I think a good example of traits done well are the old Kohan games. You had parties of base troops (cavalry, infantry, missile etc) and could only add up to 2 specialists per squad. The specialist gave extra bonuses such as movement, defence, etc. Trait creep should be avoided and should be kept meaningful. I don't mind how many actual traits are available as long as you can't nest too many per unit.

Just got back from vacation and these journals are awesome!

On a side note please decrease transparency on the window background (left side).

I'm sure that the times will be adjusted. I was just a bit shocked because i don't think in E:WOM you can make a unit with a 32 turn training time (single model).

I am liking the UI and what I have heard about the game.

I think it's better to make the player pay in resources over ridiculous training times. Or alternatively let the training times be long but you can train many units at once if you have the resources. So you might have an uber unit that takes thirty turns but you're not tied up while that guy is going through his training (this makes sense but adds complexity)

I want rare resources that will give a special bonus to an army built in that city!  I'm a big fan of Master of Magic and love finding mithril and adamantium so I can build a new city near those resources!!!

I'm all excited about the new unitdesignoptions but really you guys must stop using male armor pieces on females - that just looks odd. I know this is ressourceheavy to have two graphical representations for each piece of armor but is there a chance for that? Please?

Edit: if not - maybe a gender switch in the armor related xml so that proper female armor accessoires could be easily modded in later?

I agree. I'm not looking for "Skimpy female armor" just armor that would fit a woman better (little more curved for instance). Thats actually why in E:WOM, i don't let my character's wear helmets (if champions) because i need to know who is who.

Exactly. It should look like armor. I'm not looking for SM Dungeon acessoires here either. But it should be recognizeable female. And not look like a child wearing a trash can playing knight.

I say allow multiple armor sets, skimpy and realistic for females, so people can choose what they like.

I kinda wish you got rid of arm/leg/chest/head pieces and just had suits.   You'd still have cloaks/rings/amulets/bracers for customization. 

Just don't make it DLC like Paradox- I hate that about Paradox these days.

Hmm, I would argue that it is in fact a fundamental design decision. Each trait that is added to the game must be meaningful and must have a well defined purpose. A player should never look at a trait and say that it is superfluous. Otherwise what is the point of having it in the game? Instead a player should look at a trait and recognize that there are trade-offs and that the trait may or may not help them. Whether the player succeeds in identifying the trait that will help them the most is dependent on their skill and ability. Either way the trait is meaningful. It's hard enough for the player to evaluate a trait's usefulness without having to wade through dozens of superfluous and useless traits that are there simply because they sound cool.

Sorry, I meant it as in superfluous traits probably shouldn't be traits in the game, but whether they were so was subjective. And I would include traits for all tarthans and all archers amongst that bracket.

Not liking the return of Unit design, customization antagonizes Uniqueness. This is an escape from having to design proper unique units.

In many occasions, less is more. Loving the discussion over traits.

If they must be implemented, customizations should be restricted to equipment. Is MoM really the guidebook for this game ?

That's a fair point, traits will do nothing to make units appear more distinct. A unit's look should represent its abilities, not simply be a sheet of numbers from afar. I sure hope there's some fresh 3d stuff going on in FE.

Your playing FE now.....How?

I agree bu8t they still should have some traits or whay of boosting the abilities as well. That +10 CON is still important.

I agree with you on the Paradox Interactive. While i really enjoy the games they publish (Sword of the Stars, Elven Legacy, Mount and Blade etc), i don't really care for their own games. The DLC wasn't the primary reason for this but it does add salt in an already open wound.

Heya Ploeperpengel!

We actually have 5 definitions for each piece of armor (where needed).  Kingdom male, kingdom female, empire male, empire female, and empire large male (trog and quendar).

One of the new features we added early on is the ability to have one piece of armor, and multiple art definitions for it (the game matches the art definition with the unit model).  So just because we have 5 definitions for armor art, we dont need 5 different pieces of armor (which was what is needed in WoM, which is a pain just with the 2 art definitions it uses).

I agree with this.  I hope that traits that should alter a characters appearance in some way do just that.

So the fact than an army of Tarth soldier's will be harder (significantly?  not sure) to finish off than an equally sized and equipped army of another faction wouldn't alter your approach when dealing with them?  I have to imagine that, especially early and mid game, that +10 will make a decent Tarth Army something to be feared and would in fact alter your strategy when dealing with them.  Seems like a great trait to me.  

It could also be set up thru traits on faction creation.  Something like the tarth example that would be applied to all units of a faction, if its a trait, should probably be part of the faction creation (equivalent of a racial bonus in D&D).  It should also be something that can be seen at a foreign relations screen once the player has contact with the faction.

For traits on units there should be an indicator on the unit portrait (such as a star) with a number to show how many traits that unit posesses.  This could be broken down by upgrade types (such as sword for attack abillities and shield for defense abilities) or able to be seen in detail when selecting the unit.  It could also be a mix of these.  It would all depend on how much you want to reveal to the opponent before a unit is engaged (could have an info window or scrolling battle log that identifies the actions in combat (such as unit X used attack: Charge).

Question - Are army units traits all assigned at creation or can Army units choose more traits based on experience?

Does an Archer unit that has survived 10 battles gain access to more traits as opposed to an archer unit that has not been bloodied in battle?

Derek, you've thought of everything... seems so basic doesn't it?

*Deleted Post*

I think your quote here actually undermines your whole argument.  If you simply add health to the Tarthans via CON, then my strategy when fighting them is indeed to focus on putting out the most total damage I can - probably through a large volume of attacks (lots of cheap units?).  Whereas, if their defense increases substantially when under 50% hp, then I would want to go with some bigger single attacks - I need to be able to get them down to 60% hp, and then take them out in a single blow (meaning fewer more powerful units).  The difference is substantial in terms of overall game flow as well - the trait makes them much tougher in the early game, but helps them little later on, while a CON boost would conceivably be a significant advantage all game, but not as big an advantage in the early game. 

Ironically, I totally agree with the sentiment of your posts.  The power of units, both your own and opposing, should be as transparent as possible so the player can make decisions based on correct information without having to drill down and examine tens of traits.  Traits should cover specific situations, rather than being used as an overall (and generic) boost to combat power.  That said, I think the Tarthan trait is a good one - it differentiates the race as one that will be good for early game defense in a way that would be difficult to do using just the stats system. 

Hey Kael

That's great news!

Question remains though if your artdepartment is going to use this as an excuse to spend more time in the armory?:P

FE looks much more promising than WoM so far from what I read here on the forums - might actually bring me back into modding as well, we'll see...

Keep up the good work!

Cheers

Ploep