Medieval Pack II: A Call to Arms

[Rhuarc]

I don't remember what I was currently researching, but I do know that some of my options for researching were Conscription, Chronometer, and Physics. So according to the Mod advances chart I would have been at about the Renaissance Age. I don't really know how I was doing as far as keeping up with the tech tree according to the turns. If the year was 1764 and I was able to research those items where am I in relation to where I should be in the tech tree at that time?! Thanks guys!!

[Apollon]

Thought I'd give you guys an update on how far I've come. Playing on impossible with 6 AI's, 5 left.

Currently at 1350 AD, and I have almost finished the part that is right under the "5)" in the tech chart. And I recently got railroad. Now, the reason for me being THAT far ahead might be due to the fact that I've been allied to the 2nd most advanced (he was 1st until I caught up) since a good while, after I finished my last war, about 400-800AD something, can't remember. We've been sharing techs and I've managed to stay on the same lvl as they are. Things are starting to slow down now, both in their research and in mine. I tend to play this game as far as I can Partially to continue with updates and also see if the AI actually cares to nuke me

[jackazzstudent]

For what it's worth, I'm playing on hard in the year 1865(75?) and I'm currently researching flight. I havn't traded advances with any civs because for some reason the option doesn't show up on the diplomacy screen?? I'm also having problems with cities spontaneously revolting. Its usually a city far away from my capitol, but not necessarily an unhappy one. What irks me about it is the lack of pop up message indication of the city loss. My science is moving slowly and production is killing me. I think I may need to start a new game with the prod/commerce/food ratios you gentlemen recommended earlier.

Adam

[WesW]

As far as the 30/30/40 ratios, they were for way back in the Alpha when I was trying out the pop-based upkeep cost for most improvements. I wish that had worked out, since upkeep normally comes out of commerce, which takes it from both science and gold. There is nothing much to do with gold now, except bribe other civs or rush-buy things. I have kept increasing the percent of income which can be allocated to science, so that you don't end up with huge amounts of gold and nothing to do with it, but it would still be better if wages and upkeep came out of gold so that you had to make decisions and build more gold improvements.
Back to the ratios- You may not be able to maintain that since there is much less forests, jungle, swamp and tundra than there used to be. I would put trade posts on those 4 types, and then make sure your growth and production are strong before placing posts on grassland or plains.

I have changed the revolt messages to pop-up status. I don't know why the designers had not done that before.

As far as cities, I have not had the odd experiences some of you keep reporting. I have a size 20 city in my current game, and it is at zero growth because of the overcrowding, which is just like it should be. I have not seen the negative growth bug.
If you have cities revolting on you, check out the status tab and see what factors are influencing happiness. City distance may be making the unhappiness go below 65.

I thought that Dale has disabled the "give city" option for the AI, because they could be bullied too easily. It shoulds like you earned your city, though, so maybe this is ok.

I am in the Industrial age in my current game. I had gotten about a 150 yrs ahead in the tech chart, but I am no longer able to trade with the other AIs because I am ahead of them all, and I am slowly falling back. Most tech are taking about 7 to 10 turns under Republic, which is too long when you have 20 or 30 techs and are only alloted 80 turns to research them.
I have increased the science production for the modern-era govt's, but I am still going to have to go into the advances file and reduce the cost of the techs by about 1/3 to 1/2, I am guessing. I will continue my current game and try to set the costs based upon it.

Questions:
Have you seen the AIs expanding beyond 10 cities when they get more advanced govts which allow mosre cities?
In my game, the AIs have plenty of good terrain in which to expand, but none of them have established more than 10 cities, and some of them have been in Abs. Monarchy or Repubic for a hundred turns.
Also, have you seen the AIs building Urban planners or Sea Engineers and establishing sea colonies?

Also, does thee game seem to slow down in the middle?
I am running out of things to do in the late 1700's, though I have not had any conflict since my war with the Romans a thousand years ago. Since the game seems to slow down, and people get ahead of the tech chart, I am thinking about reducing the Renaissance age to 80 turns, and perhaps adding those 20 turns to the Ancient age.
What do you guys think?

