I released a minor update (version 1.3.1) today; it has the following changes compared to previous version:
- Added a setting to define the odds, above which attacking unit will always win. This is by default 75%, but you can set it to any value between 70%-100% on 5% intervals. Value of 75% here means that whenever any player (human or AI) attacks with odds equal or better than that, the attack is considered to be so overwhelming that the defender does not have a chance against it. To disable this and get back the behaviour of version 1.3.0 and earlier, just set this to exactly 100% and it's like it used to be.
- Feature request: Settings for screen centering behaviour. You can disable centering on unit selection, and/or centering after unit has moved.
- Bugfix: Fixed a rare OpenGL ES crash when switching between the game and other applications. Occasionally happened while switching back to game after some time had already passed since playing, and Android had killed the graphics context already.
- Bugfix: Fixed a crash that sometimes occurs when last enemy unit was killed and AI then recruits a new unit in a town.
- Bugfix: Long range skirmisher can no longer be hit back when skirmish fails (thanks for the bugreport, this completely eluded me earlier!)
- Several variants of plains hex background textures to give a bit more varied appearance. I'll be tweaking these still a bit, also the forest hexes are going to see some variance in a future version ...
Populus Romanus - A hex strategy game for Android tablets and phones
Awesome! And, thanx! Just saw that this is available on Amazon. Looking forward to playing more scenarios on my kindle fire. I've defeated all but the last scenario (the First Punic War) in the first campaign. It's going to be interesting to see how the new skirmishing rule effects play because it is big change from no chance of damage from initiating a skirmish to 50% when skirmish fails.
ReplyDeleteThe new 'always win' approach may help address peoples' perceptions of unfair odds. That was a clever solution.
A couple of other things may contirbute One other thing that may attribute to that perception is that players see the odds when their units attack, but not when their units are on defense. In addition, attack stats tend to be higher than the defense stats especially for stronger units. So, stronger units have more of an advantage attacking weaker units than defending against them. units are generally stronger on attack than on defense. The result--
Ignore the last paragraph of my previous post and read this one instead.
ReplyDeleteA couple of other things may contribute to peoples' perception of the AI cheating. 1) Players are only explicitly shown the odds when their units attack, not when their units defend. 2) Attack stats tend to be higher than defense stats for stronger units (praetorian, legion, etc). Combine those two and you have a situation where players are explicitly told the odds for attacks where their elite units have the biggest advantage, but don't know the odds for defense where their elite units have little to no advantage.
O.k., I've completed all available scenarios. (I guess version 1.3.1 only contains two scenarios in the Hannibal campaign.)
ReplyDeleteThe 'always win' option may make people a little happier by protecting their elite units. I have to confess that for the last scenario on the first campaign I sometimes cheated by setting it to 70% during my turn and then to 100% for the AI turn.
I think the 50% chance of damage for loosing a skirmish is too high. Under the previous rule of no chance of damage, most of what my lesser (e.g., spearmen) did was hang out in the flanks and skirmish. With the new rule, I do much less skirmishing, and usually with superior units. I think setting the chance of damage down a bit--maybe around 20%--would make the game more interesting.
Just wanted to drop a note and say thanks for a great game! I've just completed (and enjoyed) the Hannibal Campaign.
ReplyDeleteI sure hope you have the time to add more scenarios. And I would gladly pay extra for another roman campaign.
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ReplyDeletewhy there is a total absence of sound and music ?. Few musical themes would greatly improve the overall amtosphere and battle and movement sounds of you units could work too. Are you planning to implemetn this feats in the future ?
ReplyDeletethe Hannibal campaign is way too easy
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy this game but want to expand on my earlier comment about it being too easy. The first campaign system was quite detailed, and took me some time to finally defeat. The hannibal campaign however is far easier and I defeated the whole thing the first time through without issue. I have since played each map several times in multiplayer, and it is clear that the AI player is not given any advantages even at the end level. I like the aspects of the new units, but the maps aren't as challenging as the previous campaign either.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, a phenomenal game. Really enjoyed it all. I hope for more updates, naturally. A suggestion: add rock-paper-scissors to make it all a bit more believable. Cavalry should have a hard time fighting spears, spears vs. swords and swords vs cavalry. This would also add value to spears. That mechanics is not obligatory but it adds a layer of thought.
ReplyDeleteWhat I find as biggest problem is ai's complete disregard to defensive positions. Even when you are playing as an agressor, you can stop at a river and wait for the ai to plunge all its units into water to be slaughtered. This makes the game too easy in many cases. I've won several maps without a single loss because I retrained units while tue ai was drowning in a river.
If possible, in a player offensive scenario the ai should go camping behind a river or in the woods, let the player go flanking etc. Add a turn limit and you get a challenge.
Ok so how do you heal units?
ReplyDeleteAnd how do you with the Adriatic Coast scenario? I can't figure out how to win.
Your units are healed in cities. Move a damaged unit into your city and it will be healed a health bar per turn IF it was not under attack or itself attacking that turn. That is why it is best to keep enemies at least a hex away from cities. Else they attack the units in the city and they don't heal.
DeleteYou can use this to your advantage to prevent enemy units from healing, naturally.