RS2.6\RSIII questions & answers

[TheCataphract]

@Morifea
If i'm not mistaken by what you're asking, BI.exe allows units to form shield wall and swim. Though I still prefer using the Alex.exe due to all the positive talk about it, but I reckon BI.exe does the job with a few nifty features included. And yeah Leoni's submod is great as well! I really recommend you to give it a spin.

[Mamlaz]

I would like to hear opinions and experiences between BI and Alexander being used for RS, especially if there is additional difference now with RSIII.

Is there even much of a difference?

[MarkMatthew]

I d like to ask about 3 places of campaign map - is it an intention or mistake? I know its cosmetical detail but You know... Roman empire


1) Rhein limit - border of province is not on river, but to the west of it. Also i think there should be more cities on this Limit but what is more important different names like Germania Superior, Germania Inferior - with cities like Colonia Agrippina and Augusta Treverorum - and camps like Vetera, Bonna, Moguntiacum, Argentoratum Vindonissa instead just Bagacum (Nervicoranda) and Vesontio (Sequanilanda).

Look at original map of Barbarian Invasion (border on the north isnt visible because of player who conquered Campus Frisii north-easth from Rhein)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

and look on actual RS III map

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

2) Danube limit - river is heading to the south in Panonia just near Carnuntum (between Panonia Superior and Inferior) instead around Aquincum (Panonia Inferior)? But province borders are correct at all.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

3) region between Danube and Rhenus - Volcabrog - roman name was Agri Decumates ( boders are OK i think)

[Sefe]

Hello, I've got Windows 10 and I have faced some problems that don't let me play RS 3 and so I am continuing to play RS 2.6. But I would like my cities look like the ones in RS 3 in battle map. Is this possible? and how can I make this? Thanks in advance

[Sormando]

2 questions:

Is the faction Athens able to recruit all the units and in the same settlements that the Greek City States faction can? What are other differences between the two?

Are slingers supposed to cause friendly fire casualties to units placed anywhere in front of them or is that a bug?

[Saul Tyre]

2 questions:

Is the faction Athens able to recruit all the units and in the same settlements that the Greek City States faction can? What are other differences between the two?

Are slingers supposed to cause friendly fire casualties to units placed anywhere in front of them or is that a bug?

Q1. Yes, pretty much, I am at present playing Athens(h/vh) as an LP on youtube, I have already taken Korinthos, Thebes, Sparte, Thermos, Nicopolis, Kudonia, Rhodos & Surakousai from the GCS. Obviously you have to reach the population levels to construct the necessary Government and Military buildings to recruit these units, including Army Rations building to get the Epilektoi. You can also construct Mercenary & Regional Recruitment building for AOR units in many regions.
I have also destroyed Macedon & Pergamon and am about to finish off the Romani on Sicily where they are still holding Messana. feel free to check out my Let's Play >> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...esh9z_mWcO7K2S
I cannot tell if there are any differences between them as I have never played as the GCS.
Q2. Yes, I've done that a few times and to a lesser degree the same with archers, it's not a bug afaik.

[Octavius-Augustus]

I would like to hear opinions and experiences between BI and Alexander being used for RS, especially if there is additional difference now with RSIII.

Is there even much of a difference?

I can give personal opinion on using BI and Alex with RTW in general, RS III in particular. First of all, I've never really played RS with BI, only with Alex. That said, I've played numerous mods throughout the years and I've come to know the BI AI pretty well.

We all know BI was an improvement over vanilla RTW. Same can be said about Alexander expansion. I've never really played the exp itself; but I've used the Alex.exe with RS for years with very pleasing results.

Alex is what RTW should have been - game mechanics are almost identical to BI (with the exception, as far as I know, of the 'shield wall' 'unit swim' and
'horde' features from BI) - but I'd say Alex AI is a whole different game altogether, both on campaign map and on battlefield.

