Junaidi83 de Bodemloze has made a great mod which really wakes up the other factions. It's not all hate though, not at the beginning, as there is some love in the early game. A good balance, but very full on, and becomes very challenging once you get a few regions.
HOWEVER: This mod changes some other aspects of the game, like increasing unit upkeep. DEI is hard enough already especially with this new challenging CAI involved, so the last thing I needed was smaller armies. Therefore I deleted all tables (using PFM) that don't have anything to do with CAI personality/behaviour (I know next to nothing about modding R2 but it's all fairly intuitive which ones shouldn't be deleted). Also I noticed CAI armies could recruit about 16 units in one turn. I found the variable for this and toned it down. Again fairly obvious.
Now I have all the balance from DEI plus the extra challenge of neighbours that could turn on you if you show them any disrespect... or just on a whim! It's really tough.
MY GAME:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Playing as Pontus. Started off with the usual war of Galatia and Cappadocia. I acted quickly and took Trapezos. However Colchis wanted that region too, so war was inevitable. I left a fleet there to defend against the black sea invasions (many fun naval battles there!!). My armies turned back to the original foes which I begun grinding down. Meanwhile, I was making trade agreements and stronger ties with Cimmeria to the north of black sea and the greek colonies. This must have angered the raiders Tylis and Odrysian, as they became my enemies, but fortunately I had Bithynia as a buffer. Until they were eaten by Pergamon, who I managed to wangle a defensive alliance with. But then the world fell and the big boys Seleucidai and Armenia declared on me, from the south and the east. By letting Armenia and Galatia take my southern regions I'm now protected from the monster of Seleucidai and all her little minions (including Sardes, who doesn't really hate me, I can tell). So now I have to be careful, quickly take Galartia's undefended capital and shift my forces back east to meet the bulk of Armenia, whilst simultaneously making sure Galatia doesn't grow back it's ugly head from there last remain small poor region. I may even liberate the old enemy Cappadocia when fighting/defending against Armenia. But as you can see, it's really, really challenging. I could lose it all at any turn - and I probably will. Current state of affairs (I only have 3 regions which will soon be two as a full Armenian stack advances and bulldozers through Trapezos - my fleet setting sail and saving themselves!!):
Last edited by rjacko10; November 02, 2015 at 02:41 PM.
This mod has been posted quite a few times, but yes it is good for those looking for a bit more war.
I will say that the base DeI game is balanced around having an AI that isn't looking to immediately throw down or backstab, but I understand why many may want that. I would be careful, though, because there are a lot of changes that may not be fully compatible with 1.1. I haven't tested it myself, so I could be wrong.
This is also another reason I created the hardcore submod, to offer those looking for the challenge something more.
I would be careful, though, because there are a lot of changes that may not be fully compatible with 1.1. I haven't tested it myself, so I could be wrong.
There certainly are. Hence the deletion of a load of tables. All I wanted is DEI + a well balanced CAI that will declare war at every stage in the game to keep me on my toes. Think I've cracked it
There certainly are. Hence the deletion of a load of tables. All I wanted is DEI + a well balanced CAI that will declare war at every stage in the game to keep me on my toes. Think I've cracked it
Οr you could try Dresden's Hardcore mod...it's quite different from original DEI for sure...
Οr you could try Dresden's Hardcore mod...it's quite different from original DEI for sure...
That hardcore mod is really not my thing. Everything becomes harder and more limiting. I really like DEI the way it is, apart from the passive CAI.
All I want is CAI to declare war on me occasionally, sometimes for good reason, sometimes because it's taking advantage. Going through the whole game picking your own wars is easy. Having all your resources fighting one enemy at a time, on one side of the empire is easy. Alternatively, having to spread your resources around the empire to protect your underbelly from an unpredictable AI makes things a lot harder without limiting money, armies, PO etc etc.
To be honest i always found juniads mod made the game incredibly easy.
I could make ten province factions my client state while barely having power of them. And i qas drowning in money because factions wereconstantly begging for peace a d offering tens of thousands in cash to get it.
I also use the edited Junaidi83 de Bodemloze mod. It is good for me. AI seems to think more correctly both positional and offensive war. Invasion more massive and well designed with the army and navy together. Difficulty has not increased dramatically, but sometimes forced to retreat. However, there are rare CTD on the campaign map. I think it's because of my changes. I was not able to conclude a peace treaty beyond 120 turns (small III IL) even once.
To be honest i always found juniads mod made the game incredibly easy.
I could make ten province factions my client state while barely having power of them. And i qas drowning in money because factions wereconstantly begging for peace a d offering tens of thousands in cash to get it.
He's done a lot of updates recently. I haven't experienced anything you said. I was offered cash gifts from some factions, but those were very much needed! And needless to say, it wasn't long until they stopped.
Originally Posted by tum0
I also use the edited Junaidi83 de Bodemloze mod. It is good for me. AI seems to think more correctly both positional and offensive war. Invasion more massive and well designed with the army and navy together. Difficulty has not increased dramatically, but sometimes forced to retreat. However, there are rare CTD on the campaign map. I think it's because of my changes. I was not able to conclude a peace treaty beyond 120 turns (small III IL) even once.
I haven't had any CTDs yet. My edits have now extended to making friendly factions declaring war slightly less often.
Those looking for more aggresive CAI
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Dresden
