What we would like to see in ETW.....

[Orb]

I'd like to see a lot more difficult customisation.

Something like:

Land battles autoresolve, land battles battlemap, sea battles autoresolve, sea battles battlemap, campaign finances, campaign AI strength, campaign missions, campaign starting situation.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

Pity there isn't this option in M2TW (several crusading armies remained on my lands for years).



This makes no sense. A spy / assassins killed during a mission has to be replaced just like one that dies of old age. If you allow them to live forever all the factions will end up with super elite spies / assassins with hundreds of years experience.

Not really, because they would inevitably be killed anyway. Sooner or later their luck will run out and that minimum 5% chance to die on operations will come and bite them in the ass.

The way it is now it's just too much micromanagement to build and maintain an adequate spy/assasin/diplomat network.

[IsItStillThere]

If you allow them to live forever all the factions will end up with super elite spies / assassins with hundreds of years experience.

I think ideally the spy network would be abstract, not actual characters moving around the map. The more money you put in, the more effective it is. Cut off funding, it goes away.

Its just a way of allieviating some micromanagement and getting a few less characters off of the (now very crowded) map.

[Lord Winter]

A few civ advisor type screens would be nice, so you can see all the empires information and perhasp change things like tax rates and the like.

Echoing Leigo's call for Field fortifacations, sieges here can't really be done without trenches. Also it would be nice that when Sailing the defender is around the entire forces instead of just the gate. Then it really will make the player have to draw the oppenent out into battle until he has the numbers to strongly surround the fortress.

[Abokasee]

By 'factions becomes conquered' do you mean that some regions of a faction has been conquered or that the faction has been destroyed? In the latter case there is no one to give the regions back to because the leaders of the faction have probably been executed. Though the former case may be an interesting way to improve your reputation and attack another faction 'for morally correct reasons'.

However it would also be fun to have the people of a region support the attacking army because they hate the leader of their faction and want them overthrown (so you have to keep the population happy).

When i say a "faction becomes conqured" I mean it be destroyed, but they didnt always excute the leaders, they exliled neapolean, also, maybe a heir or relitive might of escaped the Axe/Guillitine/Noose etc

[hoom]

if a former ally comes to "liberate" this means that all the regions the faction orginally had, which have been conquered by you, are given back to the spainish

I like this idea but um, would result in an awfully easy campaign for the Spanish

[IrishArmenian]

Above all: AI meaning Artificial INTELLIGENCE
Unique cities!
More differences between factions (though this won't be as much of a problem as Knights have died out)
Regional troops

[Abokasee]

I like this idea but um, would result in an awfully easy campaign for the Spanish

thats was just an example, so it could go for any faction, not just spain

[Daveybaby]

Custom difficulty levels!

Give us the ability to tweak the difficulty level of the game in various independant ways, e.g. AI hostility to the player, AI aggressiveness levels in general, AI economic bonuses, AI unrest bonuses, AI troop morale/accuracy/etc bonuses. etc etc.

Obviously have Easy/Medium/Hard/V.Hard presets as before, but at least give us the option of ramping up the difficulty (M2TW is just too easy to win, even on VH/VH) in a way that suits us individually as players.

[woad&fangs]

Custom difficulty levels!

Give us the ability to tweak the difficulty level of the game in various independant ways, e.g. AI hostility to the player, AI aggressiveness levels in general, AI economic bonuses, AI unrest bonuses, AI troop morale/accuracy/etc bonuses. etc etc.

Obviously have Easy/Medium/Hard/V.Hard presets as before, but at least give us the option of ramping up the difficulty (M2TW is just too easy to win, even on VH/VH) in a way that suits us individually as players.

I second that motion. Plus it would would be nice if harder difficulty levels made the enemy smarter instead of giving them combat bonuses.

[Daveybaby]

Plus it would would be nice if harder difficulty levels made the enemy smarter instead of giving them combat bonuses.

It would indeed be nice. But making a smart ai is a very tough problem for a game of this complexity - so i want the ability to give the AI loads of other bonuses 'just in case' we find the ai too easy to beat on a level playing field.

[zerathule]

Will Poland have a real husars that were officially disbanded in 1776?
If yes then world beware because againts them musket tactics are useless.

