The map script was excellent - roads ruins etc., really immersive. From a purely aesthetic point of view some more vast barren featureless stretches of desert would be nice but I'm not sure how that would affect gameplay.
Some of the maps do have big deserts. To see a variety of maps quickly, you can start the game, use ctrl-z to view everything, and then use the "regenerate map" choice in the main menu. I was playing a map last night where the only ruin I could reach was in the middle of a desert, and the problem was I couldn't get any food at all. So the city was stuck at population 1. Even if I'd found some refugees and sent them there, they would have starved.
I liked the consistent art style of the leaders but had some difficulty telling them apart - there was a lot of green!
True. Leaderhead graphics are definitely on the list of "what's needed". I started with 75x50 pixel, two color graphics from a 1998 game -- not the best starting point. I'll ask around on the leaderhead forum more now that vehicles and other units seem to be underway.
Refuelling is a really promising concept but needs some tweaking. At the moment utes are overpowered considering they don't need fuel - they are much cheaper than jeeps and not that much weaker considering.
2 things: One, I would raise significantly or remove the barabrian xp cap. Two, why are riflemen more powerful then the rifle jeep?
I'm nervous about removing the XP cap. There is an exploit called "barbarian farming" where you encircle a barbarian nation and send every one of your units there to level up. Let's see, but I'd prefer to have the player go knock around the other civilizations.
As for relative unit power levels, I agree it could use some tweaking. One of my key concepts was that the actual Mad Max car, the interceptor, should be one of the main player units. I don't have a unit model for that yet, so I used the "ute" pickup truck for that. My intention was to make this unit much more cost-effective than the other units. It has some great promotions also, like weapon mount. An experienced ute should kick the butt of any other unit, and my goal is that a veteran ute should even be able to stand up against tanks (not there yet!)
I'll look at the rifleman, rifle jeep, and other unit power levels. I guess the jeep is mobile, so it should be more expensive and slightly weaker compared to the foot unit.
Thanks! If we can get some great graphics together then it is on the way to being a killer mod!