Empire: Total War Heaven

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What files make a good scholar

A guide to the files used to mod the technology system

By Cauchpotato

Anyone who has played Empire: Total War knows that the technology system has a huge impact on the outcome of the game. The more advanced a player’s technology, the easier it is to win battles and gain money. Because it’s such a big part of the game, it is natural that many people would be dying to start modding the technology files; the question is which files? Considering you have downloaded the packfilemanager, if not click here. Open the pack file main.pack in steam\steamapps\common\ empire total war\data. In the subfolder db are the six files:

  • technologies_tables: This is where most of the info for each technology is.
  • technology_effects_junction_tables: This file is where the effects for each technology are.
  • technology_faction_junctions_tables: This file tells the game which factions can research each technology.
  • technology_required_building_levels_junctions_tables: This file tells the game what building is required for each technology. (I don’t think this file is used).
  • technology_required_technology_junctions_tables: This file tells the game what technology needs to be researched before other technologies can.
  • technology_threads_tables: This file is not important but lists the different fields of research.

Only four of these file are needed for modding Let’s have a look at each one.



The technology_effects table, which sets various properties of technologies

This is the main file used to mod the different technologies. Most of the info on each technology is in this file. If you open up this file, you will see something like this:

The first column contains the ID for each technology. This is how it’s identified throughout other files.

The next column is the building required for that technology.

The third column is on what row is the technology situated (The higher the number, the lower on the tech tree).

The fourth column labelled research points is one of the most important for modding. Each technology has a certain amount of research points. You will notice in the game, that buildings and characters that influence technology research also have research points. The amount of turns needed to research a technology is actually how many turns it will take the sum of all the research point in a region to equal that of a technology. That is: Technology’s research points Divided by technology points of school + scholars + capital city buildings = number of turns to research If the technology’s research points are lowered, the number of turns to research will be less. This makes this column one of best for modding.

The column labelled localisation I think is just a repeat of the technology ID.

The four prestige columns relate to the prestige ratings in the objectives tab.

The two columns labelled unknown are the technologies used in early and late custom battles respectively.

The last column is the picture shown in the research complete box.



The technology_effects_junction table sets the effects of all technologies in the game.

This file is where the effects of each technology are written. The first column contains the technology ID. The next column has the effect name, and the third column has if it is more of less (dictated by plus and negative). Remember, a benefit in expenses is a negative number, not a positive number.



The technology_factions_junction table, which determines what technologies a faction can research.

This tables shows which factions can research each technology. There are multiple rows for certain technologies because they are researchable by multiple factions.



The technology_required_technology_junction table, which determines what technologties are required before others can be researched.

This tells the game if there is a technology needed to be researched before another technology can be started.

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