I got fed up with herding cattle, so I changed their behavior. It's quite simple, really - I just made them behave like caravans. Instead of run from you, they go to you - triggering the menu once they reach you. All you have to do is change one little number in menus.txt, and cattle herding will no longer be annoying. The menu is menu_cattle_herd (obviously!).
Heres the specific menu you need to change, with the number highlighted in
red. Just change the 11 to a 4.
menu_cattle_herd 4096 You_encounter_a_herd_of_cattle. none 2 600 1 1152921504606847136 2031 1 1441151880758558741 4
mno_cattle_drive_away 0 Drive_the_cattle_onward. 4 501 3 144115188075856110 7 1 1640 2 144115188075856110 11 1641 2 144115188075856110 648518346341351424 2040 0 . mno_cattle_stop 0 Bring_the_herd_to_a_stop. 3 501 3 144115188075856110 7 0 1640 2 144115188075856110 0 2040 0 . mno_cattle_kill 7 2133 2 1224979098644774912 1 4 0 200 1 504403158265495578 546 3 504403158265495578 8 144115188075856110 2133 2 1224979098644774912 0 3 0 31 2 1224979098644774912 1 Slaughter_some_of_the_animals. 1 2060 1 864691128455135262 . mno_leave 0 Leave. 1 2040 0 .
That 11 tells the cattle to run from you. Instead, we change it to 4 - which tells them to follow you, like the caravans do.
No more shall cattle herding waste our time. Hurrah!
- update - As suggested by Highlander, changing it to 10 works even better. This is the AI Lord's behavior when they are campaigning. That way they follow you without initiating the menu every stop.
Link to other tweaks.
