I know you have your hands full with the Anno let's play and all, but a few days past a city/planet builder launched and I thought you might be interested in it. It's called "Per Aspera", second part of the latin phrase, "Ad astra, per aspera" meaning "To the stars, through difficulties" and it's about terraforming Mars. It's quite a different approach compared to Paradox' , more macro as opposed to micro, and even though I'm not big on builders, this one is challenging enough throughout to keep me engaged.
They have that in total war lol just select the group you want... now click on one of the highlighted units onnnn the battle map not the unit card. Click and hold onto that highlighted unit within the formation you want moved.... now while holding the mouse button you can move it and all selected units in Rome Two Total war atleast will follow your mouse cursor until you let go and they will maintain same positioning you placed them in before but in the area you NOW want them... annnnnd if you hold the mouse button and then hit and hold control key I believe it will then let you rotate those selected units in the desired formation grouping so you can keep the group/flanks you have and rotate your entire army to match theirs. It’s actually a lot more intuitive when you see it done you’ll be like “I’m dumB with a hard non silent B” lol but yeah I really am looking forward to manor lords as someone with 1300+ hrs in Rome Two Total War it’s the best of the franchise besides Rome 1 hands down I’ve played them all lol but I like how manor lords is shaping up 100% I agree that the retreating thing but you areeeee giving them a running order... away.... from the enemy.... I would think they would retreat and get a penalty regardless though I see what you mean too Btw I can see how this comes off as a negative comment I promise you this is not hate xD it’s allllll appreciation’ I promise lol I just didn’t know if you knew you could move custom unit formations in Rome Two and Rotate them as well if it’s about the units facing the enemy while they move on March then yeah I see that 100% have a great happy holidays guys!
I played and streamed it! Cool game, I was kind of mixed on it though- pacing felt quite slow for me, but love the concept and some later game mechanics when you start melting the polar caps
They don’t have it in total war, you can move a formation, but not adjust the entire formations width and depth and keep it together as a group. Try it, make a square with 4 units, then try to shrink that square or enlarge it. You can’t. As you say, you can move it, and rotate it, but not change it’s size. In total war you’ll overlap units or create gaps attempting that. In Manor Lords the rank and file of the unit will adjust keeping the square in tact regardless of size.
@@RepublicOfPlay A shame, I would have liked to see you covering it and spreading the word but not your cup of tea, understandable. I can see where the slow pace might come in, though on the max difficulty where I feel the game was meant to be played, the major construction resources and water are very tight, and you are hard pressed to explore and expand almost constantly until you get some the mid-to-late techs like hyperloop. Also, the plot is really good given that we're talking about a "city" builder and I find it really engaging, trying to patch together what happened to Earth and humanity in the past two centuries through all the past mission sites on Mars , and the bits and bites the story throws at you.
@@PanzerFaust33 I can see that, if you make something yourself, it's much easier to solve than to need to check with a dozen other's to make sure you don't accidently screw something up
even people getting 'stuck' (whether because they are too absorbed with the fight to notice the retreat, too scared to turn their backs and run, or too proud to run, there will probably always be a few left behind)
@@ManorLords Yeah, you should implement that like 10% (based on moral, or something, the number can wary) of soldiers stay to fight until they die and refuse to back up! :D
@@ManorLords as @Kana mentioned, it would be really cool if a small percentage of the soldiers stayed behind to cover for the unit's retreat, it would make sense for high morale troops.
That isn't really fair TW isnt a sim game this is basically a sim and a bit of total war combine. Tw gets you into action immediately. This seems more like a grind.
@@joseonwalking8666 Yeah it’s totally not fair, a “sim” game made by a one developer has better collisions and immersion than game franchise specialized in war and realistic combat. But you know, we still have to wait to the final result, the hype might be skyrocketing by this point, but the results and launch would be what defines this games success
The dev has a super active twitter feed and is taking feedback all the time. It is a sight to behold. He reads everything. And comments/answers most. This guy is a legend. I cannot wait to give him my money. He is creating the modern Total War game I want.
@Dozer Mramur its just so that he is a single man and seems to doesnt need that much money from the players, i mean how he done this without a big budget like big Developers and he reacts to improments and dont wait untill the whole Community gets mad at them. I think we should get the early Access and help him to find out bug or improvements then its a better game for everyone , sure its not perfect but it looks very nice cant wait
One person is outclassing every single developer out there. Able to take a community suggestion, actively try's to implement it, and honestly that back step animation actually made me throw my hands up. That was such a small thing that I didn't like about total war but thought that it may be impossible or something (i know nothing about making games just playing them lol) But to the Dev you are the hero we need and I love you for it.
As others have said, UE4 is really a great engine. They poured all fortnite money into it, and now you can make your own game using that engine with little help from others.
Yep, UE4 plus this guy working hard on the idea for 3 years before any mention of it was ever made. He has the skeleton and now he just needs to flesh it out. Slavic Magic is a veteran developer and very passionate about his project.
I looked at the Patreon for this and the developer said he has been working on this for 3 years already. So the amount of stuff he has complete makes sense. I also remember a little game called Banished that was made by one guy and was an absolute marvel to me. He's getting a little help here and there (especially with motion capture.) But I'm definitely excited for this. Nothing has scratched this itch quite right since Stronghold 2. I've been searching every year trying to find something that was like this and we finally have it. I hope it works out.
I really hope he does. Ive been waiting so long since m2tw. Ive tried playing new total wars but i just keep going back to m2tw and its modded versions.
So, it is without combat, but for a cool Banished vibe take a look at Kingdoms Reborn. It's been in early access for about a month, and I've logged about 10 hours personally. Really fun game.
The hype around this game show that there is a huge hole in the "medieval strategy" that no game has really filled since Medieval 2. Mount and blade 2 and Crusader kings 3 have been pretty successful since release but neither is the kind of strategy that fans of the old total war really want....and considering creative assembly's focus on warhammer (which is understandable) and other "mythical stories" is very likely that they won't make another realistic total war for a very long time.
They are successful because that time period is really attractive to the players. No game has filled the boots of Medieval 2 because of how many different and unique nations it had and it combined excellent battles with great kingdom management. On top of that the game was very moddable, so we saw mods from LotR, Warhammer, different periods of history or games focused on more detailed smaller part of the world (Broken Crescent).
The popularity of conversion mods in other total wars (like 1212 ad for attila) would also suggest that. But I have to say that, for me personally, good history is the most important part. If it is to ahistorical I'm out.
