Only 1 month after the release of Shogun 2 Total War, the epic samurai turn based and real time strategy monster from Creative Assemblies, the boys at CA are already working on a new chapter to their Total War saga, the series that put CA on the map. Making a New Total War
For any of you that have been living under a rock for the past 15 years, Total War is a hybrid strategy game that combines real time battles of un-precedented scale with a heavily tactical strategy map that is managed in turns a la Civ 5. There have been many Total War games over the years
Shogun Total War, the grand daddy that started it all, the first strategy game with more then 200 units on the map
Medieval Total War, with more factions and more conquering now set in Europe
Rome Total War let you follow in the footsteps of Gaius Julius Caesar or Marcus Junius Brutus as they conquered the world for the Senate and People of Rome. Also the 1st Total War with 3d units and not sprites! :O
then the 1st sequel came, Medieval 2 Total War returned to Europe in the 14th century, but updated!
Then, my personal favorite, Empire Total War. Set in the times of great men such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Lord Horatio Nelson, when the United States rose up as an indepent country. The age of gunpowder and cannons, piracy in the caribbeans, massive and gorgeous ships fighting it out on the seven seas.
The true revolution from Empire Total War, for the first time, Naval Combat
and the newest child, Shogun 2 Total War. Back to the epic fights between the fierce Samurai warriors in 15th century Japan, during a time called the Sengoku Jidai, where war for dominance was rampant.
Now that the history lesson is over, what do you guys think the next Total War will be about? and what do you hope it'll be about?
myself, I think Rome 2 Total War is what's coming, however, what I WANT is Empire Total War with the entire globe this time, not just Eastern America, India and Europe. But Africa, China, Korea, Japan, Brazil, Chile and all that!
but odds are it's either going to be some modern era crap (i hope not!) Rome 2 (which would be awesome in its own right!) or another place that we havent explored yet, perhaps Vikings or China's 3 kingdoms era?
EDIT: btw, i started playing Empire again recently after finishing Shogun 2 the ship battles in Empire are so much fun! :D
EDIT: NAPOLEON TOTAL WAR IS A STAND ALONE EXPANSION PACK! STOP SAYING "HERP DERP YOU MISSED OUT NAPOLEON"
I still haven't even gotten around to playing Shogun 2 yet! Then again it doesn't surprise me that they are working on a new one so fast, I just wish they would just take more time patching/updating the current versions. I'm speaking mostly in relation to the way they pushed out Napoleon to make you pay for a fixed Empire rather than just fixing E:TW's problems with patches.
Anyway, of the suggested possibilities 3 Kingdoms and Rome 2 are the options that I would be happiest with. Rome: Total War is the best experience I've had with the series so far, and I found the units really fun to use, so returning to that setting would be cool.
THey'll probably do a more modern based game, or maybe even future. I can't see them doing Rome 2 or 3 Kingdoms. They went back to their roots with Shogun and satisfied the people who hated Empire, and now they'll probably move on to something new again.
On May 30 2011 19:12 DannyJ wrote: THey'll probably do a more modern based game, or maybe even future. I can't see them doing Rome 2 or 3 Kingdoms. They went back to their roots with Shogun and satisfied the people who hated Empire, and now they'll probably move on to something new again.
On May 30 2011 19:12 DannyJ wrote: THey'll probably do a more modern based game, or maybe even future. I can't see them doing Rome 2 or 3 Kingdoms. They went back to their roots with Shogun and satisfied the people who hated Empire, and now they'll probably move on to something new again.
who could hate Empire? its so fucking cool!
Tons of people hate it. I liked it, but even I must admit the bugs and AI were horrible, and Napoleonic warfare definitely has some drawbacks when it comes to exciting gameplay.
On May 30 2011 19:12 DannyJ wrote: THey'll probably do a more modern based game, or maybe even future. I can't see them doing Rome 2 or 3 Kingdoms. They went back to their roots with Shogun and satisfied the people who hated Empire, and now they'll probably move on to something new again.
I actually liked Empire but I don't think anything more modern than that would work very well unless they overhaul they way they handle battles. Empire worked because during that period riflemen still stood in formation when they fought, later then that they realized that is a bad idea against gunpowder. More modern combat would be too disorganized to control on the large scale that Total War is known for. Furthermore, I feel like the prevalence of vehicles like tanks and aircraft doesn't really fit well.
edit: This is all just my opinion of course, and I concede that eventually the series will probably have to move to more modern settings, unless they want to just keep rehashing what's been done before. I just think they'll have to change the way combat plays, which is something they haven't really done since the start of the series, to do it.
Am i the only one who would love to see a fantasy based Total War? Something like the map of Rome: total war, but with the countries having mythical creatures.
On May 30 2011 19:34 Rhokdar wrote: Am i the only one who would love to see a fantasy based Total War? Something like the map of Rome: total war, but with the countries having mythical creatures.
There have been mods like that, like a LotR mod for... I think it was Medieval 2? However, Creative Assembly seems too in love with historical settings to do an official fantasy based one. I certainly agree it could be cool if they did though.
Rome and medieval 2 are the best of the series imo,
if anyone hasnt played any of these games, they are missing out on HOURS of fun.
the best part is theyre all amazing, so if you prefer medieval combat over empire, you wont be letdown by medieval 2 despite being released earlier, likewise if you like Rome era etc.
my guess for the new total war game is either an expansion to shogun 2 (like napolean was to empire)
OH MAN. The first total war is my favorite game of ALL TIME probably. I enjoyed it greatly. Now I'm still playing Shogun 2, with mods it's a piece of art that can be played for long. Of the rest of the series, the best was Rome, also with mods like Total Realism, it just offered hours and hours of playing time.
I don't know what the new one could be about, I hope it's new Rome or something with Greeks.
I really really dislike empire total war. I enjoyed the additions to the campaign mode but greatly dislike the feel of the land and naval battles. And I guess I just have a lot more fun having battles with medieval weaponry instead of guns.
Rome total war is my all time favorite so I am hoping for R2tw.
I dont think its a surprise they are working on the next Total War but I hope its something new. Rome 2 would be ok but the first is still not that old a game.
On May 30 2011 20:06 TaKemE wrote: I dont think its a surprise they are working on the next Total War but I hope its something new. Rome 2 would be ok but the first is still not that old a game.
Yeah but the AI is horrible, even with modding. The new AI, especially modded ones are pretty good and hard.
On May 30 2011 19:12 DannyJ wrote: THey'll probably do a more modern based game, or maybe even future. I can't see them doing Rome 2 or 3 Kingdoms. They went back to their roots with Shogun and satisfied the people who hated Empire, and now they'll probably move on to something new again.
who could hate Empire? its so fucking cool!
The time period is very, very interesting to me, but the game is rather dry and boardgame-esque (in the bad sense), your rulers etc. are just portraits without character (as are all characters in the game really), and overall feel of the game is rather bland and boring - not to say anything about AI, bugs et cetera.
Personally, I'd hope some of the following time periods would be featured in a Total War installment:
1. Three Kingdoms period of China China has a long, rich history, but I reckon they will not choose this as the next environment as Shogun 2 is already set in a Far East setting. The fact the factions would resemble one another to a large extent might also be an issue, as the replayability would suffer (this is a problem in Shogun too). Variety makes thing interesting! I'd like to see, therefore, perhaps a game or two before focus on China and the surrounding areas.
2. The 'rise of Rome' period (ie. the one in RTW) No doubt we will one day see 'Rome 2'. Hopefully they would use Europa Barbarorum as an influence though for better accuracy, increased depth and more rewarding gameplay. After playing EB, the original RTW becomes unplayable.
3. Ancient Middle East (could be the Fertile Crescent+Egypt, might extend from Magna Graecia to Eastern Persia) This is a very interesting time period that has been largely ignored by the gaming industry. The Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Medians, Phrygians, Hittites, Persians, Israelites, etc. - the area was inhabited, conquered and ravaged by a multitude of nations and peoples. The era saw vast migrations, flourishing trade, rich cultures, magnificent city states and the formation of the first international empires. The warfare experienced several revolutions during the period, too, and many nations had very different approaches to warfare, so there would be no lack of diversity in the game. This is actually my favourite option.
4. Dark Ages/Early Middle Ages I liked The Viking Invasion expansion to the first Medieval: Total War quite a bit, and I feel like the time period could provide an interesting background which is not often represented in games. The game need not focus solely on the British Isles as the expansion did, the European/Mediterranean Dark Ages/Early Middle Ages period overall is highly fascinating, despite common preconceptions.
