Warlords: the Good & the Bad

[El Koeno]

I wonder if with gold or with population (poor programmers).

I think they chopped it.

 

[Thyrwyn]

chariots get +50% vs axemen

In actual game play the bonus is actually +100%. The Chariot UUs get this bonus as well.

horse archers get 20% withdraw chance

Haven't seen this and it is not mentioned in the Rule book (which means nothing, btw. Typos and inconsistencies are rampant!).

drill protects from collateral damage

Huge! Completely? or partially? I cannot imagine it would be completely. . . So much for taking cities from Protective leaders.

castles give +1 trade route (unitl economics)

All castles? I thought that only the Spanish Citadel did this. I thought this actually made the Citadel worthwhile - if it is all Castles, then they are definitely worth building more often.

 

[Sobsob]

Only had chance to play for a little while but so far im underwhelmed it feels more like a patch than an expansion.I suppose I should be grateful that it works straight from the box this time.

 

[Andorim]

I have only played for about one hour -- so this is just a first impression. There are lots of improved graphics, and the music has been upgraded alot. It's almost worth the $30 for the new music.

 

[FrozenRaven]

heh, a newbie question, but i'll ask anyway: what is modding and how do you mod a game??

 

[LordGek]

heh, a newbie question, but i'll ask anyway: what is modding and how do you mod a game??

While others here can surely answer it better and in more detail, the simplest way to look at it is that each of those new sceanrios is in fact a MOD. So a MOD is a whole series of files that some code monkey makes to modify the core game into some sort of alternative sceanario. They can be anything from changing a few unit values or adding some new graphics to HUGE game conversions like the ever popular Fall from Heaven MOD that radically changes Civilization 4 into something a lot closer to the old classic, Master of Magic.

 

[Dudedudeyo]

Remember Civ 4 Is the PC's Second most moddable game so if you don't like it...Mod it.

I hope to get Warlords this Friday

then what the Pc's first most moddable game?

 

[FrozenRaven]

While others here can surely answer it better and in more detail, the simplest way to look at it is that each of those new sceanrios is in fact a MOD. So a MOD is a whole series of files that some code monkey makes to modify the core game into some sort of alternative sceanario. They can be anything from changing a few unit values or adding some new graphics to HUGE game conversions like the ever popular Fall from Heaven MOD that radically changes Civilization 4 into something a lot closer to the old classic, Master of Magic.

okay, now I understand what it is, but how do you mod your game?

 

[uncarved block]

Thyrwyn, here are some answers:

Castles give +1 trade routes according to the list of changes, but that info was left off the master list in the back. Citadels give siege weapons +2 experience, which makes them a candidate for one of the more powerful UBs, since they're so close to Cannons.

Drill II gives a +20% defense to collateral damage, with III and IV adding 20% each, ie. +20/40/60. Drill III is easily reachable with Barracks and civics. Seeing how Protective also gives a free City Garrison, yes, taking cities from one of those civs is going to happen early or not at all. Pillaging is going to be a strategy whether you used it before or not.

Horse Archers get the 20% withdrawal according to the changes list, but not the master index. Typos and errors indeed.

As far as the Warlords expansion in general, I'm pretty stoked. My favorite part of Civ3 ended up being the Conquests, especially Rise of Rome and Sengoku. Toward the end, I had pretty much given up on the main game; right now, I don't see that happening with Warlords, but who knows. One thing I am grateful for as well is the smaller sized maps for all the scenarios, since my poor comp could only handle Standard sized maps easily. Is it worth thirty bucks? I may not be the best person to ask-- I don't play anything else, and money isn't really an issue. I knew I was going to get at least a hundred hours out of the expansion unless it totally blew, and that's damn good when it comes to spending money for entertainment.

 

[bfordyce]

[*]horse archers get -10% city attack

Great, make horse archers even crappier. Who cares if they have 20% withdraw now? Looks like they are determined to make horse archers primarily pillaging units.

 

[Wodan]

Great, make horse archers even crappier. Who cares if they have 20% withdraw now? Looks like they are determined to make horse archers primarily pillaging units.

