Yes, I've done most of the testing on that, and had it verified. I've even forwarded it to Firaxis, although I've never gotten a response.
It seems that the variable actually has the same effect in both versions. When NoAIPatrol=1, the Barbarians (and the AI) stop random patrolling, and will only react to a unit that ends their move exactly on the NW-SW tile axis. Without repeating the entire thread, there are a couple exceptions, such as a defenseless scout/settler ending within 1-turn move range, but otherwise they are totally predictable, as has been noticed in C3C.
What was suprising, was that by setting that .INI variable =1 in PTW, you can get the identical effect (lazy barbarians). So, after some testing, I was able to determine that by setting the variable =0 in Conquests, you restore PTW barbarian behavior. It also proves that, in fact, PTW barbs still will only deliberately target along the NW-SE, it's just that with random patrolling on, they will be more likely to end up on that axis from valid targets, or randomly move into an occupied tile and attack.
So changing the flag in the .INI changes the behavior of the barbarians. However, since the CONQUESTS.INI is read in each time you load the game, and isn't retained in the save file, it means that barb behavior can vary during the course of the game, if you change the .INI between sessions. More importantly (especially for a situtation like the Epics), it means that players using the same save file may have different experiences with Barbarians. Since the default (for C3C) is non-patrolling or 'easier' barbs, it means that only those who have made changes to the INI will experience the bigger challenge.
I did email this to Sirian a few weeks ago, but didnt' want to post any info while there was an Epic in progress, in case it might affect someone's results, and I haven't heard back from him on how he wants to handle it. My suggestion would be to specify for the epic whether you expected players to use the flag or not, so it would be comparable, but that's his call.
Grimjack Wrote:Saw a thread over at civfanatics that claimed the default of this variable was changed between PTW and Conquest.
If you put NoAIPatrol=0 in conquests.ini, apparently you regain the behaviour of the PTW barbarians.
Unfortunately this variable doesn't seem to be saved in the save-file, so it would be up to players to decide what to use.
JustUs might be able to clarify more, in case he reads this.
There should be Here
Grimjack
