Saturday, January 28, 2012

Improvement Mod version 4.8.2

Yes, finally...

AI not training Spies, being a little bit more aggressive and other AI changes, Japanese use the US Consulate units, it's all here.

The usual bug fixing, aaaaand... the US can now use the Consulate to ally with European powers.

You will fell the need to tell me to change or add new Consulate allies or techs for the US, so please don't...
They might not be perfect, but enough for a civilization made after Europeans without the ability to revolt and without melee infantry.

And yes, a new download option has been added for Mac users, but anyone can use it.
Inside the zip you will find the mod without the installer, which means you need to manually install it.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

I need bugs!

I really want to release a new version which contains much needed AI changes, like the one which will stop the bots from training Spies... This has been a very reported problem and it was my mistake because it wasn't fixed in the last update.

Not only this, but the AI personalities have been slightly altered like they where before I 'converted' the mod to Steam.

But, so far, to few bugs have been reported, and to release a new update i need to fix and change more things....
So don't be shy, tell me every single problem you find, only by doing that it will get fixed.

I also noticed that people who use Mac visit the blog and probably leave empty handed...
I know that Macs can't run installers so when the new version will be released I will also release a zip with the mod inside which will need to be manually installed.

Hopefully this will make everyone happy.
No big deal with copying some files and folders into the AoE3 directory, so don't worry...

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Improvement Mod version 4.8.1 (works with Steam)

It contains many tweaks and fixes, mostly requested from the community, plus a couple of new features of course.

The Portuguese Consulate can now send Cassadores instead of Musketeers.
The Ottomans now have a new Minuteman model.

The U.S. Consulate has been further improved and the very reported Flag Bearer has been fixed.

This is pretty much all for this update, all those 'tweaks and fixes' won't be mentioned because they are too many... but, the people who reported bugs these days should have an idea.

Keep reporting problems and make sure you do your part in making this mod more popular and known to everyone who plays AoE3 and wants more from it without changing the 'CORE' of the game!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Improvement Mod version 4.8 (works with Steam)

Alright, it's done! The 'Improvement Mod' is now compatible with the Steam AoE3 game.
Remember, when installing the mod for Steam use this path in the installer:

/Steam/steamapps/common/Age of Empires 3/bin/

Now here's the thing, I fear, not sure about it, but I fear that if you start the game with Steam, it could check your files for changes, and when it finds them, it might 'update' your game to the original version, so I recommend starting the game from inside the 'bin' folder using 'age3y.exe'. I am not sure about this, I need reports from more people to be sure. I also need to remind you that this mod is for 'Asian Dynasties' ONLY! So when starting from Steam, select TAD.

But, as far as 'working' goes, it works perfect! Tested my self with the help of my good friend Daniel.


Regarding in-game changes. As I told you before, the Japanese can now ally with the U.S.A. through the Consulate and get 4 U.S. units and some awesome techs. This alliance replaced the 'Japanese Isolation' one.
Now don't be sad, one of the units from the 'Japanese Isolation' was added as a native in place of the Sohei, and the Shinobi is now available in the Japanese Home City, so nothing has been lost.

Also, more changes have been done on the European and U.S. Priest. And let's not forget the balance changes some people requested here on the blog.

And that's all for now. Let the problem and bug reporting begin!

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Improvement Mod version 4.7.7

You all know that I can release new updates hours apart, right? So, it's time for a new one!

Unless one of you knows how to make some kind of an 'auto-patcher' which installs into the game and updates the game automatically, I'll keep releasing updates whenever i want...

Again, a pretty big update, i had my hands full in the last days.
And again, i will mention only the big stuff, small changes like increase the damage of a unit by 1 is not worth to mention.

Firstly, I have added new horses for the Cavalaria, Mounted Rifleman and Saber. I strongly recommend checking out the Cavalaria one. I have also added new animations for Lancer, Cavalaria and Naginata Rider.
Fixed some European artillery animations as well.

Now, more changes for the Americans. They have a new, custom priest, finally, and new options when advancing to the Imperial Age. When advancing to age V they can choose to unlock either trainable Miners at the Town Center, or trainable Colonial Militia also at the Town Center. That's right, the War Tens can't train Militia anymore. I have also added custom portraits for age IV and V politicians.
You might ask yourself, what good are Colonial Militia in age V anyway... Well, they are cheap, fast moving and fast training. Also, pretty powerful.
Miners on the other hand, being the fastest Coin gatherers in the game, they have a train limit of 10 and cost 2 population. For those who didn't knew, Miners do get affected from Coin gathering speed techs, so you can make them gather even faster. But you can have just 10.

And regarding all priests, i have changed their healing animation, and made it a little bit more... holy... very nice.

So, head over to the download section and get yourself the latest version!
This might be the last version for some time, so make sure you get it.

Don't know if i should mention this, but don't get fooled by the size of the zip, which has been tightly compressed, this mod is HUGE!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Improvement Mod version 4.7.6

With a new year comes a new update. And a pretty big one. Besides the usual bug fixing and little improvements, I have added a new unit to the U.S., the Marine, replacing the Musketeer.

The Marine is a ranged heavy infantry unit of course, and it has a pretty powerful attack against cavalry and light infantry in melee mode, compensating the lack of melee infantry that the U.S. has. Or so i hope. I think I am not that good with balancing units and I don't play so much AoE3 lately so i might get numbers wrong. I might ask for help with this 'problem' sometime in the near future, but not now.

Other new, awesome features, are new animations for Janissary type units (Janissay, Strelet, Schutter, Fusilier, Marine, Sepoy and Templar Rifleman). The new animations are for walking and running. They are of course original animations never used and forgotten in the game's files, like many other things, and brought back to life by me.

The U.S. Rifleman has also been remade, with new models, skins and animations.

And this is all for this update, i hope you enjoy it and if you find any problems write them here or in the download section.