Rome 2 Patches, Hotfixes, Betas and Such (patch 17 live!)

[Sp4]

It was apparently too easy. No idea if it actually was. I only sort of played one campaign with 5 or 6 or 5/6, whichever it was.

[easytarget]

is this intentional or not?

there is no option in the diplomacy screen to make peace with someone your at war with?

is this perhaps one of those situations involving parent-client and i'm talking to the client?

[easytarget]

Btw, for the full effect of a patch do you have to start a new campaign or can you continue your current one?

[Hooahguy]

So for a full effect you are recommended to start a new campaign, but I have had no real problem continuing my current one.

Anyone have any reports on the AI? I did a quick one with hoplites and they kept formation in battle, so that is very good to see.

[Myth]

It was apparently too easy. No idea if it actually was. I only sort of played one campaign with 5 or 6 or 5/6, whichever it was.

It was hard during the first turns especially if you don't own resource minor settlements. Later on it became much easier. Factions with several resources at the start (Rome, Seelucids etc.) got a much better start compared to the others.

I started an Iceni campaign now and no one - not one of my neighbors wants to trade.

[Sp4]

It was hard during the first turns especially if you don't own resource minor settlements. Later on it became much easier. Factions with several resources at the start (Rome, Seelucids etc.) got a much better start compared to the others.

I started an Iceni campaign now and no one - not one of my neighbors wants to trade.

Send a scout south to like Massalia, Rome, those sort of places and tell them hey guys, I have iron.

[Myth]

Eh, as soon as I'm done with the germaic tribes I'll just send 3 armies of chosen spears/swords and stuff and take their olive oil and grain.

[Slaists]

Diplomatic reliability implications

As the diplomatic reliability rating display seems to have been fixed have to rethink campaign starts. Macedon, for example, has a military access treaty with Epirus at the game start. Canceling it on turn 1 and attacking Epirus on turn two will result in a major global reputation hit post patch 7.

Seleucids: a similar situation. I thought this was one of the most exciting campaign starts in the game. Now, I see, it was exciting because I was breaking preexisting truces, LOL. I used to go after Egypt on turn 1 which, as it turns out, is breaking a preexisting game-start truce which is supposed to last for 10 turns. This truce was hidden before patch 7 since there was no warning about breaking anything. As a result of breaking the truce, I used to be getting DOW'ed by my satraps on turn 2-3. By keeping the truce with Egypt, it is possible to keep more satraps loyal (and for longer), which results in a pretty boring game start for Seleucids, LOL. Go figure...

p.s. one would hope, giving Egypt AI 10 turns of peace at the game start would result in them growing into a considerable force. Unfortunately, that was not true. But that's a different story.

The siege freeze bug is back

Before patch 5, there used to be a siege freeze bug. Game would freeze when clicking on your or your enemy's units during siege battles. This was fixed with patch 5. Now, the bug is back with vengeance. However, this time around, I experienced it several times while fighting wall-less settlement battles. In the "old version" this bug used to happen during walled-settlement battles.

The weather selection FPS drop during rain is still there

If during the weather selection it rains, the bug that causes FPS drop to practically zero still happens (at times). It is almost impossible to get out of that screen since clicking "wait another day" takes minutes.

The new imperium system

I have yet to make up my mind about the new imperium system. It sure renders minor AI's weaker than they used to be. I guess, I just had grown accustomed to every 1 region minor fielding 3 stacks on VH difficulty. Last night, playing as Seleucids, arrived at the capital of Quidri and they had about half-a-stack of the weakest spears there. It was a "meh...." moment. Before patch 7, they'd meet me in force. Hopefully, this will result in some major AI factions appearing and stabilizing though.

New battle-maps added

OK, Jack Lusted just cleared this up. The additions were new battle-maps, not actual regions.

[Jacque Schtrapp]

Patch notes talk about several minor settlements being added to the map. However, I have not been able to find any. Greece looks the same as before so does Egypt. Anyone has had any luck spotting these mysterious additions? Maybe I should look in Hades, or under water.

I got the impression that these might be battle map additions representing existing cities and added for varieties sake.

[Slaists]

I got the impression that these might be battle map additions representing existing cities and added for varieties sake.

Yup, I added a note to my original post to that effect. I misread the patch notes to imply new regions were added. I guess, I saw what I wanted to see ;)

[Bramborough]

Anyone seen the new regions added?

Patch notes talk about several minor settlements being added to the map. However, I have not been able to find any. Greece looks the same as before so does Egypt. Anyone has had any luck spotting these mysterious additions? Maybe I should look in Hades, or under water.

Is this the note to which you refer?

Added new minor settlements: 1x Persian port and city, 2x Egyptian cities, 1x Greek city.

If so, I think what they mean is that these are additional battle maps for minor settlements.

Yesterday I had a settlement battle in an Egypt-owned town. The map was quite new, I'd never seen it before. Looked pretty cool, had a big hieroglyph-covered obelisk in the town center. Also, outside the usual town area were lots of other structures, many of them beyond the playable boundaries. Big temple or mausoleum complexes. The overall visual effect was a highly developed, sprawling, semi-urban landscape, without the concentration of a true city. Egyptian Suburbia.

Wish I'd had the presence of mind to snap a screenshot.

Edit: lol, I guess that got cleared up while I was typing....

[Sp4]

Eh, as soon as I'm done with the germaic tribes I'll just send 3 armies of chosen spears/swords and stuff and take their olive oil and grain.

In the first 5 turns?

[Hooahguy]

If so, I think what they mean is that these are additional battle maps for minor settlements.

