Ab Urbe Condita "Platinum" Information & Download Thread

[Zipzopdippidybopbop]

Allright lads!

This mod began in 2011 as a small series of tweaks to Lusted's Terrae Expugnandae Gold for RTW 1.5. Over time (from v1 to v5.1) it has expanded into the monster that it is today, evolving into something way beyond the original mod. As of Version 3 it expanded enough to attain its independence!

So without further ado, allow me to present Ab Urbe Condita (from the founding of the City). The overhaul contains many new major changes, some of which include:-

Spoiler

- New graphical improvements, courtesy of the Roma Surrectum II mod; this WILL cause lag on some lower end computers.
- Incorporation of Mundus Magnus as the campaign map; now the game spans from Ireland to India, with hundreds of new provinces in between.
- New factions, including the Kingdom of Epirus, the Kingdom of Baktria and the Kingdom of Sabaea (among others). Each faction is fully fleshed out and ready to play! To that end the Roman families have been merged into one faction, to facilitate the addition of others.
- Hundreds of new units and textures for the various factions ingame. Almost every unit in the game has been re-skinned for the purposes of this mod. Note that the mod is not 100% historically accurate - some units deviate from historical accuracy in their appearances, although (for the most part) the historical descriptions of said units are sound. Moreover, the ridiculous fantasy units (i.e. Wardogs, Flaming Pigs, Arcani etc.) have been removed.
- An AOR mercenary recruitment system; you can now hire units like Ethiopian swordsmen, Indian elephants, Caledonian tribesmen, Argive hoplites, Campanian cavalry etc. in their respective regions (provided you have the funds of course!).
- New UI; much attention has been given to improving this over the vanilla game. Now each culture contains their own unique UI (for example, battle advisors, campaign advisors, the UI interface itself etc).
- New loading screens and images.
- Many new custom battlemaps.
- Settlement names can be customised ingame, allowing for an increased roleplaying element.
- New descr_formations_ai file (based on Sinuhet's original):- the AI has been given double the amount of formations to choose from in battle, so expect to see a greatly improved AI response to your moves, and differing AI tactics on the battlemap.
- Landbridges have been added to improve AI expansion; expect to see previously dormant factions triumph ingame!
- The Force Diplomacy Script has been included in the mod, allowing the player to force negotiations to compensate for the Campaign AI's shortcomings (to activate the scripts simply click the "?" icon on the top right then the "Show me how" icon when negotiating with a foreign power).
- New Buildings and Temples; for example, build a Serapeum in Alexandria, or an Admiralty in Rome.
- New wall textures for the Roman and Greek city walls.
- Egypt has been largely Hellenized; now they employ a predominantly Macedonian styled army, with some native elements (however much of their UI, interface and names remain as before).
- Massive AI tweaks and stat rebalancing of faction assets and units in the game; the Seleucid Empire should not be able to dominate the East as before, the Macedonians should be less likely to conquer Greece etc. Archers have had their lethality tweaked, yet are still secondary in warfare. Pikemen have had their vulnerability increased, with skirmisher/javelin lethality increased (making skirmish warfare more important). Barbarian factions are no longer easy targets; their advanced units will be able to take on the elite soldiers of more "civilised" neighbours!
- The Marian Reforms have been made tougher to achieve; in order to trigger the reforms for Rome the player must build a Huge City in Rome and at least one other "major" city in the game (i.e. Alexandria, Carthage, Antioch, Syracuse, Camulodunum, Avaricum, Pella, Carthago Nova).

PLEASE NOTE: This mod has been modified to run on Alexander; therefore it unfortunately cannot be played without the Alexander expansion.

The overarching goal here was to create a mod that catered to players who wanted more from the vanilla game, yet still wanted to retain that "feel" characteristic of the classic game we know and love. I hope that this mod strikes a fine balance between those seeking something new, yet not wanting something too extreme (like the fantastic albeit massive Roma Surrectum/Europa Barbarorum mods). You can see a brief video demonstrating what the mod can offer here;

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOiwRiGCvB8&feature=youtu.be

Download:

Spoiler

From Mod.db

Ab Urbe Condita is fully modfoldered (so it is perfectly compatible with the vanilla game, and will not interfere with any other mod in your Rome directory)

To Install:

Spoiler

- Run the installer and direct it to your Creative Assembly/Rome - Total War folder (usually located in C:\Program Files\The Creative Assembly\Rome - Total War).

