Ars Gratia Artis - Complete Battle Overhaul, v2.7.2 - Patch 7 ready (updated 15/11/13)

[Master Necromancer]

You might want to add this to your mod: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...All-Units-v1-0

[Selea]

Sorry for being late on posting the update.

Writing all the changes down is taking almost as much time as making them. I'm trying to write everything as fast as I can. I also had to tweak a little some minor things and also that took some time.

Anyway surely within today the new version will be online.

@Master Necromancer:

Hmmm, seems fine as you put it. I will look if I can insert the change in the update at this point. Luckily it is a change that doesn't take much time so I should be able to add it and still release the update for today.

[Master Necromancer]

Sorry for being late on posting the update.

Writing all the changes down is taking almost as much time as making them. I'm trying to write everything as fast as I can. I also had to tweak a little some minor things and also that took some time.

Anyway surely within today the new version will be online.

@Master Necromancer:

Hmmm, seems fine as you put it. I will look if I can insert the change in the update at this point. Luckily it is a change that doesn't take much time so I should be able to add it and still release the update for today.

Take your time, perfection shouldn't be rushed.

I just wanted to say thank you, thank you for making Rome II battles to what they where always supposed to be like. Personally I will +rep you whenever I can for that great deed.

Selea,

I truly look forward to your big release of latest update... I have been very excited about it and at once when it is released, I will test all units. And I have question for you, is it advised to use all unlocked factions mod to test all different faction's units?

I've used it with the all factions mod and I must say that they don't work 100% as they should because you are not ment to play with those units some cavalry has shield wall in the "unlocked" ones but that is the biggest bug out there if you are using both this and all faction mod.

[Eagle114th]

Take your time, perfection shouldn't be rushed.
I've used it with the all factions mod and I must say that they don't work 100% as they should because you are not ment to play with those units some cavalry has shield wall in the "unlocked" ones but that is the biggest bug out there if you are using both this and all faction mod.

And that is exactly what mods are for and now that all faction's units is balanced. I have an idea about approaching locked factions and besides Selea have great passions working with units for ground battles:

Work on one major faction a time.

> Give them unique color textures

> Correct any bugs with units

-> Example: Cavalry with shieldwalls

> Give them new units with balanced stats since all faction's units is balanced now

-> Several of major factions are lacking so it is good idea to give them extra units to represents the uniqueness of faction's own strength/weakness

This methods will give each major factions high quality and it is good idea to go for quality over quantity right? So for each release, one unlocked factions with their own very detailed colors/patterns/textures, well balanced new unique units that goes along with already balanced all factions' units, and other features that makes each major factions so exciting and interesting to play with! Each faction's experiences would be very different when you select one of them! And as Selea aimed for, each of factions have their own strength/weakness with their own tactics/strategy to be used on battlefields.

Work on one minor factions a time

> Same methods as I posted for major faction above.

[Selea]

@Iperione:

Thanks. Just wait to see the new update; if you like it as it is now, you will love the new version.

@Master Necromancer:

I already discovered it by myself (the change to enable loose formation) but I'm not so sure if to enable loose formation for all units is a good thing (I think CA did remove loose formation because in precedent titles it made projectiles much less powerful just for this).

I thought about giving loose formation only on max medium units. It is a thing I have to ponder a bit more so it will not be on the next update. I have to test it properly before enabling it and know perfectly how to give it or you really risk of breaking balance (that is now very good with the update).

[Master Necromancer]

@Master Necromancer:

I already discovered it by myself (the change to enable loose formation) but I'm not so sure if to enable loose formation for all units is a good thing (I think CA did remove loose formation because in precedent titles it made projectiles much less powerful just for this).

I thought about giving loose formation only on max medium units. It is a thing I have to ponder a bit more.

Well I would exclude them from unit's such as pikes and hoplites that already have very intricate formations and bugs are just waiting to happen there, and of course exclude them from all units that have tetsuedo because they don't need it. But including them in all the rest is just common sense to me, and it is just common sense and reaction time of the player that makes it effective or not. Also it should have a huge malus against cavalry charges and all melee attacks so it all balances out in the end.

