Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Swoop on March 03, 2009, 03:29:05 AM
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Anyone?
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you betchya
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any demos for this game? :pray :pray
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Yep I will be grabbing that one ASAP.
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I've been looking forward to this game since it was announced... But in honesty I'm looking forward to the user mods for it even more :)
I hope the RTR team or someone like them spruce it up.
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As soon as I get my grubby paws on it, I'm making a Civil War mod :D
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ETW :rock
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As soon as I get my grubby paws on it, I'm making a Civil War mod :D
I have absolutely no idea how to do anything useful for modding that game, but if you need a playtester, let me know :aok
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I'd recommend you all wait at least a little bit. MTW2 was almost unplayable for a good 8 or 9 months while they released 2 or 3 patches to fix all the bugs. Even after all that they announced no further support while some glaring bugs were still present.
It's sad when a good company gets bought up like that and a shiesty product gets pushed out before it's really even finished.
I have high hopes but I'm doubtful it will be very good until the modding community really gets working on it.
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The demo is available on Steam. The graphics are very good and the gameplay is what I expected, just different units and terrain and it looks prettier. The demo does not allow campaign play, just battles so I can't comment on it. The sea battles seem interesting, very similar to a game I bought years ago (and didn't like for various reasons) called Age of Sail 2. You'll have the ability to capture enemy ships and put them in your fleet.
I was looking forward to the multiplayer campaign, but as I read it won't be released right away. It will come later in a patch. Not surprising since they delayed the game a few months ago and I'm sure the corporate guys were like "let's get this unfinished game out the doors so we can make money now, not later!" Which from a business standpoint might have been a must do.
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I have absolutely no idea how to do anything useful for modding that game, but if you need a playtester, let me know :aok
Many months away before I'll get to that stage, but I'll definitely let ya know. Right now I'm in conversation with several grognards for the era.
It's not just the US/CSA- EVERY country will get an entire new roster. I'm excited as all hell about it- Imagine the CSA getting real French/English support, or the Union accomplishing the same... it just opens up entire new hallways for rewriting history. I can think of 100 what-if's right off the top of my head.
Railroads....THAT'S going to be interesting plugging those into the game.
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I am all over that one Rebel! Let me know if you need a playtester in the future!
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Did the pre-order through Steam and got a free copy of Rome Total War to help pass the time until Empire is released later tonight.
ack-ack
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I've been looking forward to this game since it was announced... But in honesty I'm looking forward to the user mods for it even more :)
I hope the RTR team or someone like them spruce it up.
I pretty much hated the RTR mods after 5.0 or so. Those guys went way overboard in their attempts at realism.....its not real, it's a game for crying out loud.
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I cannot buy it through steam because of geographic restraints, but I have it ordered through a company here, they said I'd get it "a few days" after the release. I hope it doesn't turn into weeks/months.
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I pretty much hated the RTR mods after 5.0 or so. Those guys went way overboard in their attempts at realism.....its not real, it's a game for crying out loud.
Different strokes, I guess... I just think they (RTR team) nailed the feel of the battles fairly well... Out of all the mods I tried, it seemed to best capture what the texts suggest battles of the time were like.
That being said, once you conquered Greece the game was pretty much over. If you tried to follow the Roman conquests in approximate order, it could be a challenge. I sometimes wonder if this is how they playtested it.
SPQR, on the other hand, was a great, fun mod that stays fun throughout the game regardless of how you play it, but its battles are a little overboard on AI advantages IMO.
Neither's perfect, but I found the two the best options.
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Many months away before I'll get to that stage, but I'll definitely let ya know. Right now I'm in conversation with several grognards for the era.
It's not just the US/CSA- EVERY country will get an entire new roster. I'm excited as all hell about it- Imagine the CSA getting real French/English support, or the Union accomplishing the same... it just opens up entire new hallways for rewriting history. I can think of 100 what-if's right off the top of my head.
Railroads....THAT'S going to be interesting plugging those into the game.
What forums do you post on for this game? I wouldn't mind giving that a bookmark and checking in from time to time. Good luck with it! :aok
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What forums do you post on for this game? I wouldn't mind giving that a bookmark and checking in from time to time. Good luck with it! :aok
No forums, really. This is all "in the dark" as it were right now. It's 1 shot in a million. Once I actually have something postable I will indeed post. Most likely over at twcenter.net.
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You'll find plenty of good stuff as far as Total War goes here:
http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/
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[professor farnsworth]Oh my, yes...[/professor farnsworth]
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Different strokes, I guess... I just think they (RTR team) nailed the feel of the battles fairly well... Out of all the mods I tried, it seemed to best capture what the texts suggest battles of the time were like.
That being said, once you conquered Greece the game was pretty much over. If you tried to follow the Roman conquests in approximate order, it could be a challenge. I sometimes wonder if this is how they playtested it.
SPQR, on the other hand, was a great, fun mod that stays fun throughout the game regardless of how you play it, but its battles are a little overboard on AI advantages IMO.
Neither's perfect, but I found the two the best options.
Around 7.0 or so RTR completely nerfed the effect cavalry charges had making cavlary nearly useless and they also nerfed the damage ranged units did, making them nearly useless as well. I'm pretty sure that wasn't historically accurate at all.
I found the Extended Greek Mod to be lots of fun. It expanded the map, changed the playable factions some and added a couple new buildings and many more new units for all factions.
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My computer got destroyed by the demo :cry
If I get this job/promotion at work, new one coming soon :rock If not, I'll continue longing for some TW action.
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I am interested in trying some of the mods for RTW or MTW2. I never did either one and my oldest son loves both games so we have two copies of each and he wants the ETW one as well. He just needs to be upgraded before playing multiplayer against me. I can't deal with his slow choppy gameplay...
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I find the Kingdoms expansion for MTW2 better than any of the mods I tried, but its all in taste.
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Around 7.0 or so RTR completely nerfed the effect cavalry charges had making cavlary nearly useless and they also nerfed the damage ranged units did, making them nearly useless as well. I'm pretty sure that wasn't historically accurate at all.
I dunno... When I read accounts of Carhae (sp?) and other actions against the Parthians and I get the impression that their arrows wore the Romans out over time rather than annihilated them completely in a brief time.
I'm basing the archery model on RTR v. SPQR. In SPQR it seems like the Romans don't know how to lift their shield. You'll see an entire century cut down from a frontal attack in short order. In RTR that doesn't happen, though if you let yourself get surrounded...
