Wishlist for the future of TW MP

**ElmarkOFear** · 01-12-2006, 06:41

I am gathering a list of items/features which the MP community would like to see in the next TW game. Hopefully CA will implement some of them when making the next game. Please state what it is you would like in a concise statement and then provide a more detailed explanation after it:

I will start a few old ideas which may be used as an example of how best to present your idea:

1. A detailed logfile feature - One similar to that found in the MTW game or to one of those developed by players such as Magyarkhan. A definite must for the MP community. It allows you to learn from others you play against by showing you what units/upgrades have the most success. It also allows, for anyone interested in hosting an MP campaign. to use the results of a battle in updating their campaign info.

2. A robust replay feature - One similar to the MTW replay feature. Replays are a great player teaching tool for the MP community and allows new players to learn quickly by watching how the top players play. It is also good to scout out the tactics used by clan teams so you can practice to counter their moves.

3. A more intimate MP chat lobby - Similar to STW and MTW. Being a separate interface from the normal Gamespy-type lobby. Include features such as private, password-able chat rooms, a permanent ban and ignore feature which is tied to the player-in-question's CD-Key so he cannot avoid it by just changing his username.

4. A more detailed game listing in the MP lobby - Providing all the host-optional settings so you know exactly what type of game you are getting into and what settings are being used.

5. More host options for setting up MP games - To allow a host to set up exact amounts of currency for the games, set up which factions to allow, set up which weapons may be used or not used.

6. Allow for user-created scenarios to be played in MP.

7. Create specific maps, with specific names to represent the different provinces in the game - Set up the way STW maps were set up. There were 60 maps with specific names. This allowed for easy discussion of tactics and also allowed for an MP campaign game to be hosted in a turnbased manner.

8. Provide a robust SDK so players can easily make mods and maps for the game - This will allow for mods to be made in a timely manner. Otherwise it would take too long to make a mod, other players would have moved on to a new game by the time it was released. Maps are another item which add some variety to the game which keeps things interesting for the MP community.

Now you have an idea of what CA would possibly look for in a wishlist.

Look forward to discussing things with you. :)

**Nikodil** · 01-12-2006, 08:50

Some items off the top of my head:

Avatars and clan tags
Both in the lobby and in game banners and chat labels. It's nice to be more than just a "name".

Save and restart games
Dropped games should be auto-saved. In comp, you shouldn't be able to blame the network.

Robust network protocol
Dropping shouldn't even occur, right. Neither lag, even at 8 players. And that's a number that could be bumped up to 16 or even more.

Auto-sharing of maps and mods
When joining a game, missing resources will automatically be sent to you from the hoster.

Spectators
Sometimes fun to just sit and watch a game, and could be really usefull for training and comps.

Delegation
To be able to give away control of units to other team mates.

/felix

**x-dANGEr** · 01-12-2006, 10:46

Originally Posted by !

Auto-sharing of maps and mods
When joining a game, missing resources will automatically be sent to you from the hoster.

First of all, you don't need the map to play on the game's map. Also, if you want to DL a mod that way and install it, it would take a very long time..

Originally Posted by !

Spectators
Sometimes fun to just sit and watch a game, and could be really usefull for training and comps.

SO we get more lag? And you 'can' spectate in this version btu just playing and picking nothing. I know you want spectate as in realy spectating. But how far would that matter? Just get the replay.

**Nikodil** · 01-12-2006, 11:10

Hehe, x-dANGEr you need to set your imagination loose. This future TW would be built from the ground and up with MP in mind, right ;) Stat mods need not be large. The network protol would of course know about spectators. They would be sent low priority broadcasts of the game state so they don't affect game play lag at all.

Map generator
Generate random map from a number of parameters.

Hosting your own servers
Preferrably with open source, so you can put up your own dedicated windows or linux machine.

PBEM
Obviously for campaigns, but could be nice for tactical battles too.

Windowed mode
I could have TW in the corner of my 2560 x 1600 30" cinema display so I can play and work multitaskeosly.

Map Preivew
Before you join, and during unit selection, you should be able to preview the map.

Team Unit Preview
Also, during unit selections, you should see what the other team members are choosing.

Saved Army Setups
The ability the use preconfigured army selections and deployment formations to speed up the startup process.

Victory Conditions
The usual ones: Last Man Standing, King of the Hill, Capture the Flag, Kill the General, etc. But also be able to define entirely new ones.

**Vanya** · 01-12-2006, 18:08

GAH!

Vanya adds...