- For those of you that use Steam, direct the installer to your RTW Alexander folder (normally this would be C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\RTW Alexander).

To Play:

Spoiler

- A desktop shortcut should be created for you. Simply run the mod via the shortcut and enjoy!

- NB: The above method applies to Steam versions of Rome Total War Alexander as well!

Update History:

Spoiler

- v1.1 (Hotfix; fixed a few text errors and added a British army to Ireland, in an attempt to encourage overseas AI expansion).

- v1.2 (New version with many improvements; eg. fixed stone wall crash, added barbarian cavalry to Britons and corrected Egypt not displaying proper UI interface).

- v1.3 (Fully revamped factions - Parthia, Pontus, Armenia, Numidia and Thrace; Seleucids now at war with Parthia and Baktria; intended to make things a harder challenge for the player and prevent the Seleucid AI from dominating the campaign map).

- v1.4 (Massive overhaul to existing mod - Roman and Carthaginian armies revamped and retextured with additional units, new Roman/Carthaginian general battle/strat models, animated water textures finally implemented for campaign map, new barbarian Naked Fanatics model, new mercenaries, many bugfixes; notably the climates in Egypt and other hot regions, the annoying descr_daytypes crash, new territories added to Britons and finally; mod transition to Alexander.exe in order to utilise its better AI!

- v1.5 (Revamped Greek City States; retextured units and now some cities have specific hoplites like Athens, Syracuse and Argos etc. Aforementioned hoplites + Spartans also added to mercenary pool (although they're VERY rare and expensive!!). New Greek officers and few new reskins like Libyan Hoplites. Finally added new loading screens and a background to the game!).

- v1.6 (Added 2 mercenary units; Campanian Cavalry and Massilian Hoplites. Final bugfixes also included, like the Baktrian elaphra pikemen and the Carthaginian quinquereme EDB bug!).

- v1.7 (Few more bugfixes. Also more significantly I have decided to revert back to the RTW.exe instead of Alexander; I thought that it was best, due to installation complications with Steam users and to ensure that more people can play the mod. I should add that all the original units with 1.6 are STILL in v1.7; luckily I managed to find and delete a few more dummy units in the DMB file =D).

- v1.8 (Think I finally fixed the incessant CTD on startup crash I unwittingly introduced into the game. Also added Medieval 2 trees and vegetation to the stratmap: you should enjoy your campaign more now! Finally, I added 2 new units; the Hoplites of Corinth and Pergamum - both of which are available to mercenaries AND the Greek Cities).

- v1.9 (Fixed the Campaign loading CTD regarding the birch_001.tga file. You should have no problems now!).

- v2 (A severely LONG list of changes have been made):
* It now runs on Alexander.exe; this was necessary in order to incorporate the new additions. Furthermore, the AI performs much better now (including naval invasions).
* A small AOR system has been included: nothing fancy, just a few mercenary units that are now recruitable in various regions dotted throughout the map.
* A new fully fleshed out faction: The Arabian Kingdom of Sabaea
* Many new units (about 50-60 in all I think)
* The popular "Force Diplomacy" script has been added; now in diplomatic discussions, press the ? mark at the top of the screen to force the enemy faction to accept your terms (try not to abuse it; it is intended to counter the daft AI)
* Many new re-skins of pre-existing units.
* New AI Advisors
* New Battlemaps
* And many more wee additions!

- v3: Independence Version with Cinnamon Sprinkles (The near-complete version of the mod; changes include the following):
* Mod is now fully modfoldered! No more incompatibility with other RTW mods!
* Several irritating bugs from the 1st release finally fixed; the random Carthage unit CTD should be fixed now, as well as the major random battle crash in the campaign (I have tested this in a lengthy game as Pontus and Greece; I have yet to experience a crash from these).
* Several new units and reskins of older ones (namely skins which I deemed "rough", for example the Macedonian Royal Pikemen, the Baktrian Agema, the Parthian Immortals etc).
* Rebalancing of most units; pikemen damage decreased, archer lethality decreased, javelin damage remains constant etc. Archers can still inflict heavy damage, yet only when firing from the flanks or on unarmoured opponents. This redress makes skirmishers that more important and effective. High tier/elite units have also been massively nerfed; now Spartans/Praetorians can and WILL die when placed in dire situations. Elite units are still battle winners, but they are human, so don't be foolish!
* New mod logo, new loading screens and a new main mod screen!
* Several new buildings for various factions; for example the Temple of Serapis for Egypt, new Gods/Goddesses for Carthage & Pontus, the Bathhouses for Eastern factions, Colossal Temples for Pontus/Carthage/Eastern factions, the freeing up of all in-game Greek temples for the Greek nations, ditto for the Romans and new Admiralty buildings for the Mediterranean "civilised" factions.

