I’m liking it so far, just having scratched the surface. I can’t help but wonder what game Creative Assembly has up their sleeve next (after Rome expansions). They should cut a deal with Illwinter and adapt the Dominions world to the TW engine.
I’ve just been playing the game straight for a few hours and I’m loving it.
I’m also noticing that the auto-resolve is still very generous when deciding battles for the player. When the odds look tight and I can’t afford to lose, I auto it (and feel a little bit lame).
Also, great minds thinking alike Jason- after the demo I posted in the Dom 2 thread what a great thing it would be for the Dom2 world to have the RTW engine. There would be some completely kick-ass screen shots to get from that baby.
I can’t help but wonder what game Creative Assembly has up their sleeve next (after Rome expansions).
There was some information leaked a while back that CA would be doing Medieval: Total War 2 next; a M:TW remake using the new engine and stuff. Not sure of the truth in that though.
As a longtime person-who-thinks-the-Total-War-series-is-Fun, this presents a major moral dilemma. We all know that Medieval 2 is the best idea, but we also want new, exciting wars, not just improved old ones.
I’d actually like to see it as an expansion pack, but how do you market that? Rome: Medieval 2?
There’s a Napoleonic Mod for Medieval which is extremely complete, and impressive, but that era’s manouvers just aren’t as involving and visceral. Lots of lines and boxes and squares. Lots of standing still and firing, reloading that takes forever, then firing again, with those crappy pre-rifle firearms. But anyway, some want a Napoleon: Total War, which would presumably include the U.S. revolution and maybe the U.S. Civil War also.
Renaissance: Total War; Alexander: Total War; and even licensing LOTR have all been bandied about. Ooo. Almost forgot about Chinese Five Kingdoms: Total War. That’s one of the scenarios that’s probably really strategically interesting but only a vocal, slightly deranged handful care about.
What I love about Total War is playing online and never meeting assholes. After a couple of months, the game’s slowness scares off all the Leetspeakers and Korean 11-year olds and online gaming becomes tolerable. Almost civilized.
Whilst I kinda see what you mean, the forming of squares and such as a reaction could provide quite quick and tense action. It was an era of in depth infantry drilling and quite developed tactics so I would say it would be a very exciting game. Does anyone remember Fields of Glory?
Dominions: Total War would be awesome. I think the Creative Assembly guys prefer historical settings, though. I wonder what they are going to do next? They could always revisit Medieval with this new engine; that could be cool. Something set in China during the Warring States era could be interesting, too. Or they could do an age of imperialism game.
I’d actually like to see it as an expansion pack, but how do you market that? Rome: Medieval 2?
You market it as “The Fall of Rome,” and make it a game about struggling to bring Europe out of the dark ages. Hmm…
I’d love to see the 30 Years’ War, personally.
So far I’m really liking the enhanced dynastic elements of the game. You really need warm bodies (competent or not) to run your cities, so you have a big interest in making sure your family members stay alive and produce children. I also like that prominent family members get nicknames that reflect their traits. My Gaius Scipio’s name changed into Gaius the Harsh, then Gaius Victis then Gaius the Mighty as he was worked up. I’ve seen a “Lily-livered” in another faction.
Anyway Gaius and my 3 other best leaders all decided to die of old age within a few turns of each other. The next generation’s incompetence has only been exceeded by its infertility, and so my expansion has ground to a halt.
… yeah I think the negative traits are bugged, increasing from generation to generation. I seriously have difficulty believing I could have such worthless heirs.
Inbreeding.
My wish? Game of Thrones: Total War.
AWWWWWWW!!!
I call Khal Drogo and the Horde! :D
Yep, get new blood in the line. Bribe a foreign general and adopt him- or manage to get one of your captinas promoted to family member.
Inbreeding.[/quote]
I seriously doubt it. All marriage material is brought from outside the family.
I have some good heirs in my current game. Manius Julius is a very good general, and well liked by the people. He also really, really likes to beseige cities (Gatecrasher trait). He sneaks a mention of how good he is at breaking gates every time we go into battle. Once, I sent him to relieve a seige on one of our own cities, and he couldn’t resist bring it up. “You know my reputation! They have yet to make a city wall to keep ME out!” I was like “Whoah, cowboy! That’s our city.”
Caius Julius, who now leads the family, isn’t much of a fighter, but he’s a great politician. He stays in the capital and keeps things running smoothly while his little brother guards the frontier. I do miss Flavius, their father, though. He had it all–11 Command stars, high management and influence, the love of the people, the respect of the Senate… I doubt I’ll ever have another ruler like him, at least during this game.
As an aside, how’s the manual that ships with the game? I haven’t seen this mentioned yet.
That would rock. I would settle for anything like it, however.
olaf
It is not bad. A little over 70 pages of info, and a foldout paper thing with a map on one side and a tech tree on the other. The only thing really missing is complete unit stats, and maybe the formulas for combat and stuff. Had to save something for the documentation expansion I imagine. The prologue tutorial campaign is pretty good, and you can get fairly good in-game help as well.
olaf
That would rock. I would settle for anything like it, however.
olaf[/quote]
Crap, that would be awesome. Heh, I wonder how many players choosing to start out with the Starks would move Eddard to King’s Landing? :P
Late Antiquity era would be spectacular. You could do The Fall of Rome: Total War and go from Diocletian to the end of the Western Empire (say 300-700) and the development of the East through the Muslim conquests. It would be a nice blend of the ancient stuff with the medieval, and done right it would play very differently than both RTW and MTW. Nothing like that’s been done before in a computer game, as this is a really underappreciated part of history.
Some fantastic battles could be recreated, too. Milvian Bridge, Adrianople, the sieges of Rome in the late fourth and fifth centuries, Justinian’s wars to reconquer the West in the 6th century, the massive war between Byzantium and Persia in the late 6th and early 7th centuries, all the battles of the Muslim conquest like Yarmuk…yum. That would be an amazing game. There’s too much for it to be done properly as an expansion to RTW, though.
Or if CA wants to get away from Rome for the next full game, maybe a focus on the Muslim conquest would be best. Maybe that would be too controversial right now, though. That’d be a fantastic setting, too. Start with the Umayyads and move on into the Abbasids, the Fatimids in Egypt and the Maghrib. That would be awesome. Lots of factions and conflicts as well.