I don't like the new routing system! Grrr

[MiniKiller]

I don't like how when units flee their flags change colors to white and they high tail it out of there. Espcially in the Historic Battle, it confuses the hell out of me cause my side is white as well.

Why cant they just route like they did in STW and MTW, their flags never changed white! GAAAAAAAAAA

[Monk]

You could remove the banners altogether if you wished.

Go to your rome directory and open up Preferences.txt (note: it's NOT in the Preferences file) open it up with notepad and sroll down until you see a line that says SHOW_BANNERS:TRUE

Change the TRUE to FALSE and the hovering banners won't be displayed.

However if you wish to keep the banners but just change the routing flag, i'm afraid i can't help there.

[Colovion]

I dislike the new system too - but a sidetrack from what you mean. I think their banners shoudl stay the same and a new banner next to that one should appear to show they are routing.

Also I hate how you can't select the individual unit and Rally them anymore.

[Jacque Schtrapp]

It is extremely confusing. I'll bet this is one of the areas that gets addressed before the game is released. ~;)

[Tamur]

In a way it's nice because that puts it beyond all doubt who's routing (unless you're playing the Carthaginians) but...

I have the solution! Make the routing banners be RGB 255/0/255! None of the factions will be confused with that. And Heinous Fuschia is so beautiful! ~:joker:

[Red Harvest]

I like the white banners to show they are routing. The problem is all routing units are white. We need an easy way to tell whose unit they are. Perhaps an "X" on enemy banners?

As for leaving your banner it's normal color with a duplicate white banner, I dislike the idea. Afterall, if I look down a section of the line and see my banner flying I assume they are still fighting. If I don't see my banner, but see enemy banners and some white banners, then I know the fecal material has hit the fan.

[Colovion]

An X on enemy flags would be good - true, and simple.

[andrewt]

I dislike that as well. They should do something different so that you know if it is you're soldiers that are routing or the opponents' soldiers. Losing their command group is also stupid. If I assign a unit to Ctrl-1, that unit should be in group 1 unless it is totally wiped out.

[MiniKiller]

I like have tha banners though, adds more color to the game.

I dunno if I'd like the "X" might look to bland, would be cool if the routers had no banners at all, like they dropped em since their fleeing. Multiple colors would work or perhaps invert the colors on their original unti flag, but might not work because it would have to be edited for each one.

[Colovion]

I like have tha banners though, adds more color to the game.

I dunno if I'd like the "X" might look to bland, would be cool if the routers had no banners at all, like they dropped em since their fleeing. Multiple colors would work or perhaps invert the colors on their original unti flag, but might not work because it would have to be edited for each one.

Yeah a simple X or maybe some kind of other symbol - haha, like a peace symbol for the enemy running away. ~:joker:

[Red Harvest]

I only proposed the "X" as an example of how simple it could be, yet easily distiguishable. Could also be another character, symbol, alternating gray stripes, etc. I figure the artistic types could find something recognizable, scalable and practical. I'll bet the graphic artists at CA can work out a good solution fairly rapidly if assigned to it.

There are a few other cases to consider: routing allies, multiple enemy army routers, non alligned rebels? Would be nice to have a system that was flexible enough to even show these differences (although not as important as simple enemy vs. friendly.)

[Dead Moroz]

I'm sure the solution is simple. Just change the banner of routing unit from RGB to Grayscale!
You'll see what faction this unit belongs to. But you'll also be able to see that this unit is routing.
Like this:

http://www.ruslan-com.ru/zotov/rout1.jpg
http://www.ruslan-com.ru/zotov/rout2.jpg

[Colovion]

I'm sure the solution is simple. Just change the banner of routing unit from RGB to Grayscale!
You'll see what faction this unit belongs to. But you'll also be able to see that this unit is routing.
Like this:

http://www.ruslan-com.ru/zotov/rout1.jpg
http://www.ruslan-com.ru/zotov/rout2.jpg

Best. Idea. Ever.

[MiniKiller]

agreed, almost like my invert colors idea but much simpler lol i likey

[Sjakihata]

CA are you listening? These guys are doing all the work for you!

[hundurinn]

Dead Moroz idea is very good. Much better than to scan the little battlemap for some red arrows :laugh:

[Colovion]

CA are you listening? These guys are doing all the work for you!

~:joker:

[R'as al Ghul]

Excellent work Dead Moroz.
Looks beautiful. Just how it should be.

R'as

[Elmo]

Nice work Dead Moroz.

What was CA thinking? What "problem" did they think they were fixing by messing with routing? Seems like there are a lot of "fixes" to things that weren't broken in MTW (numerous interface changes and movement speed increases for example).

[Tomisama]

I don’t want the banners to change to anything!

I don’t want my enemy to know if my men are routing or being redeployed.

I can see the rout indicator on the unit icon, that’s all that I need.

I don’t want anything that doesn’t look as real as possible on my camera.


Thank you CA for all that you do, and put up with from us. We would not even be here voicing our opinions if you had not created the absolute best RTS games on the planet for us to enjoy.

:bow:

[ToranagaSama]

Excuse me, but can somebody tell me what the heck was wrong with the way things were with STW and MTW?

