Acken's Minimalistic Balance for singleplayer (and AI improvements)
- Thread starter Acken
- Start date
Automatron
Chieftain
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2021
- Messages
- 16
So the development stopped in 2016, right (v8)? The Community Patch seems to be actively developed and it also changes many things for AI.
At this point in 2021, what mod is better for AI, this one or Community Patch or Community Patch + VP ?
At this point in 2021, what mod is better for AI, this one or Community Patch or Community Patch + VP ?
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Automatron
Chieftain
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2021
- Messages
- 16
RIP, he never returned and civ6 was trash :S
Looks like the source code is available on github here: https://github.com/rezoacken/minimalistic_balance_civ5anyone knows if there is any repo with sourcode for this mod? I want to port v8 dll to aspyr version, I'm doing with a decompiled dll, having the source code would be betteror any way to contact the author
I'm looking at doing some micro adjustments to this mod for an unofficial v9 that I've been playing with on my own. I probably will not do any DLL changes, purely XML/SQL.
The goals would be to look at:
- Civ-specific UA/UU/UBs, primarily with an emphasis on buffing weaker civs. For example, the proposed Iroquois longhouse buff (restore +10% modifier) never made it in. Likewise, several lower-tier civs could use some love.
- Late game wonders (Cristo, Firewall)
- Potentially look at stealth bomber balance
- Naval promotion paths (privateer to ironclad, battleship to missile cruiser)
I'm open to suggestions and curious whether there's interest in publicly posting these changes as well as if there's any active AMB players that would have feedback or suggestion or would want to do testing
TaPele
Chieftain
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2022
- Messages
- 43
Hi everyone. I've discovered the mod some weeks ago and wow, it's great! The perfect AI rework so far in my experience.
Just something I noticed that migth be a bug: there's a city state that built a trading post on a tile that's not adjacent to a luxury resource. Is that ok?
Just something I noticed that migth be a bug: there's a city state that built a trading post on a tile that's not adjacent to a luxury resource. Is that ok?
TaPele
Chieftain
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2022
- Messages
- 43
Thanks for your answer, it seems you were right, they settled on a luxury.
Another question: is it possible to somehow edit the mod so embarked units aren't powerful? It's so ridiculous that a trirreme can lose a battle against an embarked spearman...
Another question: is it possible to somehow edit the mod so embarked units aren't powerful? It's so ridiculous that a trirreme can lose a battle against an embarked spearman...
Yes, you can remove (or edit) the first line in the mod files. In
You can find the mod files in
Combat Changes/Units.sql the first line says UPDATE Eras SET EmbarkedUnitDefense=EmbarkedUnitDefense*2;. You can delete this line completely to revert embarked combat strengths to the base game values, or edit it to a different number if you'd like.You can find the mod files in
C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization V\MODS\Acken's Minimalistic Balance (v8)
TaPele
Chieftain
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2022
- Messages
- 43
Another question, AMB players, hope you can help me in your strategies: I hate the super aggressive AI and the extreme difference in yield and population. I'm playing in difficulty nº4 and though the AI is much better and I like it a lot, I can't stand the fact that they always seem to try to attack you. I'm always like alert because I feel I'm going to get attack at any moment and when that happens, I'm usually crushed.
Also, the AIs seem to always have like the double of population and more often than not much more science and culture. What does the mod do? How is it that there's such a big difference? How do you deal with it?
Also, the AIs seem to always have like the double of population and more often than not much more science and culture. What does the mod do? How is it that there's such a big difference? How do you deal with it?
So I know people already moved on from Civ V years ago, but I recently started playing it more than ever. Eventually got up to Immortal/Deity on Vanilla, but then it started to get boring once I realized how basically every game is 4-city Tradition bribing your neighbours to go bother someone else.
Then I decided to give this mod a try. Started out on Emperor. First two games I got smoked by the AI as I was not ready for how early I needed to have an army. Third game I built an army relying too much on ranged units and got rolled again. Fourth game I finally managed to defend myself with fortified spearmen holding the line and went for the win.
Decided to move into Immortal next. It's been like 5 games and I'm still getting my ass handed back to me in every possible way. If I build enough units to defend myself I'm just getting behind on everything else. On my last game I think I had my best run, going Piety with Celts. Had a lot of space for myself and got up to 9 cities without having to go to war, getting up to 170 population. But Hiawatha got a t230 tourism victory with 300 population and 22 world wonders. I was starting to catch up in tech with the help of my spies, but he was on the other side of the world with his cap way into his territory and there was no way for me to get there before he took over the world with his blue jeans and rock music. Game ended with him having a 22k military score against my 3k, lol.
