View Full Version : Mulcarn Reborn Feedback


Kael
Jan 27, 2009, 10:31 PM
Make sure you have some time free and a cup of warm cocoa handy before starting this scenario. Let me know what you think in this thread.

Nikis-Knight
Jan 27, 2009, 11:28 PM
Does this require against the grey to start?
(story wise it probably should, but I'd be just as happy if it was availible now)

Kael
Jan 27, 2009, 11:53 PM
Yes, though most of the sneaky folks here found ways around that.

MagisterCultuum
Jan 28, 2009, 01:39 AM
It still claims not to exist yet, but I'm playing it right now.


The first time I loaded the game (as Rhoanna) the cities had no units in them, and after I tried selecting a city the game crashed. I just started over (this time As Falamar), and so far things seem to be working fine.


Edit: I just noticed that Volanna of the Doviello's capital city is located on an Ocean tile. That seems quite odd.
Edit2: It seems that a Caravel accidentally wandering into that city just destroyed her civilization.

Xenoborg
Jan 28, 2009, 02:53 AM
I noticed my ally teammates using workers to build mana nodes, is this supposed to be happening?

Also at the start I could see a dead Malk and Calblim city. I'm guessing you get one of them based on who you sided with in Wages of Sin/Into the Desert?

It is also quite infuriating to see your AI teammates constantly messing up what you were trying to do, but I guess thats the challenge.

Ashdrake
Jan 28, 2009, 06:06 AM
Gayest Scenario ever made, the computer just keeps switching me around, I build a hamlet, next computer which comes after me builds a workshop, and so on and so forth. I try to use some civics, the computer switches them around, each time i have to play a civ, 2-3 turns are anarchy ones.
LAME!

ChinaBlue
Jan 28, 2009, 09:42 AM
eh.. FOURasin4 Illian civilizations against me?( me, who's anybody nowhere)
make that baking a chocolate pie and eating it during stasis

First
Jan 29, 2009, 12:29 AM
As cool a concept as high to low is (and that was actually the first time I played with that option), it's incredibly annoying since there really isn't enough time to do much of anything before you switch civs, but during that short time the AI manages to redo all of the improvements you put down.

ChinaBlue
Jan 29, 2009, 01:01 AM
..which makes this scenario almost unplayable. There should be a special rule in this one that your team AI cannot build over existing improvements. Or at least not able to build anything over towns..

Ashdrake
Jan 29, 2009, 03:21 AM
At least it should only switch you 3 Times like the normal high to low ( but still your wasting your 40+ turns of the game).
And civics is another thing the AI changes ( i go agrarism and everytime the AI comes he switches me to conquest...)3-4 turns lost due to anarchy per switch.
Not funny.

TheGreatSteve
Jan 29, 2009, 01:01 PM
I never realized how bad the AI's were until now. A hundred turns in, Fail-amar has built the Pact of the Nilhorn, and is now spamming Triremes. Despite his fleet he's somehow managed to lose the coves I built, and his triremes just sit outside his (only)city while the Doviello pillage our workboats and kill our galleys.

Decius's AI has apparently gotten stuck. His city is like size 3, he's in the Conquest civic, and is building nothing but Lightbringers. Which are of course being immediately killed by the (now very experienced) barbs and animals.

And Rhoanna.. the one time I switched to her, she had an archer in her capital and 3 galleys. There were four Illian Javelin Throwers advancing, and she was building... another galley.:mad:


All of this really isn't that bad though. None have been wiped out, so they're still way above the Lord of the Balors allies:lol:. It just needs for our changes to be more permanent. Either more time between switches so you can fix their screwups AND advance a little, or some way to lock civics/religions/improvements/build orders.

How does the thing determine who you switch to anyway? I thought it was lowest or second lowest if you were already at the bottom, but then it switched me to our highest score. Is it just random?

It makes sense, considering when in the story this scenario takes place. But there should be some warning that you can't bring in Hyborem/Basium. So many evil civs, and the good ones willing to research what you tell them. It begs for an Infernal Pact beeline. Imagine my disappointment when the big guy didn't show.

MagisterCultuum
Jan 29, 2009, 03:41 PM
I find that the AI seems to value Conquest way too much. It may make sense to switch to it in brief wars in a normal game, but sticking with it (or constantly returning to it) in the early expansion portion of a game where you will always be at war is idiotic.

Kael
Jan 30, 2009, 05:41 PM
I find that the AI seems to value Conquest way too much. It may make sense to switch to it in brief wars in a normal game, but sticking with it (or constantly returning to it) in the early expansion portion of a game where you will always be at war is idiotic.

