MTW-Redux Beta Released!

[Axalon]

Hello everyone,

Rick: Do I dare to ask what faction you are playing......? Don’t mind being wimpy, just as long as you are not trying to hide that fact. Then, it's alright in my book!

Joh: I have edited in my comments in post:208. I am looking forward to some remarks regarding you battle things out with the Saracens!

Hugalu: Look… I think it is great that you like redux and I am very happy that you are playing and enjoying it, so far so good. Excellent, fine and ok!

However, if you got ideas on improvements that could be made on redux, OTHER than more factions and troops (all that is already answered in post:203), what is keeping you from stating what those are? You have so far been very bent on pointing out that redux needs improvements and in every regard I have answered those remarks (rather extensively) once you have actually specified to some extent what you had in mind. What more can you ask for?!?

If it happens to be that I don’t share your ideas and views it would have been blatantly clear by now, since my own views on the various matters are all accounted for in plain black and white in previous post (post:203). If you got other ideas, by all means specify what they are and if I got the time, perhaps I will answer some of them. Hell, they might even be great! But, keep maintaining that redux need improvements and then not bother to specify what you mean is just downright annoying and borderlining to rude.

So, from now on, PLEASE keep all that stuff elsewhere, as in far away from this thread! If you want change your personal copy of redux, by all means do it, what is stopping you? Nothing! If you want changes to be made in the public version of redux state exactly what those improvements could be or don’t bother to bring it up! Now, can I be more explicit than this?

As for the “Ant-thing”, I have two times explicitly asked for an explanation of what you meant by that and the reasons as for why, giving you the benefit of a doubt. Two times you have failed to make account for the reasons for why you did that statement. Since you obviously is unable to support that statement with anything other than just your statement, you force me to treat it for what it appearantly is, a load of bull…

As for the errors you are having, I have also in this matter been very specific and explicit in my requests to you, since I have so far bothered to be concerned for these strange errors of yours. I have offered you a test to determine if your alleged errors might connected to corrupted saves or not, thus narrowing down the possible causes for these errors. Thus actively trying to find the exact causes for it and thus getting closer to potential solutions for that. Yet, you have now twice failed to report in the results of that test, and let me tell you. Don’t bother to do it because I don’t care anymore, just like you… It might very well be a bunch of crap as well, if I understand your displayed behaviour correctly.

Other than that you and I are just honky-dory….


- Cheers

[William the Silent]

[B]


@ William the Silent

Do not ever do that again. Don't you realise I believe everything I read? You are a sick evil young man!

Sorry Joh, I was just going to tell you about the "Christmas special" Axalon is working on, where all the pine trees have Christmas ornaments.




(kidding).

@Axalon
I finally fought a battle with your new trees around (Russia is mostly pine tree) and I think it looks great.
You have turned the dark atmosphere (that was intended by the makers) of MTW definitely into a lighter one. I noticed you even dressed the princesses very "light" (thin). You p......

I as a veteran MTW player can say that you really improved the game. And all the changes you made show great dedication, skill in picture editing and taste. Your icons fit perfectly together in style. I wished some of the other mods had some of your artwork in it. You and Tyberias would make a great team. You also definitly made it more challenging.

The only thing I would change, if it was me, is the "kings with helmets". I like to see kings with some of the creepy faces you made .

Oh, we know that the Lithaunians and Byzantines have to many skirmish/archer units, but what about the russians. Don't forget to check out what they are building under the rule of the AI?

Also Norse built lot of the 20 man Huscarls (maybe they are ex-princes). When are they going to be playable? I looove raiding.
No pressure.

[Joh]

Hi Joh, let me help you out here…

GnomeEditor available here:
http://www.atomicgamer.com/file.php?id=68503

Thanks, already on the case.

I had a look at the editor. It seems simple enough. In parallel, I have started collecting the unit cards, but now I have to figure out how I want to present everything, the easy way or the nice way.

I will probably go for the easy way .

[Baron von Manteuffel]

Hello , if you MTW veterans really want a challenge, then try the Spanish on the expert setting. I would be very interested to hear if anybody can come up with a winning strategy. Axalon, you must have played this before, so what is your method of handling the relentless hordes of the Moors?

Just when it appears things are going well in Leon, Castile, and Navarre, the Moors attack. I must say it's fun to play this Reconquista and you've done a great job of creating the huge Moor armies. I just battled them in castile and had a fairly large army (about 1800) with Royal Infantry, Royal Spearmen, w/silver armour, etc,etc, but it still wasn't enough.

The Moors attacked with 4 full stacks (about 7000) and simply outlasted me. My troops fought well but the battle losses were: Spanish 1500 - Moors 4500, resulting in the loss of Castile and all hope for this campaign. However, I will try again.

I would say this is the hardest campaign I've tried. Again, on the Expert setting. I have noticed when playing other factions that the Spanish get vanquished pretty early. Any opinions, or observations anybody? I challenge you all to try the Spanish on the Expert setting. Good luck!

[William the Silent]

Spanish was the first faction I tried in Redux. Played on hard I believe. For sure not Expert.
I survived (maybe with luck), because I kicked the Moors off the Peninsula and blocked it of with naval power. I didn't finish my campaign, but I had established myself and progressed north against France with Aragon as my ally.

Portugal has to be in your hands otherwise they will come back there.
Aragon has to be strong or give you time to built economy and unbeatable army.

I believe once you have kicked the Moors of the Peninsula their economic power is weak for a time untill they start going east.

I kicked them out of Peninsula with trap. I built strong enough fleet (3/4 ships each) to block of peninsula, while allied with them and built army. I took Portugal. Then waited for good oppertunity, when they were at war with Aragon.
Took all their weak provinces in peninsula and destroyed all their fleets around it. So no reinforcements for them (this can also cause rebellion in their terratories). To stabelise taken lands you have to use spies. They got beaten up pretty well by me and Aragon in their last (eastside) province on peninsula.
I opened up the sea for them towards that province to bring in their reinforcements. They did and then I closed it up behind them again and dealt slowly, but surely, with the rest.
Their sultan was in that stack and after a few attacks from them (defense is easier then offense and offense takes more cusualties), I moved in a big stack (using mercenaries) to attack them and they chose to retreat (which was not possible) so they lost their sultan and army there.

