Newbie FAQ - Please read this before asking questions.

Topic Subject: Newbie FAQ - Please read this before asking questions.

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yakcamkir
Seraph Emeritus

posted 05 December 2006 09:29 EDT (US)

This thread is intended to be for asking and answering basic questions about playing Medieval 2: Total War. For a more detailed FAQ, click here.

1. How do I change my faction heir?

Basically, you can't.

2. Why does it say the date as a turn number? I want it in years!

In the file descr_strat.txt (data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign) remove the line that says "show_date_as_turns" and it will show a year instead. Ensure you save a backup before you edit the files though, as if you make a mistake, you can then put back a version that is working.

3. How do I get Cardinals?

Any Priest who has a piety of 4 or greater is eligible to become a Cardinal. Normally, the one with the highest piety is chosen. There can only be as many cardinals as there are seats in the College of Cardinals though.

4. When do the time periods change?

The campaign doesn't work in terms of time period. Units from all periods are available simultaneously, although to recruit some units (gunpowder units for example), you need to wait foe the technology to become available.

5. Does denouncing Heretics and Witches improve a Cardinal's chances of becoming one of the Preferati or is it more important to travel?

The important things to become Preferati are piety and eligibility. Both methods will improve the two factors, but denouncing a Witch or Heretic will immediately gain piety, while travelling takes a little longer. Also, surviving an inquisition adds +1 piety. However, if you're doing your spiritual job right, you sohuldn't really have witches and heritics.

6. How do I decide whether a settlement should be a Castle or a City?

Cities are your economic powerhouses, they provide your empire with the money you need to keep going. With some factions, they also train your gunpowder units, although they mainly train militia units.Castles are stronger in defence and have a public order bonus, although they make significantly less money. They train your main military units and are best used to defend the frontiers.If you crusade to form a new outpost of your empire, then it is a good idea to start with at least one castle both for defence and to train troops there.

7. How do I plant stakes with Longbowmen?

You press the Special Abilities button during deployment. You can press the stakes button again to un-deploy them, then move the longbow unit again and still be able to deploy stakes. You must undeploy stakes before you move the unit or else you lose the stakes completely. If the unit can't place stakes, try moving them somewhere else. You can't place stakes if there are obstructions like stone walls.

8. How do I fore rotting cows with Tebuchets?

Press the Special Ability button twice. It has three settings - Normal Ammo, Flaming Ammo and Rotting Cows. Rotting Cows have a seperate ammunition bar, so using them doesn't diminish your rocks or flame pots.

9. How do I get my units to complete all queued moves at the start of a turn?

I don't believe you can.

10. How do I highlight all units' movement orders on the campaign map?

Press =.

11. How do I highlight all units' destinations on the battle map?

Press Space.

12. When is gunpowder discovered?

Between 210 and 220 years into the game. This is 105-110 turns unless you modify the timescale.

13. When do the Mongols invade?

Between 128 and 144 years into the game. This is 64-72 turns unless you modify the timescale.

14. When do the Timurids invade?

Between 288 and 304 years into the game. This is 144-152 turns unless you modify the timescale.

15. Does the Pope fight in battles?

Yes, he is the faction leader of the Papal States.

16. How can I walk along the walls of the inner cities (large building that makes up part of the walls)?

You can't.

17. How do I use BBCode?

Click here.
18. How do I get Cannon Towers to work? I only get arrows.

Cannon towers are actually on the edge of the castles- unles the enemy attack the corners cannon towers aren't too much use.

19. Why doesn't Alt+F4 exit the game quickly like it did in RTW?

Probably because it's such a big game.

20. Can you continue playing after the certain amount of time to beat the campaign is over?

No. You can play after meeting your victory condition, but you can't play after running out of time.

21. How do I look at my screenshots? They used to be in the tgas folder.

They come up as photoshop files in the TGA folder. Also, Windows copies the first screenshot into your clipboard, so taking a screenshot, pressing Alt+Tab to get to the desktop and then pasting into any image program also works. The Xfire IM program also allows you to take screenshots

22. I want to be able to play as other factions. How do I do this?

There are several ways. The easiest way is to move the factions that you want to play onto the "Playable" list in descr_strat.txt (data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign). Another way is to win a campaign as any faction.

23. Has the view settelment on battle map option been removed? I cant seem to find it.

Yes, it has been removed.