Yeah I think you are right, Im going to check that out. One of the things I love about playtesting this scenario is it really helps highlight ai problems.

Ive checked this out. Its not becuase the ai loves the civ in general, but because it is locked in war so its going into full war mode (when its probably better just to expand for a little while first.

Kael
Feb 01, 2009, 12:19 PM
Ive been playing a lot of this scenario in the past few days and there are major changes in patch "s". Let me know what you guys think.

Nikis-Knight
Feb 01, 2009, 01:43 PM
The Illian leader nearest the Bannor (ag-something) has the same color as them, making their borders indistinguishable.

TheGreatSteve
Feb 01, 2009, 07:07 PM
Falamar is still having major problems with his island. Playing Emperor, Normal Speed, turn 240. He has 27 land units. Thats counting city garrisons, worker guards, disciple units, etc. He also has

The Black Wind
A Caravel
Six Galleons
Three Pirates, and
NINE Queens of the Line.

He only has 3 cities, and keeps getting cities razed when he tries to settle on the eastern island without any troops guarding it. It's not like he's building his invasion force either, when I switched he was making a lighthouse, an infirmary, and his capital was just doing research.


Decius is doing better now that he doesn't love Conquest so much, but he still needs the player to get him started. He kept mass-producing Lightbringers until I switched to him, but once I got the training yards up and started making champions he kept the ball rolling after I left.

Bannor could probably do with having more enemies near them and less by the Hippus. If there's one strategy the computer understands, it's spamming champions until it runs out of enemies. My games have basically come down to grabbing Iron Working, Currency, and RoK, then trying to hold off the purple Illain and Auric with Rhoanna and mercenaries while Capria blankets the west in Iron Champions.:lol:

tokala
Feb 08, 2009, 05:42 PM
Some feedback (turn 200 so far): It is really necessary for the player to get each civ started before the AI can handle it reasonably well.

For me it was working rather well to set up Lanun as an coastal eco-powerhouse, and getting rohanna a decent stack of cover/flanking horsearchers+horseman to play with. Was not really sure how to handle Decius, and then stasis hit before I could do much. When I got him back, he was spamming priests without getting anywhere.
Bannor is doing well and is beginning to roll up the south west.

I was rather disappointed, when after researching FoL no disciple was appearing in any of my cities. Bug or feature ot team reaserch?

But overall a very nice scenario, its interesting to get an "inside" view on how the AI handles itself and to try to set it up so it can't screw up :crazyeye:.

MagisterCultuum
Feb 09, 2009, 05:34 PM
In patch r at least, this scenario neither blocks nor increments Stir From Slumber; thus, the Illians can get a second Drifa the White Dragon (this one not held).


I recommend adding gc.getGame().incrementProjectCreatedCount(gc.getIn foTypeForString('PROJECT_STIR_FROM_SLUMBER')) right under gc.getGame().incrementProjectCreatedCount(gc.getIn foTypeForString('PROJECT_THE_WHITE_HAND'))

Kael
Feb 09, 2009, 07:08 PM
In patch r at least, this scenario neither blocks nor increments Stir From Slumber; thus, the Illians can get a second Drifa the White Dragon (this one not held).


I recommend adding gc.getGame().incrementProjectCreatedCount(gc.getIn foTypeForString('PROJECT_STIR_FROM_SLUMBER')) right under gc.getGame().incrementProjectCreatedCount(gc.getIn foTypeForString('PROJECT_THE_WHITE_HAND'))

Good point, will do.

MagisterCultuum
Feb 10, 2009, 11:27 PM
I'm still a patch or two behind so you may have fixed it since then, but in my last game Volanna still started with a city in the middle of the Ocean and thus she never expanded. She was again eliminated when a boat attempted to sail into the city's tile, without any real combat.

LDiCesare
Feb 11, 2009, 06:05 AM
The ai doesn't understand it needs to expand.
There is almost no barbarian on the map. Only a few lairs and mammoths, and later frostlings when the Illians summon them, so building up should be a priority.
What does the ai do during this time (I'm early in the game, having changed civs 3 or 4 times only)?
Falamar stays on his island instead of settling other islands. I lost control of him just one turn before settling his fifth city ( I had built 2 ), and am not sure what he's going to do with the settler but building settlers or cottages doesn't seem to appeal him much.
Decius seems to know only one thing: Build units. In my case I got him RoK, and he's been busy building Soldiers of Kilmorph like crazy, although he also started building vampires, he should definitely have setup more cities, so the vampires could eat a bit.
Rhoanna I didn't take control of after my first try so I don't know what she did, but she doesn't seem to have screwed up anything yet.
I didn't see much of the Bannor, but they haven't been building many cities either.

