webusver.
1. Economy model will be deeper. Player will have to pay for unit's equipment and traits, so highly professional, highly armored unit will cost decently. Costs of city improvements and income will be adjusted.
You use gold only? Or may be research points, mana, metal, crystal, shard availability/spell knowing grain, population?
for example: there must be (some/any):
- "special" logistic research implemented to all items with "magic" addons like fire attack (points spent every time when recruited)
- grain consumed on training (when people train - they eat... two weeks... eating ah!). So the whole time training and the turn when unit has been puted in que (so not on pop growth) it takes city food in some 1x-2x-3x times of consumed to unit production population (If there 0 growth - we know that population is taken to produse so its frees some grain and... they eat it)
- for magic items forging everybody know... "plebs are needed" (oups its a sound from first caesar game) mana is needed to production.
- for magic perks not only mana to train and implemet it to stupid recruits but knowing about it in the brains of... sovereign (need lvl known magic paths or spells in players spell book) - so the idea to implement to units unit spells (like regeneraton spell as perks or addons but with less cost to maintain)
- metal, crystal as usual
- and without shards - no path magic addons/perks could be achieved.
(may be much of it will collapce the AI calculations and... besides its just my fantasy)
2. If player still manages to get huge amounts of gold there will be the spell Wholesale Purchase which will allow to spend 1200 gold for resources.
And if he has 1200+ resourses too? There are some transmute magic spells in Xtra Deconstruct mods, but what about making upkeep more special?
for example - horses and wargs aging fast (magic world, radiation, unbalanced riders and bloody life), so every unit with horses (not champions) cost not only money, but horse/warg res to maintain (no horses? pay it in 10x gold to traiders) no money - oups... its unreal situation for AI players... but for example - than unit movement -3 (its very hard to move with dead horsed in backpacks)
So horseman cost wages: 0.5 gold, 0.2 horse, 0.5 mana...
3. About the following feature I would like to have your comments. Would it be a good idea to make players pay for all that they research? There may be situation, when player may have no gold to pay for research, so there should be one repeating and free research, I call it Crowdsourcing trait that will give 5 gold the next turn.
Could you explain how it Would affect AI? He has every time money boost so its would be + to AI in 100% situation and to player in less.
But the idea is very good. But what must be checked: speed of the new monster spawning (does they owerhelm the more slower player or not) and length of the game i think would be greater.
As i understand there are research points (100 for example) and thare gold 50 (for example). To Research it is needed not only brains (research pints) but the investments (gold) - so it could be two ways of research:
- every time 1 reserch pt cost to invest 1 gold (so if you have more brains - no way to spend it here)
- the free research (not with investments of gold) - became in the next turn gold it some "transmutational ways" - because it was used to solve some "social problems and interests" . For example crowdsourcing braiwash how to cure cow illnes, repair broken stable, make jugment whose baby is that troll, ets... so its just converts... besides it make a new field for fun - new perks that work like upgrading effects of that transmutations. Produce weath and produse research become strangely connected - if gold from crownsourced research is more than x1 - than all will (must as i think) produce research and make social benefits in gold/either just produce gold.
4. Availability of city enchantment spells is dependent on what heroes does the player have. So Ai may be in such a situation when he has no or less valuable city enchantment spells. That's why I plan to add additional technology City Enchantment which will gather Guardian Statue, Scrying Pool and unlock these spells: Heart of Fire, Aura of Might, Aura of grace, Aura of Vitality. Thus Ai would surely have these spells and enchant units with them.
Little mention. Not heroes but spell books and levels in them. So it, as i see, for example, makes no sense to for example have 2 heroes with archmage in one type.
The idea is good and wonderfull.
For example in summoner mod (http://www.nexusmods.com/fallenenchantress/mods/1870)- is done as i understand something like that idea with summoning pool... you could look... but by may thuoght its very funny to implemet new champion path and to have maximum 2 heroes - sovereign and first that has no predesigned path yet (i am playing with ranget mod - its good... rangers is our all - but if i want mage-sovereign - there are only one ranger... and tons of unused bows...).
May be its better to "research" or to "produce" enchantments? It could be casted on city or else - it could be a special production that cost mana, research, gold labour, crystal, metal to forge when the special building exists in city (enchantment builds like troops without any new buildings - they just appear in upper pool).
And for example - with large wonderfull UI - when there shown 6 (max) enchantemnts in the sity - if there are more essense - i must disable some other to just see them... oh-oh... and than question - does AI disable enchantments when they aren't worthy? And if it would be produced thing it would make the length of expanding towns longer (they could make another building or unit at that turn)
5. I would like to add some options to let races have more unique armor. Like Masterwork Chainmail or Light Plate armor I plan to add options to have Brood armor instead of leather, Gladiator's armor instead of Raider's Chainmail, Rusty Plate armor instead of Light Plate Armor and perhaps some sort of Elemental Chain armor instead of Champion's armor. All these will be racial traits cost 0 and equivalent to those parts, which they replace. Of course there will be option not to take these and keep original armor. This will allow players to create races that use different armor and thus look differently from each other.
Its intresting but i too little time look at enemy armies.. they just cheating every time-)))
May be its better to add some new heroes? Those from bonanza doesn't work properly as i try them (they happen and run around but the game really became 2-3x slower in some cases - some in the code slows game greatly)
or may be make only racial/only kingdom/fallen perks?
