Preview: Dar al-Islam, revealing the Islamic world

[CelticSlav]

Great Preview! Can't wait for DOTS to come.

[ALFAJI]

nice work guys

[mayotte]

Just one word: AWESOME !!! i really really like the texture of this new map !!

[Landil]

It has been asked previously whether the AI can deal with PSFs or not, and the answer is: in Dominion of the Sword, certainly! We have tested it thoroughly, and it works, so don't worry about it. As for how? Magic! Didn't you know? DotS runs entirely on magic!

[Resurrection]

Every PSF has its own income that is given to the owner in the form of incremented king's purse value in financial screen. It updates every turn so if you lose the PSF this will go down appropriately (and someone else's income will go up). So for example Seljuks starts with some 220k income per turn from PSFs. When you compare it to the income of their settlements (some very low thousands usually) you can see that way more money is in the PSFs than in the settlements.

Add to that the fact that settlements will be unruly for conquerors and often financial burden initially the conquest of any region itself will be very hard. If for example you rush the capital but leave the PSFs in enemy hands you will find it drains your treasury pretty quickly not to mention fragile supply lines.

The big problem was that the PSFs are by default ignored by the AI unless they have strategical value in the given situation. Without our PSF Script it means only very few PSFs get used by the AI and the rest was abandoned and ignored meaning that AI would not even conquer them for income etc. However AI sees any enemy unit as a threat or potential target hence placing one in every PSF was the solution. It had many unforeseen complications and the script had to be fine tuned so it accounted for them all but it works pretty darn well I must say. And it does affect the player as well. If it didn't the player could abuse the system by leaving his PSFs empty and they would be ignored by the AI. Financially it does not cost anything because PSFs are set to 1 free upkeep and thus the garrison is free. It is also immobile so you cannot just take it away and boost your armies.

There are still some minor things that might bother some people such as that huge cities have the same garrison (one unit) as the small villages but that is the limitation of the engine. Some others like garrison unit type may yet be added so it is diversified more or at least is faction specific. Development simulation and income alterations based on certain event is possible but due to sheer amount of PSFs is not viable because the script is already insanely large and such features would grow it exponentially... but maybe in the future I will see what I can do yet. For now even the current version of the script is pretty awesome imho. :-)

PS. Turn times are not affected much, barely noticeable. Most noticeable is the PSF names script which happens once every turn for all PSFs and adds couple dozen seconds tops to the slave turn end.

[affluence]

Every PSF has its own income that is given to the owner in the form of incremented king's purse value in financial screen. It updates every turn so if you lose the PSF this will go down appropriately (and someone else's income will go up). So for example Seljuks starts with some 220k income per turn from PSFs. When you compare it to the income of their settlements (some very low thousands usually) you can see that way more money is in the PSFs than in the settlements.

Add to that the fact that settlements will be unruly for conquerors and often financial burden initially the conquest of any region itself will be very hard. If for example you rush the capital but leave the PSFs in enemy hands you will find it drains your treasury pretty quickly not to mention fragile supply lines.

The big problem was that the PSFs are by default ignored by the AI unless they have strategical value in the given situation. Without our PSF Script it means only very few PSFs get used by the AI and the rest was abandoned and ignored meaning that AI would not even conquer them for income etc. However AI sees any enemy unit as a threat or potential target hence placing one in every PSF was the solution. It had many unforeseen complications and the script had to be fine tuned so it accounted for them all but it works pretty darn well I must say. And it does affect the player as well. If it didn't the player could abuse the system by leaving his PSFs empty and they would be ignored by the AI. Financially it does not cost anything because PSFs are set to 1 free upkeep and thus the garrison is free. It is also immobile so you cannot just take it away and boost your armies.

There are still some minor things that might bother some people such as that huge cities have the same garrison (one unit) as the small villages but that is the limitation of the engine. Some others like garrison unit type may yet be added so it is diversified more or at least is faction specific. Development simulation and income alterations based on certain event is possible but due to sheer amount of PSFs is not viable because the script is already insanely large and such features would grow it exponentially... but maybe in the future I will see what I can do yet. For now even the current version of the script is pretty awesome imho. :-)

PS. Turn times are not affected much, barely noticeable. Most noticeable is the PSF names script which happens once every turn for all PSFs and adds couple dozen seconds tops to the slave turn end.

thanks for answering

i was worried about how AI would react for PSF!

[QUOTE=Resurrection;11836479]Every PSF has its own income that is given to the owner in the form of incremented king's purse value in financial screen.

QUOTE]

1- U manage to give some income with farming?
2- Is it possible to see how big is income for an AI's PSF? (I would prefer to conquer the PSF with more income)

[Vipman]

2- Is it possible to see how big is income for an AI's PSF? (I would prefer to conquer the PSF with more income)

From what i remember reading some post, the general assigned to each fort will have a trait or ancillary which tells the income of that fort. So infiltrating a spy in a fort should show you his traits so you find out the income.
Or start a campaign with whatever faction and check the income each fort gives

[spanish_emperor]

From what i remember reading some post, the general assigned to each fort will have a trait or ancillary which tells the income of that fort. So infiltrating a spy in a fort should show you his traits so you find out the income.
Or start a campaign with whatever faction and check the income each fort gives

Or google the city/town/castle and see how important they were in medieval times

learn your history i say

[fightermedic]

Every PSF has its own income that is given to the owner in the form of incremented king's purse value in financial screen. It updates every turn so if you lose the PSF this will go down appropriately (and someone else's income will go up). So for example Seljuks starts with some 220k income per turn from PSFs. When you compare it to the income of their settlements (some very low thousands usually) you can see that way more money is in the PSFs than in the settlements.

