Why do I like DLV?

**LaMuerte** · August 22, 2010, 05:09 PM

Dear friends,

Why do we like DLV? I am not gonna answer that for you , though I'd really like to hear your motives for playing DLV.

For me it is plain simple:

It is the most historical correct MTW2 mod I have seen so far. I must admit , it overwelmed me a bit. Not easy to recognize all factions by their historical names , but one tends to evolve. The sheer historical details are simply stunning.

Second reason , is that this mod is very challenging. I need to plan very carefully , unless I intend to run out of florins(especially the first 50 turns) , which I don't. Not simply creating stacks and spies/assassins , and then send them off in every wind direction , coz these guys need extra florins to operate in foreign regions.

It's doesn't happen a lot in normal MTW2 games I really need to THINK before setting out on a conquest. Gone are the easy days of romper-stomping your way throughout half a continent with an army you can refit with mercs wherever you are.

Another thing I very much like is that DLV is very unforgiving. You can make one serious mistake and live , but make two and you can say bye bye to your empire. An early death of a king can have serious consequences when the crown prince is still a rookie,still wet behind his ears. It can split your mighty empire.

I very much like the randomness of each and every campaign. Take for example the Iberian peninsula : it's not for certain which AI faction will be dominant over there once the game gets going. I've seen many a DLV campaign , and it's never sure who will be the boss man over there. I've seen 'em all do good over there : I've seen the Spanish take the whole peninsula , I've seen the Portugese do it , I've seen the Moors do it , hell , I've even seen the French and the English do it. Simply put , anything is possible. Same with the British Isles + Ireland. Any of those factions are capable of getting complete dominace over those isles.

Also , someone mentioned in a post somewhere that DLV is dead , not a lot going on here . I tend to disagree with that statement , and I even got some evidence for that matter. I 've been playing DLV for a full year , and lots tends to happen on the DLV front. Just being able to admire all the work that is being done in the DLV sub-mods forum , makes me feel very warm inside. A lot has been done by many a player , a lot of content has been added by so many unpaid volunteers (You all know who you are , there's just too many of you to mention).

DLV is dead? Not for a long time , chum...

**Tokus*Maximus** · August 22, 2010, 05:15 PM

Dead? Nah, it evolves every few days with a sub-mod update or all new BB patch...
This is one lively mod - and a bloody hard one to play (though very enjoyable)!

**Mac-Picsou** · August 23, 2010, 01:58 AM

Now that the stainless steel turn time are incredibly...HUGE! I was thinking to come back to DLV but one thing make me think about it... The presence of the flanders instead of aragon. The flanders was absolutely not a military power at this time instead of aragon! I think that the rebels was good to represent flanders, but an entire faction? My god, no!

**palatinae** · August 26, 2010, 06:44 PM

Originally Posted by Mac-Picsou

Now that the stainless steel turn time are incredibly...HUGE! I was thinking to come back to DLV but one thing make me think about it... The presence of the flanders instead of aragon. The flanders was absolutely not a military power at this time instead of aragon! I think that the rebels was good to represent flanders, but an entire faction? My god, no!

i also wanted a mod with aragon..but there is a submod here replacing mexican by aragon

the map is so beautiful..the atmosphere is so medieval...and brand new economics..battles..traits..ancillaries..taxes.the whole system is unique and exotic.

i tried this mod today and i liked it alot...great work guys..good job

**Zeeky_Bomb** · August 23, 2010, 02:59 PM

You know, this is actually a pretty hard question. The first 20-ish turns of DLV (with BB) when you try not to go bankrupt, and then all the Dark Age events, aren't really "fun" proper. It feels more like an achievement, or like you're really building up an economy - and you get this "Holy hell, I've got a third of the continent" feel. Last night, playing as Novgorod, I got Kiev as my vassal and that was just such a great moment.

So, overall, I suppose it just feels much more realistic than all the other mods I've tried. We just need a DLV-esque mod for Empire, heh. But really, it's got much more in the way of immersion than other mods do. It's only missing a bit of polish with unit descriptions and some units not having voices and such (there's a "This is a mod, not a full game" feel to it still) but it's still been my favorite mod since a few months after I started M2TW.

**BamaToon** · August 24, 2010, 03:02 PM

Most of the reasons I like DLV have already been mentioned. Historical immersion (big for a history nerd like myself!), challenge level, and gameplay features are the big three for me.

On a lesser note, I also like the map graphics. DLV looks prettier than a lot of the other mods out there. The turn processing times are also much more reasonable while including a lot of additional features that improve the gameplay experience without bogging your computer down.

**Sir Wem** · August 27, 2010, 06:04 AM

I can only say: best mod i ever played!
Ok, SS is great but this mod here gives you so much more... Previous mods were al about making easy money and fight, overhere you need to manage every aspect of your growing empire, and i love it!!!
Awesome job

**Klierowski** · August 27, 2010, 10:28 AM

It's best and most realistic mod i ever play-only Call of warhammer ( Fantasty mod) is same good as DVL for me.

**LaMuerte** · August 27, 2010, 05:30 PM

Also best heavy cavalry behavior compared to any other mod

PS : 'Now that the stainless steel turn time are incredibly...HUGE!'--> What has happened with SS? Is it really that bad?

