Impressive game

[Sillyflower]

By any standards, let alone from a small outfit.

The AI is annoyingly aggressive (as it should be) and the systems work well. The UI is very easy to use and the flexibility around the options is excellent. I personally hate random events in any game, though that's probably a mniority opinion,so a big plus to be able to turn them off.

I have only done the Mediterranean scenario to date - and I'm excited to see that it is called the 'first scenario'.

Just a few niggles - meant in a helpful way.

I can win with the 3 major powers on medium fairly easily now, but have not got anywhere on hard. Tried with Carthage but my best result to date was to last about 40-50 turns until I lost due to the creation of a huge federation of enemies. Can't see how I could prevent this as even some very friendly countries ( max postive relations) were happy to join the Evil Empire (can't remember whose) without a 2nd thought. ? I was just unlucky/useless but it seemed a bit absurd. Other games I hadn't lost yet but was being hammered the old-fashioned way to a point where it wasn't worth carrying on.

The ancient period has always been my favourite for history and gaming so I tried as Massilia as being one of the stronger-looking civilisations. Several games on 'easy' later again the best I ever managed was to be doing quite well: 1 city lost but 3 or 4 taken from the celts and neutrals and hopes of a formal link-up with the Iberians. Next thing a Ptolomaic federation ruled the world after only about 40-50 turns.

It would be nice if some of the smaller countries could be worth playing. Presumably they could have less challenging targets to get a win. It could be me or perhaps some update and/or mods could make this a viable option. Presumably they could have less challenging targets to get a win. I have no IT skills so I can't solve my own problem. EDIT - This comment is erroneous for reasons in posts below

Lastly, the music and sound-effects tend to disappear after a period. May just be my computer (though have not had this issue with any other game)but in any event to a major problem: not least because I play in silence most of the time so as not to annoy the real Sillyflower (my wife) even more when she's around.

Anyway I wish the game every continuing success and believe that it will get even bigger and better over time

[pavelk]

Hello Sillyflower,
welcome to our forum and thank you for such a nice post!

On the medium difficulty all the factions are playable and also tested that player can win with them. Maybe you haven't acquire all the possibilities how to improve your art of war or economical skills in the game? If this was the case, I would really recommend to watch some of the dev streams explaining the features.
Most of the factions can also be won on hard, half of them on heroic and few on legendary. This of course is valid only when you are very experience player. It doesnt make sense to try it if you haven't played at least 100 hours.

I am not sure I understand what you mean by the disappearing music. It works at one moment and it suddently stops working? Does all the sounds/music stop at the same time? It is definitely a bug and I would like to know more information.
Please join our Discord channel so we can discuss it directly.

Once again, thank you for the post. If you want to help us, please spread the word, write review, tell your friends. Every little helps:)
Pavel

[Sillyflower]

Many thanks for the quick reply Pavel.

I'm sure that there is room for a lot more excellence in my play. I have over 50 years of gaming experience (miniatures and strategy games) but only a couple of weeks with this game.

However, on the "doom in 10 years" thread about the Iberians in the Med. scenario you did write:

In theory they should be playable at least for 20+ turns but I cannot really say that you can win the game.

so I assume that your comment on balance only applies to random maps. I had assumed that random maps would give all factions a fighting chance of winning as you describe above. I can see that it would be harder to achieve with an historical scenario but I have hopes for the modders. Until then, before I move onto random maps, maybe I should try the weak countries on the 'beginner' level

[pavelk]

However, on the "doom in 10 years" thread about the Iberians in the Med. scenario you did write:

In theory they should be playable at least for 20+ turns but I cannot really say that you can win the game.

It is absolutely possible to win as Iberian tribes on medium difficulty. It is also possible on hard. I am not sure if it is possible on heroic (I dont remember those tests so precisely).

I assume that your comment on balance only applies to random maps.

No, the other way around:) Random maps are pretty much more difficult to balance, because of the random factors there, which cannot be 100% balanced.

[Sillyflower]

I see that Blathergut was trying Iberians on heroic level! He had obviously forgotten to take his meds that day, or perhaps too many

I can only defer to your expertise. I live up to my name....................

[n0kn0k]

I've beaten the game with Rome at legendary during beta.
If you can master Hard with Rome, you can win on Heroic and Legendary also. Even with the same tactics (I used the same from easy to legendary for testing purposes).
You just need to be a bit lucky and be a whole lot more carefull with spending money.
At that level resources become so rare that every decision counts. That's imho when the game really shines.
You are forced to make meaningfull choices and all the systems interact with eachother to make you feel the consequences.

[stormbringer3]

When I play the smaller countries I use beginner or easy but I then check all the empty game option boxes. Am I playing medium with the extra resources etc. that you get on beginner or easy?
Thanks for any opinions.

[ErissN6]

Yeah, thanks for the comments, I thought this game was a Slitherine error (and I know I'm not alone to underrate the game). So I'm pleased I seem to be wrong.

[Sillyflower]

I seem to be getting the hang of it now and won as Carthaginians on hard in only 80 turns - not sure how tho'. Everyone just seemed to want to federate me for some reason. Rome and Ptolomaic took much longer.

[Blathergut]

I like to try the smaller civs on heroic to see if I can get anywhere. I like the challenge of a small area.