Tutorial walkthrough on how to use instant load times technique

[ealabor]

Greetings,


You may know by now that M&B 1.0 will feature instant load times from "Launching Game" to the character creation screen. Until then, I have written a step by step tutorial on how to use what i've termed the "Scene dance feature".

This tutorial will have to do with editing the files in the SceneObj folder, and its relatively simple, so anyone should be able to do this.  sco. files located in the SceneObj folder are the individual scenes that Mount and Blade uses to reference when enterting castles, towns, etc. What i've discovered is that all of these were being loaded BEFORE entering the world map, so what we will do now is manipulate the files in the folder to use them only when called for entering the specific scenes.



Step 1

First you will want to go into the folder where your mount and blade mods are stored. For me it's C:\Program Files\Mount&Blade\Modules\. Here you will go into which ever folder your current Legions Extended release is. Once inside you will want to make a copy of the SceneObj folder which I have highlighted..

Place that folder in another folder somewhere for safe keeping, just incase you make an error.



Step 2.

Once you have backed up and stored your copy SceneObj folder somewhere (preferrably outside M&B), go back into the mod directory to where the original SceneObj folder is, and proceed to enter it. You should then see a large quantity of .sco files that start with scn_. These are the individual scenes that Mount and Blade uses to reference when entering castles, towns, etc. Go ahead and make a new empty folder inside the folder where your scenes are stored. I have a highlighted example and titled it "Transfer" as an example..

Step 3.

Once you have made your new folder,  go ahead and highlight all of the scenes and copy / paste them into your new folder. Once that is completed, you will then delete all of the scenes in the original scene folder. Now your SceneObj folder should be completely empty with the exception of your newly created folder in which the scenes reside.

At this point you can start a new M&b game of the associated mod, and once you click "Start New Game", the game will jump straight to character creation. This is the way M&B will operate in 1.0. Now If you go into a scene however, there will be nothing but flat grass and NPCs. Battles are an exception, and you can enter any kind of battle with the exception of sieges which require scenes. No scenes for Zendar -

Now I will teach you to access the scenes individually.

Step 4.

For example if you wanted to access Zendar, all you would do is alt tab into your SceneObj folder,(WHILE IN GAME , -Preferrably on the world map-) then open up the new folder you created and copy the Zendar scenes. If you arange the files by name, you should see three files for Zendar at the bottom.
Copy those files and then paste them into the  SceneObj folder, so now your SceneObj folder should llook like this..

Step 5.

Now that you have decided on which scene to visit, in this case I will be visiting Zendar,Save and Exit to the menu. Do not exit the game completely, that is not necessary. It is worth note that you have already loaded the textures and scripts and the beginning of the mod load, so now when you restore a saved game, it is almost exclusively the scene folders. Since the scenes you want to visit are the only ones in the SceneObj folder, you will have next to instant reload times.

And thats basically it. Some reminders/tips:

- Delete the scenes in the SceneObj folder you no longer visit
- You could always leave the scenes that you regularly visit in the SceneObj folder, such as all the Italian cities if you are a Roman player etc., to reduce your alt-tabbing

- Villages have 1 scene,
- Castles have 2 scenes: Interior, exterior.
- Towns have several scenes: Usually 8 if you want to access the whole thing.


Here is the village/town/castle reference chart for Legions Extended, which you will idealy want to place in a text file in your SceneObj:

  ("town_1","Bagacos", 
  ("town_2","Camulosadae",   
  ("town_3","Carthage", 
  ("town_4","Syracuse",   
  ("town_5","Mastia",
  ("town_6","Rome", 
  ("town_7","Taras", 
  ("town_8","Gergovia",
  ("town_9","Mediolanium", 
  ("town_10","Sarmizegetuza", 

  ("town_11","Buridiva", 
  ("town_12","Swebostraus",
  ("town_13","Arretium",
  ("town_14","Kallatis",

Towns go from 14 to 112 in reference only

Towns

  ("town_112","Halicarnassus",
  ("town_113","Hadrumento",
  ("town_114","Athens", 
  ("town_115","Alexandria",
  ("town_116","Memphis", 
  ("town_117","Cyrene", 
  ("town_118","Antioch", 
  ("town_119","Edessa", 
  ("town_120","Sardis", 

  ("town_121","Pella", 
  ("town_122","Corinth",
  ("town_123","Ambracia", 
  ("town_124","Gawjam-Silengoz", 
  ("town_125","Gava-Roxsalanna",
  ("town_126","Uspe", 
  ("town_127","Oxtraca",
  ("town_128","Baikor",
 
