Realistic and Engaging Recruitment Points System
On Hard difficulty and above, the AI has a tendency to spam endless stacks against the player, turning the mid/late game into an annoying slog. This is exacerbated by 0-turn recruitment. In any case, unless the player enjoys fighting multiple full stack battles per turn, this could easily kill the fun of the campaign. The solution to this consists of 3 different overhauls to make the armies that the AI fields powerful yet limited by the choices that the player makes
1. A recruitment system that makes use of extra_recruitment_points
Multiple-turn recruitment makes manpower extremely limited, while 0-turn recruitment makes manpower no longer an important game mechanic. The compromise is to make all units take 5/10/15/20 turns to recruit (depending on cost) BUT introduce a lot of Rome Remastered's extra_recruitment_points bonuses in many buildings. For example, a building representing the Seleucid settler colony could provide 5 extra_recruitment_points at level one, 10 at level 2, and so on. Place these in important settlements like Sardis or Antiochea at the start, and the Seleucids now have a few strategic regions to easily train the 5/10/15/20 turn units. More importantly, this limits the production of units to slow and steady growth instead of virtually unlimited once enough cities reach 6000+ population. Some important points to note:
- Make sure to use do
instead ofCode:extra_recruitment_points bonus 5
or else the bonuses won't stack properlyCode:extra_recruitment_points 5
- It's probably a good idea to make the governor's house building provide increasing extra_recruitment_points to simulate larger cities pumping out troops more quickly. I recommend a 1-2-3-4-5 system.
- Another 1-5 points could be provided by a "government" style building like in EB1 or RTR7, with more centralized forms of governments providing closer to 5 points and more decentralized forms of governments proving closer to 1 points.
- The remaining 1-10 points could be provided by miscellaneous buildings limited only by your creativity or historical accuracy. "Migration" and "Colony" buildings are good for the Antiquity timeframe and gives the place a choice to build them to increase their rate of unit production
- Combine these three sources of extra_recruitment_points and a Huge City with a very centralized government and all recruiting buildings built will provide 20 recruitment points, which means you could for example send forth 4 levy-tier units, or squeeze out 1 elite unit every turn.
2. War-weariness to lower or increase extra_recruitment_points
This extra_recruitment_points system doesn't do much to make AI manpower more fun by itself. Instead, it provides enough granularity in the recruitment time being between 1-20 turns to allow for simple scripting to adjust it based on campaign events. The most important towards limiting the AI in a reasonable way is "war-weariness". Should the AI score major victories or conquer settlements, or should the player just conquer settlements, they should experience a temporary penalty in extra_recruitment_points across all settlements. This effect subsides over time, but if the AI or player keeps blitzing, then their recruitment will ground to a halt, and they'll be forced to go on the defensive until the weariness subsides.
This is key to providing a both realistic and fun experience. Now the AI will seen neverending at first, but winning a series of crushing defeats on them as the player will cripple them long enough for you to snatch up a few settlements or simulate an uneasy peace for many turns. Likewise, the player who manages to blitz will be inconvenienced by lower recruitment rates from their exhausted population, but it's only enough to make blitzing challenging, not make rapid conquest impossible. No longer can the AI endlessly send forth doomstacks or the player easily blitz AI factions.