**palatinae** · August 27, 2010, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by LaMuerte

Also best heavy cavalry behavior compared to any other mod

PS : 'Now that the stainless steel turn time are incredibly...HUGE!'--> What has happened with SS? Is it really that bad?

i will talk about my exp with ss...i have a crappy pc..core2duo 2 giga..2 giga ram...ati card 4350"bad card..but it just let me play empire total war with high settings..so i consider it fair"...

i play vanilla m2tw with everything high..and it never lags either on the map nor on the battle..and i always wanted a challenging game with accurate historical units and a medieval atmosphere !!!

and ss was one of the good mods satisfying my need about a medieval game containing most what i wanted

i have installed SS this week..i have to run pc boosters and close all my applications..the map lags and turn time turns to be 8 mins after the tenth turn...battle slightly lags...i have crappy pc but i found out that even those who has the mightiest face the same problems..may be less but turn time went to be 8 or 6 or even 4 mins..but still it is too long and the vanilla game works fine with me with no errors or lags so i wondering if the problem is mine..so it will be ok..

what make ss wonderful is the BGR IV...and it add huge scripts and make the game heavy...i have to turn off everything in the graphic options..set my option to low medium..and wait 8 mins for every turn...the previous versions of ss were acceptable but there is new features and units that i liked too much

in DLV..i run everything high..have no lags at all..stunning graphics that i never saw on any other mod, i enjoy my time alot...the game is so hard..i play with the Byzantine empire a VH campaign..VH battles and the game offers me good time..i am in love with ur mod..thnx alot and much appreciation

i am not comparing SS to DLV..i just tried many other mods...and they all have problems..also I am not saying to anyone dont play SS or dont try it...give it a shot it is very nice and challenging as well..but at the end i have an old 4 years old crappy pc and i found mod like DLV with stunning graphics that i never saw on any other game..including empire total war...and i run everything without lag and have all the historical units..the medieval atmosphere...and the campaign is very hard as i hoped..and i have a good time and life is beautiful

**LaMuerte** · August 31, 2010, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by palatinae

and the campaign is very hard as i hoped..and i have a good time and life is beautiful

You got the right stuff!

**Shadrach** · August 28, 2010, 06:59 AM

Oh DLV how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. One one-thousand. Two one-thousand. Three one-thousand. Four one-thousand. Five...etc

**TaronQuinn** · August 29, 2010, 04:27 PM

Palatinae, I agree with you on nearly all your points. I also play SS from time to time, especially now with 6.3 out w/ RR/RC included. And the dynamic of it are fun, but the map, as good as it is, leaves something to be desired. It retains that lack of scale or weird proportions of previous versions, even if the ground textures are better. The DLV map, even if its technically smaller or less extensive since it includes America, has a better feel to it, and is more enjoyable to move around when playing. My armies and agents just fit better in a way I can't describe clearly in words.

And the options and immersion factor are smoother. Rusichi is very specifically about eastern Europe, Broken Crescent about the Middle and Near Easts, and La Guerre de Centes Ans about Hundred YEars War era and region. They all protray those areas in superb manner. But for the pan-Europe experience, DLV has a well-rounded depth to it, allowing the creation and maintenance of empires, the struggles in the early game against rebels (I think of them as disloyal vassals to be brought in line before turning my attention to the foreign foe) and the realities of field and siege warfare.

Now, The Long Road and Land to Conquer were some earlier works that I played here and there when they first came out, but they kept a lot of the vanilla elements and didn't, in IMHO, add that much to the game other than settlements, some expanded rosters and some traits. Bellum Crucis is unique and interesting, but still not my favorite. I haven't played Chivalry or Pro Deo et Rege, but thats only because I haven't gotten them to work, and that prevents me from judging them in anyway.

Can DLV be improved? Yes Can we as a community make DLV more historical? Yes. Can we make it more fun to play....eh, I guess so. I mean, we might as well as long as we're doing the first two....haha

TQ

**Live2sculpt** · September 07, 2010, 06:51 AM

I've been away from DLV due to RL for a couple of months, but just re-installed it. *deep sigh of love*

I'm playing DLV6.2 on Hard/VH with Beiss' Xenophonia2, GED's 4 turn-per-year script (w the proper amount of work on the events/income/build-times for good balance), 200 of the Angus McBride load screens, and Charge's deep rich trees and stratmap textures. This combination makes my game such luscious 'candy' for the eyes. It also makes it a thoroughly immersive experience. And the tactal challenges are pretty awesome IMO. I hadn't realized 6.2 made such improvements. Everything about the game runs so smoothly. Cheers!

**Metatron33** · October 04, 2010, 06:05 PM

Some realy good points there guys.I love it all,from the Ai level..to the realism and medieval feel it brings.Right from the moment I had launch the mod i was slobbing out lol the laoding images where stunning

And te neat features that it had made the game that much fun to investigate and study becuase of the challange it brought.But also let me add that I realy love the terrain..IMO its different from other mods,and im not talking about image wise,no.For example Rome..theres only 3 paths on getting to it..through north,where Florence's at..south..where there's a castle..or by sea.So if you where to sacure the castle to th south and florenc..and have a navy and expand towers the islands of italy,you will have one heck of a defended City

thanks to italy's moutains!

**Brips** · October 06, 2010, 10:50 AM

Realism and Jesus DLV + BB 2.8 etc add lots more than other mods to be honest. Not only units, textures and money balance etc, but new scripts, new real gameplay experience. All aspects have been touch. New players can't even imagine what's new (+- 50 new gameplay script, 350 new units, 412 textures, 23 new kingdoms, 74 new buildings etc etc...).