SUBSIM's totally awesome Empire: Total War thread

[AJ!]

For anyone who hasnt seen the new IGN interview

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/866/866990p1.html

After reading that and looking at the new screenshots, ETW is definitely looking like its going to be the best total war yet :up:

[Sonarman]

Great find AJ, this looks fantastic, can't wait too see how much detail they manage to cram in on the naval side. Looks like we might finally get the great age of sail game we have waited so long for. I hope the naval battle maps are a decent size, in "Imperial Glory" they were a complete joke.

[Dowly]

For anyone who hasnt seen the new IGN interview

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/866/866990p1.html

After reading that and looking at the new screenshots, ETW is definitely looking like its going to be the best total war yet :up:

I just hate when games take the "big leap" and then make it about something I'm not that interested of. Give me RTW with those graphics! :yep:

[Captain Vlad]

I just hate when games take the "big leap" and then make it about something I'm not that interested of. Give me RTW with those graphics! :yep:

I'm the opposite. The period 'Empire' is covering is far more interesting to me than the Roman era. I went through what you're talking about when they did Rome: Total War, though.

[HunterICX]

:up:Looks good,

I'm very looking forwards to Naval battles and such.
would like to see more about the ground units thought.

HunterICX

[Rilder]

For anyone who hasnt seen the new IGN interview

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/866/866990p1.html

After reading that and looking at the new screenshots, ETW is definitely looking like its going to be the best total war yet :up:

I just hate when games take the "big leap" and then make it about something I'm not that interested of. Give me RTW with those graphics! :yep:

My guess is that its gonna be to processor heavy for me to play but indeed the Roman Era is more interesting then ETWs era. To me at least.

Then again I've all but retired playing the Total war series. Hearts of Iron 2 is way better in my humble opinion :P

[CaptHawkeye]

Man, i've always been looking forward to gunpowder era warfare in Total War. M2TW hinted at it but now it's finally happening.

The era is also original by TW standards. Valley Forge and Trafalgar and Austerlitz oh my.

[Raptor1]

This definatly looks like it's going to be the best TW game yet, especially now that they're finally adding naval combat

Well, There's my life going down the toilet, ah well, I never needed that thing anyway :p

[AJ!]

The game looks like its come on leaps and bounds from the early screenshots (the ships dont look as shiny as they used too)

The only problem is they are still holding back on land battle screenshots :shifty:

[Sonarman]

I see they are talking about pushing into the 19th Century and have some steam train still shots, which begs the question will we see steam warships in the game too?

[Raptor1]

I would definatly like to see either the game going into the mid-1800s up to the early-1900s or an expansion going in that direction, with Ironclads, Monitors, Armored Cruisers and Pre-Dreadnoughts and all that

[AJ!]

There could be a chance. It does look interesting, like M2TW going into early gunpowder age

[Shyzar]

This game is my most anticipated game of 2008 (it even beats Spore).

Medieval 2 was probably one of my most played games ever and this one looks like it will be another one. But it was pushed back to Q4, which is unfortunate.

[TheSatyr]

CA says they've been working on this game for about 4 years,so hopefully it won't be as buggy as RTW and MTW2 were on release.

I'm still kinda annoyed that they didn't update STW with the RTW engine like they did with MTW. After all,if it wasn't for Shogun's success there wouldn't be a Total War franchise.

[HunterICX]

I'm still kinda annoyed that they didn't update STW with the RTW engine like they did with MTW. After all,if it wasn't for Shogun's success there wouldn't be a Total War franchise.

its 50/50 for me about revamping STW in a new jacket.

first of all I sometimes reinstall the game (including the Expansion) and play it for a while, the game has good memories as I played the game nuts when it was out, what really stayed with me was the Music it suited perfectly with the game also the cutscenes where nice.

thought I would like to see it in graphics of today but I guess it wouldnt be the same thing you played back then.

dificulty of the TW engine is that they have to pick era's where people somewhat run into eachother in large box formations I think the Imperial Era would be the last era it would be posible to do so.

HunterICX

[AJ!]

dificulty of the TW engine is that they have to pick era's where people somewhat run into eachother in large box formations I think the Imperial Era would be the last era it would be posible to do so.

HunterICX

That hit the nail on the head. They couldnt go any further then the imperial era as tactics of modern day warfare couldnt be done in a TW game without loosing its trade mark gameplay.

The next total war game would have to be a remake or in a time period before Empire TW.

[Raptor1]

There are other eras between the invention of human waves and the end of formation combat (Wheres my TW game about the dark ages?!?!?!?!)

[TheSatyr]

Caveman:Total War-Unga and Ertu defend the fire against Boola and Shuta. "You can upgrade from a bone club to a wooden club!"

[TheSatyr]

Unfortunately,I can't play STW on my xp machine. I can install it,I can use the menus but I can't click on the battlefields to get my troops to do anything *sigh*

As for MTW and BI I can't even get that to load.

[Rilder]

dificulty of the TW engine is that they have to pick era's where people somewhat run into eachother in large box formations I think the Imperial Era would be the last era it would be posible to do so.

HunterICX

That hit the nail on the head. They couldnt go any further then the imperial era as tactics of modern day warfare couldnt be done in a TW game without loosing its trade mark gameplay.

The next total war game would have to be a remake or in a time period before Empire TW.

I dunno, if they redid the battle engine so it was like Company of heroes but no base building it would be pretty fun...

Campaign engine is kinda meh for the time period but eh.

[Raptor1]

dificulty of the TW engine is that they have to pick era's where people somewhat run into eachother in large box formations I think the Imperial Era would be the last era it would be posible to do so.

HunterICX
That hit the nail on the head. They couldnt go any further then the imperial era as tactics of modern day warfare couldnt be done in a TW game without loosing its trade mark gameplay.

The next total war game would have to be a remake or in a time period before Empire TW.
I dunno, if they redid the battle engine so it was like Company of heroes but no base building it would be pretty fun...

Campaign engine is kinda meh for the time period but eh.
But that wouldn't be Total War would it?

I think the latest time period they can do it about is the Franco-Prussian War, Maybe later up until 1900 or something, I don't really know about the development of Infantry Tactics but that seems to be the general timeframe when the general tactics moved from traditional Infantry lines to slightly more modern tactics (I could be wrong though)

World War I trench warfare could be nice if they could manage it without screwing up gameplay too much

[CaptHawkeye]

I once had this lame idea of using World in Conflict's tactical interface as an inspiration base for developing a Modern/World War 2: Total War battle system. But then I slapped myself out of my own stupid and warmed up to the realization that it wouldn't work. :)

[AJ!]

Heres aload of new screenshots for ya.

Plus the first land battle screenshots :D :rock:

http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/empire-total-war/screenshots/g-20070822164625990074

[Rotary Crewman]

Simply amazing :o

[CCIP]

Well they're sure not sparing any particle effects :huh:

[Raptor1]

I do hope they're not sparing the features as well

Looks extremely good so far

[mengle]

verry good, just like imperial glory but just better :rock:

[HunterICX]

Well they're sure not sparing any particle effects :huh:

they are neither going to spare your computer......thats fore sure :o

HunterICX

[Rilder]

But that wouldn't be Total War would it?


Depends on your personal opinion on what total war is.

I'd personally still see it as total war no matter the battle engine.

[TheSatyr]

It is definitely on my "to buy" list. According to Sega it will supposedly be coming out sometime in November.

[stabiz]

I hate the fact that 90% of those shots are concept art. Whats the point?

That single(!) shot of the battlefield looks very good, though.

[Sonarman]

I hate the fact that 90% of those shots are concept art. Whats the point?

I'm not so sure the naval battle shots are concept art, I think they are actual game screens, they have had a dev team member working on the sea alone for over a year! And if it was concept art I would have added rigging to the ships, wouldn't you?

[AJ!]

It looks like leipzig preview is still a few months out but heres a vid showing the amount of work they really are putting into the game :up:

http://uk.pc.ign.com/dor/objects/958390/empire-total-war/videos/Empire_MoCap_052208.html;jsessionid=vnrdvutlevlm

[AJ!]

With the amount of work going into this i cant see it being released this year. Unless they are alot further with the game then it currently looks. They have been very slow with the release of new content but it could all be part of their plan.

[HunterICX]

Indeed, the motion animation is very interesting would like to see how it later turns out in the game itself.

HunterICX

[AJ!]

http://www.sega.co.uk/games/?t=EnglishUK&g=238

Im not sure how new the trailer and information are as my internet has been down for a couple weeks but from the looks of those screenshots and trailer the game looks great :up:

Also we now have a official release date of early feb 2009! :D

[rifleman13]

Glorious, simply glorious!:arrgh!:

Armies moving en masse make me feel good inside.:yep:

[AJ!]

Sonarman already beat me too it and posted this in the pirates section but i thought i would add it here as well.

