Family Tree Portraits glitching or not working

[legodude]

So I recently got a Linux Fedora and have booted up M2TW. so far, it works pretty fantastic compared to my old computer... With admittedly one glaring exception. When I pull up a Family Tree, any family members that aren't generals or princesses (children, generic women) their portraits are blanked out, or otherwise seem to filled by random screenshots.

Does anyone know what this problem is, and what I need to do to fix this? I know it probably sounds like a minor issue at best, but keeping track of family trees and selectively cultivating a dynasty is half the fun for me in playing M2. Navigating Linox has been incredibly difficult for me, so any help would be super appreciated.

[Gigantus]

In Windows I would say it's a memory leak - but then it's Linux and I don;t think that would be applicable. The pictures you are having issues with are in one directory, each culture has one of those so you need to figure out the culture of the faction you are playing.

You could then unpack the files (there is a Linux thread about that), make game read the files (mod compatibility - yet another thread I think) and then edit those pictures or replace them.

The path to those pics: ...data\ui\[your culture here]\portraits\family

[legodude]

In Windows I would say it's a memory leak - but then it's Linux and I don;t think that would be applicable. The pictures you are having issues with are in one directory, each culture has one of those so you need to figure out the culture of the faction you are playing.

I think I know what you're talking about. Considering it's so far cropped up in HRE, England, and Scotland, I'd say at that the very least, Northern European(is that what it's called?) is being problematic with me. When I was playing Georgia in Titanium, the issue didn't crop up there. Though the music in the latter's menu screen sadly doesn't play for some reason.

You could then unpack the files (there is a Linux thread about that), make game read the files (mod compatibility - yet another thread I think) and then edit those pictures or replace them.

The path to those pics: ...data\ui\[your culture here]\portraits\family

I thought unpacking the files might help! I did download the unpacking files you guys made in one of the other threads. The only trouble is that I'm not quite sure what the commands i need to input in the command prompt, Most if not all of the other Linux threads reference Ubuntu or other Linux brands, but I can't find anything pertaining to Fedora! I had already tried to unpack the files, but I messed up somewhere and I wound up having to reinstall M2. As you can imagine, I'd rather not try unpacking the game unless I know the proper commands to do so.

That much aside... Huh. Mod compatibility? Wasn't that just making sure all the files were lowercase, or something? If there's more to it than that, I'll have to take a look at that particular thread--might help me with some of my problems.

The whole portraits issue aside, running M2 mods on Linux is proving a real headache for me. Stainless Steel and Titanium keep telling me I'm missing kingdoms.exe, but I made sure to do the whole 'copy and rename Medieval2.exe then put it in the mod folder' process. Is there something I'm dong wrong here? Am I getting the wrong .exe file, or putting it in the wrong place?

Sorry to bug and nag like that--just annoyed that I can't seem to get anything right trying to set this up. This was so much easier on Windows! In any case, I'm super appreciative for the help!

[Gigantus]

"missing kingdoms.exe" - that's a simple matter of doing the copy\rename of the medieval2.exe as you found out, nothing else. That's from the time when CA merged those two executable files into medeival2.exe, later mods have BAT files that address that.

That aside - if you still get that message then you have placed the mod into the wrong directory: the BAT file that starts the mod (right click the desktop shortcut and choose 'open file location') should be in the ..\mods\[mod name here] directory.

"mod compatibility" - that's where the game is being told to use edited (modded) files. From your explanation I figured you were talking about the main game where you are having that problem. You could actually use my basic modding setup for an easy way to do so. Simply copying those portraits from other mods (like SSHIP and T) into it should solve your issue - after that play the modding setup instead of the main game.

[legodude]

That aside - if you still get that message then you have placed the mod into the wrong directory: the BAT file that starts the mod (right click the desktop shortcut and choose 'open file location') should be in the ..\mods\[mod name here] directory.

Huh. Maybe I did put them in the wrong directory. That would explain a lot. Gonna have to find out the right path to put them in, I guess.

"mod compatibility" - that's where the game is being told to use edited (modded) files. From your explanation I figured you were talking about the main game where you are having that problem. You could actually use my basic modding setup for an easy way to do so. Simply copying those portraits from other mods (like SSHIP and T) into it should solve your issue - after that play the modding setup instead of the main game.

I'll give the basic modding setup a try. fingers crossed if it will actually work!

[Gigantus]

Let me know if you come across any issues.

[legodude]

Let me know if you come across any issues.