Yeah watch out, Polish horses are meaner and more brutal than your average joe's elephant, their knights can dodge bullets, and they fire lazer beams from their eyes.

My main wish would be that minor factions wont be able to conquer the world like Milan in M2TW for exemple :)
If they fix the AI and all the glitches we've seen in previous TW games, it will be perfect :)

[TosaInu]

[QUOTE=zerathule]
My main wish would be that minor factions wont be able to conquer the world like Milan in M2TW for exemple :)
QUOTE]

Maybe, but didn't the Roman empire start with seven small villages? Who could phantom that rivalling tribes in the Mongol steppe would conquer so much, including huge fortified Chinese cities?

[Chimp]

After mature reflection, here's my personal wishlist:

- Start-Up Formations Should Be Savable. I'm tired of waiting for people taking up the better part of my evening to set up their phalanx- or stake-circles, manipular formations and whatnot. Why not allow us to save and load our formations so we can set up armies instantaneously?

- Hotkeys & Macros. I'd love to be able to reassign hotkeys in the game, and to record macros. Escape should go back a page rather than asking if you want to exit the game while you're at it.

- Fix the Replays. Nothing is worse than having the battle of your life only to have the replay make you lose big time so you can't relive the thrill. I'm also sick of the incompatibility between different patches: at least save the version number along with the replay and have it appear visually on the loading screen so we don't get a CTD if we try to load an obsolete replay.

Lastly, I think it's high time to allow us to save replays from campaign games and historical battles already.

- More Distinct Faction Color-Schemes. RTR started an unfortunate trend in the modding community where suddenly every army in virtually every mod had to be a mass of brownish-grey units fighting other brownish-grey units. I flat out refuse to play a campaign if I can't even distinguish my troops from the enemy's, and sadly it's creeping into M2TW - Sicily vs Rebels anyone? Here's a hint: if you have to make a button just to make the player's army BLINK on the battlefield just so that he can tell which units are his then you have a usability problem on your hands. I frankly prefer the gay-pride parade that was Parthia to that...

- Ditch the Rebel Lands. It's much more fun to fight a real faction than some non-descript rebels who rebel because they're into, uh, grey. I'd much prefer to play on maps where only 2-3 cities around the player's capital were rebels from the outset, and every other city on the map was occupied by a genuine faction. Blue Lotus at least made rebels into a visually unique and appealing faction, but that's the exception.

- Bring Back The Fun Units. There's a certain loudmouthed breed of gamers out there who has been throwing hissy fits over the Wardogs, the Headhurlers, the Screeching Women, the Scythed Chariots, Berserkers, the Armored Elephants, and the whole gamut of anachronisms that's been part and parcel of this series. But I love 'em to pieces and think it's part of the particular charm and humor of the series. Keep them out of historical battles, but in the game, please.

- More Battlefield Tactics. The series has taken a turn for the worse insofar as field battles are concerned. RTW's Phalanx had unlimited tactical use that brought up a lot of creativity and excitement to how battles were fought out which unfortunately has been completely lost - the shieldwall doesn't even come close. The Scythed Chariots created options vis-a-vis cavalry, as did Camel Cavalry. Javelin Skirmishers made rush attacks varied as they were much better than archers in that role. Chariot Ballistas were a blast to experiment with; Screeching Women inspired entire army compositions to take advantage of their ability; in BI we had swimming units that changed the way bridge battles were fought; schiltroms added pizzazz to sieges etc.

I was thrilled to get archer stakes and naffatun, and sieges have been greatly improved, but by and large the game is much poorer on the battlefield than RTW.

And no folks, I don't give a hoot about the "it's not historical" and "it's not realistic" excuses people shore up anytime the topic is brought up. This series has been one long historical and realistic FARCE, and dammit that's what I LOVE about it.

- More Diversified Factions. In M2TW it seems that every faction has killer cavalry, infantry, crossbowmen/archers, horse archers, siege equipment, and whatnot. But good faction design isn't just predicated on what a faction can do and the token unit that sets it apart: it's also defined by its limitations, something few factions presently lack.

Parthia was interesting because you didn't have a solid infantry to hold the line any more. Greek was interesting because you couldn't rely on cavalry. Britannia didn't have archers. Gaul didn't have onagers (AFAIR).

