Feedback/Suggestions/Wishes on 1.05

Not a wall of text - it’s not that long and has many holes in it - rather a “fence of text”

As ever, I would appreciate your opinions about mine (correct my English if you want )

The User Interface

Be more romantically or bad ass cool with the design, some parts simple feel too technically.

Example:

The too little red x in your spell book: make instead a (wax) signet for the kingdom players and a bloodstain for empire players.

Many Icons are just too small, some are redundant.

Generally, I did like some of your older UI Test pictures, like the one with the magic cards or the old one with the big castle city. They had better style… Or take the one with the tactical combat in the swamp (btw. great colour theme for the swamp, almost feels like inside a clammy cave)

The Map – The Graphical Representation of your Realm

Firstly, I like it… BUT… honestly this is a strategy game so I play 90% on the cloth-map. (A matter of better overview and easier planning) So you should compare EWoMs cloth-map with MoMs main-map. And the second one is clearly flashier J

Hm… What do you make of this fact? I, for one, just don’t know.

Some Points

-          It’s not necessary to show little people in the towns. Nice simple Buildings – potential with spell effects – are enough.
-          But your work into the tactical maps and simplify icons on the strategic map
-          I like the shards and there activation effect.
-          I like the red exclamation mark! Simple and Clear! More of these Icons!
-          Unit cities on/off switch button (too see/interact with the terrain)
-          Maybe some kind of political view à Area of influence fills with your colour (with transparency of course)

Unlike MoM and Civ the land itself has sadly very minimal game effects. I don’t talk about the resources – a concept that works good, I think – but about the hills, swamps, dessert,… and what about rivers, fords, and maybe even castles – think medieval J   

For me it is this problem that let me feel a little disconnected with my realm.

So, please more impact of the landscape into the game in simple plain numbers (integers) with low values just to spice things up. (Don’t use these percent modifications).

Some Examples – Cities and Resources

-          High levels for Watchtower --> place it on a hill to get +1 Sight

-          Main City Square beside a river or the ocean --> +1 Gold

-          City on a hill --> Better Defence (Armour??)

-          Resources only in fitting places à metal on hills, food on plains, old forest in the woods…

Same Examples – Tactical and Strategic

-          Swamp-monster --> Random Attack of a Tentacle in tactical Combat

-          Dessert --> Quicksand

-          The possibility to Ambush, maybe only in Woods

-          The possibility to grow Forests or burn down these dam Woods.

-          Let us actually build roads and bridges

Scaling Problem

Percent Increase is maybe not a good idea?

BIG ONE - Tactical Battles - Thoughts

-          “The look” may seem important, but firstly the system has to be sound.

-          I don’t like the too big randomness of the current mechanics.

-          It should feel more ä… earthly, more like real medieval clashes of solders.

-          In the later game the armies have to feel more like armies

Leaders; with Bonuses and Penalties for the Army

Army-Screen: Placement before Combat, Unit-Leaders???

Corresponding bigger tactical maps

-          I like your principal approach with a mostly human core army

-          I like the system with variable group sizes… but each “man” should fight for himself

-          I like the mod-able solders… but the equipment must have more/different consequences on the stile of fighting… not just “more  damage or more bows” --> This calls for a potentially redesign of same elements… but I don’t call for complete renunciation of your MoM like approach. The depth of Warhammer, which had years of development and comes from tabletop, is simple not appropriate for this game… Maybe for Elli2…

Numbers

 Please a little less randomness - Idea 1:

-          Dice roll combination of D4… 2D4 (2-8); 4D4 (4-16); 10D4 (10-40)

-          Botch if more than half turns up as ones

-          Critical if more than half turns up as fours à Result + some extra D4 

 Or split the numbers into a fix and a random part - Idea 2:

 -          To Hit: (Str+Dex)/4 + (D0…(Str+Dex))/4 – versus – Armour/2+ D0…Armour/2

Why Str+Dex? Is seems more real if I want to hit someone that it don’t depend on my Strength only, may you could also use “40%Str+40%dex+20%Int… J   

-          To Damage:    Str+Weapon/2 + D0…Str+Weapon/2

-          A Zero is always a miss and a “no damage dealt”

-          A Max is always a hit and a bonus to damage in both rolls à so you could possible roll two Max (Hit&Damage) especially if you’re a unit with a low range, which results in good damage against strong opponents à human wave tactic.

