[STIM] Silven Total Improvement Mod [Version 4.0] - DOWNLOAD HERE - Updated September 28th 2014

[Vinicam]

Tested again, the mod clearly isn't working for me... Lost a battle by a army of slingers with 90% of my troops routing just after engage. Should I start a new campaign?

[Champlain]

I am running a 4 turn per year Spartan campaign on Very Hard with a personal quadruple research mod, quadruple build time mod and unit recruitment mod tweaked by myself. No more pulling a unit of chariots or elephants out of your hovel in one turn . With the Ancient Naval warfare mod, MechD's effects and HDR colour correction mod as well as my own weather mod, arcade effect removal, the Beta 2 patch and your work of beauty and balance I feel safe in saying this is the experience I have come to expect from a gold label strategy series that is Total War. With the inclusion of a family tree and dilemmas/faction events that have real game consequences (coin and gravitas? This release is lacking gravitas) this could be a near perfect game, I am known in my community for my frugal use of superlatives. I stopped playing mid turn to take the time to tap this out thanking you and other modders for your efforts. If I may be of service in the near future please feel free to ask and I will gladly lend what little aid or knowledge I may have, "10 Javelins did you say? Methinks 3 is enough, you carry the rest!" Again thank you and cheers!

[TheGermanicus]

than ks for the mod silven, good work. I have a few observations though, 1. melee cav and shock cav are indistinguishable from one another. I noticed this when comparing egyptian cav, light cav, and citizen cav. all have the same charge bonus and almost identical other stats and upkeep. perhaps creating a bit more disparity between them would be cool? 2. I also noticed this with egyptian archers and Nubian archers. Nubian only have a small morale increase and 1 (lol) charge bonus point extra. im happy with the state of missile troops otherwise 3. Levy/Militia troops still break and flee too early. it is better, but I feel another small adjustment could be made. thanks for the hard work!

[crzyrndm]

@Bridger15
I believe this kind of behavior would involve hard-coding an ability, in the same way that pressing the testudo button makes all the individuals change formation and position their shields in a specific way. To my knowledge, it is beyond the scope of what modding can accomplish. Although there are obviously plenty of examples of units throwing missiles while moving in the game and Shogun 2 managed to give horse archers this ability, so I could be wrong.

If he means HA being able to fire in any direction and while moving, its already ingame.

Parthian Cavalry have this attribute (mounted_fire_parthian, which is associated by default with missile_cavalry_parthian in unit_attributes_to_groups_junctions). Add parthian shot to all the missile cav groups should give them all a full range of fire (maybe add something else to parthian groups, ignore_ground_move_mod or a little extra range/accuracy for example).

Else, cantabrian circle may fit the bill.

Good luck

[prithupaul]

@prithupaul

Thanks, I'm glad you like the direction so far! Did you mean you think I should increase the fatigue rates even more? Because I've already increased them a bit.

And about squalor and food consumption, I had actually put this on the very top of my to do list but then Patch2 from CA dropped right after I wrote it down. They claimed to reduce some of the squalor and food consumption so I was waiting to see how their changes played out before deciding if I needed to make my own. I don't want to reduce them too low, I think these 2 things are really underrated when it comes to sculpting the overall difficulty of a campaign. They need to remain relevant numbers to the player otherwise things get too easy no matter what difficulty you're playing on.

About the fatigue rates, yeah Not the fatigue due to actual combat, but due to running around. In my game barbarians are running all to the way from one end to another, often chasing after my skirmishing cavalry, and yet do not seem to lose energy as much as they should. Anyway that is my experience only. Best for you to follow what the majority says.

About the squalor, I think I now know what is causing the problems for my campaign specifically. Its the constant looting done by my armies leading to an influx of slaves. Still a bit silly I think.... why should I not be able to loot a province before razing it, like the old Rome Total War.

[Vinicam]

Ok, got it working and played some rounds as Suebi.

Some points:

I'm still finding a lot of enemy armies with 50/60% skirmishers.
Non-aggression treaties are ok to get, but factions just don't want to trade, I can't understand this system, even when the faction will clearly benefit from it more than I would, they still not accept.
Levy/Militia, as stated above, are routing too fast, one of the reasons I tough the mod was installed incorrectly, when they get in contact with enemy troops, if they're getting fired from skirmishers, they rout with 90% force. Can be that the bonus you changed to morale penalties by being fired from skirmishers is too high?

