Assembly Kit Guide

[AngryTitusPullo]

Can someone post a tutorial how to edit unit with pictures ? Maybe something simple like how to change helmet or shield ?

[Ahiga]

Is it possible to get TWEAK's Variant Editor to load newly made items? Such as a model with a new texture. I'm not sure how to get it to recognize a newly made item.

[Biggus Splenus]

Is it possible to get TWEAK's Variant Editor to load newly made items? Such as a model with a new texture. I'm not sure how to get it to recognize a newly made item.

Don't you have to put it into the working data (or raw data?) folder?

[Republican]

Can someone post a tutorial how to edit unit with pictures ? Maybe something simple like how to change helmet or shield ?

I'll do my best.

1. Open Steam>library>tools>ROME II Assembly kit
2. It should bring you to a file list. Scroll down and click something called "TWeak"
3. It may take a moment to load and you'll see a grey screen. Click "tools" in the top bar and then click "Variant editor"
4. You should see a screen that sort of looks like grass, and a blank sky. Click "File">Load Uniform
5. Go to the right hand bar and select the unit you want to edit. Don't select the faction, just find the unit on the far right and load it up.
6. From here it's pretty intuitive. One the left hand bar, click "Type">"Skin" and you should see a list of features come up. i.e. Helmet, Shield, Torso, etc. Expand one of those to edit it.
7. One the right hand side, find what item you want to add. If you want to delete an item that already exists on the unit, just hit the delete key.
8. When you are done, click "File">"Save Definition & colors"
9. Open BOB and find the middle column. Look for something called "Variant definition." click the check box on your variant you added (or more)
10. Click the build/open button on the bottom left and it should build the pack.
11. Find what file the mod pack was built in (look at the above tutorial for a better walk through) and move it to the data folder
12. Load up Rome II and ENJOY!


I do need help with something that maybe others will know. The unit colors don't seem to work when I edit them in Variant editor. Anyone know how to make custom colors? Or just how to go about getting rid of that ugly yellow shield that appears on Hastati, Principes, and Triarii?

[AngryTitusPullo]

5. Go to the right hand bar and select the unit you want to edit. Don't select the faction, just find the unit on the far right and load it up.

I can only find aet_cav (or whatever the first one). This is what confusing me though.

Thanks.

[Republican]

I can only find aet_cav (or whatever the first one). This is what confusing me though.

Thanks.

yea, It's alphabetized. It actually has every unit in the game, you just have to scroll down A LOT.

[Kurisu Paifuaa]

After you have your unit selected and you're in the editing stage, you should also keep an eye on the type of item you actually select from the parts lists on the right.

Some items are single model part references and some are references to definitions. The definitions can contain lists of multiple model part possibilities. Using these will cause multiple entries to show up in each part slot in the left hand panel. The game will vary these per man in a unit. So if you don't want variation, either be sure you select only single models or delete the extra references in the left panel. On the other hand, if you do want variation, there are many instances of definitions that will give you a pre-defined list rather than arranging them yourself from the singles.

There's a filter option for models and definitions in the right hand panel, but it doesn't seem to work. There's no other distinction in the parts list between the two, so something to watch out for if you don't want variation per model part.

Aside from the fact that a definition will create multiple entries per slot, you can also see the difference in the properties section at the bottom of the left hand panel when you select a slot entry. It shows the path to the file you're referencing... models have the extension .rigid_model_v2 and definitions are .variantmeshdefinition.

[sgtkatharn]

love the guide .Mitch.

[Antiokhos Euergetes]

I attempted something 'simple' to start pos regions but some reason failed to load to Bob or words to that effect. Is there a guide to this sort of editing ? Thank you
Χαίρε
Αntiokhos

[Mackles]

I do need help with something that maybe others will know. The unit colors don't seem to work when I edit them in Variant editor. Anyone know how to make custom colors? Or just how to go about getting rid of that ugly yellow shield that appears on Hastati, Principes, and Triarii?

When you expand the Shields reference you'll see the definition for the type of shield. As an example, for Hastati you'll see "shield -> roman hastati -> shields -> roman_early_scutum (x5)". All the different versions of roman_early_scutum are the same shape, and the only variation between them is the colour mask applied. There are two with the main colour being the primary red, two with the tertiary red and one with the secondary yellow. This yellow one should be the third one down. Delete that definition and then save. That should get rid of the yellow shields!

[Republican]

When you expand the Shields reference you'll see the definition for the type of shield. As an example, for Hastati you'll see "shield -> roman hastati -> shields -> roman_early_scutum (x5)". All the different versions of roman_early_scutum are the same shape, and the only variation between them is the colour mask applied. There are two with the main colour being the primary red, two with the tertiary red and one with the secondary yellow. This yellow one should be the third one down. Delete that definition and then save. That should get rid of the yellow shields!

thanks, I followed your advice. Any idea on how to change the actual color of the shields + color of the shield decals? (I want to make the legionary shields a more vibrant red, and the orange decal a more vibrant gold.) Thanks for your help Mackles.

[Mackles]

thanks, I followed your advice. Any idea on how to change the actual color of the shields + color of the shield decals? (I want to make the legionary shields a more vibrant red, and the orange decal a more vibrant gold.) Thanks for your help Mackles.