[Apollon]

In all my games so far, the AI has built more than 10 cities, usually this has exploded when they got Abs, Mon. I started a new game after my last post. Currently at 1380 AD, I haven't got grenadiers yet, not far away tho. This time, I built up a good economy with trade routes etc etc. Didn't kiss the AI's butt to get their advances, but instead I traded for them. For now, I'm getting majorly frustrated on the bloody Russians. I've given them atleast 10000 gold in donations so far in the game, and they have yet to accept a peace treaty, or get above "wary of us" or "disrust us" regard

I'm about 4-5 techs behind the most advanced atm, but I'm hanging in there. The barbarians are a pain in the ass on my two biggest cities, 17 and 18. I'll keep the info coming as I get along

Diff: Impossible, Mauraders, 7players, pollution: on.
As hard as you can get it more or less.
and a modified Gigantic map with the proportions 95x190
instead of the standard 70x140

[Pilfur]

If ever you release an update to the MedMod, one thing that is most needed is an explanation or program to alter things. As the Med Mod currently runs I am still playing the original game. There are three key changes I would make.

1. Garrisons... what is with this? It encourages infinite city sprawl strategy. The second I build a city it has defenses. Not good.

2. Tile resources... everything is mixed up. I prefer the original settings. Beaches have been rendered useless, making one tile island cities completely unviable.

3. You have created a serious problem with boats. Unless I get the elite catamaran unit I need to wait a very long time (too long) before I can go over deep water. When playing an islands map it becomes a very isolated and dull game.


Each of these things should be easily modified, no? Is there a way that I can do it myself?

[janilxx]

Odd???

I got finally time to install and test MedPack.

First I unzipped the last beta. Then the first final version and finally I unzipped the last version. Every files was unzipped as they should be.

I changed to the original game from modswapper(save & exit) and then I was not sure do I have to unzip files after I have changed to the original game so I unzipped all files again to be sure everything is ok.

Then I used modswapper and selected medpack 2. I selected "shortcut to start menu" too. Save & Exit. MedPack did not come to start menu?!?!? Why not? I did this again and again. It does not come to start menu. I tried to add original game to start menu and that worked fine. Then I tried to add medpack to desktop and right after I selected desktop checkbox modwapper gave me an error(file not found(53)).

So I decided to start medpack game right from modswapper. Game started. Good. New game. I Changed ruler name to that same that it has always been. Launch. What. Back to the desctop with errortext. ****!

I tried it again but I forgot to change my ruler name. What, the game started ok?!?!? I quited and changed my rulername again. Crash to desktop. And new game without changing rulername. Works fine.

So I started the game with original rulername. I suppose I have to get all files and do "clean" install of MedPack but I will play my current game before doing that.

Does anyone have any ideas why the modwapper or the game did what they did?

PS. The game's start seems to be very good with impossible and 8 nations in regular map. But I am still waiting to see AI's good defence/offensive stacks.

PPS. I asked many times orange AI to withdraw. He accepted and continued to wander in my lands. Finally after about 15-20 turns his unit disappeared with horn sound and icons(and I did not ask him to withdraw in that turn). I would like to know how that withdraw code is coded? Why did he vanish like that(it is ok to me)?

[Frog_Gamer]

Tech Tree testing

1) Started game three on very-hard to check the progression along the tech tree. Same as usual with no noticeable difference with medium. I am generating more gold than in the past by proper tiles improvements. Before I had negative gold cities, now it hardly ever happens.

2) Main AI competitor "The Yellow Mayans", were n°1 all the way until around end of 16th century, were I became the leader on that aspect. But his hanging in there never more than one or two techs behind. They are sharing the same continent with me.

3) I had never seen an AI develop so much economically, and maintain such friendly relationships. He has never been at war with anybody!. He has cities all over the continent (20+), builds roads and improvements, etc... He is going to be a mean sob ( sorry for the language) to take-out as I must eventually do!!!

4) He has a lot of troop movements, (I can hear the noise), but each time I send a spy to have a look, they are all tucked away inside the cities. This seems to infur a better management than in the standard CTP2. This is equally confirmed by my other next door neighbour the "Violet Italians".

5) Now those "Italians" I already had a chat with them as they were weak and sitting on the only part of the continent which has 95% forest. Needless to say I wanted it for my science output!!!. On my first attempt, early in the game I attacked his little 2 pop citiy of Florence(I forget!) with a balanced 12 count stack of archers, H. cavalary and H swordsman and got the shock of my life!! ZIPP I lost them all, and was so suprised I didn't retreat!! It wasn't even a figth, it was slaugther, and I was the one beeing slaugthered. This had never happened to me before either in CTP2 or CTP1 for that matter, at least not to this extent. The "Italians" didn't even loose one unit! So beeing wise and intelligent (ha!), I dediced to wait untill I was way ahead on tech to get him. This happened (I thougth) around 1700 where there is a lull in the action, and I usually do the house cleaning in the units. So I built two stacks of Pikemen, Bowmen and siege machines and of I went for a second try! Now as I finally reached the city gates I hit 1800 and whamo!!! my two stacks are reduced to nothing by the automatic trigger!!! Great I just lost over 100 years of production!!!