Factions were even diversified on a more fundamental level: Barbarians had bad-ass infantry. Romans had legionnaires chucking pila and capable of testudo. Greek-inspired nations had phalanges. Easterns had horse-archers and gimps.

I also like extremes in the campaign like the broke-ass WRE in BI, the one-city Russia in M2TW, Hungary that has to rush like mad to survive, Carthage starting between a rock and a hard place, Germania with ample opportunity for rigging ambushes, the Romans starting as allies and then breaking out in a civil war etc.

I've played full campaigns with virtually every faction in RTW, but less so in BI, and even less in M2TW. There's simply not incentive enough to try something different because every faction can do everything once you're past Christianity vs Islam.

- Keep the Speed. Slowing down battles to a screeching halt is all the rage in the mod-community. Personally I'd rather watch paint dry so please keep the battle-speed at its current velocity - I think it's perfect.

- Ditch the 4-Unit Limit. I see no point whatsoever in having to pay a fine if I pick more than 4 units of a type: now I can't control-double click a given type anymore in order to pick, say, all of my horse archers. I don't need 4 types of knights in an army with the same stats - it's utterly pointless. I couldn't care less that so many people have bizzare rules for online games like that - they're STILL saying that every stinking unit in the game is overpowered...

- The Forest & Jungle Battlemaps Have Got To GO! Huzzah - I picked the wrong map in multiplayer and now none of us can see our units anywhere on the field! "CHAAARGE - uuuh, left!".

- 3 Words: Barbary Coast Pirates! If I could get just one wish for ETW that would be it.

- Shanghai Hoggy & DarthVader Before Your Competitors. 'Nuff said.

[pevergreen]

In M2TW the spacebar flashes your and your enemies units.

[Chimp]

There's also a big button that flashes only your own units on the non-minimal gui. It's the one smack in the center with all the ability buttons surrounding it, if I recall correctly.

[Fisherking]

I don't know how everyone else feels but once you have a city maxed out on troops it should not rebel unless there is some drastic problem. Riot maybe but not rebel!

Of course in the period of this game that may be more of a nonissue...revolutions! well maybe not...

[SimonB1er]

A rock solid diplomacy system ala EUIII and I would like to see some of the europeen capital look like their real life counterpart.(Paris with les tuileries, notre-dame, la seine, etc.)the ability to build national wonder(arc de triomphe)

[Fisherking]

If the U.S. is going to be a playable faction then there will have to be something like Eras. If not then there will be a large number of p/o-ed non-buyers of the game.

I hope it includes the trade and diplomacy that went on with the European Powers and the Native American tribal groups and allows alliances (with troops) from the various groups.

I don't know how many of you know that the 7 years war lasted 9 years and started in North America. It began over Indian trade and who controlled it. Most historians leave out what happened in the southern area and the tribes there were more numerous there than in the north.

The tribes themselves were powers to be reckoned with, particularly those termed the civilised tribes, well past this period in history.

After the 7 years war the Pennsylvania Rifle came into use on the frontier and by the Revolution was widely in civilian use. While the Brown Bess had an effective range of 80 yards and had no provisions for aimed fire, rifled arms could hit a man at 200 yards and a horse at 400 yards. It lacked a bayonet though and loaded slower so it was used by skirmishers and some militias. The British did have two Regiments of rifles, at least one with breechloaders and were used as snipes to good effect but they never made more rifles or replenished their ranks for what ever reason.

North America was a unique theater of war and I am sure there were similar issues in India...It would be nice to see in the game.

[ratbarf]

Gimmee a freaking gatling and I'll be happy.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

BTW, some very interesting suggestions can be located within this thread. Sadly, they were created prior to the announcement of E:TW, so they are a little generic and may be unsuitable for the selected time period. Sorry about that.

[Divinus Arma]

Amphibious Assaults: Ships acting like seige equipment at sea, firing upon positions on the ground, with men storming advanced seabases.

Historically accurate in every sense for the period!

How to do it:

(1) Create Campaign map icons that are "seigable/assaultable", much like settlements.

(2) Ships should be manned by more than one unit (Sailors and Marines). Basically like seige equipment that require multiple units to man it. Allow certain units to leave the "Seige equipment" (Ship), and when they do so, they automatically man small boats. These small boats can be manipulated just like any other seige equipment, and must be unmanned in very shallow water.

