QA from CA for the Org-ites

[econ21]

I don't think it does any good to speculate.

I'll answer the killing-speed one...

Magraev, I am glad that you were wrong! The idea of speculating was to try to tease out an answer.

GilJaysmith thanks for answering - I realise it is a bit of a thankless task, as it may only lead to a further line of grumbling... But from my point of view, it's a reassuring answer.



I never thought about the unit size issue. I tried playing with huge numbers in MTW, but found it hard to position well on the map (hills too small etc) and easier to get flanked (you could afford fewer units in early battles), so I gave up. However, I'll bear it in mind with RTW.

Edit: Kraxis, how do you change unit size in the demo? If elephants are overpowered - as they appear to me from the demo - raising the normal unit sizes but not the elephants would be a (history wise) nice way of re-balancing. (I know that would require a mod).

[Kraxis]

Edit: Kraxis, how do you change unit size in the demo? If elephants are overpowered - as they appear to me from the demo - raising the normal unit sizes but not the elephants would be a (history wise) nice way of re-balancing. (I know that would require a mod).

I have use two options, a hexeditor and the Rodeo mod-generator. The latter is significantly easier. Get it at twcenter.net. There you can select units to be at their max (but you can also individually adjust any unit), so you can actually get a few really big battles.

[Plaxx]

Thanks, GilJaysmith!

I kept the demo on my hard drive for about a week, and then uninstalled it...it is what it is: A short DEMOnstration of some of the features of the game, a teaser to build interest and momentum for the full release. I have the utmost confidence that you and CAs hard work will be worth the wait, and as in the past you will support and "fix" any issues that do come up.

My only question right now would be:

What is planned for the inevitable expansion? I know you guys must already have a few good ideas for it!

[GilJaysmith]

The kindness of my heart runneth over, and here are a couple more one-liners:

- men running into rivers... not known to be a problem. Presumed to be down to modding the demo. Men can fall into the river and drown, but not in the sense that a unit ordered to cross the river will just walk in a straight line into the depths.

- routing units... their flags now pulse between white and the original faction flag, if I'm understanding rightly.

- do we respond to forum feedback in general... the thread which organised the demo feedback into a single place and gave reasoned details about problems was very helpful and led to some changes, so in that sense yes. Threads which turn into rants and declarations of "I won't buy this game unless X"... less useful. If we think a feature will help sell the game to a lot of people, one person threatening not to buy it is not a convincing counter-argument.

[The_Emperor]

Many thanks Gil!

One question I have based on the demo and linked in from previous TW titles...

Do we have an (Alt-click in MTW) function where we can order the whole army to move in formation without having to make a group of the whole army? (I mean the command to make all units move together in formation at the same speed)

It was a very useful command in MTW and I do hope it is in the full game.

[d6veteran]

Many thanks Gil!

One question I have based on the demo and linked in from previous TW titles...

Do we have an (Alt-click in MTW) function where we can order the whole army to move in formation without having to make a group of the whole army? (I mean the command to make all units move together in formation at the same speed)

It was a very useful command in MTW and I do hope it is in the full game.

Excellent question!


Oh and many thanks Gil.

[Colovion]

Land and sea basd trade have little indicators know on land there are little lines of camels going from city to city same with sea trade you can see little trade ships plugging along between ports.

Good to know - but my question was more on if Land Based Trade produces anything close to a sustainable economy - as in MTW you only traded with your immediate neighbors and in reality it was far from that kind of Land Trading and whole Empires have risen or fallen depending on the Trade from the East or just having trade going - and not only sea based. In MTW the total trade income was divided at roughly 90% Sea Based trade income to the 10% Land base trade income (if you were lucky).

[Encaitar]

Wonderful to hear. Many thanks indeed Gil!

[Barkhorn1x]

Threads which turn into rants and declarations of "I won't buy this game unless X"... less useful. If we think a feature will help sell the game to a lot of people, one person threatening not to buy it is not a convincing counter-argument.

Ha - I hear you. It must be a drag to poor your heart and soul into a project only to get rants about "issues" which are not even part of the release code.

