Slitherine

Ave,

Has anyone else experienced the feeling, of expecting to see something and when it's not there, it's a big let-down? What I'm referring to is the current lack of Unit Standards and Unit Command figures!

In equipment we can award our troops with a standard. When I moved to the next battle, having done just that, I half expected to see my little guys marching across the battlefield behind a unit standard. Nada, zip, niete, zilch, nuffink and other words for nothing. I was DISAPPOINTED!!!

In promotions we can reward our little guys by inflicting upon them Junior NCOs. Once again, perhaps naively, I half hoped to see new little guys leading my original little guys. More zips and nadas, etc. I was DISAPPOINTED again!!!

Is each troop type cast in stone? Is there any way that variations could be created? It would be graphically very impressive. I'm sure your artist/s would enjoy flexing his/her/their creative muscles. Whilst we are on the subject of your artist/s I would like to express my admiration for his/her/their current achievements, simply staggering. Could I also request more skins, at least ten per troop type. One legion = ten cohorts, you get the picture, no pun intended?

If anyone else has views on this topic, perhaps you would care to express them in the form of a reply, or simply cast your vote in the attached poll.

One final thought, although this topic may seem to be a complaint, in it's own way it's an inverted compliment. We enjoy the game so much that through our collective thoughts and efforts we seek to make it even better.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

Totally agree on the lack of standards and unit commanders as I experienced that same level of disappointment on realising nothing new was visible after the upgrade. I am less sure about the additional skins. All that seems to change on the skins is the unit colour and while having a technicolour army may look nice (and scare the enemy ) it serves no purpoese once both sides get stuck into combat as the enemy often uses the same colour design. It would be more fund to see the helmet/armour/weapon styles change as you upgrade them along with unit colour, which means a lot more skinning of course!

venividivici wrote:Totally agree on the lack of standards and unit commanders as I experienced that same level of disappointment on realising nothing new was visible after the upgrade. I am less sure about the additional skins. All that seems to change on the skins is the unit colour and while having a technicolour army may look nice (and scare the enemy ) it serves no purpoese once both sides get stuck into combat as the enemy often uses the same colour design. It would be more fund to see the helmet/armour/weapon styles change as you upgrade them along with unit colour, which means a lot more skinning of course!

Ave venividivici (or veni for short?),

I don't totally agree with your view on colours, what about those superb shield patterns, are they great or what? Back in the days of my table-top wargaming, I would have given my eye-teeth to be able to paint as well as that. However, I do agree with your views on the equipment ideas, it would be visually stunning to see some effect of your upgrades. To see your little guys all kitted out with the latest style in armour etc. Now wouldn't that be something? If and when we manage to get Sltherine to a Version II or any type of upgrade, maybe they will seriously consider some of these ideas!

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

Well, there's more than one way to skin an animation. Just changing the image in the promotions screen with each armor upgrade would be an improvement, even if it didn't appear in the battles, would be a lot more visually appealing. The unit leaders and standards would look really impressive on the field, though. Not that I'm disappointed with the current setup, but there's always room to grow.

honvedseg wrote:Well, there's more than one way to skin an animation. Just changing the image in the promotions screen with each armor upgrade would be an improvement, even if it didn't appear in the battles, would be a lot more visually appealing. The unit leaders and standards would look really impressive on the field, though. Not that I'm disappointed with the current setup, but there's always room to grow.

Ave honvedseg,

I couldn't agree more. Can you imagine our little guys marching proudly behind their standards being directed by sets of NCOs and officers? (I know NCOs is an incorrect term but to use names like centurion, cornicen, tesserarius, optio and signifer or aquilifer: for the oficers Legatus, Tribuni angusticlavi, Tribuni laticlavius, eh? I think that NCOs and officers are much simpler and more familiar, don't you?) It would look visually impressive, plus you could tell the front from the back. It's also a morale thing, "officers improve the morale of the men, allowing them to withstand greater casualties before they run from a fight" and "the regimental standard gives the squad an identity and improves their morale". We know they have NCOs and a standard and , they (via the AI) know they have them, but neither we nor they can SEE either!

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

You probably know if your unit has a standard, but you can't tell if the OTHER side has a standard. That's the part that irritates me, you can't tell what you are facing, or what you just fought against in the last battle. Why was that one pesky unit so tough? Was it armored, or did it have some skill that made it that way? Not picturing armor in the battles does have its drawbacks. Perhaps a more detailed view of the enemy as an after-action report based on the fallen and captured?

