XAI 3.4 For KGCM coming soon !

[brousell]

I have played 20 turns with denmark on a long campaign with huge units on V/H V/H settings, with BAI3.2X.

Dipomacy

So far this seems to be working well. At the start evey dipolamat from another faction which appoached me offerred trade rights and map information which did'nt use to happen to me.
First 6 turns all europe allying with each other
Allies seem to be more coherant attacking thier Allies enemies and making more sensible alliances...

Battles
On the battles if I now meet an even stack I can't guarantee to win, good choice of AI units and good use of flanking tactics. I really like the new penitration for cavarly, had to stop using my general's so much as they keep dying.

One seiges Ladders, rams and Towers all seem to be working well as are archers on the walls....

Have seen more small sacks roaming around than larger one's but there are large sacks around and the AI does seem to be grouping them up and reinforcing.

AI also seems to be building up thier cities and castles quite nicely from what my spies have seen...

The HRE attcked me on turn 10 and declared war with a naval blockade which was a bit questionable as at time they had no armies any where near my territory and subsequentally lost a region very quickly. I was spying on thier capital, they had a full stack in the city but did'nt redeploy any of them to defend there provience.

I was at norway with norway at turn 11 and they have more than enough troops to really challege for Scandinavia but have'nt yet.

From what I have played I think the CAI is really the only thing that needs looking at, it's better than it was but it is'nt quite there yet.

[xeryx]

I have played 20 turns with denmark on a long campaign with huge units on V/H V/H settings, with BAI3.2X.

Dipomacy

So far this seems to be working well. At the start evey dipolamat from another faction which appoached me offerred trade rights and map information which did'nt use to happen to me.
First 6 turns all europe allying with each other
Allies seem to be more coherant attacking thier Allies enemies and making more sensible alliances...

Battles
On the battles if I now meet an even stack I can't guarantee to win, good choice of AI units and good use of flanking tactics. I really like the new penitration for cavarly, had to stop using my general's so much as they keep dying.

One seiges Ladders, rams and Towers all seem to be working well as are archers on the walls....

Have seen more small sacks roaming around than larger one's but there are large sacks around and the AI does seem to be grouping them up and reinforcing.

AI also seems to be building up thier cities and castles quite nicely from what my spies have seen...

The HRE attcked me on turn 10 and declared war with a naval blockade which was a bit questionable as at time they had no armies any where near my territory and subsequentally lost a region very quickly. I was spying on thier capital, they had a full stack in the city but did'nt redeploy any of them to defend there provience.

I was at norway with norway at turn 11 and they have more than enough troops to really challege for Scandinavia but have'nt yet.

From what I have played I think the CAI is really the only thing that needs looking at, it's better than it was but it is'nt quite there yet.

Was this with beta 5? because if not restart with beta 5

I played 70 turns as Teutonic Order.Added the new BAI yesterday ,playing huge units. Lithuanians nearly beat me in an even battle now,open field near Riga.
It runs well and I'm pleased to see how well the Mongols expand, they 're in Pskov now and declared war on me by blockading my harbour.
Only criticism is KoJ is expanding too much and Egypt is far too weak.HRE is down to 1 province as is Russia. France is huge in the west and Byzantium quite strong. The other factions are not doing much as I see it.
Playing h/m

Hopefully each game will play out different..But salvation of factions, will most likely not happen with this CAI. Large factions will emerge. I like this myself, because it creates way more fun later in the game.

[Jihada]

Does Beta 5 contain other than the new BAI, is download still not working? I only see Beta 4 download.

[xeryx]

click my logo, in the signature, Beta 5 is now up in the TWC

[brousell]

(Was this with beta 5? because if not restart with beta 5)

No it was'nt have restarted with Beta 5...

Have noticed CAI (evaluation) on filefront downloads shoud I play this with Beta 5 also?

Regards

[xeryx]

KGCM Beta 5, restart game Beta 5 stuff is just separated.