Btw, how is the update coming along?

[Eagle114th]

Selea,

I truly look forward to your big release of latest update... I have been very excited about it and at once when it is released, I will test all units. And I have question for you, is it advised to use all unlocked factions mod to test all different faction's units?

[Selea]

And the update is officially online!

I hope you will love it as I loved making it.

Let's just cross fingers now that there is not some pending bug that I overlooked (as it always happens with these big updates; I checked and recheked but bugs are always lurking).

[Aethyr]

And the update is officially online!

I hope you will love it as I loved making it.

Let's just cross fingers now that there is not some pending bug that I overlooked (as it always happens with these big updates; I checked and recheked but bugs are always lurking).

I just got home from a 12 hour shift at work, dead tired, saw this post and am going to give it a shot before bed and another 12 hour shift. This is how excited I am.

[Selea]

I have to go to bed myself because I'm very tired atm.

See you all tomorrow.

[Eagle114th]

I have to go to bed myself because I'm very tired atm.

See you all tomorrow.

You deserve restful break and enjoy your night sleep! And let me know what you think of my idea for you in my past post here. I am looking forward trying this updated mod right now!!!

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[Socktu]

Oh man, can't wait to try this out. Downloading this instant!

[Kymmuriel]

Had a very bad day at work today, and coming back from work, what i see! The combat overall youve been polishing for dayz is finaly out Thank YOU THANK YOU

[Vinushka]

Just from the initial boot-up I noticed a new incompatibility that wasn't there in older versions. If Radious' Unit Pack 2 - Rise of the Empire (The one that has all the Carthage, Rome, Egypt, Macedon units etc) is active with your mod, the game will just hang on start-up and need to be force closed. Might be a conflict with his unit pack and that new RM mod you added from Artstudio? I would recommend making ArtStudio's optional like the other recommended mods, because while his mod might be the for playing as Rome, when it comes time to play as say Carthage or Macedon, people might want the extra units Radious made for those factions while using your mod. Just my initial two cents. Gonna' actually try it out now.

[est Dudus]

ok, so I love your mod....but i have noticed when I flank a unit and my legions throws their javs the entire enemy line dies.....ALL of them, expect like 3....you might want to look at that.... other than that, I love it.

[AdanJ]

Yeah...Ant909 is correct. Just had the worst battle of my life. A line of legionaries completely wiped out by celts javelin charge. My javelin skirmishers also had 300+ kills a unit. so yeah, there is a major issue there.

[Kymmuriel]

Just from the initial boot-up I noticed a new incompatibility that wasn't there in older versions. If Radious' Unit Pack 2 - Rise of the Empire (The one that has all the Carthage, Rome, Egypt, Macedon units etc) is active with your mod, the game will just hang on start-up and need to be force closed. Might be a conflict with his unit pack and that new RM mod you added from Artstudio? I would recommend making ArtStudio's optional like the other recommended mods, because while his mod might be the for playing as Rome, when it comes time to play as say Carthage or Macedon, people might want the extra units Radious made for those factions while using your mod. Just my initial two cents. Gonna' actually try it out now.

Thats true, i use his unit icon, but well this should be optional as everyone has his own taste, thx sir again! By the way could you take a look on Agent2P pack plz? its a thracian dacian unit pack, it adds a lto of flavour to makedon campaihn as well as any of those factions, its really nice, oh and massillia mod too should be looked, well i dont want to put too much work on what you've already, i'm jsut macking suggestions of mb things youve not yet saw around.

Wanted to add, its currently not possible to play any combat with ure mod + Legionnaire Army mod nor Osgreek skin pack, this is game breaking for me, cant play anymore my fellow greeks, it does always crash midway the loading of the map for battle.

Dunno what really happened with the last version, but it adds a lot of trouble that the previous versions hadnt

[Selea]

@Vinuska & Kymmuriel:

No, it's not ArtStudio, it is that I forgot to add back a single line in the armor sets that cause the crash with unit packs. I will resolve the issue ASAP, just be aware that using external unit packs can be totally unbalanced with this mod, since armor stats are different.

