Suggestions

[napoleonic]

^I've even thought about a massive mod with maps extends from Iberian Peninsula in the west to say...half of China in the east, then from the Scandinavia in the north to at least half of India in the south.

[Caesar Clivus]

I would love that too but it would be a monumental amount of work to complete. You'd have to add in tons of factions otherwise the eastern half of the map would be boring as all hell

[King Kong]

Hi shaeffer,

Out of interest Mr Kong, are you still looking at Darth's stuff or are you sticking with GrandViz and going for his newly released Battle AI?

Oh, the agony of choice

Well, I don't know much about Grand Viz's battle AI, so I'm pretty sure that I will keep Darth mod in the next version...


Hi Taloran,

merc naffatun!

I'll think about that


Hi Mike,

here is a suggestion 5.0
i know this won't be out for long time, but still, Mongol is a great power from the east, will you make them playable somehow? and they are really really lacking variety of units, which might take some more editing. , but, ya, it would be nice

Well, I know it would be nice to play with the Mongols, but the problem is that I would have to give them a starting settlement which would be historically highly inaccurate...
Maybe I find another way to make them playable


Hi napoleonic & Caesar Clivus,

of course big maps sound always interesting, but I think that such a map mainly would have a very bad performance and so it wouldn't be much fun to play, imo...

[Mike13531]

lol, alright, KK, if you need any info on mongols just ask. I think i already knows a lot, and if i don't i ll do some digging\
the complicated problem with mongols is that, they need new kinds of units, at least like 5-6( or maybe a bit less, up to KK i guess)
about the starting settlement, maybe you can make the game start a bit later then usual with this specific campaign? if that is done, then the rest is easy, since the mongols attacked in mass, and all over every area, so, any area along the very east of the map would be historically accurate

[Mike13531]

oh yes , KK, i also found this , if you can make this mod compatible with SS and 1.2 then i guess it will solve everything without too much effort as you did in kievan rus and the others, all you need is ask vandal's permission, and btw, there is also a possibility that it already works with 1.2.
http://twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=89709
edit : i just tested it, the mod works fine with 1.2 version, so i guess all KK have to do is ask and do some copy and pasting, if someone can help me with it , it'll be greatly appreciated T_T, i tried copy and pasting myself, but sometimes i copy the wrong stuff, so it messes it up...

[King Kong]

Hi Mike,

Well, I've also seen this mod and I was thinking about to do more or less the same (which shouldn't be too hard).
The problem is that I just need an additional campaign with different starting date (custom campaign) where you could play them.
So it is actually not a simple copy and paste job...
However, as mentioned before I'm thinking about to implement them, maybe also in 4.0...

[Mike13531]

thank you! in 5.0 , your gonna create new units right? , cause there is no variety to the unit roster of mongols

[Grakl]

Hi, just wanted to say very nice work on the mod. I've played quite a few of the various mods around the site and they all seem to revolve around making the game last dreadfully long. I dig that the mod is kept on the shorter build times. Generally I get bored playing a faction in M2TW before I get to play with any of the elites. Nice to see they show up earlier, at least the dismounted knights if anything (mind numbing to play spear on spear battles for 4 hours). I've actually kept on a game through the mongols and even into gunpowder, which only happens 1 time out of 20 in other mods. Thanks for the excellent work.

Hmm, better throw in a suggestion also (didn't want to make a seperate clutter thread). Maybe increased missile damage a tad. Playing as Milan I stopped taking their hallmark Geneose Crossbowmen as they were pretty ineffective it seemed. I downloaded the superior missile mod and now they mow down everything in their path, a middle ground between the two would be just right.

[King Kong]

Hi Mike,

thank you! in 5.0 , your gonna create new units right? , cause there is no variety to the unit roster of mongols

Well... probably not, since I don't even know if I can make them playable.
We'll see...


Hi Grakl,

Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad to hear that!
And well, you're probably right that missiles could do a little more damage, but since I will use Darth's mod in the next version, probably (and hopefully..) there won't be much need to change the unit stats...

[shaeffer]

Any chance of RTC?

[Manslaughter the Great]

What would really help is if there was more variety in Early Era units for Western Factions. Some Militia and later Feudals. This is a bit realistic but it's just that it's a bit bland to start off with.

[AdmiringtheEnemyeh?]

-Please make Britannia more interesting and less easy to conquer, it takes me 11 turns with the Danes to gain complete control of the place. Well there’s probably many ways you could do this. A great way would be for the Scots to have 2 full stacks of soldiers aided to them in 1297 to represent William Wallace at the Battle of Stirling Bridge. This was a battle of the first war of Scottish of Independence. The stacks would be headed by Andrew de Moray and of course, the great Scot himself, William Wallace. So even if the Scots are almost defeated by then, they will still be able to put forth a massive rebellion.