It might not work always. It's a chessgame . You have to become allies first otherwise they attack you to death right away when you're weak. They start of with best economy I believe.
I guess Axalon wanted to simulated the moslim threat of that time.

It'll make you sweat. But it's fun.

[Baron von Manteuffel]

Thanks for the info William the Silent on the Reconquista. I'm going to try again and implement some of your ideas. One important thing I didn't do was ally with the Moors. They were annihilating Portugal and at war with the Saracens, and others, so when they offered an alliance I turned it down. I didn't want to cancel my alliance with the Saracens who were peaceful at the time.

In reguards to Portugal, I set them as an active faction to see what they were like. Again, on the expert setting and the results were a quick and absolute annihilation at the hands of the Muslim hordes. I know they are not an active faction in the mod but I wanted to try them. There's probably some good reasons why, but the Portuguese start extremely weak with a very short life expectancy. Green and orange= The Turks (just kidding).

[William the Silent]

Also, if I have to fight defensive battle, I move my force as far as possible away to the edge of the map. If possible as high as possible. This will make the enemy have to march far, which makes them (very) tired at the time they have to fight me. It also gives me fast reinforcement.

If you have spearman with good defense, keep them in hold postion mode and let them not attack unless that's their strenght. They will only stay fresh in defensive mode.

Let the archers concentrate on the enemy general. With 2/3 archer units you'll make'm flee or die.

With units with good valour you can hold out forever against big stacks.

If enemy flees kill as many as possible with your cavalry (power-units first), but keep archers and infantry in the same place untill all the enemy reinforcements seem to be used up.
Let'm march, climb, crawl as much as possible.

I mostly deploy:
7/8 spear (frontline), 2/3 archers (2nd line), 3/4 sword (3rd Line), my general, rest cavalry.

Against Moors and Saracens you need time to be able to built good army.
They will offer alliance, because then they'll have more units to attack somebody else. That's why they do it. That's also when they'll become vulnerable at your border.

You sometimes cannot win with only military power, you have to dig the most ugly characteristics out of the dungeon of your soul (like betrayel) to defeat an enemy, who, you know, is going to inhallate you one day.
Axalon the inventor of all this would say: "hehe".

I tried to play the Norse one time, but they have no princesses and diplomats, so you're doomed to die off as a royal family.

[Hugalu]

Hi Axalon,

Seems like you don't take criticisms well, even constructive ones. Here are some pros and cons that I see in your game:

Pros:

1. Fast running, stable game.
2. Improved graphics and new units.
3. Much harder game since the costs for key buildings went sky high, makes game more interesting.

Cons:

1. Lacking factions, mentioned before: other mods have a lot more factions to choose from.
2. Lacking special events that happened in history at certain times.
3. Lacking special heros that make the game more interesting, ie. provide much needed talented generals.
4. The ant thing: the graphics become blurry and all seems like a big mass, and it seems to happen only to infantry units. This could be the problem with my graphic card.
5. Battle loading error. Again, this could be due to missing or corrupted file during installation.

***One suggestion: I was proposing a new mod call Far East Total War, which as the title implies, is about the countries in the Far East. The time frame could be divided into 3 time periods: Early, High, and Late and factions include many of the countries in the East and Far East Asia. Too bad I am not a programmer. However, if you have the time to do this mod, then I can provide some help with doing research on people, units, countries, banners, shields...etc on the factions.

[William the Silent]

@Hugalu
Maybe you can send picture about blurry units.
I didn't notice any negative change in picture quality by the hands of Axalon, compared with the original. Maybe his colors are brighter?

[western2]

Hi Axalon

Your Mod has certainly kicked this area of the forum back into life. I'm still enjoying playing by the way. I've warped away to my "more historical" version, but it is still obviously Redux (including cool new trees!)

The issue I wanted to raise is mercs. We had a bit of discussion earlier on about Norse mercs not showing up very often in Constantinople. I've searched the old threads and it seems to me noone has ever got to the bottom of how the merc pool really works. It's one of those puzzles where you can partially control it, but not completely.

As far as I can see, factions specified in the unit.prod for mercs make no difference. Period does, but region only partially. Any observations? I note that you have been successful in getting your merc units to show up the most often, but have you actually managed to limit any, or make more frequent, by area? Did you achieve observable results with the Norse mercs - and if so, how?

I think there is more potential in mercs if I could control appearance better.

[Rick]

I'm playing the French at the moment. I tried playing the English on the "Hard" difficulty setting - got my butt kicked after the 25th move. I guess that made me gun shy, so went over to the French.

The battles are probably the most in outcome; the units being brittle and desolving into panic when they're not handled right. I like that. Also, what's with the Norseman? I cannot win a battle against them, even with a 2 to 1 advantage and tons of Feudal Knights and mercenary pikeman. I guess I'll have to keep building up those items that gain my troops the most valor.

Is there a unit that players get in the future that basically defeats all comers? Just curious.

[seireikhaan]

Congratulations on getting your own subforum, Axalon!

[Axalon]

…!!!... And again …!!!... And another one …!!!...

...We got our on Sub-forum here at the .Org! This is drop-dead cool! Things might be a bit out of order now with the relocation and everything! But not to worry! We will sort it out together I hope. The primary task now is to fill this forum with a lot of interesting reduxed content, information, debates and discussions, stuff like that. And that is all up to you guys! I have a few ideas myself on what could be interesting and I will also try to fill this forum with meaningful content (with one or two exceptions I hope, myself and William will probably see to that), now that we got our very own forum and castle for redux!!! Castle Redux!

My thanks to the people that helped and made it possible for this to happen; Martok (again the benevolent camel-ridden redux supporter strikes!) and Caravel whom I suspect also played a major part in making this a reality, he surely deserves a mammoth-thanks as well. About 20 hats off to both you guys! Also one should not forget that we all are just humble vassals and guardians of this new castle in the Org-kingdom and it will only happen with the silent approval of “grand chancellor” Tosa, so my hat is off to you as well, where ever you may be...

Now, my composure is completely gone for the moment so bare with me!!! Hahaaa!!! “Blisshigh” My thanks to all you redux supporters and players, you guys made all this possible, not I! And a very special thanks to you regular posters, my super thanks guys! MTW-Redux would have probably died without you! I’m sorry, but I won’t do any of you guys much good for the moment - I am too exited, but I will return here! That’s a promise!


