RFC Classical World

[rrosen]

Is it too early to give feedbacks for the Byzantines?

In the 220 AD scenario, the Seleucids are available from the start (with a single legionary).

I get a good flip, with all the eastern empire, including Egypt, intact. Sadly, the workers don't flip, so first order of the day is to construct new workers, because the 4 you get automatically won't suffice.

Having to refound Constantinople (should be renamed, still called Byzantion) feels right. It was refounded by Constantine, so building it from scratch is accurate. The western Roman Empire has a -2 "a first impression is a lasting one", is that intended?

You are really powerful at the start, and the only threats are barbarians from north of Constantinople. I think a drastically higher chance of the Sassanids declaring war would be in order.

Also, I think I vassalized four civs voluntarily (Axum, Kushans, two Indian civs).

To be clear on the UHV, what is considered Justinians Empire? The part in Spain as well? If the Western Empire is alive, should you attack them?

 

[srpt]

yeah it is a bit early. I will probably have some time soon to work on them. having to found Constantinople is not intended. its a work-around for a bug.

you are not intended to fight the western Romans. the goal will actually be changed to "ensure such-and such is under Roman control in 540AD" but there will be zero chance of Western Rome lasting that long. the Goths and Vandals will spawn before then anyway. I'll fix the attitude modifier. and those far-away civs will be fixed to not vassalize.

I hate to put off the later stuff but I really want to get the early period balanced so theres a good foundation to build on.

 

[rrosen]

Any particular of the early civs that you would like more feedback on?

 

[merijn_v1]

All civs.

 

[srpt]

what I'm most interested in now is the Seleucids lasting til 100BC-50BC, and Rome and Parthia actually fighting. I want to look at early barbs spawns more closely too.

 

[srpt]

I have new python method called "collapseToCore" which is triggered if a civ collapses before a certain date and if it hasn't yet had a civil war. the civ loses all cities outside its core minus one random city. the Seleucids core is now just Syria.

Syracuse is now indy at the start and does not flip to Rome.

 

[Cetrix]

Glad to see you have taken my idea about reborn Seleucids in Syria I'll test it right now !
Is it only for AI?

 

[srpt]

yes just AI.

also disabled random events for now for more accurate balancing.

 

[Cetrix]

Ok. Just did 4 autoturn games : 1 they collapse early (fierce bactrians conquered Ecbatana and Seleucia), and the 3 others at the same date : 116BC ( always war with Egypt at the beginning, the Judah war, and Parthia conquer Susa, Seleucia. I guess first "collapse" because seleucids lose Babylon (indy city). An then Aleppo or/and Tyre conquered by Parthia/Judah and final collapse.)

 

[Leoreth]

I have new python method called "collapseToCore" which is triggered if a civ collapses before a certain date and if it hasn't yet had a civil war. the civ loses all cities outside its core minus one random city. the Seleucids core is now just Syria.

I could imagine that this method is useful for more than just this mod

 

[Cetrix]

What about the stability with this system after the "collapsetocore" ? It is the same or with a small boost to keep alive the civ for more than few turns ?

 

[srpt]

they don't get a boost as it is now, lets wait a bit and see how this goes.

the Sassanids now spawn in Ctesiphon, not Parsa.

 

[MrBanana]

Great looking mod sprt! I wish I hadn't missed it until now. I've played Rome TW quite a bit so and I like the period so I already know the period, too.

Between RFC Europe, RFCSoI, RFC Asia... wow.

Anyways, where can I download the most recent version and how far is the modmod so far?

 

[Cetrix]

Did a regular game as Judah. Medium difficulty.
I've taken very quickly Tyre, Damas and Antiochia. Then a few turns later, the only one city in Arabia. Parthia conquered all Mesopotamia and Aleppo. Had good relations with them with some technology trading.

There is a bug : we have to build the Temple of Solomon, and the this UHV was already done even if I didnt build it. But I was able to have a great priest to build it few turns before the date. Very good for gold !

I focused on gold, then research. But I failed the 3rd UHV by 6-7 turns... even with 2 golden ages and 100% research all the time from 50BC. I think it's possible to do it.

I was thinking that playing Judah is unfun, but it's very nice to do.

Seleucids didnt collapsed because Parthia and me conquered very fast their cities.

@MrBanana : we work with SVN. It's a software to automatically update your RFC Classical World from srpt's files.

(edit 2 hours later) : I did it, still in Monarch ! But to be honest, it's very random from the start you have. If the Egyptians have too much troops, it's over. You have to conquer quickly all Syria (with Aleppo, very important) and Macoraba in Arabia. Build asap a great priest for the Temple of Solomon (I confirm that there is a bug in UHV). I built markets / UB walls in all towns, then focus on wealth. Research Monasticism and Theology (Christianity in... Macoraba !). Trade all technologies you can, very important to have Parthia, Armenia as friends. And it's done !