LDiCesare
Feb 11, 2009, 02:33 PM
Confirmed my thoughts about Falamar AI. He had a settler + 1 warrior on a small island and let them stay there idly without settling for all the time till I got back to power!!! Admittedly, Stasis was cast in the meantime, but he could still move around. I haven't seen the ai ferry troops or workers from an island to the next either.
A weird thing too, the city of Mortensholm in the middle of nowhere/water as shown in screenshot.

alRazad
Feb 14, 2009, 10:41 AM
Despite I installed patch t, this scenario ist still locked. What´s wrong here?

TheGreatSteve
Feb 14, 2009, 11:19 AM
It requires Against the Grey to be beaten before you can play it. Against the Grey doesn't exist yet. You have 2 options.

1. Find a Delorean and some plutonium

2. Hijack a TARDIS.





Or go into your FFH folder, Assets>XML>Scenarios, and load it from there.

ssmage
Feb 27, 2009, 03:47 AM
I just finished this.

We really need a Laroth becomes the god of death Scenario.

Nikis-Knight
Feb 27, 2009, 09:12 AM
Glad you liked it. Such a scenario for FfH 2 will be the provinece of fan made scenarios; we've covered the arc we intended for FfH 2. Having Decius bring the Nether Blade seemed the most logical choice, however, and it seemed more satisfying to kill Auric with that, despite what they don't know about it.

BiffQJ
Mar 01, 2009, 04:57 AM
Very good scenario, but I found the same problem as LDiCesare. Volanna was stuck in the middle of the ocean and I was able to beat her by just running over her city with a frigate. Maybe she should start on the island next to Falamar? It's a bit bigger than his island at least...

Avahz Darkwood
Mar 01, 2009, 06:52 PM
Why is Volanna in this scen?

When you defeat her she says that the summer queen made her do it, but wouldn't both elven queens not want another ICE age, considering it about made both of the extinct.

MagisterCultuum
Mar 01, 2009, 07:05 PM
Why is Volanna in this scen?

When you defeat her she says that the summer queen made her do it, but wouldn't both elven queens not want another ICE age, considering it about made both of the extinct.

Volanna is in Mulcarn Reborn because you as Arendel (or some Ljosalfar leader) gave her to Duin. She is now a Werewolf rather than just a elf, and not fully in control of herself. She is forced to obey the wishes of her new master Duin, and Duin is allied with the other Doviello in wanting to bring the Ice Age back.


If you as a Svartalfar leader gave Amelanchier to Duin he would appear in this scenario as a Doviello leader, and when defeated he would say this: "You have tamed the spirit that ruled me, though you bring me death I thank you for it."

If you killed or imprisoned the leaders instead of giving them to Duin then you wouldn't have to face them again. I'm a little surprised that I haven't seen Thessa or Rivanna show up as Vampires in other scenarios too.

BiffQJ
Mar 01, 2009, 08:27 PM
Volanna is in Mulcarn Reborn because you as Arendel (or some Ljosalfar leader) gave her to Duin. She is now a Werewolf rather than just a elf, and not fully in control of herself. She is forced to obey the wishes of her new master Duin, and Duin is allied with the other Doviello in wanting to bring the Ice Age back.


If you as a Svartalfar leader gave Amelanchier to Duin he would appear in this scenario as a Doviello leader, and when defeated he would say this: "You have tamed the spirit that ruled me, though you bring me death I thank you for it."

If you killed or imprisoned the leaders instead of giving them to Duin then you wouldn't have to face them again. I'm a little surprised that I haven't seen Thessa or Rivanna show up as Vampires in other scenarios too.


Ok, so maybe I shouldn't have played as both sides of that scenario and given them both over to Duin:D

MagisterCultuum
Mar 01, 2009, 08:43 PM
You can still go back and play it again as both sides and just kill them both to make Mulcarn Reborn easier.

Avahz Darkwood
Mar 01, 2009, 09:03 PM
Thanks again MC

cyther
Mar 02, 2009, 02:55 PM
I'm a little surprised that I haven't seen Thessa or Rivanna show up as Vampires in other scenarios too.


As am I. It makes you wonder what happend to them as Alexis isn't seen in any other scenarios

BLubmuz
Mar 11, 2009, 01:33 PM
Info, please.

I played a lot of scenarios, some of them unlocked the next one.

But Mulcarn reborn and Against the Grey are still locked

WtF?

