craZcelt
26-10-2004, 23:51
Hey guys,
I hadn't used trebuchets much before recently, and I like them. :]
One small item I'd like to see however which might maximize their defensive use:
what about adding a command button which deploys the trebuchet (like regular units ability to 'camp') in it's current position? That way, one would not have to select the trebuchets one by one, wait for a target to come within range, then click to attack, which
then deploys the trebuchet.
I like that of course you can't just 'pack up' a trebuchet and move around during even a longer battle.... and I wouldn't suggest that should change: could just have a one-time per battle 'deploy' button.
Yes, some might be thinking... "what? using trebuchets for defense??"
Well, a practical defensive use exists, since my army regularly travels and fights, and you can't leave your siege equipment behind once bought without scrapping it. I often find myself in open battle... so why not use all available resources? To do that, ideally on slower troops and units like enemy siege gear (of course once the enemy uses siege gear after the patch...yay!! :) ), it'd be great to be able to deploy and have them fire automatically like archers, etc. And, for the more sadistic generals out there: think masses of evil pillaging peasants walking through a battlefield exploding with columns of ground from the several hundred pound missiles of crushing goodness? What rebels could stand against that?
Maybe, just maybe, one day we could have a shock factor of certain weapons added to the morale impact on enemy troops? (Example: knights make a charge on defensively arrayed army equipped with ballistae and trebuchets... halfway there, massive boulders slam the earth all around them... horses and riders would have serious morale issues at that point... especially once some of them had been erased from existence.)
*** For a slightly less complicated suggestion: I think the usefulness of catapults and trebuchets in situations other than wall-smashing would be greatly enhanced by the ability to change to at least one other type of ammo: the easiest to implement might be multiple shot-type rocks instead of single boulders... like the kind already used by anti-siege wall-mounted catapults. Now *that* would deter enemy foot soldiers in a hurry. :D
Another interesting - although admittedly more complex to implement graphically - ammo type to add would be pitch-filled missiles.... yeah, baby. (Thinking scene from Gladiator... [General Maximus: "On my signal... unleash hell."]) Maybe in late-era or late-development stages of campaign only? What about new ammo types developed as upgrades for the Siege Workshop?
- or - instead of upgrades, expand the the functionality of Marshals with the 3rd-level "Ballistics" skill.... yeah, fire arrows *and* pitch-bombs! Yeah. Bring it on!
Hmmm.... on second thought... maybe the devs shouldn't add any of these things... I might never get any sleep again. ;)
craZcelt
I hadn't used trebuchets much before recently, and I like them. :]
One small item I'd like to see however which might maximize their defensive use:
what about adding a command button which deploys the trebuchet (like regular units ability to 'camp') in it's current position? That way, one would not have to select the trebuchets one by one, wait for a target to come within range, then click to attack, which
then deploys the trebuchet.
I like that of course you can't just 'pack up' a trebuchet and move around during even a longer battle.... and I wouldn't suggest that should change: could just have a one-time per battle 'deploy' button.
Yes, some might be thinking... "what? using trebuchets for defense??"
Well, a practical defensive use exists, since my army regularly travels and fights, and you can't leave your siege equipment behind once bought without scrapping it. I often find myself in open battle... so why not use all available resources? To do that, ideally on slower troops and units like enemy siege gear (of course once the enemy uses siege gear after the patch...yay!! :) ), it'd be great to be able to deploy and have them fire automatically like archers, etc. And, for the more sadistic generals out there: think masses of evil pillaging peasants walking through a battlefield exploding with columns of ground from the several hundred pound missiles of crushing goodness? What rebels could stand against that?
Maybe, just maybe, one day we could have a shock factor of certain weapons added to the morale impact on enemy troops? (Example: knights make a charge on defensively arrayed army equipped with ballistae and trebuchets... halfway there, massive boulders slam the earth all around them... horses and riders would have serious morale issues at that point... especially once some of them had been erased from existence.)
*** For a slightly less complicated suggestion: I think the usefulness of catapults and trebuchets in situations other than wall-smashing would be greatly enhanced by the ability to change to at least one other type of ammo: the easiest to implement might be multiple shot-type rocks instead of single boulders... like the kind already used by anti-siege wall-mounted catapults. Now *that* would deter enemy foot soldiers in a hurry. :D
Another interesting - although admittedly more complex to implement graphically - ammo type to add would be pitch-filled missiles.... yeah, baby. (Thinking scene from Gladiator... [General Maximus: "On my signal... unleash hell."]) Maybe in late-era or late-development stages of campaign only? What about new ammo types developed as upgrades for the Siege Workshop?
- or - instead of upgrades, expand the the functionality of Marshals with the 3rd-level "Ballistics" skill.... yeah, fire arrows *and* pitch-bombs! Yeah. Bring it on!
Hmmm.... on second thought... maybe the devs shouldn't add any of these things... I might never get any sleep again. ;)
craZcelt