You know things are getting bad when your own "fan base" is begging for other companies to come in and create competition, so you'll start improving your games. I'll be keeping an eye out for this one in the future.
I'll call this out! This game, one day will be considered the best of its genree, all the effort and dedication will bear fruit, dangerous eyes of envy will appear, but this game will remain rigid as a rock for a long time, and after the promising fame, the developer will maintain involvement with the community as in the beginning, humble, gaining more spotlights, I am not pressing his duty, but I believe that there is a historical fact being written in front of us, and one day they will see that all our efforts for this game to arrive where one day it will arrive, it were not in vain!
Kinda hope the TW reddit will light up with some of the battle features like a fighting retreat and pushing CA to focus a bit more on those kinds of improvements
I feel that something like that won't appear soon because i'm not sure they would fit with warhammer total war (the 3' is supposed to come out next year) and his focus on heroes and large monster units.
@@francesco8000 Not expecting it in Warhammer but I´m hoping for it in the next historical Total War, if we´ll get one less focused on myths and all that
@@AnthroTsuneon another potential issue may be the engine they are using. I don't know about the "fighting retreat" but i'm almost 100% sure that feature like the charge effect on a unit or the "slow advance" are almost impossible with the current enginge considering how it handles phisics.
The cesspit would then have to account for how they've been shouting-down criticism of the direction CA have gone in for a decade now. The only way they'd welcome improvements that are actually improvements is if they fully-embraced their shamelessness and pretended it's what they always wanted.
This just makes you realize what ca could do if they'd actually care about their games. Instead, they just choose not to because they are making tons of money anyways
besides Stronghold i am also getting a Lord of the Realm II vibe from how recruitment of you army happens - having to balance peasants in your fields or using them as militia troops
I mean most of the asset of the game are from the unreal engine marketplace (especially 3d models) and i think that for the base gameplay he is using the rts template that is also from the marketplace, if one person could make that much alone, we would have a Ubisoft game every 3 day.
@@marconapolitano2821 personally who cares if hes using the templates temporarily or permanently . if he packages them well and the game a masterpiece of slapped together marketplace items does it really matter in the end?
@@marconapolitano2821 but its still pretty damn incredible as an unreal developer myself I know how hard it is to get store assets to interact well with each other, its no easy feat not in the slightest
What i'm really liking Darren, is that the developer is actually listening and implementing things you have suggested. Long may this continue and hopefully we will recieve a game polished and with continued support and improvements. I'm so excited about this game!
Not gonna lie, i feel you. Few years ago when Cyberpunk was first announced I was excited to hear of it. Then i forgot of it until the day came by to be released first. Was hyped there on for Cyberpunk more... Meanwhile Manorlords...? Developed by one person...?? A few more years to developed? Yet my minds keep racing to ask if one could get an alpha test version to give feedbacks to help... Thats how much i am excited for this game.
It's that blend of The Settlers, Total War and Crusader Kings that I've always wanted. I'm going to reserve judgment until I see the final product, but I'm very happy it's being attempted at all.
@@heinoobermeyer7566 There's a reboot in the works right now, and it looks like it's returning somewhat to the series' roots. Very interested to see how well that turns out.
Really great of you to do this. As a long time follower I know it's not exactly your thing to do videos like this, I'm one of the Manor Lords moderators and I just want to say thank you on behalf of the rest of the staff for potentially alerting about 450 thousand new people to this game.
Love the coverage this game is getting and the support and feedback the wider "total war" community is providing. Super hyped for this and love your coverage of it, keep it up
Huh, interesting. This has definitely got me interested in the game; Total War desperately needs more competition if we ever want them to get back in form.
I totally agree. They've been in decline since Empire. It's just unfortunate that the majority the current Total War fanbase never played pre-Empire and do not know what they are missing out on. CA, as a result have had no compulsion to innovate where it matters. Just looking at the first combat system, it automatically demonstrates how this game has already innovated where Total War hasn't.
For real. Total War sucks ass now, 3K and Troy battles are so boring to play because they look too “fantasy” like Warhammer does, and it’s just frustrating really.
same.. and I work in a big game publisher. This kind of development must be endorsed. If I ever have the chance, I will mention this guy to our ‘indie search department’ so they can offer him a publishing deal :)
That back-stepping retreat is something that I have been looking for a long time in a game, the fact it is not possible made cicling tired units in and out of battle almost impossible. Other thing I'd like to see: say, for example, a unit that is walking in column has to turn right to face an enemy, and wants to face it with a wide front, in games usually the whole column turns and then spreads out, which is a waste. IRL I think that simply the soldiers would all turn right, and bam, now they are facing right in a wide line. Moving like that is a waste of time and energies
Yeah, in Attila units tire out so fast, and CA was like: "You have to cycle your frontline units", but there is no way to pull back without getting slaughtered
The fact that a single person can create a game like this is absolutely crazy to someone like me who has played games since the 90's. Technology is so cool, really almost only limited by our imaginations and the amount of time we can put into a project. Imagine what gaming will be like in another 30 years, if we're still around then!
The most positive thing is that this game hopefully will come out,I dont understand why people compare this to TW games,TW are focused on tactics and strategy more,not so much on economy and production chains,If the most positive thing out of this situation for you is the likelihood that TW games will improve maybe its not for you.
Have not been this excited for a game since the first Rome total war. This looks genuinely amazing, and you are sigle handedly about to show CA how it should be done.
Really love the the fighting animations and the finishers especially. It always frustrated me how total war went from those beautiful fighting animations of Medieval 2 and shogun 2 to swinging at thin air.
Med 2 didn't exactly had good fighting animations, it was kinda basic but it was still better than the dumbassery we got in rome2, of course shogun 2 was just perfect, if medieval 2 would have had the exact same systems and engine and features as shogun 2 it would objectievely be the best total war game.
Manor Lords! I'd like there to be a building type in this game: settlement Center. In medieval times and all of human history, human communities had centers, and in medieval times, these were either the lord's keep, or a church. But settlement-center type buildings would provide bonuses to certain aspects in the town, and in order to be considered a true town you'll need to have three town center buildings. Also, I want you to be able to issue directives to your army before the battle and after the battle when the enemy is routed. Like for example, try to take prisoners/show mercy, or kill as many of them as possible, or just get it over quickly or to try and stay alive, and this would be communicated via pre/post-battle speeches. I'd also really love it if there were some more advanced diplomatic features than in Total War games, for example, giving and requesting territory, or asking somebody to make peace or not attack or stop attacking someone, or warning armies or factions of specific threats, even if they're not enemies at the time. I really wanna be able to build castles like in Stronghold, only a tad more creative freedom, and I'd like to have there be Siege options, like for example, the option to 'sap,' which means to dig tunnels underneath the enemy walls, and for there to be an option in a specific settlement to prepare for siege, granaries and storerooms give bonuses to these functions.