-Also I have another Scot idea, how about adding the sharpened stakes special ability to low tier Scottish units (such as highlanders)? It would give the Scots more unique and appealing, and its definitely realistic.

[Mike13531]

It's weird, in my campaign , between English and Scotland is always quite peaceful, scotland conquers to the west, and english goes south... Maybe having Caen is not such a good idea.
Admiring the enemy, you mean something like a mongol invasion, except its not a whole new faction and it's a big reinforcemtn?
still tho, there is one other solution.. you can always.. not play danes, lol.

[ignasigh]

hi mighty KK

Aren't you going to use Vindahl's script regarding projectiles? I think he's doing fine balancing it and there are a few ideas that can be used...like 2 rows of arquebusiers!

[King Kong]

Any chance of RTC?

Hi shaeffer,

What do you mean with RTC?


Hi Manslaughter the Great,

What would really help is if there was more variety in Early Era units for Western Factions. Some Militia and later Feudals. This is a bit realistic but it's just that it's a bit bland to start off with.

Well, this is surely a good idea, but I think instead of giving every faction a new early era unit I will rather put in further new mercenaries to spice up the armies.
Also I think it is more realistic that factions make a large use of mercenaries, since this was common in medieval times...


Hi Admiring the Enemy,

Well, I think the british isles will be more interesting in the next version and also I try to make the scots more active...
The idea to spawn a "William Wallace army" is also pretty interesting, so I'll keep that in mind.
And probably I will give some more archers the stake ability.
Thanks for the suggestions!


Hi ignasigh,

Aren't you going to use Vindahl's script regarding projectiles? I think he's doing fine balancing it and there are a few ideas that can be used...like 2 rows of arquebusiers!

Well, of course I've read the thread about realistic projectiles and I agree that especially the new gunpowder unit formation sound very interesting!
Unfortuntely I havn't had time to test this mod yet, but it's likely that I will use some parts of it in the next release...

[ME2_junky]

@King
As for the stakes ability, perhaps a few more units should get it, such as highlanders & or certain units in factions that have poor cavalry as they would need new ways to fight other cavalry.

As for emerging armies etc...Perhaps a nice future addition would be to add historical figures at the relevant times via script. Like creating Saladin in the relevant years to be added to the Egyptian faction & or other such generals, perhaps even with an elite unit or two.

As for the realistic projectiles..as I said there, there are some issues with it...

[shaeffer]

Sorry KK was distracted when making my post (hence it not being about 1k words like I usually do )

I mean't this one I might well try and create an SS EDU for it if I get a chance and give it a whirl

[King Kong]

Hi M2 Junky,

As for emerging armies etc...Perhaps a nice future addition would be to add historical figures at the relevant times via script. Like creating Saladin in the relevant years to be added to the Egyptian faction & or other such generals, perhaps even with an elite unit or two.

Surely this would be a great addition! I will try that...


Hi shaeffer,

Ok, thanks for the clarification!
And well, to be honest I'm a little confused which one of the battle mods (Darth's, Point Black's or Grand Viz's) that are available at the moment is the best.
At the moment I'm more a fan of Darth's mod, but I had just no time to test all the battle mods, so I can't really tell which one is the best.
I think I will just wait a bit and I will read comments about those mods from the users...

[shaeffer]

No worries - to be honest I feel the same way as well.

Ideally Im going to create a post with the three mods available and see what people think. Perhaps we could turn it into a poll of sorts

Purely from reading the forums on all three, I would have to say that GrandViz's has loads of potential, but by his own admission is still very much a work in progress so perhaps this should be one 'for the future'

Darth I have a lot of respect for as do a lot of people, but I'm a little ocncerned at how new versions will be 'spot the difference' given the poor reception of what I do genuinely perceive as constructive criticism of his negative formations and stuff.

Pointblanks on the other hand seems to be taking a very open methodical approach to things and I have to say I'm really impressed by the depth of research and tweaking going into it. Obviously I'm sure the otheres posess this as well 'behind closed doors' but it does seem a logical way of doing things - particuarly with the ease with which new units can be created.

I'll get to work on it tonight

[Byg]

I have some traits and other alterations which I have been developing for my own use over the last few years. They have been well tested. I started them in Rome Total War, ported them over to M2TW and have inserted them in the various mods I have played since, adapting as necessary. My last adaptation has been for Stainless Steel Mod 3.2.

They also worked well in Deus Lo Volt.

I'm very happy with the results and would like to share. My aims for these alterations are the same as SS has i.e harder game, more depth.

