Campaign Map Not Loading: RTW

Why Doesn't my Campaign Map Load?

One of most frequently asked questions by new modders is "Why doesn't my campaign map load?" below is some self-help advice; on how to mod efficiently; and for when it goes wrong, what to check and how to ask question on forums so other people can actually help you.

General Modding Advice

• Always use -show_err on your shortcut. If campaign loads but you get a message when you exit, fix what it is complaining about or you might not get new message when you have more serious error.
• Do one thing at a time - e.g. do not try to create entire map complete with rivers, forests, 10 factions and resources before checking that stripped down map loads. If re-assigning settlements or adding regions do one or two at a time.
• Keep back ups - make sure you have a back up of all vanilla files before you start. Each time you make a change and it works in game make a back up copy of all the files involved in that as well. If you get to point that does not work revert to your back up copy (making sure you copy it again first) and try making same changes again, in case problem was just down to mistyping etc.
• Read Tutorials - yes I know it is boring to read the instructions but it really does help! For most things mapping make sure you have read this tutorial.
• Editors - If using a map editor do not forget that all the above rules still apply, you need to understand which files are being altered and still do things one step at a time.

When Stuck

Well you know what you did last (don't you?) check all the changes you just made for; typo's, wrong colours etc. Some files including descr_strat.txt are quite sensitive to wrong formating, missing tabs, spaces or line breaks etc. Most things in RTW/BI text files are also case sensitive so check capital letters are used in correct places.

If you can't find anything obvious revert to a new copy of your back-up files for the change you just made and re-do your changes again. Still not working? See next section...

When Really, Really, Stuck

Now is time to ask a question on the forums or ask another modder for help.
To ask questions on RTW/BI game post in either the Rome Workshop at TWC, or in Modding Questions at the .Org.

To avoid your question just being met with more questions you should supply the following information in your post:

What game are you modding? (RTW or BI) Which patch version? (eg 1.2 or 1.5)
Are you modding a released mod that you have downloaded? If so please state which.
Explain what you did last, eg. added region, removed faction, made complete new map etc.
Confirm that you have -show_err on your shortcut and state if it is giving a message or not.
If you are getting a message please quote it.

Also explain in detail the nature of your crash / problem. For campaign map problems that can be;
KTM = Kick back to menu, you try and load campaign but get sent back to single player menu instead.
CTD = Crash to Desktop, if that is what you get please state what screen / stage of loading bar you where in when it crashed.
Other; loads map but with distorted graphics, loads map but crashes on scrolling.

Common Causes of Problems

WIP