The campaign AI is now smart and relentless - on the campaign map on higher difficulties or if your not careful, it will punish you severely. The AI also stacks units better - meaning no more annoying '1/2 man' stacks surrounding your cities and armies. Alex AI also retrains units - this does not change much but reduces the aforementioned mini stacks and helps the AI have more 'human-resembling' behaviour (this is major change for 1-turn play, I suppose). Enemy stacks are often lead by strong generals from their nation. It just runs smooth (even performance wise) and blends very well with RS gameplay.

The battle AI is the real deal. No more BI AI style charges across whole map toward the enemy, retreat 3 sec before impact just to get stabbed in the back, filled with projectiles and get flanked, surrounded and broken in a matter of minutes. Alex AI uses the new RS battle system well - meaning no quick routes so both sides have more time for tactics. Yes, tactics - the enemy AI often outsmarts me in the heat of battle - others have stated the same and I am no newbie to RTW - and without superior units and/or tactics losing battles in not only possible, it's expected. The AI keeps formation, faces the right way (most of the time), tries to flank when attacking, fills holes in it's line when defending and even keeps reserve! I can add that pathfinding in cities is also a bit better for the AI, but I guess the RS team might as well be responsible for this one with their altered city designs.

Some problems stilll linger, like on the camp map the AI generals often just sit around alone while their whole army is elsewhere, probably a nearby city.
In battles, generals don't charge to certain death as often as before, but the AI still loses some very close battle only because it can't keep it's general alive for a couple more minutes. Oh well. I didn't say Alex AI is brilliant, but in conclusion, it's a huge improvement over BI, for me at least.

To cut a long story short, one can conclude Alex.exe, when usable for a given mod is a real blessing, a very good choice to refresh and upgrade your RTW experience. However, some players still prefer BI. It's a matter of taste, I guess. But that's about it, Alex has generally better AI.

[Saul Tyre]

I am presently playing Athens as a Let's Play(H/VH) the year is 564 AUC. could someone tell me why the Marian reforms could have kicked in over 80 years early(historically incorrect)I control Sicily, obviously including Akragas, therefore nullifying the possibility of triggering the Reforms script via the construction of the Palace of Praetor Vicarius. I have raided and sacked all settlements from Rhegion to Patavium on the East coast of Italy to help destroy the Romani economy as part of my pre-Marian strategy and for a bit of added fun. I have conquered all the Adriatic settlements from Thermos to Segestica, still this does not seem to have affected the Romani economy or growth. I sent a spy to Mediolanum Genoa Arretium Roma,& Capua and they are all are able to recruit various Marian units, but not the Praetorian Cavalry, Early Praetorian 1st Cohorts or Early Praetorian Cohorts that make up one army in Transalpine Gaul which I am soon to face, so where have these units come from? How is it possible? unfortunately these errors have seriously up my strategy and will no doubt have adverse effects on my Let's Play campaign , Hells teeth, it's really going to be fun trying to win now I know this is a Beta, so therefore imo I feel, if possible, this needs rectifying before the final release.



EDIT: I found this explanation from ybbon which he posted in 2012 "You need a population of 24,000 in Agrakas. Note when you play as another faction, the same rule does not apply to the AI so it may have post-reform legions before Agrakas is fully developed. They need the right population in any one of the Roman Cities"......but I still don't know where the Praetorian Cavalry, Early Praetorian 1st Cohorts or Early Praetorian Cohorts have been recruited

[BHL 20]

I looked at the game files and here's the thing: the italy hidden_resource is only in Akragas for Rome campaigns. For all non-Rome campaigns it clearly serves a different role, the resource is located in Milan, Cannae, Tarentum, Bithynia, Antiochia, Rhodos, and a few other settlements. Most Italian towns don't have it. If you raided Cannae and Tarentum, they must have built that imperial palace in Milan .

[Saul Tyre]

I looked at the game files and here's the thing: the italy hidden_resource is only in Akragas for Rome campaigns. For all non-Rome campaigns it clearly serves a different role, the resource is located in Milan, Cannae, Tarentum, Bithynia, Antiochia, Rhodos, and a few other settlements. Most Italian towns don't have it. If you raided Cannae and Tarentum, they must have built that imperial palace in Milan .

