Contributions, Fixes, Additions, Sub-Mods

[Ketzerfreund]

Greetings,

this little tga-file does nothing else but add a ford west of Frankfurt.
That units had to take a long way around the forests to the ford further west and lose more than one turn by doing so had bugged me since the first time I played the Holy Roman Empire.
There was a ford directly south of Frankfurt, but you couldn't pass it since it was overgrown by impassable forest, so I took it out in a sense of order.



Just unpack the file to ..\Medieval II Total War\The_Long_Road\data\world\maps\base, delete the map.rwm in the same folder and you're set.

-Der Ketzerfreund.

[acegogo]

Now, that is a great idea, a little retouching of the map.... maybe..... you would like to have a broader look at it and add some more useful little additions!!!!

[Ketzerfreund]

Do you have anything particular in mind?

-Der Ketzerfreund.

[headsh0ts]

I always wanted more choke points so forts might actually have a use

[Ketzerfreund]

I'll see what else I can accomplish in polishing the map during the next week; I'll have plenty of time then.
This little modification of the map up there is the first thing I've ever done regarding map editing.

However, as far as I can see, map editing is not too hard of a thing to learn...

-Der Ketzerfreund.

[acegogo]

good !!! welcome to TLR!!!!!!!

[Banjeeboy]

If anyone is interested, I've added several of the new Hospitaller, Templar and Teutonic units to their related guildhall.
You'll have to use TLR, have Kingdoms installed, and copy over some meshes and textures and such from Kingdoms, and do some very slight modding aswell.

Any takers?

Edit: View this as a modders resource instead. I've done the work of moving the units into the mod, and I've done the playtesting to know that it works out, but you would have to do quite a bit of work yourself (moving quite a few files, and renaming a few) to get it to work.
The files are free for anyone to use, and are attached in a post below.

[acegogo]

sounds great....

But a version of TLR for kingdoms is going to take some time ..... but be sure we will come back to additions like this one!!!!

[headsh0ts]

do you need kingdoms installed?? using the correct models/ textures/ model db file and all that would work anyway wouldnt it...?

[Banjeeboy]

It runs from the non-kingdoms .exe, and the TLR mod 2.0
You obviously need Kingdoms for the textures and such, but it was intented as a small addon for the current TLR version.

[Americanus Supremus]

Banjeeboy I would like to have them. I was thinking about sinking my teeth into moding this mod further and that is where I was going to start. If you could post them with instructions it would be appreciated.

HC

[Banjeeboy]

I would gladly do it, but it seems like I can´t attach any files to the post. (or at least not figure out how to do it)
Do I need to make more posts before it's possible?

Edit: Note to self; look closer before you post.

[Banjeeboy]

The first four go into the the_long_road/data
export_units go into the_long_road/data/text
battle_models should be unzipped into the_long_road/data/unit_models

You also have to unpack Kingdoms and copy meshes, textures and unit sprites from the original folders into the TLR folders.

The battle_models file should tell you where to look for them.

Teutonic & Clergymen files are from the Teutonic campaign,
Hospitaller and Templar files are from the crusade campaign.
Gotland Footmen (sorry, should have removed them) are from the British campaign.

Also, you need to copy stuff from the /the long road/data/ui/units and /the long road/data/ui/unit_info directories.

Teutonic stuff should be moved from /teutonic into /hre, clergymen should be moved from /teutonic into /merc.

Hospitaller stuff should be taken from /antioch into /merc, Templar stuff should go from /jerusalem to /merc aswell.

I've realized this rates about 1/10 on a scale of user friendlyness, but my hands are tied due to the Kingdom stuff being copyrighted.

Hope it works out, and feel free to ask me if it doesn't.

[Boztorgai_Khan]

by new MOD is MONGOLS playable ?

[Americanus Supremus]

Well I tried to make the modification Banjeeboy, I finally broke thru the bugs that wouldnt let it start. No I cant get passed the bugs that make it crash when going into battle. The log just says that there is an unspecified error and will close. Im figuring it is some where in the copy meshes, textures and unit sprites. Im also having trouble getting a few units to show up in the custom battle roster. They show up as peasants. The hospitaller 2handers, Hocmiester Retinue, and a few others. Of course it wont load the battle either so I cant see if anything at all is working.

Also the Templars and hospitallers are not for everyone are they? Or did you make them availible to HRE, Spain, Portugal? Not sure if this helps Im going to get some dinner and try again. These changes would be cool to have. I may reinstall the game as my TW folder is getting cluttered with all the mods Ive downloaded and looked at. Though I know the game was working before I started trying to mod it.

