Hallo everybody,
I just finished a game based on the previous version of this mod - Prehistoric Era (v13). I found some issues which I listed in the thread of that mod. Unfortunately, I overlooked this reborn-version, I would have rather played this readjusted version. Now, I consider if it is worthwhile to install it. I read what is new in v15, but I am much more interested in overall game balance. So, my question: Were these issues of v13 solved?
Happiness. Even though I founded cities quite quickly and without any luxury, I had not have problems with happiness. This diminished some tension early in the game which is unfortunate. AI had the same problem; it founded endless number of cities.
Money. AI tends to spawn military units from the very beginning but there were no wars in the prehistorical era. Some of them simply bankrupted and stopped developing. I, myself, had financial problems as well despite the fact I had only four units. The maintenance cost of them and of buildings was imbalanced. Or, maybe, it somehow increases over the course of time (?)
AI had other problems with the mod as well. In the unmoded game, the AI makes workers to get quick farms. In the prehistoric era, it produced many laborers in the time when there was nothing to work on: agriculture is not discovered yet, newly added prehistorical resources are too scattered. I stole some of the laborers but really needed just one of them. This actually makes playing on higher difficulty much easier.
Unique units. The mod is not really playable with some civs. E. g. Shoshones Pathfinder (let you decide what bonus you take from the ancient ruins) is not available from the beginning, but first after discovering the scouting. At that time, there was nothing to scout. In my opinion, it is necessary to take the civilizations one by one and re-think their UU. Some of them (like Inca's Slingers) can be weakened and moved into prehistorical era. The magic of many UU is that you have them from the very beginning. It makes the game replayable.
Beliefs. Belief bonuses are connected with luxury resources but pantheons are founded much earlier than civs know the placement of them. It made me as well as the AI to choose non-specific beliefs (e.g. god-king, healing bonuses
) This is in conflict with the basic idea behind the pantheon.
Difficulty. I played Antarctica Thawed (Pangea type map), standard size (8 civs, 16 cs), deity dif., epic pace. I end up the game in the classic era and dont have time to play further. My overall impression was, the game was too easy. I managed to found a religion, even build a wonder, which is usually quite impossible on deity. I was not too behind in science and had "modern" army.
There are also some bugs. Inner trades produce way too much food. For example, 15 for my first ancient era sea route. It probably should have been 5, not 15.
Some ancient ruins did nothing no message, no bonus.
Thanks for developing the mod and possibly for the answers to my questions!
