Ideas, Requests, and Feedback

[Nor'easter]

I haven't played Dune Wars, but I saw in the Dune Wars forum here on CFC that they used TheLopez's Mercenaries mod component. My recollection is that that allowed anyone to hire and fire mercenaries of varying unit types (I remember playing some other mod that had incorporated it). If they're doing something similar in the next RifE go-around, that could be good.

 

[Valkrionn]

I haven't played Dune Wars, but I saw in the Dune Wars forum here on CFC that they used TheLopez's Mercenaries mod component. My recollection is that that allowed anyone to hire and fire mercenaries of varying unit types (I remember playing some other mod that had incorporated it). If they're doing something similar in the next RifE go-around, that could be good.

That would be the idea. Though I don't know if it'll be in 1.4 or not.

 

[Krieger66]

Is that where they started with various promos, had unique units; and the costs scaled with unit level/build hammers?

 

[Tasunke]

I agree ... it'd be nice if anyone could buy Mercenaries (at double price, perhaps?), and then the Guild of the Nine owner could get them at half the cost. (current normal price).


Also, I know its a bit much, perhaps ... but maybe hippus players, and only hippus players, can sell their own units as mercenaries (as the system in Rhyes and Fall, unless Lopez's merc mod has similar functionality)

Or better ... hippus players (and AI) can sell *land* units in this fashion, while Lanun players can sell their *naval* units in this way (especially pirates).

One advantage to this ... is that you won't know the true origin of a Lanun pirate!

 

[Krieger66]

And then if you declare war on them, their unit backstabs you, goes back to their control, and stays in your borders.

 

[Lplate]

Could a promotion be used so that mercenaries, which are not acquired using the Guild of the Nine, will leave after a certain number of turns? This would make them a short term tool for anyone but ensure that mercenaries aren't the foundation of an army.

 

[Krieger66]

This is off the topic of mercenaries, but I felt cannons and siege weapons in general were very weak in RiFE. The cannon barely improves on the catapult, there are only two siege weapons available to all civs, and their utility as a static defense and ranged attacker is pretty weak compared to what they should be. I think siege weapons should get defensive bonuses first(at least in cities), their ranged attack should be raised a point or two, and cannons should have their ranged operation area increased because siege weapons should be able to fire farther than archers(and I think its a little odd a naval vessel can fire farther than its land weapon equivalent).

 

[Krieger66]

Have I suggested making siege weapons stronger in RiFE before my last post?
I don't like the short term mercenaries idea btw because it basically makes them a summoned creature that you also have to pay for.

 

[A Moon]

I don't like the short term mercenaries idea btw because it basically makes them a summoned creature that you also have to pay for.

That will require no mana come 1.4, can be done by any unit without needing to gain xp for promotions and upgrades, and are alive, meaning they can receive quite a few buffs most summons can't.

 

[Lplate]

If mercenaries were to be a temporary unit, I'd include a rehire or renegotiate contract option. The gold cost for extending the hire period for the mercenary could increase with level and promotions. It could also increase with the units age to reflect a civ's ongoing reliance on mercenaries. Rather than a support cost for the mercenaries, the ongoing cost would be in larger, scalable less frequent payments when the mercs are rehired. To avoid micromanagement an autocast to be triggered on the last turn of a mercenary contract when a CIV has adequate funds could be used.

 

[Valkrionn]

There are currently absolutely no plans to make mercenaries temporary.

 

[Krieger66]

That will require no mana come 1.4, can be done by any unit without needing to gain xp for promotions and upgrades, and are alive, meaning they can receive quite a few buffs most summons can't.

The idea still doesn't sit well with me for some reason, though...also what if the mercenary spell was a city spell instead of a unit spell? Then you would be able to only summon one mercenary per city per turn, making the ability a little less powerful.

 

[Valkrionn]

The idea still doesn't sit well with me for some reason, though...also what if the mercenary spell was a city spell instead of a unit spell? Then you would be able to only summon one mercenary per city per turn, making the ability a little less powerful.

And we have a winner.

That much IS in the plans.

 

[Krieger66]

And we have a winner.

That much IS in the plans.

I win.

 

[/]rchon]

Oh I was wondering, with a Town improvement on a square, could it be possible for it to provide a small healing bonus (a little less then a cities) to any friendly or player units staying on the towns square?

 

[Krieger66]

Oh I was wondering, with a Town improvement on a square, could it be possible for it to provide a small healing bonus (a little less then a cities) to any friendly or player units staying on the towns square?

That would be pretty cool, kind of like a foraging sort of thing. Maybe it could be expanded to where it takes 1commerce or 1 food away from the tile as long as there is a damaged unit in the tile(hostile units could also use this, but units and team units could not to keep them from accidently screwing the player)? Of course the ai would be weighted to want to return to a city, if at all possible, so it doesn't end up screwing its own economy.

 

[Nor'easter]

Just what the title says: should the Illians -- Auric Ulvin, in particular -- be able to build the Mercurian Gate and summon the Mercurians?

I'm not an expert on the lore, nor have I played the scenarios to see what the relationship is, if any, between Auric and Basium. It's just that I'm playing a game as Auric right now and the possibility of bringing in the Mercurians as a permanent ally seems a bit weird.

I don't really have strong feelings about this, but just thought I'd bring it up for the team's consideration as you go through the next revision.

 

[A Moon]

Just what the title says: should the Illians -- Auric Ulvin, in particular -- be able to build the Mercurian Gate and summon the Mercurians?

I'm not an expert on the lore, nor have I played the scenarios to see what the relationship is, if any, between Auric and Basium. It's just that I'm playing a game as Auric right now and the possibility of bringing in the Mercurians as a permanent ally seems a bit weird.

I don't really have strong feelings about this, but just thought I'd bring it up for the team's consideration as you go through the next revision.

No they shouldn't, because Auric is evil, and evil leaders can't build the Mercurian gate. At least I though that was how it worked >.>

 

[Nor'easter]

I don't think there's ever been an alignment restriction on who can build the Mercurian Gate, which is why I didn't report it as a bug. I was asking as a matter of flavor, lore, etc.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

I don't have any problem with an alliance between Auric and Basium. Basium and Mulcarn both shared a deep hatred for Sucellus. Basium considered him a pathetic ruler of a pathetic sphere, and was deeply insulted that Arawn gave the slain "God of Daffodils" dominion over Life after ages of refusing his own pleas to be given this promoted from Archangel to God in order to better fight the forces of evil. Both Basium and the Ice sphere want to go back to how things were before the Compact, when the gods could fight openly. Ice is the least evil of the evil spheres, and those who go to Mulcarn's vault don't really deserve to be called Demons yet. If Basium could make an alliance with a new god of ice, then the uppermost layer hell could be broken off, crippling the great machine as a whole. Without this buffer layer, the evil gods would be unable to unfairly claim and process into demons souls not already corrupt enough to belong to an evil god outright. Basium's warhammer captures demons and keep them imprisoned in a sort of stasis that Ice would not mind. Now that Bhall dwells in the deepest hell and is the major force behind the recent demonic incursions into Erebus, it seems natural for Basium to seek an alliance with the sphere that has so long been her enemy.