The Caravel Mod

[gollum]

Thank you Stazi

I will give it a go. It will be in for the next version though, and it will take a while before that happens. RL calls.

PS I meant next next version :) (v3.0)

[gollum]

Dear All,
v2.9 is now up and available.

It incorporates the following:
-Starting castle (fort) for the Turks was left in Rum by mistake in the uploaded v2.8. Now this is corrected - the (fort) castle appears in Edessa as intended
-Fixed a minor grammatical syntax error in the Pavise Arbs unit description
-Fixed price of Pikemen - they were slightly underpriced (500flrs, now 650flrns in huge) for their stats

as well as

-The Caravel Mod now comes in a self extracting .rar that makes it considerably more user friendly, as its easier to install.
-The Caravel Mod's unit and build_prod files now come clean without the tail generated by the gnome editor. This makes them more orderly and presumably easier for further manipulation by users who would like to mod it themselves.

Thanks to Stazi for pushing me to do these last 2 points as well as for kindly cleaning up and ordering the mod's files unit and build_prod (already given credit for it).

The mod is now simply great imo, both in the campaign map and in the battle map with the latest tweaks. If you have played it before or you like the vanilla game but wish the AI was much much better in his builds and behaviour, this is a mod you may want to try playing now.

For the next version, there are a few things to add/research:
-Historical Golden Horde Characters (Khans and Heroes) with 4 to 6 command stars to beef up the Horde and give it an historical feel.
-Dead men page for units that are currently missing it
-Experiment with javelin engagement parameters to improve the AI's use of them

The most important of those is the Horde extra characters. The two others are minor points - the one aesthetic and the other only very very small problem, i feel, due to the few and restricted javs and the already improved range of their's.

The next version will take a while though due to me not having anymore ample time to dedicate in the mod unfortunately for some time.

Thanks to Stazi's latest thorough taking apart of teh Caravel Mod, it has improved very very much in the campaign mainly due to teh extra incomes and it now really really shines.
In terms of polish (degree of copleteness) it is also pretty good - there is no text that i can see that is inaccurate in terms of description or awkward in terms of grammar. It also looks like that there are no glitches, ommisions or mistakes left in terms of dependencies etc. As far as i can tell its all correct and it works very well.

So, thank you all for your support and i hope you enjoy! :)

Yours truly, gollum

[Trapped in Samsara]

Hi Gollum and Stazi and any and all other collaborators on the Caravel mod

It may be a while before I get 'round to playing v2.9 but, in anticipation of that happy time, thank you for all your efforts.

Best regards
Victor

Sapere aude
Horace

[gollum]

Thank you victor, you are most welcome. Play when and if you want and will

The AI timidness issue we talked about last is now solved conclusively and big time (due to the loyalty:130 and the extra money on the campaign that makes all Ai factions having troops to be aggressive). However, keeping with this mod's precepts, Ai factions' stability and development are maintained to good levels as before.

Also the mod is now more polished - it wasn't all too bad before, but its even better in that respect. Thank you for your kind words and interest, we all hope it adds to everyone interested's game experience of MTW.

[gollum]

With the kind permission of Ishan and the TWC staff, the Caravel Mod has now found a place there too:http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=25

I am very greatful to them

[drone]

That's good to see. I also notice that Aradan has mirrored Andres' guides thread.

[gollum]

Yes, indeed - a TW brotherhood :)

[Stazi]

I hope more players will join the discussion here or on the TWC site.

btw Now, the mod (I'm still playing 2.8) is not only interesting at the start but later too. It's around 1200 and things start to look pretty bad. French and Germans send Crusades. Egyptians send Jihads. I have 3 strong enemies and not a single friend. I feel lonely ;). I tried to talk with Pope but he doesn't want to listen :). Thanks to my fleet that rules the seas I can fill the gaps effectively. The first time I'm waiting for the Horde to be a salvation. It should occupy the Egyptians for some time (they've taken all Turks' lands).

[Belisario]

Wow Stazi, it seems your campaign is proving very interesting. Thanks for the new version Gollum, oh and by the mention in the credits.

[gollum]

Thanks for the new version Gollum, oh and by the mention in the credits.

You're most welcome Belisario, i hope you enjoy

I tried to talk with Pope but he doesn't want to listen :)

What if you try speaking Polish to him ;) ?

[gollum]

What if you try speaking Polish to him ;) ?

