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Thread: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW (Updated 29/7)

  1. #1

    Icon3 Update 1.15 - PREVIEW (Updated 29/7)

    Hi all!

    Hopefully some of you have been waiting for this moment with the same anticipation that we have. It is time to preview another update for Ancient Empires, this time bringing about some of the most important changes to date!

    So what exactly is different in 1.15, and why has it taken so long to develop? Let's dive right into it.

    Campaign

    1. Buildings & Synergies
    2. Public Order
    3. Universal Changes
    4. Recruitment
    5. Character Updates



    1. Buildings & Synergies

    Preamble: The vast building options offered in the mod have often been criticized as overwhelming and to a certain extent superfluous. We have put huge effort into streamlining all building chains, pruning unnecessary branches and emphasizing synergies between different buildings. Unlike previous versions, where investment into a single building would often pay off quickly, buildings in 1.15 have been changed into relying heavily on each other for maximal profit. As such, a quarry or resource trading post in itself is not enough to keep your armies paid or fill your coffers. These 'base income' sources actually have very low yields on their own; they are, however, hugely benefited by the presence of synergizing building chains. This has been conceptualized into logical chains where raw materials are processed into market goods, which are subsequently distributed and sold through markets. As an illustrating example, Quarries now provide 200 income from industry per tier. Directly synergizing with this chain, Industrial Workshops refine the raw material and turn it into 1) a low trade income (150 per tier) and 2) a boosting modifier on industrial income (50% per tier). In turn, the 'trade goods' produced by Industrial Workshops are heavily reliant on local markets through which they can be distributed and sold to enthusiastic customers. Forums/Markets now boost trade income by 40% per tier, up to a maximum of 200%. It is easy to see how no one of these buildings would provide very much income on its own. However, by constructing and developing all three in parallell, the value of base income sources is massively boosted by the interaction between these buildings.

    In short, the output (food, income) of most buildings have been reduced significantly. In order to balance this, we've developed synergies between different chains that work to increase each other's value manyfold. To compensate for the potential high income towards the late tiers, all buildings now have a) significantly higher upfront costs and b) take longer to construct on average. All in all, this creates an interesting system where the player needs to plan out their provinces to maximize their output, while at the same time placing an organic limit to how quickly you can snowball in early to mid game.

    • The building system is now one of synergy; in order to utilize the full potential of a particular building, you must develop related institutions
    • Construction costs are higher on average and scale non-linearly by tier, meaning return of investment over a short period of time is lower for end-tier buildings compared with early tiers
    • Maintenance scales, increasing non-linearly. Early tier buildings have overall low maintenance, that increases significantly towards top tier
    • Construction times are increased, with infrastructure taking several turns longer on average
    • Several buildings modify the construction parameters of other buildings, thus emphasizing a synergic relationship
    • Effects other than income have been completely reworked for almost every chain
    • Latifundia/Estates are significantly more expensive than regular farms, but offer great income
    • Regular farms provide plenty of food, but very low income
    • Granaries 'convert' food into useful bonuses such as growth, replenishment and siege defense holdout time, while boosting income from all farms
    • Forums work as a modifier to base income sources, increasing trade income heavily and cultural/entertainment income moderately
    • Administrative buildings (e.g. Roman Curia, Publicani and Court) each tie into a particular Edict, significantly boosting its value
    • The building interface is less cluttered with effects and more to the point
    • Dozens of improved and new building icons
    • Generally shorter building descriptions for some factions, further reducing the 'cluttered' appearance in some places



    1.2 Public Order

    Preamble: Public order has been seen significant changes, with a shift from generic to specialized sources of this invaluable variable. Previously, many different buildings would heavily modify public order. In 1.15, it is chiefly affected by Entertainment buildings, and to a much lesser degree Administration. Like before, there are still many buildings (e.g. temples, estates, certain ports) negatively influencing public order, sometimes to a significant degree.

    • Public order from Entertainment buildings is greater and decisive in province management
    • Public order from other sources have generally been decreased, with principally Administration as the second most significant building source
    • Penalties from native discontent have been reduced slightly
    • The dynamic nature of public order is preserved, but adopted into a smaller scale, meaning increments are smaller and thus both increasing or decreasing public order takes longer to develop
    • Characters still heavily influence public order through attributes and traits. Appointing good governors is key to maintaining order. Public order from some ancillaries and traits have been reduced


    1.3 Universal Changes


    Preamble: Naturally a lot of changes to the mod don't fall into either category above, but must still be mentioned. Importantly in contrast to previous versions, naval recruitment and land recruitment have both been reworked greatly. Naval recruitment (and garrisons) were previously quite annoying, being unevenly distributed across naval port tiers and generally being poorly balanced. In 1.15, this is changed completely. Many ships have been removed due to redundancy in function, and we have boiled it down to some key types and sizes. Military ports offer the full range of naval ships up to the highest quality, whereas mercantile ports offer less options and fishing ports least options. Ships now take several turns to construct, depending on tier and construction. Similarly, land units now take anywhere between 1-4 turns to recruit, emulating the basics of a manpower system while making the meta game of recruiting the right unit(s) at the right time more intricate. Ministerial offices work slightly differently; effects have been reworked into a more specialized nature, and each office now comes with a 'Salary' representing the expenditures related to the government function.

