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Difference between revisions of "Stainless Steel"

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{{mod4|mod=Stainless Steel|image=[[Image:SS63mainlogo.jpg]]|platform=[[Medieval 2: Total War|M2TW]] and [[Kingdoms]]|era=Medieval|leader=King Kong|mod-folder=In mod-folder|release=[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=377824 Version 6.3]}}
+
[[File:Ssbanner.png|center]]
 +
{{Mod Information Table
 +
|Platform=[[Medieval 2: Total War|M2TW]] and [[Kingdoms]]
 +
|Mod Type=Total Conversion
 +
|Era=Medieval
 +
|Mod Leader=[[gracul]]
 +
|Release Status=Version 6.4
 +
|Forum=[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=314 Here]
 +
}}
 
==Overview==
 
==Overview==
−
A modification for [[Medieval 2: Total War]] (using [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=110425 v4.1] or lower) or [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=377824 v6.3] for Kingdoms, which combines bug fixes, many small mods, changes to AI and AI armies, more provinces, graphical improvements and many other campaign and battle map changes. Aimed at providing a much greater challenge!
+
Stainless Steel was first started as a mod for [[Medieval 2: Total War]] ([http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=110425 v4.1] and lower), but it switched over to [[Kingdoms]] after the expansion was released.
 +
It combines bug fixes, many small mods, changes to AI and AI armies, more provinces, graphical improvements and many other campaign and battle map changes in a package aimed at providing a much greater challenge and more enjoyable gameplay.<br>
 +
It is one of the most popular mods for Medieval 2, but is surpassed in popularity by [[Third Age: Total War]].<br>
 +
Stainless Steel mostly keeps the same setting as the original Medieval 2 campaign, though it expands the map east and north while removing America.
  
 
==Features==
 
==Features==
−
''Section based on information in [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=92205 this thread] - WIP''
+
===Stainless Steel 6.4 Features===
−
===New Faction===
 
−
Order of the Knights Templar
 
−
* 7 totally Unique Units with new descriptions
 
−
* All other units have specific Templar Knight designs
 
−
* Historical Characters and new Templar Knights events
 
−
* New Unique Titles which represent the Templar hierarchy
 
−
* Very different campaign from all others
 
−
see more [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=86534 here]
 
  
−
The Templars were replaced by the Crusader states faction in 6.2 and now 6.3
+
====The Campaign====
 +
[[image:Ss64factionselection.jpg|right|470px|]]
 +
*Rebalanced victory conditions.
 +
*Rebalanced building bonuses.
 +
*Guild's HQ's now always offer a faction wide bonus.
 +
*Rebalanced existing missions and added more missions.
 +
*New building, place-able in locations with long rivers.
 +
*Removed Ireland.
 +
*Added a new region below Kiev (Ireland is now 2 regions).
 +
*AI factions tend to stick to their Royal Blood for many generations.
 +
*Alberi di Famiglia Regal implemented.
 +
*New Faction Economy scripts.
 +
*Knight's Templar & Kingdom of Jerusalem have been combined into Crusader States (with mixed units).
 +
*Mongols are finally pagan.
 +
*1TPY Early Era campaign.
 +
*Slave faction are now a lot more active - including the ability to use merchants, spies and assassins.
 +
*New troubadours event.
  
−
Kingdom of Aragon
+
====The Campaign Map====
 +
[[image:Ss61mpoverview.jpg|right|470px|]]
 +
* Completely new and huge campaign map, covering most of Europe and the beginning of Persia.
 +
* New ground types and custom climates.
 +
* Maximum width the engine allows of 510 movement tiles.
 +
* Mountains, hills and map outlines are based on satellite data.
 +
* Work of art coastlines instead of the square 'vanilla' ones.
 +
* Maximum amount of almost 200 historically medieval settlements. (A few had to sacrifice historical accuracy for better game balance)
 +
* Every Region has its own resources, including new valuable resources in the "outbacks" of the map
 +
* Resources are now better balanced, a couple of new resources were also added.
 +
* All resources were moved away from roads, to ensure merchants' peaceful life.
 +
* AI friendly map, the AIs' armies should no longer get stuck.
 +
* Narrow mountain passages were widened enough for agents to freely pass, while armies will still get blocked.
 +
* Missing ports added.
 +
* Rebels spawning on inaccessible terrain fixed and Rebel ships spawning in small lakes fixed.
 +
* Agart's great city & castle models.
  
