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Fisherking
01-14-2010, 20:05
No I didn't bring over the text...

just the link.

http://blogs.sega.com/totalwar/2010/01/14/why-napoleon-by-mike-simpson/

Alexander the Pretty Good
01-14-2010, 20:33
To anyone who hasn’t played its predecessors, Napoleon is the best TW we’ve made, and a great way to get in to the series.
Well yes, because they haven't played any of the predecessors. The actual validity of that statement remains to be seen.

Beskar
01-14-2010, 21:33
Well yes, because they haven't played any of the predecessors. The actual validity of that statement remains to be seen.

:laugh4::laugh4::laugh4:

"This game is the best! if you haven't played any of the others!"

A Terribly Harmful Name
01-14-2010, 21:39
Sounds like another of these stunts to get people over to a most likely unsuccessful product.

Alexander the Pretty Good
01-14-2010, 21:46
Sounds like another of these stunts to get people over to a most likely unsuccessful product.
Maybe not so much that as just unnecessarily defensive. People have different preferences for a time period - it seems like a logical extension from Empire, and even those who don't like the time frame should be able to see that. Furthermore, it's a little late to sell us on the period, isn't it? I'd much prefer something like "the strategic AI is better and here's how", or "we've made infantry staying in a cohesive line a bigger priority for the battle AI".

A Terribly Harmful Name
01-14-2010, 21:50
Maybe not so much that as just unnecessarily defensive. People have different preferences for a time period - it seems like a logical extension from Empire, and even those who don't like the time frame should be able to see that. Furthermore, it's a little late to sell us on the period, isn't it? I'd much prefer something like "the strategic AI is better and here's how", or "we've made infantry staying in a cohesive line a bigger priority for the battle AI".
I actually like the period. I would pay gold to get a game which encompasses European warfare from the Spanish Succession all the way to the Revolution, but ETW is just too much of a let down. It's crappy, buggy, unrealistic - name whatever unflattering thing you can get on your head.

Back in the early days of 2009 there was a whole gigantic amount of hype here and in TWC about the release, the game, the demo, and so on. All of that is lost and nobody is lifting a finger save for a few who could somehow stomach ETW and like it.

Fisherking
01-14-2010, 23:06
To be fair, the game is not bad at all. Sure it took them six months to get most of it ironed out and there are still a few bugs but it is not a bad game.

It may even be a good game after the upgrades that NTW adds to ETW but that remains to be seen, doesn’t it?

Owen Glyndwr
01-15-2010, 00:50
Look at the bright side: At least we won't get random AI DoWs, right?

Durallan
01-15-2010, 02:32
I'm not going to put any assumptions or expectations of napoleon total war, and see what happens. I did that for dragon age and thats one of hte best games I've played so, see how napoleon total war is, it just better not crash is all XD

antisocialmunky
01-15-2010, 04:55
I wouldn't be surprised if it is a much better TW than ETW. The TW expansions are usually just more polished versions of the original with a bunch of little extra doodads.

Beskar
01-15-2010, 05:33
Napoleon is using the skeleton structure of ETW, so it should hypothetically be on par with the current stability of ETW.

Ratwar
01-15-2010, 05:49
It really sounds to me like Napoleon is going to be what Empire should have been. I mean, releasing it less than a year later about 4 months after the last patch for E:TW... They didn't have time to change much.

Megas Methuselah
01-15-2010, 05:51
Napoleon is using the skeleton structure of ETW, so it should hypothetically be on par with the current stability of ETW.

I really hope you're right, Besk. In all honesty, though, I just want that damn map editor.

Crazed Rabbit
01-15-2010, 06:38
Anyone want to bet on how many months after the launch they release a patch and boast they're no longer ashamed to give it away to their friends?

Five, for me.

CR

Alexander the Pretty Good
01-15-2010, 06:56
I wonder if they encourage their friends to buy DLC...

antisocialmunky
01-15-2010, 14:28
Well, Mike said he didn't give his buddies ETW so no.

NimitsTexan
01-16-2010, 01:44
Eh, if they had just programmed the AI to (a) target historical enemies first (so Poland does not keep attacking Austria) and (b) aim for limited war objectives and accept peace, they could have made ETW do alot of the things they claim they need NTW to accomplish.

Crazed Rabbit
01-16-2010, 04:39
But such programming is beyond the ken of mere mortals! To accomplish such feats of code, to have gazed out from where no man has ever climbed, to construct such an elaborate mechanism that no human has seen before, they would have had to sell their souls to the Lucifer, prince of darkness himself!

Or, apparently, work at Paradox.

