Third Age Divide and Conquer 3.2 Easy Install
What is Third Age? and what do I need to have it?
This guide is outdated. For an easier to use, steam compatible installation see here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=863223393
Foreword
For some esoteric reason a good number of M2TW installations do not accept the executable rename method not the standard BAT\desktop short cut method. It seems to be connected with the servers the installation gets downloaded but this couldn't be confirmed.
With that in mind this guide has been set up.
Intro
For those poor, clueless, people who don't know what "Third Age" is, it's a complete overhaul for Medieval: II Total War. And it's great (minus a couple of minor issues).
As for what you will need, this guide assumes you have Med II AND the Kingdoms Expansion, both on Steam. You will also need a decent internet connection, or else it'll take about 10 years to download. :P
Getting the files
Okay, so you want it but have no clue where to get the files. Well, your best bet is off moddb ;
http://www.moddb.com/mods/third-age-total-war
Scroll down, ignore all the marketing :P until you get to the Download Links bit.
You'll get 3 files off there:
1) The 3.0 part 1 installer
2) The 3.0 part 2 installer, and
3) The 3.2 patch installer.
They are large files (by my standards :P) totally about 4GB in size; that's why you need a decent internet connection. :P
You may get a message saying you need to be a member. Not so! Shut that message, and click on the Download button again. Then quickly (before the message comes up) click on the "Try another mirror" text at the top right of the popup. From that you can pick a mirror that DOESN'T require a membership.
You also want this bug fix[www.twcenter.net]. That's the original topic you can read, however this link [www.dropbox.com] has all the files you need.
This is a rather puny file in the order of 0.1MB, something even MY internet could download in less than an hour. :P But what's this? .rar ? What is THAT? Is it a bit like a .zip?
Yep. To extract it you can do one of three things:
1) Google .rar extractor and get the least trustworthy site available (not recommended :P)
2) Use 7-zip[www.7-zip.org].
3) Use Universal Extractor[www.legroom.net].
Either way, you'll have the files out in no time.
Installing it
You have all the files, you have a nice shiny copy of Med II and the Kingdoms expansion, but you have no clue what to do.
One; You can view this video, or two, you can read the text below it.
Start the first .exe installer: that's 3.0, part 1. Read the license, click yes, click next, until it comes up with the spot where you want TA to be installed. It will come up with something funny ranting about SEGA by default. That's because they haven't bothered updating it for Steam users.
You want this to go to your Steam directory. That's by default "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\common\Medieval II Total War." However, anybody either a) with Vista or b) is sensible will have moved the game directory out of Program Files as Microsoft doesn't want you meddling there.
If you can't be bothered moving it, it's okay. It's just you'll have to click "Yes" several times to various security things.
Anyway, you're up to entering the directory bit in.
You want it to go to the folder that looks like this:
If it comes up and tells you "This folder doesn't exist. Do you want the directory to be created," do NOT click Yes: You've done something wrong.
You do NOT want to install it into the "mods" folder. NO. That will create ANOTHER sub-folder called "mods" and you'll have to do a lot of working around that.
Once that's finally finished (if it stops responding, leave it be: it'll sort itself out. Unless it's taken three days, in which case you have a problem. :P), guess what?
Do the SAME THING with the 3.0 Part 2 installer.
And the SAME THING with the 3.2 patch installer.
In that order, please.
The next section contains bits that may make multiplayer dysfunctional. At this point, your best move is to copy your TATW folder and paste it, so you have two copies. One can be used for multiplayer and the other one will have a far better SP campaign experience.
Leave the one you designate for multiplayer.
The one that you want to be your SP campaign map, you need to patch the 3.2 patch with those Essential Bugfixes.
Extract them out of that pesky .rar format (Why can't people just use a .zip, I don't know... ) and then open "Readme.txt" or whatever it's called.
Do what it says for the first and second points. As for the third, first find Map.rwm and delete it. For " *strings.bin " , that means "Anything ending in blahblahblahwhateveryoulikegoeshere__strings.bin" (You're looking at stuff like battle.text.strings.bin for your information) . HOWEVER, deleting all the stuff tha ends in strings.bin will break a DaC installation but is still a good idea for TATW 3.2 . Your best bet is to copy out your TATW folder again and only edit one. Stuff a small text document in one saying "Anything that ends in strings.bin has been deleted" and something that says "This has still got its strings.bin" in the other, and if you like install DaC on top of that one. (Thanks for Barras for digging this up to me!)
Finishing off installation and playing it
If you have run the installer and installed the game as mentioned in the video above. Then all you need to do is run the .bat file within the mod folder and/or the shortcut that was provided to you on your desktop.
As mentioned by Arachir in his installation video. Using the renaming method is archaic. It was the original method for launching Steam mods that acted a little funnily. In these enlightened times we no longer need the method. It still works, but it has problems of its own.
Specifically, Steam will pick up these files as "correct files" and when you try to reinstall it will reinstall your mod. This is not a problem if your mod is working fine. If it isn't - typically the time when you want to reinstall - it prevents you from actually running M2. The solution is to leave M2TW uninstalled for 30.00 days, at which point Steam will actually start downloading the "proper" files again.