As for the cavalry... I find it works very well when used in the role the Romans gave it, though not as good if you're trying to emulate Alexander. The mod really is Roman-centric, despite the attention they've paid to other factions.
I found the Extended Greek Mod to be lots of fun. It expanded the map, changed the playable factions some and added a couple new buildings and many more new units for all factions.
I've never tried that mod... I'll have to give it a shot :aok
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heh, 90 minutes after ETW went live on Steam it was listed on the pirate bay.
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probably get it faster than downloading it for real off steam...they've really butchered this delivery up
Tronsky
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I still want a real live DVD/CD/Whatever copy in my hands.
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I have it downloading right now.
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probably get it faster than downloading it for real off steam...they've really butchered this delivery up
Tronsky
Only took 3 hours to download off Steam for me.
ack-ack
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Apart from steam exclusives i refuse to buy from steam. I don't how the prices compare in the US but new releases tend to be a tenner cheaper if you buy it from a shop.
I enjoyed the demo, i preferred the navy battle to the land battle- the land battle seemed a bit scripted. When i replayed it a second time i took out all of the yankies cannon and good ol george washington let me move my cannons right up to his infantry and kill each of them one by one with grape shot. It seems the battle AI has the old habit of just sitting there, letting you rip him to pieces with arty.
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So far, I am not very impressed with it. The Road to Independence is a scripted bore.
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The Road to Independence is a scripted bore.
It's the tutorial campaign, not surprised it's heavily scripted.
ack-ack
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It's the tutorial campaign, not surprised it's heavily scripted.
ack-ack
You have to play it to unlock the Americas faction.
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Only took 3 hours to download off Steam for me.
ack-ack
You obviously dont live in a country whose internet capacity is as crippled as Tom Cruise's emotional range like this one...
Tronsky
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Heh, ok something very interesting I just noticed.....
They missed out Bermuda!
Right, lets all wind up Curval.
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Should be finished downloading by the time I get home today!
*checks watch*
I think I'm comin down with something...... Flu goin around, ya know :)
Can't wait to kick those french snobs clean across Europe. HUZZAH!
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Heh, ok something very interesting I just noticed.....
They missed out Bermuda!
Right, lets all wind up Curval.
They did?
Pfffft. That is silly. Where do the troops who sack Washington leave from then?
History fail.
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Can't model every little thing, Medieval 2 left Malta and the islands off the Iberian Peninsula out too.
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Anyone expecting a video game to be 100% historically accurate should go read more books. I'll probably wait till past the weekend to buy it off steam. I've been very happy buying retail games off steam. Though if my account were to get hijacked someday, there might be a problem.
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I don't expect "every little thing" to be included...but they didn't call Bermuda the Gibraltar of the West for no reason.
Here is a little historical perspective:
http://www.redcoat.me.uk/bermuda.htm
I'm still buying the game though...let me be perfectly clear.
;)
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Had my first major battle against the French last night. While raiding French territory, my raider force of 545 men (militia, cavalary and Indian scouts and 2 cannon) encountered a much larger French force (1700 men) outside of Ft. Niagra. I went on the attack and the French forces immediately retreated and left Ft. Niagra open for the taking.
At least they've modeled the French forces accurately ^__^
ack-ack
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Had my first major battle against the French last night. While raiding French territory, my raider force of 545 men (militia, cavalary and Indian scouts and 2 cannon) encountered a much larger French force (1700 men) outside of Ft. Niagra. I went on the attack and the French forces immediately retreated and left Ft. Niagra open for the taking.
At least they've modeled the French forces accurately ^__^
ack-ack
:D That must have been a great sight to see.
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Prussians are little cowardly as well. My redcoats assaulted Brandenburg with almost even numbers, however I lost only some 150 men while the prussians fled and lost over 800 men. I was also testing newly acquired 12 pounders with grapeshots, but the experiement failed on me as I tried to close into the range - prussians assaulted my line with all they got. Lost one artillery group as they were too slow to withdraw and soldiers rushed to form a line in front of the gun failed to hold the line. I had set the musketeers to form a single line with couple to cover the flanks and the cavalry was behind the center. Wasn't much of a shoot out as the prussians simply charged to do close up and personal business.
I counter charged with most of the line that hadn't been detached to cover the retreat of artillery. They charged with two lines one after another and didn't leave anything to cover the flanks or to flank me. As the soldiers got melded into a fiery mess of hand to hand combat I charged with the cavalry and used the musketeers covering the flanks to flank the prussians from both ends of the line, eventually attacking from behind. Soon after the prussians panicked and fled en masse - whoever was fortunate enough to get out of the encircelement. They didn't have much of a courage to fight under pressure.
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I still can't get the damn Americas enabled in the Grand Campaign... anyone else get this done?
I finished the Road to Independence and that's supposed to open it.
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I heard Malta was a playable country this time anyone know if this true and if so, how to enable them?
ack-ack
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Definitely not getting this one, at least not for the first couple years.
How many game-crippling bugs have been found so far?
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i downloaded the demo but it dosen't work. :(
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Definitely not getting this one, at least not for the first couple years.
How many game-crippling bugs have been found so far?
So far I've encountered none that were 'game-crippling'.
ack-ack
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Go the demo , no problems so far , apart from im not Nelson :(
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How many game-crippling bugs have been found so far?
I've personally noticed.....none.
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I haven't noticed any other than annoying bugs.
Foot artillery's detach/attach button might be desynched with the deployament status when deployed and the button has to be clicked twice for the proper icon; same bug also exists in the demo. Perhaps something to do with two artillery groups because the other's button is always properly synched but the other is always wrong when deployed. Just an annoyance, but keep an eye out for it or you might have guns that are not ready to move when you think they are. It may have lethal consequences to your own men if you try to move a deployed gun - it will shoot instead.
Another bug seems to concern trading posts. I lost two ships that were stuck on a trading post, couldn't move them and the trade ship didn't trade. Had to scrap both of the ships. I've also hijacked a trading post from AI's trade ship that is similarly stuck to a trading post.
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played with it last night. Lots of fun, the only thing that bugs me are slow load times. Not much longer then MTW2, but still.....
Units are same for all nations, supposedly UK had some specials, other then that each nation has standard set + 1 national unit. That's too bad, but i'm sure modders will fix that.
