Excellent Mod

[Atzar]

Hey guys. This is my first time posting, but I've read TWC for a couple of months now.

I'll cut right to the chase. I just completed my first full ROP game on H/H as the Tarentines. It was an interesting game. First, Ionia absolutely slaughtered Lydia and was well on its way to doing the same to Bab-Ilu and Mada when I won the game. Athenai won this round against the Lacedaemonians, and Macedon (as usual) was stomped. The Skudata were winning the war against the Bessoi and the Autariatai when I arrived on the mainland. Magadha was winning the war against Parsa in the East, and Cyrene, Kemet and Kush did nothing productive throughout the entire game. The Balkh and Mazaka were at odds, and the Balkhs seemed to be winning that battle. Saba made occasional forays into Kemet and southern Bab-Ilu, but seemed to lack the power to make anything of their raids.

I'd like to congratulate the makers of the mod for what I think is far and away the most entertaining mod I've played thus far (including Europa Barbarorum). Occasional CTD's were a nuisance, but they were tolerable (yes, I have the latest patch).

I do have a couple of suggestions, if you are open to them, regarding any upcoming updates. First of all, I think Macedon should have a fighting chance. In every game I've played, they get whacked by the Athenai/Lacedaemon survivors or the Bessoi - whoever gets there first - without putting up much of a fight. For its part, Kemet usually holds its ground but isn't aggressive. Cyrene has done absolutely nothing in any game I've played. I'd love to see both of these two factions a little more aggressive.

I think Magadha and especially Taras have unfair starting positions due to the lack of competition around them. Barring a huge push east from Parsa (which I've yet to see in the early game), Magadha has as much time as they want to expand and build their economy, making them nearly unstoppable to other AI players. I've heard rumors that Bactria is in the works as a new faction at the next update, and I love that idea. I hope its true.

As for Taras, they either have five or seven very good cities - depending on whether they go after Sicily - by the time they even need to meet anybody else. Again, this is somewhat beyond the AI's ability to defend, especially considering that I've never seen the computer mount an invasion of Taras themselves. I've heard that Syracuse has been more or less rejected as a potential new faction, and I strongly urge you to reconsider this. If Syracuse is truly out of the picture, then I hope you consider some other faction as a counter to Taras (I've heard both Croton and the Samnites mentioned on the boards as ideas, and either one would be a nice addition)

Anyway, thank you and congratulations once again for the work you've put into making a great mod. I look forward to any future updates.

[Nero666]

Hey Atzar, welcome to the TWC! Excellent post I might add
We are happy to hear how much you like our mod. Your support helps a lot in creating updates, both mentally and technically as it also shows where improvements can be made.
Right now we're working to get the last ctds out of the game, which is a tedious task I might add as they occur more than 100 turns into the campaign, sometimes even 200, making quick tests of possible fixes impossible. But we're doing whatever is necessary so don't worry about it Also, the campaign will be made even more interesting, which includes countering steamroller Magadh and slowpoke Makedon from acting weird. What else will differ from the current campaign is still secret, but will be previewed soon

[Atzar]

If it helps, all of the CTD's I experienced were during the AI turn (frequently Ionia's turn specifically, although this is probably just because Ionia was the largest faction at the time). Usually just reloading the game and attempting to end the turn again would resolve the issue.