CHEERS!

[Martok]

Congrats, Axalon; it's well-deserved! Given Redux' popularity, it definitely warranted its own place here at the Org.

And yes, Caravel and Tosa deserve most of the credit. All I did was simply pass on the former's recommendation on to the latter.

[caravel]

2. Lacking special events that happened in history at certain times.

These are hardcoded and so cannot be added.

[William the Silent]

Nice little castle they gave you here on the outskirts of the MTW Kingdom.
Congratulations Axalon. You deserve it.

[Joh]

@ Axalon

This weekend, I have been working on "our" little project. The first results can be seen here. Just have a look and send some comments when you have time.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=AZNJV4NR

As expected, it is taking much more time than I thought it would, but I am slowly progressing. In any case, I have some questions that I would like to ask you. However, this week I have to travel and probably won't be able to work on it, so I will postpone them until later.

Happy gaming.

[Baron von Manteuffel]

@Joh - I looked at your project and you're doing a fine job. Take your time and finish when you can.

@Axalon - Congratulations!!!

[William the Silent]

Here some screenies from battle as reaction to Hugalu's complaint about quality (on highest settings).
I believe they shrunk when I changed them to jpeg. Hopefully that didn't damage the quality.
But I believe that's the quality you normally get from MTW.




The invasion of my ants.
You see these 2 "newly skinned" trees in the middle Axalon? .

[Axalon]

Hello everybody,

First of all, this is a really big post, but there are so many posts that crave answers and replies so that’s why I guess. This time we have as diverse subjects as “redux-princess-fashion” all the way to “the survival of Spain” so there is plenty of stuff for different tastes and interests in this post...

I would also like to point out that this is above all OUR redux forum, not mine! I alone won’t and can’t make things happen, it is we together that must do it, there simply is no other way! Also, there are plenty of posts to reply here so forgive me if I manage to miss out on anyone or something. It is not intentional if that happens, just so that is clear to everyone. Finally, my thanks for all the congrats, even if I still consider this to be collective effort above all…


Makaikaan & Martok: Thanks guys. I’m really happy about all this. I’m particularly happy about the sturdy gates…

Caravel: Always working… Anyway, good to see you here man, feel free to join us whenever you like! This castle is always open to you!

Rick: Playing the French eh? Well it’s as good a faction as any, plus you usually get lots of florins with those guys and that really helps. Well in an overall perspective redux is not supposed to be too easy, that job has already been taken by the original, so to speak. Redux is a bit harder (quite a bit actually for several reasons). As I said in the game intro text, old strategies and tactics don’t work too well with redux. The most obvious reson is that redux got another combat paradigm/system than the original. By comparison it is way more explicit and extreme. Something that many people seems to have found out the hard way. (more in spoiler)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The overall plan is to offer a game where expert and decent players can enjoy the game alike, at different settings of course. I would also stress the fact that “Hard” in the original should at least be considered to be “Normal” perhaps even “Easy” (or there about) in redux. It is a harder and more challenging game and thus could be regarded by some to be more interesting and I personally like and prefer that, so that’s why.

As for the Norsemen, oh yes you can win against them, it’s just that you have not yet discovered how, that’s all. If I remember everything correctly; Joh had an entry or two about that in one of his posts so check ‘em out! Then you got at least some pointers on how to do it.

As for your final remark I’m not sure I entirely understand what you mean? Is there a special unit that can defeat all others? In theory that is all units, the more likely candidates however are fewer. There is no single unit that could easily rule the battlefield alone, it’s all part of the redux design and overall unit-matrix. Some units are better than others but there is always ways to counter them, no matter what unit it is.

Feel free to share some more on your French campaign and perhaps specify a bit more what mean by “all comers” (then I might be more able to give some straighter answers perhaps). You might get some further pointers or suggestions as well that way, either by me or some of the other guys.

William: Thanks for holding the fort, errr I mean castle (not really used to it yet), as usual! Anyway great work man (perhaps I should do a badge/signature or something for you and the other few faithful guardians of the fort, signifying honorable service for the greater good of redux or something). Because it sure makes the redux-area better place that way. Also, thumbs up for providing some answers and pointers for the good baron, just as he has helped you and other guys before. It’s just better that way; it’s as simple as that. I’m sure you (and the baron) agree with me on this. (more in spoiler)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Now, as for the changes you suggested they will probably not happen, sorry. Firstly; making 85 or so kings is a tremendous job and I simply don’t deem it worth the effort in regards to the actual usage of those in the game. You will have to make do with exchanging the king portraits just like the generals. Maybe I do a few new ones when I finally release a regular patch for redux or something. 2. As long as the hardcoded problems and limits remains in MTW, the Norse will not become an official playable faction (the reasons are stated in redux “ReadMe”–file). I would to make ‘em playable but as long as that is hardcoded I will not do it. I’ll also keep an eye on the Russians as well when I come around to it.

As for me and Tyberius working together, it might happen to some extent. We’ll see I guess. He has already have included some of my stuff in his version of XL and I have already made it clear to him that if he wants to do gig in redux the door is open and we could discuss in detail exactly what it would and could be. He is a good artist, especially when he put his heart in it and I would be glad to have some of that work included the redux project. I have much respect for the man.

As for the ant-thing, its just some fluff so don’t bother with that anymore, it has nothing to do with redux, its beyond any doubt now. If there really are some anomalies, it is because of settings on the GFX-card, nothing else. That is the most plausible explanation for it. We all know too well that there is nothing wrong with reduxes Bif-plates, nor the numbers for ‘em. Anomalies have happened to me in several games (including M2TW) and are usually connected to the fact that the card is in the lower end of requirements. BTW, could you please edit in some spoilers to your screens, because they are too big as they are now I think. Anyway, with max settings troops do get somewhat more “blurry”, but that is part of MTW so that goes for Redux as well.

Finally, my thanks for the praise man; it always feels good to be appreciated for what you do.