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So much seems to depend on techs. A unit of the same type as the enemy will get decimated by platoon firing or being charged by a bayonetted enemy while still fitting their plug bayonettes.
As for bugs, only minor stuff like a ship getting stuck in a port. Trying to move a gentleman out of a city and the army moves out instead. Occasional CTD when processing turns but the autosave does it's stuff when you click end turn so not really a killer issue and it'll probably get fixed in a patch.
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I haven't had a single CTD with the game. The other bugs, sure.
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No CTD's here either.
Few things I am not a big fan of but mostly it is a good game.
I do like the idea of being able to pillage through a region without attacking the enemy directly. Makes for the nation that is understrength being able to cause problems.
Still want to play as the America's in the big campaign though.
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No CTD's here either.
Few things I am not a big fan of but mostly it is a good game.
I do like the idea of being able to pillage through a region without attacking the enemy directly. Makes for the nation that is understrength being able to cause problems.
Still want to play as the America's in the big campaign though.
Don't think you can but I'm sure there will be a mod that will allow you to. I'm hoping one will be made so I can play as Malta.
ack-ack
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anybody else having the issue of it freezing every time it gets to the copyright screen (first one).
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Definitely not getting this one, at least not for the first couple years.
How many game-crippling bugs have been found so far?
None.
Only issue I'm having is dealing with the damned indians.
I think some good heavy arty oughta do the trick, don'cha think? :t
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Got horde?
(http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/3345/91910439.jpg) (http://img8.imageshack.us/my.php?image=91910439.jpg)
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LOL Ranger.
I wiped the map with the French using a boat load of British line infantry and grenadiers. Was a blast.
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has anyone else read the wall of text accompanying tech advances?
The one for....er.....I think the 3rd type of bayonette is hillarious. It reads something like: The new type of bayonette attaches to the stock rather than the barrel of the weapon, allowing the user to both fire and reload without losing fingers. It has never been explained why the French chose to mount their bayonettes on top of the barrel, therefore blocking the sight of the user when firing.
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Anybody tried the Naval Combat yet? I'm not a big ship guy, but it might be fun to try it out once in a while. That was always one of my pet peeves about the previous TW games- letting the game auto-decide all the naval engagements.
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I'm hoping one will be made so I can play as Malta.
I'm half Maltese and would love to see Malta get the attention, but they'd be a pushover... ;) Malta does not have any military tradition of it's own to speak of, it was always foreign armies fighting over the island due to it's strategic importance. Some locals assisted a friendly foreign power in defending the island from an unfriendly one from time to time, but there never was a Maltese Army that stood on it's own that would be worth emulating in a game.
I love Malta, have considered writing a book/screenplay to showcase it's historical significance, but it has never been a military powerhouse. Militarily, Malta's about as significant as Barbados. Strategically, now that's a different story...
As for the game, been looking forward to this one. Will probably wait 6 months or so though, let 'em get a couple patches out the door...
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For those interested in modding the demo:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=227839
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What you can do with mods:
(http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/205/over9000.jpg) (http://img4.imageshack.us/my.php?image=over9000.jpg)
(http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/7489/defence.jpg) (http://img4.imageshack.us/my.php?image=defence.jpg)
Even change the lighting and weather:
(http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/6128/etww2di5.jpg) (http://img27.imageshack.us/my.php?image=etww2di5.jpg)
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I got a copy tonight and I must say, I'm pretty annoyed about having to install steam, create and account with steam, register the game with steam, update ETW through....steam... etc etc etc before i can even play offline campaign mode. I'm hoping its worth it. WTF is steam, go away just lemme play.
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What you can do with mods:
Where did you get the mods?
ack-ack
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http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=227839
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Hmmm... This game is very fun, and fairly buggy.
It was much less buggy before the new patch, which caused all sorts of people all sorts of problems.
You may be better off waiting a few weeks if you're on the fence...
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I got a copy tonight and I must say, I'm pretty annoyed about having to install steam, create and account with steam, register the game with steam, update ETW through....steam... etc etc etc before i can even play offline campaign mode. I'm hoping its worth it. WTF is steam, go away just lemme play.
Steam is actually pretty good IMO. It's a far cry from what it used to be 5 years ago. I used to play Half-Life mods regularly and competitively for years and when Steam first came on the scene it was very buggy to say the least. The 'Friends' part of the app worked on and off at the beginning and then they took it down for I'd say 2 years literally. Download speeds for updates/games used to crawl during peak times. Plus it used to be a bigger resource hog.
For someone who's new to it, I can see your point of view. But from my perspective it keeps me connected with old buddies that I played with 5+ years ago (I have about 40 friends, added about 20 just from playing with random people in servers). I see them playing a game I also own and we join up for some coop action in Left 4 Dead, Day of Defeat, whatever. It's just llike Xfire but its built into the games. So chatting is really easy while I'm in game.
Plus they offer free weekends or guests passes so you can invite your friends to try a game you already own, instead of them plopping $50 on a game they've never played. Steam sales are generally pretty good, you won't find the sales in stores. Ex: Left 4 dead is still $50 in stores (and on Steam), but they ran a 50% off sale the other week. And for a lot of games, when I want to install on a new computer or borrowing somebodies while I'm away, I can log in and download the games w/o needing the discs.
You'll probably see a lot more Steam games in the future as it does limit pirating a bit.
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steam aint too bad batfink, i've got a copy of half life 2 to give away if you want it.
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So much seems to depend on techs. A unit of the same type as the enemy will get decimated by platoon firing or being charged by a bayonetted enemy while still fitting their plug bayonettes.
Aye. While the level of unit variation leaves something to be desired (although admittedly, how much military variation was their in the 18th Century?) the technology tree is the great variable. The killing power of a simple line infantry platoon can be multiplied many times over once different firing drills are researched. Hell, a gaggle of untested militia with rank fire ability will wipe the floor with a line of veteran red coats lacking the tech.
I bought the game retail on the release date, have been playing it off and on, since. My thoughts/observations:
A.) Concept = A+.
B.) I dont like the user interface. This is probably just due to familiarity with Rome, Med, etc.
C.) Graphically, its outstanding even at medium settings.
D.) Ultra settings will, unfortunately, kill the best computers.
E.) I dont think Im a fan of the 'region capital' system. Far too often do I encounter really, really annoying (usually French ;) ) single unit raids on my farms and such. I can see this becoming a sore spot of some significance when it comes to multiplayer.