24. Where are the files to alter? descr_strat.txt and all that?

descr_strat.txt refers to the positions at the beginning of the campaign. descr_mercenaries.txt refers to which mercenaries are available in which regions. descr_win_conditions.txt refers to the victory conditions for each faction. All of these can be found in the data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign folder in your game directory. In the data folder, you can also find export_descr_unit.txt (unit details), export_descr_character_traits.txt (trait details) and export_descr_ancillaries.txt (ancillary details).To get to these, you will need to unpack your files by downloading patch 1.1, goign to tools, running the unpacker then deleting data\descr_geography_new.txt anddata\descr_geography_new.db

25. How do I change the start and end dates of the campaign and does this have anything to do with why my characters only age by six months per turn?

From descr_strat.txt (data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign):
start_date 1080 summer
end_date 1530 winter
timescale 2.00
Change these figures if you want to alter it, start_date and end_date are self-explanatory. Timescale is the time in years that will pass during one turn. Set this to 0.50 if you want each turn to last six months.

26. Do the scripts refer to years or turns?

I believe that they are in years from the campaign start.

27. Is it possible to play M2TW in a window?

Yes.Add the following to your cfg file:[video]windowed = true

28. Can I dismiss my agents just like my armies? If yes, how? I've seen no button to do this, but would come handy.

No. Named Characters may be killed in a mission (in the case of Spies and Assassins), die in battle (Generals), be assassinated or die of old age. They cannot be dismissed.

29. When does the "world is round" event happen?

Between 366 and 374 years into the game. This is 183-187 turns unless you modify the timescale.

Please ask your questions here and someone will answer them. One of the moderators will add new questions and answers to the title post as they are asked.

30. I used the unpacker in patch 1.1 and the game crashes now. What do I do?

From the patch readme file.- NOTE: Due to a timestamp check, the following unpacked files willcause the game to crash and must be deleted before the game islaunched:data\descr_geography_new.txtdata\descr_geography_new.db

31. How do I join a crusade?

You need an army with at least one family member and at least eight units total. If there is a crusade on, then there will be an option to join the crusade on the mercenary recruitment scroll, if not, then either you can ask the Pope for a crusade in the Papal screen or you may have to wait if another crusade has recently finished.

32. I see all factions around me with princesses, but i have none. What am i doing wrong? I tried not marrying one but never found her in my cities.Check your family tree and look for any "selectable" princesses. Once you select the princess' face card there is a magnifying glass on that same family tree page that will direct you to her. If you don't have any selectable princesses, then you don't have any princesses available at the moment. But as your family grows you should get some more. Note that Muslim factions (Turks, Moors, Egypt) do not have princesses. Venice also appear not to get princesses.

33. I noticed some of my units are shaded dark blue, I assume that they are the free upkeep units. I want to know how to get some other unit as the free upkeep unit and what units are eligible as free upkeeps and which are not. For example, my town has 2 free upkeeps but both peasant units there are not shaded blue. How do I get them as free upkeep?

Only militia units can get free upkeep in cities. Peasants are not militia units. Castles do not allow free upkeep units.If you are allowed to have 3 free upkeep units and have 4 militia units in the city, it will automatically choose the 3 most expensive units to be the free upkeep units.In your case to get free upkeep, you need to move 2 militia units into the city or build two.

34. What happens when I make another faction a vassal and what happens when I become a vassal? Is it possible to become a vassal then rebel against the people who have made you a vassal?

When you make somebody a vassal, it is somewhat like an alliance but they are subordinate to you and not equal. Their provinces are counted as your provinces for the purposes of getting the game victory conditions but you don't administer those provinces and can't produce troops from them.Another thing is that their profits now head in your direction which can be a major cash bonus to you.If you become a vassal, then you are allied to but subordinate to that faction. All your profits go to the other faction. What can be a very useful trick is to demand a large cash lump sum to become somebody's vassal and then declare war on them in the next turn cancelling the arrangement but you get to keep the cash already given!

35. In battle sometimes my soldiers say "that siege engine isnt going to man itself." Is there a way to capture artillery in the battle?

No but siege weaponry can be destroyed.

36. I modded the game, but my changes have not taken effect?

Go to your base M2TW folder (the one where your medieval2.exe is), and open medieval2.preference.cfg file in notepad. Look under the [io] section, and you should see a line called "file_first" and change its value to "true". If it is not there, add it like this:

[io]file_first = true

37. Is there any way to check what version of M2TW I'm running?

If you go to the "options" screen and look in the top right, you'll see the version number there.