Thanks for the feedback! Some of this is planned for the far future already (prisoners, castle building/sieges, diplomacy), the settlement center I'll think about. It may take time of course to add such features, I want to make the base game solid before venturing forth. Thank you!
@@ManorLords Oh my gosh! i didn't think you'd actually reply here! I thought I'd see you on the subreddit! /OoO\ Anyway, I have another idea, there are maps for castle/town sieges, right? I think you should give spies a function for infiltrating a city, they can reconnoiter the defenses, and so as a consequence, when you enter the siege map you can see the defenses in more detail, especially what's behind the first wall. I'd also like for the siege map to be alterable, for example, I would love the capacity for you to go on the map and choose to sap the wall, aka dig a tunnel underneath it. You can also choose how far the sapping goes, and if random peasants did it instead of engineers (who are good at math), then there's a greater risk that the tunnel will either deviate from the course or accidentally dig too low or too high.
Absolutely love how active the dev apparently is, taking all the feedback and all. I just hope he doesn't get overwhelmed and the project stagnates like Ancient Cities did. Stay focused - gives us a finished playable quality result no matter how small. A simple game with "fun" dynamics (TABS) is a million times better than a vast yet broken one (No Man's Sky).
Been looking for a game like this for honestly years, a city builder like the settlers with combat similar to total war, with a chance to actually surpass it. This could become one of my favourite games of all time, keep up the good work Greg!
I’ve been saying something similar for a while, I’ve always wanted a game with the dynasty-building aspects of Crusader Kings, the battles of Total War, and the settlement building of games like Foundation. Not sure if the dynasty-building is a thing in this game but I do love the retinue customization ideas as well.
Really looking forward to this one, love my medieval period games & already I can see it's going to blossom into something big. City development looks gold, though I'm interested to see how far this game spands; ie you begin the game as a lord with the intent to be king, (which could explain the snippets of a crusader campaign) - or perhaps the option of.expanding lands through marriage etc.. Regardless, I'm sure it will be one for me to look forward to. Hats off to the developer, you've always gotta cheer for the little guy yes, but it's the ones that listen and interact with their market supporters that make you want to barrack for them.
This game looks amazing. Had never heard of it so thanks for making the vid Darren. With the direction total war has taken I've been looking for something like this.
This looks great. I putting it on my wishlist. I really hope this game can deliver, because it's going to be a big challenge to combine a good city builder with good RTS battles. Keep up the great work.
Being able to implement a factions type of mandatory training, similar to what lEngland did with their bowmen. Say you have a faction that is really into horse breeding, they would train cavalry. Or a type of weapon specific infantry or as I said above, bowmen. It would give a unique faction strength in combat that the combat play style would somewhat be built around.
I dont comment often on youtube. I normally just like and move on, But this is a game I can see myself stream and play often. My thing I do like a lot would be the ability to name my own lord and the color of my banner.
theres this new survival city building game ''ancient cities'' based on Mesolithic and Neolithic era coming to Steam tomorrow 12/17 you should give a look.
Full AAA price for an EA that offer barely 10hrs of gameplay. This version should have been the initial Backer release not EA. Big pass for me until full release. Im still hyped for it tho
Not sure how "fun" this might end up being, but the one thing and suggestion I thought of if the dev is reading in on this is regarding formations. Perhaps professional retinue or mercenaries are good at assembling and forming up complex groupings but I think low level militia should either take a while to do it/form it rather poorly/incorrectly/get less bonuses for trying something more complicated than a line or block or even have the formation break far easier. Anyways, solid looking indie game.
Really amazing what he’s doing. This type of combat is what I miss about Medieval 2. Great 1st step to reviving this genre, would love to see how big the armies / towns can scale
Oh man! As a kid I played game called Knights and Merchants and this reminds me of it. I really enjoy seeing my people work in various buildings creating realistic resource chains
Why would wish corruption on this man? Manor Lords 2 announces: 5 OP general units for 9.99 EACH, Guts and Viscera for 3.99, Season pass for 69.99, completely-and-totally-accurate-dont-ask-questions-on-why-we-wasted-time-on-this-and-not-bug-fixes female knights for 9.99, horse armor, and more! And thats just the day 1 DLC.
I have been wanting a push/fighting retreat feature in a total war game forever, it allows so much more tactical flexibility and let's you recreate some awesome battle tactics like Cannae which you mentioned. I love you suggested the feature and I love that it's gonna be in the game.
This has been the game I’ve been watching the closest heading into 2021. Thank you for giving a preview. I’ll probably watch anything you put out about it.
I'm going to support this as soon as it's on steam. Greg is putting in one hell of an effort! What a skilled developer! Hope he can put together a team.
I really love the fact that your units are taken from your own villages, beside for the mercenaries ofc, and so that it impacts your economy, it's a lot more realistic that way and will make you definitively more careful not to lose to many of your soldiers. I'm really looking forward for this game as well ! 15 regions does seems small tho ^^
We've got a full suggestions site for the game, a lot of people drop in a huge amount of suggestions but only a small number make it through, since some dont work with certain features, are difficult to develop or need to be discussed further. Slavic Magic listens and interacts with us on the community discord. It's something he enjoys doing.
Cant wait for this. Looks amazing and the fact that 1 person is doing it and not a team, incredible. Some awesome features that have been missing for years from total war and similar games.
I cannot wait for this. This game looks amazing! It seems like it literally has everything! Gregg is doing such a brilliant job! And I really want the soundtrack that plays 3:20 :D
Im absolutely in love with the concept. This is literally what everyone wants and no company has ever delivered: City Building with Total War battle mechanics. Simply amazing. Imma save this and keep checking its progress, but no rush men, do your thing you're doing great. On a side note: Imagine this game with Crusader Kings campaign concept (giant map where you can pick your ruler from any country and at any year within its timespan) and historically accurate counties, duchies, countries and repective rulers from all of europe. I mean, i have imagined a game like this throughout my entire childhood, if this comes true i dont care how much it will cost on release, im buying it. Keep up the good work. PS- Is there any place where one can feedback and give suggestions to him other than on twitter?
