It would be fantastic if the models for generic units could be differentiated by cultural art sets, similar to how it’s already done for generic buildings. For instance, East Asian civilizations could have East Asian-styled generic units to match their buildings, and African civilizations could have African-styled ones. This would prevent visually incongruous situations—such as an East Asian civilization fielding Western European plate-armored knights—and greatly improve historical immersion and visual cohesion.
It is best to match the generic building style (in-game building appearances are categorized into American, African, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Eastern European, Western European, Central Asian, Central European, East Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian). A simple classification is also acceptable.
I have already seen several mods like this, but they all rely on data packs.
To ensure this change respects all playstyles, it could be implemented as an optional official mod, a selectable art pack, or a gameplay setting. This would allow competitive players to maintain visual consistency for unit identification if they prefer, while others could enjoy the added historical flavor.
What does everyone think?
7 Likes
This should been done a long time ago. The devs kinda seem to understand this, as we have been getting the Savar, regional units, trade carts, monks, castles etc. Heck, even the original devs back in 1999 understood, that having the same unit skins for everybody is heavily immersion-breaking. Heck the unique American monk.
But the progress is paaaaiiiiinfully slow.
3 Likes
You mean regional skins like for Monks and Trade Carts?
A lot of people want that, including me.
4 Likes
I’ve already submitted feedback on the official website, and they did send me an email in response. I’m not sure if this will help push this improvement forward.
Exactly. I don’t want to see units of African civilizations being represented by white people—especially male villagers.
This is absolutely the direction for future updates, and I want this right now.
My own white people aren’t represented that well, but yeah - fixing Africans and Americans should be a top priority and done asap.
This right here is the recipe of how to make the top selling DLC in the history of entire Age of Empires series.
How will they lock content for the people who dont own it?you can just mod and use the hidden/locked content.
And current DLC contents cannot be modded in?
Thats the whole point einstein,why would people pay for something which you can use for free with mods?
That’s the same argument as why would people buy a game when it is available on piracy website for free.
I once drew an African version of the man-at-arms line, just as a suggestion.
4 Likes
1. Categorize the various civilizations into several regions (similar to architectural style classifications) without needing to distinguish each civilization in detail.
2. Only make minor adjustments to the appearance of units to balance recognizability and cultural immersion, ensuring they don’t look like entirely new units.
3. The changes should be optional for players. Those who prefer not to make changes can enable the classic unit appearance option to continue using the current visuals.
Nice work!!
Are the helmets in the two paintings on the right Norman pointed helmets?
Thanks. Actually, it’s a egg-shaped helmet common to the medieval Muslim world.
The line follows a geographical logic going from west to east Africa:
(1) M@A uses overlapping cotton clothes of the Wolof people and a rawhide shield;
(2) LS, chainmail of Mali/Songhai and a wicker shield with leather of the Sapi people of Sierra Leone;
(3) THS, quilted lifidi* overcoat over chainmail of the Hausa/Kanem-Bornu/Baguirmi/Wadai; and
(4) Champion, a metal cuirass over lifidi over chainmail of the medieval Nubian kingdoms.
(1) and (2) use a Mandinka saber, (3) uses a takouba sword and (4) a kaskara. (1) walks barefoot and the following ones have boots.
*Lifidi is a gambeson stuffed with kapok, invulnerable to arrows but highly flammable.
2 Likes