Also, is possible to made your mod compatible to: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...mored-Suebi1-0
Or, if it's easy enough, to tell me how to make his mod compatible with your? Hes doing a really good job to change those half-naked colorfull mobs that Suebi starts with.

[The Border Reiver]

Vinicam, how did you get it working, for some reason it is not working for me either?

EDIT: I have the armoured suebi mod installed, a conflict perhaps?

[Silven]

@Mahgnus
The easiest way to see this is by looking at the damage done by the ranged unit. If its 15, then they are normal archers. If its 20, then they are recurve archers. If its 25, then they are composite archers. The ranges will obviously match up with these bow types as well. As to the mod you linked, I probably won't include anything like that, as it breaks the ability to throw pila when charging.

@vitch
Thanks! Glad you like it. Be sure to come back with more detailed feedback.

@Vinicam
Glad you got it working. Early routing units is a problem you say? Check the newest version.

@Champlain
Wow, sounds like you've got quite the conglomeration of mods working together there. Haha, and you're sure they're all compatible with mine? Anyway, thanks for taking the time to come say thanks.

@TheGermanicus
Yes, my next version will address the units that share too many similarities. I'm waiting to finish compiling my list of units that need their upkeep values adjusted due to being the same as another unit that is better or worse than it. This will take some time to finish, but its on the top of my list of priorities.

@crzyrndm
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I noticed a couple places in the db that looked like they might lead to something like this, but I wasn't sure what cantabrian circle was yet as I havn't played with any Parthian Cav yet. :X

@prithupaul
More fatigue while running you say? Check the newest version.

@The Border Reiver
I'll look into it and let you know if there is a conflict.


Thanks for all the posts everyone! Be sure to pass me some rep if you enjoy the mod. Hold onto your seats, Version 1.2 is about 30 minutes from release!

[kelvintyk]

Well just stumbled upon this mod after using radious' one since Rome's release. Your's seem to hold more potential in terms of balance and gameplay. Was about to download and try it till I saw your last post. Im'a be waiting for the 1.2 release before I start my new campaign. Get it out now!

[Silven]

Version 1.2 has been released!!!

This release is save game compatible with Version 1.1.

-----Version 1.2-----

-MASSIVE improvements made to Morale!

Individual units won't break as early. They will be much more situation aware. If they have buddies all around them, their general is nearby, the overall battle looks like its going well, they will stay in the fight much longer even if they've personally taken a lot of casualties. On the flip side, if they find themselves separated from the main body, flanked, surrounded with no help in sight... If they notice the vast majority of their army has either fled or been destroyed, they too will turn tail and run in self-preservation.
The importance of being attacked in an exposed flank or directly in the rear has been doubled. The tactical placement of your units and the exploitation of the mistakes of the enemy are now at the forefront. Speaking of the importance of tactical decisions....

-Global reduction in all land unit run and charge speeds.

No more units running around like ants on crack. CA actually got pretty close with Patch2, but now unit speed has that extra push backwards it needed.

-Further reduction in Kill Rate.

Minor reduction to hit chance and knockback chance. Global increase to Armour by 10. Global increase to Shield Defense by 5.

-Transport ships nerfed all around.

15% reduction in health, speed, and charge distance. Mass reduced by 10%. Ramming damage reduced by 10%.

-Fatigue while running increased for both infantry and cavalry.

Cav won't tire as quickly while running as infantry, but still faster than vanilla.

-Effects of being fatigued slightly increased.

Slower movement, slower reload speed, lower hit chance.

-Further improvements to Unit Cohesion.

Unit spacings were increased further. Rank depth was decreased from vanilla values ranging from 8 to 12, down to values ranging from 5 to 7.

---------------------

Personal tests gave me this result on my first test.

Playing an evenly matched fight on Very Hard, I managed to earn a Phyricc Victory. Both sides started with 1200 men, the same amount of infantry, ranged units, cav. We both killed 900 men on the opposition, and the fight lasted for 18 minutes. I'm so pissed I didn't manage to get a screenshot of it, I pressed Prt Scr instead of F11.

I tried different tactics on my second test using the same exact conditions, this was my result.



