This creates a ‘mymod’ directory, and batch file to run it with which basically means that you can install mods in the ‘mymod’ directory, and they can run without overwriting the original game files (making it much, much, much easier to uninstall other modifications later on). It unpacks to about 1.9 gigabytes, which is good for what is effectively a backup for your game. I’d say this or ‘MedManager’ is necessity for all people wanting to play the game using modifications, especially if you are not too adept with computers. It doesn’t come with a readme, but basically, you run the installer, install whichever mod you wish to play, and run the batch file labelled ‘mymod.bat’, which launches the game.

This is a program that lets you enable and disable certain mods, create your own mod collection and just generally makes it easy to install and uninstall modifications without fear of damaging original files of the game. Either have this or M2:TW Mod Folder (although this is much more advanced).

Basically this is a… big map. Does what it says on the tin. A very good mod, worth a little look and perhaps use. The website contains all the details and download links you should need.

This mod makes 31 factions playable and has 196 regions. It makes the starting map historically accurate to the early 15ht century (1414 to be exact). It changes some other aspects by incorporating Darth’s AI and diplomacy mod. From posts in the thread it seems a bit incomplete, and not fully play tested, but there doesn’t seem to be anything intrinsically wrong with it, although there has been a patch which might address some of the issues mentioned. Use if you wish, but I’m not recommending it.

This mod aims at giving all characters in Medieval 2: Total War historically accurate names. It is a community project, but the main contributor is deRougemont. They have created names lists for 11 of the playable factions, including all the catholic nations minus Poland and Milan. It is a simple mod, and adds a nice polish that the game originally lacked.

This mod adds a Heraldry and Titles system similar to that in Medieval: Total War (original). It is not perfect – for instance occasionally if you lose the settlement the character has a title for, the title doesn’t always disappear. It is however bloody brilliant – the titles give bonuses, and almost every unit can receive a different title. For instance Priests/ Imams can receive titles, as well as all Family members. This enhances the role playing aspect of Medieval 2: Total War, and is very unobtrusive. I personally recommend it, but read the discussion on the thread (link above) to get more info about it before downloading.

Sinuhet has created here new and updated formations for the AI to use. This doesn’t give you extra formations to use, but makes the AI make better use of the troops it has by arranging them in more suitable formations for the situation (for instance, in a defensive situation it wont be deployed as if in attack). This should make the AI more challenging tactically, rather than making them harder to kill, which, in my opinion, makes it more enjoyable,

NOTE: Sinuhet has also released a modification which gives the human player extra formations to use - Thread – [url=http://www.uploading.com/files/29GECGV6/Sinuhets_1.0_MTW2_HP_formations.zip.html]Download

This mod has been used by many of the mods here, both released and unreleased - It basically improves Campaign AI, meaning that they act more like they should. I would consider this a must have, but if you have one of the mods below, you dont need it - this is for people who want the plain and simple version .

Features include completely rebalancing almost every aspect of the game, from AI tactics, to the numbers of inquisitors that stalk the land. It doesn’t add any regions, towns, units, but may do in the future, so keep your eyes fixed on this! Oh and the mod recently won an award over at TWC for 'best mod for Medieval 2', and Lusted also won an award for 'best modder' or something equally glorious *cheers for Lusted with undeniable coolness *. For people who want to make Medieval 2 just pure and simply... better!

NOTE: There is a version 2.2 but it requires the unofficial leaked patch 1.2, which I wouldn’t recommend, but if you do have the unofficial patch read about and download Lands To Conquer version 2.2 here

‘Road To Jerusalem’ is a very popular modification that combines a number of other modifications including ‘Darthmod’ and ‘Ultimate AI’. It also rebalances unit stats to make the game last longer and be more enjoyable to play. It itself says that it is similar to Lands To Conquer, but its worth a look

It has been called a minor mod, but this is far from minor - The mod rebalances nearly every aspect of the game. There are a few extra provinces given to factions, there is improved AI... for those who love Medieval 2, and are looking for improvement not major changes (correct me if I’m wrong here ).

This mod basically adds a lot of new provinces, units and rebalances the units and creates more. The campaign map features 191 provinces all as historically correct as possible (a lot of time has been taken to get historical names etc.). Turns take a lot longer than in vanilla M2: TW, but its worth it - I'm still discovering some of its features! It’s still in Beta stage, but its released to the public already. One more word – WOW.

