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Thread: EB2 overhaul sub mod

  1. #1

    Default EB2 overhaul sub mod

    I release my personal modification of EB2, which changes/enhances the game according to my personal tastes. There are a ton of changes here and there but i will make a short summary:

    - Campaign AI more aggressive and more likely to expand early in the game.
    - AI will attack with more troops compared to vanilla ( for instance, it will attack one of your armies with an army of let's say 12 units instead of 10 )
    - Rebel faction is a bit weaker, allowing more room for expansion expecially for the AI.
    - Revamped unit recruitment and upkeep cost ( for example i changed all units' cost according to their fighting capabilities so that more expensive units are always more powerful )
    - Many changes about unit stats according to personal tastes ( ex: units have in general more armour points, thus armor piercing troops become more valuable, cavalry is generally stronger and more capable in a melee but with a weaker charge, making them suitable for melee, less overwhelming when charging )
    - Autoresolve overhauled ( by changing several parameters i made it better: for example missile units count more when calculating the outcome, heavy cavalry also counts more, elephants and chariots count a bit less, and much more )
    - Trade gives less income, expecially sea trade, and also mines give less money. This means that it is less important to hold key regions ( since the ai is uncapable of sorting out which regions could benefit and which ones do not ), and also it is less important to develop trade structures ( they kind of gave a lot of income, maybe a bit too much )


    To install, unzip and grab all the files inside the " EB2_O " folder, paste them in your data folder, which is located inside your eb2 mod folder ( it should be something like: " Medieval II Total War\mods\ebii\data " )
    Attached Files Attached Files
    Last edited by randy_cat; April 28, 2022 at 04:08 AM.

  2. #2

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    How does early expansion end up in areas with neighboring factions but without much independent provinces like Greece?

    Do they eat each other up right away or do they last?

  3. #3

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    Quote Originally Posted by Mamlaz View Post
    How does early expansion end up in areas with neighboring factions but without much independent provinces like Greece?

    Do they eat each other up right away or do they last?
    They tend to come to grips with each other earlier in the game. In vanilla EB2 factions took kinda forever to start a war and expand, now they start sooner and with more aggression. It doesn't mean tho, that the game ends too soon since i tried myself my personal campaign and i almost won at about turn 500 ( played on VH/H ). For some reason even with the increased aggression and weaker rebels, the ai still has problems expanding and they won't eat each other anytime too soon if that's what you are asking, but they wage war more easily, and attack with greater armies, that's what i was aiming for.

    I hated it when the AI kept roaming aimlessly with their armies without attacking, now at least they use their forces. Now the AI is more warlike and they could ( and i say could because each game ends up being a different scenario ) eat the most exposed factions early in the game, but it is just one of the many possible scenarios that can happen.

    I like the fact that in my campaign you can actually lose, i made it so that you should kinda check which factions are growing too strong and oppose them ( let' s say at about turn 50-100 you should have secured your starting position, at 150-200 it is time to expand further and grow a solid economy, and at 200-300 the real game starts, with many of the ai factions becoming strong enough to be a serious threat )
    Last edited by randy_cat; April 29, 2022 at 04:50 AM.

  4. #4

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    Can you tell me a bit more about what changes you did to improve the AI behaviour?

  5. #5

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    Quote Originally Posted by Lusitanio View Post
    Can you tell me a bit more about what changes you did to improve the AI behaviour?
    I modified many parameters in the files related to the ai behaviour in the campaign map. For example i increased the level of hostility between factions, in short they hate each other more, including the player. They are also less forgiving and it won't be easy to sign truces and alliances, expecially if you have many enemies and a bad reputation. I also made it so that the computer attacks with more units when making a decision whether to attack or not, the ratio of army strength required for the ai to make an attack decision compared to the enemy forces was 0.8, now it is something like 0.7, meaning the ai will calculate it's own forces as weaker than they actually are, thus attacking with more troops ( the ai in vanilla used to fail a lot when attacking expecially settlements because they simply didn't have enough troops to win the battle or the siege ).

    Then, i made key regions, those ones that give a ton of money, less important in order to decrease the player's ability to conquer important regions ( the ai can't tell which regions are good and which ones are not, so the player had an easy time focusing on the more important cities while the ai attacks indiscriminately whatever enemy borders their territories )

    I also changed some of the ai personalities to suit more their own territorial and military cababilities ( for example, the barbarian factions are likely to recruit a balanced mix of heavy and light infantry, supported by light cavalry, while the hellenistic factions will focus more on pikemen, hoplitai, thureophoroi etc )
    Last edited by randy_cat; April 29, 2022 at 04:53 AM.

  6. #6

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    Quote Originally Posted by randy_cat View Post
    the ratio of army strength required for the ai to make an attack decision compared to the enemy forces was 0.8, now it is something like 0.7, meaning the ai will calculate it's own forces as weaker than they actually are, thus attacking with more troops ( the ai in vanilla used to fail a lot when attacking expecially settlements because they simply didn't have enough troops to win the battle or the siege ).
    Where can I change this one? What file?

