Is There a Mod That . . .

. . . makes the CAI a bit more sane? I am tired of the incessent DoWs by the AI against anybody it sees on its borders that it thinks it might have a temporary advantage against, with no regard to whether or not they have a chance of winning, or who is allied with them. For example, I just conlcuded a peace with Spain in about 1717, after taking Florida, ""liberating" Portugal, stripping all of its Italian possessions and giving them to Austria and Savoy, destroying all its armies and sieging Madrid. Then in 1720, for no good reason, with my fleets and armies sitting not too far away, Spain DoWs Portugal, dragging me into a war where I can easily annihiliate them.

So is there any mod out there that just makes the AI (a) less agressive in picking its DoWs, and (b) better replicates the actual conditions of European and N. American relations in 1700 (e.g. Prussia more or less friendly towards Austria and hostile towards France, Bavaria allied with France, Poland not looking to start wars with Austria or Prussia and vice versa, Iroqois friendly to both GB AND Thirteen Colonies, etc.)

My favorite mods as of late are TROM(The rights of man) or DM(Darth Mod). If you put campaign difficulty to N, then the AI is more than reasonable and it's a bit too passive, if you ask me. Turning up the difficulty certainly seems to turn on the AI agressiveness.

Personally, DM is my favorite because it also does an excellent job of adding to the BAI

Well, on anything below H, I have absolutely no trouble simply wiping out the AI at will. I've tried DM and looked at IS, but (a) they do not completely solve the problem and (b) they make some changes I am unhappy with. I just wish someone could make a historical stratpos file (since it seems CA can't be bothered).

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Originally Posted by NimitsTexan

I just wish someone could make a historicla stratpos file (since it seems CA can't be bothered).

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Just like that hit song from the 80's

Somethings telling me it might be you...

I recommend Darth Mod Ultimate Commander: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1362

It's by no means perfect, but it's the best I've seen, coupled with his awesome installer, there is a optional startpos that makes Maratha half its starting strength, slowing it's massive growth and expansion.

see here is the thing CA doesn't want to hire more AI guys to make them smarter so basically the only way to make it harder is for everyone to declair war on you. So unless the make the AI smarter then the easiest way to make the game harder is for everyone to attack you.

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Originally Posted by Belgolas

see here is the thing CA doesn't want to hire more AI guys to make them smarter so basically the only way to make it harder is for everyone to declair war on you. So unless the make the AI smarter then the easiest way to make the game harder is for everyone to attack you.

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Its not a question of people attacking the player, or not. Its the goofy starting conditions, or that its the wrong people attacking the wrong people. In 1700, there were four major power blocks divided into two theaters in Europe:

(1) The Holy Roman Empire and other German states, England, and UP vs. Bourbon France

(2) Russia, Denmark, Saxony, and Poland vs Sweden.

18th century Prussia was never involved in a full scale war against Poland, Poland would no more have attacked Austria in the first decade of the 1700s than it wold have the moon, Prussia was friendly with Austria if for no other reason than the Habsurgs did not squash it when Wilhelm made himself a king, and everything else being equal, Bavaria was going to align itself with the Bourbons, not the Hapsburgs. Yet in game, you ALWAYS get some version of a three-way war in central Europe among Prussia, Poland, and Austria, while Prussia and Austria as often as not stay out of wars with France and Spain. Now, granted, its a game, not a history reenactment, so at some point things are going to diverge dramatically from history. But it seems to me that the first 5-10 years of game play should more or less reflect the political realities of Europe in the 1700s, so that the wars and in game power blocks at least make a little bit of sense.

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Originally Posted by pevergreen

Somethings telling me it might be you...

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So I actually give this a try, but the results were dissappointing.

I tried to make Austria and Prussia allies, but Austria broke the alliance every time on the first turn.

I tried to make Austria and Poland friends, but half the time Poland still goes off and DoWs Austria

Ditto for Iroquois and Thirteen Colonies.

I tried to make Poland and Saxony interested in an early war against Sweden, but no joy; Russia and Denmark are always on their own. Poland would rather fight the Germans.

I tried to make Prussia NOT invade Saxony in the first half of the decade. No luck.

I made UP BFF with Spain . . . UP still is bound and determined to take Flanders on turn on, every time, all the time.

No matter what, Prussia, Austria, and Wuttemburg seem totally uninterested in helping UP and Britain against France and Spain during the first decade. No War of Succession here.

Not sure what I am doing wrong, but improving the historical friendships/increase historical grievences and adjusting the alliances does not seem to do much. One can delay the inevitable 3-way Prussian-Austrian-Polish war for a little bit, but that seems to be about all one can do with the stratpos.

Maybe you should try to change the victory conditions as well, not only the diplomatic issues.

Give them borders to conquer, some coherent provinces. For example: Give Britain Hindustan and Benghal as 2 targets in India, Egypt and Syria in the east and Hannover in central europe. I changed all conditions in my files, gave everyone 10 provinces to conquer, more or less coherent and "historical". And try some different money amounts, CA changed finances a lot in 1.5. I've learned: if you want some conflicts, you have to "build" them. Some equal victory conditions for France and Prussia, Austria and Poland, Russia and Poland, GB and France ... and you'll get your conflicts.

I changed the victory conditions in my campaigns in that way and they are different to play compare to "normal" campaigns. Maybe worth a try? And maybe you have to think about your expectations ... E:TW isn't a historical simulation of the age of reason. We all had to learn this lesson ... :shame:

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Originally Posted by Callahan9119

I recommend Darth Mod Ultimate Commander: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1362

It's by no means perfect, but it's the best I've seen, coupled with his awesome installer, there is a optional startpos that makes Maratha half its starting strength, slowing it's massive growth and expansion.

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Tried it; big improvement in the game. I started up a new Ottoman campaign, and didn't have everyone auto-declaring war on me in the first two turns. That alone is spiffy. New units, better graphics, saner campaign AI, too many improvements to list here.

No, it is not perfect, but it's a big, big improvement.

the Darth Mod Ultimate Commander update 3 is now here, and it adds a bunch of new things.
i actually re-installed ETW for this.
cant wait to have the time for DMUC!