RealCombat 1.3 Battle Mechanics Released

[Point Blank]

RealCombat 1.3 Battle Mechanics

RealCombat 1.3 is complete and available for download. RC 1.3 includes many changes to improve realism and balance, and is most significant update to the mod since RC 1.1. It will also hopefully be the final one before the M2TW: Kingdoms expansion, for which there will also be a RC conversion.

RC is an attempt to create a more realistic M2TW combat experience via the modification of a number of crucial stats for all units, using a consistent and detailed framework.

Please read the accompanying 13-page guide to gain a better understanding of what this means and how it has been done.

RealCombat Features
Some RC features include:
Armor System
-armor values derived from actual forces required to penetrate different armor types
-heavier armors significantly more effective
-variety of shield types, some of which alter defense, eg smaller buckler is effective in melee but less versus missile fire

Weapon System
-attack values derived from actual forces generated at weapon impact, for both melee and missile weapons
-42 weapons modelled in all
-defense values derived from usefulness of the weapon in parrying or blocking, ranging from swords (best) to 2H axes (worst)
-weapon attack speeds favour balanced weapons such as swords, heavier AP-type weapons with mass at striking end take more time between attacks
-weapon special attributes re-worked
-more complete treatment of polearms - types, attacks, defenses, speeds and anti-cavalry and phalanx bonuses
-more complete treatment of crossbows as they evolved over period covered by game
-weapons generally overmatched by increasingly strong armors, leading to much greater use of polearms, crossbows etc
-all weapons balanced for animations
-extensive balance testing overall
-improved treatment of pikes and polearm phalanxes

Unit Class System
-five unit classes: Peasant, Militia, Average, Quality and Elite
-each gives bonuses or penalties to attack, defense, attack speed, missile accuracy, cost and the usual morale etc

Unit Type System
-four unit types: Foot Melee, Mounted Melee, Foot Missile, Mounted Missile
-each further modifies attack, defense, attack speed, missile accuracy and cost
-leads to total of 20 Unit Class/Type combinations, each with unique bonuses and penalties

Mounted Combat
-horse armors now have effect vs missile fire and in melee
-variety of lance styles alter charge bonuses, from early/light lance used by Mailed Knights through to extra heavy lance used by late units such as Lancers
-non-couched spears have reduced charge bonuses compared to couched lances
-horse mass values updated
-heavy mounted units now very effective in melee
-mounted archers suffer accuracy penalty depending upon weapon used

Missile Combat
-complete re-work of all missile accuracies
-all accuracies altered by unit class, ie peasant archers are out-shot by elite archers
-higher class archers cause more damage due to heavier draw poundages, opposite for low class
-ranges at which effective fire can be delivered altered by unit class
-crossbows and firearms suffer less and gain less from use by low and high class units
-shooting times altered by weapon type and sometimes unit class
-ammo loads altered
-weapon velocities, impact masses, usability in rain and direct/indirect fire capabilities altered for realism
-artillery stats altered for realism

Cost Model
-unit recruitment costs and upkeep costs derived from actual medieval sources
-cost calculations include as factors: armor type, mount type and armor, training cost, wage, unit type, unit class, weapon type, training and discipline level and other factors

Animations
-all stat values balanced for animations
-some units use re-assigned animations more appropriate to their weapon type
-improved unit cohesion

Other
-Special units eg Forlorn Hope and Hashishim re-worked
-Generals' stats and costs re-worked
-cavalry unit sizes reduced by 25% for better balance and more tactical gameplay
-extensive input and overall testing by community
-13 page guide included so users can generate their own units
-there will be a RC Kingdoms conversion and all units will be balanced between that and Grand Campaign
-and more!

TO INSTALL
Copy the contents of the 'data' folder to the M2TW data folder or your mod's data folder. Make sure you are running the game with --io.file_first if in the M2TW/data folder.

In the data folder:
-Sorry, no more support of 2HP generals and special units. Especially with generals stats bonuses and the new effects of horse armor, they are just way too powerful with 2HP. Other special units have been given additional bonuses to compensate
-If you are using Burrek's units mod, copy the contents of the burrek_units.txt to export_descr_units.txt
-If you are using Dismounted Knights mod, copy the contents of the Dismounted_Knights.txt to export_descr_units.txt

RC also includes Serious Samurai's polearm mod which gives the English bill (polearm) units a much more historically accurate 8 foot billhook, and some much-needed anti-cavalry power. Thankyou SS
It also includes some other files which improve the look of smoke, muzzle flashes, explosions etc. That work was not mine but obtained from the 'Projectiles effects modification' available for download from TWC.

Many thanks also to all who have contributed with valuable testing, editing, suggestions and feedback, and especially to the regulars in the old RealCombat 1.0-1.1 thread, at 55 pages short: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=82671, if you have a spare few days it makes interesting reading!
The RC 1.2 thread is at: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=111093

All feedback is very welcome.

