3.4 changes

[Quinn Inuit]

3.4 is nearly done. Just one little bug to hunt down before I release. In the meantime, here are some images and a changelog.

Changes:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

-Remove Palaepaphos in Cyprus
-Rename Antigonea to Lychnidos (Unnecessary--removed Antigonea)
-Remove Wonders, as it appears their effects cannot be totally nerfed.
-Maybe make Ptolemaics Greek, but with Egyptian cities (population unhappiness) {Nevermind. Tradeoffs not worth it.)
-Give Pyrrhus a Mac unit (not going to work given DMB constraint)
-Add Jamey's new map and Sarmatia changes
-Fix Elis-Rome resource issue
-Get Epirus a recruitable general
-Add Bladerunner900's spear thureophoroi
-Remove highest-level Parthian barracks and stable, make sure they can build elephants at the second highest/new highest (instead collapsed the trees--they can wait for elephants, IMO)
-Nerf Parthian and Armenian generals a bit
-Make sure all factions but Rome can build Samnites or something in Rome AND Capua
-Remap eastern section
-Make Bosporan leader's name Paerisades, but double check that's valid
-Tarentum-Appollonia land bridge
-Took away shield bonus for shieldless Berber Javelinmen
-Took away AP javelins for Numidian cavalry...AFAIK they didn't have super javelins like the Iberians or Romans
-Move Tylis's port 1 pixel to the west (Aradan's idea)
-Remove stables and practice fields, make siege engineer next level of foundry tree (then move to militia barracks to avoid CTD!)
-Allow other factions to recruit in Epirus (fix w/thureophoroi)
-Check Rome's building capacities in the Macedonian AOR (fix w/thureophoroi)
-Add 1 secondary HP to HA
-Add HoH's forced script shutoff
-change Corsica to Etruscan
-Let Seleucids recruit Epirote-colored thureophoroi?
-Give Greeks a recruitable general
-Add Bladerunner900's fixed Greek officer
-Fixed German berserkers' weapons
-Epirus can now build siege weapons
-Took away ability of Celts to build ranged units at L2 aux. since they used relatively few ranged units
-Add Zigana Pass
-Regularized auxilia building bonuses, gave some love to barbs
-Test efficacy of tax_red
-Take away Gallic province in Central Gaul (the one on the right) and replace it with the one right below it, with Gergovia.
-Take away XP bonus for ALL ships (esp. Carthaginian) in the EDB.
-Add new CTD fix
-The late Roman legionaries, the Sagittarii Auxiliaria, Cohors Auxiliaria and the Equites Exploratores are all described as part of Octavian's reforms. If we dump those, that's 5 slots freed.
-Add Galatia to Macedonian WCs
-Make Carthage have to outlast Romans_Julii, not Scipii
-Change name of Adana to Konya
-Add a region in Central Europe north of the Alps - Rhenus/Bavacum
-Make city in G. Superior = Augustobona Tricassium
-Allow Macs to recruit thureophoroi in Greece on lower-level barracks. They can't build anything now.
-Reduce merc XP to 0 or 1 in rare cases.

New images:
New region of Margiana, with city of Merv (Alexandria in Aria is below)



New city/region of Alexandria in the Caucasus



Zigana Pass (now you can recreate Xenophon's march), and in the upper right you can see the Dariel Gates, now the only pass through the Caucasus (the original ones)



New region at the mouth of the Rhine



Italy-Greece landbridge to encourage historical AI expansion



Accessible Egyptian ports



New region of Tanais



New region in Iberia to help with AI expansion (need to change its rebel name)

[Scutarii]

Great. One question: Would it be possible to make the Italy Landbridge an install option? Or disable it for when the player is Rome?

[Fridericus Rex]

Making the land bridge optional, would be excellent.

I am for it!

[Quinn Inuit]

I don't know how to do that, but I suppose I could upload an alternate map. Could you try it with the landbridge, though? I'd really like to know how it plays out. This version and the next couple are deploying major changes for 4.0, and I'd like to see how they playtest. If, for instance, this feature goes over poorly, it'll be removed prior to 4.0.

[hellas1]

Hi Q.I.,

Remember to ask, that dude's name, to add the XGM to 3.4!

THAT would ROOOOOOOOOCK!

Thank you sir!
hellas1
P.S. When you posty EXRM 3.4, +Reppy comes to you!

[Finn]

Great work Quinn!!

I'm hoping that Carthage will be more aggressive in Iberia with the extra region they get.

[Quinn Inuit]

Hi Q.I.,

Remember to ask, that dude's name, to add the XGM to 3.4!

THAT would ROOOOOOOOOCK!

Thank you sir!
hellas1
P.S. When you posty EXRM 3.4, +Reppy comes to you!

