Currently there exists a mod called Raiders drop loot which I use and I honestly don’t regard it as a blatant cheat.
Throughout history invading armies have gorged themselves on the treasures and riches of the defeated and I have no problem with using this mod in the game which relates to that.
However there is nothing which does the same for you own troops.
I mean plate mail armour and heavy weapons are extremely expensive to purchase or in time and resources to make them.
I would very much like to see a mod which allows the recovery of your troopers weapons and goods.
2 Likes
If you want soldiers to leave their equipment behind when they die in battle, there is a mod that can do this:
I have never used this mod, my point is: equipment is more or less damaged in fierce battles, it is unreasonable to obtain 100% new equipment. Moreover, even the most elite invader army in the Farthest Frontier (made up of heavy cavalry, heavy infantry, spearmen, rams, catapults) is still too weak. My settlement with a population of 2024 can destroy an army of 545 invaders with only 8 losses. This is unrealistic.
So the most equipment obtained can only be turned into iron ore to forge steel
2 Likes
Thanks very much mate I had no idea that this mod existed.
I do find it interesting that raiders drop loot is such a popular mod. I get the historical / realism justification; though it’s funny how those are so often used to justify changes that make the game easier, but rarely to complain about unfair advantages the player has (my 3 mods that make the game harder are by far the 3 least popular ones). But I don’t think that’s why people like it so much.
I suspect it’s more to do with looter-shooter mentality. You’ve killed the enemy, so you expect a reward for it in the form of loot. That’s the kind of gameplay loop that’s ingrained in gamers. But I don’t see raider attacks in FF as a reverse dungeon raid like that. Rather, it’s a test of my defences. I never so much win as lose to various degrees. Even the most case scenario of no buildings destroyed, no villager deaths, and no items stolen; I still lost villager work time in defending myself. I get that “the reward is not being penalised” is a too negative for some people, but I like it. It builds on the theme that you’re trying to build a community and an economy, and that warfare - even when done successfully - is a wasteful aberration from that. It’s a bit like the disease mechanic, there’s no reward for beating it beyond not suffering from it any longer. Or to take a RL analogy: it’s like building a sandcastle, I don’t expect a reward for it surviving being hit by a wave, just seeing if it can survive is the fun.
Probably, part of the reason so many people don’t view it this way is because raiders are too easy (99% of the time, occasionally seriously tough raids appear out of the RNG), so it doesn’t feel like a test at all. Rather, it feels like a chore, and gamers do expect a reward for completing easy, repetitive tasks because otherwise there really is no incentive to do them. The irony is by making raiders drop loot and the player not lose kit from dying soldiers, fighting raiders becomes even easier and, hence, boring.
4 Likes
Farthest Frontier is primarily a City Builder which whether you have played the game or not a blatant clone of another City Builder by the name of Banished from years ago.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so it is said.
The developers no doubt wary of criticism regarding that added on numerous things like the attacks from Wildlife and the attacks from Raiders to make their game stand out on it’s own which I applaud.
Unfortunately doing this you attract different types of people to the game who have differing ideas of what they are looking for in the game.
If you want to play a war type game of armies vs armies genre there are oodles of games out there you can play Age of Empire, Total War or many others and if that is your thing terrific and all the best to you I wish you all the best.
If you want to play just a City Builder there are also many other games out there with just that and no invading armies to attack you and destroy something you have spent hours or days creating and if that is you again so be it all the best to you.
I think it is extremely difficult for developers to release a game which tries to merge different types of games into one as you are rarely going to make everyone happy.
The mighty Anno 1800 is probably the best known example of a game which did manage to indeed do this with great success.
Now the ‘modding’ scene has taken games to another stratosphere.
There is NO WAY the developers of Anno 1800 for example could have in any way envisioned some of the ways that their game has developed with the release of some of the mods available for that game.
There are literally hundreds of mods that have been released for that game by some of the most talented people on this planet who give freely of charge their hours and hours of work and incredible visions of what could/can happen or be incorporated into a game.
Some of the mods released add widely different abilities to a game like different goods which can be created or grown, some try to make things less time consuming or some are just blatant cheats which you can use if you so wish (why grow crops if with the click of a mouse button you can add 2,000 unit of something to a storehouse for example).
So I personally purchased this game when it was first released due to its resemblance to Banished which I very much enjoyed playing. If you likewise have purchased the game and are not playing one of the widely available cracked versions good on you for supporting the developers. Having said that I will play the game how I wish for my own enjoyment and you can play it however you wish for yours.
It constantly amazes me the amount of people who submit posts regarding the use of mods which in their opinion make the game too easy or changes the way that they consider the game should be played and criticize people who in fact do use whatever mod that they may be using.
If someone wishes to use a mod which allows you to have a constant balance of something in a root cellar of storehouse and you can never run out of it when they are starting out on playing the game and learning its mechanics so be it.
Again if you purchased the game play it any bloody way you want and all the best to you but there is no way that I am going to stand on a pedestal and criticize you for doing that as quite frankly it is none of my business on what you do or how you play so I will keep my mouth closed.
1 Like
On the contrary I NEVER EVER insinuated anything regarding YOU in regards to pirating the game where the hell did you get that from?
You may also have noticed if you bothered to read when I said of my absolute admiration for mod developers and what they have given to the gaming industry of which you are part of that group.
Perhaps you should read my post and not get defensive thinking that anything that anyone posts is a direct attack or reference to yourself?
1 Like
Whatever mate if you think I was directing that to you even after I have said it was not related to you so be it.
Also end of discussion you obviously won’t shut up about it no matter what I say so I will.
Shame that someone other than yourself cannot make a post regarding their thoughts without your ego coming to the fore I hope that you have a great day.
Looting the dead after a medieval battle was not a marginal act. It was a systematic, expected, and logistical practice.
Iron, steel, and even textiles cost a fortune. A suit of armor or chainmail represented enormous wealth. Corpses were stripped of everything (weapons, clothing, boots) and usually ended up completely naked. This looting was an integral part of the soldiers’ compensation (“right to spoils”). While a noble captured alive brought in a fortune in ransom, a dead soldier was only worth the equipment he carried. Lords also took their official cut from the collection. The victorious soldiers helped themselves first. Then, the “camp followers” (servants, prostitutes, merchants) scoured the field (often finishing off the wounded). Finally, local peasants came to glean any forgotten scrap metal, like broken arrowheads.
All this to say that Raiders drop loot makes sense in the game. However, I agree that when left on its default values, it is way too generous. That’s why I restrict it as much as possible. No gold, no food, and highly restrictive drop rates. Combat tweak (which I wasn’t familiar with) is just as relevant if it can be restricted.
Regarding penalties, I completely agree. Aside from the wasted time, rebuilding after a fight is trivial. Not enough dead villagers, and the game also lacks the concept of wounded villagers becoming unavailable if left untreated. The ransacking of crops was also standard practice.