Stainless Steel 7.0 Lost Files release this year

[Germanicu5]

Updating 1st post to make it absolutely clear, thx Gig.

P.S. I will upload standalone file as well, it does not contain community bugfixes, although some of these issues had been resolved. We'll get to the point of having 1 unified installer.

[Sweyn78]

You're alive!! I thought the pandemic'd gotten you!
Thank you, Germanicus!

[Bones4491]

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Note: the files in the first post need to be installed over the 'old' version of Stainless steel - NOT my repack!!

Links to the original installers:

6.3 - https://mega.nz/#F!VFQGTCZQ!nLVEy9DHX47HEV6vT3E4dQ
6.4 - https://mega.nz/#%21IIxGGaCZ%21MvJKc...izuDMANZu0V9ZA

Should you get the 'kingdoms.exe not found' message apply this guide of mine.

Will there be a version for your repack or should we fresh install instead?

Also this look really fun Germanicus - is the economy script the one based the community made one?

[Germanicu5]

I recommend the standalone link and just copying it as separate mod. Please mind it's still WIP, although main content should work without problems.
As for the economy script - it's a new one I tested over ~3k turns and different variants, results are posted in OP. The main concepts are: AI's recruitment is locked when it's losing money and the debt is cancelled, so that AI has a chance of creating a sustainable economy. Also it's connected with config_ai_battle settings that actually still need to be updated for optimal results (and thank you for reminding me of that). The end result is more battles with AI having over 1k and even over 2k troops.

Regards

[Bones4491]

That sounds terrific! I hope this means Turks will stop spamming horse archers and cheap militia chaff.

I believe this is the economy script I was referring to. It's actually a debt handling script which seems to function much like your own; except it handles buildings over troops.

I've noticed in hotseat games when I take control of an AI to monitor them they are in terrible amounts of debt. Hopefully this will give a refresh to how factions behave. Is there much of a noticeable difference?

[Germanicu5]

Thanks for the link, creating maximum debt and then zeroing it is a great idea for a simplified script, I will look into that. Buildings costing 1 gold may be too far for me though, I prefer that AI pays closer to "market" rate for buildings.
A thing I remember, although not in detail - events/conditions related to income are not reliable and don't always fire when we imagine. One new feature in "my" economy script is freezing recruit pool for AI when their support costs are too high vs income (>85%). Which leaves some money for investments.
As for hotseat - in any case, AIs balance should be close to zero at worst. Even horde - mongols/timurids, which used to rack up hundreds of thousands of debt, should be manageable.

Regards

[Jurand of Cracow]

Hi Germanicu5,
It's nice to see one of the heroes of TWC Golden Era of modding. Back then, after having played some mods, I concluded that a mod without RBAI is worthless in a longer run.
I've got a question: does this material for SS7 contain a new version of RBAI?
cheers
JoC

[Germanicu5]

Hi Jurand,
I'm equally satisfied to see SSHIP being so popular.
As for RBAI - I consider the main development finalised, unless there are some obvious CTDs or bugs. Which I'm not aware of. BAI will bug out sometimes due to engine/hardcoded deficiencies.
So no, no new BAI... although there are some new config_ai_battle.xml settings that stimulate AI to better calculate its forces and create bigger armies (optimally in connection with updated economy script). The change may not be outright noticeable.

<friendly-to-enemy-strength-ratio>1.2</friendly-to-enemy-strength-ratio>
<!-- ratio of friendly to enemy melee strength to be considered overwhelmingly powerful -->
<enemy-melee-strength-multiplier>1.5</enemy-melee-strength-multiplier>
<!-- ratio of enemy to friendly ranged strength to be considered overwhelmingly powerful -->
<friendly-ranged-strength-multiplier>0.1</friendly-ranged-strength-multiplier>
<!-- ratio of friendly strength to enemy ranged strength to force attack -->
<friendly-ranged-strength-divisor>0.8</friendly-ranged-strength-divisor>

Regards

[Abe1436]

