Why i gave up on this mod and on BI
Don't let the title fool you :beam: It's not because i don't like this great mod or the game.It's just that,well,the poor AI has spoiled all the fun in playing this awasome mod.
First thing first:i started playing with the Eastern Roman Empire on very hard campaign difficulty/hard battles.Just from the start-as you can imagine-the assaults of the huns in the west and those of the Sassanid Empire in the east started.I didn't liked my chances i thought i had in an open battle,so my strategy was to just defend the border settlements while i could gather and move larger armies in support.Yet,after a couple of turns i had to give up.Not because i lost the cities,but because i didn't!:dizzy2:
I beat back assault after assault,just by using the limitations of the AI.Armies fourth times my own army were virtually annihillated,with little losses to my own.How did i do it,you ask?Well,it's not hard.Although it spoils-at least for me it id-all the fun.
1)The boiling oil trick.
As i'm sure you all know,my infantry was pretty much superior to anything the huns/sassanids throwed against me.So it was easy to push back the enemy units which used ladders/siege towers to approch my walls.On the other hand,the enemy rams almost always managed to break my gates.With my gates opened-the enemy cavalry charged towards it and towards my spear units which were defending the gates.Time after time,they took horible casualties being killed by the boiling oil.I don't believe if i exagerate if i say about 75-85% of them were killed that way.And we're talking about Savarans and other Sassanid heavies,the ones you wouldn't even dream facing in the open :whip: I perfectly understand-being a programmer myself-that there are AI limitations we all must live with,yet this prooved to be to much :furious3: When you kill the bulk of the enemy army-just by doing nothing-the fun tends to disappear quite easily.
2)Enemy units passing near the walls
Which sane commander would send his troops in the range of the enemy towers and those deadly arrows they fire?When they could just order them to keep the distance?And i don't mean those innevitable losses you get when approaching the walls with ladders or marching inside the town.I mean that crazy ai bug that makes the enemy run his troops always close to the walls,if they want to move them from point A to point B.If two armies attack your town,they start from completly opposing setup zones and the first army manages to break the gates,for example,the second army will start marching towards that gate.In the range of my towars,and ending up severely depleted when they finally arrive.
3)Assaulting the town insteead of waiting it to surrender
If my army consists mainly of cavalry with inferior infantry to support it-which i don't expect it could take the walls-like any one of you-i suppose-i will wait for the enemy to surrender or force it to attack me outside the walls.The AI thinks otherise though.And if you combine this with the previous mentioned bugs,you get an unplayable game.
I truly hope there will be a 1.7 patch for BI which would adress these issues.Because otherwise,the game is umplayable.Or at least it spoils all the fun.
Re: Why i gave up on this mod and on BI
unfortunately fixing the ai this much would probably require tweaking the .exe (hardcoded stuff) both illegal and beyond my abilities :sad:
Re: Why i gave up on this mod and on BI
Interesting. I did not notice the problems you mentioned. I am well versed with the RTW battle system and I would say I am pretty damned good. The Persians wooped up on me on the open battlefield quite easily on hard/hard. After about 50 turns I surmised that I could not hold off the Persians and complete the conquests of Justianian. Then again, I was playing an older version of the IBFD. I say give it another try...
Re: Why i gave up on this mod and on BI
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maurice
Interesting. I did not notice the problems you mentioned. I am well versed with the RTW battle system and I would say I am pretty damned good. The Persians wooped up on me on the open battlefield quite easily on hard/hard. After about 50 turns I surmised that I could not hold off the Persians and complete the conquests of Justianian. Then again, I was playing an older version of the IBFD. I say give it another try...
It's not the open battles i'm complaining about,Maurice :) The AI does a decent job in annihilating my troops caught in the open :sweatdrop: Which is perfectly fine,since their cavalry in superior to anything the romans can bring on the field.The sieges/urban battles are giving me headaches for the reasons i mentined above.I simply can't be defeted no mater what the enemy has,because of the poor AI.Or,if by some kind of miracle i am,the casualties i'll inflict will be huge compared to what i would inflict to a human opponent.
As i said,it's not because of the mod-Ramon and all the other guys did a hell of a job(thanks guys!)-i stopped playing RTW BI-but because of the bugs i listed.I didn't played the vanilla RTW BI-but i'm quite sure i would have had the same problems,if i did.So,for me,the only hope of playing BI would be a new patch which would adress those issues.Untill then,i'll just have to satisfy with RTW :wall:
Re: Why i gave up on this mod and on BI
Quote:
Originally Posted by raz_atoth
It's not the open battles i'm complaining about,Maurice :) The AI does a decent job in annihilating my troops caught in the open :sweatdrop: Which is perfectly fine,since their cavalry in superior to anything the romans can bring on the field.The sieges/urban battles are giving me headaches for the reasons i mentined above.I simply can't be defeted no mater what the enemy has,because of the poor AI.Or,if by some kind of miracle i am,the casualties i'll inflict will be huge compared to what i would inflict to a human opponent.
As i said,it's not because of the mod-Ramon and all the other guys did a hell of a job(thanks guys!)-i stopped playing RTW BI-but because of the bugs i listed.I didn't played the vanilla RTW BI-but i'm quite sure i would have had the same problems,if i did.So,for me,the only hope of playing BI would be a new patch which would adress those issues.Untill then,i'll just have to satisfy with RTW :wall:
just curious, it doesn't happen in RTW?
Re: Why i gave up on this mod and on BI
Yes,it does happen,Ramon.But,it's not that obvios,or annoying,because the forces usually involved are totally different.In BI-playing with the ERE at least-you'll be facing mainly cavalry oriented forces(huns/sassanids),supported by few infantry.Or in order for the siege to be successful,the enemy has to capture your gate.If it doesn't-assuming the rams smash it-the cavalry will just bunch to get through and suffer horrific casualties caused by the boiling oil.In RTW,however,you are more likely to encounter armies with a strong infantry backbone,which will use ladders/towers rather than being boiled alive at the gate.
Re: Why i gave up on this mod and on BI
Quote:
Originally Posted by raz_atoth
Yes,it does happen,Ramon.But,it's not that obvios,or annoying,because the forces usually involved are totally different.In BI-playing with the ERE at least-you'll be facing mainly cavalry oriented forces(huns/sassanids),supported by few infantry.Or in order for the siege to be successful,the enemy has to capture your gate.If it doesn't-assuming the rams smash it-the cavalry will just bunch to get through and suffer horrific casualties caused by the boiling oil.In RTW,however,you are more likely to encounter armies with a strong infantry backbone,which will use ladders/towers rather than being boiled alive at the gate.
true...
btw, somebody posted a way for IBFD to be run using Alexander and 1.9 AI (idea based on an EB)
u might want to give uit a try, that is if u own alexander
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=141137
also u might be interestex to play IBFD online (no AI problems) if u are try this site (just set up a few days ago)
http://z15.invisionfree.com/Domesticus_Tutor/index.php?