5. Mesoamerica Another largely ignored culture with a rich history. Lack of variety might be a drawback again, though.
On May 30 2011 19:12 DannyJ wrote: THey'll probably do a more modern based game, or maybe even future. I can't see them doing Rome 2 or 3 Kingdoms. They went back to their roots with Shogun and satisfied the people who hated Empire, and now they'll probably move on to something new again.
who could hate Empire? its so fucking cool!
The time period is very, very interesting to me, but the game is rather dry and boardgame-esque (in the bad sense), your rulers etc. are just portraits without character (as are all characters in the game really), and overall feel of the game is rather bland and boring - not to say anything about AI, bugs et cetera.
Personally, I'd hope some of the following time periods would be featured in a Total War installment:
1. Three Kingdoms period of China China has a long, rich history, but I reckon they will not choose this as the next environment as Shogun 2 is already set in a Far East setting. The fact the factions would resemble one another to a large extent might also be an issue, as the replayability would suffer (this is a problem in Shogun too). Variety makes thing interesting! I'd like to see, therefore, perhaps a game or two before focus on China and the surrounding areas.
2. The 'rise of Rome' period (ie. the one in RTW) No doubt we will one day see 'Rome 2'. Hopefully they would use Europa Barbarorum as an influence though for better accuracy, increased depth and more rewarding gameplay. After playing EB, the original RTW becomes unplayable.
3. Ancient Middle East (could be the Fertile Crescent+Egypt, might extend from Magna Graecia to Eastern Persia) This is a very interesting time period that has been largely ignored by the gaming industry. The Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites, Assyrians, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Medians, Phrygians, Hittites, Persians, Israelites, etc. - the area was inhabited, conquered and ravaged by a multitude of nations and peoples. The era saw vast migrations, flourishing trade, rich cultures, magnificent city states and the formation of the first international empires. The warfare experienced several revolutions during the period, too, and many nations had very different approaches to warfare, so there would be no lack of diversity in the game. This is actually my favourite option.
4. Dark Ages/Early Middle Ages I liked The Viking Invasion expansion to the first Medieval: Total War quite a bit, and I feel like the time period could provide an interesting background which is not often represented in games. The game need not focus solely on the British Isles as the expansion did, the European/Mediterranean Dark Ages/Early Middle Ages period overall is highly fascinating, despite common preconceptions.
5. Mesoamerica Another largely ignored culture with a rich history. Lack of variety might be a drawback again, though.
I personally think the Dark Ages one would be the most interesting. Even though I am a bit tired of Swords and Shields gameplay and would LOVE to see them try to move into a more future era within the Civil War, World War 2 or something because I believe if done right those conflicts could be flat out amazing, especially the latter.
However, if I had to choose an ancient history one, it would be the Dark Ages. For sure.
I loved Rome, couldn't get into Empire, simply because of the firearms. Just like I can't like Terran because they have no melee units. It's so much more satisfying to see formations smash into each other.
What really ticked me off in previous TW games was sieges. In Rome and Medieval II the sieges were 70% of the battles because of the unmodded AI (even with Stainless Steel they were a huge part) and they were horrible. I like how sieges work in Shogun 2.
Just thinking about going back to dark age/medieval europe/rome and sieging again makes me want to puke.
Personally I've had a really hard time getting into the newer Total War games. I LOVEDDDD Rome, and Medieval 2. Holy crap I played the hell out of those games, and the mod community is still up and running.
Empire I loved for naval battles, but land battles bored me. The factions were far too similar for my taste, and the technology progression over the shorter year span wasn't as exciting. Never played Napoleon, heard bad things about it. Shogun 2 was fun but again, the factions were so similar. I know this makes sense as there wouldn't be much variation in culture between two factions in Japan at that time. Having an army of Normans engaging Moorish horse armies for the first time... FUN! Viking armies from Scandinavia... Normaln armies from France and England, Arab armies from the Middle East... MONGOLS invading... so much diversity that ever battle would be different! I loved it!
What I really want is Rome2, Medieval3, or a Medieval game that runs up into the industrial era. I love love love the transition from melee based armies to slowly incorporating guns, pikes, etc. This is where Medieval2 left off. But I want to play through the full transition into modern armies. I loved getting the higher tech units, being able to set up my Tercio formations, and blast my enemies to bits! But at this point in Medieval 2 the tech sort of stops and you're left at the awkward sort of "first gunpowder" unit stages. I want a game that keeps going right up into the Empire era!
I'd also LOVE a fantasy based Total war game. Probably never going to happen, but the warhammer and LOTR mods for M2TW were sooooo fun. High Elven cavalry charging down hills into literally *thousands* of charging goblins.... soooo cool.
Also I want a game mode that plays out like the Civ series. Half the fun of Civ for me is exploring the world, discovering cool areas of terrain, exploring the oceans, finding new continents, etc. I'd love to decide where to place cities and such, expand, meet neighbors, crush them with armies, etc. It'd be awesome.
But really I just want a modern Medieval game. Rome2 or Medieval3 PLEASE!
edit: What's really held the older TW games back is the AI. The AI is just downright dumb as bricks.
Also I want a game mode that plays out like the Civ series. Half the fun of Civ for me is exploring the world, discovering cool areas of terrain, exploring the oceans, finding new continents, etc. I'd love to decide where to place cities and such, expand, meet neighbors, crush them with armies, etc. It'd be awesome.
This with the power of a thousand suns.
I always felt, hell, it IS what Total War is. The battles you are playing out are those things that are done in a few seconds in the Civilization Series when you right click on another army with your army. You are playing those battles and sieges out. And in Shogun 2, I really had a lot of diversity in the nation building and exploring and whatnot.
I really don't want them to go back to Rome or some crap personally, it'll just be the same game with slightly different units and better graphics. I want something new. I want Empires naval battles, Shogun's sieges and nation building, and Rome's ground battles and diversity.
I liked Empire because I like firearms and cannons, also it was a truly epic-spanning grand campaign.
Shogun 2 was really well-done, it was very polished in all ways, the only downside is it simply get boring after a few playthroughs because there is 0 variety in the game. Every faction is pretty much the same, no unique units and so on. Conquer japan once and its the same experience over and over again. Shogun-era is meh, too, I like Rome/MW alot more. Legendary difficulty was the BEST THING EVER TO HAPPEN TO THE SERIES btw.
btw CA has hinted on Rome2 several times. I swear its going to be Rome2 and I love it.
i would love a rehash of RTW... that was by far my favorite - wide variety of tactics and units. would definitely love a 3 kingdoms one of course, but i feel it'll be too similar to shogun in the aspect of monotonous unit selection - which isn't really a bad thing, but gets a bit bland as the game goes on. of course this is better for multiplayer but the shogun 2 total war multiplayer has been near unplayable for me - takes me > 10 minutes to find a single matchup.
I would love r2tw I have been playing rtw for years and I still play it nowadays ^^.
They should make better unit rosters for it though some of the unit rosters were quite lacking in rtw and they missed some factions like the illyrians ;(.
I still haven't finished messing around with Shogun 2. It's soooo good.
If they make a Three Kingdoms Total War, even if it cost $100 I will still buy it. My childhood is filled with everything about this glorious, turbulent period. The epic setting, the suffocating atmosphere, the famous memorable characters/heoroes, the grandiose battles, the beautiful landscape, the incredible mind games... OMFG just thinking about it make me $@$#$.
Can't wait to see what period which the next installment is set on.
if u want WW2 go play Company of Heroes. WW2 is wrong. it would destroy the ESSENCE of Total War, which is 2 huge ass armies colliding on a field of battle, something that stopped after the 18th century
On May 30 2011 23:47 PlaGuE_R wrote: if u want WW2 go play Company of Heroes. WW2 is wrong. it would destroy the ESSENCE of Total War, which is 2 huge ass armies colliding on a field of battle, something that stopped after the 18th century
Uh, it was still going on quite a lot in the 19th century technically. But that's beside the point.
Rome : total war is a game beyond so many others. Its the first game of the series I've played more then 400 hours in. (I've got 2 mods but still) God I hope they made it rome 2
Stainless steel for Medieval 2 is the best mod ever created.
It was brought up back in the Shogun 2 thread, but having one based upon the Three Kingdoms Era would be great for someone like me because I loved that time in history where it was also fictionalized.