−
Cuman Khanate
+
====The Battle Map & Unit Balance====
 +
[[image:SS6xBattle.jpg|right|470px|]]
 +
*Davide.cool grass mod implemented.
 +
*Water now looks a whole lot better!
 +
*Smoother steppes modification by wolfslayer implemented.
 +
*New war horn sounds by wolfslayer implemented (hand picked by me).
 +
*Ambient sound files for Muslim temples by wolfslayer implemented.
 +
*Magus' Crimson Tide implemented (the no-dirt version).
 +
*Award winning BAI by Germanicu5.
 +
*Swagger's Skymod included.
 +
*Knights Templar units from Lord_Calidor's KT mod implemented.
 +
*BftB units by Caesar Clivus implemented.
 +
*For God and St. George mods by AWellesley.
 +
*Lord Condormanius's Mailed Knights.
 +
*Polish Units by MADTAO included.
 +
*Rusichi mod units implemented.
 +
*Real Recruitment's AoR (Area of Recruitment) system included.
 +
*RR's system nearly fully integrated. (please refer to RR/RC OCT 30 post for more detailed changes)
  
−
Lithuania
+
====Traits & Ancilliaries====
 +
*Rebalanced merchant traits for 1TPY.
 +
*As merchants get older, they lose movement points.
 +
*Generals are now a lot easier to educate in settlements with schools etc.
 +
*Faction Leaders can now acquire a set of traits affecting all settlements and generals.
  
−
Teutonic order
+
====General Changes====
 +
*Auto border-less mode - ALT+TAB in and out of the game without any loading.
 +
*New, epic loading screens.
 +
*New music by Kevin MacLeod, Jon Sayles & Bill Hudak, vanilla MTW2 music was also brought back. (now we have 141 music files + vanilla music, compared to 89 in 6.1 and no vanilla music, that's a hell lot!)
 +
*New main menu background & splash screen by Y2day.
 +
*Faction selection crash fixed.
 +
*All factions accessible in custom battle and hotseat.
 +
*External campaign chooser - for easy hotseat and CTD reduction.
 +
*External launcher application - taking care of things the user would normally do.
 +
*CBUR with most of its features implemented.
 +
*Riczu trade carts removed.
 +
*Parts of Awellesley's 1100AD mod integrated.
 +
*SSTC by Chimaeira implemented.
 +
*Real Horses by Argent Usher implemented.
 +
*CBUR and Unit Card improvement projects by Agis Tournas implemented.
 +
*Animations updates.
 +
*Y2day's faction shields & banners.
 +
*New quotes.
 +
*Proper character aging.
 +
*Byzantine and Kievan Rus unit cards by akvilonn.
 +
*Tax auto-manage should now work properly.
 +
*Added Patriarchs for Orthodox factions.
 +
*All factions now have their one-liner pre-battle speeches activated (more speeches for existing factions, and no more mute Norway, Kwarzemian Empire, etc. generals)
 +
*Unbelievable amount of fixes, both big and small, too many to mention them all.
  
−
Kingdom of Ireland (was scrapped after 6.2)
+
===Stainless Steel 4.1 Features===
 +
====The Campaign====
 +
The whole game pace is slightly lowered. The default game length is about 350 turns (1.5 years per turn).
 +
However, you have also the option to play the game with the original game length of 225 turns.
 +
Population limits for settlement upgrades raised, building times and costs slightly increased.
 +
Heavy Infantry units are recruitbale later, therefore every faction gets an additional light infantry unit.
  
−
Kingdom of Norway
+
====The Campaign Map====
 +
[[image:SS41campaignmapdetail.jpg|right|470px|]]
 +
*Campaign Map completely resized and reworked
 +
*Slight Map Extension to the north and east
 +
*More space between settlements in order to have more field battles
 +
*Many new details like smoother forests, new rivers, mountains, isles, trade routes
 +
*Slightly changed borders of all regions in order to make them less noticeable
 +
*About 50 New Provinces, well spreaded and historically correct (Exeter, Bari, Oporto, Arta, Barcelona, Belgrade, Balearic Isles, Bryansk, Lyon, Athens, Munster, Ancona, Isle of Lesvos, Warsaw, Diyarbakir, Salzburg, Kirov, Melilla, Salamanca, Groningen, Clermont, Thebes, Mecca, Basra, Astrakhan, Tortosa, El-Oued, Sinop, Norrkoeping, Benghazi, ...)
 +
*Every Region has its own ressources, including new valuable resources in the "outbacks" of the map.
 +
*Some ressources deleted to make others more valuable
  
−
Kievian Rus
+
====The Campaign AI====
 +
Stainless Steel 4.x uses GrandViz Ultimate AI, specifically [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=97021 Ultimate AI 1.5]. The Ultimate AI Mod is a complete redesign of the vanilla campaign AI, providing a more challenging and diplomatically active AI opponent. It also includes a lot of balance tweaks to settlement mechanics, economy (tax, trade, costs), population growth, religion and public order.
  
