is it possible to make a unit unique?

[Duke Malcolm]

Is it possible to make a trained or mercenary unit unique, i.e. only one of the unit can be recruited?

[khelvan]

Mercenary, I think so. I believe in the mercenaries file you can set the values for initially available and frequency separately. So you may be able to have 1 available and none ever appear again, making the unit unique.

On building them, no, unless you have some rather elaborate scripts running in conjunction with traits, and even then I don't know if you could do it.

You could simply never add the unit to the building capabilities to be built, and have it exist at the start of the game....that would make it unique.

[Stuie]

On building them, no, unless you have some rather elaborate scripts running in conjunction with traits, and even then I don't know if you could do it.

The script wouldn't have to be too elaborate. Just have a unique building with a script that spawns the unit when the unique building is built. The script could even be written such that it would only trigger once (so the player cannot destroy the building, build it again and get another unit).

Of course this assumes that the player's faction is the one building the building/unit... getting the AI to build it would be a bit more involved.

But khelvan's merc idea is a lot easier.

[Epistolary Richard]

Actually, you wouldn't necessarily need the building either. The complexity of the script would all depend on exactly when and where you wanted to place the unit. The simplest one would be the creation of the unit in a specific city in a specific date for the player. The most complicated would involve a variety of different triggers, citing the unit in different places and giving it to the AI (which you'd be best off having a background script for, unless the player's willing to go along with it).