F.) I dont much care for the 'theaters' (Americas, India, Europe, etc) system. I would have much preferred a simple globe - a single map where I could keep track of everything. I have a nasty habit of 'forgetting' about ancillary theaters.
G.) Naval combat is simple and time consuming, although a great option. I find that success is dependent upon position. Ordering a unit to attack another ship, leaving it to figure out how, usually ends in disaster. One is much better off sticking to historical methods of engagement (cross T, etc) which actually work very well.
H.) I do love the new trading potential - between raiding shipping lanes to acquiring ports in tertiary trade theaters.
Suppose I could think of more... but at the end of the day, I like it. I dont love it like I did Rome and, to a lesser extent, Med and Shogun, but its good.
Modders will have a ball with this one. Only a matter of time before the red coat and Brown Bess is replaced with a blue coat and an Enfield. :aok
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Mazz,
What do you mean by "ultra will kill the best computers?"
Do you mean the game just won't work properly, or can there be actual damage done to your machine?
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Mazz,
What do you mean by "ultra will kill the best computers?"
Do you mean the game just won't work properly, or can there be actual damage done to your machine?
"Ultra" graphics settings = brings my machine to its knees.
And my machine is pretty darn spiffy.
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It has never been explained why the French chose to mount their bayonettes on top of the barrel, therefore blocking the sight of the user when firing.
Probably because in Napoleonic style warfare they did more concentrated area fire on command like one large load of buck shot then actually aiming inasmuch as the guns were so inaccurate to begin with. it really was the only effective way to fire upon an enemy at range so having a gunsight really didnt matter.
and once they got close enough to aim accurately it was pretty much point and click so you didnt necessarily need a sight.And by then you would only get a shot or two off before it was time for the bayonet anyway.
Course thats just a guess. but it seems to make sense to me.
Off topic. I've been messing around with Rome total war alot lately.
Great game but cant get the damn music out of my head LOL
I hate Gauls. they breed like frikken cockroaches.
Romans arent much better once you decide to turn on the Senate once you've had enough of the Senate meddling and setting objectives that some of which you cant possibly succeed in in the time limit. or if you can. you cant hold onto the objective.
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Probably because in Napoleonic style warfare they did more concentrated area fire on command like one large load of buck shot then actually aiming inasmuch as the guns were so inaccurate to begin with. it really was the only effective way to fire upon an enemy at range so having a gunsight really didnt matter.
and once they got close enough to aim accurately it was pretty much point and click so you didnt necessarily need a sight.And by then you would only get a shot or two off before it was time for the bayonet anyway.
Yes, but this style of warfare was not exclusive to the French. The point made by the game is a good one - all other muskets and rifles of the day had bayonet lugs either below or on the side of the barrel.
If memory serves, it was generally considered "bad form" (by the Brits, anyway) to actually look at the individual whom you were trying to hit so "aiming" is a big of a different discussion to begin with.
Either way, mounting a bayonet to the top side of a barrel seems about as backwards as putting a 190's engine in the tail.
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I'd guess it's related to handling and reloading of the gun. The french could been trained to handle the gun in a manner in which the bayonet below the barrel would get in the way and therefore it was easier to install it above the barrel than teach everyone a new way of handling the muskets. For example reloading was a lenghty process and skill made a difference of several seconds - change something in the procedure and you will have to learn again the whole procedure to be quick about it.
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ok Fulmar you won me over, and the game working now it is worth it for sure. I just dont want to install anything that might degrade my AH2 connection as i dont play any other games as much. Thrila, thanks for the offer man, i actualy have a copy of HL2 somewhere. I got stuck down this big hole with egg pods in it, I could find no way out and had no other save games.. never played it again. Great game for its time.
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ok Fulmar you won me over, and the game working now it is worth it for sure. I just dont want to install anything that might degrade my AH2 connection as i dont play any other games as much. Thrila, thanks for the offer man, i actualy have a copy of HL2 somewhere. I got stuck down this big hole with egg pods in it, I could find no way out and had no other save games.. never played it again. Great game for its time.
Back on my old P3 800 system (right when steam came out), it was a resource hog. Even on my older P4 system I turned it off to save on memory (though I can't recall it really being a hog, maybe slowed my start up some). Now I have a C2D with plenty of ram, it doesn't bother my system.
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Who got the special forces edition? Anyone? Is it worth getting?
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Who got the special forces edition? Anyone? Is it worth getting?
I bought it... The half dozen or so units are not worth it at all.. I bought it because I was worried that someone might choose to make their mod with it and I'd be left in the dark. That's probably a stupid and illegitimate concern of mine, but hey.
Anyway, like I said a few posts up, it's not worth buying, period, just quite yet.
To give you an idea of the problems, on twcenter.net there is a "The Official ETW Praise Thread " that is 5 pages strong, and a "The Official ETW Rant Thread" which is currently going 36 pages strong. The bug report also has 36 pages.
It's been a real headache for many people. Spare yourself.
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I knew they'd do this crap to themselves again. They could have had the team spend 3 more months on it to release a good product. They didn't do it with MTW2 and I knew they wouldn't with this one.
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To be honest, Ive only encountered a single bug.
Once, on the battle screen, while I was rightfully ridding the America's of those pesky natives, what with their mohawks, poor hygiene and such, some of their reinforcements got "stuck" entering the map.
Only one or two individual soldiers would "hang" on the red line, but it made the rest of the unit unattackable (is that even a word?) because the game thought they were still crossing over into the fight.
Other than that, no issues for me.
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To be honest, Ive only encountered a single bug.
Once, on the battle screen, while I was rightfully ridding the America's of those pesky natives, what with their mohawks, poor hygiene and such, some of their reinforcements got "stuck" entering the map.
Only one or two individual soldiers would "hang" on the red line, but it made the rest of the unit unattackable (is that even a word?) because the game thought they were still crossing over into the fight.
Other than that, no issues for me.
Some people have been luckier than others. Before the March 10 patch, I wasn't having any "major" problems, either. Since then, I've had trouble with memory leaks and had to reinstall the entire game because all the options from Steam (defrag cache, re-acquire files, even delete files) weren't responding.
I understand that designing computer games is incredibly complex and that with the vast amount of variations in machines it is impossible to get something 100% right on release. Obviously, patches are needed and I won't fault the company for that.
