Part 30

Answers common questions about Total War: Three Kingdoms, including building browser usage, navy merging, faction unlocking, and siege weapon capabilities.

Q: Does this work on Windows Vista?

A: Yes.

Q: How do I see what a building does?

A: Open the Building Browser. When examining a settlement, it's the button with a magnifying glass. After that, you can click on the building type you want, and right click on the level you want to see what it does. Note that some buildings won't be there at all, as gunpowder and the New World have to be discovered first.

Q: Why do my navies refuse to merge?

A: They may be out of movement points. However, more likely, you moved an admiral with 1+ Command into another admiral. Admirals with 1+ Command are egomaniacs and refuse to give up command to another admiral. If the other has 0 command, you can just force him to join the other admiral. However, if both have command, then you'll have to just deal with it - why admirals can get away with defying an absolute ruler, I am not certain. However, if the whiny admiral in question has multiple ships, you can take all of them but his weakest one and add them to the other navy, essentially merging the two navies. Further, you could send the whiny admiral to command some other group of ships without 1+ command admiral.

Q: What's the difference between "Very long range missiles" and "long range missiles"?

A: Well... their range. See the FAUST for more specific range listings.

Q: What do those rankings like "Production" and "Financial" mean?

A: Military indicates who has the strongest military (not quite sure if it's based solely on numbers or if quality is taken into account - after all, 2,000 peasants would still be annihilated by 1,000 mounted knights). Population is the total number of citizens. Financial is purely cash on hand. Production is how many buildings you make in a given turn. Overall is a combination of all the factors.

Q: How do I unlock other factions?

A: Aside from England, France, Spain, the HRE, and Venice, you'll need to either eliminate them or edit this file:

C:\Program Files\SEGA\Medieval II Total War\data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\descr_strat.txt

And put the faction(s) you want into the playable section. Again, don't put the Papal States, Aztecs, Mongols, or Timurids there and try to play as them. If for some reason you installed the files somewhere else, look there instead of in Program Files.

Q: In Rome: Total War, you could view a city outside of battle mode. Is this option available in Medieval II?

A: No.

Q: Do Vassal factions' lands count towards your own for the territories goals of the campaign mode?

A: Yes.

Q: Do you plan to write a FAQ for Kingdoms? Can you help me with Kingdoms?

A: No, I do not own Kingdoms. I have the money for it, but I refuse to buy it because CA opted to include SecuROM as a copy protection scheme, and I am opposed to SecuROM's heavy-handed, loyalty punishing methods. Also, my DVD drive is busted.

Q: Can I go beyond the regular turn limit?

A: Yes, by editing the game files or just using a mod. I'd recommend a mod, as it can also add other features, and the vanilla game isn't that good, but to each his own. I'm not sure which file you have to edit, but there is a links section for a reason.

Q: What siege weapons can be used inside the cities/castles wall for firing at enemies outside of the walls?

A: To my knowledge, only the trebuchet and mortar will be able to fire in such a situation.