case 0
            {
                movie         center 320 240    data/fmv/lose/julii_eliminated.mov
            }
            case 1
            {
                movie         center 320 240    data/fmv/lose/brutii_eliminated.mov
            }

Which number is the integer after "case" referring to?

In all honesty I didn't check these yet. I imagine `case`refers to faction ID, but I have a feeling that the `lose` video is actually described somewhere else. I'll look into it in the future and update the guide wtih any findings.

[Kylan271]

It is appreciated your work Komisarek. In adding factions, please be mindful of the starting dates of such Kingdoms, as some did not exist at the RTW start date.

[komisarek]

It is appreciated your work Komisarek. In adding factions, please be mindful of the starting dates of such Kingdoms, as some did not exist at the RTW start date.

Mods are a way to express creativity - if I want to add a Skeleton Horde invading from the Scottish Highlands, I will

[Kylan271]

Mods are a way to express creativity - if I want to add a Skeleton Horde invading from the Scottish Highlands, I will

There was a German mod I think that had Indian mythos monsters including skeletons, and a huge snake Kali and Monkey monster. My files were lost due to exHD crash.. so I am trying to go by memory. I used them before with HR Taxilia etc in the eastern map. It was in a Russian mod site.

[Ocyalos]

In descr_event_images.txt, the faction destroyed videos have the following case-statement:

case default{
movie center 320 240 data/fmv/lose/rebels_eliminated.mov
}

Apparently, it means you don't have to update the file if you add a new faction as long as you dont care to see a rebels flag when that faction is destroyed.

[Ocyalos]

After adding a new faction (syracuse), I get the following messages in log, does anyone know what I have to do to get rid of them?

faction 'syracuse' has no general unit not tied to a major event in the classic unit list!
faction 'syracuse' has no general unit not tied to a major event in the rebalance unit list!

I added the two general units of the greeks for syracuse:

export_descr_units.txt

type             greek general's guard cavalry
dictionary       greek_generals_guard_cavalry      ; General's Armoured Bodyguard
category         cavalry
class            heavy
voice_type       Heavy_1
voice_indexes    0 1 2
soldier          greek_heavy_cavalry, 12, 0, 1.0 
mount            generals horse
mount_effect     elephant -8, camel -4
attributes       sea_faring, general_unit, hide_forest, hardy, general_unit_upgrade "marian_reforms"
formation        1.5, 4, 3, 6, 3, square
stat_health      2, 0
stat_pri         10, 9, no, 0, 0, melee, blade, piercing, spear, 25 ,1
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         12, 5, no, 0, 0, melee, simple, piercing, sword, 25 ,1
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  11, 6, 0, metal
stat_sec_armour  0, 1, flesh
stat_heat        2
stat_ground      0, 0, -6, 0
stat_mental      10, disciplined, highly_trained
stat_charge_dist 40
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 1020, 130, 110, 160, 1020
ownership        greek_cities, seleucid, macedon, syracuse
ethnicity greek_cities, Rhodos
ethnicity seleucid, Babylonia
ethnicity macedon, Macedonia
ethnicity syracuse, Sicilia_Graecus




type             greek general's guard cavalry early
dictionary       greek_generals_guard_cavalry_early      ; General's Bodyguard
category         cavalry
class            heavy
voice_type       Heavy_1
voice_indexes    0 1 2
soldier          greek_medium_cavalry, 12, 0, 1.0 
mount            generals horse
mount_effect     elephant -8, camel -4
attributes       sea_faring, general_unit, hide_forest, hardy
formation        1.5, 4, 3, 6, 3, square
stat_health      2, 0
stat_pri         11, 6, no, 0, 0, melee, simple, piercing, spear, 25 ,1
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, no, no, none, 25 ,1
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  3, 7, 0, leather
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        1
stat_ground      0, 0, -6, 0
stat_mental      10, disciplined, highly_trained
stat_charge_dist 40
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 690, 130, 70, 110, 690
ownership        greek_cities, seleucid, macedon, slave, syracuse
ethnicity greek_cities, Rhodos
ethnicity seleucid, Babylonia
ethnicity macedon, Macedonia
ethnicity slave, Hyperboria
ethnicity syracuse, Sicilia_Graecus

Edit: I just now noticed that the new faction also does not get these general units to be selected in custom battles. For some reason it does not get ownership of them even though I added syracuse to ownership? What is going on here?



Edit2: Nevermind, I named my export_descr_unit.txt wrong (export_descr_units.txt) so thats why my changes never had any effect...

[Ocyalos]

You'll need to add an admiral texture as well, otherwise the ship will be transparent.

Where do I have to add it? I can't find the file nor folder. My navies are invisible on strat map, only their faction style sail is visible.

[Gen.jamesWolfe]

Where do I have to add it? I can't find the file nor folder. My navies are invisible on strat map, only their faction style sail is visible.

descr_character.txt might be what you need to look at. Not sure though: never added a faction before. It's terra incognita.

[Ocyalos]

Unfortunately, no. The only reference to navies/admirals in descr_character.txt are the following:

...
type        admiral

actions moving_nortmal, quick_sail, bockade, disembark, exchange
wage_base 50

faction    romans_julii
dictionary    15
start_card    data/ui/roman/agents/temp_admiral.tga
strat_model    julii_admiral

faction    romans_brutii
dictionary    15
start_card    data/ui/roman/agents/temp_admiral.tga
strat_model    brutii_admiral
...

Adding or changing these strat_models seems to have no effect, for old factions as well as for new factions. There even seem to be no [factionid]_admiral file anywhere.

