No Joke: GOLD Thursday, 9/9 P.D.T

[Colovion]

The game speed arguement is interesting. I don't play MTW online, nor do I intend to play RTW online. I do play other games online, however. I always found the speed a bit slow, and since the vast, vast majority of folks who buy this game will only play single player campaign, it might make it more interesting. I still adjust the battle speed to about 40% with the slider, and 100% when just relocating troops. I don't believe the developers base their wallets on the wishes, however viable, of multiplayer buyers. They go were the money is. They have to.

I played MTW only Single Player and I think that RTW is way too fast. THere are other primarily SP playing people who think the same thing as me, but we'll see how that works out...

[Jacque Schtrapp]

I'm sitting at home with a cold beer.

Cheers m8!

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

I played MTW only Single Player and I think that RTW is way too fast. THere are other primarily SP playing people who think the same thing as me, but we'll see how that works out...

I'm with you. The walk is too fast, but the running and charging is just ridiculous!!!!

[Ellesthyan]

Ah Aymar, the walking speed is the same or reduced...

[Basileus]

But: if you go to GameSpot and you see those big opening-page ads, well, that doesn't come cheap. And there do seem to be an awful lot of mentions of the same dates around. And I'm sitting at home with a cold beer. So there's got to be something right with the world

beer? grr go work on the patch dammit heh jk, enjoy it

[Colovion]

See, I never noticed a speed increase except with the cav - and that was welcome - but the killing speed is my prime dispute right now - I could live with the increased charge speed (although begrudgingly) as long as the soldiers don't fall down like dolls if the other unit is superior to them on paper

[econ21]

I agree - it is the killing speed that bothers me too. I wonder, is it anything to do with the scale of the attack and defence factors? Before, they tended to be small, in the region of + or -5 (you might get a +8 for a knights charge bonus to giving a little more initial killing power). Now we have numbers as far apart as 3 and 22. If the old formula for kills still applies, it is no wonder inferior soldiers drop like flies.

[Red Harvest]

And I'm sitting at home with a cold beer. So there's got to be something right with the world

Goodness, I hope it's not just a beer. When I'm done with a major project it has got to be at least a couple of "Wee Heavies" or Chimay or something else suitably tasty, intoxicating, and expensive (usually accompanied by some king crab, etc.) Puts a nice cap on things. Chaps, barley wine all 'round on me. Nothing like that feeling of release when you finally say, "Enough, that's it, let's ship it."

Seriously, looking forward to see what you have done in the full game. I get the distinct impression that the demo was not really aimed at the hardcore. Hope you guys have hit a homerun on this (or that the changes needed are easy and already known.)

[RTKLamorak]

do we actually kno if CA plan a worldwide release? or whether us europeans get it later?

or can jerome himself comment on this?

man if its staggered that would suck. As well as the enourmous increase in piracy it will bring, it just isnt fair

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

Ah Aymar, the walking speed is the same or reduced...

Sorry. It doesn't feel so. The speed at which both armies reach each other is much greater (or the time is much smaller). I feel it takes much less time to reach contact with the other army. Not like in MTW or STW. So, something is amiss.

[Aymar de Bois Mauri]

See, I never noticed a speed increase except with the cav - and that was welcome - but the killing speed is my prime dispute right now - I could live with the increased charge speed (although begrudgingly) as long as the soldiers don't fall down like dolls if the other unit is superior to them on paper

I've noticed the speed increase with the infantry too. It's plainly obvious for me. But I agree that the killing speed is an even more important factor. These suposedly enormous and long battles fell like a Buster Keaton movie!!! Ridiculous!!!

I agree - it is the killing speed that bothers me too. I wonder, is it anything to do with the scale of the attack and defence factors? Before, they tended to be small, in the region of + or -5 (you might get a +8 for a knights charge bonus to giving a little more initial killing power). Now we have numbers as far apart as 3 and 22. If the old formula for kills still applies, it is no wonder inferior soldiers drop like flies.

Good point. It might just be that. But could CA make such a blunder? Just for the sake of shorter battles? That destroys the feeling of previous games, as well as making it monotonous to play the game. Just rush with your best troops and that's it...

[Soulflame]

Well, after watching several episodes of Time Commanders, I think the demo is really poor. Those battles seem to be ok in speed and length, as well as time to manouvre. So I'm a bit comforted by that.

[econ21]

Interesting point, Soulflame - I agree the Time Commanders battles looked really good; not too fast at all; very tactical and surprisingly authentic. Makes me really puzzled about Trebia in the demo.

[Barkhorn1x]

Interesting point, Soulflame - I agree the Time Commanders battles looked really good; not too fast at all; very tactical and surprisingly authentic. Makes me really puzzled about Trebia in the demo.

I think (hope) that the answer is the demo is a dumbed down/speeded up version of the code designed to suck in the Console Crowd.

Playing around as the Romans w/ the 1.1 Mod you can see how hamstrung they are vis the Carthaginians.

I expect to be pleasantly surprised by the release code.

Barkhorn.

