Plasquar's Let's Play with Dark Age Graphic Modpack and VC Balance Mod 8.0
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Congrats Plasquar! Caught the latest episode last night, and wow, your holdings certainly have grown! Looks like you are about to be the dominant power in the north. I’m guessing Edinburgh has already fallen by now, just hasn’t been uploaded yet. 
If you have any final suggestions or thoughts based on your playthrough, I’m close to finalizing the final version of the mod, so please do let me know while you still have the chance. No major balance stuff of course at this late stage—just if there are any things you noticed that bothered you or that you’d like me to take a look at.
If you have any final suggestions or thoughts based on your playthrough, I’m close to finalizing the final version of the mod, so please do let me know while you still have the chance. No major balance stuff of course at this late stage—just if there are any things you noticed that bothered you or that you’d like me to take a look at.
Thanks, Edinburgh is my next target... 
My only real problem with VC is that I don't like the troop trees. Archers get promoted to infantry and cavalry into infantry as well.
I'd like to have an archery only troop tree.
But maybe that's historically inaccurate?
My only real problem with VC is that I don't like the troop trees. Archers get promoted to infantry and cavalry into infantry as well.
I'd like to have an archery only troop tree.
But maybe that's historically inaccurate?
Plasquar said:
The troop upgrades are indeed based on the unique historical period. Armies here are very different from the professional and more specialized armies you might find in other periods. Distinctions between troop type are primarily ones of social status, reputation, and access to equipment, not of specialized training for a particular battlefield role, and each man in your army has the hope of using the experience, prestige, and loot they acquire to ascend to a higher status role.
I discussed this issue with Joaquin a bit back, here’s a condensed version of the discussion:
Tingyun said:
Thanks for clarifying. That's what I thought.
Something else that annoyed me: I can use the ferry station with my 600 units, no problem.
And when I'm marshal (but without anyone following me) the ferry station won't transport me anymore.
I do understand the reason behind that... but I guess it only makes sense if there's actually someone who is following you.
Something else that annoyed me: I can use the ferry station with my 600 units, no problem.
And when I'm marshal (but without anyone following me) the ferry station won't transport me anymore.
I do understand the reason behind that... but I guess it only makes sense if there's actually someone who is following you.
Interesting, somehow I never noticed that.
This is vanilla VC behavior (I haven’t modded ferries), and I agree with you it would make more sense to have a check to see if the player is being currently followed. I might be too close to finalizing things to try to fix this though. Partly because I’m not familiar with that part of the code, and partly because I’m worried the VC devs might have encountered some problem or reason for making the rule absolute (and so I would want to do a lot of playtesting to make sure everything worked right).
Sorry about that—you have certainly identified a problem worthy of a change, hopefully if any more issues occur to you later I’ll be able to be more helpful.
This is vanilla VC behavior (I haven’t modded ferries), and I agree with you it would make more sense to have a check to see if the player is being currently followed. I might be too close to finalizing things to try to fix this though. Partly because I’m not familiar with that part of the code, and partly because I’m worried the VC devs might have encountered some problem or reason for making the rule absolute (and so I would want to do a lot of playtesting to make sure everything worked right).
Sorry about that—you have certainly identified a problem worthy of a change, hopefully if any more issues occur to you later I’ll be able to be more helpful.
Oh, you should certainly report stuff like that. Balance Mod’s scope has become pretty broad by now, and included plenty of convenience adjustments/vanilla bug fixes/gameplay tweaks etc.
Just after 10 versions I’m ready to tie a bow on it and release a final product, and since the Beta 10 has been out for awhile, my working rule for myself is only easy changes that do not require any further rounds of playtesting. Absent that, I would tackle this issue, and you should continue to report any and all suggestions if any occur to you (though I’m about to sign off for the night so I may not respond further until tomorrow).
Just after 10 versions I’m ready to tie a bow on it and release a final product, and since the Beta 10 has been out for awhile, my working rule for myself is only easy changes that do not require any further rounds of playtesting. Absent that, I would tackle this issue, and you should continue to report any and all suggestions if any occur to you (though I’m about to sign off for the night so I may not respond further until tomorrow).
