Draconian Visuals

[SecretLars]

Am I the only one who thinks the draconians look really bad? In Age of Wonders 3 Draconians look like humans with greyscale while Draconians in the earlier games like Age of Wonders 2: Shadow Magic they looked like real dragon people.

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

Hmm... well, I don't think so, for one. A Flamer or an Elder or Charger all look properly lizard-like and dragon-like and not at all like humans. (even if you discount the whole wings bit)

Unless you're talking about the class units. There, it is a lot less distinctive and it can be hard to tell you're looking at a Draconian berserker as opposed to a Human one. Let alone a Crusader or something...

It's a downside of the base game that the class units of various races look too similar to eachother. I've lost count of the number of times I've been surprised by that apprentice throwing a Firebomb, because I had no clue it was a Draconian. Most of the unit variants indeed look like the human base model with a bit of recolouring. Which kinda makes them not fun to use.

Fortunately, there's Tibbles to the rescue:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=519678240

This mod is essential to make class units look like they belong to their race of origin. It won't be possible to confuse an Elf berserker for a Human one ever again.

(But if you think it's the normal class units that look bad, I'm afraid I can't help you.)

[pipo.p]

I agree that some units have been made more humanoid than they were in AoW2, and many more were purely removed. I suspect one of the reason was to reuse humanoid animations in tactical combat. Look at the list:

List of AoW2 units with pictures[aow2.heavengames.com]

Orcs : abomination (distorted humanoid with assassin and druid abilitites)
Tigrans: hunter (cheetah), prowler (were both quadrupedes)
Draconians: hatchling (was a quadrupede), slither (quadrupedan lizard spiting poison and climbing walls), crusher (bipedan giant advanced and only ground infantry smashing walls)
Dwarves: mole
Halflings: leprechaun (T4 small, floating unit)
Frostlings: drake(wyvern) rider
Goblins: wyvern rider, Karagh (T4 giant)
Dark Elves: spider queen (drider), incarnate (ethereal, floating being).

Now, the other reasons are certainly that class units were introduced, and that you can summon many more diverse units. Fortunately, Sphinxes, Manticores, Gluttons, flying mounted units, floating undead, and more made it through.

[Eagle 11]

worst offender are the wyverns of derp, closely followed by noodley-arms highelves and then the 'human painted green' orcs

[GreyHuntr]

Messaggio originale di pipo.p:

I agree that some units have been made more humanoid than they were in AoW2, and many more were purely removed. I suspect one of the reason was to reuse humanoid animations in tactical combat. Look at the list:

List of AoW2 units with pictures[aow2.heavengames.com]

Orcs : abomination (distorted humanoid with assassin and druid abilitites)
Tigrans: hunter (cheetah), prowler (were both quadrupedes)
Draconians: hatchling (was a quadrupede), slither (quadrupedan lizard spiting poison and climbing walls), crusher (bipedan giant advanced and only ground infantry smashing walls)
Dwarves: mole
Halflings: leprechaun (T4 small, floating unit)
Frostlings: drake(wyvern) rider
Goblins: wyvern rider, Karagh (T4 giant)
Dark Elves: spider queen (drider), incarnate (ethereal, floating being).

Now, the other reasons are certainly that class units were introduced, and that you can summon many more diverse units. Fortunately, Sphinxes, Manticores, Gluttons, flying mounted units, floating undead, and more made it through.

With the exception of the tigrans and draconians, most the units you listed aren't actually members of the race they serve in AoW2. Many of them still exist, or have similar analogues in the dwellings or class units.

[SecretLars]

I was mostly talking about the leader creation system.

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

Then I'm confused... wasn't the Draconian leader in AoW2 this human wizard Tempus or something?

That's one of the things I liked least about AoW2, how every race suddenly was led by these human wizards. (Orcs with Karissa, Frostlings with Artica? What...)

The leaders in AoW3 all look pretty humanoid, sure, but you can create a pretty draconian-looking face easily enough, and accessories like extra horns and whatnot can add to that.

The bigger issue to me is leader clothes. It's weird that an Orc sorceress wears the same dress as a Human sorceress, and that a Draconian would wear the same uniform as Edward Portsmith does if he's a dreadnought. Those clothes make everybody look too alike and too human.

The Age of Wardrobe mod helps a little, as at least it lets you freely select outfits. The Orc sorceress could wear a Druid's robe instead, for instance. But it's still pretty limited.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=522629303

Planetfall should do better, as there leader outfits are race based more than class based.

[SecretLars]

Messaggio originale di Iguana-on-a-stick:

Then I'm confused... wasn't the Draconian leader in AoW2 this human wizard Tempus or something?

Not exclusively

[Syrris]

There was a single draconian (Ambir) and a single tigran (Perses) leader in AoW:SM, and Ambir looked quite different from the AoW3 style.

The change to draconians was probably for the sake of allowing the outfits and especially the head pieces to work without needing completely new models. They wouldn't have worked very well if the draconian leaders were built like Ambir.

[Iguana-on-a-stick]

Messaggio originale di SecretLars:

Messaggio originale di Iguana-on-a-stick:

Then I'm confused... wasn't the Draconian leader in AoW2 this human wizard Tempus or something?

Not exclusively

Messaggio originale di Syrris:

There was a single draconian (Ambir) and a single tigran (Perses) leader in AoW:SM, and Ambir looked quite different from the AoW3 style.

Ah, right. Shadow Magic

It was just Tempest in AoW2 though. And either way, 1 portrait is a lot more limiting than the AoW3 hero creator, so if less defined Draconic features is the trade-off, I'll happily take it.