    • MUSIC - Fix to cutting off sound that would happen to some soundtracks
    • Naval recruitment from ports takes several turns (up to 8) for most ships, based on tier
    • Ships are distributed evenly across port tiers, with military ports being clearly superior in providing all high-tier ships (generally quadremes and above)
    • The port interface is not cluttered
    • Land recruitment now takes several turns for most units (e.g. 1 for leves, 2 for hastati/principes, 3 for triarii, 4 for war elephants)
    • Virtually all land unit combat stats have been reworked, with the aim of improving balance and smoothening out glaring contrasts in quality from previous versions
    • Plagues/Diseases are less infectuous and require slightly higher squalor to occur
    • Garrisons in Iberia, Illyria, Rome, and other places are smaller (e.g. max 12 units for tier V city) and develop in a more interesting way
    • Siege defense attrition has been increased by 33% (from 15% to 20%)
    • Cost of siege engines (towers, ladders, rams) have been reduced, and the manpower per turn to construct these increased. This should solve an issue where the AI is reluctant to assault in siege battles despite great numerical superiority
    • More aggressive campaign AI - will be more opportunistic, take chances to attack enemy forces and commit to sieges
    • Campaign roads are now visible in many regions. Previously, roads were not visible until the 'Road' building had been constructed; now, this building merely changes the textures of the roads to reflect the upgrade
    • Price of some commodities altered. Fish price reduced by 33%
    • The duration and effectiveness of 'Occupation Bundles' (applied to armies and factions upon seizing new territory) have been moderated, with slightly reduced duration and slightly lower impact on trade
    • Bug fix to some effects from various sources that for different reasons did not work
    • Regional Effects completely reworked. 'Sparse' and 'Rural' regions are very difficult to develop and provide very few recruitable troops per turn, while due to limited infrastructure limit replenishment and increase attrition from natural sources. 'Urban' and 'Metropolitan' regions feature reduced cost of road infrastructure development and furthermore provide greater incomes from industry and trade, but less income from farms
    • Imperium now mainly confers penalties
    • Armies recruitable at imperium 1 increased 2 --> 3 and at imperium 2 from 3 --> 4. This should prevent situations where the AI is unable to muster troops due to not having any army in a province with either barracks or its capital
    • Balancing changes to Stances, Edicts and Political Power
    • Exemption from taxes now always improves public order, no matter if faction-wide taxes are set at low or high
    • Public order penalty from taxation increased (ties into the previous point)
    • An extreme amount of buildings have been tied to technologies compared to earlier, and technologies now generally have more balanced effects and trade-offs where some effects are positive, and others negative


    1.4 Recruitment

    Preamble: Recruitment has been a tricky part to implement because we wanted to specialize it into particular buildings. In the upcoming patch, recruitment works very differently in many regards. First and foremost, all recruitment is now done through the 'Military Recruitment' chain. This has been divided into three principal branches: Legionary Barracks (or the cultural equivalent), Auxiliary Barracks and Garrisons. Legionary Barracks can only be built in 'State-Owned' settlements, and provide access to your faction's own roster. Auxiliary Barracks can be built almost anywhere, but you cannot recruit factional units here. Instead, Auxiliary Barracks offer recruitment of local Area-of-Recruitment troops and, in the case of Rome, also auxiliaries. Thus each type is connected to a particular style of government for a concquered territory, and each type of barrack provides unique effects and even modify different edicts. The Garrison building, like previously, adds a sizeable elite garrison to a settlement, and also features virtually the same recruitment options as Legionary Barracks.

    • Divided into three principal chains: Legionary Barracks, Auxiliary Barracks and Garrisons
    • Legionary Barracks can only be built in State-Owned settlements (referring to the main building). From these you can only recruit factional troops, e.g. Rome gets access to velites, hastati and triarii
    • Auxiliary Barracks can be built in most settlements (State-Owned, Independent etc). These open up recruitment of local AoR-troops, e.g. Rome gets access to Cohors Sociorum
    • Garrisons provide mainly the same recruitment options as Legionary Barracks but are built indepenedently. They have higher maintenance and additionally food upkeep
    • Each building has its own unique set of effects, emphasizing different function (e.g. Auxiliary Barracks improves the Assimilation Edict, while reducing discontent)
    • Particular building chains that were confusing to many players, e.g. Rome's 'Landed Grants --> Military Colony' have been removed. Legions are now recruited from Legionary Barracks