KK, would you mind if I released these altered files based on your mod? You may even like some of the changes, which you can have.

The changes do the following:

Templars made especially difficult to play. All strong units above militia now only recruitable in 5 towns on the map (nearest to Tortosa).

Further from home you will need a Chapter house to create decent units (e.g.hospitallers) or use mercenaries or send your armies and reinforcements from your home towns. This gets rid of the unrealism of raising troops from newly conquered cities and adds a tough advance planning element to wars. Your costs are effectively increased by this.
(buildings and regions resources files altered. Therefore these changes require a new campaign)

Battle times perhaps doubled and routing made more difficult via simple morale increases for foot, missile and horse
(units file altered so save game compatible as are the rest of the changes from here on)

Battle Readiness 'yo-yo' Traits added. I don't like awarding bonuses to human players because we don't need them, but we do like a reward to make things interesting.
This set of traits indicates an army's condition. It runs through a series of levels increasing every 4 turns that an army is in action (i.e away from any town or a castle with at least 50% compatible religious population) In essence, your troops become more weary the longer they are away from home. The levels are:

Ready for Action (default when born, adopted etc)
Troops Weary (4 turns away)
Troops Despondent (8 turns)
Troops Desperate (12)
Troops Mutinous (16)

Each level attained initially brings penalties to Command, Troop Morale, then later unrest, Loyalty and Influence too. The traits lists warnings to you to get the troops home to recuperate.

And there's more. From Ready for Action or any other level, the battle readiness levels can move in the other direction. So:

Ready for Action
Eager to Fight (adds a little morale)
Bent On Glory (adds morale, reduces loyalty)

Movement of levels in this direction is attained by fighting and winning battles.
Any victory has the effect of reducing the effect of time away from a settlement i.e if your troops have just become Weary (4 turns away), but you fight and win a battle, you go back to Ready for Action (2 turns away) so in 2 more turns you will be weary again. So battles won temporarily regain morale before it starts to slip again.

Heroic victories or Major victories and taking an enemy settlement will have 4 times the above effect so fighting and winning against large AI armies will do your men more good (morale wise) than fighting minor easy battles. Keep fighting and winning and you can stay in the field longer without having to recuperate in a settlement.
Recuperation recovers morale at 4 times the rate at which you lose it.


Major victories Battle and Kills Counter Trait.
50% kills are required in a battle against greater odds to get a major victory.
This trait counts and updates for every Major battle you fight up to about 150. It also takes an educated guess at your cumulitive kills for each of your generals. Obviously using 150 trait levels would be too much effort so I use a few traits a bit like an abacus.

Major Victories are recorded on monuments erected in your generals honor. One two, three and four victories are announced and recorded as they come.
The fifth victory entitles you to a Great Monument, then whilst keeping this monument it counts one to four again, then you get Two Great monuments. Five of these gives a Spectacular Monument and so on. In this way you can easily reckon the total battles and by adding up the kill totals on the three types of monument you get your generals total kills during his lifetime (rough estimate).

Major victories are counted for AI generals too. I liked the idea of spying a hugely successful general heading for your territory, fearing him andf knowing his history. Now you will.

Sadly, because AI generals' armies do not retrain (as far as I've ever seen) they don't last too long. Therefore I rewarded successful AI genarals with the following trait.

Battle Hardened Trait (may rename as Cohesive Fighting Unit)
Healing Increase for AI Armies. The idea being that they work well together and take good care of their injured.
For this trait I assumed there was not a limit on healing values after battles. All being well, this massively heals AI armies if they win. The idea was to keep good ai armies going.
They don't have the advantage of retraining as we humans do. This levels the playing field.

Over Confidence Trait.
If you like reading historical accounts of ancient battles it becomes clear that overconfidence is probably the greatest cause of major lost battles.
I use this description to give a trait to the human player only, which in a complicated way will prevent your generals from getting too many stars. If you do get too many you wont have them for long, so make use of any high star general whilst he's at his peak.

Tweaks
A few mods, including Deus Lo Volt and SS, incorporate BB&B mod, which gives the Offensive to Nobles Trait to Faction Leaders, causing rebellions and civil wars.
I wanted there to be a way out of this for our faction leaders that was not random, but rather had to be fought for.
This tweak enables an offensive FL to personally lead an army and conquer a city to rid himself of this trait and redeem himself to his people.
Your leader can also achieve the same by fighting and winning a major victory.

Your generals who are negatively affected by their faction leader's offensiveness can recover their loyalty too by being sent successfully against a settlement.

Finally, I reduced the recurrence of random rebel armies appearing on land. They are more annoying than challenging in my opinion.