The thread link takes you to the forums on TWCenter, as it is up to the individual which aspects of his modification you which to install. It can be very confusing, but there is a thread there that tells people how to install it and in which order. ‘Darthmod LiteMap’ is the major part of the released works. It adds new factions, new provinces, and all you would expect from a modification like this. For full details please just look at the thread, which is linked above.

NOTE: Many modifications use Darthmod already, so you don’t always have to have this as well. Please check what your modification you are using contains as to ascertain whether or not it is necessary to have both

WOW! from what i could tell (I haven’t played it yet, but I am planning to in the coming day or two) it looks magnificent... the moment of truth is coming (if this info for it is still up and you have played it, please tell us more! cheers). One of the main features of this mod is the "field cost script", which means that an army in the field, and an army in a city, and an army besieged/besieging etc. all have different costs, which should change the dynamics of the game, making it not only more strategically challenging, but also more interesting. It is also supposed to increase the role playing abilities of the game, with career advancement systems and titles etc.

not much to say about this one - I haven’t had the chance to play it (if anyone has please tell me what you think about it!). From what i can tell it features new provinces, new units, rebalancing and sounds like good stuff - perhaps wait till we have more information about it before downloading???

This is a compilation modification that combines features from Anno Domini, Dues Lo Vult and more. It has been rushed to a stage of completion so it can be produced on a gaming magazine demo disc, so doesn’t yet include the new factions, units, recruitment system, but as it is it looks good. When version 2.0 comes out it should include all of them, so keep an eye out for it.

This is another combination mod, but adds a few more units, and uses work from both ‘Darth’s Formations’ and ‘Ultimate AI’. It has retextured many things, including the sky, units gunpowder smoke etc. For a full list of changes it is easiest to look at the thread. It is purely up to personal preference as to whether or not this is superior to ‘Rise of Kings’, unless someone has information to the contrary.

NOTE: To install, you must first install version 2.0, then the 2.1 patch, and only then can you install version 2.2 patch.

NOTE: There is a version 3.0 but it requires the leaked version of M2:TW patch 1.2 (I reiterate the fact I don’t recommend this patch – I would rather wait for an un-buggy, fully supported official patch 1.2). If, however, you already have the unofficial version, you can find ‘Stainless Steel versions 3.0’ and all relevant details and download links here

Lead by selenius4tsd - Thread
Release Date: A while!

When I originally browsed the forums dedicated to this mod I was disappointed - seemed the same as everything else out there, and there was little relevance in the name (meaning Land of Faith or something similar i believe). However, with further research i got very excited indeed - check out the campaign map thread - their map will span from India to South America, and all of Scandinavia and most of Canada! Bloody Awesome! I think this mod will provide the largest campaign map available - lets hope they don’t get bogged down in all their work (there is a lot they have to live up to), so good luck team Aevum Fidei!

Mirage41 - Thread
Release Date: I want it to be released now, but its still in its infancy although the creator is saying it should be out mid/end of the summer

I find this idea very interesting - while M2:TW is a game that puts a lot of emphasis on the holy land, the holy land is at the edge of the map. This mod revolves around the Muslim world, with its campaign map stretching from northern India to the Mediterranean. I find this modification hugely interesting, mainly because instead of focusing on the traditional Christian aspect of the Crusades, it instead shows the picture from the other side, with invaders swarming your lands from all corners, new inventions springing up, and brand spanking new empires being formed around old factions ankles! This is effectively a new instalment in the total war series - I think Creative Assembly should see how successful this mod will be, and think about creating... Arabia: Total War . The mod has only recently been started, but it already looks amazing - Good Luck to all people, present and future, that will/are involved in Broken Crescent: Total War in the Middle East

Beserker22 & killerxguy - Thread (main forum, due to lack of information on main thread)
Release Date: Project just starting it again after a long break, so we can assume that this will not be being released any time soon

It has potential... It seems to focus on improving playability of factions, adding more units, changing banners, making it more historically accurate - what makes this mod interesting is that some of the modding techniques are completely original and impressive, so congratulations

Lead by Nagatsuka Shumi (although the team is huge) - Thread
Release Date: Autumn 07 (hopefully )

This is the mod that really got me excited. It has been dubbed the Europa Barbarorum of M2:TW, and it seems absolutely amazing... words cannot describe how brilliant it looks (although they seem to have done a good job on the forums ). If I were you, I'd bookmark it, check up on it, help out on it if you can - this is set to be the mod that changes the way we play a Total War game. I just hope they don't run out of steam (their dedication is amazing - I think they started the mod way back in April last year!) and manage to achieve all that they say they can.

