Hey,
I just found and installed this mod. I'd like to add my thoughts and questions.
Firstly, vanilla RTW is an excellent game. I bought it when it was released but didn't play it until this easter weekend (it was so addictive I had a full 48 hour session where I didn't sleep!). There are some problems with it though, notably in the area of AI. I found that I had to "mod" a file to reduce the rebel spawn amount, because the game was becomming impossible (I built all the right buildings, had low taxes, garrisons, you name it, but couldn't find the sweet spot to keep the people happy!).
Next up, the AI was a bit daft towards the end-game. I built forts garrisoned by strong legions next to each Ally town I intended to take when the time came. I thought the AI would realise what I was up to and declare war before my build-up was complete. It didn't. When I decided to execute the end-game, I just launched the legions at the said towns and the onslaught was too much for the AI to cope with. Game over! I would have thought that building a fort in any area under the control of a neutral or ally would at least cause the senate to tell you to leave the area, as it does with some other factions.
Finally, the combat AI. I love the battles, but there are set ways to win, including (if possible), move to the corner of the map to prevent AI flanking and making repeated cavalry charges at the wings of his army or from behind him. If the AI saw my cavalry and massed to counter charge, the game would be much more challenging. Often it doesn't!
Ok that said, I thought I'd install this mod. So far it seems like a totally different game. I love the skins on the soldiers especially. It now feels less like the arcade and more like the real thing. I also love the increased time it takes to fight battles, although I'm determined to fight one battle per day to stop myself from losing any more sleep. Enemy AI is still a bit daft though. For my first battle the AI had a unit of heavy cavalry, but the cavalry stayed at the capture point in his fort, rather than repeatedly charging my units who were bogged down at the gate (charges from the side would have won for the AI I'm sure).
Question: what changes are there to the AI in this mod, if any? I imagine they are hard-coded, perhaps and that modding them would be difficult. It would be interesting to fight more varied AI approaches, with some generals being clever and some daft. As a Software Engineer who majored in AI at University, I appreciate how hard this problem may be (but heuristics to improve things would be possible of course).