Max Bodrikov, Producer of Elven Legacy, discusses the revolutionary camera system of Elven Legacy in an exclusive Developer Diary only available on Strategy Informer.
Title: Hints & Banners of Elven Legacy
By: Max Bodrikov, Producer of Elven Legacy
Today, I’d like to write a few words about banners. An army in Elven Legacy consists of separate units: archers, lances, cavalry, scouts, and heroes. To orient oneself on a battlefield at once, you need hints. As such hints, we chose unit banners. In our case, a banner is a symbol which looks like a real battle standard, but also displays useful information.
First of all, it indicates the color of the army. This is especially important in multiplayer, where similar units on opposing sides can fight on the same battlefield. The banner also displays the actions a unit can take during a turn. The units can move and attack, in any order. On the banner, these options are shown as a sword and a boot. If the unit moves, the boot disappears; if it unit attacks, then the sword disappears. The symbols are highly visible, and the player can understand the potential of their army in no time.
The lifebar of the unit is also displayed on the banner, allowing you to see how many of the unit’s members are alive, wounded, or dead. The wounded can be rehabilitated by ordering them to rest. To replace the dead, you can hire new recruits near friendly towns. You should remember though that recruiting will lower the general experience level of the unit.
Support is very important for units with ranged attacks. For example, if an enemy attacks a militia unit, then archers stationed nearby will bring down fire on the enemy, covering their friends. This support is shown on the banner as an arrow.
You should be careful in a battle, as your enemy can also cover his army. Keeping an eye on their banners will help you to avoid suddenly finding yourself under fire.
Elven Legacy is a fantasy game. It isn’t just living units that can take part in a battle, but also shadows summoned by a special spell. They can’t exist in the real world for long; they’ll disappear even if they don’t participate in a battle. The number on a banner will show how many turns shadow warriors have left to exist.
If by chance a player is irritated by the amount of colored banners over the field, he/she can change the way they are displayed with a special button on the interface. You can choose to display all banners, only show a banner under the cursor, or turn them off altogether.
Max Bodrikov, Elven Legacy Game Designer
