leusoj,
I don't think you're really supposed to interpret the numbers. I'm using the .960 (beta version) module system to interpret them, but normally you would just make changes within the current module system (it is WAY easier to read and make sense of, with lots of useful comments) and then compile the module system into the text files. The only reason I'm doing it like I am is because the 1.003 module system has not yet been released for some reason, so most modding efforts are just put on hold until it is.
It's probably best to just wait until it is released (hopefully soon...) before you do any modding, as learning to interpret the numbers - although interesting - is not a very useful skill once the module system is out
Zundum,
#1 would be possible by adding to conversations.txt (for the tavern keeper side) or to the camp menu in menus.txt. You'd just have to call up the change_player_party_morale script with the number to add, and put in something to erase either money or units from the ale/wine from your inventory. The tavern keeper one would be the easiest, all you'd have to do is copy the buy drinks dialogs and change them a bit - it already has the part taking the money from you so you'd just have to add the script call. To figure out the number to reference the morale script you could go into the check_friendly_kills script and pull it from there, that's where it cuts your morale down due to losses in battle. The other would be a bit more complex, as it'd have to cycle through your inventory to see if you had wine/ale as a condition of the menu, then cycle through and consume some of it with a further check to determine your party size and such.
#2 you could do by changing the manhunter dialogs. You'd just have to make a dialog that opened the prisoner trade window, the same way Ramun or the ransom brokers do. If you wanted the prices to be half then you would have to go and make a special exception in the prisoner prices script to check if they are a manhunter and reduce it. I'm not sure how selling prisoners on the worldmap works, though - I've never tried it. It all seems unnecessary though, since manhunters are harder to find than slave traders most of the time. Plus I already have a tweak to make tavern keepers buy prisoners, if you really wanted to sell them easier.
#3 Do you mean like recruit them instead of kill them? I guess you could probably do that with more dialog. It seems kinda pointless, though - just knock them unconscious and recruit them from your prisoners.
#4 You'd have to somehow determine what the caravans have for trade. The goods they drop when you kill them is just random, and all the trading they do is just virtual - they pop up and travel but don't actually buy or sell goods to the shops, it's just done behind the scenes with functions changing prices and generating revenue and such. This would probably be a mod in itself, and not something to easily do without the module system.
#5 You could probably adapt the castle menu option for use with all this. You'd just have to expand it somehow and change the troop references it calls up. You'd have to use a function to get the appropriate npc slot for that town.
I may play around with #1 and #5 in the future, but for the next few weeks I'll likely be very busy - I have a 20 page research paper to write and two exams to complete (take home exams that they gave me yesterday and today, really nasty ones haha). Someone else who has been making tweaks might do it, though
ivan-the-viking,
It has been asked several times before, but I wouldn't know how to do it. My programming experience is next to nil, I don't even know python - I just wing it
One of these days I'll take the time to learn how to make programs.
Olorin,
Sure, glad you're satisfied with the answer
. I actually don't see the exact spot that determines whether or not a lord attacks a party, but that might be hidden somewhere in the area determining if they attack castles. It's hard to make heads or tails of some of the AI script stuff. A while back I was trying to figure out a way to make them not chase parties when they were following you as the marshall (to prevent the annoying thing where they run off while you're prepping for a siege), but I couldn't find the right spot to edit.