Investigation of Devastation

[hoom]

...or they just haven't worked out that that works yet...

[Quietus]

JeROME "Total War" Grasdyke! Our man! Thx for the clue, we hope it holds true!

People, I'll do more test later, but here's how you folks can participate and do it yourself. There's a simple equation to Devastation, I propose:

Devastation Value(after Trigger) = Base Devastation Value x Severity of Devastation
Devastation Value(after Trigger) = BDV(S) where
Trigger= base length of time an army parks in a tile where it causes devastation.
Base Devastation Value = Is ALWAYS 10%Farm Income (for a single tile devastated).
Severity of Devastation = Number tiles that are affected (as hinted by J).

Thus, In my old example earlier:
Lepcis Magna Farm Income: 408 denari
Devastation Value: 244 denari
Base Devastation Value: 40.8 denari
Severity of Devastation is 6. I just found it out by rearranging the equation.

DV/BDV = S = 244 denari/(10% of 408 denari) = 5.98 = ~6

Please, check your games and see if this equation holds true. I will do the same. Or, if you find a better way, please, speak up.

[Bob the Insane]

Great stuff... Any idea how long it takes for the devastation to fade after you kick the squatters out???

[therother]

Ah, it seems I have more data with me than I thought. Luckily I'm in an expansion phase of my current game, so a number of my provinces that have devastation for one reason or another.

 
Farming	RepDev	Tiles	CalcDev	Diff(Reported-Calced Dec)
456	95	2	91.2	3.8	
340	34	1	34	0	
240	24	1	24	0	
836	83	1	83.6	-0.6	
912	373	4	364.8	8.2	
684	143	2	136.8	6.2	}Same city, only
760	159	2	152	7	}building farms
544	326	6	326.4	-0.4	
408	244	6	244.8	-0.8

[The last two are yours.]

As you can see, your equation works pretty well, especially for those settlements with only one tile affected and who had a normal harvest.

There is a discrepency for high tile numbers though, including in your own example (244/40.8) = 5.98 (*)

Quite what is causing the slight aberation, I don't know. Perhaps it has to do with difficulty level, harvest, length of devastation time, etc.

(*) You got a little mixed up with your example in your last post. Threw me for a bit.

Edit: Perhaps I should make clear how I calculated CalcDev, in case I have messed it up.

CalcDev = 0.1* Farming Income*Number of Tiles affected

[therother]

Here's the figures for Medium and Very hard. Had less data here, so added grains of salt are suggested:

Farming	RepDev	Tiles	CalDev	Diff

Medium				
912	373	4	364.8	8.2
684	143	2	136.8	6.2
760	159	2	152	7
Very Hard				
775	317	4	310	7
581	122	2	116.2	5.8
640	135	2	128	7

Formula works as well for different difficulties. Largely, I suspect, as farming income is affected by game difficulty, but devastation itself is not.

[Quietus]

Cool therother! I guess it's down to figuring out the base time to trigger the devastation and the period of effect before it fades.

[Soulflame]

Here's the figures for Medium and Very hard. Had less data here, so added grains of salt are suggested:

TABLE

Formula works as well for different difficulties. Largely, I suspect, as farming income is affected by game difficulty, but devastation itself is not.

Well, it is, but indirectly (through farming). Funny enough, this would cause devastation to be lower (absolute numbers), because the farm income on higher difficulty is lower...

[therother]

Well, it is, but indirectly (through farming). Funny enough, this would cause devastation to be lower (absolute numbers), because the farm income on higher difficulty is lower...

Hmm, I kind of thought that's exactly what I just said? Was it ambiguous? I ask as that more or less how I'm writing it in the guide I'm currently preparing.

Edit: Rereading, perhaps I should be clearer. I meant that Base Devastation Value, as Quietus calls it, doesn't rise on more difficult settings. Of course, the number of bandits and invading armies most certainly does...