I even managed to get everyone else that mattered to hate the Iroquois and get him involved into constant wars, but that didn't stop him from getting every single wonder from the second half of the game. I never had someone run away this hard before.
After that game I started to realize I have to adjust my gameplay. Reading through the last pages of this topic it seems like the consensus is that you need to do early offensive wars, which makes sense. If I have to devote so many resources to early military, I need to get something out of it, otherwise I'm just staying behind.
Anyway, all this to say that even in 2024 there are still people playing this mod, and enjoying it a lot. I never felt this challenged in base civ, and I absolutely love that just sitting in my corner is not going to cut it. The one thing I hated about vanilla civ V is that outside of not having ANY space for your first few cities it always felt like going to war was just detrimental to your game - something you did to spice things up, not because it was a good line of play. Well, as I've been learning the hard way, sitting in my corner is not going to cut it with this mod.
I might even go back to Emperor for a bit, but I still wanna try one Immortal game where I go more aggro. Perhaps on Epic speed to make things slightly easier. Will see.
EDIT: Managed a win on Immortal at epic speed, thanks to Camel Archers. Though I did replay single turns of combat when I did stupid things, so it's not a totally legit win. But hey, it's a start.
What really impressed me is that even after taking down three different civs the AI was still keeping up with me at all times. I sealed the deal with a surprise naval attack on the last two capitals, which made things easier. Otherwise the game would've been open until the very last turn. I even had a completely beaten down Askia almost take his capital back because I didn't think he'd be able to pose a threat and didn't leave units back.
That's exactly the CIV experience I wanted. It kept me on my toes at all times. But, more importantly, it never felt the way vanilla civ feels, where you're behind the AI the whole game until you suddenly aren't and then you just win. I did have to catch up, but after catching up we played an even game for multiple eras. I'm really impressed with how the game feels with this mod. I love it.
Now to get a victory without reloads (will probably still take some time).
Then I decided to give this mod a try. Started out on Emperor. First two games I got smoked by the AI as I was not ready for how early I needed to have an army. Third game I built an army relying too much on ranged units and got rolled again. Fourth game I finally managed to defend myself with fortified spearmen holding the line and went for the win.
Decided to move into Immortal next. It's been like 5 games and I'm still getting my ass handed back to me in every possible way. If I build enough units to defend myself I'm just getting behind on everything else. On my last game I think I had my best run, going Piety with Celts. Had a lot of space for myself and got up to 9 cities without having to go to war, getting up to 170 population. But Hiawatha got a t230 tourism victory with 300 population and 22 world wonders. I was starting to catch up in tech with the help of my spies, but he was on the other side of the world with his cap way into his territory and there was no way for me to get there before he took over the world with his blue jeans and rock music. Game ended with him having a 22k military score against my 3k, lol.
I even managed to get everyone else that mattered to hate the Iroquois and get him involved into constant wars, but that didn't stop him from getting every single wonder from the second half of the game. I never had someone run away this hard before.
After that game I started to realize I have to adjust my gameplay. Reading through the last pages of this topic it seems like the consensus is that you need to do early offensive wars, which makes sense. If I have to devote so many resources to early military, I need to get something out of it, otherwise I'm just staying behind.
Anyway, all this to say that even in 2024 there are still people playing this mod, and enjoying it a lot. I never felt this challenged in base civ, and I absolutely love that just sitting in my corner is not going to cut it. The one thing I hated about vanilla civ V is that outside of not having ANY space for your first few cities it always felt like going to war was just detrimental to your game - something you did to spice things up, not because it was a good line of play. Well, as I've been learning the hard way, sitting in my corner is not going to cut it with this mod.
I might even go back to Emperor for a bit, but I still wanna try one Immortal game where I go more aggro. Perhaps on Epic speed to make things slightly easier. Will see.
EDIT: Managed a win on Immortal at epic speed, thanks to Camel Archers. Though I did replay single turns of combat when I did stupid things, so it's not a totally legit win. But hey, it's a start.
What really impressed me is that even after taking down three different civs the AI was still keeping up with me at all times. I sealed the deal with a surprise naval attack on the last two capitals, which made things easier. Otherwise the game would've been open until the very last turn. I even had a completely beaten down Askia almost take his capital back because I didn't think he'd be able to pose a threat and didn't leave units back.