I own just about every total war game, except the first medieval and I've loved all of them. I'd just about be happy with anything they throw out. Assuming it's not something totally silly.
I would like to see a late roman peroid/dark ages peroid. with britian and all that jazz. Since there is quite a lto fo history there with the saxons invasion of birtion and such. would be an intresting peroid.
I almost fear in the next decade (since they are going through game slike fire) they will run out of peroids to auctally do tw games of.
a) The extreme contrast of national units. Whenever I get the itch to play Rome, I beeline for taking out the Greeks so I can restart the campaign with Greek hoplites, then after victory I play another as the Egyptians, then I switch to Britania, then I go Pontus until I'm tired of the game. b) The way generals worked. What Shogun 2 did with the RPG points system was such a huge step in the right direction, but Rome's has always felt like the best for me. Trying to pamper my heir and get him all the priestess I could by the age of 25, weed out my generals with serious flaws, etc. c) It doesn't matter how bad the AI is, I never tire of watching chariots melting into a line of armored hoplites, or fifteen archer units raining death over a wooden palisade, or militia hoplites holding an unfortified city against a sea of infantry, or a single Spartan unit holding the town center.
I'd love for it to be Rome 2, but only as long as it offers the same wild unit diversity.
Three Kingdoms would be pretty insane too, I used to play the Koei dos games endlessly.
I haven't played the last two games of the series: is it possible to play the turn based map in multiplayer (1vs1 for example)? I'm not a big fan of single player, so I'd love to play 1v1s on the big map ^_^
On May 31 2011 00:13 cyclone25 wrote: I haven't played the last two games of the series: is it possible to play the turn based map in multiplayer (1vs1 for example)? I'm not a big fan of single player, so I'd love to play 1v1s on the big map ^_^
Yeah, there's a co op campaign available now. No idea how good it is but from what I've gathered it's basically just whoever you're playing with replacing one of the AI.
Awesome, I must have sunk a combined 1000+ hours into this franchise. I really want them to expand the scope of the strategic map-portion of the game. I always felt that this was the game's weak point (along with AI...). If they combined the grand strategy and immense scope of Europa Universalis with Total War battle mechanics, I think my life would be complete.
As for my personal preference for time period, I'd like to see bronze age Near-East, spanning from Greece to the Hindu Kush. So much interesting history, over a huuuge time span that is often been neglected by games.
Or failing that, maybe a medieval game spanning the entire Old World, at the time of the Mongol conquests. Who wouldn't want to play as the Mongols, and try to outdo Genghis Khan?
I gave up on the series after Empire/Napoleon and trying out a bit of Shogun 2.
I'm still a huge fan of both Medievals and Rome. IMO, the series' peak was Rome (especially considering the number of awesome mods for it), with Medieval 2 being the last quality title in the series.
The first two games were the best, imo. CA tried to appeal to a mass audience in Rome and made too many joke, unrealistic units and the abomination that was the anachronistic Egyptian faction. It also lost the feel of the Roman period because cavalry was just fucking overpowered compared to infantry, which dominated the era.
Medieval 2 was a slight improvement, balance and historical wise, over Rome but lost a lot of the flavor and the variety of units, even compared to the original Medieval. Empire was just a mess of bad AI, bugs and the game engine isn't really good for mass gunpowder fighting.
Shogun 2 has the drawback of a huge lack of variety. The balance and flavor and the feel is awesome, however, since CA was able to concentrate on balancing a few units.
On May 31 2011 02:57 andrewlt wrote: The first two games were the best, imo. CA tried to appeal to a mass audience in Rome and made too many joke, unrealistic units and the abomination that was the anachronistic Egyptian faction. It also lost the feel of the Roman period because cavalry was just fucking overpowered compared to infantry, which dominated the era.
Medieval 2 was a slight improvement, balance and historical wise, over Rome but lost a lot of the flavor and the variety of units, even compared to the original Medieval. Empire was just a mess of bad AI, bugs and the game engine isn't really good for mass gunpowder fighting.
Shogun 2 has the drawback of a huge lack of variety. The balance and flavor and the feel is awesome, however, since CA was able to concentrate on balancing a few units.
The mods for RTW made the game about a trillion times better. I really hate how they've basically hamstring'd modders in the newer games.
So far I have loved all the games For a next one... What I would love to see would be ww1/ww2/cold war However due to people knowing the history a lot more and it being almost impossible to make a fun game out of it I doubt we would see it.
Ww1 dominated by trenches Ww2 dominated by aircraft and tanks Cold war never really got that hot, however it might be possible to turn it into a fake war ? still tricky to control more modern we get the harder it is to make formations of units and battle tactics wont really work so well.
So what else? Maybe a medieval focusing on the crusades A Rome 2 would be my best bet. Not really sure a cave man total war would work so well Could maybe have a Future version, but once again modern/ future doesn't really lend itself to TW style. Then again Starcraft total war ? IT COULD HAPPEN!!!
Long story short, I think it will be a Rome styled, maybe a bit of it would be against the Roman Empire, Gaul, Britannia, Egypt and Carthage.
Doesn't really matter to me, loved all there games so far, Best being Napoleon for me ( most disagree)
On May 31 2011 03:19 Pengu wrote: So far I have loved all the games For a next one... What I would love to see would be ww1/ww2/cold war However due to people knowing the history a lot more and it being almost impossible to make a fun game out of it I doubt we would see it.
Ww1 dominated by trenches Ww2 dominated by aircraft and tanks Cold war never really got that hot, however it might be possible to turn it into a fake war ? still tricky to control more modern we get the harder it is to make formations of units and battle tactics wont really work so well.
So what else? Maybe a medieval focusing on the crusades A Rome 2 would be my best bet. Not really sure a cave man total war would work so well Could maybe have a Future version, but once again modern/ future doesn't really lend itself to TW style. Then again Starcraft total war ? IT COULD HAPPEN!!!
Long story short, I think it will be a Rome styled, maybe a bit of it would be against the Roman Empire, Gaul, Britannia, Egypt and Carthage.
Doesn't really matter to me, loved all there games so far, Best being Napoleon for me ( most disagree)
like i said, anything modern would suck badly. We have enough WW2 games for crying out loud, go play RUSE or Company of Heroes or World at War if u want cold war.
I want another Empire Total War, i think that was the most fun, the fact that the sea actually mattered for something more then just ferrying units back and forth, control of key naval spots was paramount to protect your trade, hunting pirates down, protecting your trading fleets in far off spots when war broke out.
If there was a mod for ETW that was just about the naval side, I'd be happy to sail a ship or a fleet around and do nothing but naval stuff and privateering and taking part in battles between Ships of the Line! that'd be so epic. Why are there no games like the 1st pirates of the caribbean (Sea Dogs 2) but better and more realistic? T_T
I liked Medieval 2, but only the strategic map part of the game. Clashing armies against each other was not that interesting. As you started trying to play a little less casually, you are forced to do things that break the immersive qualities of the game. It also feels like the individual games in the series are abandoned by the developers to work on the next installment. The games will have some bugged mechanics that are haphazardly fixed with a patch but give rise to new bugs that are more severe. And then the game doesn't receive more support. My experience with the series is only Medieval 1 and 2 though, so maybe things have changed. I highly doubt it though.
On May 31 2011 03:19 Pengu wrote: So far I have loved all the games For a next one... What I would love to see would be ww1/ww2/cold war However due to people knowing the history a lot more and it being almost impossible to make a fun game out of it I doubt we would see it.
Ww1 dominated by trenches Ww2 dominated by aircraft and tanks Cold war never really got that hot, however it might be possible to turn it into a fake war ? still tricky to control more modern we get the harder it is to make formations of units and battle tactics wont really work so well.
So what else? Maybe a medieval focusing on the crusades A Rome 2 would be my best bet. Not really sure a cave man total war would work so well Could maybe have a Future version, but once again modern/ future doesn't really lend itself to TW style. Then again Starcraft total war ? IT COULD HAPPEN!!!
Long story short, I think it will be a Rome styled, maybe a bit of it would be against the Roman Empire, Gaul, Britannia, Egypt and Carthage.
Doesn't really matter to me, loved all there games so far, Best being Napoleon for me ( most disagree)
like i said, anything modern would suck badly. We have enough WW2 games for crying out loud, go play RUSE or Company of Heroes or World at War if u want cold war.
