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Nemesis

I do no longer update my mods to support new content. That said, almost all my mods basically never need actual updating after patches. So this mod will very likely still work, just not affect recently added content. I do start the game once after patches to check if my mods cause crashes, and intend to keep fixing those critical problems if they arise.

• specifically tailored to every single playable faction, a number of unfriendly/hostile AI factions receive buffs
  
• these buffs make it more likely that you will have strong enemies to fight, instead of having a boring campaign where your natural allies already did the job when you get there
  
• the buffs are fairly strong but not overwhelming, so that the buffed factions are not guaranteed to succeed, preserving a feel of a naturally evolving map
  
• the buffs make the nemeses factions more formidable in their campaign expansion, but do not affect battles you as the player fight against them
  
• your nemeses are chosen among other playable factions that would be difficult for you to ally with, based on cultural aversions
  
• victory conditions are also taken into account where applicable
  
• some of the nemesis factions are close by, but some others are farther away, likely establishing a strong presence before you expand into their area

Only playable factions can be nemeses, minor factions are not getting buffs.

Affects IE campaigns only. It does nothing in a Realm of Chaos campaign. (I keep forgetting that even exists.)

The mod has a similar purpose as my other mod Unnatural Selection, but the chosen opponents are tailored to every playable faction - yet will be the same every time you play that same faction. I do NOT recommend using this together with Unnatural Selection. This one is recommended for people who want to play one challenging campaign with many different factions, Unnatural Selection may be more suitable for people who repeatedly play the same faction and want more randomness and variability in those repeating campaigns.

I deliberately do not list which factions exactly are the nemeses for who, as I think it is better not to know in advance. I already half forgot what I chose anyway - there are over 800 combinations of player faction and nemesis faction in the mod - so that I'll more or less even have a surprise when I play myself. (But of course it's easy to see it in the database if you want.)

The buffed factions will not only be advantaged in their battles against other AI, they also have higher bonuses to economy, upkeep costs etc. So the mod will slightly increase the overall campaign difficulty. If it's too difficult, play one difficulty level lower than usual.

• Savegame compatible: Probably not. You can save/load games with or without the mod, but a campaign started with this mod active will probably keep the higher faction potential values, and if you enable it in an ongoing campaign you may not get an effect.
  
• Multiplayer: Unknown/not tested
  
• SFO, Radious: Probably / reported as working
  
• Known incompatibilities: Not recommended to be used together with Unnatural Selection or other mods that alter factions potentials.

Before reporting issues, make sure that you have the current version of the mod. Steam quite often fails to actually pull the newest version after a mod has gotten an update. To make certain that you have the current version, unsub from the mod, then wait a few seconds. Steam will then delete the mod file from your hard drive. Then resub to the mod and Steam will download the current version to your hard drive.