I don’t think new skins are a good idea, because they will make the gameplay worse. Units need to be readily recognized by the player even in the midst of the chaos of a battle. This becomes harder and harder the more units there are and the more detail-heavy the models are.
I can make you an example of this, years ago jorgito (which I think is now part of the dev team) made a reskin mod for all AoE II HD units (see https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=468019799). He did an amazing job, units were beautiful, both more detailed and (I think) more historically accurate. But it became so much harder to recognize the units quickly, which is bad for the gameplay. This is one of those things which look good on paper, but are actually bad for the game in practice.
Jorgito was a swimming trainer who used to work on the mod in his free time. Unfortunately he had some quarrel with some members from AoKH forums who called him thief for leaking some graphics which made him upset and he left the community.
I understand your point and I agree with the example you brought, because the changes made to the skins are significant and basically it’s a new visual system which our eyes would have to accustom to. But here (if I got it correctly) we’re talking about changing minor parts (and just for the UUs), so that the elites will be distinguished from the base ones, in a way that will leave the respective model recognizable as the model we’re all accustomed to
It could help me make a decision whether or not to take a fight or flee for example. It can be game deciding, especially when my own units are about to be upgraded due to imperial age.
Thats a good point.Easier to micro when out gunned.
Btw this idea is not something new the vanilla game had 2 berserker skins for elite and normal uu.
I think the easiest way to fix this would be to give them a glow effect like the heros.
Different graphics for Elite will help play in few ways.
First, it will allow you to faster recognise enemy advancment and is teching on UU or not.
Second, sometimes player can simply forgot upgrade his units (happens to me once) what can have consequences. With other graphics for elite, it will not be posiible.
Possible changes:
Chu Ko Nu can have helmet without… this thing.
Elite Cataphrakt can have golden (brass?) barding armour
When you have small changes like shorter pants or additional armor it will not be easy to identify them in close formation.changing helmets shield designs or torso areas would make them stand out from each other. Eg. berserker with a different helmet and shield logos or a TK with a horned helmet and a 2 handed sword.
I like the idea, I don’t know if the change will be likely.
One could even explore options like the “change of arms” of some gunpowder units like the Janissaries that could use bow and arrow in castle age and gunpowder in imperial age, it’s just an idea.
It was the most historical correct, the idea of implementing a “change of arms” in the upgrade to elite would have been great, since it would also be historically consistent in the Spanish conqueror with crossbow
You’re right. It would have inconsistencies with the game mechanics.
My personal opinion: To be honest, I would also have preferred to respect AoK original idea that the archer and crossbowman be separate unit lines. Curiously, the “gunpowder” civilizations were pioneers in the use of crossbows. Even “Volley fire” tactics were born out of crossbows.
In my opinion it would have been great to place the crossbowman as the pre-evolution of the Hand Cannoneer, it would have been more consistent and would not have benefited from the improvements of the archers (it makes little sense for crossbowmen to use fire arrows) in addition to the “arrows” (also called saetas in Spanish) that use crossbows are different from arrows that use bows.
I’m not sure if the Janissaries used the crossbow (generally seen with bows and muskets), however the Turks used crossbows extensively and that was portrayed in the site art of Constantinople.
Obviously the game mechanics of the Hand Cannoneer as a crossbowman evolution is complicated in many ways: the armor class and there would be problems with UU crossbowmen like the Genoese Crossbowman and Chu Ko Nu. But I like the idea, and I think it will be nothing more than an idea.
Interestingly Tomahawk Iroquois is a gunpowder unit in AoE 3
I actually prefer the way it was done in AoE2, since Crossbows and Bows coexisted with Guns for a long time.
It is also true that most early adopters of Gunpowder weapons were also peoples with extensive history of Crossbow usage, like the Portuguese, the Spanish (even though not in the game) and the Italians.
For the most part, Turks used Horse Bows similar to those used by all stepparian armies, but emulated european warfare (Heavy Infantry, Pike ranks, Crossbow usage) the more they fought into the continent.
There was also a huge discrepancy between the Turks themselves, and the Janissary slave-soldiers.
Janissaries were often from christian families, and were expected to fight in a mix between the traditional steppe way, and the european way.