Oh yes, before I forget… I know that you are interested in the girls at the “princess-department” but really? Asking about “redux-princess-fashion”? Is that not taking your personal interest a bit too far Will?!? Ok, you’re the boss…

Now, all the girls at the princess-department are honest, hard working and above all honorable little maidens (most of them anyhow) and all of them got some fine “royal-assets” as well, no doubts there (that sure makes them more persuasive in the delicate negotiations of marriages and matters of state). But the way they dress is all hardcoded in redux. It’s all connected to the AI’s “princess-wardrobe”-files. I have tried many times to improve all the girls behavior and dress-code but it is just hardcoded all of it, and sometimes, well ok, many times they just simply *forget* to slip in to “something less comfortable” if you know what I mean…

Anyway, it is hard to find proper princesses these days and most of reduxes girls had a previous career as sinful nuns at castle Anthrax so it’s essentially hopeless to get them to understand the fact that this is an innocent and “proper” game with a supposed “TEEN”-rating and they are expected to dress “less comfortable” here. I have already received some reprimands about this from the rating-board but the girls just won’t listen to reason and continue to dress light! Now what am I supposed to do?!? I got the rating-board on one side and the horde of beautiful little maidens with a hardcoded urge to dress “light” on the other. I’m really on a tough spot here…

NOTE: The Norse have and do generate princesses, but no emissaries or spies are available to them.

Western: Seeing you as a “junior member” is not an every day experience. Your question is good and interesting, no doubt, but I will have to get back to you on that because I am swamped with posts here so it will have to wait (I’ll need to think straight for that). Oh by the way, if you got any remarks of your own for the baron and his “Spanish dilemma”, feel free to post ‘em in. I will get back to you and the mercs, rest assured.


Hugalu: I’ll start with your self commissioned pros/cons-list…

No comments on your so called “pros”-list, it’s just redundant. The over all perspectives you present there strike me as limited however. (more in spoiler)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As for your listed “cons”; 1-2 are old and worn out and also have been answered in full already, post: 203 (still).

3. The “heroes” are intentionally left blank so you guys can put in whatever heroes you like (there are guides available for that) - Conan, Cortez or Batman, I actually don’t care to be honest here. To me heroes are not that interesting and essentially a free ride. Personally I build most of my heroes from scratch if they are not of royal blood of course (old-school like). If you want good generals, you earn them in my book, not by opening up “your” latest package of cornflakes…

4. It is a hardware-issue, if anything. The most likely explanation is the settings you have applied to your GFX-card. Stuff like that happens with certain cards. It have happened to me in many games (M2TW for instance), especially if the card is in the lower end of the game requirements. Thus we can now finally and utterly rule out any flaw of the relevant redux files of your copy. It is your GFX-card settings nothing else that causes alleged anomies, if any. Perhaps you should have included this info in your very first post? That way you would have saved me and others a lot of trouble. Besides you would have found out all this sooner as well… Thus we can now safely erase this entry in your “cons” list.

5. It is a corrupted save, as I suggested before, you have prolonged this issue long enough for me to figure that out on my own (in spite of your repeated failures to report in any test-results). You will continue to have these problems as long as you use that save and any save after that. Just so you know, and it has nothing to do with redux and all to do with flaws in the code of the original game-program (corrupted saves are common in all versions, including the original game). So, don’t bother to bring this up anymore. The problem is identified and the way to handle it is found in the redux ReadMe-file, “knows bugs” section. Thus we can now safely erase this entry in your “cons” list.

As for me not being able to receive constructive criticisms, all NEW stuff you have brought to “the table” have now been answered in full. Unless you bring any new arguments and information this IS the utter end of it. Because you have so far failed to do any such thing with your already 3 times presented faction-opinions, thus any further discussions about them have already ceased to be constructive long time ago (if it ever was constructive). The only one, who has failed to realize that, is you. And let me tell you, I am feed up with it, and I will not tolerate it any longer. Is that clear?

As for you suggestion, I have little choice but to turn down your offer, I simply don’t have the time for it. Sorry, but there you are…

Baron: Having problems with the Spaniards now eh? That hardly strikes me as a surprise. If you had problems with England on “Hard” this is to be expected. The scenario with Spain is way tougher and more unforgiving. Playing Spain set on “Expert” is probably as tough and hard as it ever going to get with default redux settings (with the possible exception of Poland perhaps). I don’t want to create any drama here, but to put it frankly, that is “advanced expert” level, this is not for everybody, that is intended for skilled veterans. Guys who are accustomed to fighting against the odds and facing multiple (what might be considered as) formidable foes, possibly at the same time (if disaster strikes). That is not something that everybody is cut out for. Maybe you are one of these guys, I don’t know, but that is not for the fainthearted that is for sure. Again, I am not trying to create any drama here! I'm just trying to say how things are, straight up. (more in spoiler)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As I said earlier, the originals difficulty ratings don’t correspond well to redux, and you should consider these as at least one step below the redux rating. Original “Hard” means “Normal” in redux, original “Normal” is “Easy” in redux and so on… Redux “Expert”, well it is a lot harder than the original ever was…

Now, of course I do have (several) solutions on how to survive with Spain, but as you obviously are bent on moving up to the “advanced level” now, are you really sure that you actually want me to tell you what these might be? After all, if you want to operate on that level you should not need to ask for any help in these matters, short of tech-trees and tactical profiles. But considering your experience with redux and your skills as a “gnome-reader” you should know all what you’ll ever need for that by now.

It’s not that I am unwilling to help you here, but if you really are ready for this you should not need my help… If you get my drift here. This is advanced level, the guys that belong there don’t need my help once they got to know the troops, the enemy, the feel of reduxed battle and all the traits that are unique for redux. You have had enough redux time under your belt to know the characteristics and traits of redux by now.

Western “tried and died” each and every time with Spain if I remember everything correctly and he is one the very first redux-players after it was released to the public (see post:96 and my comments on that in post:116). He is one of those very few that have actually managed to play redux even longer than you have (and that is a very short list). Before I reveal any of this stuff I would like another confirmation from you again that this is what you really want (after all it will spoil the challenge somewhat).

Until then I’ll leave you with some general guidelines and remarks to consider…


“THE SPANISH DICTA” 1A:
-----------------------------

• First of all, go for quality, it’s probably the only thing that are going to save Spain because you will not beat the Moors in an arms race, thus the only alternative left is quality. So, go for quality.
  
• Secondly, the fate of Spain lies in Cordoba, if anywhere. This is the key to the entire region! Who ever controls Cordoba have the possibility to dominate and threaten the entire peninsula. It is here all important battles should be fought.
  