1.3 Main Changes and Improvements
Please read the following thoroughly if you are used to using RC:
-Padded armor value now 3 rather than 4 to better comply with armor upgrade system
-Firearm accuracies changed and attack delays added to slow rates of fire (affects better quality units less)
-Crossbows (not steel crossbows) and firearms now affected by rain
-All Firearrows slightly reduced in accuracy
-Improvement in accuracy of gunpowder artillery
-Reduction in accuracy of non-gunpowder artillery
-Many projectile velocities updated
-Addition of Light (or Early or Low Quality) and Heavy Crossbow types to better simulate evolution of crossbow during period covered by game, all crossbow ranges updated, see RC guide for details
-Crossbows and firearms no longer capable of indirect fire, line-of-fire is now more important with these weapons
-Bow and crossbow ammo loads altered. Order (less to more) is: Steel Crossbow, Heavy Crossbow, Longbow, Crossbow, Composite Bow, Light Crossbow, Bow. This is for realism and also improves balance
-Rate of fire for heavy and steel crossbows slightly reduced
-Mounted missile accuracy penalty now varies by weapon type, from light crossbow (best) to longbow (worst)
-Tower ballista now causes small damage to siege machines
-Many missile weapons can be fired through a greater range of angles to enable better shooting rates from behind battlements etc
-Sherwood Archers given accuracy and range bonus over Retinue Longbowmen
-Hashishim and Battlefield Assassins given +1 attack, +1 defense, disciplined and highly_trained
-Forlorn Hope extra +1 attack and -1 defense (now +2 and -2 total for 'desperation') for additional value as an assault unit. Also lock_morale, they win or die trying!
-Yeoman Archers have been given accuracy, range and cost between 'quality' and 'elite' to better fit in with English unit roster
-Projectile masses altered to reflect impact force
-Increased attack value by 1 for most non-AP melee weapons to better balance with animations, missile weapons, AP weapons and higher armor values for platemail or better in RC 1.2 onwards
-Removed disfunctional spear_bonus from polearm units and replaced with mount_effect
-Poleaxes, 2H axes and 2H swords given very small anti-cavalry bonus for longer reach
-Polearm phalanxes more vulverable to cavalry frontal attack (uses spear attribute rather than long_pike)
-Polearm types have more variation in attack, defense, attack delays and effects versus cavalry
-Horizontal spacing of pike units varied by unit quality and reduced slightly to compensate for reduced stat_charge_dist distance causing increased penetration between pikes
-Barded, mailed, eastern armored and armored horses add some armor to total, see RC Guide for details. Late-period very heavy cavalry is now best fought with the right weapons - polearms in melee, pikes or other heavy cavalry
-Complete re-work of mass model
--------less differentiation between foot units
--------more differentiation between mounts
--------reduction in mount/foot mass ratios
--------polearm units have extra mass to help compensate for excessive vulnerability to cavalry
--------small mass boost for pikes
-Simplification of lance charge bonuses, now dependent on lance type but independent of mount type to reduce over-powerful charges
-Cavalry units reduced in size by 25% for better balance and more tactical gameplay
-Slight reduction in some terrain penalties (-4 to -3, -6 to -4) to better fit in with RC stats
-Increased upkeep costs for most firearms units because of increased supplies required and frequently higher payments commanded by those troops
-Reduction in damage from Naffatun firebomb
-Cavalry charge distance requirement raised to make charges more difficult to complete and less frequent
-Increased cost for 'Late Renaissance' Plate units (Lancers, Gendarmes)

1.21 Main Changes:
-Improved missile accuracy model
-Improved unit cohesion


TO DOWNLOAD
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/downl...o=file&id=1520

[Konstantin Alexander]

Excellent.

I will have a run with the new armour values for horses and the new mechanisms of pike units and report. Only that the mount-list i made in the old thread will not be used saddens me a bit. But if the result is better this way, to hell with it.

[pimparel]

Nice!!! Gonna test it.

But there is still space in 1.3 to include the HEAT discussion, which was left aside in 1.21.

[Quark]

I noticed that javelin men don't get a bonus vs elephants, may i suggest this. It reflects the combat of RTW. On that note, units which use the phalanx formation should get a negative.

SSv4.1 version uploaded

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Quark I checked the EDU, all foot javelin units have mount_effect elephant +6.

[Hobbеs]

Great that you included this fancy projectile effects! I couldn't combine both of the heavy modified descr_projectile.txt files of yours and the other mod.

And another question: Do the changed shooting ranges clash with formation or AI battle files? Using some from Lusted I have the feeling that archers come to close to your units to shot. So I was guessing that ranges could be written into the AI files...

[Point Blank]

Should be OK with Lusted's AI. There is some chance that units will be in-range at start but only for long-range shooters or units that have a height advantage.

