Quick Question- Regarding Difficulties

[ArtistofWarfare]

Thanks for reading:

Regarding difficulties- What would be the natural equivalent of a "realistic" VH/M Rome campaign (with a mod like EB or RTR)? I'm asking about MTW2 of course. Would VH/VH do it for hardest/most realistic WITHOUT giving unfair bonuses to the AI, simply giving it better AI?

Thanks...appreciated.

Oh, btw- What are most using as turns per year....? .50 (4 turns per year)? 1? (2 turns per year) or the standard 2 (1 turn per year)?

Thanks guys...

[Magraev]

I use the standard number of turns, but I've extended the game so it won't end before 1990... Since I just display number of turns this just means a long time after the last significant gameevent, in case I want to continue playing (usually I don't).

I did play with 2 turns pr. year (0,5) in the beginning, but I realized that I never got to go to the new world and recruit musketeers if I used the corrected events-file for that turn-speed.

[econ21]

Yes, the VH/VH setting for M2TW is the closest you'll get to a realistic VH/M RTW campaign. I hate raising the battlefield difficulty in RTW, as the changes to the combat stats make the unit match ups very ahistorical and counter-intuitive. However, in M2TW, VH battle difficulty does not change the attack or defence stats in the same crude way as in RTW. According to CA, the changes are more subtle, working via morale and fatigue. My experience bears this out - you won't find the AIs peasants turn into monsters, although your army may disintegrate if subject to too much stress (attacking uphill or losing your general can lead to nightmares).

I play with the default game pacing for the same reason as Magraev.

[ArtistofWarfare]

I use the standard number of turns, but I've extended the game so it won't end before 1990... Since I just display number of turns this just means a long time after the last significant gameevent, in case I want to continue playing (usually I don't).

I did play with 2 turns pr. year (0,5) in the beginning, but I realized that I never got to go to the new world and recruit musketeers if I used the corrected events-file for that turn-speed.

.50 is 4 turns per year, not 2.

Further...and this is something I should clear up- Don't events scale according to the turns per year you're playing?

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/archive/index.php/t-68830.html

Getting some info from there...

and BTW- Thanks to Econ...appreciated.

[Magraev]

Af far as I know events are triggered by number of turns after the start of the game and not date. That means that you'll get all events too soon if the event_descr file isn't changed.

I'm not sure you're right about the 0,5 meaning 4 turns pr. year, can anybody confirm that? :dizzy2:

[Lusted]

0.25 would be 4 turns per year, 0.5 is 2 turns per year. 1.0 is 1 turn per year.

Events are trigger by the YEAR after the game start, not by the number of turns after.

[Magraev]

heh lots of confusion here.

Why is there then a different set of event-files for each setting (2,1,0.5) included in the fixed-event-mod?

[nikolai1962]

Just to add to the approval of the VH battle difficulty. Never used it since STW because of the uber-peasant thing but in MTW2 the VH battle difficulty is good. Lost a few battles through being reckless and foolish which i would still have won at M difficulty. Good stuff.

[Afro Thunder]

The problem with VH campaign difficulty is that eventually your reputation with every other faction just goes to Hell, no matter how much money you give them as tribute.

[DrZoidberg]

The problem with VH campaign difficulty is that eventually your reputation with every other faction just goes to Hell, no matter how much money you give them as tribute.

But then your so powerful it doesn't really matter. I'm playing as Spain. I've got 20 territories and the whole world hates me. Really hates me.

[econ21]

The problem with VH campaign difficulty is that eventually your reputation with every other faction just goes to Hell, no matter how much money you give them as tribute.

I'm not sure money affects reputation, as opposed to relations. See the forum FAQ for a synopsis of the factors people have discovered affect reputation. Some folk have reported keeping good reps even on VH by working those factors.