Nikis-Knight
Mar 11, 2009, 08:03 PM
Have you downloaded the latest patch? If so, you maybe are lacking completion of Wages of Sin.

BLubmuz
Mar 12, 2009, 05:17 AM
Have you downloaded the latest patch? If so, you maybe are lacking completion of Wages of Sin.Thanks for the answer.
But no, i've completed Wages of Sin.
I'm playing with FfH2040v.exe i think i'm fully up-to date.

Some more thoughts?

Thunder_Gr
Mar 12, 2009, 11:16 AM
Thanks for the answer.
But no, i've completed Wages of Sin.
I'm playing with FfH2040v.exe i think i'm fully up-to date.

Some more thoughts?

Well, if I recall correctly, we are at FFH2040y...so, you'd better patch up! ;)

BLubmuz
Mar 12, 2009, 07:22 PM
Well, if I recall correctly, we are at FFH2040y...so, you'd better patch up! ;)ahh :blush:

OK, dowloaded, installed.

Now against the grey is unlocked, but Mulcarn reborn is still locked.

Maybe you need to complete Wages of Sin with the latest patch?

?????

MagisterCultuum
Mar 12, 2009, 07:25 PM
Have you won Against the Grey yet? That is Mulcarn Reborn's prereq.

BLubmuz
Mar 12, 2009, 07:27 PM
Have you won Against the Grey yet? That is Mulcarn Reborn's prereq.Now it's all clear, thanx.
I'm playing now that one.

BLubmuz
Mar 14, 2009, 05:16 AM
Alright, completed all scenarios.
Mulcarn is tough, since you always take the lowest score leader.
I started with Falamar and he was first until the last change: he never built naval units, and he's got all the ports and nets pillaged by barbs.
My last set was with Capria, and her cannons and demagogs took easily Garduk, then it was a matter of time to win before next change.

Valerarren
Mar 25, 2009, 01:41 PM
I just finished this on patch y, Monarch difficulty. I'm actually surprised as to how easy this scenario was (at least compared to against the wall). Decius was Malakim.

Here's roughly what I did. I made each of my allies found a religion off the bat. And then as I was transferred around, I tried to time techs so I could make sure they built appropriate religious heroes, etc (the computer seemed to use the Malakim Chalid quite well, he had the Decius great general + the nether blade). When I took control of a civ, I made sure to use the time to capture barb cities / build it's own cities in good locations.

A couple times the AI threatened the Bannor or the Hippus, but I was able to send troops (for example, an army of of Cultists / Drown / Stygian guards, or an army of Rathas) to help out.

I do wonder as to the AI build choices though. Why are people spamming Fawn's when they can build champions? Rhoanna, you just lost two cities, maybe you should stop building wonders and start building champions or horse archers?

And strategy, Falamar, you have this huge army of stygian guards, which can walk on water, and they are just sitting in your cities. The hippus could really use your help right now... Rhoanna, you have 10 units sitting happily in a city that isn't being attacked, and the Illians just took out 3 of your other cities, maybe you should consider moving a large part that stack to intercept...?

I of course was also frustrated by what the AI was doing with it's workers (why exactly are you building forts adjacent to our own cities).

The other thing I found frustrating is that it seemed very hard (due to all the switching) to pop GP properly (and then use them as I wanted).

In some ways I was disappointed that the AI didn't send Drifa the white ravaging my lands (or have Auric Ascend). Maybe I should have just tried it at a higher difficulty? At the very least, they probably should coordinate attacks against a random civ (maybe also for 40 turns?)

Ksi
Apr 12, 2009, 06:38 PM
Haven't finished this yet. I'm playing on immortal and I managed to knock off two of the Illian commanders and the doviello using an early war-cry and then vampies + decius + netherblade to take a chunk out of auric and the elves. Auric is now down to one city which I keep pillaging. I don't have anything past champions yet though. Are there events that trigger or am I just going to kill the dragon and win? I loved the starting story but this is by far the easiest scenario I've played. I expected it to be full of blizzards and whatnot!

edit: I felt kind of sorry for the doviello...

jprc
Apr 13, 2009, 08:31 AM
Make sure you have some time free and a cup of warm cocoa handy before starting this scenario.
Cold chocolate milk for me, by the litre...
My feeling? A very boring scenario (opposed to other scenarii, all enjoyable) l!!...
(I have not played all yet, I play from top to bottom)

I explain myself

1- I spent 8h30 doing what I am required to do in my job for about 20 years. Do you have fun feeling at work?
I work as technical assistance in poor and/or post/pre war countries. I am a couple of years minimum in a place (mostly Africa), and I am supposed to organize and restructure various areas, mostly at governemental levels. The BIG problem in most countries I work/worked is that, as soon as the T.A. leaves, everything collapse (reasons why are not much the point here...). An another T.A. is then hired by another Donor for redoing the job. And they leave after 6 months or 2 years, and it collapses again... and ... and ... after tens of years redoing what had been done before, you are just left with the feeling that you have a leaking bucket of water for crossing a desert.
This scenario just did that. You spend your time redoing what you did when you left a civilization and undoing wrong things, such as stupid workers with their HORRIBLE forts !!!, refocusing on where you were when you left, etc...