Another great example of the inspired innovation driving the Polish videogame market. Greg Styczen's willingness to develop the kind of game fans of RTS and Medieval City Builders have been dreaming of is very exciting. Even if the game doesn't manage to fully deliver on the sort of polished experience that we might hope for, the sheer willingness to even try to implement the sorts of innovations players have been asking for is worth our attention.
That developer is a genius. Get help to work on the art while you work on the core code. You have a potential AAA game in hand right now, you should go all-in on this thing. GREAT WORK!
11:50 normal attacking soldier who can see backgward enemy.. would rush in to him, not stand (like now doing green army..) So really need adjustments. And if you really going backwards, it's obvious should appear gap between last and middle lines, and maybe smaller between middle and first line. (Because all units can't go back at once, it will be robotic) So if enemy is aware of that, they could use rush. And first line of backward units will be crushed for sure..
8:35 I think it's pretty good actually. Not every soldier might realize that their unit is breaking and usually the first line will be too busy while the ones behind can see their unit losing the fight and run away first. For the pulling back, the way I would do it is when you give the order to move back (either with a specific 'retreat' order or the game being aware that you're gonna get away from an engagement) then a unit leader calls the move and then they *suddenly* move back while hacking wildly at the enemy, but unlike his WIP video, once they're a few meters away they turn around and run. Since he seems to be okay with individual animations, you could have some of the frontline guys look back a bit while they run to show that they're keeping their awareness and not just giving their backs to the enemy.
This may be the holy grail I've been searching for for literally years. The crossover of builder and rts. This developer is a genius and is about to tap into a massive unclaimed market
That feature, the pull back while still facing the enemy, is great. It's absence in TW makes using fall back and envelope tactics all but imposable to perform.
Thank you to Ekster for Sponsoring this video.
►EKSTER 25-40% OFF - ekster.com?sca_ref=377327.HAfOWdM1Uw
I know you have your hands full with the Anno let's play and all, but a few days past a city/planet builder launched and I thought you might be interested in it. It's called "Per Aspera", second part of the latin phrase, "Ad astra, per aspera" meaning "To the stars, through difficulties" and it's about terraforming Mars. It's quite a different approach compared to Paradox' , more macro as opposed to micro, and even though I'm not big on builders, this one is challenging enough throughout to keep me engaged.
They have that in total war lol just select the group you want... now click on one of the highlighted units onnnn the battle map not the unit card. Click and hold onto that highlighted unit within the formation you want moved.... now while holding the mouse button you can move it and all selected units in Rome Two Total war atleast will follow your mouse cursor until you let go and they will maintain same positioning you placed them in before but in the area you NOW want them... annnnnd if you hold the mouse button and then hit and hold control key I believe it will then let you rotate those selected units in the desired formation grouping so you can keep the group/flanks you have and rotate your entire army to match theirs. It’s actually a lot more intuitive when you see it done you’ll be like “I’m dumB with a hard non silent B” lol but yeah I really am looking forward to manor lords as someone with 1300+ hrs in Rome Two Total War it’s the best of the franchise besides Rome 1 hands down I’ve played them all lol but I like how manor lords is shaping up 100% I agree that the retreating thing but you areeeee giving them a running order... away.... from the enemy.... I would think they would retreat and get a penalty regardless though I see what you mean too
Btw I can see how this comes off as a negative comment I promise you this is not hate xD it’s allllll appreciation’ I promise lol I just didn’t know if you knew you could move custom unit formations in Rome Two and Rotate them as well if it’s about the units facing the enemy while they move on March then yeah I see that 100% have a great happy holidays guys!
I played and streamed it! Cool game, I was kind of mixed on it though- pacing felt quite slow for me, but love the concept and some later game mechanics when you start melting the polar caps
They don’t have it in total war, you can move a formation, but not adjust the entire formations width and depth and keep it together as a group.
Try it, make a square with 4 units, then try to shrink that square or enlarge it. You can’t. As you say, you can move it, and rotate it, but not change it’s size. In total war you’ll overlap units or create gaps attempting that. In Manor Lords the rank and file of the unit will adjust keeping the square in tact regardless of size.
@@RepublicOfPlay A shame, I would have liked to see you covering it and spreading the word but not your cup of tea, understandable. I can see where the slow pace might come in, though on the max difficulty where I feel the game was meant to be played, the major construction resources and water are very tight, and you are hard pressed to explore and expand almost constantly until you get some the mid-to-late techs like hyperloop. Also, the plot is really good given that we're talking about a "city" builder and I find it really engaging, trying to patch together what happened to Earth and humanity in the past two centuries through all the past mission sites on Mars , and the bits and bites the story throws at you.
Creative Assembly: **Can't solve a gameplay issue in almost 20 years**
Literally one guy: "Give me a day"
It really is Slavic magic
this lmao
as a network engineer, i will say, its a lot easier to fix your own stuff than it is to fix 40 peoples codes and thought processes
@@PanzerFaust33 I can see that, if you make something yourself, it's much easier to solve than to need to check with a dozen other's to make sure you don't accidently screw something up
8:33 Units just partially retreating is more realistic than everyone turning their backs and running away in the same exact millisecond.
even people getting 'stuck' (whether because they are too absorbed with the fight to notice the retreat, too scared to turn their backs and run, or too proud to run, there will probably always be a few left behind)
I agree, the reality is that they are stuck and are not animating.
@@RepublicOfPlay Lol can confirm, it's a bug/collision tweaking issue. I mean. *ekhm* Of course it's supposed to be like this!
@@ManorLords Yeah, you should implement that like 10% (based on moral, or something, the number can wary) of soldiers stay to fight until they die and refuse to back up! :D
@@ManorLords as @Kana mentioned, it would be really cool if a small percentage of the soldiers stayed behind to cover for the unit's retreat, it would make sense for high morale troops.
This solo dev introduces more gameplay features in a day than CA in years. Now that's a chuckle!
What's CA?
@@rthqwaik creative assembly, i think
That isn't really fair TW isnt a sim game this is basically a sim and a bit of total war combine. Tw gets you into action immediately. This seems more like a grind.
@@joseonwalking8666 The thing I was referring too is the tactical combat retreat feature the dev introduced after a feedback from this guy.
@@joseonwalking8666 Yeah it’s totally not fair, a “sim” game made by a one developer has better collisions and immersion than game franchise specialized in war and realistic combat. But you know, we still have to wait to the final result, the hype might be skyrocketing by this point, but the results and launch would be what defines this games success
The dev has a super active twitter feed and is taking feedback all the time. It is a sight to behold. He reads everything. And comments/answers most. This guy is a legend. I cannot wait to give him my money. He is creating the modern Total War game I want.