YAY!!! Total Realism... plus... Medieval...equals...too much to put into words - lets just hope that they live up to their promises on the thread... WOW - if they do we can look forward to new factions, expanded maps, reworked AI, improved diplomacy, new units, new skins/textures, new buildings, new empire building strategies, new tactics... and the list goes on... if anyone has any inside knowledge of the progress of this mod TELL US ALL - lol we *need* to know!

Progress So Far: Well, there have are 3D being made as we speak, which sounds good - this is reasures us that its still alive and is going good (my pet hate is mods that start and end only in ideas). So Thank you!
Link To Ghostrage's Thread with screenshots of one of the models.

EDIT: we have been given confirmation on above details, and it seems to have gone quite far. Working on 3D models at the moment - for more details read what Ghostrage has said further down on the thread

tnick777 (and his band of merry men ) - Thread
Release Date:We can probably expect it late summer/autumn, perhaps later, due to its size - you never know though!

This modification has had a lot of hype around it, and rightly so (I believe it received an award over at TWC for something like 'Most Promising Mod for M2:TW'). The campaign focuses on the "Norse Land" (as the title suggests), so basically it encompasses Scandinavia and Northern Europe, so those loving the Mediterranean will be disappointed, but have no fear for everything in this mod looks exciting! We get new factions, new units, a new map, more historical accuracy, and... VIKINGS yay lol (come on, you know that it excites you!). Stay tuned and get it when it releases!

This mod is almost an expansion pack in itself. It offers new regions, new factions, new skins/textures... same old, same old. Only time will tell if this is merely a new team doing an old job - the thread doesn’t give much information, but it has a lot of potential - good luck to all the members of the team.

As you will all be pleased to find out, Ortus Romani (or the Roman Era Mod) is partly created by the team behind Europa Barbarorum. Basically, it aims to be EB on the improved game engine of M2:TW - although we can almost be guaranteed the quality of the work, I’m just not excited about it - its Rome all over again, and for me modifications are about new not old (this doesn't mean that I wouldn't enjoy playing Ortus Romani, but that its not as special as some other mods)

NOTE: The team have been part of the Europa Barborum team for a while, and they are currently working on EB 0.8 and 1.0 before they can continue to work on Ortus Romani/Europa Barborum 2. Currently there are a few issues with 3d modelling with horses (although Medieval: Total Realism Teams have already released some screenshots of 3d modelling on a cavalry unit). When patch 1.2 comes out, if it contains the promised new modding tools, should provide the means to continue developing this mod, but there is a chance that it may have been abandoned - only time can tell.

Right, so as you can all see this is by no means a Library of mods, as the title suggests... yet. I will be updating this regularly, adding new mods I find that look interesting, updating downloads to the latest version for released mods, and also updating what we know about unreleased mods. I am really, really, really interested in finding out from other people (namely yourself ) what you think about any of the mods mentioned, perhaps give them a review/rating. If there is a mod out there that you think is amazing, tell us all about it - it would be great to develop this thread into something worthy of a good look once in a while. Oh and also, if you are involved in the production of any mods that aren't here, again give us the details and what you plan to do with the mod and I’ll edit into my post. Again, if you are involved in a mod mentioned above I would be incredibly grateful if you would give us some inside details, perhaps about how far the mod has progressed and the release date etc. etc.

phewwww.... That took a good few hours to compile (infact I started writing this thread yesterday morning! lol I need to get out more). If you want to be nice, just please post! Keep this thread *alive*! lol

NOTE:With the release of patch 1.2 imminant, I believe that the majority of Modification projects are slowing down until it comes out (mainly due to increased modding possibilites withing 1.2 I think)

[This message has been edited by Lasha (edited 04-13-2007 @ 05:18 PM).]