    1.5 Character Updates

    • Ancillaries should now never trigger for a 'non-receptive' faction (e.g. a Roman ancillary will not trigger for Carthage)
    • All ancillary triggers have been improved, with many being more situation-specific. Additionally, many ancillaries have new, more logical trigger conditions
    • Many updated effects and some updated descriptions/names for ancillaries
    • Over 25 new high-quality ancillary icons to breathe life into the characters
    • Trait effects have been rebalanced, with generally milder income bonuses from positive traits
    • Negative traits should trigger less frequently and/or in more specific context
    • Roman army traditions have seen effects rebalanced and made more meaningful. May proceed with other factions


    Battles

    1. Balance
    2. Unit names


    1. Balance


    Preamble: This is still a work in progress and may be introduced as an optional submod depending on how far we are able to complete it. In short, the whole combat system has been transformed and based on a ~20 hitpoint scale. This instrumental change makes generals once again mortal. Moreover, it allows us greater versatility and the ability to differentiate units more with regards to armour and armour-piercing capabilities. Furthermore, it is possible to balance elephants and special units like chariots and pikemen to a more satisfying degree. Nevertheless, this system has drawbacks, notably quite unrealistic missile damages. As such, it isn't certain yet when/if it will be incorporated into the main mod, or how long that would take. Separate to this massive rework, we've also reworked the stats of virtually all troops, which will be introduced into the main mod regardless of how we proceed with the overarching combat system.
    • In development: New combat system where notably generals can be killed
    • Well-differentiated roles amongst different troop types
    • Much more fleshed-out combat stat representation on unit cards
    • Reworked entity speeds
    • Rebalanced combat stats
    • Naval combat: many bugs ironed out, and essentially completely revamped with ships being more mobile, artillery accurary slightly increased and naval unit sizes large for melee ships, smaller for ramming ships and minimal for artillery ships. Generally these unit sizes now range from ~30 to ~140 men. Spinning ships and similar bugs should be ironed out.


    2. Unit names

    Does this even need an introduction? In 1.15, units have native names. The anglicized names are still displayed, but in the unit description. A massive shoutout to Spariel who single-handedly made this possible.

    ------------------------------------------

    That's it? No more bug fixes or startpos updates?

    On the contrary! We will not be satisfied until most bugs are ironed out and it is important to know that the preview above does not cover all current bug fixes, nor the bugs we plan to fix before the patch is rolled out. Startpos (i.e. starting armies, buildings, food, money) is also under change but it is too early to specify what will be done. Our goal is to address the major issues with missing/unusable buildings for certain factions, balance out the starting buildings to the reworked building system, and generally make the early turns more characterized by player choices rather than pre-built giant armies. The preview represents progress so far, but not everything that will make it into the full 1.15.

    What about new features?

    Many are in development, that we don't really wish to disclose due to uncertainty of being finished. Our most ambitious plans require a scripter, which we sadly don't have on the team at present.

    Why did it take so long?

    University, work... you know, life.

    Is this the last patch for Ancient Empires?

    If the gods are good, no. We aim to support this mod for the forseeable future, but everything is subject to change. Our critical problem is lack of a mod leader (yes, we've been running this project for over two years since the original mod lead left (exhausted by work)). Moreover, the team essentially consits of three active members, but we are not active necessarily at the same time. You can make a difference by adding your skills and talents to the team, or even recommending it to a friend.





    Various New Army Traditions




    Barbarian Buildings

    (Education)



    (Industry)



    (Markets)



    (Military Recruitment)



    (Sanitation)



    (Food Storage)






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    Spoiler for SCREENSHOT PREVIEWS





























































    Last edited by Sheridan; July 10, 2019 at 04:36 PM.
    Campaign modder for Ancient Empires


  2. #2

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    The trained eye will have spotted a critical error in the second screenshot, Dye Works. It is meant to provide a public order boon, not a penalty. As a modder, you tend to take pictures of bugs and mistakes, rather than the perfect end-product. As such, glaring goof ups such as this sometimes find their way into previews...
    Campaign modder for Ancient Empires


  3. #3

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    Ay, nice to see the preview out.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    whoa. Just killed carthago, hope this stuff is save compatible :-D

  5. #5

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    Updated OP with bug fix note for soundtracks: should no longer cut out in the middle of a soundtrack
    Campaign modder for Ancient Empires


  6. #6

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    Nice job, modders! My best wishes! It will be good.

  7. #7

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    Quote Originally Posted by Sheridan View Post
    Updated OP with bug fix note for soundtracks: should no longer cut out in the middle of a soundtrack
    Great!Can't wait in this month!

