Rome Mod Questions & Recommendations

[Gaius Julius Caesar II]

Hi I'm looking for a mod that improves just the aesthetics of the game. Particularly the terrain, because it's plain and ugly in base game.

So does anyone know of a terrain or visual overhaul mod for battles? Thanks!

ps. Also, is there a mod that makes an Arab faction playable?

Ab Urbe Condita also has a Sabaean (Arab) faction.

[Skizzy]

So does XGM. Playing as the Sabaeans is really fun!
I think every mod that uses the larger worldmap (extended from Scotland to India) has this faction available.
The also add Baktria as a playable faction.
And a sort of 2nd rebel faction, called the "Eastern Kingdoms".

[Zarax]

So does XC4...

[Buster]

Hi all!

I am looking for a mod that improves the AI in general, mainly on the campaign map (diplomacy, wars, decisions etc) for vanilla game.
Thank you

[Zarax]

Campaign AI is pretty difficult to improve as it's hardcoded.
Most mods raise the challenge one way or the other, if you want a good multi-level challenge try XC4, it has a more realistic economy that forces the player to make hard choices, an anti-snowball system that helps avoiding having millions late in the campaign and a trait system that makes the quality of your FM matter if you want to survive and prosper.

[yellowberry]

I'm finishing my Rome campaign and I'm looking for modifications. Which mod is the most complex in terms of economy and diplomacy? Also battles should be a little bit longer. I'm not a fan of 0 turn recruting and fighting with or against mutiple fully stacked armies.

At this point I'm looking at Europa Barbarorum and Rome Total Realism.
I was also thinking about Roma Surrectum and DarthMod, but first one is focused mostly on visual aspect of the game and Rome itselft. On the other hand DarthMod is quite similar to vanilla.

How about AI? I heard DarthMod has better BAI than vanilla. Is it possible to implement DM BAI into other mods or they already use their own BAI?

[Zarax]

EB and RTR are good, however if you want better economy, smaller stacks and saner AI Extended Cultures 4 might be better suited.
While it's not as good as EB or RTR in looks it offers similar BAI to Darth Mod while having a challenging campaign until the end.

[yellowberry]

I gonna try XC, but I think testing all mods listed above (EB, RTR) will be the smartest choice. Opinions about them differs so much that sometimes I'm not sure if the people write about the same modifications. What's the recommended difficulty for this mod in campaign and battle maps?

[Zarax]

Indeed testing all will get you what is better suited for your tastes.
As a general rule, it's best to try all mods at M/M.

[hellenisticfan]

Hi, I'm trying to recall a mod I had tried last year but the name and where it was on this site escapes me: it was rather similar to the vanilla game, I recall only things like war-dogs had been removed, and I believe the map was extended to the east. I remember the unit appearance wasn't changed. In one start, the Seleucids were still pretty small... Anyone recall what this was called?

[Zarax]

Mundus Magnus?

[hellenisticfan]

Mundus Magnus?

I thought it was mod-foldered because I don't recall having to re-install, while MM is not; I looked at EUROPE 370BC too, but that also is not mod-foldered... I'm going through various threads searching atm...

[Zarax]

Might be XGM?

[Skizzy]

Definitely not XGM, in XGM the Seleucids start out enormously vast and stretched out.
Still XGM is the best mod ever! <3
(Personal opinion of course)

[hellenisticfan]

This mod I'm recalling had the Antigonids in the Levant on one start... I'm still looking for it...

[hellenisticfan]

Found it, Hellenistic States. I was wrong about the map extending to the east, just there was an extra city. Thanks for the MM suggestion I'm checking that out too...

[Zarax]

If you liked XGM you might want to try XC as well, which is made by former members of XGM.

[Skizzy]

Was looking into XC aye, but the character trait system seemed a bit too complex for my liking.
Only play RTW casually on a rainy Sunday nowadays.
How important is that whole system and how much influence does it have in an average game?

[Zarax]

It's pretty important, definitely not a mod to relax on rainy days...

[Skizzy]

Just as I thought.. :p
Sticking to XGM for now then ^,^