−
Khwarezmid empire
+
====The New Factions====
  
−
===Campaign Map===
+
=====Kievan Rus=====
−
[[image:SS_map.jpg|right| Stainless Steel 5.1 Map]]
+
[[image:ss41kievrus.jpg|right|]]
−
* 30 New Provinces:
+
*[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=99475 detailed preview of the Kievan Rus]
−
:Exeter, Bari, Oporto, Arta, Barcelona, Belgrade, Balearic Isles, Bryansk, Lyon, Athens, Munster, Ancona, Isle of Lesvos, Warsaw, Diyarbakir, Salzburg, Kirov, Melilla, Salamanca, Groningen, Clermont, Thebes, Mecca, Palmyra, Astrakhan, Tortosa, El-Oued, Sinop, Norrköping, Benghazi...
+
*8 unique units with unique descriptions
−
* More Resources on campaign map, including new valuable resources in the "outbacks" of the map.
+
*All units, banners and models reskinned
−
* Some Small Map Tweaks: trees on isles, slightly changed borders, new passage in Africa
+
*Historical character names
 +
*Difficult starting position
 +
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kievan_Rus%27 Wikipedia on Kievan Rus]
  
−
===Real recruitment===
+
=====Crown of Aragon=====
−
Latest version have incorperated many elements of the Real Recruitment mod, which is generally aimed at presenting a more realistic army composition and makeup, thus longbowmans won't show up until they were historically avalible, where as late gunpowder units will also not show up right after the gunpowder event. Also, the unit pool and recruitment cost were generally adjusted, thus it becomes prohibitative to maintain only high end units, and their pool is also too small that it would take a long time to recruit them. thus forcing players and AI alike to use significant amount of regular units.
+
[[image:ss41knightstemplar.jpg|right|]]
 +
*[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=104053 detailed preview of the Crown of Aragon]
 +
*5 unique units with unique descriptions
 +
*New historical unit names
 +
*All units, banners and models reskinned
 +
*Historical Character Names
 +
*New Order of Montesa guild
 +
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_Aragon Wikipedia on Crown of Aragon]
  
−
===AI Armies===
+
=====Order of the Knights Templar=====
−
* Changes aimed at improving mix of infantry, missiles, cavalry and artillery.
+
[[image:Ss41aragon.jpg|right|]]
−
* Changes aimed at AI producing more Elite and Heavy units, without changing unit costs.
+
*[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=86534 detailed preview of the Order of the Knights Templar]
 +
*7 Unique Units with new descriptions
 +
*All other units have specific Templar Knight designs
 +
*Historical Characters and new Templar Knights events
 +
*New Unique Titles which represent the Templar Hirarchy
 +
*Very different and hard campaign
 +
*Unit roster slightly changed from 3.2
 +
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_Templar Wikipedia on Knights Templar]
  
−
=== Mercenaries ===
+
====The Mercenaries====
−
[[image:Stainless_steel_mercsaracens.jpg|right| Screen shot of Mercenary Saracens]]
+
[[image:Ss41mercs.jpg|right|]]
 
*New mercenaries for the Early and High Medieval Period:
 
*New mercenaries for the Early and High Medieval Period:
−
:Macemen
+
*New and more varied mercenary pools
−
:English Huscarls
 
−
:Light Swordsmen
 
−
:Swabian Swordsmen
 
−
:Andalusian Infantry
 
−
:Mercenary Saracens
 
−
:Axemen.
 
