Initial Patch Thoughts

**HicRic** · 02-03-2005, 23:49

My initial patch thought was "Wow, 56.2mb???" Most patches I've downloaded for games are much smaller.

I don't think the patch was supposed to turn the AI into a godly general, but more aimed at fixed numerous niggling issues, which judging by the readme, they have. They never intended to stretch battles out longer by reducing the kill rate or anything. I'm disappointed to here a tale of another suicidal general already though.

While battles in RTW don't last as long as MTW or STW battles, I've not had a battle melee last five seconds unless it's heavy cav. vs. pesants.

And in a fair, matched fight the battles I fought (this is in 1.1 btw...I'm still downloading 1.2) my battles don't seem incredibly impossibly fast. Faster than MTW/STW, and faster than I might like, but never lightspeed. I've not tried the Total Realism mod, either-perhaps my perspective would change if I had.

**Jambo** · 02-04-2005, 00:31

Well spotted RH! The charge of cavalry was indeed reduced a little. :)

Phalanxes are lethal now btw!

**Red Harvest** · 02-04-2005, 00:41

Originally Posted by Jambo

Well spotted RH! The charge of cavalry was indeed reduced a little. :)

Phalanxes are lethal now btw!

Jambo,

What did they change to weaken the cavalry charge? Morale effects? The reason I ask is that the basic charge/melee stats look unchanged for the units I've seen in action thus far, but they did seem a bit less inclined to sweep away infantry in frontal charges (I was on the receiving end even...)

**Jambo** · 02-04-2005, 00:52

I don't think the change was a straightforward stats change per sé, unless maybe their mass has been reduced a little to lessen the impact (haven't checked tbh). It's more likely a hardcoded aspect.

**Red Harvest** · 02-04-2005, 01:02

Originally Posted by Jambo

I don't think the change was a straightforward stats change per sé, unless maybe their mass has been reduced a little to lessen the impact (haven't checked tbh). It's more likely a hardcoded aspect.

The mass is unchanged, I checked that too. Like you say, it is probably hardcoded as part of the combat engine.

**afrit** · 02-04-2005, 01:24

Best upgrade:
Right click on your towns tab, and now you get much more information. MOst importantly, you know which towns are recruting and building at a glance.

Worst non-change:
No campaign battle replay.

**Bob the Insane** · 02-04-2005, 01:26

MINIMAL_UI:TRUE

Memorise your hotkeys (make sure to bind the time controls to keys) and toggle off all the UI for full screen RTW...

Bloody brillant....

**Lemur** · 02-04-2005, 01:39

I see they have not fixed the idiotic sytem-sensing routine. Since I did a clean install, lo, behold, RTW will not scale to 1600x1200. Now I have to go back and dig through the archives, trying to remember how to unlock my preferences so that I can run the game at full power.

This seems like a simple one, and an odd thing to leave broken. Oh well. Just glad to have the patch.

**CeltiberoMordred** · 02-04-2005, 01:52

Originally Posted by Red Harvest

The mass is unchanged, I checked that too. Like you say, it is probably hardcoded as part of the combat engine.

Yes, it's hardcoded: IIRC, now it's less likely to see horses jumping over your troops (specially if you use a deep phalanx formation with pikes aiming the sky), so it's more difficult that they could break your formation or attack from the rear after a frontal charge.

**AntiochusIII** · 02-04-2005, 02:20

Oh no, now my Parthian generals can't beat the phalanxes in city battles anymore.

Yes, I've modded it personally to ensure Parthian generals have cataphracts... unfortunately it must be done at the start. Man, that WAS easy with every general become 20-50 extra cataphracts in the early game ... rechargable!!!!

Never mind. Where should I download it faster than at the official site? I mean, it's very slow, you see..

Repeat : Where?

**Simetrical** · 02-04-2005, 02:48

Here is the first mod for 1.2 (I think). It's basically an adaptation of adonys' kill rate mod, and it should help with too-fast combat.

-Simetrical

**Barbarossa82** · 02-04-2005, 00:48

So far I'm impressed. My initial oberservations from starting a new campaign as Pontus:

1) Battle AI is smarter. No suicide charges as yet, and it seems to react more intelligently to the flow of the battle, attacking in a more co-odinated manner too rather than rushing for a single flank.

2) Diplomacy is much, much better - not only do AI diplomats work a lot harder than they used to, but the faction's responses seem more accurately to reflect their military/economic situation. Plus, they are offering much more imaginative deals off their own backs, rather than simply being restrained to ceasefire, alliance etc.

3) Carthage and the Seleucid Empire seem to have been beefed up. Not sure if this has been done directly or whether they are benefiting incidentally from improvements to Phalanx (Seleucid pikemen) and the resolution of the missle bug (Iberian Infantry now more effective in early game). Anway Carthage is giving the Scipii a run for their money on Sicily and the Seleucids are actually expanding better than Egypt!

4) Saw my first storm within a few years - yay!

Well, I would have liked kill speeds toned down a bit, but it's not a massive problem. As far as I'm concerned, the game is now worth the near £40 I paid for it on October 1st!