Making the game tougher for self

**Aenima** · November 11, 2009, 10:04 AM

Since whenever I play SS 6.1 I manage to defeat enemy armies, even against incredible odds, I'm trying to find ways of making the game more of a fun challenge for myself. I would reinstall with Byg's Grim Reality, but I'm currently involved in a hotseat campaign and don't want to make my game incompatible with the one going on at the moment.

So, here's my question- what difference does playing on hard and very hard in battle difficulty make, and how much more difficult have you found them to make the game? I want to make it so that enemies don't rout as quickly, but I don't want to find I've given the enemy units an incredible advantage in attack, defense and morale by tweaking the battle settings, as it does in other games. Cheers

**JorisofHolland** · November 11, 2009, 10:21 AM

You should increase the stats of every single unit, or find the files that make the difference between hard/very hard. And this is a better question for the Mod Workshop.

**SoulBlade** · November 11, 2009, 10:21 AM

If you have RTW, try EB (Europa Barbarorum). Very good and hard mod.

**Loose Cannon** · November 11, 2009, 10:28 AM

The very hard battle level increases morale only, not attack & defense stats, so enemy units will not rout as quickly. Other than using very hard there's not much you can do if you're stuck using 6.1.

If you're comfortable with changing config & bat files you could make a duplicate file of SS then add in 6.2 and Really Bad AI to improve the game. I've done this and now have 6.2, 6.2 with RR/rc, and 6.2 with BGR all controlled from shortcuts. And I used to have a hard time making "new folder"

**JorisofHolland** · November 11, 2009, 12:24 PM

It's not that hard, right? Just copy the vanilla 6.2, install RR/RC, copy, install BGR.
Oh and you have to ensure the bat file and the .cfg match the folder. No more than that.
BTW: How much do I have to pay to hire your signature?

**KittySN** · November 11, 2009, 12:42 PM

Everything in Total War is easy, easy, easy... yes, even all the sub-mods. The challenge is learning the "lines" as I call them. Blame that definition on being one of those kids ones taught plenty of chess, chess variants and puzzle games as a kid. The fun for me is in finding the "lines" and once I find them, I try to revise them for an optimal game without actually playing the game. I can sit around staring at my starting position for an hour or so without making a move. It's a blast! Regardless to how "hard" one thinks they make it, I'll sit there and just stare at everything, collating until I find the solution like a bloody computer. Of course the campaign becomes profoundly boring at some point because I can always guess what will happen where and be prepared. Most of my campaigns die at around turns 25 to 30; why? because I'm already at the point where the game's definitely over. There's no possible way I'm going to lose and as some of you may see in my guide, I have a highly aggressive way of becoming powerful very quick. (Believe it or not, I'm toning a lot of it down so it seems more natural.) Sigh. I ruin the game for myself. Maybe I should drink more before I play... ...

Oh and then there's house rules. I have some of the stupidest house rules ever. It's just that I need them to make me over-analyze while I'm playing. I just made a post about this in a different thread so I had them on my mind. You know, I do this with everything in my life, even my thoughts about life. Ugh, I'm such a terrible scientist. I'm going to destroy the world someday.

**JorisofHolland** · November 12, 2009, 08:25 AM

Maybe you should take a bit more time? Just don't expand very fast, and don't attack the AI till turn 50 or so. By then, they are probally at the peak of their power, just before the Super-Powers emerge from them. (Those, of course, will grow a bit longer... till they meet you!)