First ingame naval footage :up:

http://uk.pc.ign.com/dor/objects/958390/empire-total-war/videos/ETW_081208.html;jsessionid=1qwft12xvd25r

[stabiz]

:o *touches myself*

[Captain Vlad]

....

....

:rock:

[HunterICX]

:o -Speechless......

HunterICX

[GlobalExplorer]

I spotted that the engagements are ridiculously close, the ships look much too samey (way too many ships of the line and no smaller vessels). At least the ships move relatively slow I was respecting much worse concerning speed, (after having witnessed the RTW killspeed fiasco).

With all its cheesy epicness I guess this is not going to be enjoyable until some hefty modding, but it still looks the best age of sail sim to date, whatever that means (it actually doesnt mean very much lol)

It actually hurts to see what would be possible with todays technology if only they started making uncompromisingly realistic games again.

Alas, the next TW is gonna have ships, better than nothing. Now if someone gave me a time machine to go back to when STW was released and the gamplay was still fresh.

Despite my dissappointment with the course the series has taken, I might actually get it, even if just to see it in action.

[Raptor1]

Yeah, but you are disappointed with almost every game that's coming out these days (At least from what I read...)

You have to remember that the game is still 6 months away from release, you really can't judge how realistic or not realistic it is based on a video...

[GlobalExplorer]

Yeah, but you are disappointed with almost every game that's coming out these days (At least from what I read...)
But is it because I am completely jaded or because the game industry has gone the way of Hollywood?

[Raptor1]

I agree that a lot of games nowadays are complete garbage made only to make money for the big companies, but I don't like judging games before they come out

[GlobalExplorer]

I agree that a lot of games nowadays are complete garbage made only to make money for the big companies, but I don't like judging games before they come out
I guess I must withold my rant until february, then :rotfl:

No seriously, I think ETW is going to be a good game, I just think the true potential is wasted because of that apparent gameyness. Still several times better than what other big companies release on the strategy sector, but imo they have already been overtaken by some indy companies (if you can live with graphics from 3-6 years ago that is).

If the issues in ETW can be modded (more realistic fleet composition, longer battles, longer gunnery distances, real wind gauge tactics etc) everything will be fine.

Finally I must add that with now two separate battle modules the cock-up potential on CA's part has also increased. I'm really curious to see if they pull if off. They were traditionally very reluctant about sea battles, and I think it was for a reason (if only not to overstretch resources in their 2-year release schedule).

[Skorn]

Well it certainly LOOKS great for a RTS, hope it plays as well too. Keeping my fingers crossed :arrgh!:

[AJ!]

There is a game convention in germany going on for the next five days and CA have said they are going to give more info on the game and show more gameplay clips at some stage at the convention :up:

[AJ!]

Here is more info from IGN on how the game is shaping up. There are more land battle screenshots as well :up:

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/901/901519p1.html

[Sonarman]

Heres a different version of the trailer that poped up.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/252537.html



It may just be my old eyes or a graphic glitch but doesn't that look like an early steamship in the above footage at 1.39 secs?

[AJ!]

It was a mistake when i posted that. It was the same trailer. :doh:

I see what you mean about the steamship in 1.39. It does look promising

Here is a link to loads more new screenshots ;)

http://www.totalwar-zone.de/index2.php?g=etw&id=5

[Seeadler]

There is a game convention in germany going on for the next five days
Today I visited the Games Convention and beside many others I saw the presentation by Creative Assembly.

The game has now reached the beta phase and the estimated release date for Europe is the 6th February 2009.

The remaining 5 months invest the team for quality assurance, game balance and the search/fixing of bugs.

[stabiz]

:rock:The release of a TW-game is always like christmas.

[AJ!]

Yeah cant wait :D

the new campaign map looks great. The scale is alot bigger then the other total war games.

[Skybird]

Screenshots look great, no question. But the weak spot of the Total War series has always been the AI, especially near or inside cities. since here the combat logic seems to be in need adapting to even more complex matters as described in the interview, I will believe they get the resulting problems of the AI solved the day when I see it. Of course such things can get solved - if a producer allows the needed investement of ressources and time - is something different. so my status is I have an eye on it moving forward, but in no way I am alraedy on green lights to buy on release day.

[stabiz]

One of the great AI modders, Lusted, has joined CA, I think.

[Skybird]

I used his mods. If that info is true, is surely holds some promises. However, the critical thing still is the producer and his willingness to give things the time they need, and not rush them out.

[stabiz]

He is listet as CA staff in the forums at twcenter.

[AJ!]

Here is a preview from gamespot.

http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/empiretotalwar/news.html?sid=6196668&mode=previews

This is something that got my attention

"Incidentally, cannon balls (and just about everything else in the game) will be affected by weather conditions, so you'll have to keep that in mind. For example, when the ground is hard cannon balls will bounce and roll, and our cavalry will be able to zip around the battlefield at a good speed. If it rains, though, the ground will get muddy and cannon balls will sink into it as the cavalry rides by at a more sedate pace. Rain can also cause your gunpowder to get wet, and if it gets too cold there's even a danger that weapons can freeze".

:up::up:

[stabiz]

I like the stuff I have been reading about the AI even more. I`ll find the link.

[GlobalExplorer]

Yeah cant wait :D

the new campaign map looks great. The scale is alot bigger then the other total war games.

Can you point me to a campaign screen?

I don't agree however that a global map means better game. Imho the smaller the better. Shogun had only a map of Japan, but it was more detailed. From then on the campaigns grew in scope, but got more and more generic. If we reach a point where all of a whole country - lets say France - is one "province" it gets ridiculous.

[Captain Vlad]

The cannon ball thing sounds awesome. Artillery is one of the aspects of this game I'm really looking forward too.

[Raptor1]

Yeah cant wait :D

the new campaign map looks great. The scale is alot bigger then the other total war games.
Can you point me to a campaign screen?

I don't agree however that a global map means better game. Imho the smaller the better. Shogun had only a map of Japan, but it was more detailed. From then on the campaigns grew in scope, but got more and more generic. If we reach a point where all of a whole country - lets say France - is one "province" it gets ridiculous.

I'm pretty sure they reworked the old province system, since you can found new cities in the game

[Galanti]

I think it's high time they completely retooled the strategic aspects of the Total War series. I don't mean add some new features, I mean rip it out, burn it and start over. A fancy 3D map is nice, but I'll take a well-drawn 2D one if it means I get loads of new macromanagement features, new strategic game mechanics. There just isn't much to do in the current strategic portion of the TW series. Well, apart from having to manually move dozens of priests and merchants in the late game.

Ideally, the strategic layer would operate in realtime, and have more of a Europa Universalis or Hearts of Iron feel to it, while we get to keep the wickedness of the current battle layer. Just my opinion, still love the TW franchise, just think while the fighting part keeps getting better, the strategy part is not evolving nearly as much.

[Raptor1]

From what I heard they massively improved the strategic game, but I doubt it'll be as complicated or real time as HoI, Victoria or EU

[OneToughHerring]

Just to chime on with my opinion, I'm also a fan of RTW, especially the Total Realism - mod. Never played STW. I tried out the demo of MTW2 and thought that it wasn't as playable as Rome, somehow controlling a 'block' of dismounted knights or something in a tight formation doesn't seem plausible. Not sure if the core TW - system lends itself to more modern warfare.

Someone mentioned "Caveman - Total War", there actually might be a game there. Controlling different tribes against other tribes for control of food sources etc. :)

[Raptor1]

What I wonder is how they're going to deal with the Holy Roman Empire in this game, since the way they did it in the last game is obviously not going to cut it in the 18th century

[AJ!]

There is a interview from CA about the game and from the information this bloke has said it sounds like its going to be one hell of a game :up:

http://www.gry-online.pl/s014.asp?ID=185

Also steam ships have been confirmed in this interview!!

[mengle]

yep steamships and snowstorms (snow is what we miss in SHIII)
Seems to be a blokbuster empire total war but perhaps to heavy for mij PC :damn:

[Raptor1]

Steam ships? That means the game will go well into the Victorian era, yay

[AJ!]

Yep the snow storms and typhoons sound fantastic. The rain can also affect gunpowder on the ships. ;)

The game will end in 1815 apparently. The bloke said the game will have some technologies that were not actually present at that time

[Raptor1]

But that's 35 years before the first steam-powered SoL...

I certainly hope not

[AJ!]

Good news is there will be a new trailer out tommorow (thur 25th) with the first gameplay clips of the land battles :up:

[stabiz]

:rock:

[GlobalExplorer]

PC Zone published a preview of ETW

While CA has yet to decide on an exact number, it's likely that Empire will feature between 20 and 40 ship types, ranging from sloops (small, single mast ships) to hulking 120 gun admiral ships. Towards the campaign's latter stages, you'll be able to research some deadly vessels including rocket ships; water-based artillery launchers that fling fireworks onto the decks of far-off enemies to set fire to them.

