The function of the hidden resource 'arguin'?

[FootSoldier]

Atlantic is used as target for explorers guild missions. It means that you can receive the specific guild_take_settlement mission only for regions that have atlantic hidden resource

I also notice that settlements with the atlantic HR explorers_guild HR get offered the explorers guild as soon as a stone wall is built (Dublin, Antwerp, Bruges)

It's still not clear to me how (where, when, why) the AI decides to settle a horde. It's definitely not as simple as picking the closest region with horde_target from where the horde spawns.

I agree with this. In my current campaign (Byz) the Mongols spawned in Tbilisi. Byz holds Antioch and nearby. After many many turns of bumbling about at full horde strength they moved via the mountainous region between Trebizond and Caesarea via Iconium to Nicaea. I assumed they were going for Constantinople, blocked the crossings with fleets, and started picking off their stacks. Despite being at war they haven't attacked Nicaea (undefended), nor attacked my 2 stacks to their 12 (now 8) in the field. It's now turn 140. Up until they passed Iconium Antioch was closer.

Constantinople does have horde_target (also atlantic) but this is the first time since 2006 that I have seen the Mongols go for it.

I can't quick test this right now as I'm in the middle of amends to make the Timurids playable as a settled faction and it turns out the saved game isn't presently compatible.

Is the HR swordsmiths_guild a dud too?

Both Toledo and Damascus have it. Both were known for quality steel weapon production. In M1TW the swordsmith type weapon upgrade depended on the region from the start of the game and Damascus was one such region.

Originally I hoped it was a "secret" way for Egypt or the Turks to get the guild. I took it by jihad in the opening 2 moves. I tried various things using process_cq. The only way was through convert to castle and building the plate armourer (82 points needed, not 100). The swordsmiths guild is offered on the next turn, but that works for any settlement.

It isn't practicible to do this in campaign time (and I tried) for various reasons, but mostly it takes 37 turns to build the castle upgrades and armourer upgrades so 12 points are lost from turn 25 - 37, so down to 70 points, and then even building the advanced plate doesn't get it over the line.

I anyway concluded that the swordsmiths guild wasn't going to suddenly be offered in Damascus (or at least the conditions weren't obvious) and that the Turks, being unable to train sword units named in ed_guilds.txt was unable to get the guild by their own efforts.

Anyone know any purpose to the swordsmiths_guild HR?

[Gigantus]

I also notice that settlements with the atlantic HR explorers_guild HR get offered the explorers guild as soon as a stone wall is built (Dublin, Antwerp, Bruges)

'Atlantic' isn't a condition in descr_guilds but the building of ports and wharves are. The HR is believed to be a hard coded condition for the explorer guild.

Swordsmith guild - there are a number of units that convey points to it but it's rather selective: sword and buckler, forlorn hope, byzantine infantry etc. No islam faction's units are listed afaik. The guild provides melee weapon bonus (locally) as well as heavy cavalry bonus (faction wide).

[FootSoldier]

Has any purpose been discovered for the HR swordsmith guild, that is present for Toledo and Damascus? Is it safe to use the HR for other purposes or to replace it?

No islam faction's units are listed afaik.

Generally the swordsmith guild is easy to get in campaign for most factions that can train sword infantry.

In vanilla the Moors have two sword units that will get the swordsmiths guild - Urban Militia in cities and Dismounted Christian Guard in castles in the late game. Otherwise the Turks and Egyptians have no sword units. Ditto for the Russians, who can't get it. If descr_guilds is amended to the conditions "type infantry/class heavy" (as in KGCM) the Egyptians (halberd militia) and Turks (halberd militia and Janissary Heavy inf) will only be able to get the swordsmiths guild in cities. They don't produce any heavy infantry in castles.

That said, the Russians, Egyptians and Turks don't greatly benefit from a swordsmiths guild. Their strength is in their archers and horse archers. Generally they gain a swordsmiths guild through acquiring those of other factions.

