How do I learn the core game mechanics?

[Gen X Gal Gamer Skye]

I can't believe I have to make a post like this, on a strategy game no less, but we live in a really goofy world now, so here I am.

I am trying to learn how to play the game, yet there are no instructions and no tutorials. I tried watching Serious Trivia's videos, but it seems his guides (which were made for 1.7.0) were rendered obsolete by the 1.7.1 update. I'm flabbergasted here.

I tried looking everywhere for information on the patch, but all the patch note pages for the game—on the official web site no less—are gone (blank), leaving me with no way to find patch notes (can't find them anywhere because every site that discusses it links back to the blank page). I do mean all, by the way, as I can't find the notes for any version of the game. Even the Fandom site only gives basic information! Their tutorial videos are outdated and obtuse compared to what Serious Trivia has posted, making the official videos useless as well. I literally can't find any information on this game now, not that's helpful for 1.7.1. There is no instruction booklet, not even a PDF, and no in-game tutorial, either. It's like they want even the core game mechanics to be a complete mystery, which of course is either trolling be the devs and/or bad game design. There isn't even a web site that tells me how much attitude is needed to get from Neutral to whatever the green level is, or how stats affect anything! I can't figure any of it out because I'm old school and always read the instructions before playing any game! Instead, it's just a mess of data on the screen that I can't decode!

I asked Serious Trivia if he could help, but I'm posting here as well in case someone can decipher how this game works for me. I'm already beyond the refund window, so I can't return it. I'm just glad I didn't shell out for all the DLCs since it seems they didn't just stop updating the game, but rather abandoned it entirely! Is there anyone who can help, anyone who made instructions that work with 1.7.1? I have Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV to return to, but this game seems awesome by comparison and would like to be able to to enjoy this game if possible.

[Fried Noodles]

What incredibly-specific instruction do you want?
There's no really significant change between 1.7.0 and 1.7.1.

[Gen X Gal Gamer Skye]

The final straw was Diplomacy. There is nothing to say how attitude is calculated, the changes to it in 1.7.1 (like how Tao Qian is Yellow toward Liu Bei rather than Green at the start of the game), nothing giving the numbers needed to get there, nothing saying how to increase those numbers effectively, nothing about how character stats affect other parts of the game, nothing stating how any of the various numbers affect the others, nothing as to whether XP and character level affect things, if at all. No charts saying anything like ">0 for Yellow, >20 for Green", anything like that. Every other strategy game I've ever played, from RTK to the Paradox games, gives particulars on how one thing affects another as far as the numbers go, with the player only needing to figure out how to utilize those numbers effectively to win the game. This game doesn't even have such references. No instruction booklet or PDF is the biggest kicker, as even KOEI (which is hardcore anti-consumer) has web sites that explain all these things. I don't know why Serious Trivia has better starting numbers in Diplomacy than I do despite playing the same faction in the same scenario (hence why I assumed it was changed in 1.7.1), and despite following his guide to the letter, I have a worse starting situation from the beginning of the game.

I handled the battles so far just fine, but once I get to management, it's just a jumble of data with no contextual reference points whatsoever.

EDIT: It's really crazy because I have a math brain, I'm a freaking math genius, and in every other strategy game I know of, I can math out any and all of this stuff. Whether it's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis, Hearts of Iron, Stellaris, or Civilization, I can work it out. With this game, I just keep running into "Not Enough Information". While this analogy may be a bit clunky, in a way, it's effectively loaded with undefined variables all over the place, and there's no starting point from which to work out those variables. That is what makes it most frustrating, I can't even use my best skill to work it out as there is no starting place. I'd have to test every single possible variance and write them all down to even make a basic reference table, which would take longer than finishing the game itself and I can't find a single guide that's already done it.

EXAMPLE: In Crusader Kings II, I can hover over a given number and not only learn how that number came to be, but how that number affects everything else. That leaves me with the challenge of using those numbers correctly to progress the game.

[nullpo]

so what you're saying is you have problem with diplomacy. gotcha.

I'll be honest I usually don't control how AI like or dislike me. main ways to increase relationship: diplomatic deals, marriage, war with common enemies, war crimes against common enemies. oh and also gifts, but you need to give them I think at least +5 for it to affect relationship.

main ways to decrease: broken diplomatic deals, just having large armies with rapid expansion (increase your threat level), being lenient toward common enemies,

For relationship tiers:
> 25 / <-25= tier 1 positive/ negative
>60 / <-60= tier 2
>150 / <-150= tier 3
If i remember correctly for vanilla. I use mods so for me it's 30. 70, and 160; but before I use my current sets of mods those are the tiers. But maybe 30/70/160 is the new sets, but the face will change once you hit the 25/60/150 threshold

also 1.7.0 and 1.7.1 difference is just bug fixes

[Gen X Gal Gamer Skye]

In that case, why is Tao Qian would be Neutral at the start of the game? According to Serious Trivia's video, he should have started at Friendly. I'm literally still on Turn 1, the same turn his video was on, trying to do the same thing. I haven't had any negatives, just took down the Yellow Turban and the Iron Mine. In his video, Tao Qian is already Friendly, but for me, he' starts at +13. Serious Trivia didn't do anything to increase it by 47 points unless capturing and releasing Zhao Bo gives a 47 point bonus to Tao Qian's attitude toward me (he died during the battle for me, so I never had that choice), and we both won the same two battles. Sorry, just trying to figure out why the guide isn't working for me despite doing the same thing on the same turn. I even tried throwing an Ancilliary at him and some money, but can only get to +15. If I can figure out how Tao Qian to Friendlly in his video (Serious Trivia didn't claim to do anything to increase the attitude), I'll at least have my starting point from which I can attempt to figure more out.

[Prozan]

Probably was just a small change you couldn't control or changes to relative attitude they made that you'd have to pour through patch notes to find. I'm not really sure what to tell you. I do check who likes me etc etc but TBH I think it's a solid idea in the first few starts to just conquer your starting enemy and then consolidate your position by taking the rest of your commandery and then probably a second.

Once you have a bit of a power base you can kind of care more about diplomacy and by then some people will like you a lot simply because of who you were fighting.

[Gen X Gal Gamer Skye]

Bazinga, I did it! Taking the advice from here and responses from Serious Trivia himself, I was able to improvise a way to get it done.

I started a new campaign (Hard/Hard; I may never be able to play on Legendary if only because of the "no pausing battles" as I have a condition that causes muscle spasms, making "no pausing battles" unfeasible) and happily rolled four Refined Followers at the start of the game, then won a Refined Armor at the Iron Mine. I then started my negotiations with Tao Qian by giving him the Refined Armor and one of the Refined Followers along with a one-time payment of 300 or so coppers, which boosted his attitude into Friendly! I next equipped the Merchant Follower on Liu Bei and proceeded to get the Non-Aggression Pact for 241/turn coppers, then got Military Access and a Trade Deal for another 241/turn coppers! All in all, I gave up two Refined Ancillaries and ~300 total for the three deals and 420/turn! Decided to keep my boy Jian Yong and gave him the Attendant title to give him enough Satisfaction to not dock my Unity, and Zhang Fei reached Level 3 in the process by getting over half the kills in the two battles (including killing Zhao Bo in a duel). Lost only two troops in the first battle and less than three dozen at the Iron Mine by sending the brothers in to take the Towers before sending the troops in.

So glad I was able to find that starting point from which I can work out the rest. This game is pretty awesome.