CR

Alexander the Pretty Good
01-16-2010, 06:00
To be fair, Paradox hasn't solved blobbing completely - but their map is so much bigger that it's much less of an issue.

edyzmedieval
01-16-2010, 15:36
Well, for one, the Imperial Edition is way better than what Special Forces had...

gollum
02-16-2010, 09:53
Originally posted by Fisherking
To be fair, the game is not bad at all.

To be fair, the game sucks beyond description. That is until we get the new "best tw ever".

Fisherking
02-16-2010, 14:22
To be fair, the game sucks beyond description. That is until we get the new "best tw ever".


Perhaps you might care to elaborate?

What are all of these game breaking issues that you feel are still in the game?

Unfortunately, NTW is no longer due to bring any upgrades or fixes to ETW but that is another issue.

They are working on another patch and the last DLC did fix a few minor problems...at least one...but general statements without any facts or something other than just a broad general opinion make your statement seem like sour grapes.

I know you well enough to know that you have something more specific in mind and I would like to hear it.

edyzmedieval
02-16-2010, 15:16
There is already another update planned for ETW.

But anyways I'm curious about ETW and how it is going to work out. I hope it wont be as bad as ETW was in the beginning...

gollum
02-16-2010, 16:33
I have been more than specific for the reasons why i dislike the game, dislike it enough to have rid of it after the last patch already.

It is not lack of elaboration that makes you say what you say, but the fact that we both strongly disagree, each on his own equally valid grounds imo. We disagree because we have different standards and because we judge diffrenetly what is good and what is not.

On these grounds, this (liking or disliking the game at its current state) is a matter of opinion and please dont try to discredit mine simply because you happen to disagree with it. You are allowed to find the game not bad, and i am equally allowed to find the game terrible. If you "know me well enough", you should well know why by now.

Beskar
02-17-2010, 13:51
:laugh4::laugh4::laugh4:

"This game is the best! if you haven't played any of the others!"

Some one stole my message!




Comment # 15

“To anyone who hasn’t played its predecessors, Napoleon is the best TW we’ve made, and a great way to get in to the series.”

Yeah, because if you played the predecessors, you will know that it isn’t.

Posted by WeLoveMike on January 14th, 2010 at 9:35 pm

antisocialmunky
02-17-2010, 14:20
One has to feel sorry for Mike Simpson in that the franchise he started 10 years ago has failed to live up to everyone's expectations 10 years down the road :(

Alexander the Pretty Good
02-18-2010, 00:13
Maybe if they were trying desperately to fix the franchise. :/

JeromeGrasdyke
02-28-2010, 10:08
One has to feel sorry for Mike Simpson in that the franchise he started 10 years ago has failed to live up to everyone's expectations 10 years down the road :(


Well, his position has its pro's as well as con's - not everyone gets the chance to helm a franchise as big as Total War long-term and leave their mark on it. The games may not have lived up to everyone's expectations, but each installment in the TW series has its own character and charm, and none of them are dreadful by any stretch of the imagination, though I'd agree that ETW is probably the one that had the most rough edges at release. But then, it was also significantly more ambitious than any since Rome, there was a lot of new tech in it.

I may yet walk down the road to the local HMV and buy a copy of NTW for old times' sake ;)


Edit: someone's going to have to remove the CA tag from my profile, as the reset doesn't seem to have worked, and I moved on from there some time ago.

Fisherking
02-28-2010, 11:04
It is good to hear your point of view.

With the CA tag I would try TosaInu. If he can't fix it I don't know who would. ;)

Madoushi
02-28-2010, 11:17
Well, Empire taxes my PC to the limit, so picking up Napoleon probably wouldn't be a hot idea.
Also, Napoleon seems a more focussed, constrained game than the wide-open Empire, which is somewhat less appealing to me
I loved Rome, and initially I was pleased at not having a Pope breathing down my neck, though the campaign AI made it seem much more constrained, as there was no longer such a thing as a secure flank, money was tight, and simply expanding in the wrong direction can ruin your game.

Anyway, the thing I liked about Empire was it was wide open. With no Pope or Roman Senate to get in your way (and a decent campaign AI), alliances come and go, but it doesn't seem random. You can expand in any direction, overseas, fight a neighbour or across the map.

Personally, I'd like a Rome II, though I know it's not going to happen.

Fisherking
02-28-2010, 12:59
Well, Empire taxes my PC to the limit, so picking up Napoleon probably wouldn't be a hot idea.
Also, Napoleon seems a more focussed, constrained game than the wide-open Empire, which is somewhat less appealing to me


Personally, I'd like a Rome II, though I know it's not going to happen.