[bitterhowl]

I made AI profile for Mongols in BellumCrucis submod. There are more than 10 horde_target in descr_regions in original mod and it's used there as AOR HR. There was a problem with horde behavior on initial stage of it's appearance because stacks went chaotically between target settlements. So I made only one horde_target in nearest region to spawn and everything became just perfect! After conquering target settlement Mongols are proactive and by 100-th turn after being spawned they're near Krakow without any additional scripting except second and third waves spawn.

Without any horde_target they just stand on one place in a region next to their spawn point and do nothing.

With 2 horde_target regions located near each other their initial behavior became less effective.

[Gigantus]

Memory tells me that somewhere in the workshop there is a fairly detailed investigation of the horde behavior, just can't find it right now.

[bitterhowl]

Memory tells me that somewhere in the workshop there is a fairly detailed investigation of the horde behavior, just can't find it right now.

I used this one
https://www.twcenter.net/forums/show...dvanced-users)

[Gigantus]

That's the one I was thinking about.

[bitterhowl]

I think that HR may affect some other mechanics. In BellumCrucis 6.3 local submod we got a problem which came from original mod - AI doesn't recruit any ships and merchants. And this is not campaign_script issue.

As I mentioned with Mongols - original BC team used horde_target HR not only for hording purposes but also for AOR and multiplied it in descr_regions. Also some vanilla HRs were deleted (such as explorers_guild for example). This issue with ships and merchants is still unsolved and after reading this thread I think that the deal is in HR. Any ideas which one could be a problem?

Here is a list of HRs from BC 6.3

hidden_resources  sardegna atlantic teutonic_knights_chapter_house  knights_of_santiago_chapter_house crusade jihad horde_target no_pirates  no_brigands AORtemplari
AORgiovanni AORmontesa not_here commercio  scozia irlanda inghilterra francia nordspagna sudspagna fiandre germania  norditalia suditalia scandinavia polonia lituania ungheria
  iugoslavia carpazia bizantinia russianord russiacentro bulgaria alania  turchia georgia armenia est terrasanta africaovest africaest olive  grapes textiles0 minierasale palmeto
 canapa segale caccia0 carbone0  ebraismo1 ebraismo2 lazzariti calatrava alcantara tau pisani genovesi  veneziani catsar tedeschi fiamminghi riverport

[Nordlaender]

Did you try putting "arguin" back in just to see what happens?

Maybe that weird HR had something to do with your current problem. I don't see it in your list there.

[Gigantus]

You do know you can use plugins to act as hidden resource? Not advisable to use hard coded HRs for other purposes.

Do the ships have a recruit_priority entry? High recruit costs?
Any additional requirements for merchants? High recruit costs?

[bitterhowl]

Not advisable to use hard coded HRs for other purposes.

I know that, but here we got a project to improve made by another team. It's nearly perfect, great details. It deserves to be fixed!

Here are EDB examples for merchants

{
        corn_exchange requires factions { northern_european, mesoamerican, middle_eastern, nativeindian, eastern_european, greek, southern_european, } 
        {
            capability
            {
                agent merchant  0  requires factions { northern_european, mesoamerican, } 
                agent merchant  0  requires factions { middle_eastern, nativeindian, } 
                agent merchant  0  requires factions { eastern_european, } 
                agent merchant  0  requires factions { greek, } 
                agent merchant  0  requires factions { southern_european, } 
                trade_base_income_bonus bonus 1
                income_bonus bonus 150 requires building_present_min_level city_hall town_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall council_chambers and not building_present_min_level city_hall city_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall mayors_palace
                income_bonus bonus 300 requires building_present_min_level city_hall council_chambers and not building_present_min_level city_hall town_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall city_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall mayors_palace
                income_bonus bonus 600 requires building_present_min_level city_hall city_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall town_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall council_chambers and not building_present_min_level city_hall mayors_palace
                income_bonus bonus 1200 requires building_present_min_level city_hall mayors_palace and not building_present_min_level city_hall town_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall council_chambers and not building_present_min_level city_hall city_hall
                income_bonus bonus 400 requires building_present_min_level hinterland_campo_canapa campo_canapa and not building_present_min_level hinterland_campo_canapa zuccherificio
                income_bonus bonus 800 requires building_present_min_level hinterland_campo_canapa zuccherificio and not building_present_min_level hinterland_campo_canapa campo_canapa
                agent_limit merchant 1 requires factions { all, } and not event_counter ai_player 1
                agent_limit merchant 2 requires factions { all, } and event_counter ai_player 1
            }
            material wooden
            construction  4
            cost  900 
            settlement_min town
            upgrades
            {
                market
            }
        }