[DukeKent]

It is always a good idea to read the forums. Diplomacy on VH is borked. On VH it is pretty much the Human vs all AI neighbors by mid game. The only factions you can keep as ally's are ones you have no border with when playing on VH. The AI also cheats with considerable amounts of cash for the AI factions on VH. At some point the AI factions will attack if you have a common border. Even with no provocation, and when it is obvious they will get their butt kicked :skull:

[DrZoidberg]

It is always a good idea to read the forums. Diplomacy on VH is borked. On VH it is pretty much the Human vs all AI neighbors by mid game. The only factions you can keep as ally's are ones you have no border with when playing on VH. The AI also cheats with considerable amounts of cash for the AI factions on VH. At some point the AI factions will attack if you have a common border. Even with no provocation, and when it is obvious they will get their butt kicked :skull:

I'm playing on VH. Every couple of turns Scotland, England, France and Milan make a coordinated attack. Scotland I don't even have a border with. And when I try to defend myself my reputation with the pope goes through the floor. Doesn't really matter though because the only countries not excomunicated are Denmark, Hungary and Poland. It's a bit annoying that I can't use crusades though. The Mongols have settled in Jerusalem, just waiting to be crusaded.

[Moah]

[QUOTE=DukeKent] The AI also cheats with considerable amounts of cash for the AI factions on VH.[QUOTE]

That's not cheating! That's the game. Same with any AI model. The AI gets bonuses on higher levels to make it more competitive. That's how CIV does teh higher levels - AI gets totally unfair tech, troop and settler onuses to make it harder to beat.

They can't make the AI much smarter so they give bonuses. Personally they should give more: Free "missions" every few turns to give them "best unit - excluding siege in capital " so you stop meeting militia trebuchet armies. Free XP upgrades (like a crusade bonus without going on one). Bonuses to generals.

It's no coincidence that the best challenge is the Mongols with 8* * dread generals and great army compositions. They should give bonuses to the otehr countries to let them emulate it.

How can you Choose VH then complain if AI gets bonuses??????

However, you're right about diplomacy. Stronger enemies, not weak enemies all totally illogically allying against you is the way to go....

[Jambo]

I agree, the effect VH campaign has on diplomacy isn't great. However, it is easy enough to mod out the effects of playing at VH difficulty has on campaign diplomacy. Look in the descr_faction_standing.txt file and comment out any entries you see which pertain to very hard difficulty. Then you can enjoy a very hard campagin with normal diplomacy.

[Daveybaby]

Daveybaby dreams of a day when strategy game developers have a 'custom' option for game difficulty when starting a game.

This would then open up a window that lets the player tweak settings for things like:
* AI aggression in general
* Extra AI hostility towards the player compared to other AI factions
* AI economic bonuses
* AI unrest bonuses
* AI fatigue bonuses
* AI morale bonuses
* AI attack/defend bonuses

Then we get to make the game as hard or as easy as we like.

Trouble is it makes supporting the game that much harder - i.e. when reporting bugs... Q: What difficulty level were you playing on? A: Well... um...

Although I'm sure i remember playing a game that had pretty much exactly that sort of thing in it - cant remember which game it was though.

[Lupiscanis]

~snip~

Although I'm sure i remember playing a game that had pretty much exactly that sort of thing in it - cant remember which game it was though.

There have been a few. Most recently, C&C offered semi-customizable AI in skirmish mode, with turtle/rush/tech AI options.

Not great, but certainly a different approach.

I seem to remember one game in particular having great customization options for AI, but I'll be buggered if I can remember what it is either.

[Tamur]

A couple of years ago we were throwing around ideas on configurable AI. Some of the posts became fairly detailed, with a couple of examples of indy games that were making this a core of the gameplay -- that is, have one program for the game, and another entirely separate program for AI training.

I'll see if I can dig that up somehow...

[pike master]

is it +5 attack on very hard on the enemy ai?

[nikolai1962]

is it +5 attack on very hard on the enemy ai?

no, seems to be just stuff to do with morale and fatigue that makes it easier for the player to mess up if they're not more careful than usual. tis good