OTOH, the fact that this game shipped with bugs like the trade port bug is pretty damning evidence that they did a very lazy job playtesting this thing. Admittedly, they fixed that quickly (one week), but STILL... I mean, come on. The AI won't launch naval invasions, you couldn't trade as certain countries at first... These are problems that would have been noticed had they just had a playtester play the game through once for each country. I would think something like that would be a basic playtesting goal, but they obviously didn't do it.
If you buy it now, you're basically paying them money to do their job. Granted, it's a pretty fun job.
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Some people have been luckier than others. Before the March 10 patch, I wasn't having any "major" problems, either. Since then, I've had trouble with memory leaks and had to reinstall the entire game because all the options from Steam (defrag cache, re-acquire files, even delete files) weren't responding.
I understand that designing computer games is incredibly complex and that with the vast amount of variations in machines it is impossible to get something 100% right on release. Obviously, patches are needed and I won't fault the company for that.
The game's release was already delayed. It's really all business at this point. The game isn't clearly done developing. They never finished the Multiplayer Campaign part of the game (that is promised in a later patch TBD). When you're delaying a game, you're losing money. So they'll release it unfinished to get a cash flow going and continue patching the game as it goes along. This happens time and time again. The biggest game I can think of that was delayed so many times and then released a little too early was Star Wars Galaxies.
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OTOH, the fact that this game shipped with bugs...
Don't get me wrong, I'll be the last to apologize for CA (and every other manufacturer) who, over the past 10 years, has moved from releasing solid products to releasing betas for future patching.
At the end of the day, its really just about money. Shogun and Rome were labors of love. While the rest of the TW series is good, it was ultimately motivated, almost entirely it seems, by profit.
Empire is no exception and although I havent run into many significant bugs, I will say that its clearly not a finished product. It lacks polish.
Perhaps that doesnt really bother me since, compared to many other recently released titles (Conan and WAR come to mind) Empire is a shining example of a playtested product.
Nature of the beast, I suppose.
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Obviously it's about money, and I hope they make enough to continue making these games. Like I said, the game is great fun, and I'll completely recommend it once some of the worse (crashing) bugs are fixed, which, hopefully, will happen with next week's expected patch. It really is great and addictive.
That being said, I also hope a point is found where the negative reviews cause a significant enough delay in their reaching their target profit that they bother testing things better in the future. I have no numbers to back me, but just from checking out the Amazon.uk user polls/reviews, it looks like CA is going to lose some potential customers at least temporarily. Will that loss be greater than the cost of delaying the game a month? Who knows.
Still, although I appreciate the nature of the beast and that, comparatively to other games, it might seem like a wonderfully playtested product, It is blatantly obvious that all the playable factions were not playtested. That trade port bug was a smoking gun in that regard.
It feels like HTC adding a new plane and never taking it for a spin to see if it can really climb to 3,000 feet. I just can't imagine it, but then again, I've been pretty spoiled by HTC in terms of customer support and reliability...
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My copy arrived on island today.
My weekend plans are now made.
:)
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At the end of the day, its really just about money. Shogun and Rome were labors of love. While the rest of the TW series is good, it was ultimately motivated, almost entirely it seems, by profit.
Exactly. At the end of the day, it's the money that counts. A lot of studios (especially smaller studios doing 3rd party development for bigger studios/publishers) have milestones they need to reach. In some cases, if these milestones aren't reached, additional funding is withheld or penalties levied. This can create developers to rush a product out to the market before it's fully completed with the belief that they can fix whatever problems at release with patches.
There are very few companies that can take their time and not be handcuffed by these milestones. Just look how long 3d Realms has taken with Duke Nukem Forever, thing is going passing the 12 year development mark. Bio-Ware and Blizzard are another example of studios that aren't hemmed in by milestones and can take their sweet time in developing a game without having to rush it out of the door incomplete.
ack-ack
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To be honest, Ive only encountered a single bug.
You're not just looking hard enough into it. Though, I've only had one crash and that forced me to boot the computer because I couldn't refresh the screen anymore - that makes this game one of the most stable releases out of the box in a long time.
but some bugs that I can remember in couple of seconds:
1) troops are having difficulty moving through the gates - fleeing troops may get stuck at the gate and keep it open and there's nothing you can do about it.
2) if you have two pieces of foot artillery/howitzers and you tell the other to hook up, it will do that, but with the other you have to click the button twice to get the piece to hook up.
3) when you tell artillery pieces to stop firing at will they will still blaze away, usually at nothing. This "feature" has killed quite a few friendly troops so far. Not to mention that the gunners are brainless morons that have to be pampered all the time - they don't care if there's a line across their position.
4) when attemping to move agents from towns with troops you might end up moving a troop instead.
5) troops will not fire at a fleeing infantry that has separated from it's "flag troop", and sometimes the soldiers of a unit can be running out from different parts of the map.
6) sometimes I've worked hard to capture ships and none of them end up being captured - each surrendered will be counted as lost.
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This is the first RTS I've ever owned, so I have nothing in it's class to compare it to. I can say with certainty, however, that it's extremely fun!
As far as bugs go, I haven't had any problems, other than the first one that Fishu noted. I've found that in general that troops don't move through fortresses well.
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Gah.. I came across an annoying feature. I can't get my ships past Gibraltar thanks to Moroccoan ships blocking the path. I can't get past them no matter what, even with alliance and military access the ships would be blocking my way - only way to get through is to declare war and sink the ships, but that just means there'll be soon thereafter another nation blocking the path.
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fishu, do what i do, declare war on everyone at once and march over the world!
Playing on the hardest difficulty for campaign and battle AI, this game is much more of a challenge than any of the ones before it.
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You're not just looking hard enough into it. Though, I've only had one crash and that forced me to boot the computer because I couldn't refresh the screen anymore - that makes this game one of the most stable releases out of the box in a long time.
You know its funny, I clicked on this thread to update my statement after playing for a while. ;)
1.) Got my first CTD. England, 1733 like clockwork. Huron Confederacy declares war on me in America - screen goes white. Only way to avoid it was to move my troops away from the border, give them a payment and stop them from declaring. Course, once they did a few turns later, anyway, it happened again. Campaign could not continue.