Spoiler :

 

[rrosen]

MrBanana: Use the svn version, it is updated more or less every day. Leoreth posted a guide on how to use it; http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=11363870&postcount=321
The early civs have come a long way now, whereas many of the later civs have more work remaining. Egypt is a good, finished civ to start out with.

 

[Wessel V1]

The Han are currently probably the easiest civ on the map. After the early conquest phase and the stabilization / economy building phase, they are the absolute superpower. I won with about +150 stability in 184AD, without really beelining Paper; I was ahead of the others in other tech branches too. Some remarks about the game:

The Han and Ba province are terrible to settle. There are Forests everywhere, and, apart from the later appearing Rice, no resources. Same story for the Tarim province, but that one clearly is for the UHV to represent the real Han empire. Early on I could not get Open Borders with the Parthians, so I killed two birds with one stone: when the Parthians asked me to declare war on Au Lac, I did so, and when the goal triggered in 50BC, I made peace while giving them the Tarim cities and Wu. Problem solved, no bad cities, terrific research rate. The first goal is I'd say medium to easy, I didn't really push to build the settlers until the deadline. After that, it is all about building workers and convert land to concrete in the eastern provinces. Those cities get huge, especially with Warehouses. I think it's effects should be changed, I can't see it's current benefits. It's worth building but gives even more population to otherwise already huge cities. This makes it quite hard not to get the second UHV. The third UHV is with a final research rate of approximately 1000 not a real thing anymore.

Some remarks on other civs: the new Celtic situation makes them much stronger. I've seen them conquering Iberia and holding Gaul many times now, the Romans don't stand a chance. In a Parthian game which I'll quit because it's on a computer I don't have access to now and the game will be outdated when I can use it again, I even saw them actually conquer Mediolanum and Noricum. Kill 20 Roman units, it's going to be hard to find them! Rome also stays away from Carthage, but does a pretty good job in Greece and usually too in Anatolia. This time Egypt stayed alive and maintained an empire from Antioch to Cyrene, but that's rare. India is very dynamic in my games. The Pandyans are stuck in their common position, but north of them can turn into anything. The Sunga and Satavahana empires are both capable of conquering the remaining part of the subcontinent.

 

[Cetrix]

I agree with celts. Too much strong now, they conquer Iberia and sometimes Mediolanum.

And in all my games since 2-3 days, romans are very weak. They only conquer Greece, Anatolia and Syria, Egypt... no Gaul, no Carthage. They don't conquer Sicilia, it's too hard for the IA (Siracuse has walls, and 3-4 troops).

 

[srpt]

about the Han: Luoyang is in Han province and it has lots of resources, Tarim also has lots of resources, yes Ba is not so great. obviously no one else is going to get anywhere near paper so we better make it a year deadline. we can start with 100AD and see how hard that is.

I wonder if taking Sicily away from them really hurt the Romans. I thought their culture would flip it eventually. I guess having 1 more city is helping the Celts.

also making the following UHV changes

Parthia, no more never lose a city, now required to build a palace and the Heroic Epic in Ctesiphon by 50BC

Bactria, build a Royal Mint in addition to the Palace in Taxila.

also added some research preferences for the AI. Qin should go for military drill, Han for Crop Rotation(rice) and others.

also slowing research and unit production overall and adding slightly more barbs. doubled the cost of workers but the AI still goes crazy with them.

 

[Red Boxer]

I get a "You have been defeated message" when attempting to start a game as the Nubians in the 320 bc scenario.

EDIT: This seems to be true for everyone (I have tried). And I did *just* update the SVN.

Okay... so it isn't true for everyone. The Seleucids loaded but with no HUD.

 

[Wessel V1]

Culture flipping is a lot harder than in other mods because the second expansion requires 1000 culture. As for the new Bactrian goal, I'm not sure. I am trying them in the current svn version (296), but it is tough. First try wasn't succesful but that is also due to a heavily defended Taxila. To make things fair, I tried to do the first UHV without the Seleucids declaring war on the flip. Barbarian pressure is tough the first 20 or 30 turns, you don't want to lose the Iron or Horses and those Scythians are too quick to be sure where they pop up next turn. I think I might now try a start where the Seleucids declare war, just to see what is doable. Keep in mind that the Royal Mint is really expensive without gold. I need to conquer it straight away which means those extra units are needed. Not sure if that needs to be the standard.

EDIT: same story for me, 'you have been defeated'.