My 2 Cents on a better ME

Jeremy William Bailey shared this feedback 5 years ago
Submitted

Medieval Engineers (ME) has a great perspective on medieval building but it's lack in other departments such as pvp/pve is what I believe is leading to it's down fall.


If you'll listen I believe I can offer up some great ideas on how to reboot the game and bring in a much larger fan base.


First off we must ask ourselves a couple of questions, Why should people play this game over other games? Reign of Kings offers PVP and building in a medieval world so what is different about (ME)?


Yes you could say it's that the buildings have weight to them but so does 7 days to Die and that game has long died so that means it's not enough to have a weight gimmick to make people interested.


Now here is my suggestions:


Remove instant travel and add horses to the game. Being able to teleport around the map makes the world feel small and cheap, Like we're playing some Arcade game for a quarter.


The characters are dull, boring, much of the same, non-personal and for a medieval period game that is a death stroke to the game's community. People should be able to customize there characters, Wear armors, Wood,Leather,Bronze,Iron,Steel ++) and not just armors but clothing as well. People in this type of game are gonna want to RP and clothing plays a HUGE role in that.


Wild life is another important aspect of the game that shouldn't be over looked, When I look up in the sky I want to see a flock of birds migrating and when I look in the ponds I want to see fish swimming around, If I go into the forest I want to see deers,bears,boars,wolfs and a number of animals. The forest should be a host of all manners of life, not empty apart from twig bushes.


Food / Water/ Temperature / Sanity / Weight should all be factors of the world that should impact the player if not maintained.


The Animations for the character feel clunky! Get some better Mocap going and bring the characters to life with emoji animations. Some key ones are "Saluting,Kneeling,Bowing,Waving,Sad,Happy,Angry,Fist Pump,Face Palm,Roman Salute,lay down,Sitting,Brow wipe, Point, Taunts (1-5) You can think up the rest.

Now let's talk items In Reign of Kings there is over 400 items in the game, To be better than them you need to double that. That means we want everything from wood to apples and everything in between. There needs to be way more than a hand full of weapons and more than just building items. There needs to be so many items that players get a sense of depth to the game.

I should be able to make 50 homes and all of them have different items and look fully built inside. Rugs,Chest,Chairs,Tables,Book Shelves,Potted Plants,Vases,Books,Maps,Banners,Beds,Torches,Lanterns, Ect Ect Ect keep going till you run out of ideas and then look some more for more ideas. This is Critical! Don't forget Laces for the horses.

(Might want to do jousting tournaments/ Also add a duel feature so you don't kill the other player.)


Fishing - It should be apart of the game and yes you should be able to build a boat and sail around on it.


Live Stock - What is better than growing plants? Animals.

Pigs,Ducks,Sheep,Cows,Chickens,Horses ect. Ever seen a game that lets you ride a pig?


No? Add it! Be Different!


Major item to add is a gold coin item that can be used to as a type of money.


Enact region claims, Areas that players can establish that will tell other players that they're entering a kingdom. You could also add something that gives them an opportunity to read the regions laws.


The point here to save time is the expand the game with loads of content, better character customization and focus towards the RP/PVP players.


When raiding a castle it should feel fun and exciting but never at the point that the raider has the advantage. Castle walls and towers shouldn't fall at the first catapult shot. It should take a great amount of time to seige a castle.


One last thing,


Seasons! Winter = farms don't grow , Temperatures low enough to kill if caught outside for to long without proper equipment (Fur animal coats ect)

Spring = farms grow quickly

Summer = it's hot, farms grow at normal speed

Autumn = farms grow slower and it gets cooler.

Yes I want to see snow falling, Yes I want it to pile up on roofs, Yes I want to see storms and other very rare events.

Replies (5)

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Reading all this makes me wonder, if you have ever seriously played ME before.

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@shad

For me he is right in all points! ME without mods is empty and boring. ME would be great, if this suggestions would be implemented. Just my (and many others) opinion.