2- It does not do what it says! We are informed that we will have to take charge of the weakest faction. Wrong. At the end of the 46 turns, even if you are still the weakest faction, you are just assigned somewhere else, i.e. the faction just on top of you. VERY frustrating when you try to recover a weak faction and want to have a strategy that makes senses.

3- Agressive civilization? Not really. as you are already at war with the other team, I am afraid the agressivity factor is gone. They (both team) do not attack more than usual, and it is not much destabilized, and I now regrets Perpentach in another scenario when we were always on the edge. Here, everything is way to predicable and annoying. Built, then go to another place, and build, then do the same somewhere else if you are lucky and/or rebuild, etc... Meanwhile, as you are making a round table with your civs, you necessarily end up surrounding the other team, and everything becomes long and predictable. You just have to do all the micromanagement job and be patient

4- Too much micromanagement in this game due to points 1 and 2.

5- Way too much Mithril and Gunpowder! I think evryone can get some. pointless. 1 resource was enough, and if possible placed in a common area between civilizations...

6- Lanum is way too well protected, with way too much potential land, and incredibly lazy for doing any sea invasion. They are also sure that they will never be invaded.

My suggestions:
1- Exchange the starting position between Delcius and xxx (in orange). For avoiding the logical surrounding position and watch your back somehow. Why not on the large island east of Lanum? 2 teams are then even concerning the sea access.
2- Add a non playing Perpentach (on an island surrounded by ice?), and have him deciding the number of turns you have got, randomized from 20 to 100. You need to have won the scenario where he decides of who is at war. Have him also sometimes and randomly taking his toll for his work, such as money (random amount or %), or research points, or even units!
3- kill all workers who even think about building a fort! (seriously, how come there is no patch stopping them from building this when automated, i.e. when monitored by another civilization?). If a fort is built, the worker dies.
4- start the game with "end of winter". it sounds logical with the storyline I guess...
5- 1 mithril placed in the center/center-north of the map, 1 gunpowder placed in an island south east of the mainland (for being half way between lanum and the orange civ, if the orange civ is switched with decius)
6- The island just south of Lanum should have a narrow connection with the mainland with
7- Gartuk, Aulric's capital, should be surrounded by a lake (or mountains), with access through 1 cell. Gartuk should also be a 3 squares city. Afterall, it is a main goal with their guarding dragon...
8- If the lanum/bannor/... team becomes globally stronger that the Ilian team, then the Dragon is awaken, i.e. gets the right to move... and destroy...
9- bring in Acheron, the mother of all dragons! And put him right where mithril and/or gunpowder is (c.f. sugg 5)! After all, the Illians can have attracted Acheron with their Dragon spell!...


Concerning the story line, it is great (as usual), and the only good moment I had with this scenario is when I red the final story...

iffi
May 06, 2009, 03:44 AM
By that I mean the mechanic that puts you in control of the weakest link of your team after 40 or so turns. Because that was the most fun for me in this rather enjoyable scenario.

Such fun to try to guide the AI to do as well as possible, I even managed to point them the way to succesful multi-city conquests.

So any hidden options to enable this? And instructions how to manage it..

KnightBoat
May 11, 2009, 09:45 AM
I just beat this scenario, and like everyone else, I found the constant switching really frustrating. But I have one question about this one...

Can the Illians build Auric Ascended? By the time I won, they hadn't quite got to T4 units yet, but I was expecting the mother of all battles, and was a bit disappointed? Best I got was a Paladin beating Drifa with a 4.7% win chance! :D

MagisterCultuum
May 11, 2009, 12:04 PM
No one can ever "build" Auric Ascended, as he is created in python through a ritual. They can build this ritual, but they don't seem very focused on doing so. I had to give them a lot of techs and a lot of great people in Worldbuilder and still wait 100 turns for one of the minor leaders to finish it.

The mortal Auric unit does not get removed when the god enters the game.


