New To This Mod

Hey all I'm just posting bc im a huge Civ IV fan, but have not yet ventured out into the realm of Civ IV mods. Currently I only have regular Civ IV, but am planning on picking up BtS tomorrow.

My main question is, is there a difference between FFH2 and Age of Ice which comes with BtS? If so, which game should I start out with?

Also, is BtS required in order to play both of these or can I play with my regular Civ IV copy? Sorry if I sound like a total noob, but like I said mods for this game are new to me!

Welcome to civfanatics!

On to your questions: Yes, there is a huge difference between ffh2 and age of ice, age of ice is just a scenario in bts but ffh2 is a whole mod with more civs and units and different techs and buildings and it also has a whole spell system (not just limited to very few units like in age of ice). You could play either or first, it doesn't matter.

Yes and no, you need bts to play age of ice (age of ice comes in bts) and their is a version of ffh2 (0.23) that you can still get for regular civ4 but the newest versions are only for bts and I recommend getting the bts one because there have been so many changes since 0.23.

Hope this helps!

I'd suggest playing AoI first, and then trying out the latest version of FFH. You'll need BtS for both. AoI will get you familiar with the basic elements that make FFH unique. When you dive into FFH, try to take the time to read the civilopedia. There's a lot of stuff in there and it will greatly enhance your experience. Also browse the manual by xienwolf. It can be found here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=265888

Have fun!

My main question is, is there a difference between FFH2 and Age of Ice which comes with BtS? If so, which game should I start out with?

Click to expand...

BIG difference.
Age of ice is a single scenario and describes the time before the main mod.
ffh2 is a whole mod for "play now" and has much more units,spell, features, whatever else...
I would recommend age of ice to begin but since they are really different it doesn't really matter.

Also, is BtS required in order to play both of these or can I play with my regular Civ IV copy? Sorry if I sound like a total noob, but like I said mods for this game are new to me!

Click to expand...

Bts is required for age of ice (well that one was obvious) and for the newer versions of ffh2 (0.32 the most recent).
The older ones (0.23 and older) require vanilla civ.

JUST DONT FORGET TO DOWNLOAD AND USE XIENWOLF's MANUAL

JUST DONT FORGET TO DOWNLOAD AND USE XIENWOLF's MANUAL

Click to expand...

Grey Fox it seems you caps got stuck

Grey Fox said:

JUST DONT FORGET TO DOWNLOAD AND USE XIENWOLF's MANUAL

Click to expand...

Ah, I was wondering what that whole "dreadnaught" thing was. Now I see... Sir...

What you don't know is that CAPS LOCK IS CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOl!!!1!

Welcome maGz!

Others have answered your questions, but I'll add something:

GET FFH! It's awesome!

Al

word of warning you will lose your life to the game after you download it you will have no life outside of Fall From Heaven 2

I have tried to play "normal" civ but it seems so poor in a way, or tiny. So beware that you may not be able to go back if you play this.

And, play around, test different civs. It is easy to overlook a civ because it "looks" boring. They are all flavored so to speak a lot, even if it says that it hasn't any unique units.

Wow guys, thanks to everyone for being so friendly and helpful!

Would any of you recommend starting with a particular Civ to get a feel for things? I ask bc its a little daunting deciding which to choose after seeing just how many there are...

Bannor is the most like regular civs. But still lots of changes and its own uniqueness. (And awesome lore imo)

Amurites are heavy magic, Sheaim is almost even more so (but more specialized on summons). Might want to wait playing these before you get more comfortable with the mod.

Ljosalfar can be fun to play as for your first game. Strong in forests, especially good with the Fellowship of Leaves religion, can build improvements in forest tiles without cutting them down. Cant build siege weaponry.

Balseraphs are a good civ to start with. Nothing too learning-curvy, although Perpentach's traits change randomly so that will make it interesting. They can hold their own military-wise, and you'll have a fun time with Loki. Also, they're really really cool.

Hmmm depends on what ur used to. I started the game with the amurites...