[brousell]

KGCM Beta 5, restart game

Ok tks, will play today.

[Glabro]

The 2x 3x would be really great, it would be awesome to make happen and eventually it will. However, until I can exact control over the AI use of stacks to use 2x, 3x the amount of troops. Basically, the CAI needs to align with the BAI.

I forgot to reply to this, I thought the bonuses were only meant for the AI, not for the human while defending?

[ReichMaster420]

not a big issue or anything i think, but xeryx i noticed in beta5 download, some BAI files like both pathfinding files and skeleton.db, were outdated compared to your bai version X release a couple days ago

just diddnt know if that was intended or not.. cheers

[xeryx]

I forgot to reply to this, I thought the bonuses were only meant for the AI, not for the human while defending?

They are, but it is still am matter of equalizing the play.

At reichmaster, there were very little changes in those files. You can get the beta 5 BAI stuff, they are suppose to be the same..I will check that out..Thank you!!

[Jihada]

I gave up TO and playing Sicily with beta 5. Totally different game because Sicily starts with so many cities close together that it's so easy to make loads of money right from the start with markets and easy trade partners nearby.
I have huge armies by turn 30 taking over n.Africa sending loads of priests everywhere.Can I suggest making more French and Sicily cities rebel at the start.France is getting too big again.

[brousell]

I have played another Danish Campaign with Beta 5 on V/H V/H and huge units setting so I could compare the difference to my last campaign using (Beta 4)

Dipolamcy

By turn 5 there where only 2 alliances made, so your attempt to stop all the alliances early on seems to be working...

I notice that when dealing with other factions dipolmats from most factions will give you Map info and Money in exchange for trade rights.

It seems that in this one Norway was not agressively attacking rebel cities to expand, I also have seen The Tutonic Order turn up on the coast next to a rebel settlement, they did not attack it and just juped back on the boat and sailed of again, at the time they where not at war with anyone and had an army large enough to do the job! This behaviour maybe something you might want to look at.
Turn 7 scotland blockading Oslo...

The XBAI is ace....

This time I did'nt attack the HRE they attack me on Turn 8, this time round they had a very good deployment of forces ready to really bring the war to me(much better than previous campaign).
Lost my first cities on turn 11
Turn 12 I got an alliance from norway..
Turn 14 Norway besieged Hamburge and is at war with my enemy (I have never seen an ally do this before..)

Turn 17 jihad called...

The mounted skins all seem to be working ok...

This was a much better campaign than BETA 4- The CAI is better in this....
If the naval invasion aspect could be improved and that factions alway's try to expand against rebel settlements ruthlessly thoughtout the game the CAI would be extremely improved on what it has been in the past. I don't know if I'm right in saying this but dipolmacy seems to favour the non agresser rather an the aggresser in this (which is no bad thing)..

Are you going to do anything with rebel armies, they are much the same as they alway where they just stand around, dont attack deployed forces or challange for cities.

I would say Beta 5 is and improvement on Beta 4
regards

[xeryx]

Thank you Brousell, for the honest assessment

[Rhythalion]

Hey there, I'd agree with brousell with his experience with Beta 5. I played 30 turns last night as England on h/m and thoroughly enjoyed it. heres my thoughts.

CAI
At turn 20 only 3 other factions had an ally, this is vastly different and I think much better from the first 20 turns with version 4 where every faction (except me as no one wanted me haha) seemed to have 3 or 4 allies within 20 turns. Very few wars between AI factions were also being fought, and when they were they seemed to be over within 5 or 6 turns, with territory changing hands in most cases.

I got alliances with Denmark, Portugal and the TO, but had to work for them all with money and maps being handed over. But it wasn't impossible and was an altogether enjoyable diplomatic experience.

AI factions grouped small stacks together and kept the armies near their borders with factions they were not at war with. When at war with me they also attacked with multiple stacks in different directions (speaking of Wales Ireland and France). I destroyed Wales within 10 turns, but went slower on Ireland. Ireland had 3 full stacks while I was at war with them but did not really seem to want to come and attack me (I had 2 full stacks around Dublin), but would resist all my advances of a ceasefire no matter how much I offered (without cheating).