In my version, I changed it so that the Ascension Ritual upgrades Auric to Auric Ascended (meaning you can't use it until you build Auric, or if Auric dies, but letting Auric Ascended benefit from promotions gained before ascention), and removes the held promotion. Stir from Slumber can also be used in the scenario again, not to get a second dragon but to remove Held from the one you already have.

dyx
May 12, 2009, 09:53 AM
I found the scenario quite nice, but then I hadn't finished some others, so I only had Hippus, Bannor and Lanun (which were like non-existant, just keeping to their isles). And the Hippus were weak, I took the starting Horseman to harass the nearest Illian, to have the AI kill it in a futile attack, later on barely holding out (I had to retake some cities and actually defend the borders with more than one unit). The Bannor were weak too, but because they always do they built a lot of units which I just used to roll over the enemy.
Anyways, if you play it with less civs, it's harder. :P

KnightBoat
May 12, 2009, 05:52 PM
I found the scenario quite nice, but then I hadn't finished some others, so I only had Hippus, Bannor and Lanun (which were like non-existant, just keeping to their isles). And the Hippus were weak, I took the starting Horseman to harass the nearest Illian, to have the AI kill it in a futile attack, later on barely holding out (I had to retake some cities and actually defend the borders with more than one unit). The Bannor were weak too, but because they always do they built a lot of units which I just used to roll over the enemy.
Anyways, if you play it with less civs, it's harder. :P

I think I'd prefer it with less civs, cos I'd have more control over them that way! It's frustrating being stuck out with the Lanun while the Bannor manage to make no ground with Donal, Valin and sphener.

AAA
May 18, 2009, 10:27 PM
Hi, I'm having real problems with this scenario. It continually cuts out on me with the "this program is having a problem and must shut down". I have restarted it four times, loaded auto saves to try to finish it, but it is going to be a long one, so I don't think that I'll be able to finish it that way.

Is anyone else having problems? All of the other scenarios worked fine.

Kiwi Tyrant
May 23, 2009, 07:34 PM
I'm having real problem's too. It's a different problem, and it's pissing me off as this is the last scenario in the Auric campaign. I NEED to know the conclusion! Everything run's smoothly, but when my allies uncover the enemy cities, I see that they're on size 20+ because of the obscene tile bonuses from ice. It's only turn 30! I don't know if this is a bug, or it's meant to be, but I'm just getting badly caned as I try get into the game.

9:food: off an unimproved ice tile!? Another city was getting 1:food:, 8:hammers:, 1:gold: off a mined hill!?
I've included a s/s of one of the cities as an example, without spoiling anything....

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/844/buggyshit.jpg (http://img43.imageshack.us/my.php?image=buggyshit.jpg)

Senethro
Jun 01, 2009, 07:49 PM
This scenario looks much different than I remember it being. I've only played the first turn of this different version and am wondering where Decius is.

MagisterCultuum
Jun 02, 2009, 12:06 AM
It was changed so that Decius would enter 5 turns in (I think) instead of being there at the start. This was a fairly early change, and the whole map has been replaced since then (mostly to stop Volanna from having her capital on an ocean tile, I think).

Kiwi Tyrant
Jun 02, 2009, 08:31 PM
Yes, Decius kick's in about turn 5.

Can anyone else confirm that the Illian's are getting obscene tile bonuses in this scenario. Is it broken, is it supposed to be, or is it just me?

Corwyn
Sep 15, 2009, 09:37 PM
Just finished this scenario -- seems like most of the complaints have been addressed since the Lanun don't start on an island and, well, I had fun! :)

I started with the Lanun on the coast, quickly built some ports, and explored as much as I could. The lanun are just incredible when it comes to tech'ing and to economy! In fact, after that early build up (and an attack or two on the neighboring foe) I never played the Lanun again -- they quickly established themselves as the dominant force and never looked back.

I rushed for RoK, and tried to spread it as much as possible. Eventually all of my allies got it, and that really helped out with their economies as well. The Auric alliance didn't have any religion at all (which makes sense) until much later when one of them finally got OO. Gave me an appreciation for how powerful religion can be to your growing empire.

Next move was over to Decius (as Malakim), who really needed some help expanding. I think they had only 2 cities. I built him up as well.

This trend continued (next with Capria/Bannor). Unlike some other posters, I actually really enjoyed taking over an empire and fixing it. It's fun to play the under-dog that comes out ahead!