Like you said, you already stated your case.
I much prefer the pre-firearms eras, but what I enjoyed about Empire's battles were that they reminded me of an American Civil War book I had as a child that had action painting-style overheads of every battle. The soldiers in formation on the hills and behind the fences were exactly the same scale as I remembered, and it felt like playing a game I'd seen for most of my life. As such, I would love a detailed treatment of that period along the same lines as Shogun; not very likely however.
Hated everything about Empire, never played Shogun myself.
If they go back to how Total War games used to play then sure, but sticking with the Civ/TW hybrid bastard style of Empire will stop me spending any more money on the franchise. I'm sorry but how do you fuck up a game as badly as they did with Empire?
On May 31 2011 02:57 andrewlt wrote: The first two games were the best, imo. CA tried to appeal to a mass audience in Rome and made too many joke, unrealistic units and the abomination that was the anachronistic Egyptian faction. It also lost the feel of the Roman period because cavalry was just fucking overpowered compared to infantry, which dominated the era.
Medieval 2 was a slight improvement, balance and historical wise, over Rome but lost a lot of the flavor and the variety of units, even compared to the original Medieval. Empire was just a mess of bad AI, bugs and the game engine isn't really good for mass gunpowder fighting.
Shogun 2 has the drawback of a huge lack of variety. The balance and flavor and the feel is awesome, however, since CA was able to concentrate on balancing a few units.
iirc they made Egypt the way it was because they didn't want another nation based on phalanxes so just for gameplay reasons. Tbh I don't think it was that bad of a choice, fighting those greeks off was a pain in the ass anyway couldn't stand another phalanx :D.
Napoleon, Alexander, MesoAmerica, Vikings, Crusades, have all been done in expansions, so they wont likely return to them.
I personally would like a game based on China and Mongolia, but if I had to guess, I would say they likely try something crazy, like WW2 or even Future based. being the horde would be awesome (The Golden Horde in Medieval is only a small faction of the horde and involved only their westward expansions).
Of course a greek states game would be cool, SPARTA!!
On May 30 2011 23:55 sermokala wrote: Stainless steel for Medieval 2 is the best mod ever created.
I wholeheartedly second that! MTW2 is still one of my favourite games thanks to this mod. The gaming experience, diversity and balance increases sooo much. The modders did their best to improve AI and it's better than vanilla's (not perfect though). Hell I'd still play it if it weren't such a timesucker
The problem with Rome:total war is that the roman infantry has to be ridiculously OP compared to most of the other soldiers available at the time. That's (partly) why they had such a badass empire.
Personally i'd love an ancient world: total war - the greeks, minoans, persians, egyptians, with trireme style naval combat would be so epic (basically age of empires 1 again)
edit: also a mongolian khanate game would be so much awesomeness, but the battle maps would have to be ridiculously huge to actually use some of the tactics the mongols employed
To be honest you could definitely make a TW game with the period of 1900. You could have an alternate history instead of world war breaking out . It would be like this: 8 turns for each year. Because with motor transport everything happens so much faster. Could be epic as fuck.
On May 31 2011 04:28 Zrana wrote: The problem with Rome:total war is that the roman infantry has to be ridiculously OP compared to most of the other soldiers available at the time. That's (partly) why they had such a badass empire.
It's not really a problem, the game wasn't designed to have balanced factions in the first place. Most popular Rome mods (Europa Barbarorum and Rome Total Realism) make the factions even less balanced in favor of historical accuracy, and it plays out soooo much better than vanilla. =)
Don't dismiss World War One, I think that might be the latest you could have the engine (ie big armies against big armies) still be pretty good with some tweaks. I mean airplanes, gas attacks, trenches, bayonette charges, and tanks would be pretty cool to try and use in the TW engine.
If not I would love a Seven Years War (I think in American you call it the French Indian War) game or maybe even a bigger Americas game that starts with Cortes and maybe can go up to the American Civil War or something that'd be cool. (For the uninitiated the Seven Years War is the war that ended with the British conquering almost all of North America and the Carribbean, Louisiana going to the Spanish, and other fighting in Asia. Many consider it the actual first world war. Also if you can play as the Iroquois in it that would be ballin)
As a historian who studies Prehispanic Mexico I think I already got my total war game witht he Medieval 2 expansion but yeah a lot can happen. Someone in the thread proposed something like a Europe: Total War that begins right after the fall of Rome and goes up until the end of WWI and I think that would be really cool to do. I think the games could do a lot to make the outside combat map game a little more fun and enticing.
I just don't think trench warfare would be fun. It'd be like every battle is a siege, and whoever takes the initiative to attack through no man's land would be at a massive disadvantage.
Now if Creative Assembly had the ability to be creative in storywriting i would actually really like a hardcore strategy game in some existing fantasy universe or in a univsere that they develope themselves. With Game of Thrones being totally kick ass that would be a franchise that i would like to see in a game but i somehow doubt that it can be made in a good fashion. So i would love some kind of dark fantasy without too many supernatural stuff. Just dirty and "realistic". If they decide to make make another remake i would definitely favor Rome because the first Rome was not a good game, compared to other pieces of that series, but that scenario has lots of possibilites. World War 1 is not possible because of the way that war was fought at that time. Who would want to play hourlong games in which nothing happens because soldiers are sitting in their position warfare. Most other scenarios that are named here just don't give enough diversity in culture and units to make the game interesting to play for more than 10 hours.
On May 31 2011 04:56 Pangolin wrote: I just don't think trench warfare would be fun. It'd be like every battle is a siege, and whoever takes the initiative to attack through no man's land would be at a massive disadvantage.
That's why during WWI there was a technological mad dash to find ways to break that and get the advantage like I mentioned technology research and such for stuff like tanks or gas warfare or aerial bombardment combined with use of artillery and charging the right part of the line, it could be pretty cool imo.'
For the record I havent played after Rome, but this thread inspired me to go check out the new games and found out that Medieval 2 had stuff to do with the Aztecs (I love love LOVE LOVE the Aztecs) and I am downloading it off steam currently :D
I really hope for a ~300 year stretched Rome 2. Those very long settings, with very different cultures, fights with a lot of variety (Yeah shogun 2 was diverse, cough), would be really awesome. A minor graphical update, very deep AI and family trees, and I'm buying it.
On May 31 2011 05:05 Vipsanius wrote: I really hope for a ~300 year stretched Rome 2. Those very long settings, with very different cultures, fights with a lot of variety (Yeah shogun 2 was diverse, cough), would be really awesome. A minor graphical update, very deep AI and family trees, and I'm buying it.
Edit: Don't forget mod support!
Or an imperial Rome total war would be cool. If I recall correctly Rome was still during the republic time and taking over was how you won the game.
Id like to see them take a stab at WW2. The game concept would need to change alot since ww2 would require much more details then couple of armies moving around a map. The last few total war are exactly like the olders ones. They are doing the same misstake almost all popular game developers are doing right now, making the same over and over with slight changes just to make profits. I was less excited over the new shogun because its nothing new really. With them already making a new one id be super dissappointed if its another game of minor changes from shogun 2.
A Total War focusing on the American Civil War would take years. But if CA focused on the Imperial Age from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to just before WW1.
On May 31 2011 06:15 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: A Total War focusing on the American Civil War would take years. But if CA focused on the Imperial Age from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to just before WW1.
I would freak, in a good way.
give me a total war that spans the entire globe, starting from 1500(rise of gunpowder) to 1900 n im a happy panda! :D
Rome 2: Total War would be absolutely epic. Add a few extra features like sea battles and with improved graphics it will drown Creative Assembly in money. I also think the Civil War would be cool, though it may feel very limited (especially the campaign) as there are only two factions with identical weapons and battle tactics.
The only thing I hate with total war is with EVERY games they make, when there is a siege battle the AI is stupid as fuck.
That said, Rome was my personnal favorite, but that's probably because I study ancient rome and it's a big interest of mine.
The only games of the series I never tried are the shoguns. I'm just not attracted by that timeline but apparently the gameplay is a lot improved in this latest shogun. I might bite.
Gunpowder based battle is so uninspiring for me. Give me archers or very expensive and infrequently used gunpowder units (matchlocke ashigaru, arquebusiers.) Maybe they could make it work for my interests, but I doubt it.