Thanks, but I don't think adding XGM to the ExRM is possible. We can only have 20 factions.

Great work Quinn!!

I'm hoping that Carthage will be more aggressive in Iberia, with of the extra region they get.

Thanks. That's my goal with that region and its placement. It should help them make the move to Carthago Nova.

[Scutarii]

I don't know how to do that, but I suppose I could upload an alternate map. Could you try it with the landbridge, though? I'd really like to know how it plays out. This version and the next couple are deploying major changes for 4.0, and I'd like to see how they playtest. If, for instance, this feature goes over poorly, it'll be removed prior to 4.0.

No problem. As long as its open to changes if the feature goes poorly, I'm more than willing to try it out. It is possible to do with an installer, but its probably easier if you didn't.

[Quinn Inuit]

Pretty much everything is open to changes, although I still don't think I can fit the entire XGM in.

Here's the release plan:
3.4 - Fixes + New map
3.5 - Illyria replaced with Pergamum + New units for Dacia, Armenia, etc. (those need to be done together because I'll need Illyria's DMB spaces for the new units--Pergamum has fewer DMB requirements)
3.6 - Hording Galatians. This gets its own release because it will be the first version incompatible with RTW and Alex. 3.5 will continue to be supported, though not developed for.
3.7 - Anythings else that needs to be playtested
4.0 - Superfactions replacing Numidia and Britain. Expect to see extensive beta releases of this. I want this to be a flawless release of what will hopefully be an awesome mod.

[Iskandar]

Ilipa is actually north of Gadir not, east. Near to modern-day Sevilla. Do you have it where it is now for gameplay purposes? If so, could it work if Ilipa was in its real place, but the borders of the regions were changed?

Do you think we really need two superfactions? If one works OK, we'd have another playable faction slot...

EDIT:
What is the number of strating regions for Parthia and Bactria? As of now Parthia still gets trampled by the Seleucids or the Bactrians pretty much every game.

[dancik]

i think these changes are very interesting especially the Italy-Greece landbridge (because of problems AI has in naval invasion we just spoke about). Really i don't understand why a roman player needs to disable it ! Historically macedons or greeks didn't invade Italy (excepts Pyrrus, who still starts in Italy in the game) but i think this was possible and romans need to have troops in south to prevent attack from the sea.
At last i want to ask why you don't use the landbridge solution between iberia and africa and between england and europe (i think a landbridge from africa to sicily with maybe weaker numidians can help carthaginians to be more active in Italy).
Now we know the proceed of history but our ancestors not!

[pannonian]

Are the steppe and desert provinces going to be amalgamated in 3.4?

[Artetius]

Could someone give me a link to read about these 'super factions' (search was a no go)? I have no idea what they are proposing.

[Finch]

hi i love this mod since it was released a long time ago keep up the great work and im waiting impatiently for the new release

[despot_of_rhodes]

Artetius:
I think, you maybe should search RS and XGM for more info about superfactions.

Quinn: I´m not sure, but is it possible to make some merc available only to several factions with BI engine? ( maybe one could solve the problem, the Gauls and Germans have with depopulating their cities, if one woulld allowd them, to recruit lots of cheap mercs, so they would be able to rise huge, but low morale armies, when Romans, especially played by human, tries to invade their lands? ). Alternativly, a "simple" script, spawning at least 1/2 stack army near each besieged barbarian town every turn could a. make taking cities quite challenging and b. symbolize the ablity of the barbarians to "call for allied tribes" etc., when need arise?

Btw: Speaking of Barbarians, where is Jamey?

Oh, and keep up doing the great job

[Pat89]

Great work QI

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Do you maybe have problems with road connections in Iberia? It looks like the combination of mountains, province borders and rivers would block many roads... Cutting of central Iberia from the North

[pannonian]

Great work QI

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Do you maybe have problems with road connections in Iberia? It looks like the combination of mountains, province borders and rivers would block many roads... Cutting of central Iberia from the North

Maybe the road network could be tested by giving every Iberian province roads in descr_strat. Similarly for other map changes.

[Emperor Domitianus]

Most of the changes are really interesting.
However what I don't like is the land bridge and the plan to wipe out the Octavian legionaries.

[Fridericus Rex]

Redman had land bridges to Italy/Sicily and Italy/Greece in his Mod which was awkward to play with constant attacks from three sides at the same time. It was no fun and took away a lot from game play.
I personally do not like battles after battles without a break for economy, etc.

I shall give the new version a try and let you know.

Fridericus

[Pat89]

I think EB used another trick... They had spots of a province bordering another target province. For example a spot of the province of Sparta located on Crete. This way Sparta has a border with Crete, which will hopefully result in The faction which owns Sparta, seeing Crete as a potential target.

I don't know if it works though...