Questions

[caravel]

I've finally given this mod a real go for the last few days and haven't regretted it. Absolutely superb work of the highest standard, the new unit/castle icons, portraits and all of the new factions really bring this to life, balance seems spot on (I was just severely beaten in a bridge battle).

I have a few largely superficial questions, one of which I now don't have to ask as it related to the music and sound effects from STW and I've just seen that sticky thread relating to that, so that leaves:

1) You've probably read all of this nonsense before, apologies if so, but what is the limitation on religions? I notice that all clans are Orthodox Christian apart from one clan that is Pagan? Can this not be modded in any way, with religions simply renamed accordingly (I'm assuming it can't which is a shame)?

2) I noticed an error in the infamous ninja house description showing what can be trained there relating to a geisha, a bit of missing text in one of the language files perhaps.

3) The ports are called "shogun ports" why is this?

4) Please don't shoot me!

[R'as al Ghul]

Hello caravel and welcome to the mod.

We did answer some of those questions before but even I wouldn't know where to search atm, so no problem.
1) the religions can be modded to display any "religion name" we like. The idea is to make the Samurai factions orthodox (Shinto I think) and the Warrior monks pagan (Buddhist fanatics). In the final version the religions are supposed to be named accordingly but in the meantime we're still pondering what religion, or better what features connected to that religion, are best suitable for our Samurai. We may switch back to Christian.
2) I did introduce the Geisha into the game and all of its parts are there. It's possible that the one or other text file isn't correct or is missing. "STW_ninja2, STW_Teahouse2" should be the prerequisites to build her. I'm not sure if it's working.
3) barocca added that as a new piece and he kept the prefix STW or any indicator like it to keep track of the additions. Again, we plan to clean all that up in the final version. Same with trading goods.
4) No, we prefer to cut off heads. Makes for a nicer display.

We're pretty far but we're also moving very slow. I can't tell when this will be finished. Yuuki is making new castles atm but I won't have much time in the next months and I haven't heard from barocca in quite a while.

[Puzz3D]

2) I did introduce the Geisha into the game and all of its parts are there. It's possible that the one or other text file isn't correct or is missing. "STW_ninja2, STW_Teahouse2" should be the prerequisites to build her. I'm not sure if it's working.

When did this happen? I have beta_8 (not the current one that includes the maps), and my legendary ninja house says nothing about geisha. I thought it was very clear and agreed by barocca that we don't want the game breaking geisha in the game. Also, if any changes are made to the mod the version number should be incremented.

3) barocca added that as a new piece and he kept the prefix STW or any indicator like it to keep track of the additions. Again, we plan to clean all that up in the final version. Same with trading goods.

My control panel is just titled "Port". I don't see anything that says "Shogun Port".

[R'as al Ghul]

I honestly don't remember whether the Geisha is in or not.
You've played the campaign a lot and if you didn't come across her, then I guess that you can't train her.
I do know that the files are there and at one point in time I had her working.
I'm okay if she doesn't make it into the final version.
There's however only one beta_8 version.

About the port, which version are you using caravel?
I've "Port" in beta_5 and 8, but I remember that in the older versions it says "shogun port".



R'as

[Gregoshi]

I downloaded the beta 8 version the other day and I too noticed the "Shogun port".

Since we are on questions about the campaign, is it normal to have unusually long load times going FROM the menus to the campaign? There seems to be a 2-3 minute pause before the load bar begins moving - it takes only 10-20 seconds once the load bar begins to move. It isn't that big of a deal when starting out for the session, but it feels like forever after doing a game save and then resuming the campaign.

[R'as al Ghul]

I downloaded the beta 8 version the other day and I too noticed the "Shogun port".

Since we are on questions about the campaign, is it normal to have unusually long load times going FROM the menus to the campaign?

Neither is normal. I don't have the "Shogun port" in my beta_8 anymore (it was in the original beta_5) and I don't have those waiting times.

How did you install? Fresh medieval copy or over beta_5?

[R'as al Ghul]

Heh, now I know.
If a port building is completed you get the message "Shogun port completed".
Yeah, well, thanks for noticing. Obviously an omission. We'll fix that eventually.
I trust this doesn't lessen your fun?

