A Proper Empire: Terra Incognita v1.1.0 - Discussion and Suggestions

[rollinnse]

I know that this has been mentioned before, but :"try it, it really works. Plus not only that, by 1750 you will be so filthy rich, you can build and support two, and I have had as many as four schools." is the biggest problem I have with this mod.. any chance that the ballooning economies will be fixed at some point?

[ODaly]

A while ago, there was some discussion on how to get the economy to plateau, but it's an issue within the game design itself. There are too many ways to increase your nation's income, but costs do not rise at the same rate throughout the campaign. The biggest culprits are the trade theaters which can very easily skyrocket how much cash you pull in each turn.

[Dago Red]

In that case the -% bonus to the weavers, metalworks, lumberyards, etc do not help. I'm paying far less for everything now than I was in the beginning, it's pennies for a unit of line infantry now. I love the satisfying feeling of "making it" (and rolling around in my 700,000 pieces of gold), but I just bought another country and still have that much money left....

Somehow prices for certain things should increase, not decrease over time, perhaps that last step in the building chain can be a trade off -- lose the decrease bonus in favor of prestige -- add a note about the inflationary costs of great quality lace.

[ODaly]

I think the rationale behind upgrades being cheaper than the first level of building is that it's easier to remodel/add-on to a building than build it up from the foundation. I think a couple of the easiest ways to prevent overinflation would be to:

1. Increase schooling costs per upgrade. High-level schools should be expensive and rare.
2. Decrease price of trade goods from trade theaters. A couple small fleets in Africa and the Indies bring in a massive fortune.
3. Elite/experienced troops (and navies/artillery especially) should have higher maintenance costs. This wasn't exactly the age of provincial levies in times of war, but large standing armies were not exactly common during peacetime. Maybe something (rebalancing of costs) to encourage the recruitment and disbandment of conscripts, militia, and fresh line inf depending on war involvement.

[Krixux]

Hi me again ...(annoying I know)


1st
The point is that, as I’ve said a while ago, I’m quite addicted to this APE-TI , I mean Darn !!!
I play Skyrim, plus cool mods, I go EVE on-line and earn some 100 EURO RL / month !!!, and NO , I have to come back to this APE-TI time and again ,WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME !!!!!
Anyway my point is that when I go berserk with this mod , I kind of hope it lasts forever... thus mea culpa : my Late campaign starts in 1735 (ahem) ....could it end in like 2170 ?!
I33t ... You stopped with this mod as far as we figure,... but You DO realise the huge potential for this .... I mean is perhaps THE best mod ever, and I say this from an “Elite” (1984 ..remember) point of view... gather your energy again m8, rally your fans around, and this APE-TI will rock the game world !

...2nd... I was reading in Sub-mods - “Colonisation” and is so cool, what can I do to mess around ?

3rd the French Republic Line infantry look messy and sooo pitiful , (me and my obsession with the French...) anyway Flikitos in “Tricorn to Helmet”

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=389000

has some Faint-cool - dashing units for the Republic... no news from him (?)...
　
BTW : I just build a 2nd PC just with this ETW mod on it ... waiting ....kinky...
...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

could the Early campaign begin like in 1670 ?.

[mmhh]

Hi,
I like this mod very much, but i am very surprised with its economic system: income decreased greatly (gold (!!!) mine gives only 200), while expences increased far much. It there a way to bring back vanila resources and income bonuses from industry, mining and trade?

[Krixux]

Hi,
I like this mod very much, but i am very surprised with its economic system: income decreased greatly (gold (!!!) mine gives only 200), while expences increased far much. It there a way to bring back vanila resources and income bonuses from industry, mining and trade?

hehe that the point - in late game u get tooooooooo much gold - the point of a game is to be challenging at any time, with lets say,

150 000 / turn income is overkill and not challenging, ... Thus this is the goal of APE_TI = to make us struggle till the last minute = win against all odds ... !!! and then when u win - You Win !!!

[grandpa]

you rock krixux...nice to see you back around these days.
yes, i am lurking behind every bush, even though you don't see or hear me lol.

mmhh, krixux is right, the lack of gold in the early game, is a struggle, then when the gold starts to pour in, everyone wants to kill you...so the struggle continues.

I am in 1750 ish in my UP campaign currently, and am yet to be awsh in gold, yet I am being attacked from everywhere except the british.

You are so right krixux, this is a masterpiece worthy of the hall of fame. It just keeps you coming back for more, just like my mom's cookin.

Cheers to you both, as great adventures await!

also noticed the 6th was your one year anniv. for TWC...congrats

[mmhh]

to grandpa: you're right, there is a need to tune down the lategame goldflow, but economiclly the income bonuses dont have sense: for example, in my UP campain i have to spend 7500 for a goldmine and it gives me only 180 per turn. Combining with tax rate as 35% in the region, the mine will give only 63 gold to my treasure. Payback time: 7500/63= 119 turn!!! The same for other resources, including trade ones. It makes no sense to build any improvement, cause you will win the gave before they will be profitable. Ok, maybe some guys likes this balance, but i asked how to return vanilla economic system or manually change bonuses. Which .pack file should i edit?

[l33tl4m3r]

to grandpa: you're right, there is a need to tune down the lategame goldflow, but economiclly the income bonuses dont have sense: for example, in my UP campain i have to spend 7500 for a goldmine and it gives me only 180 per turn. Combining with tax rate as 35% in the region, the mine will give only 63 gold to my treasure. Payback time: 7500/63= 119 turn!!! The same for other resources, including trade ones. It makes no sense to build any improvement, cause you will win the gave before they will be profitable. Ok, maybe some guys likes this balance, but i asked how to return vanilla economic system or manually change bonuses. Which .pack file should i edit?

119 turns in only 40 years.

