Javelins for Dismounted Boyar Sons

[Serious Spamurai]

Just a little something I put together together after reading the tutorial on how to make dismounted versions of a unit. The mod includes a modded export_descr_unit file and changed animations to give "Dismounted Boyar Sons" 5 Javelins in addition to their normal weapons. It also includes the necessary mesh files to facilitate the inclusion of the added weapons onto the units model.

Here's the link:
http://http://files.filefront.com/di.../fileinfo.html

Screenshots:


The forces of Novgorod advance.



The slavic rebels are within range.



The cloth and leather garments of the Slavic troops are no match for the Heavy javelins of the Russians.


Any comments, criticism, Bovine carcasses (both rotting and fresh), crossbow bolts, wonkily and well thrown javelins, and or any other missile make-shift or otherwise are greatly appreciated.

[Ahiga]

It's a great addition. Can I ask how you got the javelins to work? Did it require editing their Mesh file in 3dsmax, or simply the Battle.model file? I was planning on taking Viking Raiders and making them into a Daylami Infantry (Javelin + axe), so I'm curious about it. But I haven't downloaded it just yet, so I figure I could find out on my own

And it's good to see the javelins back!

[Serious Spamurai]

In this case it was extremely simple. I just copied the Mesh files for the mounted version renaming them with the "dismounted_" prefix, I then put them into the data\unit_models\_unit\ee_bekhtera_heavy_lamellar folder overwriting the old ones having made backups of them. I then opened the EDU and changed their entry to:

type Dismounted Boyar Sons
dictionary Dismounted_Boyar_Sons ; Dismounted Boyar Sons
category infantry
class heavy
voice_type Light
banner faction main_infantry
banner holy crusade
soldier Sudanese_Javelinmen, 48, 0, 1
attributes sea_faring, hide_forest, hardy, can_withdraw, start_not_skirmishing
formation 1.3, 1.3, 2.4, 2.4, 4, square
stat_health 1, 0
stat_pri 10, 2, javelin, 55, 5, thrown, missile_mechanical, piercing, spear, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex 0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr ap, thrown
stat_sec 14, 3, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_blade, slashing, axe, 25, 1.2
;stat_sec_ex 0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr ap
stat_pri_armour 8, 9, 0, metal
;stat_armour_ex 5, 6, 0, 0, 4, 6, 6, metal
stat_sec_armour 0, 0, flesh
stat_heat 4
stat_ground 1, -2, 3, 2
stat_mental 9, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 15
stat_fire_delay 0
stat_food 60, 300
stat_cost 1, 690, 150, 90, 70, 690, 4, 170
armour_ug_levels 2, 3
armour_ug_models Dismounted_Boyar_Sons, Dismounted_Boyar_Sons_ug1
ownership russia
era 0 russia
era 1 russia
era 2 russia
;unit_info 11, 0, 15

The parts in bold are the edited sections. I then added the "[io]file_first = true" lines to the preferences.cfg and ran the game. The first battle I did was Russia Vs Hungary as shown in the screenshots, took about 20.

There is a minor graphical glitch where the unit holds it's weapon with the point facing the wrong way before it throws it, you can see it in the screenshots if you look carefully. This is no more noticable however than the bowstrings not being pulled back so it doesn't really matter, but I'll change it when I can edit the model files.

As for those Daylami infantry of yours I'd suggest using the Meshes from Druhzina (mounted), Viking Raiders don't have a spear/javelin so it would look odd if you implemented changes to the EDU, they'd raise their arms as if throwing a javelin but instead be holding an axe. With Druhzina at least they'd have a spear, you could always edit the texture files and make part of the spear transparent, that'd make it look like a javelin. I might even try that, just to see if it works and give me a little something to do.

[Ahiga]

As for those Daylami infantry of yours I'd suggest using the Meshes from Druhzina (mounted), Viking Raiders don't have a spear/javelin so it would look odd if you implemented changes to the EDU, they'd raise their arms as if throwing a javelin but instead be holding an axe. With Druhzina at least they'd have a spear, you could always edit the texture files and make part of the spear transparent, that'd make it look like a javelin. I might even try that, just to see if it works and give me a little something to do.

I forgot about that, thanks for reminding me about the Druzhina mesh.

[Serious Spamurai]

+++There is an issue with this mod where sometimes your units will not appear to have their axe and sometimes it will float around their heads, it only happens some of the time and so didn't show up in the initial tests+++

I shall try to correct it somehow but so far I haven't been able to come up with anything that works any better than the original. I found a more suitable animation in the form of the aztec spear thrower animations, they use the same CC anims as the original Boyars. If you are up for a little modding then you can change the anim to that one instead.

[Serious Spamurai]

This seems to be a problem with any unit that uses a cavalry mesh to create a dismounted version, I have tested using the tsars guard meshes but come across the same problem, the units weapon seems to be following the correct animation but it is following 2-5 seconds behind the units body morements, the swords/axes as float in the air as though the units are charging about 3 seconds after they did. Any suggestions are welcomed.

[Skitz]

thats great! its nice to see some more javalin units in the game.