Thanks for any help.

HC

[Americanus Supremus]

I tried again and this time I just focused on the HRE units. Removed the Templars and Hospitalers and gave it another go. But was able to get no where. Still wasnt able to get the missing units to show up in custom battle screen, the Hochmiester Retinue. It still shows up as a peasant card I have the UI units and unit info copied over correctly. All the other units show up. So I tried a custom battle with the ones that show up and it crashes while loading and gives that same log error message. Then I tried a custom battle without those units and it worked so I know its something Ive done with those new units. Im not sure why I cant get it to work. Any suggestions?

Why cant you include the ui and textures etc.??? I have kingdoms.
Anyway thanks for your help.

HC

[Banjeeboy]

My apologies.
The Hochmeister retinue, and Hospitaller Twohanders uses the unit cards of Late Teutonic Bodyguard, and Canons of the Holy Sepulcher, so you need to copy those unit cards (both from /units and /unit_info), and rename them into Hochmeister_Retinue, and Hospitaller_Twohander. That should solve the "show up as peasants" problem.

Templars and Hospitallers are only for the non-HRE/Spain/Portugal factions. Grandmaster retinue as an example, is only buildable in the HQ Guildhall, but all units should be visible in custom battles.

Just reinstalling the mod, or using those files from the mod should solve every problem, no need to reinstall the whole game.

I had those crashes to desktop a lot when I was adding these units, but I managed to get rid of it after about 20 hours of testing, thats why I posted them here

My guess why it crashes for you is because you might have done some copying/pasting in the battle_models file, and missed out a space, or some line perhaps... compare your battle_models to the one I attached, just in case.

As much as I would like to attach a complete user-contribution package, with complete directories, I don´t think the company would let me. CA would probably hunt me down if I "gave away" Kingdoms units on a forum, correct me if I'm wrong.

Well, good luck... it should be working with those files + the Kingdoms files, but it's very easy to make mistakes and put things in the wrong places.
It surely doesn´t make things easier that I forgot to tell you about changes you had to do
I'll take another look and see if I forgot something else.

[Americanus Supremus]

Well I changed the names of those files and still the game is crashing. I did not mod the battle_models so Im not sure what I could have messed up. The peasants pictures are gone, there is missing text for one of the units now, The Hochmeister Retinue says unlocalized placement text were the unit description should be in custom battle roster. Imtesting the units one by one now. Im currently stilltesting out which ones work and which ones dont. Ive tested all of the HRE new Units and the only ones not working are the Mounted Versions of the Halbbruder and Ritterbruder. Think it may have something to do with the mounts? Im going to keep trying and I ll let you know the progress with the remaining units. Any more suggestions. Do I need anything from the models_strat file?

Maybe you can just send me the files? Not sure what the legal issues are cause we seem to be posting whole games on different sites. If someone in the know could shed some light on this, it would be appreciated. If you can think of anything else let me know. Thanks for your help.

HC

[Hax]

I have a request. Can someone make a mod or explain to me how to put stone forts from Kingdoms into TLR campaign? ^^ Many thanks!

[Spartan69]

Hi guys!!!

This my first post and i want to say that TLR is one of the best mod for m2tw

I recently see that xeryx has release the 2.19 version of his AI.

Whi not use it for the long road? you can use that with the dath mod combat, how is doing naimad for his mod.

Please try it maybe for version 2.11 of the long road. This will be great!!!!

here there is the description:
Major improvements from other AI's;
Naval invasions: Are used to bring in troops for invasions and re-enforcements not just to move around diplomats and princesses.

Intense battlefronts: The AI is now trained in self-preservation, and has no problem regrouping for the counter offensive.

Rebel slaves: Will not take priority over a battlefront situation, depending on intensity or odds, but this can still be accomplished if you have the right amount of forces. During peace, the AI will be relentless in taking settlements. The Slave issues have now been tamed! (This may need balanced on a per mod basis)

Building AI's: XAI holds true to them, It actually builds what it is suppose to and does not get confused, or locked up. Depending on the mod's units, there is a risk of being unbalanced, so be careful!! This can completely change a campaign and a faction during game.

Diplomacy: Works like it never has before!! You will be approached with offers throughout the game, I also recommend trying to get the XAI attack your neighbors!!

Alliances: Occur as they would in real life!! if you have a common foe, alliances will form depending on the threat of course. You will get natural alliance blocks, the better you perform the more you will be able to make. If you cannot be trusted, or become a warmonger! You better be strong and a good player.

Religion: Is now a significant power in the game, as was intended. There will be much tension, between the factions of different religions.