Rocket Ships, water based artillery launchers that fling fireworks. Now isn't that incredibly silly?

[joegrundman]

I don't know - the Congreve Rocket was invented around Napoleonic times and British ships bombarded Copenhagen with them at one point - but i don't think they were accurate enough to be much use in ship to ship battles

[GlobalExplorer]

Sure but read in the context of previous games and it sounds like flaming pigs or clerics.

[Captain Vlad]

I could never get the flaming pigs to work for me, but I sure did like hearing 'em squeal.:D

[AJ!]

http://www.eurogamer.net/tv_video.php?playlist_id=14941

There is the link to the land battle vid. Looks good so far :up:

[AJ!]

As well as that new vid there is a huge preview of the game with new screenshots. Worth a read

http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/empire-total-war/preview/empire-total-war-hands-on/a-2008092495939363067/g-20070822164625990074

:up: :up:

[stabiz]

Some parts of that video looks a bit rough, as could be expected, but how cool are the melee animations? This game is going to be ... well ... epic.

[Raptor1]

Looks very good so far, can't wait

[Happy Times]

These are primarily single-player games, so tactical deficiencies are more obvious and painful - as anyone who’s watched an enemy king throw his life away in a meaningless charge will attest. Creative Assembly is sensitive to this, and is making clear efforts to counter the weakness. How? On the Rome: Barbarian Invasion team, just one coder focused on AI, and only part-time. This time around, three coders focus on AI full-time, with others contributing. “We can always say that we’re working really hard on the AI - which we are - and that we think it’s going to be better than before - which we do - but the objective fact is that compared with Rome, we have a lot more staff on it,” says James Russell.

We suspect they’d better - with Empire, the team is promising a game strikingly more advanced than anything a Total War general has seen before. The primary difference: rather than two completely separate AI parts governing the strategic and tactical levels of your opponent’s gameplay, they now feed information to one another, so the enemy general will be aware of the stakes. If defeat is immaterial, they’ll maximize casualties against the opposition, then retreat. If they simply must triumph in this battle in order to win the war, expect a to-the-last-man encounter. The series has always strived to achieve a combined grand-scale view of war. If it succeeds here, it’ll be a welcome difference.

http://www.gamesradar.com/pc/empire-total-war/preview/empire-total-war-hands-on/a-2008092495939363067/g-20070822164625990074/p-3

:rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock: :rock:

[CaptHawkeye]

Look, I like Total War, but I don't trust CA. Especially after releasing Medieval 2 in a state of pre-beta. Among the other ways they've shown how much they hate their fan base. I'll wait for my friends to tell me if Empire is broken out of the box before buying it. :)

[stabiz]

Campaign map trailer:

http://www.sega.co.uk/games/?g=240

[Biggles]

Awesome! It's the campaign map where I will spend most of my time, ensuring that the never ending Swedish empire becomes the ruler of Europe, India and the Americas:arrgh!: :rotfl:

[Raptor1]

I do hope they include the East Indies in there

Oh, and some off-map impact of African colonialism

[Laffertytig]

i cant remember the last time i was so buzzed about a game comin out, ETW looks awesome. it looks more like playin out a movie that a game!

roll on february:up:

[TheSatyr]

Considering CA's history of each game being buggier than the last,I suspect that EAW is going to be a mess out of the box. I used to buy TW games within a week of release,but this time I think I'll wait till it has a few patches before bothering with it.

[AJ!]

From the look of the last trailer the game is really starting to come together. It did look a bit rough in the last 2 trailers but this looks really promising. I bet the game will look fantastic by jan :up:

[Raptor1]

I still wonder how they're going to do the Holy Roman Empire, they could make it a single faction (Like the M2TW HRE or the Greek Cities in RTW), but that would really suck considering that all the different principalities in duchies in the empire were practically independent

[GlobalExplorer]

According to this news, ETW will require an internet connection to play:

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/42594/Empire-Total-War-Integrates-Steamworks-Requires-Online-Activation

Creative Assembly's Empire: Total War will fully utilise Steamworks, Valve's suite of publishing and development tools. For gamers, that means friend lists, achievements, and online activation: Steamworks will support both the retail and electronic versions of the Empire: Total War game giving players game updates, downloadable content, friend-list support and achievements. To play single-player Empire: Total War, players need only to connect to the internet once via the Steam client after installing the game. Steamworks will serve as Empire: Total War's multiplayer backend, providing server browsing and match-making functionality, bolstering Total War's new level of commitment to multiplayer game modes and features. Further details on multiplayer will be announced soon.
“We are delighted to be working with an infrastructure as effective as Steam” said Mike Simpson, Studio Director at the Creative Assembly. “Having their matchmaking and support systems on board for Empire; Total War makes a huge difference both for players and for the development team. It not only helps make multiplayer slick and sizzling, it also frees up a huge chunk of the team's time which helps make the whole game better.”
Bla bla bla. I'm not interested in friend lists, achievements, and online activation. I only want to play the ****ing game, not put my computer under CA's control from now on.

Well, I guess for me that means one thing less to worry about. I didn't like the trend in their latest games anyway. TW was amazing in the beginning (STW), RTW was still fun, MTW2 was meh.

Everything must end.

[stabiz]

This doesnt bother me at all.

The drama.:)

[GlobalExplorer]

One day in the future, when your desktop is nothing but a mess of flashing ads, and automated processes controlling what you will do with your computer, you will understand what I mean .. ;)

It's about who has control over your computer, you or someone else ..

[stabiz]

Okay, are you one of those persons who carry around billboards with "The end is neigh" on them?

Steam is not Lucifer. Steam doesnt have any control over my computer, not any more than ... say ... Mozilla does. I can turn both off, and actually I can uninstall them too!

[GlobalExplorer]

Okay, are you one of those persons who carry around billboards with "The end is neigh" on them?

Steam is not Lucifer. Steam doesnt have any control over my computer, not any more than ... say ... Mozilla does. I can turn both off, and actually I can uninstall them too!

I wonder what you will say in a few years .. but good response :up:

[AJ!]

Jeeeez everything from fallout 3 to red alert 3 has got a bad name here because of this copy protection rubbish and now ETW is getting the same treatment...

To be honist GlobalExplorer most people dont care whatsoever about this copy stuff. Ive heard people complaining that they wont buy a game because of the protection on it which is just stupid. If you care more about how you install a game then playing it then thats your problem so keep it to yourself.

Its not the end of the world and unless these people are complete loosers who spend there whole life on the computer its not going to be anywhere near as bad as they say.

Now back to ETW ;)

They have announced a collecters edition (special forces) which has 6 special units included, (one of those units is HMS victory) :p

It seems a bit silly having to pay more to get these units and im not sure how multiplayer will work with standard and special edition but those units do seem cool.

PS another wicked sig raptor :)

[mengle]

the release of the demo is coming soon, anybody knows when?:hmm:

[Raptor1]

the release of the demo is coming soon, anybody knows when?:hmm:

Where are you getting yar info? :hmm:

[stabiz]

:hmm: Med2 demo arrived a few months prior to the game, no? I dont think we will see it until 2009.

[mengle]

the release of the demo is coming soon, anybody knows when?:hmm:

Where are you getting yar info? :hmm:


the demo is not far away i think when i see the list in fileplanet
http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/demo_reserve/

[Raptor1]

the release of the demo is coming soon, anybody knows when?:hmm:
Where are you getting yar info? :hmm:

the demo is not far away i think when i see the list in fileplanet
http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/demo_reserve/

I do hope it comes out soon (IIRC RTW's and MTW's demos came out before the games too, no?)

[stabiz]

The guys on twcenter.net believes the demo will appear in january or february.

[AJ!]

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/1681/68102692wg5.jpg

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5248/44646777sy5.jpg

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/2082/14298596rq6.jpg

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4761/24ll2.jpg

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/361/29ei6.jpg

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/1397/34mw9.jpg

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/4871/33la1.jpg

Some pics to put you in the mood for Empire :up:

[Raptor1]

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5248/44646777sy5.jpg


I hope we get Xebecs like this one in the game :D

[Kptlt. Neuerburg]

For those of us who are waiting to get this game I do know of an official release date for Steam for those who use it. ETW will be released on Steam on Febuary 3, 2008, and you can preorder it now too!!

[Raptor1]

Febuary 3, 2008

Why preorder? :D

Anyway, the game has a release date of Feb. 6th, 2009 as far as I'm aware, Steam might be getting it earlier

[stabiz]

I preordered it ages ago with play.com.

[AJ!]

Yeah i think the official release date is 06/03/09.

