Foothold in India 1.3.1 Light - Full Version - Any OS file

Please carefully read README.pdf inside the downloaded archive or it's text copy below.

Foothold in India: The Great Game

Term definition:

The Great Game was a rivalry between the 19th century British and Russian Empires over influence in Asia, primarily in Afghanistan, Persia, and later Tibet. The two colonial empires used military interventions and diplomatic negotiations to acquire and redefine territories in Central and South Asia. By the early 20th century, a line of independent states, tribes, and monarchies from the shore of the Caspian Sea to the Eastern Himalayas were made into protectorates and territories of the two empires.

Foothold in India is a light overhaul modification, addressing the problems of vanilla Empire while staying true to its spirit.

It is a modular project, with all `.pack` files acting as independent modules that can be applied in any combination with each other or as standalone modifications.

The mod is designed to run on MacOS, Linux and Windows.

ModDB page

TWCenter thread

Foothold in India 1.3.1

Save-game compatible with 1.2 and 1.3.

ATTENTION: Please delete all previous packages prior to installation.

Installation

To install, simply put the mods you like into `Empire Total War/data` folder. All mods are in movie format and are specifically designed to not have any conflicts with each other, so you don't need to use a `user.empire_script.txt`. To remove a mod, simply delete the file from `Empire Total War/data` folder OR add a `.bak` extension to its name. If you are unsure whether you want to have a certain mod or not, you can add and remove the `.bak` extension to activate/deactivate it instead of removing the file.

Author's note:

If you wish to experience Foothold in India as the author intended it to be, you should simply put all the files from the archive into `Empire Total War/data` without removing or renaming any of them. Afterward, you will be able to understand which parts you would like to tweak and activate or deactivate certain packages to your taste.

Take note, that despite my best efforts to keep the packages minimally invasive, compatibility with mods not included in Foothold in India is not guaranteed.

The mods

Appearing in 1.0:

• tgg_base and tgg_loc: These two packs change nothing on their own. "Base" provides necessary dependencies for all the packs and startpos files, while "loc" provides localization strings. Always put these two packs into `Empire Total War/data` folder. If you only use these two files and nothing else, you will technically still play vanilla Empire.
• tgg_patch6: A conservative community bug-fix compilation. The most notorious bug is the overpowered Galleon cannon. Fixing it reduces Galleon's firepower from 370 to 122 [sic!].
• tgg_unitpack_nerf_bargir: Makes Bargir Infantry poorly trained and undisciplined, using matchlocks instead of flintlocks, and only recruitable in major multislot cities, starting with Drill School (read more below).
• tgg_unitpack_caucasus: Redesigns troop rosters of Crimean Khanate, Georgia and Dagestan to resemble Morocco and Barbary States (read more below).
• tgg_unitpack_caucasus_for_guest: Same as the above, but without disabling vanilla units, only adding the new ones. I personally recommend strongly against using this pack, however, due to a request from the community, I'm including it as well. To activate, remove the '.bak' extension. Use either this or the above, but not both.
• tgg_unitpack_maghreb: Gives Morocco and Barbary States swordsmen and proper cavalry.
• tgg_unitpack_pirates: Gives Carribean and Barbary land pirate units grenades and a pistol with one ammo to shoot before making a charge. Allows Barbary States access Xebecs faster. Adds stronger units to Barbary States and Pirates city garrisons. Try starting as Spain and taking the "unprotected" Algiers on turn 1, and you are in for a nasty surprise.
• tgg_unit_manpower: Matchlock-armed peasant units are now up to 160 men. Grenadiers, light infantry and skirmishers are up to 120. Riflemen and some elite infantry remain at 80. The rest (all cavalry, dragoons, melee and line infantry) remain as is.
• tgg_unitpack_ottoman: Makes mameluks accessible faster, giving Ottomans a cavalry unit accessible right from the start. Also, they don't disband after a revolution because the Ottomans don't have any good alternatives to using them as light/medium cavalry. Gives Mameluks State European Doctrine and a [distant] perspective to train Nizam-I Cedid units.
• tgg_campaign_sikh_temple: Gives Punjab a religious building (but not an agent).
• tgg_campaign_no_city_forts: Shokh Hates Sieges by Shokh. Disables city fortification construction.
• tgg_campaign_diplomacy_tuning: TWCenter forums "hush"-style diplomacy attitudes, with penalties for going to war, annexing, assassinating, etc. quickly going back to normal.
• tgg_campaign_tech_tree: A more straightforward military tech tree taken from Empire Reborn 3.0. Fire by rank is reachable faster. Cavalry tech, infantry tech and bayonet drills constitute more independent tracks than they do in vanilla. AI seems to navigate this tree better than vanilla.
• tgg_campaign_ai_tuning: My own AI adjustments in the style of Minor Factions Revenge. One of the highlights is that the AI recruits generals more frequently.

