Manor Lords May Copy a Great Feature From Total War: Rome 2
The highly anticipated Manor Lords may feature an interesting Total War: Rome 2-style solution that provides players with the information they need without spoiling the immersion.
Grzegorz StyczeA?, the creator of the strategy game Manor Lords, has a habit of asking players' opinions on some elements of his game. The most recent example of this was a thread on X, which provided the creator with a good idea for implementing one of the interface elements.
The dev showed how the icons above the units' heads currently look in the game and admitted that he doesn't entirely like this solution. He wants the players to have a quick preview of at least morale and condition bars, but he knows that many people do not like it when such icons are displayed at all.
Faced with this problem, the creator decided to ask the players for suggestions on how to solve it. One of them suggested doing it like in Total War: Rome II. In this strategy game, icons are stylized as banners, where necessary information is displayed using various symbols fitting the ancient era, morale is shown through changing colors of the gem, and human losses are symbolized by the increasingly frayed fabric.
Such a solution is good because it provides players with all the necessary information, while not breaking the immersion, as these icons look like banners carried by units.
This suggestion appealed to the game's creator the most. He stated that something of this sort was one of the options he considered and believes he will be able to implement such a solution.
Getting inspired by Total War: Rome II seems like a good move. Current unit icons in Manor Lords are functional, but do not fit the medieval feel at all. Applying a solution with banners should prove to be a good idea, as it will not ruin the immersion, and learning what the various elements mean should not take players a lot of time.
Let's remind that Manor Lords is heading exclusively for PC. The premiere in early access is scheduled for April 26, this year. From the day of debut, the game will also be available in PC Game Pass subscription. The title will offer a cinematic localization.