I will wait for a while after its release before getting it though. For a start i dont have a computer that could play this past medium. I want to be able to play the game maxed out to really enjoy it :up:

Plus il be able to see all the reviews and wait for the odd patch or too (hopefuly not many) and get the game when its truly stable ;)

[CaptHawkeye]

I hope the damage modeling is actually good. It will be cool if youve a big ship thats damaged and listing and your fleet is all like "we gots to get outa here but its slowin us down" "Scuttle Y/N?"

[mengle]

new screens: http://pc.9lives.be/games/empire-total-war/screenshots
I was thinking how the hell are we going to manage a seabattle with all those ships
this is a screenshot of Imperial Glory and even then it was hard to play with the ships at the same time???
http://static3.filefront.com/images/personal/m/menglee/137716/lyxhhevgio.jpg

[Raptor1]

Wow, I was afraid you posted a pic of the actual game before I read your post... :roll:

Anyway, 20 ships per side is not a problem as long as they let you group them into squadrons and maneuver them as such

Though I hope the 20-ship per side limit could be expended, because we can't recreate the bigger and more important battles of the era with only that (Like Trafalgar or the Glorious First of June)

[stabiz]

1 vs 1 multiplayer campaign announced and game delayed until March:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=211350

[Dowly]

1 vs 1 multiplayer campaign announced and game delayed until March:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=211350

This changes my mind about it! I can see me & Hunter yelling at eachother over a grain field:

"YOU CHARGE FIRST!!!"

"NO, YOU!! COWARD!!!"

"WHAAA?! YOU FRICKING TOSSER!!! COME OOOON!!!"

:rotfl:

[stabiz]

:D I know what my first comment on a multiplayer battlefield will be: "They look quite optimistic to me, maybe they do wanna fight after all." CLASSIC remark from Braveheart, of course even more classic when thinking about the appearance of the guy who said it. So very British and so very cool.:rotfl:

[Dowly]

:D I know what my first comment on a multiplayer battlefield will be: "They look quite optimistic to me, maybe they do wanna fight after all." CLASSIC remark from Braveheart, of course even more classic when thinking about the appearance of the guy who said it. So very British and so very cool.:rotfl:

What a wonderful movie. :up:

[Oberon]

I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they frighten me!

http://www.military-uniforms.com/images/dhm_514_small.jpg

[stabiz]

New trailer:

http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/empiretotalwar/video/6202432/empire-total-war-road-to-independence-trailer?hd=1

[AJ!]

That was hands down the best trailer yet :up: :up:

The game looks like its come together so well. The land battles now look just as impressive as the sea battles.

The campaign map looks fantastic as well :rock:

[Biggles]

:D I know what my first comment on a multiplayer battlefield will be: "They look quite optimistic to me, maybe they do wanna fight after all." CLASSIC remark from Braveheart, of course even more classic when thinking about the appearance of the guy who said it. So very British and so very cool.:rotfl:

What a wonderful movie. :up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UBEYVd3OKk

Sorry, couldn't resist!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:


Anyway, yeah, this game looks epic. Finally I can rearrange the worldmap into one glorious Swedish Empire!

[A Very Super Market]

I wonder if they will do a more advanced form of fog of war, I would be extremely pleased to see a simulated version of this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kar%C3%A1nsebes).

I think the naval battles may involve ship squadrons instead of single ships. Like the land battles

[joegrundman]

now that would be a fine thing!

[mengle]

for so far the releasedate 27 march
here is chapter 5/5 the multiplayer
http://www.9lives.be/games/empire-total-war/nieuws/multiplayer-gameplay-in-empire-total-war

[Dowly]

Tee hee hee, all you who are thrilled about the naval battles. See anything quite bad in that vid? Health bars! :rotfl:

[HunterICX]

Tee hee hee, all you who are thrilled about the naval battles. See anything quite bad in that vid? Health bars! :rotfl:
I did, and still I'm thrilled about it, first of all Healthbars are just an indicator and probally removable(Option or by modding). apart from that is just a ship that has hitpoints like in any naval game I know off.

and its a WAY of an improvement then those gamble battles which makes you scratch your head when your superior quality ships are losing by less number/less quality ships
never liked the naval part in battles in RTW I rather skipped it and sticked on ground battles. therefore its very nice to attempt something new in the TW series.

HunterICX

[NeonSamurai]

Doesn't all units have health bars in total war?

Have to say I'm not following this one much, though its about damn time for naval battles. I'm waiting for them to revisit Shogun frankly (though i wouldn't be surprised if they muck it up)

[Dowly]

Doesn't all units have health bars in total war?

Nope.

[NeonSamurai]

Hmm really as I seem to remember them for structures and special units and the like (your right about all units though, sorry was sleepy). I could be wrong though, been a while since I've played a total war game.

[Dowly]

Hmm really as I seem to remember them for structures and special units and the like (your right about all units though, sorry was sleepy). I could be wrong though, been a while since I've played a total war game.

You sure we're talking about the Total War games? :p

There's no special units, atleast not in RTW nor MTW II. Buildings have a persent counter telling the damage level, so yes, I think you could call that a life bar, but units dont have any (cant remember Shogun & MTW, but not in RTW & MTW II).

[NeonSamurai]

By special units i mean artillery and siege engines. I could swear I remember them having health bars for the machine itself. Also didn't ships have health bars too in the strategic map (of course i think they all did to show how depleted a unit was)?

The units don't display one no they tend to go by number alive instead

[A Very Super Market]

No, the siege engines have ammunition counts, but no health to speak of. In a game as realistic as TW, health bars are pretty ugly.

Pretty sure those meters in the vid are ammo bars too.

[NeonSamurai]

I know about the ammo bars, but im pretty sure they had something akin to a health bar too (but only when abandoned or something) to show the state of damage.

[kenijaru]

I know about the ammo bars, but im pretty sure they had something akin to a health bar too (but only when abandoned or something) to show the state of damage.
oh, but they do :D
but it's more of a "damage %" than a "health bar".

also, many units have "hit points"
in rome the perk "has been in wars" gives the generals 2 hit points. there is an irish unit in M TW 2 Kingdoms (Britannia) that has 2 hit points. So, even if most units die when hit once... some will resist 2 or even 3 hits.

[stabiz]

Demo soon:

http://www.totalwar.com/empire/demo/

[AJ!]

now that news made my day :up:

[Skybird]

I have just been told that the game comes with Steam. That's great news, for it saves me a lot of money. Best games are those that do not cost me a penny. :-?

[A Very Super Market]

I don't think they mean that, should be that buying the game will get you steam with it.

Game costs 50 bucks CND, should be less for you EU folk

[stabiz]

You need Steam to play multiplayer, not to play singleplayer.

[CaptainHaplo]

Can't help but reuse an old joke.....

When's the demo coming out????

SOON!!!!!!

[GlobalExplorer]

- deleted link to another game -

[stabiz]

Q1 2009? Wow, I thought it was still a ways off. But is it a good idea to publish the game so close to Empire?

[GlobalExplorer]

But is it a good idea to publish the game so close to Empire?
I think not. But how much longer can they wait?

[stabiz]

Dunno.:) I am getting it anyway, I just think it might drown a little in the Sega media-machine.

[AJ!]

Well with Empire less then 3 weeks away and a demo release imminent there have been lots of new images and some preview videos released.

http://www.ceidot.com/twtr/empire/resimler/us-empire.jpg

http://www.ceidot.com/twtr/empire/resimler/Etw-Polish_cavalry_2.jpg

http://www.ceidot.com/twtr/empire/resimler/Empire__Total_War-shell_shock.jpg

http://www.ceidot.com/twtr/empire/resimler/Empire__Total_War-russian_coloumn1.jpg

Also PC gamer have now reviewed the game and gave it 94% which is fantastic :up:

[AJ!]

Sorry for the picture size on this one but i think its the best of the bunch :up:

http://www.ceidot.com/twtr/empire/resimler/Empire__Total_War-Alpine_battle_2.jpg

[stabiz]

Yeah, that is a droooool-picture!

[Castout]

I'll be damn. I'm going to save money to buy a new GPU just to play this game at beautiful setting.

[GlobalExplorer]

- deleted link to another game -

[Bort]

Expecting that the battles will be frantic affairs like in the recent TW games, I am pretty unimpressed by just pretty graphics.

I want realism, so I will wait for this one: link (http://www.norbsoftware.com/Portal/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1)

Why do you seem to hate every game? And on top of that, find yourself unable to control your seething desire to plaster every thread about a game you don't like with slander about the quality, or to you, its seeming lack thereof? Let people enjoy the games they want to enjoy.

[GlobalExplorer]

I've read it.

Last time I checked, this was a place to discuss games. Not my problem if you think this means only to affiliate in mindless raving about graphics.

Btw I do not hate all games. I only try to attract some attention to indie companies, away from the mainstream, and all they entail these days: Steam, limited installs, dumbed down gameplay and all that ****.