That's exactly the CIV experience I wanted. It kept me on my toes at all times. But, more importantly, it never felt the way vanilla civ feels, where you're behind the AI the whole game until you suddenly aren't and then you just win. I did have to catch up, but after catching up we played an even game for multiple eras. I'm really impressed with how the game feels with this mod. I love it.
Now to get a victory without reloads (will probably still take some time).
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Will this mod conflict with Smart AI mod from https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233424615&searchtext= ?
Acken
Deity
Yes. Any dll mod will conflict.
DizzKneeLand33
Fall from Heaven 2 still rocks
DizzKneeLand33
Fall from Heaven 2 still rocks
No, there are no restrictions on workable tiles that I'm aware of (or have ever seen) -- are you running any other mods besides this one? And I don't think EUI is compatible but I may be wrong there (so if you have ever had EUI there is a method for deleting it fully from your files).
Yeah i use a bunch of other mods, i'll try to figure it out.
Feedback post:
So after a couple months playing this mod, i Love it. It is reinvigorating, reviving for Civ V. Eve if i have a great early game and i seem to be doing the best the Ais still come and give me a reality check and almost defeat me.
I play only domination vic with the 3rd, 4th, 5th UC mods (can't play without them anymore as well), love that the AI is much smarter now esp with maxing flank damage and fully retreating when it thinks the plan went sideways. Also building forts on desert and tundra tiles? Love to see it.
Now abit on the (con) side:
Not the biggest fan of the new tech tree. I mean it's good it shines more light on the longswordsman but the gap between the musketman and the rifleman i feel is too short and many civs have their UU the musketman, so playing without UU mods won't be that fun i guess.
And the biggest (and only) real downside for me is that AI factions (i play immortal) unexplainable soar in technology after the research of universities, especially tech-focused civs like Korea. Last game i played Sejong got a comfy game and conquered half the map and i did to, when i unlocked the musketman i saw he had a couple airplanes ready in his cities
So after a couple months playing this mod, i Love it. It is reinvigorating, reviving for Civ V. Eve if i have a great early game and i seem to be doing the best the Ais still come and give me a reality check and almost defeat me.
I play only domination vic with the 3rd, 4th, 5th UC mods (can't play without them anymore as well), love that the AI is much smarter now esp with maxing flank damage and fully retreating when it thinks the plan went sideways. Also building forts on desert and tundra tiles? Love to see it.
Now abit on the (con) side:
Not the biggest fan of the new tech tree. I mean it's good it shines more light on the longswordsman but the gap between the musketman and the rifleman i feel is too short and many civs have their UU the musketman, so playing without UU mods won't be that fun i guess.
And the biggest (and only) real downside for me is that AI factions (i play immortal) unexplainable soar in technology after the research of universities, especially tech-focused civs like Korea. Last game i played Sejong got a comfy game and conquered half the map and i did to, when i unlocked the musketman i saw he had a couple airplanes ready in his cities
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2004
- Messages
- 1,380
the whole point of universities is to generate science
Acken
Deity
I dont support the mod anymore (because job, kids etc) but the soar in tech you are seeing is because the AI flavor for science has been strongly boosted compared to base game and so like any good player should it will put a lot of work to tech forward.Feedback post:
So after a couple months playing this mod, i Love it. It is reinvigorating, reviving for Civ V. Eve if i have a great early game and i seem to be doing the best the Ais still come and give me a reality check and almost defeat me.
I play only domination vic with the 3rd, 4th, 5th UC mods (can't play without them anymore as well), love that the AI is much smarter now esp with maxing flank damage and fully retreating when it thinks the plan went sideways. Also building forts on desert and tundra tiles? Love to see it.
Now abit on the (con) side:
Not the biggest fan of the new tech tree. I mean it's good it shines more light on the longswordsman but the gap between the musketman and the rifleman i feel is too short and many civs have their UU the musketman, so playing without UU mods won't be that fun i guess.
And the biggest (and only) real downside for me is that AI factions (i play immortal) unexplainable soar in technology after the research of universities, especially tech-focused civs like Korea. Last game i played Sejong got a comfy game and conquered half the map and i did to, when i unlocked the musketman i saw he had a couple airplanes ready in his cities
And universities are the biggest science yield jump.
