easy, normal , hard difficulty

[Jeanne d'arc]

Does the AI changes his tactics on the battlefield on easyer difficulty??

[Monk]

The best answer i can find is this one, which is taken From Frogbeastegg's beginner's guide at the top of this forum. Thanks again Froggy http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif


Quote[/b] ]There are four difficulties, easy, normal, hard and expert. Your difficulty will decide how much money you start off with, any bonuses given to you or the AI and what tactics the AI will use on the two maps. Starting funds are as follows:
Easy = 10000
Norma l= 8000
Hard = 6000
Expert = 4000
On easy the player will get an extra +4 to morale in battle, making it harder for the AI to rout your troops. On expert the AI get this bonus. Normal and hard don't give anyone a bonus. The AI will use different tactics on the battlefield depending on your difficulty. Here is a list provided by GilJaySmith, one of the developers of Total War:
- On expert the AI gets a morale bonus - on easy the player gets one
- On hard and above, AI skirmishers will try to avoid being pincered
- On easy the AI will not consider going into loose formation to avoid being shot at
- On easy the AI will not consider outflanking, double-envelopment, or stop-and-shoot tactics
- On easy the AI won't move troops out of the way of castle walls that may be about to collapse
- On easy the AI will try to hide rather than flee if the battle is going badly
- On easy the AI will not try ambushes
- On easy the AI will not try the 'appear weak' battle plan
- The AI is more likely to deploy in woods on harder difficulties, and less likely to camp near the red zone on easier difficulties
- The AI is more likely to consider scouting the map to find the rest of your army if it can't see it all on higher difficulties
- On easy the AI will not skirmish
- On higher than easy, the AI will specifically consider shooting at your artillery
- On easy the AI will generally attack rather than defend, and will not consider withdrawing for a much longer time
- On higher than easy, the AI will check to see if it's marching into enfilade fire when attacking your main body
- On easy the AI may come out of a wall breach to chase you if you attack and are repulsed
Recommendations: For your first game choose either easy or normal.

[RZST]

question, is it possible to play on hard OR expert without the moral bonus given to enemy?

[Monk]

On expert the Enemy gets a morale bonus, in hard i don't think there is one. And i don't know if it can be turned off.

[Red Harvest]

I thought one of the developers said that "hard" gives the enemy a +2 morale bonus, but that may be creative memory.

[Monk]

If it does i have never noticed it. Expert and Hard play very differently, as in Expert i can lose and in Hard i do not.

[motorhead]

Quote[/b] ]one of the developers said that "hard" gives the enemy a +2 morale bonus,

- See Monk's post, only on expert does the AI get +4 morale. That info is from GilJaySmith, a developer.

Here's another post from a dev:


Quote[/b] ]longjohn2
Programmer
Posts: 135
From:UK
Registered: Nov 2000
posted 10-01-2002 06:35 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can't comment on the strat map.
On the battle map, the a.i. gets progressively better up to hard level. On expert level, the only behaviour difference I can think of, is that it gets a bit more leeway to camp near the map edge if a suitable position is available.

The combat strength of the a.i. units is affected by the difficulty level.
On easy its combat effectiveness is reduced by 30-40% (can't remember the exact figure).
On hard it's increased by 10-15%, and on experct its 30%. 30% being around 75% of the increase you'd get from 1 valour upgrade.
Additionally it gets +4 morale on expert, and the player gets +4 on easy.

So:
on hard AI receives 10-15% combat bonus
on expert AI receives 30% combat bonus

[Voigtkampf]

One thing I can tell for certain is the fact that when playing on expert instead of easy, normal or hard, the AI will attack your castles that are under siege almost always while it is not doing it on lower difficulty levels or it's doing it very rarely. The Rebel armies are also much more aggressive on expert and they attack neighboring provinces they are in war with.

[Nowake]

- On easy the AI will not try the 'appear weak' battle plan


As I bothered to read the whole list, this is peculliar. Refering to what exactly? What is "appear week"?

[Jeanne d'arc]

I also wonder if the human player on easy difficulty gets bonuses other then morale?

[R'as al Ghul]

A bit off-topic perhaps but
Mr. Voigtkampf reminded me of this situation:
I'm Italy. Corsica is seablocked and rebels.
A huge army appears. In my Keep I've a collection
of rabble units. All crap and depleted. I reduce the complete army to ca. 10 men being 1 ballista unit
+ several single men units. The castle parchment said that the castle was unlikely to ever fall without being attacked. Good Fine That will give me time to conquer back cause I thought that the AI would never ever attack. Next year they attack with over 2000. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-help.gif
I autocalced this one and.......it was about 400 casualties
on the rebel side (due to my ballista, i reckon) and about 10 http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif on my side.
It's cool if you cannot predict what happens.

[katank]

in an expert sicilian game, the pope actually stormed my castle while he had himself, a spearmen and a unit of UM while I had a unit of feudal sergeants inside.

I never ever saw them storm under such odds. it was only about 2-1 and the AI usually doesn't storm but it may have to do with the fact that it often overrates royal knights.

I lost that due to having only a fort but it still surprised me as I thought I have a year or two.

[Eastside Character]

ridiculously easy

way to easy

easy

fairly easy


This is really our choice...

Regards,
EC

[frogbeastegg]

Quote[/b] (motorhead @ Mar. 01 2004,01:50)]
Quote[/b] ]one of the developers said that "hard" gives the enemy a +2 morale bonus,

- See Monk's post, only on expert does the AI get +4 morale. That info is from GilJaySmith, a developer.

Here's another post from a dev:


Quote[/b] ]longjohn2
Programmer
Posts: 135
From:UK
Registered: Nov 2000
posted 10-01-2002 06:35 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can't comment on the strat map.
On the battle map, the a.i. gets progressively better up to hard level. On expert level, the only behaviour difference I can think of, is that it gets a bit more leeway to camp near the map edge if a suitable position is available.

The combat strength of the a.i. units is affected by the difficulty level.
On easy its combat effectiveness is reduced by 30-40% (can't remember the exact figure).
On hard it's increased by 10-15%, and on experct its 30%. 30% being around 75% of the increase you'd get from 1 valour upgrade.
Additionally it gets +4 morale on expert, and the player gets +4 on easy.

So:
on hard AI receives 10-15% combat bonus
on expert AI receives 30% combat bonus
Oh no Now I need to update the guide yet again http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif Can I pretend I didn't read this? :sigh: updating beginner's guides.


I would assume the 'appear weak' thing is drawing up in a bad formation or hiding units to appear weaker than the reality.

[Ludens]

Quote[/b] (motorhead @ Mar. 01 2004,02:50)]on hard AI receives 10-15% combat bonus
on expert AI receives 30% combat bonus
What do those percentages stand for? Do the AI units get better stats (seems unlikely to me) or does the AI use them more effectively?

[Kampfen]

Quote[/b] (Eastside Character @ Mar. 01 2004,10:56)]ridiculously easy

way to easy

easy

fairly easy


This is really our choice...

Regards,
EC
Hear here.