BtS: harder than Warlords?

[vormuir]

After a couple of games with my shiny new BtS, that's my first impression. The AI seems a little sharper. I'm normally a Monarch player, but now I'm back to Prince... BtS seems about half a level harder.

Is it just me?


Waldo

 

[DMOC]

Emperor/Immortal/Deity - BtS is easier.

Prince or below - BtS is harder.

Monarch is somewhere in between, I believe.

 

[pigswill]

The AI are smarter which affects every level but AI bonusses are reduced so higher difficulties are easier and lower difficulties are harder. I'd reckon it balances out at prince.

 

[Antilogic]

You can scream the name "BLAKE!!!" while throwing your fist wildly around in the air if it makes you feel better (elements of his Better AI mod were incorporated into BtS).

 

[Skallagrimson]

I think it would be better if the game difficulty were hinged upon how smart the AI gets rather than how many bonuses it gets. Computers shouldn't need brute force to kill a human, after all.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Brute force is the only advantage AI has over humans though.

AI programming is hard.

 

[z0wb13]

i think warlords is harder. idk_y.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

They cartainly expand quicker in warlords and tech liberalism much quicker.

They also seem to DoW the human much more than in BtS where they DoW each other more.

 

[Crusher1]

BTS is easier.

 

[Antilogic]

They cartainly expand quicker in warlords and tech liberalism much quicker.

They also seem to DoW the human much more than in BtS where they DoW each other more.

Joao. 'nuff said.

Although this gives you a break early on, nothing is more scary than seeing the Burger King conquer an entire continent and be ready for a late game fight to the death.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

I almost forgot about the happy and health caps in warlords and vanilla which were really harsh.

I had about as much trouble winning on emperor in Warlords as I had getting my first (non-cheese) immortal win in BtS.

However, I think the barbarians are a bit more of a problem in BtS.

 

[Antilogic]

The barbarians are a greater problem because they actually have spearmen now (no more chariots on the frontiers alone), and they pillage more of my damn fishing boats than ever. Gosh, it's like they actually want you to build a ship or two.

 

[SlipperyJim]

The barbarians are a greater problem because they actually have spearmen now (no more chariots on the frontiers alone), and they pillage more of my damn fishing boats than ever. Gosh, it's like they actually want you to build a ship or two.

Yeah, I don't know what the bloody Barbarians have against fishermen! Those Barb galleys seem to make a beeline for my fishing nets nearly every time. D'you suppose they work for Greenpeace?

The Barb galleys would be less of a problem if there were any serious naval strategy in the BC years. Instead, I just have to park my own galleys on top of my nets and pray that I get some luck. Triremes usually end the Barb galley threat, but they require a very expensive tech to build....

 

[The Almighty dF]

Emperor/Immortal/Deity - BtS is easier.

Prince or below - BtS is harder.

Monarch is somewhere in between, I believe.

This.
Monarch is pretty much even between the two.

Prince and below is harder because the AI actually go for different promotion paths, victories, wonders, and techs. The AI overall is more intelligent and reacts better to what the player is doing.
However, this puts it at a disadvantage in the last three difficulties because in those, the ideal strategy for them is to pile up on you and wipe you out. They don't do this anymore, they behave realistically.

 

[Dirk1302]

Deity is much easier with BTS, virtually impossible with Warlords. Immortal is easier too but you could cav rush on warlords immortal .

 

[Joshua368]

Also didn't they lower some of the higher handicaps to compensate for smarter AI?

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Yep, handicaps (for player health, happiness) are the same from Prince upwards.