 
*Greater mercenary variety
 
*Greater mercenary variety
−
*Mercenaries can have experience
+
*Mercenaries have more experience
 
*Less mercenary missile units
 
*Less mercenary missile units
 
*Regions have more of mercenary special units
 
*Regions have more of mercenary special units
 +
====Improved and challenging AI Armies====
  
−
===Titles/Traits/Ancillaries===
+
*Proper Mix of Infantry, Missiles, Cavalry and Artillery.
−
* Titles for all Cities and Castles and for both Islamic and Catholic/Orthodox factions and with important bonuses in various settlements.
+
*AI produces more Elite and Heavy units.
−
* Much new Traits, Transferable Titles and Ancillaries ([[Blood Broads & Bastards|Blood, Broads & Bastards]] v1.9 or 2.0)
+
*This was done without changing any unit costs
−
* New Patriarchates for Orthodox Factions available
+
====New Traits, Ancillaries, Titles and RPG elements====
−
* Many broken Character Traits and Ancillaries fixed
+
[[image:Ss41rpgelements.jpg|right|300px|]]
−
* Knights Templar Titles
+
*Titles for all Cities and Castles and for both Islamic and Catholic/Orthodox factions and with important bonuses in various settlements.
 +
*Army attrition and supply system demands much more tactical decisions and religion is much more important (Byg's Reality traits)
 +
*Countless new Traits, Transferable Titles, Ancillaries (Blood, Broads, & Bastards 2.x)
 +
*Patriarch titles for Orthodox Factions available
 +
*Many broken Character Traits and Ancillaries fixed
 +
*New Knights Templar Titles
 +
====Much more interesting Historical and Game Events====
 +
[[image:Ss41comingofage.jpg|right|300px|]]
 +
*Events for Orders, Inquisitions, Culture, Battles...
 +
*Events when a princess comes of age or when a monarch dies; many different portraits of beautiful and less beautiful princesses
 +
*Including New Era Events which affect unit & mercenary recruitment
 +
*Events who inform about the fall of any faction's capital cities.
 +
====Agents and Characters====
 +
*Historically accurate Character Names (CNP 3.0)
 +
*Reasonable limits for assassins, spies and priests
 +
*Agents rebalanced
 +
*Captains are less likely to rebel
 +
*Imam's required Piety to call a Jihad raised
 +
====Settlement and Unit Recruitment Changes====
 +
[[image:Ss41aztecs.jpg|right|300px|]]
 +
*Important medieval Cities like Constantinople, Kiev, Rome and Paris more powerful
 +
*More logical and rebalanced recruitment, for example cities can build more ships & artillery than castles.
 +
*Early/Late Generals rarely recruitable in castles/citadels
 +
*Income, city growth and distance to capital punishment rebalanced
 +
*More balanced money script to support AI Factions
 +
*Byzantium can build Highways
 +
*Added many missing and additional units such as Dismounted Gothic Knights, English Armored Sergeants, Dismounted Broken Lances, Hussars, Greek Arquebusiers, Desert Raiders and more
 +
* Rebalanced and fixed guild triggers
 +
* Historically more accurate Faction Names
 +
* Conquering the Aztecs is much harder
 +
====Battles====
 +
[[image:Ss41graphics.jpg|right|600px|]]
 +
*10 new Custom Battle Maps
 +
*Darth Mod 1.4B battle AI and physics
 +
*More balanced units stats and costs
 +
*Longer Lasting Battles due to slightly higher morale
 +
*More realistic battle map movement
 +
====Graphics====
 +
* Completely new Faction Symbols & Menu Designs by Alletun
 +
* 20 new epic loading screens
 +
* New Symbols for the battle map
 +
* New unique Shield textures for all catholic factions
 +
* New unique Unit Textures for all European Early & High units (Burrek)
 +
* New unique Unit Textures for all Feudal & Mailed Knights (Knights&Knaves)
 +
* New unique unit textures for all Order Knights armor upgrades
 +
* High quality unit textures & banners for Byzantium (DG's One Faction At A Time)
 +
* New unit textures and banners for Hungary (Magyar Mod + own additions and improvements)
 +
* Historical accurate faction banners and banners for special units (Kings Banner 2.0)
 +
* More spectacular Sky variations and little more blood (improved Horsearcher's skymod)
  
 
== Team and Credits==
 
== Team and Credits==
−
=== Version 6.3 ===
+
=== Version 6.4 ===
 
*[[gracul]] -  Leader
 
*[[gracul]] -  Leader
−
 
 
*[[King Kong]] - SS 6.1
 
*[[King Kong]] - SS 6.1
 
*[[Point Blank]] - RR/RC, lots of things
 
*[[Point Blank]] - RR/RC, lots of things
 
*[[Byg]] - support and BGR
 
*[[Byg]] - support and BGR
−
*[[Caesar Clivus]] - support and CBUR
+
*[[Caesar Clivus]] - forum handling, support and CBUR
 
