So the patcher's server was changed recently and the current patcher can't connect to it to update itself with the new address which means that everyone will have to download the new patcher manually and then put it in your AoE3 directory.
If you run the current patcher you will probably get this: Error grabbing master server list.
The error might not show up for everyone as I have been told but in case it does here's the fix...
DOWNLOAD NEWER VERSION FROM HERE!
The deal is the same, run it as administrator!
It will be included in the version 5.5 installer so after that everything will be automated.
We will probably do more changes to the patcher and its server so I'll update this post with news as they happen.
Thanks for playing!
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Update on Updates
This is just a heads up on the things I'll be adding soon, I thought you should know before I'll release it and get people complaining because units are more expensive now for no reason.
So, I want to make Imperial upgrades to increase the unit's cost with about 20%. Why? Well because units get really, really powerful with their Imperial upgrades and it kinda makes sense to also make them a bit more expensive, and this is how AoE2 also worked.
Not only that, but by doing this I give players an important choice to make, upgrade their units to imperial and have really powerful stats but more expensive units, or don't upgrade them to Imperial, be weaker but also cheaper. Each player's economy will determinate with which strategy they go.
You might think "But now players with the best economy will win easier!". Well, not exactly, because they will use all that economy on more expensive units and dry it out faster, while players with weaker economy can still train more units for the same, cheaper price.
Plus, I did not increase the stats Imperial upgrades give, I only made them increase the unit's cost.
Another thing that I will add soon, Revolution civs are now getting villagers! But only 10 of them...
The idea of Revolution is still the same, you have a shitload of resources, you want to go kamikaze and train units stupid fast (+ infinite Forts and almost infinite Factories), you go for Revolution. But now, after all your Settlers transform into Militia you will still be able to train 10 more Settlers. How you use those Settlers is up to you.
Revolutions are times in which every villager takes up arms against their oppressors, not many still have time to work.
And another thing related to the "Out of sync" error in multiplayer, I have a file that might fix it for some but not for others, so I'll decide if I release it or not according to the survey.
So please vote! Thank you.
PS: And for God's name people, run the patcher as administrator!
So, I want to make Imperial upgrades to increase the unit's cost with about 20%. Why? Well because units get really, really powerful with their Imperial upgrades and it kinda makes sense to also make them a bit more expensive, and this is how AoE2 also worked.
Not only that, but by doing this I give players an important choice to make, upgrade their units to imperial and have really powerful stats but more expensive units, or don't upgrade them to Imperial, be weaker but also cheaper. Each player's economy will determinate with which strategy they go.
You might think "But now players with the best economy will win easier!". Well, not exactly, because they will use all that economy on more expensive units and dry it out faster, while players with weaker economy can still train more units for the same, cheaper price.
Plus, I did not increase the stats Imperial upgrades give, I only made them increase the unit's cost.
Another thing that I will add soon, Revolution civs are now getting villagers! But only 10 of them...
The idea of Revolution is still the same, you have a shitload of resources, you want to go kamikaze and train units stupid fast (+ infinite Forts and almost infinite Factories), you go for Revolution. But now, after all your Settlers transform into Militia you will still be able to train 10 more Settlers. How you use those Settlers is up to you.
Revolutions are times in which every villager takes up arms against their oppressors, not many still have time to work.
And another thing related to the "Out of sync" error in multiplayer, I have a file that might fix it for some but not for others, so I'll decide if I release it or not according to the survey.
So please vote! Thank you.
PS: And for God's name people, run the patcher as administrator!
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Chat and Play
That's right, the Improvement Mod's Lobby program has been released to all using the patcher! It is still in beta of course, which means its a bit buggy and has some missing features, but be sure to try it out with your friends and leave your opinion. Note that you need Java installed for it to work.
What is the Lobby? What it suggests, you can enter the chat room, find player to play with and set up games. Remember the the Lobby by it self will not make a playable connection between players, you will still need to use a program specifically designed for that like Hamachi or Tunngle.
The Lobby's main function is to find other players playing the Improvement Mod.
Look for "launcher.exe" in your main AoE3 folder.
You can read all about the Lobby right HERE!
I have added some new information in the "Help and Tools" tab here on the blog as well, check it out!
What is the Lobby? What it suggests, you can enter the chat room, find player to play with and set up games. Remember the the Lobby by it self will not make a playable connection between players, you will still need to use a program specifically designed for that like Hamachi or Tunngle.
The Lobby's main function is to find other players playing the Improvement Mod.
Look for "launcher.exe" in your main AoE3 folder.
You can read all about the Lobby right HERE!
I have added some new information in the "Help and Tools" tab here on the blog as well, check it out!
Friday, May 10, 2013
Realism Reloaded
The "accuracy update" has been released for everyone to test out. Please report any problems you might find. Remember that the chance to miss is very low but it does happen. This new feature affects all ground ranged units but it does not affect buildings and ships.
It's still a work in progress until I can add it to every single unit that needs it.
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There is something I wanted to do for a while, and I thought I did it for cannons but it proves I was a bit wrong, something that will add lots of realism into the game but might piss off some players.
I can make ranged units meaning cannons, archers, spearmen, riflemen and so forth, to have a small chance to miss their shots, to fire but not hit their target every time. This new feature would balance out with the other lost feature I added a while ago, height damage bonus which gives a very small attack bonus to units which fire from higher ground than their targets. The chance will be very small, as is the height bonus, but they can both decide the outcome of a battle, even in the favor of the weaker army.
Now, this also means a new luck factor is introduced, something that might piss off hardcore fans, but since most people seem to want more realism, I thought this would be an awesome thing to add. This new feature can be added to any unit, even melee, but it makes more sense to add it to ranged units since those are the most used ones and it would make melee units more viable and important. Plus, muskets were really inaccurate...
