Polybian reforms

[Apio Claudio]

My question is i read that there are 2 ways for you to activate the reforms, one if you fulfill several requirements, the other if you reached the year 249 b. C. My problem is i m already at 228 b.C. and my army hasn't suffered any reforms.

[QuintusSertorius]

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...nts-as-at-2-2b

Turn 249, not the year 249BC.

[Apio Claudio]

Thanks.

The amount of random dc's is starting to get noxious. I ve already had to resolve several battles, thus, losing 2 full stacks because the game crashes when i play battles i could easly win .... For some reason the reforms haven t triggered for me...

[Rad]

When you order building, save game.
When you move character, save game.
Before battle, save game.
After battle, save game.
? Save game.

2.2b is unstable, adapt.

Don't look at unit descriptions in the building menu, that causes crashes.

[romanius24]

That sounds like fun.

[Rad]

My average is 4 save games per turn

[ImperatorMaximus]

To be fair I keep reading descriptions all the time and it rarely get that bug with buttons getting all messed up and then crashing, also either than that I didn't got any kind of crash in 2.2b in the campaign map, however I auto resolve everything so I don't know if after playing a battle it can then crash randomly on the campaign map, but to me in the campaign map it never crashed either when buttons get messed up from open descriptions stuff (but this happened in 2.1b too and I think was more frequent actually). That said I always save at the beginning of a new turn and at the end of the turn and sometimes before I make a risky decision and also have a backup save I only update from time to time (I have 4 different saves per campaign in case something goes wrong).

[Rad]

Heresy!
What's the point of autoresolve?

[ImperatorMaximus]

lol The point is that I got bored of all the rts thing and also it takes a lot of time, nowadays I'm more in interested in the "grand campaign" thing, yes I'm a big fan of Paradox games What I love in this mod is that they actually added something always lacked in Total War games that is the empire building part, especially on the newest ones. They're too much focused on battles. Yeah I loved the first Rome Total War, the first time I played I did absolutely all battles even those little ones that are pointless but I was a fan of rts games in general but now I don't find the rts thing that fun, they're not really realistic in general anyway. I love all the complexity of "empire building" aspect of this mod and is the reason I play it, there isn't nothing that comes close in the ancient ages which is what I like the most. I think CA should look at this mod, but I guess most players just care about the battles Anyway not playing the battles means I can advance really fast in a campaign, that's why I can make several campaigns at same time with different factions ^^

[ImperatorMaximus]

Another thing regarding playing only with auto resolve is that it makes the game more challenging, it's really easy to exploit AI in battle really. However autore solving is a different thing and although in newest Total Wars auto resolve seems kinda broken here it works fine. For example in my Pahlava campaign in VH/VH where I'm kinda of restoring the Persian Empire, I need to build really big armies because the core of my army are those cheap Iranian spearmen (or something like that not sure now) and the best infantry I can recruit is the Akkadian heavy infantry supported of course by the cataphracts which are very expensive, I need this because I need to have bigger numbers in general than the Seleucids when auto resolving because with equal numbers I lose since they have better units in general, so this gives a sense of realism you don't have when playing the battles yourself because the AI is not very smart xd Another thing very important in auto resolve is some of the FM traits related to commander stuff that when you do the battles yourself are kinda pointless (either than the morale stuff I guess), so I try to make good use of my best assassins to try to kill their commander before a battle although most of the time is too hard especially on VH difficulty.

[Roma_Victrix]

Thanks.

The amount of random dc's is starting to get noxious. I ve already had to resolve several battles, thus, losing 2 full stacks because the game crashes when i play battles i could easly win .... For some reason the reforms haven t triggered for me...

Try kicking some of your graphics settings down, including your "filter" in the advanced graphics settings down to "bilinear". That really, really, really helps. Also get rid of battle map and campaign shadows. That also helps for me at least. My game plays pretty smoothly now. I'd say that most of those crashes you're having are graphics related. Sometimes inclement weather is a problem. That's why I also edited my own weather file in the main "data" folder to get rid of lightning storms and really heavy rain, which slows the game down and makes it a nightmare when you have multiple armies on the screen fighting each other (the rain and lightning take up a huge amount of system resources, and my crap laptop can't handle it all at once). Ever since I've done these things, I HAVE NOT HAD A CTD FROM A BATTLE AT ALL! Seriously. All my CTDs are caused by clicking in and out of unit info scrolls that I choose to look at from the building browser.

