Muslim factions neglected

[supadodo]

Muslim factions when compared to European nations seem to be a bit underdeveloped. First of all when you compare muslim walls to european nations which have baileys, battlements and the like, they don't have any distinct features. The walls are just plain dusty throughout the entire city.

Secondly, the units for muslim faction keep reusing the same skin over and over again while that of Europeans are varied.

Thirdly, the Jihad is rather dull cause you only get to recruit 2 types of Jihad units. C'mon why are there no Jihad cavalry? Ghazi's and Mutawwis get boring very fast coz they both suck!

And lastly, the crummy one liner speeches that make no sense and are not insulting enough.

I'm not Islamic or anything but eastern style factions have always attracted me in RTS games. Just sad to see the Muslims get so much less than those boar muchers. Haha Muslims can't eat Pork !!

[Blademun]

I kinda feel the same way. I've been playing a campaign as the Moors and I really do feel like some of the depth the game had with other factions is gone.

On the other hand, the Middle East factions get some great buildings, like the hospital and race tracks.

[Husar]

Haha Muslims can't eat Pork !!

They can, they have teeth like you and me...really!

[katank]

Ghazis suck? Excuse me but they happen to be some of the toughest units around. Find me any cheap-mid European infantry who will fight to the bitter end while surrounded. They absolutely rock. They are also armour piercing and are dirt cheap.

You get to call Jihads any time you want also, without having to appease the Pope.

Textures and speechs do need some work though.

[Sir Boo]

I belive that although the muslim factions do seem to feel a bit rushed the units are actually very effective...

[DukeKent]

Not all of the Christian factions are as finished either. I am playing as the Polish, and enjoying the game. But the units skins are pretty blah. Can even be hard to see on the campaign map in winter, and I have a killer monitor.

[Zenicetus]

My only real disappointment was the lack of full battle speeches, but I think the Muslim factions make up for it with a great selection of units (at least for the Turks; I haven't played the others yet). The generic textures and somewhat unexciting castles and cities don't bother me that much. Obviously CA could have done more to individualize the Muslim factions, but as long as the units are interesting, reasonably historical, and (most importantly) fun to use, I'm happy. Things like battle speeches are just icing on the cake.

[General Zhukov]

The gameplay is as fun as the Catholic factions, it's just those extra little details that are missing. I really noticed the difference when the Egyptian generals alternated between two short, lame speeches, while the Spanish generals had hilarious, tailored speeches for each faction.

[beauchamp]

I thought it all-along, im glad someone else realized it as well...

[Lamprey]

Perhaps CA feared upsetting Muslims and went with boring but inoffensive speeches. Today, calling Muslims (or Islam itself) violent can spark riots, embassy burnings & general unrest in the middle east as its indignant inhabitants try to show how peaceful they really are. In a political climate such as this, I don't blame the designers for trying to err on the side of caution.

[The Stranger]

well theyve neclected even more...

what about the CASTLES... EVERY CASTLE LOOKS THE SAME...

Captain, I have the feeling I've been here before...?!?
Yes, soldiers, that's because our Emperor has made all his castles the same so his troops would feel at home everywhere.
Oh, thanks Captain... So I haven't been heer before?

[Bijo]

Hm, haven't really noticed much about it. I find the Muslim factions okay looking. Just some units, but ah... I just forget about it.

[Varam]

The Muslim factions are neglected, and so are the "Eastern European" factions. And although they get long speeches, the Spanish, Italians, and Greeks do not get unique voicesets the way the British, French, and Germans do. It is not hard to see which factions were considered the most important by the developers.

[supadodo]

Like I said above, many units keep reusing the same skin over and over again especially the Turks. Ottoman Infantry, Saracen Militia, Sipahi, Halberd Militia....
They all have the same outfit both upgraded and unupgraded. My complaint is aimed more on the visual side. What ever happened to armor upgrade representation?

Still though, the cities and castles on the campaign map look much better than the european ones.

[Yun Dog]

I agree - would be nice to have more Jihad units, and When playing as egypt - very few settlements I had to walk half way across africa to find a settlement west of Cairo, and no thebes/luxor. Were there really so few settlements, I appreciate it was desert etc.

[Neoncat]

Muslims neglected? How about orthodox ones? They don't even get bishops(ok thats a bug, but still). You can't even join jihads or crusades with em. However you can be a target for crusades or jihads. You have very small chance to get relics(only catholic ones I think). And most annoying thing is that theres only two orthodox factions. So that means a lot imams and priests on your land praying against you.

And for muslims, yes whole game is unfortunately concentrated nearly only on catholics factions. For example most of special retinue units are catholics only and imams don't get as much retinue as catholic priest. Don't know if they are even finished some factions. For example other than catholic factions have some serious probs with swordsmith guild.

[Realturka]

They can, they have teeth like you and me...really!
Actually, we can't, it's forbidden by religion :D

[katank]

@ Neoncat, I think Muslim factions are supposed to have an easy time getting horsebreeder's guild and the Catholics the swordsmith's guild. Considering they do similar things and getting both sets seem somewhat overpowered.

Muslims get a huge 50 pt and then 75 pt boost for building two levels of racetracks. This alone is enough to guarantee a basic horsebreeder. Meanwhile, Muslim factions don't get any sword infantry except hashashim (only buildable through a guild, meaning you need to destroy it to get swordsmith). A similar situation with Catholics who have tons of sword infantry to build to get swordsmith's guild. However, no real way to recruit cav in cities to get horsebreeders except building and later destroying merchant's guild (not true for Iberian or Italian factions)