I will make a survey as always, but it seems the survey/poll feature offered by Blogger is bugged, and it does not properly record votes. So, I beg you to leave your opinion in the comments section of this post.
Thank you, and please help me take a decision!
It's still a work in progress until I can add it to every single unit that needs it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is something I wanted to do for a while, and I thought I did it for cannons but it proves I was a bit wrong, something that will add lots of realism into the game but might piss off some players.
I can make ranged units meaning cannons, archers, spearmen, riflemen and so forth, to have a small chance to miss their shots, to fire but not hit their target every time. This new feature would balance out with the other lost feature I added a while ago, height damage bonus which gives a very small attack bonus to units which fire from higher ground than their targets. The chance will be very small, as is the height bonus, but they can both decide the outcome of a battle, even in the favor of the weaker army.
Now, this also means a new luck factor is introduced, something that might piss off hardcore fans, but since most people seem to want more realism, I thought this would be an awesome thing to add. This new feature can be added to any unit, even melee, but it makes more sense to add it to ranged units since those are the most used ones and it would make melee units more viable and important. Plus, muskets were really inaccurate...
I will make a survey as always, but it seems the survey/poll feature offered by Blogger is bugged, and it does not properly record votes. So, I beg you to leave your opinion in the comments section of this post.
Thank you, and please help me take a decision!
Saturday, May 4, 2013
AI problems
I know the AI can be shit at times... My AI is based on the Draugur AI, which people said it was good, so that's why I used it. I then tweak it to train my units and build my buildings, as well as using the extra population I added. I also tried to tweak how it played, since people complained it was too slow and none aggressive.
I tried over and over again, and while a friend of mine seems to have nailed it I want to achieve that by my own terms. So, I left this message to someone here on the blog:
"Well, let me explain then.
What people don't seem to understand is that the AI has different personalities and strategies. Napoleon for example, favors cavalry and native units and has a balanced attack strategy, which means he attacks but he also builds protection for his base.
Elizabeth, British, she is a boomer, which means she first builds a powerful economy and then attacks.
Isabella, Spanish, she is a rusher. She doesn't care about base protection and spends all her resources on units with which she attacks you as often as she can.
But even with these built in strategies they do change the way they play sometimes. In one game for example, Isabella could chose a turtling strategy, which means she will build base defenses and attack less.
People just want the AI to attack continuously at all times, and while I am not completely against it, its simply very hard to tweak the AoE3 AI since it works in a weird, "lazy" way and requires a lot of codding to make it do even simple, basic things.
I did however, released a prototype AI. What is different in it? Simple, I removed all strategies and made everyone a rusher, even if some of them need an economy to evolve, like the Dutch because their Settlers cost coin, even so I removed every bit of personality and strategy from the AI and made what everyone seems to want.
And if this still doesn't satisfy my warmongering fans, then I will increase their rushing status even more and see what happens.
Thank you and please vote in the survey."
These are the personality descriptions from the AI file:
Elizabeth: Infantry oriented boomer, favors natives
Napoleon: Cav oriented, balanced, favors natives
Isabella: Rusher, disdains trading posts
Ivan: Infantry oriented turtler
Frederick: Cavalry oriented rusher
Maurice: Turtler, boomish, huge emphasis on trade
Henry: Artillery oriented boomer, favors trade
Suleiman: Artillery oriented, balanced
Gall: Extreme rush, ignores trade routes
Hiawatha: Balanced, trade and native bias.
Cuauhtemoc: Randomized, but usually light boom, defensive.
Kangxi: Infantry oriented turtler
Tokugawa: Extreme rush, ignores trade routes
Akbar: Cavalry oriented, balanced
Remember that they might change these strategies from time to time.
I tried over and over again, and while a friend of mine seems to have nailed it I want to achieve that by my own terms. So, I left this message to someone here on the blog:
"Well, let me explain then.
What people don't seem to understand is that the AI has different personalities and strategies. Napoleon for example, favors cavalry and native units and has a balanced attack strategy, which means he attacks but he also builds protection for his base.
Elizabeth, British, she is a boomer, which means she first builds a powerful economy and then attacks.
Isabella, Spanish, she is a rusher. She doesn't care about base protection and spends all her resources on units with which she attacks you as often as she can.
But even with these built in strategies they do change the way they play sometimes. In one game for example, Isabella could chose a turtling strategy, which means she will build base defenses and attack less.
People just want the AI to attack continuously at all times, and while I am not completely against it, its simply very hard to tweak the AoE3 AI since it works in a weird, "lazy" way and requires a lot of codding to make it do even simple, basic things.
I did however, released a prototype AI. What is different in it? Simple, I removed all strategies and made everyone a rusher, even if some of them need an economy to evolve, like the Dutch because their Settlers cost coin, even so I removed every bit of personality and strategy from the AI and made what everyone seems to want.
And if this still doesn't satisfy my warmongering fans, then I will increase their rushing status even more and see what happens.
Thank you and please vote in the survey."
These are the personality descriptions from the AI file:
Elizabeth: Infantry oriented boomer, favors natives
Napoleon: Cav oriented, balanced, favors natives
Isabella: Rusher, disdains trading posts
Ivan: Infantry oriented turtler
Frederick: Cavalry oriented rusher
Maurice: Turtler, boomish, huge emphasis on trade
Henry: Artillery oriented boomer, favors trade
Suleiman: Artillery oriented, balanced
Gall: Extreme rush, ignores trade routes
Hiawatha: Balanced, trade and native bias.
Cuauhtemoc: Randomized, but usually light boom, defensive.
Kangxi: Infantry oriented turtler
Tokugawa: Extreme rush, ignores trade routes
Akbar: Cavalry oriented, balanced
Remember that they might change these strategies from time to time.
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