After playing Babylon on M/M and H/H, I gave up in frustration after about 10 campaigns' worth. Lydia always, ALWAYS gets obliterated by Ionia very early on, Mada and Parsa always ally each other, and somehow both of them never backstab each other, but always betray me and team up on me.
So eventually I thought well hmm, since this game is called "Rise of Persia" I might as well try Persia. One of my first campaigns was with the Bessoi on H/H, and I dominated everyone and everything with them. Until I ended my turn, and got a CTD that wouldn't let me play that campaign anymore. I've noticed this with my other campaigns too, that "end turn" CTD really needs to be fixed.
Anyhow, I played as Parsa on M/M and H/H, and within the first three turns I go bankrupt from upkeep and very poor income rates. The only option is to exterminate Susim, which I end up doing. Babylon is way too fing strong early on, even after I blitz their capital, they send masses of armies at me even though it's less than 15 turns. Somehow, even without Babylon giving them all their money, they are able to afford the upkeep on horse archers and even buy loads of mercenaries. And of course, when I finally fend them off and ransack the Levant, I get the "end turn" CTD.
I was only able to ransack the Levant however, not hold it. They all rebelled within a couple turns because Babylon is too fing strong for me to hold those large towns. And somehow, absurdly rich. And what a coincidence, LYDIA never attacks Babylon. They just make peace.
And Mada? Mada always backstabs me. Mada never attacks Babylon, like they did when I was playing as Babylon. Mada never blitzes Babylon's capital. Mada makes peace with LYDIA and focuses all their attention on me.
Babylon always attacks Susim. ALWAYS. And even though they have just a few crappy infantry, they overwhelm me through sheer numbers and horse archers, somehow affording the upkeep.
So I have the ingenious idea to agree to pay Mada an outrageous tribute over a few turns for their towns closest to me, then cancel the tribute. I blitz for Hagmatana. Same damn thing. Mada somehow has plenty of armies, even with the loss of more than half of their income, to not only withstand me but push me back and take back their old cities. And then Babylon blitzes Susim.
And the occasional "end turn" CTD when I'm actually doing a little better. Whenever I reload that save, it keeps CTD when I end turn no matter what, so I have to restart the campaign.
Seriously, all I see on this forum is blah blah blah about the Greek Factions or Egypt. If this is the Rise of Persia, then why the hell is Persia the hardest faction in the game, and literally impossible to get anywhere?
This mod seriously needs some Parsa improvement and some Babylon nerfing before I consider installing this crap again.
And fix that god-forsaken "End turn" CTD bug. This mod was god-awful.
And I'm sure someone will say "just use the add_money cheat". That ruins the whole point of it, if I need to use a ridiculous cheat just to get anywhere.
For the love of God, take some attention away from GREECE, and put it on PERSIA.
EDIT: It would also be nice if you could actually destroy the barracks buildings. If I was able to do that, then I could've ransacked Babylon and take away their unit techs, but since it cant be destroyed, what's the point in playing as Persia.