ahowl11’s Vanilla Enhancement Mod

[ahowl11]

ahowl11's VE Mod v17 - RTR6, Unit Extravaganza, & Spartans

Well, I must say that these have been some crazy times on our planet. Everyone is home, in isolation and we have no idea what will happen in the future. Trying times for sure. Thankfully for all of you that follow this, that means I have more time to focus on the mod. Yes, until things get better here in our world, I will be treating this as a job of sorts (to keep me sane) and I hope to really speed up the progression during this free time.

Spoiler

Spartans... I saw the requests, and I came through. I hope you like them!

Now, onto v17! This has been one of the most exciting, yet one of the most tedious and frustrating versions to work on. In this version, you'll find that I have integrated RTR 6 into the fold. RTR6 came out in the summer of 2005 (not even a year after RTW released!) and it offered the player a brand new game almost. Complete new unit rosters, two new factions, realistic looking units, a new soundtrack and longer battles. It went down as a classic, being one of the most memorable mods out there. Since then it has taken a back seat but it's still a gem. I have included just about everything unique about it into v17, adapted to fit the style of this mod. This means a ton of work reskinning and coding in units was done. This also means that recruitment needed to be revised. On top of that the RTR6 soundtrack from Vlad Kuryluk is included as well as Sinuhet's 7.0 battle ai formations. I have also fixed some bugs and balanced out the battles a bit. This will be a lengthy article so buckle up and enjoy!
First we will get the main event out of the way.. the units! A few factions weren't really touched due to them either not being in RTR6 or RTR6 giving them generic rosters that didn't add anything special. Other factions on the other hand will get a complete overhaul, even if just in appearance!
Carthage got a few new units and a few new reskins. The main things are the new elephants.. they have a better 'African' look and they lose their huge Cataphract elephant and have the War Elephant replaced with a smaller version. This is more accurate, and still lethal! They also have a better cavalry representation. With this being said, Carthage now has two areas of recruitment: Africa and Iberia. Basically, you won't get Iberian troops in Africa and vice versa. Finally, the starting units have been changed to make it more accurate for Carthage as well as making them more of a force in Sicily.

Spoiler

The New Carthaginian Units

Staying in the same area, Numidia got a brand new look to their skins. They now look Numidian instead of Iberian. They also gain the Cataphract Tower Elephant which should serve them well in the long run.

Spoiler

The new look Numidians

Moving north across the Strait of Gibralter, the Iberians have had a bit of a boost. They gain a few new units, two noteworthy ones being the Edetani Devotio and Lancers. These are two Elite units only available in Arse. They receive a Heavier Skirmisher as well.
The Gauls will get a new Heavy Spearmen unit, the Romans will get an elite cavalry unit in Extraordinarii Cavalry. Finally Thrace gets a Warband, and can only recruit Militia Hoplites in Greek regions now.

Spoiler

Iberian, Gallic, Roman and Thracian Units

Further north are the Germans, and they will end up getting a major upgrade, including many AoR units that will represent some of the major Tribes. The Chatti, Batavi and Semnones are just some of the few tribes that you will see being represented.

Spoiler

The New German Units

Now, going southeast, we encounter the Antigonids of Macedon and the Greek Cities. Both factions will get considerable upgrades. Macedon now has it's own line of phalangites as well as some awesome cavalry. The Greeks finally get their Spartan upgrade as well as a few other upgrades.

Spoiler

The new Greek & Antigonid Units

Staying in the Hellenistic realm, the Seleucids will receive one of the biggest updates. Not only are their Elephants amazing, but they also get a Phalangite line of their own, new cavalry and even new skirmishers and a camel unit!

Spoiler

The New Seleucid Units

Finishing up the Diadochi is Egypt, and they finally have a truly unique roster now instead of a copy of Macedon. They get their own phalangite line, extensive Elephants, and some great cavalry!

Spoiler

The New Ptolemaic Units

Now heading east and north, we will get small updates to Pontus, Parthia and Scythia. For Parthia and Scythia, they now have a small AoR system where you can train your units based off of what regions you occupy.

Spoiler

The New Pontic, Scythian and Parthian units

Now, the most immersive addition in my opinion are the mercenaries. There are a ton of mercenaries and they cover every part of the map. I won't list them out here but maybe you can guess who's who?

Spoiler

The many new mercenaries available for hire!

Finally, what would this game or mod be without the Rebels? I have included many rebel units, especially in the Balkans area to make it more interesting!

