Oriental Empires -- 4x historical strategy

Started by Martok, April 16, 2015, 02:22:04 PM

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Grim.Reaper

Quote from: Nefaro on September 24, 2016, 03:23:03 AM
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on September 23, 2016, 06:34:33 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on September 23, 2016, 09:43:14 AM
Quote from: bbmike on September 22, 2016, 06:50:43 PM
+1. Not of fan of unlocking stuff.

The preview vid I saw mentioned that the initially locked factions start in more difficult situations.  I suppose they want us to play one of the larger, easier, factions for a first play. 

Probably done to keep those who don't know any better from quickly getting curb stomped, in their initial experience, and giving it a poor review score directly afterward on Steam.  Which is a problem for the instant gratification crowd who don't bother learning how a game works before posting a bad review.



For better or worse, I've been seeing Steam-hosted developers placing extra artificial restrictions in their games, and putting higher prices on them, in order to dissuade the 2-hour-and-out gamers from giving them a bad review.  Some have even stated their intended purpose as such.

I pay for the game, I should be able to play as I see fit and use all the content...just my opinion.

I agree, in cases such as these.  Although the limitations in this specific game doesn't look very bothersome to me.

Remember how stubborn the IL-2:BOS devs were about having unlocks?  That was a worse situation, IMO.  They eventually removed such a need, but I think this is all indicative of how developers are implementing the digital equivalent of "kid gloves" to control the early impressions of twitchier gamers, and keep them from making too many bad choices while still learning. 

Since the factions are pretty much the same in this one, I don't think it will bother me, having to run 100 turns with one of the easier starting factions to unlock the rest.  Not near as much as the IL-2:BOS example, where completely different models of aircraft and weapons were cordoned off for varied & extended lengths of play time.

As Boggie mentioned, there may be a way to manually unlock them, anyway.

My statements about unlocks is not just picking on this particular game, more of a global statement about all games that include this feature....just can't understand why they don't make it an optional setting within the game.  I guess we'll see if this game has a way to do it manually, but then we need to find a way in every other game that does this:)

tgb

Was it the first Rome:TW that only offered 3 factions until you beat the game?  It was one of the early TW's.  Anyway, it wasn't long before modders found a way to bypass the locks, and I expect that to happen hear.

Tpek

Quote from: tgb on September 24, 2016, 09:23:06 AM
Was it the first Rome:TW that only offered 3 factions until you beat the game?  It was one of the early TW's.  Anyway, it wasn't long before modders found a way to bypass the locks, and I expect that to happen hear.

Yep.
You had to beat the game, and then the factions you successfully conquered were unlocked.
Or you could edit the files to instantly unlock them, and even other otherwise unplayable factions.

Rayfer

SOW: Gettysburg did the unlock thing with scenarios when it first came out.  It was just awful. Leave it in for those who like it but have an option to unlock for those who don't.

Grim.Reaper

Quote from: Rayfer on September 24, 2016, 11:51:52 AM
SOW: Gettysburg did the unlock thing with scenarios when it first came out.  It was just awful. Leave it in for those who like it but have an option to unlock for those who don't.

That's all I have been trying to say:)  Shouldn't be a need to mod things, simply put an option in the settings screen.

jomni

#215
The factions aren't too different.  Locked or unlocked wouldn't make a big difference in the initial experience.

So it seems public works is a main driver of peasant unhappiness in my game. Not conscription. Even if you have the money, if you fully utilise the manpower building stuff and not giving them rest, they will be unhappy. Peasants in my capital has constantly been unhappy because of my grand building projects (government and military buildings). I must be a benevolent ruler and give them days off.  >:(

Noticed the palace looks more like a Japanese one than Chinese. I think Chinese palaces should be flat instead of tall.


W8taminute

I agree with you on the locked/unlocked factions debate.  This certainly is a niche game that is trying to appeal to a wider audience.  ROTK is definitely a niche game that will never appeal to the wider audience but I hope that OE helps introduce westerners to ancient Asian history. 

My experience with the peoples' unrest is similar to yours jomni, only it was my nobles that gave me a hard time.  It seems they did not like my choice in edicts.  The turn after I implemented my 'Military promotions' edict the nobles not only were extremely upset with me but three of the 13 cities in my empire broke away in open rebellion.  Totally caught me by surprise. 

Lesson from all of this for me is be very careful when changing government policies when enacting edicts.  Either ensure the proper happiness buildings are built in potential trouble spots or have troops in place to enforce martial law.
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jomni

How to fix damaged buildings?

