My first mod (it's a big one!): The Brethren of the Coast

MCSmarties · Powder Monkey Posts: 46 **169 Gold** -

I give you my first real mod:

MCSmarties's Brethren of the Coast Mod for Sid Meier's Pirates!

WHAT THE MOD DOES

This Modification changes the Dutch Civilization to the Brethren of the Coast (ie Pirates) "Nation".
Specifically, most "Dutch" elements are replaced with "Pirate" elements (the FPK pack contains a whopping 71 modified files!), such as:

Characters: Barmaid, bartender, daughters (6), governors (3), mayors (2), captains (8 ), captain of the guard, merchant and shipwright
Ship flags, pennants and sail emblems
Event, map and town flags
Decorations in the tavern and in the governor's mansion (can you identify the Brethren in the paintings?)
Stern decoration of the ships
Ship and Settlement names
Crew members and land army
The name "Dutch" is replaced with "Brotherhood"
("Brethren of the Coast" is too long and causes grammatical problems...)

WHERE TO GET THE MOD

I hope it can be added to the mod database but it may be a bit large for that (the zip file weighs 6.41MB).
Until then, you get it here! (Note: The link will die if there's no activity for more than a month)

INSTALLATION DIRECTIONS

Copy the 'Brotherhood.fpk' file to your 'Custom' folder.
Copy 'text.ini' to your 'Assets' folder.

To remove this Modification simply delete the files again.

POSSIBLE CONFLICTS

Be aware that doing this will remove any text replacement mod that you currently have installed.
Also make sure you don't have ANY customized Dutch textures in your custom folder.

KNOWN FLAWS

Some screens still have the name of the civilzation appear as 'Dutch'.
The Cities still look Dutch (ie house textures, roofs, etc. - there are just too many files to mod)
There is a slight decrease in texture quality on those textures that have been edited.
City names that appear above the cities and settlements while sailing are still in orange
Although I did modify the Dutch land army units, they still appear the same as in the unmodded game. Weird.
There are suddenly a lot more pirates cruising the Caribbean!
Wait, is that a flaw?

CREDITS

I would never have been able to put this mod together without the enormous amount of work that has been done before.
I have liberally used textures, sometimes as-is, from pre-existing mods.
Standing on the shoulders of giants and all that. Anyway, tons of Kudos to the modders that came before me!

Files that I have re-used come from the following mods (I hope this list is complete but I'm not 100% sure):

Elderp's Pirate's Theme Packs (not only did I re-use all the files, but these themes are what gave me the idea to completely replace the Dutch with the Brethren of the Coast)
Thoerr's Prussian Invasion (these files were the real starting point for this mod)
devguy's Plain Daughters
Loki's Bar Scenes
CaptRedde's Assorted Pyrates
Another_Russian's Condent Pennant
IrishJim's Ireland Mod (although I didn't directly reuse any files, it helped me figure out some things)
I don't know who made the sail emblem I'm using for the Brotherhood, but I love it!
(if you'd rather use a different texture, name it ship_sail_emblem_lrg_dut.dds and put it in the 'Assets' folder)
Finally, several files are lifted directly from the game itself (usually "Pirate" files I renamed to their "Dutch" equivalent, sometimes also tweaking them a bit)

OK, OK, I know you want to see screenshots! Here you go:

Maps and swashbuckling

"Recruiter", town screen, one of the governors and one of the mayors

The bar scenes

Three of the six modded daughters

Now you can play the game as a true pirate from the beginning to the end, never helping a European nation! ARRRR!
Sailor

_________________

rupertlittlebear · Helmsman Posts: 4545 **10381 Gold** -

sparticus · Helmsman Posts: 5818 **44872 Gold** -

Downloading Now - will give it a try later - thanks.

MATT001 · Powder Monkey Posts: 35 **831 Gold** -

Hell, why not. Will download.

Didn't think this game was customisable enough to do much with, but this may restore my faith. I'll check it out.
_________________
An anonymous acquaintance of mine, upon hearing of recent pirate activity off the coast of Somalia: "...I thought pirates were extinct."

Guru · Gunner Posts: 678 **1240 Gold** -

That Mod sure looks sweeeet MCSmarties! Cool

nice work

Although i rarely use Mods, i think i'll give your Mod a try.

Playing as a full-blood Pirate has always been a wish of mine, now that wish may become true Sailor

_________________

HatterasJack · Swabbie Posts: 116 **624 Gold** -

Tried out yer mod last night and I must say, hats off to 'e, matey! My only real complaint is the ballroom. There is so much stuff to try and check out, my first couple of trips around the dance floor were, shall we say, less than impressive. All the characters (bartender, maid, gov., etc) look pretty interesting and lots of great background touches. I wonder if you could incorporate the Captain Morgan rum crate mod for the taverns into a future(?) update?
What happens to the default game Pirate Havens, tho? Were they effected or did they remain the same? I'll have to set sail again and find out.
Great mod! Good job!
_________________

Remember lads, pillage first, THEN burn! Get it right this time, or I'll bring my boot to ye, by thunder!!