(3) Require a certain number of units for gunning efficiency on the ships. For example, let us assume that only five ships may be taken in for a seige of a dock, port town, or seabase. Each ship is comprsed of four "infantry" units: 3 of sailors, 1 of Marines. This would equal a total of 20 units in the battle from the player's perspective. Marines would man no guns and thus not effect the ability of the ship to fire cannons. Each group of sailors would man 1/3 of the ships guns, so if they were to leave the ship for a land assault, it would diminish supporting fire power. This would force a tactical decision on the part of the player to weigh his options in deciding on how many troops to send forth.


I dream of British and Continental Marines and the amphibious assault!

Edit:
Furthmore, advances in cannon and and technology would alter the distance that ships and land-based cannon would be from each other. Of course, it is to be expected that the heavier land cannon would typically launch further, giving another advantage to the defender and retaining some element of the "seige and assault" that makes TW so excellent.

Imagine, if you will, the following:

You, the assaulting player, have lined your ships against the enemy guns, and have taken a beating coming in against the wind. You detach your small boats to allow your Marines and a small supporting contingent of sailors to row forth and assault the port. As they head through the rough seas, cannon balls fly by and splash in the water around them. You focus on your Marine Captain's boat, as your admiral watches from his flagship. He leads nine other boats towards the shore as both land and sea trade cannon fire. To the right, the distracting amphibious force is taking heavy fire and you see a small boat or two sunk by cannon fire in one shot! To the left, the main effort heads towards the safety of the small beach at the cliffs below the cannons. Rifle fire rains down on the crew of the force, as cannons continue to roar overhead.

You reach the safety of land and are met by an opposing force of rifles fortified in defense positions. You call for fire support from the ships behind and light up your enemy, meters away as your Marines charge the battlements with bayonets in hand!

[Divinus Arma]

Sticky this thread please? It's bound to be repeated many many times.

[imnothere]

would be interested to see the Indian (i.e. Battle of Assaye)

[Jeroen Hill]

1 other thing, landmarks on the campaign map of famous battles please

[Snite]

The only thing off the top of my head would be to have the capability to order your men to advance as they fire. First rank fires, takes knee to reload, and the next rank moves up in front of them, and doing this they advance across the battlefield.


Snite

[DisruptorX]

I think abstracting the spy system is a great idea. I love micromanaging my cities and armies, getting them just perfect. But micromanaging agents is so dull.

[geala]

Lot's of differing wishes, poor CA.

Beneath some other important things (less battles, field fortifications, diplomacy...) I wish a cavalry and artillery as close as possible to the history.

I have read in some posts that cavalry should only harass and don't make so much charges. Perhaps it depends of the different nations (I know a bit mainly about the Prussian, British and French cavalry) but that sounds odd to me. The only way cavalry really can decide a battle (and it decided many battles before the Napoleonic wars when things became a bit more problematic for the cavalry) is the charge in close order. There were many occasions when cavalry charges broke and swept away cavalry and infantry formations and there were also many occasions when it failed totally. It seems very difficult to me to do it historically correctly with the common TW system.

With artillery it should be more easy with the TW system as it is now. The different mobility of the cannons according to weight should be accurately depicted. A problem is the space on the battlefield and ground conditions. The use of granates should be diminished, perhaps restricted to howitzers, and grape is a must for cannons, later shrapnells also. Horse artillery should be in the game.

I'm one of those who don't want too much arcade in the game and as much history as possible. I've seen that some people like it the other way round. So a good compromise should be found.

[sassbarman]

Really apart from maybe attriton and diplomacy, theres not much they could learn from it, its a different engine after all, but its diplomacy is fantastic and something that would defiantely improve TW.

They should incorporate the national manpower rating from EU 2 it's a great feature and very realistic. They could also have ways to increase this number with upgrades like recruitment centers like they have in EU.
Great game by the way haven't played it in years.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I played a demo of EU and it seemed incredibly dull, although that is just my opinion and to be fair I didn't play it for long. I really hope TW doesn't go down the EU road. While I want TW games to be more historically accurate and have more detailed management in general of factions, I think the reason the TW series is so popular is that it does offer so many interesting and unique factions and units. Although not to the extent of mods like EB though.