Turn Time & Aging

[econ21]

Your post prompted me to write this in the forum FAQ:

It's a temporal paradox. One turn covers roughly two years. But characters age one year every two turns. I recommend not thinking too hard about it.

OK, you're not satisfied? Well, in defence of CA, characters will last as many turns as in RTW, which arguably is long enough to get used to them but not so long they last forever. Two year turns arguably allow technology to develop before the player has completed his victory conditions - in MTW, most players would never get the chance to play with Gothic knights.

Still not satisfied? I recommend not thinking too hard about it.

You are right, though, apparently it does seem crazy and irritating to most posters.

[Dooz]

Uh oh... I was under the impression that this could be modded. Is this not the case? So even if we mod it to be two turns a year, or even four, the aging ratio will still be the same? That seriously hurts, and I can't not think too hard about it! It's one of the biggest points of roleplaying!

[Maizel]

Does modding the timescale 2.00 thingy also affect the characters aging?

[Biggus Diccus]

Does modding the timescale 2.00 thingy also affect the characters aging?

Setting the timescale to 0.5 will cause all chars to age properly. Be aware that it will take forever before certain events occur.

[Bob the Insane]

I was thinking some more on this, specifically the debate as to whether or not the increase the build times by x4...

Woould that not through out some of the missions (i.e. build a church in x turns) if the build time for the think ended up longer than the time alotted...

After I complete my first campaign in normal I am going to tryy one with the Timescale set to 0.5 and see how it plays in comparision...

[Darkmoor_Dragon]

I was thinking some more on this, specifically the debate as to whether or not the increase the build times by x4...

Woould that not through out some of the missions (i.e. build a church in x turns) if the build time for the think ended up longer than the time alotted...

After I complete my first campaign in normal I am going to tryy one with the Timescale set to 0.5 and see how it plays in comparision...

I've been playing at 0.5 for some time and there is no need to change anything else at all (h/vh settings).

Indeed it plays as though this was the intended setting: there isnt too much money, ageing feels right, buildings aren't too slowly built and so on and so forth.

I'm at 1136 in (years) in the campaign and I'm nearing large city status and the "top" of some parts of the tech-tree *for that time*.

If, as suspected, the advances into gunpowder and similar are date set then the upshot is that i'll have a fairly extended period of play before gunpowder units arrive on the scene - and for me that is just fine and dandy.

As I've never played the 2.00 time-scale for more than 30-40 turns I have no idea how advanced a player would *normally* be at that number of turns (112 or so).

[Bob the Insane]

I've been playing at 0.5 for some time and there is no need to change anything else at all (h/vh settings).

Indeed it plays as though this was the intended setting: there isnt too much money, ageing feels right, buildings aren't too slowly built and so on and so forth.

I'm at 1136 in (years) in the campaign and I'm nearing large city status and the "top" of some parts of the tech-tree *for that time*.

If, as suspected, the advances into gunpowder and similar are date set then the upshot is that i'll have a fairly extended period of play before gunpowder units arrive on the scene - and for me that is just fine and dandy.

As I've never played the 2.00 time-scale for more than 30-40 turns I have no idea how advanced a player would *normally* be at that number of turns (112 or so).

Oh... sweet...

You think you will win the game way before the campaign runs out though??

[Lord Condormanius]

Setting the timescale to 0.5 will cause all chars to age properly. Be aware that it will take forever before certain events occur.

not to sound stupid, but...How does one do this?

[Polemists]

I dunno i don't have a turn time or againg issue in MTW 2, i've had about six emperors, all died of natural causes, we're in the fourth generation, i'm about half way through game, so i'll end about eighth or ninth generation. I have experienced gothic knights, gunpowder, and egypt is still most advanced lol. I like the turn system and aging. I guess if you figure 3 generations per 100 years tho, and the game goes 5 centuries, you should have 15, I guess if you want more diversity you can but i like my leaders to at least age and make a name for themselves.

[econ21]

not to sound stupid, but...How does one do this?

Edit the "timescale 2.0" line in the descr_strat.txt to be "timescale 0.5".

The file is usually located in:

C:\Program Files\SEGA\Medieval II Total War\data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign

Double clicking the file will open it in notepad. But note that the file is read-only - you need to remove that property in order to save edits (right click on the file, choose properties and untick "read-only").

Obviously, make a backup copy of the file first before messing with it - just in case.

[Lord Condormanius]

I can't not think too hard about it! It's one of the biggest points of roleplaying!

I agree.

[Lusted]

Characters age 1 year every 2 turns, so if you mod it to 2 turns a year, they will age 1 year a year. But the campaign wil last for 900 turns.

[Lord Condormanius]

That sounds good to me. I was actually hoping for that. I figured we would get at least as many turns as in Rome...certainly not less.

Whatever the case, i hope someone fixes this thing soon. As an historian, it is difficult for me swallow this...and I know it's just a game, but CA has always tried to make things realistic.

[Lord Condormanius]

Characters age 1 year every 2 turns, so if you mod it to 2 turns a year, they will age 1 year a year. But the campaign wil last for 900 turns.

Any idea how I can do that, bearing in mind that I don't know how to do any modding? Because really, that is my only complaint.

[Lord Condormanius]

Well...

I am 30 turns into my first campaign using the 0.50 timescale, playing as England. It is now winter 1094 and the first crusade to Jerusalem has just been called. Not bad timing, only a year early. Wm. the Conqueror has just died the previous summer at age 62, I think. The pacing of the game seems perfect right now. I have 2 fewer territories than I did after 20 turns on the 2.00 timescale.

I think it has to do with money. I seem to remember monet generating more per turn at the 2.00 timescale, which leads me to believe that the game generates florins by year rather than by turn.

So far I like it a lot better this way. We'll see how it turns out after another 500 or 600 turns. My slogan is going to be "Byzantium by 1453" ... or maybe not.

LC