Another example of building to hire them

building bank
{
    levels merchant_bank merchant_vault 
    {
        merchant_bank requires factions { northern_european, mesoamerican, middle_eastern, nativeindian, eastern_european, greek, southern_european, } and event_counter lettera_cambio_discovered 1 and hidden_resource commercio 
        {
            capability
            {
                trade_base_income_bonus bonus 1
    income_bonus bonus 125
    income_bonus bonus 1200 requires building_present_min_level city_hall town_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall council_chambers and not building_present_min_level city_hall city_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall mayors_palace
    income_bonus bonus 2400 requires building_present_min_level city_hall council_chambers and not building_present_min_level city_hall town_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall city_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall mayors_palace
    income_bonus bonus 4800 requires building_present_min_level city_hall city_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall town_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall council_chambers and not building_present_min_level city_hall mayors_palace
    income_bonus bonus 9600 requires building_present_min_level city_hall mayors_palace and not building_present_min_level city_hall town_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall council_chambers and not building_present_min_level city_hall city_hall            
                agent_limit merchant 2 requires factions { all, } and not event_counter ai_player 1
                agent_limit merchant 4 requires factions { all, } and event_counter ai_player 1
            }
            material stone
            construction  8
            cost  7200 
            settlement_min large_city
            upgrades
            {
                merchant_vault
            }
        }
        merchant_vault requires factions { byzantium, normans, egypt, venice, sicily, pisa, } and event_counter lettera_cambio_discovered 1 and hidden_resource commercio
        {
            capability
            {
                trade_base_income_bonus bonus 2
    income_bonus bonus 250
    income_bonus bonus 2400 requires building_present_min_level city_hall town_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall council_chambers and not building_present_min_level city_hall city_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall mayors_palace
    income_bonus bonus 4800 requires building_present_min_level city_hall council_chambers and not building_present_min_level city_hall town_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall city_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall mayors_palace
    income_bonus bonus 9600 requires building_present_min_level city_hall city_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall town_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall council_chambers and not building_present_min_level city_hall mayors_palace
    income_bonus bonus 19200 requires building_present_min_level city_hall mayors_palace and not building_present_min_level city_hall town_hall and not building_present_min_level city_hall council_chambers and not building_present_min_level city_hall city_hall            
                agent_limit merchant 3 requires factions { all, } and not event_counter ai_player 1
                agent_limit merchant 6 requires factions { all, } and event_counter ai_player 1
            }
            material stone
            construction  10
            cost  14400 
            settlement_min huge_city
            upgrades
            {
            }
        }
    }
    plugins 
    {
    }
}

Descr_cultures for them same for all factions

spy                spy.tga                spy_info.tga            spy.tga            750    1    1
assassin        assassin.tga        assassin_info.tga        assassin.tga    1000    1    1
diplomat        diplomat.tga        diplomat_info.tga        diplomat.tga    500    1    1
admiral            admiral.tga        admiral_info.tga        admiral.tga    250    1    1
merchant        merchant.tga        merchant_info.tga        merchant.tga    350    1    1
priest            priest.tga        priest_info.tga            priest.tga    250    1    1