38. Where is my saved game file?

If you're on Windows XP:Wherever your Medieval 2 directory is (e.g. C:\Program Files\SEGA\Medieval 2)and then either \saves (if you're playing the basic game, rather than a mod) or \mods\modname\saves (if you're playing a mod called 'modname')If you're on Windows Vista or Windows 7 then you've got the 'virtual store' to contend with. The path you're looking for will be something along the lines of: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\SEGA\Medieval 2\savesIf that doesn't work - create a saved file with a weird (unique) filename and then search your harddrive for that name...

39. How do I toggle settlement or character names?

Press Ctrl and N to toggle character names; Ctrl and T to toggle settlement names

[This message has been edited by SwampRat (edited 06-07-2012 @ 05:02 PM).]

Author

Replies:

FactionHeir
Legionary

posted 05 December 2006 11:51 EDT (US) 1 / 170

What does years mean in your FAQ? The standard 1 turn = 2 years or is it a 1 turn= 0.5 year etc?
Thats whats kind of unclear.

And my Q:
Do campaign scripts run according to years or turns? I.e. will gunpowder always be developed, in say, 1300 or after a certain amount of ended turns? Are there exceptions to a given rule?

Gladiador
Legionary

posted 05 December 2006 18:02 EDT (US) 2 / 170

can you continue playing after the certain amount of time to beat the campaign is over?

and

I heard you can see all the screenshots you have taken in the game by looking in the files. please tell me how to do it and does it work for rome also. thanks in advance

(\__/)
(O.o )
(> < ) This is bunny. Copy bunny into your siginature to help him on his way to world domination!

eeeeeeeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeeeeeeee

[This message has been edited by Gladiador (edited 12-05-2006 @ 06:23 PM).]

yakcamkir
Seraph Emeritus

posted 06 December 2006 03:42 EDT (US) 3 / 170

One turn is one cycle (ie. when you press the end turn button).

Rome: Total War Heaven | Medieval II: Total War Heaven | Empire: Total War Heaven
"Do not stand behind Satan in the Post Office queue because the devil takes many forms."
"Your front-page picture of Kate Winslet with a plunging neckline being up for two golden globes was most appropriate."
Unpublished letters to the Daily Telegraph

soviet_spy
Legionary

posted 13 December 2006 18:16 EDT (US) 4 / 170

The Screenshot folder is called tgas, inside the main game folder.

darknodin
Legionary

posted 17 December 2006 03:46 EDT (US) 5 / 170

To get cannon towers to work... you need to your troops near the towers (I don't think the ones near the door are cannons)

Warguppy
Legionary

posted 19 December 2006 00:20 EDT (US) 6 / 170

I was curious if there is anywhere that lists the difficulty of the factions comparatively like they were in the first M:TW game?

Life was much easier before I developed a sense of ethics.

[This message has been edited by Warguppy (edited 12-19-2006 @ 00:21 AM).]

Rozanov
Legionary

posted 19 December 2006 05:25 EDT (US) 7 / 170

Quote:

20. an you continue playing after the certain amount of time to beat the campaign is over?

No. You can play after meeting your victory condition, but you can't play after running out of time.

You can continue playing after running out of time even if you haven't met your victory condition, but if you do finish after the time limit, you won't then achieve the victory.

Not that it matters too much - every faction that you defeat gets unlocked whether you complete the victory conditions or not.

Smileyman007
Legionary

posted 21 December 2006 00:49 EDT (US) 8 / 170

What happened to #23 and #24?

No, I'm not being sarcastic.

yakcamkir
Seraph Emeritus

posted 21 December 2006 04:52 EDT (US) 9 / 170

Good question.

Meh, I'll add them later.

Halmacar
Legionary

posted 24 December 2006 21:12 EDT (US) 10 / 170

Has the view settelment on battle map option been removed? I cant seem to find it.

"Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him."- Napoleon Bonaparte

spartan916
Legionary

posted 25 December 2006 23:05 EDT (US) 11 / 170

i read the thing but i been playing total war games for a while now but i never knew how to play the unplayable factions can someone help and wat is this *In the file descr_strat.txt*

[This message has been edited by spartan916 (edited 12-25-2006 @ 11:07 PM).]

yakcamkir
Seraph Emeritus

posted 26 December 2006 07:43 EDT (US) 12 / 170

Updated.

Frost2k6
Legionary

posted 28 December 2006 21:13 EDT (US) 13 / 170

Is it possible to play medieval 2 in a window?

von Nelson
Legionary
(id: General_Nelson)

posted 29 December 2006 01:25 EDT (US) 14 / 170

Yes.

add to your cfg file:

[video]
windowed = true

< Jarrod Nelson>
Nelson looks good in his pics - Gaurdian_112
Wow, Nelson's awfully cute... - HP Lovesauce
Thanks for ruining something that I've waited over 6 years for. - Redneck93
It might be a bit of an odd moment to say so, but I still think Nelson's smile is awesome. - Hnossa
THIS SIGNATURE IS A TESTAMENT TO MY VANITY

Frost2k6
Legionary

posted 29 December 2006 16:10 EDT (US) 15 / 170

Thanks Admiral! haha, I think I might actually have an admiral in my fleets with your name.