2.) Now that Ive researched all firing drills and implement variations in the field, Im getting a lot of instances where the 'fire at will' button doesnt seem to work correctly. I use it to hold fire until range is optimal, and they will fire, but allowing them to continue firing at will afterwards seems to go in one ear and out the other. They just stand there after the initial volley.
3.) Using walls as cover (place troops in the pre-considered position behind, etc, etc) often results in elite units failing to fire at approaching bad guys.
Others that Im forgetting, Im sure.
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My oldest son has taken over this game from me....although I am still playing it he has been getting up at 5.30am to continue his own campaign (playing as the Ottoman Empire, I am playing as Russia).
It is actually very good for him...he's learning alot about history.
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My oldest son has taken over this game from me....although I am still playing it he has been getting up at 5.30am to continue his own campaign (playing as the Ottoman Empire, I am playing as Russia).
It is actually very good for him...he's learning alot about history.
Ah, the late night gaming escapades. He's learning about that as well...
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Steam: This game is currently unavailable, please try later
Now this makes me frustrated. I dont even want to play online. So what if Steam goes bust? We can never play our single player campaign again? Really REALLY annoying. :cry
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Steam: This game is currently unavailable, please try later
Now this makes me frustrated. I dont even want to play online. So what if Steam goes bust? We can never play our single player campaign again? Really REALLY annoying. :cry
It only does that when it's downloading an update. My update only took a couple minutes and then it was ready to go.
So far my only complaint is the lack of documentation. The book that came with the DVD is very short on details. I still haven't figured out how to rally routed troops.
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what im saying is, what happens if there is no steam at some point in the future? How do I then get my brand new high price copy to play? I'm confused is all, i dont know how this whole steam thing is needed for single player mode.
Loving the multi player quick battles though, I must say.
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Bat, there have been stories of people who have had their pw stolen and subsequently had their accounts banned by steam, losing all their games. I believe PC gamer did an article on this once.
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Steam: This game is currently unavailable, please try later
Now this makes me frustrated. I dont even want to play online. So what if Steam goes bust? We can never play our single player campaign again? Really REALLY annoying. :cry
I have the same issue. I bit the bullet and bought it from Direct2Drive (didn't know they sold Steam products there until this morning when installing it.) It only took me a little over 5 hours to download the 11+GB file for the Special Forces Edition...which I can't even flipping play due to the above error. I have a friend that told me he had the same problem with the real live disk version. It is gonna be a real problem for me if I can not get this game to load ever due to this Steam crap.
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I just hoping some hacker knows how to bypass this crap one day and is kind enough to share it :)
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Did anyone answer my question about the naval warfare, or did I miss it?
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I have the same issue. I bit the bullet and bought it from Direct2Drive (didn't know they sold Steam products there until this morning when installing it.) It only took me a little over 5 hours to download the 11+GB file for the Special Forces Edition...which I can't even flipping play due to the above error. I have a friend that told me he had the same problem with the real live disk version. It is gonna be a real problem for me if I can not get this game to load ever due to this Steam crap.
I've got the DVD version and it worked fine when my internets weren't working the other day. You just start steam in offline mode and off it starts...
Tronsky
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I've got the DVD version and it worked fine when my internets weren't working the other day. You just start steam in offline mode and off it starts...
Tronsky
BTDT that crap doesn't work. I went through every step that Sega and Steam have as suggested on their troubleshooting list of known problems short of downloading the entire file AGAIN since Steam says that the game is 100% patched up and verified as good files. If I can not get it to work this afternoon I will be getting in touch with Direct2Drive and asking for a refund or for at least for them to send me a real live DVD copy.
Yeah I know fat lot of good that is going to do me but at least if I don't get an answer I can then call my bank and have them hold the charge against D2D so I can at least have some recourse in the matter.
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I spent 3 days trying to d/l the version I bought off steam <game not available etc> - which resulted in getting about 4GB of the 11 required...in the end I bit the bullet and went to the local EB store and bought the DVD version and it took 20 mins to get it running. I emailed the steam support and did a "calm" rant about how I couldn't get to download the version I'd bought through them etc etc, explained how I bought the DVD out of frustration and asked for a refund...which they gave me
Tronsky
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The SF edition on box dvd works pretty well i must admit. The game does crash every so often and forces me to reboot the whole PC. Aside from that I love this game. The multiplayer quick battles can be alot of fun. If anyone wants to have some fights my steam ID is either 'fink' or 'djhayze21'. I cannot work out which name others actualy see. Message me if you want a fight!
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(http://www.mediafire.com/file/dydvtrtrnty/steam.gif)
:noid
The game is great though! :D
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(http://www.mediafire.com/file/dydvtrtrnty/steam.gif)
:noid
The game is great though! :D
That is exactly what it seems like for me! I have reinstalled this game more times than I have ever tried to reinstall anything that came with a physical disc.
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haha vortex thats exactly how i feel about steam.
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I still can't get this thing to work in any mode within Steam. I find it very funny that they wanted to use that service to minimize piracy but it was cracked just hours after going live.
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No problem at all with Steam in any of the games I've purchased and downloaded from them (Empire included).
ack-ack
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Same here, and I have 6 or 7.
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I still can't get this thing to work in any mode within Steam. I find it very funny that they wanted to use that service to minimize piracy but it was cracked just hours after going live.
I don't like the fact that a DVD-copy checks every time with Steam whether it's OK to start a single player game. Sometimes it takes a few too many seconds, as if it doesn't already take long enough to start the game and load a save. Aside from that Steam knows, for free, when I play and what I play. I'm not so comfortable with that.
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So guys what are your Steam id's so that IF I ever get the game up I might be able to hook up on a multiplayer game?
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So guys what are your Steam id's so that IF I ever get the game up I might be able to hook up on a multiplayer game?
Subotai01
ack-ack
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Did anyone answer my question about the naval warfare, or did I miss it?
Anybody tried the Naval Combat yet? I'm not a big ship guy, but it might be fun to try it out once in a while. That was always one of my pet peeves about the previous TW games- letting the game auto-decide all the naval engagements.
They are fun enough. Visuals are beautiful on High/Ultra settings and they even look good below that, frankly.
Standard considerations are given for wind direction and ship rigging (sloop rigs perform much better than square rigs, for example, "on the wind").
Formations are really the key to success and all the period tactics work like they should - Cross the T, etc - so long as you have and hold the "weather gauge."
I find that, for purposes of fighting, anything less than a 4th rate is pretty much useless. Sloops, brigs and even small, 28-gun frigates will sail on the wrong side of the surface a bit too easily for my tastes.
