Challenges

[tigger_on_vrb]

There have been a few threads discussing how to make the game harder, longer etc, so here is my suggestion. We have a fantastic resource of MTW players who probably enjoy the same things about the game as us so lets use that and suggest challenges for each other. Then people can give feedback on which are most challenging / fun.

The challenges could use restricting certain units, self imposed rules etc etc

Heres one to get the ball rolling -
Italians, expert, early
Rules - no building any ships at all!
Challenge - win (60%) before the start of high.

Comments and further challenges greatly appreciated!

[bretwalda]

I'd rather have a challange where I can use all the finesse and tons of money AND still IS a challenge...

[Ironside]

I'd rather have a challange where I can use all the finesse and tons of money AND still IS a challenge...

Up trade income to the ports to 120% instead of 20%. The comp will earn more money than you on your trade-network.

[tigger_on_vrb]

This was really aimed at specific challenges which are possible without modding the game.

[Ironside]

This was really aimed at specific challenges which are possible without modding the game.

Fair, but that is a mod that you can make in 5 min, using wordpad.

What about only being allowed to use UM, archers, spearmen and the (former) hiers royal knights.

To spice it up a little, troops gotten by crusades and jihads are allowed.

[bretwalda]

Wouldn't it be boring? The battles would be rather repetitive... I mean you could also play ALL battles with autocalc now that would make it more difficult but not too much fun either...

Now to be a little more constuctive: what about only using fleets to protect your coastline and have ships for trading only one step (=sea territory) more?

Or you could just play the Germans and attack everybody that borders you the time you get a common border (this resembles to the ALLWAR scenario of civ3)

[Procrustes]

I started a camp as Novgorod in early (vanilla MTW/VI, used the -ian switch). I'm nearing the end of early now, and I've built every troop enhancement I can in Khazar, Volga, etc. I'm hoping to provoke a truly big&scary horde assault - just to see if I beat it. It's been a fun camp - start w/ basically nothing, economy is tight, I've been picking fights with all my neighbors, and my rulers are poor leaders. (My current heir apparant - the one that will probably be in charge when the horde arrives - is an adulterous unhinged chinless wonder-loon.) Just before the horde arrives I'm going to move a zillion men to the east in hopes that it will make the horde bigger.

[ShadowMagnet]

The way I see it - self imposed restrictions don't count for much. The game is not meant to be one of "oh-sorry-I'm-not-supposed-to-use-CMAAs" sort.
Personally if I ever again find myself playing a campaign which I only give 65-75% of my best - I'll delete MTW from my hard drive full stop. IT IS NOT FUN AT ALL. The player is supposed to use ALL of his (hers) brain power trying to overcome the odds, not bloody 70%, now, is (s)he? What is the point slacking off and giving AI an advantage and still tw**ting it senseless in the end? Trying to design a challenege for myself from the very start of any campaign is seriously frustrating. AI will still not give me a fair fight and if I start losing I know I just have beaten myself at my own game again. It's like playing chess against yourself.
The only virginal goal remains to complete turkish camp on GA/expert/high. After I've done that I just don't know what there is left for me.
This is why I beg CA on my knees:
- give us a multiplayer campaign option in the future!
- PLEASE!!
- I don't even know how it's supposed to be done but it really seems the only way to keep games alive for longer these days.
Frogbeastegg - my personal guru in terms of MTW knowledge - got tired of this game some time ago and has moved on.
Perhaps I've been enjoying MTW long enough and its the time to call it quits.

[lilljonas]

There comes a time when the AI just isn't a challange, no matter what. And that is not neccessarily a fault of M:TW, you'll find it in all games. That's why a multiplayer campain mode would make all the difference: you would play against others who *also* knows all the tricks. As it is, M:TW has provided me with almost as many gaming hours as CIV II, and that alone is a powerful merit. I can't fault the game for losing some of my interest after so many hours.

[mercian billman]

Have any of you guys checked out some of the old PBEM threads in the throne room?

PBEM is probably the closest to a multiplayer campaign there is and most games do set restrictions, such as no attacking kingdoms with the same religon, and role playing leaders etc.

[ShadowMagnet]

There comes a time when the AI just isn't a challange, no matter what. And that is not neccessarily a fault of M:TW, you'll find it in all games. That's why a multiplayer campain mode would make all the difference: you would play against others who *also* knows all the tricks. As it is, M:TW has provided me with almost as many gaming hours as CIV II, and that alone is a powerful merit. I can't fault the game for losing some of my interest after so many hours.

Very true my friend.
I'm sorry for that outburst.
I'm just frustrated that my favourite game of all time has started wearing off on me.

[CountMRVHS]

If a game stops being fun for me... I tend to start playing another game. That doesn't mean I delete MTW from my hard drive. It means I've just momentarily lost interest, and I move on to something else.

For me, the attraction to MTW is all about the historical period, and recreating some grand bloody battles. A long time ago I decided for myself that it was silly for me to go off and conquer half the world as the English -- so I restricted myself to GA goals. To this day I only play GA. That doesn't mean I always stick to the GA goals themselves, but usually that's what I do. It certainly makes the game more tense, as you watch neighboring factions become superpowers, try to scrape together enough money to launch a Crusade, and hope you won't have to defend yourself against that monster stack waiting on the border.

Basically, I try to limit myself to what I think is "realistic" for the particular faction to do, and then grab a few extra provinces if I need to do that.

But when this gets tiring, usually that's the time when I find I'm ready to give RTW another spin, or fire up Stronghold2, or get back into the wonderful Thief series that I love so much. It's not the end of the line for MTW. I don't resent the game for not being 100% fun 100% of the time. I know that something will happen in the future to make me want to come back: either I'll see the trailers for a new movie (Kingdom of Heaven, anyone? Those trailers got me back into the game a month or so ago), or I'll start thinking about how much more fun the battles are in MTW than RTW.

Anyway, that's just my take.

CountMRVHS

[BAD]

I know that something will happen in the future to make me want to come back: either I'll see the trailers for a new movie (Kingdom of Heaven, anyone? Those trailers got me back into the game a month or so ago), or I'll start thinking about how much more fun the battles are in MTW than RTW.

Anyway, that's just my take.

CountMRVHS

Exactly! Me and my housemates saw that film the other week. As soon as we got back one of em started up MTW and started playing as Teutonic Order! (XL Mod) And I'm inclined to play as the Crusader states soon.