Hi there Western. (This took a bit longer than I originally planned…)
First of all, good to know that the beta appears to be stable and that the bugs so far have eluded you. I would say it is very likely that MTW 2.01 version is more stable than the 1.1 version of the game and this also has its effect on how redux is running (as in less crashes and freezes). Now, I got both short and long versions for your remarks and questions and they are as follows:
Short versions:
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1. The rebels: …probably a combination of reduxed things…
2. High Costs; …it’s better and more proper that way…
3. Excess Money: …more unlikely to happen in redux…
4. Shared Idea: …an interesting idea and I agree with you…
Long versions:
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1. THE REBELS: in truth, I have no certain answers for you why they appear to do their job better in redux and it is probably a combination of reduxed things.
Firstly, I have given the rebels some (5-10 or so) special units that are only available to them (usually categorized as “raider”-troops, ex. “raider” -infantry, -cavalry, etc.). All these special rebel troops usually are fairly easy and cheap to recruit which by itself makes it very possible for the AI to actually use them. I have also given the AI all the possible incitements I could think of to encourage the AI to use/recruit those special rebel units, and it appears to be working. I have also changed the settings/stats so that they should be able to build smaller and “rebel only” pirate fleets if they have the proper installations in place. This actually happens now and again, thus disrupting the sea routs of trade and transportation making the rebels even more troublesome to have around.
Secondly, rebels should not build installations (buildings), they raid and plunder (building stuff are the regular factions job)! The build embargo has essentially been integrated for that very reason and I have instructed the AI that starting embargos are especially good thing to do for the rebel faction, and if your findings are correct then it seems to be working. I have also reasoned that sooner or later the rebels get their hands on a province which does have a castle in it, and that in turn will ensure that the rebels will have the possibility to raise some of those special rebel troops.
Thirdly, I have reduxed all the rebel settings for provinces in the game, basically increased all settings by at least one step in the “startpos” entries. The direct effect being that there are greater risks of rebellions in redux. There are a few exceptions here, CONSTANTINOPLE being one among of those few. Redux also introduces, relocates or discards various rebel-hotspots in the game compared with the original MTW, the worst unruly rebel hotspots in redux are among others; CORDOBA, SAHARA, KHAZAR, FRIESLAND, SCOTLAND, LIVONIA, VOLGA-BULGARIA and NORMANDY etc. It’s all in the “startpos” entries. At the same time there are more buildings in redux that makes people happy and all the various values/stats for that have also been reduxed so all that rebel activity is basically balanced out by that. Building (and finishing) an 80 or 100%+ farmland makes the people happy in redux for instance, small taverns don’t give as much happiness boost as a great tavern etc. All the exact values are obviously in the “CRUSADER_BUILD_PROD13.TXT”-file (a Gnome editor is recommended here of course).
A fourth note is that the rebels usually don’t go to war with everybody and thus seem be inclined to attack the weaker spots of their current and active enemies for starters, which actually happens now and again. Thus potentially forcing the player and all other factions to have garrison near a rebel strongpoint in the region I guess. If the rebels get a promising opportunity to take a rich province they might very well take it. They are at war for god sake! Well, you get the idea… I suspect that the rebel AI might be similar to the “Pope AI” in that regard.
Lastly a more speculative note on the rebel behaviour in redux; their unusual vigor could perhaps be explained in how the redux-SPC is constructed and set up. There are plenty of rebel controlled provinces when the campaign starts. In fact it’s the lion’s share of the entire “stratmap” right? Most other major MTW-mods tend to fill these “vacant" territories with new factions of different kinds and the original game has obviously also less rebel held territories than redux does. It might be just this simple; the game program is instructed to “take back” lost provinces for the behalf of the rebels, since it was "rebel"-territory when the game started and it is merely trying to achieve this with the available means. This is of course speculation, but it might very well be just like that, personally I get that impression. (Other than these five aspects, I have not a clue…)
2. HIGH COSTS: The high costs in redux is basically altered to what I thought was proper yet functional for the installation/building in question. Many times the final value was compared with the cost of a single unit of “royal knights”, and then I applied a little reason to it. To me taverns and inns should be cheap and easy to build since it merely is some large plain houses. Churches, palaces and such on the other hand, should be at least fairly expensive since anything else would have been ridiculous.
