First modding project
 

Been playing dominions SP with CBM for a while. Thought about modding all national PDs to be at least something that might be useful instead of way to throw away money.

Is there some kind of modding guide that gives basic instructions.
Didn't notice anything in tools and tutorials. Also Map + Mod File Editor with Dom3 Syntax Scheme [Freeware ] link is dead, any way to get it?

So, is there some place to get the tools to create modding files? Also any place to get instructions on how to edit units and how to edit PD.

Two ways I plan to use to improve PD, first make some of the crappiest units more useful. Or change the composition of PD for the worst nations. Also secondary goal would be to improve luck/turmoil a bit by improving the worst units you can get by events. (militia and markavis(?)at least)

Niefelheim PD seems to be about the worst. You get a few giants with horrible skill and great strength, who in their wisdom decide that they really need a boost in their damage and use axes. Switching their weapon to something without an attack penalty would go a long way in making them semi-useful.

Lanka at least has at least problem with markavis. They improve a bit if you throw away one hit point, thus they don't cause the rest of the army to flee with them as easily. Doesn't help with the event that gives you those useless monkeys.

Bandar log has the same monkeys, but on the other hand they get some buffing spells which might turn them into something useful. I vaven't played with them but I've browsed through a guide and I seem to recall something like that.

Open to help with improving markavis a bit. Also some idea how to upgrade basic human militia would be nice (to make the event a good thing as opposed to money drain)

The best thematic way would be to make other units ignore fleeing militia for rout purposes. Then they could go to front line, cause some fatigue and flee or die. Now that is a bad thing since rest of the army flees too.

Also, interested in hearing what other PDs could use a boost.

Re: First modding project
 

There are three things you need to have in order to mod dominions. A text editor, the modding .pdf in your dominions/docs folder, and edi's database. The last isn't strictly necessary, but should be considered as a must for anyone who wants to do modding, because it will make your life much easier. A text editor can be something as simple as notepad.

All your stated goals are attainable, aside from the mention of causing militia to not count for routing purposes. That's just not built into the game, so I'm afraid it's not really doable.

Various suggestions for improving militia: change them to the shielded militia instead of unshielded, change them to light infantry, make them cost even less, turn them into yet some other unit, or just improve the equipment they wear a bit in some other fashion. By the way, it's probably better to use small groups of them as cannon fodder in each battle, retaining the rest on 'guard commander' orders. This way they can serve the purpose of dying for the greater good, while not counting significantly towards routing purposes.

And if you really want to improve markata (gasp!), I suggest using the markata madness mod! I assure you that this is the best and most balanced mod ever made attempting to balance the dreaded markata. Link here :) http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=44771

Re: First modding project
 

One minor point - the game expect UNIX style end-lines, so some of the information about formatting in the modding manual won't work with DOS/Windows style end-lines in the mod file. There are any number of alternative text editors out there that can change the whitespace characters easily.

I'd suggest Notepad++: http://notepad-plus-plus.org/

...but the alternatives are plentiful.

Second, once you get the experience of modifying out of the box units/features, you might want to get into creating new units/nations/etc. For that, you'll probably want a graphics editor that can handle .TGA files (the format the game uses.)

For Windows, I'd suggest either:

Paint.NET: http://paint.net/
or
Gimp: http://www.gimp.org/windows/

Of course, if you're not using Windows, you'll have a different set of options. :-)