This fora does mostly longer term games - PBEM or Pitboss. I imagine you could find players for a game pretty easily. RB does have a discord, though I don't know where the link is. A better way to recruit players would be to make a thread in the 'Civ General Discussion' subforum, and ask if anyone is interested.
I may be willing to map make for you
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
• Soldier of Kilmorph and Paramander swap art assets (this is a EMM aesthetic change I'm fond of)
Some points on why these changes were made:
I wanted to try the tier 2 fixes, and gauge reaction to them, especially as there wasn't much in the thread. I felt that the slight cost differential of the Drown matches closely to the role that Moroi and Pyre's play as axemen+, whilst the other units have more significant gimmicks.
I'm much less confident of the bronze warrior change, but thought if I was posting this I might as well include it for others to test. Please give feedback on this before we start as it does substantially alter the balance of the whole mid-game.
Bannor changes - I tried to do something that would fit their economy and their strength, without breaking them. Note that if they ever go for Overcouncil they have to leave Bannor State behind.
I felt that the Governor's mansion would still leave the Vampires militarily weak as they were before, but able to access their key toys a little easier.
In other areas, I went for middle-of-the-road changes in general, e.g. to Foreign Trade and Revelry.
Let me know any feedback! To play, simply paste over your assets folder.
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
It's too late for the running game, but I noticed that elven workers are now better than regular ones thanks to double movement in forest (and then that's exacerbated by quick game speed). Only the Khazad workers are on the same level or a bit better. I don't know if that's the intention. Maybe add a slight nerf to them, like a moderate hammer cost increase? I can agree that the slow working speed is mostly annoying.
Anyway, congrats to you and Auror on your 55 picks
Perhaps 10% is a middle ground? I don't think I'll increase the cost, that feels like too complicated to code. Remember that buildings on forests take longer anyway.
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
(March 4th, 2023, 18:57)Qgqqqqq Wrote: Perhaps 10% is a middle ground? I don't think I'll increase the cost, that feels like too complicated to code. Remember that buildings on forests take longer anyway.
But has a beter retrun as well. Played myself 2-3 tries with elves and they feel realy strong now.I didnt realized tha 20% mallus produce such a diference.
ChiefBigFeather Wrote:Thank you for the warm welcome and the feedback!
I‘m asking because I‘m seeing imbalances in EMM and would like to contribute to a more finely tuned experience. Maybe I will make a fork, but I really should write my master thesis at the moment.
Is there a particular reason you do not use MNAI as base for EitB?
Not particularly - it's a legacy of the mod's origins. I have toyed with rebuilding it from EMM, though the effort involved in doing so, given the mods overall audience, makes that seem unworthwhile.
Quote:The reason I asked about the animals was, that I don’t like the EMM animal mechanics. Those are different and probably more powerful then the EitB animal mechanics. Particularly the rng involved turns me off.
Speaking of animals: What do you think about the general FFH2 design of culture buildings? I mean the fact that most give a %. Do you think that is good design?
I kinda like the EMM changes to animals, although they're quite different. I mostly play high-level AI games, which means I rarely have the chance to catch animals - the AIs snatch them up - but I like the more dynamic landscape of them.
I don't have strong opinions on the % modifier buildings. I tend to see those as incidental to their otherwise function. Did you have thoughts?
Quote:What random maps would you consider most balanced? I really like the level of start position balance advanced civ achieved. Maybe some of it can be ported to FFH2.
Not sure. I tend to play maps in single player based on the dynamism or feel of them, rather than the balance. Though perhaps Totestra, Tectonics, or other basic maps (pangaea, Big and Small, etc.). How does advanced civ place civs?
Quote:Do you think a vanilla granary with 50% bonus and no health under say masonry would be ok? Would removing the health bonus from Agrarianism be ok?
I mean, the vanilla granary is hands down the most powerful building in the game. Even with whipping being gated later and less powerful, I'd be reluctant to restore it. Again, I think the issue re health is mostly the abundance of food generally, then the abundance of health. Though different modmods do different things with agrarianism's health bonuses.
Quote:The Amurite idea is somewhat derived from looking at Sheaim adepts who can make strength 3 skeletons. But it really is brainstorming.
Yeah, I don't think it's the worst idea in the world. I wonder about str 1, 1 move (2 with summoner), and whether that would hit the right balance.
Quote:Lighthouses seem pretty strong. Is that impression correct? I‘m asking because trade seems to be oppressively powerful in some constellations.
Regards,
Chief
Yes, I think the trade bonuses in EitB and especially in EMM (which has a even stronger FT civic) are absurd. You'll have noticed I nerfed it slightly in v12.2. But the buildings are a part of it - both the Harbour and the Lighthouse. I've considered winding back either the lighthouse's +tr or the harbour's commerce bonus in the past, though I refrained from making major changes in 12.2
ChiefBigFeather Wrote:The reason I asked about the animals was, that I don’t like the EMM animal mechanics. Those are different and probably more powerful then the EitB animal mechanics. Particularly the rng involved turns me off.
Speaking of animals: What do you think about the general FFH2 design of culture buildings? I mean the fact that most give a %. Do you think that is good design?
