Unit variation lacking depth

[snuggans]

the game is pretty good so far, much better than ETW of course, but the roleplayer in me is a little saddened by the poor unit variation available to a faction.

now i understand the concept of 'line infantry' in this era and i don't expect our 20-unit armies to have 20 separate unique units each, but i'd like to see a continuation of examples such as the Black Watch, Foot Guards, Rifles, Connaught Rangers, etc that are currently in the game. i don't exactly agree with unit-only DLC, especially when the DLC is available at game's release, but even with these DLCs the game still needs a little more umph.

i guess i should look forward to mods then; the downside is some of these mods usually have more content than just new units/skins, some of which i don't exactly agree with but have to accept just so i can play with the new units.

[Alkarin]

I fail to see how having 4 units is totally not considered varied and rich...


oh wait..

[carlitobrigante]

yep, yet again very poor and limited unit rosters, which i know if historical to a point, but since when has CA gone for history over depth / playability?

I just pray they havent locked out the modders with this release and we can get loads more units from the awesome modders out there.

Ive noticed aswell despite being on max settings the actual units uniforms arent the most detailed close up, compared to say ornamentums mod for ETW.

The variery of faces is good though, and im loving the game overall.

[McCarronXLD]

Agreed, was hoping for more. I wouldn't mind if they released lots of DLC very quickly (every couple of weeks). It would be greedy.. but at least give us non-modders a chance to diversify.

[Flugelhorn19]

If you read the description Mike Simpson offers about the upcoming uniform editor, I think they're looking at the variety of units in a different way.

Source is about 1/2 of the way down this artice: http://software.intel.com/sites/bill...-total-war.php

The way I'm reading his words in this article, he's implying that the units of "Foot" or "Musketeers" are primarily templates upon which we each can make significant changes on a unit by unit basis.

...or I could be reading that wrong and he could be referring only to their in-house stuff.

[Panzeh]

What, exactly are you expecting? Roman Legionnaires, pikemen? I mean, line infantry was line infantry. You can call them different names, give them minorly different stats, but it ends up coming out the same.

[snuggans]

What, exactly are you expecting? Roman Legionnaires, pikemen? I mean, line infantry was line infantry. You can call them different names, give them minorly different stats, but it ends up coming out the same.

i did mention the line infantry concept of the era in the opening post, however to me it's not the same to have for example a Highland regiment standing next to Foot Guards standing next to Grenadiers than to have a Line Infantry of Foot standing next to a Line Infantry of Foot standing next to a Line Infantry of Foot, EVEN though all the distinct units i mentioned before act indeed as line infantry. it gives more character to your armies and if you add a little bit of immersion or roleplay into the mix, the different visual aspects of units allows you to come up with stories for them based on your experiences or to simply reminisce about how "that one unit of Highlanders charged through the center in Flanders and broke the enemy's line"

[Shaio]

^ I don't see how its diversity if its 5 almost identical units with an identical function, but different skins, names, and minorly different stats, to me that would be a waste of space, and my graphics card resources to boot, and i fail to see any gameplay advantage.... you mayaswell just ask for minor uniform color randomization, and minor stat randomization from unit to unit.

[Graphic]

Unit DLC costs couch change and I'm sure Danova (of Ornamentum fame) will be cooking up sweet goodies. So meh.

[snuggans]

^ I don't see how its diversity if its 5 almost identical units with an identical function, but different skins, names, and minorly different stats, to me that would be a waste of space, and my graphics card resources to boot, and i fail to see any gameplay advantage.... you mayaswell just ask for minor uniform color randomization, and minor stat randomization from unit to unit.

again, i have to stress the point that if you look at the units for what they are, mere polygons, then yeah i would also have the indifference that you hold now. i like to add stories to them and interact with them on a whole other level (that might sound creepy but i don't know how else to put it). i always try to finish battles with the least amount of casualties possible, not because i want a better chance of winning the campaign, but because i have some empathy for these 'polygons'.

anyhow, not all the infantry are the same. for example, highlanders and grenadiers completely dominate in melee combat while foot guards have better marksmanship. you wouldn't exactly send light infantry or riflemen to melee, or send light dragoons to tussle with cuirassiers, etc..

a waste of space. you're talking about very different proportions here. napoleon total war is around 20 gigabytes installed, the files needed to add one more unit are how much? multiply that so the game gains 40 extra units for example, and the size difference will still be insignifcant.

it still strains the videocard to render another carbon copy of the same line infantry unit as it does to render a slightly different version that might have another helmet or an emblem here and there.

[♔themanwithnoname♔]

yep, yet again very poor and limited unit rosters, which i know if historical to a point, but since when has CA gone for history over depth / playability?

I just pray they havent locked out the modders with this release and we can get loads more units from the awesome modders out there.

Ive noticed aswell despite being on max settings the actual units uniforms arent the most detailed close up, compared to say ornamentums mod for ETW.

The variery of faces is good though, and im loving the game overall.

I've also noticed that the uniforms aren't as detailed, they should bring back the M2TW graphic system. Even on a computer with low specs, the graphics were beautiful.

[snuggans]

the engine running ETW is completely new and apparently the engine running NTW is also new but based off ETW's engine. what they need to do is improve on and perfect what they have now instead of reverting back to a more archaic system. M2TW's gorgeousness had time to improve since it's an enhanced version of RTW's engine. allow the same enhancing to be made to the current engine and for technology to catch up.

one crowd wants thousands more soldiers, the other crowd wants more individual detail. you can't have both while having consumer-level hardware.

[Malkuth]

Once the uniform editor comes out This will not be an issue anymore.

[JL Chamberlain]

agreed

[HellFell]

you can name each unit like you want.

[♔themanwithnoname♔]

I hope they do release that as an update, I was disappointed not to see it when I first played it.

[demowhc]

Totally agree with OP, the lack of units is terrible, barely 4 or 5 types of infantry for the entire campaign as British, what a joke. hopefully AUM will be here soon

[Warboss]

I've also noticed that the uniforms aren't as detailed, they should bring back the M2TW graphic system. Even on a computer with low specs, the graphics were beautiful.

I despised the graphics in M2TW, also why would they take a step backwards?

[DarkArk]

I've also noticed that the uniforms aren't as detailed

Is you GPU not that good? Because to me Napoleon has the most alive units of the series.

[superca]

Well, to me it just isn't a problems, since uniforms are just a little variation in between what is essentially the same unit with the stats changed. So you can't expect many different units, and I really don't care about the size and shape of their hats and the color of the feathers on them... As long as they get the job done.