Re: UserPatch (final v1.2) release date - March 30th!
- Concerning the 60 FPS issue, I bet that a P4 with 512 MB ram can support a game at 60 FPS with 1 human player and 5 AIs.
I suggest to try it, and if it is not working ok for your old computer, uninstalling UP and reinstalling it in a different way is so easy. 60 FPS is better for your eyes too.
- Concerning the "all food types are now just food" issue, it is understandable to hear some objections. I was the one who objected first. But I also happened to be the one who asked for something to be done with an issue that hindered AIs a whole lot: before this fix it was possible that an AI farmer dropping a house would lose his food upon completion of his building task. There was nothing to be done about this, and in all games at least some times an AI lost food this way. It was a bug, and the solution had to be this. In fact it is not a matter of "fix it or leave it?" dilemma. It had to be fixed, or else AIs would not be able to perform ok.
- Concerning the "no changes to gameplay" statement, this is not absolutely true. The reduced patrol delay is one issue and this was in fact not necessary to do, it was a request. Another issue is the fact that rams now auto-target enemy siege within their reaction radius (especially useful when patrolling rams vs enemy siege). This is an important gameplay change that makes rams more useful. It had to be done this way in order to allow AIs use their rams defensively without using cumputation-heavy commands.
A third gameplay change is that soldiers now do not regard unpacked trebuchets as buildings (ie they no more ignore them if movable targets are around). This was a clear bug and noone will cry for it being fixed.
- Many annoying bugs are fixed. Some people may complain, but I personally find no joy in defeating another player because I can use a bug. I prefer defeating him because I had a better strategic plan, better execution, unit management, reaction reflexes etc.
- Many requests were turned down. For example, monk patrol (brrrrr). This would make monks OP.
Also, the option to allow units auto-find the best targets for them (ie in an army of knights and huskarls your archers would prefer firing at knights) was requested by players of various levels, but was left out. AIs can use it, though. If this was implemented, then rams would no longer protect your army vs archers that well.
Accepting or declining a request was always made after discussion with members of the community: poor, good or top players, AI scripters, scenario makers, map creators, so many debates have taken place. And that's why this thing is so damn good, it's because of the feedback. It's because its creators believed that 2 brains are always better than 1 brain, so they wanted the widest possible acceptance for every change they made. A 10% dissatisfaction about a fix would be more than enough to turn it down.
2 years in progress and testing are enough, I think.
- Concerning the 60 FPS issue, I bet that a P4 with 512 MB ram can support a game at 60 FPS with 1 human player and 5 AIs.
I suggest to try it, and if it is not working ok for your old computer, uninstalling UP and reinstalling it in a different way is so easy. 60 FPS is better for your eyes too.
- Concerning the "all food types are now just food" issue, it is understandable to hear some objections. I was the one who objected first. But I also happened to be the one who asked for something to be done with an issue that hindered AIs a whole lot: before this fix it was possible that an AI farmer dropping a house would lose his food upon completion of his building task. There was nothing to be done about this, and in all games at least some times an AI lost food this way. It was a bug, and the solution had to be this. In fact it is not a matter of "fix it or leave it?" dilemma. It had to be fixed, or else AIs would not be able to perform ok.
- Concerning the "no changes to gameplay" statement, this is not absolutely true. The reduced patrol delay is one issue and this was in fact not necessary to do, it was a request. Another issue is the fact that rams now auto-target enemy siege within their reaction radius (especially useful when patrolling rams vs enemy siege). This is an important gameplay change that makes rams more useful. It had to be done this way in order to allow AIs use their rams defensively without using cumputation-heavy commands.
A third gameplay change is that soldiers now do not regard unpacked trebuchets as buildings (ie they no more ignore them if movable targets are around). This was a clear bug and noone will cry for it being fixed.
- Many annoying bugs are fixed. Some people may complain, but I personally find no joy in defeating another player because I can use a bug. I prefer defeating him because I had a better strategic plan, better execution, unit management, reaction reflexes etc.
- Many requests were turned down. For example, monk patrol (brrrrr). This would make monks OP.
Also, the option to allow units auto-find the best targets for them (ie in an army of knights and huskarls your archers would prefer firing at knights) was requested by players of various levels, but was left out. AIs can use it, though. If this was implemented, then rams would no longer protect your army vs archers that well.
Accepting or declining a request was always made after discussion with members of the community: poor, good or top players, AI scripters, scenario makers, map creators, so many debates have taken place. And that's why this thing is so damn good, it's because of the feedback. It's because its creators believed that 2 brains are always better than 1 brain, so they wanted the widest possible acceptance for every change they made. A 10% dissatisfaction about a fix would be more than enough to turn it down.
2 years in progress and testing are enough, I think.