Overview.mp2c

* click here for Multiplayer II Summary - summary list of all changes compared to Multiplayer
* click here for Multiplayer II Game Manual
* click here for Multiplayer II Design Log — full details of all changes with reasons/explanations/effects
== Game Play Overview: ==
=== What to expect when upgrading from Multiplayer to Multiplayer II. ===
This page gives a "high-elevation overview" to players upgrading from Multiplayer to Multiplayer II "Evolution" rules. While the vast majority of the ruleset is identical, there are a large number of subtle balance changes and additions, which might make players uncertain what to expect. This page will help make the transition easier.
# A Familiar yet new game. A quick glance at how 90% of the buildings, wonders, units, and rules, are all the same—this will get you well past the learning curve for how to play, and allow you to focus on learning the differences. In ways, the ruleset is designed to be as similar as possible while confusing any expert who usually looks for one loophole or Golden Path weakness to exploit. Such a player now stands looking into infinity, as the handful of additions and re-balances subtly work together to create a game with almost infinitely more depth and possibilities. Slight adjustments to rules and mechanics combine with new units, new balance, and new features, to create a much richer, deeper, fresh, and exciting new game to master. All the old strategies and the mechanics that drive them are still relevant, but one should take care to be aware of many more possibilities being unlocked. The first time one falls to a brilliant strategy one may think it OP, until one realizes that the infinitude of the game now allows for counter-strategies and better strategies in reaction to those. Get ready for the game of a lifetime.
# Game Flow and Pace. Essentially, MP2 is the same game as MP1. A few things might make differences in what you experience or what strategies you see. The hyper-accelerated pace of tech discovery in MP1 tended to make less risk for "Gunpowder Rush," "Flight Rush" and similar strategies. The pace is still accelerated and those strategies are still strong. But it's not quite as accelerated. A rich menu of other potential strategies awakens from the subtle slowing of the tech pace around early-mid game.
# Governments. In MP1, non-rapture governments got unintentional nerfs compared to Classic. In MP2, unintentional nerfs were re-balanced with buffs. You may see nations utilizing non-rapture governments' advantages for certain phases of the game. Reduced-cost in Courthouses/Granaries, Granary growth size capped at 70, making the Pyramid great again, the Ecclesiastical Palace, slightly slower tech pace, migrant-type units, and miscellaneous bonuses, mean that you may face previously unseen strategies from non-rapture governments. But since the ruleset is mostly identical, all the original reasons are still in place for why some governments are superior in certain phases and for certain reasons.
# Pre-gunpowder warfare. Tech costs and philosophy re-balance mean that it may take longer to get gunpowder in MP2. Slight micro-buffs to existing units also make pre-gunpowder possibilities much less easy to ignore in a straight beeline for gunpowder. Rushing to gunpowder was a managed risk/reward in MP1. In MP2, it has all the same advantages and rewards, so this strategy still exists with the same payoff. But be aware that it's slightly riskier. Consider two other things: a) Knights are slightly stronger, b) Subtle rebalance means that Monarchy strategies are more viable. This means some players might use it and be thinking of how to punish the same old Republic>Gunpowder strategy.
# It's more Naval. In MP1, in continental games you looked for rare opportunities to use ships. In MP2, it's quite likely that you will be engaging in naval warfare: a) All ships from Triremes up to Frigates can use rivers. b) The Lighthouse is no longer a useless Wonder. c) Canals allow the ability to connect seas, oceans, rivers, and lakes. d) Transform time for Swamp to Ocean is 12 worker-turns instead of 36. e) The Destroyer gains +1A +1D making it viable against Submarines, f) The belief that it was not worth it to make a Navy because Flight would come so fast, and Submarines were OP, is now altered by >>Flight not coming so fast, >>Submarines come later and are less OP. g) Fixes to movement/vision ratio and move rates make warships more viable units. h) Sea units from Galleons onward have Stack-Escape. i) The early seas are populated with new units and the huge economic and military penalties for seafaring strategies were mostly removed. With all that said, there are new ways for players who don't want to be naval to counterbalance the new threats.