If you like only to build stuff, without expecting more than to build, then ME is OK. But if you like also a medieval simulated world (like me), then ME in the current state is the wrong game. This is very pity, because i like the building part.

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First, I do wonder how much of ME you have played, the game already includes a significant portion of what you discussed.

This game is about building and creating, not providing you with an immersive medieval environment.

If you want that, you can certainly build it yourself with friends, but the game's goal isn't to give that all to you.


Now, let me respond to your specific points:

Fast Travel:

  • It can be disabled in the world options if you don't want it. Yes, horses would be great, or at least a mule to carry stuff. You aren't the first to ask for this. :-)

Food:

  • Already in the game. Different foods change your characters health and stats in different ways.

Animations:

  • There are a few animation in the game already, including the aforementioned wave. Mocap is expensive to work with (yes it's getting cheaper, but this is a very small studio developing this). Animations do need work, but mocap isn't necessary, Space Engineers (the older brother title to this) has a better animation system than this game. They can still do improvements without extra mocap.

More blocks:

  • With timber and planks, you actually have a lot of freedom to design your creations how you want. More blocks is always good though. I think to some degree, this is where mods shine. The game can only do so much, but has such a rich modding community, you can find every single item you mentioned either in vanilla, or as a mod. Game already has shelves, banners, chests, chairs, a map (not as a world object though), torches, beds built-in. The rest are already available as mods.

Animals:

  • We have deer, but you can't raise them, only hunt and eat them. As for riding, well, in Minecraft you can ride pigs. ;-)

Dueling:

  • You can load up creative, or a custom survival world preset to what you want to do, and everyone can connect and fight. You can do that now.

Fishing:

  • Requires water. Devs have stated multiple times in the past they won't add water unless it can be done well, a simple water sphere won't suffice (what happens when you mine?), and minecraft style water is too simplistic. Everyone asks for it, but that doesn't mean it's feasible.

Currency:

  • I don't get this one. Why? We have gold in the game already that's not used for much except making inferior tools. Use that. Otherwise a barter system is much more useful. If you have something someone else wants, and they have something you want, you trade, easy. If you have currency, now you need to find someone who will give you currency, and then someone else who will take it. Why would I take a currency when I'd rather have some steel?

Region Claims:

  • Already in the game. Server admins are even notified when someone enters a claimed area. The player entering also is notified in-game.

Raiding/sieging:

  • What's your definition of "great amount of time?" Have you seen the various community siege streams the developers do? It takes a good 20+ minutes to siege a well set up land.

Seasons:

  • Sort of already in the game. Currently this system is only used to change the sun altitude, but it can be extended to do other stuff.


Final thoughts:

Do keep in mind that this game is still very early in its development, and just because there's not much in there yet, doesn't mean there never will be. The developers are working on core parts of the game right now, so even things that are in there aren't finished. Such as the seasons thing. I'm sure they plan to have seasons affect crops, which is why they added the core support for seasons. They just haven't been able to implement more than that yet.

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@Gwindalmir

I think, that after 3 years the game is not in a very early state...

Anyway - i you read the reviews in steam, you will see that many people are whishing the points in the topic post. Actually only 46% players recommend the game and surely the reasons therfore are many of this points. Most players want to have more than chest full of Lego pieces... ;-) To bring ME in a recommendation comfort zone, the devs should have open there ears, also for there critical customers and not only for the applauding audience.

But that's just my modest opinion - and many, many others in the steam reviews.

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Also think most of the things the thread starter complains about are neglectible or even non-existent, as one qualified response elaborated at length.

Our game is doing fine. Of course there are always ideas how to improve and people don't see the limitations every studio has, meaning time and resources, to add content to a game. I am accompanying now some games, not only from KEEN, in early access and I always see players complaining, demanding, ranting, rage-quitting... I came to the conclusion game players are the most difficult clientele on the world, especially youngsters. They want their toy here and now! And more! And more! Never satisfied. I really feel sorry for everyone in the game developing industry having to live with this difficult clientele. I know, all human beings need support and acknowledgement for their work and progress, while constant nagging pulls you down... :(

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