Garrisoning: The more important the city, or closer to a threat the more the XAI will protect it. The AI will pull its available armies back, if there is a sneak attack. It is the best it possibly can be within the game. The XAI wil not garrison up troops more than it has to, It will keep troops in the vicinity in dangerous areas. If there is no threat, it will not garrison, unless it's the capital. This makes for a much stronger opponent.

Fog of War; Now has new meaning, it is actually FUN!!! to watch the XAI. FOW now applies to the strategic level now because you no longer have a passive AI. (The toggle_fow in the command console.) If you do not use your watchtowers you may miss something!! Like an invading Fleet or Army!!

Difficulty levels; For the human player it is easy to get advantages, so I have incorporated Difficulty levels to challenge, not handicap, the player These affect alliances and likelihood of getting attacked. These are also easily removed if the Mod Maker does not want them.

Revolutionary: This is 10x more ambitious than any previous attempt, even ours!! It uses techniques that have never been tried!! (this was my idea a many months ago) In fact it is simply the best approach! This mod sets a new standard in AI development; it will be hard to beat. We have over one hundred conditions for each AI (except Papal), and we have added Orthodox and Islamic religion. Finally!! There is no more need to handicap, the HUMAN player!! Other than political or intensity levels.

Realistic AI: The AI does not get "stuck" in most situations, it will build, explore, probe defenses, and do everything it is suppose to. I am sure you will still see an occasional oddity, but it is VASTLY improved over any other mod to date. To give you an idea the Vanilla AI has a 159 commands that can be processed 2 at a time (defense and Invasion) The XAI, has double the amount of code (for the same # of factions) and only one quarter of them are an early out decisions. (one choice decision then it ends the thinking) All the rest are designed to work together, in a multi-path cumulative decision process. XAI has well over 50x the decision making power!!! We are no longer in the stone ages, we are in the Darth Ages!!

POPE: Most of his work will be behind the scenes, but if war is declared by or upon him. They can unleash their full fury!! and are they also free to invade rebels. Otherwise they do not mess with neutral nations. I recommend you do not get, excommunicated!!. The XAI has no problem declaring war on you, the more evil you play, the more they will attack you. Remember the AI is no longer inactive. It is quite possible, that every Catholic, Orthodox , and Islam factions may declare war upon you, you have been warned! After all it is easy to kick you when your down!!

Experience: This AI was build by strategy gamers that have over 30 years experience in various types of strategy gaming. We aren't professional programmers.

Like any new mod, I'm sure it can be improved and even with our extensive testing it could have a bug. Naimad and I have put in a total of over seven hundred hours into the XAI, so please appreciate that. We have thought of many rules for the AI to follow and will be looking for more unique ways to improve this mod. If it turns out you like it, just say thanks and use it in your favorite mod. As you may have already figured out, this is the first of our CORE mods and it is the most important. This mod is designed to be incorporated into any mod. I have included Tags for any moder to understand what the decisions do. This will make adjustment easier, be warned however the AI is very easy to mess up!! So, if you have a questions on how to mod the AI then please ask. This file is not for the novice!!

The affects of other files on the XAI

I would like to wrap it up by talking about some things, that may cause some unintended results in whatever mod you pick.

Movement and Supply mods that hinder the human player's movement will now put you at a major disadvantage. These mods were designed to challenge the Human because of an AI that could not make adequate decisions. I strongly suggest that unless they are redesigned to do the same to the AI, that you disable them. You will have to seek the mod makers advice on how to best do this. (sorry to any of those mod makers...but I think you will understand)

Money Scripts- Can cause an extreme unbalance in the game, they were put there because the AI did not spend it's money properly. That is not XAI's case.

In my testing I have found that the Production AI's (like trader smith) located in the desc_strat file should NOT use Balanced. As it will hinder that particular faction in it's expansion. Don't ask me why, I haven't got that far yet. I would venture to guess though, it conflicted within it choices and just can't make up it's mind. I have had very good results using any of the other production AI's available, besides it's a great way to add flavor to the campaign. A mods unit balance will affect the production AI's so this also needs to be balanced.

Auto resolve, a very big issue!! Auto-resolve needs to be balanced to what a human can do, in a personally fought battle. If it is not then it puts the Human in an advantage for expansion. This will take some experimentation on a per mod basis, because unit values are taken into consideration.

If there are large amounts of rebels or religious unrest, the XAI will concentrate on these areas first, before it's expansion. This is a great way to add difficulty to the game, even for the AI!!

Diplomacy file, can dramatically affect the alliance balance. I tried to keep it in the middle of the road as much as possible.

PS: sorry for my bad english