Here's the scripting to make it all possible
Code:;;; War weariness monitor_event NewTurnStart TrueCondition ; Destroy all war weariness buildings to rid them for the player and rebels, and to prepare for the AI faction's next turn for_each settlement in world destroy_building "local" weary+1 destroy_building "local" weary+2 destroy_building "local" weary+3 destroy_building "local" weary+4 destroy_building "local" weary+5 destroy_building "local" weary+6 destroy_building "local" weary+7 destroy_building "local" weary+8 destroy_building "local" weary+9 end_for for_each faction in world declare_counter weariness retrieve_counter faction_weariness faction weariness if I_CompareCounter weariness > 10 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 20 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+1 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 20 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 30 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+2 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 30 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 40 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+3 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 40 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 50 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+4 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 50 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 60 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+5 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 60 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 70 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+6 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 70 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 80 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+7 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 80 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 90 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+8 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 90 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 100 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+9 end_for end_if ;;; Factions with accumulated weariness recover more quickly to prevent downwards spirals if I_CompareCounter weariness > 0 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 33 inc_counter weariness -5 end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 33 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 66 inc_counter weariness -5 end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 66 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 100 inc_counter weariness -5 end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 100 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 150 inc_counter weariness -10 end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 150 ; time for a counterattack set_counter weariness 0 end_if store_counter weariness faction faction_weariness end_for end_monitor ; To prevent a strong AI faction from snowballing, simply winning a battle will make the faction war-weary monitor_event PostBattle TrueCondition and WonBattle and not FactionType slave and not I_ConflictType Naval and not FactionIsLocal declare_counter weariness retrieve_counter faction_weariness faction weariness inc_counter weariness 3 ;TAG_AI_WINS store_counter weariness faction faction_weariness end_monitor ; Capturing a settlement even more so for the AI monitor_event GeneralCaptureSettlement TrueCondition and not FactionType slave and not FactionIsLocal declare_counter weariness retrieve_counter faction_weariness faction weariness inc_counter weariness 20 ;TAG_AI_CAPTURES_SETTLEMENT store_counter weariness faction faction_weariness end_monitor ; Capturing a settlement even more so for the Player monitor_event GeneralCaptureSettlement TrueCondition and not FactionType slave and FactionIsLocal declare_counter weariness retrieve_counter faction_weariness faction weariness inc_counter weariness 20 ;TAG_PLAYER_CAPTURES_SETTLEMENT store_counter weariness faction faction_weariness end_monitor ; Losing any land battle increases war exhaustion, but only against the player. Unfortunately checking against each faction is the only way ; Player is Rome monitor_event PostBattle TrueCondition and not WonBattle and not FactionType slave and not I_ConflictType Naval and not I_ConflictType Siege ;and not I_ConflictType SallyBesieger and not FactionIsLocal and GeneralFoughtFaction seleucid and I_LocalFaction seleucid declare_counter weariness retrieve_counter faction_weariness faction weariness inc_counter weariness 20 ;TAG_LOSE_VS_PLAYER store_counter weariness faction faction_weariness end_monitor ; Player is Carthage monitor_event PostBattle TrueCondition and not WonBattle and not FactionType slave and not I_ConflictType Naval and not I_ConflictType Siege ;and not I_ConflictType SallyBesieger and not FactionIsLocal and GeneralFoughtFaction egypt and I_LocalFaction egypt declare_counter weariness retrieve_counter faction_weariness faction weariness inc_counter weariness 20 ;TAG_LOSE_VS_PLAYER store_counter weariness faction faction_weariness end_monitor
Let's break down each section and how a modder can tweak the script to achieve different gameplay experiences
Code:; To prevent a strong AI faction from snowballing, simply winning a battle will make the faction war-weary monitor_event PostBattle TrueCondition and WonBattle and not FactionType slave and not I_ConflictType Naval and not FactionIsLocal declare_counter weariness retrieve_counter faction_weariness faction weariness inc_counter weariness 3 ;TAG_AI_WINS store_counter weariness faction faction_weariness end_monitor
War weariness is a positive number normally between 0-100, but can go beyond. The higher the war-weariness, the more severe the recruitment penalties. For this monitor, if an AI faction wins a land battle, it suffers a small +3 weariness. Trivial on its own, but if an AI faction starts snowballing and scoring a ton of victories, its war-weariness will skyrocket. This is one component of preventing an AI from exploding across the map
Code:; Capturing a settlement even more so for the AI monitor_event GeneralCaptureSettlement TrueCondition and not FactionType slave and not FactionIsLocal declare_counter weariness retrieve_counter faction_weariness faction weariness inc_counter weariness 20 ;TAG_AI_CAPTURES_SETTLEMENT store_counter weariness faction faction_weariness end_monitor
This is a much more severe way to limit AI factions that are doing well. Conquering any settlement increases war-weariness by 1.
