Immersion
Hey. We all know Empire's pretty good now in a few departments, but I'm always playing Stainless Steel Med II in between Empire, and I've noticed that the game has so much potential that it seems unbelievable there are no more major patches. I mean, now that CA succeeded in fixing the AI to some degree, they're just going to leave it? They should be on the attack! Empire feels wooden, simplistic, just not right. It's fun for a while, but I always end up quitting after one battle. Dunno if it's like that for everyone else.
Immersion is the potential of Empire, and there are so many ways it could be improved with just another patch. I want to feel that the game is dynamic. Every campaign should plat out like a story with real people and events. So:
- There need to be historical events. We should know when nations have uprisings. We should know about their new form of government if the revolution succeeds.
- We should be informed when a nation gets a new leader. We should know what kind of person they are and what their ambitions are like. E.g. Karl XIII of Sweden wants revenge on Russia for defeating his father in the War that lost Ingria and Finland. Louis XIV of France is an expansionist and a careful planner. He dislikes <blank> and <blank>, etc.
- The diplomacy screen needs voices. Only for all the major factions. The rest can be clones and it won't really matter. The voices were really funny and immersive in Med II.
- The diplomacy speeches should be more varied and faction specific. CA already dipped their foot in this for one of the patches, but it's still too boring. They should keep going with it.
- Like we're all thinking, MORE OPTIONS FOR DIPLOMACY. Conditions, proposals, warnings. E.g. "I propose a coalition, majesty, to check the oppression of Louis XIV. His war, you'll agree, threatens both our nations." - Frederich II (Prussia) In a German accent, this would sound so cool. The slots for "France" and "Louis XIV" could be the only variable parts in the quote, not to mention "his/her".
- There MUST be battlefield music. Along with gunpowder, it was a huge part of the era. My battles sound like a G-rated gunfight at the O.K Corral. When the drummer gets killed everyone goes "Awwwwwwwww....(keeps shooting)" We need fifers and more drummers, and bagpipes.
- The shouted commands were a huge step forward, but a little more would perfect the voices in battle. Soldiers in Med II shouted stuff while in battle. I know discipline would keep rankers of the 18th century from screaming "I'll rip out your guts!" but stuff like "I'm hit!" or "Steady boys!" or "Cavalry approaching!" would be so cool. All it takes is one session in a recording studio.
- More on events. Stuff like diplomatic updates so you can see who just formed an alliance with whom, and so on. Historical figures could be events. E.g. A chief bent on kicking Europeans out of North America could result from too much devastation of a Native region.
- The historical tidbits are a good system (not that I can read more than three due to the ongoing text bug) but they should be more involved somehow with the game. E.g. When <blank> is invented, make it a new technology. Which reminds me...
- Expand the tech tree.
These are just my suggestions. Does anybody else know what improvements could be made toward Immersion in the game. I know I'll probably get a "Look CA's just too busy with NTW now none of this is going to happen." but let me be blunt. In NTW, you won't get to build global empires, it'll just deal with Boney.
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Originally Posted by Dalminar
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