[SUBMOD: a Slower Paced DeI Campaign] TESTUDO v.1.7 + Custom Packs [upd: aug.09/20] - OUTDATED

[Demon Soul]

The title of this thread says "slower paced dei campaign". How can we compare our experience to this? If we wouldn't recruit units from begging and if we wouldn't hesitate to attack ai first, you wouldn't prevail war from south and north at once and I wouldn't live a little longer. Maybe I'm in lack of strategist skills or don't understand mod mechanics but my campaign wasn't "slower paced".

I was having one full professional army.

[Jake Armitage]

I get what you're saying but I think it mostly comes from lack of experience/concentration.
Testudo might be tricky and you have to pay attention both when you're turtling or rushing.
Diplomacy is really important, you have to build alliances and try to stay focused on less fronts of war as possible (which is pretty historical too, mostly for little factions).
Sometimes some factions will just declare war without reason. That's an hardcoded vanilla feature coming form very unlucky dice rolls. If it's a nonesense just reaload a previous save. There is no shame in this.
You'll need more than 1 campaign to become able to ride it, every faction has its own start and needed things to do.
You may want to use a light turtle weight or even play it at easy difficulty.

For Rome, follow what Dominus said.
1) make genua declare war on etruria and a trade agreement with veneti. They'll end fighting each other.
2) rush for etruria as soon as you can, probably Epiros will conquer bruttium (hopefully it's not beneventum)
3) garrison at beneventum and turtle until you have a good economy or it's the right time to attack.
4) conquer italy. Then you may choose to make peace with epirus (which will probably be conquered by some greek sooner or later) and liberate bruttium to avoid carthago and go north 8cisalpina is easy to conquer if you've secured the southern border)

Testudo is clearly slower. You just played the campaign wrongly. Sorry but testudo simply needs to played in a certain way you have to master through experience/concentration, otherwise it will end up as you're reporting.
You may check the map shots into OP. After 250 turns (Huge version) I had 8 regions (so, yeah, it's decisively slower) but I was in a full control of the situation (for now at least...).

[asher237]

I am 153 turns in. I have all of italy, Epirus is a client state, Corsica and Sardinia are mine, Syracuse is a client state and I hold the other half of sicily. This is great. I just wrapped up a devastating war with Carthage and I am spending most of my time balancing the political aspects of the game rather than constant global war. This is great!

[Jake Armitage]

Well, this is... great!
Glad you're enjoying the style.

Would you send me the savegame when you hit 200?
With the list of the packs you're using. Thx.

[Demon Soul]

I've started antoher campaign after reading your advices. I took Ertruria, estabilish trade agreements, I even paid to my north neighbors (I'm playing as Rome) to improve relations, and I did it not only once. Still, my campaign changed to totally rampage. I let Epeiros took Magna Graecia and Beneventum, but out from nowhere Veneti attacked me, and turn after Daorsi joined them. Epeiros took town next to Rome and march north, did I mention rebel spawning armies (ai agents are really active and flood my terrytories)?

I don't know on what difficult level you're playing (I'm playing on normal).
Really, I like slow plyaing in stategic games (I've over 400 hours in RTW2, 100 in EB2, and 50 in Attila) but I feel like I'm playing Starcraft.

[asher237]

Well, this is... great!
Glad you're enjoying the style.

Would you send me the savegame when you hit 200?
With the list of the packs you're using. Thx.

Sure thing!

[Jake Armitage]

@demon soul
Yeah I play normal. Hard is not advised while easy is playable, It is slightly easier and diplomacy should be decisively easier (never played though).

Look, I have 2 kind of reports here:
1) from some people people who are saying they like the game a lot (some of them uderlining possible improvements which are still a lot)
2) from other people who are saying the game is just unplayable

As I already said I think it is a matter of experience/concentration. Testudo is (metaphorically) more a chess game than a total war one.
I already answered you about diplomacy issues. Even if you pay much attention there is always an hardcoded possibility that will trigger weird behaviours through dice rolls.
It happens? Reload. I've been lucky and this "bug" never really affected my campaigns.
As a note I've never given money only to AI faction, just to get some agreements.

Dunno what starcraft is.

[GyJIeBeP]

find fault. hard to understand what to download, no steam?

[Jake Armitage]

No, no steam.
I'll never put anything in steam, TWC only.

you have every description in post #1
under DOWNLOAD

- INSTRUCTIONS -

1) Choose one of the @@_TESTUDO_TPY packs
2) Choose one of the @@@_TESTUDO_Pick_Faction packs
3) Choose one of the @@@@_TESTUDO_Paces (T/S/M/L/H) packs

4) OPTIONAL: Choose one or more of the @@@@@_TURTLE_Parts packs
5) OPTIONAL: Choose one of the @@@@@@_TURTLE_Weights packs