But sure I should not post links to indy games it in this thread. That's bad for business. I have removed my posts, hope you're happy now.

[ReallyDedPoet]

Ok lads, let's place nice :yep:

Some folks rave about graphics, others about realism....., nobody is ever going to win an argument about which is better, etc. In the end if you don't have something constructive to post, then don't. It's a fairly simple concept.


RDP

[HunterICX]

But sure I should not post links to indy games it in this thread. That's bad for business. I have removed my posts, hope you're happy now.

Perhaps you should bring it to our attention in a new thread. :yep:

HunterICX

[AJ!]

You know ive always found it strange why graphics and realism are classed as two different things. Surly graphics falls under the realism catagory.

All these people who say they dont care what the game looks like as long as its realistic are talking jibberish as far as im concerned. I know what you mean in terms of historical accuracy but for a game to be truly realistic its got to immerse you in a realistic looking battleground.

[HunterICX]

Well, about Graphics/realism/Gameplay

I would like to have mine balanced :)

HunterICX

[Weiss Pinguin]

Well, about Graphics/realism/Gameplay

I would like to have mine balanced :)

HunterICX
Yep. I like pretty things, but if the game just plays and sounds like crap, no deal. Same if it's reversed, although maybe not so much.

My point is, graphics aren't everything to me personally, but if it looks meh then the gameplay/historical accuracy had better make up for it.

But that is all just me. Some people want historical accuracy no matter the cost, some want graphics and nothing else, some want a good balance, it's all down to personal preference. What really ticks me off is when someone comes along and just spews his opinion all over the place like it's the law and everyone else must follow his view or they're morons.



ANYWAYS

Been following this game for a while, and I'm definitely going to try and get it in the future. (Soon as I upgrade that is lol) Always been a big fan of the Total War series.

[CaptHawkeye]

Hopefully the tactical-AI will be way better than it was. It annoyed me that after, what, 4 games, the AI is still totally oblivious to the concept of "flanking".

[stabiz]

They claim the AI uses chess-like responses now, in contrast to the earlier AI. They will form formations, and they will try to flank.

I liked this read:

A Swedish Campaign report

As you guys have seen quite a few videos of battles, I thought I'd post about a recent Swedish campaign I played so you guys get more of an idea about how the campaign game plays.

The start

Early on I decide I must help build my military power. So I focus my research onto military technology, build extra schools to allow the research of more items at once, and begin to build up an army in Estonia near Riga. This will allow me to fight the Russians if they decide to start a war, or to expand into the nearby Duchy of Courland...

WAR!

...which I invade after gifting the Russians a bit of cash to keep them happy for a bit. After a tough fight I secure the region, but almost immediately the Prussians approach me asking for the province in exchange for some technologies and more importantly an alliance. Eager for allies I accept, and the tech allows me to upgrade my farms to increase my income as well as keeping my population fed.

Preparations...

With my economy secured and a strong ally in Prussia, I turn my eyes towards my Scandinavian neighbours Denmark. Determined to take Denmark out in one glorious invasion, I begin to prepare three armies ready to take Iceland, Norway and Denmark.

...and Problems

But these big armies rapidly begin to drain my income. My research focus switches onto techs that will improve my income from workshops and farms, and I cancel a trade agreement with France in order to free up a trade route so I can sign a new trade agreement with the Marathas which proves much more profitable.

Revolution!

All the focusing on techs and building schools has had an unfortunate side effect, the people are not happy. They are clamouring for reform, and so I endeavour to spark a revolution myself. Raising taxes soon leads to one, and I side with the rebels in order to turn Sweden into a republic. After a hard fought battle for Stockholm, victory is mine and the old order is removed. The public is now happy with the more enlightened Republic government type.

With the revolution over, I focus once again on preparations to invade Denmark.

The First Strike

But Denmark declare war first, marching armies through my lands and damaging my buildings. Damaged schools means no more research, and damaged farms leads to unhappiness as the population is less well fed. So I march an army out to deal with these raiding forces and I initiate my own invasion plans.

One army lands on Iceland after a long trip away from trade routes to avoid detection where it quickly takes the region. But my main invasion army fares less well. Marching close to Copenhagen, my almost 2000 men find themselves facing over 4500 Danish troops. In a hard fought battle barely 500 of my men survive after fleeing the field having been beaten decisively.

And this is where my campaign report ends. Sweden has transformed into a Republic, improved its economy and military and is now engaged in a long and costly war with Denmark with wins and losses on both sides. I hope this has help give you an idea of what playing the early stages of an Empire: Total War campaign is like.

[Dowly]

I thought I'd post about a recent Swedish campaign...

...

In a hard fought battle barely 500 of my men survive after fleeing the field having been beaten decisively.

Yup, sounds like the AI will be pretty realistic. :har:

[stabiz]

What do you mean? His force was initially 2000 against 4500, and 500 survived after fleeing?

[CaptHawkeye]

All of the campaigns new balance additions will be totally worthless unless they are equally applied to the AI. I don't want to see tiny 3 province nations like Denmark tossing one full stack army after another at me. I want to see more Decisive Battles and less pointless skirmishes. Army destruction should really matter and not just be a 2 turn penalty or some crap.

[A Very Super Market]

Well, the AI is now integrated, meaning that diplomatic relations will affect how they react militarily. If you've been having on-and-off war for the last century, they'll mostly try and attack you at the slightest excuse.

I would like to know how the hell that could happen, because my games in TW always saw me defeating a huge army in the field, and then rampaging across the rest of their country.

[Raptor1]

Sounds good to me

What I especially like is that it seems they have included the minor nations that characterized Eastern Europe and Germany at the time, like the Duchy of Courland

[A Very Super Market]

I believe that a good deal of those 50+ factions will be the smaller German states. Bavaria, Saxony, will be major ones, but I think they will even go into Saxe-Coburg-Gotha for the game

[stabiz]

Wohooo! It has now been confirmed the demo will be available on steam tomorrow. 5PM Central European time.:rock:

[Biggles]

Can't wait to play as Sweden myself. The Swedish Empire will rise towards new heights!

[Raptor1]

Wohooo! It has now been confirmed the demo will be available on steam tomorrow. 5PM Central European time.:rock:

Hmm, how much is that in GMT?

[A Very Super Market]

Thats only 1 hour ahead of Greenwich. Silly Europeans, us West-coasters need to subtract 9 hours to get our time!

[Raptor1]

Ah, whoops, Central European Time...:damn:

[stabiz]

it Is Released

[Biggles]

it Is Released

The demo is mine in 1h and 9 minutes:shucks:

[AJ!]

Gona try the demo out tommoz. :up:

[stabiz]

I give it 9/10. Now I will carefully do the math as to how much head trauma I need to inflict on myself to end up in a coma that lasts exactly until 3rd of March.

[A Very Super Market]

You could just drink yourself silly for 5 days.

[stabiz]

:rotfl:I`ll get on it!

[stabiz]

A few pics:

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/stabiz1/Empire2009-02-2022-35-16-06.jpg

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/stabiz1/Empire2009-02-2023-10-29-62.jpg

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/stabiz1/Empire2009-02-2022-30-59-42.jpg

[A Very Super Market]

How's the AI?

[stabiz]

Not sure yet, but its definetely better than before. The maps are larger than earlier TW games, so its easier to lose overview if you dont glance at the map from time to time, and I was twice ambushed by American long rifle men that circled around me. Besides the swearing when it happened I liked it.:) I also got charged when I tried the old "move within range and shoot them dead"-trick.

I also pushed two units of enemy backwards towards a stationary line of my own men. They retreated, saw the new threat - stopped and opened fire on the pursuers - and then manouvered towards a forrest away from both threats. They were not fleeing. Dont know if I was lucky or not, but I would have done the same.

I have read reports of wacky AI manouvers as well, but I have not seen any yet.

Oh, and when overwhelmed enemy AI will retreat into nearby buildings. It was so cool when I saw that. I blasted the house with my 6 pounders, but still.:rotfl:

Overall positive first impression, but to early to give the AI a stamp of approval although its clearly stronger.

Positives:

VERY good looking on full settings, the best animations seen in any strategy game (men dismounting horses and setting up cannons, and melee has never looked better) Also very cool with drummers.

Large maps with hills, fords, forrests and buildings

Negatives: I found naval battles a bit confusing and fast paced, and I hate the high speed turn radius. Damage models on ships is insanely well done, everywhere you hit there will be holes and flying debris, and 200 little men run around on the ships, climb ropes and reloads cannons. (And die)

Over at TW Center the mood is also mostly positive, so bring on the full game!

[mengle]

very great shots you have taken Stabiz:yeah:
and remeber the game is not patched yet and without mods

[CaptainHaplo]

Any other dl source beside steam? I despise steam. I would be happy with a single file install link.