Spoiler

The New Rebel Units

Now, moving on from the units, there are a few other things that I want to showcase. First is the music, composed by Vlad Kuryluk. This is one of my favorite soundtracks and it was for the RTR6 mod. I hope you all enjoy the new music!
Also, recruitment has been broken up again. Iberian, Balkan, Celtic, Germanic, Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, Eastern, Carthaginian, Numidian, and Nomad are the different recruitment centers now and so it should definitely offer a better sense of realism in that regard. Also, each faction has it's units spaced out better in the 5 tiers, so things won't seem so off balanced.
Thrace got a minor rework for it's culture. It now is predominantly Tribal and can build Taverns and Bardic Circles. However, they are a major WIP and they will be a fun faction to tackle.
Battles should also be a bit different. First, Roman infantry won't have the AP ability and massacre anything they face. Second, Greek and Eastern Psiloi won't be lethal against cavalry anymore. Third, cavalry won't have super long charge distances which means YES, they finally lower their spears when charging! Finally, I have yet again included a new formations file. This one is Sinuhet's AI formations 7.0 which was the one used by RTR for years, so hopefully it works well while the main file is being worked on.
Last but certainly not least, I have updated diplomacy and core attitudes. Some factions will start off as allies and some as enemies. Will this make a big difference in how the AI operates? I hope so!

Spoiler

The Seleucids will have a more interesting Start

To finish this lengthy post off, I always would be highly appreciative of feedback from the game. Every time some posts about an error, bug or weird occurrence it helps this mod get better and better. So please don't hesitate to comment! Also, for this version I'd really like it if I could hear from you all on how your campaigns are going. It always excites me to read your stories and see your screen shots!


Before I get into the credits, just know that Historical Battles and Quick Battles HAVE NOT been updated to v17. This is because until my unit rosters are final, I don't want to have to commit to doing those battles time and time again. I hope you can understand, and just know that you can always create your own custom battles!

DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION



 

- If you have an old HRTW version, you can try overwriting, but to be safe, delete it as this will not work with it. This version isn't save compatible.

- One thing that I need to be clear on, is this mod runs on the Alexander.exe not the regular Rome Total War exe. Please make sure you use an Alexander Install.


  1. Download the mod
2a. (Steam) Extract the files to your Rome Total War Alexander directory
2b. (Disc) Extract the files to your Rome Total War Directory
3a. (Steam) go to your library.. right click RTW Alexander.. select properties.. select launch options.. put in this: -show_err -mod:HRTW -noalexander
3b. (Disc)Create a shortcut of your RTW Alexander exe file.. right click the shortcut.. select properties.. in the target line after everything insert this: -show_err -mod:HRTW -noalexander

CREDITS
- The RTR 6 team lead by Caius, after taking it over from a scandalous Tyr.. Quite the story. Anyways, this mod is one of the best and mine wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for you guys, wherever you may be!
- Vlad Kuryluk for his amazing RTR6 soundtrack
- webbird and warspite for many of the skins and details
- Sinuhet for his formations
- EB for their Spartan Hoplite Model
- Kaiser for his patience

- Ariaces for his good heart and attitude (and constant praise on every little update haha)

- Lanjane for some of the units and teaching me many valuable lessons on 3dsmax
- Suppanut for coding assistance
- BHL for assisting in the Recruitment Centers

- Mausolos for his nagging.. I mean for his historical knowledge and wonderful descriptions! You are a great friend.

- jorellaf for his historical knowledge
- Everyone on the discord, moddb and twc for testing and feedback!

[Jubal]

I really should get round to testing a Carthage campaign on this sometime

[ahowl11]

I released a patch that should fix the annoying CTD when loading into battles. A ton of sprites were missing, but no longer! Also, in case you have not hear already, this mod is being put on a  hiatus as I am working on a new mod for Rome Total Realism. However this  mod is not finished and I will be back to work on it again! To install:
Overwrite your current HRTW folder with this folder. Should be save game compatible!

https://www.moddb.com/mods/ahowl11s-...#downloadsform

[ahowl11]

ahowl11's VE Mod v18 -Updates, Changes, Fixes & Additions

A lot has changed in the past 5 months, but one thing that stayed  with me after a long summer is my passion to make this mod. In this  version, it will be a bit different. There are zero new units, and only a  couple were re-worked and the changes were so minuscule, that only the  most detail oriented players will notice! Instead I focused on balance,  game play, historical accuracy, and general updating and fixing from all  of the excellent reports I have been given since April. Let's get to  it!

Spoiler

A new recruitment system, streamlined for both player and AI!