[GrandViZ]

I like your changes to the projectile types, but not the artillery ones. So I merged my artillery settings (getting rid off CA fantasy values for projectile mass and useless accuracy) with your extended quality based projectile values. See attachment for the file.

BTW, by changing the artillery section, you have reintroduced the mortar bug, so that it wont fire on a target on the same ground level.

I also like the return to more realistic mass values.

Finally I noticed, that you still use the descr_wall.txt settings, that I proposed a long time ago. What is the feedback of the RC users on the increased HP, and is there need for any improvements.

@hobbes
I have also attached the config file from Ultimate Battle AI, that has better stand off distances for ranged units.

[Quark]

PointBlank
Check out Turkish Javelinmen and Sudanese Javelinmen.

GrandViz
I know on the SS forum the feeling is that walls are fine, but that gates may be a bit strong, so that a ram is mostly useless now. But that may reflect the actual facts of medieval battles.

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GrandViZ: I ran through your projectile file and included nearly all your changes. I think about the only differences are I made non-gunpowder very slightly less accurate, and more cannon-type projectiles as ground-bounce rather than shatter. Oh, and also javelin as 0.1 mass rather than 0.05, as it was noted that a hit with a javelin had insufficient 'stopping power' at 0.05. So now we have 'Dirty Harry' javelins lol, actually in game its barely noticable.

Quark: I think that strong gates are a good thing, means there is actually a reason to assault the walls.

Altered stats for the Turkish and Sudanese Javelinmen:
stat_pri_armour 0, 4, 3, flesh
stat_cost 1, 280, 150, 65, 50, 280, 4, 70

Updated descr_projectile.txt file:

[Lumberjack]

*suggestion*

Reduce pikemen morale (I cut in half and rounded down) so they route when you break their formation. Pikemen are unrealistically powerful when their scattered

[opp]

sorry to ask this noobish question but wat file has the io.file_first line in? i done a serch of the med data folder but no luck.
also could i put this mod in 2 mods? i got ss4.1 and ltc 3.1 would it work if i put the info in each mods data folder? thx for any reply

[Point Blank]

opp: for LTC just copy the contents of the RC data folder to the LTC data folder.

The SS RC 1.3 conversion has just been released, you can find it at the SS forum, just copy the contents of its data folder to the SS data folder.

[Point Blank]

pinko: will keep that in mind and do a few tests, good idea. Does make them a bit at the mercy of the AI breaking them up by handling them badly though.

[pimparel]

Concerning the addition to an AP arrow to some bowmen... Why not make mirror units with an 'AP simulation' instead of Fire arrow, or just give it to a few units? Example:

projectile sherwood_bodkin_arrow

effect			arrows_new_set
end_effect				arrow_impact_ground_set
end_man_effect			man_impact_tiny_set
end_package_effect    	arrow_impact_wall_set
end_shatter_effect		arrow_impact_ground_set
end_shatter_man_effect		man_impact_tiny_set
end_shatter_package_effect	arrow_broken_impact_wall_set

effect_offset	-1.5
damage		0
radius		0.1
mass		0.08
accuracy_vs_units		0.022
affected_by_rain
min_angle	-80
max_angle	70
velocity	29 58
display		aimed
effect_only

projectile sherwood_bodkin_arrow_fiery

flaming		sherwood_bodkin_arrow
effect 			arrows_fire_new_set
end_effect				arrow_flaming_impact_ground_set
end_man_effect			man_impact_tiny_set
end_package_effect    	arrow_flaming_impact_wall_set
end_shatter_effect		arrow_flaming_impact_ground_set
end_shatter_man_effect		man_impact_tiny_set
end_shatter_package_effect	arrow_flaming_broken_impact_wall_set

effect_offset	-1.5
damage		1; what exactly would be the effect?
;damage_to_troops 1 ;or maybe add 1 or a 0.1 if decimals are accepted here
radius		0.1
mass		0.08
accuracy_vs_units		0.022
affected_by_rain
min_angle	-80
max_angle	70
velocity	29 58
display		aimed
effect_only

[UNHINGED_LOON]

Is this save-game compatible?

[Wolfcp11]

Is this save-game compatible?

yeah

[Quark]

Should gun powder units have frighten_foot ?

Or would that make them to powerful.

[LongPike]

Should gun powder units have frighten_foot ?

Or would that make them to powerful.

IMO only if morale in general is increased. At the moment units are rooting sometimes after only 30-40% losses (even quality units). While this may be historical it makes sieges easy for human players.

To qualify this is in SS so maybe the opposing general had some negative moral traits. I've noticed that the traits have quite a big influence on your generals (which is great) if you are away too long, don't know if they also apply to the AI.

[Point Blank]

I think they cause a morale penalty in opposing units anyway