• Thirdly, you need florins and time to build up Spain to full capacity; it is this that should be your primary task. Secure that time and wealth.
  
• Be well aware of the capacities and composition of enemy armies, and make sure that whatever army you have that might have to face these armies is ready for it. As in have the right allocated tactical resources (troops & arms) to that army and thus it can actually and successfully counter the threat in question.
• Be sure of what you build and the reasons as for why you are building it. Plan ahead when you build stuff, you don’t have the margins of mistakes in the start… Both in troops and in buildings. You must plan ahead! What do I need in 5 turns?
  
• Always try to anticipate major enemy troop-movements (armies) near your borders and deploy your troops accordingly.
  
• Always try to minimize your borders and maximize the enemy borders, if possible. Thus forcing the enemy to disperse his forces into several provinces, while you have to defend only one province (or something like that).
  
• If possible operate with buffer-zones, that way you can afford to loose a battle a still com back and fight another day…
  
• Once you have enough secured you borders enough, consider to build a navy (when you have enough florins for such expenses) to disrupt enemy logistical lines.
  
• Never be afraid to fight, even if the odds seem grim…

Regardless, Williams pointers and suggestions are good and they sure do offer some other and possible ways of solving the problems in a completely different way then I would have done. Personally I would never ally with the Moors, it’s simply not my style. If that means I’ll have to fight them, so be it. But I won’t be sitting in a corner when it happens that is for sure, so that is another difference as well (effective, granted. Is it worthy of a Spanish commander? No…). I have fought these guys many, many times, so I’ll do it all over again! As long as you’re not doing any critical fights in the desert, Spain have all you’ll ever need to break the Moors! That’s a promise! Oh, and by all means keep the rest of us posted on how things are going for you!

Joh: I have had a look at what you have done, the initial results do look promising. Do save the text files and all the stuff if you someday want to “sex things” up a bit. The way it is now, functional and Spartan and it is good for printing as well, which is a great plan I think. Keep it up, we sure got something worth while here! Hopefully some of the others want jump on this project, by doing some limited help, cutting out pics or something, we’ll see I guess. I still think this is an excellent idea and I hope that we’ll get one of these for each and every playable faction.

A friendly suggestion thou, you should consider to open up an account at filefront. Less intricate interface and less redundant blip-blop and no waiting time to download. It’s free and it probably is a lot simpler than the place you are currently using. You could also get the link easy that way as in fetching it and incorporate it for some future thread and stuff like that. Think upon it and let me know what you decide to do in that regard (I honestly had a little problem understanding the interface at first glance, and that is not it is supposed to be. Then again, I aint that smart).


Ok guys, finally we reached the end of this monster post. Hopefully it will be a bit shorter next time! I will return here shortly with other stuff as well…


- Cheers
----------
This got to be one of the biggest posts we ever had here... "Dont do this at home"...

[Joh]

@ Rick

In any case, if the Byzantine build missile heavy armies, the Norse build heavy-infantry heavy armies. I had to fight stacks with 8+ bodyguards on them. By the way, do not engage them with your infantry, do not charge at them with your cavalry, just nuke them with arrows. So, all-and-all, they become an easy prey. BTW, my respect for Slavic Bowmen is back again.

[edited] [...] In any case, try to fight some bridge battles ON THE ATTACK, then they will be rather passive and you will definitely have missile superiority as the Norse do not build as many archers as they should.

If you do not have the chance of a bridge battle, go for the mobile crossbow cavalry and try to shoot from the back. I remember my Italians guys decimating whole units despite their low numbers.

Hope this helps.

Joh

[Axalon]

Ok, I spent the last few days expanding the new MTW-redux forum and so far I have already set up the following threads:

• Redux: Battle Reports & Discussion (regular)
• Redux: debug area… (practical)
• Redux: Install Emergency! (practical)
• Redux: corrupted saves & symptoms (practical)

I guess the titles for these new threads are pretty self-explanatory. It’s mostly threads on the practical side so far, the
reasons for that are threefold:

1. It seems to be stupid to set up a thread if nobody is interested in it or have no practical uses.
2. It is way better to have bug issues and install problems separately so that, when such stuff happens (and it will), it does not disrupt all other activities here. It has been so in the past and I for one don’t want that to happen again so that’s why. Hence all those issues have now special and ear-marked threads for such purposes.
3. It is way better to have all such info gathered in one place, then scattered over a fairly massive thread such as this one.

All practical (“boring” ) threads have been marked with special signs and marked with “Redux: xxxxx xxxxxx” for instant recognition. So “you” could easily and instantly trace them back to Castle Redux (alias the MTW-Redux forum) from “The Guild”-overview. After all, there are other “castles” around here as well. I’m hoping here that you few regular guys will be kind enough to redirect all newcomers and visitors that attempts to discuss “Install & buggy”-stuff to it’s proper locations (threads) of the castle from now on. So much for the practical side of things in this new castle....

Onwards to more fun stuff then, I have so far dared to set up one new thread that I believe could be real interesting and fun to have, this is of course the “Redux: Battle Reports & Discussion”-thread/"tower". The plan is to there focus on tactical-aspects in redux and various discussions about it, primarily based on publicly available battle reports, so we all know and have access to the circumstances and situations of what we are discussing (if it are custom/solo battles, possibly even recreate them!). My guess is that everybody (including yours truly) could discover plenty of interesting and valuable things that could perhaps be utilized in various campaigns and battles later on. In other words, stuff that “you” could use when you are playing your private campaign and that sort of thing. However, in order for that to become a reality we must all do our share in this, because I can’t make that happen on my own, so if anybody interested in that must also work for it a bit. Ok? I have made a battle report-template for everybody to use, just to make things easier for you guys. Just fill in the entries and post it in and were in business!


Even more fun stuff heading our way… Now, since this is a new castle, we must fill it with content and that is beyond any doubt a collective task. So, here is what I thought we could do. I have a few ideas on what other threads we could have here and now I would like to know what you guys think these ideas and hear all about your ideas. So, I thought we could have an open debate on what sort of other threads we should have here? Apart from the already existing ones. I’ll start things off with my ideas…

• "Speakers corner" – Thread solely dedicated for: discussing and presenting various ideas for the public version of redux, all for the greater good of redux! Sort of, open and public debate area, for all such related stuff without creating any trouble or disturbance for all other activities in the castle. So we all can sleep tight and undisturbed! Here everybody could express their opinions and argue their ideas on reduxed god knows what or what might/should be. After all, there have been a few such posts here and there in this thread so far, so there is a “market” for it anyhow…. For all I know people usually don’t share views on everything so it could be fun to have area were all could debate freely while presenting what could be great ideas, or perhaps not so good ideas….
  