[A Very Super Market]

Sorry, mate. Apart from illegal activities, you either buy it from the store or download it from Steam

[AJ!]

I must admit i was impressed with the demo.

Everything about it is just so polished compaired to the other total war games. The art used in loading screens etc is also fantastic :up:

I think the land battles are so well paced and alot more stratigic then previous games. The use of gunpowder has worked so well and makes for some great looking battles.

I agree with stabiz that the naval combat is frantic. Its very hard to keep tabs on whats going on during large battles and most of the time the ships will just shoot at anything in sight. The naval battles are alot better with only a couple ships per side in my opinion although i do think they have done a great job :yep:

Also stabiz are you playing the game with graphics as high as they will go?

[Zachstar]

Full of bugs....

First you think the game freezes because its stuck on the first screen for 5 mins. Then horrid load times. Then just lots of inconsistencies like troops going into positions not ordered and cannon animations off.

Its playable but just barely. I hope the bug reports they get from the Steam demo will help them do a big round of bug blasting before it goes gold.

[stabiz]

Almost, AJ. Most on ultra and some on high.

The loading screen lasts for around 20 seconds for me and loading the land battle took 1 min 30 seconds.

[Oberon]

*wistful sigh*

Damn that looks and sounds beautiful, pity my machine would keel over just looking at it. It stuttered running MTWII on the lower settings and has graphic glitches with RTW :wah:

[CaptainHaplo]

No I meant is there any other location where they have made the demo available for download? I have enjoyed some of the TW series, though MTW2 kind of disappointed me.

If I like the demo I will buy the game, but I don't want to have to install the steam client just to get the demo. Just wishing the demo was available elsewhere.

Worst case I will install and then uninstall steam after getting the demo.

[A Very Super Market]

Only steam.

[Raptor1]

Gah, I hate Steam, it's too slow

Looks like I'll have to wait a while before I could play...

[A Very Super Market]

I downloaded the demo, and its extremely choppy. Only graphics, though, the sound is fine.

[Zachstar]

Playing it a bit more a few of the lesser bugs stopped and loading was a few seconds faster after the cache formed. Overall tho I still think it needs a serious bug killing beta week or so before it goes gold.

When the bugs get fixed however, It really looks like it will be fun. In the land battle I bypassed the advantage just to be able to line up with the best of the rabble and watch nothing but smoke and sounds of hits. Eventually I was able to cross the creek and set up a large line that tore them to shreds. Without the bugs I suspect there will be epic battles to be fought.

Edit: By the way. I think this game is a prime example of why it IS time to go dual and quad core. A 3.2 Ghz Single core from almost half a decade ago simply bottlenecks even the HD 4670. I suspect even spending just a few hundred with a Kuma CPU will give me better FPS.

[Raptor1]

I hope they have a large list of historical battles when the full game is released, be epic to play Blenheim, Austerlitz, Leipzig or whatever in the game...

[A Very Super Market]

Austerlitz might be a stretch. The biggest battles would look weird with 80 men to a unit. Maybe the "Ultra" setting will change in the finished game.

Also, ONE THOUSAND!!!!!

[Stealth Hunter]

I would say a lot of the choppiness is Steam's fault. ETW ran slow on my system for some reason, which doesn't make any sense, because I can run games like Crysis on high and Call of Duty: World at War on very high (and they're much more demanding than ETW).

It could be due in part to poor coding by CA (the slow and laggy performance, I mean). That was the only problem with Crysis. Within a few months, a mod was out that changed some of the internal coding around entirely, and the game ran smooth and as beautiful as ever.

I was not too impressed with the game, I must admit. If this is the final product, then count me out.

[Stealth Hunter]

I hope they have a large list of historical battles when the full game is released, be epic to play Blenheim, Austerlitz, Leipzig or whatever in the game...

Blenheim is the only one of those battles that can/probably will be in the game. CA changed a lot of their original concepts around. You know how the game was supposed to originally run until 1815? Well, now they've changed it around entirely. A short campaign will go from 1700 to 1750. A long campaign will go from 1700 to 1799...

Any battle thereafter is out.

[Raptor1]

I hope they have a large list of historical battles when the full game is released, be epic to play Blenheim, Austerlitz, Leipzig or whatever in the game...
Blenheim is the only one of those battles that can/probably will be in the game. CA changed a lot of their original concepts around. You know how the game was supposed to originally run until 1815? Well, now they've changed it around entirely. A short campaign will go from 1700 to 1750. A long campaign will go from 1700 to 1799...

Any battle thereafter is out.
What? When did they say that?

Anyway, just played the demo, ran just fine even though my comp is as outdated as hell

My only problem wasthe fact that unit sizes were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too small, 80 men per unit? we had almost twice as many in RTW, hopefully that will get fixed when the full game comes out or the modding starts

[Zachstar]

I would say a lot of the choppiness is Steam's fault. ETW ran slow on my system for some reason, which doesn't make any sense, because I can run games like Crysis on high and Call of Duty: World at War on very high (and they're much more demanding than ETW).

It could be due in part to poor coding by CA (the slow and laggy performance, I mean). That was the only problem with Crysis. Within a few months, a mod was out that changed some of the internal coding around entirely, and the game ran smooth and as beautiful as ever.

I was not too impressed with the game, I must admit. If this is the final product, then count me out.

Wrong. During gameplay Steam switches to an ultra low CPU mode and could run on a 286 at that point.

Steam is fine. ETW is best played with Steam because its Built with Steam in mind. The issue is bugs. Which more than likely will be fixed before it goes gold.

[A Very Super Market]

Its not the final product. CA usually releases lacklustre demos, mostly because they use an outdated script. Remember Rome? It had an absolutely dreadful demo, but the game was outstanding when released.

[Stealth Hunter]

I hope they have a large list of historical battles when the full game is released, be epic to play Blenheim, Austerlitz, Leipzig or whatever in the game...
Blenheim is the only one of those battles that can/probably will be in the game. CA changed a lot of their original concepts around. You know how the game was supposed to originally run until 1815? Well, now they've changed it around entirely. A short campaign will go from 1700 to 1750. A long campaign will go from 1700 to 1799...

Any battle thereafter is out.
What? When did they say that?

Anyway, just played the demo, ran just fine even though my comp is as outdated as hell

My only problem wasthe fact that unit sizes were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too small, 80 men per unit? we had almost twice as many in RTW, hopefully that will get fixed when the full game comes out or the modding starts

My friend from Steam sent me a copy of the article. Here's his message:

So I just received my copy of the GameStar magazine. Along with a five page test there's also around 23 minutes of video material on the accompanying DVD.

GameStar gave it a rating of 90/100, which is pretty high for the magazine. They say that the games surpasses its predecessors but not all bugs have been ironed out yet. The two mentioned that would have otherwise given the game a 92/100 are:

- pathfinding on walls during sieges is often bad
- wait time during turns can take up to three minutes

CA promised a fix for those two errors for the retail version. Take it for what it's worth, but apparently the first test version was more bugged and the later version was able to fix these inside a few weeks so who knows.

Now on to the interesting tidbits of the review:

- 11 playable factions
- Switzerland is not on the map
- campaign goes from 1700 to 1750 (short campaign) or 1799 (long campaign)
- game objective is to conquer provinces or to get prestige points for military, naval, financial, and social advances.
- Each province capital can have up to six improvement slots for military buildings and the like
- Additional improvements can be placed in towns that appear on the map the richer the province gets
- three types of agents: gentleman, rake, priest
- Priest converts much like he did in M2TW
- you can fire one minister per turn, replacements are random
- in constituional monarchies and Republics elections can replace all of your ministers
- the trade goods you have are important for the lucrativity of your trade goods. Rare goods (sugar, tabacco) make the highest profit. You can heighten the profit by decreasing the supply. (i.e. burning down plantations in the New World)
- Diplomatic AI acts reasonable and keeps alliances
- Only somestimes refuses to sign peace
- Battle AI acts good
- Battle AI does not make use of Dragooners
- Line Infantry often better than Dragooners, so they are not really necessary
- Naval battle pathfinding can sometimes lead to vessels becoming stuck on each other
- Naval AI works good and employs line tactics

The rest is pretty much known/standard stuff. I'm gonna watch the videos soon. Maybe they'll have more information. Now on to wait that my demo finishes downloading.

-Ituralde

[Stealth Hunter]

I would say a lot of the choppiness is Steam's fault. ETW ran slow on my system for some reason, which doesn't make any sense, because I can run games like Crysis on high and Call of Duty: World at War on very high (and they're much more demanding than ETW).

It could be due in part to poor coding by CA (the slow and laggy performance, I mean). That was the only problem with Crysis. Within a few months, a mod was out that changed some of the internal coding around entirely, and the game ran smooth and as beautiful as ever.