I actually lost this one, and believe me I was trying. I witnessed the AI using attacking testudo to great effect, units trying to hide in a nearby forest and flank me, flanking maneuvers from cav that forced me to tie up my own cav. It was a great battle.

I NEED your results!!!

[Vinicam]

Cool! I'll test the new version when I get home. Can you check for conflicts with the Armoured Suebi mod, plz?

Vinicam, how did you get it working, for some reason it is not working for me either?

EDIT: I have the armoured suebi mod installed, a conflict perhaps?

I removed all mods that I had installed, I don't really know what was causing the conflict. I had the blood effects(close combat), but that wasn't working either... I'll try again today with this update and see what happens, but probably will have problems in units stats.

[GyozaRamen]

The mod is awesome, really nice touch with Roman Legions, it's nice to have many options of tactics to use and the reworked missile units really makes me rely on the testudo, which is much better now. However i think it would be nice if you can make this mod compatible with Poniatowski1991 Full Cohort Mod because in my senses, this mod combine with the full cohort mod will somewhat reflect the realistic nature of the ancient battlefield. When i installed your mod, my all units reversed to vanilla size, which is a huge nuisance.

[GyozaRamen]

P/S: i saw one of your reply that you are having troubles with increased unit size regarding them assaulting the beach, please see the Poniatowski1991 Full Cohort Mod, i think this mod actually resolved the problem

[Jackal2233]

Just played a campaign all night on 1.1, great mod! I'm going to test 1.2 now.

[Champlain]

Yes each is edited by myself so as to remove any potential conflicts. If you look at the list most are visual mods dealing with files untouched by you, and the naval mod is a separate work effecting only naval units which I believe you have yet to touch. If you are thinking of venturing into the waters of naval combat then I strongly suggest looking at the Ancient Naval mod, I feel it stands on its own and therefore should be left virginal. Each modder that crosses "specialties" confuses the waters so to speak, so I look to Ancients for naval and you for the ground, MechD for effects, myself for the little things like weather or historical accuracy hence my 10 javelin line when three were historically accurate. You may wish to look into the "Javelin fire at will" mod, it better represents the actual chuck and charge method of the period, to incorporate it with yours or leave it to the community to self edit. It is some minor work to incorporate, the quadrupling mods I made for myself were simply just pure bull work of data entry.
Cheers!

EDIT: Missed the Transport tweak you made. Please disregard my comments on naval issues. You asked for concrete feedback, I am having my mule handed to me in most fights they tend to be very close affairs which is expected at that difficulty with the quadrupling of research and build times. Units seem to have a sort of FPS "shield", I am guessing this is the effect of the bonus hit-points attribute I see in the files, once you push through the shield they start to drop as expected although it can and will be disheartening for some to see slingers receive zero deaths from archers or other units until the bonus pool is depleted. All in all great fun. On Very Difficult routing is never or rarely an issue, I have seen a unit of 160 slingers dropped to 30 men rout, regroup and come at you again. In most battles its a 2800 or so go in 400 or so walk away affair with a good 30 minute fight, and use flame arrows on those pesky naval reinforcements, their are few more satisfying feelings then seeing a full unit of enemy troops drowned in the bay.

On a personal note I read that food and squalor may be "looked" at? I would shy away as I find it fine as is, if you do go the route of tinkering with their values would you consider a separate download for those of use happy with the status quo? I find the values at present fair and any future changes by CA to "soften" them up will be reverted to the present stats for myself.

[Defensore]

Installed your mod tonight and tried out a new Macedon campaign. After an easy victory against the barbarians just east of Pella, I decided to wage war agains the Triballi... and got my ass kicked on my first battle agains them. 15 vs 15 units. Granted, I made mess of it by myself, but still, it was nice!

[Silven]

@Vinicam
Yes, I looked at his mod in the PFM, and there are conflicts that make our 2 mods incompatible. His mod doesn't just make cosmetic changes, they change unit stats as well. He actually has a bunch of tables included in his mod that don't actually have any changes made to them. If I were you I'd tell him to try and clean up his .pack file because those unchanged tables are really going to cause compatibility issues that don't need to be there. Of the tables he DOES make changes to, only 2 of them would need to be removed to be compatible with my mod, and that is the unit stat changes. So the cosmetic part of his mod could be completely compatible. Maybe ask him if he'll make one? If he agrees to make a cosmetic version I'll be happy to let him know which parts of his mod need removing.