The capture system is bugged in that if a ship surrenders you dont always take it as a prize, as was designed to be the case.
Otherwise, its not just an ancillary feature because the economy is much more complex than in previous TW games. Superiority on the water is arguably more important than on land considering both the importance of trade theaters (Ivory Coast, East Indies, etc) and the vulnerabilities of trade lanes.
Thats what I like - the importance.
For example, instead of simply opening a "trade agreement" with another country and receiving phantom income like in Rome/Med/etc, the process requires multiple steps and can be affected by multiple factors.
Trade theaters such as the Ivory Coast or East Indies, produce goods like (surprise) ivory and spices. Sugar is produced in South America. The North American colonies produce fur, timber, etc.
These are all goods in demand but, in and of themselves, are worthless unless you can sell them.
So - using sugar as an example, here is the way it works:
1.) Acquire trading "port" along Brazilian coast, get sugar.
2.) Trade lane carries sugar back to London.
3.) London signs a trade agreement with Prussia.
4.) An English port and a Prussian port become "connected" via another trade lane.
5.) The sugar is transported from the English port to the Prussian port and sold, producing income, which flows back to London.
Along the way, there are several points of vulnerability. Your Brazilian trading fleet can be attacked, your Brazilian trade lane can be raided, your European import lane can be raided, your European export lane can be raided and both ports can be blockaded.
Beyond that, revenues change with market supply and demand and the presence or absence of monopolies.
So - it helps to have a squadron of 72's patrolling the waters to "speak" with any would-be opportunists. ;)
I like it.
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So guys what are your Steam id's so that IF I ever get the game up I might be able to hook up on a multiplayer game?
Mine is coachwill since Reschke was already taken.
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Saurdaukar,
Importance of seas depends on the country you play. As the UK it's vital to secure the trade routes, and most of all secure as many trade posts in the beginning as possible. However, playing Russia I've had no real need to secure the seas. In the beginning it was hard to support enough land troops to keep swedes, ottomans and couple of others at bay - thank god the polish were allied from the get go. There's no trade ports for Russia to begin with and a single port isn't going to do much and the most important task is to secure the land. It's also of utmost importance to improve wealth.
By 1740 I was pretty well of as Russia even if there would been no sea trade. By 1750 I had conquered Sweden, Denmark and the Ottoman empire; lots of tax income. Quite profitable defensive war ;)
Btw. remember that you can also blockade land trade routes and it's possible to trade by land over great distances. Sometimes the trade within your country can cross over by the sea, even if there's a road. One such example I came across is between Finland's Helsingfors and Reval (or whatever there is on the other side in Empire, both owned by me along with St. Petersburg.
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Well I started the Road to Independence after a few days of wanting to get playing and hating the Steam service and everything else. I finally got through and was able to get a good working installation after emailing with a guy from Steam and having to re-download the entire game from them. All of their problems with "the game....unavailable..." seems to stem from Direct2Drive. Even though the file shows up as complete it is missing something according to Steam they hope to have it fixed soon.
Anyway I am now in the colonial stage in the French and Indian War and have lost George Washington in a repeat of the battle at Fort Duquesne. I won the battle but lost Washington to a cannon ball during part of the French barrage coming from the fort. So now after recruiting a few new generals and a small Fifth rate navy at Williamsburg I now run into CTD's for no reason. BUT overall I like the way the land battles happen they seem to be better than in the previous versions of the Total War series.
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Saurdaukar,
Importance of seas depends on the country you play. As the UK it's vital to secure the trade routes, and most of all secure as many trade posts in the beginning as possible. However, playing Russia I've had no real need to secure the seas.
Sir, I believe we have discovered the core of the problem!
You will note the title as being "Empire" Total War, not "Mindless Rabble in Burlap Clothes" Total War.
As such, I find it shocking, shocking indeed, that someone would assume the role of any other, would-be "empire." :D
(http://digitalcollections.uwyo.edu/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/union-jack.jpg)
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well said, Mazz :D
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I stick a 4th rate with a few of those Cannonade Frigates in the nodes near the trade zones, that way if my Indiamen ships get ganged then I can send the boys in within one turn, Anyone having Issues with Pirates? I'm constantly being jumped by them.
I also never realized those pesky Cherokees just don't know when to quit :)
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I stick a 4th rate with a few of those Cannonade Frigates in the nodes near the trade zones, that way if my Indiamen ships get ganged then I can send the boys in within one turn, Anyone having Issues with Pirates? I'm constantly being jumped by them.
I also never realized those pesky Cherokees just don't know when to quit :)
Ridding pirates is only a matter of cleaning up two islands. Cherokees possess tasty regions, especially the cherokee lands, there's alot of wealth. Ridding them doesn't either cause too much discontent among the other nations.
I've also used 4th rates for patrolling, while the bigger ships I've usually kept in Europe and sometimes briefly at America. No real need to go out with bigger ships and it's usually a good idea to keep them close in case an another european naval power decides to act up. Unless of course there's too much income, which is often the case by the time you come up with 2nd and 1st rates, and therefore enables multiple fleets of big ships.
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I am a heartless tyrant. It's 1776 and GB owns the whole of india, 90% of Europe, Africa and the Carribean. The USA has just been born and I'm letting them kill the indians for me.
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I am a heartless tyrant. It's 1776 and GB owns the whole of india, 90% of Europe, Africa and the Carribean. The USA has just been born and I'm letting them kill the indians for me.
My first campaign was GB empire, but then came to a crashing halt. Instead of trying to figure out how to go around it I started a prussian empire. Eventually it too came to a crashing halt by around 1775 and I got enough of trying to bypass the crashes that became ever more challenging to bypass. All the problems started when I began to conquer like a golden horde. Russian campaign hasn't yet been thwarted by the divine powers by 1750. Hopefully it will not happen, there's been two updates since I began anew for the third time.
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Fishu my first GB empire ended the same way. I had not killed France or Spain and their navy/army was so large it made each turn take 15 minutes for the CPU to think. Second time round i marched from Gibralta to Paris in the first 15 turns. Game has been running alot smoother without those two factions, and a loss in Europe destroys their American colonies and creates Mexico and Columbia factions.
In the first empire the Spanish navy alone is enough to crash the game at times, not to mention the 10,000 troops they had defending the Spanish mainland.