As for ships - EDU

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;NAVY AND SIEGE UNITS;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;


type             baghlah
dictionary       baghlah      ; Baghlah
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 50, 0, 1
ship             heavy warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         18, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 22, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 22, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      16, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 1150, 350, 250, 250, 1150, 4, 280
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        middle_eastern, nativeindian
recruit_priority_offset    140
;unit_info        18, 0, 22
 
 
type             caravel
dictionary       caravel      ; Caravel
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 30, 0, 1
ship             heavy warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit, modello_carrack
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         15, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 15, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 15, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      10, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 850, 275, 200, 200, 850, 4, 210
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        portugal, spain, aragon
recruit_priority_offset    140
;unit_info        15, 0, 15
 
 
type             carrack
dictionary       carrack      ; Carrack
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 50, 0, 1
ship             heavy warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit, modello_carrack
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         30, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 30, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 30, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      10, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 1500, 350, 250, 250, 1500, 4, 370
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        eastern_european, greek, southern_european, northern_european, mesoamerican, cumans
recruit_priority_offset    140
;unit_info        30, 0, 30
 
 
type             cog
dictionary       cog      ; Cog
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 20, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         5, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 8, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 8, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      16, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 500, 150, 100, 100, 500, 4, 120
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        england, hre, france, barons, scotland, poland, portugal, spain
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        5, 0, 8
 
 
type             dhow
dictionary       dhow      ; Dhow
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 20, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         5, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 6, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 6, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      16, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 470, 150, 100, 100, 470, 4, 110
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        middle_eastern, nativeindian
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        5, 0, 6
 
 
type             dragon boat
dictionary       dragon_boat      ; Dragon Boat
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 30, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit, modello_drakkar
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         12, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 10, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 10, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      16, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 670, 200, 150, 150, 670, 4, 160
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        denmark, saxons
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        12, 0, 10
 
 
type             dromon
dictionary       dromon      ; Dromon
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 30, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         7, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 9, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 9, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      16, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 600, 150, 100, 100, 600, 4, 150
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        greek
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        7, 0, 9
 
 
type             fire ship
dictionary       fire_ship      ; Fire Ship
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 30, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         16, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 10, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 10, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      16, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 700, 200, 150, 150, 700, 4, 170
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        all
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        16, 0, 10
 
 
type             galleass
dictionary       galleass      ; Galleass
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 40, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         26, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 20, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 20, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      10, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 1150, 275, 200, 200, 1150, 4, 280
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        southern_european, hungary, cumans
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        26, 0, 20
 
 
type             galley
dictionary       galley      ; Galley
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 20, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         8, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 7, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 7, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      16, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 520, 150, 100, 100, 520, 4, 130
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        sicily, milan, pisa, venice, normans, hungary, papal_states, aragon
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        8, 0, 7
 
 
type             grande carrack
dictionary       grande_carrack      ; Grande Carrack
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 60, 0, 1
ship             heavy warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit, modello_carrack
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         35, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 35, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 35, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      10, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 1900, 350, 250, 250, 1900, 4, 470
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        portugal, spain, aragon
recruit_priority_offset    140
;unit_info        35, 0, 35
 
 
type             gun holk
dictionary       gun_holk      ; Gun Holk
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 30, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         16, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 16, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 16, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      10, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 800, 275, 200, 200, 800, 4, 200
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        northern_european, mesoamerican, poland, russia, novgorod, emirs
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        16, 0, 16
 
 
type             holk
dictionary       holk      ; Holk
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 30, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         10, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 12, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      16, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 670, 200, 150, 150, 670, 4, 160
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        hre, scotland, france, barons, england, russia, novgorod, poland, portugal, emirs
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        10, 0, 12
 
 
type             ladya
dictionary       ladya      ; Lad'Ya
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 30, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit, modello_drakkar
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         10, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 4, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 4, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      10, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 570, 150, 100, 100, 570, 4, 140
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        russia, novgorod, cumans, emirs
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        10, 0, 4
 
 
type             lanternas
dictionary       lanternas      ; Lanternas
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 40, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         18, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 18, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 18, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      10, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 970, 275, 200, 200, 970, 4, 240
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        middle_eastern, nativeindian, greek
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        18, 0, 18
 
 
type             longboat
dictionary       longboat      ; Longboat
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 20, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit, modello_drakkar
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         8, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 5, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 5, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      16, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 500, 150, 100, 100, 500, 4, 120
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        denmark, saxons
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        8, 0, 5
 
 
type             war galley
dictionary       war_galley      ; War Galley
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 30, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         12, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 12, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      16, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 700, 200, 150, 150, 700, 4, 170
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        hungary, southern_european, middle_eastern, nativeindian, cumans
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        12, 0, 12