Cheating bastards!!! but it still doesn't explain where the Early Praetorian 1st Cohorts, Early Praetorian Cohorts and Praetorian cavalry in Transalpine Gaul have come from, they are not in any recruitment roster of any of the cities I have mentioned, I sent spies into all of them(privately, non recorded). How can this mod be said to be historically correct? I don't think the hidden resource situation makes any sense, especially as to the importance historically of Gaius Marius.
My present campaign year is approx 40 years before he was born and the city he was born in(Arpinum) is not even on the map, I'm no Historian but I have been learning steadily, thanks for the info rept

EDIT: I had another look and Mediolanum does have the Palace of Praetor Vicarius also Roma does too, the rest have Pro Consul Palaces, the question I now ask is how did they manage to have so much growth and so quickly.
In the 26 years of my campaign I have raided and sacked 7 Romani settlements, constantly sunk their fleets, some with armies on board, destroyed several of their armies in battle and taken Dyrrhachium, Segestica, Akragas, Messana and Lilybaion from them. Mediolanum also starts in 538 AUC as a Free Peoples(Insubres) town so they had to capture it first then build it into a city at a time when Hannibal was at large and had defeated them at Trebia, Trasimene and Cannae with Capua and other interstates defecting, so it sort of turns the mod into a bit of a fantasy and makes a mockery of the historical claim. Don't get me wrong, I love playing it, and will continue to do so as it is still one of the best out there.

[Saudade of Sunday]

I've just come back to Total War after a long hiatus and for the first time started playing Rome that was sitting idle in my Steam library for years now.
I'm giving R:TW Vanilla a go and it's incredible how fun it is fighting the Greek cities and exterminating the Gauls in my Julii campaign given the age of
this gem of a game. However I'm now starting to be affected by the snowball effect and getting a bit tired of the vanilla AI shenanigans, so I was
looking at this mod for a future Pergamon campaign, but couldn't find a complete overview of the factions to know what specific units and buildings
do they have. Is there one?

I also read that the mod should work with Steam, but does it still have problems running on Windows 10? What about other small annoyances like
having to use different .exe files and having to run the script every time you run the game?

[Saul Tyre]

.........so I was looking at this mod for a future Pergamon campaign, but couldn't find a complete overview of the factions to know what specific units and buildings do they have. Is there one?

Sorry, I don't know that there is one, but Pergamon have a colourful choice of units and are fun to play as.

I also read that the mod should work with Steam, but does it still have problems running on Windows 10? What about other small annoyances like
having to use different .exe files and having to run the script every time you run the game?

I don't use Steam but afaik you should be ok with it on Win10, be aware that RS only works on Steam with the Alexander expansion. You have to start the background script each time you return to a savegame to prevent corruption and consequently a ctd.

[Saudade of Sunday]

I don't use Steam but afaik you should be ok with it on Win10, be aware that RS only works on Steam with the Alexander expansion.

Which I don't have, as it was not included in the package I bought years ago. Unfortunate, seems like I won't be playing this then.

By the way, I started watching your Athens LP a couple of days ago, just realized it's you. Nice commentary, gotta love that accent of yours

[adis2000]

Hello, i have some questions about my roman campaign.

The game at the start with the whole hannibal invasion and the first civil war was really fun and not that hard. I killed of hannibals army and the rebelion by about 10 years in game. After that i invaded the northern rebel towns (Patavium,Mediolanium), and all was going good. Now it was about 548 A.U.C or 205 B.C, and my plan now was to build 2 main armies, 2 reserves, and one garrison army and invade Hispania. The problem here is simple. THE AI IS TOO AGRESIVE. Basically, the whole of spain is in the hands of the Galleci (the carthaginians were kicked out of Spain by them in 20 turns of the game start which is insane), wich i do find it to be interesting because it offers an interesting challenge. The two main problems are, happiness, when i take a settlement from the Galleci, the public order is just horrible, the only way to manage it is with with allooooot of garrison units, like 7-10, and my garrison army with which i started my initial campaign in Hispania is a full stack of 20 units. That is not near enough as i tought it would be. Building temples and such is worthless when the public order is 30-40% even when there are like 3-4 units as garrison. The other problem is the ridiculous Averni AI, they had taken the roman rebel settlement of Emperion?, and now are invading Hispania with 5 full stacks which is ludicrous, i can't fight them, the 8 stacks of Galleci, and 3 stacks of Carthaginians at the same time, while desperately trying to make the settlements happy. What is the initial strategy to do now? And another question, what will happen if all of my family tree dies, only one member remains and his son wich is 6 while he is 70, what will happen when he dies? Will i lose the game

