Guide: How to use & save MODS

This is a guide on how to use & save mods for Total War: Warhammer 3 on Steam!

INTRO

---

DISCLAIMER: IMPORTANT INFORMATION! PLEASE READ THE INFO IN THIS BOX!

• Download mods only from the official Steam website or via the Steam App!
  
• Never download any mods that somebody sent you in a message/email/cloud! Ask them to upload the mod to the workshop, and then download it from there!
  
• Using mods from third party websites is not supported by the official game and you're doing it at your own risk! Not recommended!
  
• Always read the description of the mod you subscribe and enable! All Total War: Warhammer 3 mods on Steam Workshop are free to download at no cost thanks to modders' contributions. In exchange for usually many hours spent on creating the mods - please spare a few minutes and read the mod's description and this guide to know what the mods actually do and how to use them in the first place!

Welcome to the guide "How to use MODS", by The PatchHammer

Contents of the guide (use the menu on the right):

• How to download mods from Steam Workshop
  
• How to enable mods
  
• How to use and save mods
  
• How to update mods
  
• How to remove/unsubscribe from mods
  
• CTD - Crash To Desktop
  
• Error Box / Error Window

How to download mods from Steam Workshop

---

1. To download mods on Steam you have to own a valid Steam account and Total War: Warhammer 3. Using WH3 Mod Manager is highly recommended.
   
2. After acquiring all of the above, go to Total War: WARHAMMER III Steam Workshop Community Tab and browse the page for your choice of mods.
   
3. After choosing which mod to add to your library - click on the mod and then SUBSCRIBE.
   
4. To appreciate the modder's or modders' work - leave a thumbs up!
   
5. Optional: You can "save" the mod for later, by adding it to your favourites. The mod will appear in your "Workshop Files/Favourited" tab on the right side of the main page of Total War: WARHAMMER III Steam Workshop Community Tab

Always keep the game and Mod Manager updated (unless you know what you're doing)!
Older versions of the game are usually not supported by the mods. The Mod Manager also has to be updated due to recognition of the mods and all updates released by Total War: Warhammer 3!

How to enable the mods

---

This part of the section is for people using Prop Joe's WH3 Mod Manager

1. After subscribing to a mod it will appear in the Mod Manager "All Mods" tab.
   
2. If you subscribe to a mod while the Mod Manager is open - you have to restart the Mod Manager to see the new subscribed mod.
   
3. You can find the "All Mods" tab on the tabs list in the top left corner of the Mod Manager.
   
4. Find the chosen mod on the list and click the only box on the left of it's name to enable the mod.
   
5. Click PLAY and enjoy your new subscrubed mod!

This part of the section is for people using Steam Total War Launcher[www.totalwar.com]

1. Using Total War Launcher is highly not recommended and you should be using Prop Joe's WH3 Mod Manager
   
2. After subscribing to a mod, launch the Total War Launcher from Steam Library (click PLAY Warhammer 3)
   
3. On the left find the MOD MANAGER tab and click it, let the mods load.
   
4. Find your chosen mod and activate it by pressing the slider button on the left of your new subscribed mod
   
5. Click PLAY and enjoy your new mod!

How to use and save the mods

---

To use the mods please follow this steps:

1. After subscribing and enabling your mod - launch the game
   
2. Go to the mods page on Steam Workshop and read it's description to check if the described there changes are implemented in the game
   
3. Play for a few turns in a normal or casual way to see if the mod works with your current set of mods or settings. If it does - restart or continue the current campaign and enjoy the game!
   
   The next part of this section of the guide is for PJ Mod Manager users only (that should also be you):
   
   
4. If the mod works - save and quit the game and go to Prop Joe's WH3 Mod Manager
   
5. Find the mod you have just subscribed, enabled and checked if works and make sure it's still enabled
   
6. If you have a lot of mods subscribed - you can narrow the list to only enabled mods by clicking the "Enabled Mods" Tab in the top left corner or by pressing "Ctrl+2"
   
7. If all mods that you chose for your next game/campaign are enabled - click "Other Options" and find the "COPY TO DATA" Button and click it.
   
8. This will copy all and only the enabled mods to Warhammer data folder therefore save them ("freeze" them) in their current state.
   