• "Mods & special versions" - Thread dedicated for: for all alternative and special versions of redux, giving the people that have or want to mod redux a special place to hang out and discuss/debate all about their versions of redux with out any risks of mix ups with the public/default version. Giving them a place to be and operate without the risk of creating confusion and causing me a lot of trouble in the process, including the people that want do strictly VI-based alterations or have put in some “custom units” and all such stuff. I believe that there are at least some people that might be interested in such a thing.
  
• "Download Area" - Thread dedicated for gathering all official redux-stuff and links in one single and separate place. Is this anything that might be good? What do you guys think about that?!?
  
• "Other"…. Insert your average excellent suggestion/idea for what we could have!

It’s not at all that I’m trying to implicitly prevent you guys to start new redux threads on your own. Far from it! By all means please do! It is actually rather like this; we have a new castle and we have to start somewhere, so why don’t we start off with something that “got a market” and demand so to speak. If you all know what I mean…

Ok, the floor is open, now is the time to speak up! ...Looking forward to hear all your ideas and input on this stuff.

[Rick]

Thanks for the advice.

I got tired of the French when Italy and Spain ganged up on me because I failed to establish ships to prevent sea movement. The game would have ended in a couple more turns.

Then, I tried Spain on Hard. Not a good choice, but a learning experience non-the-less. I'm currently playing the Bizantines on Normal (to salve my ego a bit before I go back to getting my butt kicked on Hard).

One question: Were the Norsemen really that relentless? I picture them as raiders going in, killing everthing in site, destroying the infastructure and then leaving, not holding onto territory. However, I could be mistaken. I welcome further input.

With regards to the comment about the missels agains the Norsemen heavies, would you also recommend picking up few mercenary Trebuchets to knock them about? Also, how about Naphtha throwers?

Rick

[William the Silent]

I was the one that complained about the king protraits.
So I looked in what I could do myself, with the portraits you give in the game.
85 Kings is a lot, I totally agree. Not even talking about moslim factions .
I can edit the tga files by copying them into jpg, but I cannot transfer them back into tga.
I have Paint Shop Pro on my bookshelf.

I would need men with beards and different skin/hair colour. Also turban and that kind of stuff that I can fit in the standard portraits. All has to be same style.
And I'll have to see if it's possible with my time.

Here some quick editing I did. Using the helmeted kings crown and the one from your portrait and put it on some of your characters:

I could use that crown on the different characters you already created and change them into (european looking) kings.
I myself do not have enough skills to create portraits. Just skills to edit with what is already created. But I might be able to use some of the turbans and helmets from MTW tga's and fit them into Redux.
Maybe it's all going to be ugly and you don't want it. hehe! I would NOT be hurt.

Here one of your faces put in MTW moslim portrait. Just needs change into Redux background


I just throw that out there. Maybe you have suggestions.

[Axalon]

.....Hi guys! Oh boy, did I laugh when I saw father mouse! The holy order of mouse ears... What can I tell you – it’s a Lithuanian pagan thing, turned down by CA in the M2TW expansion for being a bit much on the exotic side...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Did you know that “father mouse” was offered a part in Star Wars Episode II as Yodas brother in law?!?

This is all your fault Will! I’m trying to get serious here! Oh how futile it seems!
---
---
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Get serious...
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Get serious...
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Rick: Don’t feel bad about the fact that the redux have capacity to finish you off! This isn’t the original game you know! You should rejoice instead! Since you actually found a game that you enjoy, and at the same time it can give you some solid opposition and were you actually have to fight for your way to glory! Thus you have game, a real game, with a very real chance of losing! This is one of the key elements of every game. Something that challenges you! A game that demands and require your full attention, and still it might finish you off! That is way more fun and interesting! Rejoice instead! As for your ego, let it have some vacation for a while, it will do wonders for it!

The difficulty ratings of redux are devious and you should not trust them to correspond well to the originals. At least consider the reduxed ratings to be one step above the original ratings. That way you probably will get something that in circumstances are at least somewhat more familiar to you (although it still is two very different games and redux offers a lot more problems and aspects for you). Its way tougher, so don’t blame yourself if you don’t get as impressive results in redux as in the original. Besides “reduxed battle” is a lot harder and dangerous for several reasons. So it’s ok to loose! If you couldn’t loose what’s the point in it? Where is the joy and satisfaction of a win? If don’t have to work and fight for it? No Rick, cheer up! Prestige is way overrated anyhow! Play on the level that suites you!


Now, as for the Norsemen. On the game side; since we are dealing with the hardcoded parameters of MTW it is simply not possible to make the Norse faction behave that way you suggested. You have to rewrite and expand the game-program for something like that to happen, so rest assured it won’t. The Norse faction acts like all the other factions in basic functions. As simple as that.

As far as “history” goes, I’m no expert and I only got my measly 3-4 years of studies on the subject at Lund University, so keep that in mind, but at the top of my head: The Vikings did some holding on and settling here and there. They took and stayed in; Iceland, the brittish Isles all over essentially, various places around the Baltic, Novgorod and other places in modern Russia, “Vinland” or perhaps more familiar as parts of modern Canada some 500 (roughly) years before that Italian dude came around, Normandy/France as well (the name is allegedly derived from Norseman or so they say. The Frankish king gave it to them actually in exchange for peace) and probably a few other places that I forgot to mention here. So, they did some take and hold as well... Thus I wouldn’t go so far as saying that they didn’t hold on to any of their conquests! At any rate, “history” plays a very nominal role in redux anyway so no need to worry much about that anyhow. (Hmm, strangely familiar...)

Regarding the Norse and missiles then, the trebuchets and Naphtha throwers would certainly be an experimental and unorthodox approach to deal with the Norse scourge. I would actually like to see that... My guess is that it would not be as effective as you might have hoped for, but maybe it could offer you some good a decent fun! Infantry are if anything, a Norse speciality so its just stupid to take you chances with the Norse in that regard, try massed and concentrated fire instead. How about some 4-5 Slavic bowmen for instance? That should do the trick I’ll guess. Perhaps a good cavalry charge is a viable option as well. Post back here and tell the rest of us how things work out!


