Vegetation, river and shallow waters features /visual aspect

[Bonden]

Hi Developers

Congratulations for the beautiful game ! 

A little suggestion as regards the representation of vegetation, river and shore features which could have impact on immersion and tactics.

In the actual game, vegetation, rivers and shores are visually nice but not very specific. They might be improved to look more like the tropical vegetation and river mouths of Caribbean shores of Nicaragua/Costa Rica and on San Andres Island, where the British Campaign is located.

Tropical trees in the San Juan river mouth region are (were, as there has been much deforestation since XVIIIth century, especially on coasts) taller and included conspicuous palm trees and undergrowth vegetation (in the game we feel more like in oak forests or town parks). I think also that landscapes in the San Juan River mouth were less open than as shown in the game outside the immediate surroundings of towns and villages.

The San Juan river banks are not sandy (as it is represented in the game), but made of silt and often covered with thick vegetation (trees, grasslands or bush). The river water is brown due to sediment. 

The San Andres Island, on its eastern face, is surrounded by coral reefs and shallow lagoons, with clear waters. 

Trying to represent more closely the real local tropical vegetation and land-/seascapes could be interesting both for immersion and for tactical complexity (eg coral reefs and shallow lagoons prevented tall ships from approaching the coast ; thick vegetation on river banks makes it more difficult for marines and soldiers to land and to take position and for defenders to hide). 

Here are some pictures of San Juan river mouth and San Andrès Island eastern coast for comparison. 

Best regards

PS : Coconut trees are not exactly native from the region but were introduced by Spaniards from XVIth century in the Carribean (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut#cite_note-Gunn2011-21); they were thus already present during the period

In the game (british Campaign), landscape look like this

In actual landscapes: 

San Juan River mouth

El Castillo Village Nicaragua (where a XVIIth century Spanish fort is still visible) on the San Juan river (view from the fort)

 

San Andrès Island

Edited March 29, 2020 by Bonden

[Bonden]

On 3/29/2020 at 8:09 PM, Bonden said:

Hi Developers

Congratulations for the beautiful game ! 

A little suggestion as regards the representation of vegetation, river and shore features which could have impact on immersion and tactics.

In the actual game, vegetation, rivers and shores are visually nice but not very specific. They might be improved to look more like the tropical vegetation and river mouths of Caribbean shores of Nicaragua/Costa Rica and on San Andres Island, where the British Campaign is located.

Tropical trees in the San Juan river mouth region are (were, as there has been much deforestation since XVIIIth century, especially on coasts) taller and included conspicuous palm trees and undergrowth vegetation (in the game we feel more like in oak forests or town parks). I think also that landscapes in the San Juan River mouth were less open than as shown in the game outside the immediate surroundings of towns and villages.

The San Juan river banks are not sandy (as it is represented in the game), but made of silt and often covered with thick vegetation (trees, grasslands or bush). The river water is brown due to sediment. 

The San Andres Island, on its eastern face, is surrounded by coral reefs and shallow lagoons, with clear waters. 

Trying to represent more closely the real local tropical vegetation and land-/seascapes could be interesting both for immersion and for tactical complexity (eg coral reefs and shallow lagoons prevented tall ships from approaching the coast ; thick vegetation on river banks makes it more difficult for marines and soldiers to land and to take position and for defenders to hide). 

Here are some pictures of San Juan river mouth and San Andrès Island eastern coast for comparison. 

Best regards

PS : Coconut trees are not exactly native from the region but were introduced by Spaniards from XVIth century in the Carribean (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut#cite_note-Gunn2011-21); they were thus already present during the period

In the game (british Campaign), landscape look like this

In actual landscapes: 

San Juan River mouth

El Castillo Village Nicaragua (where a XVIIth century Spanish fort is still visible) on the San Juan river (view from the fort)

 

San Andrès Island

 

  As I play the game I realized that the deepness mode gives a quite interesting representation of shallows in carribean waters. But there is no explanation of the deepness mode: does it simulate shallows when activated, (inexistant when desactivated) or is it intended to make them visible for the player to avoid them ?  

Moreover, in the tutorial on landing operations, the vegetation of the small island includes, if I am not mistaken, some palm trees : were they recently introduced or did I miss them before ?

[pandakraut]

The depth mode just makes the shallows more visible to the player.