I actually liked Empire but I don't think anything more modern than that would work very well unless they overhaul they way they handle battles. Empire worked because during that period riflemen still stood in formation when they fought, later then that they realized that is a bad idea against gunpowder. More modern combat would be too disorganized to control on the large scale that Total War is known for. Furthermore, I feel like the prevalence of vehicles like tanks and aircraft doesn't really fit well.
edit: This is all just my opinion of course, and I concede that eventually the series will probably have to move to more modern settings, unless they want to just keep rehashing what's been done before. I just think they'll have to change the way combat plays, which is something they haven't really done since the start of the series, to do it.
Minor gripe but at the time standing in formation actually was a good idea in battles. =P
Ugh Empire was just painful. Running 2 lines of rifleman #1, #2 and #3 at eachother isn't my idea of an exiting battle. Shogun 2 was a big step in the right direction again though. I hope the next one is Rome again!
I actually liked Empire but I don't think anything more modern than that would work very well unless they overhaul they way they handle battles. Empire worked because during that period riflemen still stood in formation when they fought, later then that they realized that is a bad idea against gunpowder. More modern combat would be too disorganized to control on the large scale that Total War is known for. Furthermore, I feel like the prevalence of vehicles like tanks and aircraft doesn't really fit well.
edit: This is all just my opinion of course, and I concede that eventually the series will probably have to move to more modern settings, unless they want to just keep rehashing what's been done before. I just think they'll have to change the way combat plays, which is something they haven't really done since the start of the series, to do it.
Minor gripe but at the time standing in formation actually was a good idea in battles. =P
Very true. It stopped being a good idea because of an invention called "the machine gun".
I would rather they actually made Shogun multi-player Campaign work so I could enjoy the game I spent a lot of money on, rather than just skipping on to the next project.
honestly, even if they just made Rome a little smoother, dynamic, prettier, etc. and slapped a "2" on the box i would insta buy it. that shit was so fun.
this thread has made me reinstall my medieval 2 total war I got in a pack with empire. Though after 20 something hours of play, it just seemed dull and more like civ than anythihng. medieval 2 ftw.
On May 31 2011 20:18 KaiserJohan wrote: I've said it before and I'll say it again and I can say it a thousand times:
Warhammer 40K: Total War. It would really bring the franchise to its fullest potential.
Are you sure you didn't mean Warhammer Fantasy? 40K is futuristic fluff, like 38,000 years into the future kind of fluff. Sadly, they're still waging war over petroleum, heh. I don't see any way CA can introduce 40K without having to break up unit formations into smaller groups; that would look way too much like Company of Heroes. Besides, there's already a Fantasy game similar to the total war series, it's called Mark of Chaos. Never played it myself because the gameplay looks terrible. Youtube Gameplay LINK
Also, one of those amazingly talented modders over at twcenter actually created a Fantasy mod for Medieval 2. The screenshots look ridiculous. Go check them out. LINK
Are you sure you didn't mean Warhammer Fantasy? 40K is futuristic fluff, like 38,000 years into the future kind of fluff. Sadly, they're still waging war over petroleum, heh. I don't see any way CA can introduce 40K without having to break up unit formations into smaller groups; that would look way too much like Company of Heroes. Besides, there's already a Fantasy game similar to the total war series, it's called Mark of Chaos. Never played it myself because the gameplay looks terrible. Youtube Gameplay LINK
Also, one of those amazingly talented modders over at twcenter actually created a Fantasy mod for Medieval 2. The screenshots look ridiculous. Go check them out. LINK
Yeah, 38,000 years into the future and they're still fighting at melee range. :D Seeing tens of thousands of imperial guard troops clash with thousands of orks would be amazing.
I got tired of these games so quickly! I don't mean to rain on the parade, but they are all just re skinned versions of Rome. Empire was slightly different (I played it most of any of them since Rome), but it seems like for every "new" mechanic the implement they take two steps back somehow. Naval fights were a cool idea, but sucked. The AI gets dumber in every game. I haven't played Shogun 2, and won't be playing any more total war games for a long time. :C
On June 01 2011 12:02 Lexpar wrote: I got tired of these games so quickly! I don't mean to rain on the parade, but they are all just re skinned versions of Rome. Empire was slightly different (I played it most of any of them since Rome), but it seems like for every "new" mechanic the implement they take two steps back somehow. Naval fights were a cool idea, but sucked. The AI gets dumber in every game. I haven't played Shogun 2, and won't be playing any more total war games for a long time. :C
I love TW, but I'm beginning to agree. Shogun is great but i got sick of it shockingly fast.
On June 01 2011 00:55 matko5 wrote: I wonder will the CA get the morale of units right this time. I mean, every game has too low morale for battles...
Really? I don't think many people can keep their cool in the middle of a *huge* battle. Due to this thread I started playing Empire again, and I am blown away by the graphics on my new computer. That being said, I'm also blown away by what it must feel like for the poor bastards in the front lines of the enemy army when my cannons start firing.
There's a lot of inaccuracies in the games, because they're games. Horses will *not* charge into a tight formation of closely packed infantry. Cavalry charges like we see in these games, (especially carrying *lances* into battle in 1100? really? ) are not historically accurate. Either the infantry panicked and broke formation when they saw 200+ heavily barded horses charging at them, (and would be run into the ground), or they kept their cool, held formation, and the cavalry would turn back or go around them, regardless of the rider's wishes.
Do any of you watch "The Borgias"? There's a battle scene in episode 8 that displays quite graphically what happens when cannons firing chain shot strike home on Roman infantry. I don't think anyone could really keep their wits with that going on around them.
Skip to about 4:30. How those men didn't throw down their weapons and run is a mystery to me.
Armies in ages past didn't fight to the last man. In Empire for example. muskets didn't often kill the majority of enemies. Muskets were merely to scare shitless the other guys, and remind them that they had some very pressing matters to attend to back home. Armies would take minor casualties from firearms, and eventually either one army would retreat, or they would both engage in melee.
I think the morale system is perfect honestly. Those polygons are representing individual soldiers on the field. Supposedly each one has a family, a few friends back home, etc. My oh-so-righteous crusade into Moscow isn't exactly important enough to die for as far as they're concerned.
Creative Assembly is quickly turning Total War into the COD of RTS games: a new game with a slightly updated engine and barely updated mechanics each year!
Which I don't mind since their games are really good!
I think a Fantasy total war could be cool. Doesnt necessarily need to be on any current fantasy. Just a new title, with a new setting and a good background.
An Empire 2 Total War covering the entire world int he 18th century would be really nice . . . especially if it had greatly different macro mechanics for different parts of the world to reflect the different societies, though I can see the entirety of Africa being nothing more than trading posts.
On June 02 2011 00:39 Darpa wrote: I think a Fantasy total war could be cool. Doesnt necessarily need to be on any current fantasy. Just a new title, with a new setting and a good background.
On June 02 2011 00:39 Darpa wrote: I think a Fantasy total war could be cool. Doesnt necessarily need to be on any current fantasy. Just a new title, with a new setting and a good background.
Although LOTR total war would make me hot.
As Haemonculus said, there's already a mod for Rome : Total war called Third age, which basically is a LOTR mod.
I really hope it's a Rome 2 total war ! It had the most interesting history, and playstyle behind it, in my opinion.
People here have already said it but the best part about Total War games are the mods - they fix everything and add so much more.
If youre interested search for Rome Total Realism (prolly easiest to get into), Europa Barbarorum (took years to develop, extremely historically accurate, harder to get into but rewarding as hell)
For Medieval theres Stainless Steel and plenty of other realism mods but I just stick to SS, and ofcourse the amazing Third Age mod + Show Spoiler +
Empire mods - Try DMUC, its a compilation of tons and tons od little mods, better AI, unit variety and a lot more Also theres a mod about the American civil war, I havent tried it though.
I dont own Napoleon so I dont know any mods for it (there is a WW1 mod for it which seems awesome though)
There are also mods about Warhammer universe, however im not familiar with it so I cant judge whether they are any good.
All of these mods are about 4gb+ in size, that alone should give you an idea how good they are.
And the best thing last - Europa Barbarorum 2 is in development for like 4 years already and its looking like it may come out this year, its set in the same time period as CA's rome was, it uses Medieval engine, it looks amazing, its made by people who love history and you should be excited about it as its going to be much more better then what CA can give us (IMO)
"Call of Warhammer" is a pretty good mod for Medieval2. Still being developed and worked on today, so it's a WIP, but the gameplay is really solid for most of the factions.
