MP: Noobs and Vets II: Days of Infamy. MA, BI. Game Over. Supplicants Triumph!

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally Posted by Squirrelloid

The AI is absolutely terrible using LA Ermor. Can you forbid them from spending gold on anything but forts and temples? Because otherwise they're going to do stupid stuff. (Ie, to make the AI any good for LA E, you basically have to use the NI mod).

Actually there are ways to do that without a mod. But the drawback is that they impact badly on neighbors even if they are allies

[Graeme Dice]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

Actually there are ways to do that without a mod. But the drawback is that they impact badly on neighbors even if they are allies

No, you can't force the AI to not spend gold on troops unless it is absolutely incapable of recruiting any troops at all. And that is impossible to do via map commands unless you expect the AI to never expand to neighbouring territories, which means you need a mod to remove all independent troops that a LA ermor AI would spend gold on.

[Gandalf Parker]

It is possible. More "suggestion" than "force" but it does have an effect.
Altho, it should be said that all methods by map or mod only hold up thru early game and with some hope into mid game. The AI has no late game to even try and boost.

[Squirrelloid]

The sad part is it wouldn't be that hard to write a decent LA Ermor AI, but the game doesn't allow importation of custom AIs. (Basically, the scope of useful options for LA Ermor is really small, especially early on, so writing a 'script' for their early behavior would actually work rather well).

I suppose if someone was really motivated, they could figure out how to read from the .trn file, run a custom AI decision-making program on that information, and have it output a .2h file for Ermor's turn. But I think the anti-cheating measures probably make this quite difficult since you'd have to fool the server into believing it was a legitimate .2h file made by the game. And while you could enter the turn state into a separate program, and get a list of actions for you to perform, the goal is of course for the AI to actually play the turn, not just tell you how to play the turn. If someone has to manually open the Ermor turn its already defeated the point of an AI.

[Septimius Severus]

Originally Posted by Wrana

Yes, it may be just the thing. I wouldn't add fancy special abilities, though, as they would be hell to balance against cost. Adding appropriate paths may be enough.

The deities in Hindu religion are apparently many faceted, so this is of course a simplification (neither can be said to be heavenly/ hellish) really just meant to meet the themes of the game. But I could name one Shiva (for the heavenly realm) or reuse Deva, one Nataraja, and one Asura or even Kali. The costing might be a bit more difficult as you indicated if I added effects or weapons. I suppose I could split the difference between the cost of the Deva and the Destroyer of Worlds (125+75) = 200/2 = 100 design points. Though, I personally would like to see Awe on one and fear on the other, and maybe animal awe or some earthly effect on the earthly realm divinity.

[Wrana]

Originally Posted by Squirrelloid

... you do realize you're talking about a game that generally uses Vanilla rules. There is no balance to start with...

What I realize isn't what you are going to preach.

[Squirrelloid]

Anyone who would maintain 50point Gorgons are balanced against other options is crazy. (I could go on, but really, that's sufficient - clearly vanilla pretenders are not balanced or abominations like that wouldn't exist)

[Zeldor]

Septimius:

You like team games, you should get a teammate and join Preponderance 2 Well, everyone is welcomed.

[Septimius Severus]

Originally Posted by Zeldor

Septimius:

You like team games, you should get a teammate and join Preponderance 2 Well, everyone is welcomed.

Yes, I am an avid supporter of team games in general, think they provide a nice change of pace from the regular, everyone for themselves type MP game, and a chance to work cooperatively, plan, strategize, communicate, get along with others, learn, etc, all things which can be beneficial in both our fantasy worlds and the real world. I also like vs. AI games as well, which can facilitate this same sort of cooperation and can be fun in their own right, especially against challenging AIs. Though I think I prefer team sizes larger than two players each. Wouldn't mind joining though, but I can't play personally until I am out of one of the games I am in (my personal limit is 2 games at a time). A good mix for me is 1 FFA and 1 team/vs.AI/RPG type game at a time, but it all depends on what you like and your free time. Thanks for posting it though.

[Septimius Severus]

I witnessed an interesting battle between Atlantis and Man. Atlantis has got some punch! The sky was filled with a storm of arrows from both sides.

The AI has thrown up a global, which anyone may feel free to dispel when they can (can even pool astral if needed between teams). The prohibition on human globals though still remains in effect till turn 50.

I am amending the merc rules slightly. As you all know when the merc makes an attack on behalf of a client that results in the capture of a province, the responsibility for that province then rests on the client (although we did stretch things a bit allowing the merc to keep the province in certain circumstances). My original thinking was that a PD of 1 should be set (which would defeat most enemy scouts) but it would also prevent the clients own scouts from claiming the province, so I think the client should have a choice of a PD of 0 or 1 as a base. If the client desires a higher PD, the merc can charge appropriately.

Speaking of the Merc, is everyone finding Atlantis to be useful/interesting so far?