Basically it is combination of reason and what also is functional in the game. Building a castle is not cheap, it has never been and it is not even supposed be it either. If you want a castle, then prepare to part with some of those precious florins of yours… You get idea. It’s as easy as that. All costs are of course listed in “CRUSADER_BUILD_PROD13.TXT”-file.
3. EXCESS MONEY: This is indeed problematic issue. The problem can also be divided into several parts, but in the end, it all comes down to the “flow of florins” in the game.
Part I
As you probably are well aware of, the trade system has been changed and even more so when running redux upon v 2.01 of MTW. I have essentially cut the trade income by 50% with a few exceptions along with the obvious fact that I have redistributed, introduced or and removed some trade goods from the game (in cases this actually resulted in a seemingly more historically accurate distribution of goods and resources than in the original).
This of course has its impact on the game, for all factions even the rebels, making it harder to get those “monster loads” of florins in the royal coffers. Thus redux offer harsher economical conditions, but at the same time prices are also higher, making it even harder. The cutting of trade income will definitely have an effect on the game, exactly how big remains to seen but there should be less florins flying around and as a result possibly smaller armies of the map, or at least fewer expensive and big formations within that army (ex. royal cavalry or infantry). That’s one part.
Part II
Another part of the problem is; “what should I get for running my economy responsively”. My answer to that is; “a good or at least better economy." I’m also an advocator of these ideas; "If I do handle my economy responsively and I do it long enough, I should be able to save some of my florins... If I also manage to save florins for a long period, I should also end up with plenty of florins in my coffers." And now the great separating question; "If I manage that, should I be punished for it?” My position here is; “…no, you should not!” which clashes with the opposing tradition of; "Yes you should!". In redux the “…no, you should not!”-design that has been applied. There are of course other games where the “yes, you should!”-tradition are applied. I wont name them here, but still, they are out there and quite popular some of them as well. This aspect is basically a pure design matter and the design for redux aims above all to moderate the “flow of florins”. The basic idea is to halter the player from getting ridiculously rich in an instant or that “you” should be punished for handling the economy responsively. If you manage to get rich by saving your florins, so be it. You earned it.
Then again, saving florins are also supposed to be hard, since you are always tempted to invest your florins in some useful building so you can start recruiting some of those “cool knights” or “keep the people happy” and so on. At least, "you" probably feel the need to keep up in the arms race with the neighbouring factions and thus spend your florins on commissioning some new and powerful troops to secure your borders.
Part III
This in turn is linked to another part of the problem; where your faction is located in the “stratmap”. For example; Normandy is with out doubt a richer province than Cyprus is (at least according to the default redux design). Hence, if your position is Normandy your chances of getting a successful economy going are greater than doing so on Cyprus. Thus you get the incitement to conquer Normandy since you want to riches of that province. In that way rich provinces creates attention and interest of other factions that want their riches for themselves and thus the threat of potential invasions are born. Which in turn cost florins to halter and so it goes on and on.
In these regards, there is, and it’s supposed to be, differences between the factions. Poland is economically harder to play than France because there are not the same potential riches in the vicinity that is available around France for instance. But on the other hand, the threat of invasion should be greater to France and thus she must spend florins on defending those rich provinces (Aquitaine, Anjou etc.) since they appear to be more attractive to conquer than let’s say; Silesia and Volhynia... To rule Europe you need florins, and there are of course limits and inequalities on where those florins are located.
Conclusion
Now if you manage to get rich, even with the obstacles that are incorporated in redux, my position is: you earned it and should rightfully enjoy the advantages that those riches bring. It’s not my intention to create some sort of symmetry between expenses and incomes. My aim is just to keep a more balanced flow of florins thru out the game (and I personally see no harm in saving some of them either). So with all this in mind, the “excess money” situation is probably more unlikely to happen in redux, but if it happens, it is supposed to be the result of how you played the game and not because the game suffers from a potentially incomplete or poor design. This have been my intensions for redux at least.
4. SHARED IDEA: it’s a very interesting and good idea and I do buy your arguments for it all the way. But I am sure that you agree with me that florins are complex stuff (as partly discussed in the “Excess money” section), and the issued instability warning on top of it all, do make me very cautious here. So, for now I will put it in my “box of great ideas on stasis” for better and safer times. Still, it is very interesting idea.
Happy hunting on ya!
- Cheers
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