Surprisingly NTW seems less demanding on your hardware than ETW was.

It is much richer in eye candy and detail then ETW but they seem to have done a good job of optimizing it.

The BAI is improved. Don't fight your battles like you did in ETW, it will surprise you.

One battle the Enemy went on line outside musket range like normal but then concentrated suddenly on the right flank. When it saw that reserves were rushed there at the expense of other parts of the line it used a cavalry charge on the weakened left flank an its reserve units to envelope.

It can keep you on your toes.

It does have the trade spots but it is not world wide as ETW was. The game mechanics are where ETW should have been. Then we wouldn’t be harping about missed potential.

As to Rome 2...I would lay odds it will move in that direction.

Madoushi
02-28-2010, 13:44
m
Surprisingly NTW seems less demanding on your hardware than ETW was.

Heh. I had someone try to tell me on another forum that otimization is a myth, and that if my comp couldn't run Empire maxed, it was a POS.
I didn't know if he was trolling or had just never played a Source Engine game. :)


It is much richer in eye candy and detail then ETW but they seem to have done a good job of optimizing it.

I've been running Empire on minimum settings, albiet at 1200 x Something resolution (same as my desktop). Like that, it runs fairly smoothly, even in large battles in the rain, but the opening cinema just chugs along.

I'm planning to upgrage my Athlon X2 to a Phenom X4 and my Radeon HD 4250 for an HD 5000 series next month, so running it shouldn't even be an issue.


The BAI is improved. Don't fight your battles like you did in ETW, it will surprise you.

One battle the Enemy went on line outside musket range like normal but then concentrated suddenly on the right flank. When it saw that reserves were rushed there at the expense of other parts of the line it used a cavalry charge on the weakened left flank an its reserve units to envelope.

It can keep you on your toes.

It does have the trade spots but it is not world wide as ETW was. The game mechanics are where ETW should have been. Then we wouldn’t be harping about missed potential.

As to Rome 2...I would lay odds it will move in that direction.


Tactics? In Empire? My tactic is Stacks Full of Line Infantry or Cost Effective Substitutes. I form the longest, thinnest line I possibly can, march toward the enemy, entice them hopefully to attack, and open fire while enveloping. Oh, I try to keep a unit or two of cavalry around to support the General's Bodyguard, and cannon for sieges of course. It seems reckless, but steady volleys of fire block melee charges, and if you can cut down their melee units before engaging the body of their force, it's usually guns vs guns, and you will have more.

As for missed potential, you mean the AI? The tactical AI does seem a bit of a throwback.. I recall having a much tougher time in some battles in Rome and MII, though in any TW game, I rarely fight when outnumbered unless the quality of my troops is much higher, or I have a scheme.

Well, you've piqued my interest. I hope you are satisfied. :)

gollum
02-28-2010, 14:10
Originally posted by Jerome Grasdyke
The games may not have lived up to everyone's expectations, but each installment in the TW series has its own character and charm, and none of them are dreadful by any stretch of the imagination,...

The same old party line...even now that you are out of there...

This is not just a matter of how much certain people were expecting. Its primarily a matter of where the series went direction wise. But not a single one of you - of course - came out to discuss this ever. The mark Mike Simpson left in total war is the mark of explicit commerciality. Not exactly something to be proud of if you ask me.

As for the for "old time's sake" for many it has passed way beyond that for ages now. TW just isn't really worth it; recent releases, were one fiasco after the next.

Fisherking
02-28-2010, 14:10
I had ETW turned down to low or medium on all settings too but I have been running NTW on the auto settings, and they were all high.

There seems to be about a two second delay when you hit pause or esc keys but outside that, it all seems fine.

So far in NTW I have fought every battle outnumbered, except for a naval battle where I massively overpowered the enemy. That was my worst battle to date! I lost an 80 gun SOL and had a 90 gun route and that was against a 74 and a bunch of Indiamen. I think I need to look at the new stats.:embarassed:

Cannon seem a lot better in NTW too. Most all of the stats are different and it takes some relearning.

It is a good game. I would like it to have had more scope, but then I would have had more lands in ETW too...:laugh4:

Madoushi
02-28-2010, 14:42
Well that's certainly encouraging. Maybe I can downsize that next upgrade and just get a new card or CPU. :)

Also, grats on your acts of valour.

Augh, I don't want to tie up my connection getting this off Steam.. maybe I'll pick up the box tomorrow when I go preorder Bad Company 2.

*watches his money fly away on little wings