< Then >

A) Put the chosed packs into the data folder (..\Steam\SteamApps\common\Total War Rome II\data)
B) Remember to revert to the old manager: https://www.twcenter.net/forums/show...nd-Mod-Manager
C) Start Rome II
D) In Mod Manger, check "Enable Out of Date Mods"
E) Make sure all chosed packs are checked green. Their load order should be ok. It is given by the number of @, the more they are the more previous the mod is loaded/must be loaded
F) Play TESTUDO

- EXAMPLE -

Packs are sorted by loading order, the higher the number the higher their position (so they overwrite parts of other packs).
1) is to be put under everything else and above DeI packs, the numbers of "@" are their position so they should be ordered automatically.
Remember to revert to the old mod manager: https://www.twcenter.net/forums/show...nd-Mod-Manager

> EXAMPLE OF 100% NECESSARY PACKS

1) @@_TESTUDO_1.6_TPY_12

2) @@@_TESTUDO_1.6_ROME

3) @@@@_TESTUDO_HUGE_12tpy

> EXAMPLE OF OPTIONAL PACKS (will be loaded after TESTUDO packs to properly overwrite values).
By default the @@@@_TESTUDO_HUGE_12_tpy pack contains all the HUGE TURTLE_Parts (so, if you want to customize some TURTLE_Parts, then use a pack which is not HUGE).
You may prefer starting with TESTUDO packs only.
After you learn the TESTUDO submod style then you can start customizing it as you prefer with both TURTLE_Parts or TURTLE_Weights.

4_01) @@@@@_TURTLE_01_Parts_Movement_-15
4_02) @@@@@_TURTLE_03_Parts_Technology_MEDIUM
4_03) @@@@@_TURTLE_06_Parts_Experience_LARGE
4_04) @@@@@_TURTLE_08_Parts_Population_SMALL

5) @@@@@@_TURTLE_Weights_LIGHT_12tpy

[nikossaiz]

hello Jake,

is it a way to have a "more recruitment points" pack just till the Rpgu begin to take a more round shape with the next update?

[Jake Armitage]

yeah, I'll do it tomorrow

[Jake Armitage]

I personally don't recommend them, here they are anyway:

this should give 1 recruitable unit per army/navy more (provincial) to PLAYER
http://www.mediafire.com/file/eqx28g...ayer.pack/file

this should give 1 recruitable unit per army/navy more (provincial) to both PLAYER and AI
https://www.mediafire.com/file/vzcpr...d_AI.pack/file

[nikossaiz]

thanks Jake,

I know, some things are ment to be played in a specific way and there is a good reason why. i completely understand that. I just thought to start a new 12 turn campaign ( first time that im gonna leave the 4 tpy setup ) and RPGu bodyguards are ghosts on the battlefield so i wanted a way to avoid recruitment till the next update ( and propably the new campaign that will require )

[Jake Armitage]

yeah, next update will surely need a new campaign

[NorthernXY]

I like using the "Historical Objectives" mod for Rome. It requires a lot more planning because I can't expand wherever I have the opportunity.

Does using "Intrigues" cause the script to go wonky? Think I might have done it, my "Economical Trust" has been the same for several turns, but more importantly the ET from my last turn has been the same. It's "stuck" in "Good", which isn't a horrible problem to have.

Finally caught a break after battling the entirety of all the factions that occupy the lands of the Western Roman Empire & Germany. None are at war with each other. I got declared war on by factions that I had to contact with and would have cross through the lands of multiple other factions to get to me. Gathered 4 legions together, and am liberating my way to Spain.

[nikossaiz]

testudo dont use the alternative economy. has alternative economy something to offer to testudo in its current form? do you believe that the blending of the standalone "altenative economy" will affect the balance in a way? (and if not, then is necessary the alternative economy "patch" for the PIGs projected valews am i right? )

[Jake Armitage]

@northern
no, using intrigues doesn't bug anything, the only actual "bug" is when you use an intrigue in the same turn you've loaded a save. it won't open the scripted incidents.
I can't say why your economical trust went wonky... sometimes it freezes (just UI, not the math calculations) for one turn but the turn after it returns normal.
I'm using no more (since august) the version you have in 1.6, the version I'm using now seems to be quite stable. Never had freezes.

Good, it seems you're doing well.

@nikos
alternative economy is a rebalancing about treasury. it gives more money per turn to AI and makes so that player has to care more about economy
I've done the same (more or less) since the start but in another way.
So, no, I won't adapt my "alternative economy" to kam's one 'cause there is no need.

Do not absolutely use kam's alternative economy with any of my mods, they aren't compatible at all

[nikossaiz]

ok Jake! good to know! oh, also, is a chance to see Sparta as a playble testudo faction? Nabis, his social reforms and his trying to oppose the allready mighty Rome seems a good story

[Jake Armitage]

I'm slooooowly doing the new RPGu updtae with a dozen of different army types...
After that I'll have to do packs for every playable faction...
It will take a while.

[leonardusius]

After that I'll have to do packs for every playable faction...
It will take a while.

Damn, this is so awaited moment ! 100+ factions will take some of your time but it is a need for the integrity of Testudo.