[caravel]

Thanks for the replies, the forum is extremely slow at the moment and I'm now off to download the sound files from Shogun.



p.s. How did you get the Geisha working at all? I thought agents were hardcoded types? Did you use Inquisitors or something?

p.p.s. BTW I have just trained a cavalry archers unit and the general is called Mr "Spare Hero Slot".

[Gregoshi]

...and I don't have those waiting times.

How did you install? Fresh medieval copy or over beta_5?

Installed MTW, then VI, then VI patch 2.01. Over this I downloaded and installed Beta 8.

First run, the game crashed to desktop as soon as the campaign map flashed on the screen. Read some of the problem theads here in this subform, then dropped the screen resolution down to 1024x768(?). In the second run, I got a little further along before CTD. Alas, I can't recall exactly when this happened. Changed screen properties from 32 bit to 16 bit and ran through about 12-15 turns on the campaign map only. I was encouraged by this.

After reading that Puzz was having a hard time at normal difficulty and my campaign was at hard, I restarted a campaign with normal. I played about 20 years on the campaign map (no battles yet). I believe I was left clicking to select a province when I got a CTD again.

I'll continue to play with my graphics settings as suggested elsewhere to see if I can eliminate the CTD, but I'm wondering about possible causes for my slow load time.

Back to a campaign question, with so many clans in the game, is there a map somewhere (in game or external) to help at least the newbie with where each clan is from on the map? As the early parade of emmisaries marches to my daimyo, I'd like to know if I'm making an alliance with a clan close by or on the other side of the map.

[Puzz3D]

I'll continue to play with my graphics settings as suggested elsewhere to see if I can eliminate the CTD, but I'm wondering about possible causes for my slow load time.

Which video card do you have?

Back to a campaign question, with so many clans in the game, is there a map somewhere (in game or external) to help at least the newbie with where each clan is from on the map? As the early parade of emmisaries marches to my daimyo, I'd like to know if I'm making an alliance with a clan close by or on the other side of the map.

Start a new campaign, and type .matteosartori. at the battle map. This will make the whole map visible, and you can see each clan's provinces. You can play the game like this with the whole map visible if you want. Turn off "show computer moves" to avoid each turn taking a long time.

[R'as al Ghul]

This has to suffice for the moment:

[R'as al Ghul]

p.s. How did you get the Geisha working at all? I thought agents were hardcoded types? Did you use Inquisitors or something?

Yes, the inquisitor or GI. Basically you change the campmap piece, info text, info graphics, etc, like you would for a unit. You can't change how the agent works, though. That's the problem.

p.p.s. BTW I have just trained a cavalry archers unit and the general is called Mr "Spare Hero Slot".

Yes, known issue. You'll meet more of them. We've more names in beta_8 than in beta_5 but we've still some spare slots.

[Gregoshi]

Which video card do you have?

So as not to hijack this thread with CTD issues, see the following thread for a continuation of the CTD discussion: Crash to desktop


Thanks for the map R'as! That will do just fine!

[caravel]

Yes, the inquisitor or GI. Basically you change the campmap piece, info text, info graphics, etc, like you would for a unit. You can't change how the agent works, though. That's the problem.

I've trained one but the Geisha has no effect as I presume the target has to be catholic (and no factions are).

Yes, known issue. You'll meet more of them. We've more names in beta_8 than in beta_5 but we've still some spare slots.

A non issue, my current Shimazu campaign is going pretty well so far, but the battles are much harder, and I'm playing on the hard difficulty. The good thing is that it's not easy to simply blitz the map (or it's not easy for me anyway as I'm a bit of a turtler).

[R'as al Ghul]

A non issue, my current Shimazu campaign is going pretty well so far, but the battles are much harder, and I'm playing on the hard difficulty. The good thing is that it's not easy to simply blitz the map (or it's not easy for me anyway as I'm a bit of a turtler).

Ouch.
Hard difficulty is really hard. I'm having a hard time on normal already.
If it wasn't for the insane command star boni it would be easier.
Started a Mori campaign and took out Amako quite quickly but then Uesugi did a naval attack on me and is now stuck in Nagato without reinforcements. I may have to get rid of his daimyo there as soon as I recover from the war with Amako. Why did I give ships to Uesugi?

[Puzz3D]

If it wasn't for the insane command star boni it would be easier.

