SP - Player, NPCs & Troops (Suggestion) Have upgrading troops only in Towns or Castles and also allow multiple leveling.

[Yangbang]

This is just purely off immersion. I may have to add the unpopular penguin meme in here because i have a feeling that people want everything nowadays to be streamlined.

A lot of people have not been liking the idea of having to outfit your horsemen with actual horses from your inventory. A part of me agrees to that, as your inventory is your inventory. It shouldn't be something that is an open pool for your troops to grab at. (Besides food) So i stand with people that don't want the AI to take away certain possessions like a prized horse. But I am also a sucker for immersion and also for playing a game and it's systems. Let me tell you one thing that's not immersive...

"Upgrading recruit jimmy in the middle of an empty field, miles away from the nearest town, and at the click of a button, he magically bought himself a whole new war outfit and weapons."

For the sake of immersion and gaming. I think it would be a fun add-on if upgrading troops was locked to only being done in towns or in castles if you belong to a faction. The immersion being, you paying recruit jimmy on a job well done with incentive pay to level up. He then goes "buy" his next level gear and weapons (And horse for horsemen) and is now he's all ready to rock and roll. And before you say anthing about the town's inventory, they buy their stuff instantaneously and magically like standard gameplay haha. This is my idea against providing gear to your troops out of your personal stash, but also making the player have to do a little work on their part.

This should be equal to the player as well as the AI lords, where after they get their AI buffs on giving their troops exp. All parties still need to go back to some base of operations to upgrade their men. And remember i also said. Troops should be able to continuously level up. If you took recruits out, and fought a perfect chain of looters. those recruits shouldn't stop at one upgrade. they should be continuously racking up levels, for you to then spend the war loot on them upgrading at town or at a castle.

To add one more caveat to this idea. The funds you spend on your troop upgrades should go directly to that towns market.

"Make immersion great again."

 

[Shnordo]

It sounds like a neat idea, but do you have any idea how tedious this would actually be in game? People won't want to play the title if it becomes too burdensome. Immersion is cool, but I dont want to have to run all the way back to friendly territory in the middle of a war just to give my infantry armor right before laying seige to an enemy settlement. But this is just my opinion. cheers!

 

[Yangbang]

@Shnordo Thank you for sharing your opinion. Like i said, it's could be an unpopular idea haha but i do want to highlight that it could curve long constant AI campaigns. Forcing AI to play defensively when defeated, staying in their home turfs untill they level up their boys, and then carry forward with their campaigns.

 

[Shnordo]

Maybe if there was a loot tab in your inventory specifically for troop armor and weapon upgrades that you prepare before said long campaigns? You get more immersion, but you are not forced to go all the way back home just to get those couple of elites that could make or break a battle.

 

[WaywardFate]

I agree that it would be bothersome when you are in hostile territory, but it does help a bit with realism. This coming from a guy who's still trying to make a bandit/highwayman character work (5th try), but the peasant/recruit units are actual garbage that just die out against anything other than looters if you don't upgrade them into the next tier fast, so I can see it being a bit bothersome for me.

Just a random idea I thought I'd share is maybe like a salvage resource you can dump worthless equipment in that you can then spend upgrading your units? You basically sell the equipment from looters and bandits for money anyways (plus you get money for killing them), so why not make it a bit more useful?

 

[Yangbang]

@WaywardFate I mean yea but kinda like nah haha, because it's just useless gear as you're saying. Can't upgrade your troops to the next level from gear thats garbage. but i know what you guys are saying, upgrading troops on the go and how to upgrade troops while not being the most upstanding of citizens. Its not a perfect idea, but man would it be deliciously immersive.

 

[Shnordo]

@Yangbang I would love to back your idea as long as it doesnt get rid of the possibility to upgrade on the go if you are prepared for those upgrades to take place. I wouldnt mind having to make a trip back to friendly territory if I foolishly forgot to keep some armor and weapons on me for my troops. You have a good idea on your hands, let's just not gimp the experience for the average player.

 

[William7667]

Great idea have a smith in each town or caslte and just send him the to the smith with the required amount of denar and he can come out with his weapons and armour pack.

You could buy the armour weapon pack in advance if you thought you were going to use them and get them back if he dies and you win the battle. They might even be lootable items.

Maybe players could go themselves and have elite weapons and armour made to measure instead of searching markets for it or having to level smithing.

 

[NooBooN]

I like the Idea about it. Maybe there could be some kind of Armour/Weapon packs to buy for upgrade for each Tier and Units use it like they do it with Horses now.

 

[HalfMetalJacket]

I was extremely against this by virtue of it being a nuisance having to go to town again and again. But if its possible to have gear kits on you to upgrade troops out in the field, and if units could keep on leveling without actually being upgraded, it could be fun. It would make snowballing less of a thing since you eventually do have to go back and help your troops out.

Another idea to throw in. How about the addition of camp followers? In real life, armies were usually accompanied by cooks, smiths, whores, that sort of thing. Maybe certain troops can double in those roles too. Having good logistics can make it easier for a commander to campaign for longer.

 

[Beau Vine]

I love how it's currently - lets me advance them straight after battle, or right before as was done ie by king Jagiełło at battle of Grunwald/Tannenberg in 1410.

Especially since I've had the pleasure of promoting and being promoted at field camps in scouts, and that felt much more special than the regular advancements when not on raid (not sure what terms anglophone scouts use - I mean long marches / mountain runs with other activities tied in) felt meh.

So specifically for immersion and based on historical events I really like possiblity of granting field promotions.

 

[zMasterofPie]

This idea seems fine enough but it should certainly be a toggleable option.

 

[fiddlestix]

I was extremely against this by virtue of it being a nuisance having to go to town again and again. But if its possible to have gear kits on you to upgrade troops out in the field, and if units could keep on leveling without actually being upgraded, it could be fun. It would make snowballing less of a thing since you eventually do have to go back and help your troops out.

Another idea to throw in. How about the addition of camp followers? In real life, armies were usually accompanied by cooks, smiths, whores, that sort of thing. Maybe certain troops can double in those roles too. Having good logistics can make it easier for a commander to campaign for longer.

I like the idea, but then it just becomes a more cumbersome form of what is already there and streamlined; you're upgrading on-the-go. Or, you're not and you have to go back to a town because you didn't get enough upgrade equipment kits. I think the tradeoff for immersion and tedious isn't there. I like the idea, but I think in actual gameplay it just wouldn't be satisfying.

Take it to application stage. Do you just have one generic upgrade kit that takes care of any and all upgrades? That doesn't feel immersive to me; it's just another chore. So do you make it more immersive and have a very large variety of upgrade kits for different troop types? Or do you buy the gear individually and make it super immersive but super time consuming and tedious?

I think a much bigger issue than this is that, by the time I travel the world to find enough warhorses to upgrade my cavalry, my faction has been wiped out. I'd rather see that addressed first. Give us stables that upgrade horses, or implement "a horse is a horse", and just make them all horses, or train horses, instead of warhorses being this unique thing that is such a pain to get.