I was not too impressed with the game, I must admit. If this is the final product, then count me out.

Wrong. During gameplay Steam switches to an ultra low CPU mode and could run on a 286 at that point.

Steam is fine. ETW is best played with Steam because its Built with Steam in mind. The issue is bugs. Which more than likely will be fixed before it goes gold.

Strange, because when I disabled Steam friends and the whole Steam community thing in my settings browser, I noticed that load times took three minutes maximum instead of five. I also noticed the game went faster than it had been.

I hope to god they fix some of the problems with the game, though. The textures were poor, the animations were buggy... the load times, of course...

[Raptor1]

I hope they have a large list of historical battles when the full game is released, be epic to play Blenheim, Austerlitz, Leipzig or whatever in the game...
Blenheim is the only one of those battles that can/probably will be in the game. CA changed a lot of their original concepts around. You know how the game was supposed to originally run until 1815? Well, now they've changed it around entirely. A short campaign will go from 1700 to 1750. A long campaign will go from 1700 to 1799...

Any battle thereafter is out.
What? When did they say that?

Anyway, just played the demo, ran just fine even though my comp is as outdated as hell

My only problem wasthe fact that unit sizes were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too small, 80 men per unit? we had almost twice as many in RTW, hopefully that will get fixed when the full game comes out or the modding starts
My friend from Steam sent me a copy of the article. Here's his message:

So I just received my copy of the GameStar magazine. Along with a five page test there's also around 23 minutes of video material on the accompanying DVD.

GameStar gave it a rating of 90/100, which is pretty high for the magazine. They say that the games surpasses its predecessors but not all bugs have been ironed out yet. The two mentioned that would have otherwise given the game a 92/100 are:

- pathfinding on walls during sieges is often bad
- wait time during turns can take up to three minutes

CA promised a fix for those two errors for the retail version. Take it for what it's worth, but apparently the first test version was more bugged and the later version was able to fix these inside a few weeks so who knows.

Now on to the interesting tidbits of the review:

- 11 playable factions
- Switzerland is not on the map
- campaign goes from 1700 to 1750 (short campaign) or 1799 (long campaign)
- game objective is to conquer provinces or to get prestige points for military, naval, financial, and social advances.
- Each province capital can have up to six improvement slots for military buildings and the like
- Additional improvements can be placed in towns that appear on the map the richer the province gets
- three types of agents: gentleman, rake, priest
- Priest converts much like he did in M2TW
- you can fire one minister per turn, replacements are random
- in constituional monarchies and Republics elections can replace all of your ministers
- the trade goods you have are important for the lucrativity of your trade goods. Rare goods (sugar, tabacco) make the highest profit. You can heighten the profit by decreasing the supply. (i.e. burning down plantations in the New World)
- Diplomatic AI acts reasonable and keeps alliances
- Only somestimes refuses to sign peace
- Battle AI acts good
- Battle AI does not make use of Dragooners
- Line Infantry often better than Dragooners, so they are not really necessary
- Naval battle pathfinding can sometimes lead to vessels becoming stuck on each other
- Naval AI works good and employs line tactics

The rest is pretty much known/standard stuff. I'm gonna watch the videos soon. Maybe they'll have more information. Now on to wait that my demo finishes downloading.

-Ituralde

Err...

Switzerland is not on the map? What do they have instead, a black hole?

Line Infantry better than Dragoons? (Dragooners?) They're used for completely different purposes

[stabiz]

Unit size is locked in the demo, what we are playing is "large" not "huge".

[Raptor1]

Unit size is locked in the demo, what we are playing is "large" not "huge".

Actually, you can mod it up to 99 units per unit (Not more because it requires manual editing of the pack file, and it doesn't like having extra bytes added to it)

[Stealth Hunter]

I hope they have a large list of historical battles when the full game is released, be epic to play Blenheim, Austerlitz, Leipzig or whatever in the game...
Blenheim is the only one of those battles that can/probably will be in the game. CA changed a lot of their original concepts around. You know how the game was supposed to originally run until 1815? Well, now they've changed it around entirely. A short campaign will go from 1700 to 1750. A long campaign will go from 1700 to 1799...

Any battle thereafter is out.
What? When did they say that?

Anyway, just played the demo, ran just fine even though my comp is as outdated as hell

My only problem wasthe fact that unit sizes were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too small, 80 men per unit? we had almost twice as many in RTW, hopefully that will get fixed when the full game comes out or the modding starts
My friend from Steam sent me a copy of the article. Here's his message:

So I just received my copy of the GameStar magazine. Along with a five page test there's also around 23 minutes of video material on the accompanying DVD.

GameStar gave it a rating of 90/100, which is pretty high for the magazine. They say that the games surpasses its predecessors but not all bugs have been ironed out yet. The two mentioned that would have otherwise given the game a 92/100 are:

- pathfinding on walls during sieges is often bad
- wait time during turns can take up to three minutes

CA promised a fix for those two errors for the retail version. Take it for what it's worth, but apparently the first test version was more bugged and the later version was able to fix these inside a few weeks so who knows.

Now on to the interesting tidbits of the review:

- 11 playable factions
- Switzerland is not on the map
- campaign goes from 1700 to 1750 (short campaign) or 1799 (long campaign)
- game objective is to conquer provinces or to get prestige points for military, naval, financial, and social advances.
- Each province capital can have up to six improvement slots for military buildings and the like
- Additional improvements can be placed in towns that appear on the map the richer the province gets
- three types of agents: gentleman, rake, priest
- Priest converts much like he did in M2TW
- you can fire one minister per turn, replacements are random
- in constituional monarchies and Republics elections can replace all of your ministers
- the trade goods you have are important for the lucrativity of your trade goods. Rare goods (sugar, tabacco) make the highest profit. You can heighten the profit by decreasing the supply. (i.e. burning down plantations in the New World)
- Diplomatic AI acts reasonable and keeps alliances
- Only somestimes refuses to sign peace
- Battle AI acts good
- Battle AI does not make use of Dragooners
- Line Infantry often better than Dragooners, so they are not really necessary
- Naval battle pathfinding can sometimes lead to vessels becoming stuck on each other
- Naval AI works good and employs line tactics

The rest is pretty much known/standard stuff. I'm gonna watch the videos soon. Maybe they'll have more information. Now on to wait that my demo finishes downloading.

-Ituralde

Err...

Switzerland is not on the map? What do they have instead, a black hole?

Line Infantry better than Dragoons? (Dragooners?) They're used for completely different purposes

Guess so. Apparently, CA thinks that France owned Switzerland at the start of 1700... which is just wrong all the way around. It wasn't until 1798 that France took control of the Swiss.

You know you can dismount your dragoons, right? CA announced that feature back in 2007 when news of the game first hit the net. So basically, you can use them for line infantry purposes, too.

[A Very Super Market]

Dragoons can cavalry charge, they can fire their guns while stationary, and they can dismount and fight like line infantry and take buildings. I foresee myself spamming these guys to no end.

[stabiz]

Yeah, gotta love Dragoons!

[Biggles]

First try on the naval battle: Crushed the french navy, with no ships lost.

Second try: Sank all french vessels, lost my Flagship.

Third try: Got utterly crushed, while taking down 2 french ships.

So, I get worse and worse for every try. Haha, oh, the humanity...

[TheBrauerHour]

Overall I think the demo is good.

Naval battles:
I want a game that mirrors the Master and Commander series, and outside of that I will have to settle for this. I dislike the powerbars and would like to see a mod remove all that. The battles are intense, and I can see myself trying different attacks to liven things up.

[Raptor1]

After some tweaking...

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/3271/bigbattle.jpg

Gah, wish I had Fraps installed for pics of the battle itself, was way more epic than with the stock numbers

[A Very Super Market]

Gah, lucky... My computer can barely run the game at "Ultra". Stupid 6150...

[Galanti]

Some gripes about the demo, some of these I imagine would be cleared up at release:

Does anyone else find the demo runs very sluggish, not actually in the 3D bits, but in the UI bits? Changes to settings take forever, exiting a battle takes forever. I'm running and AMD x2 6000+ with a GTX 260 in Vista 64, and the game UI drags it's arse.

AA doesn't seem to be applied at all, still too many jaggies even at 8x.

Can't stand the camera at all, I want the old general's camera back.

Walking animations seem a bit off, my redcoats seem to glide across the ground.

Doesn't seem to be an option to slow time down to 0.8 or 0.9. I always did this in MTW2 because I felt the animations and timing were too fast.

Other than that, it's pretty impressive. It's a nice switch of era for now, but I get the feeling I'll eventually shelve it and wait for someone to Romanize it!

[rubenandthejets]

Romanisation for me too-keen for galleys, septiremes and catapults.
If I can't get that I'll settle for Lepanto style galleasses, but never the less:

RAMMING SPEED!