I wish people would be interested in my game ideas 💡.... T~T
Personally it’s not the *Total War* game I want, but dammit I can’t throw my money at him fast enough!
You sound like a railroad conductor filling up the hype train.
This is nothing like TW.
@@althred9715 Chooooo chooooo!
Got to say I was skeptical as well of Manor Lords but if this game can deliver OH BOY is it gonna be fun!
@Dozer Mramur its just so that he is a single man and seems to doesnt need that much money from the players, i mean how he done this without a big budget like big Developers and he reacts to improments and dont wait untill the whole Community gets mad at them. I think we should get the early Access and help him to find out bug or improvements then its a better game for everyone , sure its not perfect but it looks very nice cant wait
@Dozer Mramur, doubt this game will be able to deliver. The game is just too ambitious.
@Towarzysz Wiedźmin eh warband was uh eh for me
@@Skarletking747 what best game ever !!
Atleast its blood n gore wont be a dlc
One person is outclassing every single developer out there. Able to take a community suggestion, actively try's to implement it, and honestly that back step animation actually made me throw my hands up. That was such a small thing that I didn't like about total war but thought that it may be impossible or something (i know nothing about making games just playing them lol) But to the Dev you are the hero we need and I love you for it.
How is this developed by 1 guy?
He probably hires freelancers to help him out on different tasks, but yeah the guy still must be a polymath of gamedevelopment.
magic of unreal engine 4. and also wage labor
As others have said, UE4 is really a great engine. They poured all fortnite money into it, and now you can make your own game using that engine with little help from others.
@@user-jw9zn1fg9n How is it compared to Unity?
Yep, UE4 plus this guy working hard on the idea for 3 years before any mention of it was ever made. He has the skeleton and now he just needs to flesh it out. Slavic Magic is a veteran developer and very passionate about his project.
I looked at the Patreon for this and the developer said he has been working on this for 3 years already. So the amount of stuff he has complete makes sense. I also remember a little game called Banished that was made by one guy and was an absolute marvel to me. He's getting a little help here and there (especially with motion capture.) But I'm definitely excited for this. Nothing has scratched this itch quite right since Stronghold 2. I've been searching every year trying to find something that was like this and we finally have it. I hope it works out.
I really hope he does. Ive been waiting so long since m2tw. Ive tried playing new total wars but i just keep going back to m2tw and its modded versions.
Banished with combat and better graphics, Take my money.
So, it is without combat, but for a cool Banished vibe take a look at Kingdoms Reborn. It's been in early access for about a month, and I've logged about 10 hours personally. Really fun game.
Banished was made by one guy?! Shit.
Banished was such a great game. Too bad the community slowly died when the dev stopped working on the game
The hype around this game show that there is a huge hole in the "medieval strategy" that no game has really filled since Medieval 2.
Mount and blade 2 and Crusader kings 3 have been pretty successful since release but neither is the kind of strategy that fans of the old total war really want....and considering creative assembly's focus on warhammer (which is understandable) and other "mythical stories" is very likely that they won't make another realistic total war for a very long time.
They are successful because that time period is really attractive to the players. No game has filled the boots of Medieval 2 because of how many different and unique nations it had and it combined excellent battles with great kingdom management. On top of that the game was very moddable, so we saw mods from LotR, Warhammer, different periods of history or games focused on more detailed smaller part of the world (Broken Crescent).
The popularity of conversion mods in other total wars (like 1212 ad for attila) would also suggest that.
But I have to say that, for me personally, good history is the most important part. If it is to ahistorical I'm out.
God its filled the itch but i never got into medieval 2 so i wouldnt that it counts for everyonr
Especially since M&B2 is shit and basically a cash grab.
@@Gurfi28 i wpuldnt say its a cash grab just currently nothing new has been added only fixes
It’s developers like this who deserve all the money.
You know things are getting bad when your own "fan base" is begging for other companies to come in and create competition, so you'll start improving your games. I'll be keeping an eye out for this one in the future.
^^Looking at you Madden.
sounds like mmos and nearly every sports franchise in existence
not even a company just one man with a plan. still cant believe one dude making all this.
@@andrewyoung8550 no it used to be one man now it's like 3-4 people
I bet they would compete with Total War in the future.
I'll call this out!
This game, one day will be considered the best of its genree, all the effort and dedication will bear fruit, dangerous eyes of envy will appear, but this game will remain rigid as a rock for a long time, and after the promising fame, the developer will maintain involvement with the community as in the beginning, humble, gaining more spotlights, I am not pressing his duty, but I believe that there is a historical fact being written in front of us, and one day they will see that all our efforts for this game to arrive where one day it will arrive, it were not in vain!
Kinda hope the TW reddit will light up with some of the battle features like a fighting retreat and pushing CA to focus a bit more on those kinds of improvements
I feel that something like that won't appear soon because i'm not sure they would fit with warhammer total war (the 3' is supposed to come out next year) and his focus on heroes and large monster units.
@@francesco8000 How wouldn’t it fit in Warhammer? A disciplined line of Dwarves aren’t going to turn their backs to Orks in a fighting retreat
@@francesco8000 Not expecting it in Warhammer but I´m hoping for it in the next historical Total War, if we´ll get one less focused on myths and all that
@@AnthroTsuneon another potential issue may be the engine they are using.
I don't know about the "fighting retreat" but i'm almost 100% sure that feature like the charge effect on a unit or the "slow advance" are almost impossible with the current enginge considering how it handles phisics.
The cesspit would then have to account for how they've been shouting-down criticism of the direction CA have gone in for a decade now. The only way they'd welcome improvements that are actually improvements is if they fully-embraced their shamelessness and pretended it's what they always wanted.
If this ever gets multiplayer I can see combat so long and complex that true strategist will win and it will be fun to be part of or watch it.
Friendship with Total war ended ; now manor lord is my best friend !
@@lopatou_ovalil7361 you called your lordship?
Lordship vows to Total War ended ; manor lord is my new liege!
Warhammer: Total War fan passes by:
"Summon the Elector Counts! -
That's going in the book!!
HERESY!!!" 😂
Agreed, on my opinion, Total War games have become quite stagnant in mechanics.
@Frost Rusher maybe. But honnestly given how I disliked the newer total war it's not that far of stretch to say that
This just makes you realize what ca could do if they'd actually care about their games. Instead, they just choose not to because they are making tons of money anyways
The stronghold game that never happened.