- v4: (This is the near final version of AUC; changes include the following):
* Most remaining bugs and crashes fixed.
* Filling in the "blanks"; i.e. added proper UI cards for rebel units, text inconsistencies fixed, new rebel generals etc.
* Some reskins and new units (notably the Macedonian Royal Guard and Praetorian Guard).
* Few cultural oddities fixed (notably the Zoroastrian temples in Arabia).
* New mines in Arabia and North Africa (to boost the flagging economies there, particularly for Sabaea).

- v4.1: (Few hotfixes; changes include the following):
* Few oversights fixed (i.e. Pontic Heavy Cavalry rebel units in Arabia, UI card inconsistencies for Roman Imperial Cohorts etc.)
* Attempted tweaking of Campaign AI behaviour to encourage the traditionally "weaker" factions to be more aggressive; early tests show promise for the Britons/Thrace/Dacia etc.
* Some more unit reskins (Sabaean Archers, Heavy Infantry & Royal Guard).

- v5 "Platinum" (The complete mod; another major list of changes include):
* Settlements can now be renamed ingame; just click on the settlement you own, bring up the basic details and click the settlement name on the tab.
* Many reskins and several new units (expect to see changes to most factions ingame, with particular emphasis on mercenaries, elite units and Romans).
* New officers for the post-Marian Roman units.
* Several new Arabian temples for the Sabaeans, and a Temple of Poseidon for the Greeks.
* Campaign tweaks (more land and money to Parthia/Numidia, with a few more starting troops for Numidia). Also tweaked AI core attitudes to prompt more aggression from Numidia and Britannia.
* Few unit stat tweaks - i.e. unarmoured units having "armour" stat removed etc.
* Landbridges added to Pillars of Hercules, Corsica/Sardinia, Britannia/Gaul, Britain/Ireland, Scandinavia, Sicily and the Bosphorus to encourage AI expansion there. Also moved Nicomedia's position slightly on the campaign map in order to create a Eurasian "bottleneck" between Nicomedia and Byzantium - you or the AI must take either city if it wishes to expand into Europe or Asia!
* Text fixes for many units and improved Campaign Descriptions for every faction.
* Doubled the amount of loading screens!
* Lots of new custom battles.
* Every pikeman unit in the game now uses the new and improved animations; they look more professional, as well as being more physically and historically accurate!
* New descr_formations_ai file added (based on Sinuhet's original):- the AI has been given double the amount of formations to choose from in battle, so expect to see a greatly improved AI response to your moves, and differing AI tactics on the battlemap.
* Added new improved campaign map textures, new tree models for the campaign map, new lighting effects in battles and fixed some climatic areas (i.e. Babylon and the Nile Delta - both aren't pure deserts, but were more fertile. These changes can be seen in both the campaign and battlemaps).
* New routing banner textures (courtesy of the RTR team).
* The mod is now contained within a fully automated installer (making it much easier to install); also comes with a handy desktop shortcut on installation.