You don't need an unit pack for Greece factions, they are already so powerful by themselves with this mod. They have the unique pike that are devastating, they have hoplite phalanx that make spears incredibly powerful, and Macedon also has a very powerful melee unit, what more do you want?

@Ant909, AdanJ, Eagle114th:

There's a problem with Javelins, I know. It's the only part I didn't test thoroughly but I will work on it today. The first thing I want to do is to remove Javelins from Barbarian melee units, that have no place there, then I will tailor a little damage bonuses. The problem is not the damage, is the AP that I set to medium/high (not the AP damage, the penetration field), just remove that and it will all work fine (penetration make it so that armour stat is halved).

As for Oathsworn, I tested them a lot and they are powerful, yes, but not OP. You didn't use your Praetorians correctly, you should use the defensive formations because Oathsworn WILL use their abilities. Use Shield Screen, at first Oathsworn will win, then they will slowly lose since they will be extremely fatigued after a little while. Oathsworn should be powerful (as all high tier Barbarian units) because they are the only high tier units Averni have; without them they will be annhiliated (they have poor spears, moderate cavalry and the rest of their melee is meh).

But maybe with the changes in the javelins that's what put all aside, I personally tested Oathsworn vs. Praetorians and Cohort many times and Romans always won in the end.

@Zardoc:

No, Aspis Companions are in Macedon (but they are also on Epirus, they have always been), are you sure you don't have them?


Anyway, I will now resolve this issue with javelins and do some little tests, I'm sorry for the trouble (I knew something like this would have happened).

[Eagle114th]

Hello Selea,

Thank you for your reply.. I have one more question that haven't been answered yet.. so I feel that it is important that I ask:

6) I noticed lot of problems with charging... I tested different ground army, they will NOT charge into enemy army, even when I either once or double clicked on them. I think I found some problem here. Both infantry and cavalry won't charge properly on my side, especially throwing pilums (Roman Legionaries). Charging features for player side is not enabled (??? Correct me if I m wrong) so they could not charge unlike AI do. AI charge into me properly while I could not. How do I properly charge into enemy army?

For further testing, I used royal cataphact from Parthian to charge into enemy.. They fired archer (???) instead of charging with lance aiming for them. That confuses me... I thought these royal Cataprhact is not missile cavalry? And I pressed alt (where cursor changed into sword icon) and double clicked on unit, these cavalry doesn't even lower their lance to aim toward them for full charging.

[Selea]

Hello Selea,

Thank you for your reply.. I have one more question that haven't been answered yet.. so I feel that it is important that I ask:

6) I noticed lot of problems with charging... I tested different ground army, they will NOT charge into enemy army, even when I either once or double clicked on them. I think I found some problem here. Both infantry and cavalry won't charge properly on my side, especially throwing pilums (Roman Legionaries). Charging features for player side is not enabled (??? Correct me if I m wrong) so they could not charge unlike AI do. AI charge into me properly while I could not. How do I properly charge into enemy army?

For further testing, I used royal cataphact from Parthian to charge into enemy.. They fired archer (???) instead of charging with lance aiming for them. That confuses me... I thought these royal Cataprhact is not missile cavalry? And I pressed alt (where cursor changed into sword icon) and double clicked on unit, these cavalry doesn't even lower their lance to aim toward them for full charging.

Hmmm, to me it works perfectly fine. I know that in patch 4 CA did increase drastically charge cooldown on units so you cannot charge every 5 seconds anymore, but as a first charge I never had this problem happen to me and I tested extensively the charge mechanism just 5 minutes ago when I tweaked elephants and this morning I tested it with Praetorians and they used their Javelins correctly on the charge.

Btw nothing is changed in the charge dynamics (I couldn't do it neither if I wanted to) so I have no idea what can cause your issue frankly. If other users report the same issue I will look further into it.

As for Cataphracts I gave them the possibility to also use a bow, but you can switch to melee by pressing F or the sword icon. It is an historical change because Parthian Cataphracs almost always carried bows and attacked from afar to have units go into loose formation or to thin the ranks before charging. All the tactic of the Parthian army resolved around missile tied with charges with Cataphracts.