Code:; Losing any land battle increases war exhaustion, but only against the player. Unfortunately checking against each faction is the only way ; Player is Rome monitor_event PostBattle TrueCondition and not WonBattle and not FactionType slave and not I_ConflictType Naval and not I_ConflictType Siege ;and not I_ConflictType SallyBesieger and not FactionIsLocal and GeneralFoughtFaction seleucid and I_LocalFaction seleucid declare_counter weariness retrieve_counter faction_weariness faction weariness inc_counter weariness 20 ;TAG_LOSE_VS_PLAYER store_counter weariness faction faction_weariness end_monitor ; Player is Carthage monitor_event PostBattle TrueCondition and not WonBattle and not FactionType slave and not I_ConflictType Naval and not I_ConflictType Siege ;and not I_ConflictType SallyBesieger and not FactionIsLocal and GeneralFoughtFaction egypt and I_LocalFaction egypt declare_counter weariness retrieve_counter faction_weariness faction weariness inc_counter weariness 20 ;TAG_LOSE_VS_PLAYER store_counter weariness faction faction_weariness end_monitor
This monitor is key for improving the player experience. While AI factions can defeat one another with no severe penalty, should one lose against the player, it will suffer massive war-weariness. This way, the player enjoys the satisfaction of destroying an enemy stack actually impacting the AI. The AI can't just pump out another stack - its recruitment just got nerfed for the foreseeable future.
You will have to copy and paste this block for each playable faction in your game. Unfortunately, there's no simple way to do something like for_each loops for this.
Code:; Destroy all war weariness buildings to rid them for the player and rebels, and to prepare for the AI faction's next turn for_each settlement in world destroy_building "local" weary+1 destroy_building "local" weary+2 destroy_building "local" weary+3 destroy_building "local" weary+4 destroy_building "local" weary+5 destroy_building "local" weary+6 destroy_building "local" weary+7 destroy_building "local" weary+8 destroy_building "local" weary+9 end_for for_each faction in world declare_counter weariness retrieve_counter faction_weariness faction weariness if I_CompareCounter weariness > 10 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 20 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+1 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 20 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 30 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+2 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 30 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 40 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+3 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 40 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 50 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+4 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 50 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 60 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+5 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 60 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 70 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+6 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 70 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 80 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+7 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 80 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 90 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+8 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 90 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 100 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" weary+9 end_for end_if
This script cleanly places and manages the weary+X building tree across all non-rebel factions. Higher levels of weary+X gives more recruitment nerfs.
Code:building hinterland_weary { classification military icon law levels weary+1 weary+2 weary+3 weary+4 weary+5 weary+6 weary+7 weary+8 weary+9 { weary+1 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -6 requires not is_player extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building imperial_palace ;extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building proconsuls_palace ;extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_palace ;extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_villa } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } weary+2 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -7 requires not is_player extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building imperial_palace ;extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building proconsuls_palace ;extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_palace ;extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_villa } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } weary+3 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -8 requires not is_player extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building imperial_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building proconsuls_palace ;extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_palace ;extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_villa } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } weary+4 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -9 requires not is_player extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building imperial_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building proconsuls_palace ;extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_palace ;extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_villa } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } weary+5 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -10 requires not is_player extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building imperial_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building proconsuls_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_palace ;extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_villa } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } weary+6 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -11 requires not is_player extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building imperial_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building proconsuls_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_palace ;extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_villa } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } weary+7 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -12 requires not is_player extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building imperial_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building proconsuls_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_villa } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } weary+8 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -13 requires not is_player extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building imperial_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building proconsuls_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_villa } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } weary+9 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -14 requires not is_player extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building imperial_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building proconsuls_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_palace extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires is_player and building_present_min_level core_building governors_villa } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } } plugins { } }
Obviously this building should not be destroyable by the player. Notice that the extra_recruitment_points penalty caps out at 14 for the AI. A recommended approach is to give the AI factions "extra_recruitment_points bonus 20" for all of its governor's house building, so that by default it can pump out doomstacks. However, the moment it starts conquering or getting spanked by the player, its recruitment will decrease and decrease as its war weariness accumulates. But will this downwards spiral last forever?