  7. #7
    z3n's Avatar State of Mind
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    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    It's the descr_campaign_db, but sadly AI doesn't really listen very close to that. At least while can_force_invade is true. Definitely helps move it in the right direction though.
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  8. #8

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    Quote Originally Posted by z3n View Post
    It's the descr_campaign_db, but sadly AI doesn't really listen very close to that. At least while can_force_invade is true. Definitely helps move it in the right direction though.
    Yes it is descr_campaign_db. If you open it, at some point you will find the following:


    <ai>
    <att_str_modifier float="0.70"/>
    <siege_att_str_modifier float="0.60"/>
    <crusade_att_str_modifier float="0.8"/>
    <sally_att_str_modifier float="0.70"/>
    <ambush_att_str_modifier float="1.1"/>
    <str_limit_weak float="0.60"/>
    <str_limit_strong float="99"/>
    <merchant_min_survival_acquire int="75"/>
    <priest_religion_min float="0.6"/>
    <!-- if religion < religion_min then region needs a priest -->
    <priest_religion_max float="0.7"/>
    <!-- if religion >= religion_max then a priest can be taken from this region for other missions -->
    <priest_heresey_min float="0.05"/>
    <!-- if heresey >= heresey_min then region needs a priest -->
    <priest_heresey_max float="0.2"/>
    <!-- if heresey >= heresey_max then region needs a priest with highest priority -->
    <priest_religion_export float="0.6"/>
    <!-- if my religion in foreign region < religion_export then then we will export our religion in this region -->
    <priest_max_prod_turns float="5.0"/>
    </ai>

    The " <att_str_modifier float="0.70"/> " modifies the amount of strength calculated by the ai for it's own forces compared to the enemy forces. If you lower this parameter the ai will think its troops weaker than they are and thus attack with more of them.

    The " <siege_att_str_modifier float="0.60"/> " modifies the strength calculated by the ai regarding his own forces compared to an enemy settlement before laying siege. Lower this parameter and the computer will siege towns with larger armies.


    These 2 are the most important lines to change if you want to improve the game, however as pointed out the computer doesn't always do what you would expect. Sometimes they will attack with cheap armies regardless.

  9. #9

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    This mod has introduce the fun to the mod, and made it worth playing. EBII without this mod is a boring historical simulation with nice thought out building chains and public order issues, but AI inactivity, its ceasefire prone diplomacy which player could abuse, made it unplayable for me.

    Playing as Seleucids I am at the war with everyone around me, losing and winning territories. At turn 17 I am 25 K in the red, Ptolomies sending armies and managing to inflict a big defeat on my King with the two army pincers, Parthia on the loose in my eastern territories, I am loving it.

  10. #10

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    I noticed the attribute Terrifying enemy troops has gone, does it help reducing charge impact?

  11. #11

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Blob View Post
    This mod has introduce the fun to the mod, and made it worth playing. EBII without this mod is a boring historical simulation with nice thought out building chains and public order issues, but AI inactivity, its ceasefire prone diplomacy which player could abuse, made it unplayable for me.

    Playing as Seleucids I am at the war with everyone around me, losing and winning territories. At turn 17 I am 25 K in the red, Ptolomies sending armies and managing to inflict a big defeat on my King with the two army pincers, Parthia on the loose in my eastern territories, I am loving it.
    I'm happy that someone appreciates my submod. I made it with one thing in mind: make the game more challenging. I managed to do it by changing many things, but it is mostly about unit's stats. You probably noticed how phalanxes are better in combat and also in autoresolve, so that factions with lots of phalanxes will expand more and win more battles in general, or that cavalry is generally better in melee but less powerful when charging ( so units like for example cataphracts, are very valuable and perform generally good in almost all situations )
    Last edited by randy_cat; July 26, 2022 at 02:00 AM.

  12. #12

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    Quote Originally Posted by ntabc2001 View Post
    I noticed the attribute Terrifying enemy troops has gone, does it help reducing charge impact?
    No it doesn't affect charge but i decided to eliminate the " cause fear " attribute for gameplay reasons.

  13. #13

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    Im gonna give this a try, i play with another submod by wolfy? i think , so may end up having to reinstall everything if something breaks. But his mod seems pretty good, i only really stopped playing due to the Battle AI / Army size reasons making things too ez.

  14. #14

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    You may want to reinstall eb2 if you have other mods installed, and my mod overwrites many files in the data folder... it may still work tho, but you'd have a pastiche of different mods instead of only one.

  15. #15

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    Can't see a file to download. It just says "Attached Files" with nothing under it. Wouldn't be my first issue with TWC. Is this available to download anywhere else? I hate this site.

  16. #16

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    Quote Originally Posted by pplelo View Post
    Can't see a file to download. It just says "Attached Files" with nothing under it. Wouldn't be my first issue with TWC. Is this available to download anywhere else? I hate this site.
    It works for me. I guess this site hates you too

    probably your browser or something?

  17. #17

    Default Re: EB2 overhaul sub mod

    I also changed some of the ai personalities to suit more their own territorial and military cababilities ( for example, the barbarian factions are likely to recruit a balanced mix of heavy and light infantry, supported by light cavalry, while the hellenistic factions will focus more on pikemen, hoplitai, thureophoroi etc )[/QUOTE]


    How is this done?

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