Desired Features, old and new

[Cowhead418]

Some off the top of my head:

Alliances to actually mean something
Mutual protection pacts
The ability to create a multiple-faction alliance
MTW system of owning a province (either you did or you didn't) Entering another province is a declaration of war
More movement points for agents - I don't want to have to wait six years for my diplomat to reach the Scythians to ask for an alliance
Battles in the city streets with rebels
The ability to hold councils with your advisors to discuss political and military strategies
More exploitation of the terrain on the campaign map
More weather effects
Tradeable goods to have a function other than just money-making
A better use for princesses
Individual units that are more able to respond to various situations on the battlefield
The STW-style record of generals though it should not have as much impact on the command as it did in STW
When civil wars occur, the other side you don't choose to back should act as a coordinated group and like another faction, not as a split group of rebels
The awesome atmospheric battlefields of STW
More interesting sieges - more options, ability to go see it on the battlefield
No suicidal or idiotic AI generals who throw their lives away (taken from another thread)
STW-style movies! I loved those!

[Grimmy]

I would like to see a change to tactical battles. When an enemy army routs, you can "release to persue". By that I mean, in order to have a general break of formation and persue the enemy to slaughter them, you issue a "release to persue" command (button) and then give up control of your army as they go forth to slaughter.

Otherwise, the army would have to keep formation and advance in good order, rank and file.

This would add a level of tactical "deciet" and tension. Is the enemy army really breaking and running in rout? or are they baiting you into comming after them so they can rally and turn on your men as they are now out of formation and easier to take apart?

Also, I'd like to see a disciplen effect much like morale that is tested per unit during a fight. If a unit is facing an enemy unit that breaks and routs..will that unit "release to persue" without orders to do so, or even against orders not to do so?

Kinda like the saxon shield wall that was holding back successive waves of norman cavalry and foot charges that finally got baited into breaking ranks and going after the enemy they thought was routing, but then turned on them and ...

I'm thinking it was the Battle of Hastings, but not sure on the name.

[Elmar Bijlsma]

A 'Advance' order for multiple units to adance in formation. (to meet the enemy) It can be done now but it is way too fiddly and you are one mouseclick away from disaster if you get it wrong.

The speech to go on during the deployment phase. I kinda like the speeches but I never listen to them because I tire of waiting for the old codger to finish. If he could do his speech while I'm spending a few minutes placing my troops that would be so much better. Not too much to ask, I hope.

A Grognard mode With the Arcade mode rarely used by most people and it's features accesible by the ordinary options already, and with CA already aiming at the massmarket, how about a mode for us die hard wargamers? Stuff like slowing down the battles, units with combat values according to their historical effectiveness rather then for balancing purposes. Etc. etc.

[Joshwa]

I'd like to see more diplomatic options, off the top of my head

*In GA mode, it should be harder to conquer and hold enemy provinces; there should be a hell of a lot of rebellions, the support cost of troops in that province should be higher, and the previous owner should get 'guerilla' troops to harass the occupiers.
*Vassal kingdoms. If you beat another faction, you can demand they pay you money/provide you with troops. You could also take all their heirs off them as hostages. If they decide to attack after that they'd better make damn sure they win!
*A 'Royal Court' system, where your diplomats follow foreign kings around, instead of you having to hunt them down every time you want to petition.
*The ability to decide which captured units to ransom back, and which to dispose of/cripple. Im thinking of Turkish Horses archers here!
*Being able to move through another factions territory without invading. This could either be because you are so big they don't dare oppose you, or by paying them.
*The option to demand territory/money from a faction when they sue for peace.
*different kinds of alliance. Non-aggression pacts, Trade agreements etc. It would be cool if a whole bunch of factions could group together in one big trading league, for example.
*A different system for battle outcomes; If you massively outnumber the enemy, but they take, say, half of your army with them, that would count as a technical victory for you, and a moral victory for them. Troops who suffer crushing defeats 'remember' this, and will be de-moralised the next time they fight. Conversely, troops on a winning streak will have a morale bonus. 'Hit and run' attacks would also be good, with you sending a few units to harass the enemy, retreating, and it NOT counting as a defeat for you, so long as you kill more of them that they do of you.