MCSmarties · Powder Monkey Posts: 46 **169 Gold** -

Hi HatterasJack,

Thanks for the review!

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by saying that the ballroom is "less than impressive". All I did was change the paintings (which are the same as in the governor's room) and the chair covers (which are also the same files as for the governor's room) - and obviously the daughter.

Are you saying I should try to mod the ballroom more? What would you like to see? Mind you I'm still learning about the whole modding thing...

I forgot about the Captain Morgan rum crates. I could definitely have incorporated them! If you want them, all you need to do is to add the modded DDS file to your customs folder.

I did not modify the pirate havens at all. In fact, you may be a bit dissappointed that they look so similar to the formerly Dutch areas since I "recycled" many of their textures! Rolling Eyes

_________________

MATT001 · Powder Monkey Posts: 35 **831 Gold** -

Not had a chance to play it yet (trying to finish up my latest character, who's going for 126 Fame) but I have a question about the screenshot where it says "January 1660: Brotherhood at War with Spain." Is it a problem with the screenshot, or with the mod, that the icon for the Brotherhood and Spain shows a peace treaty, not a War?

EDIT: For that matter, why is St. Eustatius referred to as "St. Kevin"?
_________________
An anonymous acquaintance of mine, upon hearing of recent pirate activity off the coast of Somalia: "...I thought pirates were extinct."

MCSmarties · Powder Monkey Posts: 46 **169 Gold** -

LOL you got sharp eyes!

Yes indeed there is a problem with the states at war. That's because I used the PHTrainer before taking the screenshots - I was too lazy to sail all over the caribbean just to get the shots! Smile

I think what happened is that I changed the states at war (so I could show off the pirate flags...) and the flags changed without the log reflecting the change in nationality at war. Has nothing to do with my mod!

I saw that "St. Kevin" too but I have no idea where it comes from. I didn't touch the names of the cities, only the settlements Confused

Hmmm... I wonder if that's a bug in the original game that just appeared by chance. I mean, how carefully do you read the text upon arrival to a city, usually? I know I don't!
_________________

MATT001 · Powder Monkey Posts: 35 **831 Gold** -

Roland · Helmsman Posts: 4085 **22541 Gold** -

HatterasJack · Swabbie Posts: 116 **624 Gold** -

Aye, ya misunderstood me there. well, maybe I just wasn't clear enuff - let me reiterate..............

The ballroom is indeed most impressive. It's just that my charactor danced like he had way too much rum before the ball. This was due to the fact that I was trying to make out all the new pictures and furnishings as I twirled and spilled about the room like a drunken prom date.

If I may ask, where did you get (or rather "how did you get") those pictures? Most of them I've seen as historical illustrations and paintings (Such as Henry Morgan, Edward Teach and was that Black Sam Bellamy I saw in one?) and I was surprised and delighted to see them in the game. Not as a "cut-and-pasted" reproduction, but as, how do I say it, as a game image (is that right?). They look like they belong there instead of being pasted in.

I'm looking forward to exploring this mod further. I had actually inquired earlier in the year if there was just such a mod out there and found that one had begun to be put together years ago with much discussion and screenshots and all, and then just came to a screeching halt.

This is a fantastic work, if I may say so, and never feel that I am doubting or critisizing your modding abilities as I myself can't mod to save me life. I made my own flag and sails, but that's it. Not for lack of trying, they just don't work when I try them. I sometimes have trouble getting other's mods to work for me, too so I was a very happy pirate when yours did.

Keep up the good work and thanks for this one!
_________________

Remember lads, pillage first, THEN burn! Get it right this time, or I'll bring my boot to ye, by thunder!!

MCSmarties · Powder Monkey Posts: 46 **169 Gold** -

OK peeps, there's a lot of stuff I need to answer Smile

MCSmarties · Powder Monkey Posts: 46 **169 Gold** -

About the "St. Kevin" - mea culpa, it was indeed a problem with my mod. I did use the text.ini file from Irish Jim's mod, and overlooked just one little change. Lucky that I used just the one affected city for my screenshot, or this mistake may have never been discovered!

To fix it, edit the text.ini file in my mod (the one you put in the Assets folder), search for "Kevin" and replace by "Eustatius". The line in question is # 1010. Sorry!

MATT001 · Powder Monkey Posts: 35 **831 Gold** -

Thanks for fixing the problem - I must say I find it admirable that you're willing to do so. I used to play a lot of Freelancer mods whose modders would just have skipped over that as a minor error, but I think minor errors count for a lot - they remind you that what you're playing is third-party. So thanks for fixing.
_________________
An anonymous acquaintance of mine, upon hearing of recent pirate activity off the coast of Somalia: "...I thought pirates were extinct."