VaderMan108
Legionary

posted 30 December 2006 09:02 EDT (US) 16 / 170

I cannot find my "tools/unpacker" folder...

Where is it?

)(=-=-=-=-={|//////////////////////////////////////////)
Looking to join a designing group. Enough said.

yakcamkir
Seraph Emeritus

posted 30 December 2006 09:37 EDT (US) 17 / 170

M2TW\tools\unpacker (I renamed the main game folder, but it's there, not in the data folder).

VaderMan108
Legionary

posted 30 December 2006 11:01 EDT (US) 18 / 170

I simply can't find the tools folder...

)(=-=-=-=-={|//////////////////////////////////////////)
Looking to join a designing group. Enough said.

Dutch Gladiator
Legionary

posted 30 December 2006 11:33 EDT (US) 19 / 170

What TURN do the Timurids invade?

I've looked in the FAQ, but it says between 288 and 304 years into the game. For gunpowder it says between 160 and 170 and for the Mongols 128 and 144. I haven't modified the turns, and gunpowder is invented at turn 81, and the Mongols invade about turn 67. I presume 1 turn in the game is 2 years?
Can I expect the Timurids around turn 150?

I'd like to know, cause I'm playing as the Turks and just whiped out the Mongols and have a vast empire. But I'm starting to get bored... I'll wait for the Timurids, but not if it's gonna take forever.

Thanks in advance.

yakcamkir
Seraph Emeritus

posted 30 December 2006 14:00 EDT (US) 20 / 170

Quote:

What TURN do the Timurids invade?

I added that earlier.

Quote:

I simply can't find the tools folder...

Have you installed the patch?

Open the game folder and the last folder alphabetically will be "tools".

If you can't find it:
1. Open the Start Menu.
2. Select "Search".
3. Select "All Files and Folders".
4. Search for "tools".

Joeking14
Legionary

posted 30 December 2006 16:11 EDT (US) 21 / 170

When does the "world is round" event happen?

EDIT: I think I found it in the files, is it between 320-328?

(\__/)
(O.o )
(> < )This is bunny. Copy bunny into your siginature to help him on his way to world domination! _.+._
(^\/^\/^)
\@*@*@/
{_____}

[This message has been edited by Joeking14 (edited 12-30-2006 @ 04:15 PM).]

King James
Legionary

posted 31 December 2006 16:55 EDT (US) 22 / 170

I believe this is the correct thread for little questions, apologies if it isn't though. Haven't gotten the game yet, so I've been wondering about a few things.

Q: Does MIITW carry over the ideas of Civil Wars or re-emerging factions, like in MITW? If so, are they implemented any differently?

Q: Is there any significance to the name "Slave" faction for the Rebel factions, or is it just to make them a little more special than "rebels"?

Nations to play in MIITW:
Holy Roman Empire
Poland

[This message has been edited by King James (edited 01-01-2007 @ 01:51 PM).]

Sgt Schultz
Legionary

posted 01 January 2007 12:57 EDT (US) 23 / 170

How long do I have to wait before I can ask the Pope for another crusade?

I see nothing. Nothing!

Jax
HG Monument
(id: Jax Omen)

posted 01 January 2007 18:56 EDT (US) 24 / 170

In answer to the Slave question, I beleive that it is just a fancy name for Rebels. I have no idea why they used Slave, though.

house won this

nheero143
Legionary

posted 02 January 2007 14:04 EDT (US) 25 / 170

Quoted from yakcamkir:

25. How do I change the start and end dates of the campaign and does this have anything to do with why my characters only age by six months per turn?
Quoted from descr_strat.txt (data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign):
start_date1080 summerend_date1530 wintertimescale2.00
Change these figures if you want to alter it, start_date and end_date are self-explanatory. Timescale is the time in years that will pass during one turn. Set this to 0.50 if you want each turn to last six months.
26. Do the scripts refer to years or turns?
I believe that they are in years from the campaign start.

So if there is a 450 year period and the time scale is 2.00, would that mean that there are 225 turns in a large campaign? I think I'm at around 160 turns right now. If this is right, I have to keep an eye on the turns. I'd hate to lose on time.

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