Rally support for MTW total conversions

**JR-** · 01-10-2005, 14:40

Originally Posted by VikingHorde

The farm income has however been increased by 30%, giving the AI a better economy and making the game more fun IMO. It is still possible to make a good trade income, but not as high as before. The AI has also been tweaked so that it builds better units and no peasants.
The unit morale in my mod has also been increased so that battles are more realistic, but the +5 morale given to AI units on expert makes most units almost fight to the end. I prefer playing on hard, because the AI doesn't get the morale bonus.

sounds ace. any ETA on the patch?

**VikingHorde** · 01-10-2005, 18:16

@Odin
Jepp, the AI has problems with trade. Medmod solved it by making the AI build more ships and some other ajustments (I think), but I don't know how well it works. I don't like seabattles because the battles seems random, so I tryed something els. The morale bonus given to the AI is a part of the original game, so it's properly a good idea to play the XL mod on hard were the is no morale bonus.

@Peregrine_Tergiversate
It's a little slow right now because Im also doing some for the Chivalry - total war mod (for RTW). The patch should however be finished by the end of this mounth.

**JR-** · 01-10-2005, 21:04

good news, cheers.

**JR-** · 01-11-2005, 13:22

maximus has just provided an update indicating that the final FoR patch may tip up in a fortnight.

**Odin** · 01-11-2005, 18:25

Took a look at one of my old haunts Gamefaq.com and it seems that the XL mod has been recieved very well.

One poster commented on the increased tactical ability in the XL mod... Maybe Viking horde will see this, did you tweek that? Can it be tweeked?

Thats really the ultimate mod isnt it? Its one thing to understand AI weaknesses with game functions like income generation and tweek values, its quite another to tweek its battle tactical ability.

If true thats pretty impressive, so wouldnt playing the russians in early.

**VikingHorde** · 01-12-2005, 18:21

Originally Posted by Odin

Took a look at one of my old haunts Gamefaq.com and it seems that the XL mod has been recieved very well.

One poster commented on the increased tactical ability in the XL mod... Maybe Viking horde will see this, did you tweek that? Can it be tweeked?

Thats really the ultimate mod isnt it? Its one thing to understand AI weaknesses with game functions like income generation and tweek values, its quite another to tweek its battle tactical ability.

If true thats pretty impressive, so wouldnt playing the russians in early.

I don't think it is possible to increased the tactical ability of the AI by direct tweaking, it most be hardcoded. It's not the first time someone have wrote it, so maybe the AI reacts differently because of the higher morale of the units.
The russians have access to Varangian swordmen and another sword unit, so they are not so bad

**Odin** · 01-12-2005, 18:43

Originally Posted by VikingHorde

I don't think it is possible to increased the tactical ability of the AI by direct tweaking, it most be hardcoded. It's not the first time someone have wrote it, so maybe the AI reacts differently because of the higher morale of the units.
The russians have access to Varangian swordmen and another sword unit, so they are not so bad

I thought it was a bit odd the claim that the AI had been enhanced, its tactical combat ability anyway. Logical conclusion that it would act differently with better troops and higher morale.

Just being able to play Russia in early is worth it to me, I just have a blast playing them. Might be fun to have a look at the baltic area to...

My only issue is the download is 145mb+ with my measley 56k dial up thats a 12 hour download

However, it looks to be worth as I have only seen positive's on the mod.

I am a little nervous about that trade income reduction though, but I will manage.

Cheers !

**deanox** · 01-21-2005, 13:30

I hate to sound rediculasly nieve but i dont play many computer games at all, in fact i dont know much about computers, but i am really enjoying this game. I was wondering exactly what these 'mod' things are lol im assuming they are modifications to the original game but i was wondering if someone could take 20 seconds to give me a brief overview of what you guys are actually doing with the mods. cheers
deanox

**Odin** · 01-21-2005, 14:42

Originally Posted by deanox

I hate to sound rediculasly nieve but i dont play many computer games at all, in fact i dont know much about computers, but i am really enjoying this game. I was wondering exactly what these 'mod' things are lol im assuming they are modifications to the original game but i was wondering if someone could take 20 seconds to give me a brief overview of what you guys are actually doing with the mods. cheers
deanox

Hey Deanox,

Yeah, a mod is a modification. Basically you download files from a server on the WWW to your hard drive on your home PC and overwrite exsisting files.

Mods do different things, some change the whole scope of the game (Napeleonic mod) some enhance the current mechanics in the game. The most important thing to remember is you are downloading something from the web that will change files on your PC. Obviously that comes with some risks but I can personally vouch for the XL mod that it wont have a negative impact on your PC.

My personal belief is Mods are best used after you have played the regular version for some time. I would get acclumated to regular MTW first, you will then be better prepared for changes. 9 times out of 10 mods make the game harder for a human player with tweeks to various game mechanics.

Hope that helped.

Odin

**macsen rufus** · 01-21-2005, 16:28

I finally took to the plunge into MTW mods this week, so hijacked a mate's broadband for a few hours, and did a mass download of mods - about half a CD ROM full of stuff to play with now....

