I have played empires for about a year and a half casually and did not really get into thinking of new changes for the game until I started playing it again recently. Some of these suggestions may be similar to others or already discussed, but I will post what has come to mind from playing the game. Some suggestions that have come from playing Empires: Make a voice option in the f menu that says "requesting targets at this location" with an icon for the commander to see. In many games people say targets but not always where they want them, plus this would help people who don't use a mic. Another voice option in the f menu that says "requesting a barracks/vf/armory/ref/repairpad at this location" with a icon for the commander to see. In acknowledgment f menu to say "thank you" or "sorry" Another discussed idea is whether or not mediums are to be available at the beginning of the game, I agree with this idea is that most games people complain if people try to research mediums and most people always go get heavies. So I agree with this idea, and what balances it is the cost. Still leave the afv or light tank mark IIs apart of the tree, or replace the medium research tree with mark IIs which would be a price consideration for the team. So if mediums are draining the res pool people can research mark IIs to cut cost. Also if mediums are available at the beginning of the game it actually leaves the option of researching weapons and using them rather than wait for heavies. Considering mark IIs, nf and be can only use upgrade mls or cannons respectively. Some minor changes already suggested by others, a symbol over a vf that has been restricted. Ability for a squad leader to give command to a teammate. Would not mind the ability for engineers being able to recycle their walls from a distance like turrents, but the option would be a complete action, so it would recycle all the player's walls and not specific ones. I saw this in a similar thread about giving classes bonuses as they level up For instance a 3%/5%/7%/ or 10% boost to certain attributes of each class as they level up. Rifleman gets an accuracy boost, Eng gets a health boost, Grenadier gets a damage boost, and Scout gets a speed boost up to the E5 rank. So it would look like a total boost of 15%/25%/35%/ and 50% boost at E5 If not boost other parts of each class which is similar to what I read in the other thread where engineers get more build points, rifleman damage and accuracy boost, grenadier gets ammo and health boost, scouts can sab buildings faster, move faster, more accuracy. Only downside to this is late or mid game joiners will be at a disadvantage. There is another thread concerning scouts which read and this is what I would like to see the scout become, not just another sniper but more infiltration and espionage class. points for spotting units and spotted units stay visible for a longer duration on maps. Sabotaged buildings damage depending on the scout rank, so if it is a E2 vs E4, an E4 ranked scout would cause the damage taken to be increase from sabotaging a building. scouts get a % of resources of a buildings' cost when they sab it, which goes to the team. more negative affects of sabotaging buildings - not just health, but decreased ammo, people who spawn in barracks spawn with no perks/buffs or lose one so if someone spawned with a health upgrade and accuracy upgrade they would lose one or all of the bonuses if the building has been sabotaged. Tanks spawn with half their armor plates, half their weapons ammo, half speed, and half engine cool down. But more negative affects to make the scout class what it is, an infiltrating and espionage class. Also as far as weapons, instead of adding one, take the smg2 and create an advanced version that has less recoil, more accuracy and more damage. -15 % recoil, 15% more accuracy, and maybe 5-10% damage. Basically more things to make the class playable where people want to be scouts instead of complaining about them. Making them deadly for bases and make teams pay much closer attention to their bases and take stronger precautions. Some people have suggested removing the scout class and giving it's attributes to the other classes, but why not make it a strong contender by giving it much more bonuses and perks for playing. As far as the engineer class give them a boosted smg1 with slightly less recoil and slight bonus to damage - an advanced smg 1. Scouts and Engineers are the only ones who can carry smgs, so why not customize one of them to fit each class, to set them apart. Or customize both for each class - eng smg gets an damage increase and scouts get an accuracy increase or viscera. Also a few more general perks for each class, like a reload speed increase, this would work very well for Grenadiers with rockets and mortars, and help the shot pistol. Not sure what else are possible ideas yet, but have 8 abilities for each class which would add a very diverse option for players and specializations. Their are already ones for the eng like revive and healing speed increase, or repair upgrade and turret upgrade. But continue to have more specialization. Another idea that came to mind from playing flag based maps is the ability for engineers to reinforce them, like Dawn of War games, the ability to build a fortification on them which has to be destroyed before capture, with varying levels of where lvl 1 is just walls, lvl 2 is a tower, lvl 3 has a mg or missile turret on top. As far a using, not sure where or not this is a commander decision who has to place them like any other building or the engineer decision when they are at the flag. Many flag based maps already have fortifications around flags but why not make this a option for each team to build and customize for the team.
as for concerning the scout, grats you made him op. find out yourself, its not that hard ... also giving the rifleman acc upgrades per rank is a bad idea. if you want to know why, search for mayamas rage thread concerning weapon balance and accuracy changes, he makes some good points ...