# The early game used to go from rock-paper-scissors and chess, to a late game of spam-checkers. Now it continues to become even more chess-like. Horsemen, Chariots, Catapults, Phalanxes, Archers, Legions, Elephants, Pikemen, Knights, Crusaders — each has a special profile and role in offense, defense, movement range, and cost effectiveness. In MP1, this complex rock-paper-scissors chess match sadly transitioned into a game of nations spamming the map with one or two mindless "OP" units such as Fighters and Howitzers. In MP2, the level of rock-paper-scissors in the late game goes to a whole new level of tactics and thought. New additions and adjustments to tech costs and stats for units such as Marines, Submarines, Helicopters, Paratroopers, Escort Fighters, Medium Bombers, Heavy Bomber, Anti-Aircraft Artillery — all is carefully balanced to properly fill a unique place in the offense/defense role and cost effectiveness, creating an even richer chess game than the early game. After playing it, one realizes these units were always intended to have these roles, but unintentional imbalances had prevented it. A complete tactical matrix is now in place.
# "Transportational instability" is replaced by realism and stability in movement mechanics. In MP1, "transportational instability" was an issue. In some cases it was too difficult or dangerous to use transportation mechanics, while in other cases transportation was too OP. In MP2, this imbalance was improved by a combination of adjustments: a) Transport ships and transport shipping lines—enabled by ships traveling on rivers & canals, b) Air units can "airlift themselves" — this eliminates the absurdity that land units could travel the world faster than air units by using infinite speed rails and airlift. c) Airlift traffic was balanced, no longer limited to imbalanced extremes of 1 or infinity. d) Many players used to be paranoid about making rails (because it gave enemies infinite movement). Rails are now safer for facilitating transportation needs. By default, rails act only like roads for enemies, instead of warp speed portals into the heart of an enemy nation. The above factors improve the aspects where transportation was too limited. Meanwhile, the excessive aspects are also balanced. Rails are adjusted from infinite to 9x move speed for domestic and allied rails, and from infinite to 3x move speed for enemy rail lines. This greatly reduces MP1's "transportation chaos" — a world where transportation restricted frustrations suddenly changed to a world where just one breach in rail security meant that a massive enemy stack of mindlessly spammed howitzers could break through and conquer a rail-connected alliance at the speed of light. All the above adjustments make distance and geography return to being realistic tactical factors like they should be.
# More Land/Sea balance. The Naval re-balance fixes imbalance where mixed-force navies were often avoided even on island maps. The use of rivers in the early game and canals in the mid game, means you will find yourself in a game where land, sea, and mixed land/sea strategies are more relevant. Ships, rivers, and seas were part of ancient civilization. Please adapt your strategic awareness to be prepared for new possibilities. 
# Air units will be more prominent. Slower tech pace makes Flight come a little later. In MP1, the late-mid game only had one OP Air unit that quickly became underpowered when units like Mech. Inf arrived. MP2 replaces this with Flight arriving later but having relevance and lasting roles for all air units for the rest of the game. The Escort Fighter provides a defensive counterbalance to the Fighter. The Medium Bomber allows Air units to continue offensive effectiveness after the attack strength of the Fighter is no longer strong enough. The Fighter now gets to stay relevant as the premier unit to counterstrike Bombers. The late mid-game goes from ONE useful air unit to FOUR useful air units. They are each relevant in special roles of cost effectiveness, offense, defense, movement dynamics and mechanics. Anti-Aircraft-Artillery provides a counter to all the pandemonium that is unleashed from the skies, but can only serve to tame air-spam strategies rather than make air irrelevant.
# More Ages. An "Age" is a different stage of the game, such as early-game Bronze Age, late-early-game Iron Age, Feudal Age, and so on. In MP1, the tech tree and game flow made some Ages feel like waypoints that lasted only 1-3 turns. In MP2, the late-early game will in some regions of the world see a Feudal Age actually take place. On some maps, the mid-game will see a Golden Naval Age at sea. MP1's Fighter-spam late-mid game is replaced by a real evolution from Cavalry and Cannons through the World War I and II Ages. Marines, Paratroopers, Fighters, Bombers, Anti-Aircraft, Armor and mixed Naval action, balance together in strategic and tactical uses. With arrival of new techs, older-tech-units are specially tuned to stay relevant and keep useful roles, similar to the early game, how Horsemen and Archers still have relevant adapted roles after Crusaders and Knights are unlocked.