Here's a typical entry in my weather_db file (which, by the way, you can change and it is SAVE GAME COMPATIBLE):

            <climate id="alpine">
            <patterns>
                  <pattern id="clear" chance="0.9"></pattern>
                  <pattern id="cloudy" chance="0.10"></pattern>
                  <pattern id="rain" chance="0.10"></pattern>
                  <pattern id="storm" chance="0.00"></pattern>
                  <pattern id="light fog" chance="0.1"></pattern>
                  <pattern id="heavy fog" chance="0.05"></pattern>
               </patterns>
            </climate>

Notice how I've changed the "chance" for "storm" to "0.00", which means that there is no chance for any storm in my battles. You must do the same for "blizzard", which is a winter storm. Also, making "heavy fog" at "0.00" or just "0.05" is helpful too, becuase heavy fog is lame and a real pain in the ass. It also takes up system resources.

Another thing regarding playing only with auto resolve is that it makes the game more challenging, it's really easy to exploit AI in battle really. However autore solving is a different thing and although in newest Total Wars auto resolve seems kinda broken here it works fine. For example in my Pahlava campaign in VH/VH where I'm kinda of restoring the Persian Empire, I need to build really big armies because the core of my army are those cheap Iranian spearmen (or something like that not sure now) and the best infantry I can recruit is the Akkadian heavy infantry supported of course by the cataphracts which are very expensive, I need this because I need to have bigger numbers in general than the Seleucids when auto resolving because with equal numbers I lose since they have better units in general, so this gives a sense of realism you don't have when playing the battles yourself because the AI is not very smart xd Another thing very important in auto resolve is some of the FM traits related to commander stuff that when you do the battles yourself are kinda pointless (either than the morale stuff I guess), so I try to make good use of my best assassins to try to kill their commander before a battle although most of the time is too hard especially on VH difficulty.

Dude, seriously? Out of all the mods where one could accuse the AI of being stupid, EB II is not among them. Are you sure you've played a live battle in this game? It's almost like a game of chess. The AI is very smart in EB II on VH, unlike the vast majority of mods for M2TW. You're simply missing out on all the beautiful units the unit modellers spent their time creating for you, to see on the battlefield. I like empire-building and campaign stuff as well, but that would be boring as hell if not punctuated with a real battle or two now and then. I can also understand auto-resolving certain battles, especially every field battle with the stupid Eleutheroi rebels that pop up in your territories incessantly once your empire gets really big. Playing every one of those battles would be a time-consuming hassle. However, the big set-piece field battles and epic sieges of the enemy's final settlements, you don't even play those? REALLY?

Besides, it's just like Quintus said, certain reforms don't fire in the campaign script unless you fight real battles, so if anything you're stunting yourself on the campaign map and in your empire-building. It's also like you said: you have to bring overwhelming amounts of troops in order to win auto-resolve battles, instead of putting in the hard work and winning battles by your own wit and cunning.

[Paltmull]

[...] The AI is very smart in EB II on VH, unlike the vast majority of mods for M2TW. [...]

Does battle difficulty actually affect the skill of the AI? I always thought that it just gave a bunch of bonuses to the AI units... o_o

[QuintusSertorius]

There are reform-related triggers which don't fire on an auto-resolved battle.

[Rad]

I still think you're missing out
And, like Quintus says, some reforms need live battles.

[Apio Claudio]

If i invite a barbarian girlo friend and conquer "her lands" should i also save in name of Rome ;P?

Well you are all missing the point, I'M ALREADY AT 228 AND NO REFORMS !!!!!! I WANT MY DAMN REFORMS ;p

[Rad]

You can't have any until you eat your vegans.

[Apio Claudio]

I ve already eaten enough vegetables tpoday, to even win a belt (how i met your mother refference ;p ). Returning to the toipic at hands, can i force the reforms ? by the year 228 they should have happened. Also another thing that pisses me is how slow the recruitment is. The enemy keeps sending units but i can t restoclk quick enough.

[QuintusSertorius]

I ve already eaten enough vegetables tpoday, to even win a belt (how i met your mother refference ;p ). Returning to the toipic at hands, can i force the reforms ? by the year 228 they should have happened. Also another thing that pisses me is how slow the recruitment is. The enemy keeps sending units but i can t restoclk quick enough.

No, they will occur by the year 210BC if you haven't managed either of the other triggers.

The Romans have some of the fastest refresh of any faction, largely because their roster is so narrow.

[MrBlack103]

No, they will occur by the year 210BC if you haven't managed either of the other triggers.

The Romans have some of the fastest refresh of any faction, largely because their roster is so narrow.

True. You are a bit vulnerable though after the Polybian Reforms hit, as the recruitment pool for the new units starts at zero. It takes a couple of years before you can recruit a full stack from your core territories.

[Hummer]

I only have CTD on AI turns. I have never had a CTD during my turn.
It's interesting how others keep reporting CTD's so often. My game seems to have gotten more stable as I play farther into it. I'm in turn 300 now.
I used to have a CTD once an hour, now I can play 2 hours and have none.