Slitherine

Hello,

Playing with v1.3.9.

I have spent may hours playing this game system and while many parts still remain mysterious, like trying to control Decadence or population Loyalty in any meaningful way; none is more mysterious than the AI OBJECTIVE setting which seems quite arbitrary and lacking any strategic purpose.

In order to advance a faction, say Rome, you have to take objectives; and when they are far reaching and seemingly incoherent, it seriously detracts from the game play.

Anyone else find this aspect troubling? I wonder, with the advent of newer AI models, if the Designer's would consider upgrading the AI or has this already been done in Kingdoms?

Is it just me?

Thanks.

As far as I can tell (keep in mind I have no certainty), it seems like:

• Each nation has its own set of objectives though in uneven quantities (Tanais has seven, Cyrene has 13 IIRC, and so on);
• Larger nations seem to have alternative sets triggering according to their relations/ongoing wars (that one I have trouble understanding/explaining);
• Then outside these definite sets, each nation may get extra objectives usually against hostile capitals (likely defined by "relation status" such as wary, despite, etc) - looks like there are low chances behind obtaining those, with even lower chances if there are no ongoing wars (keeping intently competitors at -50).

I've seen the third point only rarely competing with the first, as the original sets of objectives seem to have the higher priority; you can have at most four active objectives, unless losing one you previously held thus going over that cap. I'm not sure how long they stick around - usually I rush to recover them but I think I had occurrences where such lost objectives would disappear after few turns (something like 5).

Sometimes I find the original sets a bit annoying especially when I leave intently the original starting area of the nation I play (usually hellenes, relying on the trade settlements decision). Sometimes they even become a pain when they keep being assigned to a target I'm not interested in (e.g. playing Byzantion, not interested in Asia Minor, yet until I throw gifts left and right I have objectives that keep being assigned there no matter how often I keep offering to relinquish them).

What I have the most trouble with is understanding the token gain chances, as sometimes (despite being in the top third) the green line under the nation panel doesn't appear but I occasionally still gain one, whereas on the opposite I've spent more than one game (usually tied to longer game sessions) being in that top third, nation panel telling I have 25/30/35% chances of gaining such a token, and after 40 turns there still is nothing.

Mevelios wrote: ↑Mon Jan 20, 2025 7:07 pm What I have the most trouble with is understanding the token gain chances, as sometimes (despite being in the top third) the green line under the nation panel doesn't appear but I occasionally still gain one, whereas on the opposite I've spent more than one game (usually tied to longer game sessions) being in that top third, nation panel telling I have 25/30/35% chances of gaining such a token, and after 40 turns there still is nothing.

Yea, you experience a true RNG. Same thi g with Diplomatic proposals. I usually build relationships.with the whole world via gifts and insults cuz even when you send out 10 Dioli proposals with 15% chance you are lucky if 1 goes through.

As for the tokens: its out of your control besides objective hunting. You want to keep in the top 10 Legacy to get the extra chances. Then you will receive temporarily penalties after getting token in the past 5 turns. Remember that AI will play more aggressively and receive more Dynamic Difficulty and Manifest Destiny when you are in the top 10.

As for objectives: yes, historical borders objective generation is heavily weighted until you exhausted those options. If you dont know various nations have different modifiers for one time Decadence regional modifier for the conquest. E.g. most Hellenic nations sit at 4x, while big nations at 3x or lower.

If you want to refill your objective go to the Diplomatic screen and offer Relinquish option. You wont lose anything and a new objective will be generated. Developers sometimes have to hide them further away from players, cuz Objective spam would make gaining aging tokens easy. On to of that you have Government Age reduction via capturing a new objective. In case you wonder you can't do the exploits loop of gifting and recapturing regions. Margin for the bonuses gain will be too small.