Its ridiculous how stronghold managed to just go backwards after more than a decade eh
besides Stronghold i am also getting a Lord of the Realm II vibe from how recruitment of you army happens - having to balance peasants in your fields or using them as militia troops
Aw man those were the days.
@@Rex1987 Wow, I haven't thought of that game in so long. I grew up playing the hell out of it.
Epic. Units are self aware and won't suicidal turn their backs. Moving like a tank is too good
Jesus how much energy drink does this guy chug, he's incredible.
He basically has an IV drip of the stuff at this point.
I mean most of the asset of the game are from the unreal engine marketplace (especially 3d models) and i think that for the base gameplay he is using the rts template that is also from the marketplace, if one person could make that much alone, we would have a Ubisoft game every 3 day.
@@marconapolitano2821 personally who cares if hes using the templates temporarily or permanently . if he packages them well and the game a masterpiece of slapped together marketplace items does it really matter in the end?
@@marconapolitano2821 but its still pretty damn incredible as an unreal developer myself I know how hard it is to get store assets to interact well with each other, its no easy feat not in the slightest
@@chiefbigsad7995 no it doesn't but there is a really big difference between making everything from scratch and using premade stuff
What i'm really liking Darren, is that the developer is actually listening and implementing things you have suggested. Long may this continue and hopefully we will recieve a game polished and with continued support and improvements. I'm so excited about this game!
Im more hyped for Manor Lords than I ever was for Cyberpunk
Shhhhhhh. We don't use that word anymore.
Not gonna lie, i feel you. Few years ago when Cyberpunk was first announced I was excited to hear of it. Then i forgot of it until the day came by to be released first. Was hyped there on for Cyberpunk more...
Meanwhile Manorlords...? Developed by one person...?? A few more years to developed? Yet my minds keep racing to ask if one could get an alpha test version to give feedbacks to help... Thats how much i am excited for this game.
It's that blend of The Settlers, Total War and Crusader Kings that I've always wanted.
I'm going to reserve judgment until I see the final product, but I'm very happy it's being attempted at all.
@@cass7448 The Settlers, damn I miss those games
@@heinoobermeyer7566 There's a reboot in the works right now, and it looks like it's returning somewhat to the series' roots. Very interested to see how well that turns out.
Really great of you to do this. As a long time follower I know it's not exactly your thing to do videos like this, I'm one of the Manor Lords moderators and I just want to say thank you on behalf of the rest of the staff for potentially alerting about 450 thousand new people to this game.
Love the coverage this game is getting and the support and feedback the wider "total war" community is providing. Super hyped for this and love your coverage of it, keep it up
Dev: *spending years on a Medieval themed game*
Me: Now where is Rome Mod?
Dev:... *FFFFUUUUUUUUUU*
Give me the Shogun mod. A glorious victory will soon be mine.
Huh, interesting. This has definitely got me interested in the game; Total War desperately needs more competition if we ever want them to get back in form.
I totally agree. They've been in decline since Empire. It's just unfortunate that the majority the current Total War fanbase never played pre-Empire and do not know what they are missing out on. CA, as a result have had no compulsion to innovate where it matters.
Just looking at the first combat system, it automatically demonstrates how this game has already innovated where Total War hasn't.
@@FuturisticFusilier yup ever since empire and shogun 2.
I honestly loved Attila and Rome II but I agree that CA needs to get their shit together
For real. Total War sucks ass now, 3K and Troy battles are so boring to play because they look too “fantasy” like Warhammer does, and it’s just frustrating really.
It's like Stronghold and Medieval had a baby, and the baby is being raised by one really awesome nanny
Very cool of the developer to listen to suggestions like that and actually work on implementing them. I'm very keen to see how this game turns out.
I hope you can modify your castle with a Frenchman with an outrageous accent.
should be added as a cheat code! Voice over when you hover your mouse over it or something!
it was a monty python's reference?
@@MrFlaviobarral Now we're seeing the violence inherit in the system!
Is that a Witcher reference?
I hope you can fetcher les vaches as well
I am gonna give all my money to this so he develops into a proper studio, I love the way he is handling the development and historical accuracy
same.. and I work in a big game publisher. This kind of development must be endorsed. If I ever have the chance, I will mention this guy to our ‘indie search department’ so they can offer him a publishing deal :)
If he develops into a "proper studio" thats going to be the beginning of the end.
@@ur.kr.2814 funny how its actually true.
@@Karmidzhanov92 seems like his not intrested In having any studios helping him out for now. On his discord He has discussed this
@@Karmidzhanov92 please don't publishers kill games
To the dev of this game:
You had my curiosity but now you have my attention.
But now you have my wallet*
Fixed it
That back-stepping retreat is something that I have been looking for a long time in a game, the fact it is not possible made cicling tired units in and out of battle almost impossible. Other thing I'd like to see: say, for example, a unit that is walking in column has to turn right to face an enemy, and wants to face it with a wide front, in games usually the whole column turns and then spreads out, which is a waste. IRL I think that simply the soldiers would all turn right, and bam, now they are facing right in a wide line. Moving like that is a waste of time and energies
They do that in the latest tw’s actually!
Yeah, in Attila units tire out so fast, and CA was like: "You have to cycle your frontline units", but there is no way to pull back without getting slaughtered
The fact that a single person can create a game like this is absolutely crazy to someone like me who has played games since the 90's. Technology is so cool, really almost only limited by our imaginations and the amount of time we can put into a project. Imagine what gaming will be like in another 30 years, if we're still around then!
The most positive thing is that CA now has some competition and hopefully they will finally improve some game-mechanics.
It will be long way to get to that point
The most positive thing is that this game hopefully will come out,I dont understand why people compare this to TW games,TW are focused on tactics and strategy more,not so much on economy and production chains,If the most positive thing out of this situation for you is the likelihood that TW games will improve maybe its not for you.
@@Fr0Z3n64 of the game become successful. It should expand more, into diplomatic tactics too.
Competiton? CA is a colossus, Manor Lords is an Indie. As much as great the game will be, it won't be competiton.
I hope so. That fucking siege gate bug in warhammer still isn't fucking fixed
Have not been this excited for a game since the first Rome total war.
This looks genuinely amazing, and you are sigle handedly about to show CA how it should be done.
Really love the the fighting animations and the finishers especially. It always frustrated me how total war went from those beautiful fighting animations of Medieval 2 and shogun 2 to swinging at thin air.
Med 2 didn't exactly had good fighting animations, it was kinda basic but it was still better than the dumbassery we got in rome2, of course shogun 2 was just perfect, if medieval 2 would have had the exact same systems and engine and features as shogun 2 it would objectievely be the best total war game.