*[[Rozanov]] - coding and ideas
 
*[[Rozanov]] - coding and ideas
 
*[[Germanicu5]] - coding and ideas, BAI
 
*[[Germanicu5]] - coding and ideas, BAI
 
*[[y2day]] - art & graphics
 
*[[y2day]] - art & graphics
 
*[[Awellesley]] - units & support
 
*[[Awellesley]] - units & support
 +
*[[Bane_tw]] - forum handling and bug fixing
 +
*[[Ishan]] - forum handling and bug fixing
 +
*[[cedric37]] - art & ui graphics
  
 
Beta testers:
 
Beta testers:
 
*[[Smikis]]
 
*[[Smikis]]
−
*[[User:Bane tw|bane_tw]]
+
*[[Navajo Joe]]
 
*[[sancco]]
 
*[[sancco]]
 
*[[TheColdTruth]]
 
*[[TheColdTruth]]
Line 91: Line 245:
 
*[[nonnob3]]
 
*[[nonnob3]]
 
*[[PedroL]]
 
*[[PedroL]]
−
*[[Navajo Joe]]
+
 
  
 
Other contributors:
 
Other contributors:
 +
*(HG)LordKoal, (HG)Super, (HG)Iliturgitano, (HG)Xaviar, (HG)Carlos, (HG)Adrics, CeltiberoThormes, penyetta, garcy170 (Spanish translation)
 +
*Fred Putz (German translation)
 +
*warman222 (new combo&death animations)
 +
*Baraban (textures & model fixes)
 +
*KDK (ui graphics)
 +
*beikon & gord69 (Steam help)
 +
*Fair Prince (SSNOP, SSHCP, SSTAIP)
 +
*newt (No Waiting)
 
*[[Savage]] - CAI
 
*[[Savage]] - CAI
 
*[[Caralampio]]
 
*[[Caralampio]]
Line 100: Line 262:
 
*[[davide.cool]] - better grass
 
*[[davide.cool]] - better grass
 
*[[Argent Usher]] - real horses
 
*[[Argent Usher]] - real horses
−
*[[Agis Tournas]] - CBUR
+
*[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/member.php?u=40033 Agis Tournas] - CBUR
−
*[[Anthonius II]] - CBUR
+
*[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/member.php?u=23850 Anthonius II] - CBUR
 
*[[Magus]] - Crismon Tide
 
*[[Magus]] - Crismon Tide
 
*[[Lord Calidor]] - KT mod
 
*[[Lord Calidor]] - KT mod
Line 117: Line 279:
 
*[[gewehr36]] - pagan mongols
 
*[[gewehr36]] - pagan mongols
 
*[[Cedric37]] - UIs
 
*[[Cedric37]] - UIs
−
Kevin MacLeod - music
+
*Kevin MacLeod - music
−
Jon Sayles & Bill Hudak - music
+
*Jon Sayles & Bill Hudak - music
 
*[[Swagger]] - sky mod
 
*[[Swagger]] - sky mod
 
*[[Akvilonn]] - Unit info cards
 
*[[Akvilonn]] - Unit info cards
Line 126: Line 288:
 
*[[Quark]] (wherever you are right now)
 
*[[Quark]] (wherever you are right now)
  
−
=== Version 6.2 ===
+
=== Version 4.1 ===
−
=== Version 6.0 and 6.1 ===
+
Leader: [[King Kong]]
−
=== Version 5.x ===
 
−
=== Version 4.x ===
 
−
=== Version 3.x ===
 
−
*[[King Kong]] - leader / creator
 
−
*[[Alletun]] - symbols and graphics
 
−
*[[Student]] - help and research on the Knights Templar
 
−
*[[Burrek]] and [[Whitewolf]] - new unit textures
 
−
*[[Horsearcher]], [[ziher]], [[Plasticfigurine]], [[Headlock]] - various graphical improvements
 