-----------------------------------------------------
Western: I promised you that I would get back to you about the mercs so here we go... (See post:220)

First of all, there are some simple facts that deserve some attention while on the subject of mercenaries:


REDUX:
---------------
29 possible merc-units out of 196 units (excluding siege and custom units stuff)

ORIGINAL:
---------------
68 possible merc-units out of 102 units (excluding siege and disregarding era)


I think the numbers speaks for themselves. I also think that we can safely assume that regardless of any era there never are diffrent 102 units in play in the original as it is in redux with its potential 196 (although that takes some developing of course). By comparison there are fewer possible candidates for mercenaries in redux. This is probably one of the reasons that reduxes “true” merc-units show up more often in the roster. Another is that I have many times limited the availability in many ways for most other units that are not “pure merc-units” in contrast to the typical merc-units that have none or few of these restrictions. Fewer constraints mean greater chances of appearing in the roster, obviously.

After reading your post a few times I think you are on the right track in most regards but you have missed one important piece and that is the “Culture”- constraint/filter that also works very well on mercs and thus you can control it better. I have that in redux and that might very well be the thing that makes things work better. I dont know if these traits and designs are unique for redux or not. You probably know that better than me since you probably have played more of the other versions than I ever have.

Anyway, you only have a few certain tools to work with in this and those are:

• Merc-ticking-filter
• Regionalizing-filter
• Culture-filter
• Era-filter
• Buildings-filter

There is also the uncertain factor of changing the values in the AI-matrix... *MAYBE*, this has some actual effect as of frequency and such, but that remains to be properly verified, and as far as I know, that has not happened yet. Another factor is the mercenary-magnetism values of various buildings found in the “crusader_build_prod13.txt”. The higher total positive sum you got the more mercenaries gathers to that place, pretty selfexplanatory right? But as for the Norse Mercenaries it seems that you must have fairly high “magnetism value in order for them to appear at all in Constantinople so here is an aspect that might be a factor as well, if we see it in a strict perspective of frequency and the actual appearence of a certain unit. You said it yourself, there are a lot of uncertainties here...


Now, there are only two ways of making mercs appear in the game (this is hardcoded so it’s valid for any version).

1. The unit must be marked/ticked as a merc-unit in “crusaders_unit_prod11.txt”-file.
2. The unit is disbanded by a faction during an ongoing campaign, and then it can also become a mercenary unit, even if it is not marked/ticked as one in “crusaders_unit_prod11.txt”. Units like that usually hold the title of “captain”.

As you surely must realize by now, you can’t influence the “second way” no matter what you do. You are completly at the mercy of the game-program, hardcoding and AI on that alternative. The first “way” you can influence to some extent however by using the tools I listed above.

As for the actual occurance of mercenaries in the rooster that remains as a bit of an enigma to me and whatever it is that exactly determines which unit should actually turn up there if there a several possible candidates is not known to me. It could be the linked to intensity of the merc-magnetism value and/or the development of region in question, but that is just speculation on my part. There simply is no clear information about that (not that I know about anyway).

At any rate, the merc situation in redux is designed towards the end of having mostly explicit and typical mercenary units available as mercenaries. Maybe this is what you are looking for I dont know, but that’s how things are in redux anyway.

Ok, that’s a wrap this time. BTW, I would appreciate if you (and others!) could give me some input and opinions on the thread situation. And as usual, I would prefer as soon as possible if you are able to help me out with that? For details see post:232.


-----------------------------------------------------
William: I put you last this time to have any hope what so ever of being serious so that’s why! First of all, do you have Photoshop available (or something similar)? That should handle the tga-format just fine... Currently all reduxed portraits are saved as 24-bit tga’s.


“I would need men with beards and different skin/hair colour. Also turban and that kind of stuff that I can fit in the standard portraits. All has to be same style.”

Well, most of it is already there, you just need to process it and after that, fit things together. Not always as easy as it may seem. You’ll discover that I’ll guess. Anyway you have most stuff you need in the already existing redux-files. Also, limit and set your plan straight and stick to it, finish one plan THEN go for the next. That’s I my suggestion to you.


”I could use that crown on the different characters you already created and change them into (european looking) kings.”

In the “hero-kings” folder there should be at least 1 blond, 1 black, 1 brown and 1 white haired king. Use those as crowns. It will probably work better than the solution that you got now, That’s my guess anyhow. This depends on how you cut and process things out of course.


“Here one of your faces put in MTW moslim portrait. Just needs change into Redux background.”

The basic idea is good (I actually never thought about that), just make sure that you make the helmet smaller (not much, just a bit) so the proportions have some order. Yes fix the background, also change the colour the clothes to accomplish some variation of the portraits (that way). Yep I think you are on the right direction. Also consider to do this Muslim fellow as a template. I am too swamped with other stuff so you’ll have to make it on your own or recruit some external help. At any rate, doing portraits is a big job, really big! Just so you know, do a few test-runs in Photoshop just to refine some ideas and get the routine up. Overall I think it is great that you are interested enough to actually start doing stuff on your own, just like Joh!


- Cheers
------------
I would appreciate some input and ideas on the thread situation. See post:232 for details.

[William the Silent]

Axalon
I didn't find any "Hero King" folder.
Can you give the path?

[Axalon]

Hi Will,

Here you go…

“MTW-Redux 1.0b\Redux Bonus Material\Bonus Portraits\Hero King”

And if you can’t find it, decompress the files again and then they should be there.
Otherwise download redux again (it will take approx. 20 min).

- Cheers

[William the Silent]

Funny, I never saw these files, because I only used the Redux installation files and I guess deleted the rest.
That meant you have created kings (not 85) except for moslim factions.
I'll give it a try to create moslim kings. Give them some colour and Redux-Halo.
First I'll have to wrestle with Paint Shop Pro to establish some skills in that. To move hair, heads, etc and to create helmets, turbans, etc.
I never really used that program.
I'll show you my stuff once I get something done, to see if it's Redux quality. Like that nubian princess. hehe!