So far I've loaded up HTW, and I absolutely love it! It's not quite as 'polished' as a commercial game, some spelling errors, some of the strat map graphics are a bit vague, etc, but that's not a problem because the gameplay is excellent. Hats off to the map-maker especially.

My very first battle was a leap into the unknown - rebels next door, no spies/towers. What would I find? I heaped up a few phalanxes with my Tyrant and marched over the mountains, only to be confronted by an enemy blockade in a tight ravine, with little room for maneouvre. My hoplites and skirmishers were on the lower ground, formed into the sparabara formation. We hit them on the oblique, showering them with javelins. Some held their ground, but most of them ran. Our skirmishers, javelins depleted, ran down the fleeing as the Phalanxes encircled the last resistance and ground the enemy into the rocks.... oh dear, I'm off on one again

But you get the point - this is an excellent mod, great feel to it, battle graphics are superb, and as it's a new era, I really don't know what to expect of the different troops yet, and the tech tree is to be discovered from the bronze age upward. And apart from doing a clean install on MTW/VI, it was pretty much a one-click install once you've browsed for your folder.

I also have NTW, XL, and BKB ready to install, but HTW has me so hooked I haven't slept in three days.....

And watching 3000 Illyrian troops turn tail and flee at the mere sight of my army was kind of satisfying.....

Rating: 9/10

**TwinMfg** · 01-25-2005, 20:09

I finally decided to try a mod and went for XL since its “just” an add-on, and I’ve read some good things about it. First, allow me to say well done, VH! Now hurry up with the patch.

I’ve only played (not completed) a couple of XL games, so my experience is very limited. That said, I thought I’d post three observations that seem significant to me.

1) It totally changes strategy. No more land bridges means you need better control of the seas- especially the Brits and Sicilians. The faction guides are no longer gospel. This makes developing new strategies for each faction very interesting/entertaining.

2) No more peasants. This makes things a bit more difficult since the AI can’t spam them for their armies. However, the AI now seems to spam UM instead. A slight tactical change easily overcomes this new difficulty.

3) Revenue from farms is increased 30% (I believe) and trade reduced 30%. I understand the reasoning, but I’m not sure if the desired goal has been reached. In my current game, playing Brits/Early/Hard/GA, I bribed Wales and conquered Scotland within the first few turns. Then I started building farmland in the most profitable provinces and creating a solid army for when France attacked. They didn’t, but began warring with HRE, so I took the opportunity to absorb four provinces into my kingdom. France is now gone. I kept an eye on their farmland development prior to the war. They did build a couple provinces up, but not always the rich ones. That’s the AI for you, I guess. More importantly though, once I secured the land under my flag, I wasted no time building them up to at least 40%. Now I have a huge army, boats all the way to Mid East (where I’m about to launch crusades for GA goals), and I still net 3500+ florins. This is like having a solid trade route, but with two added benefits: I get it sooner, and it is not threatened by war.

Keep in mind that this is only my second game and may be a fluke, but it doesn’t seem to be. Is there any way to allow the farm production to be increased for the AI only? Or maybe just lower the trade revenue, since only humans really use it, and keep farm revenue the same. Can farms be made more expensive/longer to build for the player?

I’ll sit down and shut up now. Please don’t let the income scare you away from this mod. It promises to be very challenging, interesting, etc. Just try starting as a single- and poor-province faction. Like the Irish or Scots. Like I did. And lost.

**SirThomasMalory** · 01-25-2005, 21:34

Let me just pipe up with my general support for the modders in this community. Just when I think I have had my fill of MTW, out come new factions, new units, AI improvments, etc. Going on 2.5 years with this game now, that rivals Civ2 shelf-life.

I haven't tried my hand at modding, but I can only imagine how much work goes into these...and we get them for free. Much appreciation modders!!!!

**VikingHorde** · 01-30-2005, 13:36

Originally Posted by TwinMfg

3) Revenue from farms is increased 30% (I believe) and trade reduced 30%. I understand the reasoning, but I’m not sure if the desired goal has been reached. In my current game, playing Brits/Early/Hard/GA, I bribed Wales and conquered Scotland within the first few turns. Then I started building farmland in the most profitable provinces and creating a solid army for when France attacked. They didn’t, but began warring with HRE, so I took the opportunity to absorb four provinces into my kingdom. France is now gone. I kept an eye on their farmland development prior to the war. They did build a couple provinces up, but not always the rich ones. That’s the AI for you, I guess. More importantly though, once I secured the land under my flag, I wasted no time building them up to at least 40%. Now I have a huge army, boats all the way to Mid East (where I’m about to launch crusades for GA goals), and I still net 3500+ florins. This is like having a solid trade route, but with two added benefits: I get it sooner, and it is not threatened by war.

The goal with reducing trade and upping the farm income is that the AI gets a better economy. The AI can't handel trade, but has no problem with farm income. By reducing the trade, the player will not have upper hand and the AI gets a better chance of getting a good income.