[Dutch_guy]

Ok, here are some idea's

-would like to be able to save my better campaign battles in the form of a replay.

-I would like the options of ransoming,killing the ringleaders or mercy back, also I'd want to have the option of killing enemy prisoners at the time when the battle is still in progress ( so you can cripple your enemy even If you might lose the battle )

-a Glorious achievement mode, GA, or an improved version of it - suggestions?

-I'd like to see the historical units or Heroes come back from Medieval Total war.

-To be able to wipe out factions with assassins in the mTW style, however balance it so that it isn't as easy as in Medieval but not as impossible as in Rome.

-Larger battle maps, which have more details on it ( think different sorts of terrain etc. ) and can actually be the difference between losing or winning a battle.

-Better weather effects + the corresponding penalties or bonuses, meaning archers have a decreased effectiveness in the rain, camels get bonuses in a sand storm, decreased sight in fog ( think fog of war ).

-Supply lines, which I incidentally did see in a Rome total war trailer / screenshot.

-Make retraining harder, aka make it take as long as is necessary, so given a unit is 100 men strong it should take longer retraining if it has 20 units than that it should take if it had 90 units.

-You shouldn't be able to load a full stack in just one boat, I'd rather have the Medieval system of naval transportation than the Rome one, which says a lot.

-Make certain strategic positions a priority to defend for the AI, meaning that the AI should cover bridges or mountain passes or built castles / forts in those area's.

-An improved diplomacy system, catholics should have an easier time negotiation with fellow believers than with Orthodox or Muslim factions and Vice-versa.

-Armies should be able to cover more distance in your own province than in enemy provinces ( Stolen from another thread, Thanks )

-Rebels hunting should not take more time than fighting battles against the current enemy super power.

-Civil Wars need to return, period.

-Alliances should be there for a reason, and allies should help each other if one of the factions in that alliance ask for help, also backstabbing or cancelling an alliance at a very very bad time for your ally, should result in a loss of ...prestige or influence , loyalty or something of that kind.

-Make the AI form armies rather than 3 unit border patrol
Meaning it should form stacks rather than forming various little armies.

-AI armies should always be led by a general - that general would NOT have to be a family member.

-Bring back the feature to assign titles to generals, governors, maybe expand that feature - suggestions ?

Well thats all I could think of at the moment.

Will maybe edit this thread of post new brain waves in this thread.

[ivoignob]

A lot of usefull things were said already. Some of them were already part of previous Total War games.
Well I wish those messages back, which informed you if a king of another faction has died. In MTW for example a glorious faction could become very weak as soon as a king with high influence died and the heir was rather weak. You should be able to get informed of such a great incidence without your spies sneaking around as word would spread.

[Trithemius]

A lot of usefull things were said already. Some of them were already part of previous Total War games.
Well I wish those messages back, which informed you if a king of another faction has died. In MTW for example a glorious faction could become very weak as soon as a king with high influence died and the heir was rather weak. You should be able to get informed of such a great incidence without your spies sneaking around as word would spread.

I agree with this.

I'd also like some "assumed diplomacy" to be going on. Even if my bishops and princesses aren't in a given territory, I'd like to think I could hear something about what's going on there. News might have travelled slow, but with turns that last a year or more it should travel a bit! I suppose it could be thought of as a bit of thinning in some parts of the 'fog of war' or something? Having some idea of who controls what from turn to turn seems fairly reasonable?

[DensterNY]

A lot of usefull things were said already. Some of them were already part of previous Total War games.
Well I wish those messages back, which informed you if a king of another faction has died. In MTW for example a glorious faction could become very weak as soon as a king with high influence died and the heir was rather weak. You should be able to get informed of such a great incidence without your spies sneaking around as word would spread.

Yeah, that is a great part of MTW having the influence of a nation/empire carried upon the name of its King. Whenever there was a transition in rulers for a nation that I was interested in acquiring I would quickly attack their weakest provinces to create chaos and lack of confidence in their king. After a round of two of this it most likely cause mass rebellions which I'd pick apart.