I noticed France at this time grouping stacks at my border with them, but not entering it, but they were not attacking (my relations with them took a major hit when I destroyed Wales). Remembering the tweaks Xeryx made to factions when they are at war, i thought i'd try something. at Turn 20 I gave myself 100k and then offered this to Ireland with a ceasefire, I got it AND perfect relations with them. Now I was at war with nobody and had a minimum garrison at Rennes and a half stack in my castle in France. Very next turn, France attacked with a vengeance, seiging my castle and Rennes in the same turn.

Could this have been because I now was at war with no one and the tweaks you made xeryx could have influenced the AI not to attack because I was already at war? I reloaded my save and played on without gaining a ceasefire with Ireland, and France did not attack. at turn 25 I gained the same ceasefire (again with perfect relations a result) and the next turn again France attacked me. I ended up losing Rennes, but had time to bring my armies from Wales and Ireland (3 stacks in total) and lift the siege. I also attacked the french city to the east of my castle with a stack and took it. France responded with more stacks at my castle and I have fought some of the biggest and best battles of M2TW in the open ground before it. But i'll go through that in another post with BAI thoughts.

Something interesting... I had perfect relations with Ireland, so I asked them for an alliance and to attack france for 5000 gold. They agreed and shipped nearly a full stack south to Rennes, sieged it and took it (took about 4 turns for them to get it there and attack). I was HIGHLY impressed with this! I even bought Rennes back of them for 10,000 gold! Then however they loaded the army on a ship and took off somewhere else, I havent bothered to look for it yet though.

So, My conclusion in a brief sentence, is that on Hard settings the CAI is extremely good! it doesn't go out of its way to make your life hell, but is not a pushover. It seems pretty good and very enjoyable and does intelligent things.

I'll post later with BAI

[xeryx]

on the ceasefires, please cheat to see what the AI will take. I need to get a relativeness to the difficulty of that transaction. Level of difficulty will make a difference.

Something interesting... I had perfect relations with Ireland, so I asked them for an alliance and to attack france for 5000 gold. They agreed and shipped nearly a full stack south to Rennes, sieged it and took it (took about 4 turns for them to get it there and attack). I was HIGHLY impressed with this! I even bought Rennes back of them for 10,000 gold! Then however they loaded the army on a ship and took off somewhere else, I havent bothered to look for it yet though.

Yes this is very important!! and up until this XAI has never worked.

Could this have been because I now was at war with no one and the tweaks you made xeryx could have influenced the AI not to attack because I was already at war? I reloaded my save and played on without gaining a ceasefire with Ireland, and France did not attack. at turn 25 I gained the same ceasefire (again with perfect relations a result) and the next turn again France attacked me. I ended up losing Rennes, but had time to bring my armies from Wales and Ireland (3 stacks in total) and lift the siege. I also attacked the french city to the east of my castle with a stack and took it. France responded with more stacks at my castle and I have fought some of the biggest and best battles of M2TW in the open ground before it. But i'll go through that in another post with BAI thoughts.

I will have to study that more, actually the more you are at war the more opportunistic the AI is. If you are not at war, it will look very carfully at strengths and political stuff. I would look specifically, about France and Ireland..they may have been in bad relations too..it's something to look at in the AI log.

I am glad to hear the leveling is right...I really botched beta 4, I changed the wrong section, inadvertantly.

I would also like you guys to see how good the relations work between the different religions..when you get time.

Thanks for the good feedback guys!! it will really help!!