The colours for an item in most cases are decided by the faction colours, and then by the way you set the item for those colours to appear. So to edit those colours you would need to use PFM or TWeak and edit the "faction_uniform_colours" table, changing the RGB code for a particular factions colour. So if you wanted to get rid of the yellow you would find the RGB code for the replacement colour and then change the 3 values for the secondary colour. The primary is the brighter red and the tertiary the darker red. VEd is useful for playing around with colour schemes on units to find what you like best, then find the codes for those colours and enter them accordingly in the right table.

Another way is to export an item you edited/created yourself and not have the faction colours apply, but I wouldn't be one to ask about that

[Kurisu Paifuaa]

Another way is to export an item you edited/created yourself and not have the faction colours apply, but I wouldn't be one to ask about that

After selecting new colors from the palettes, if you choose "save definition & colours" from the file menu, it will add (or update) a related entry in unit_variants_colours. This is just an override (on a per unit basis) for the global faction color in the main table. That should get packed along with your definition if you're using Bob to build the mod.

[Republican]

The color is not linked, unfortunately. Changing the faction color didnt do anything. I also changed the color of the shields in the Variant editor but nothing happened. I can change the appearance of the items they wear, but not colors. Any more ideas?

[Kurisu Paifuaa]

The color is not linked, unfortunately. Changing the faction color didnt do anything. I also changed the color of the shields in the Variant editor but nothing happened. I can change the appearance of the items they wear, but not colors. Any more ideas?

Probably just a missed step in the workflow... it is not intuitive from our perspective as modders who generally work on files that are not attached to a live database.

To get color changes to show via your mod, you have to take additional steps outside of the variant editor. Specifically, you need to export unit_variants_colours (using DAVE) into your working_data folder. The .variantmeshdefinition file itself is already there. The logic here is that the db table (unit_variants_colours) is derived from raw xml data, while the definition is generated independently. To export, select export single table(s) from DAVE's export menu. You should see the file containing your changes listed under "locally edited files". Move that over to the right panel and hit "export". BOB will run briefly and export your table. Subsequently, you can now use BOB to package the edited files from working_data into a mod.


Also, the only color change that you can affect through the editor is on a per unit basis (writes to unit_variants_colors). The global faction colors (selected through the drop down list) are just a preview of the pre-defined sets (from faction_uniform_colors). Notice in the variant editor that the tick box "use faction colors" automatically unticks as soon as you click a color bar to edit one of the colors. Likewise, ticking that box will undo your changes and load one of the pre-defined color sets... whatever was selected last, I believe. If you want to edit the global faction color for all units, you need to do that in faction_uniform_colors using DAVE. Your changes there should then also reflect in the variant editor, as you've edited the default raw data.

Another thing to note when you're working with the color tables is that the RGB order for the 3 colors in a set are reversed in unit_variants_colours (i.e. it's actually GBR). That will only come up if you manually edit that table, though.

[Le_Swede]

This question has probably been answered numerously however I still haven't found an answer to it yet. How do you create a new custom unit (and is it possible to do atleast some stages of it through the variant editor)?

[Republican]

Probably just a missed step in the workflow... it is not intuitive from our perspective as modders who generally work on files that are not attached to a live database.

To get color changes to show via your mod, you have to take additional steps outside of the variant editor. Specifically, you need to export unit_variants_colours (using DAVE) into your working_data folder. The .variantmeshdefinition file itself is already there. The logic here is that the db table (unit_variants_colours) is derived from raw xml data, while the definition is generated independently. To export, select export single table(s) from DAVE's export menu. You should see the file containing your changes listed under "locally edited files". Move that over to the right panel and hit "export". BOB will run briefly and export your table. Subsequently, you can now use BOB to package the edited files from working_data into a mod.


Also, the only color change that you can affect through the editor is on a per unit basis (writes to unit_variants_colors). The global faction colors (selected through the drop down list) are just a preview of the pre-defined sets (from faction_uniform_colors). Notice in the variant editor that the tick box "use faction colors" automatically unticks as soon as you click a color bar to edit one of the colors. Likewise, ticking that box will undo your changes and load one of the pre-defined color sets... whatever was selected last, I believe. If you want to edit the global faction color for all units, you need to do that in faction_uniform_colors using DAVE. Your changes there should then also reflect in the variant editor, as you've edited the default raw data.

Another thing to note when you're working with the color tables is that the RGB order for the 3 colors in a set are reversed in unit_variants_colours (i.e. it's actually GBR). That will only come up if you manually edit that table, though.

got it to work. thanks!

[yukishiro1]

Can this be used to finally put walls on syracuse on the campaign map? Please say yes.

[Black9]

Can this be used to finally put walls on syracuse on the campaign map? Please say yes.

I'll check that tomorrow. I'll also see if there's anything to change the capital of a region. That should be Syracuse in my opinion.

[yukishiro1]

I was able to change capitals before just using database editing. The only things I couldn't do were add walls on the campaign map and add building slots, because those both require the settlement growth tables, and those each require like 100+ coordinate entries to make everything line up right. It's the cost of those nifty looking GoT style city expansions.