- v5.1 "Platinum Improved" (just polishing it off as best I can):
* Added many new UI Eventpics for every faction, including cards for "Leader Killed", "General Killed", "Settlement Unrest/Riots", "Settlement Besieged", "Faction Strongest/Richest/Advanced/Largest" etc; now you should see the "generic messenger" image pop up much less!
* Fixed the odd "loose formation" deployment of some Roman armies in descr_formations_ai. Now they deploy in close order (as was
originally intended).
* Fixed some loading screens which were incorrectly aligned.
* Re-implemented victory/defeat videos; now there's no more blank screen on victory/defeat!
* Fixed the faction flags, banners and symbols; now every faction flag/banner will show on the campaign UI and battle UI (rather than sometimes appearing blank, particularly when reinforcing armies were trying to take part in the battle).
* Finalised my Sabaea amendments, now the faction is complete; added new sabaean general/captain strat models, new sabaean general/captains, new sabaean bodyguard unit and a new sabaean officer. Also corrected the few pre-existing sabaean UI cavalry cards and corrected the Roman prebattle speech in regards to Sabaea (formerly they were referred to as Armenians). Finally, I changed the Sabaean culture to "Eastern" rather than "Carthaginian" (which was its default setting).
* Added 2 more temples to Armenia.
* Cut Armenian Heavy Spearmen/Babylonian Spearmen size back to normal (as the AI, particularly Armenia, was rampaging with them).
* Lots of minor additional amendments, including text fixes, placing correct officers in the correct units and stat tweaks. Hopefully these changes have helped stabilise the game more!

- v5.2 "Platinum Epilogue" (Final tweaks and improvements; at this stage I consider the mod to be complete. Changes include):
* Many new text fixes/campaign description improvements.
* Further additions to the UI/event messages.
* Several reimplemented and brand new "Faction Destroyed/Faction Defeated/Faction Victorious videos" (all videos properly play now).
* Fantastic new animated menu screen (courtesy of Xeofox).
* New Numidian/Baktrian archer units (replacing the old "elite bowmen"), as well as new mercenary AOR units in the far East of the map (Yuezhi/Saka/Wusun).
* Tweaking of descr_rebel_factions, descr_mercenaries and descr_strat. All erroneous texts should have been removed as of this update.
* More troops allocated to Macedon at campaign start (to better protect them against Greek AI blitzing).

Credits:

Spoiler

- Lusted (For creating Terrae Expugnandae, the mod which started this whole venture)
- DVK, Tone and the Roma Surrectum II team (Thanks lads for the terrain, graphics overhaul and new settlement/port models)
- DimeBagHo and the XGM team (Unit skins)
- RedFox (Unit Skins)
- Tony83, Ahowl11 and the RTR team (Unit skins)
- Ferres (Roman skins)
- Davide.Cool (Battlemap water textures, watchtowers, and new Greco-Roman walls)
- Lt1956 and the SPQR team (Unit skins)
- Kylan271 (For advice and feedback regarding early bugfixes!)
- The Europa Barbarorum Team (Sabaean units/unit skins)
- Alin (For his help with permissions)
- Lanjane (For his UI cards)
- Darth Vader (For the descr_formations_ai and some units)
- Julius Caesar Salad (For the fix/installation tip with Steam)
- Xeofox (For the animated background menu and videos)

Feedback is greatly appreciated; with your feedback I can release better updates that fix any bugs or problems. PM me if you have any questions or problems with the mod!

[Jubal]

Welcome to Exilian: good to see you here

[Gmd]

Welcome!!

[Zipzopdippidybopbop]

Thanks lads, appreciate the welcome 

[Glaurung]

Welcome aboard. Best of luck with your mod, and I hope you find Exilian a useful place to be. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask Jubal or me.

[Cuddly Khan]

Wow, that looks like a pretty big mod. Nice work! Also, welcome. Keep us updated.

[comrade_general]

Very nice. Welcome to the E.

[Zipzopdippidybopbop]

Again thanks lads for the replies; feel free to download the mod and try it for yourself.

I've got a recent let's play of 5.1 from Saul Tyre on Youtube (playing as the Britons); maybe that'll help explain the mod better.

https://youtu.be/kKr2hX9npHY

[Jubal]

Nice Am planning to download it soonish, but am panicking a bit organising Exilian's annual convention at the moment!

[Zipzopdippidybopbop]

Oh no need to rush; take your time!

Unfortuately I won't be able to mod the thing anymore in a few weeks; moving off to China (and selling my gaming rig in the interim) =/

[Jubal]

Ooh, what're you doing over there?

[Zipzopdippidybopbop]

Working in Beijing for the next few months!

PS - v5.2 is out; at this stage I consider the mod to be complete.

Download is updated in the description above

[Zipzopdippidybopbop]

PS - 5.2 is NOT savegame compatible. Need to do a fresh install and start a new game for the changes to take effect. Sorry =/