The - if there are new things in... thread

[macsen rufus]

I would like to see trade items "doing" more - ie if you can import certain items, then new abilities should be available, eg make a trade route to an iron province, then get a weapons upgrade building dependent on your trader etc. That way having trade cut off would be more serious than losing a bit of wonga.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Sorry guys, yet I'm going to carry on boring you with more pathetic, stupid and idiotic suggestions:

Based upon the idea that in M:TW every unit is lead by a general, the troops have loyalty to their unit leader and their faction. With low loyalty to their unit leader they may simply kill him, and the men in the unit loyal to him, and install a new man in his place. If they are disloyal to their faction then they may mutiny against their unit leader and form an independent army. Also this factor could effect the stamina and morale that units have on the battlefield.

Also, each unit could have a certain amount of zeal which could vary depending on what the unit is. If they are a high zeal unit lead by a low piety general then their loyalty to their leader will suffer. If they are a high zeal unit then, if the faction leader is un-pious, their loyalty to their faction will reduce. Also angering the Pope, getting used in assaults on other Catholic factions or getting excommunicated could also effect their factor. However, this would only work in a Medieval/Dark Ages/Late Classical scenario and would probably look a little ridiculous in a different period.

I would also like to see desertions if their loyalty drops too low and starting a mutiny would not be worthwhile due to factors such as lack of men willing to join within the stack.

Penultimately I would like to see the ability to modify a units wages, henceforth effecting it's loyalties towards you. The lower the wage the more they will dislike you. Also, being in a stack with a better paid unit could effect their loyalties too.

As a final, and probably ultimate suggestion - don't worry I've nearly silenced pestering you with my annoying suggestions, I suggest that perhaps the class that the unit has come out of could effect these loyalties depending on the overall happiness of their class in the province that they were trained in and in the province they are in at the time. For example, if the peasants at home are revolting the men in a peasant class may desert/mutiny and join the rebellion.

[Warmaster Horus]

Dare I say you enjoy micro-management, Omanes?
As for the AI, diplomacy and the likes, those are all normal, very typical suggestions, which CA attempts to improve all the time (I've heard MedII 1.2 isn't too bad).

I think someone said it, I'm not sure, but what should be done with the Battle AI depends entirely on the enemy General's skill, as well as his traits. This could be done with the player's troops, where for example, the General who has a "suicidal attacker" trait, or something like that, instead of retreating like YOU want, charges into the fray like he'd do because of his trait. This would add a certain sense of realism, because someone so obsessed with victory, or saving his troops, would NEVER retreat first, when he believes there's still a chance of victory.

[macsen rufus]

A couple of other things:

* battlefield defections - eg you could never "play" the Battle of Bosworth properly in MTW as some contingents changed side half-way through. So if somehow bribes could come into effect during the battle rather than on the campmap, so you'd never know until the battle was underway whether the bribe had worked. I know, impossible, but it would be good

* napalm chihuauha catapults

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Dare I say you enjoy micro-management, Omanes?

Economical micro-mangement always has been my sort of thing - for some strange reason, although I enjoy TW battles, I find the strategic map's economical oppertunities much more interesting. However, I still do conclude in spending more time on the battlefeild than on the campaign map, and I would rather it be the other way around.

[caravel]

Based upon the idea that in M:TW every unit is lead by a general, the troops have loyalty to their unit leader and their faction. With low loyalty to their unit leader they may simply kill him, and the men in the unit loyal to him, and install a new man in his place. If they are disloyal to their faction then they may mutiny against their unit leader and form an independent army, depending on the size of the mutinous men in their province, like in M2:TW when a general turns rebel, not a civil war as in M:TW, or the unit leader, depending on his loyalties, may join them. Also this factor could effect the stamina and morale that they have on the battlefield.

I agree completely, loyalty should have many aspects. I would like to see a truly feudal system in later TW games where a Duke of one of your provinces may suddenly name the King of a rival faction as his liege lord. This happened a lot back then so it would add a new dimension. If your king is failing to impress then expect your provinces to start defecting.

I would also like to see desertions if their loyalty drops too low and starting a mutiny would not be worthwhile due to factors such as lack of men willing to join in within the stack.

Yes, low loyalty should cause desertions from the ranks before it causes civil war. Dread should also effect this. Dread should need to be balanced and not just maxed out. A low dread general should see more corruption in provinces that he governs, his troops should also get lower moral when fighting under him in battle. An average dread general would give morale bonuses to his troops and stamp out corruption in a province he is governing. A high dread general would start to have a negative effect again. While quelling the general population he would have put quite a few noses out of joint, and in battle his men's morale would suffer (who likes to fight for an evil scum bag?). Corruption under such a man would be rife, as only the nastiest types would work for him. This would require the player to balance dread.

Penultimately I would like to see the ability to modify a units wages, henceforth effecting it's loyalties towards you. The lower the wage the more they will dislike you. Also, being in a stack with a better paid unit could effect their loyalties too.

I like this idea. Also the more money you make the more soldiers would expect to be paid. This would only apply to certain eras where professional standing armies are used. When it comes to feudal society I'm not sure it would be relevant.

As a final, and probably ultimate suggestion - don't worry I've nearly silenced pestering you with my annoying suggestions, I suggest that perhaps the class that the unit has come out of could effect these loyalties depending on the overall happiness of their class in the province that they were trained in and in the province they are in at the time. For example, if the peasants at home are revolting the men in a peasant class may desert/mutiny and join the revolt.

Again a good idea. Historically troops were brought in from elsewhere to quell rebellions. These troops would have had no association with the townspeople and thus no loyalty to them. Raising a militia in the town itself would have been folly, and probably nigh impossible. So yes the units you train reflecting the public order of the province is a good idea.

One of my own points, that I have mentioned elsewhere is this: AI. I would like to see an AI that remembers your actions and learns from them. I would like to see all of your actions noted down by the AI, and for these actions to fully affect future diplomacy. If you executed 200 prisoners, or turned traitor on an ally, you won't just get a nasty vice, but the AI will know about it and it will take it into account.

[Severous]

Hi

Things I would like to see:

1) Individual soldiers carry experience in RTW/BI. Id like to be able to display this. At any time to show the soldiers in a unit...their kill total/experience. And after a battle the ability to show what they started with, how many they killed, and what it was at the end of the battle.

2) The list of units/agents can be sorted in various ways. But once you leave the scroll it resorts itself and starts itself at the top again. Id like sort and postion you were at to be remembered. This would be very helpful late in a big campaign when working down a long list of units.

3) Post battles stats. You can see what your units killed. But what enemy killed you? Have the ability to present enemy stats.

4) Campaign stats. How many killed from each enemy faction, how many of you did they kill. Running total for the whole campaign.

5) Kills from wall towers to be reported as if it was a unit. So you can see how important they were in battle.

6) Friendly fire stats.

7) Make screenshots in something other than tga's. Have the option to define file type created...png/jpeg for instance.