First of all, thanks to the FfH2 staff for making a fantastic mod. I've been playing the mod for a couple months, and I have some feedback and suggestions. Take it for what it's worth.
National Units limit scale with Map Size
It seems to me that the number of National Units each Civ is allowed should scale according to map size.
Yeah, unfortunaly that isnt easy to do. But it is possible with a little SDK work. I'll add it to the wish list. We may not use it for all units, but some would be nice to map relative.
Automated Spellcasting
It would be nice if spellcasters could be automated to terraform (Bloom every available tile, Spring every available desert, etc.), to enchant units (Enchanted Blade, Spiritual Hammer, etc.), and to heal units (Heal, Cure Disease, Repair).
Thats already on the want list. I definitly agree with you.
Unimpressive Lich
As it is currently implemented, the Lich is only noteworthy as a way to get around the limit of 3 Archmages. I would prefer that the Lich were a more impressive unit, especially since the Necromancy III promotion is useless after the conversion. Perhaps it could receive some unique abilities like the Vampires do, or include a new spell. (For example, in some fantasy settings, Liches have a paralyzing touch)
I tend to disagree with this, the ability to have 6 archmages (not counting archmage able heroes) is awesome and I think it makes liches worthwile.
High Priest/Inquisitor/Inquisition
First, I think more should be done to make the High Priest and Inquisitor distinct units: the Inquisition ability and Strength difference is not enough.
Also, I would be inclined to replace the Inquisitor with unique units for each religion. The Inquisition ability should still be included in the game somehow, and should anger states who have Free Religion or a State Religion that is affected by your use of Inquisition.
Yeah, I agree. Those units should probably be combined with different religions getting a different high priest with more varied abilities.
Unclear "summon" duration/terminology
Some "summoned" units are subject to the 1/3 turn duration, while others last until destroyed/disbanded. I suggest using different terminology in the spell names to make this more clear: units that are subject to the turn duration are "summoned" (Summon Fire Elemental, etc.) while permanent units use different terminology (Raise, Create, Call, Enlist, Conscribe, etc.) as appropriate.
Another great observation. That doesnt make muvch difference from a design perspective and would be much easier for casual players to understand. I'll add it to the want list.
Spell Extension promotion v. Mobility
I don't see any reason to give a spellcaster the Spell Extension Promotion over Mobility, as M increases the spellcasters movement in addition to his Fireballs and Summons. Perhaps Spell Extension could provide some other benefit?
Mobility doesnt increase the movement of spells. It may at a practical level since it allows the caster to caster/summon combo to travel farther in one turn but it doesn't accomplish the greater goal of allowing a caster to stay well away from battle like extension does.
We have cut both mobility and extension abilities (there used to be 3 extension levels and you could get them all without any tech requirements) and I tend to like where it is now.
Fireball/Meteor issues
From the looks of the discussion here, my experience is not unique: Fire spells are so powerful/useful that Fire mana is a no-brainer. Fireball and Meteor might be nerfed to provide collateral damage without fortification bombardment. (Perhaps fortification bombardment would be more appropriate for an Earthquake effect.)
Also, I dislike that Fireballs/Meteors can be used as "scouts". I would suggest limiting their visibility range to make them effectively "blind".
Fireballs have been nerfed many times. I dont really want to do it again. Rather I would prefer to make the other spheres as viable as the fire sphere is. I do agree that it is a very powerful sphere.
The ability to keep them from "seeing" and entering tiles you cant see into would be cool. But would definitly take some SDK work to make happen. That would probably be low on our priority list.
Ring of Fire + Friendly Civs
Friendly civs always seem to get in the way of using Ring of Fire, especially by sneaking into a stack of enemy units. Reloading after unintentionally declaring war is a bit annoying, so you might consider adding a prompt to declare war on that country, much like the one that comes up when you try to enter territory without Open Borders.
Alternately, you could play around with the way that Ring of Fire works such that it was a non-issue.
A popup warning before casting any spell that will cause war is already on the want list.
Animals freely enter territory without Open Borders
This just seems silly to me, watching opposing Tigers map out my territory (and get in the way of Ring of Fire).
If they are hidden nationality then you can kill them without declaring war. If they arent hidden nationality, then they cant enter your borders. A spell like ring of flames cast on a hidden nationality unit shouldnt start a war.
Flying units/Birds
You might consider adding additional flying units in the future. Giant Eagles, Rocs, Flying demons, Airships, etc.
Also, it would also be nice if the birds could be automated to automatically Recon undiscovered or unseen territory; doing this manually with Scouts/Hunters/Rangers/etc. is unnecessarily tedious.
We have talked about adding flying at length, but it would be a huge project to do well. Bigger than adding a spell system, and at this point I just dont think its worth the effort.
Obligatory Zombie unit
I would like to see a Zombie worker unit, perhaps as a Divine spell for Necromancy II or a unique unit for the Calabim. You're free to do what you like with the mechanics, but you might consider giving it a (low) Strength value, 1 Movement, but increased build rate. After all, Zombies have a 24-hour workday.
We had speced some workers to have minor strength (the mud golem was one) but unfortunaly once a worker has a point of strength the ai gets really stupid about its use as it sees it as a combat unit. So for AI purposes we cant have a worker with any strength.
I hope the feedback is helpful. Thanks again for a great mod.
Definitly great feedback. I can tell you really played a lot of the mod because you did a good job of finding our weak spots