(See, already a new tactic)

Morale

Units low in morale should simple try to flee.

Units and more Fighting - can you make a system with the following points? :

The whole is lesser than the sum of its parts (but the costs must be adjusted)

Each Solder attacks on its own.

Throw the damage-dice for each one; subtract the enemies armour and then sum the rest up (we get a more even distribution and it feels more like people fighting against each other and not two merged fleshmonster with 50 arms).

Front-Line Solders packed like sardines in a can?

It seams right, and has also cost-consideration with it – to restrict the numbers participating in any given close-combat encounter

--> Two fighters more than the smaller unit – to keep it simple

Simultaneous

Attack and Counter-Attack happens at the same time, but the counter-attack is 40% weaker (due to the fact that the defender is distracted not to get a sword in his belly)

Unit Traits:

First Strike: No counter-attack for the first strike…

Good Riposte: Counter-attacks by unit are only 20% weaker

Perfect Riposte: Counter-attacks with full strength

Speer Phalanx: Counter-attack against cavalry before the attack - with full strength.

Minimal Damage System for each attack.

All mundane weapons should cause moderate damage somewhere around 5-10 Points

Magical weapons could cause higher damage plus special effects of course.

Only high magic and the big, fierce Creatures should cause massive harm 

Defender has weakness against attack type (maximal damage):

Sum of (Max Dam – Def Armour) for each participating attacker

Noting special (normal damage):

Sum of (Normal Damage – Def Armour) for each participating attacker 

Any time normal Damage would be 0 or less (minimal damage):

Numbers of Attacker * Weapon Modifier (1 or 2)

This happens always if target has nothing to counter it, like the classical shields against arrows. One could also skip this counter-option but I think it makes the design of core/mundane units somewhat more interesting/. The minimal Damage is necessary too wear down units with strong protection (dragons, heroes) with adequate/intelligently equipped masses of solders.

Taken as a whole stardock could make the solder group option cheaper and RavenX can have his 1000men+ battles

Arrows           

Min Dam:       1 (Optional: no chest armour --> double minimal damage)

Counter:          Shields à no damage if enemies armour is higher than attack-score

Bolts (Crossbow):

Min Dam:       1 (Optional: no chest armour --> double minimal damage)

Counter:          Shields made of Metal

Cutting Weapons

Min Damage:  1

Counter:          Armour made of Metal

Blunt Weapons

Min Damage:  2

Counter:          Armour made of Leather or Hide (but this gives you lower overall armour, he hard choices make playing interesting…)

Generic Magic Damage (Elemental Damage could be different)

Min Damage:  Int/4 - ????

Counter:          Protection Amulets / Protection Enchantment   

Weapons

Weapon Range please, for Bows and Crossbows… (With bigger battlefields)

What else?

Random Elements of various magnitude (from game-changing to romantically silly)

Random Traders like MoM

What are heroes for? à In short, for all the special operations 

Leading (General)

Exploration (Adventurer)

Sneaking (Spy, Assassin)

Administration

Research

Alchemy & Item teleportation (with a high cost)

Building Idea: Caravanserai

Provides a strong Guard with every Caravan from this city – useful if you want a route through infested forests

By the way - Roads

Let us design the caravan-route and thru that the road, or actually first the roads and the caravans must travel these – but make the actual creation cost:

Number of tiles used for the road minus minimal tiles between the cities in 1 gold and 1 material or just 1 Stone à so a longer road that by-basses dangerous ground cost

O my, time is running out.... wife's calling

Good night and good fight

Aygis