Era of Empires (Progress and feedback)

[The_Quixotic_King]

Thanks for the feedback, both of y'all.

Feedback would be most appreciated!

Here is my take:

Units

Zwergenland Trooper
- neutral
- 15g
- 34hp
- 4mp
- dwarvish
- Shortsword: 4-3 melee-blade
- Handcannon: 8-2 ranged-pierce

Mechanic
- lawful
- 15g
- 28hp
- 5mp
- human
- Repairs +8
- Wrench: 4-2 melee-impact
- Grenade: 8-1 ranged-fire

Machinegunner
- lawful
- 14g
- 28hp
- 5mp
- human
- Knife: 4-2 melee-blade
- Machinegun: 4-5 ranged-pierce

Barbarossa Walker
- neutral
- 19g
- 40hp
- 4mp
- mechanical
- Trample: 6-3 melee-impact (charge)
- Turret Gun: 6-2 ranged-pierce (marksman)

Albrecht Walker
- neutral
- 23g
- 42hp
- 4mp
- mechanical
- Bullbars: 8-2 melee-impact
- Chlorine Shells: 6-3 ranged-fire (poison)
- Turret Cannon: 10-2 ranged-impact (marksman)

Airship
- neutral
- 20g
- 38hp
- 7mp
- mechanical
- Chlorine Bombs: 6-3 ranged-fire (poison)
- Turret Gun: 6-2 ranged-pierce (marksman)

Flamethrower
- removed in favour of poison gas attacks

Some Notes

- zwergenland units lean more towards ranged damage rather than melee
- also, zwergenlanders are generally slow as snails
- dwarvish Z. Troopers are the mainstay and gapfiller of the faction
- human Machinegunners and Mechanics are support for the mechanical units
- Machinegunners hide behind mechanicals at night and storm into the enemy at day
- Mechanics hug the tanks at all times and sometimes throw a grenade or two
- the mechanical units are for steamrolling the enemy, but need support and cost a lot
- Barbarossa Walkers are the cheapest tank and synergize with Machinegunners
- Albrecht Walkers blow apart anything in front of them
- with 7mp, Airships are the quickest unit. it is also a flying fortress
- flamethrowers have been removed. Instead, Airships and Albrecht Walkers got a poison gas attack.

The overall concept for the faction matches up somewhat with that you have, slow as snails, ranged focus and reliance on expensive walkers for high damage.
My primary issue with this modification is the addition of the humans, for two reasons:
Firstly and lazily of me, I have already made the sprites for the Mechanic, Machinegun, and Flamer which I would have to redo for the first two and scrap the last for this edit ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
and secondly, that makes the Dwarvish faction only have one Dwarvish unit line!

Machinegunner
- lawful
- 14g
- 28hp
- 5mp
- human
- Knife: 4-2 melee-blade
- Machinegun: 4-5 ranged-pierce

I take it that you interpreted the machinegunner as less of a heavy machinegun, and more of LMG or SMG, while that's not the path I want to take with the unit, this set up for a unit really intrigues me, and I see how it could synergize with the walkers. I might be tempted to add this as a 8th unit to the faction.

balance

Overall for balance I have been trying to make it as much as possible Range>Melee. Because of this shift I want to also have as a requirement for factions a Melee-oriented unit, which Zwergenland currently lacks but

For the author:
Also please have melee then ranged attack, it's so unintuitive at least for me right now.

Now that you have mentioned it is also generally inconsistent, I put the attack I thought was the units "primary" first. But anyways it has been reorganized to melee-range.

In general I find this era more climatic than I thought it is going to be.

Here's hoping that wasn't a typo for anti-climactic, if not, thanks!

[MoonyDragon]

I take it that you interpreted the machinegunner as less of a heavy machinegun, and more of LMG or SMG, while that's not the path I want to take with the unit, this set up for a unit really intrigues me, and I see how it could synergize with the walkers. I might be tempted to add this as a 8th unit to the faction.

Now that I know what kind of unit you aimed at, I think your concept fits into the faction much better than mine. The steadfast ability of the machinegunner simulates the feeling of trench warfare perfectly. Super cool stuff!

However, I'd still recommend a change that would, in my opinion, give even more WWI flavour to the Zwergenlanders. How about changing the flamethrower attack to poison gas? The damage type and stats can stay the same, only the burn special will be changed to poison.

Apart from that, things are looking great!

[Mechanical]

Hey! I really like the idea of ​​your era. A couple of years ago, I myself dreamed of doing something similar, but then I abandoned this idea. The art looks good and fits in with the default. I would like to ask a few questions about gameplay and lore.

1. Why did you choose the 19th century setting? It always seemed to me that the 17th century, the era of the Thirty Years War, would be best suited. The 19th century is too tied to firearms and developed industry, while in the 17th century both firearms and edged weapons are combined; perhaps factions such as elves and orcs would fit better into the 17th century. Elves could be like Persians, Turks or Crimean Tatars (in the 17th century they still actively used bows), and orcs could still chop pikemen with their swords. Gangs of orcs-landsknechts with two-handed swords, who were forced by a hard life and a crisis in the Horde to become mercenaries and serve other countries for money ... Probably, in the setting of the 17th century it is easier to show the difference in technological development.