Woodelves and TKs are in the works at the moment. Any warhammer fantasy fans who play Medieval2 should absolutely try out this game.
I really hope it's a Rome one again, that period is so interesting, it was also my favorite iteration!
It'd also be nice to have one starting with the Greeks (pre Alexander) and going on untill the fall of the Roman Empire, techwise it isn't that much more diverse than any of the previous Total War games.
If they make Rome 2 they better have independent and unique units for the separate powers such as Egypt, Greece and not just the BS like in vanilla Rome.
On June 02 2011 05:04 {CC}StealthBlue wrote: If they make Rome 2 they better have independent and unique units for the separate powers such as Egypt, Greece and not just the BS like in vanilla Rome.
I'm not sure how CA can make the Successor kingdoms of the east more diverse without totally pissing off history lovers (like me :D). Dem Egyptian chariots man.
Since the 3 kingdoms period includes similar factions then maybe they could make a Total War based on the warring states period. Many different factions with their own pros and cons. I think that would be another fun far east game.
Rome was my favourite, so I would love it if they returned to that period. Shogun 2 is so amazingly detailed and improved on the first I can only wonder what they would do for the game the second time round. I wonder if they would include some of the great ideas from Europa Barbarorum and the other mods for Rome. That said, I don't think it will be Rome 2, for no real reason. Visiting the Three Kingdoms period of China would be something new for them, although I wonder about the number of factions they would be able to include. A new Empire? Too soon imo, I don't think they would have enough to add. How about a real Ancient one? Hittie Total war, perhaps? Fighting the real Egyptians and warring with the City States of Babylon and Ur?
While playing Napoleon with my friend a couple of days ago, we thought about what could be next, and we came about with a thrilling, yet highly unlikely, idea.
What are your thoughts on: Game of Thrones: Total War ? There are a lot of factions involved, and Total War is the only RTS capable of capturing the epicness of the battles described in the series
I think this would be a great way to make SoIaF into a video game, besides the obvious (MMO)RPG approach
the next total war should be based on the 3 kingdoms, with the addition of hero units, capable of killing hundreds per battle... no more worrying about your high command general dying...now they turn the tide of battle in manly combat.
On July 20 2011 19:23 philoernic wrote: the next total war should be based on the 3 kingdoms, with the addition of hero units, capable of killing hundreds per battle... no more worrying about your high command general dying...now they turn the tide of battle in manly combat.
I loved Medieval 2, some of the mods (If anyone has ever played Third Age) are incredible, the macro elements were simplistic and the battles were great if you installed some of harder AI mods. However the Total War series (and most arm chair strategy) sucks with the diplomacy system, diplomacy is hella bad and there mostly is no point in having diplomacy. That being said I do hope they do something like Rome 2 or something completely fantasy/scifi, I hope they don't try Empire style again, that system sucked bad and slowed the game down to the point that even the boring battles were better than nothing.
On July 20 2011 19:23 philoernic wrote: the next total war should be based on the 3 kingdoms, with the addition of hero units, capable of killing hundreds per battle... no more worrying about your high command general dying...now they turn the tide of battle in manly combat.
Sounds really boring.
how so...manly generals dueling manfully in manly combat is exciting. maybe add a dueling rhythm minigame then micro (rhythm game) vs macro (unit control) hmm? Do you not value the lives of your men, even when i play RTW multiplayer I would suggest that the battle be settled by a duel, their best unit against mine. "you can end this war with a swing of you sword, let them go home to their wives." "imagine a king who fights his own battles, *shink* wouldnt that be a sight." "of all the warlords bla blablabl" "argharghwefwewadfagfa hurhurhru" "HARR"woosh~ [block} "HARR"whosh~ dodge* ...sprint ^hop/stab uguuguUuUusgh,,,*gasps* cheers ~yay achilles achilles <3 hmm no one else? hmmm? "who are you soldier?" : 3 ACHILLES
I think Empire: Total War is the best game in the series, followed by Rome: Total War and Medieval: Total war.
I'm sorry, but I really can't relate to the Shogon-series - I think it must be something cultural though? It probably boils down to what you think is interesting, I guess - I know I played with little toy soldiers of both Roman, medieval and empire design.. Dreaming I was a Napoleon or a Lord Nelson - Or Julius Cesar commanding the Legions, like I saw in movies like Spartacus.. And of course being Ivanhoe in the 13th century =)
I just don't have that same relation to the japanese history..
Also, both the Roman and 17th century styles of battle, fits really really well into how the games battle simulations.. You can actually be quite realistic with tactics in both of those games..
I feel Medieval is a little bit 'off' somehow compared to the other 2 games, just because I always imagined medieval battles as totally chaotic and messy.. It's a little too 'clean' somehow?
I don't want any remake at the moment. I think they should give a chance to some future or fantasy scenario. The reason for that is that it gives them more freedom to create a WORKING game mechanics and build the storyline around it.
So if i was personally asked to choose the next Total War scenario i would make it Game of Thrones: Total War with a storyline that plays many years before the stories of the books/tv-show.
Rome: Total War was absolutely my favorite without any doubts. I remember being so amazed by the graphics and details when it came out, so many times did I pause to look at the battle. I wouldn't mind if they made a fantasy world for the next Total War, it does not have to be with monsters and stuff but just made up people and countries in a fictional world would be cool.
I really couldn't get into Empire, mainly due to the battles, the campaign map was really well done. But walking 2 lines of rifleman variant #1, #2 and #3 at eachother just let them fire is not my idea of exciting. The cool thing about Rome and Medieval is the wide variety of units you had and the effect it had on battles. You had spearman, light infantry, heavy infantry, archers, light cavalry, heavy cavalry, cavalry archers etc. etc. which could all be used in different ways. Shogun was a step back in the right direction though .
On July 20 2011 11:52 nisse175 wrote: What are your thoughts on: Game of Thrones: Total War ? There are a lot of factions involved, and Total War is the only RTS capable of capturing the epicness of the battles described in the series
This already exists as a mod for Medieval, being set in the period just before Aerys Targaryen was deposed I believe. Its called Westeros: Total War.
I've played the Medieval LOTR mod as well, and its pretty good but I feel like theres not very much more to do with it. It doesnt really make sense to have orks conquering a human town and then building ork warriors from it...
That said a fantasy map would be cool if done well. I'm still hoping for Rome 2 or "the whole world over a fuckoff-big period of time: total war"
On July 20 2011 21:35 Laids wrote: I'm not sure why anyone would want a Rome 2 when Europa Barbarorum 2 will be coming out on the medieval 2 engine :<
The only way they could get me to buy a new Total war after the disaster that was Empire would be if;
The AI didn't suck shit The game is actually finished on release (lolempire) Works on ATI cards New era (no gunpowder)
Possibly a 750-1150 or something would be cool, like the time leading up to Medieval:Viking Invasion.
Except technologically there wasn't much progress from 750-1150 in Europe. You'd start with spear and pitchfork wielding peasants and end with... more peasants and the occasional horseman.
I really want a Medieval game that goes farther than Medieval2 did. Start in the heart of the dark ages, (1000-1100 or so), and keep going right through into the early industrial era. I want to see the transition from melee to gunpowder based armies happen slowly! I was artillery to start changing tactics, the pike to replace most infantry, tercio formations, and finally gunlines. I always loved how ME2 changed when you got your first gunpowder units, but you leave off right before they'd start to form the bulk of an army.
Has anyone heard any rumours about this yet? It's been almost 8 months since they annonced that they were developing a new game - I just broke 300 hours played on Empire: Total War - Excellent game, my favorite in the series along with Rome: Total War.
On February 19 2012 17:15 ELA wrote: Has anyone heard any rumours about this yet? It's been almost 8 months since they annonced that they were developing a new game - I just broke 300 hours played on Empire: Total War - Excellent game, my favorite in the series along with Rome: Total War.
A Rome 2: Total War would be sick-sick...
This. I would pay whatever they asked for an updated Rome TW T_T
On February 19 2012 17:15 ELA wrote: Has anyone heard any rumours about this yet? It's been almost 8 months since they annonced that they were developing a new game - I just broke 300 hours played on Empire: Total War - Excellent game, my favorite in the series along with Rome: Total War.
A Rome 2: Total War would be sick-sick...