New in 1.1:

• tgg_battle_mechanics_tuning: Minor Factions Revenge battle system - fatigue, shooting and fighting mechanics, impacts of charges and masses of units adjusted for a more realistic feel. Musket projectiles now lose accuracy and firepower faster at high ranges, and non-sniper units should come closer if they wish to land accurate shots. Misfire chances for matchlocks and flintlocks are now 16% and 12% respectively instead of 0 as in vanilla (similar misfire chances are applied in tgg_patch6 as well).
• tgg_unit_formationstight: Line infantry, grenadiers, pikemen and all cavalry except the ones shooting from horseback now move in closer formations, while the rest (light infantry, riflemen, skirmishers, mobs and swordsmen) remain as is. This allows the line infantry to hold better against cavalry charges, while giving cavalry more of a punch. Cavalry is now more dangerous for loosely formed units, while skirmishers are now more dangerous for tightly-packed line. All in all, this increases the "rock paper scissors" dynamics between the troop types.
• tgg_misc_minister_titles: jeweetwel_youknow's correct titles for kings, queens, ministers, etc.

New in 1.2:

• tgg_unitpack_india: Gives Mughals Islamic Musketeers instead of Hindu (Hindu regions are not common in Mughal lands in vanilla). Gives Mysore Islamic Musketeers alongside with Hindu Musketeers and Hindu Warriors (Islamic units are not recruitable in Mysore region in vanilla). Makes Qizilbashi Cavalry recruitable globally (like Qizilbashi Musketeers), unlocking them for Persia. Makes Native Lancers accessible faster, and Sikh Musketeers accessible slower. All in all, this pack addresses the wild inequality of Indian factions.
• tgg_unitpack_fleets_of_india: Complete redesign of early Indian and Persian navies. The factions now start with Barbary-style fleets, which evolve into proper European fleets with technological progress. This leaves the Ottomans and Mameluks as the only factions with European-style ships right from the early development stages.
• tgg_campaign_mechanics_tuning: Minor Factions Revenge campaign variables. "Other" GDP for both major and minor factions is up to 4000. The impact of generals rank on autoresolve outcomes is considerably lowered. Autoresolve is generally more fair.
• tgg_campaign_difficulty: Minor Factions Revenge system of difficulty settings. Removes most buffs for AI on various difficulty levels. The AI now won't have more recruitment slots in their cities than the player, the AI's units won't go further distances on the campaign map, etc. The only things left that change with difficulty level are: speed of research, income and upkeep costs. Previously part of tgg_battle_mechanics_tuning (TGG_Battle_Specs prior to 1.2).
• tgg_misc_family_tree: Enables a Family Tree button, like in Rome and Medieval Total War. Previously part of Media Addon 1.0.

New in 1.3:

• tgg_unitpack_nerf_galleon: Galleons can now be recruited only starting from Dockyard and Commercial Port, effectively preventing Spain and pirates to spam them until the necessary facilities are constructed.

New in 1.3.1:

• tgg_unitpack_guns_of_the_west: Allows making European sakers in Minor Governor's Encampment, Barracks and Minor Royal Palace.
• tgg_battle_groupformations_darth: Darth's group formations. Replaces Sinuhet's. In comparison to Sinuhet's group formations, Darth's seem to be more cautious and less aggressive, but also less buggy and more polished. Use either this or Sinuhet's, but not both.
• tgg_battle_groupformations_sinuhet: Sinuhet's group formations (tgg_battle_groupformations prior to 1.3.1). I personally prefer Darth's. To activate, remove the '.bak' extension. Use either this or Darth's, but not both.
• tgg_battle_environments: Smaller cities and less resilient buildings during battles. Previously part tgg_battle_mechanics_tuning (TGG_Battle_Specs prior to 1.2).