I kinda like the EMM changes to animals, although they're quite different. I mostly play high-level AI games, which means I rarely have the chance to catch animals - the AIs snatch them up - but I like the more dynamic landscape of them.
I don't have strong opinions on the % modifier buildings. I tend to see those as incidental to their otherwise function. Did you have thoughts?
Well, I generally dislike the animal system because it is so rng dependent. That might just be due to lack of skill though. I really like the idea of making only recon units of hunter and higher eligible for the subdue animals promotion, to make the whole thing into more of a strategy. This is with the EMM wilderness component in mind though, which makes animal trophies quite a lot more powerful then vanilla.
Qgqqqqq Wrote:
ChiefBigFeather Wrote:What random maps would you consider most balanced? I really like the level of start position balance advanced civ achieved. Maybe some of it can be ported to FFH2.
Not sure. I tend to play maps in single player based on the dynamism or feel of them, rather than the balance. Though perhaps Totestra, Tectonics, or other basic maps (pangaea, Big and Small, etc.). How does advanced civ place civs?
I'm not sure about the specifics, but advanced civ on perfect mongoose seems to create very balanced starting positions. Map generation seems one of the weaker points of FFH2 balance, I'm mostly just brainstorming what could be done to improve it.
Qgqqqqq Wrote:
ChiefBigFeather Wrote:Do you think a vanilla granary with 50% bonus and no health under say masonry would be ok? Would removing the health bonus from Agrarianism be ok?
I mean, the vanilla granary is hands down the most powerful building in the game. Even with whipping being gated later and less powerful, I'd be reluctant to restore it. Again, I think the issue re health is mostly the abundance of food generally, then the abundance of health. Though different modmods do different things with agrarianism's health bonuses.
Some context: I brought this up because I think health is overabundant in FFH2. Marked and carnival do not provide extra happiness from luxuries like their vanilla equivalents do. The health from granary and smokehouse in FFH2 just seems too much. This seems to make floodplains too strong in my tests. The Erebus map script is partly to blame though as it creates vast floodplain regions.
Removing agrarianism's health bonus is probably a good first step to addressing issues with overabundant health. The civic seems strong enough without it.
About granaries:
f1pro at least says vanilla granaries are actually not OP with his nerf to slavery. I often find myself severely happiness limited in EMM while food is more abundant with agrarianism (compared to advanced civ). I think granaries would be weaker in FFH2 then they are in advanced civ. Maybe they would be fine without any health bonus (just like marked and carnival removed luxury bonuses)?
Qgqqqqq Wrote:
ChiefBigFeather Wrote:The Amurite idea is somewhat derived from looking at Sheaim adepts who can make strength 3 skeletons. But it really is brainstorming.
Yeah, I don't think it's the worst idea in the world. I wonder about str 1, 1 move (2 with summoner), and whether that would hit the right balance.
The idea is to give Amurite adepts the ability to contribute to combat immediately.
I'm not a huge fan of the spell extension promotion working on this (fireball too). Catching those adepts could be a major pain given the haste and potency promotion. Combat 1 may be correct, I honestly don't know.
Qgqqqqq Wrote:
ChiefBigFeather Wrote:Lighthouses seem pretty strong. Is that impression correct? I‘m asking because trade seems to be oppressively powerful in some constellations.
Yes, I think the trade bonuses in EitB and especially in EMM (which has a even stronger FT civic) are absurd. You'll have noticed I nerfed it slightly in v12.2. But the buildings are a part of it - both the Harbour and the Lighthouse. I've considered winding back either the lighthouse's +tr or the harbour's commerce bonus in the past, though I refrained from making major changes in 12.2
Well, maybe the harbor/lighthouse could profit from a little redesign then. Some suggestions to that end:
Switch the positions of harbor and lighthouse in the tech tree. Remove the +1 trade route from the lighthouse, reduce it to 100h if necessary.
Reasoning: If you want to grow on water, you need the food bonus early. The lighthouse can be very cheap with stone, but land tiles also produce more food making 2f2c tiles less valuable. I dunno where the balance should land here. An unwanted side effect would be a nerf to the already very weak organized trait.
The extra commerce on harbor seems fine at first glance, since land tiles seem a little stronger in FFH2. Maybe replace the % bonus on trade with +1 trade route so the various trade boni do not stack as much.
Maybe you also want to think about whether the free trade route on the trade tech is really necessary. That seems to help escalate all the various bonuses to trade.
Edit:
Qgqqqqq Wrote:
ChiefBigFeather Wrote:What random maps would you consider most balanced? I really like the level of start position balance advanced civ achieved. Maybe some of it can be ported to FFH2.
Not sure. I tend to play maps in single player based on the dynamism or feel of them, rather than the balance. Though perhaps Totestra, Tectonics, or other basic maps (pangaea, Big and Small, etc.). How does advanced civ place civs?
I asked f1rpo about this. Bottom line: He made lots of custom code for civ placement referencing advciv classes. He said those would probably be rather difficult to port.
Changes to the map generator on the other hand could be easier to adopt. Some suggestions: No floodplains on river corners, no clustering gold/gems.
