Can you just not play and watch to see what happens

[Budwise]

What I mean is, if the computer played all the factions and you had NO CONTROL over anything but passing years. I wonder the following.

1. Would a Faction at least get 75% on Global Conquest?
2. Would the same faction win time and time again in multiple test runs?
3. Would they Tech up or would "HE WITH THE MOST PEASANTS" win?
4. Would the Papacy be more than a hinderance.

and so on so on.

I was just wondering if it was possible and what various conclusions would come true.

[eat cold steel]

I haven't been looking in here for a while now and am suprise to see this board is so active. Anyway, check out this thread (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=24905) in the archives for some goodies.

[Edit] Oh yeah, you have VI don't you?

[Satyr]

The other option is to pick a faction and play it enough to keep it alive. Play as England - take Ireland - build ships so no one can mess with you - abandon England - sit back and watch. Turn on visibility to all the other faction stuff by using the .matteosartori. cheat code. Hit end year over and over and over and over.

Different factions will win each time (within reason). I suspect that usually no faction will actually win the game. They will all tech, although with one of the good mods loaded they will tech even better. The pope's influence on the game is never the same twice in a row. There will even be an occassion where the pope becomes one of the dominant factions.

I think you would find this pretty boring after a while. With only a few exceptions there is no set way that the game will turn out. The other way to be more of a watcher is to play a Glorious Achievements game where you stay small and just protect your homelands.

[kiwitt]

Different factions will win each time (within reason).

Which is why the game is so replayable. i.e. every campaign is a new one. It is a credit to the designers of the AI to get it to this level.

This is why this will never be off my computer.

[ShadowMagnet]

The game is indeed very different every time I play it. Even managed to see the Danes taking over HRE and northeast Europe (Livonia, Finland and Novgorod)! One problem remains however. Any campaign can only keep me occupied for 200 years max. Near enough any faction I can develop and tech up sufficiently enough to keep pressing on and eventually take over more than half of the map. From this stage onwards campaign starts losing flavour cause I know I will win no probs. Thats when AI gets anal and artificially starts revolts in random (usually most distant from troop producing provinces) bits of the map. So I wipe those out and keep taking over more until the whole thing is repeated. Then someone reappears for the umpteenth time only slowing me down slightly but never actually being able to challenge me for real. I just don't see the point and get bored quickly. By far the coolest bit is the start and slow development of your economy and arms. First conquest with reasonable forces that translate into first big battles... First time you clash with someone meanigful (almost always France in my case, sporadically Almos or Spanish)... The rest is just finishing off your petty foes and dealing with rebellions. Hardly fun. But to give the game credit - even flaw this big can't put me off and I still lose sleep over the bloody game pretty much every day. Should sue CA for mental addiction or something I reckon :-)

[Satyr]

ShadowMagnet, I think most here would agree with you that after you own half the map there just isn't much point unless you have never won before.

There are a couple things you could try that would improve your enjoyment of the game though. First, try to win 60% before you reach the next age. This will force you to try to conquer with inferior forces and the battles are tense and exciting. The other option is to load one of the good mods like Medmod, XL mod, or BKB's Super mod. These make the game much more challenging by improving what the AI builds, real trade routes and good quality troops. With plenty of money and good troops the game becomes much more challenging.

[Ayachuco]

The other option is to pick a faction and play it enough to keep it alive. Play as England - take Ireland - build ships so no one can mess with you - abandon England - sit back and watch. Turn on visibility to all the other faction stuff by using the .matteosartori. cheat code. Hit end year over and over and over and over.

Different factions will win each time (within reason). I suspect that usually no faction will actually win the game. They will all tech, although with one of the good mods loaded they will tech even better. The pope's influence on the game is never the same twice in a row. There will even be an occassion where the pope becomes one of the dominant factions.

I think you would find this pretty boring after a while. With only a few exceptions there is no set way that the game will turn out. The other way to be more of a watcher is to play a Glorious Achievements game where you stay small and just protect your homelands.

I actually did that in the High ages as the French and it was boring. Believe it or not I actually won by doing nothing and do not ask me how because I wasn't paying attention.

[Tricon]

Thanks ECS!! I totally forgot about these comands.


(Of to test some mods...)