Campaigns

Campaign installation is now simplified, and you don't have to replace the startpos file anymore. First of all, you need to put everything from the mod's `campaign_maps` and `campaigns` into `Empire Total War/data/campaign_maps` and `Empire Total War/data/campaigns` folders respectively.

In order to activate a campaign, you need to put the campaign `.pack` file you like into `Empire Total War/data`, but ONLY ONE AT A TIME. Putting together several different campaigns will produce conflicts and bugs, so please keep careful watch of which campaign files you keep. As an alternative, you can put all campaign files, but add `.bak` extensions to all but the one you wish to launch. In my opinion, this is a more convenient method. Same applies to the mod `.pack` files above.

The recommended campaigns are The Great Game campaigns: tgg_campaign_early and tgg_campaign_late.

• tgg_campaign_early_vanilla: 1700 campaign without any changes, but with all factions unlocked.
• tgg_campaign_early_vanilla_foothold_in_india: Same as above, but with Britain and France having territories in India.
• tgg_campaign_early: 1700 The Great Game campaign. Brings many changes to the startpos, such as giving Admiralties to Denmark and Barbary States, introducing emergent Bohemia (replaces Hessen), replacing Caucasian and Crimean starting armies with units from tgg_unitpack_caucasus, moving Ottoman capital to Ankara (for gameplay concerns - the AI tends to defend the capital better, and Anatolia is a more important place than Rum, since it has a school and is a big major province), making Carlos II 99 year old (so that the Spanish Succession war starts faster), readjusting the AI, making all factions fully functional (in vanilla, minor factions are almost inactive) and last, but not least, readjusts diplomatic relationships, primarily between Eastern factions, to make them more dynamic.
• tgg_campaign_late_vanilla: 1783 campaign without any changes, but with all factions unlocked.
• tgg_campaign_late: 1783 The Great Game campaign. Same as above, but with many changes, similar to tgg_campaign_early. However, the extent of the changes is currently not nearly as huge.
• tgg_campaign_late_vanilla_America: The Warpath Campaign startpos without any changes (except from moving the Spanish capital from New Mexico to Mexico), but with all factions unlocked.

New in 1.3.1:

• New victory conditions for Portugal, Denmark, Knights of St. John, Pirates and all eastern factions.
• Gujarat's Surat Trading Port is upgraded to Commercial Port in tgg_campaign_early to accomodate for 3 trade agreements.
• Ahmadnagar's Bombay Commercial Port replaced by Shipyard in tgg_campaign_late.
• Diplomacy adjustments in tgg_campaign_late.
• Ottoman capital moved to Ankara in tgg_campaign_late.
• Fixed fog of war for all factions in tgg_campaign_late_vanilla_America.
• 3 new loading screens for Native American factions.
• Minor changes and fixes.

Details

Bargir nerfing

Aside from Bargir Infantry, the best infantry in India, such as Sikh and Qizilbashi Musketeers are actually poorly trained, undisciplined, using matchlocks, while Qizilbashi Musketeers, being the only proper line infantry unit available to Mughals, are also accessible only starting with Drill School and can't be recruited in Minor Governor's Barracks. The sub-mods therefore only downgrades Bargirs to a level similar to Qizilbashis, putting Marathas and Mughals on a more equal footing.

New Caucasus units

The rosters for Crimea, Dagestan and Georgia are now esthetically much closer to their eastern neighbors', but in essence are quite similar to tribal Native American's. Line infantry and artillery are now disabled (except for Crimean Tufekci similar to Isarely) and the factions have to rely on irregular warfare.

Crimean tactics should include mass cavalry harassment with limited support from below average matchlock infantry. Harass the enemy using masses of cheap Tatar horse archers and hit them with your mailed Oglan lancers when the enemy is in disarray. Nogai Cavalry should chase the skirmishers and neutralize the cannons, while the foot Tufekci militia tangles the enemy in melee or ranged combat. Construct a Minor Royal Palace to get access to Mirza Cavalry - heavily armoured horse archers, riding medium mounts.