OK - a** kissing mode off.

Good news about the Unit Formations/killing speed and the Routing Flags. I for one am very excited about the release, as I delved into the "text files" from the demo and really like what I see.

Barkhorn.

[Mr. Juice]

GilJaysmith, thank you very much for your replies!

[frogbeastegg]

Assorted GilJaysmith being kind

Thank you; it's like a weight has been lifted from my tiny amphibian mind. On the basis of that I will move to the 'buying on day of UK release' crowd; some of my concerns have been eased, the rest I will leave to faith in CA. Speed was a major issue to me as I couldn't keep up even with pause.

[Kraxis]

GAH! So much to quote, so little knowledge of doing it...

-Men running into rivers... not known to be a problem. Presumed to be down to modding the demo. Men can fall into the river and drown, but not in the sense that a unit ordered to cross the river will just walk in a straight line into the depths.

I'm beginning to believe that now. In the original tutorial the troops had no problems in getting to the bridge. But I'm still a bit fearful that this migth be carried over into later mods. Could be disasterous to the diversity of battles.

- routing units... their flags now pulse between white and the original faction flag, if I'm understanding rightly.

And there was much rejoice... weeehh weeehhh.
Good to know something has been done. It is perhaps not the best we could have hoped for but in my opinion almost anything is better than the blank banners (no they are not white).

Do we have an (Alt-click in MTW) function where we can order the whole army to move in formation without having to make a group of the whole army? (I mean the command to make all units move together in formation at the same speed)

Seconded! And added: Turning individual units like the good old Alt-click (no more dragging).

[Blodrast]

The kindness of my heart runneth over, and here are a couple more one-liners:

LOL, thank you, Gil.

- do we respond to forum feedback in general... the thread which organised the demo feedback into a single place and gave reasoned details about problems was very helpful and led to some changes, so in that sense yes. Threads which turn into rants and declarations of "I won't buy this game unless X"... less useful. If we think a feature will help sell the game to a lot of people, one person threatening not to buy it is not a convincing counter-argument.

I'm sure that most people would be real glad to see some of the devs making a post every now and then... it gives a lot more confidence in the final product (since it's obvious that the developers are not totally ignoring their fans), it significantly raises the spirits (in a good way ;) ), and generally makes people real happy.
Of course you don't have time to post every day, maybe not even once a week, but an occasional drop-by with a couple of posts every couple of weeks or so, especially at hot times like this is would be highly appreciated by most people, I am sure.

At any rate, thank you for your feedback

Not to be a whiner now, but speaking of the thread that apparently was useful to some extent (which I'm really glad to hear), one of you guys could have dropped a line telling us 'yeah, we'll look into it if/when we have time'. Nothing more than that, it would have been enough. Reckon it would have made a bigger difference than you may guess.

Anyway, thank you guys for the feedback and for taking time to talk to us every now and then

[Magraev]

Magraev, I am glad that you were wrong! The idea of speculating was to try to tease out an answer.

I'll get you for this...

My naturally pessimistic approach told me to expect no answers. For the record I'm glad i was wrong too.

[Quietus]

Since the best questions have already been taken, I'll ask the surreal one:

Can Wardogs climb ladders during siege?

[Kraellin]

hey gil :)

K.

[hoom]

Only a few things from the old MTW-control set are missing or solved differently

True, but those happen to be a few of the most important & most used parts of the control set.

[Psyco]

I'm not sure about the unit sizes slowing things down. I've played a bunch of games (with Rodeo) where units had 0 valor, weapon and armor, and 120 men (which, afaik, is the "normal" unit size), but the fights still finished in less than 30 seconds. By the time you move your screen over to your flanking forces, part of one players line had already broken (I hadn't even started moving my flankers yet). The killing speeds are just insane, but it's easy enough to mod (luckily I don't play MP, although I was planning starting). Just double every units defense and you (hopefully) have fights that last a while.

[Tamur]

So, who's collating these questions and deciding on the winners? 24 hours till answer time (if Roxy's feeling really kind, that is).