ahowl11's Vanilla Enhancement Mod v14 - XGM Final feature

It took almost two months this time, but v14 is here! I worked really hard to incorporate everything I possibly could from Extended Greek Mod (XGM). Also, I worked a lot on the starting positions of every faction. Many were almost impossible to play as, but this has been fixed. Does this mean it's going to be super easy? No. However you're not going to be -30K in debt (unless you are very foolish in your spending!) I am not opposed to changing things based off of accurate feedback, so don't hesitate to let me know about issues, difficulty or inaccuracy and we can discuss a solution.

Now to the fun parts. XGM is a very light mod, but is also very complex. It's main priority was to give Greek factions the same unique immersion as Roman factions. However over time it expanded upon that and touched on other factions as well, creating a balanced game. The mod ended up having a lot of new units, new buildings and a much more immersive trait and ancillary system. It also had many new factions and extended east to India. I have included most everything that doesn't deal with the following: Garrison Scripts, Area of Recruitment (AoR), Sabaea, Bactria, India, Ethiopia, Caesars Campaign, Specific Greek campaigns. What I did include were: most new units, new trait and ancillary system by Suppanut, new buildings, a few minor helpful scripts as well as my own balance work.

First the Buildings. There are very specific monuments, schools, and temples or sites scattered throughout the map. When you conquer a region, look at your buildings to see if you have any of them! These buildings not only provide small bonuses, but they also are triggers for new traits and ancillaries for your Generals and Governors. Here is what the XGM readme had to say:

There are now significant virtues associated with all temples, and the vices associated with some temples have been toned down. So, if you have a governor in a settlement it is safe to build any temple type, and it is a good idea to build at least a second level temple to take advantage of the positive effects that this will have on your governor.

All temple types can now be upgraded by all factions, and all of the Olympian gods are now represented. In vanilla RTW it was usually a good idea to demolish existing temples in captured settlements, and to start building your own. In XGM you should always consider whether upgrading might be a better option.

Schools also have a strong positive effect on governors, so it is a good idea to build them anywhere that you expect to have a governor for long periods of time.

Next is the expansive trait and ancillary system that Suppanut of Extended Cultures (XC) incorporated into XGM. The most important feature is the Ethnic traits. Your characters ethnicity will determine cultural conversion and if he is of a tribe, he will have a specific bonus based on the tribe in which he comes from. Here is the main feature list from Suppanut himself:

- 27 Ethnicities featured to enhance game play
- Many subgroups of clans, tribes, and city-states to give a more in-depth experience
- New imperial titles for faction leaders who are accomplished in power and glory
- Every temples' priest available to all factions
- New traits and ancillaries which give more depth to Barbarian and Eastern Factions
- Health system, now family members can fall ill.
- Supply system, now fighting in enemy territory will be harder than before
- Mentor system, now ancillaries will influence what traits your character gains in the same way as academies do
- Ancillaries weight system, Now characters will have a limited amount of space for ancillaries and could prevent characters from gaining new ancillaries once retinues are full
- New governing system which make the same action give different outcomes based factions and cultures
- Vice from becoming an empire, outcomes differ via cultures
- Leadership bonus from faction leader to effect overall faction's generals
-->Management will have an affect on family members tendency on corruption
-->Influence will have an affect on family members tendency to be bribed
- Harder to gain Main 3 attributes, Command, Management, Influence. Now characters will become specialized in their roles.

And of course, units have been added. This version will probably add the most units. Many came from XGM itself, but I went ahead and made most of these. The main feature here is the new look for Roman units. They are from Ferres' Modding Legions Pack 1.3b, and I simply recolored them to fit the vanilla look. Also, except for the Marian Legionary units, I removed all post-marian units because they are representing the Imperial Roman era, which I am not representing in this mod. Enjoy!

Next are the Barbarians. Thrace and Iberia got the most love here as they had some weak and small unit rosters when it came to unique units. Thrace in the game is Greek, but they are close to barbarian as well.

Carthage also received a slight overhaul, but not completely. They should look less Iberian now!

Next the Eastern factions. Over the last few versions I have been trying to separate Parthia from Pontus and Armenia. Parthia still retains the Persian looking units, while Pontus and Armenia have a new set depicting a more hellenized culture from Anatolia and the Caucasus. With this version, that transformation is complete.

The Greeks have had a lot of unique units added to bring immersion (what you'd expect from a mod focusing on the Greeks) Phalangites are now a unit for the Greek Cities, but they are a reform unit, so you can experience the shift from Hoplite to Phalangite.

