I ran the 19th November installer on a fresh copy of a stock install (previously I'd installed from CD and am keeping that installation, then I copy it and run my choice of Build 14 installer on the copy). Then I started a new game of "Hornblower".
The new "balanced" system for enemies makes it almost impossible to survive combat at first. This isn't critical for "Hornblower", you don't need to go down the Antigua cellar right away as I do, but it could mean serious trouble for anyone who plays "Tales of a Sea Hawk" with a stormy start.
Several reloads later, I'd actually managed to fight my way through the dungeon. After a few fights I'd normally expect my "Melee" skill to be up to at least 2. By the time I left the dungeon, the skill was totally unchanged - still at level 1, 0%.
So I resumed playing the 5th November install, where I had a savegame just after the Martinique land battle. I put to sea, found a couple of small ships, tried to board one and got killed on the first deck. I'd saved game at sea just before the boarding, so I tried again several times, with the same result. I'm in a tier 5 top-sail schooner with crew at "Good" morale, with a good sword (Portuguese Officer's Sword, from looting Barbados cavern), battle armour and Melee 4 boosted to 5 by a ruby. The enemy is a tier 7 armed schooner flying a merchant flag, and I fire a broadside of grapeshot into it before boarding. Normally this would be easy prey. Thanks to the new "balancing", it's almost impossible.
The new "balanced" system for enemies makes it almost impossible to survive combat at first. This isn't critical for "Hornblower", you don't need to go down the Antigua cellar right away as I do, but it could mean serious trouble for anyone who plays "Tales of a Sea Hawk" with a stormy start.
Several reloads later, I'd actually managed to fight my way through the dungeon. After a few fights I'd normally expect my "Melee" skill to be up to at least 2. By the time I left the dungeon, the skill was totally unchanged - still at level 1, 0%.
So I resumed playing the 5th November install, where I had a savegame just after the Martinique land battle. I put to sea, found a couple of small ships, tried to board one and got killed on the first deck. I'd saved game at sea just before the boarding, so I tried again several times, with the same result. I'm in a tier 5 top-sail schooner with crew at "Good" morale, with a good sword (Portuguese Officer's Sword, from looting Barbados cavern), battle armour and Melee 4 boosted to 5 by a ruby. The enemy is a tier 7 armed schooner flying a merchant flag, and I fire a broadside of grapeshot into it before boarding. Normally this would be easy prey. Thanks to the new "balancing", it's almost impossible.
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