type             italic galley
dictionary       italic_galley      ; War Galley
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
soldier          Peasants, 30, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         16, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 16, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 12, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      16, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 880, 250, 200, 200, 880, 4, 200
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        all
recruit_priority_offset    100
;unit_info        12, 0, 12
 
 
type             pirate ship
dictionary       pirate_ship      ; Pirate Ship
category         ship
class            light
voice_type       Light
accent         English
soldier          Peasants, 20, 0, 1
ship             light warship
attributes       sea_faring, can_withdraw, mercenary_unit
formation        50, 50, 75, 75, 1, square
stat_health      1, 0
stat_pri         10, 0, no, 0, 0, melee, melee_simple, slashing, none, 25, 1
;stat_pri_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_pri_attr    no
stat_sec         0, 0, no, 0, 0, no, melee_simple, blunt, none, 25, 1
;stat_sec_ex      0, 0, 0
stat_sec_attr    no
stat_pri_armour  0, 10, 0, flesh
;stat_armour_ex   0, 0, 0, 0, 10, 0, 0, flesh
stat_sec_armour  0, 0, flesh
stat_heat        0
stat_ground      0, 0, 0, 0
stat_mental      16, normal, trained
stat_charge_dist 30
stat_fire_delay  0
stat_food        60, 300
stat_cost        1, 470, 150, 100, 100, 470, 4, 140
stat_stl        4
armour_ug_levels 0
armour_ug_models Peasants
ownership        slave
recruit_priority_offset    80
;unit_info        10, 0, 10

EDB example for second level castle port

        c_port castle requires factions { northern_european, mesoamerican, middle_eastern, nativeindian, eastern_european, greek, southern_european, }
        {
            capability
            {
        ;level I
                trade_base_income_bonus bonus 2

                recruit_pool "cog"  1   1   3  0  requires factions { england, portugal, } 
                recruit_pool "cog"  1   0.2   3  0  requires factions { hre, scotland, barons, spain, } 
                recruit_pool "cog"  1   0.1   3  0  requires factions { france, poland, } 

                recruit_pool "longboat"  1   1   3  0  requires factions { denmark, saxons, } 

                recruit_pool "dhow"  1   1   3  0  requires factions { moors, egypt, } 
                recruit_pool "dhow"  1   0.2   3  0  requires factions { turks, zenghids, timurids, } 
                recruit_pool "dhow"  1   0.1   3  0  requires factions { mongols, } 

                recruit_pool "ladya"  1   1   3  0  requires factions { novgorod, emirs, } 
                recruit_pool "ladya"  1   0.2   3  0  requires factions { russia, } 
                recruit_pool "ladya"  1   0.1   3  0  requires factions { cumans, } 

                recruit_pool "dromon"  1   1   3  0  requires factions { byzantium, } 
                recruit_pool "dromon"  1   0.2   3  0  requires factions { aztecs, } 

                recruit_pool "galley"  1   1   3  0  requires factions { sicily, aragon, pisa, venice, } 
                recruit_pool "galley"  1   0.2   3  0  requires factions { normans, papal_states, } 
                recruit_pool "galley"  1   0.1   3  0  requires factions { hungary, milan, } 

            }
            material wooden
            construction  4
            cost  1600 
            settlement_min large_town
            upgrades
            {
                c_shipwright
            }
        }

[Gigantus]

Nothing in the coding that should prevent merchant or ship recruitment for the AI. I am not too familiar with the recruit_priority_offset numbers but I am assuming the higher the number the lesser the chance of recruiting. 100 and 140 should be fine, although in 1648 we used very low numbers in general. Maybe run a trial with the line disabled?
The event counter for the merchants will not make a difference on whether you can recruit one, only how many per building, so even if the counter wasn't being set they should get recruited.

[Jadli]

I believe that the higher recruit_priority_offset is, the more likely is the AI to recruit the unit, right? Not vice versa

I suppose also try increasing the ship stats, and decreasing price/upkeep. And enable naval invasions in descr_sm_factions

[bitterhowl]

All the advised things was done by me, I posted initial data from mod.