# Janky diplomacy overly dominating game mechanics is reduced. In MP1, the ability to do diplomacy without an embassy was rightly shut off, as it would encourage far too much OP tech trading and perhaps multi-account abuses. But it also created a scenario where rigid rules combined with a lack of embassies to create ridiculous situations with respect to government restrictions on war/armistice/peace degrading other rules for alliance/crossing territories/etc. The ability to make cease-fire or peace with any nation you have made contact with in the last 10 turns goes a long way to fix a whole tree of different problems.
# Traderoutes combine with #11 above to create much more political/diplomatic/economic intrigue. The ability for "War" status to actually mean something opens up many other things. Traderoutes re-enter the game in a new balanced way that are neither OP nor micro-management hell. Available Trade route slots must be used on foreign cities, and are extremely scarce. No micromanagement pain. Diplomatic states can shut off trade income. This combines with preciousness of trade slots to create new combinations of political, economic, trade, & military dynamics. Since diplomatic states really mean something (see #11), this increases the sovereign individuality of nations and their economic interests, reducing one-dimensional clan warfare.
# A greater diversity in Unique National Character. Re-balancing 5 "bad Wonders" to be useful and adding 5 new Wonders had a major effect. In MP1, the dogma of going for the same 3-4 Wonders in the same Golden Path priority, gets replaced by a new state of affairs in MP2: All Wonders are useful, and now there are far too many to "build all the good ones and ignore the bad ones." Under the way combinatorial mathematics works, 10 more useful Wonders to select from means that a typical player who makes 5 per game has about a million new possible ways to choose and combine Wonders. This creates "unique national character." Countless unimagined strategies open up.
# Marines and AAA reduce the feeling of tactical frustration and impossible exploits. In MP1, a few unit types were tech-rushed then spammed in late-mid and early-late game. They had a low number of tactical combinations as well as a low degree of "inter-tactical accessibility." Many of the units either couldn't access each other or were "unreachable" to each other or had some other dynamic that created inability to combine different tactical executions. The last strong foot unit in the game (Marines) came late in the mid-game with no upgrade in existing attack, defence, or movement, of any pre-existing units that came before. Because it was unrealistically weak and left a void with no multi-purpose foot soldiers in the late game, it was chosen to tune holistic balance mechanics. This patches a large number of strange exploits and tactical holes. A few Marines are useful for many late game tactical operations that used to be frustratingly impossible. The 'patch' worked so well that it was decided to extend the usefulness of Marines longer into the late game, via extra bonuses they earn as time goes on.
# Late Game tactical variety will feel greatly expanded yet better balanced. MP1 had a late game that felt limited to Howitzers and [Stealth] Fighters on the offensive, going against stacks of Mech. Inf on the defensive. This is now replaced by a late game with those three units plus a large assortment of other high-powered units that are now relevant and useful: Helicopters, Battleships, Aegis Cruisers, Carriers, four types of Fighters, four types of Bombers, Paratroopers, etc. These additions mean less occurrences of the stale and boring "Howitzer vs. Mech. Inf stack-pounding wars." NOTE that all late-game units are strong, and the first experience of formerly broken units being used effectively against you might be a bit shocking. One has to realize that one can acquire and make all the same units and combine them in many creative ways for your own advantage too. The "unbreaking" of sea and bomber units will mean much more blitzing, bombing, intercepting, dog-fighting, and mixed support air/land/sea operations (Bombers+Paratroopers, Helicopters+Marines, etc.) Modern warfare is a lot more than Mech.Inf. and Howitzers: the game is now the game of a lifetime to learn the different ways to combine a larger menu of high firepower units.
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