Rome 2 is in great shape now just give it another shot trust me...Manor Lords does look extremely promising at the moment
this battle system literally fixed every gripe ive had with the total war battle system and have been waiting on CA to fix for years. wishlisted.
Manor Lords!
I'd like there to be a building type in this game: settlement Center.
In medieval times and all of human history, human communities had centers, and in medieval times, these were either the lord's keep, or a church. But settlement-center type buildings would provide bonuses to certain aspects in the town, and in order to be considered a true town you'll need to have three town center buildings.
Also, I want you to be able to issue directives to your army before the battle and after the battle when the enemy is routed. Like for example, try to take prisoners/show mercy, or kill as many of them as possible, or just get it over quickly or to try and stay alive, and this would be communicated via pre/post-battle speeches. I'd also really love it if there were some more advanced diplomatic features than in Total War games, for example, giving and requesting territory, or asking somebody to make peace or not attack or stop attacking someone, or warning armies or factions of specific threats, even if they're not enemies at the time.
I really wanna be able to build castles like in Stronghold, only a tad more creative freedom, and I'd like to have there be Siege options, like for example, the option to 'sap,' which means to dig tunnels underneath the enemy walls, and for there to be an option in a specific settlement to prepare for siege, granaries and storerooms give bonuses to these functions.
Let that dev know
@@mickethegoblin7167 Posted on the subreddit, no replies yet but it has 7 upvotes as of now, optimistic sign!
Thanks for the feedback! Some of this is planned for the far future already (prisoners, castle building/sieges, diplomacy), the settlement center I'll think about. It may take time of course to add such features, I want to make the base game solid before venturing forth. Thank you!
@@ManorLords Oh my gosh! i didn't think you'd actually reply here! I thought I'd see you on the subreddit!
/OoO\
Anyway, I have another idea, there are maps for castle/town sieges, right? I think you should give spies a function for infiltrating a city, they can reconnoiter the defenses, and so as a consequence, when you enter the siege map you can see the defenses in more detail, especially what's behind the first wall. I'd also like for the siege map to be alterable, for example, I would love the capacity for you to go on the map and choose to sap the wall, aka dig a tunnel underneath it. You can also choose how far the sapping goes, and if random peasants did it instead of engineers (who are good at math), then there's a greater risk that the tunnel will either deviate from the course or accidentally dig too low or too high.
@@JMObyx Gotcha. Sieges will come much later in development though :) And the gameplay happens on a one big map atm, like in Anno or Age of Empires.
Absolutely love how active the dev apparently is, taking all the feedback and all. I just hope he doesn't get overwhelmed and the project stagnates like Ancient Cities did. Stay focused - gives us a finished playable quality result no matter how small. A simple game with "fun" dynamics (TABS) is a million times better than a vast yet broken one (No Man's Sky).
Manor Lords is the first game I have been excited for since Halo: Reach! Incredibly pleased to see such a dedicated developer.
the longer it takes for a developer to publish a game the better it will be this game will be a gem just be patient boys
this is for sure my most anticipated game coming out in the next few years
5:11 Knights of Apollo!
Imagine what you could do with that coding for a napoleon TW clone
It would work well with line battles right?.
Whoever is making this game deserves a team of hundreds
Okay. Now I need Greg & Darren teaming up and making Total War Killer.
Finally a studio who can push creative assembly to innovate
Been looking for a game like this for honestly years, a city builder like the settlers with combat similar to total war, with a chance to actually surpass it. This could become one of my favourite games of all time, keep up the good work Greg!
I’ve been saying something similar for a while, I’ve always wanted a game with the dynasty-building aspects of Crusader Kings, the battles of Total War, and the settlement building of games like Foundation. Not sure if the dynasty-building is a thing in this game but I do love the retinue customization ideas as well.
Honestly this whole video just makes me pissed at CA for just how incredibly lazy and incompetent they have become.
Very nice, it will be exciting to see where this game goes, as long as the Dev doesnt allow bloat to set in, enabled by his speedy implementation.
Really looking forward to this one, love my medieval period games & already I can see it's going to blossom into something big. City development looks gold, though I'm interested to see how far this game spands; ie you begin the game as a lord with the intent to be king, (which could explain the snippets of a crusader campaign) - or perhaps the option of.expanding lands through marriage etc.. Regardless, I'm sure it will be one for me to look forward to.
Hats off to the developer, you've always gotta cheer for the little guy yes, but it's the ones that listen and interact with their market supporters that make you want to barrack for them.
This game looks amazing. Had never heard of it so thanks for making the vid Darren. With the direction total war has taken I've been looking for something like this.
Go support manor lords on patreon guys we are only around 180~ patrons so far. This number should be much much higher !
The fighting retreat looks fucking awesome
*Please be a replacement for Total War* ... please be a replacement for Total War ... please be a replacement for Total War ... (Greg is my new hero.)
This looks great. I putting it on my wishlist.
I really hope this game can deliver, because it's going to be a big challenge to combine a good city builder with good RTS battles.
Keep up the great work.
Neat, I really didn't have any particular expectations for this game before. Now I'm really curious.
Being able to implement a factions type of mandatory training, similar to what lEngland did with their bowmen. Say you have a faction that is really into horse breeding, they would train cavalry. Or a type of weapon specific infantry or as I said above, bowmen. It would give a unique faction strength in combat that the combat play style would somewhat be built around.
The longer the training the higher the standard of the war bow, armor or the cavalry.
This game looks really interesting! Thanks for covering it.
"It's not perfect" followed immediately by an implementation 10x better than I expected :D
PLS GOD MAKE THIS GAME GREAT! THAT THIS GAME MAKE WHAT AAA GAMES LIKE TOTAL WAR CANT DO!
Imagine buying a game and not having to buy a blood and gore dlc 😆
I dont comment often on youtube. I normally just like and move on, But this is a game I can see myself stream and play often. My thing I do like a lot would be the ability to name my own lord and the color of my banner.
Looks very promising. Impressed with the effort of one person, as well as your suggestions.
theres this new survival city building game ''ancient cities'' based on Mesolithic and Neolithic era coming to Steam tomorrow 12/17 you should give a look.
Full AAA price for an EA that offer barely 10hrs of gameplay. This version should have been the initial Backer release not EA. Big pass for me until full release.
Im still hyped for it tho
Absolutely not, go support neolithic instead. Miles ahead of ancient cities.
this game looks gorgeous, I hope you continue to cover it and do a full video, maybe a 'how to start' video or more.