[ur-Lord Tedric]

....................... The problem here is simple. THE AI IS TOO AGRESIVE. ........

This is, indeed, effectively hard-coded - and why the essence of the game is 'Total War'. Because a lot of the testing I did on v2.6 required many, many restarts to the campaign I have more than a passing familiarity with the first 60-100 years of the game. Play enough as the Romans (which was also my stance) and you will find the Gallaeci kick out the Carthaginians more often than not.

The one question to really ask, however, is 0-turn (lots and lots of enemy stacks and less than historical) or 1-turn - which is how all of the testing was set?

....... And another question, what will happen if all of my family tree dies, only one member remains and his son wich is 6 while he is 70, what will happen when he dies? Will i lose the game

Now this too is hard-coded and the game will only ever show the Ruling Family. I've almost never seen this change (I ensure as many babies as possible), but it can happen - more indeed with Greek campaigns I believe. However, whilst only the Ruling Family tree can ever be seen, the game does track a tree for everyone. Should the Ruling Family ever die out, the most 'prominent' citizen then alive takes over and his family then becomes the ruling one.

I do know of instances early on in the campaign when the Scipio's have taken over. Players can try and force a change, should they wish, by getting their Ruling Generals killed off!

[Saul Tyre]

Which I don't have, as it was not included in the package I bought years ago. Unfortunate, seems like I won't be playing this then.

Honestly, Alexander is extremely cheap nowadays and worth it to play this mod and others like RTR8 of which the new public beta will be released soon, also the Alx exe. generally gives you a better AI, better formation of units and decent naval invasions too, unless you specifically want shieldwall, swimming units and more naval invasions use BI but just not with this mod on steam.

By the way, I started watching your Athens LP a couple of days ago, just realized it's you. Nice commentary, gotta love that accent of yours

Thank you

[adis2000]

Well i am playing on 0 turn recruitment. The war in Hispania was going great until plague affected my best general and captain of the reserve army. Now turn after turn my armies are shrinking because of this, more so then they are because of the war. So how can i manage the plague? i sent my affected general to the nearby plague city, but how do i remove the captain of the reserve army? And which are the best happiness buildings to start with in newly conquered cities which have wrong culture and high unrest? Oddly enough, Averni have like 4 full stacks near Emperion, and another 3 in their homeland, but they are sitting idle, doing nothing, they and the Belgae have partitioned Gaul and have huge doomstacks. If they do attack my armies in Hispania, i'm toasted.

[Sefe]

I want to increase the performance of my game(rs2.6 or rs3). Some additional functions don't necessary for me such as new water and tree textures on campaign map etc. How can I disabled them and increase performance? Please, help me

[adis2000]

I want to increase the performance of my game(rs2.6 or rs3). Some additional functions don't necessary for me such as new water and tree textures on campaign map etc. How can I disabled them and increase performance? Please, help me

In this folder: ....\data\_IMPORTANT_STUFF\Alternate_Strat_Trees

You will find a 'reduced lag' folder. Copy that file into the 'data' directory. This is for rs3 i think

[Sefe]

In this folder: ....\data\_IMPORTANT_STUFF\Alternate_Strat_Trees

You will find a 'reduced lag' folder. Copy that file into the 'data' directory. This is for rs3 i think

Thanks, this is working. However I'm still open to any more ideas