Add to that the fact that settlements will be unruly for conquerors and often financial burden initially the conquest of any region itself will be very hard. If for example you rush the capital but leave the PSFs in enemy hands you will find it drains your treasury pretty quickly not to mention fragile supply lines.

The big problem was that the PSFs are by default ignored by the AI unless they have strategical value in the given situation. Without our PSF Script it means only very few PSFs get used by the AI and the rest was abandoned and ignored meaning that AI would not even conquer them for income etc. However AI sees any enemy unit as a threat or potential target hence placing one in every PSF was the solution. It had many unforeseen complications and the script had to be fine tuned so it accounted for them all but it works pretty darn well I must say. And it does affect the player as well. If it didn't the player could abuse the system by leaving his PSFs empty and they would be ignored by the AI. Financially it does not cost anything because PSFs are set to 1 free upkeep and thus the garrison is free. It is also immobile so you cannot just take it away and boost your armies.

There are still some minor things that might bother some people such as that huge cities have the same garrison (one unit) as the small villages but that is the limitation of the engine. Some others like garrison unit type may yet be added so it is diversified more or at least is faction specific. Development simulation and income alterations based on certain event is possible but due to sheer amount of PSFs is not viable because the script is already insanely large and such features would grow it exponentially... but maybe in the future I will see what I can do yet. For now even the current version of the script is pretty awesome imho. :-)

PS. Turn times are not affected much, barely noticeable. Most noticeable is the PSF names script which happens once every turn for all PSFs and adds couple dozen seconds tops to the slave turn end.

oh yea, this is all so sweet music to my ears
keep on the rocking and rolling

[Stario]

Add to that the fact that settlements will be unruly for conquerors and often financial burden initially the conquest of any region itself will be very hard. If for example you rush the capital but leave the PSFs in enemy hands you will find it drains your treasury pretty quickly not to mention fragile supply lines.

So you rush and sack (exterminate population & destroy every building for cash), then sell the settlement to another faction and leave.

[atheniandp]

So you rush and sack (exterminate population & destroy every building for cash), then sell the settlement to another faction and leave.

If you're consciously looking for exploits then you're going to find them. I tend to think playing a Total War game has to have a level of willing role playing for best effect. So that excludes doing stuff like blitzkrieging.

What's important for future Total War games is to emphasize the non-martial aspects of state management that wouldn't make it a bore trying to avoid constant blitzkrieg and constant engagement.

[Rabenrecht]

So you rush and sack (exterminate population & destroy every building for cash), then sell the settlement to another faction and leave.

Yeah, if you rush through about 4 PSFs, one of them a Fortress that would take heavy ordinance to take, then besiege and take the settlement, another siege battle which according to the modders will be an absolute pain in the butt, all in one go - then I would say you have earned your spoils.

[atheniandp]

Yeah, if you rush through about 4 PSFs, one of them a Fortress that would take heavy ordinance to take, then besiege and take the settlement, another siege battle which according to the modders will be an absolute pain in the butt, all in one go - then I would say you have earned your spoils.

And what if there's a way around them?

I'm sure DotS will be magical, but no sorcery can change the fatal flaw of Total War's campaign design: that is to be a game solely about conquest (fighting is secondary to territorial expansion).

Unless the arch mages can conjur a spell to break hardcoded limits, and with that the very absolute laws that govern the gam.. err universe.

[Resurrection]

And what if there's a way around them?

In vast majority of cases there isn't. Sometimes you can go around throuh ZOR which takes exactly the same time as besiging and waiting the place out (=3 turns). Only when you do NOT take the PSFs they will remain behind you blocking your supply lines and giving enemy more places to ambush you from and more money and control.

[Landil]

I just want to notify everyone of the status of the upcoming preview. I'm currently having technical issues, please have a little more patience. Hopefully the preview will be here by tomorrow

[TLG]

Placeholder for the upcoming preview. I'm currently having technical issues, please have a little more patience. Hopefully the preview will be here by tomorrow

I'm going to be logging in ever couple of hours now just to see this new preview

[Dom Pedro II]

I just want to notify everyone of the status of the upcoming preview. I'm currently having technical issues, please have a little more patience. Hopefully the preview will be here by tomorrow

Im waiting!

[Iriasthor]

How's going that great preview Landil? We ( atleast me ) are excited looking for it!

By the way, great work!!

[Rinan]

Haha, and here's why one shouldn't make promises one can't keep!

But don't worry, take your time. The preview can wait... But the mod... Must.... Play.....

Edit: By the way, I'd really love to see some screenshots of Iran Please?

[Resurrection]

Terribly sorry guys but Landil had some serious issues with his mod installation and the spare time he had had was unfortunately wasted on solving that instead of the preview. He is also very busy with finishing some of the core features of the mod so please understand if the preview comes later (or not at all).