  8. #8

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    I can Provide unit names in Armenian for the Armenian faction. Just let me know what it is you want and I can give the translation.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    Thanks Armen. We're set but I'd be happy to let you take a look and make corrections if necessary. Did you send me that list of character names (Armenian) on discord or was that someone else?
    Campaign modder for Ancient Empires


  10. #10

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    when can we expect the update? Also when will the spawn factions be fixed? i dont like that i cannot spawn factions that have been destroyed accross the map, only certain ones.

  11. #11

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    Quote Originally Posted by Sheridan View Post
    Thanks Armen. We're set but I'd be happy to let you take a look and make corrections if necessary. Did you send me that list of character names (Armenian) on discord or was that someone else?
    Yes it was me

  12. #12

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    Quote Originally Posted by Totalknight View Post
    when can we expect the update? Also when will the spawn factions be fixed? i dont like that i cannot spawn factions that have been destroyed accross the map, only certain ones.
    Hoping for early June, but it is not confirmed yet. I hear you - getting rebel factions back is one of my top wishes, but it isn't my table and as such I cannot make any estimations as to when it will be. Will definitely forward it though
    Campaign modder for Ancient Empires


  13. #13

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    Quote Originally Posted by armen View Post
    Yes it was me
    Awesome, send me a PM on Discord if you still have me there. I'm called Sheridan
    Campaign modder for Ancient Empires


  14. #14
    The Wandering Storyteller's Avatar Protector Domesticus
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    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    Update looks great,

    Will there be any changes to custom settlements or new cities?

    Would you be inspired by any mechanics that Imperator Rome might have?

    How often are crashes now? Frequent and does custom battle on siege crash?





















































  15. #15

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    No changes to custom settlements and cities, though cities have been modified along with basically every chain on a campaign perspective.

    Crashes are far less frequent due to the removal of rebels months ago, haven't been too many crash complaints at all.

    Not sure on sieges, but the game WILL crash if you make the AI Imperium Romanum in custom battles.

    Edit: Turns out Tyros has actually been modified, as per Sheridan's comment below.
    Last edited by Spariel; May 22, 2019 at 01:28 PM.

  16. #16

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    I am assuming since this is such a big patch with so many changes that it will not be save game compatible. Is that correct.

    Overall it looks fantastic! Great work!

  17. #17

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    Quote Originally Posted by WarlordZ View Post
    I am assuming since this is such a big patch with so many changes that it will not be save game compatible. Is that correct.

    Overall it looks fantastic! Great work!
    This is safe to assume, but we will return with more information when we can confirm
    Campaign modder for Ancient Empires


  18. #18

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    Quote Originally Posted by The Wandering Storyteller View Post
    Update looks great,

    Will there be any changes to custom settlements or new cities?

    Would you be inspired by any mechanics that Imperator Rome might have?

    How often are crashes now? Frequent and does custom battle on siege crash?
    Quote Originally Posted by Totalknight View Post
    when can we expect the update? Also when will the spawn factions be fixed? i dont like that i cannot spawn factions that have been destroyed accross the map, only certain ones.
    UMC's answers on these:

    - Spawn rebels are fixed for surrounding Mediterranean regions

    - Custom battle I can’t seem to fix, it’s an Attila issue

    - One city has been changed, Tyros.

    - Looking to add a unique custom (non historical map) for Pella
    Campaign modder for Ancient Empires


  19. #19

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    You guys are a light in a dark world...

  20. #20

    Default Re: Update 1.15 - PREVIEW

    Great news cant wait! wondered if the following bugs have been resolved?

    - Walls bugged in some barbarian faction towns/capitals. player or AI cannot position its troop on the walls, or some parts of the wall. This also causes the siege towers and ladders to bug out. ladder comes to wall, troops climb up to top, then climb back down because they cannot get onto the walls. I have noticed this bug at Emerita, Noreia and Mediolanum but I'm sure there are many others.
    - CTD when AI attack the following settlements - Segobriga and Tarraco. In my game it was when Carthaginian AI army attacked. Get to beginning of load screen then CTD
    - When AI sieges then attacks Aquileia, you cant fight battle manually. Button greyed out.
    - Cyzius (Asia) - re-enforcing army gets stuck behind buildings to the side of the settlement.
    - Garrisons disappear after Marian Reforms in Provincial capitals/towns (Not if a bug or if this is supposed to happen?)
    - 'Law of citizenship for Latins and Allies' tech bugged. Gets stuck so never completes. You can get round it by re-loading the game a few times and sometimes you have to re-click the tech to get it to work again which is annoying it costs 4000! when I finally researched the tech the save and next turn button were greyed out so I couldn't continue my campaign. Had to reload old saved game to get round it.
    - Fort/encampment battles CTD when fighting on coastal map
    - Cordoba (Hispania) - re-enforcing armies get stuck behind buildings on side of city. Cant move to attach walls.

    Thanks again for this incredible mod!

    J

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