Many new mercenaries have also been added!

Last but not least, some rebel units to give you some issues in your campaign!

Finally, I have been working on a small homeland feature. It is not finished, but it works. Basically, you and the ai factions will all get a small monument at the start of the game. This will provide significant bonuses to keep your faction alive and prosperous (especially early on!) if you lose your capital, you will be in severe trouble. However, taking AI capitals will also deal a crippling blow. Also, recruitment is much more expansive in your homelands. You will be able to field a professional army early on if you can manage your resources properly!

Force Diplomacy Script

This allows you to force any faction to accept any diplomatic offer you make to them. You can access this by clicking on the help button on the diplomacy scroll (the question mark in the top right corner) and then clicking on the "show me how" button when the advisor comes up.

This option is included so that you can correct for certain weaknesses in the AI. Here are some suggestions for how this option can be used to make the game more realistic and more interesting:

(1) The AI doesn't know when it's beaten. You can use this option to force a faction to accept a ceasefire or protectorate status when they have been beaten down to the point where you could crush them easily. My own house rule is that I can use this option when a faction has been reduced to three regions, I have their capital under siege, and I have enough forces available to crush them easily within a few turns.

(2) The AI often doesn't know a good deal when it sees one. You can use this option to force the AI to accept an offer that is clearly to their advantage.

(3) The AI won't keep an alliance, even with a reliable ally, and even when breaking the alliance would be foolish. If you want to role play a lasting alliance, you can use this option to keep the AI from staring wars that don't make any sense.

If you do use this option it is a good idea to come up with sensible house rules, at the start of your campaign, that govern how and when you can use it. Your game will be a lot less fun if you use this option as a cheat to make the game easier.

Peace with the Dead Script

A faction will not form an alliance with you if you are at war with one of its allies. Unfortunately, due to a bug in RTW, this is true even if the ally has been destroyed. This script allows you to make peace with the dead, so that you can form alliances with the living.

To activate this script (1) open the overview scroll, (2) go to the diplomacy tab, (3) click on the help button, and then when the advisor pops up (4) click on the show me how button.

Other Features and Fixes

Robbe fixed the radar map to look cleaner as well as some bugs in his vegetation.

New Greek Standard Bearers

Barbarians & Nomads now have recruitment up to level 4

Forest Elephants only recruitable in African regions

Night Raiders throw an Axe before charging

New Cognomen traits for Roman Generals

Naked Fanatics renamed to Gaesatae

Iberian Infantry renamed to Caetrati

Armored Hoplites renamed to Epilektoi

Hillmen throw Javelins before charge

Martial Law Building - helps improve public order, but at an economic cost

Grain Imports and Exports - Boosts income, Exports can't be built and are in only settlements with the Grain resource

All slingers are Ap

Hepteres given to Carthage

Gauls have a unique officer

General Units have 0 upkeep

Scythian Horse Archers fight with an axe instead of a knife now

New General model for Scythia

Updated Pontic General Skin

Imitation Legionaries removed from Pontus and Armenia

New Iberian barbarian standard

Eastern Officers redone to look better

Parthian Cataphracts have a better animation

Legionary First Cohort now is better than Legionary Cohort

A lot has been put into this version so I would really appreciate it if I could get some detailed feedback on how the game plays. I will be testing and playing a lot over this next month, so the next release will contain many balances and adjustments.. as well as, New units!

Thank you all who have been following this mod up until this point. It's been a lot of fun creating this!

- 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

Dimebagho - for the XGM mod, you not only enhanced the RTW game, you created a new one, developed a fun community and had fun doing so.. thank you!

Suppanut - for your Ethnic Traits mod, it is so immersive and there are so many little details that enrich the game

Robbe - for your constant support on your veggie mod

BHL_20 - for your help with adjusting the traits to fit factions that weren't in XGM

Korsakoff - for recoloring some really tough shields!

RTRPE - for some amazing unit models

Barbarians Revenge - for unit models

Extended Cultures - unit model for Asturian Axemen

AqD - for Hillmen model

Europa Barbarorum - for inspiration on the Caledonian units

Ferres - for the Modding Legions 1.3b pack (originally included in XGM)

Paeninsula Italica - for the Punic Thureophoroi model

unDa - Thracian Falxmen UI

Lanjane - for some models, skins and UI (Iberian Spear Warband, Noble Falxmen, Thracian Thorakitai)

Crazyroman - for feedback and testing

Saul_Tyre - for feedback and testing

Mausolos - for advice, historical research

The Discord Community - for constant support