They made Horse Archers even better at being an Axeman counter. Why complain?

(Previously, HAs were great at taking cities. With retreat 2 ,or whatever it's called, they ignored first strike and had good retreat, thus were awesome at taking cities. That was just bass-ackwards and I'm glad they fixed it.)

Wodan

 

[acuoio]

I think a lot of developer time went into testing and balancing. I know it was said here that they made a safe expansion, but there is a lot more that just that. There was a lot of balancing that had to happen, especially when you add in Vassalage, new leader traits, great general, and the boost to XP. People ask for all these things but they forget about the balance to the game.

One big balancing act they did was to make slavery more appealing and chopping less. You get less wood from chopping, they increased the health of forests, and reduced the civic cost of slavery. They balanced early warfare by providing a counter to axemen and galleys. They also had to balance experience now due to the Stables, the Great General, and the new leader trait, all of which add more XP to your game.

Sure, we could add Chinese Tea and Roman Olives as resources, but that would just displace other resources (not to mention that these resources are specific to eras and regions, which is why they are in the scenarios). You start adding more resources and then you have more health in your city which breaks the reason for health buildings. You get more resources to trade with/for, which in turn creates the same problem.

Again, you can keep throwing in more units and more world wonders, but at some point, it gets watered down and out of balance.

I've never played any Civ scenarios, but this xpak definitely made me want to. That was the bulk of the xpak and the reason it was released. I think Firaxis was pretty clear on what features would be included.

 

[Thyrwyn]

Is it worth thirty bucks? I may not be the best person to ask-- I don't play anything else, and money isn't really an issue. I knew I was going to get at least a hundred hours out of the expansion unless it totally blew, and that's damn good when it comes to spending money for entertainment.

Matches my feelings so far. The little changes they've made ahve a pretty big impact and definitely broaden the number of viable strategies for the early game.

 

[naterator]

all castles get the trade route. citadel gives siege units +2 exp
drill II has -20% collateral damage, III and IV provide an additional 20% each
chariots of course ARE +100% vs.axes

 

[Thyrwyn]

We will definitely be seeing more castles. . .
and more drill, also.

Protective is really, really strong: we will start seeing Rifles/Grenadiers/Infantry that were upgraded from Archery units with Drill IV escorting offensive stacks to resist retaliatory seige attacks. We will see them defending cities. Churchill's 8 xp longbows/crossbowmen with Drill IV, City Garrison I are going to thwart many dreams of conquest. And I have news for you - Grenadiers and Redcoats with Drill IV will hurt when attacking, too. I think we will see Drill IV a lot.

The other positive to this change is that Horse Archers and Knights and even Flanking II all become more important, since they get to ignore First Strikes.

 

[Older than Dirt]

Well, whether it is 50% or 100% bonus for chariots against axemen this will significantly change early warmongering and defending against barbarians. I have very rarely built chariots but now they will be a very effective counter to axemen, indeed. I don't remember this even being mentioned before! Castles giving extra income, wow! I'll acually be building them when not after a cultural win!

 

[LordGek]

okay, now I understand what it is, but how do you mod your game?

That's where it gets tricky! While changing some value for units or displayed text you can just whip out within a few seconds with a text editor (sorry can't recall the exact files you'd be modifying), trying to change some of the basic game rules, or add stuff like spells takes some SERIOUS Python programming knowledge and is probably not advised for the faint of heart since hacking that stuff too hard without a clue could really mess up your game (nasty crashes and the like). I think there are some basic guides in the Modding Forum here:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=158

 

[Gherald]

It is 100% and only when a chariot attacks an axe. If the axe attacks a chariot, it still gets about 75% odds to win (5 str vs. 4 str)

 

[TomOC]

Quick note... I noticed the leader attitude is no longer above the leader head. You now have to move the mouse over the leader to see the AI's attitude.

 

[BarrenEarth]

Oh the good: makes a great coaster...

Just paid $30 for what should have been a big patch