Starting M2TW Mods the easy Way

Overview

The one time, two step method to get your mods working

Introduction

It would appear that three rather cumbersome methods are widely used to make mods Steam compatible:

1. Renaming the mod’s folder to one of the original kingdom campaigns, eg crusades
2. Creating new desktop short cuts via the launcher
3. Using the Steam launcher option[forums.totalwar.com] the old RTW command line style way

Implementation

All of the above aren’t really necessary unless the method described below doesn’t work at all (it’s a long story why that may happen and cannot be fixed), in fact a one time copyrename action will make nearly every mod playable from it’s desktop shortcut. Here is the step by step way how to do it:

1. Locate the steam folder containing the game’s executable: in your Steam game library right click Medieval II: Total War and select ‘Properties’ in the drop down menu. In the new window click the ‘Local Files’ tab and then click ‘Browse Local files’.
2. Make a copy of the medieval2 application file: selecthighlight the file, press Ctlr+C and then press Ctlr+V. This will create a file named ‘medieval2 – Copy’ – now selecthighlight this file and press F2, this will allow you to change the name of the file. Proceed and rename it to kingdoms, press return once you are finished.

For some reason a code by Meloo182[www.twcenter.net] that automates the above procedure has been lingering in the depth of the Stainless Steel forum. I have now put it into installer which you can download here[www.twcenter.net].
After downloading simply run the installer from your download directory and make sure it points to your Steam directory – unless your registry is messed up it should do so automatically.

You will now be able to start mods directly from their desktop shortcut. There is however the usual exception: mods that are created for the base version of the game will not work as they will need extensive modification, only mods created for the kingdoms version will work.

Error Solving

Underneath a list of possible reasons why the short cut method will not work after creating the kingdoms application file:

• The mod has been installed into the wrong folder: to check, simply right click the mod’s original desktop shortcut and choose ‘open file location’. Make sure the path to this folder looks similar to this: …Medieval II Total WarmodsMyFavoriteMod. If it is somewhere else then the easiest way is to delete the folder and it’s desktop short cut and install again. More experienced users can try their hand at moving the folder into the right directory – a new desktop shortcut for the BAT file will need to created then.
• You misspelled the name of the executable when you copied it: it has to be kingdoms.exe, to check in your Steam game library right click Medieval II: Total War and select ‘Properties’ in the drop down menu. In the new window click the ‘Local Files’ tab and then click ‘Browse Local files’.
• There are some entries in the Steam launcher options: in your Steam game library right click Medieval II: Total War and select ‘Properties’ in the drop down menu. In the new window click the ‘General’ tab if not open already and click on ‘Set launch option’ – delete any content and click ‘OK’.
• The mod is not created for kingdoms: to check, simply right click the mod’s original desktop shortcut and choose ‘open file location’. Now right click the highlighted BAT file and select ‘Edit’ from the drop down menu. Check if it says medieval2.exe somewhere in the command line, example: start medieval2.exe @modsMyNewModConfiguration.cfg If that is the case then the mod is not playable in Steam regardless of the method used, it needs to list kingdoms.exe in the original BAT file.
• There is no desktop short cut: Locate the Steam folder containing your mod’s BAT file: in your Steam game library right click Medieval II: Total War and select ‘Properties’ in the drop down menu. In the new window click the ‘Local Files’ tab and then click ‘Browse Local files’. Now open the ‘mods’ directory and then locate and open the folder of your mod. Rightclick the BAT file, it is listed as ‘Windows Batch File’ in the type column and then choose ‘Send todesktop (create shortcut). You can now rename the short cut (F2, remember?) and give it it’s own icon by right clicking it and choosing ‘Properties’ and then ‘Change Icon’ – browse to the mod’s folder which usually contains an icon and select it.

Note: If all of these checks have failed then you will have most likely installed one of the ‘faulty’ game versions that do not accept this method, unfortunately there is so far nothing to fix this. You can however use the ‘Alternative Launch Option‘ method to start your mod.

This tutorial is availbale at TWCenter[www.twcenter.net] and as PDF[www.twcenter.net].

Other Stuff

• Find all my Steam guides here
• Guides at TWCentre
• Other stuff at TWCentre
• Mods that I have developed or converted