I set recruit_priority to high numbers (I believe higher number increases recruit - I lowered it for siege engines in Westetos mod and don't see them anymore in AI armies), added attack value in EDU, even placed ships recordings at the top of EDU (they were placed in the end), set naval_invasions yes in descr_sm_factions. No result.

But when I broke Mongol invasion with incorrect horde_target I believe that here is something similar with ships and merchants.

[Gigantus]

But when I broke Mongol invasion with incorrect horde_target I believe that here is something similar with ships and merchants.

Another Rutger Hauer moment in M2TW modding, me thinks:

[bitterhowl]

No, no, no, sir, I believe we'll fix it.

[Gigantus]

That was more aimed at the actual 'breaking merchants and ships with horde_target use', not the fixing of it.

[CavalryCmdr]

On the original subject matter, I do not dive into the coding of the .exe however I have done EXTENSIVE observational work on this game.
Adding "arguin" resource to a region that is often ignored by the AI will, invariably, make it more likely that the AI will take said region. It does not ensure the AI will take it, but it will be more likely to do so. To verify this do a simple experiment, remove the resource from the vanilla maps Arguin region. The AI will still take it, but not as early and not as consistently. Obviously this will only be concluded through repeated runs of the AI.
On my own map, I have a region the AI tends to over-look, consistently only taking it after 60 turns while sometimes not even taking it within 100 turns.
Add "arguin" and with ONLY that change the AI takes the region within 40 turns 2 out of 3 runs, with the third run still being within 60 turns.

While it possible this is coincidence, I find it hard to believe that, after 10 runs with very similar settings, two of which were identical in every other way, the game just randomly decided that those three runs were the only three the AI managed to take that region before 60 turns.

[z3n]

So did your tests indicate that the AI favors settlements with hidden resources or specifically the arguin resource?

[CavalryCmdr]

So did your tests indicate that the AI favors settlements with hidden resources or specifically the arguin resource?

I did the tests, combined total 30 runs with "aguin" and 40 without, going up-to 100 turns.
The short answer is, hidden resources of any kind make minimal, if any, difference.

The long answer:

While mostly the results were inconclusive, the average turn the region was acquired on didn't vary too much, with notable exceptions.
With 25 runs without arguin the average turn was 39.24, while 29 with was 38.97.
At first this appears pretty convincing that it doesn't do what I had believed, however, this discards all runs that exceeded 100 turns.
That's 5 runs (15%) without "arguin" with only one (3%) with "arguin" exceeding 100 turns.
Adjusted including those runs at 30 runs each, the minimum average for the runs without arguin comes out to 50
while the average with comes to 41. That is a noteworthy difference.
That's the minimum, assuming they would have been claimed at turn 101 if I had run that long, chances of that are exceedingly slim, so it's fair to assume the average for without, would have been much higher.

Interesting things to note, the one run with "arguin" that exceeded 100 turns occurred with another hidden resource as well ("denmark" one I made, used in the edb.) With the 20 runs with only arguin, the average was a solid 38.8, with the minimum average for 20 runs with no hidden resource being 47.75, but in reality would likely be much higher.
Also, the variance was much less with arguin than any other setting.

You may have noticed I stated 40 runs without "arguin" but up to now have only mentioned 30, that's because the 10 runs with "italy" had, interesting results. As with all run's without arguin, italy had one run that exceeded 100 turns, even without that one the average for the other 9 was turn 51, significantly higher than any other set.

Here are all the numbers:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

none
34
24
101
26
36
75
47
28
101
29

Minimum average 50.1

arguin
29
32
42
30
40
39
56
38
30
37

Solid average 37.3

claim
34
53
29
101
40
28
101
24
91
30

Minimum average 53.1

italy
37
101
42
37
63
89
70
27
73
22

Minimum average 56.1

none
28
40
24
58
33
53
41
101
38
38

Minimum average 45.4

arguin
26
37
59
35
37
67
31
43
33
35

Solid average 40.3

arguin, Denmark
27
41
22
85
40
35
25
101
29
50

Minimum average 45.5