I've noticed a few problems today that I feel are pretty major and persistent. I felt I should share them with everyone, including accompanying images. All games were played on VH/VH, Long with Milan or the Moors (the two camps I tried since I patched). And YES, I am patched. I do see v1.1 in the top right :P
1) Passive AI Persistance? (Or just DUMB AI!)
This could either go under Passive AI problems or possibly just bad and dumb AI.
While playing as Milan, Sicily sent three units of feudal knights and a calvalry to attack a settlement. This wasn't a bad move, considering the settlement only had three militia (It was the closest Island to Rome, can't remember the name). However, I simply pulled away my main stack from it's desired destination and sent it flying at the Sicilians. Rather than running, they stayed to fight!
300 vs 1800+ men. Expecting a simple battle, I lined my four units of crossbowmen in front of the huge army of militia, marched them forward.
I stood nearly DEAD center with them, and unloaded on them. They did NOTHING! They didn't move, attack, or anything! They should have withdrew from the siege to begin with (considering the odds) but stood their ground. Even stranger, in the face of all these men, they stood their ground. I killed every single one with crossbows. Not a single of their unit ran. They all died where they stood. It's the only time I encountered possible passive AI, and so far, thats a good thing.
Accompanying Screenshot:
2) Suicidal or Small Invasions / Diplomacy Hack!
No screenshot for this, but i've noticed as Milan I constantly have the Moors, Sicily and Venice sending a unit or two to attack, or even a full stack. Often when this happens, I just am forced to send my full stack and repel it. One time, I decided to attempt to negotiate with the Sicilians as they began to lay siege. I offered a cease fire, and found out that I could also get 1500 gold to boot! Now, I imagine the reason why is because my armies in the city so outnumbered these tiny little invasions. However, this occured nearly three times or so with Sicily in a 25 turn period before I nearly gave up on the situation.
3) CRAZY Aggression
AGGRESSION = GOOD! I mean, I love the whole, they can't get enough of attacking you. It provides for a good game. However as Milan, within the first few turns I was attacked by a tiny cadre of Sicilians. Expectable. However, the next turn, the MOORS showed up! They invaded and blockaded me with one ship and like two militia! I couldn't believe it! What the hell were the Moors doing in Italy on turn seven?
This strange aggression that seems to be focused towards the player alone just seem weird. In the 25 turns I tried to play Milan, the Moors and Sicily constantly took turns throwing their tiny stack at me, forcing me to pretty much run a stack between two islands where they kept persisting to invade. EXASPERATING and annoying. No good honest to god invasions or battles; just tedium.
which leads into the final problem:
4) Pre-Programmed grudges or early rushes
When I say early rushes, I do mean like, Zerg-Like rushes. After playing 30 turns of the above problems with Milan I decided to start a new game with the Moors.
I'm going to link to a screenshot and let it do the talking:
That stack showed up on my doorstep as the Moors on turn eight. Not a single peasant in it. All cav and infantry. It looked like Sicily found every unit it could, got it on that boat and spent two or three turns shipping it to my doorstep.
Now I don't know if some nutty Sicilian/Milan/Moor aggression triangle has been created, but in 1.0 I NEVER encountered rushes or tiny invasions like these on the amount that they happened so early in the game.
It almost seems like the computer is either sucidial or hell-bent on killing you, at the expense of everything else (defense, economy, etc.)
5) Pre-Determined Agent Missions
Not so much a bug as a prevention of cheating by quicksave+load to make sure people don't do that to get agent success. Agents now no longer have randomized chances each turn to succeed. If you fail, load and try again, you will ALWAYS fail. Normally this would appear unscientific in an assasination as in reality, you can't predict the % to come out exactly as such.
But in trying to have a princess seduce a prince with a %40 chance or so, I QS'ed, and attempted. She failed, disgraced, and married him. I QL'ed twenty or so times, and EVERY time the same result. I let a turn pass, and tried it again. Ten times she attempted, and succeeded, EVERY time. Let another turn pass, and this time she failed, rejected, ten times.
So, just a heads up: QS/QL for agents doesn't seem to work anymore. Not a bug but a definite change.
I have no idea if I somehow messed the patch up and caused this, but it's just some problems i've noticed I thought needed to be addressed in detail because I haven't heard anyone else mention them and figured i'd say it out loud and see what I could find out from others.
-Glen
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