create a unit option.

[Inhuman One]

With technologies being researched and such, wouldnt it be nice if you could use those things to create new soldiers?

You could select the uniform, weapons, hats and tactics they could learn, and also their level of dicipline, ranging from militia to elite. this could affect their accuracy, morale and melee attack and defence.

They could only use a certain amount of tactics and using one could make another unavailable.

The cost could also be adjusted, a cost increase for quality increases of weapons and dicipline levels.

If CA wont make varied rosters, we could do so ourselves. Perhaps even outside of the campaign in a special unit editor option in the main menu which could enable them for custom battles and campaign battles for both the player and the AI.

[Tspk91]

This is how I think games should evolve, I agree that this could be a very good feature, also it is LESS work for CA, as they only need to do some parts, and then ut then together, and dont have to create a new complete model if they want to change the hat...

[Bloodzen]

I can see it now...Spore Total War

[Anda02]

I can see it now...Spore Total War

That would be... Interesting.

But that idea sounds very cool. We could stand to have different sorts of units for each race. You could fashion your whole army on a "doctrine" of sorts.

[Tspk91]

Why not

Seriously, the underlying phylosophy of spore (the game itself sucks) is good. Applied wisely it can give good results i suposse. Of course restrictions must be made... we dont want a British Elephant Rider with some native american feathers ... but for example you could say: line infantry,and then give them rifled guns, or change the number of soldiers or their stats and their uniform a little bit (with economic impact)...

[Arn]

I can see it now...Spore Total War

Oh man you better watch out for my swedish predator infantery
with 4 arms, 7 eyes and a big ing horn in the forehead

[Bloodzen]

I agree it would be very interesting,mabey it could be a mod but I doubt it.
I mean changing the British red coats into the British pink skirts would be very funny...they wouldnt very strong until you relise all of the buffs that CA gave to the British.
But than again you could change the stats so as to make them more balanced..hmm im begining to like this idea a lot...

[Steinig]

I allredy tried to build something like that, but i could not find a way to change the unit table on runntime.

But i recently found some pack function, maybe its possible with them.....

[Faris ad Din]

Maybe some time far into the future...

There was unit editing with the relatively simpler interface of Alpha Centauri (Civilization turn-based game on another planet).

It should be quite technically feasible - pick and match from a list of features, depending on what you have researched. It would just take a bit of time for the editor engine to generate new files - unit cards, (your) description, animation types, etc. and presto.

They should probably go into separate files and folders, instead of editing original pack files.

[Steinig]

It would just take a bit of time for the editor engine to generate new files - unit cards, (your) description, animation types, etc. and presto.

Unfortunatly those files are packed, and you (I) cant change the pack file while empire is running.

They should probably go into separate files and folders, instead of editing original pack files.

Of course thats how every mod should be, NEVER touch the original packs.

[altimatepirate]

a strat game a while ago called earth 2150 had that feature. it worked pretty well. i dont think the level of customizations should be at spore levels. maybe a few uniform types. but it'd be nice to be able to create units of your own discipline and skill level.

i feel like some of the mods are running into issues where they are removing features from the game (i.e. grenades) because they weren't historical by that point, which makes me think: well, isn't the whole point of total war to change history?

[Godless Pickle]

And this could making modding other Era's alot easier....fantastic. And making your own factions and technologies would be cool too, not to forget maps. But may be thats asking too much.

[eatme]

A cool idea, although sounds more like TW Sims 2 =) than what CA usually makes.

[ray243]

I think CA and the fans here needs to understand one major aspect of Total war. It means you have to constantly modify and adapt your army to suit your specific needs under different circumstances.

People don't go around creating a Line Infantry unit and arming them with some random muskets. They have research and developmonet in regards to weapons, that suits their specific needs.
TO quote another guy on another forum.

http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtop...=3041568&hilit

We need to figure out how the army would have fought their enemies, and then use that to determine how to design it. How the army is run determines how the army is built and vice versa.

Armies didn't decide 'we need heavy infantry' and design their organisation around that - technology and existent tactics demonstrated a need for them and they emerged. If you are thinking 'need xyz military units like in an RTS' you're going about it backwards.

Instead, think about what level of technology (this includes magic) and equipment they have available, and how this would shape tactics. Think up an army organisation, then defeat it with a more 'suitable' one using the same equipment and tactics/commuication/etc. Continue doing this in thought experiments until it gets hard. Don't go in with pre-conceptions; let the tactics for a given set of abilities emerge naturally.

Giving us pre-set units that cannot be modified is nice when you have a short campaign game that only last three to four years. But for a campaign game that last a 100 years? The very fact that so man major changes happened and diverges from our known history means new tactics, new armies and new orgainsation will be formed by nations trying to outdo each other.


For example, why can't I arm my line infantry with Rifles when I am rich and advanced enough to do so? Why must I stick with muskets?

[Frederf]

I was just going to mention a modular unit system like Earth 2150 but I'm not sure if we wouldn't just end up designing the same units that history did which would be a lot of effort for little gain. A modular build (ammo carried, weapon(s), number of, drills available) where the unit stats, cost, and train times being calculated would be pretty cool though.

[Radiso-FIN]

I would like to see option to design your own ship types which you could later recruit.
You could choose how many guns the ship included, how big it is, speed, manpower etc.

[johncage]

actually, that idea sounds awful, no offense.

i think what they should do is just release the sdk.

[theoander]

I think it's a great idea, maybe allow for 2 or 3 custom soldier at a time. It'd need to be carefully balanced as far as cost and everything but it would definitely add to the replay value, checking out different kinds of troops.

[NovaColonel]

I'm afraid it wouldn't work, as such a 'kit' would unveil the lack of diversity in the game. Example: You want to create a ranged infantry unit, no fancy skirmishers or such. What do you arm them with? Muskets? Or maybe muskets? Oh, and there's muskets as well - hard choice, isn't it?
I had liked it if CA had implemented some different musket models in the game, so that a unit with state-of-the-art muskets had better accuracy, the most modern bayonets, little to none misfires (for guards and grenadiers). Then a generic musket with an older bayonet model, mediocre accuracy, some misfires (for line and militia) and maybe a low-end musket model with a plug bayonet only, huge misfire chance, and horrible accuracy (for cosncripts and citizenry). Those would also affect unit cost and upkeep, of course... but that'll remain a dream for now.

[Steinig]

Well, there are muskets and rifles at least.

But as i posted bevor it isnt technical possible for other reasons.
But if anyone tells me how to alter the unit table while empire is running, im deffinitly going to make this.