EBII v2.2 Campaign AI & Battle AI [Obsolete]

[z3n]

Get the latest versions at [removed] or [removed].

Installation Instructions

1) Extract it into your MTW2/mods/EBII folder
2) Say yes to the overwrite
3) Start up a new campaign and enjoy the game

[romanius24]

Is this different from the previous hotfix you posted?

[z3n]

Is this different from the previous hotfix you posted?

In regards to the CAI some of the decisions have been entirely rewritten thanks to our internal testing teams however for the BAI it is more for visibility purposes.

I suggest giving it a go if you're thinking about starting a new campaign.

[romanius24]

Thanks. I will try it now.

EDIT:
Early report. Cant tell how much is new AI but so far things look very good.

CAI:

I started a Macedon vh/vh playthrough and i am noticing some interesting things.
The AI is a bit more aggressive and seems to actively fight on the campaign map.

I have been challenged on the field a few times. It seems the AI will fight field battles more often and use less minor settlements which is great.
KH sieged 3 of my cities at the same time and then later Epirus also sieged 4 cities by spliting their army into 2 half stacks, the royal guard attacking Corinth(Agema phalanx, Assault Peltasts and Hypaspystai) and a small auxilliary army(with the elephants) sieging KH's Athens.
Thats really impressive.

BAI:

To early to tell but i like it so far and i havent noticed any problems.
In field battles they will meet your battle line much better instead of ignoring half of it just to push a flank.


Something interesting that i noticed has been in siege battles. It seems the AI likes to send attacking troops after they break the gate up on the walls to help out their forces there. This is very nice especially for large attacking armies.

Sometimes they even flank very far and catch my ranged troops on walls.

[Pooploop]

Cool. However, once you put this in, does it still need the old hotfix you put up? Also, it seems, based on the comments, that everything's improved, but, does this thing fix the money script problem? I was very happy when first seeing this but was put down by that thought. Even if everything is better, if the all the ai states get terminally bankrupt they won't fight...

[z3n]

Early report. Cant tell how much is new AI but so far things look very good.


CAI:


I started a Macedon vh/vh playthrough and i am noticing some interesting things.
The AI is a bit more aggressive and seems to actively fight on the campaign map.


I have been challenged on the field a few times. It seems the AI will fight field battles more often and use less minor settlements which is great.
KH sieged 3 of my cities at the same time and then later Epirus also sieged 4 cities by spliting their army into 2 half stacks, the royal guard attacking Corinth(Agema phalanx, Assault Peltasts and Hypaspystai) and a small auxilliary army(with the elephants) sieging KH's Athens.
Thats really impressive.


BAI:


To early to tell but i like it so far and i havent noticed any problems.
In field battles they will meet your battle line much better instead of ignoring half of it just to push a flank.




Something interesting that i noticed has been in siege battles. It seems the AI likes to send attacking troops after they break the gate up on the walls to help out their forces there. This is very nice especially for large attacking armies.


Sometimes they even flank very far and catch my ranged troops on walls.

Thanks for the report.

Cool. However, once you put this in, does it still need the old hotfix you put up? Also, it seems, based on the comments, that everything's improved, but, does this thing fix the money script problem? I was very happy when first seeing this but was put down by that thought. Even if everything is better, if the all the ai states get terminally bankrupt they won't fight...

Yes, it fixes that as well.

[bordinis]

Cool that will soften the wait.

[Rad]

Oh snap. I just started a campaign 2 days ago. However, I did manage over 100 turns at it, kind of got attached xD

Edit: Implemented it, starting a new one. Lets see how it goes.

[romanius24]

I am only 21 turns into my new campaign but it seems that factions are much more aggressive now. Its good to see Ptolemai actually fight a war.

The rebels will have to be buffed a little. At this rate i dont think there will be any left by turn 80-100.


I have a couple of questions:

Are there any changes done to the diplomacy or how the AI sees faction strength?

I was also wondering if the vanilla pop-up screen still happens when you have to choose between 2 allies. I dont think i have ever seen that happen. One time i got a message during the AI's turn to help them fight a battle even though i wasnt that close. I accepted but nothing happened.

[Roma_Victrix]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to z3n again.

You definitely deserve some rep for this post. Thanks for sharing!

[Roma_Victrix]

Get the latest versions at dropbox or depositfiles.

