Modfoldered Options:
I'd like some thoughts about this, because it's going to be something very new, I think, to RTW mods. Not modfoldering, of course, but how I'm going to use it. But first some theory behind all of this.
One of the basic issues with RTW and any mod for it is that of balancing. Some mods don't really care or emphasize it much. Others, like RS, have tried hard to have major factions survive a long time...or at the very least not die off so soon. And many, many modders jump thru hoops trying to prevent the 'super faction' anomally. I don't know that all of this can be solved 'completely', but I am seeing a much better balance in RS2 than I ever saw in RS1.5. However, this brings with it another problem. Factions do well and survive well because they can defend themselves, and they have money. These are really the only keys to survival. If they have the units and the balance therein to defend themselves and beat off attacks...AND...the money to keep pumping these units out, they go down awful hard. The problem is that when you PLAY any faction under these circumstances, the typical complaint is that it's 'too easy'. And it's probably true, because RTW just doesn't compensate enough in favor of the AI to make it as challenging as we want it to be. Playing H\H helps, but it still isn't all that great, and VH\VH is a joke and broken.
Now, I throw into this mix of ideas one of my favorite mods...SPQR. Not because playing all of it's factions is any good, but because playing ROME is a real challenge. The reason being, as everyone knows, that the whole mod is written that way. SPQR is really a 'Play Rome' mod. And to do that, you have to give the AI even MORE advantage than RTW's engine does. More money, unit balance perhaps slightly tipped in the AI's favor...it isn'y really a LOT of stuff that makes it harder, it's just a few things that put the player at a greater disadvantage. And there is no way to do this in a 'regular' mod for every faction.
Thus, modfoldered options. Now, I want thoughts about this because it could get ugly. There are 18 playable factions in RS2. To specifically tailor a campaign for each one would mean 18 different modfoldered options. I have no problem with setting that up...but I imagine people will have a snit-fit figuring out how to play them. Some people can't even follow directions and install the mod properly in the first place (I'm speaking of RS1.5, not RS, because I understand all this upgrade stuff can get confusing), so asking people to set up all the proper shortcuts would be, well, perhaps a nightmare. But there are so many advantages to this.
I have already set up a 'Play_Rome' modfolder. In normal RTW if you play this campaign, what you see when you get to the faction selection screen is just 'Romans'. No one else is playable. In BI\ALEX, this modfoldered version is the 'Provincial Campaign'. My tests of this setup so far are quite a bit different from the main campaign. After 20-30 years, Carthage and Rome are still slogging it out in Italy..with Rome switching hands back and forth a number of times. Controlled by the AI, the Romans have a heck of a time dislodging Carthage from their lands. Also, this is the setup where the 'Rebel' faction will shadow the Romans, and where all the scripted rebellions will occur. So my feeling is that separate modfoldered campaigns for factions is the way to go to make them more challenging than a 'balanced' RTW can.
Yet another advantage of this system will be that I can have any faction shadow any faction...as long as that faction is not playable. So, let's consider a special 'Seleucid' modfoldered campaign where 'Parthia' shadows them. Every rebelling settlement goes to Parthia instead of the 'slave' faction. In others, Seleucid could shadow the Ptolemies...Pontus could shadow Armenia....the Arverni could shadow the Belgae and vica-versa...the variables are many and could make things a lot more interesting and hard for the player.
The next use for this option will be the 'swap factions'....and this is where it gets really neat. We planned ahead in setting up RS2 so that many, many swap factions already have all their units in place. Bosporan, Massilia, Rhodes, Athens, Syracuse, Bithynia, Crete, Cyrene, Thracia, Boiotia, the Acheans....all of these have complete unit rosters already as good as any faction. Change a few files, a few banners, and away you you go. These will all most certainly be done at some point......but my question now is what factions do people think should have special setups? Some? All? Are some hard enough as it is? Should it be only the 'big' factions that get a wrist slapping to make them more of a challenge? Etc.
And then, suggestions on how and what would increase the challenge for these factions.
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lol
for you? I dunno, just some thoughts.
Originally Posted by tone