Well, I have mixed feelings here.

I cannot really say I'm disappointed.

Perhaps it's just that I'm a "the glass is half full" kind of guy, but I got what I wanted - GAMEPLAY!

To me the graphics are of secondary importance, and not even a close second at that.

Then again, let's consider what adding these things would do to the file sizes. It might well have required a 3rd CD, which wouldn't fit in the standard box, thus requiring a 4-CD case, which is another expense.

Keep in mind we're dealing with a very small design house here, and they've done heroically well with the game as it is.

Speaking of graphics, let me share this with you.

When I first played the demo, got to first scenario, deployed my guys, and hit fight. OK, and then you get the fly-by.

I thought that was a cut-scene.

I was simply amazed when I realised, "OMFG, this beautiful picture isn't just a video cut-scene, this is the actual game!"

I got no complaints at all with the graphics.

Well, one. The buttons are blank on the menu in full game, just like in the demo.

possum wrote:Well, I have mixed feelings here.
I cannot really say I'm disappointed.
Perhaps it's just that I'm a "the glass is half full" kind of guy, but I got what I wanted - GAMEPLAY!
To me the graphics are of secondary importance, and not even a close second at that.
Then again, let's consider what adding these things would do to the file sizes. It might well have required a 3rd CD, which wouldn't fit in the standard box, thus requiring a 4-CD case, which is another expense.
Keep in mind we're dealing with a very small design house here, and they've done heroically well with the game as it is.
Speaking of graphics, let me share this with you.
When I first played the demo, got to first scenario, deployed my guys, and hit fight. OK, and then you get the fly-by.
I thought that was a cut-scene.
I was simply amazed when I realised, "OMFG, this beautiful picture isn't just a video cut-scene, this is the actual game!"
I got no complaints at all with the graphics.
Well, one. The buttons are blank on the menu in full game, just like in the demo.

Ave possum,

Once again, another well reasoned, though provoking article.

I agree with all of your points of view, no doubts about that. But I also hold fast to my own stand-point iro. the possibilities for improvement/upgrade, irrespective of cost!

The buttons you mentioned, are they the ones bottom right on the Deployment screen? If so, they only become active if the promotion options, "Disciplined Formations" and "Advanced Formations", are exercised. (For units eligible for those two options see the lead article of the topic "Promotions".)

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

Speedy -

No, I mean when you first launch the shortcut on your desktop, there's a menu comes up, and clicking the top button on that menu launches the game proper.

I have no clue what the other buttons do, because they're...blank!

And speaking of cool, did you notice how when you change the uniform colors on your cavalry, the horse changes color too?

There's a grey, a roan, a black, and a bay.

If I was going to ask Slitherine for something, I'd ask for the ability to change the uniform color and the horse color separately. That wouldn't take any new graphic content, just a new control

I agree 100% the standards should be added if possible. I have only played the demo and have yet to award a standard. But I totally expected to see a standard added when I deployed the unit. Kind of a let down actually.

My thought on this is that the standards, and for that matter all other types of equipment could be more dramatically and cost effectively added to the unit image on the camp screen. What I expected was for my tricked out Legion I with extra armor, grade 4 weapons, standards, etc to look tricked out on the camp screen. I would love to see future iterations of the game really develop the camp screen so that we get to "review the troops" on a more fully realized "camp" replica, with the centurions of our units arrayed before us showing all their standards and equipment. Put together 20 different faces and a couple different body types and our unit leaders would become real personalities who we could award honors and special equipment to.

The two captains in CoM with whom the commander interacts could be realized as unit commanders. Remeber the crusty old centurion voiced over in the tutorial. I was sad to see him go. It would have been great to have such a personality along the way, throughout. A few movies, a steady personality realized in vocie over, a real camp; I think there are a lot of possibilities here, especially considering the need to continue to enhance the "role-playing" aspects of this "role-playing real-time strategy" game.

And add to that the idea of the camp screen being more of physical place, with the walls and pickets, tents laid out on the grid. A few of those fly-by movies would make the camp seem like a "real" location in which the army was encamped. Instead of "reviewing" units as we do now, by clicking on after another, the centurions of the units could be assembled (with standard bearers behind) on the campus, and we might move down the ranks, from one to the other laterally, again, creating the illusion of interacting with actual centurions.

I certainly respect Possum's point about Slitherine being a small design house (and bravo for what they have accomplished) but we should think big in the forums, hopefully inspiring Slitherine's future endeavors.