ZX Mod Beta 2 Released

[Zarax]

Good job making the Crusades a bit expensive.... Now we won't see 5-6 crusades going to Palestina or Tripoli.....

BTW, Huns=Hungarians?!

And also, why has Mithraandir unstickied the post?!

Huns are Hungarians, it's the way many people shorten their name...

About the post being unstickied it think it's because this thread should go to one of the MTW modding forums... But then it would be overshadowed by bigger, more advanced mods that I don't really mean to compete with.

I'm now tinkering Novgorod again, it doesn't play too bad but the AI is a bit discountinuous... Sometimes it just sits down like the Danish used to while in other games it goes and conquers the steppes in competition with the Byz... At least until the horde comes

Once some other minor tweaks are finished the update should be by tomorrow.

If no one finds bugs or gameplay issues I'll start working on Beta3, which will improve high and late plus it will tinked with the units description a bit in order to fit better with the tweaks that have been made.

I might also make the Horde playable sooner or later but don't hold your breath on it...

[Zarax]

Update!

With this one I think Early is pretty much finished bar some minor tweaks or bug fixes.
As usual, your feedback is *very* appreciated!

- Overall AI is improved and now produces better unit mixes

- Added a "new" unit from VI

- Sicilian roster has been changed: no more unhistorical saxon units

temp address: http://microsoftuse.temp.powweb.com/hosted/ZxMod.exe

[Mithrandir]

And also, why has Mithraandir unstickied the post?!

I like to use the sticky feature to highlight threads, if there are 10 stickies, the stickies don't stand out anymore.

[Zarax]

I like to use the sticky feature to highlight threads, if there are 10 stickies, the stickies don't stand out anymore.

That's correct Mithandir, it can be easily noticed in the modding forums.

[Zarax]

Guys, I need some help...
Somehow the files both in my folders and the servers got corrupted in the last version...

Can someone please send me the working version they have at zarax999@hotmail.com ?

Thanks

[BAD]

/has sent email

[Zarax]

Thanks, it will be mostly useful if I will not be able to track down the problem, although I've got a few ideas on where it lies...

[Zarax]

Hmm, that was a quite early version...
If anyone got the installer .exe version please send it, that would save me a week of rollback work...

[Zarax]

Ok, I've got the closest release thanks to Barocca, it looks like the game didn't like a few AI "optimization" tricks I made...
A fixed (and improved) version will be available later this day.

[Zarax]

Ok, the fixed version is online, grab it from the second link in my sig...

The AI should now make a better use of the navy and manage better the overall economy.

[Pericles]

*Bump*

Hopefully, this thread will be stickied soon...

Cheers!

[Pericles]

Zarax:

A few suggestions:

1) It would be very helpful if the version of your mod (v2.0, etc) was labelled either in your first post and/or on the download itself. This helps to keep track of the latest version of your mod.

2) I did a little research and found out that most archers (both foot and horse) in the vanilla game have too few arrows. As most players know most in-game archers run out of arrows fairly quickly.

In real life most foot archers rarely ran out of arrows. For example, in England foot archers carried two sheaves of arrows (24 arrows each for a total of 48 arrows). In addition, baggage trains often accompanied the armies and these carried hundreds of thousands of arrows. In the Battle of Crecy about 5,000 English archers unleashed tens of thousands of arrows and not one archer ran out of arrows.

I have modified my unit production text file like this:

* foot archers have 48 arrows
* foot archers who also use swords have 35 arrows
* horse archers have 35 arrows
* Mongol horse archers have 45 arrows (they carried lots of arrows)
* foot crossbowmen have 30 arrows

I have done the above to give most archers more arrows without giving them unlimited arrows, so this would not unbalance the game.

[Zarax]

Thanks.
Well, most updates are just minor things, so there aren't major gameplay changes between them, marking a new version should get a bigger work...

Anyways, I'd increase the arrows for most archers but there are some gameplay issues to evaluate, as events like the horde would be much harder to manage as well as factions like the turkish... You really need the archers to give pause in longer battles, otherwise any superior tactic could be countered by a spear wall and "death from above"...

[Pericles]

Thanks.
Well, most updates are just minor things, so there aren't major gameplay changes between them, marking a new version should get a bigger work...

Anyways, I'd increase the arrows for most archers but there are some gameplay issues to evaluate, as events like the horde would be much harder to manage as well as factions like the turkish... You really need the archers to give pause in longer battles, otherwise any superior tactic could be countered by a spear wall and "death from above"...

Yes, I have thought about the issues you raised.

However, I have found that I manage to decimate HA units long before they (HA) run out of arrows.

Your last point does raise some concerns, especially under ideal conditions.

However, I have found that AI factions, especially the Byz (with their 7 star wonder generals) can usually drive up with their mighty Saracen infantry and poke through that wall of spears.

I'm currently testing it all in-game.

Perhaps one solution would be to make the foot archers more expensive and/or force them to train for two years (in real life it took a long time to train good archers).

Just a few thoughts.

I do not want to unbalance the game; just trying to find a reasonable balance.

Cheers!

[Zarax]

Why don't you post the question in the main hall, maybe having the option to vote?

I think it's a good way to get the right feedback as after all that's where the potential users are.