DARTHMOD_fix_V1.0 updated 15/5/2006

[DARTH VADER]

This is mostly a gameplay fix provided to DarthMod fans by hearing various requests of playtesters either here in this forum either privately in PM.

So what it includes:

-A really new balance in unit stats that affects mostly elephants and phalanxes.
The elephants will be better balanced (Powerful but vulnerable to skirmishers and mass of phalanx). This was not so clear in Very Hard
battle settings due to the various bonuses given in this occasion.
The phalanxes are now more difficult to break when in cohesion and removed the occasional tossing effect (although sometimes it exists
very rarely but cannot do more in this). Generally will not be too much powerful but more lasting in holding their position.

-Improved the greek-theban formation AI. I have found some flaws which were corrected and also now it is more correctly deployed by
the AI. Previously many times AI started deploying greeks correctly but then made a lot of divides which is not the greek-theban idea.

-Vitally I have concluded in something very unique to Total War AI procedure. "The campaign AI is linked to the battlefield AI".
For example if we choose in desc_strat.txt file an AI faction setting, it affects how the AI will behave also in the battlefield instead of
only the campaign map. This is not proven yet, and it is stated here for all to test differences in battle AI in factions of "greek_cities",
"Macedon", "Seleucid" prior to this darth-fix. I have for example realized that the "balanced smith" AI is the best choice to give for a
heavy phalanx based faction. "Balanced napoleon" is a very good setting for mix of phalanx-powerful cavalry". Other variations give
different AI settings. For example give to greek_cities a "caesar" AI and will try to maneuver and divide his forces too much for the
capability of their phalanxes. I would like very much the testing of this from hard core play-testers or modders to give me light if this is
finally truth!

-Contains also the BI fix that fixes ctds in campaign map.

To install it, unzip it and copy the folder to your Rome - Total War folder (DarthMod_7.5 installation) with the same file structure as provided inside. (Or simply copy the Rome - Total War folder inside to replace your original.

The fix will be progressively updated here as you will mention your comments and provide more solutions to be used for upcoming DarthMod_8.0 Dark Edition

It is recommended to be downloaded immediatelly as it generally fixes and enhances DarthMod even more.

[DARTH VADER]

Updated! 15/5/2006 Test it immediatelly!

[Ahlerich]

excellent.
in the export_descr_unit which..did u modify all units inthere that are either elephants or phalanx? or also other units.

[DARTH VADER]

Elephants, phalanxes, skirmishers (archers, javelineers, slingers etc) and some other. really difficult to tell you how many.

[Ahlerich]

ok nevermind then..i jsut wanted to know coz im lazy and i wondered if it is easier to overwrite my modified export_desc_unit and edit it again or change the new one...in this case its easier to just copy over my old units into the new txt file

[Bubbs]

I think you are right about the faction AI descriptions. I think it also determines what type of units the faction will build more of too. Balanced napoleon will build more heavy infantry units whereas a balanced genghis for Parthia will build more cavalry units. I'll test it out and give you my results.

[SARMATIAN LEADER]

will this fix affect the vassal beta settings??

[Shaggy1973]

Yea, all the things you were aiming for seem to have been achieved - didnt see any pole vaulting phalanxes, the elephants dont knock men 40 feet in the air anymore, and the elephants routed when they had taken 50% casualties. They still seemed effective enemies though. One minot criticism, the dead elephants created mini barriers in the battle lines, which was fine, but then my men became trapped in them and I lost three units of hastati as i couldnt control them properly anymore with a few men from each preventing the others from moving away.

My army was only about 7 units so it was a bit of a problem for me

Maybe increase the spacings of the elephant unit, and to stop the unit being too wide, make it more square? Might mean that with bigger gaps that men can pass easier between elephant corpses?

[repman]

@darth
some questions regarding parameters related to formations
- you deleted the value "area" for stat_pri_attr in many settings of the phalanx units. What is the effect of this parameter on the battlefield ?
- to reduce the dark force of the dead elephant maybe change the parameter
dead_radius 1.0 to 0.5 (this worked for the real vegetation in my mod) ? Or is it here inverse ?

repman

[DARTH VADER]

@Ahlerich: Hope you can give me feedback of new settings especially for germanic phalanx you use.

@Bubbs: Certainly..until now evryone thinked that campaign AI was related only to campaign and army recruiting choice etc. But now all it changes it seems...I hope. Waiting for info.

@SARMATIAN LEADER:It will certainly affect the vassal beta if you play with it. If you want to keep it then manually install the fix instead of 1 click copy paste and do not copy desc_strat.txt. Instead change the AI settings (inside desc_strat.txt) for Macedon, Greek_cities, Seleucid I have changed manually if you know how to do it.

@shaggy:the spacing problem pre-existed unfortunatelly.It affects the elephant power and have found a median solution to preserve both benefits without having too much conjuction.

@repman :laughing: :laughing: The dark force seems to be strong with those elephants. Will test that in next fix. But it ruins some other settings I want for elephants for example I want infantryto keep their distance from them until they get to killing radius. I think it affects it in combination with radius and X_radius parameters.