You know the Flashing Unit flags at the bottom.

[MiniKiller]

I cant, maybe thats why CA changed it haha to buy in an expansion pack

"New old routing system, back to the opriginal in STW and MTW!" 29.99

[d6veteran]

I don’t want the banners to change to anything!

I don’t want my enemy to know if my men are routing or being redeployed.

I can see the rout indicator on the unit icon, that’s all that I need.

I don’t want anything that doesn’t look as real as possible on my camera.



Those four points are exactly how I feel, especially the last one. When I first played the demo and saw the banners turn white I was convinced it was a bug. I hadn't noticed this behavior in any of the preview videos that I saw.

After playing the demo mods extensively I've gotten used to the handful of other changes that annoyed me at first (or disabled them), but the routing banners are simply awful and I find them very distracting from the 'cinematic experience' that the battle engine intends to provide.

I like Moroz's alternate idea, but it still leaves me wanting more (or less depending on how you look at it).

My choices would be to simply revert back to the STW/MTW style, or better yet do something that is commensurate with the improvements in the RTW graphics: like make the banners of routed units all torn and ragged and even leaning down a bit from the upright. It would be a more eye pleasing and subtle implementation. It can be done in this engine and would (imo) fit perfectly with the RTW graphics.

I have little doubt that the routing banners will either be 'fixed' somehow by CA or quickly modded by the community. They simply don't fit with the engine imo.

[Red Harvest]

I like the proposed improvements, but I also like the routed unit banners. I remember similar things in Sid Meiers Gettysburg and Antietam. I hope CA improves them rather than deletes them. If folks are that upset about them, perhaps CA can provide a toggle to turn them off.

If you want to get fairly precise about it...routed units probably won't have ANY banner, because the carrier will have chucked it to pick up some speed while he's hoofin' it. Also, when the units rally, they wouldn't have much in the way of weaponry or shields or probably helmets (or anything else they could rip off while running for their lives.) Cav would be a bit different and retain most gear, but infantry are going to throw down their gear so they can run faster.

[d6veteran]

I believe you can turn *all* banners off in the full version. I was able to do it in the mod.

You're right, to be completely realistic the banner should be dropped and trampled by a routing unit :)

So it is really a question of playability while maintaining a realistic looking experience. I do like the banners, just no the bright white.

I would love someone to make a mod where the routing unit simply chucks their banner. I think that would be much more difficult than replacing the white banner from a coding perspective.

[shingenmitch2]

Elmo --
Quite right! Was there ever a problem with routers before? TW been out for 4 years and never once have I had or heard of such a "problem."

Now, there is a problem as all routers look the same -- is it me or the enemy fleeing? Grey won't work as it is the same issue -- if both sides routers are grey at a quick glance they will appear identical... another great fix, while other issues are ignored.

[d6veteran]

In addition to the banner problem that has been introduced, I'm trying to figure out why you can no longer select a routed unit.

[MiniKiller]

In addition to the banner problem that has been introduced, I'm trying to figure out why you can no longer select a routed unit.


I dont like that either but i guess they figure since u cant use that unit to rally themselves there is no point.

[Kraxis]

Grrrrr...
You guys ruin it all for me. Here I thought I had a couple of unique ideas, such as shaded banners or waving banners for routers. But noooo you guys had to come along and show that they most certainly were not unique. ~;p

I'm usually not the first person to bitch about anything, no I tend to explain and sugarcoat. But I truly hate the white banners. They simply don't look pleasing and they confuse (I'm certain they were meant to do the opposite). It would have been better if the unit simply dropped the banner, it would have been significantly better if it had been STW/MTW-style banners and it would have been absolutely great if the banners waved about when routing or just were being dragged along the ground.

[MiniKiller]

Grrrrr...
You guys ruin it all for me. Here I thought I had a couple of unique ideas, such as shaded banners or waving banners for routers. But noooo you guys had to come along and show that they most certainly were not unique. ~;p

I'm usually not the first person to bitch about anything, no I tend to explain and sugarcoat. But I truly hate the white banners. They simply don't look pleasing and they confuse (I'm certain they were meant to do the opposite). It would have been better if the unit simply dropped the banner, it would have been significantly better if it had been STW/MTW-style banners and it would have been absolutely great if the banners waved about when routing or just were being dragged along the ground.


I like the idea of them being dropped or maybe cut in half so to speak. like the banners are full in battle but ripped and torn when routing.

[d6veteran]

Ripped and torn, dropped, missing, dragged, bobbing ...

all great solutions.

I still don't know what they were thinking with those white banners. I seriously thought it was a bug since it looks like the graphic is simply missing. Like getting the red x in IE when an image is missing.

:inquisitive:

[Kraxis]

Ripped and torn, dropped, missing, dragged, bobbing ...

all great solutions.

I still don't know what they were thinking with those white banners. I seriously thought it was a bug since it looks like the graphic is simply missing. Like getting the red x in IE when an image is missing.

:inquisitive:

Agreed... That only makes it worse as it is not even done very well. An ugly feature done badly isn't my cup of tea.