−
=== Version 2.x ===
 
−
=== Version 1.x ===
 
  
−
[http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=410270 forum topic]
+
Thanks:
 +
*[[Alletun]] for making beautiful symbols and designs for my mod
 +
*[[Student]] for his help and research on the Knights Templar
 +
*[[Disgruntled Goat]] for his outstanding unit textures
 +
*[[Darth Vader]] for his battle AI and physics
 +
*[[Grand Viz]] for his Ultimate AI
 +
*[[Yuiis]], [[shaeffer]], [[numerosdecimus]], [[M2_Junky]] for their great contributions
 +
*[[Byg]] for his Reality traits
 +
*[[Horsearcher]], [[Ziher]], [[Plasticfigurine]], [[Salty]], [[Headlock]] for their graphical improvements
 +
*[[Burrek]] for his unique European textures
 +
*[[Joe Dreck]] for his Kings Banner mod
 +
*[[Dearmad]] and [[Pnutmaster]] for BBB
 +
*All others who contributed in the Stainless Steel forum
 +
for the help with the 4.1 patch:
 +
*[[Lusted]], [[Klink]] and [[DrJambo]] for their battle AI
 +
*[[Quark]] and [[shaeffer]] for being a great help
 +
*[[Nerazzurri]] for the Movies fix and the Stainless Steel icon.
 +
*[[Tyre]] for some of his new skins
 +
*All others for their feedback and bug reports
 +
<br>
 +
A full list of credits for all release versions can be found in this [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=410270 forum topic]
  
 
== History ==
 
== History ==
Line 145: Line 317:
  
 
==Releases==
 
==Releases==
 +
Version 6.4 released in [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=417435 this thread] on the 10th of January 2011.
 +
 
Version 6.3 released in [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=377824 this thread] on the 3rd of August 2010
 
Version 6.3 released in [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=377824 this thread] on the 3rd of August 2010
  
Line 156: Line 330:
  
 
Version 2.2 was released in [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=80216 this thread] in January 2007.
 
Version 2.2 was released in [http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=80216 this thread] in January 2007.
−
 
−
==See Also==
 
−
 
−
[[Stainless Steel (form)|Stainless Steel - Mod Registration Form]]
 
  
 
==External Links==
 
==External Links==
Line 166: Line 336:
  
  
−
[[Category:TWC_Hosted_Modifications]]
+
[[Category:M2TW Mods (Released)]]
−
[[Category:Medieval 2: Total War Modifications (Released)]]
 

Latest revision as of 12:40, 18 February 2021

Ssbanner.png
Stainless Steel
Platform M2TW and Kingdoms
Mod Type Total Conversion
EraMedieval
Mod Leader gracul
Release Status Version 6.4
Forum / Thread Here

Overview

Stainless Steel was first started as a mod for Medieval 2: Total War (v4.1 and lower), but it switched over to Kingdoms after the expansion was released. It combines bug fixes, many small mods, changes to AI and AI armies, more provinces, graphical improvements and many other campaign and battle map changes in a package aimed at providing a much greater challenge and more enjoyable gameplay.
It is one of the most popular mods for Medieval 2, but is surpassed in popularity by Third Age: Total War.
Stainless Steel mostly keeps the same setting as the original Medieval 2 campaign, though it expands the map east and north while removing America.

Features

Stainless Steel 6.4 Features

The Campaign

Ss64factionselection.jpg
  • Rebalanced victory conditions.
  • Rebalanced building bonuses.
  • Guild's HQ's now always offer a faction wide bonus.
  • Rebalanced existing missions and added more missions.
  • New building, place-able in locations with long rivers.
  • Removed Ireland.
  • Added a new region below Kiev (Ireland is now 2 regions).
  • AI factions tend to stick to their Royal Blood for many generations.
  • Alberi di Famiglia Regal implemented.
  • New Faction Economy scripts.
  • Knight's Templar & Kingdom of Jerusalem have been combined into Crusader States (with mixed units).
  • Mongols are finally pagan.
  • 1TPY Early Era campaign.
  • Slave faction are now a lot more active - including the ability to use merchants, spies and assassins.
  • New troubadours event.

The Campaign Map

Ss61mpoverview.jpg
  • Completely new and huge campaign map, covering most of Europe and the beginning of Persia.
  • New ground types and custom climates.
  • Maximum width the engine allows of 510 movement tiles.
  • Mountains, hills and map outlines are based on satellite data.
  • Work of art coastlines instead of the square 'vanilla' ones.
  • Maximum amount of almost 200 historically medieval settlements. (A few had to sacrifice historical accuracy for better game balance)
  • Every Region has its own resources, including new valuable resources in the "outbacks" of the map
  • Resources are now better balanced, a couple of new resources were also added.
  • All resources were moved away from roads, to ensure merchants' peaceful life.
  • AI friendly map, the AIs' armies should no longer get stuck.
  • Narrow mountain passages were widened enough for agents to freely pass, while armies will still get blocked.
  • Missing ports added.
  • Rebels spawning on inaccessible terrain fixed and Rebel ships spawning in small lakes fixed.
  • Agart's great city & castle models.