[Raptor1]

Yet more modding, this time a naval battle loosly based on the battle between Indefatigable and Amazon against the Droits de l'Homme

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/5488/navbat.jpg

Of course it's lacking the coast, correct ship classes and the French flag, but w/e

[Zachstar]

Im likely going to purchase this during the summer simply because I have a slew of games I need to play out first.

HAWX
SH4 with U-boat missions and likely the IJN mod
FreeFalcon 5. I want to be able to slowly win a campaign for once.
IL2 1946 Pacific Dive Bomber Campaign.

By the time all that is done there will hopefully be 1-2 patches and the game will be stable enough to play a grand campaign with.

[A Very Super Market]

Hell, the price will probably drop by quite a bit too.

[Zachstar]

Playing around with the demo I noticed lowering the graphics settings and setting it to the lowest 16:10 resolution (If you are not using a widescreen monitor for this game you need to see an eye doctor in my view because it makes ALL the difference)

The difference was amazing. Not only did I get a massive increase in FPS but quite a few issues cleared up as well and the AI was MUCH smarter.

I tried the usual (The highlanders can soften the up for the win rutine) and before I knew it they were nearly routed and I had two massive formations behind them! On top of that they quickly reached the arty I had to support them crushing one of my rare batteries!

It is going to be a fun summer!

[stabiz]

The demo AI is "normal", not "hard" or "very hard", and I read somewhere over at twc that a review claimed it was very hard indeed on the higher settings.

[Zachstar]

I think the massive load time can be linked to somthing to do with the initialization of the engine. As even a simple resolution change causes a long load.

Sounds like something is failing and timing out. Sounds to be easily fixable. Maybe even for the demo!

[stabiz]

Unpacking the .pack files halves the loading time, I have read, so its probably a demo issue.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=228075

[Zachstar]

I would not mess with that when its obvious that they will get a patch out before long.

Steam will likely download a new file when it detects its not there during the update and could cause a hell of a mess with your install.

[Raptor1]

I would not mess with that when its obvious that they will get a patch out before long.

Steam will likely download a new file when it detects its not there during the update and could cause a hell of a mess with your install.
A patch for the demo? Unlikely

Besides, you need to unpack them to properly mod the demo

[AJ!]

Well with the game about a week away i doubt anyone is concerned with the demo anymore. It looks like the game has already been shipped to stores with one lucky guy getting his copy (although he cant use it yet)

http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/empiretotalwar/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-48317302&pid=942966&tag=topics;title

They didnt say anything about it being finished so i asume the game must have gone gold before the demo was released. Which means any gameplay issues people had with the demo will have to be sorted in a patch.

[A Very Super Market]

I think the demo has to be using older code. Its been the same for each of the TW games.

[mengle]

gameplay trailer 3
http://www.9lives.be/games/empire-total-war/nieuws/empire-total-war-superior-tactics-trailer-deel-3
sea battles nothing more than in the game "Imperial glory"

[Raptor1]

gameplay trailer 3
http://www.9lives.be/games/empire-total-war/nieuws/empire-total-war-superior-tactics-trailer-deel-3
sea battles nothing more than in the game "Imperial glory"

Hmm, what do you mean by that?

[mengle]

gameplay trailer 3
http://www.9lives.be/games/empire-total-war/nieuws/empire-total-war-superior-tactics-trailer-deel-3
sea battles nothing more than in the game "Imperial glory"

Hmm, what do you mean by that?

i mean the gameplay on sea battle

[Raptor1]

gameplay trailer 3
http://www.9lives.be/games/empire-total-war/nieuws/empire-total-war-superior-tactics-trailer-deel-3
sea battles nothing more than in the game "Imperial glory"
Hmm, what do you mean by that?
i mean the gameplay on sea battle

Err...you're saying that the naval battle gameplay in ETW is not better than the naval battles in Imperial Glory?

May you provide some explanation as to what has drawn you to such a conclusion?

[mengle]

gameplay trailer 3
http://www.9lives.be/games/empire-total-war/nieuws/empire-total-war-superior-tactics-trailer-deel-3
sea battles nothing more than in the game "Imperial glory"
Hmm, what do you mean by that?
i mean the gameplay on sea battle

Err...you're saying that the naval battle gameplay in ETW is not better than the naval battles in Imperial Glory?

May you provide some explanation as to what has drawn you to such a conclusion?

the gameplay is good in Imperial glory , have you played it?

[Raptor1]

gameplay trailer 3
http://www.9lives.be/games/empire-total-war/nieuws/empire-total-war-superior-tactics-trailer-deel-3
sea battles nothing more than in the game "Imperial glory"
Hmm, what do you mean by that?
i mean the gameplay on sea battle
Err...you're saying that the naval battle gameplay in ETW is not better than the naval battles in Imperial Glory?

May you provide some explanation as to what has drawn you to such a conclusion?
the gameplay is good in Imperial glory , have you played it?

I have played Imperial Glory some, but I only played the naval battles a couple of times, don't remember liking them that much

[Zachstar]

The navy battles are good but the way they are simulated makes me feel this ought to be a early battleship sim rather than age of sail.

Dont get me wrong. With the economy the way it is I will take what I can get but I will say that was one of the few disappointments.

[A Very Super Market]

If its anything like the other TW games, the naval battles will easily be modded for realism. Frankly, I despise just how easy it is.

But I guess thats what happens when a forum full of realism-buffs see anything, huh?

[stabiz]

Yup.:)

[stabiz]

9/10 from Eurogamer:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/empire-total-war-review

[AJ!]

Empire has recieved some great reviews so far. IGN have given one of the best.

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/957/957883p1.html

This also comes with a video review with loads of new gameplay.

Also stabiz what are your computer specs to run empire on high?

I want to get a acer laptop with a 2.2 core 2 and 4gb of ram with a geforce 9600m gt 512mb as it has got some great feedback as a gaming laptop and is in my budget but im not sure if it would run empire on high :hmmm:

[Biggles]

The soldiers on the battlemap speaks in their native tongue!? Wonderful!:D :woot: :yeah:

[stabiz]

They do that in Medieval 2 too, if you use the mighty sound mod. Its called Xantro ... uh ... it has the least spellable name ever, but its good!

AJ: I have a Core 2 Duo E8500 (2x 3,16hz), 4GB DDR2 RAM, ATI HD4870 512MB. Almost everything on ultra and smooth graphics in 1680x1050.

[Biggles]

They do that in Medieval 2 too, if you use the mighty sound mod. Its called Xantro ... uh ... it has the least spellable name ever, but its good!


I'm extra excited about this game though, since we can play as Sweden!:shucks:

[Dowly]

The first thing I do is mod in Finland and kick yer arses. :O:

[Biggles]

The first thing I'll do is to dig a ditch between Finland/Sweden. You lot will be to drunk to get over it, and I won't have to fuzz with you:O:

[stabiz]

Finnish troops are in the game, though.

[A Very Super Market]

I'm pretty sure Finland is part of Sweden at the start of the game. But mods will fix things.

As for your specs, AJ, the graphics card and RAM is at "ultra" level, but your processor actually falls under minimum reguirements, so I'm not sure

[Raptor1]

I'm pretty sure Finland is part of Sweden at the start of the game. But mods will fix things.

Hmm?, Finland was a part of the Swedish Empire in 1700

[A Very Super Market]

I meant fix things for Dowly and his crazy nationalism.

[Raptor1]

Ah, but that would give him the whole world as a protectorate, wouldn't it?

[A Very Super Market]

Anything is possible. ..

[Biggles]

I'm pretty sure Finland is part of Sweden at the start of the game. But mods will fix things.

Hmm?, Finland was a part of the Swedish Empire in 1700

It sure was.

Take a look of this pic:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/42/Campaign_map_in_Empire_Total_War.jpg
If you look on the minimap down in the corner you can see Sweden and Finland together in a blue colour. Norway is red, part of Denmark I suppose. I dunno if they've changed anything since this pic, I think it's pretty old.

[stabiz]

Yeah, the Danes had us back then. *waves fist*

:)

[Biggles]

Yeah, the Danes had us back then. *waves fist*

:)

Yeah? Oh I will change that! *waves two fists*

[A Very Super Market]

If anybody didn't see these, some campaign reports are up.

http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=112895
Official playthrough by a CA dude.

http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/44021
http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/44021/t/A-Prussian-Campaign-Report.html?page=7
Parts 1 & 2 of a Prussian campaign by a different dude.

[papa_smurf]

All i can say is roll on the 4th, then I can play as the 13 colonies and kick the British out of the Caribbean :D

[Biggles]

How can I wait until Wednesday? How? How? How? How? How? How? How? How?

[A Very Super Market]

Biggles, I need you to help freeze me.

And then, you can start an avalanche, and we'll both freeze.