Caster of Magic Release thread : latest version 6.06!

[Seravy]

As it seems it'll take forever to perfectly balance draconians and test all the changes, it's release time!

5.03
-During Jihad the AI can now attack towers as though they had enough forces to do so if they need to get through to the other player's fortress.
-Optional default wizard “Aura” now has Myrran again instead of Cult Leader.
-Angels now have 24 MP
-Galley, Warship now has 7 resistance.
-Galley has 10 ranged attack strength.
-Poison now has a save modifier of -1.
-Dwarven Swordsmen and Halberdiers lose 2 resistance.
-Wraith From no longer grants Poison Immunity.
-Wyvern Riders now have poison 5.
-Great Wyrm now has poison 25.
-Giant Spiders now have poison 3.
-New Fortress Lightning formula : Strength = 18+(Skill/8) but a max of 48.
-New defense rating formula for strategic combat and AI : total health*5*(2+Defense)
-Werewolves now have 3 armor but only 5 health per unit.
-Mountains now add 7% production. (Chaos Nodes still add 10%)
-Golems no longer have Magic Immunity, instead they have Cold, Fire, Illusion, Stoning and Death immunity, but armor has been reduced to 7.
-The Magic Immunity item power is now worth 1500 treasure budget instead of 2500.
-Maximal item budget for a single item treasure is now 4080 instead of 4920.
-New formula for Myrran node monster budget : 50*(3+RND(3))*(Tiles-5). Arcanus still has tiles-3 there but Myrran nodes have more tiles which made the budget too high and the nodes unbeatable until midgame which has a major negative impact on gameplay - playing without nodes is unfun and hurts slow strategies significantly as well.
-Myrran nodes now have 8-20 tiles instead of 10-20.
-Draconian units now have the standard unit cost.
-Draconian Shaman replaced with “Saints”, same abilities, but 4 ranged, 5 figures, 5 armor 2 health unit that requires Shirne and Parthenon.
-Myrror now has 13 nodes, Arcanus has 17 (was 12/18).
-Draconian growth is now average (+60 people/turn) but outpost growth is still slow (-10/turn)
-The first 4 Myrran nodes generated always have exactly 8 tiles to ensure some weak nodes on the Myrran plane where node budgets are generally higher even with the improved formula.
-Colosseum now costs 250
-Draconian Bowmen cost 40 and have 5 figures.

Includes :
Dwarf rebalancing, as far as we were able to do it
The draconian changes that seem more likely to stay
Easier Myrran dungeons (still somewhat harder on average than Arcanus but the difference is now less radical)
Nonstandard MP pools for units (currently only used by Angel)
Poison rebalancing.
New strategic defense rating formula.

o_O that's a lot more stuff piled up than I thought. Good thing I didn't delay this any longer.

Poison units and werewolves definitely need some testing with these new stats, as does Myrran in general. So let me know how things work out in your games.

[Nelphine]

Shouldn't golems have poison immunity?

[Seravy]

They should, it's missing from the list I guess. Don't think it was missing in the game.

[Arnuz]

As it seems it'll take forever to perfectly balance draconians and test all the changes, it's release time!

5.03
-During Jihad the AI can now attack towers as though they had enough forces to do so if they need to get through to the other player's fortress.
-Optional default wizard “Aura” now has Myrran again instead of Cult Leader.
-Angels now have 24 MP
-Galley, Warship now has 7 resistance.
-Galley has 10 ranged attack strength.
-Poison now has a save modifier of -1.
-Dwarven Swordsmen and Halberdiers lose 2 resistance.
-Wraith From no longer grants Poison Immunity.
-Wyvern Riders now have poison 5.
-Great Wyrm now has poison 25.
-Giant Spiders now have poison 3.
-New Fortress Lightning formula : Strength = 18+(Skill/8) but a max of 48.
-New defense rating formula for strategic combat and AI : total health*5*(2+Defense)
-Werewolves now have 3 armor but only 5 health per unit.
-Mountains now add 7% production. (Chaos Nodes still add 10%)
-Golems no longer have Magic Immunity, instead they have Cold, Fire, Illusion, Stoning and Death immunity, but armor has been reduced to 7.
-The Magic Immunity item power is now worth 1500 treasure budget instead of 2500.
-Maximal item budget for a single item treasure is now 4080 instead of 4920.
-New formula for Myrran node monster budget : 50*(3+RND(3))*(Tiles-5). Arcanus still has tiles-3 there but Myrran nodes have more tiles which made the budget too high and the nodes unbeatable until midgame which has a major negative impact on gameplay - playing without nodes is unfun and hurts slow strategies significantly as well.
-Myrran nodes now have 8-20 tiles instead of 10-20.
-Draconian units now have the standard unit cost.
-Draconian Shaman replaced with “Saints”, same abilities, but 4 ranged, 5 figures, 5 armor 2 health unit that requires Shirne and Parthenon.
-Myrror now has 13 nodes, Arcanus has 17 (was 12/18).
-Draconian growth is now average (+60 people/turn) but outpost growth is still slow (-10/turn)
-The first 4 Myrran nodes generated always have exactly 8 tiles to ensure some weak nodes on the Myrran plane where node budgets are generally higher even with the improved formula.
-Colosseum now costs 250
-Draconian Bowmen cost 40 and have 5 figures.

Includes :
Dwarf rebalancing, as far as we were able to do it
The draconian changes that seem more likely to stay
Easier Myrran dungeons (still somewhat harder on average than Arcanus but the difference is now less radical)
Nonstandard MP pools for units (currently only used by Angel)
Poison rebalancing.
New strategic defense rating formula.

o_O that's a lot more stuff piled up than I thought. Good thing I didn't delay this any longer.

Poison units and werewolves definitely need some testing with these new stats, as does Myrran in general. So let me know how things work out in your games.

I'll replay the latest draconian game with cheaper 5 archers and report on how that goes.

[Arnuz]

Should this happen?



Note the road.

Given the propensity of AIs to gather on roads I'm wondering whether this couldn't be an issue causing AI units to fall into a storm giant blackhole. I'll report if I see any!

[Seravy]

Yes, starting neutrals can get connected like that, had one in my current game too.
It has no effect on the AI, the tile is occupied by enemy units so it doesn't matter if there is a road or not, they go around it, the same way as when you put your spearmen there.

[Juffos]

My node placement is superior to yours! Behold!

   

[Seravy]

Never seen that bug before!

[Arnuz]

Fantastic, do the node occupants protect the city?? Can you even attack it?

[Seravy]

While looking for bugs that could cause that, I found something interesting.
The game always places 6 fortresses, even if the "excess" is not used.

Player 0 is always the human, players 1-4 are AIs up to the amount specifies, and player 5 is the "neutral player".
So at the very least it's one more than necessary. Doesn't seem like a big deal, but fortress placement is where tiny map generation fails most, having to fit in one more than needed might contribute to failures which drop the "quality required" numbers and eventually free up the game if the options are exhausted.

I wonder if this allows raising the minimal "max food" requirement...