Yesterday I had a settlement battle in an Egypt-owned town. The map was quite new, I'd never seen it before. Looked pretty cool, had a big hieroglyph-covered obelisk in the town center. Also, outside the usual town area were lots of other structures, many of them beyond the playable boundaries. Big temple or mausoleum complexes. The overall visual effect was a highly developed, sprawling, semi-urban landscape, without the concentration of a true city. Egyptian Suburbia.

Wish I'd had the presence of mind to snap a screenshot...

Sounds awesome, I wish they would expand the barbarian city and town types. They get kinda repetitive after a bit.

[Bramborough]

The siege freeze bug is back

Yep, just got this myself. I don't remember getting the earlier pre-5 walled-city bug. But happened just now on a minor.

[Slaists]

Yep, just got this myself. I don't remember getting the earlier pre-5 walled-city bug. But happened just now on a minor.

Someone on .com suggested it has something to do with targeting defending slingers: he got several crashes like that attacking the first Etruscan city North of Rome. Come to think of it, my crash also happened when ordering my slingers to attack the AI ones inside a settlement.

The good thing about this bug: it does not seem persistent; I was able to replay the battle without a crash. The previous one, with walled-cities, was a persistent crash. If you got it on a specific settlement, it would re-manifest itself if the same battle was replayed.

[Hooahguy]

Wait, what is this bug?

[Slaists]

Wait, what is this bug?

Happens in settlement battles. When you click on your unit and target something inside the settlement the game freezes. Happens at random (not always). It was present at some point before patch 5, but got fixed. Now it's back.

[Hooahguy]

Geez, now Im glad Im putting my campaign on hold until I finish by Suebi guide.

[Bramborough]

Someone on .com suggested it has something to do with targeting defending slingers: he got several crashes like that attacking the first Etruscan city North of Rome. Come to think of it, my crash also happened when ordering my slingers to attack the AI ones inside a settlement.

The good thing about this bug: it does not seem persistent; I was able to replay the battle without a crash. The previous one, with walled-cities, was a persistent crash. If you got it on a specific settlement, it would re-manifest itself if the same battle was replayed.

Hmm...yep, I think I was doing same thing: targetting an enemy slinger unit.

[sassbarman]

Anyone else getting this happening. I've tried verifying game cache but to no avail.

[Bramborough]

Anyone else getting this happening. I've tried verifying game cache but to no avail.

It's happened to me a few times, but not persistently.

[Sp4]

Do you have Bullgod's mod installed? I figured it was because of that. Does the same for me.

[Slaists]

Do you have Bullgod's mod installed? I figured it was because of that. Does the same for me.

Happens to me too. No mods installed.

[Bramborough]

No mods either, so that little glitch isn't mod-related. Frankly, it's not a big deal; I don't see how it affects gameplay. It is, however, annoying.

Separate-but-similar glitch, which does affect gameplay: often on agent portraits in the lower-left of campaign view, the selected agents' rank stars disappear. This persists when multiple agents are selected, both friend and enemy. This is quite annoying when one is sifting through a mob of these guys during an agent war, trying to select highest-percentage or highest-priority action targets for one's own agents. Then later the stars show up again.

[Sp4]

No mods either, so that little glitch isn't mod-related. Frankly, it's not a big deal; I don't see how it affects gameplay. It is, however, annoying.

Separate-but-similar glitch, which does affect gameplay: often on agent portraits in the lower-left of campaign view, the selected agents' rank stars disappear. This persists when multiple agents are selected, both friend and enemy. This is quite annoying when one is sifting through a mob of these guys during an agent war, trying to select highest-percentage or highest-priority action targets for one's own agents. Then later the stars show up again.

This has been around for a while. Save and load fixes it.

[Slaists]

Secondary generals gain xp now: an undocumented change of patch 7

There is an undocumented change introduced by patch 7: the reinforcing generals are gaining experience also now.

[Fridge]

Also undocumented in patch 7 - Exempting provinces from tax no longer takes them out of the food supply chain - bit of a shock in my current campaign... Also lots of crashes and hangs with the patch (beta though, so can't complain too much...)

[Hooahguy]

Also undocumented in patch 7 - Exempting provinces from tax no longer takes them out of the food supply chain - bit of a shock in my current campaign... Also lots of crashes and hangs with the patch (beta though, so can't complain too much...)

I wonder if that was a bug that was fixed or a gameplay change, because this will certainly have a lot of impact on my game as the "bug" certainly helped keep public order in check when conquering new areas.

[Bramborough]

The siege freeze bug is back

Before patch 5, there used to be a siege freeze bug. Game would freeze when clicking on your or your enemy's units during siege battles. This was fixed with patch 5. Now, the bug is back with vengeance. However, this time around, I experienced it several times while fighting wall-less settlement battles. In the "old version" this bug used to happen during walled-settlement battles.

This one problem is driving me back to Patch 5 (actually, "Patch 6", I guess) for now. In my recent Patch 7 experience, game freezes caused by targeting with missile units are extremely common - in open-field as well as settlement battles. It does seem to be confined to targeting with missile units; I haven't noticed a problem with ordering melee attacks.

Am trying out the steppe nomad guys at the moment, where early-game armies are heavily dependent upon Horse Archers. This freeze bug is just killing my Roxolani campaign.

[Bramborough]

Additional info on the "missile freeze" bug. Turns out that the problem appears specific to grouped missile troops, in an all-missile group. A few trials in custom battles shows me:

Ungrouped archers (multiple units selected) = no freeze.
Archers grouped with an infantry unit = no freeze.
Grouped archers = freeze.