Philosophical + Ancient chants starting tech = Get mysticism early and elder councils for double speed and great sages quickly for science

Nowadays I play Sheaim hehe

Al

<singing> Svalt is the best, svalt is the best...



When they nerf it, I will cry. </>

Balseraph is my second favorite. If they had a neutral leader (or Perp actually changed traits on quick speed - haven't checked .32), it might be my favorite.

I'm hooked on domination (mind 3 spell). It's so cool, I don't know how it exists.

Svalt wins cause mists (shadow 3 spell) are so awesome (with raider trait) that I may build an altar to them. Yesterday, I was passing through a friendly civ to wage war on the other side, and somehow (don't blame my civ!) the path I walked became barren of towns, etc. I made about 1k gold on that walk through friendly territory, insuring a nice defense force at home (gold rushing + mists ftw). Note for new players: This is why... They are hidden nationality (can attack/pillage friendly territory), invisible (few things can see them), move 4 (with enhancement 2) and can pillage. I summon 4 per turn and each pillages a town to the ground (town, village, hamlet, cottage) for ~120 gold per mist, 480 gold/turn. A few turns of that and you are rich, all while just strolling through a friendly civ.

I've begun to seriously consider grigori hero archmages with twincast mists and spellstaff. So many mists might be sufficient to effectively burn a civ (improvements) to the ground, completely, in as little as 3 turns - without declaring war. Summoner trait is another option...

Yea, I'm a power-strat conquest/domination kinda guy but there are a few builder types around here if you are into that too.

What is the deal with mists? I found that my archmage was a complete waste with that summon.

I was playing MP with a friend as Svart and while I agree Domination is awesome, The mistform was completely harmless.

MrPopov said:

I was playing MP with a friend as Svart and while I agree Domination is awesome, The mistform was completely harmless.

Click to expand...

They are not for attacking; they are for pillaging. Even without open borders, 4 archmages summoning mists (at the border) will destroy 4 towns/etc! If you have open borders and can enter someone's (or the AI's) civ, THEN cast... well, the whole place goes to crap in about 4 turns and you become very rich.

In the absence of the ability to pillage (via friendly territory and/or war), they are illusions and as such do not kill the unit attacked. This is quite nice when you would like to p-level weak units (need an archmage replacement? Send a mist summoner with an adept to some barbs/animals).

Basically, they are summonable HN Shadows that do not have marksman, but can pillage and do not kill.

+ unit graphic = pwnrshp

In PvP, I think summoner trait might help. That way, the player would need to create hawks (if they still see invis), spot the mist, devote units to kill it or it continues to wreak havoc on their improvements for 2 more turns. With svalt, you get raider, so a 4-mist pillage turn = ~400 gold. Make sure you are running a cash-rush civic for cheater synergy. The 4 arches are like a reusable great merchant that destroys all nearby improvements (with raider). If your neighbor (AI) has a huge civ and will not open borders, you can cast worldspell and bring the whole crew (with defenders) into their civ to damage deep and complete - without declaring war.

I give my svalt arches: mind 3, enhancement 2, shadow 3. I wait for arcane lore to promote enhancement 2 so as not to waste a promotion. My accompanying mages (2-3) have air2, shadow 1 and 2, mind 1, nature 1 and 2 (1st node = air, if 2nd node = body).

We seemed to have skipped from basic civ-use/strat into complex world-crunching advanced strat but that's ok.

Someone might recommend the OP some starter-esque strats?

@Xienwolf: Feel free to cut/paste and edit any of my posts (and anyone else's - I hereby give you permission) into your manual for the strat section.

While the strategies are a bit too specific for the space I use in my manual for them, I hereby grant you permission to go to the Wikia and post a couple dozen of your favorite strategies there

Do I just downloaded FFH .32 however after attempting to install the patch, I don't think that it took. I dont see the folder for the patch anywhere within the Mods folder, and the version screen within game only reports FFH as "2 032." Is there something that I'm doing wrong?

Also is there a media pack available for FFH2?