So first question is the most obvious--do I need to unpack the files before I use the modding set-up?

[Gigantus]

The modding set up includes the most commonly used files. You only have to unpack if you need files that are not present (and then copy them there) - in your case I would try out the mod set up first to see if the problem still persists.

[legodude]

Huh. I tried opening it in the designated mod folder, ut all it did was run the vanilla version of M2.

Maybe it really is the wrong folder I'm putting these in? Fedora is vastly different from Windows, so it's very likely I could have. Here's the directory I used. If you know I dun goofed, please let me know and bash me over the head until I get it right, PLEASE.

Home/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Medieval II Total War/mods/bare_geomod

From there, I used the bare geomod.exe that came with the folder. When it redirected me to M2, I checked the campaign maps, and the portraits were still missing, I figued the mod must not have been able to start up properly. So I'm pretty sure I must either not be doing this right, or this computer is trying to tell me that this just ain't gonna work out for me.

[Gigantus]

The path looks fine - Bare Geomod is essentially the main game with a number of fixes. You will know that you are playing it when the first menu screen comes up - it says so at the top. You should also have the 'gig studios' clip at the start.

You may want to have a look if you are having something in your steam custom option for the game. In Steam's library right click the game and choose 'options' - then check the custom launch option.

[legodude]

The path looks fine - Bare Geomod is essentially the main game with a number of fixes. You will know that you are playing it when the first menu screen comes up - it says so at the top. You should also have the 'gig studios' clip at the start.

You may want to have a look if you are having something in your steam custom option for the game. In Steam's library right click the game and choose 'options' - then check the custom launch option.

Unfortunately didn't see any of that in regards to geomod. No clip at the start, and no difference in the main menu.

As for the Steam custom operations, I wasn't able to find 'options' when i right-clicked on M2. Just Play, Add to, Manage, and Properties.

I DID go into Properties and used the --features.mod=mods/ in the Launch options. It's the only way I can get my mods to work on this computer. But when I put in --features.mod=mods/bare_geomod and started up the game, all it did was run M2 and I couldn't play the Grand Campaign at that.

Sorry if I'm being completely unhelpful here. Still entirely unused to using Linux.

[Gigantus]

Just had a look into the sticky about installation and noticed this in step 4 (step 6 confirms your launch option method):

Copy or cut it (the installation\installed files) and paste it in the mods folder of your Medieval II Total War folder. So, here is an example of a correct placement:
Code:
.../Medieval II Total War/share/data/mods/

[legodude]

[repeatedly bashes head into a wall]

...Okay, after putting the files in the correct placement, yes, Geomod did indeed start up properly. The missing portraits are still not showing up, though.

[legodude]

And it looks like the problem is a little more all-encompassing than I thought.

I breezed through some of the other factions with different cultured, and it looks like ALL of the generic female and child portraits are missing! And yes, this was occurring in Geomod.

[Gigantus]

To make your life a bit easier here are the family portraits - simply extract and move into the 'data' directory of Bare Geomod.

[legodude]

I can't seem to extract it. Do I need to install Winzip in order to?

[sullivanclan1]

yes!

[legodude]

To make your life a bit easier here are the family portraits - simply extract and move into the 'data' directory of Bare Geomod.

Okay, I was in a bit of a rut because I couldn't find an unzip program I could use for a bit. Wound up installing Ark since it's officially supported on Linux Fedora's app shop. By the looks of it, it seems it worked! HALLELUJAH!!

Okay, okay, before I go and get too excited too fast, is there anything else you suggest I do? Should I also extract the files to the other mods I've installed as necessary?

[Gigantus]

Use a shortcut and install the portraits in your game's main directory, eg the main game. all mods will read from there if they don't have those files present.

Guideline: a mod will read files in this order
- files in it's own directory (available only to this mod)
- unpacked files in the main directory (available to every mod)
- packed files in the main directory (available to every mod)

[legodude]

Okay, so the portraits issue seems to have been more or less been resolved. However, a somewhat related issue has now cropped up. When I play as Scotland, the family tree seems completely out of whack, with only the ruling king showing up, and none of the rest appear visible. When he dies, the family tree merely shifts to only his heir as the next faction leader, and still not show any other family members unless he's married, in which case his wife will show up beside him.

Additionally, when I try to use character_reset on any family members not showing up on the family tree, they will not have their movement reset, as if the system doesn't recognize them or something. Any idea on what this particular problem might be?