6 Days Left to Wait, What is the most realistic difficulty set up on both Campaign and Battles?

[GM207]

Anyone can shed some light on the most realistic difficulty set up on the campaign and battles?
And some additional details on difficulty would be great

[Cheap]

hard and very hard are just some AI bonuses and a larger propension for the AI to run into you without asking itself why, just for fun.
no particular realistic difficulty, just the normal one which is supposed to be the game as CA want you to experience it for the first game, and then you can try your talent with the superior ones, but it's not balanced to compensate the natural weaknesses of the AI compared to human.
Maybe in battle a better line of sight, better morale for troops etc.

I'm wondering when and how the AI will be "Bayesian designed" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayesian_probability) to adapt to the player playing style and learn from its mistakes. I'm not very good at maths anymore, but I read about this concept 5 years ago and it seems to be the next step to a Intelligent Artificial Intelligence. Greatly looking forward this stuff, maybe for Medieval 3 or Empire 2, :p

[perablenta]

I find that in TW, and just like in any other game, you need to play on the normal difficulty for a time to understand how the AI works and what it's limitations are.

Then you turn up the difficulty and see how the AI is going to cheat. And be sure they always cheat, if not directly then the game gives you - and + to the AI.

Once you understand that for the game you're playing you can then find the difficulty setting on which you can play while the challenge is still realistic enough for you and not too fake.

[Jonesy_lmao]

Hard is probably the best campaign AI. As mentioned above, it basically gives the AI more resources to play with, which tends to make them more aggressive. In previous games this meant games more often became biased towards war and not diplomacy, but this may change with Rome II. Either way, I wouldn't bother with Very Hard unless you just want the personal challenge.

I hate normal because the AI seems aggressive but have no where near the amount of forces necessary to challenge me.

The battle AI tends to be much better though, as calculations help the AI make better tactical decisions. In previous games the AI would just become more ballsy (so to speak) but in a recent video it seems to use it's units much more sensibly, sort of like how DarthMod aims to do. They may also get a few morale buffs, and overall it is quite fun. Things change after this though:

Now with legendary there are major restrictions in regards to planning assaults. I am assuming the battle plan map will be disabled, as will be the camera range. This makes it 'realistic' in a way, but not completely as obviously you are just one man in charge of an army unless you dedicate a small group to a specific goal.

For me, the most enjoyable experience is Hard/Hard or Hard/Very Hard (CAI/BAI).

If you are relatively new to the game, try Normal/Hard first.

[Aragorn-Elessar]

Maybe hard the best difficulty

[JankoMega]

Normal for the Campaign Difficulty, as suggested by many TW modders and experienced players. Even Jack Lusted said in one of his 'FAQ posts' that if you play on any difficulty higher than normal, each faction, whether friendly or hostile, will treat you a little differently and it would be a lot harder for you. They would stack up almost all their resources to form their armies against you. Simply, they would be very aggressive. If you play on Normal Campaign Difficulty, you'd be treated as just one of the 100s of other factions. They would not mass against you and do everything to destroy you. At that point, only the surrounding factions, would act like all the other ones would on Hard/Very Hard. For example, when the game comes out, check how your Roman Campaign goes with the diplomacy with Carthage. So yeah, Normal and Hard/Very Hard do differ. So, personally, Normal's gonna be my first one.
As for the Battle difficulty, go for the highest possible. AI getting certain buffs for their skills and with that said being in huge advantage against you, is one of the best myths I ever heard. (not really) Seriously, they do not get any buffs, it's just a fiction by those young ones, scared of losing all. So go ahead, play on Extreme, Legendary or whatever the hardest one is. If you ain't, I certainly will for you and me.
Cheers. Can't wait for these seven days already...

[DogSoldierSPQR]

I don't think there is any realistic difficulty. The AI just cheats fullstop on higher difficulties. This is the reason I think the higher difficulties are not very fun at all.

Personally, I'd love a realistic difficulty where the AI is really complex and uses everything it can very efficiently and becomes a threat through proper intelligence and not bonuses, but we're not at that stage yet.

[Jonesy_lmao]

Agreed with JankoMega but the problem is Normal is then too easy because the AI doesn't properly counter you. You can effectively just steamroll the enemy and it becomes a bit boring. At least on Hard they are a challenge, even if people are after you. And with the new diplomacy system hopefully pacts will be reliable.

The best way to play usually would be Hard with DarthMod... I miss him already.

[Ritterlichvon86]

And we will not be at a level where you cannot tell wether you play a human or the AI for the next 20 years, probably. But you can play Multiplayercampaign or have the drop-in feature, which is awesome.

Beware though, the AI is a better player than probably half of the normal playerbase. You might encounter totally inept human generals.

[inversive]

H/VH, judging by Jack's Macedon campaign normal is way too easy, he's just steamrolling through Greece with Epirus + a minor faction being destroyed in 9 turns.

[AstroCat]

I feel for a new release like this N/N is the way to go to get a feel for the game. Then if you feel it's necessary for your fun increase them as you go once you really have an understanding and feel for the game. That's just my way of course.

[Aruberikku]

Most realistic difficulty is playing against another human player.

Against the AI, normal is the most balanced, meaning neither you or the AI has an advantage. While the other difficulties give advantages that could be seen as unfair.
Doesn't mean that normal is the best difficulty, certainly not the most realistic.

[Mage de Taverne]

It was impossible to fight the right balance in Shogun 2 ; on hard diplomacy was basically disabled while on normal the AI was much too passive. I would never be at peace on hard, without having to even declare war once, while I would never be attacked on normal...

Hard battle difficulty didn't seem like AI was getting hugely unfair bonuses, it was overall enjoyable, at least on land. AI bonuses can become much more annoying in naval battles - I didn't feel it in Shogun 2, but it made them horrible in FotS (or maybe I was biaised because I hated the look and feel of those steamships).

[Derkon]

It's a difficult one to judge and the choice is likely to be based upon individual preference.

For me I reckon that for my first Campaign I'll probably go with Normal Campaign AI and Hard Battle AI.

Sounds like a nice balance between the recommended Campaign start on normal whilst making having the BAI on Hard will make the battles a little harder/more challenging!

[King Beowulf]

Mmm. My usual course of action has been to play every campaign on every total war game on H/VH but I'm not too sure now because we haven't seen how the campaign AI performs, it'll be a tough one to think about because if I find that a campaign is too unfair due to the ai cheating or perhaps too easy with the ai on normal then I may have to start over again and pick another difficulty.

As long as alliances / pacts / client faction agreements are respected then I will most likely be playing the campaign on hard.

[jsully16]

Normal/Hard for campaign difficulty. The harder it gets, the AI just gets to cheat more. Not realistic, just annoying

Hard/Very Hard for battle difficulty. Makes the battles a little longer and makes it so the enemy doesn't turn and run as soon as you start fighting them.

[Faiakas]

Normal/Hard for campaign difficulty. The harder it gets, the AI just gets to cheat more. Not realistic, just annoying

Hard/Very Hard for battle difficulty. Makes the battles a little longer and makes it so the enemy doesn't turn and run as soon as you start fighting them.

Agreed.

[smoke]

I was really happy with the resistance the AI puts up at Hard/Hard. Contrary to whiners' thoughts diplomacy is still functioning very well but you aren't getting your way every time. If you can't handle the slight bonuses you really shouldn't play TW at all as the big bonus you as a player receive is creative thought and no AI-bonus can be big enough to counter that.

[Aragorn-Elessar]

5 days