SS campaign too easy, or is it just me?

[tusjpenn]

I just installed SS and am really excited in general as I love a lot of the improvements (it's the first mod I play). I really enjoy the challenge in the battles, but something seems wrong with the campaign. Admittedly, I began playing as Norway, and the periphery is always easier than the centre, but the campaign itself just seems too easy to me. I don't know what experience others have, but even though I'm playing on very hard campaign level, my coffers are overflowing with gold, making recruitment and building more of a routine than a serious consideration. In vanilla, my experience is that I usually have too little money, and have to plan what to build where and which troops I can afford. Now, I can pretty much build everything everywhere and the troops are only limited to the numbers available for recruitment.

It looks like the merchants earn a lot more money than in vanilla, but this still doesn't amount to all of it. I didn't bother to break it down properly, but the fact that the Kingdom of Norway is so rich that everything is available to build everywhere doesn't feel right to me and it takes away a lot of the enjoyment of planning and empire.

On a similar note, what's up with the campaign AI? The battle AI is great, but the factions are going wild. Has the aggression level been turned up or what? Everyone is at war and half of Europe has been excommunicated by the pope and I haven't even played more than 30 turns or so. I always thought the vanilla AI was pretty random, but this is getting a bit out of hand. What's the point of diplomacy if making alliances and keeping relations on good or very good if they backstab you anyway (even with no forces or plans to follow up on the initial attack)?

I like realism and that history follows more or less a "realistic" path, so when Europe descends into anarchy and even the papacy is attacked "for the hell of it", it's a bit too out there for me. Is it only my game or do other people have the same experience?

Cheers

[Echad]

It is the law - AI will always be inferior to human... Maybe you should try Online games?

[irwinesca]

It is the law - AI will always be inferior to human... Maybe you should try Online games?

Echad with his usual "reply"..

[Iasonis]

maybe try medium campaign level and very hard battle difficulty. On medium most nations are at peace with occasional wars breaking out(even cpu nations are at peace with each other), alliances usually last ect, it feels more realistic. The reliable nations are really realiable while the dubious ones might backstab you.
For example if i was to attack the papacy right now(im germans) i would have most of europe turn on me.

[Roboute Guilliman]

play with the templars on very hard, you wont have a huge cash flow.
the egyptiens are a pain in the ****. Each turn they come with a new stack of cheap troops :S

[Echad]

You can try other AI's, XAI and Ultimate AI come to mind... Lusted's AI, that is included has a habit at attacking all-at-once. But there is a certain thingy with aggresivness - if it will be lower, the game may be more realistic, but MUCH easier.

And extra few k per tur from merchants saved my life a few times, when I was attacked by like 5 nations at once, or such... =)

[King Yngvar]

The battle AI is great

I cannot believe someone said that!

[tusjpenn]

I cannot believe someone said that!

Haha, everything is relative

[Echad]

I cannot believe someone said that!

He spoke about Lusted's battle AI performing many times better than th vanilla one. =\

[tusjpenn]

Yep, that's why I find the difficulty settings a pain. Lower difficulty means easier games. So what I'm looking for is higher difficulty, but with less aggressiveness and random behaviour. Are there any campaign AIs like that out there that can be installed without screwing up SS?

The Knights on VH is duly noted. I'll definitely give them a try. Don't think I'll be playing my Norway campaign for much longer.

But, on the topic; can anyone explain how the economy has been tweaked in SS compared to vanilla? Have read quite a bit on the forums without finding anywhere where it's properly explained. Like I mentioned initially, I seem to be making way too much money without the effort...

[Scalylizard]

I play the Templars as I think it is the hardest one I could find. You start with little money and no troops. Try installing Real COmbat+Real Recruitment and you will find yourself in need of cash. Add BygIII Grim Reality and you will find it impossible to recruit unless you convert the population to your religion.
Egypt attacks you a lot by the way that makes it a very challenging game.

However- in the end AI's inability to win a battle unless it outnumbers your no-general army 2:1 or 3:1......those things really make the whole concept moot. I checked my stats, out of 36 battles I lost 2. I probably lost 10-15 unts in total Egypt probably lost over 200!
I need to play some online games!

[strife1013]

put a blind fold on

[Echad]

put a blind fold on

Won't work for turn-based game, but helps making Tekken harder.

[TzuDevil]

Try Lands to Conquer Gold by Lusted, it's a really fun mod, and harder then the basic SS mod. Otherwise, I reccommend that you install Real Combat/Real Recruitment, and BYG III in SS and don't use Merchants... it will be more challenging then LTC Gold.

Cheers!

[McCloy]

I usually mod (decrease) the amount of money I have with the faction I start with. Or you could give it away to potential allies.

Also, I only play underdog factions.

Last of all, I want to add the Grim Reality mod and others that make things more realistic and harder.

[sgtAlex]

too much money? never had that broplem..
im usually at war with EVERYONE and that means i m usually broke
and that means Really hard campaigns (i have actually lost 2 (1 with templars and 1 with sicily)

[stefano89]

maybe playing slowly and improving your cities and obeying alliances bla bla bla should tone down your killing spree...

[Inhuman One]

If you have too much money try mercenary garrisons and elite troops as garrisons as well. Put a full stack garrison at every province you hold just as a garrison. If you still get tons of money then try putting forts around as well with full garrisons.

[Streen15]

let the AI build up for a while. It usually takes about 30 turns until they really have a stronger economy/base for you to attack. I find the game actually to be very easy as well. I win on average about 95% of my battles against the AI, but the fact that certain mods allow the AI to continuously spawn huge stacks of army REALLY wears down my ability to compete. Although I can inflict a huge amount of casualties and losses (largely due to the AI not using a general effectively), it still is not enough in many cases to keep my economy going.

In my HRE VH/VH campaign for instance, I was able to hold my own for quite some time. France, Britain, Scotland, Milan, Venice were all at war with me. The Danes and the Poles were the only ones allied with me, but they did little to help me. Around turn 20 I was at war with just about everyone and everywhere. I managed to hold my territory for quite some time with little troops. I mostly recruit 2 militia + 2 arrowmen to guard my towns, while my armies try to fend off the huge stacks prowling my borders. Although I won numerous battles at outrageous odds (sometimes having odds against me 7 to 3), I wasn't able to acquire the sufficient economy in order to sustain my battlefront. I made significant gains in the west, but as soon as I gained too much 'power,' hungary declared war on me as well.

So what does this all mean? An easy way to make it harder for yourself is to allow the AI some time to build up their economy and their lands. Don't forget, this game gets boring if all you are seeking to do is acquire territory and the best troops out there. Once you gain enough territory, there is nothing stopping you from steamrolling other nations. It's times like those where I use diplomacy and try my hardest to make it as 'realistic' as I possibly can by making it harder on myself. You can, for instance, give away half your territory away in order to get a vassal. Sure, I know they'll turn on me at a certain point in time, but by then hopefully they will pose another significant threat to my booming economy.

[Point Blank]

Try Real Recruitment, it slows down recruitment significasntly:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=149832