Update: Oh, it's automatic.

JasonPratt

I've been reading reviews (recent ones) talking about the combat being clippy (units clipping through each other, not just the cinematic camera), and with insane unit pathing. A Spart/GoT/Legion/Chariots combat resolution engine is fine (also found in the Dominons series), but this has me concerned. Other people here have played; experiences? How much validity should I give these reports/
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tgb

Combat animation isn't so great.  It's tough to follow what's happening and watchingit I'm not even sure orders are being followed.  But with so much under the hood undocumented, I can't say for sure if it's buggy or I just don't understand what's going on.

W8taminute

Quote from: JasonPratt on September 25, 2016, 03:20:13 PM
I've been reading reviews (recent ones) talking about the combat being clippy (units clipping through each other, not just the cinematic camera), and with insane unit pathing. A Spart/GoT/Legion/Chariots combat resolution engine is fine (also found in the Dominons series), but this has me concerned. Other people here have played; experiences? How much validity should I give these reports/

I've seen a little bit of units clipping through each other on occasion.  tgb is right there is a lot going on during battle and it's difficult to follow especially when multiple battles are being fought in different places.  If there was a way to resolve the combat in sequential order instead of watching everything in parallel it would improve this aspect of the game imho.
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jomni

#221
Here's a tip.  Select a location for your capital with a mountain and river nearby. Mountains enable you to build several off-city buildings that make the nobles and peasants happy (shrine, temple, pavilions).  Mountains also contain minerals to mine as well as blocks off one side of your city from attack. Rivers enable building of off-city structure that enhances trade and income.  You will find these important to sustain your building projects as your peasants (and nobles) won't bother working too hard if they can visit the landmarks during the weekend :D.  As mentioned before, my capital is in a vast plain. I am able to cultivate a lot fields to sustain my large population but that's just about it.  I cannot build fancy buildings.  They are bored to death building palaces for their emperor all their lives and are at constant state of unhappiness.  This means I need stop building for a while to avoid rebellion.

It seems cool that locating your capital (and other cities) in an auspicious place with nearby mountain and river seem to agree with Chinese Geomancy (Feng Shui).  This is why Beijing is kept as an imperial capital despite being close to the Mongols and Manchu. Korea's Seoul (Hanyang) seems to be in a perfect place too with Namsan mountain and the great Han river close by.


jomni

#222
Quote from: W8taminute on September 25, 2016, 09:52:11 PM
Quote from: JasonPratt on September 25, 2016, 03:20:13 PM
I've been reading reviews (recent ones) talking about the combat being clippy (units clipping through each other, not just the cinematic camera), and with insane unit pathing. A Spart/GoT/Legion/Chariots combat resolution engine is fine (also found in the Dominons series), but this has me concerned. Other people here have played; experiences? How much validity should I give these reports/

I've seen a little bit of units clipping through each other on occasion.  tgb is right there is a lot going on during battle and it's difficult to follow especially when multiple battles are being fought in different places.  If there was a way to resolve the combat in sequential order instead of watching everything in parallel it would improve this aspect of the game imho.

There are small panels at bottom left which show all battles and relative strengths. It's not as informative as Paradox info bar but you can use it to switch views between battles and quickly see what's happening.

tgb

One thing that's really starting to bug me about the combat is the way a stack will chase after an enemy stack that's been routed when there are other targets nearby.  I can't find a way to prevent it, and with no combat control there's no way to stop it.  Hell, you can't even find out who it is that's running off the battle field.

Also I suspect the difficulty levels aren't working.  On most of my play sessions  as the Shang on Normal difficulty my biggest headaches in the first 25 turns came from bandits and keeping rebellion under control.  I started a game on "Easy" as the Shang, just to see what it was like, and had war declared by both the White Di and Dong Yi almost immediately.  By turn 15 I had lost 2 of my 3 cities and both of my leaders were dead. 

That can't be WAD, can it?

Hofstadter

Quote from: JasonPratt on September 25, 2016, 03:20:13 PM
I've been reading reviews (recent ones) talking about the combat being clippy (units clipping through each other, not just the cinematic camera), and with insane unit pathing. A Spart/GoT/Legion/Chariots combat resolution engine is fine (also found in the Dominons series), but this has me concerned. Other people here have played; experiences? How much validity should I give these reports/

Oh deffo. The battle unit pathing is buggy and weird as well.  When they do what you want its cool, but most of the time theyre stoned
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