The first major change is recruitment and how it is intertwined with culture and colonies. In the older versions, you had to build a colony, then build a recruitment center and then build your military infrastructure. That frankly, was a lot of waiting and building.. too much if I am being honest with you. So instead I got rid of the recruitment centers, replacing them with nothing. Now all you need to do is build the colony of your factions' culture and the rest is vanilla from there. All infantry are now tied to the barracks, all cavalry to the stables, and most missiles (excluding some light skirmishers) to the ranges.
On top of this, thanks to the genius of my friend BHL_20 the Colonies have been vastly expanded. You still will have a base native culture in every region (eastern, western and barbarian) but every faction has a separate colony that needs to be built. They are: Roman, Greek, Punic, Numidian, Pontic, Armenian, Parthian, Scythian, Thracian, Germanic, Celtic, and Iberian. Building a Celtic colony on top of Barbarian Natives will be harmless and even helpful, but building it anywhere there is western or eastern will cause the same unrest as before.
Keep in mind that this feature is in a very early alpha stage.. completely game ready and not a drawback from the last versions, but very raw and ready to be molded into something very unique and crucial to this mod. For now, it's a simple feature that will get the job done.

Spoiler

Dacia is just one of many areas of the map to receive a facelift!

The next big thing in this version is the map, and the many changes made to it. There were a lot of inconsistencies and historical inaccuracies that bugged me for a long time, so I finally made things more accurate. I focused on trying to make every region useful as far as balance and game play. Overloading in the middle for historical accuracy or spreading regions into weird areas just for game play was avoided. Instead I took the middle ground, achieving the best of both. There is a full, in-depth synopsis in the change log, but the major areas that were affected are: Germania, Dacia, Scythia, Parthia, Armenia, Numidia, and Gaul.
On top of this, I added a few land bridges that should help game  play. The Britons will no longer be destined to be stuck on their  island, they can hop off and anyone else can hop on! Also, Corsica and  Sardinia are connected.. I always see one island taken over, only for  the other to be forgotten about. On top of this I added a few crucial  river crossings that severely changed factions' movement strategies.

Spoiler

Britannia now is accessible from Land for the AI

Finally there was a ton of help from an unexpected source! Leeroy9000 from TWcenter appeared on the forums with many suggestions. After talking to him further I invited him to apply his ideas. He tweaked many stats for units and made some adjustments to population growth and income for many factions. A few key things for you all to know:
1) Generals will no longer be OP, they aren't heroic bodyguards anymore.. keep them alive!
2) Phalangite & Hoplite warfare redone
3) Missiles redone
4) Romans are not the OP machines they were before
5) In the campaign, expect a better army composition from your enemies.. the AI will also advance quicker with their settlements instead of being stuck with 400 pop and being in the red.
A full change log of all of his work will be in a text file, included in the download!

DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION



 

- If you have an old HRTW version, you can try overwriting, but to be safe, delete it as this will not work with it. This version isn't save compatible.

- One thing that I need to be clear on, is this mod runs on the Alexander.exe not the regular Rome Total War exe. Please make sure you use an Alexander Install.


  1. Download the mod
2a. (Steam) Extract the files to your Rome Total War Alexander directory
2b. (Disc) Extract the files to your Rome Total War Directory
3a.  (Steam) go to your library.. right click RTW Alexander.. select properties.. select launch options.. put in this: -show_err -mod:HRTW -noalexander
3b. (Disc)Create a shortcut of your RTW Alexander exe  file.. right click the shortcut.. select properties.. in the target line  after everything insert this: -show_err -mod:HRTW -noalexander
CREDITS
- Leeroy9000 for all of the work you did to make the game a better experience, I will be eager to hear your thoughts on this version!
- BHL_20 for chatting with me almost daily with ideas, you inspire a lot in this mod
- Suppanut for always willing to help when I have an error or question, you are a very good friend. Also for XC4 and the colony system
- Lanjane for always challenging me to do better and managing the discord.. you are a huge reason for it's growth and success!
- BlackKnight, Kaiser, Ariaces, milkerman, and all the other players who follow along in the Discord.. whether it's giving feedback, advice or praise, I really owe a lot to you all!
-Drtad (GudeaTW) for giving historical advice as well as  collaborating to do some Youtube show casing of the mod! You have helped  a lot!
-Mausolos of Caria for always putting up with me, correcting me and being a great friend
-El Santo Padre for map advice when I need it in a pinch
-Solon de Atenas for all of your ideas and wisdom regarding tw modding
-Everyone else at the discord for making this community something wonderful to be a part of!

