Do you think the world map needs more features - like roads?

[froggyluv]

Would like the Map itself to feel strategic. At least Roads would be an asset that needs protection as all the valuable cargo travels on it. Seems like a no brainer

 

[Negative]

Roads would be a great idea. Especially if certain groups wouldn't stray to far from them.
At the same time i'd personally like a still bigger map with other points of interests... be it ruins (usable as hideout for bandits, yourself with some gain); Oasises; Messanger Posts; Hunting Camps and such.

 

[Pancakelord333]

At the same time i'd personally like a still bigger map with other points of interests... be it ruins (usable as hideout for bandits, yourself with some gain); Oasises; Messanger Posts; Hunting Camps and such.

Ooh I like the sound of more POIs - with events to go with them!

Like, imagine its the middle of winter and you're a Vladian on a campaign against the Battanians, and you stumble on to a ruined henge or ring of standing stones in the forests whilst looking for your lord's army, two dozen savage forest bandits/Battanians are in the midst of a blood sacrifice to their old gods. You've angered them with your presence and they rush you/your troops from all sides whilst your men are still in a marching formation.

If you're quick enough at killing them you might rescue a noble damsel in distress, who you could court, return to her family for renown or add to your party as a companion... or you could arrive too late and find her dead and the forest bandits have been given a "berserker" buff upping their movement speed, making the fight harder.

 

[Ichon]

Definitely roads, which can guide you quicker through forests and from city to city.
But I think roads are a lot more dangerous as that is where the money is
This would mean a higher risk of bandit attack/ambush.

But it is easier to control as you know where to put patrols etc.

Agreed.

 

[giltirn]

Yes! And also things like old-Empire ruins, religious monuments (a la Viking Conquest). This would very much spice up the map and lend it history and character.

 

[Affliction]

Roads yes, Outposts, as a lawful answer to Hideouts, also yes. Outposts would have Patrols that hunted down Bandits, and the lord of a nearby castle or city could pay to have one built. If not destroyed before the siege, Outposts would reinforce the defenders. They would also reinforce the militia in villages. So if an army is not overwhelmingly large they'd have to reduce the Outposts before taking the holding defenses on

This is essentially what castles are meant for.

 

[Solam]

Also more features like navy things and army camp or even temporary fortification.

 

[froggyluv]

As it is now - units are just scurrying around like Ants with little rhyme or reason and thats just not how to do a strategy game

 

[imgran]

This is essentially what castles are meant for.

Not really, most castles IRL had outposts that were basically hostels for patrolling troops

 

[likenedlightsmah]

We talked about this to exhaustion during all the devblogs, we implored them, what makes you think that things will change now that the game is already in EA stage?

They aren't reading the suggestions.... are they? I thınk the game lacks a million things if not roads.......I don't think that they couldn' think of such things ........anyone could ....And i don't think that they didn't put effort on ıt....Then ..why..... why couldn't they add such features into the game ?Thus far i think they were creating the game engine and ımproving the aı...

 

[Vashonn]

I agree with the need for roads, and I will reiterate what I've been saying since I signed up on this forum -- we need boats to connect the coastal towns. It doesn't make any sense for me to have to gallop my way all around the southern sea from Qasira to Poros when I could simply embark on a boat and be there in half the time. This would also provide an incentive to place villages/castles on the two large islands in this sea, because there's no reason that they wouldn't be colonized.

 

[Brynjahr]

Three of these threads in less than 24 hours
nice use of the search bar

 

[durbal]

Having a dynamic world map would be very cool...but I'm not sure if it's part of the scope for the initial release. It might also require a good deal of reworking the rather static nature of the current map.

 

[Pancakelord333]

Having a dynamic world map would be very cool...but I'm not sure if it's part of the scope for the initial release. It might also require a good deal of reworking the rather static nature of the current map.

The world map is already pretty dynamic though?

• It changes textures with the seasons (snow to grass)
• villages swap to a burnt asset when raided,
• scouting adds dynamic 3d arrows as part of the tracking sub-skill (showing size of a party, its speed etc),
• small 3d siege engines and camps - with animations - play in real time when sieging (ballistae fight catapults to bring down walls on the map)
• As you upgrade the walls (tier 1 - 3) for a castle or a city I think their map mesh changes, too.

