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Three Kingdoms Unit Shape

One of the notable innovations in Three Kingdoms is the adjustment of unit shapes in accordance with the unit scale setting.



In previous titles, unit shapes were fixed presets that determined their depth in horizontal ranks. This often resulted in what is colloquially known as the ‘spaghetti lines effect’ at higher unit scales, where formations became excessively stretched. Conversely, at lower scales, formations could be deeper than they were wide, creating significant vulnerabilities to flanking attacks.

A major drawback of this system is that the AI cannot adapt its formations. Unlike human players, the AI fails to recognise when its units are improperly stretched vertically and does not adjust formations to be more square, which would enhance manoeuvrability. This limitation renders the already disadvantaged AI even more susceptible to exploitation by players. While Pharaoh includes a basic mechanism to mitigate this issue for chariots, its effectiveness is limited.



Three Kingdoms employs a straightforward formula that applies to all units before a battle begins.



This formula ensures that every unit on the battlefield—both player-controlled and AI—adopts a formation with an aspect ratio of 8:5. It is applied uniformly across all unit scales, ensuring that units are consistently wider than they are deep without becoming overstretched. This arrangement benefits both players and, crucially, the AI, as it enhances the AI's manoeuvrability while minimising flank exposure.

Pharaoh, based on an older engine, lacks the next-gen innovations of Three Kingdoms. However, it is possible to manually replicate the scaling mechanic by calculating the ideal shape for each unit outside the game and adjusting Pharaoh’s rigid unit shapes to align with Three Kingdoms’ approach.



Due to the streamlined battle mechanics in Three Kingdoms, the formula for Pharaoh had to be slightly more complex to accommodate various unit formations. Manually adjusting each formation would be overly laborious, so I opted to incorporate the spacing shape of each unit into the formula.



My revised formula examines the spacing shape of each unit, cross-referencing their vertical and horizontal dimensions to determine their relationship, and then adjusts the unit’s target shape accordingly. However, I overlooked that the formula calculated the final shape based on the number of humans in a unit, which was inaccurately set to twice the actual number for chariot units—since each chariot carries two people. Consequently, a check for chariot units had to be implemented.



As is customary in this franchise (with the notable exception of Rome II), the standard unit size is ‘High’, which is always one tier smaller than the actual unit size the game is balanced around (‘Ultra’). Since ‘High’ is the default setting for new players, I consider it the standard unit size, and the base version of the item is designed for this scale. However, versions for all unit sizes have been completed:

👉 Small
👉 Medium
👉 Ultra
👉 Extreme

If you encounter any oddly shaped (i.e., square) full units, please report them—units should maintain a shape close to 8:5 when at full strength.

[donatello.to]