This is the only place I could ask!!!

**Duguntz** · 03-27-2010, 20:47

M2TW AI is moddable? gosh, that is a wonderful new!!! i can't wait EB 2 to come out... what about NTW battle and campaing AI?

**WinsingtonIII** · 03-27-2010, 22:27

I don't have NTW so I can't tell you for certain. ETW campaign AI was decent in my opinion. It was a bit too passive and had issues with making full stacks (it liked sending 2 units at a time to raid), but in terms of diplomacy you could actually obtain ceasefires, maintain long-lasting alliances with borders, etc. I believe NTW campaign AI is pretty much the same.

ETW battle AI was pretty bad. Units tended to charge to melee far too often, sometimes after only 1 volley, the generals were even more suicidal (I think this was mainly because general's bodyguards are very weak in ETW as opposed to being the tanks they generally were in RTW and M2TW), and the AI couldn't even form a straight firing line (they bunched up). From what I've seen of NTW videos though, the battle AI seems a bit better. It actually manages to form straight lines, it charges to melee less often, and it attempts to flank. One problem is it tends to hone its cavalry in on your artillery and charge at it regardless of what's in way (like lots of bullets/canister shot), and general's are still suicidal maniacs. Also, the AI always attacks if you outclass it in artillery, even if it has a great defensive position and you are the one who should be on the attack, but I guess on some level it needs to do this because otherwise you could just shoot it up with your superior artillery (which have unlimited ammo btw). I definitely want NTW though, I actually enjoyed ETW, despite the bugs and issues, and NTW looks miles better than ETW when it comes to those things.

ETW and NTW AI are also moddable as well I believe, I know I've seen CAI and BAI mods for Empire, and I've heard about ones for NTW. My biggest advice when it comes to NTW is don't listen to the people who are still feeling burned about ETW, have never played NTW, and talk about ETW issues as if they are in NTW. ETW was a big mess in terms of bugs, but I don't understand why some people refuse to acknowledge that NTW is a superior game, it's like they want to be disappointed. That said, I'm personally waiting until the price of NTW drops a bit before getting it myself.

**Megas Methuselah** · 03-28-2010, 03:11

Oh yeah, and M2TW measures your relationship with the AI factions, too. "Abysmal" or "friendly" and so forth. Moreover, the diplomacy scrolls state if your offer is a "good offer" or "bad offer," so the idiots in the crowd won't have much of a reason to complain when the AI won't accept 1 Mnai for a city. I find that these factions really help in the arts of diplomacy.

It's the small things that I liked about M2TW. Other than that, it's a pretty crappy game. But with all these minor add-ons, it has a lot of potential. EB2 is going to be freakin insane.

Originally Posted by WinsingtonIII

Megas is definitely right that the campaign AI is much better about maintaining alliances-

Yeah, but only because of the marriages. Their purpose is to cement alliances, and that's what they do.

**WinsingtonIII** · 03-28-2010, 03:14

Originally Posted by Megas Methuselah

Yeah, but only because of the marriages. Their purpose is to cement alliances, and that's what they do.

I've found it much easier to maintain alliances even without marriages, although longstanding allies will sometimes betray you.

**Megas Methuselah** · 03-28-2010, 03:18

Originally Posted by WinsingtonIII

I've found it much easier to maintain alliances even without marriages, although longstanding allies will sometimes betray you.

You're probably right, seen as I haven't played M2TW for a couple of years. But maybe it's because you can view the measure of your relationship with your ally (i.e. "abysmal" or "good"), so you know when to keep it happy and so forth.

**Macilrille** · 03-28-2010, 11:56

I have not played ETW and NTW as I am on my usual low income. However, I also have to disagree with the crowd here. MTW II KDs' strategic AI is only 3% or so improved over the Artificial Idiot from RTW as I see it. I have many a time seen a marriage allied turn on me. And the battle AI... do not get me started.

However, there are minor details like marriage alliances, Guilds, Merchants and Priests that I do like. And even if the Grand Campaign is a diplomatic mess, some of the Kingdoms campaigns are in fact quite good. I have played Teutonic and Crusades through a couple of times and they are OK.

EBII should vastly improve it though and it should vastly improve EB by being better than RTW in its own right; a marriage made in heaven.

BTW, from what I hear here I will not buy ETW even on bargain, but probably NTW- I too have a weakness for the Napoleonic era with Wooden Ships and Iron Men, and I look forwards to teaching those Brits a lesson when they come to claim the fleet of my beloved country and bombard my capitol.

**WinsingtonIII** · 03-28-2010, 15:48

Originally Posted by Macilrille

I have not played ETW and NTW as I am on my usual low income. However, I also have to disagree with the crowd here. MTW II KDs' strategic AI is only 3% or so improved over the Artificial Idiot from RTW as I see it. I have many a time seen a marriage allied turn on me. And the battle AI... do not get me started.

However, there are minor details like marriage alliances, Guilds, Merchants and Priests that I do like. And even if the Grand Campaign is a diplomatic mess, some of the Kingdoms campaigns are in fact quite good. I have played Teutonic and Crusades through a couple of times and they are OK.

EBII should vastly improve it though and it should vastly improve EB by being better than RTW in its own right; a marriage made in heaven.

BTW, from what I hear here I will not buy ETW even on bargain, but probably NTW- I too have a weakness for the Napoleonic era with Wooden Ships and Iron Men, and I look forwards to teaching those Brits a lesson when they come to claim the fleet of my beloved country and bombard my capitol.

I've generally found M2TW diplomacy to be a bit better, but maybe I'm thinking of when it is modded, which of course isn't an option with RTW. The CAI itself isn't really any different from RTW, but again, it can be modded. Same goes for BAI, I know that I never said the battle AI was any better than RTW.

I agree with you about the Kingdoms campaigns. I got sick of the unmodded Grand Campaign very quickly, but I actually enjoyed the Kingdom's campaigns, despite their historical inaccuracies. The thing is, at this point you can get M2TW and Kingdoms combined for only 10 US$, and there are decent mods out there, so in my opinion they would be worth getting now, even before EB2 comes out.

Don't bother with ETW, the only good thing about it was the epic scale of the campaign map (which ironically was also a bad thing because the AI could not handle fighting in 2-3 entirely different theatres), from what I've heard NTW is basically what ETW should have been the first time around.