I made a poll about regional skins recently:
[poll] Do you want Regional Unit Skins?
Let me quote a section from the post
So it it’s not as much work as many people here might think it is.
3 Likes
On top of all that, some hero skins just scream “put me as a regular unit/ regional skin”. Examples:
Source
2 Likes
i think forcing major changes 6 years after release is bad form. so any big changes should be optional, as a matter of principle
I disagree none of the units here look anything like regional versions.first two are armed with axes where as none of the generic cavalry units uses axes.Last one might be ok for a stepp lancer replacement unit but do we need stepp lancers to look none stepp like?
Where are you seeing an axe for the first one?
100% agree. I tend to be in favor of regional unit skins (though as a low priority item to me personally) but I get why some people are opposed so it should be optional for them, because that is a huge change.
I think he meant it like “first, two” as in as a first item to call out, two of them… but I get the confusion
2 Likes
Yeah this is what I was trying to say,age is catching up with me unfortunately.
Still the first dude looks like a cross between a lc and knight,lc horse and armor similar to a knight.
look again, Gilbert wields a sword. He looks like a typical knight
The lithuanian unit could be a paladin replacement for EE civs.
Afterall the savar looks nothing like a paladin too yet works, because the formula is heavy armor + horse + weapon + shield
Other hero units like this are eg yarl, envoy, Alaric etc…
I’m not entirely sure if they’ll really pursue the path of greater regionality, depth, and historical accuracy in the units and buildings as consistently as I hope. Isn’t that one of the points that most clearly distinguishes AoE 4 from AoE 2? Wouldn’t they be shooting themselves in the foot by removing a strong reason to buy AoE 4?
Furthermore, I must say that simply recycling existing hero skins would be a shame. If anything, they should be new designs.
While this would solve one problem without much effort, it would also rob the hero units of their individuality and deprive scenario and map designers of many tools. Therefore, I would be disappointed by the use of existing hero skins for generic regional units unless the heroes themselves were then redesigned to be exclusive.
I think it’s okay for a mod to simply use hero skins, but I expect more love for their game from professional developers.
Furthermore, there are many modders who have already created ideas. You could simply contact these people, collaborate with them, and thus at least bring some of their ideas to life.
I believe many of these people, who have voluntarily invested so much time, would like to actually become part of their favorite game. It might even be an honor for them if their ideas were officially used or at least incorporated.
Yes you can already do that with triggers, it would be quite dumb to ask and pay for that. When I see hero units used as UU in custom scenarios I’m never convinced personally, they look too unique except for Jarls, Cuman chiefs and all those that do not represent a specific hero. But they’re very few.
The heroes glow, that would be the difference…
If that were the only difference, then it would simply be unimaginative.
We do have heros who look like generic units with the hero glow ingame.
1 Like
I know that, but I already find it unimaginative. All heroes should have a unique skin, and all generic units should have a regional one.
That would be my preference. Using existing hero skins for regional generic units would be unimaginative.
2 Likes
Simple curiosity, have you considered Lombards instead of Alans or Sarmatians? It seems they´re not often considered for a possible barbarian invasion DLC and i wonder why
I have! I actually like Lombards more than those two as well, for a similar reason to why I like Saxons; they can represent a group deeper into the dark ages and not just the Barbarian Invasion era itself, but i’ve gotten pushback on the Lombards idea in the past.
I think people are against Lombards specifically because technically they’re covered by Goths and/or Italians.
3 Likes
I know about the Huns. But my goal is to propose cultural skins based on the actual game. Im using the base game, not trying to remake the game by changing architectures. It’s not the point of my thread/idea.
In DE, they changed some architectures (like byzantine from middle-east to south european) but not the huns, so it’s not my fault. It would be weird to have Huns with the Central European architecture but full asian units.
They should not have been put in the Central European at first.
So ideally they are going in the asian set for units but they have a new architecture that is not ‘‘european’’. But I think the developpers went for the Huns with something different than Mongols to make them more acculturated with the west despite being a ‘‘steppic’’ culture/ethnicity.
Feel free to think that way, but like I said, im pretty sure if you look at the screen you can make the difference of light cavalry or knight, especially since the horse should be the same color, have the shield for the knight, etc…
The idea is really to make something ‘‘similar’’ in shape but with a different look. Use the same base unit but change it’s flavour. And you can just click on the unit… im pretty sure most people will figure out what is what in a few hours only. Is that worth for a game being way better for immersion ? I think so.
And like I said if you are a returning player it’s hard to know all the new unique units or regional units so that argument is already a bit in difficulty since it’s already the case. The only thing that I can say against my own argument is that for the player who didn’t took a break, had the time to see the new elements progressivly (because a dlc is probably 5-10 more units), while this idea would be more skins/models at once (25x5 : 125) if we follow the 5 cultures I proposed.
Isn’t the point of AOE4 is more the assymetry than rather just the skins ? And the new engine, graphicals and overhaul it’s a totally new game but with the same ‘‘idea/concept’’ of older Age of Empires ?
Im not a fan of re-using hero models aswell. I think it should be totaly new designs that should be closer to the original units. I know im always referring to my first screen a lot but the guy who made it made a clear depiction of what I think need to be in game : close to the actual base design but reshaped to a specific culture.
I agree for the modders part. But it’s way harder to mod AOE2:DE than HD for some reason I still haven’t figured out why. I know the mods break, but why ?
1 Like