Georgia and Dagestan have identical infantry-heavy rosters. Amass a huge number of Caucasian Hillmen supported by excellent Caucasian Swordsmen or Khevsur Warriors. Both states are very tight on budget, so do not disdain using armed peasants to amass firepower. Hide the skirmishers and harass the enemy from the cover of difficult terrain. Approach carefully with swordsmen, hiding behind the hills, avoiding musket and cannon fire, and when the moment is right, throw them into melee, and no foe will withstand their fury. Use the swift and capable Jigits horsemen to pursue the running enemies and counter the enemy skirmishers.

The Fleets of India

All Indian factions and Persia received a complete early navy redesign. The factions now start with Barbary-style fleets, which evolve into proper European fleets with technological progress.

The main device of early naval warfare in the Indian Ocean is now a Light Gallivat - a small, armed boat with sails and oars, used on the Malabar Coast in the 18th and 19th centuries. Further onwards, they are complemented by Medium Gallivats and Grabs - native Arab-Persian and Indian cargo, pirate, and war vessels, comparable to Mediterranean Xebecs.

Historically, Maratha navy was among the strongest in the region, successfully competing with the British and Portuguese. Another ship type used was the Pal (Maratha Man-of-war), which was a cannon-armed, three-masted vessel. The grabs had broadsides of 6- and 9-pounder guns, and carried two 9- or 12-pounders on their main decks. These guns pointed forward through port-holes cut in the bulkheads. The gallivats were mostly armed with light swivel guns, but some also mounted six or eight cannons, either 2- or 4-pounders. These boats were propelled by forty to fifty oars.

Media Add-on 1.2.1

Save-game compatible with 1.1, 1.1.1 and 1.2.

ATTENTION: Please delete all previous packages prior to installation.

These are beauty mods, improving graphics, sounds, effects, etc.

To install, simply put the mods you like into `Empire Total War/data` folder. Please delete the previous version, if you have it, prior to installation.

If you're having graphical issues, try removing some or all of the add-ons.

The addons

Appearing in 1.0:

• tgg_media_durango_historical_portraits: Atmospheric historical portraits in uniform style.
• tgg_media_manics_flags: Cool looking flags.

New in 1.1:

• tgg_media_orientalist_loading_screens: My own collection of orientalist paintings replacing vanilla loading screens.

New in 1.1.1:

• tgg_media_bronze_cannon_barrels: By Lada97. Replaces iron cannon textures with bronze.
• tgg_media_line_infantry_equipment: By erasmus777. Replaces line infantry backpacks and bags with small cartridge boxes and gives spontoons to the infantry officers.

Graphics and sounds from Ultima Ratio Black Label by Miltonr87:

• tgg_media_ultima_effects: Campaign and battle video effects.
• tgg_media_ultima_graphics: Campaign and battle textures, UI changes, etc.
• sounds_sfx: Sounds of gun and musket shots, etc. ATTENTION: Please make a backup of vanilla sounds_sfx.pack before applying.
• tgg_media_ultima_unitmodels: New models for 4 specific units (read more below). I personally prefer vanilla. To activate, remove the '.bak' extension.
• tgg_media_ultima_night: Some battles randomly become night battles. I personally don't like them. To activate, remove the '.bak' extension.
• tgg_media_ultima_big_fonts: Bigger fonts. I personally prefer vanilla. To activate, remove the '.bak' extension.
• tgg_media_ultima_flags: Empire Total Flags by JFC. I personally prefer Manic's flags. To activate, remove the '.bak' extension.

Ultima Ratio Black Label - 4 new unit skins

Miltonr87 quote:

I did not want to add skins, but I did only for two reasons:

1) The uniforms of European Generals are completely horrible in Vanilla.

2) The Expatriates Units wear the same clothes as regular Infantry Units, which causes confusion in the original version... the same happens with the Guard Units (a special regiment that protected the kings). The American Rangers were changed because the originals have clothes similar to the common Militia, which, again, causes confusion!

Now these specific units have more realism and identity. For more information access the original version where more re-textures were created by Bavarian Grenadier and SwissHalberdier.