The Battle Map & Unit Balance

SS6xBattle.jpg
  • Davide.cool grass mod implemented.
  • Water now looks a whole lot better!
  • Smoother steppes modification by wolfslayer implemented.
  • New war horn sounds by wolfslayer implemented (hand picked by me).
  • Ambient sound files for Muslim temples by wolfslayer implemented.
  • Magus' Crimson Tide implemented (the no-dirt version).
  • Award winning BAI by Germanicu5.
  • Swagger's Skymod included.
  • Knights Templar units from Lord_Calidor's KT mod implemented.
  • BftB units by Caesar Clivus implemented.
  • For God and St. George mods by AWellesley.
  • Lord Condormanius's Mailed Knights.
  • Polish Units by MADTAO included.
  • Rusichi mod units implemented.
  • Real Recruitment's AoR (Area of Recruitment) system included.
  • RR's system nearly fully integrated. (please refer to RR/RC OCT 30 post for more detailed changes)

Traits & Ancilliaries

  • Rebalanced merchant traits for 1TPY.
  • As merchants get older, they lose movement points.
  • Generals are now a lot easier to educate in settlements with schools etc.
  • Faction Leaders can now acquire a set of traits affecting all settlements and generals.

General Changes

  • Auto border-less mode - ALT+TAB in and out of the game without any loading.
  • New, epic loading screens.
  • New music by Kevin MacLeod, Jon Sayles & Bill Hudak, vanilla MTW2 music was also brought back. (now we have 141 music files + vanilla music, compared to 89 in 6.1 and no vanilla music, that's a hell lot!)
  • New main menu background & splash screen by Y2day.
  • Faction selection crash fixed.
  • All factions accessible in custom battle and hotseat.
  • External campaign chooser - for easy hotseat and CTD reduction.
  • External launcher application - taking care of things the user would normally do.
  • CBUR with most of its features implemented.
  • Riczu trade carts removed.
  • Parts of Awellesley's 1100AD mod integrated.
  • SSTC by Chimaeira implemented.
  • Real Horses by Argent Usher implemented.
  • CBUR and Unit Card improvement projects by Agis Tournas implemented.
  • Animations updates.
  • Y2day's faction shields & banners.
  • New quotes.
  • Proper character aging.
  • Byzantine and Kievan Rus unit cards by akvilonn.
  • Tax auto-manage should now work properly.
  • Added Patriarchs for Orthodox factions.
  • All factions now have their one-liner pre-battle speeches activated (more speeches for existing factions, and no more mute Norway, Kwarzemian Empire, etc. generals)
  • Unbelievable amount of fixes, both big and small, too many to mention them all.

Stainless Steel 4.1 Features

The Campaign

The whole game pace is slightly lowered. The default game length is about 350 turns (1.5 years per turn). However, you have also the option to play the game with the original game length of 225 turns. Population limits for settlement upgrades raised, building times and costs slightly increased. Heavy Infantry units are recruitbale later, therefore every faction gets an additional light infantry unit.

The Campaign Map

SS41campaignmapdetail.jpg
  • Campaign Map completely resized and reworked
  • Slight Map Extension to the north and east
  • More space between settlements in order to have more field battles
  • Many new details like smoother forests, new rivers, mountains, isles, trade routes
  • Slightly changed borders of all regions in order to make them less noticeable
  • About 50 New Provinces, well spreaded and historically correct (Exeter, Bari, Oporto, Arta, Barcelona, Belgrade, Balearic Isles, Bryansk, Lyon, Athens, Munster, Ancona, Isle of Lesvos, Warsaw, Diyarbakir, Salzburg, Kirov, Melilla, Salamanca, Groningen, Clermont, Thebes, Mecca, Basra, Astrakhan, Tortosa, El-Oued, Sinop, Norrkoeping, Benghazi, ...)
  • Every Region has its own ressources, including new valuable resources in the "outbacks" of the map.
  • Some ressources deleted to make others more valuable

The Campaign AI

Stainless Steel 4.x uses GrandViz Ultimate AI, specifically Ultimate AI 1.5. The Ultimate AI Mod is a complete redesign of the vanilla campaign AI, providing a more challenging and diplomatically active AI opponent. It also includes a lot of balance tweaks to settlement mechanics, economy (tax, trade, costs), population growth, religion and public order.

