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Read the Change Log in the zip file Lmao
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Spent some time with this one now. I think the base defense promoting was a good choice. My concern was that the player might benefit from this more than the AI. Well maybe with vanilla, but not here. With this mod the AI doesn't continually commit suicide against your defenses, they attack them. So it most cases it just gives the AI some help as you are attacking their base.
Major confession, I've been playing at 30 fps. So I imagine if I stepped it up to 60fps it would add a level of difficulty. But im surprised how much ive improved in just a few days. I can crush a single AI now. Playing as the soviets is still so much more difficult. But these are the same results i have in vanilla so, if anything, you've just kept the original balance in place.
Yeah, defense promotion help both side. The player can relax a bit, and the AI doesn't need to build many defenses to be fully covered from the player's cheap tricks.
I did attempt to buff the Soviets, but just a little change, and they became overpower. At the current state, each fraction can beat the other equally in an AI vs. AI match, at least from my testing, so I am comfortable leaving it as is. I don't think the Soviets are really weak at all. It's just that you have to face the enemy head-on more when playing as them. Flak trooper and conscript spam are also quite OP as well, as long that you don't run into anti-infantry. I am very tempted to add Cosmonaut to the normal Soviet arsenal, but that will change the meta drastically.
Yes i was able to consript rush the AI on Hail Mary but it wasn't easy. They almost got the walls up. And they put up a good fight. It took alot of consripts.
Interesting. If your considering real changes like adding cosmonauts, what can be done to buff apocalypse tanks? I've always felt they weren't worth the investment. More health is the first thing that comes to mind. But i don't know the balancing issues here either.
The only thing Apoc probably need is the ability to fire while moving like the tanks with turret. Apoc is very worth the investment. Their usage is pretty much just like Rhino Tank, but better, and can beat most tanks in a 1v1. You just have to spam a sufficient number of them. Pro isn't using them mainly because they can't fire while moving and are very slow to chase the enemy, but this is fighting with AI, so there isn't any chase to make. They can also tank some Kirov bombs while firing AA at them. It just takes too long to get all of those benefits.
Also, I am glad that you improve from playing my mod. Maybe you will become the top 1 player one day? It's a good training tool. 😁
2v2 is wrecking me lol. Once the AI has a chance to get established its over. I need an ally just to stay in the game. The kirovs attacks are intense. And just when you beat them down a follow up rhino tank blitz is coming. I survived that only to be destroyed by both opponents sending kirovs. I had money just couldn't spend it fast enough. Good times! 👍
I play on a map where everybody is far away from each other. Either garrison buildings or build bunkers at a choke-point. Then just rush Siege Chopper to kill siege engines that endanger my bunkers with some fly-by. On an open-field map, though, I get completely wrecked. :P
And the harassment type units work so well man. I can leave a small gap in my walls for the miners and they find it every time! Engineers, crazy ivans... all reasons i lost last game. If you leave a gap, they are on it! You need total base defense like you are preparing for paradrops all the time!
Little things can slip past our eyes or snowball into an avalanche. ☯🙏
So I've noticed that a Hard ally (teammate) doesn't seem to perform as well as an opponent. One thing i notice is they will not take tech buildings nearly as fast as opponents. They will ignore them for awhile even if they are close. But the opponents are grabbing them all over the map. I feel like they don't produce as many units either.
Well i suppose this intended now that i think about it. They would be too powerful lol
This is either an intentional game design by the devs or an unfixed bug. When the AI is allied with the player, they will only build basic defense teams until they are attacked by the enemy AI. In an AI vs. AI match, the topmost AI (and any AI on the same team) will also act like this while the other teams are aggressive. The AI TLB file I included can sometimes correct this, but it will still happen often. I am trying to find a permanent solution to this.
Well a Hard teammate would be very powerful. Im not sure the AI can handle those kirov attacks. Its not a major concern, but it would be nice if they functioned properly. You could always debuff yourself to a medium teammate.
Thanks for always responding. I shouldn't have much left to ask. Plus im feeling a little awkward being your only fan boy lol Trust me its good. I was perfectly content to just leach and move on too. But the fact you had zero votes bothered me.
I don't mind it. The number of daily players doesn't even break four digits, so it is only natural to meet someone you know. Plus, I love curious people because they have the courage to reach out and learn more. Don't feel like you should stop; that is how you become knowledgeable.
Finally won a 2v2 as the Allies. Intense man lol. I finally got a point where i feel the AI was running out of money. But that first wave of double kirov attacks was intense. And the harassment units, my god. I actually got mad lol. Like where did you come from!? How did you find a way in!?!? They will completely circle the base to find entrance. This has certainly taught me to use walls better than I ever have before. Now on to the soviets lol. I havent even tried yuri yet. Might start some 1v1 against him.
My advice would be to scatter single anti-air unit and base defense around. I understand the difficulty, so I programmed the Kirovs to be able to be distracted by the smaller stuff. It won't happen 100%, but it will take some weight off.
Spent some time with yuri. Yep he's good too. However, I actually consider him less intimidating than the soviets. He doesn't seem to protect his units with anti air support so my rocketeers made short work of most of his units. He didnt use lasher tanks, which i feel might have helped him.
I experimented rushing with just Conscripts, GIs and Initiates. The only one i can kill is the Allies. The miners make all the difference because the Soviets and Yuri can fire at the infantry. Plus the early Allied units are not much help especially the guardian gis.