Plasquar, love the way you narrate and present your lets plays. one of the reasons i got back to VC.
your videos look great, would you please share what software you use to record and render? i use OBS to record and Vegas Pro 14 to render. so far the results for my Rome 2 Total War gameplays (i.e. https://youtu.be/eAxzViZ2eME) looked very good, imho. but each time i upload the VC video (using the same softs and settings) the result is a motion blur when camera is moving around on the battlefield/tourneys but also in taverns etc. have a look please: https://youtu.be/ywHs7O3mKVg?t=758
any ideas at all? when i replay the rendered version on my PC it looks great, but once it is uploaded to youtube i get this motion triggered blur that take a moment to clear away once camera stops moving. campaign map looks just fine though, so im totally buffled.
would appreciate your feedback as my Great Heather Army is ready to roll.
thanks in advance.
your videos look great, would you please share what software you use to record and render? i use OBS to record and Vegas Pro 14 to render. so far the results for my Rome 2 Total War gameplays (i.e. https://youtu.be/eAxzViZ2eME) looked very good, imho. but each time i upload the VC video (using the same softs and settings) the result is a motion blur when camera is moving around on the battlefield/tourneys but also in taverns etc. have a look please: https://youtu.be/ywHs7O3mKVg?t=758
any ideas at all? when i replay the rendered version on my PC it looks great, but once it is uploaded to youtube i get this motion triggered blur that take a moment to clear away once camera stops moving. campaign map looks just fine though, so im totally buffled.
would appreciate your feedback as my Great Heather Army is ready to roll.
thanks in advance.
Hi Sarkiss, thanks for the kind words.
I use OBS as well. The main problem with Youtube are videos with a lot of motion. You will never get rid of the pixelation.
You can reduce it A LOT if you get the VP9 codec. Right-click on my video and on yours and select "Stats for Nerds". You'll see that I get the VP9 codec and you get AVC1.
AVC1 = bad, VP9 = good.
There are 3 ways to get VP9.
1. Be famous. People with thousands of subs get it all the time (I'm not famous as well, so that doesn't work for me either).
2. Upload the video in a higher resolution than 1080p. My videos are 1440p and that's the reason I get VP9.
3. Edit your videos and select "Enhancements". Do nothing at all and click "Save". After the video got processed you'll receive VP9 (that used to work for a long time but they chanced stuff recently, maybe it doesn't work anymore).
I use OBS as well. The main problem with Youtube are videos with a lot of motion. You will never get rid of the pixelation.
You can reduce it A LOT if you get the VP9 codec. Right-click on my video and on yours and select "Stats for Nerds". You'll see that I get the VP9 codec and you get AVC1.
AVC1 = bad, VP9 = good.
There are 3 ways to get VP9.
1. Be famous. People with thousands of subs get it all the time (I'm not famous as well, so that doesn't work for me either).
2. Upload the video in a higher resolution than 1080p. My videos are 1440p and that's the reason I get VP9.
3. Edit your videos and select "Enhancements". Do nothing at all and click "Save". After the video got processed you'll receive VP9 (that used to work for a long time but they chanced stuff recently, maybe it doesn't work anymore).
thanks a lot for a detailed response. that really sucks 
. i thought it was something on my end. will try option 3, see if that helps. sorry, another dumb question. do you know if i can record in 1440p even if my resolution is 1080?
btw, the link to Viking Conquest in your sig opens Perisno #001 instead.
thanks so very much!
. i thought it was something on my end. will try option 3, see if that helps. sorry, another dumb question. do you know if i can record in 1440p even if my resolution is 1080?btw, the link to Viking Conquest in your sig opens Perisno #001 instead.
thanks so very much!
Thanks, I fixed the link.
If you use Vegas to edit your movie anyway I'd recommend to just record in 1080p like usual and then stretch it in Vegas to 2560x1440.
You'll get VP9 that way but you'd have to test the quality.
Upscaling 1080p to 1440p may look blurry, depending on the source quality.
If you use Vegas to edit your movie anyway I'd recommend to just record in 1080p like usual and then stretch it in Vegas to 2560x1440.
You'll get VP9 that way but you'd have to test the quality.
Upscaling 1080p to 1440p may look blurry, depending on the source quality.
i see. option 3 (enhancements) didnt work for me, sadly. will try stretching it in Vegas, like you suggested. fingers crossed. i really want to continue the adventures of the Great Heathen Army but this pixelation issue is killing mePlasquar said:
thanks again for your help, very much appreciated!
