Curiosity questions

[Riekopo]

Hey guys I'm curious about this mod and have some questions. It looks really great by the way.

• Will you be able to create new battle maps for the campaign? I'm really sick of the vanilla Attila ones.
• Will arrow trails be adjustable? I really dislike the long smoky arrow trails in vanilla Attila. Shogun 2/Warhammer style would be best I think.
• Will unit physical size be normalized? It's bizarre to see tons of human giants in vanilla Rome 2/Attila.
• Will it be possible to change the capital location?
• Will there be an in game offline encyclopedia like in the older games?
• Will the player ever actually get to play large defensive siege battles?
• Will there be historical battles with narration?
• Can you make mercenaries spawn with varying levels of experience?
• Will it be viable to use Generals in combat?
• Will trait generation be more logical and less punishing?
• Will public order be more logical and less punishing?

[Petellius]

• Will you be able to create new battle maps for the campaign? I'm really sick of the vanilla Attila ones.

Yes and no, we're looking into it, we can make new maps but so far can't add them into the campaign. Also its really quite buggy.

• Will arrow trails be adjustable? I really dislike the long smoky arrow trails in vanilla Attila. Shogun 2/Warhammer style would be best I think.

They can be and have been, those mods will be compatible with AE, also you can turn them off in the game settings.

• Will unit physical size be normalized? It's bizarre to see tons of human giants in vanilla Rome 2/Attila.

Has been, don't worry.

• Will it be possible to change the capital location?

If you can in Attila you can in AE (so I think thats a yes), though if thats true I'd like to be able to turn that off maybe.

• Will there be an in game offline encyclopedia like in the older games?

Not sure yet, we'd have to work much more on the unit descriptions before that

• Will the player ever actually get to play large defensive siege battles?

Of course, just being we are using Attila does not mean we will be plagued by their design choices.

• Will there be historical battles with narration?

Maybe text narration, but not anytime soon. We do plan to add historical (or at least scripted battles) into the campaign and as such will likely make an appearance in custom too.

[Causeless]

• Will it be possible to change the capital location?

If you can in Attila you can in AE (so I think thats a yes), though if thats true I'd like to be able to turn that off maybe.

Changing capital is not an option in Attila.

• Will there be an in game offline encyclopedia like in the older games?

Not sure yet, we'd have to work much more on the unit descriptions before that

You can't override the online encyclopedia with offline files, last time I heard. So, unless the AE team create an application to intercept and replace the web requests being made by the game, a custom in-game encyclopedia is not happening.

[Riekopo]

• Will you be able to transfer Food from province to province? The Food system in vanilla Attila doesn't make much sense. It's global in some ways, but only local in others.
• How about population? Can you make that more realistic like in the older games?
• What about the building system? Will it still be very limited?

[ABH2]

Will you be able to transfer Food from province to province? The Food system in vanilla Attila doesn't make much sense. It's global in some ways, but only local in others.

Working on this. CA gave us the tools, they just didn't make much use of them themselves. We'll see.

You can't override the online encyclopedia with offline files, last time I heard. So, unless the AE team create an application to intercept and replace the web requests being made by the game, a custom in-game encyclopedia is not happening.

Yes, unfortunately the encyclopedia doesn't work for us. We are pretty much stuck to the short descriptions that can be fit in the UI on unit/building cards.

If you can in Attila you can in AE (so I think thats a yes), though if thats true I'd like to be able to turn that off maybe.

This one is a yes, in a sense. There is the faction capital that can't be changed, but which has no real impact on the game. Each faction gets a capital set in the startpos, their home region (most factions start with just 1 region).

But building wise, there is a faction capital line (through the main settlement) that is unique, and which the player will typically be able to destroy and build somewhere else if they so choose. But with population and such, I'm not sure how much a person would want to do that. Certain factions would have the option and it would be viable pretty early upon conquest of new regions. Those who have population types spread over the map.

Will you be able to create new battle maps for the campaign? I'm really sick of the vanilla Attila ones.

1. We are able to replace the vanilla maps, but we cannot add new ones to the campaign. CA unfortunately has not lived up to their promise and the tools remain broken on that front.
2. Some maps can be ported over from Rome II, and that is an option, but not all of them work that way, unfortunately.
3. So, we hope to remake the vanilla maps, but we need someone who is skilled on the map tools to do that. Very few people are making maps and capable/willing to do it for us. So I'd say all maps probably won't be changed on first release.

This is one of the biggest disappointments for me personally as we were told CA would give us these tools to have custom maps wherever we wanted, and they just haven't done it.

Will it be viable to use Generals in combat?

All of our generals have pretty elite, normal size units. So yes.

Will trait generation be more logical and less punishing?

We have a completely redone trait system. In terms of 'less punishing,' I don't think a feature should just be mindlessly negative for the player. But you'll have to judge for yourself. It's not just buffs. Traits *should* have a very large impact on the campaign, if we balance things right and they work as we hope. We will get into testing campaign more soon and discuss this more at that time.

Will public order be more logical and less punishing?

The player will have a number of conquest options that will have different public order effects. I'd like to make rebellions a real issue for the player, but in a more logical and less robotic way than in vanilla. This hasn't all been planned out.