@Gyoza
Version 1.3 will have options for increased unit size. I will certainly provide options for 1.5x unit size, as a lot of people want it. But I'm not sure if I'll be doing 2x size yet, as all the problems that come from this begin to border on fundamentally breaking gameplay for me, which as I stated I will avoid breaking gameplay at all costs. So as far as Full Cohort goes, compatibility with this mod will never be possible. 20,000 men in ONE 20-unit stack is just simply too many.

@Jackal2233
Thanks! Any specific things you noticed, liked, or disliked while you were playing?

@Champlain
I know TWC can be to blame sometimes (believe me I want to stab it in the face with a dull spoon), but please try to format your posts a bit better for reading. You've got some good information in there but its hard to read when its a wall.

As far as leaving naval units alone, this IS an overhaul mod afterall... Haha. The idea is that you won't need to use any other mods. Eventually.

And i've actually not added any hit-points to any units. The hit-point mechanic is a dense one and hard to work around. But the goal is to make it less noticeable, not more, so I don't increase the hitpoint values, I only change values that make a hostile object (missiles, swords, ballista rocks, etc) less likely to connect with its intended target.

As to squalor and food, I am simply keeping a close eye on it for now. No plans are made to change any numbers yet, until I see a major problem.

@Defensore
Awesome! Sounds like your troops went into battle too cocky after whippin on those barbarians.


Keep that feedback rollin in my friends.

[prithupaul]

Version 1.2 has been released!!!

This release is save game compatible with Version 1.1.

Glory to you Silven. This is my third play through, and by far the best one, which I think has something to do with your mod. I just had a 16 year long (at 4TPY) "world war" as Macedonia, against a Hellenic coalition of Syracuse, Athens, Pergamum, Massilia and Seleucia, who basically brought the whole of the east as Satrapies. My eventual allies were Sparta, Rhodes, Knossos and the remnant of Egypt. Initially I was alone in the receiving end of an epic gang-bang. Nations rose and fell (thought I suspect it had something to do with constant rebellions among the enemy provinces ). While on the offensive against Athens and Pergamum, who at this point controlled virtually all of Egypt and Turkey, I fought a defensive war against my enemies in the west plus mighty Seleucia and its allies.They kept spamming huge armies at my cities, and I beheld with joy the sight of hordes of eastern cavalry wasting itself at the end of my pikes. Eventually I brushed aside Athens and Pergamum, and made a blitzkrieg + scorched earth attack focused on the Seleucids, taking them out of the war through subjugation, automatically along with all their eastern allies. Next turn Massilia and Syracuse, isolated and trembling in fear of my great victorious armies of the east, now marching to their lands, offered to become client states themselves.

One of the most satisfactory moments in my last 10 years of total war gaming.

[Jackal2233]

The spacing/unit cohesion/battle times are just right, you did it quite well. It's very tactical now especially with the new unit speeds and I like how you made missile troops more inaccurate at range which is more realistic and also makes the testudo finally useful.

They still die like crazy after their hitpoints are lowered though, even at range. I also finally learned how PFM works and decided to tweak/test the mechanics myself. I first tried to raise the testudo stats even more, but with limited difference. NOTE: I also found the spear wall/shield wall stat boosts offer very minimal advantages in combat for some reason as well, and in fact they still work better by simple charging, it's weird...

Anyway I followed the suggestion on the other thread by decreasing AP damage and increasing damage itself, and the testudo became near impenetrable at long range, low casualties at mid-range but still ineffective at point blank range. However, it makes non-testudo formations with shields more effective as well and seems to effectively nerf missile troops (the AP damage makes a HUGE difference).

Needs a compromise of sorts.

[Vinicam]

Something is broken in my campaign... For several turns the AI is just standing still, doin nothing. It was my test campaign as Suebi, and after the first war that culminated in me dominating Suebia and making Lugii as an ally, there was no more movement from the AI. I even tested starting war with some factions, but they don't attack me at all. Also, when I choose a target for my ally, he accepts the target but does nothing with his army, just stay protecting his capital. Anyone experience something like this? D: