Nikis-Knight's Erebus for ExtraModMod

[[to_xp]Gekko]

thanks for the kind works, I agree with you this map really is an insanely detailed work of art

 

[TimSLS]

Yah, the amount of landmarks Nikis Knight recreated is truly amazing.

It is especially noticeable if you do something like play Age of Ice scenario, then start a game as the Amurites. Suddenly everything from the scenario is there—ruins of the Doveillo city you conquered, bones of Drifta, the lake, etc, all right where they should be but in larger scale. Then you explore more of the world, and find named map marker locations for all sorts of places from the scenarios and lore, and all the positions make sense. It really feels like exploring a plausible version of Erebus.

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

yeah, I really like the malakim/calabim desert area for the same reason

the only thing I dislike is how there's little land in the bottom right for khazad/hippus/luchuirp/balseraphs, from the screenshots it seems like there used to be more land there in older versions but Nikis was worried about Loki gobbling up too many cities

 

[TimSLS]

That makes sense. I followed your advice on setting Loki's AIweight down, so it wouldn't be an issue in my playthrough, but I see how Nikis Knight was trying to make the map work best without such modifications. I am using your postfinal version, and it seems like a lot of your postfinal changes help that part of the map.

Well, tomorrow our campaign finally starts on this grand map. My wife and I are doing a roleplaying campaign as the Amurites (we will be stopping frequently to act out important events, wearing costumes, and roleplaying all our strategic decisions). Still have to decide on whether to play emperor or immortal--our decisions will be somewhat less than min-maxed given the roleplaying element, and I've never played against Tholal's AI, nor can I remember how well the AI plays on this map (it has been years). Then again my wife will get the first adept we build given the hero promotion and named for her (she likes to have a direct presence in such games), so the extra hero will be a fairly significant advantage, which somewhat reduces the effective difficulty. I always played FFH on immortal, and found it challenging in the early game and then became completely easy in the late game, but I have no idea the extent to which that might have changed with Tholal's AI, and whether the AI can handle the greater complexity now as things advance.

Any thoughts on difficulty, or any recomended game settings (besides disabled aggressive AI, as you recommended earlier)? In particular, any opinions on the options to exempt AI from needing buildings to construct units, and to let them directly build high level units without need for promotion? (I used to find the 2nd option needed for them to field a good force of archmages and such, but not sure if that is no longer the case with the improved ai)

 

[[to_xp]Gekko]

that sounds like a lot of fun

Tholal's AI is a lot better than what you're used to and is quite capable of killing you dead if you neglect your military, the AI handicap options you mentioned are not needed anymore and I'd recommend trying emperor first, the bonuses they get on immortal are probably too much for a roleplaying session

 

[TimSLS]

Got it, we'll do emperor then, and play without those options. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Guru-Meditation]

That makes sense. I followed your advice on setting Loki's AIweight down, so it wouldn't be an issue in my playthrough, but I see how Nikis Knight was trying to make the map work best without such modifications. I am using your postfinal version, and it seems like a lot of your postfinal changes help that part of the map.

Well, tomorrow our campaign finally starts on this grand map. My wife and I are doing a roleplaying campaign as the Amurites (we will be stopping frequently to act out important events, wearing costumes, and roleplaying all our strategic decisions). Still have to decide on whether to play emperor or immortal--our decisions will be somewhat less than min-maxed given the roleplaying element, and I've never played against Tholal's AI, nor can I remember how well the AI plays on this map (it has been years). Then again my wife will get the first adept we build given the hero promotion and named for her (she likes to have a direct presence in such games), so the extra hero will be a fairly significant advantage, which somewhat reduces the effective difficulty. I always played FFH on immortal, and found it challenging in the early game and then became completely easy in the late game, but I have no idea the extent to which that might have changed with Tholal's AI, and whether the AI can handle the greater complexity now as things advance.

Any thoughts on difficulty, or any recomended game settings (besides disabled aggressive AI, as you recommended earlier)? In particular, any opinions on the options to exempt AI from needing buildings to construct units, and to let them directly build high level units without need for promotion? (I used to find the 2nd option needed for them to field a good force of archmages and such, but not sure if that is no longer the case with the improved ai)

I do envy you. Nice to share a nerdy hobby.