Edit: I found it! data/descr_model_strat.txt

Each of the admiral types needs texture lines for each faction that uses them. I solved it like that for my mod:

descr_character.txt has set strat_model for all admirals of all factions to slave_admiral:

type			admiral
actions			moving_normal, quick_sail, blockade, disembark, exchange
wage_base		100

(repeat for every faction, replacing FACTIONID accordingly)
{
faction			FACTIONID 
dictionary      1
strat_card		data/ui/roman/agents/temp_admiral.tga
strat_model		slave_admiral
}

descr_model_strat.txt

type				slave_admiral
skeleton			strat_navy
male
(repeat for every faction, replacing FACTIONID accordingly) {

pbr_texture FACTIONID, data/models_strat/textures/boat_05_pbr.tga
texture FACTIONID, data/models_strat/textures/boat_05_base_rebels.tga
}

[The_Duluthian]

I went through steps and crashes during the splash screen. I thought I was doing everything rite. I'm using the vanilla Egyptian logo for the time being. Here's the contents from the scripting_log:

Error in descr file Q:\Feral\Steam\Workshop\2720073057/data/descr_sm_factions.txt, line 1707::12: "Expected ':' after key ''"
Script Error in Q:\Feral\Steam\Workshop\2720073057/data/descr_sm_factions.txt, at line 1707, column 12. DATABASE_TABLE error found : error reading record from file


Missing faction menu icon piece menu/symbols/fe_buttons_feral/symbol128_azania.tga!
Missing faction menu icon piece menu/symbols/fe_buttons_feral/symbol128_azania_grey.tga!
Missing faction menu icon piece menu/symbols/fe_buttons_feral/symbol128_azania_roll.tga!
Missing faction menu icon piece menu/symbols/fe_buttons_feral/symbol128_azania_select.tga!

Here's the descr_sm_factions entry:

"azania":
{
;;name and description
"string": "AZANIA",
"description": "AZANIA_DESCR",


;;culture and (default?) character ethnicity
"culture": "egyptian",
"ethnicity": "egyptian",


;;tags for faction groups
"tags": [ "fgroup_fertility_temple", "fgroup_fun_temple", "fgroup_justice_temple", "fgroup_law_temple", "fgroup_healing_temple", ],


;;namelists
"namelists":
{
"men": "egypt_men",
"women": "egypt_women",
"surnames": "egypt_surnames",
},


"logos":
{
;;logo to use in the loading screens (seperate as sprite sheets aren't loaded at that point)
"loading screen icon": "data/ui/faction_icons/egypt.tga",


;;standard index as declared in descr_standards (4 per page)
"standard index": 5,
"rebel standard index": 24,


;;logo index as declared in descr_sm_faction_logos (1 per page)
"logo index": 5,
"rebel logo index": 20, ;24,


;;flag models to be used on the strat map when a settlement is unoccupied
"strat symbol model": "data/models_strat/symbol_egypt.CAS",
"strat rebel symbol model": "data/models_strat/symbol_egypt_rebel.CAS",
},


;;faction colours (some base game factions may have hardcoded overrides)
"colours":
{
"primary": [ 255, 255, 140, ],
"secondary": [ 0, 0, 0, ],


"family tree":
{
"background": [ 154, 117, 57, ],
"font": [ 255, 255, 255, ],


"selected line": [ 255, 255, 255, ],
"unselected line": [ 200, 187, 187, ],
},
},


"movies":
{
;;movie to play when starting a campaign
"intro": "data/fmv/intros/egyptian_intro_1080p.wmv",


;;movie to play when this faction wins or is defeated, respectively
"victory": "data/fmv/victory/egyptian_outro.wmv",
"defeat": "data/fmv/lose/egyptians_eliminated.wmv",
},


"available in custom battles": true,
"prefer naval invasions": false,
"default battle ai personality": "default_personality",

;;allow this faction to have a functioning family tree
"allow reproduction": true,
},

I'm using the TWRR Vanilla Modpack as the base of my mod. I can send you the files So you can have a look at it yourself

[Ocyalos]

It says right here:


Error in descr file Q:\Feral\Steam\Workshop\2720073057/data/descr_sm_factions.txt, line 1707::12: "Expected ':' after key ''"


Look in your desc_sm_faction.txt at line 1707, the 12th character from left to right. There is a ":" (without the quotes) missing.
If you use Notepad++ or god have mercy Windows Notepad, just use CTRL + G and type in 1707 to jump to the line.

[The_Duluthian]

Now it works. Many thanks!

[Son_of_Kalev]

this guide has helped my much, I have a question. If a faction is playable in campaign but when I want to play a battle, it crashes, does anyone know how to fix it?

[komisarek]

this guide has helped my much, I have a question. If a faction is playable in campaign but when I want to play a battle, it crashes, does anyone know how to fix it?

Did you do this step?
- Run the game with a command "snd_save_events". This will create music states. Otherwise you'll crash on custom battle.

[lygon]

this guide has helped my much, I have a question. If a faction is playable in campaign but when I want to play a battle, it crashes, does anyone know how to fix it?

my game crashes as soon as i try to end the factions turn... anyone know the cause?

[The_Duluthian]

It crashes when I load a battle (campaign and custom) with most of the new factions I created. I do have the command line snd_saved_events in the advanced options. Is there a way to solve this issue?

[The_Duluthian]

It crashes when I load a battle (campaign and custom) with most of the new factions I created. I do have the command line snd_saved_events in the advanced options. Is there a way to solve this issue?

[The_Duluthian]

Sorry for the second post. There was a weird glitch when I replied