Hello I'm getting an error when I try to launch the SS_setup.exe after I unzipped the standalone mod into the mods directory, saying that "the relative path to the mod directory and the config filename cannot contain any blank spaces"

[Germanicu5]

Hey,
thx for reporting.
I see the error in packing/instructions, you should make Stainless_Steel_7.0 folder inside \mods directory and put the files inside the new folder. If my thinking is correct, this should work.
So the folder structure should be M2TW\mods\Stainless_Steel_7.0\ss_setup.exe , make sure there is no spacebar in SS folder name. You can name the folder SS7, it doesn't really matter. You may need to delete the .cfg file.

Regards

P.S. I will upload the next WIP version within a few days, by then I don't recommend swapping Campaign AI.

[Macaras]

Hello I'm getting an error when I try to launch the SS_setup.exe after I unzipped the standalone mod into the mods directory, saying that "the relative path to the mod directory and the config filename cannot contain any blank spaces"

I had the same problem, I have a steam version that has a long path to the mod launcher. In the end I managed to run the mod, what I did was:

1. Following this info, I moved the steam folder to another drive. Right now is this:
D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Medieval II Total War\mods\Stainless_Steel_7.0
2. I run the ss_setup and configured as wanted,
3. Started the mod, the starting campaign screen appear, I chose the faction and started campaign
4. CTD, but after clean_files and running again the campaign it started.

[Gigantus]

I had the same problem, I have a steam version that has a long path to the mod launcher. In the end I managed to run the mod, what I did was:

1. Following this info, I moved the steam folder to another drive. Right now is this:
D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Medieval II Total War\mods\Stainless_Steel_7.0

Just as well I updated that tutorial a few days ago

[Macaras]

I think all the stars are aligning so that SS7.0 may happen 🙂

[Germanicu5]

Just uploaded new version with lots of bugfixes (especially missions), added legendary general\guilds. Changelog below.

Edit: Huge thanks to Gigantus for his support. Gig also kindly accepted the burden of guarding Stainless Steel legacy in case I go MIA and has access to development repo.

[Macaras]

I have to admit I didn't manage to see ss7.0 running, the latest version crashes immediately after choosing a faction and starting campaign...

[Germanicu5]

Hey,
my theory is, based on running different mods, that the game may CTD on the first start when it recreates *.strings.bin and *.rwm files. It happens on my PC (often, not always). If it does, I just restart without cleaning files and it works.
Also there is a known bug with Steam version, when it's unable to recreate some of *.strings.bin files.

I know that me saying: "the exact same files, including different campaign versions, runs on my PC", is not very helpful. You could try to set the ss_setup logging options to "trace" and upload last ~50 lines of code.
I'd bet of the log showing loading some *.tga files and then crashing.

Regards

[Macaras]

When I start Venice, I am able to continue to next turns, the game crashes when I start a battle. Here is the whole log, set to trace, maybe you will see something helpful, it seems like the last thing engine is doing is loading some textures.

[Gigantus]

Remember long path issues from EBII? Because I have never seen a log like this: [info] exists: found ../../../../steamlibrary/stea

Rename the mod's directory to SS7 and change the path in it's CFG file as well, redo your desktop shortcut. See if that helps.
And while you are in the CFG file disable file caching by adding this line in the [io] section: disable_file_cache = 1

[Macaras]

Remember long path issues from EBII? Because I have never seen a log like this: [info] exists: found ../../../../steamlibrary/stea

Rename the mod's directory to SS7 and change the path in it's CFG file as well, redo your desktop shortcut. See if that helps.
And while you are in the CFG file disable file caching by adding this line in the [io] section: disable_file_cache = 1

I did all of it and it is working much better now, thanks!

[Germanicu5]

Just uploaded quick patch, as I discovered an older version of Great Discoveries was integrated by mistake. Also uploaded all GD graphics. You can check their progress ingame, after starting new campaign, by pressing mission button (standard: C). Requires First Magnetic Compass event.
Regards