This. I would pay whatever they asked for an updated Rome TW T_T
Aye, I tried getting into Shogun 2, but couldn't.. I don't know, the 'world', if you will, is just not that compelling to me.. Empire was the last good game they made, Napoleon was very disappointing as well
On February 19 2012 17:15 ELA wrote: Has anyone heard any rumours about this yet? It's been almost 8 months since they annonced that they were developing a new game - I just broke 300 hours played on Empire: Total War - Excellent game, my favorite in the series along with Rome: Total War.
A Rome 2: Total War would be sick-sick...
This. I would pay whatever they asked for an updated Rome TW T_T
Aye, I tried getting into Shogun 2, but couldn't.. I don't know, the 'world', if you will, is just not that compelling to me.. Empire was the last good game they made, Napoleon was very disappointing as well
Interesting. I personally felt that the Empire map was terrible due to the lack of settlements. I think Rome is the best of the series, then medieval 2 followed by Shogun 2. Empire was the worst game imo.
Series went to total shit after Rome. I think the first Medieval and Rome are by far the best in the series. M:TW 2 was decent, but it was buggy/slow compared to Rome and the AI seemed even dumber then before. Very moddable though so that saved it.
Empire/Napoleon were so bad and I feel cheated for spending money on them. Haven't tried Shogun 2 yet. The setting doesn't allow for that much unit variety (which is what made MTW1 and Rome so good).
Really a shame, since the series has so much potential. It could become epic again with a few changes
-Made it moddable again. Mods gave this game endless replayability, untill they made it nearly impossible to mod with Empire. -Fix the damn AI. If a bunch of amateur modders can make an AI that is 10x better then the standard AI, they should look to hire some of those kids.
As far as time periods go, I think Bronze age would be awesome. Sumeria/Egypt/Persians in Ancient times would be so awesome. Otherwise another Rome would be great too as there is so much you can do with that setting
EDIT: NAPOLEON TOTAL WAR IS A STAND ALONE EXPANSION PACK! STOP SAYING "HERP DERP YOU MISSED OUT NAPOLEON"
Napoleon Total War was originally going to be an expansion pack but then they decided to make it a stand alone game. It's not an expansion pack . . . It was also imo the best game in the series and certainly the least buggy upon release. Deserves its own little section in the OP.
On February 19 2012 20:10 Lann555 wrote: Series went to total shit after Rome. I think the first Medieval and Rome are by far the best in the series. M:TW 2 was decent, but it was buggy/slow compared to Rome and the AI seemed even dumber then before. Very moddable though so that saved it.
Empire/Napoleon were so bad and I feel cheated for spending money on them. Haven't tried Shogun 2 yet. The setting doesn't allow for that much unit variety (which is what made MTW1 and Rome so good).
Really a shame, since the series has so much potential. It could become epic again with a few changes
-Made it moddable again. Mods gave this game endless replayability, untill they made it nearly impossible to mod with Empire. -Fix the damn AI. If a bunch of amateur modders can make an AI that is 10x better then the standard AI, they should look to hire some of those kids.
As far as time periods go, I think Bronze age would be awesome. Sumeria/Egypt/Persians in Ancient times would be so awesome. Otherwise another Rome would be great too as there is so much you can do with that setting
I agree with most of what you said, I definitely think Rome was the best of the series, especially due to the moddability of the game letting modders take a good game and making it amazing. Medieval 2 was also pretty good and also has some great mods, but it's not quite the same, mostly because the battles look like they're in slow motion sort of.
I bought Empire when it came out and I was bored to tears by it, the graphics requirements for that game made it nearly unplayable on my computer (though that's not the game's fault), the memory requirement was also huge, something like 22 GB I think. And then there's the really confusing lack of settlements, I'm pretty sure France had one city and Spain had two, wtf? Because of this I skipped Napoleon as I am certain I would have regretted buying it and I'm not really interested in the Shogun setting.
If they don't make Rome 2 or Medieval 3 while learning a lesson from what modders can create out of their games then I probably won't bother buying whatever they're making. Bronze Age could be interesting but I think it would be a bit too limited in its scope.
On February 19 2012 20:10 Lann555 wrote: Series went to total shit after Rome. I think the first Medieval and Rome are by far the best in the series. M:TW 2 was decent, but it was buggy/slow compared to Rome and the AI seemed even dumber then before. Very moddable though so that saved it.
Empire/Napoleon were so bad and I feel cheated for spending money on them. Haven't tried Shogun 2 yet. The setting doesn't allow for that much unit variety (which is what made MTW1 and Rome so good).
Really a shame, since the series has so much potential. It could become epic again with a few changes
-Made it moddable again. Mods gave this game endless replayability, untill they made it nearly impossible to mod with Empire. -Fix the damn AI. If a bunch of amateur modders can make an AI that is 10x better then the standard AI, they should look to hire some of those kids.
As far as time periods go, I think Bronze age would be awesome. Sumeria/Egypt/Persians in Ancient times would be so awesome. Otherwise another Rome would be great too as there is so much you can do with that setting
I agree with most of what you said, I definitely think Rome was the best of the series, especially due to the moddability of the game letting modders take a good game and making it amazing. Medieval 2 was also pretty good and also has some great mods, but it's not quite the same, mostly because the battles look like they're in slow motion sort of.
I bought Empire when it came out and I was bored to tears by it, the graphics requirements for that game made it nearly unplayable on my computer (though that's not the game's fault), the memory requirement was also huge, something like 22 GB I think. And then there's the really confusing lack of settlements, I'm pretty sure France had one city and Spain had two, wtf? Because of this I skipped Napoleon as I am certain I would have regretted buying it and I'm not really interested in the Shogun setting.
If they don't make Rome 2 or Medieval 3 while learning a lesson from what modders can create out of their games then I probably won't bother buying whatever they're making. Bronze Age could be interesting but I think it would be a bit too limited in its scope.
You realize, that this is because thats how it was at this time? "Cities" in Empire dosn't represent a settlement, but an empire/country in itself, all of which are historicly accurate. If you have gotten a new computer since then, I dare you to try it out again, you can update it with installing Darth Mod which adds on a number of improvements if you like.
In the era in which Rome takes place, there are very few established "countries/empires" established, thats why provinces are much more important in that game.
For the total of regions you can actually take in the game, Empire has more than Rome (Rome had 103 regions, Empire has 137)
I agree with you, Rome was a total beast game and I hope the next game is Rome 2: Total War, but Empire really wasn't a bad game, it introduced alot of cool new stuff to the series and most of it worked really well I think
Goddammit why would you bump this without having any new info on what it is =/
I've been waiting for this forever and got so excited when I saw it bumped lol
Definitely in the Hoping-for-Rome-2 camp though, Rome TW is one of my favorite games ever, so good they even made two TV shows about it (Time Commanders and Decisive Battles).
On February 20 2012 14:48 GGTeMpLaR wrote: Goddammit why would you bump this without having any new info on what it is =/
I've been waiting for this forever and got so excited when I saw it bumped lol
Definitely in the Hoping-for-Rome-2 camp though, Rome TW is one of my favorite games ever, so good they even made two TV shows about it (Time Commanders and Decisive Battles).
I never knew they made a TV-show around the games... Why didn't anyone tell me, lol
Here's an episode for anyone else that missed that
EDIT - What I just linked is actually terrible.. Or, the people who are the 'generals' are complete tactical retards.. Watching 5 minutes of a battle made me want to just take over really badly, until I had to turn it off, lol
There are other episodes in the "Recommended"-bar, try one of those instead
Funny how every new TW the AI gets worse. First, they are never able to actually stay in formation when fighting, so DPS is always 3-1 in your favour as they get surrounded and cut off. Then they lost the ability to flank altogether, and it was never rectified in the AI. After 10 or so hours, you learn how to beat the AI in land battles, sieges and siege defense (siege attack being the hardest due to horrid imbalance [even though it should be somewhat that way) in ALL TOTAL WAR GAMES, because the AI is equally sucky. Only by giving yourself a horrible disadvantage/handicap do you lose a straight up fight.
I've loved Total War ever since Rome. I've played 100 hours of Empire but I'm still not sure if I really like it or not lol. Need to see Rome 2
Did anyone else find Shogun 2 really, REALLY boring? All the factions are pretty much identical, they all have the same units. The reason Rome was so good is that it's set in a time where there was a clash of not just armies, but army styles. The Europeans, the Romans, the Greeks, the Eastern Empires, they all had very different fighting styles. Playing as Greek based empires was entirely different from playing as the Parthians.
