RTW: Patch comparison

[OldSchool]

Thanks for the info, guys.

The problem with official readme's, of course, is that they aren't likely to tell you about new bugs introduced. I hadn't thought to check the 1.5 to see if the loadgame bug had been fixed. Thanks for the reminder.

I haven't decided about using mods,yet, as I'm having quite a bit of fun tweaking the text files myself at this point. Both of those mentioned look like good ones.

The game is quite playable and enjoyable unpatched, but if the patches help the AI, I would like to use them. My main concern is the loadgame bug where the strategy map AI breaks of seiges and such. That would kill it for me. I'm not quite clear about which patch introduced it and which, if any, fixes it. I hadn't heard of the archer bug and will research it before deciding.

Thanks alot for the info and quick responses. This is one of the best game sites going and I wish others were more like it.

Does sucking up help one upgrade from junior status?

[Ludens]

The load-game bug was either introduced by 1.2 or already present in the original game (I incline to the latter hypothesis, but the evidence is not conclusive) and is fixed by 1.3. There seemed to have been a residu of it in 1.3 though, as the A.I. seemed unable to commence naval invasions unles you reloaded the game (a sort of reverse load-game bug), but 1.5 fixed this too. Both 1.2 and 1.3 improved tactical and strategic A.I. Don't forget to download the additional campaign fix from the site: it is not crucial but restores the Roman's ability to build Temples of Epona (provided a sacred circle is already present).

[OldSchool]

Thanks Luden. I know in my unpatched version, the AI is still seiging when I load a saved game and I didn't want to break that aspect of the game. Although, come to think of it, I just got backstabbed by the Germans and I wasn't prepared for it, so I may be wishing they would break off between turns.

Speaking of Epona. I was quite looking forward to building some of those temples as I like cavalry (who doesn't). I took all of Gaul and just finished taking Spain and they had built sacred circles to other gods in all of their cities. Not one single Epona. I don't regret enslaving them the least little bit, now.

Thanks a lot!

[Ciaran]

The general sentiment is to get patched to 1.5, but you might want to try 1.2 as well. If you don´t save and load very often it´s not that bad, in my opinion at least. It´s definitely the best option if you don´t want to dl the hundred-and-something MB of 1.3, which is a prerequisite for 1.5. As well, 1.2 will allow you using siege towers on every wall level and your cavalry can charge into the rear of phalanxes without getting slaughtered (search for "butt-spike" if you want details on that particular issue).

[OldSchool]

Thanks for the info, Ciaran.

Unfortunately, I do have to save and reload often due to limited playing time. I guess I'll go ahead and bite the bullet and patch all the way. So far in my game, the archers don't seem to melee unless I get too close to them and my cavalry seems to be able to take on anything even head-on, much less from behind. Anything called "butt-spike" can't be a pleasant experience.

I had hoped one of the patches would fix the kamikaze generals and idle enemy armies standing around, but I guess it is not to be.

I thought about staying unpatched and offering comparisons for the bug-finding threads, but I guess it wouldn't be much use since I doubt very many are playing unpatched these days.

[econ21]

I think the patches do help with the inactive enemy armies. At least, AI expansion seems more dynamic in RTR Platinum (based on 1.5) than RTR Gold (based on 1.2); they also make more use of naval landings.

Kamikaze generals is not such a big problem to me - yes, the AI general usually charges in and dies, but - unlike say Shogun - it does not seem to be that decisive in battles (the AI is going to lose anyway) or in destroying factions (lots of replacement generals for a suicidal faction leader).

I'd strongly recommend a mod such as RTR Platinum that "fixes" a lot of the most commonly raised complaints about the gameplay (e.g. the uber cavalry you note) and historical accuracy of the game.