Did you know that Richard the Lionheart, when he was working out peace deals with Salidin, was seriously negotiating a marriage between moslim and christian royalty to establish that peace?

So maybe that possibility should be open. Only on rare accasions in Redux. Once in the whole game.
Some sort of price/accomplishment with extra bonus for the one who can establish that marrige, untill she dies.
I'm just dreaming.

Now I have to go back on my roof to wrestle with tar and shingles. I'm fixing my roof. And it's 90 Fahrenheit.

- Be well!

[Axalon]

Hi Guys,

It’s been silent here for a few days and I thought I would change all that with some general info and recap. As of November 1st I set up another redux thread over at the TotalWar.com (I finally managed to get over there. The crappiest forum-engine I ever saw). So far it has received a cautious reception and we’ll see I’ll guess how things will turn out eventually. As usual PR and exposure is the primary problem, so no surprises there...

A month after I released redux to the public (8th Aug) here at the .Org (I thought I owed that to this place to give it a month "exclusive"), I set up another redux thread over at the TWC. That thread has been a bit problematic and currently it is in a state of coma. Last post was in Oct 11 and that was by yours truly and that was the announcement of the superfix V.1.1. Since then there have been completely silent and no posts at all (although it have had regular visits, but no posts). I have no clue why this is and I don’t like it at all. More about that below...

As for the future, I have one or two things that are still planned for later releases. I will do a proper patch for redux, that is a certainty without any doubt. I will Include various stuff in that; AI-fixes, green trees, weapon fixes to some degree hopefully, a limited number of new and additional portraits for generals (and kings perhaps) and maybe other things as well (BTW any other suggestions? No new troops thou, there is no room for it!). It will be official patch and it might very well herald the end of the beginning for redux. After that I have realized all the goals I set up for the public version of redux.



HELP ME SAVE THE TWC THREAD! (Yes, I am serious)
--------------------------------
As I said above, things are not going nearly as well over at the TWC as here and the TWC-threads current state strike me nothing short of a “coma” (oh boy, have I tried to change that!). Now my hands are tied (I had be forced to do a double-post there with the Superfix release) and I can don’t anything without receiving a warning over there (and they do seem to take double posting very seriously over at the TWC, imagine what they do with a triple-post?!?) so I simply must rely on somebody else to break the ice and deadlock that currently is a fact over there. I’m sure all of you can see the obvious advantages of having another thread going, for ALL of us not just me. I am getting increasingly desperate here and that’s why I do this unorthodox appeal to you guys! The potential value of that thread is too good to just let it die...

So far most people over there have essentially being capable of only two things; 1. “Oh it really looks great” (I appreciate that, but If that’s true, what makes it so hard to actually try it out then? What’s so freaking hard about that?!?) and 2. “How is it compared with XL?” (I care as much about XL as Viking Horde cares for redux, fill in the blanks at your discretion, and more importantly it’s like comparing oranges and apples for god sake!). It’s really sad actually, not only for me but for all other designers as well since none of us deserves such a treatment, remember we have done this free of charge! People should rejoice instead, since they now actually got more ALTERNATIVES!

It really annoys the hell out of me that too many people don’t seem to be able to figure that out for themselves. Now I REALLY NEED some HELP here so I would appreciate that someone could help me for a change and do a post over there so that thread could snap out of it’s current coma. If you worry about standing out from the crowd, hell just do what everybody else has done; post a “oh I like those pics” post, that should suffice as a start at least for saving that thread. I would of course personally prefer something completely different as in: “I played redux and I wondered about X” or “I played redux and this is what I like about it” or “I played redux and this and that trait I have not found in any other version” (after all, I have not tried all versions) or “I was wondering when new redux material is going to be released?”. Stuff like that because it is a lot more interesting and it provides a solid platform to work upon, hell it might even spark a debate! Besides there have not been any such post (for reasons unknown), the only exception is a nice guy who had a hardware failure (Nvidia 8000 card) and could not play redux properly even if he clearly wanted too.

So please, could someone be kind enough to help me save the TWC-Thread!



Will: Sounds cold! BTW, would you like me to do a Islamic template general for a the future Patch? I’m just asking here, I have no such plans myself for the moment. Would you have me do otherwise? Because i could bring myself to do one at least....

Baron: I take it from your silence that you wanted to face the Spanish problems without any further aid from me. In other words, dealing with it in a way worthy of a Spanish commander? How did you fare with the Spaniards then? Anything insights you want to share some of your experiences with others (and me)? It probably would be interesting stuff for people who might want to try Spain for themselves (regardless of difficulty level). Did you have any use of the guidelines of “The Spanish dicta”?

Rick: What happened next with the Byzantines? Anything worthwhile mentioning for others? I personally would actually be interested in your experiences with the Byzantines!

Wes: Did you have any use of my remarks on the mercs?!?

Joh: How are things going for you? Have you managed to produce any other troop-paper? Also I got question for you. Are it based solely on the campaign starting positions or what?!? I just thought that would interesting to have such stuff more explicitly stated. I’m a bit unsure of that myself actually, so if nothing else could shed some light on that for me at least?


Finally, I now fully understand that none of you "old-guard/fort-defenders" guys are that interested in creating any more and other specialized threads here (the deafening silence about it is obvious enough) and I will give it a total rest starting as of right now. I will not bother you guys with that anymore. It will hopefully happen by itself when there is any interest for it.

Ok guys, now I have “sabbed out” all my issues for you. Anybody make post and make me in a better mood... (This little guy sure tries).


- Cheers
----------
A friendly reminder to all MTW-redux “1.0” holders; check if your game is fully updated! Besides I put in a new redux-girl at the download area...

[cambovenzi]

i started playing this mod again, w/ the superfix.
alot of fun so far.

i know this has been brought up before, but the longbowmen wreak complete havoc on everything.
i know you like that, and dont want to minimize it too much.
but atleast could you make the enemy troops try to move out of the way once in awhile?
they just stand there and get ripped to shreds in a few volleys.
maybe its just the difficulty setting(i picked normal this time), but im pretty sure it happened on hard or expert too last time i played.

i also have a suggestion for troop types.
you said you didnt have room for any more.
well how about trimming down on the ones you have, to make room for new ones?
for example there is hobilars, AND light horsemen. do you really need both?
i do like how there is increments of different troop types. (light, regular, etc)
but you probably dont need them that similar.