9. By doing the above you will:
   - stop the mod from updating and potentially breaking your saved game middle of campaign
   - keep the mod to finish your campaign in case it will disappear from the workshop due to update or creators/Steam decision. If that ever happens - your mod also disappears from pc too.
   - in case of the base game update - you will be able to use the "Beta Participation" option in Warhammer 3 properties on Steam to roll back the game version to the latest one you played with all unupdated mods that you saved to WH3 data folder before. When big updates are coming out they do potentially brake the modded campaigns/saved games so "Copy to data" option is highly recommended!

Bonus tip: by going to "Categories" tab in Prop Joe's WH3 Mod Manager (top left corner or "Ctrl+3") you'll be able to create and manage mods into groups. This is a great way to organise and keep track of your mods!

How to update the mods

---

Disclaimer: Unless you "Copied mods to data" your mods will update automatically - and that's not always a good thing! For more details read the informations below!

If you finished your campaign or noticed that the mod got updated in Prop Joe's WH3 Mod Manager "Last Updated" colum or on the mods creators page - it might be time to update your mod.

1. First go to the mods page on Steam and check what are the new features implemented in the update
   
2. You can usually find those changes decribed by the author in
   - Change Notes on the right side of the picture of the mod
   - Mods description
   - Comments
   
3. Make sure that the changes and updating the mod will not break your campaign and to do that copy your saved game to a backup folder or save game twice at the same time but with different name.
   
4. If you are not sure about the changes and will it break the game - find the mod in Warhammer 3 data folder and copy it's one .pack file to a backup folder of your choice.
   
5. You can now choose from two options:
   - Update all mods previously copied to data, by going to Prop Joe's WH3 Mod Manager "Other Options" and clicking "CLEAN DATA" - this will remove all previously copied and "freezed" mods and allow them to update to their current Steam Workshop state
   - Update only 1 or more mods of your choice - by removing manually the chosen mods from Warhammer data folder. This will ulock the updates for the chosen mods.
   
6. After the mod will get an update go back to point 1 of "How to use the mods" to save the mods again

Unfortunately, sometimes it's too late. When you did not save the mod to your WH3 data folder with the "Copy to data" button and mods update crashed your game - you might try to download the older version of the mod and manually add it to your data folder. The only way to get older versions of the mods - is directly from the modders or other players, but I wouldn't recommend that if you cannot trust the source. If the mod is not uploaded as older version to the workshop or provided by the modder on official page on Steam - it might be time for a new campaign with the new updated mod. But this time - make sure to save it to your data! "Copy to data" is your is your friend!

How to remove/unsubscribe from mods

---

Here are the ways to unsubscribe/remove the mods:

1. If you previously saved the mods by pressing "COPY TO DATA" go to "Other Options" in Prop Joe's WH3 Mod Manager and click "CLEAN DATA"
   
2. Then you can either:
   - right click on the mod and choose "Unsubscribe" from the list
   - go to the mods page on Steam Workshop and "Unsubscribe" with button there
   
3. Restart the Mod Manager and the list will update without the unsubscribed mods
   
4. Make sure that the mod is not listed as "Keep always enabled" - you will see the checkbox by it's name turned tu purple color and you can change that by right clicking on the mod.
   
5. If for some reason both of these options will not work you can find the files yourself and delete them from the disc muanually, however I would recommend updating your Mod Manager first, refreshing the page on Steam or making sure that you know what you are doing.

Bonus tip: by using the "Keep always enabled" option for multiple mods - you can mass enable or disable mods for specific new capaigns or saved games, however it's easier to "Load Mods From Save" (button with small arrow below PLAY button, next to "Continue" - can load mods from specific saved game) or create mod presets using the set of options in the main window in top right corner.

CTD - Crash To Desktop

---

It may happen that the game suddenly will stop working and exit to the OS desktop:

• while you're launching the game
  
• while you're playing
  
• while you're loading a saved game

This is an indication that the game does not know what do to and ends the game process itself resulting in a crash. That's not good, but there are solutions to find out the problem. This can also mean that:

• the game/mod manager/mods need an update - due to desynchronisation of code/tables and not recognizing important elements of chain reactions in the code while responding to an action in the game (examples of action: clicking on a button, hovering over an UI element or moving a character or more) - try updating all and relaunch the game, enabling mod one by one to find out which mod causes problems. Warning: remember to not update your mods right away. When the official Total War: Warhammer 3 recieves an update - it sometimes take a bit of time to all modders to update their mods and align them with new code! You might want to NOT update your mods and roll back the game to previous version (before update) to finish the campaign and wait for all updates to come in life. I recommend making backups of your currently used mods, because they get updated automatically and might desynchronize your modpack loosing compatibility with all other mods.
  
