Sarkyn
Warlord
Hi all!
For a while, I've been unhappy with the promotions offered to generals.
This is most probably a side effect of having so many of them - due to using Vincentz's excellent Warlords mod. I did feel that their promotions were uneven, and some were excellent while others were mediocre. Which meant the choices were often "not equal" and therefore not interesting.
I also regretted the way that unit-class-specific promotions expired in game terms. The vs-melee promotion, for example, is only useful until melee cease to be part of the game, which is actually pretty early on. This led to me never taking unit specific promotions for Generals, as I didn't want their usefulness to diminish over time.
So, my solution:
A new modmod called Promotional.
It's key ideas:
- It does not remove any promotions (yet). I've resisted the temptation to remove the existing promotions (but it may come to that in final release), and I've implemented the following promotion paths.
- It provides promotion paths for GENERALS and also for very experienced NORMAL units. Each path has it's own requirement, but it encourages specialisation.
- In keeping with my philosophy of "Earlier is better, since most games end before modern era", all these promotions are available via quite early technologies. That means you can give them to your generals when they first appear and know that they will be useful.
- They encourage specialisation - eg, each step on the path is a bigger gain than the step before, to encourage you to make units that have specific purposes. At the end of each path there is also a bonus ability that is a reward for taking 3 steps down the same path.
- The are split into "Doctrines" and "Tactics".
- "Doctrines" - are military philosophies or concepts that have remained true for millennia. These are things which proved effective with spears and are still effective with tomahawk missiles.
- "Doctrines" - are unit-class specific counters. Eg. there is a doctrine which is a military concept that is effective against Infantry, Gunpowder and Clones. I have chosen unit-groups that do NOT overlap, but play similar roles in different era.
- "Doctrines" are 3-step promotion paths with increasing numerical advantage, and a bonus at the 3rd step.
- "Tactics" - are specific military ideas that are applicable to specific situations. They are shorter paths (2 promotions) and have a bonus on the 2nd step. They are more specific.
- "Tactics" are conceptually and statistically based on actual battlefield ideas that have proven themselves over the course of human history.
- "Tactics" often combine two logically related concepts. Such as speed and withdrawal. Or line of sight and range.
In assigning powers and numbers, I tried to bring the little-used promotions back into play by giving them as "freebie" on the top tier of more useful promotion paths. I think the net result is that we will see more specialisation, and see more game features that previously have been underused.
The specifics so far:
Doctrines:
Tactics
To do:
- I've now started a game to road test these changes.
- I've got no promotion graphics - every promotion currently uses a placeholder graphic until I find some that I think are consistent and appropriate, or I cross the hurdle of making my own.
Why I'm posting this:
- I'd like to see what you think of the ideas so far, and if you decide to test the promotional changes, let me know balance issues, or bugs or typos
- I'd like to see if anyone has any massive pile of unit promotion graphics (I'm currently thinking of stealing a few from other mods like FFH/FF once I ask permission).
- I'd like to see whether people would want me to disable some or all of the existing general promotions if these are in use.
- I'd like to hear any ideas for additional doctrines or tactics you might have.
There you go!
NB. The attached zip uses the Universal MLF file, so is safe to overwrite existing.
Enjoy
For a while, I've been unhappy with the promotions offered to generals.
This is most probably a side effect of having so many of them - due to using Vincentz's excellent Warlords mod. I did feel that their promotions were uneven, and some were excellent while others were mediocre. Which meant the choices were often "not equal" and therefore not interesting.
I also regretted the way that unit-class-specific promotions expired in game terms. The vs-melee promotion, for example, is only useful until melee cease to be part of the game, which is actually pretty early on. This led to me never taking unit specific promotions for Generals, as I didn't want their usefulness to diminish over time.
So, my solution:
A new modmod called Promotional.
It's key ideas:
- It does not remove any promotions (yet). I've resisted the temptation to remove the existing promotions (but it may come to that in final release), and I've implemented the following promotion paths.
- It provides promotion paths for GENERALS and also for very experienced NORMAL units. Each path has it's own requirement, but it encourages specialisation.
- In keeping with my philosophy of "Earlier is better, since most games end before modern era", all these promotions are available via quite early technologies. That means you can give them to your generals when they first appear and know that they will be useful.
- They encourage specialisation - eg, each step on the path is a bigger gain than the step before, to encourage you to make units that have specific purposes. At the end of each path there is also a bonus ability that is a reward for taking 3 steps down the same path.
- The are split into "Doctrines" and "Tactics".
- "Doctrines" - are military philosophies or concepts that have remained true for millennia. These are things which proved effective with spears and are still effective with tomahawk missiles.
- "Doctrines" - are unit-class specific counters. Eg. there is a doctrine which is a military concept that is effective against Infantry, Gunpowder and Clones. I have chosen unit-groups that do NOT overlap, but play similar roles in different era.
- "Doctrines" are 3-step promotion paths with increasing numerical advantage, and a bonus at the 3rd step.
- "Tactics" - are specific military ideas that are applicable to specific situations. They are shorter paths (2 promotions) and have a bonus on the 2nd step. They are more specific.
- "Tactics" are conceptually and statistically based on actual battlefield ideas that have proven themselves over the course of human history.
- "Tactics" often combine two logically related concepts. Such as speed and withdrawal. Or line of sight and range.
In assigning powers and numbers, I tried to bring the little-used promotions back into play by giving them as "freebie" on the top tier of more useful promotion paths. I think the net result is that we will see more specialisation, and see more game features that previously have been underused.
The specifics so far:
Doctrines:
Spoiler :
Tactics
Spoiler :
To do:
- I've now started a game to road test these changes.
- I've got no promotion graphics - every promotion currently uses a placeholder graphic until I find some that I think are consistent and appropriate, or I cross the hurdle of making my own.
Why I'm posting this:
- I'd like to see what you think of the ideas so far, and if you decide to test the promotional changes, let me know balance issues, or bugs or typos
- I'd like to see if anyone has any massive pile of unit promotion graphics (I'm currently thinking of stealing a few from other mods like FFH/FF once I ask permission).
- I'd like to see whether people would want me to disable some or all of the existing general promotions if these are in use.
- I'd like to hear any ideas for additional doctrines or tactics you might have.
There you go!
NB. The attached zip uses the Universal MLF file, so is safe to overwrite existing.
Enjoy
)