So this is more than likely within the engine's technical capabilities. And if rivers are made using splines (unless its all 100% custom meshes) roads can be too - this is a typical implementation of roads in most 3d games that have them - applying sprites along a spline, or defining a dynamic "sheet" via splines and applying a shader to it on the surface of a heightmap (this is possibly how the dynamic tracking arrows are placed, too).

And the game already can distinguish between terrain types - Forest, snow and grass all have different movement speeds. "Road" would be another terrain type that gives you a "negative movement debuff" i.e. a buff when you're walking on it (likely these are defined by an invisible layer or volume on top of the game's heightmap).

Something like manually plopping your own roads is likely going to need much more work, but a more effective method is to pre-generate the possible places roads could appear (i.e. between cities) then just spawn them in as lords pay for them to be developed in game - so you'd say I want the road between Orteisa and sargot built, and the game loads that in, you wouldnt lay each meter of road out yourself - whilst the imperial ones would already start as built.

 

[mamastoast]

Roads would be very fitting. Generally I'd want a lot more... "stuff" to interact with and to make the world seem alive. As others have suggested; ruins, outposts.. maybe campsites, points of interest like an abandoned temple or something... There is no sense of world building or exploration right now.

Imagine if you had monestaries with small groups of monks along walking about the area... Or woodmans huts with bands of hunter going about their business on the world map

 

[FOxcaop]

Could be like Total War series: You build it and it changes the map, showing new stuff.

 

[durbal]

The world map is already pretty dynamic though?

• It changes textures with the seasons (snow to grass)
• villages swap to a burnt asset when raided,
• scouting adds dynamic 3d arrows as part of the tracking sub-skill (showing size of a party, its speed etc),
• small 3d siege engines and camps - with animations - play in real time when sieging (ballistae fight catapults to bring down walls on the map)
• As you upgrade the walls (tier 1 - 3) for a castle or a city I think their map mesh changes, too.

So this is more than likely within the engine's technical capabilities. And if rivers are made using splines (unless its all 100% custom meshes) roads can be too - this is a typical implementation of roads in most 3d games that have them - applying sprites along a spline, or defining a dynamic "sheet" via splines and applying a shader to it on the surface of a heightmap (this is possibly how the dynamic tracking arrows are placed, too).

And the game already can distinguish between terrain types - Forest, snow and grass all have different movement speeds. "Road" would be another terrain type that gives you a "negative movement debuff" i.e. a buff when you're walking on it (likely these are defined by an invisible layer or volume on top of the game's heightmap).

Something like manually plopping your own roads is likely going to need much more work, but a more effective method is to pre-generate the possible places roads could appear (i.e. between cities) then just spawn them in as lords pay for them to be developed in game - so you'd say I want the road between Orteisa and sargot built, and the game loads that in, you wouldnt lay each meter of road out yourself - whilst the imperial ones would already start as built.

No, I mean like building roads that would allow faster movement and such.

 

[JuanNieve]

I would like that projects could be done to create roads

 

[kidoman]

You could also make it so the larger the army, the more they're slowed by being off roads. Getting a massive army through a forest without any paths would make for very slow going! Using roads would negate the penalty entirely. This would encourage armies to use roads, making them easier to stop if they're trying to invade, and penalizing them for trying to circumnavigate the roads.

Which leads me to my next addition: Checkpoints/fortifications. Since the roads would be important (and the most effective way to transport large armies), forts/castles/checkpoints could be built on them (or simply have the roads pass near preexisting castles). This would discourage armies from bypassing forts/castles, as their ability to traverse the land would be hampered by not using roads, and the castles/forts would hinder their ability to use said roads. Taking castles would be now more important than just gaining territory; it would now secure easy passage through said territory.

Patrols could also be specifically assigned to roads as well, so that they'd be safer for travel (as someone mentioned earlier).

Roads (both complex and simple) were of great value/strategic importance in history, and it would be great to see them in!

Also, as another thought, there could be penalties for attempting to bypass a nearby castle/fort while on the road; the castle/fort is given the option to attack the passing army from the rear! An army's organization is much different while marching than from battle, so if they choose to ignore the defenses they may pay dearly for it. Once again, this would make castles far more valuable as defensive structures not just for ownership of the land but also for defending the land from incursion.

 

[MountainBladesMan]

Roads could work. Not custom roads tho. Fiefs should have a project to merely renovate old preset imperial roads. Naturally, the Empire would have most of its roads intact but that might have a weird effect on balance. We see with how powerful Battania gets the benefits of parties being able to quickly get from place to place.