Herrhals

RoN was a masterpiece! I think this game as well has potential to be a masterpiece as well. With infinite resources, I disagree, there would be a lot more fighting going on. More of the player's time could be spent fighting rather than shuttling citizens around to different trees. Instead of increasing unit costs, just decrease gather rates to keep balance with the use of walls and towers. I have noticed that there is a 300 population cap. If you had 200 cap, then each citizen has a much higher opportunity cost by decreasing room for more military unit. I just like to focus on military, rather than always worry about where my citizens are wandering off to.

The resource gathering from RoN was not stale at all despite being "unlimited". Each resource could only be gathered by a finite number of citizens, and one would have to expand, sometimes a lot, in order to find new sources to gather from. One couldn't max out resource gathering in the first age, because of the gathering maximum. This maximum is increased as you increase commerce tech. All of the sudden now, there is a need to refocus on economy, even in the middle and late game. Correct me if I am wrong, but early rushes with most civilizations (I haven't explored them all), is not feasible. The optimal strategy now is to early game pump out 60 citizens before anything else, and let them loose, and then focus on military and age expansion. My gripe is more with having to micromanage citizens gathering, because stone, and wood resources are depleted incredible quickly, and you find citizens walking to obscure places to get the resources. My suggestions: -unlimited mining of stone, wood and metal resources, but limit number of citizens able to work, and cut gathering rate. That way, there is still an incentive to explore and fight for new resources without having to micro-manage citizens. You have done this already with the farming, and I like that! With the above, you can place fewer resources on the map, and make it fun to fight over the resources, instead of only fighting each other's bases. -More options to increase territory, not just cc's. Thank you. Example of which, specifically?

Hmm I'm more interested in seeing the resource gathering suggestion I gave being implemented. I gave the game a run, and the resources are way too hectic to micro, especially the trees. I'm clearing and chopping trees faster than I can find new tree stands, and I find my citiZens walking far and wide to chop indefensible wood. And yes, I really am using all that wood I like to be able to focus on military combat and strategies.

Makes sense. I just don't like the prospect of a map eventually being void of resources. At least with gold/metal, you can buy stuff at the market. Also, from the reviews, it looks like the prices change too violently from purchasing other materials.

This game looks really neat, and I look forward to playing it. It really brings back the nostalgia of AOE2. I just have a few suggestions/comments. My favorite parts I have seen are the formations, and the warrior gathering resources. I'm assuming everything has a hotkey, right. Like the different formations, buildings, orders, etc? Resource gathering: My biggest vice with AOE2 was the resource collection. You had limited wood, stone, food, and gold sources, and had to constantly micro-manage citizens around to find new sources (especially for wood). -Empire earth had a nice system of unlimited resources at each point, but limited number of citizens could work it. -Rise of Nations had an even better, and less micro-managing gather system, where additional citizens would increase the collection rate which would be displayed as a number ("+45/90" gathering +45 food every 30 seconds, out of a max gathering rate of 90), and technology and ideas would increase the maximum collection rate of different resource types. Rise of Nations had the best system of any RTS, and 0 AD should definitely implement it. It allows for more concentration on military strategy and gameplay. Trade routes: I haven't seen any mention, but having caravans going between cities/ civic buildings would generate gold/metal income depending on distance between the points. Territory: Should be more beneficial to gain. In RoN, there was the concept of attrition for unsupplied armies in foreign territory. Civ traits and technologies would increase or decrease the rate. You also can not build buildings in territory not your own. These are just a few suggestions I have. I will leave them here for discussion. Herrhals