On this subject, I think a more realistic option would be to tie rebellions to actual player choices and prolonged scenarios rather than the gamey player hits -100 public order, rebellion triggers.

[Riekopo]

I have not seen any arrow trail mods for Attila. Are you saying it's possible to add Warhammer style quest battles into the mod? How are you solving the problem of the AI being unwilling to attack the player's well defended cities? I know it make sense from a logical viewpoint, but it sucks when you never get to defend your capital city or fight an epic siege defense.

I can't believe CA still hasn't fixed the Attila mod tools. What the heck is their problem? It can't take that much effort to make a patch for tools. Have you guys emailed, mailed, and called them? Maybe they just forgot about it. Put some pressure on them.

Doesn't that Dromon guy make really good battle maps? My main problem with traits in the recent games is how completely nonsensical they are. They almost seem random.

Will it be possible to add a Guard Mode toggle?

I have a suggestion for the "Ancillaries" system. In my opinion, it should be renamed "Followers" or "Retinue" and all physical objects should be removed from it. Having physical objects makes it feel like a fantasy RPG instead of real. Also, the ancillaries/followers/retinues should be local to that character only. You shouldn't be able to share all the ancillaries between all the characters in your empire. That undermines the identity of the individual characters and just turns it into a min-max exercise.

My problem with the rebels in recent games is how over powered they are. I don't think rebels should have access to elite units or spawn new units at an extreme rate. Rebels should be rabble. Separatists on the other hand should have access to all the units. Also, Separatists should have goals. For example, if Roman Separatists spawn then they should have a goal to capture Rome or Ravenna etc. Once they achieve their goal they should become the de facto Roman Empire etc.

[Petellius]

The AI problem is pretty easy to fix (though we can't tell without testing) as its simply a matter of changing what they see as a threat and how much aggression they need to display.

Yes we've contacted them a lot but now W:TW is out I doubt we'll get a chime from them at all. (maybe if AE makes a big enough impact). Doomon makes amazing maps yes.

Traits wont be random, not entirely anyway, you'll have sets of traits like a building tree (kinda) where you start off with a base personality and then traits will be added as the character grows that fit his existing personality. (I'm sure philip could explain this better).

No, guard mode sucks in Attila.

Rebels work differently in AE, they are their own factions and operate as such. So for Italy lets say, you might get the samnites rising up as people against Rome and they would have their own faction and some of their own units. (At least this is how it was designed for our Rome 2 version and will be likely how it is in standalone AE)

[servent9]

Will AI factions will use more tactics than vanilla one?

like siege city with many legions, german barbarians are eager to ambush, etc.

[Causeless]

Will AI factions will use more tactics than vanilla one?

like siege city with many legions, german barbarians are eager to ambush, etc.

Battle AI is not really that moddable. Although statistics of units can change what tactics the battle AI may use, adding totally new tactics and behaviors is not possible.

[Petellius]

What he'd described is down to the campaign AI so yes it's entirely possible and something we'll be sure to work on over time.

[Causeless]

What he'd described is down to the campaign AI

Ah yes, you're right, it is campaign AI! I misunderstood.

so yes it's entirely possible

Well.. not quite. Database parameters that influence the AI can be modified, especially at the beginning of a campaign, but their basic strategies, behaviours and assumptions cannot be. You can fairly easily change AI unit preferences for example, but you cannot really fundamentally change the strategic thinking so that barbarians ambush more. Fundamentally, anyways, no code can be touched that changes AI behaviour.

[servent9]

will watch battle replay have ctd or not?

I really hope there's no ctd at watch battle replay (campaign or custum).

[Petellius]

unfortunately yes, both we and MK1212 suffer from that and I dont have a clue why, its only if you deploy before the battle starts though.

[servent9]

yeap

I have encounter this glitch at 1212AD mod too.

same as in 1212ad mod

there's no problem if I don't deploy just click start battle button.

but if I deploy troops then... ctd.


At least AE mod battle have not completely ctd at all ?

I hope there will be solution in future..

[servent9]

If watch replay getting trouble.

How about add empire/napoleon total war watch replay function? I think it's not let ai restart battle again like rome2 or Attila.

it's like record a hole battle.

it is possible to such things to do?

[Petellius]

Could definitely look later on

[Svenskaormen]

How will the turns work, 1 turn/year?

Hope it's similar too Napoleon or Shogun with seasons, attrition would actually matter.

[adambomb1]

What would be the best way to extract unit from combat when it is getting tired-worn out without getting lots of troops killed. Would attacking with another unit first and also giving order to "halt" to the unit you are trying to extract. That way the attacking unit would go on by the defending unit in line you gave halt order to.

[Petellius]

4 turns per year.

And yeah that sounds about right, wait until the fresh unit has got near the front, maybe even micro them a bit to get them up in front instead of just charging and then retreat your tired troops.

[wrath of germania]

If its 4 TPY, won't it take absolutely ages to get to the marian reforms and mithridatic war etc? Maybe in later releases you could have the option to start the campaign at a later date in order to see these things?