Ooops...i forgot...it was previous Holy Father that was a Pole (His Holiness Pope John Paul II now on his way to sanctification)... the current one is actually a German...which may explain the crusade and the refusal ;)

[gollum]

Dear all,
I have added some medieval art images in post#1 of the thread that introduces the mod, in order to make the appearance more appealling and also provide inspiration (for those that also like them :). The idea came from medieval illuminated manuscripts that i really like, and the post tries to immitate them, hence the oversized initial letters. Purely aesthetic and cosmetic, but that also has its value :)

[Trapped in Samsara]

I have added some medieval art images in post#1 of the thread...

Very nice effect.

V

[gollum]

Thank you victor

[gollum]

Dear all,
Stazi kindly did some playtesting and also helped me out to add historical characters to the G. Horde.

He got some interesting fndings that may prove helpful to others for their mods;

These are:

What I've found:
- King/Khan parameters are hardcoded. Engine ignores all except name - 1st from the list is taken. I assume the other famous kings are used in case of faction reemerging. It's how it works normally, right?
- Heroes work as predicted - no problems.

Minor issue - I found the original game bug. Mongols' Khan has christian campmap piece. I've checked the first MTW/VI and gold ed. It's cause by a small typo in file name. Check campmap\pieces\Units\Pagan. File is named "army_leader_waiting.bif" but it should be "army_leader_awaiting.bif". Engine can't find the right file so the default christian is shown.

So because of the Khans being hardcoded, i was left with adding G.Horde historical characters (3) that particiapted in the invasion of Russia and of Eastern Europe.

In short the new characters are:
*Batu* - gandson of Genghis Khan, and Patriarch of the Golden Horde. He crushed the Cumans, Alans and Pechenegs, and then the Russians, Hungarians, Germans, Poles and Lithuanians. He asked from the HREmperor to "detrone himself" in favor of him (Batu). He was planning to attack Europe all the way to "the great sea (Atlantic)" when the Great Khan died in Mongolia and had to return as he was eligible for the position.

*Subudai* - Genghis Khan's greatest general; served in all Mongol campaigns with distinction; Genghis called him one of his "dogs of war". He used imaginatively logistics, intelligence and combined arms including artillery to defeat his opponents. He always put the enemy into a very weak position before commiting to battle.

*Jebe* - Genghis Khan's 2nd best general; served in nearly all Mongol Campaigns with distinction. Early on his tribe and that of Genghis fought and he personally wounded the Khan. After the battle Genghis khan said "who was he that wounded my horse?" in trying to conceal that he got wounded. Jebe responded that it was him that had wounded the Khan. Genghis that valued valor and honesty forgave him and took him in his service to which end he fought many campaigns and was the equal of Subudai.

These folk will now ride with the Horde and make your MTW lives a bit more interesting :)

Thanks to Stazi for suggesting this, for doing the playtesting and for pushing me to include it

Another interesting point Stazi found is the graphical glitch/bug of the Mongol action's leader piece in the camp map turnign catholic. This is (as he says) because there is a missing letter in the description of teh piece in motion. Correcting this will make the Mongol faction leader have always his Mongol piece :)

Again thank you Stazi

[gollum]

Dear all,

version 3.0, is now up and available for download.

It contains:
-3 historical G.Horde characters that give the Horde a better historical feel and also beef it up as they are quite good generals
-minor price reductions to catholic high end cavalry to help the AI field it more - it was slightly overpriced for its stats too
-AI preferene values tweaked for Orthodox and Muslim high end religious agents as well as a slight price reduction of the same, again to help the AI field them more.

Version is fully save game compatible with 2.8 and 2.9 and essentially very much on the same streak with only minor - but significant - adjustements.

Last but not least, the mod since 2.8 (that received the extra funds) is absolutely great in both the battlefield and the campaign - it is as if it all locked together and its potential came to the fore. It has now also achieved a very high degree of completeness too and so, If you like MTW vanilla or in general, just give it a go and you won't be dissapointed.

I hope you enjoy! :)

Thank you

[gollum]

Dear all,
version 3.1 is now up and available. It contains minor price adjustments for low end cavalry and few other minor tweaks that will be invisible to any who may have played v3.0, yet they do exert a positive influence in playbalance and AI factions development.

I hope you enjoy

Yours truly, gollum

[Stazi]

I'm curious why you made Szekely so weak? Now, they are very similar to Horse Archers.

