Startpos / Savegame - Calendar and TPY editing

[Sylla]

Hi,

I often edit my startpos or savegame to have a specific date and turn per year in the various campaigns, but i have noticed something with the CAI and was wondering if anyone knows the fix if there is any ...

Let's say i change the start date and turn per year (usually i go back in time a little like 20 years back for the USA final episode) and make the year a 24 TPY, i notice the AI will be partially passive !

- AI will not actively build or repair structures and I'm pretty sure it does not even recruit units for a set period of time for minor factions. As a result, the balancing edits i made for minor faction such as enlarged recruitment capabilities are useless as they get swarmed by the major factions starting armies
- I have seen several regions where the towns were left undeveloped under the British or Russians > usually as soon as the campaign starts AI enter a frantic rush to tech and buildings, often outpacing the player in building levels and infrastructures etc
- After 40 turns Poland has not developed any of it's building in Warsaw while Prussia has ! Russia hasn't build anything in Moscow event though there is too empty slots since start of the campaign ...
- Yet the AI still build units and ships and sends forth trade and military fleets, i also witnessed actual naval invasion with an army on board (Britain coming by sea to reclaim Gibraltar from me was quite the sight)

I have edited the calendar according to my own experience after countless other mod and examples have provided. It works and the Ai is doing war against each other, but strangely, not against me the player ! Even after dozens of turns in the campaign, some building slots are empty and some faction capital still have the first level barracks and cannon manufactory.

At some point however, something "kicks in", and suddenly the AI starts building and repairing everything at the next turn ! But i after many hours of testing and playing i dont know why it "waits" because i have put the date in calendar and in the headers, even in the preopen map so the descriptions fits when creating a new game. I try fiddling with the various fields related to the calendar, like the passed turns, the TPY etc, nothing works except simply not changing the turn per year. If i dont edit the TPY the AI seems to react correctly > Maybe it doesnt like the 24 TPY ,,, But i have seen similar bad behavior with 12 TPY as well i' sure.

I guess there is a variable somewhere that acts as a CAI trigger, like saying to the AI "ready, live, action !" or something ...

What am i doing wrong ? is it too much 12 or 24 TPY for the CAI to handle at campaign start ? Why doest it suddenly "catches up" ?

Thanks for any information you might have.

[vonPeretz]

A similar observation. I made the mod 12 turns / year and am trying to play the Northern War Sweden vs Russia, Saxony and Denmark.


Unfortunately, after declaring war on me (Russia), Sweden ignores my direction completely. This is historical, of course, but Sweden began to develop the eastern regions only in 1702-1703. And Russia already has a huge army and a highly developed economy. I just have to wait these years. In my mod the Swedes are much stronger than the Russian troops, sure, but by 1703 this no longer helps.

[Sylla]

I made another testing playthrough using the main grand campaign, this time with a modest 4 TPY, start date 1700 like vanilla. The AI started to play same as me ...

Maybe this is campaign related (main or main2 campaign) or it's not the TPY but the actual start date itself. I though this would be logical because the start date isn't just for show, there might be scripting issues or CAI behavior involved but i never found any information on this so far ...

[Sylla]

Another test in NTW shows that changing start date, like starting in 1789 instead of 1805 puts the CAI in a partial freeze.
- Armies will more or less attack if opportunities arise, but their buildings stays undeveloped, most empty building slots are still that way dozens of turns in a campaign
- Alliances can still be made and missions / diplomatic breakdowns (Prussia hating and declaring war on France etc.) still works
- CAI will try to have ships and send them on battle or to trading posts
- CAI does try to sue for peace when pressured but will also spit in my face when they hate me so they still follow a pretty normal behavior
- At a specific turn or date CAI starts to build, research, and make actual aggressive moves etc (i'm not sure it actually ignores research because i can rarely suggest them techs for diplomatic deals so i assume they still research and have their usual bonus)

I'm amazed with so many mods out there no one has noticed or at least encountered this and not consider it a, somewhat, game breaking issue. Is it simply because i am doing it wrong when changing the date ? I have done everything like many tutorials or other mods have done so i'm a bit lost on this ...

While it doesn't prevents me from enjoying the game, it feels like a cheat because CAI simply won't have the means to counter me for what feels like an entire campaign (12 to 24 TPY), even though at some point it's brains kicks in and all hell break lose ... I Can focus on fully developing techs, buildings, and have actual balanced armies by that time at least so it makes for some really cool battles ...

Any help appreciated !