AI and bug fix mod
Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2025 12:37 am
Greetings!
This is a release that pulls a number of changes and bug fixes together into a global mod that can be used with all[1] of the base and extra DCL campaigns.
This is primarily an AI enhancement. Over the past several months I've been taking notes and slowly fixing questionable behavior from the AI while I've been playing the game. That said, I wouldn't consider it finished. There are dozens if not hundreds of basic decision points each unit makes as it decides its next turn, not to mention all of the special abilities and unique properties of each unit. So there are lots of opportunities for improvements that pop up, but I think it's now in a good spot for a first release.
This also addresses several bugs that have been lurking in the main game for awhile. A couple of these are somewhat rare (for example, gaining a corrupted ability), but overall it's good to get them cleaned up. I couldn't include every fix yet as some of the bugs that need to be addressed are mixed in with a larger refactoring effort in the Sandbox AI mod. This will take quite a bit of time to merge over and I'm not quite sure when I'll get to it, but it's on the list.
Installation instructions can be found in the README, but if you are familiar with mods for this engine, there is nothing unique about it. Unzip and throw it into your "My Games\SANCTUS\MODS\" folder and you should be set. Then choose the mod from the top right dropdown that will now appear from the main menu.
I've played some from each of the campaigns while testing, but it hasn't been exhaustive. If you find that this breaks something, let me know and I'll make a fix and get a patch out as soon as I can.
Also, you might now find that the campaigns are harder to win. The AI will not cheat, but it will try to make the most of its abilities and unit positioning, and will attempt to correctly prioritize targets as it does battle. The original campaigns were not tested with this type of behavior in mind, so if you find you need to tone down the AI some, you can debuff it in the config file (see the README for details).
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TOUBLESHOOTING
After installing, you can tell the mod is enabled because when your units do damage to the enemy, you should see cyan colored text floating above the unit that indicates how much XP it gained for the damage it dealt.
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Alternicus Mechanimas: alternicus_mechanimas_release_1.0.zip
Main project: project home page
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****PLEASE NOTE: This is wholly incompatible with any of my other mods/campaigns. This is meant to boost the AI and provide bug fixes for the vanilla campaign. If you run one of my mods and see a popup with gibberish about scripting errors, you have to go back and choose "USING DEFAULT DATA" from the global mod dropdown (i.e. disable this mod).****
[1]Note an exception is the "Skirmish Campaign" DLC. It will crash if you use this mod with it. However, the Sandbox AI campaign mod is similar and it's intended to be an improved version of the Skirmish Campaign, and actually includes everything in this mod and more. But again, don't use this mod with the Sandbox AI mod (it doesn't need it).
This is a release that pulls a number of changes and bug fixes together into a global mod that can be used with all[1] of the base and extra DCL campaigns.
This is primarily an AI enhancement. Over the past several months I've been taking notes and slowly fixing questionable behavior from the AI while I've been playing the game. That said, I wouldn't consider it finished. There are dozens if not hundreds of basic decision points each unit makes as it decides its next turn, not to mention all of the special abilities and unique properties of each unit. So there are lots of opportunities for improvements that pop up, but I think it's now in a good spot for a first release.
This also addresses several bugs that have been lurking in the main game for awhile. A couple of these are somewhat rare (for example, gaining a corrupted ability), but overall it's good to get them cleaned up. I couldn't include every fix yet as some of the bugs that need to be addressed are mixed in with a larger refactoring effort in the Sandbox AI mod. This will take quite a bit of time to merge over and I'm not quite sure when I'll get to it, but it's on the list.
Installation instructions can be found in the README, but if you are familiar with mods for this engine, there is nothing unique about it. Unzip and throw it into your "My Games\SANCTUS\MODS\" folder and you should be set. Then choose the mod from the top right dropdown that will now appear from the main menu.
- alternicus_mechanimas_dropdown.jpg (165.66 KiB) Viewed 249 times
Also, you might now find that the campaigns are harder to win. The AI will not cheat, but it will try to make the most of its abilities and unit positioning, and will attempt to correctly prioritize targets as it does battle. The original campaigns were not tested with this type of behavior in mind, so if you find you need to tone down the AI some, you can debuff it in the config file (see the README for details).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOUBLESHOOTING
After installing, you can tell the mod is enabled because when your units do damage to the enemy, you should see cyan colored text floating above the unit that indicates how much XP it gained for the damage it dealt.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alternicus Mechanimas: alternicus_mechanimas_release_1.0.zip
Main project: project home page
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
****PLEASE NOTE: This is wholly incompatible with any of my other mods/campaigns. This is meant to boost the AI and provide bug fixes for the vanilla campaign. If you run one of my mods and see a popup with gibberish about scripting errors, you have to go back and choose "USING DEFAULT DATA" from the global mod dropdown (i.e. disable this mod).****
[1]Note an exception is the "Skirmish Campaign" DLC. It will crash if you use this mod with it. However, the Sandbox AI campaign mod is similar and it's intended to be an improved version of the Skirmish Campaign, and actually includes everything in this mod and more. But again, don't use this mod with the Sandbox AI mod (it doesn't need it).