Code:;;; Factions with accumulated weariness recover more quickly to prevent downwards spirals if I_CompareCounter weariness > 0 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 33 inc_counter weariness -5 end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 33 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 66 inc_counter weariness -5 end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 66 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 100 inc_counter weariness -5 end_if if I_CompareCounter weariness > 100 and I_CompareCounter weariness <= 150 inc_counter weariness -10 end_if
Nope. War-weariness needs to subside over time to simulate a faction slowly recovering its national manpower and psyche.
Code:if I_CompareCounter weariness > 150 ; time for a counterattack set_counter weariness 0 end_if store_counter weariness faction faction_weariness
Most importantly, have a failsafe if the war-weariness gets too high. A particularly brutal player could smash AI field armies so badly that the AI will be crippled for the rest of the campaign. So, if the AI war-weariness gets too high, it gets set back to 0, signalling the start of a counteroffensive.
You can achieve the following gameplay experiences by tweaking these values differently
- To extend the period for which war-weariness is at its highest, don't set it back to 0 until its at 200 or even 250
- To make the AI even more aggressive at first, but more neutered after experiencing setbacks, increase the default governor's house AI extra_recruitment_points bonus to 30 or even 40, but cancel that out over the course of the weary+X building line
- To punish the player or AI for reaching higher levels of war-weariness, lower the war-weariness decrease over time for higher levels of war-weariness. Likewise, to be more forgiving, increase the war-weariness recovery for higher levels. This would incentize careful expansion.
- To make counterattacks less extreme, set war-weariness back to 50 or even 100 after it gets too high
3. Blockades affect extra_recruitment_points
With those two features you can make the AI challenging yet not invincible, but there's one extra feature that would help, and that's making blockading the AI another way to limit its recruitment points
Code:;;; Blockading the AI decreases recruitment monitor_event NewTurnStart TrueCondition for_each settlement in world destroy_building "local" blockaded+1 destroy_building "local" blockaded+2 destroy_building "local" blockaded+3 destroy_building "local" blockaded+4 destroy_building "local" blockaded+5 destroy_building "local" blockaded+6 end_for for_each faction in world declare_counter blockaded retrieve_counter faction_blockaded faction blockaded if I_CompareCounter blockaded > 0 and I_CompareCounter blockaded <= 1 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" blockaded+1 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter blockaded > 1 and I_CompareCounter blockaded <= 2 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" blockaded+2 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter blockaded > 2 and I_CompareCounter blockaded <= 3 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" blockaded+3 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter blockaded > 3 and I_CompareCounter blockaded <= 4 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" blockaded+4 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter blockaded > 4 and I_CompareCounter blockaded <= 5 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" blockaded+5 end_for end_if if I_CompareCounter blockaded > 5 for_each settlement in faction console_command create_building "local" blockaded+6 end_for end_if set_counter blockaded 0 store_counter blockaded faction faction_blockaded end_for end_monitor ; Count blockaded settlements monitor_event SettlementTurnStart TrueCondition and SettlementOrderLevel blockaded > 0 declare_counter blockaded retrieve_counter faction_blockaded faction blockaded inc_counter blockaded 1 store_counter blockaded faction faction_blockaded end_monitorNote that the Blockaded building will be placed only after 1-2 turns have passed since blockading an AI port. The script checks for unrest caused by blockading, which takes a turn or two to appear.Code:building hinterland_blockaded { classification military icon law levels blockaded+1 blockaded+2 blockaded+3 blockaded+4 blockaded+5 blockaded+6 { blockaded+1 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -1 requires not is_player } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } blockaded+2 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -2 requires not is_player } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } blockaded+3 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -3 requires not is_player } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } blockaded+4 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -4 requires not is_player } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } blockaded+5 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -5 requires not is_player } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } blockaded+6 requires hidden_resource not_here { capability { extra_recruitment_points bonus -5 requires not is_player } construction 1 cost 100 settlement_min town upgrades { } } } plugins { } }
Combine these 3 features and AI and even player manpower will be much more interesting to manipulate
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