I think the command stars are working better since you reduced them, and, if you use the -green_generals switch, the command stars of the replacement taisho are reduced when a taisho dies. The vices and virtues also affect command stars both positively and negatively. I don't know if further reduction of the command stars would make the game work better. I find that most of my generals in the campaign are 2 to 3 command stars with 4 command stars being a good place to be for a taisho with which you want to go on the offensive. If I get a 5 or 6 star taisho, I find it hard to keep him at that level over a long period of time. The AI is also pretty good at loosing taishos when battling other AI clans, so I don't find that the AI clans accumulate a lot of high command star taishos either.

However, I find the battlefield upgrades to be rather powerful, and your idea of increasing the number of kills necessary for a man to get a battlefield upgrade is something I want to try. I believe that a single battlefield upgrade is giving the equivalent of a 2 command star boost which is a lot because a man can get several of these battlefield upgrades during the course of a battle, and he never looses those upgrades. That's why you can get individual men that are insanely difficult to kill in melee.

Started a Mori campaign and took out Amako quite quickly but then Uesugi did a naval attack on me and is now stuck in Nagato without reinforcements. I may have to get rid of his daimyo there as soon as I recover from the war with Amako. Why did I give ships to Uesugi?

I noticed that the AI will often use the daimyo to command a naval invasion. Initially that invasion will be successful because the AI will strike at a weak province. If you counterattack and win the battle, you can eliminate the AI's daimyo because the invasion force cannot retreat by sea. I've trapped several AI daimyos by purposely leaving a province weak and allowing an invasion, but keeping strong enough forces in adjacent provinces with which to counterattack on the next turn. The main problems with this strategy is that it slows down your expansion, and the AI clan may have plenty of heirs available.

My current Shimazu campaign is the first one where I've used a strategy of building a very strong navy to prevent naval invasions. This has worked since the AI cannot challenge my navy successfully, but it has drawn so much resources away from the land armies that I may not be able to win the campaign because I may not have enough time conquer all the provinces. I'm going to have to be very aggressive on expanding on land from this point on which is going to carry a lot of risk. So, this looks like a good playbalance between naval and land power (I'm using the modified province incomes) since it appears that it's possible to spend too much on naval power and you may have to play the game allowing the possibility of naval invasions.

By far the most difficult problem I have in the campaign is preventing civil wars which are extremely damaging.

[Gregoshi]

Do emissaries have a function other than diplomacy and spying? I ask because for a few years, I had FOUR Oda emissaries hanging out with my daimyo.

[R'as al Ghul]

Do emissaries have a function other than diplomacy and spying? I ask because for a few years, I had FOUR Oda emissaries hanging out with my daimyo.

No, I just need to tweak the agent production.
Atm the AI will rather produce an agent than ruin itself by buying troops it can't afford. Hence it spams agents. It's also difficult to keep the overview of the strategic situation without agents, in that respect it's smart to have some, but four in one province isn't doing anybody any good.

[Raz]

Heh, do upkeeps with agents work?

[Martok]

Okay, so I've started a campaign as the Uesugi. I'm not sure what to build first, though. My main province has a pretty decent starting income, so can I go ahead and focus on military building at first, or should I still construct mines and farm upgrades before I do anything else?

Also, I noticed that when I right-click on a building to see whether I want to build it or not, I can't always see what type of unit/agent it trains. Is this a problem unique to my computer (and/or the game settings), or is it a known bug in the mod?

[caravel]

Also, I noticed that when I right-click on a building to see whether I want to build it or not, I can't always see what type of unit/agent it trains. Is this a problem unique to my computer (and/or the game settings), or is it a known bug in the mod?

Which buildings did you find that did not list the units that they are meant to produce?

[Martok]

Which buildings did you find that did not list the units that they are meant to produce?

The Teahouse and the Famous Yari Dojo. And the problem isn't that the units aren't listed, it's that the text for the units/agents made available by the structure overlaps with the building's picture -- I can tell there's text behind/in front of the building pic, but I can't actually read what it says.

EDIT: Actually, I can more or less make out what units the Famous Yari Dojo enables (although it's still not very clear), but the text for the units/agents enabled by the Teahouse is completely obscured. (I'm guessing it allows one to train Shinobi/spies, but I dislike making that assumption.)

[caravel]

Ah yes in both cases it overlaps the image. I can still read it though as the text is on top of the image. Is your's below?

[Martok]

It looks like it, yes.