Suggestion: Coat of Arms

[Nerdfish]

In the previous Majesty, heroes following different sovereign and buildings belonging to different sovereigns are all exactly alike. The only way to tell them apart is by looking at color of their health bars.

I think something like house/faction color will just not do justice these days. How about allowing players to design their coat of arms (various combination motifs, patterns and colors). The coat of arm is then saved to a file And used as textures and displayed on flags flying above buildings, cloaks and shields the heroes wear, and so on ?

Their should be a few default ones for lazy players as well, such as the Sydrian dragon banner.

For multiplayer matches, index for color/motif/pattern used is transferred so each client generate all coats locally prior to the beginning of the match. This prevents people from using obscenity as their banner, and greatly speed up the transfer process.

Since each player want to build and defend "their" kingdom, it will probably benefit the game if the developers give the players something to mark the kingdom as their own.

thanks for considering.

 

[unmerged(112630)]

That's a good idea, but I think it should be less "designing" their own armor, and more just choosing a color... And then perhaps an "Armor Design" option, but that would be... Well... Optional =P

 

[unmerged(83445)]

Good idea. This is something that can be achieved without too much hassle in a 3d engine. I think game devs steer clear from using this idea without modding in their base product due to potential exploitations of the system in multiplayer.

For some decent implementations of this idea see Stronghold:Crusader, Black & White, or the Warhammer 40k games by Relic.

 

[unmerged(60143)]

It's a nice idea which shouldn't be too difficult to put in and I've got no objection. Otoh I'm one of those lazy players that won't use this feature, so I'm ok either way...

 

[Flammifleure]

That's a good idea, but I think it should be less "designing" their own armor, and more just choosing a color... And then perhaps an "Armor Design" option, but that would be... Well... Optional =P

"Coat of arms" means their heraldic symbol, as in "cross gules on a field argent". Although having different armour designs would be interesting too.

Anyway, having relatively unique coats of arms seems a nice touch.

 

[unmerged(81288)]

Or it could be a simple cut-and-paste paper doll system where you can choose from pre-existing palette and patterns to make your own herald.

Enabling imported images for a coat of arms is only going to invite trouble.

 

[unmerged(112630)]

Imported images = NO.

Really, that's all a Coat of Arms is? Wow... I've been mistaken.

Either way, I think you should be able to choose/design what color and design is on your armor... But then they'd need to have a generic MS Paint-type program... That'd be a little harder

 

[Hassat Hunter]

I like the idea.

Also; as some people seem to have missed; Nerdfish already adresses that issue. The images aren't "imported", instead you just pick one of your own for your opponent, and they do the same. Wheter it can be done efficiently (after all, all players would see a different flag) is another question...

 

[Draxynnic]

Hrrmn... I'd probably be inclined to go with a 'simple' option - having a selection of backgrounds, designs and motifs that can be chosen from to form a banner. Similar to the Dawn of War system or the capes in Guild Wars. That way you'll at least know that your forces are carrying their own banner in the other player's eyes rather than serried ranks of "I'm with Stoopud!"

If Paradox wants to go the extra mile, though, it might be possible to introduce some system by which players can submit new designs to be implemented in a future patch. There'd have to be some rules in place to deal with IP issues, but a working system could probably be made.

 

[unmerged(83127)]

I feel the coat of arms should be very present on buildings that the player builds and on henchmen. After all, these are built by and work directl for the player. Heroes and pop up buildings (Elven Lounges, houses, sewers :wacko: ) should either be lacking it completely or carrying it to a smaller degreee.

The coat of arms could also function as an avatar for online play.

 

[Alfryd]

It could be an interesting touch, I suppose, provided it doesn't eat up too many resources. Seems relatively harmless.