Fatigue and AI

[Geoffrey S]

Yesterday I finally had the chance to play some custom battles in Europa Barbarorum. What really ruined the experience was that, probably because of the slowed-down troop movement, the enemy charging across the field of battle got tired and then exhausted extremely quickly, meaning I had a distinct advantage when the forces met. This seems to be one of the factors putting the AI at a distinct disadvantage.

What I'm wondering is this: is there any way to lower the amount of fatigue accumulated? I'd like to mod the game so the armies don't get tired at all when marching, only when in battle, so the enemy doesn't get all exhausted by the time they've finished imitating the Greeks at Marathon.

If this isn't possible, is there then a way to remove fatigue altogether as a factor in RTW? I think that may make the game more enjoyable by letting me fight the AI on equal footing.

[professorspatula]

You can disable fatigue altogether by editing your preferences.txt file.
Find where it says:
FATIGUE:TRUE

and change it to False.

Other than that, the AI is doomed to more or less ignore fatigue considerations, once again reminding you how poor it is. Many close battles I've won by keeping some of my troops rested whilst the AI troops commit suicide by chasing after routers for no reason whatsoever, before returning to challenge my fresh soldiers and then falling over their own feet before even a sword has been swung.

[Puzz3D]

I turned fatigue off for my current campaign which is unmodified RTW v1.5. You have to start a new campaign for that to take effect if you do it in the preferences.txt file.

The AI definitely benefits from fatigue off when it is the attacker. When the player is the attacker, he benefits from it. The player also benefits if he uses a single unit a lot because it never gets tired. Overall, I'd say the battles are more of a challenge especially if the human doesn't overuse any one unit. With fatigue off, units fight a little longer which helps in the unmodified game where combat is resolved somewhat fast. In a modified game, it might cause units to fight too long. Battles will also finish up quicker when you use the continue battle option because routed units will move off the field faster.

[Geoffrey S]

Thanks, I'll try that. I got rather fed up of watching an opposing army charging its infantry straight across the map and getting itself exhausted, this should at least give the AI a chance when attacking.

[Jambo]

Yeah, I think the fatigue off option is probably the best one for the AI, since it really doesn't factor fatigue into account during most battles. This can be particularly evident during prolonged sieges of large fortified cities where the AI will rush the city plaza. Just keeping your own units in the plaza is often enough to chain rout any AI force reaching there.

Puzz, is there a way to turn off fatigue during a campaign, i.e. through Romeshell perhaps?