[g4m3m4st3r]

Hey xeryx, first of all i want to say thanks alot for ur hard work in making the game more and more interesting. I have tested ur beta series and got some feedbacks for ur beta5
I played on vh/vh with huge unit size scale and garrison script with some campaigns and some with it off ( i played England, Teutonic, Venice, Turks, Milan )
1.Diplomacy
The AI with no garrison script focused alot on expanding to weak and very weak strength factions. By turn 30-40 Portugal,Jerusalem,Teutonic,Wales,Milan were destroyed or left with only 1 city if it was an island like Milan) and alot of wars since turn 5 between AIs
Totally different when i turned garrison script on, the AIs made more alliances and those weak factions now got huge armies from the script and struck back like Jerusalem conquered Egypt or Teutonic overwhelmed Lithuania and Poland coz their neighbourhoods didnt have key cities with script.
If i was at war with someone the AI tended to make war with me but if i got strong or very strong 'strength' then i could easily play the game whatever i wanted. A good example is when i played England: by turn 5 France and Ireland both sieged my border cities but by turn 30 when i wiped out Wales and Scotland i could get an alliance with HRE, Spain and ceasefire with France ( they gave me 10k for it ) and then by turn 50 i was in control of the whole Britain. Another easy to play faction is Venice, i could ally with Milan, Silicy, Papal State, Spain by turn 15 and expand quickly to Constantine by turn 30-40
With Teutonic i threatened to attack Lithuania and got most of their cities through diplomacy - too easy to play perhap? The AI always accepted my proposals happily and then laid sieges and took back those cities. I let it and then use my diplomat to get them again for free and then use my main army to take their capital and game over for Lithuania by turn 20.
2.The AI battle is quite good coz of the boost morale ? but sometimes i could kill the generals with 2 units of cavalry and then win the battles easily coz it didnt protect em well especially when the generals were in royal families.
3.AI built the cities well and moved merchants all around the map but after it changed to fortress or large city then the AI seemed to be in lack of florins to build em up?
4.The growing rate for me is too low and i got to build all the farms so i could get my cities to higher lvls.
And please check the diplomacy problems and maybe take alook at navy expansion for island factions like Silicy, Moors, Ireland, England, Norway, Denmark? i remember playing France in the vanila MTW2 and Marseille got sieged by both Silicy and Moors but in KGCM France is too too easy to play coz no1 is 'free' to make war against me, England is busy with their agressive neighbours, HRE with Milan and Spain with Moors.

[pwf224]

Hey xeryx,

I had some time yesterday afternoon to test out the latest XAI, and I played about 30 turns with the TO. I have one observation that is the only negative thing I could point out after 30-35ish turns. There was one point where Poland was sending siege forces that were smaller and weaker than the actual garrison of the force. This happened twice. Realistically, no one would send an attacking force smaller than the defending force. Can the AI recognize that it is outnumbered? If so, I think these rules need to be revisited briefly. That's all I could really find negative about the latest version. I'll play on and go later into the game, but the first 30 or so turns has proven difficult and entertaining. Keep up the good work.

[Jihada]

I 've played Egypt for 30 turns.Seems ok except I just noticed my Crown Prince has the title Grand Master of the Temple and enemy to Muslims !Jerusalem and Antioch armies seem weak,I beat them easily on vh/m.King Baldwin even refused battle when he had a larger force.

[xeryx]

Larger force doe not mean a thing in this game, The AI now spends money on upgrades. So an army that is upgraded can tear up some stuff. Having a spy handy helps, please make sure we are more descript.

[pwf224]

The problem I noticed was that as the TO, Poland sent half stacks to siege Marienburg, which had a garrison of about 3/4 of a stack. The people they sent at me weren't necessarily their top troops, whereas mine were top of the line halbrudder and order spearmen, with prussian archers on the walls. Poland was sending spear militias and maybe one unit of unarmoured woodsmen, which were easily killed in a rain of arrows. Regardless of my tactics, the AI was sending 500 men at a garrison of 750 men, with troops that weren't top quality but average foot soldiers. Realistically this would never happen, and they had about a 5% chance of success.

I hope that my short description makes sense. This is one of the only flaws I could find with the latest CAI, so I feel like we are getting closer to the end product.