The New Factions

Kievan Rus
Ss41kievrus.jpg
Crown of Aragon
Ss41knightstemplar.jpg
Order of the Knights Templar
Ss41aragon.jpg

The Mercenaries

Ss41mercs.jpg
  • New mercenaries for the Early and High Medieval Period:
  • New and more varied mercenary pools
  • Greater mercenary variety
  • Mercenaries have more experience
  • Less mercenary missile units
  • Regions have more of mercenary special units

Improved and challenging AI Armies

  • Proper Mix of Infantry, Missiles, Cavalry and Artillery.
  • AI produces more Elite and Heavy units.
  • This was done without changing any unit costs

New Traits, Ancillaries, Titles and RPG elements

Ss41rpgelements.jpg
  • Titles for all Cities and Castles and for both Islamic and Catholic/Orthodox factions and with important bonuses in various settlements.
  • Army attrition and supply system demands much more tactical decisions and religion is much more important (Byg's Reality traits)
  • Countless new Traits, Transferable Titles, Ancillaries (Blood, Broads, & Bastards 2.x)
  • Patriarch titles for Orthodox Factions available
  • Many broken Character Traits and Ancillaries fixed
  • New Knights Templar Titles

Much more interesting Historical and Game Events

Ss41comingofage.jpg
  • Events for Orders, Inquisitions, Culture, Battles...
  • Events when a princess comes of age or when a monarch dies; many different portraits of beautiful and less beautiful princesses
  • Including New Era Events which affect unit & mercenary recruitment
  • Events who inform about the fall of any faction's capital cities.

Agents and Characters

  • Historically accurate Character Names (CNP 3.0)
  • Reasonable limits for assassins, spies and priests
  • Agents rebalanced
  • Captains are less likely to rebel
  • Imam's required Piety to call a Jihad raised

Settlement and Unit Recruitment Changes

Ss41aztecs.jpg
  • Important medieval Cities like Constantinople, Kiev, Rome and Paris more powerful
  • More logical and rebalanced recruitment, for example cities can build more ships & artillery than castles.
  • Early/Late Generals rarely recruitable in castles/citadels
  • Income, city growth and distance to capital punishment rebalanced
  • More balanced money script to support AI Factions
  • Byzantium can build Highways
  • Added many missing and additional units such as Dismounted Gothic Knights, English Armored Sergeants, Dismounted Broken Lances, Hussars, Greek Arquebusiers, Desert Raiders and more
  • Rebalanced and fixed guild triggers
  • Historically more accurate Faction Names
  • Conquering the Aztecs is much harder

Battles

Ss41graphics.jpg
  • 10 new Custom Battle Maps
  • Darth Mod 1.4B battle AI and physics
  • More balanced units stats and costs
  • Longer Lasting Battles due to slightly higher morale
  • More realistic battle map movement

Graphics

  • Completely new Faction Symbols & Menu Designs by Alletun
  • 20 new epic loading screens
  • New Symbols for the battle map
  • New unique Shield textures for all catholic factions
  • New unique Unit Textures for all European Early & High units (Burrek)
  • New unique Unit Textures for all Feudal & Mailed Knights (Knights&Knaves)
  • New unique unit textures for all Order Knights armor upgrades
  • High quality unit textures & banners for Byzantium (DG's One Faction At A Time)
  • New unit textures and banners for Hungary (Magyar Mod + own additions and improvements)
  • Historical accurate faction banners and banners for special units (Kings Banner 2.0)
  • More spectacular Sky variations and little more blood (improved Horsearcher's skymod)

Team and Credits

Version 6.4

Beta testers:


Other contributors:

Version 4.1

Leader: King Kong

Thanks:

for the help with the 4.1 patch:


A full list of credits for all release versions can be found in this forum topic

History

Stainless steel 2.0 has been included on the free DVD supplied with a UK gaming magazine.

Releases

Version 6.4 released in this thread on the 10th of January 2011.

Version 6.3 released in this thread on the 3rd of August 2010

Version 6.0/6.1 released in this thread in April 2008

Version 5.0/5.1 released in this thread in October 2007.

Version 4.0/4.1 released in this thread in July 2007.

Version 3.2 was released for the M2TW official patch 1.2 in this thread in May 2007.

Version 2.2 was released in this thread in January 2007.

External Links

Stainless Steel at TWC

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