Not sure how "fun" this might end up being, but the one thing and suggestion I thought of if the dev is reading in on this is regarding formations. Perhaps professional retinue or mercenaries are good at assembling and forming up complex groupings but I think low level militia should either take a while to do it/form it rather poorly/incorrectly/get less bonuses for trying something more complicated than a line or block or even have the formation break far easier.
Anyways, solid looking indie game.
Really amazing what he’s doing. This type of combat is what I miss about Medieval 2. Great 1st step to reviving this genre, would love to see how big the armies / towns can scale
Wow, this is damn impressive for one dev! Im looking forward to the early access and battles.
Music in this video is a bit loud
Oh man! As a kid I played game called Knights and Merchants and this reminds me of it. I really enjoy seeing my people work in various buildings creating realistic resource chains
Knights and Merchants is still playable trough steam ;) amazing fun game
This guy is what we need as a lead developer for next total war history game
Why would wish corruption on this man? Manor Lords 2 announces: 5 OP general units for 9.99 EACH, Guts and Viscera for 3.99, Season pass for 69.99, completely-and-totally-accurate-dont-ask-questions-on-why-we-wasted-time-on-this-and-not-bug-fixes female knights for 9.99, horse armor, and more!
And thats just the day 1 DLC.
woah this dev is very impressive, clearly knows what he's doing and has passion for his work. Great stuff!
Greg has literally took it upon him to make Medieval 3 that will actually be developed as the community would want it to! This guy is amazing!
Saw the plotting of fields and was instantly interested.
Clever Dev doing clever things cleverly.
Imagine above all that what if he added a family tree and personal skills feature like CK, it would be the game we deserve!
I have been wanting a push/fighting retreat feature in a total war game forever, it allows so much more tactical flexibility and let's you recreate some awesome battle tactics like Cannae which you mentioned. I love you suggested the feature and I love that it's gonna be in the game.
If kingdom come deliverance became an RTS
This is done by ONE GUY!??
Someone give this guy a team! So much potential here!
the pull back looks amazing! total war fan since medieval until the recent ones that doesn't really interest me
This has been the game I’ve been watching the closest heading into 2021. Thank you for giving a preview. I’ll probably watch anything you put out about it.
Just came here for the cat ... yeah, game looks great too.
I'm going to support this as soon as it's on steam. Greg is putting in one hell of an effort! What a skilled developer! Hope he can put together a team.
I wonder if he could manage an actual testudo. I know that's a meme in Total War.
Im playing Rome 2 for the first time and i have to say testudo is simply useless -_-
I really love the fact that your units are taken from your own villages, beside for the mercenaries ofc, and so that it impacts your economy, it's a lot more realistic that way and will make you definitively more careful not to lose to many of your soldiers. I'm really looking forward for this game as well ! 15 regions does seems small tho ^^
Wow, a dev who listens to suggestions and feedback? Some could learn a thing or two from him *looks at CA*
Well, he is just a guy. Big studios don't care
CA is too big and clumsy of an organization. Probably every little change and inovation has to be approved by a dozen people.
We've got a full suggestions site for the game, a lot of people drop in a huge amount of suggestions but only a small number make it through, since some dont work with certain features, are difficult to develop or need to be discussed further. Slavic Magic listens and interacts with us on the community discord. It's something he enjoys doing.
Cant wait for this. Looks amazing and the fact that 1 person is doing it and not a team, incredible. Some awesome features that have been missing for years from total war and similar games.
Dont.. dont give me hope.. I have been disappointed too many times this year.
I cannot wait for this. This game looks amazing! It seems like it literally has everything! Gregg is doing such a brilliant job! And I really want the soundtrack that plays 3:20 :D
Im absolutely in love with the concept. This is literally what everyone wants and no company has ever delivered: City Building with Total War battle mechanics. Simply amazing. Imma save this and keep checking its progress, but no rush men, do your thing you're doing great. On a side note: Imagine this game with Crusader Kings campaign concept (giant map where you can pick your ruler from any country and at any year within its timespan) and historically accurate counties, duchies, countries and repective rulers from all of europe. I mean, i have imagined a game like this throughout my entire childhood, if this comes true i dont care how much it will cost on release, im buying it. Keep up the good work.
PS- Is there any place where one can feedback and give suggestions to him other than on twitter?
A single man makes better battle improvements that a whole Developer... just sad
I hope to see more of this game soon. This looks so cool. And the dev actively listening the playerbase it's an amazing thing.
I need to contain my hype, if not restraind it wil only lead to disappointment. Remember Total war Rome 2, no man's sky and cybercunt 69.
Manor Lords seem super promising and Slavic is a great guy! Great video and thanks for supporting and covering indies as well as the large developers!
Always looking for great upcoming games :)
Another great example of the inspired innovation driving the Polish videogame market. Greg Styczen's willingness to develop the kind of game fans of RTS and Medieval City Builders have been dreaming of is very exciting. Even if the game doesn't manage to fully deliver on the sort of polished experience that we might hope for, the sheer willingness to even try to implement the sorts of innovations players have been asking for is worth our attention.
That developer is a genius. Get help to work on the art while you work on the core code. You have a potential AAA game in hand right now, you should go all-in on this thing. GREAT WORK!
11:50 normal attacking soldier who can see backgward enemy.. would rush in to him, not stand (like now doing green army..) So really need adjustments.
And if you really going backwards, it's obvious should appear gap between last and middle lines, and maybe smaller between middle and first line. (Because all units can't go back at once, it will be robotic)
So if enemy is aware of that, they could use rush. And first line of backward units will be crushed for sure..
8:35 I think it's pretty good actually. Not every soldier might realize that their unit is breaking and usually the first line will be too busy while the ones behind can see their unit losing the fight and run away first.
For the pulling back, the way I would do it is when you give the order to move back (either with a specific 'retreat' order or the game being aware that you're gonna get away from an engagement) then a unit leader calls the move and then they *suddenly* move back while hacking wildly at the enemy, but unlike his WIP video, once they're a few meters away they turn around and run. Since he seems to be okay with individual animations, you could have some of the frontline guys look back a bit while they run to show that they're keeping their awareness and not just giving their backs to the enemy.
That opening advertisement is all worth it for that gorgeous kitty cat.
This may be the holy grail I've been searching for for literally years. The crossover of builder and rts. This developer is a genius and is about to tap into a massive unclaimed market
That feature, the pull back while still facing the enemy, is great. It's absence in TW makes using fall back and envelope tactics all but imposable to perform.