How to modify difficulty settings?

[krazyhades]

I have the 9-19 EUI mp-modpack version. I found DifficultyMod.xml and tried to change the settings for a difficulty I don't use (settler) to have players and AIs on equal footing. I do not think changing this file altered anything in game. What do I need to do to change this?

I know that this setting will probably prove way way too easy (I play on Emperor mostly) but I've gotten frustrated with the AI's bonuses, especially to culture and pop, and I want to see how well the AI plays with this mod's thinking improvements without having cheats, but also without having penalties relative to the player. All the pre-existing settings seem to have some imbalance.

 

[krazyhades]

Please respond

 

[Gazebo]

I have the 9-19 EUI mp-modpack version. I found DifficultyMod.xml and tried to change the settings for a difficulty I don't use (settler) to have players and AIs on equal footing. I do not think changing this file altered anything in game. What do I need to do to change this?

I know that this setting will probably prove way way too easy (I play on Emperor mostly) but I've gotten frustrated with the AI's bonuses, especially to culture and pop, and I want to see how well the AI plays with this mod's thinking improvements without having cheats, but also without having penalties relative to the player. All the pre-existing settings seem to have some imbalance.

Just play on Settler if you want an even-matched game.

G

 

[Moi Magnus]

Just play on Settler if you want an even-matched game.

G

I've always thougth that it was Cheiftain the "even-matched" difficulty with VP.
You removed all the stupid bonuses for the player on Settler ?

 

[code99]

While the advice to play at X difficulty may suffice for most, I however, would love to know what file to edit if one wants to mess around with ai difficulties for testing purposes or what have you ...

So, can someone point me and others (krazyhades) to the right direction?

I also tried editing that xml file and havent noticed any difference (i think ...).

 

[Zanteogo]

On the topic of difficultly settings, I recently started playing one difficultly level down due the the combined improvements over the last few months to the AI. Good work guys!

I imagine AI bonuses is a hard thing to get right, almost as hard as it is to find the sweet spot difficultly level to play at.

I personally find the higher levels more frustring than fun. Requiring you to be an aggressive jerk because the AI bonuses just mean they will win a more peaceful game when it comes to filling the science and culture "buckets". Just my personal feeling anyways.

 

[krazyhades]

Just play on Settler if you want an even-matched game.
G

But settler is simply not set to neutral in the way I'm trying to achieve. The player gets various bonuses that the AI does not get (e.g. 8 starting happiness instead of the standard 4), there are settings that are way different from most human games (like getting way more units before hitting the cap causing the production tax, etc), and the AI gets some penalties that the player does not get.

Beyond that, once I play with this "neutral" version, I want to further modify the difficulty settings so it is challenging for me but without as much emphasis on the aspects of challenge I found so frustrating on Emperor as opposed to human mp games (almost never getting early tributes because AIs get free units, never being able to keep pace in policies after the classical era, etc) while ramping up difficulty in other areas to compensate. One of the great joys of open source mods and games is the ability to customize the play experience if you're willing to delve in and change the contents of some files.

I still would like to know what I need to do to actually modify the difficulty settings as I desire.

 

[krazyhades]

I still need guidance on how to customize difficulty settings. Changing DifficultyMod.xml did not do anything.

 

[Gazebo]

I still need guidance on how to customize difficulty settings. Changing DifficultyMod.xml did not do anything.

Asking over and over again is a little pushy, man! We get to messages when we can.

DifficultyMod.xml in CBP/Balance Changes/Difficulty. Clear cache afterwards.

G

 

[krazyhades]

DifficultyMod.xml in CBP/Balance Changes/Difficulty. Clear cache afterwards

I tried this already, before creating this thread. It didn't work, which was why I came here so confused. E.g. setting HappinessDefault to 4 was ignored on settler, still started with 8. And yes this is after deleting the contents of the cache and then having steam verify contents.

It may not matter, but I am using the "dlc" pack for mp.

Asking over and over again is a little pushy, man! We get to messages when we can.

Sorry, I don't mean to offend. I've been eager to tinker.

 

[Vermicious Knid]

I've had no problems at all altering difficulty settings. Use the same process Gazebo described.

I only play single player, and I usually start with Deity and simply eliminate the AI bonus vs. barbarians.

 

[Gazebo]

I tried this already, before creating this thread. It didn't work, which was why I came here so confused. E.g. setting HappinessDefault to 4 was ignored on settler, still started with 8. And yes this is after deleting the contents of the cache and then having steam verify contents.

It may not matter, but I am using the "dlc" pack for mp.

It does matter - can't tinker with that easily (all data stored in one big file, not the individual dummy files).

G

 

[zeta]

On the topic of difficultly settings, I recently started playing one difficultly level down due the the combined improvements over the last few months to the AI. Good work guys!

I imagine AI bonuses is a hard thing to get right, almost as hard as it is to find the sweet spot difficultly level to play at.

I personally find the higher levels more frustring than fun. Requiring you to be an aggressive jerk because the AI bonuses just mean they will win a more peaceful game when it comes to filling the science and culture "buckets". Just my personal feeling anyways.

I agree. I'm playing games to enjoy, not to get frustrated. I would rather be superior to other AIs than get rekt. I mean, I love competitive AI, but my main priority is to win, or at least progress to the point where I can be sure I won. This, of course, doesn't apply to all games, mainly strategy ones. For example, in RPG games like Skyrim or The Witcher series, I love to be challenged, but then, it's a completely different feeling and different game genres.

 

[krazyhades]

It does matter - can't tinker with that easily (all data stored in one big file, not the individual dummy files).

G

Well that sounds like that would by my issue then! I'll switch back over to the regular mod for this modifying experimentation. Apologies for my earlier approach rubbing the wrong way. At the time I was hoping to get to modifying and testing during that period when I had a few days off from work, and my attempts were being confounded and ignored by the game.

 

[Gazebo]

Well that sounds like that would by my issue then! I'll switch back over to the regular mod for this modifying experimentation. Apologies for my earlier approach rubbing the wrong way. At the time I was hoping to get to modifying and testing during that period when I had a few days off from work, and my attempts were being confounded and ignored by the game.

No worries. Modpacks unfortunately can't be modified easily

 

[Bromar1]

So I've been peeking around at this, and I'm a little bit confused by some of the attributes.

What do ProductionFreeUnitsPerCity and AdvancedStartPointsMod refer to?
And what about AIWorldTrainPercent and AIWorldConstructPercent?

 

[Gazebo]

ProductionFreeUnitsPerCity - # of units out of supply a city provides
AdvancedStartPointsMod - # of points you get for advanced starts (i.e. later era starts)
AIWorldTrainPercent - global bonus in all cities for training units
AIWorldConstructPercent - global bonus in all cities for making buildings.

 

[Bromar1]

Okay, so what is the parameter that controls how many free policies AI get?

 

[Gazebo]

Okay, so what is the parameter that controls how many free policies AI get?

They don't get free policies.

 

[tompliss]

They do get an extra policy (I think when settling their first city) on Emperor.
I don't know about lower or higher difficulties.

But this first one bootstrap them so fast : tradition opener give +3 culture, so it is nearly 4 times as fast to get the second policy as it is for the player to get his first (they get culture 4x as fast, but the culture neded for the second policy is higher than for the first).