Slitherine

We invite Empires players to join the FOG2 Open beta if they want to test the options affecting Empires>FOG2 battles that we plan to introduce in the next FOG2 update.

These are:

1) Option to use FOG2 Difficulty settings for Empires battles. This is off by default. If it is turned on, Empires battles will use FOG2 difficulty settings. This means that the conversion ratio for the enemy units will be adjusted according to the same scale as used in FOG2 Campaigns – so they will get more FOG2 units on higher difficulty levels. In addition, on Deity level unit quality is adjusted slightly in favour of the enemy, and on Centurion level unit quality is adjusted slightly in favour of the player. If the default setting is selected, no FOG2 difficulty adjustments will apply. (The current situation is that the quality tweaks on Centurion and Deity levels apply, but no other FOG2 difficulty adjustments).
2) Option to adjust the size of Empires battles between 50% and 150% of the default conversion ratio.

Here is how to join the beta:

http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 77&t=92393

Note that the automated program switching will not work with the beta version of FOG2. (It might if both games are the STEAM version, but we haven't tested it). You are therefore advised to restart each game manually when using the beta version of FOG2, to ensure that the right version of each game gets used.

Thanks for the update, rbodleyscott. The ability to scale down the number of units used when exporting battles from Empires to FOGII is most welcome. (If you are playing Empires, you mostly want to keep playing Empires, so smaller battles will enable you to return to Empires more quickly.)

Would participating in the Beta make joining the digital tournament/league tricky? It is due to start soon.

Also, whilst you are here, I recently saw a wonderful National Geographic documentary on the wildlife of Yunan. There are Chinese (Asiatic) elephants! I was amazed by this. Were they ever used as mounts in combat? Are they represented in FOGII?

uneducated wrote: ↑Sun Sep 29, 2019 12:22 pm Thanks for the update, rbodleyscott. The ability to scale down the number of units used when exporting battles from Empires to FOGII is most welcome. (If you are playing Empires, you mostly want to keep playing Empires, so smaller battles will enable you to return to Empires more quickly.)

Would participating in the Beta make joining the digital tournament/league tricky? It is due to start soon.

If you use the standalone Slitherine version, the beta is a separate build and does not overwrite the vanilla build - you just have to remember to use the right one. But the beta logs on to the Test server, so you won't be able to accidentally play a turn with the wrong version.

The STEAM beta does overwrite the vanilla build, but it only takes a few seconds to revert it when you want to play MP. Once again, the beta version accesses the test server, so you won't be able to accidentally play with the wrong version.

Also, whilst you are here, I recently saw a wonderful National Geographic documentary on the wildlife of Yunan. There are Chinese (Asiatic) elephants! I was amazed by this. Were they ever used as mounts in combat? Are they represented in FOGII?

There were certainly used by the Burmese and Khmer, and Kublai Khan had a few. FOGII does not (yet) cover China.