About weak Horse Archer type units in general.
IMO they need at least 2-4 morale to be effective. Have you used them without a good general? I tried to use them in such situation and it was a disaster. I sent them forward at the start of the battle in order to do some shooting. They didn't even get close enough to start shooting. They run away immediately when one of the enemy units began to march towards them. HA get a lot of morale penalties because they have to go far from the general. They have to work alone on the flank of even on the back of the enemy army so they are constantly worried about flanks. When any unit starts to attack them or only shoots at them all of these combined penalties make them run away sometimes even without one men lost. With so little morale (-1) they don't fit their main role and become totally useless. IMO all units should be at least usable without strong general support (or other external bonuses).

[PershsNhpios]

Congratulations brother Gollum on the release of Caravel 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8, 2.9, 3.0 and 3.1 - also the stickying of the thread and the translation of the mod into TWC.



I am very sorry for being so absent - I assure you it could not and cannot be helped - and I despair of ever really having time to catch up again before a certain career takes me elsewhere, but there may yet be an opportunity!

I have been following the development here with interest, although I confess that I could not read the entirety of the dialogue between yourself and the industrious Pole, who has assisted you in writing a modification training manual it seems.

The modification, in everything from name, to fanbase, discussion and development, is extremely unique and deserves much attention - you must be very proud.
Thank you.

[Cyprian2]

I, also, would like to offer my congratulations, Sir gollum, on the release of version 3.1. Like our friend Glenn, RL has lately sundered me from the forums (though I'd only just set foot here!), but I've long awaited, and expect soon, to embark on the great

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

that will bring me back to the beloved shores of MTW!

Thanks for all the hard work you've put in!

(I guess I'll have to start another AAR, since the HRE campaign I was writing up was from Caravel eight versions ago!)

[vanitas]

This mod seems really interesting, having read through some of the previous pages, and I look forward to trying it out. I am a long time MTW player but rather new to mods and this one really seems to fit my style of play!

[PershsNhpios]

Do it, O Squire! Throw down the gauntlet unto the Caravel mod and it is you who will be found sorely challenged!

And welcome to our Hall!

[gollum]

Hello Vanitas, welcome to the org and the MTW section, enjoy your stay

I hope the mod adds to your enjoyment of the game.

Glenn and Cyprian2: thank you very much for your kind words; i hope you enjoy a bit more than otherwise MTW with the Caravel mod

Hello Stazi,
Szekely are a statistically superior missile cavalry in vanilla than normal HAs (vanilla and turcomans) although fast. This is counteracted by their availability only from 2 provinces. In the mod they were made available from any province the Hungarias occupy, and i tried to balance their very good stats via increasing their recruitment price. This iteslf proved somewhat bad for the Hungarian AI faction development; Szekely were a fort level unit that costed too much for such and the Huns were often staying behind in development. So i dropped their stats to similar to Turcomans (slightly higher than vanilla HAs) and droped their price and the Hun AI plays better.

As to if the HAs (fast and weak variety) are useless in missile duels, in my view this is simply not true. I have seen them being used to devastating effect both is SP and MP by skilled players and i have written some about HA use in the guides section. Most of what is written there follows either advice i received by or through observing skilled mp players when they played with HAs. Brandy Blue also made some interesting contributions. Perhaps it might be helpful. If interested, take a look here, starting from post #71 and onwards.

Thank you all

[gollum]

Dear all, version 3.2 is now up and available for download. As all versions for ages now it is save game compatible. However you will feel the full benefit of the latest tweaks in a new campaign.

It contains:
-Withdrew the jedai Byzantine Royals. Byzzie Emperors still have the hardcoded extra influence that makes for generaly good stats including command, but their command stats are now in par with other factions'. It makes for a much more fun game with them. They are still tough opponents to beat due to their superior tech and too good units for early and their generals still have command stars, but not 8-9 as a rule.
-Tweaked all missile cavalry AI use parameters including fast and weak as well as slower and stronger. Did quite some playtesting in custom and tweaked then re-tested etc and final values make for better use of these units by the AI.
-Did one each minor tweaks in the Byzantine and Russian rosters; Pronoiar cavs are made again available for All-periods and Rus Infantry are made available from castle level instead of keep.
-Slightly increased the buying price of mercs to reflect the increase of incomes by 1/3 around the map since version 2.8. Did not alter their maintenance costs however, as that was fine.
-Incorporated a fix for the Mongol Faction Leader piece while awaiting. As Stazi found out there was an error in the vanilla game in the naming of the paganpiece while awaiting which made the engine to show the default catholic one. The mod now includes a fix for this.

So this is it, i hope you enjoy

[Stazi]

Good to see you still working on the mod. I didn't play Byzantines for a long time but I think I'll try them this weekend. Thanks a lot.