[ahowl11]

A small hotfix! Includes a few changes I had forgotten to add:

https://www.moddb.com/mods/ahowl11s-...ads/v18-hotfix

[ahowl11]

Change log!
https://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?807389-v18-Change-Log-amp-Leeroys-Work

[ahowl11]

ahowl11's VE Mod v19 -New Map, New Factions & Unified Rome

In July of 2011, I  was in between high school and college. I had just got a brand new  laptop and I decided to install my favorite pc game, Rome Total War. It  wasn't long before I became bored with the same old campaigns and play  styles. I wanted something different, something more historical. I knew  of mods, playing RTRPE and EB before, but I wanted to make my own little  mod. This prompted me to join twcenter.net and I started posting my  modding ideas with no idea of how to actually mod. About a month later I  had a vision, and an entire team working with me on a new mod called:  Historical Rome Total War (HRTW). The mod focused on keeping the vanilla  feel but making it as historically accurate as possible. The initial  version was to have a unified Rome, with 3 new factions: Illyria,  Nabataea & The Bosporan Kingdom. Unfortunately, I was young, lazy  and arrogant. The team fell apart, and the mod was never made.

Spoiler

Finally, the Romans are as they should be

Fast forward to 2020 and here I am, still modding RTW. Nowadays I  work alone, but others help me when they want to, or sometimes I might  need to outsource some work to make my life a bit easier. However, even  though VE mod is made by me, I kind of consider it a community project  that you all get to be a part of. v19 is a version to be celebrated, as  it marks a checkpoint or half way mark in the mods progress. Essentially  this mod is completed, but I can't stop now. Anyways, enough of the  sentimental ranting, it's time to talk about the new version!

Spoiler

Remaking a scene from the original CA dev promotional shots, thanks Lom1138

As I finished v18 I realized the map just wasn't cutting it. I love  maps, and am a huge nerd when it comes to atlas' and historical accuracy, so I decided it was time to make a big change. That change was present with the Roma Surrectum 2 map, a map for one of the most played  and iconic mods ever made. It encompassed the same area, expanded the  scale, and had much more detail.. it was perfect!! However, it was a ton  of work. First stripping away all RS2 work, then one by one adding  settlements from the VE map. I made many changes, some cities are new,  some are still there but in much more accurate places. Every city was  carefully researched, and I focused on including every major region,  tribe and nation that were relevant from the time of 270BC-117AD. Some  areas like Greece aren't as region heavy to give a better balance along  the entirety of the map. Also, every trade resource was also ported over  to keep that aspect in play. Last, we as a community decided after  testing that certain factions should start off with one region, as the  Gauls, Germans, and other factions were never unified kingdoms. So:  Gauls will represent the Arverni, Germans the Suebi, Dacia the Getae,  Thrace the Odrysian Kingdom, Britons the Iceni, Iberians the  Celtiberians, and Scythia the Siraces Sarmatians. Also, the Greek Cities  have been condensed to represent the Chremonidean League, a league that  opposed Macedon and allied with the Ptolemies at this time. Rhodes was  thrown in for balance purposes.

Spoiler

Argos & Megalopolis were removed for balance purposes

Next was unifying Rome. This was a fun process because I am a Roman  player usually, so I am excited to get my own campaign going! The Romans  will have all of the land that the former 3 families and senate owned.  Their cities were repurposed to give more balance, as well as their  starting armies. However I was able to merge all 4 family trees into  one! So your favorite characters will still exist, and you can still  simulate the rivalry between Patrician families. We also worked hard in  monitoring their strength and expansion, and we believe Rome will be one  of the most powerful in the game.

Spoiler

It's one huge & happy Roman family now!

With the 3 remaining faction slots, it wasn't hard to choose the new  factions after 9 years of doing nothing about it. In actuality these 3  factions are the best candidates to the mod because they not only will  occupy dead spaces of the map where no other faction existed, but they  all provide an interesting element for units, temples, names and  cultures. None of these are copies of the original factions, they are  unique in their own right.
The first faction was Nabataea, a nomadic group of Arabs near the Sinai that developed themselves into a wealthy kingdom centered on the incense trade at their capital of Petra. Based off of the Berber faction from Barbarian Invasion, they will have light desert units, camel units  and some cavalry, and will face a huge test going up against the juggernauts of the Ptolemaic & Seleucid Kingdoms. Diplomacy and shrewd planning will need to be had to win this campaign, and when played by the AI they serve as a small buffer zone between the two powerhouses in the east.