[Narakir]

I've tested it for the elephants that seems good they now die when surounded by mass infantry :original: But I think that the fire power of the archers (actualy 20) is a bit too strong especialy that they already have bonues due to thier high position, maybe nerfing this to something around 9 sould be better. War elephants still have too much armour for what they look, they've 3-5 points less than the cataphract elephant and 10 more than the smallest elephant with the same amour.

About Phalanxes, the problem with the hoplites is still there few second after the hoplites engage the phalanx, thier shorter spears make them to destroy the phalanx formation and create a big mess like you can see in this screen.

[Ahlerich]

@Ahlerich: Hope you can give me feedback of new settings especially for germanic phalanx you use.

hello Darthdude =)

i like the new german phalanx.
the phalanx formation splits easily by enemy close combat units but they dont go down easily. they are still very vulnarable at the flanks though - which is good

germanic phalanx now is superior to merc spearmen when they keep their flank clean (on hard setting) on very hard however i tried custom battle duels with germanic phalanx and the weakest units of many factions..and the phalanx never won. but thats ok.
the way its now is how its supposed to be i think. the challange is there, the phalanx is not an too strong uberunit but if they keep their formation in order and the flanks clean they now are usefull again, not only for holding the line but for killing also.
this was the only main issue i had with the mod and that is solved.

[DARTH VADER]

@Narakir:The elephant archers are having now more accurate deadly arrows but fire more slowly than before . In fact they can cause same casualties but with more correction in visual. (They aim,seek, unleash and kill in flat arrow trajectory, even troops directly below them).

It may exist but this to be erradicated have to increase too much their attacks so no time for a phalanx to survive prolonged melee. If prolonged then they can clash as you say.
But it is way better now I think.

@repman: forgot to reply before...the area attribute is very good to use for a unit to increase its power in an elegant way. (Romans and cavalry still have it in DarthMod).
Previously I had it for phalanx but after patch 1.5 it made it too strong as an attribute. It causes the attack to be spread to a radius than be single pointed so for Phalanxes was good for area control but when 2 phalanxes met made this as an effect of 2 similar magnets to compine...merge and disintigrate more rapidly. It causes also a nice penetrating effect for infantry according to attack value given.(Pushing per attack)
Very good for cavalry of course. This is a reason of the penetration cavalry of DarthMod together with mass settings.
Also good for romans that despite their low attacks they have this as armour piercing and some other attributes to create a unique strength.

Phalanxes without this now are less...alive...in melee interaction but are more lasting since they stay more in cohesion than push and interact.

Hope I helped.

[DARTH VADER]

Also I need to know if greek-theban works now better...has anyone seen improvement?

[repman]

@darth
thanks for the explanation. In the actual release BBW 5.5 I'm using your formations 13 (from 7.5) for field battles with quite similar parameters of the other necessary files. In detail minor parameters are different, because naturally my units are different from yours (in general i have higher moral, collision mass,...). People are very satisfied about your formations. No complaints about the greek-theban formations.
I have not tested your new patch, because I'm working on a dynamic overhead phalanx behaviour (fs_s1_hoplit) for the greeks. I have brutalized your formations and now the greeks are showing an shock-and-awe attack behaviour (for both styles: overhead and hip_push)which gives a nice alternation to the tank approach of the normal phalanx. If my testing people are satiesfied than i will upload it as a bonus pack to my mod. Should work although with yours.

repman

[Angel]

darth why did u give greeks phalanx form?

Are u tryin to do historically? because im sure its proven by alot of ppl ( forgot names) that the overhand animation is very realiastic. Also gives u an different gameplay than half the factions having phalanx.
well the phalanx issuse seems to be fix......and i know i seem to bash u so heres my appreciation.

THANK YOU DARTH FOR MAKING AMAZING MOD THANK U!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DARTH VADER]

@repman:Brutalized formations=can you be more specific ?Is it a variant formation of my greek-theban?

@Ahlerich: Good to know!

@Angel: Ok I have to state that there seems to be a global misunderstanding with the fighting way of the greeks. They made drills with a lot of spear technics to oppose their enemies. One was the overhand, one is the normal stance etc. They did not fight all the time with one of the stances.
They were using the normal stance as a defensive position and the other as an attacking with a given opportunity to throw it to their opponent without losing momentum. The throw of spear was in the Homerus ages of Trojan wars. Once their spears became their natural weapons instead of auxilaries they did not throw it unless they had a clear shot to 1 vs 1 duel but never when fighting as a group which is what they did as they progressively evolved to a disciplined phalanx based army instead of separate heroes.

Not that they have forgotten to use this drill...but they used it unoccasionaly in the era we are facing in RTW.
The spears became heavier, longer etc.
So I preserve the overhand correctly to merc hoplites and Hypaspists which are old fashioned hoplites.
The other are evolved hoplites of the era.(They all have copied the Macedonian defensive way of phalanx fighting)

[Angel]

thank darth for clearing that up.

I appreciate of ur hard work and understanding my postion.

Im glad is it me or does the greek units get own my Imperial legionaries or Repub cuz i did 1on1 and boy hoplites got there but handed to them even the spartans...

[solops]

I do not understand this thread. Is the fix for v 1.0 or 7.5 or what?

[Ahlerich]

its a fix for 7.5..so if you installed and played 7.5 so far you now have to copy over this small fix and you are up-to-date