The Rocketeers are just OP against anything, lol. Adding Lasher will not change anything. Current Pro Yuri Meta doesn't use Lasher Tanks unless they have trouble dealing with tank spam. Try to fight without rocketeers. There are no scripts for hunting specifically just air units. There was in Tiberian Sun, but not over here.
I never intended to let players rush to be possible. I am team AI in terms of alignment. ; )
Actually I tried to recreate the keirov rush that the AI does and they actually brought it down pretty quick. I think I destroyed a barracks and a war factory. No big deal there. I also like how the AI rebuilds its construction yards.
Slight observation I saw the Soviet AI completely wall off it's ore Refinery LOL
I'd say the difficulty is pretty balanced. As I'm improving, I'm starting to get more benefits from the base improvements. It's starting to give me the advantage over the AI. There are ways it could theoretically be more difficult but I suppose you do want to give the players some option to increase to two or more opponents if they feel they need to challenge.
These are just more observations / suggestions. And again I don't know how to mod so I don't know the limitations.
Can AI task forces have a more variety of units? Could those rhino tank rushes have a few flax for anti-air support? Or even those dreaded Mirage tank mobs? Not that those need much help. Or Gatling guns supporting units? Which kind of brings up if it's possible to have tanks support infantry. They would be much more effective than just Infantry alone.
Can the AI build base defenses for its Tech buildings? They grab these all over the map but they don't defend them.
Sometimes the Allies will send a squad of four Jets that is not enough to destroy the target. It's a waste for them unless you just want this for harassment. They did this a few times before eventually sending enough to destroy my construction yard so it's not like it didnt eventually work haha
1. Yes, I could put the anti-air units into the task forces, but the bigger concern is the targeting. If you have observed Yuri's Manget Mastermind Gatling groups, you will see that they act as one body (i.e., all units focus on a few specific targets). The problem is this doesn't translate well into other combinations. We would have Flak attack air units while the Rhino followed along without doing anything because they also tried to target the air units. This may be solved by the use of support team, but I don't really understand how they work yet. At least there is hope for this issue.
2. AI doesn't understand that it can build away from its base. A workaround is to have them send out new conyards, but then they clone every building, and this is very annoying. I could set up a guard oil team instead, but feeling like a waste.
3. Harriers leaving with one shot left is on purpose. It's a warning shot for you to get some anti-air. On the other hand, Korean Black Eagles just don't care.
Do you think I should let the Allied AI build Chrono Commando? I don't personally think he is too hard to deal with, but I want to ask for your opinion.
Apparently I'm a noob because i had to look that up. I've definitely spent the least amount of time with any of the stolen tech units. But ok ive looked up his mechanics.
Here's the thing. The Allies are already very powerful and feel "buffed" The Soviets don't appear to be doing anything special and the Allies are already rushing with Chrono Legionnaires.
I'm neutral... but IF you added them, that may make the cosmonauts more plausible to add to the game.
But then if you add both of those units, Yuri is going to need a major buff.
I see now that you are suggesting giving this to just the AI. Ok thats different than across the board. Hmm idk, I'm extremely neutral on this. Yes it would make it more challenging, but do they really need more help? ...maybe.
Facing the Soviets definitely require total base defense. Those flak tracks are brutal. The Allies dont have a good rush like this. Only the Americans would cause the same type of total base defense because of paradrops.
So in the end you could add these units... but I think the next question will be, how can I buff Yuri?
Hmm, perhaps not. Just adding one thing and everything flip upside down. I just given SEAL the ability to see submerged unit yesterday with a far range and it completely destroyed Soviet naval power. The only concerning thing about the Allied is Prism tanks. Otherwise, it is pretty balanced as a game. Also, I’ll add some brutes and Yuri will be great, I think.
Yea the AI already uses spies very well. They will probably steal that tech from a sleeping player. That was another lesson I've learned is how to deal with them constantly trying to infiltrate. Ive gotten much better but they will usually slip one in. The power loss USUALLY doesn't help them much. Maybe the spies can focus on more important things to steal.
And you are correct that it is the prism tanks that make the Allies reign supreme. They are just incredibly versatile with the extended range, increased building attack power and decent infantry damage. When masses together the spreading effect of the prism shots can take on any land force.
Supplemented with mirage tanks and they are unstoppable. Again, while it seems theres been some improvement with your mod, the AI still struggles to actually see mirage tanks. Placing them at choke points is another OP tactic for the Allies. Because once again the Mirage tanks are versatile and work well against infantry. This is why I also prefer the Russians. The tesla tanks are the most comparable to the mirage tanks.
No power=no radar+no defense. That can come into play sometime.
I will tried decreasing prism tank attack range by 1.
I will now let hard detect mirage 99% and normal 95% of the time from 95 and 80 respectively from version 1. Look like even 80 is not enough.
Yea that why i say "usually" The AI (most likely) can't coordinate attacks at the same time they've brought down the power. So it's probably a random occurrence if they happen to bring down the power at a bad time.
I wouldn't be afriad to make Hard as difficult as possible. There is still the Easy option. Lets say if you made Easy be more difficult than the vanilla hard, that would be ok. This could give players three viable difficulties to work with. Easy and Medium can give you more options to increase the number of opponents. Where Hard can be designed to be very difficult 1v1.
Which it already is difficult. The bigger the map and more time the AI has to establish itself increases the difficulty exponentially.