STW: Portuguese/Dutch Traders

[el_dude]

Hi all,

I was just wondering when the Dutch were supposed to show up. Basically Japan in my current campaign is split in half. I (the Hojo Clan) have the northern half, and Clan Mori has the southern half. Shimazu holds a few provinces in the south, and there are some rebel provinces that act as a buffer zone between me and Mori, but really, the endgame is pretty much going to be a big Hojo vs. Mori showdown.

The only thing is that the Portuguese keep showing up, but I don't want to convert to Christianity so I keep sending them away in the hopes that the Dutch will arrive and I can have guns w/o having to convert, but they are nowhere to be seen. So when do the Dutch show up?

Also, what difficulty do you guys normally play on? I'm playing on Normal and it's decently challenging, but I would prefer that the game doesn't end up as one massive clan vs. another massive clan every single time. Do the other factions do a better job of surviving when playing on higher difficulty settings?

[Axalon]

Hello again El_dude,

I’ll start at the bottom and work my way up. Personally I play on expert, always on expert and default unit size (but that’s just me). On higher (hard/expert) difficulties the AI does offer a tougher challenges – it also probably cheats its pixeled heart out much more. You get less koku to start with and in battle the AI is shrewder and receives moral bonus of different kinds (I can’t remember the exact numbers as I write this). - As for clans doing a better job – well basically no. Usually a few clans are singled out for the big brawl in the end, it varies somewhat but that is essentially how things go as far as I can remember....

As for the Dutch and the Portuguese…. All I know is that after the Portuguese comes the Dutch…. I don’t think this is fixed to some certain point or year in the game. Maybe people are right in that the Dutch never turns up in some times – It sounds vaguely familiar to me. Anyhow, it might be (and I am speculating now) related to some clans, including the one you are playing – it might. Maybe somebody else knows this particular stuff better…?

Anybody?

[Martok]

In my games, the Dutch seem to show up around a good 10 years after the Portuguese. However, I'd be lying if I said I've really kept track, so I could easily be off by a few years in either direction.

One thing I have noticed: It does appear to make a difference as to which clan you're playing. I say that because the further north you are, the longer it seems to take for the Dutch to arrive -- and for that matter, the Portuguese as well. Thus, the Shimazu seem to be visited by the Portuguese & Dutch first, with the Uesugi usually being the "last stop" for both European nations.

[Xerrop]

Ok, it doesn´t belong to the above posts, but why have the Portuguese ships and trading posts the modern Spanish flag and colours (red and yellow) in use?

The developers have failed twice: wrong country and wrong timeframe.