Castles

  ("castle_1","Ariminum",
  ("castle_2","Capua",
  ("castle_3","Segestica",
  ("castle_4","Segesta",
  ("castle_5","Rhegion",
  ("castle_6","Patavium",
  ("castle_7","Arse",
  ("castle_8","Numantia",
  ("castle_9","Gader",
  ("castle_10","Tingis",
 
  ("castle_11","Karali",
  ("castle_12","Gava-Aursa",
  ("castle_13","Lemonum",
  ("castle_14","Cenabum",
  ("castle_15","Eburonum",
  ("castle_16","Bibracte",
  ("castle_17","Viennos",
  ("castle_18","Chersonesos",
  ("castle_19","Epidamnos",
  ("castle_20","Massalia",
 
  ("castle_21","Byzantion",
  ("castle_22","Pergamon",
  ("castle_23","Sidon",
  ("castle_24","Thebes",
  ("castle_25","Side",
  ("castle_26","Tarsos",
  ("castle_27","Hiersolyma",
  ("castle_28","Bostra",
  ("castle_29","Larissa",
  ("castle_30","Thessalonica",

  ("castle_31","Mytilene",
  ("castle_32","Gawjam-Kimbroz",
  ("castle_33","Gawjam-Rugoz",
  ("castle_34","Argedava",
  ("castle_35","Giridava",
  ("castle_36","Sangidava",
  ("castle_37","Rusidava",
  ("castle_38","Tanais",
  ("castle_39","Gava-Yazyga",
  ("castle_40","Sparta",
   
Villages
 
  ("village_1", "Croton", 
  ("village_2", "Arpi", 
  ("village_3", "Senigallia",
  ("village_4", "Pompeii",
  ("village_5", "Siena",
  ("village_6", "Bononia",
  ("village_7", "Ostia", 
  ("village_8", "Messana",
  ("village_9", "Neapolis",
  ("village_10","Lilibeo", 

  ("village_11","Atiqa", 
  ("village_12","Lepki",
  ("village_13","Ippone", 
  ("village_14","Bocchoris", 
  ("village_15","Alalia", 
  ("village_16","Kirtan", 
  ("village_17","Siga", 
  ("village_18","Sala",
  ("village_19","Aventicos",
  ("village_20","Tolosa", 

  ("village_21","Darioritum",
  ("village_22","Avaricum",
  ("village_23","Bratosporios", 
  ("village_24","Vesontio", 
  ("village_25","Veldideno",
  ("village_26","Luvavum",
("village_27","Amphipolis", 
  ("village_28","Rhodes", 
  ("village_29","Chania", 
  ("village_30","Thermon", 

  ("village_31","Emporion", 
  ("village_32","Sinope",
  ("village_33","Nikaia", 
  ("village_34","Pantikapaion", 
  ("village_35","Ammonion", 
  ("village_36","Hibis", 
  ("village_37","Ptolemais-Hermiou", 
  ("village_38","Salamis", 
  ("village_39","Ptolemais-Theron",
  ("village_40","Tyre", 

  ("village_41","Gaza", 
  ("village_42","Damaskos",
  ("village_43","Mazaka",
  ("village_44","Palmyra", 
  ("village_45","Ankyra", 
  ("village_46","Ipsos", 
  ("village_47","Laodicea", 
  ("village_48","Chalkis", 
  ("village_49","Serdike", 
  ("village_50","Tylis",

  ("village_51","Perinthe",
  ("village_52","Phionika", 
  ("village_53","Dion", 
  ("village_54","Gawjam-Habukoz",
  ("village_55","Gawjam-Skandza",
  ("village_56","Gawjam-Gotanoz", 
  ("village_57","Gawjam-Heruskoz", 
  ("village_58","Ascaucalis", 
  ("village_59","Gintaras-Ostan", 
  ("village_60","Selliun-Pillis", 
 
  ("village_61","Pelendava", 
  ("village_62","Pulpu-Deva", 
  ("village_63","Petrodava", 
  ("village_64","Aedeba", 
  ("village_65","Utidava", 
  ("village_66","Desudaba", 
  ("village_67","Itadeba", 
  ("village_68","Gelonus",
  ("village_69","Gava-Yugra", ,
  ("village_70","Gava-Thissakata", 

  ("village_71","Gava-Maeotis", 
  ("village_72","Gava-Budiniji", 
  ("village_73","Gava-Siraca", 
  ("village_74","Vellika", 
  ("village_75","Pallantia", 
  ("village_76","Tyde", 
  ("village_77","Aracillum", 
  ("village_78","Nioga Ukesia", 
  ("village_79","Burdigala", 
  ("village_80","Trapezous", 

  ("village_81","Paraitonion", 
  ("village_82","Augila", 
  ("village_83","Amaseia", 

 

 

[Gregarion Roseby]

That looks like more of a pain in the ass than sitting through the load time, honestly.

