How To Mod Empire At War
Sep 10, 2010 - Star Wars: Empire At War. This is a beginners tutorial on how to start a mod for Empire at War: Forces of Corruption (EAW:FOC). Mod tutorial for Star Wars: Empire at War / Force of Corruption.
So for the past few months I've gotten back into playing Empire at War which is one of the coolest star wars games out there. It's a Star Wars RTS that let's you take command of either the Empire or Rebellion (or Consortium if you have the Force of Corruption Expansion) in the time period before the fall of the Empire. I've been playing on and off for years but this time around I'm more addicted than ever, and it's thanks to this mod right here.
What is Thrawn's Revenge?
Thrawn's Revenge is a full graphic and gameplay modification of the computer game, Star Wars: Empire at War. Set in the years following the Battle of Endor, and outside the original game's timeframe, Thrawn's Revenge is based around the conflict between the newly founded New Republic and the Imperial Remnant as they fight for control of the galaxy. What this means is that it covers the events right after the fall of the Empire up until right before the Yuuzhan Vong Invasion.
What makes this mod so great?
What makes it so great? The amount of content and polish in this mod. To me, it's the sequel to Empire at War that we never got. It doesn't just add new factions and units. It changes the gameplay in very unique and interesting ways.
1. The Factions
The mod adds new factions, each with specific units and play styles. These factions include the New Republic, Imperial Remnant, Empire of The Hand, and Pentastar Alignment. Each one of these factions has unique units, heroes, and style of play. For example, the Pentastar Alignment is a smaller faction with weaker units. They're advantage is access to cheap disposable units, expensive, powerful units, and a focus on fighter superiority. Contrast that with the Imperial Remnant which has access to powerful super units and a focus on powerful star destroyers. The style of play varies depending on the faction you use.
2. Era System
How To Mod Empire At War
One of the most unique features of the mod is the Era system. This is how they describe it. 'The original tech-tree system from vanilla Empire at War, whereby the player researches or steals technology to gain access to new and better units, does not exist in Thrawn’s Revenge. Instead the mod is structured around five discrete eras covering the years after Battle of Endor (4 ABY) up until shortly after the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty (19 ABY), with allowance for technology up to the start of the Yuuzhan Vong War (25 ABY). Each era is centred on the predominant Imperial leader of the period and includes a range of appropriate units and heroes for each faction (e.g. the New Republic gains access to some of its New Class starships in later eras).
Progression between eras, where allowed, occurs when the respective Imperial leader is killed (an Imperial player would need to sacrifice their faction’s current leader in order to advance). The driving principle behind this is that although we don’t force events to happen as the result of canonical battles (e.g. kill Thrawn at Bilbringi), the progression of the leaders would happen independent of player actions, Thrawn leaving the Empire of the Hand to take over from Isard, Palpatine making his renewed bid to control the galaxy, etc.'
What this means is, instead of having to research new tech, you have to kill Imperial leaders to move your way forward. What this does is give the game a more organic flow and allows you to see a progression or regression depending on the faction you play. You see the balance of power change is the galaxy, and you feel like you are experiencing the star wars universe.
3. Enhanced Graphics and Combat
The mod includes a graphical overhaul and increased detail in both texture work and combat. Space battles feel far more epic and the scale of it seems to have increased. I loved the space combat in the base game and Force of Corruption, but this mod revitalized that love of the combat. Looking at the game is just as fun as playing it.
The Bad
Now, the mod is one of my favorites in any game but it isn't perfect, much like the base game. The ground combat is still a pain and seems to have gotten worse in some cases. Some factions have extremely powerful units that can ruin an invasion no matter how many units you bring. The Remnant has one of the most powerful tanks in the game, and it can destroy entire armies. The New Republic has the V-Wing, which is a ground combat air unit. This unit right here will destroy everything you have if you can't get AA up before the first 30 seconds of landing. All ground air units seem to be capable of destroying everything. Another issue I have is that there are a few bugs that don't seem like they will ever be fixed, as the devs have moved on to a new Star Wars mod for Sins of a Solar Empire. I have only encountered 1 gamebreaking bug in 100 hours of playing the mod. I wouldn't worry too much about it but it is a possibility.
Conclusion
You should very much give this mod a try if you were ever a fan of Empire at War. it does require the expansion Force of Corruption to work so keep that in mind. I guarantee it will re spark your love for the game and even the star wars universe. It explores some of the most interesting times in the star wars lore and presents a level of polish and dedication that you don't see in many mods.
If you're interested in the game or just learning more about it check out the mods website
And if you're interested in the sequel to the mod being made for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion, check out the moddb page for it here
If you'd like to see some gameplay of the Mod you can check out a series I've been doing on youtube about it here. I've really been having a lot of fun, and have been sinking so many hours into this mod. It is quickly becoming one of my most played games on steam.
All in all, this mod has been my main Star Wars fix in anticipation for the new movies, so I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I have.
“Star Wars: Empire at War” is a real-time strategy game where you control an entire rebel or empire fleet. By default, the game only allows a set number of ships and fighters in your army's population but you can change this option to unlock an unlimited population by altering the game's XML files. These files dictate number values in the game so by changing the population size of a ship to zero, you allow an unlimited amount to be added to your armada.
Download a MEG files extractor from a website such as Lucas Files, Modding Resource Hub or Renevo.
Place the MEG extractor in the “Data” folder for “Star Wars: Empire at War.” The default locaiton is under “Program Files,” then “LucasArts,” “Star Wars Empire at War,” Game Data” and then “Data.”
Click and drag the “Config.meg” file from the “Data” to the MEG extractor and drop the file to extract all the XML files.
Open the “XML” folder located inside the “Data” folder.
Copy and paste the “Squadrons.xml,”file onto your computer's desktop. Use this as a backup file.
Open the “Squadrons.xml” file using notepad or any other text editing software on your computer.
Search for “
Change the value of “X” for all of the entries to “0.” Save the file and start your game. You will now be able to create an infinite population.
Tips
The higher the population, the greater risk you have that the game will crash. If you notice the game stuttering, hold off on adding more units until others have been destroyed.
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