Game not properly downloading

[Felius]

So, after a long while decided to go back to playing this game but I can't see for the life on me to manage to properly get this game to download. If I tell it to just download via the game listing on my steam library it merely download the contents of the mod folder (that is, the Kingdoms' modules). By opening the proprieties of the Kingdoms DLC in specific from the Steam Downloads tab and telling it to check the cache, I seem to have been able to download most files, but missing such things such as as the launcher executable, which would be rather vital to actually run mods.

Any ideas?

[Dark Angel]

Kingdoms is merged into the Medieval II game folder, it's an expansion.

When you start Medieval II via Steam the game will offer you a selection menu including the Kingdom campaigns. If your game is registered with Steam and unmodded it should run from the Steam starter.

If you are having problems starting it, create a folder in your Steam/SteamApps directory called 'Medieval II Total War' (no quotes) - it can just be an empty folder. Then go to your Steam Library, select it by right clicking that game and select 'Local files/Verify System Cache' to rebuild the vanilla game installation. It should then run for you.

You do not need a Kingdoms directory, I expect you have tried loading the expansion without the core the game.

[Felius]

Not really. I did tried to download just the medieval II total war from the steam list, it just doesn't work. It does send everything to the correct folder, but what it does is simply not download nearly all the files, exclusively downloading the stuff that goes inside the mod folder and that's all. It doesn't download even the executable flies. And I did try to verify the cache, it's the first thing I try.

After I did managed to download at least the medieval2.exe and apparently the assorted data files by somehow managing to open the propriety tab of the kingdoms app as if it was still a separate standalone instead of an expansion/dlc, and then verifying its cache instead of just the medieval 2 cache. But even so, what it still missed downloading is the launcher.exe executable, which is what I was hoping for to actually run mods outside the ones that already come with kingdoms, such as Stainless Steel. Sure, I'd need to edit the registry (or use that app someone created in TWCenter), but without the launcher I couldn't get to that point anyway.

[Dark Angel]

You can create your own .exe file and add to desktop as a shortcut, then link the shortcut to the mod, but it is no good doing this until you get the vanilla game working. If you are installing 'dirty mods' they can overwrite key system files.

Disable you anti-virus and run in administrator mod.

I cannot see why you would have a separate Kingdoms folder, it should appear in the main M2TW file as mod folders. Clear these off before attempted in the reinstall.

Stainless Steel (clean mod) will run from the Steam starter, you replace one of the Kingdoms campaigns with the mod file (for example 'americas' and then when you run 'americas' the mod will start instead.

See MTWGG Modding subforum on the Discussion tab of the group page for more information on installing Stainless and other mods once your game is working properly.

[Felius]

I do not have a separeta kingdoms folder. What I do managed to do is open the old proprieties tab for the game in steam from the time they were still separate so I could tell it to check kingdom's cache instead of medieval 2's cache.

What does happen is that if I just tell steam to download medieval 2, it only downloads the contents of the mod folder in the medieval 2 folder in steam, which are the folders for the kingdoms expansion content, but doesn't actually download the base files that would be needed to run even the base game.

Furthermore, if I do manage to check the cache of the kingdoms expansion specifically, it downloads most files to the correct medieval 2 folder, but doesn't download at least the launcher.exe that I needed to run certain mods without having to do certain dirty replacements.

[Dark Angel]

Rename the kingdom folder something else and try to reload the Medieval II game files. It may be that Steam is detecting the kingdom files and it is confusing it.

If the file is renamed, it may be ignored and the complete game downloaded.

I would delete the game from the Steam directory (once the file is renamed in your hard drive) and start completely from scratch - using a residual file isn't going to work. By renaming it, you are saving it, so you can replace it afterwards if this doesn't work.