On February 20 2012 18:38 ManicMarine wrote: I've loved Total War ever since Rome. I've played 100 hours of Empire but I'm still not sure if I really like it or not lol. Need to see Rome 2
Did anyone else find Shogun 2 really, REALLY boring? All the factions are pretty much identical, they all have the same units. The reason Rome was so good is that it's set in a time where there was a clash of not just armies, but army styles. The Europeans, the Romans, the Greeks, the Eastern Empires, they all had very different fighting styles. Playing as Greek based empires was entirely different from playing as the Parthians.
Oh, there is no Rome 2 yet.. It's only wishful thinking from yours truely and others in the thread, about the new game that is currently being developed, but not yet revealed.
About Empire, have you installed Darthmod? It really adds alot to the game, loads of bugfixes and improved AI.
I must be the only who didn't really like Rome. Medieval 1 was the best in the series for me. I'm playing Shogun 2 right now and it's the most polished game so far. The biggest problem is that the setting doesn't really lend itself to having a variety of different play styles and units. That restricts the replayability of Shogun 2 as the biggest differences between factions are their starting positions.
The reason I disliked Rome is that it was the least faithful to its setting. The fact that I was in college taking Roman History as one of my last general education classes at the time the game was released didn't help things. Armies evaporated on a charge. There were too many joke units. Cavalry and missile units dominated the battlefield. Historically, this era was dominated by spear and sword infantry and the battles featured very low casualty rates compared to later time periods.
I'm not a big fan of mods. I think many of the people who enjoy Rome are playing some realism mod of some sort. Rome certainly had the most realism mods out of all games in the series.
On February 21 2012 03:01 andrewlt wrote: I must be the only who didn't really like Rome. Medieval 1 was the best in the series for me. I'm playing Shogun 2 right now and it's the most polished game so far. The biggest problem is that the setting doesn't really lend itself to having a variety of different play styles and units. That restricts the replayability of Shogun 2 as the biggest differences between factions are their starting positions.
The reason I disliked Rome is that it was the least faithful to its setting. The fact that I was in college taking Roman History as one of my last general education classes at the time the game was released didn't help things. Armies evaporated on a charge. There were too many joke units. Cavalry and missile units dominated the battlefield. Historically, this era was dominated by spear and sword infantry and the battles featured very low casualty rates compared to later time periods.
I'm not a big fan of mods. I think many of the people who enjoy Rome are playing some realism mod of some sort. Rome certainly had the most realism mods out of all games in the series.
You should reconsider. The Darthmod has improved every TW game so far. You should check out Darthmod for Shogun 2.
Necroing this thread a bit because a new piece of information came out a month ago. A game for mobile platforms such as the iPad is being developed, called Total War Battles: Shogun. It will be set in the same time peroid as Shogun (obviously), have 1v1 battle capabilities, and a 10+ hour single player campaign following a man and his quest for the Shougnate. Here is an article talking about it: http://blogs.sega.com/2012/03/13/announcing-total-war-battles-shogun-for-ios-android/
IMO, disappointed that they haven't moved off of Shogun yet. I don't think it's as interesting a context as the other total war games. I don't have a mobile device that would run it, so I won't get it. It should be interesting to see how well the game does though.
its unfortunate that it will be the same as all of the rest of the series. shitty unit pathfinding that do not do what you tell them to. I swear that the amount of men that die because half of the unit group refuses to enter a building is unbelievable. And thats from the more recent Napoleon wars. There are so many bad things about this series of games that if fixed would make it soooo much better. So annoying that they make it a half-arsed attempt of a strategy game.
On June 17 2012 11:30 CptCutter wrote: its unfortunate that it will be the same as all of the rest of the series. shitty unit pathfinding that do not do what you tell them to. I swear that the amount of men that die because half of the unit group refuses to enter a building is unbelievable. And thats from the more recent Napoleon wars. There are so many bad things about this series of games that if fixed would make it soooo much better. So annoying that they make it a half-arsed attempt of a strategy game.
Ever played Rome, Medieval 2, or Shogun 2?
It sounds like you're just describing Empire (haven't played Napoleon so maybe that too).
It is a safe bet that he played Napoleon for stream free weekend and the enter house AI is as terrible as he suggests. When you lose more of your units to friendly fire because of bad pathing than the enemy actually killed you have to cry. Those cannons
On June 17 2012 11:30 CptCutter wrote: its unfortunate that it will be the same as all of the rest of the series. shitty unit pathfinding that do not do what you tell them to. I swear that the amount of men that die because half of the unit group refuses to enter a building is unbelievable. And thats from the more recent Napoleon wars. There are so many bad things about this series of games that if fixed would make it soooo much better. So annoying that they make it a half-arsed attempt of a strategy game.
Ever played Rome, Medieval 2, or Shogun 2?
It sounds like you're just describing Empire (haven't played Napoleon so maybe that too).
I love the first 2, hated the third. I felt they fucked up tremendously on Shogun 2. No rebel towns means on higher difficulties, you can't expand because every single town has a 20-stack defending on turn 2. Realm divide brings the idea of "me against the world" to a whole new level of stupidity. Some weird faction you never seen sails a full army stack into your undefended mid? Check. The alliances are even more fickle than ever.. The units have boring diversity.
I guess I'm gonna wait for a long while and critically read reviews before buying it. Didn't do the latter for Shogun 2, turned out to be a waste of my money.
I never ended up buying Shogun 2 just because I felt there was a huge lack in diversity of units which is what made Medieval and Rome Total war so fun.
Empire I just never got into, Napoleonic Warfare just isn't much fun :/ and a lot of the new gameplay features make the game overly complex which I didn't think could happen considering that complexity is part of what makes the series so charming.
I agree that a fantasy based Total War series would be amazing. Song of Ice and Fire, Lord of The Rings etc. could make for some excellent gameplay, but a Rome 2 could be awesome as well. There are some improvements that I think could have been made on the first one that I hope they take into consideration for a sequel.
I personally just hate Empire... and shogun 2 was definetly a far better game in my opinion. Especially once modded. By the way, vanilla always suck in this serie, you are forcd to play mods to really enjoy the game.
As for the older ones, I enjoyed Medieval and Medieval 2 the most and I would really like them to make a Medieval 3 with its mechanics and AI being at least as good as Shogun 2. That would be really great since my biggest grip with S2 is the lack of diversity !
Edit: Btw, be it in Empire or Shogun 2, I just feel naval battles suck. Its a graphical prowess but damn I find them so boring and so... weird.
Honestly just google for "Darthmod" - that mod polished all the games up to what they should have been in the first place, wouldn't want to play without it anymore.
The greek golden period would be awesome. Greeks with phalanxes, Persians with godly archers, Indians with elephants, add some Egyptians in the mix and you get an epic game.
I have played a lot of all the total war games (except the first shogun one) and I actually really like Empire. It is a lot different from the other ones because gunfire forces you to position your troops differently to avoid friendly fire (arrows shoot upwards then down, guns straight forward)
I am a big fan of europa universalis and crusader kings as well and it would be awesome to see a cross-over between these two games. A total war game with more political decisions and strategies would be very welcome in my book! I do realise however that a lot of other fans of total war might not like it but they could just add an option to play with or without it. Also, new medieval game! Love playing as vikings! ^^ Or maybe something from late dark ages.
On July 03 2012 00:13 DannyJ wrote: Safe to say you should stay away from Total War if you think Shogun was that bad...
I shoud have made myself clearer: Medieval 2 was like the best game ever to me personally on the other hand... The level of disappointment coming along Shogun 2 was just incredibly high to me. I would describe it as an unpolished mirror of TW and the AI cheating was rediculous. So you beat us in an epic war? Bam! Big armies from out of nowhere in your face!
EPT![[image loading]](http://stopbeingamoron.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/amass.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/db/Medieval-_Total_War_Sieges.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://www.gamesjm.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Rome-last.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://martindmcahill.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/m2tw.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://evtron.com/Evtron-Alpha/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/PCG188_feat_empire_new3-screenshot.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i39.tinypic.com/14k8rbl.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://static2.videogamer.com/videogamer/images/pc/shogun_2_total_war/screens/shogun_2_total_war_39.jpg)
the ship battles in Empire are so much fun! :D
(there is a WW1 mod for it which seems awesome though)![[image loading]](http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/1228/myetwmapwy3.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2012/07/Rome-2-Street-fighting.jpg)
