The body looks roman to me, but the shoulders look nothing like anything I have seen during my study of ancient Rome. It looks Samurai like.
I think that we should go for something a little more ballistic. Something that would actually stop a bullet instead of sending sharp metal splinters into your body.
Yeah you don't get shrapnel from metal plates. You get shrapnel from hollow bullets because hollow bullets are designed to disintegrate when they hit something and produce shrapnel. Solid bullets don't disintegrate and don't produce shrapnel, neither does solid metal plate when you shoot it.
i meant all of these with the concideration that the materials need ajusting, for example the plates of iron could be replaced with plates of kevlar type protection just the designs intrigue me
God damnit. This is all fine, etc. But start with silhuette, what actually defines the class. You will be shooting the guy from a distance, and want to know what kind of gear he is packing. So show it so it's visible over a large distance too. I like the armored skirt idea, it suits this purpose. Now do some sketches on how it can actually look cool, and not a girly dress from the 1950-ies.
I agree with zenarion. Do a process similar to Valve making TF2. They started with simple designs to make a unique silhouette that made the class recognizable instantly. Then they detailed it. I think Empires would benefit from a similar approach. Scout should be slim with no noticeable bulk. Rifleman should have bulk only on the torso, where the armour would be. Grenadiers would have bulk everywhere, mainly a backpack. Engineers, not so sure. Maybe a toolbelt? But that wont make them too recognizable
How about this then: Rifleman has ammo pockets, and shiny helmet. Scout has very little equipment, or it's hidden in "hammerspace". Gren has a big backpack and big flat pockets for mines. Engi has belts with some equipment slung around him. There has to be a difference in animation as well, for the contours to read properly. But that is a different, more difficult matter.
I always thought NF should get some worn out napoleon area like clothes mixed with first world war stuff
I really like those zenarion. However I'm guessing this will be low priority for the devs, we would need a community effort to complete get these in-game.
