Greetings once again, everyone!
This update was more so an overhaul of the campaign map, and the assets found on it, than anything else. The most noticeable update is the new textures for terrain, which affects every corner of the campaign map. As with the old map, each region has different 'base' terrains and accompanying textures for farms, hills, and mountains. Overall the map is a bit greener, although the north-western area of the map is a bit of a departure from that as attempts to capture the mix steppes, arid grasslands, and deserts of north-west China. Along with the overhaul of 'summer' land textures, new textures for the snow-covered landscape were updated as well, making for a much more pleasant visual experience during the winter months. In addition to the terrain, the models for several campaign map assets were updated as well. Fortified Passes, Forts, and the horse trade resource were all completely revamped for this update. I also took the time to clean up some of the older assets, using the IWTE and GOAT tools, as many of them had glaring spots of excessive alpha, which made the asset have white patches in random locations. The Yellow Crane Tower and Sleeping Buddha monuments were some of the more noticeable assets with this issue, but it also affected numerous character strat models. While I had cleaned up many of these assets in the v5.2 Update, ones I had overlooked were the unique strat models for Nanman characters and some trade resources. Below you can see a couple of screenshots of the new terrain features found on the campaign map.
One thing I have striven for with this mod, in it's over 10 years of development, is immersion. Character biographies are perhaps the best example of this, as each biography give a brief historical account of the character, their life, and the role they played in the Three Kingdoms era. While quite a lot are easy to get information on, and compile a biography for, many others are not. Some have to be pieced together from other people's biographies, while others have to be gleaned from various sources not readily available on the internet. Regardless of the ease or difficulty in writing individual biographies, it all adds to the immersion I attempt to put forth in this mod. Something I added to the new 190 Campaign was an introduction message - some brief text that gives a general overview of the current state of affairs - and I have done the same thing for the 194 campaign as well, which is the first event message to pop up when you start a new campaign. Essentially it touches on some of the major events and major players leading to the year 194. Below you can see an in-game image of this new 194 introduction event.
And finally, I should mention that the Recruitment Limitation Script (RLS) was finally fixed... Yes, in a previous update I had stated the same thing, however I discovered that this whole time there was actually nothing wrong with the script itself. To make a long-story, short: I had meant to include a new battle AI and put part of it into the main script, but never actually fully implemented it. Being that it was only partially implemented, it did not work, and it was essentially forgotten about. What that defunct battle AI did do, however, was make anything below it in the main script also not work. The RLS was immediately below it. So, while all the focus was on the internal workings of the RLS and why it didn't work, at all, I finally dug deep enough to discover the problem and fix it. I have 1000% confirmed the script works, as per both the trace log and extensive testing. So, rest assured, your playthrough will no longer get ruined by Cao Cao coming at you with 60 stacks just a few years into the game.
In addition to everything else already mentioned above, 105 new quotes and 10 new loading screens were added (thanks Fahnat), new captain strat models for all Han factions were implemented, several new character strat models for Goguryeo, Nanman, and Shanyue were included, jade is now a (rare) trade resource, and the main menu screen has been updated, plus many more things that can be found in the changelog.
The Version 5.3 (Jian'an) Update can be downloaded here and has instructions on how to properly install the patch (point installer at Medieval II Total War folder).
IMPORTANT NOTE: You must have the Rise of Three Kingdoms v4.5 Full Release installed prior to installing this update. This update is NOT save-game compatible (will break saves).
Happy gaming!
Appreciate all the work you have, and still are, putting into this favorite mod of mine. Simply amazing.