If however, you do want to rename your folder, do follow his little section on that.
ADVANCED way of running Third Age
You can run the game via the folder renaming listed above. This section is a slightly more technical of running TATW that some people like.
If you just want to get TATW working, don't use this method.
Credits: This guy and his guide here:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=290002657
as well as Inardesco, who rants about it regularily :P
but the method's hardly copyright. :P (he has method 1 which is fussy; I'm using method 2)
Anyway, what to do:
1) Rename your Third Age folder back to Third_Age_3 or something memorable. In this case, I'll use ThirdAgeTW as the name for my folder.
2) Go over to your Steam Library. Right-click Medieval II and select Properties.
3) Go to General, and click "Set Launch Options." You should get a little box pop-up, complaining that "these options are for advanced users only." Well, I did say...
4) Add this:
--features.mod=mods/WHATEVER.YOU.NAMED.YOUR.THIRD.AGE.FOLDER.TO
so in my case I add
--features.mod=mods/ThirdAgeTW
and then click Ok.
Alternatively, you can create a desktop shortcut for the Medieval2.exe and paste the launch option after it; "G:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\Medieval II Total War\medieval2.exe" --features.mod=mods/Third_Age_3
The main difference in using the launch options through Steam or through a desktop shortcut, is that using it through Steam always launches the mod, even if you don't want to. Whereas using the desktop shortcut, launching the game will give you the vanilla game, not the mod.
It is, rather, a method that depends on how you, as a person, would like it.
^ That says "featured." It should say "features" - with an S. (Thank you TotalWarHero)
5) Now, run Medieval II. Don't run an expansion - just run the main game, the original. Launching an expanion appears to crash the game.
6) Of course, if you want vanilla back, or want to launch another mod, just get rid of the launch option / change the folder name.
Installing Divide and Conquer (currently v2.2)
Frequently Asked Questions / Common Bugfixes
0a) Before you do absolutely any troubleshooting whatsoever, stop using that desktop shortcut. THEN read the rest of the FAQ.
0b) Also try running the installers as admin. In severe cases you may need to temporarily turn off your antivirus, although this is rare.
0c) Also try redownloading the installers if the game is simply just breaking. This isn't often an issue, especially if you just quietly left them downloading overnight (by far the best option).
1) Multiplayer games are incompatible!
To play multiplayer you need:
- Same OS. No crossplay between Mac and Windows, I'm afraid. I can, however, point you to this group, which is a collection of Mac M2 players, some of which play TATW. http://steamcommunity.com/groups/MTW2mac
- Same method of M2. As far as I know, if you have the retail version you can't play with Steam owners. What you can do with the retail version is shove your product key in Steam and install everything via Steam.
- Same version of M2. That is, patch 1.0.06.1 or whatever the number is (it's not big). This is very rarely a problem and only if you haven't touched your M2 game in yonks.
- Same mod. This shouldn't be a problem. However, if you're running TATW 3.2 you can't play with people running TATW 3.0 or with the Divide and Conquer submod (remind me, I need to put a section up on that
- Same method of launching it. This is almost certainly your problem. If you use the americas campaign your other players must be using the americas campaign to launch. If you use a custom shortcut, so must they.
2) Axethrowers crash the game when they fire!
AXETHROWER CRASH FIX:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?667436-Divide-and-Conquer-Version-0-52-Released&p=14826170&viewfull=1#post14826170
I'll write up a nice section on it... sometime :P It works for both DaC and TATW, and probably also MOS too.
3) The game says "M2 has encountered an unspecified error and will now exit!"
Chances are you didn't install it properly. Or you're using the .bat shortcut. Which you shouldn't be. Either way, follow the guide to the letter.
4) I'm on a Mac, what should I do?
I can't give you much advice, as I run a Windows, but have a look at this guide:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=601721028
5) Can I overwrite the Grand Campaign (GC) instead of the mods?
Yes, but it will screw everything else up and:
1) It's fussy to install.
2) It's fussy to uninstall.
3) It's fussy to run.
4) It's fussy and will overwrite the main data for other campaigns; the Teutonic campaign, for example, uses game settings, files, and STUFF from the main game... which is now TATW. (All my Castles look like Minas Morgul now, and my cities look like those of the Galadhrim (Lothlorien)).
6) Anyone wanna play / you wanna play with me?
As for me, I'm a solitary SP AI-basher who generall is AFK far too often to play online. I can, however, say that there are plenty of others who will happily play with you. To list them all would take ages, but just search up "Third Age Total War" on Steam groups and see what you find.
7) Can I have lots of mods installed at the same time?
Using the --features.mods=mod/modname as your way of launching mods you can install as many mods as you want. Do note that using the rename method can break those campaigns so simply instl all mods in their own folder and use either the aforementioned launch options or the launcher that came with the mod upon install.
8) When I try to run the files Windows just complains "What do you want to open this with?"
This is an odd bug, but the solution is usually rather simple. Get your files, rename them, and stuff a .exe on the end. So you end up with
TATW_part1of3_whateverthefilenamesays_you-can-rename-this-for-all-I-care.exe
and then run as per usual.
Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=517318177
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