I kind of wish tactical battle (terrain) had more variation than:

this is a tree

this is a hill

this is flat-land

...

but instead had either various hill types (for various heights) and various tree types (for various plant thickness) ...

OR ... have Elevation scores (z scores) etc ... just from the lowest point in the battlefield.

So This is a mound 5 feet off the ground, or this is a mound 10 feet off the ground, or this is a hill 50 feet off the ground ... something like that.

Now ... obviously this would be easier (Without) tiles ... but I think its still do-able with tiles, just more abstracted.

(aka you can't have a 50 foot hill surrounded by 0 foot plains ... you need at least a 10 foot mount surrounding it on all sides ... unless you wanted an "impassable cliff")

IE elevation changes more than 40 feet in difference become an impassable cliff, and you have to find smoother terrain jumps to proceed.

Terrain will effect Archer's Range, and (effective damage) range will increase or decrease based upon terrain.

Also, some terrain (like forest) will get MORE anti-ranged defense than anti-melee defense.

(relative)Elevation will also play a part in RANGED DEFENSE (but not damage)

If the Target's RELATIVE elevation is lower ... and within Effective range ... Target's defense is slightly reduced for the ranged attack.

If the Target's Relative elevation is higher ... Target's defense is slightly increased within effective range, and greatly increased beyond effective range.

Basically, all (or most) ranged weapons have a max range ... and then a smaller ring of Effective range.

Damage within Effective range is normal (and can make a critical hit) ... Damage outside of Effective range is lowered (as little as half damage) and cannot make a critical hit.

Also ... characters that take PRECISION skills will get a Bonus to Attack within the Effective Range.

Characters that take MARKSMAN skill will not have a penalty when targeting an enemy locked in melee with an Ally.

Edit: Each elevation tile needs at least one Adjacent tile (at lower elevation) that has access to it. (so higher elevation tiles with access doesn't count). Unless the tile is at 0 elevation .... it can be accessed by other 0 elevation tiles. (doesn't need a lower elevation)

"The Art of Elemental"

Now that the UI has been subtly modified, wanted to post this and the thread seemed to fit the subject

I like the visual style of elemental (along with many posters in this thread), and I wondered if the artist was still working on the project, cause the added buttons in the UI dont seem to blend in..

I like the leveling up of the settlements, and thought that when a defensive wall has been built (hedge wall, fortification, etc) then there should be a building for sentry tower, and without a siege weapon, it should be almost impossible for a melee unit to overcome the settlement. I recall that Age of Empire games had arrow towers initally, which leveled up to cannon towers. Hopefully these can be included in future expansions.

How about attracting animals that are native to the land that is spreading. Kingdom would attract bears, wolfs and such. Empire will attract darker things like spiders and darklings. These could have a preference to attack units of opposite alignment. In this way an army of the Kingdom will be attacked by empire animals while travelling through Empire land. Would spice up things a bit

1. I love that I can have a large empire in an hour. The pacing is great and enjoyable
2. I love the naming system. It definitely grew on me.
3. I love the changing shape of the game. There is a system here that can be improved and tweaked for a very long time.