[gollum]

Hello Stazi, thanks for the encouragement :) Despite the mod having reached a really good degree of completeness, there is always room for extra tweaks.

Byzantines are a much better proposition to play without the abnormal command stars. My own campaign as them was considerably more enjoyable than usual due to this; hopefully you'll find too that this is the case.

[gollum]

Dear All,
v3.3 of the Caravel Mod is now up and available for download. It incorporates a laborious finetuning of a number of aspects which i will list below.

*The most novel thing introduced in this version is the inclusion of a custom made version of the Caravel Mod for default (60mansword,100manspear, 40manhorse) unit sizes as well as another for huge. This has been made and playtested as it is clear that many people are either unwilling to move to huge or simply prefer default. Now the Caravel Mod caters for these people.

In order to play on the unit sizes you wish, first select the unit size of your choice (from Options\Performance) and then, in the campaign/era menu, choose either "CRVL (huge)" campaign if you have set unit size to huge, or "CRVL (default)" campaign if you have set unit size to default. It is important to choose the right campaign as economics have been customised for unit size. Please make sure you choose the campaign that corresponds to the settings you have chosen as otherwise the campaign may either have too much or too little money.

*Other than that, v3.3 does a major retouch on parts of teh English, Italian, Byzantine, Turkish and general Catholic rosters. This includes:
-Minor stat adjustements for units - in order for them to function more effectively within the roles they fulfill in their rosters, while as always being recognisably vanilla
-Streamlining of rosters - a few simplifications in order not to have quasi duplicate units that have little purpose.
-Retouching of certain units' texts - to give them a more historical feel
-A few skin switchings for certain units - in order to make them aesthetically blend in with the rest of teh factions they belong to.
-Slight unit costs adjustments for some missiles units - some were slightly overpriced.
-Slight change of AI use parameters - to improve AI use in battle after quite some playtesting.

*Did a streamlining for Muslim and Orthodox religious agents, as the major ones from Cathedral/G.Mosque were never used by the AI even when he was building those.

*Fixed a glitch as per Stazi'ssuggestion in the new Horde Hero names that would make them be called "Lord Khan" upon receiving a title - now they are called "Lord Batu" etc

*Fixed the Byzantine AI personality unit build preferance numbers in order to allow them to have more well balanced stacks, as per Stazi's suggestion.

As always, the new version is save game compatible, but you'll get the most out of the new tweaks if you start a new campaign.

So, this is it. There will be a while now for a new version of the Caravel Mod. If any of you Caravel Mod enthusiasts - old and new - have not given the mod a try since v2.8, please do, as its now really really better than prior to that.

Thank you all, i hope you enjoy

yours truly, gollum

[Stazi]

-Slight change of AI use parameters - to improve AI use in battle after quite some playtesting.

Could you give some more details about this?

What units' size do you suggest now? Still huge?
I've started my Byzantine campaign yesterday evening but didn't go too far. I'm glad because now I can start a new one without losing too much time with the previous version.

btw Should I expect any new version this weekend? I'm going to write a little review of your mod for the polish TW forum and I'd like to be up to date with all details (at least at the moment of posting the review). Should I postpone it? Current version seems to contain some major changes.

[gollum]

Hello Stazi, i certainly can, but in about a week's time or more if you don;t mind - i've had enough of MTW right now :)

No new version is planned - you can play v3.3 :)

I still suggest to play on huge - for me its much better in both campaign and battle, however the mod now has two campaigns in the campaign menu and each has the economic aspect customised for huge and default unit size respectively. This was done to offer a chance for people that play only default to play teh Caravel Mod. But as i said, i still suggest to play on huge.

The changes made are not major - they are all finetuning changes. The game is fully recognisable from 3.2 (and 3.1 for that matter). Yet, the Ai factions play much more coordinated in the campaign and the battlefield. Now that everything is set in terms of tech tree, dependencies and rosters, the details can be worked in order to have the most tight performance possible by the AI factions.

Each roster now also has a unique aesthetic feel - there are no western skins in Orthodox rosters or say the Turkish roster feels way more unique in terms of looks.

Thank you for your interest and encouragement, i hope you enjoy :)

[gollum]

Stazi,
i thank you for your interst in the mod and for your thought to write a review on a polish TW site. This mod would not be able to fulfil its potential to the degree it did without your encouragement, feedback, keen sense of observation and crucial and clever suggestions. I have updated the credits to include your recent contributions.

Again thank you most kindly