Asophix 189 Posted Friday at 23:30 With the October Skirmish demo and two preceding ones released prior, we got a good taste of how SH4 will play out - so far. Despite the overwhelming similarity in the core, the game has quite a few quirks that might need explaining, and getting a feel for the early-game in particular. There is virtually no difference between Skirmish matches and scenario missions in terms of mechanics - save for random events, so if you haven't played the demo, or want a semi-comprehensive list, this post is for you! Pacing and Scale SH4 in general is a very slow game: slightly faster than SH1, but much slower than every other Stronghold game. Unit and building counts are also low, as both are relatively expensive, capped by upfront resource cost and Honor respectively. Early on they don't cost much, but the really productive/effective ones spike by quite a bit. Gold is way less of a hard commodity. Selling excess resources is viable collecting it, but taxation is the most effective way. Food is consumed very fast. This is augmented by early producers dropping off very little food, forcing you to switch to the more effective chains as soon as possible. Units have pronounced difference in terms of capability. The earlier units are generally faster and lighter, while armored units are really slow, and ranged units don't reign supreme against them. Mechanics The Rank system returns. Each rank unlocks new units, buildings and potentially mechanics; climbing the ladder costs Honor. The game's basic time unit is the day. One day equals to 1 minute on normal game speed. Popularity is back to its classic 0-100 system and it can be influenced in the following ways: Rations, Taxation, Spirit, Fear Factor, Inns, as well as Daily Events constantly rotate to sway it. There are different types of Hovels, each being more expensive and providing a larger trickle of honor than its precursor. These can be built upfront, or upgraded gradually as resources allow. The Granary must contain at least a little bit food in order to prevent a hefty Popularity loss, any type suffices. The Lord's Kitchen serves feasts in a continuous manner granting Honor, richer servings providing more. Fear Factor boosts production in return for negative Popularity, or vice versa, based on population covered. Units don't get extra health from positive FF. Religion (known as Spirit) consumes Candles to function, and different buildings provide popularity based on population covered. Taxation works as normal. Utilising High Taxes and above requires having a staffed Treasury. Dances are a returning mechanic providing honor. It requires a Bedchamber and Clothes for consumption. Production Stone Quarries and Iron Mines require an Ox to haul away mined resources. The handler doesn't take up population. The Hunter's Hut can be assigned meat production one of the three herd animals: Rabbits, Deer and Boar. Beekeeper's Stations double as Honey makers for the Lord's Kitchen, and Candle makers for Religion. Weapons workshops have very long production cycles. They also consume and produce various quantities of materials. Two workshops can produce two goods: Fletchers can make normal Bows and Longbows, and Forges can create Maces and Hammers. Dairy Farms produce Milk, which needs to be refined into Cheese in a Cheese Workshop. Its efficiency is comparable to Wheat, albeit it takes a very long time to start. Combat There is a big selection of wooden and stone fortifications, Units on elevation are granted bonus range and damage reduction. Siege Engines must be constructed by Engineers in the form of Siege Tents, after which the engine cannot be unassigned its crew. Traps can be constructed in bulk, drawn in lines easing placement. Several units have activated abilities, like the Captain can rally troops around him to boost their damage output. Levy arrive with a torch, which they can use to lob at buildings and set them on fire. Trebuchets can fire different types of ammunition. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
