Gameplay issues in Blue Lotus

[Orb]

The Mongols have a veritable horde of HAs at their disposal. As soon as they can conquer demon (Fozuo?) rebel towns and not get CTDs, I think they could easily grab China for an early trade start.

Or alternatively, if you reduced Mongol unit upkeep (their major beginning problem), then that would be a great way of keeping them balanced. IMHO, the Demons could do with a disadvantage... those Wang Liang... so good...

[Opeth666]

Mongol unit upkeep should be very small. Mongol horse warriors were expected to fend for themselves during campaigns. No food or fodder was provided to them whatsoever. That's one reason they were so destructive. Also, any city that did not surrender was entirely put to the sword and burned to the ground. Maybe Mongols should only have an "exterminate population" option available, no capture or slave-mongering. Or, if that's not actually possible, just a massive trade penalty. In general, they should be a low-income, low-upkeep type of faction.

Also, are shaolin monks supposed to have 30 defence, including something like 20 armor? The export_descr_unit file states leather armor, which should give you about 4 armour. I don't think I've seen even elite units with an armor rating that high. Their defence skill is only 9, though, which is the same as elite imperial guards. I think that should be a bit higher, like 11, to account to their insane close combat prowess.
This only applies to the monk island shaolin monks, not the mercs.

As to the naval trade issue, without more trade, the Chinese factions are completely handicapped in the second half of gameplay. To get the same balance of income/spending as in vanilla Rome, I had to cut unit costs almost in half.

[ikon]

Also, are shaolin monks supposed to have 30 defence, including something like 20 armor? The export_descr_unit file states leather armor, which should give you about 4 armour. I don't think I've seen even elite units with an armor rating that high. Their defence skill is only 9, though, which is the same as elite imperial guards. I think that should be a bit higher, like 11, to account to their insane close combat prowess.
This only applies to the monk island shaolin monks, not the mercs.

I think youre right when you say they shuld have higher defence skill.
As for the insanely high armor value... mmm, I think it must be some magical protection... dont you think?