My normal strategy for scenarios is hero-based, by which I have one or two heroes and build them up (with some supporting units) so that they become massively promoted and can single-handedly take out cities. This time I knew that the AI would likely lose the heroes as soon as I switched out (and indeed quite a few heroes did die this way), so instead I focused on getting a strong group of regular units. Meaning focusing on Iron then Mithril, getting Shield of Faith, some Mage buffs, etc. Worked out pretty well in hindsight.

The only bad part is that due to the Lanun quickly taking over their side of the continent, yet Drifa being in the middle of the map, the Lanun would repeatedly smash themselves against Drifa and die. By the time I was well into "cleanup mode" and looking at taking out Drifa, it was an absolute beast! Drifa had just about every imaginable promotion.

I got my best shot with Capria, rushing my catapults and Paladins against Drifa... and they all perished. Drifa was truly powerful. And then I got switched to Hippus. So I figured I would focus on cleaning out the rest of the Auric alliance before focusing on the sole remaining Auric city and Drifa. By this time I decided to convert the Hippus to OO, and I figured that I'd abuse that nice little lake next to Drifa with Tsunami :lol:

By the time I was finally ready, Drifa had grown stronger. And it turns out that both Tsunami and Maelstrom were having no effect on Drifa. So I charged with an absolutely massive army, figuring out that sheer numbers would bring Drifa down... until I realized that the Hippus didn't have access to Courage, and so they were all too afraid to attack. No problem... I'll build up a Flesh Golem. After summoning some Krakens and finally getting a Flesh Golem with 16/19 strength I checked the odds... I had a success rate of 12.8% and a retreat rate of 45% :cry:

The very next round, the AI Malakim won the scenario for me. A bit of a anti-climax, really. Apparently a single Malakim Paladin, with less than 26 xp, had managed to somehow kill Drifa. I guess the AI finally threw enough stuff at Drifa that it eventually got lucky.

Oh well. It was at the very least a truly unique experience (I'm still very new to FFH, having only done the scenarios) and I've loved all the scenarios so far! :)

Great job!

Aaginor
Oct 25, 2009, 01:13 PM
I just tried this scenario with Patch 'j' and it became unplayable because of the AI. With patch d, this scenario teached you how worse the AI really plays, because you see the results of the AI when you take over ... I was looking forward to try this Scenario (I really like the feeling of a "hotfixer" when playing.) with the AI patch ... but it made it completely unplayable (I tried it on Emperor) for me: The reason is very simple: The AI is producing warrior after warrior ... nothing but warriors. With the 3rd switch in game, the civ I took over had that much warriors, that it can't even afford them any longer. Besides, one enemy civ was already killed ... by babarians. And the AI placed the second city VERY close to the capital (3 intersecting tiles in the fat crosses) even with plenty of space.
Is there any chance, this behaviour will get fixed? I'd really like to play this scenario, but atm it is no fun at all.

sty
Oct 28, 2009, 01:23 PM
I have the exact same problem with the Civs when I take them over. They won't do anything but make warriors. At first I thought maybe something with the game was messed up so I reinstalled everything from scratch. After the reinstall thought it was the same thing. When I took over the 3rd Civ they had produced so many warriors they were broke with 0% science. I used the stack to attack an enemy Civ taking their city. I then looked at the other enemy Civs and noticed they hadn't settled any other towns. At this state the scene is just unplayable. With every computer controlled Civ just spamming warriors the scene isnt worth playing.

I am currently going back and playing the other scenes again to see if they also have the same issue.

Nikis-Knight
Oct 29, 2009, 12:06 AM
Someone else reported the same problem when the ai was set to always war. That seems to have been overlooked in the new ai logic.

sty
Oct 29, 2009, 02:17 PM
I would agree with the "always war" having an effect. I played most of the scenes and it was occurring whenever the AI was at war early. I even started a custom game with "always war" on with teams. The problem occurred again tho when I declared war on the computer right from the outset. It just seems like the computer is giving all of its priority to producing the cheapest unit possible at times of war.

Interestingly when i played The Splintered Court one of the "good" AI team members over produced until they were broke. Were the orange color themed AI member did watch his economy some and while he produced a lot of warriors he was growing and had some variety in his units.

Also it might just be me but it seems like the Barbs which should be "always at war" are better than ever at causing me grief and eliminating computer AI civs with frequency. I don't know if any tweaks were made to the barbs with the AI changes or not with patch J.

Veqryn
Nov 02, 2009, 06:23 AM
i beat all the requirements for thsi scenario (beat against the grey as calabim), BUT I only have 3 people to choose from: Bannor, Lanun, Hippus.
I am guessing I can also get the elves by doing the elf scenario, but how do i get decius into this scenario? Also, is lanun supposed to begin on an island, cus he didn't...