When picking units during pre-battle setup, be able to select multiple units and upgrade them simultaneously. Adding swords, shields and experience is what typically makes Vanya the last to click GO... Kinda annoying. Mass updates! GAH!

The nice thing about STW is there was no correlation between game lag and the mouse. Even if the game was running at a frame a second, youz could still swivel the camera about, gaze up your own arse, and amuse yourself with glee. MTW and RTW departed from this, and laggy games now have a laggy mouse. That makes Vanya mis-click quite often, thereby throwing His unholy timeliness off by just enough for Him to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Free the mouse! GAH!

There are too many menus and submenus to talk to allies. T'would be nice if Vanya could just press "Y" to talk to allies and "T" to talk to everybody, like in the good ole days. Now, Vanya must "read" the menu as the options are never the same, which confuses Vanya... He not reed to good, y'know. GAH!

It would also be nice if the hoster could automatically setup the rules for the game so that they do not have to be announced or agreed upon. By defining unit limits and listing which unit types cannot be bought, a lot of problems with dishonesty can be eliminated.

If playa quits, it should not hang up the game. If the HOST quits, he should always be figured as the loser. Of course, it would be nice if the game could proceed even if the host dropped so that the remaining players (assuming 2v2 or greater) don't have to suffer because of the host's lack of scruples.

Add Naked Female Fanatics! Vanya likey...

Vanya is sure there are more decrepit morsels of wisdom buried beneath the sheets of dust collecting in the dry, empty craneal chambers in His long lost head. But alas, He wears a tomato as a surrogate head at the moment and doesn't have access to His former noggin.

GAH!

**TexRoadkill** · 01-13-2006, 01:14

I'd love to see an official ladder with a financial system. This would give MP a bit more depth and purpose.

Everybody starts with $10,000 and you gain money for killing enemy soldiers to replenish or upgrade your army. Your same army with added experience would go from battle to battle with you.

**AquaLurker** · 01-13-2006, 01:33

Originally Posted by Vanya

GAH!

It would also be nice if the hoster could automatically setup the rules for the game so that they do not have to be announced or agreed upon. By defining unit limits and listing which unit types cannot be bought, a lot of problems with dishonesty can be eliminated.

GAH!

Couldn't agree more

SP features

1. retain the campaign map or impove it
2. scary & good ai
3. sea battles
4. implement supply line or/and troops ration.
5. Instead of just denarii, introduce food harvest
6. Maybe go fantasy for once

MP features

1. All the above suggestion
2. allow mini campaign maps for multiplayer, (modable like warcraft 3) and single session plays
3. Balance and dives units

Wishful dreaming maybe

**ElmarkOFear** · 01-13-2006, 03:11

Good ideas thus far. Do not worry about how practical an idea is or whether it will be likely to be placed in the next game. This is a wish list and will help throw out some ideas. We also want to list things about the previous 3 major games that we liked and/or disliked. If we assume the next game will at least have the features from the current game, we might be wrong, since RTW didn't have a lot of features we took for granted in STW and MTW.

I may ask you guys for some clarification in a few days time, when I begin sorting through this information to make the list. I have also placed a similar thread at the .com forums so feel free to visit there as well. (Look in the RTW MP section of the .com forum.)

**Nikodil** · 01-13-2006, 08:36

Ladder Support
Multiple ladders where you have restrictions on players or game settings (for hosting e.g. a clan ladder or a 5K ladder). ELO ratings and possibly custom ones too. Maybe 2v2 and 3v3 ladders.

Tournament Support
Similar to ladders, but with customizable tournament rules, knock out, CWB, CWC etc. Each tournamet has a special area (chat room) in the lobby where you sign up and play the matches.

Player Activity Log
Track the time and activity spent online. Scheduled matches can then be auto-resolved after a certain amount of time, the least active player will loose (walkover).

Game Scheduling
Competitions will auto schedule games between players. The lobby shows you currently schedules matches and notifies when opponents come online.

[EDIT]
You know, when thinking about it, I only have one wish:
MAKE IT MP ONLY!!!

The reason d'etre of MP and SP are so very different it is my firm belief they are TOTALLY INCOMPATIBLE. I'm not an AI replacement, and the Lobby is not a Chinese Room!

**tootee** · 01-14-2006, 04:02

Hi long time fellows.

Some good features mentioned are already available in latest BI, but to reinforce since CA has the habit of changing what is aint broken, and sometimes adding broken stuff..

My wish for new TW MP:

1. Much much better sync, lag and connection in both lobby and in battle. Cant imagine why we can have timeout hosting games in the lobby.

