QUESTION: New Setup

[ahenobarb]

Hello Everyone! It's been a long, long time. I'm amazed and glad ya'll are still at it!

If someone could help me get oriented a little. I'm installing the latest source code update May 24, 2008 (from E's signature line), but I still have old files for various mods that I liked such as:

CityExpansion (My fav)
Cradle (My 2nd fav)
Diplomod
Goodmod
etc.

Do I still need to add these or are they integrated into the code now? Are there new versions of these?

Just a little lost right now.

Thanks!

[Maquiladora]

Re: New Setup

Originally posted by ahenobarb
Hello Everyone! It's been a long, long time. I'm amazed and glad ya'll are still at it!

If someone could help me get oriented a little. I'm installing the latest source code update May 24, 2008 (from E's signature line), but I still have old files for various mods that I liked such as:

CityExpansion (My fav)
Cradle (My 2nd fav)
Diplomod
Goodmod
etc.

Do I still need to add these or are they integrated into the code now? Are there new versions of these?

Just a little lost right now.

Thanks!

Diplomod and GoodMod are no longer needed as they're integrated in the source.

CityExpansion is not in the source code yet but you can try it with the Apolyton Edition (AE) I think, see this thread though:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=170626

There is a bigger mod available based on Cradle called Ages of Man, this was the last full mod released. I don't know what the state is of Cradle or AoM with the AE though.

See this post to download AoM:

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?postid=4996805#post4996805

[Martin Gühmann]

Re: New Setup

Originally posted by ahenobarb
Cradle (My 2nd fav)

Probably Cradle need some fixing and rebalancing, since slic is less tolerant to incorrect and thus non-working code, and we have an improved AI. So the AI may get a little bit too much help.

Originally posted by ahenobarb
Do I still need to add these or are they integrated into the code now? Are there new versions of these?

Why should we add Cradle an ancient mod to the Apolyton Edition, that's a mod and not CTP2 the way as it should be.

-Martin

[ahenobarb]

Integration into the base code sounds good to me.

By the way, I was testing the new source code last night and I noticed I still do not see the AI using stacked armies. Is that still a problem, or did I just knock out the surrounding opponents too quickly?

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by ahenobarb

By the way, I was testing the new source code last night and I noticed I still do not see the AI using stacked armies. Is that still a problem, or did I just knock out the surrounding opponents too quickly?

I've only played one game with the latest playtest but I would say it's a bit of both.

The AI does create big balanced armies, but it seems to be hit and miss for the AI to find targets and execute them. But as with most mods, hitting the AI early is the easiest way.

I think it's correct to say the work has not been specifically to make the AI harder to beat (like mods do with SLIC cheats, bonuses etc), but it's been to make the AI smarter and more self-sufficient at the source level. It's not obvious when you first try the AE, but there are a few things the AI does a lot better now, but it's obviously not as competitive yet as a completed mod would be.

It would be great to get all the mods working with the AE as well.

[ahenobarb]

Perhaps that's a better way to approach the problem; make sure the AI can be self-sufficient, then turn to its attack problems.

The AI does seem a little more agressive than I remember it being. I assume the agressiveness fixes in this ancient thread were incorproated: http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=67249

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by ahenobarb

The AI does seem a little more agressive than I remember it being. I assume the agressiveness fixes in this ancient thread were incorproated: http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=67249

The only thing I see in strategies.txt is:

// - inreased SEIGE values for militarist and barbarian

I don't know if any other tweaks to goals were made.

Ideally if we make more tweaks like this they could also go in the AE mod in the scenarios folder. The AE mod is basically a new Apolyton Pack but for the AE.

[Martin Gühmann]

Originally posted by ahenobarb
Integration into the base code sounds good to me.

I cannot integrate Cradle into the base code, it is a mod, a bunch of modified text files and additional graphic files, so it only works as add on.

Originally posted by ahenobarb
By the way, I was testing the new source code last night and I noticed I still do not see the AI using stacked armies. Is that still a problem, or did I just knock out the surrounding opponents too quickly?

Yes, the AI still has its problems to form stacks, I am working on it, but unfortunately it takes longer than I thought. And I still discover new problems that interfere with my main solution. So the interfering problems need to be fixed, first.

-Martin