wowgetoffyourcellphone

Indeed. Melee Infantry have one unit which has a hard bonus. Perhaps we can do that for Cavalry* and Ranged Infantry as well. One unit class of each can have a hard counter bonus. I realize that Spear Cav have a hard bonus, but it's against other cavalry. I meant that each group of classes (cavalry, melee inf, range inf) can have 1 class that hard counters units of the other group for a rps. Then you have the other classes around those who add more nuance.

Same set of models, but with different textures. It would be nice to have a completely different set of models for Scythians, Xiongnu, and eventually Huns, but for an initial release of a "nomads" alpha, I think we will have to go with the same models and iterate from there over time.

Don't understand this one. Were Slingers used to siege cities? lol Nah, they were for the open field and skirmishes. Also, good hunters and foragers, but that's given to cav units. Making slingers into mini-onagers never made sense! Same for War Elephants being meaty battering rams when they should have been the ultimate battlefield unit (but hard to mass) from the start. Hmm, if ranged units stand up too well to melee attack, then what is their weakness? To "lean into" differences of classes of units, then I think ranged units should pretty much get massacred by any melee units who manage to reach them. The key to ranged units is... their range. The longer the range, the less damage they cause, because it's the range that matters. Sure, as melee troops close in, the ranged defenders get more accurate, makes sense, but once the melee units get close enough for a sword, the ranged units should be burnt toast. Adios muchachos. We can have them switch to knives or short swords to defend themselves, but it should only buy moments only. Armor-wearing Javelineers should have greater cost and perhaps less range. They have to wield a thureos after all. Could definitely stand up to melee action better, but at a cost to force projection. I for one think all foot soldiers should have the same health (call it 100) and then we adjust armor and attack, et al. around that. About cheapness, I'm very pro-trash units as a concept. Han Crossbowmen for example. Cheap, massable, good for sending tons of projectiles the enemy's way, but ultimately outclassed by stronger troops when those come to play. I don't think that's in the cards though. Maybe minds will change?

Gotta remember the time period of the mod though. By the middle of the 13th century, the Norman conquest was already 200 years past. The English homeland was consolidating nicely by the 13th. Assuming the mod is a "snapshot" of the 13th century and not a "through the ages" mod.

@real_tabasco_sauce Ken Wood.

At the time we started making tech and unit portraits in earnest, AOE3 was the latest Age game available and the stye of icons seemed nice, so we went with that. Prior to that, our portraits were really ad hoc and AOE2-like. Todays, they are more painterly with a nice gradient background with some noise added and everything looks like a good consistent direction to me. Consistency is the important part, honestly. The phase up icons stand out for a reason, because they are the most important techs in the game and they are unique from the rest.

I feel like we are really missing opportunities to differentiate ranged units. You've hit on a few things here. Javelineers weren't used for mass clouds of raining projectiles onto enemy formations, such as how archers were used. Pitch battles, skirmishes, et al. are a lot different than a one-on-one mano-a-mano fight and different types of weapons and units are used differently in each case. We can't really depict that kind of nuance in the game, however we can twiddle with the stats to approximate these differences. I for one think that if the core game isn't going to go with hard counter bonuses (DE uses these), then the different ranged types really should lean in to their core differences. Archers are long ranged and used for massed volleys? Then make their range huge, less accurate, lower damage, but high rate of fire (2 seconds). Slingers and Javelineers are a lot more accurate, but shorter range than Archers. Slingers at 80% range of Archers, but 50% more accurate and a lower rate of fire (3s). Javelineers have the highest attack damage, shortest range, and most accuracy (due to the short range), but the longest repeat time/rate of fire (4s), to mimic their skirmishing role. The game already kind of does this, but it could lean into it more.

Ironically, I based them on the Age of Empires III age-up icons. He wants us to make them more like Age of Empires II's. What can a guy do? (nothing in this case) But in all seriousness, we are always open to new or improved artwork. There are better ways of going about proposing it though.

I'm only annoyed by the word salad here.

No, proportionally. They are too tall.

I feel like the buildings are "too vertical" in proportion. Does anyone else understand what I mean?

Nice. Possible mini-civ or mercenary camp units and/or scenario adversaries.

I'm starting to agree with this. Can still keep "Forced March" as a formation that gives a speed boost and -1 all armor (vulnerable to ambush), but only with player input.

Just do it how they do it in Age of Empires. no need to reinvent the wheel or require hotkeys.

The ship behavior might not be bad with the simpler approach. I might do some tests.

What about now? loljk

*Fewer Units

I can see that as an option. For instance, Total War games allow the player to change the size of the battalions (usually for performance reasons as well). Just need a name for it.

Excellent reference^

Basic Battering Ram -> Covered Ram tech

Updated Sentry Tower on the left, aka "Stone Outpost" for Delenda Est.

Very nice. Dyed cloths, hanging to dry.

@Obskiuras @Duileoga I think the Siege Arsenal and the Market look too close. Willing to design something new for the Market? Here's what the other markets look like, for inspiration: