My points of feedback

[Curtis13]

Ok, I have taken this baby for a spin and, as promised, here is my feedback.

The Campaign
So far, I have found the campaign unplayable. Maybe this is down to an unlucky choice of factions each time, but so far on three seperate occasions I found myself 30,000 in debt after two turns. For some reason, the Iberians start with a -30000 diplomacy tribute straight off the bat, which, after two turns of playing, is damaging indeed.

Also, the Carthaginians are losing over 10,000 becuase of very high unit costs. So for campaign, unplayable in my experience. I shouldn't have to be a faction I don't like just so that I can begin with a stable empire.

Also, although minor, there are a lot of confusing buildings lacking descriptions, but this will be fixed easily, so no big point there.

The Battles
The units look amazing. They are comphrehensive, varied, and interesting, and all do their individual jobs well. A main problem I had with this, however, was found in the custom battles. A big mistake RTR made, that you seem to as well, is to put every unit for every faction. When every faction has 4 lines of units, 95% of which are the same as everyone elses, it is just too overwhelming.

I honestly don't know which units are specific for each faction. Please, please, please make only the faction specific units available to each faction. If someone wants to play as mercenaries, they can pick the rebel faction. A slight alternative would be to only make mercenaries avaiable to that faction if they are found in that area, such as Iberian Mercenaries available to Iberia because they are found on the Iberian penninsula. As it is, though, it is just too overwhelming.

The Rest

• Campiagn finance (and possible diplomacy) needs to be fixed to make factions playable
• Unit upkeep costs need to be lowered a bit to make stable empires
• Unit cards and descriptions need doing. Make sure descriptions are clear so that nothing is confusing

Overall, an excellent looking mod and I can't wait to start a campaign once a few things have been fixed.

Good job!

[Teleklos Archelaou]

Take a look at some of the play guides. They all focus on the absolute need in the first turn to get your finances in order and make sure you are making money. Many factions *must* have units eliminated at the start of the game or within a turn or two. Tough decisions must be made by the player, but this allows many different types of campaigns and initial decisions to be made. Ships are a favorite of mine to get rid of very quickly!

[Curtis13]

But things like the Iberian situation CAN'T be amended by the player. It just says "-30,000 diplomacy tribute" but when looking in the diplomacy screen I found nothing I was able to change.

[Teleklos Archelaou]

- Everyone's money on the first turn seems odd if you look at your finances. This is because we give lots of money to all the factions, but then use scripts to take money away from the human player to make it harder. Enjoy! ;-)

[mike^_^]

alrighty, thanks for the heads up

I was curious why a small faction that will remain unammed suddenly bribed one of my cities with a good governor inside, meanwhile I'm in debt up to my knees :laughing:

[Simetrical]

Originally Posted by Curtis13

So far, I have found the campaign unplayable. Maybe this is down to an unlucky choice of factions each time, but so far on three seperate occasions I found myself 30,000 in debt after two turns. For some reason, the Iberians start with a -30000 diplomacy tribute straight off the bat, which, after two turns of playing, is damaging indeed.

Also, the Carthaginians are losing over 10,000 becuase of very high unit costs. So for campaign, unplayable in my experience. I shouldn't have to be a faction I don't like just so that I can begin with a stable empire.

The economic difficulty is intentional and holds for all factions to varying degrees. Try reading one of our strategy guides for advice (or you can always cheat).

Originally Posted by Curtis13

A big mistake RTR made, that you seem to as well, is to put every unit for every faction. When every faction has 4 lines of units, 95% of which are the same as everyone elses, it is just too overwhelming.

We're aware of this problem and will fix it in a future version.

[Curtis13]

OK great, thanks