Minor additions

I believe there are many good ideas for the upcoming Total War game out there, but let's face it: sieges are not going to be re-invented, there won't be land-sea-cooperation battles and we probably won't be able to have diplomatic negotiations between multiple nations just yet...

So I thought there should be a thread for those minor additions or changes to the game, things that should be easy for the CA to manage. Such as:

- I would like the artillery unit icon to flash or something similar when they fire, as an optional choice, of course.

- Sometimes the artillery won't fire when I aim behind buildings, walls or similar. It's really annoying having to move the camera back and forth to check if the artillery crew are preparing to shoot or not. If there's a way for you guys at CA to remove the firing icon whenever they are not firing (this probably is a bug that needs fixing anyway), it would be great if you fixed that.

- Family tree. You have the code already, right?

- When a unit is reduced from 200 to 50 men they shouldn't start routing just because their unit has been reduced, but they should rout because they have few allies nearby. What I'm saying is that a unit of 50 men should not rout when they have 4.000 allies surrounding them... Perhaps the "allies nearby" morale buff needs some adjustment.

- In addition to the above, an army as a whole should rout sooner when they are being massacred. When an army of 3.000 meets an army of 4.500, the first army should not rout when they are reduced to 700 vs 3.000. They should be realizing the defeat a lot sooner. I guess you just have to adjust a few values to make this work. If not, well, then it's a major change but it's still needed, in my opinion.

- Actual rules in multiplayer (no artillery, infantry only etc). I don't play multiplayer myself but I guess the MP community would love this, and perhaps you will attract more people online with this. At least the cheaters will be gone...

- Last, but not least, release the modding tools sooner this time. A lot sooner, damn, they're not released for E:TW yet, are they? Lots of games out there live and sell because of the modding community, and those who produce long-living games survive at reputation alone just as long. I refuse to believe releasing modding tools will cost you money, quite the contrary. You've lost a lot of respect the last year with E:TW, and modding tools could perhaps have saved this. This lack of respect will hurt the sales numbers for the upcoming game.

historical generals as in shogun are necessary in napoleon.
historical events in the campaign.
a new style of strategic map.

Originally Posted by ChristianB

In addition to the above, an army as a whole should rout sooner when they are being massacred. When an army of 3.000 meets an army of 4.500, the first army should not rout when they are reduced to 700 vs 3.000. They should be realizing the defeat a lot sooner. I guess you just have to adjust a few values to make this work. If not, well, then it's a major change but it's still needed, in my opinion.

I understand where your coming from but i think it would be extremely difficult to strike that balance so as too keep everyone happy. Some people are going to say they rout too quickly or others too soon. CA should aim for that balance but in the end it will be the modders who tweak the mechanics and you've got too choose the right mod for your preferences. Thats why i definitely agree that modding tools should be released quicker. Personally, i find that armies that are being massacred tend to rout quicker anyway.

Yeah, I came to think of the same thing myself, I didn't remove the original wish but I added modding tools instead. Agree with you wholeheartedly. But the single unit rout needs a change. I've had ten single units rout even when they outnumbered the enemy three to one, because all ten units had suffered heavy losses. But together they would crush the enemy with ease...

Again, the #1 wish is modding tools. Not releasing modding tools killed E:TW for a lot of people. Trust me, CA, you don't want to kill two games in a row.

Originally Posted by Anibal at portas

a new style of strategic map.

What do you mean?

Here's something I'd like to see: The heroic victory markers again. I liked them personally, they brought unique flavour in looking back and seeing 'Hey, that's when I was so outnumbered and I won'.

Another thing I would like is titles for generals. I was never close to my generals in ETW, despite the fact it was my 1st or 2nd favorite of the total war series. But when you had generals like 'Marcus the great' or 'Amuilus the mad', it made you get attached in their victories when 'Marcus the Great wins at all odds' or when they die tragically in their last charge.

Yeah, mainly just adding back old things that they already have the code for or whatever. Possibly (I think this as been said before) having the campaign map on the battlefield, like your fleet off to the distance or some wonder of the world or town. Just my thoughts.

I would like the option to always show the movement arrows on the battlefield and also the ground markers (?(the green dots showing formation)) so that I can always see where my forces are going. This would make it easier to arrange units in complex formations.

Also I want to save my battle statistics for later reading.

In addition to multi-nation diplomacy (which really isn't a minor addition), I would like an option to open the diplomacy window whenever a region is captured, at least if that region is a nation's capital or a nation's last region, right before the region officially changes ownership (after the battle, but before the change). This goes for both regions lost and conquered as the human player.

If there's diplomatic negotiations right before a region permanently changes hands, the one who is about to take the region has an extra card up his sleeve in the diplomatic process. Negotiate for peace, demand the nation to change loyalties, demand money or force the nation to become a protectorate, or something else - in exchange the region will not be lost to the victor.

This would be really, really useful when taking or losing either the capital or the last region. If you are about to take the capital, the nation should be more willing to change loyalties, agree to a peace treaty or something similar, and if it is the last region, the nation should more willingly agree to become a protectorate. Of course the nation should be allowed to have some of its old regions back...

One should also be able to give the region away to someone else ("capture in the name of..." as I've read someone suggest before), or - of course - just capture the region in old-school Total War-style as we're all used to.


Anyone have any thoughts on my suggestions?