Are do-nothing factions normal for EB?

[Intranetusa]

I'm using BI.exe (should be better) and Germany hasn't exanded a single city. It's 235 BCE and they only have a single city. I've given them 300,000+ money through the command line but all they've done is create crap loads of merc armies that stay within their own territory.

Is this normal or is this a BI.exe problem?

[spirit_of_rob]

what difficulty are you playing on?

[Intranetusa]

I'm on Medium Battle, Very Hard Campaign, with the BI.exe program.

I've given Germany around 400,000 so money shouldn't be a problem.

Is this a glitch with the BI.exe campaign AI?

[Teleklos Archelaou]

That's actually how we plan all the factions - to not do anything. Good to hear it's working! Might be the first thing we've done right!

[Intranetusa]

That's actually how we plan all the factions - to not do anything. Good to hear it's working! Might be the first thing we've done right!

[Boyar Son]

That's actually how we plan all the factions - to not do anything. Good to hear it's working! Might be the first thing we've done right!

Yet another great leap for the EB team!

[Revenant]

In my campaign, I have not met Sweboz yet, but Getai is completely passive... They have full stack near their starting city, but did not move it yet, I am watching them for very long time...

[Dyabedes of Aphrodisias]

The Sweboz in my game are going apeshit all over the steppes...no western or southern expansion, just pure eastern havoc. They did it by boat, too, because I asked them for a map, and they "skipped" a few provinces between their main place and where they've conquered, and the provinces they passed over are undiscovered (are still grey on the map).

[Bonny]

The Sweboz in my game are going apeshit all over the steppes...no western or southern expansion, just pure eastern havoc. They did it by boat, too, because I asked them for a map, and they "skipped" a few provinces between their main place and where they've conquered, and the provinces they passed over are undiscovered (are still grey on the map).

In my Makedonian Campaign (atm 213 bc) the Sweboz are expanding pretty well, they are at war with every other faction which sorrounds them (except Karthadstim and the sauromate, with the first they have formed an alliance agains the gauls and the Romans (who are losing, Karthadstim fullstacks are conquering Italia from the south and 2 Sweboz stacks are attacking from the north).

the Getai have done nothing until i have conquered them after 50 years of peacefull coexistence.
The Lusotannan have, too done nothing until Karthadstim begun to conquer them and the provinces sorounding them, but they seem to survive, at least for a while.

[Intranetusa]

you guys are all using RTW.exe instead of BI.exe right?

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Just check out the AI progression thread. It shows plenty of examples of BI and RTW campaigns. Sometimes some factions stink it up in a given campaign, while they will tear it up in others. Only the steppe factions and pontos I'd say are consistently woeful. Even those have flashes of brilliance from time to time.

[Fondor_Yards]

Just check out the AI progression thread. It shows plenty of examples of BI and RTW campaigns. Sometimes some factions stink it up in a given campaign, while they will tear it up in others. Only the steppe factions and pontos I'd say are consistently woeful. Even those have flashes of brilliance from time to time.

In my Roman campaign, the Getai *1 town* and Sweboz *0 towns* have done nothing, but the Iberians and Armenians are expanding very nicely for a change.

The Steppes/Pontus have been really bad in this one, Saka taking 2 towns, Sarmtians taking their typical 2-3 towns, and Pontus and Parthia being destoryed by the Seleucids

[Sheep]

This is my Baktrian campaign in winter 249. VH/M using BI.exe (same as the OP).

As you can see the Germans have torn it up in only 23 years.And I was especially surprised to see that the Sarmatians have already grabbed two towns in Europe!

The Romans and Macedonians have expanded nicely at the expense of Epeiros. The Aedui have taken several rebel provinces and are getting the upper hand on the Averni.

Dacia has conquered one rebel province, the Lusotannans two, the Armenians two, the Pontics and Parthians two (I think). Even Saba has gained some provinces (1 by revolt from Seleukeia). KH and the Ptolemies were kicking ass for awhile. KH had conquered most of Greece south of Pella, but the Macedonians are romping on them now. Egypt had expanded in Asia Minor and down the Arabian coast (they once had a border with Saba), but now the Seleukids are crushing them and about to take Memphis.

Sadly the real do-nothing faction in this game is Carthage. They just took Messana about a year before this screenshot was taken. I'm not exactly sure but I think it was their first conquest.

[Fondor_Yards]

Sadly the real do-nothing faction in this game is Carthage. They just took Messana about a year before this screenshot was taken. I'm not exactly sure but I think it was their first conquest.

It looks like they took three towns in inland west africa too, Kirtan, Siga and Cydaus.

[Zim]

I've noticed factions sometimes get "stuck" after reducing a rebel garrison to the general's unit, who by then has triple gold chevrons and a huge number of command stars. THis happened in my Arverni game with Rome and Patavium, then suddenly Rome exploded onto the map with three giant stacks of high experience, high quality troops.

I actually lost a battle against one.

[Gask]

Yes ive seen that time and again where the rebel city has nothing left in it but a high star general who single handedly repels army after army till he dies of old age or something.

As for my campaigns, Pontos is usually the first faction to die. Parthia tends to be left alone and not do a whole lot. The gauls tend to tickle fight each other for decades and do nothing. Saba is well... Saba, ditto Casse. Getai usually do nothing, same with Carthage. Steppe peoples just hang out at home. Sweboz either go real aggressive or move slowly. Iberians never do anything at all. Macedon usually gets devoured by the eropites and the greeks.