Aaginor
Nov 02, 2009, 11:53 AM
Decius kicks in on Turn 5. Anyway, you just chose the civ which with you start, because you change civs every 40 turns and take over the weakest one.

Folket
Apr 22, 2010, 01:22 AM
I like the idea behind this scenario but it seems like the AI is way to hampered by being at war. The AI should expand some as long as there is room. Now everyone adopts conquest on small cities. Perhaps have two starting cities at larger size would help the AI. for example Calabim was stuck with one city at size 2 and using conquest.

The allied AIs seem to value economic techs very high. Perhaps it is because of different preferences of tech they want before iron working and now with three nation they want all techs before iron working.

Doviello does not seem to improve their land. Probably they turn their workers into soldiers.

Perhaps I will replay it at higher difficulty later.

i also met Amelchair here. Was a little surprised. Guess it has something to do with when I played splintered court.

In general this seems to be a very easy scenario.

Folket
Apr 23, 2010, 03:24 AM
Btw, Capria sat with two cities building wonders all game. She was constantly building at least one wonder.

cyther
Jun 13, 2010, 02:13 PM
Getting a weird bug here (replaying after a new computer). Every time I found a religion and convert to it, one of my AI teammates will also convert. It doesn't have this religion in any of it's cities when it does this.

MagisterCultuum
Jun 13, 2010, 04:10 PM
I think that was a change by Fireaxis in BtS that made teams players consider how widespread religions are in their team's cities rather than only their own.

Aaginor
Aug 19, 2010, 04:16 PM
After not playing Fall from Heaven for a while, I returned to see if this scenario works now. I was happy to see that the AI stopped building warriors only. After ~160 turns I realized, that the enemy AI is not founding any cities. This completely breaks the scenario. Any chance that this will be fixed eventually?

Passer2000
Sep 01, 2010, 08:15 AM
Can Decius play as Calabim?

Gul'dan
Sep 06, 2010, 06:42 PM
I have done all scenarios except the black tower and barbarian assault and mulcarn reborn, but I cannot play this scenario. I use 0.41d as this is seemingly the last version before the IP-connection multiplayer getting its oos bug. Am I supposed to beat the black tower first, is this a known bug for this version or is something just going wrong?

Breunor
Sep 07, 2010, 01:22 PM
Yes, I'm pretty sure you have to beat the Black tower before Mulcarn reborn; the scenario description should tell you though.

Best wishes,

Breunor

Estelindis
Dec 10, 2010, 01:26 PM
Played this scenario for a few hours yesterday. I ensured that each civ founded a religion and tried to keep them mostly flavour-correct (Empyrean for Malakim, Order for Bannor, Fellowship for Hippus... but choosing Runes for Lanun instead of Overlords, because OO feels a bit too evil for me even if it's appropriate for the Lanun; at least pirates like money, right?). The aim was to get a full slew of religious heroes for my alliance. However, the AI leaders just keep on changing religions, apparently at random. This is annoying in general, but when Decius switched from Empyrean *after* I'd had him build Chalid (who, naturally, then abandoned the Malakim), I just quit the scenario in a fit of pique. I had beelined for Religious Law (after first beelinging for Warhorses, anyway, to get Magnadine), and this just felt like a slap in the face. Do you think there's any way to fix this issue?

nabaxo
Feb 26, 2011, 12:07 PM
I think that was a change by Fireaxis in BtS that made teams players consider how widespread religions are in their team's cities rather than only their own.

This. This was really, really, f***ing annoying. I tell you that. I, as the above poster, teched out the appropriate religions for the different civs. Rhoanna just kept switching between The Order and The Fellowship seemingly at random. She had absolutely no discernible reason to switch away from the Fellowship. None of her cities had The Order in them and every time she switched away she was hit with crippling unhappiness. Well, when I got control of her, Magnadine was almost finished and I rebuilt Kythra and just stomped the opposition.

The other annoying thing was the civic switches all the time. Maybe there's a way to script the AI team-mates to stick to the civics you give hem?

Great Oleander
Jun 13, 2011, 04:36 AM
By that I mean the mechanic that puts you in control of the weakest link of your team after 40 or so turns. Because that was the most fun for me in this rather enjoyable scenario.

Such fun to try to guide the AI to do as well as possible, I even managed to point them the way to succesful multi-city conquests.

So any hidden options to enable this? And instructions how to manage it..

I know it's been quite a while since the post I quoted, but since I recently played this scenario, I thought it would be fun to try the above mentioned mechanic also in other games out.

Does anyone know how to implement this? Is it difficult?