1-be able to mod unit formations more flexibly than we can nowadays: it is not enough to dictate distances between man and man. how about if ranks are staggered? where can we place the officers (not every army put them on the right)? we can put say, 2 in front, 7 to the back, and maybe 3 to the right, for the lulz. what about if the unit is staggared? straight? do they cadence march? if so, how well? what is the amount of space present for each man (RTW, and M2TW, aren't that good about this part)? should it be envisioned as a square, or a circle? what is the rate of march? etc.
2-more intuitive and flexible animations, and a looser skeleton system, with looser hardcodes. you never have an idea how much a pain it is to get models to do the 1757 manual of arms, when you have to attach the weapon directly to the hand-bone; equally saddening, is when you can't make only the front rank kneel. Empire total war kinda does that, but poorly (apparently, they never actually studied musket usage). all this is a pet peeve though
3-more flexible missile system (projectiles). this one is more involved then it seems, though I don't want to make people spend 1 hour of their lives explaining all the problems with the system in both games.
4-be able to use multiple special abilities, when and how I want, per unit. ETW kinda does that, but only for specific circumstances (e.g. I can only build trenches in sieges IIRC). If I want to build trenches in the middle of nowhere, I should be able to.
5-a complete gravity engine: we can save space (conceivably) if we got rid of (or minimized) death animations, in favor of a SWAT-4 esque method, where bodies drop in a less rigid manner. this should free up space (I hope) for the next point:
6-have wounded men shown on the battlefield: I want to see (and hear) men writhing from non-lethal, or slow killing injuries. sounds sickening, but it is meant to sicken people (and maybe the AI: perhaps emotions can be simulated?). war isn't a game, so why should a video game partly about it be any different in appearance? it is part of the "edutainment" idea. if I could add smell, I would.
7-the effects of missiles should be graduated: merely hole making the person, going through, blowing off limbs/organs, and vaporizing the victim. and so on. this leads to another concept
8-a more complete, rational physics engine. the gravity and missile effects should be parts of it.
9-no arcade mode playing: I don't want to see people flying 20 feet up into the air cuz a berserker hit them. I doubt anyone on this planet was, or is as strong as
Shao Kahn. (warning: graphic MK6 (deception) fatality)
8-internal organs need modelling. I'll leave you to figure this one out. nothing too complex: brains, hear, lungs, guts, and liver.
9-the right to design, or edit from a template of a design, of fortifications. and it shouldn't be a set hard coded list.
10-get this: the ability to name regiments. it's a pet peeve of mine, even in Empire: total war. Hessians were not numbered in the British army, which didn't even use numbers until 1751.
11-the ability (indeed, to confirm some people here), to refit units. what if I want to change uniforms? simplify them? even get rid of them?
12-the ability to directly model in disease and desertion. as well as making supply of the army, and a real medical department.
13-I wanna see people getting bogged down in Flanders mud (like Agincourt), or alternately, native Americans taking deliberate cover behind trees to pick off some scarlet clad loser who thought it was a good idea to wear a shiny silver gorget round his thoat. walking in the rain in a muddy area in RTW or M2TW doesn't lead to people getting stuck, possibly up to their knees.
14-I want to be able to directly defend beeches, or stage amphibious landing on defended beeches-at least in concept.
15-more nuanced sieges: parallels, pavises, more siege weapons, etc.
16-the concept of not just temporary forts and watch towers, but castles, castrae, even great walls. all built separately from the system used in M2TW
17-the concept of "frontlines", piquets, etc. as some here have said, we shouldn't just have to capture a city to get a province-though that should be the default.
18-sappers. we need them. I wanna build my own bridge 'cross the Rhine
19-better ambush interface. it is not enough to be able to hide till the last minute. I want to remain concealed when firing-assuming i have camouflage, or are inside hidden chambers with portholes for shooting.
20-because I'm a sadist: make machine guns a genuine possibility.
21-overall, I'd like simulation possible from prehistory to maybe 1916 (1945 if you really want to stretch it).
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