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I've had only twice some 20 minute round, otherwise significantly less. Both times it was Denmark's turn during a same campaign.
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I geuss it is different everytime, the player changes 'history' a little differently in each game. I'm more cruel than the Romans. Everybody hates us.
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So how are you guys enjoying playing as a Britain that is entirely safe from naval invasion?
Maybe I'm weird, but I always liked how in EU3 I had to keep a strong home fleet nearby. In Empire, there's no need as of yet.
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Probably bugged like it was in MTW2. The game designers seem to struggle with the AI as far as naval landings go.
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So, this puppy is going on sale at Best Buy for $30 next week.
Is it worth getting yet?
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Not yet, they're getting there though. Next patch should improve the speed apparently.
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I think I'll pick it up anyway. Don't really have the willpower to pass it up for $30 - even if it isn't worth it yet it sure as heck isn't worth $50 to me.
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Once they improve turn processing speed, change the mid range battle animations so troops actually walk instead of roller skate everywhere and fix the pause bug when selecting a fleet......it'll be a damn fine game.
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I am loving it, had it for a couple of weeks now. I actually enjoy the challenge of the campaign more than the battles- I managed to win the Prussian campaign without going to war against any western European nations (aside from the Dutch, who contested my succession and got wiped off the map for it and the Venetians who decided they didn't like me on their border and got likewise smacked down. But they started it.) I actually got the French to give me Alsace-Lorraine and stay my allies! And I managed to stay allied with and trading with the English, French, and Spanish all the way through without having to pick sides.
The trade infrastructure, technology research and whole protestant/catholic dynamic add new dimensions that Medieval didn't have.
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I actually got the French to give me Alsace-Lorraine and stay my allies!
Lol. I went down to North Africa and got rid of the Barbary pirates to trade their territories to France for Alsace-Lorraine :D
I would certainly say the game is worth buying. I thought so from day one. There are bugs but it doesn't detract too much from the game experience. It's really fun.
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Lol. I went down to North Africa and got rid of the Barbary pirates to trade their territories to France for Alsace-Lorraine :D
A big part of mine was that I was way far advanced over them in technology research. I traded them all the naval research I had that they didn't, as well as a few industrial and social ones (stuff that wouldn't improve their armies, just in case). I eliminated Austria and acquired all the territories I had to to win (I think it was 25, including the 19 you needed to "unify Germany"), but those damn Poles just kept moving east as I drove into their territory- I kept the campaign going just to see what happens, and right now its 1806 and they've almost driven all the way to Siberia, and won't stop raiding and invading my territories. I've been doing nothing but counter raiding and annihilating invading armies for almost 20 years now, and they keep coming.
I think its about time to add Poland-Lithuania to Austria, the United Provinces, Venice, Bavaria, Hanover, Saxony, the Rhineland, and all the rest on my rubbish pile of history. >:-}
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What difficulty are you playing on?
I played my Prussia campaign on 'Normal'. I like to track the progress of my campaigns on the laminated world map I have in my room (no comment necessary :lol ). Here's what I had by the time I was ready to ta- I MEAN liberate Denmark from the Swedes. (thus dotted line. I have a system :D ) (sorry for the glare. Took it with my phone, explaining the crappy quality as well)
You may notice that I tried to avoid finishing off countries to keep my relations up.
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t5/AK_Comrade/Prussia.jpg)
Playing as Austria on Very Hard right now. An actual challenge, I like it :aok
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t5/AK_Comrade/0509092207-00.jpg)
Need to figure out where the saves are, I want to continue my Austria campaign on my new W7 partition.
Spoke too soon, W7 doesn't seem to like Empire.
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Need to figure out where the saves are, I want to continue my Austria campaign on my new W7 partition.
Spoke too soon, W7 doesn't seem to like Empire.
Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode, duh :rolleyes:
Boots fine, I'll try to play tomorrow.
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I'm downloading the demo now, if it's as great as I hope it to be then I'll probably buy it tomorrow afternoon.
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What difficulty are you playing on?
I played my Prussia campaign on 'Normal'. I like to track the progress of my campaigns on the laminated world map I have in my room (no comment necessary :lol ). Here's what I had by the time I was ready to ta- I MEAN liberate Denmark from the Swedes. (thus dotted line. I have a system :D ) (sorry for the glare. Took it with my phone, explaining the crappy quality as well)
You may notice that I tried to avoid finishing off countries to keep my relations up.
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t5/AK_Comrade/Prussia.jpg)
Playing as Austria on Very Hard right now. An actual challenge, I like it :aok
(http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t5/AK_Comrade/0509092207-00.jpg)
Need to figure out where the saves are, I want to continue my Austria campaign on my new W7 partition.
Spoke too soon, W7 doesn't seem to like Empire.
I'm playing on "Normal" too, but I try to focus my aggression on Austria and Poland-Lithuania after I've unified the Reich. Aside from taking Denmark (which is required) I've been allied with and trading hard with all the Scandinavians, and I held off going after the Danes as long as I could. I worried more about taking out the other princelings first, then worried about expansion.
Plus I worked hard to build up my tech and all that fast so I could make the most of small, efficient armies instead of huge, expensive ones.
I've kept the campaign going just to see where it goes- I'm hoping I can end it (I think it doesn't let you go beyond 1826) with a peaceful, stable super-state smack dab in the middle of Europe.
(http://80thfs.homestead.com/map.jpg)
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The year 1806 on hardest difficulty settings. GB owns the world. All that is left are the Russians, Native Americans, Mexico and Columbia.
For some reason my taxes no longer come in, maybe a bug, maybe a feature. Meaning in the next few years my empire will crumble into anarchy. Nothing i can do about it. I started again and am going to take the whole world before 1799.
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OK, I played the demo for 6 hours straight. Best game ever, went to best buy and bought it today for 30 bucks. We should all hook up on multiplayer some time. Trade strategies.
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I use an excellent anti cavalry formation. You take 4 battalions of line infantry and make a large square 3 ranks deep. Which ever side the cavalry charges into rushes forwards to meet the charge letting the horses ride into the middle. This leaves 3 sides of a square surrounding the cav and one battalion at their rear. All 4 battalions turn to face the inside and fire a volley into the cav at once, no battalion of horse in the game will stand around for a second volley.
Oh, this really only works on ultra unit size, or the square is too small and you shoot your own men too much.