• the game is missing assets while responding to an action - make sure that all mods are updated and enabled. Warning: some mods require a second mod usually called Assets, make sure to check the description of the mod and always subscribe to new mods with ALL required mods. Those mods sometimes require mods themselves too and are not listed, by accident or due to an error. Double check all required mods and assets and re-launch the game
  
• the game has too many assets - there is a chance that some mods are overlaping in the code. That means they are doing exactly the same thing and the game cannot decide which option to choose. This can happen when you are using two mods that include the same content, for example a Submod or Patch, that is included also in an Overhaul or a Modpack. Please check the contents of Overhauls and Modpacks in descriptions to make sure you are not doubling the modded content enabled in the Mod Manager
  
• there is an incompatibility between the mods - there is a chance that two mods are adding the same content. It's a natural result of people contributing to Steam Workshop from every corner of the planet and not knowing that they share similar ideas. But somehow even then it may happen that they use exaclty the same method or name for something in the game. When this happens - the only solution is to find a compatibility submod, patch or fix that can be linked in one of mods description or available on Steam. If there is not - you can always enquire about one to the author of the mod. As mentioned above, they might not know about compatibility. HOWEVER - it is not their responsability to release such a fix, as everyone has full right to release what they want and that's an important thing to remember with respect to creators of the mods
  
• the load order of the mods is incorrect - NEVER change the load order of the mods! Both Total War Manager and PJ Mod Manager have built in recognition of all contents of the mods - this means that when you launch any mentioned Mod Manager - it orders all the mods in correct way! You do NOT have to do any changes to the order, order has to be kept in order - unless you want destruction and many CTD's. To repair the messed up order - restart the manager or use the Order column to make sure all mods are in the right place.
  
• other coming soon...
  

Error Box / Error Window

---

It may happen that the game suddenly will stop working and present an Error Box (Error Window) with the error message, freeze with a black screen and exit when you press OK. This is a much better situation than CTD, as the game recognizes the problem and informs you what to do. Kind of. Depending on the information displayed in the Box - it may indicate that:

• The game is missing data to execute the coded chains of reactions - as best example is to enable a submod without the original mod. As the game will try to do what is coded in the submod - it will be missing the actual code from the main mod. As submods are by default ordered (prioritised) before the mods that they allow to work - the game "finds" the code from submod first and then asks you where is the rest in the Error Box. it is important to read what the message says, as it is the most useful information when looking for missing mod on your list or the mod that caused the problem in the first place. Simply look at the code in the Error Box and try to connect it to mod, for example the code includes "Mixu" - it means you have to look into any mod made by Mixu or if it includes a name of a specific character like "borgut_facesmasher" you have to look for a mod that includes that character and usually just typing the characters name in Steam Workshop items search will give you most relevant mods that potentially contain that chararcter. You might also use Google search with "warhammer 3"+"steam" added to it, as some of the descriptions for mods are moved to discussions and Google does a better job in searching those keywords on Steam.
  
• The game has a problem with order - if there are mods working on ordered priority set by the modders like "base game <- overhaul <- submod/patch to mod", they have to be also left with that order in Mod Manager too, but you do not have to do anything except making sure to not touch it as the Mod Manager orders all mods by itself on every launch with any new mods added/subscribed! Make sure to reverse the order to it's original state and try to relaunch the game.
  
• ERROR - coming soon...

OUTRO

---

Thank you for your time!
I hope that this will help you in your fantastic journey through Steam Workshop's mods!
Remember to double-check stuff on your side, look for answers for your questions first and then ask them if nobody did that before you and respet the precious time of mod creators.
The mods are released to Steam Workshop for free and the price paid for them - is the time spent to create them in the first place. Be grateful for the modders hard work, rate and favourite their mods and instead of thumbing down - leave a comment saying what you didn't like or expect from the mod or would like to see in future updates! There might be already a mod for that too!
There's more than 13.000 mods out there and this number doesn't stop!
Time to create your first mods list and join thousands of people like you!
Good luck and let the crashes never occur!

---

The PatchHammer does NOT represent or is officialy related to SEGA, Cretive Assembly or Steam