[Spartiate]

While the speed is annoying(very) it is the rate at which "inferior" units die that really bothers me.Using some gentlemans(Tamur i think) mod utility i created a scenario for the demo on a huge mountainside.I placed the carthaginians at the bottom and the Romans at the top.I played as Carthage and yes i did use Sacred Band cav and infantry.We marched up the damn mountain which took TEN GODS-DAMNED MINUTES.The troops were uniformally exhausted when they got there and what happened.We still slaughtered the Romans in less than a minute.I really hope this is NOT reflected in the game when it comes out.

[MadKow]

Regarding Time Commanders i always felt things happened quite a bit faster than i was used in MTW. I believe what we have in the demo is a result of a in fact increased speed in conjunction with armies proximity and troop quality disparity.

[son of spam]

I agree - it is the killing speed that bothers me too. I wonder, is it anything to do with the scale of the attack and defence factors? Before, they tended to be small, in the region of + or -5 (you might get a +8 for a knights charge bonus to giving a little more initial killing power). Now we have numbers as far apart as 3 and 22. If the old formula for kills still applies, it is no wonder inferior soldiers drop like flies.

If that's the case, then it should be fixed easily by adding a +10 defense bonus across the board.

[Steppe Merc]

Still doesn't fix the walking and running speed, which I still think is a huge problem. Even with a custom battle, with the armies on totally opposite sides of the map, the units are so fast, I keep on losing my cavalry wing, since I have no idea where they are. Pausing helps, but I can't seem to orcastrate flanking attacks since they've already moved to far away by the time I've given the orders.

[crushinator]

this was posted by a moderator on .com forums called dutch:

You've got it mostly right. "Fall" is usually shorthand for the third financial quarter, which goes from 1st July to 31st September, and so has very little to do with the seasons, although sometimes it's stretched a bit further. It's intentionally left a little vague. But the final version of Rome left the CA offices a fair while ago, and the rest is entirely in the hands of Activision.

And since Activision do the marketing as well as doing the duplication and shipping, all official announcements run via them, which is why it took some time to get an announcement up on the website. And this is also the reason why we don't (and won't) give dates on the total war site - we don't know when the boxed copies will reach stores, or when exactly the foreign language versions will be ready either. Release in Oz & NZ on the 23rd or 24th certainly sounds possible if the US editions are out on the 22nd, since thei're all english-language versions.

But we do know: the game is finished, and it will be with you shortly. And you know what? After four years developing it, we still enjoy playing it, which is a minor miracle ;)

well, it seems we have a bit more proof that the game has already gone gold but activision have kept things under wraps

looks like we could be playing the game in as little as 10 days

you can read the post here

[The Marcher Lord]

Thats good enough for me - time to pre-order

[Encaitar]

Edit: nm, contents of my post are being discussed elsewhere.

[Ldvs]

The content of the link seems to have been deleted or moved. Anyway your post here is sufficient . I reckon I did well to pre-order it a week ago

P.S : will the UK editions will be out on the 22nd too?

[hoom]

For what its worth, there are a bunch of shops here in NZ that have been solidly saying 23rd for some time ie at least 2 weeks.

[Boohugh]

My local Game shop and the latest PC Gamer UK are saying 24th September for the UK release.

[Ldvs]

My local Game shop and the latest PC Gamer UK are saying 24th September for the UK release.

2 days later I may survive though.

[King Edward]

Amazon still have Oct 1st, might cancel my pre order and get it from the shops.

[SouthwaterPanda]

do we actually kno if CA plan a worldwide release? or whether us europeans get it later?

or can jerome himself comment on this?

man if its staggered that would suck. As well as the enourmous increase in piracy it will bring, it just isnt fair

I've always been amused by this argument. If someone wants the game, but can't wait a few days after its American release to buy it in England, and instead downloads it... I find it hard to believe they were planning on buying it in the first place.

[Accounting Troll]

Given how long it would probably take to download it, I would have thought it would be quicker to wait the extra few days for the UK release if it turns out to be a few days later for us.

What annoys me about people who download a pirate copy of a new game is when they start complaining about the game on the forums - I mean, what did they expect for free?

[RTKLamorak]

I've always been amused by this argument. If someone wants the game, but can't wait a few days after its American release to buy it in England, and instead downloads it... I find it hard to believe they were planning on buying it in the first place.

I think as a developer you dont understand the world piracy to well (neither did ID, or any other).... if you were on the "frontline" so to speak, you would understand that your argument is flawed. £30 is nothing to your average part/full time worker, and if the first place you could get it was retail for £30 thats where people would go, £30 means almost nothing to people for a good game.

However, if the release date is 2 weeks later in your country (e.g Doom3).. and the first place it is available is through download, then people WILL download it!!! If people are looking forward to a game that much and are very impatient the urge to download it is massive (due to there being NO legal consequences to doing so as of yet), and so they do, that is a fact!!

Of course, it is still only a minority that will do so, but it is enough to lose companies a LOT of money. I will most certainly be buying a retail copy as i play multiplayer, and also because i wouldnt like to cheat my best developer ever! However, your average person isnt like the TW devotees at these boards.... and if they can d/l it BEFORE they can buy it, they will!! :S

[Ldvs]

Amazon still have Oct 1st, might cancel my pre order and get it from the shops.

Amazon said 1st October because they didn't have a clue when it would be out. I'm pretty sure they'll get as soon as it's available. I much prefer buying it at a lesser cost, even though I must wait 1 or 2 extra days, rather than paying £10 more or so. But after all, if you can afford it...