 

[ealabor]

That looks like more of a pain in the ass than sitting through the load time, honestly.

really all depends on the performance of your machine.

some people have 9 to 10 minute lauch times, and it could help them specifically.

 

[BocajacoB]

  !!!  THANK YOU! Wow, instead of waiting 12 minutes, I now only have to wait 12 seconds  Brilliant Idea! and The Tutorial walkthrough is great; very detailed and the screenshots help a ton!  You should make poll, to see what people think about your idea, always fun to vote, and you get feedback 

 

[Boomie]

It only takes about 3-5 minutes for me so, I'm not complaining. And if I screw this up, sorry, WHEN I screw this up I'll be pissed like hell so, thanks but I'm good with the load times.

 

[Charidemus]

i didn't try it yet, but i think it would be awfully useful. congrats

 

[Shiro]

wow, this is pretty cool. It's going to be really helpful for me, since my dinosaur of a computer takes about 5-7 minutes to load up the game every time. Couple of quick queries, though-
a) Does this affect battles other than sieges and village battles in any way?
b) Do the town/village menus work normally?

 

[ealabor]

wow, this is pretty cool. It's going to be really helpful for me, since my dinosaur of a computer takes about 5-7 minutes to load up the game every time. Couple of quick queries, though-
a) Does this affect battles other than sieges and village battles in any way?
b) Do the town/village menus work normally?

doesnt affect battles.

and as I recall it, the menus are functional

 

[Shiro]

great, I have to try this out ASAP - since most of my time in LME is spent running around killing things, this workaround should do perfectly until a more permanent solution is hardcoded into 1.0 .

 

[ealabor]

great, I have to try this out ASAP - since most of my time in LME is spent running around killing things, this workaround should do perfectly until a more permanent solution is hardcoded into 1.0 .

Well they did adapt my suggestion to the Mount and Blade system, and that is the reason why when starting a new game for .950, you go straight to character creation. Thats why I look forward to the port over to future versions, as it means I can to crazy on center and faction amounts

 

[Tiberius]

great, I have to try this out ASAP - since most of my time in LME is spent running around killing things, this workaround should do perfectly until a more permanent solution is hardcoded into 1.0 .

Well they did adapt my suggestion to the Mount and Blade system, and that is the reason why when starting a new game for .950, you go straight to character creation. Thats why I look forward to the port over to future versions, as it means I can to crazy on center and faction amounts

So what the new versions do is... load the scene when you actually enter the town/castle/city and NOT when you start a new game?

 

[ealabor]

great, I have to try this out ASAP - since most of my time in LME is spent running around killing things, this workaround should do perfectly until a more permanent solution is hardcoded into 1.0 .

Well they did adapt my suggestion to the Mount and Blade system, and that is the reason why when starting a new game for .950, you go straight to character creation. Thats why I look forward to the port over to future versions, as it means I can to crazy on center and faction amounts

So what the new versions do is... load the scene when you actually enter the town/castle/city and NOT when you start a new game?

correct, which means that when you play the new version mods, you no longer have to do this "Scene dance" technique

 

[Tiberius]

Ohh, I see. Well, that's great to hear, I haven't been playing much lately, but I certainly remember how TEDIOUS were the loading times.

 

[Shiro]

I haven't played 950 yet, but yeah, it should be awesome.
At the moment, this technique is working fine for me- since I mostly use the menus in villages and towns rather than actually visit them, I don't really need to juggle scenes all the time. Occasionally, I might throw one in for a village battle or something, but right now my party is so large that villages never put up any resistance anyway.

 

[Charidemus]

I haven't played 950 yet, but yeah, it should be awesome.
At the moment, this technique is working fine for me- since I mostly use the menus in villages and towns rather than actually visit them, I don't really need to juggle scenes all the time. Occasionally, I might throw one in for a village battle or something, but right now my party is so large that villages never put up any resistance anyway.

then it's no fun, try making your tactics 0 using character export

 

[Shiro]

meh, I don't like raiding villages anyway. There's only so much fun in killing peasants.

 

[Charidemus]

meh, I don't like raiding villages anyway. There's only so much fun in killing peasants.

shouldmake a peasant killing mod, where no weapons can block, and there are no shields, so theres nothing to stop your powerful blows

 

[ealabor]

Updated the list to reflect the change of scenes

Village 27 has been changed from Sparta to Amphipolis
Sparta is now Castle 40