Needles to say what was left (stack of 12) became confetti at the second battle of Florence (Yeah I'm stuburn) and I went back for the third build-up which occured with grenadiers and field guns in 1900!! This time "FINALLY" they took a hasty departure for the never never land and in four brief battles the "Italians" were no more

BTW the stack inside the defending towns were always 12 units with misceleneous defense and ranged units, ie optimum defence set-ups!
Boy, taking "big Yellow Mayan brother" on is going to be something, as he has the production ability to follow up if I miss my first try!

Wes:

1) There definetely is a slow down around 1700, but that is good for the housekeeping, and not really against history as it corresponds to the calm period prior to the french independance and Napleonic wars that came rigth after (please somebody correct me if wrong), and that created quite a stirr at least in Europe.

2) You have to do something for that 1800 trigger which really hits the wrong units. It should disband the oldder units but not the current period ones (maybe?).

3) I agree with your solution to reduce the cost of techs!

4) When you update the "text" zip of the MM2 from the 6/6/01 to the 10/6/01 do you have to run modswapper again?


I have really been enjoying myself since the release of the MM2. Keep up the good work!

[Apollon]

Janix:
I can answer your first question (I think anyway). In the readme files it says: "Do not create a shortcut using modswapper"

What I did was to create a shortcut to modswapper instead, that does work.

[Frog_Gamer]

Re: Odd???

Originally posted by janilxx

PPS. I asked many times orange AI to withdraw. He accepted and continued to wander in my lands. Finally after about 15-20 turns his unit disappeared with horn sound and icons(and I did not ask him to withdraw in that turn). I would like to know how that withdraw code is coded? Why did he vanish like that(it is ok to me)?

From the three games I already had, I deduced that it explodes because the AI in question did not withdraw it on time (i didn't count how many turns). It happens quite often at the beguinning of the game. Later on its uses stacks hence takes better care of them!

[janilxx]

Re: Re: Odd???

Originally posted by Frog_Gamer


From the three games I already had, I deduced that it explodes because the AI in question did not withdraw it on time (i didn't count how many turns). It happens quite often at the beguinning of the game. Later on its uses stacks hence takes better care of them!

I think Dale(or someone) told us sometime ago that AI unit is "deleted" if it won't find a way to go away from my lands in 20(?) turns?!?!? Or something like that.

But in my situation AI tried to go away but stupidly. He was near my border and he wandered to different directions(sometimes one or two stepst to east, then south, then maybe north and west etc).

I think that if AI is really trying to withdraw he should try to walk directly away from my city/cities and maybe towards his borders(maybe not always). Not zikzak walking(sometimes north, sometimes south, then wes(t) and east...).

If AI unit sees my border I think he should try to walk to there or directly towards his own nation. BUT!!!!!!!!!! Maybe he could try to be clever and stay in my nation but try to be hidden(not near my cities or units). Ummmmm did he try that in my game too?!? Maybe but why did he then disappear?

If he somehow understands that my troops are trying to see if he is going away then he should go away and not try to hide in my lands.

This is quite confusing mail but try to follow my ideas and thoughts

[janilxx]

Originally posted by Apollon
Janix:
I can answer your first question (I think anyway). In the readme files it says: "Do not create a shortcut using modswapper"

Ups does it say so It have worked before

Maybe I should read readmes well again

[Apollon]

To start with the simple things
Bit hard to understand what you meant Jan

Anyway, the units don't get deleted. They get sent back to the nearest friendly city, just like when you expel a unit If you have a non-tresspass agreement with a AI, and you stay inside his borders too long, you will also get expelled.

[Apollon]

1520 AD now, still the same game, impossible, 7 civs etc.
Finally the tide has turned
The russians have been a pain in the ass ever since I met them, 3000 years ago. Now they finally did it They attacked and took one of my border cities. Furious as I became , massive war production started. Meanwhile, more and more civs had declared war against the Russians. At the moment, I got 3 stacks á 12 units, nicely balanced with cavalry, musketeers, culverins. I also started to prepare for 2 stacks of Grenadiers, Field Guns (have to research those first) and cavalry. So now, the Russians are at war with just about everyone in the game.
I'm aswell, finally on the 1st place with the most advanced AI. No AI has given me anything for free this far, I've had to trade techs with one, then that tech with another and so on and so forth. Gonna change to republic as soon as the Russians are eliminated

I'll keep the updates coming. Summer vacation now, finally

[janilxx]

Originally posted by Apollon
Bit hard to understand what you meant Jan

It is JANI you swedish bastard

(I just had to say this No hard feelings )