Hello Tingyun and everyone else. With the latest episode my playthrough came to an end.
I decided not to conquer the whole map this time.
I don't really know what you can actually change with mods and what you can't change (and what you're aiming for with the balance mod) but I'll just leave some problems here that I encountered:
- the ferry station problem I described earlier
- you are very very slow on the worldmap in late game with the followers
- you don't get skill/attribute points when leveling up which resulted for me in a lack of pathfinding at the end (only a problem for new players which aren't aware of VC mechanics I guess)
- the AI behaves strange when you get knocked unconsious during a fight (which may be a feature to add realism since troops don't wanna charge anymore)but I'm used to see everyone charge as soon as the player dies
- the fact that you can't open the battle stats after you died drives me crazy, it may be a realism feature as well that you can't command your troops after you died but I'd be nice to know how many people already died
While these are only negative thoughts I can tell you that I really enjoyed VC.
The story is superb and VC almost never (unlike other mods) crashed on me. The performance on the battlefield with 750 units on the battlefield is still very good while other mods struggle with 200.
The scenes are gorgeous and the music is fantastic.
I enjoyed VC a lot.
I decided not to conquer the whole map this time.
I don't really know what you can actually change with mods and what you can't change (and what you're aiming for with the balance mod) but I'll just leave some problems here that I encountered:
- the ferry station problem I described earlier
- you are very very slow on the worldmap in late game with the followers
- you don't get skill/attribute points when leveling up which resulted for me in a lack of pathfinding at the end (only a problem for new players which aren't aware of VC mechanics I guess)
- the AI behaves strange when you get knocked unconsious during a fight (which may be a feature to add realism since troops don't wanna charge anymore)but I'm used to see everyone charge as soon as the player dies
- the fact that you can't open the battle stats after you died drives me crazy, it may be a realism feature as well that you can't command your troops after you died but I'd be nice to know how many people already died
While these are only negative thoughts I can tell you that I really enjoyed VC.
The story is superb and VC almost never (unlike other mods) crashed on me. The performance on the battlefield with 750 units on the battlefield is still very good while other mods struggle with 200.
The scenes are gorgeous and the music is fantastic.
I enjoyed VC a lot.
Hi Plasquar,
Congrats on completing your playthrough and all your accomplishments during it! Yes, I think VC is often best treated as a roleplaying journey, rather than inevitable going for conquering the map, which is a monumental feat (and something I have never even attempted)
I'm afraid a real-life issue has me very rushed at the moment, but I wanted to quickly respond, as I do very much appreicate the feedback.
- the followers do indeed slow you down. One thing Balance Mod adds (thanks to a contribution from Evilsquid) is that the movement delay does go away if your followers do, so if you drop off enough troops for the camp followers to disappear on their own, then you will get your speed back..
- the VC leveling system is certainly interesting. I do tend to like it, as the limited attribute points but abundant skill points can facilitate tightly defined character types built around attribute distribution. But it is certainly a matter of preference.
- the battle behaviors you mention I haven't modded, and in truth I haven't done much of battle modding at all (aside from changing morale and retreats, and stuff like having troops use short range weapons on ships). You make some good points, and maybe that is one area of modding where someone else will pick things up going forward.
Glad to hear you had such a fun time, and I know I really enjoyed watching some of your episodes!
Congrats on completing your playthrough and all your accomplishments during it! Yes, I think VC is often best treated as a roleplaying journey, rather than inevitable going for conquering the map, which is a monumental feat (and something I have never even attempted)
I'm afraid a real-life issue has me very rushed at the moment, but I wanted to quickly respond, as I do very much appreicate the feedback.
- the followers do indeed slow you down. One thing Balance Mod adds (thanks to a contribution from Evilsquid) is that the movement delay does go away if your followers do, so if you drop off enough troops for the camp followers to disappear on their own, then you will get your speed back..
- the VC leveling system is certainly interesting. I do tend to like it, as the limited attribute points but abundant skill points can facilitate tightly defined character types built around attribute distribution. But it is certainly a matter of preference.
- the battle behaviors you mention I haven't modded, and in truth I haven't done much of battle modding at all (aside from changing morale and retreats, and stuff like having troops use short range weapons on ships). You make some good points, and maybe that is one area of modding where someone else will pick things up going forward.
Glad to hear you had such a fun time, and I know I really enjoyed watching some of your episodes!