Installation Instructions

1) Extract it into your MTW2/mods/EBII folder
2) Say yes to the overwrite
3) Start up a new campaign and enjoy the game

WOW! You really need to add in the disclaimer that this is NOT save-game compatible. I just tried to load a previously saved game (my KH campaign where I am over 500 turns into the game) and it gave me an immediate CTD. I was unaware that rebuilding the map.rwm file and fiddling with the campaign script nullified previous saved games. Apparently it does. Or perhaps it's the background script file that's causing this? The only file of these that I have backed up is the campaign_script file, so I might be totally screwed after pasting over everything.

EDIT: Yep. Pasting over the campaign_script with the original 2.1b one and rebuilding map.rwm still doesn't allow me to load my previous saved games.

[z3n]

That was why I said new campaign in the instructions however if you want to use it with a saved game it may be possible.

Open up your EBII cfg and change these two settings

validate_data = 1				## ensure game data files used in previous save match current campaign data files
allow_validation_failures = 0	## prevent game to load if savegame or data validations fail

To these new settings

validate_data = 0				## ensure game data files used in previous save match current campaign data files
allow_validation_failures = 0	## prevent game to load if savegame or data validations fail

I am not 100% certain that this will work, as the game might by default make the save file have the cfg settings which you had at the time of the save, further you might not be able to experience the full effect of the changes.

[z3n]

I am only 21 turns into my new campaign but it seems that factions are much more aggressive now. Its good to see Ptolemai actually fight a war.

We fixed the uncrossable nile in 2.2 as well, that hasn't been featured yet nor are the new AI scripts and an attempt at improving the reinforcement AI and the players reinforcement AI as well or the fixes to the reforms, unfortunately this is a pretty barebones AI hotfix. In any case, 2.2 is on schedule and progressing rather well.

I have a couple of questions:

Are there any changes done to the diplomacy or how the AI sees faction strength?

I was also wondering if the vanilla pop-up screen still happens when you have to choose between 2 allies. I dont think i have ever seen that happen. One time i got a message during the AI's turn to help them fight a battle even though i wasnt that close. I accepted but nothing happened.

1) There are a couple, overall strength is somewhat less important to them now.
2) That only happens when an ally declares war on another ally. They're not really meant to do so, except in rare circumstances where they absolutely hate the other.
3) Help during an AI turn only occurs when they request your aid in a battle against another enemy close by, the other enemy may have retreated declining to offer battle or it could just be a rare bug. I've seen that at times before myself and it was always due to a retreat by the AI.

[Roma_Victrix]

That was why I said new campaign in the instructions however if you want to use it with a saved game it may be possible.

Open up your EBII cfg and change these two settings

validate_data = 1				## ensure game data files used in previous save match current campaign data files
allow_validation_failures = 0	## prevent game to load if savegame or data validations fail

To these new settings

validate_data = 0				## ensure game data files used in previous save match current campaign data files
allow_validation_failures = 0	## prevent game to load if savegame or data validations fail

I am not 100% certain that this will work, as the game might by default make the save file have the cfg settings which you had at the time of the save, further you might not be able to experience the full effect of the changes.

Nope. Still didn't work. Sigh. I guess I'll just have to start a new campaign now, I suppose. Such a shame that I didn't back up every file listed in your patch here. I was really far into my Koinon Hellenon campaign and had conquered the entire Mediterranean. I was busy fighting a war with the Aedui that was really interesting, too. I guess I'll have to spend another two months getting back to that point again.

[HaHawk]

I guess I'll have to spend another two months getting back to that point again.

You say that like it's a bad thing

On a more serious note, it's always good to remind ourselves that most updates are NOT savegame compatible. When in doubt, always back up all files being replaced...

[QuintusSertorius]

In any case, 2.2 is on schedule and progressing rather well.

By which z3n means our atrocious habit of continually adding new features, which have to be tested, continues.

[Rad]

Nope. Still didn't work. Sigh. I guess I'll just have to start a new campaign now, I suppose. Such a shame that I didn't back up every file listed in your patch here. I was really far into my Koinon Hellenon campaign and had conquered the entire Mediterranean. I was busy fighting a war with the Aedui that was really interesting, too. I guess I'll have to spend another two months getting back to that point again.

Could using system restore work?

[Boogie Knight]

Is the recommended difficulty with this upgrade still Hard campaign, Medium battles?

[Warpus]

It seems the AI will fight field battles more often and use less minor settlements which is great.

I thought minor settlements were removed?

[romanius24]

They will be when the update is released. This is just AI stuff.