Spoiler

The Nabataean Roster

The next faction implemented was Illyria. This faction will be  focused around the Ardiaei Kingdom that provoked the first Illyrian wars  against Rome in between the Punic Wars. They were based off of the  Illyrian faction from RTR6, which is a mod I have already implemented so  the units were already in as rebel units. They have a very nice  starting position, able to expand in all directions. In the north they  will have access to some more barbarian Pannonian units. Their other  units are hoplite style infantry, light infantry and skirmishers. This  should be a fun campaign that will get difficult as you begin to fight  Macedon and even Rome!

Spoiler

The Illyrian Unit Roster

Last but not least, and probably the most interesting faction added,  is the Bosporan Kingdom. This was a mysterious Hellenistic Kingdom in  modern day Crimea. They blended Greek culture with Thracian, Scythian  and Sarmatian, and they lasted well into the Roman Empire as an  independent Kingdom and Client state of Pontus or Rome. They fought many  battles against the Nomads, and gameplay it adds a lot more intrigue to  that area of the map! Their units are a solid blend of Scythian &  Greek, with their own unique infantry unit: Bosporan Infantry.

Spoiler

The Bosporan Unit Roster

After the new factions some more work had to be done. The Post Marian  campaign was severely lacking for the Roman factions, and now unified  needed to be changed. So I re-added the post Marian units that made most  sense, using the Ferres models to stay consistent with the current  style. This should make the later game a lot more interesting when  playing as or against Rome.

Spoiler

The New Post Marian Units

Lastly, I wanted to improve the immersion of the rebels in barbarian  lands. All of the units were very generic, so I made a ton of internal  fixes to make it so that you will fight Gauls in Gaul, Germans in  Germania etc instead of 'Barbarian' units. With this, the Dacian unit  roster also received a small makeover. They now showcase the units from  the Dahae faction of the Alexander expansion game.

Spoiler

More Diverse Rebel units for Barbarian Regions, and Some new Arab Rebel units

Spoiler

A fresh look for some of the base Dacian units

A few other features to mention:
- Movement points for ships increased, also Brigands & Pirates will appear but not as often
- Leeroy has edited the unit descriptions so missile units show range and ammunition
- Robbe has updated the vegetation, climates and geography to continue his veggie mod

DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION


  - If you have an old HRTW version, you MUST delete it as this will  not work with it. This version is completely different and won't work  with v18 at all.

- One thing that I need to be clear on, is this mod runs on the Alexander.exe not the regular Rome Total War exe. Please make sure you use an Alexander Install.


  1. Download the mod
2a. (Steam) Extract the files to your Rome Total War Alexander directory
2b. (Disc) Extract the files to your Rome Total War Directory
3a.  (Steam) go to your library.. right click RTW Alexander.. select properties.. select launch options.. put in this: -show_err -mod:HRTW -noalexander
3b. (Disc)Create a shortcut of your RTW Alexander exe  file.. right click the shortcut.. select properties.. in the target line  after everything insert this: -show_err -mod:HRTW -noalexander
CREDITS
- Leeroy9000 for continually updating stats with new units, and helping balance out factions on the campaign map
- El Santo Padre for cutting the map so the north wasn't so expansive and buggy
- Robbe for helping with the new map, giving climates to it and editing some issues, also for new splash screen and loading screens
- Solon de Atenas for help with fixing a huge CTD involving Geography and battlemap files
- jirysis, El Santo Padre, Mausolos, Drtad & Suppanut for Map expertise on the regions
- Igorche81, Lom1138, Kaiser, ghostbuster, mart br, overlord, Kotjan Khan, Necroticwill, Roman, Berber-Polak, SPQR, SexTv, Paul308, Milkerman, MinorityWesterner, Black Knight, and others in the VE community on discord for testing, helping and assisting make this version!
-Igorche81 for the new symbols, banners and other artwork entailing the new factions, as well as new faction selection maps
- Korsafoff for 2D & UI help with banners and unit cards
- DTW for the Roman faction symbol
- ferres for the post marian units
- XGM for Nabataean and Illyrian (previously never used) temples and descriptions
- Lanjane for some UI and textures
- comrade_general for some UI and textures
- A special thank you to the old HRTW team and everything they did to help inspire me and teach me. I made many mistakes with you all, and I am very grateful for the lessons I learned in working with you. Thank you: Asgaroth, hameleona, El Santo Padre, twoknives, korsakoff, primo, skull, and all the others who were part of that team, 9 years ago.

[BagaturKhan]

As i said in moddb, congratz, sir!