2. Much much friendier chat features in the lobby. I mean.. chatting on Internet has never been easier and feature-rich these days.. don't really understand why CA is still in the 3rd world when it comes to this.

4. Better chat-room design.. customisable even better.. font, font size, color, etc.

5. The Y and T is still supported in BI, and I hope CA still provide this simple interface as alternative mechanism.

6. Better and faster zooming to unit while maintaining same camera angle and perspective. Some way to accelerate the panning so that it can be removed if desired, as well as option to set so that the camera does not change its view angle and perspective after zoomed to the unit.

7. Voice commands. Would be nice. Even simple speech-to-text support is nice. This maintain low connection requirement compared to full voice link, and players can "communicate" better if well-designed. E.g. "attack left", "support me", etc.

8. Clan database. For ladder or for general record. Auto prefix/subfix to player name the clan pre/subfix. Should be linked to individual player database.

9. Kicking of players in battle who are having connection issue, so that game can proceed with AI controlling (available).

10. Better mini map. I dont see a need for zoom support in mini map, but rather prefer rescaling, like in STW/MTW.

11. Selectable game speed (available).

12. Option to turn off the zoom-to-general-death screen.. very annoying for MP.

13. Maintain the two types of grouping, the [num] and [alt]+[num] in RTW, or revert back to STW/MTW like grouping (available).

14. De-correlate morale upgrade with experience/valor/honor upgrade. Make it a separate upgrade with separate cost.

15. Better game info on game list (without mouse-over that is). Most important info should be there without the mouse-over, like unit size setting, time-limit setting, weather and money setting.

16. Saving army selection (available).

17. Host can disable certain factions, certain units, certain upgrades. This should be save-able and recallable like in (16). E.g. ban all unit of class-type artillery.

18. Host can specify upgrade limit, unit limit (number of). E.g. Max 6 number per unit-type, max 2 numbers per class-type, max 0 number per XXX-type (= to ban).

19. Force employees developing the game to play MP on regular basis. At least the program manager and the project manager MUST play, and LOVE playing it.

**ElmarkOFear** · 01-14-2006, 04:53

A very nice list Tootie. :)

**Gawain of Orkeny** · 01-14-2006, 18:07

When picking units during pre-battle setup, be able to select multiple units and upgrade them simultaneously. Adding swords, shields and experience is what typically makes Vanya the last to click GO... Kinda annoying. Mass updates! GAH!

Better yet have you be able to see the stats of each unit and how the upgrade changes them while you pick. Or just make the F-1 feature in MTW available during the army selection phase.

**The Hun** · 01-16-2006, 17:59

I do not like the pre-set army feature. I explain...I am ok with seeing my armies but why should others see them? Join a game and be beaten only to poach the army. This is not good.
Same faction both sides was fixed in MTW only to surface again in RTW. This needs to change.

**x-dANGEr** · 01-18-2006, 10:40

I agree to that. I beat someone in 1 vs 1, he simply goes to another battle picks the faction I used and loads my army..

**Gawain of Orkeny** · 01-18-2006, 20:09

I agree to that. I beat someone in 1 vs 1, he simply goes to another battle picks the faction I used and loads my army..

In MTW you can just look at the logfile and get the other guys army as well. Your army is no secret. Its also not the main thing that wins a battle. At least not in MTW.

I do not like the pre-set army feature

What exactly is this feature?

**x-dANGEr** · 01-18-2006, 20:41

Well in some cases it is.. Like your opponet doesn't know if those units are upgraded or not.. And may bad-estimate them.. And so on.

Originally Posted by Gawain

What exactly is this feature?

You make armies and save them, so you just load them when you get in lobby and start picking. Even though it doesn't seem so useful. I mean if someone knows what's he's getting he'd pick his units in 1 minute anyway.

**Vanya** · 01-18-2006, 21:25

GAH!

Vanya adds...

Vanya sez make log files XML! Or at least give setting to choose standard ascii or XML. XML would be great for all the tools and sites where you can upload and analyze them! The text gets kinda old unless you just want to look at it like a report.

GAH!

**Wishazu** · 02-05-2006, 04:00

Multiplayer Campaign!!!

**x-dANGEr** · 02-07-2006, 15:32

Have a window in the 'Deploying' time, where you and your team mates would get a map and try to make plans on it. (Like you attack from here, and I come from over here..). And also, the ability to choose where you deply your units (Through that page) and also, to have you and your allies the same area to deploy in, so interesting combos can be made. Thanks :P