2. If you are using the Wesnoth races, why not link the era to the original lore? Well, that is, your era could show the world of Wesnoth in 300-500 years (if we assume that the High Middle Ages are in Wesnoth). Of course, I love the original worlds, but if the era uses a standard set of races from Wesnoth, then it is probably better to try to develop its lore.

Anyway, I hope to see your era on the addon server! Don't lose your motivation!

[The_Quixotic_King]

Hey! I really like the idea of ​​your era. A couple of years ago, I myself dreamed of doing something similar, but then I abandoned this idea. The art looks good and fits in with the default. I would like to ask a few questions about gameplay and lore.

Thanks for the feedback! My goal has been to make the sprites as "mainline" as possible, which has been pretty dificult with things like the Dwarven walkers. Your sprites are also a big help, and I admire them greatly.

1. Why did you choose the 19th century setting? It always seemed to me that the 17th century, the era of the Thirty Years War, would be best suited. The 19th century is too tied to firearms and developed industry, while in the 17th century both firearms and edged weapons are combined; perhaps factions such as elves and orcs would fit better into the 17th century. Elves could be like Persians, Turks or Crimean Tatars (in the 17th century they still actively used bows), and orcs could still chop pikemen with their swords. Gangs of orcs-landsknechts with two-handed swords, who were forced by a hard life and a crisis in the Horde to become mercenaries and serve other countries for money ... Probably, in the setting of the 17th century it is easier to show the difference in technological development.

For one I really enjoy 19th century history, and sense I started playing I've wanted to have a 19th century Wesnoth game. I think it's interesting and why I chose it is because of the clashes of ideology which defined the 19th and late 18th century, and I wanted my factions to represent these. You have Pyrrho-Weinburg being the force of traditional psuedo-feudal conservatism, Zwergenland being the industrial and military powerhouse. The Camarians representing capitalistic colonialism and the soon to be necromancer faction to represent radical revolution. All of these playing together I think is very cool. I am also being relatively loose with timing, as Zwergenland is clearly more steampunk and mid/late 19th, while Pyrrho-Weinburg has more of a Napoleonic flair, and then the much earlier Orcs.
And secondly, I'd love to do a renaissance wesnoth era! I would probably want to put it a little earlier so as to not thematically clash with EEaW. The rest of the answer for this one ties in with the answer for your second question.

2. If you are using the Wesnoth races, why not link the era to the original lore? Well, that is, your era could show the world of Wesnoth in 300-500 years (if we assume that the High Middle Ages are in Wesnoth). Of course, I love the original worlds, but if the era uses a standard set of races from Wesnoth, then it is probably better to try to develop its lore.

I considered this quite a bit, but in the end I decided I'd rather have the flexibility offered by a new world. If I were doing a 17th/16th century era I would want to do it in the world of Wesnoth, and try expanding the lore in a time that connects a little better. Of course the whole two suns thing begs the question in what era of technology it happened, so I would also have to take that into consideration if I wanted to blend them. If I do have the willpower to make another add-on after this one, it would most definitely be a 17th century Wesnoth!

As for my 19th century era, if people would like to use it's resources to make campaigns set in a more modern Wesnoth I would fully endorse it and gladly make more sprites if needed.

Anyway, I hope to see your era on the addon server! Don't lose your motivation!

I've hit what I have termed a "spriters block", I've been trying to make nicer and more unique sprites especially for my favorite faction aesthetically, that being the last horde, but I've found I'm not up to snuff ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I'll continue as much as possible however and I'll be damned if I don't get this era up!

[Mechanical]

I've hit what I have termed a "spriters block", I've been trying to make nicer and more unique sprites especially for my favorite faction aesthetically, that being the last horde, but I've found I'm not up to snuff ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I'll continue as much as possible however and I'll be damned if I don't get this era up!

It is a pity that you are in the "art block". I once faced a similar problem. Because of this, I almost always gave up what I was starting to do. A lot of ideas died because of this, including the era about the 17th century in Wesnoth (remember my sprites of the halberdist, musketeer and officer), as well as the era about Wesnoth in cyberpunk (the ForestDrragon and I even made a faction of space orcs!). I recently learned how to beat the art block. The secret is ... just redraw something. And never throw up an unfinished drawing. Even if you don't like what comes out, you need to finish painting the unit and then start over. If some features turned out well, then you need to take them for a new drawing and develop. The most difficult thing is to redraw when there is no mood and it seems that nothing comes out.

For example, the first sprite for the Serpent Khaganate was the Overseer. For a long time I could not draw it so that I liked it. He came out badly over and over again. I even thought that I would abandon everything again and would not be able to draw the Serpentine Khaganate. But after a couple of tries I got a good face. It gave me confidence and the following sketches came out better. After a while, I was able to make a nice sprite. Other nagas (lvl 2 and 3) turned out for me on the first try and without any problems, because I got inspiration and understood how to draw a naga.

I hope my way will help you overcome the art block. I am watching your work and really looking forward to the new sprites.