All in all the real movers for me are usually always the Selucids, Egypt against the Selucids, Rome and the Eropites. Sometimes the greeks go east but not always.

Giving obscene amounts of cash to the single settlement factions early on can sometimes get them to do something Ive found.

[Brightblade]

the way you phrase your questions makes me want to cry deep inside.

EB's goal is to make do nothing factions... moron.

[Tellos Athenaios]

Hey, the Saka are agressive now 7times in a row, Saba has conquered Sabata, Armenia is a little stuck, Pontos has taken Sinope but is busy infiltrating Nikaia, Sarmatians are enjoying steppe life aka haven't taken anything - but they have sort of tried. And next: there's Casse busy taking Brittain (and quite succesful at that, also for the nth time in a row), Lusotanna has failed to take Tyde, and since then have decided to do nothing significant ever again. Sweboz is stirring, the Aedui are trying to expand... Romans agressive, Koinon agressive, Carthage moderately agressive suffering from long supply lines, Baktria into Khotan, Parthia in a fierce struggle for that settlement to the Northwest, Epeiros busy keeping the Maks and Romans at bay. Maks holding on to everything they got.

[Redmeth]

I my Sauromatae campaign with the BI-exe the Getai and Sweboz are clearly not passive they even started a war for gordu-neuriji and the Lusotannan started fighting Carthage, well Pontus is screwed and I've conquered the Hai but definetely not do-nothing.

And check out the Sweboz in my Casse campaign also BI-exe:

[Ower]

Wow look at the west: Rome, Aedui, Sweboz, Epirus, Getai- almoust everybody borders the Romans there, plus a bit to the sout, KH is doing interesstingly, and the macks are roling quit well as well.

[Foot]

I'm using BI.exe (should be better) and Germany hasn't exanded a single city. It's 235 BCE and they only have a single city. I've given them 300,000+ money through the command line but all they've done is create crap loads of merc armies that stay within their own territory.

Is this normal or is this a BI.exe problem?

Its hit-and-miss, sometimes a faction will expand other times it won't. But would you really want a game where the factions did the exact same thing all the time. If the sweboz don't advance, then the gauls have more chance of success and may thus prove a tougher battle when you reach them. Basically, we have them expanding almost how we would like it. Remember not everyone is supposed to build an empire.

Foot

[Geoffrey S]

I'm not too bothered, really. Considering the fact that a number of the factions represent fairly small kingdoms or whatever, that didn't expand a huge amount anyway, it only seems logical that they won't always do that in every campaign. They other extreme, of course, is hugely expansive factions such as that seen in some campaign screenshots with the Sweboz; perhaps that could be limited by an income cap at certain sizes for certain AI factions, to at least keep things feasible and interesting for the player.

the way you phrase your questions makes me want to cry deep inside.

EB's goal is to make do nothing factions... moron.

Yeah, the way you phrased your answer (is it even such?) is so much better.

[Intranetusa]

the way you phrase your questions makes me want to cry deep inside.

EB's goal is to make do nothing factions... moron.

i thought the EB script had some type of event that makes factions dormant and then unleashes crap loads of units for expansion at a certain time...

[Foot]

i thought the EB script had some type of event that makes factions dormant and then unleashes crap loads of units for expansion at a certain time...

Nope. Nope, not at all. We have a money script and that is about it.

Foot

[Intranetusa]

Its hit-and-miss, sometimes a faction will expand other times it won't. But would you really want a game where the factions did the exact same thing all the time. If the sweboz don't advance, then the gauls have more chance of success and may thus prove a tougher battle when you reach them. Basically, we have them expanding almost how we would like it. Remember not everyone is supposed to build an empire.................Nope. Nope, not at all. We have a money script and that is about it.

Foot

Foot

kk, thxs

[Boyar Son]

i thought the EB script had some type of event that makes factions dormant and then unleashes crap loads of units for expansion at a certain time...

REDO

i thought the EB script had some type of event that makes factions dormant and then unleashes crap loads of units for expansion at a certain time {insert insult here}...

[Thaatu]

Why are people so hostile again...

As for AI progression, I'd rather see factions "freeze" for a hundred years than have two faction left after fifty. More realistic that way. There are of course those who don't play for realism, whose opinion differs from mine, so there's no practical solution for this other than minimods.

[Dyabedes of Aphrodisias]

Everybody's expanding strangely in my campaign. KH migrated to Asia Minor, the Ptolemies and the AS haven't touched each other, the Sweboz went into the steppes, skipping a couple provinces so they now have two main areas, the Aedui aquired some random steppe province while they clutch onto Mediolanum, and the Lusotannan haven't done anything other than fight constant wars with Carthage. The Getai are gone, and now I have to face the Black Death.

[Kugutsu]

i thought the EB script had some type of event that makes factions dormant and then unleashes crap loads of units for expansion at a certain time...

Doesnt that time usually coincide with ab about 220BC, when the über rebel generals start to die of old age. Then the AI has a chance of expanding.

[Intranetusa]

Doesnt that time usually coincide with ab about 220BC, when the über rebel generals start to die of old age. Then the AI has a chance of expanding.

Was that what it was? Cuz I read something like that in another post. I think that's what I meant then, thxs