The problem with expansion packs is having to relearn everything because they’ve messed with some pretty familiar mechanics. This is my big issue so far with Beyond the Sword. While I love the scenarios and mods I’ve tried, the new techs and espionage system really mess with my mojo. You know how it is when you have a rhythm because you’ve played a game nearly nonstop since it arrived?
And unless my memory is fooling me, the AI seems a hell of a lot more aggressive. Of course, I still have to figure out which of the new leaders are people to avoid as neighbors. You know, the Montezuma-Tokugawa-Alexander types who will make obnoxious demands (like I’m giving Astronomy to anyone on a Terra map), start wars for imagined slights and then blow right past your fortified bordertowns to prey on the soft, chewy innards of your empire.
Suleiman is going on the list. “The Lawgiver” my ass.
Sounds like the “Better AI” mod really got merged into the game, then. If you fell behind in the tech race and had a weak military, you could really expect to be backstabbed — a good thing, in my book.
Too bad the release date is the 27th here…
The thing I don’t like about Better AI is that it makes the AI a little more gamey. Sure, the default AI does stupid things, but some of the stupid things it does make it feel a little more like you are in a struggle against other countries, and not playing a super powered board game against min-maxing robots. On the whole, it is a great improvement, but it makes me a bit wistful for days of old, when life was simple.