I usually spend WAY more than 40 years playing a campaign. I'll admit that "winning" was never really taken into account when playing APE: TI, it was more about playing the game and not winning the game.

Feel free to zip up your save and I will take a look at your exact values and let you know what I see!

[mmhh]

119 turns in only 40 years.

I usually spend WAY more than 40 years playing a campaign. I'll admit that "winning" was never really taken into account when playing APE: TI, it was more about playing the game and not winning the game.

Feel free to zip up your save and I will take a look at your exact values and let you know what I see!

Here is my save. I am doing well in America, but Spanish didnt built many mines in S America (they didnt use indian slaves, he-he?!!). Personally, i'd prefer to increase unkeep cost for land and marine troops, preventing you and AI from spaming multiple stacks if your pocket is empty.
http://depositfiles.com/files/rjgi22rhs

[Beastro]

Has the issue with factions not replenishing their ships been fixed in this mod?

It is extremely depressing and anticlimactic to find a faction go stamping around and amass a horde of warships, that when fought, are half sinking with only a dozen guns and a few dozen men onboard which only results in a brief boarding action en mass.

[grandpa]

Hey Beastro. You will have to repair/ replenish at one of your ports.

[Dago Red]

Pretty Beastro's talking about the AI ability to repair ships, not player ability. AI does not seem to repair its ships.

I have a question regarding the colored lines/map borders around territories... does anyone know of a way to remove them? or is there a compatible mod that deals with them in some more visually appealing way? The neon green is so offensive and totally out of touch with the artwork of the rest of the map. Someone at CA should be shot.

[Charles Macleod]

I've started playing the game after successfully downloading the mod. However, in some areas I can't recruit. I usually play as the British. In parts of America and the northern-most province, the recruitment tab shows a (-) sign next to the turns it takes to train the unit! In this case, no recruitment takes place. Can someone please explain why this is? How do I carry out recruitment in ALL my colonies?

[Dago Red]

You are simply out of manpower for that theater. There are several other threads about this every few months (in fact there is one right in the main forum right now) it must not be explained clearly enough in the FAQ. Lordy, lordy.

One of the main reasons that A Proper Empire stands head and shoulders above all other ETW mods is exactly because of the manpower and supply feature. No more human growth dungeons churning out hordes to infinity, no more army stack spam from the AI until the map is covered in non-decisive repetitive battles. And most importantly, no more throwing men willy nilly into every fray in sight.

They are your blood and treasure. You have to plan a little, strategize, and move army groups around sensibly because not every town can raise it's own army out of thin air. It's very realistic and with a little forethought is a much more rewarding game (it also gives you more to do in the campaign).

Just do what the British (and any colonial power) would really have done and ship some men, or an entire army, over from Europe. Eventually, if you let your supply replenish, you can recruit more in America. All the info is listed in the pop up window -- refer to FAQ if you need more info.

And be nice to your men!

[Charles Macleod]

Apologies. I am at fault for not reading ALL the threads available. I started playing this after work and I was very tired! Having played it for a while now, I am beginning to understand the many differences compared to the unmodded game! It isn't as action based as before, with more emphasis on actually building the empire as opposed to just marching across the whole map! It'll take some time to get used to!

[Dago Red]

Well after you've read each and every thread here, you will have quite the grasp!

I think you'll enjoy it by what you've just said. If you have other queries I can almost guarantee nearly half of them will turn up in a keyword search (just make sure you search these forums only for relevant answers). Apart from that there are a few rabid APE:TI fans around for whom Napoleon and the rest just doesn't cut and are more than happy to help you!

Couple other things right off, you will also need to watch your academic expenses -- academies cost money to maintain in this game. It was not possible to implement the cost into the finance panel so you have to just be aware of it (clicking on any school type building will show you its cost per turn in advisor pop up). For Britain you don't have to worry much about it unless you are fiscally abusive, but for other factions, especially minor ones (all of which are unlocked for you to play) it is a massive concern. Nothing more powerful than knowledge, and it ain't free!

If you start up a late campaign (another awesome feature) you might notice even more issues here, you might have to shut a school down to stay out of the red. Hard times.


Difficulty. This mod is not easy, you might need to play it on Normal/Normal (which is in fact what it was specifically designed and balanced for). Also, even though there is no more stack spam from unlimited armies, you might find yourself incapable of subduing even the most backwater Germanic city state whilst involved in a war against another opponent. Mostly this is due to a huge increase in Foreign Occupation resistance. You will need a large occupying force (use garrison policing units like dragoons and other specials to help).

[Irishmafia2020]

I still play and love this mod... I was just playing a brutal Venetian campaign this weekend - continuing from earlier play this summer, and I just cannot climb the mountain toward becoming a major power... My little nation has a twenty year game history that is epic - wars with the Ottomans, Russians, Pirates, the Greeks, and worst of all the British. I could be a superpower were it not for the British... They invaded Italy, and my army was destroyed while destroying the Brits, but only my neighboring powers benefited... I traded a hard won empire in North America for peace with the Ottomans - I couldn't maintain it with British opposition anyway... When I finally drove the Nationalistic Greeks back from Eastern Europe, Russia came storming to their rescue - the same Russia that appeared to be destroyed by Sweden only a few years before! Ugh, the drama of this mod! My only complaint is that by 1740-50 only superpowers are left - 5 or 6 massive empires that have conquered everything on the map, and I am never one of them! Anyway this mod is still one of my favorite to play after years, so Great job! My steam account lists ETW at 378 hours of playtime - and I can say that most of that has been on this mod!

[ODaly]

Ah yeah Venice is one of my favorite campaigns as well. You're a small, up-and-coming empire right in the middle of everything. I take it you're playing on hard or very hard? England is very aggressive if playing on any difficulty higher than normal.