More previews!

[Martok]

Eurogamer preview (http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=320740)

Bit-tech preview (http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2008/11/29/empire-total-war-hands-on-preview/1)


The Bit-tech article is especially extensive and goes into the game in a fair amount of detail. A couple of the juicier tidbits:


Talking of marching, units now march in formation. Previous Total War games have been a bit flaky in this respect, with carefully arranged army formations breaking into a rabble as soon as you move them. As such, it was often a valid tactic in Rome and Medieval II to sit back and let an army come to you. With Empire, you’re more able to take the fight to an opponent, and on your own terms.
Outstanding! This was definitely a pet peeve for me with the battles in previous TW titles. I'm very glad to hear this is being rectified in Empire. :2thumbsup:



The biggest change to the campaign map is the idea of towns within regions. As the population of a region grows, towns will appear around the main city, and these towns can be developed to create more resources or provide certain upgrades or troops. This is instead of these upgrades being built behind the walls of the capital, and adds a enjoyably nasty element to how you play Empire.

At a glance, you can now tell how prosperous a region is and what type of resources it governs. And then you can march an army in and destroy all that piece by piece.
So each region will have one "city" and several "towns", depending on the region's population. (It actually reminds a little of the old game Lords of the Realm II, which also saw villages spring up as your population increased.) The article also confirms that you need to take the main city in order to actually take the region as well.



Empire gives you pretty comprehensive control over how your empire is run, right down to when elections are called and which ministers you can hire and fire. However, you can have all those decisions auto-managed if you just want to concentrate on the war. The three theatres – North America, Europe and India – are treated as separate when it comes to government too. You have to appoint governors for your other two theatres, and can set local tax levels through them.

It should be interesting to see how that works. Looking forward to giving it a go. :yes:

Incidentally, this last passage also pretty much verifies what we already knew -- that the Far East and most of both Africa & South America will *not* be in the game.


Finally, it would appear we can confirm the game does indeed end in 1800, not 1815 or 1820 as occasionally mentioned in the past: If you look at the bottom of this screenshot (http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2008/11/empire-total-war-hands-on-preview/20.jpg) under "Victory Conditions", you'll see it says the player must hold the highest Prestige rating at the end of 1799.


Overall, some very good info, and I liked most of what I saw. Here's hoping CA can deliver!

[Polemists]

THANK YOU MARTOK :)

You have totally made my week with these previews they rock muchly.

Also major kudos for a Lords of the Realm II reference, that game was so good, and alas so dead.

I am curious how your Governments in other regions will act though to local ideas. For instance if your home govt goes from Monarch to Constitutional Monarchy, will that affect say your govenor of india in anyway?

I also like that it looks like the upkeeps are easier broken out this time, helps keeping track of finances.

Also the fact that screenshot shows, At War, Allies and TRADE PARTNERS, as seperate entities is nice. For instance there's some nations I want to trade with but not really Ally with. Very nice.

I do like marching bit. I used to have to hate to always try and plan defensive battles all the time, it was fine but now and then I like the option to attack (without the 101st Milan Crossbow Regiment to destroy me).

[Ituralde]

Oh yeah, Lord of the Realms II takes me back. Too bad the third installment was so badly done.

Well, who cares I have Empire Total War now. It looks better and better with each preview. It will probably have its own problems like all the parts before it, but I already know that I will enjoy it! :2thumbsup:

[boudica]

Very interesting stuff about the way th AI is dealt with.
As awwws0m3 as the naval stuff looks, there is something about this (http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2008/11/empire-total-war-hands-on-preview/2.jpg) screenshot which really floats my boat :D:D:D

As the bitech guy said, it looks like I've joined in the total war party at the right time ;)

[AussieGiant]

Thanks for the links Martok.

The game looks like it is coming along very nicely.

I'm really looking forward to this. :balloon2:

[hoom]

I'm curious about some of the comments to the Bit-Tech one: Suggestion that Nvidia has been claiming that ETW would be supporting Physx :inquisitive:
Every report that I've heard previously is that ETW uses an entirely inhouse CA physics engine like previous TW games.

I'm assuming that someone mis-interpreted Nvidia making a comment that ETW would be a game making extensive use of Physics rather than using Physx :horn:


As an owner of an ATI graphics card, I would distinctly not appreciate CA going proprietary Nvidia on the physics engine :soapbox:

[Polemists]

As an owner of an ATI graphics card, I would distinctly not appreciate CA going proprietary Nvidia on the physics engine

I don't think they are, but I will say that there's usually that little Nvidia thingy ad or mark or whatever on Total War Games. So eventually they probably will turn that way.

So far tho I don't think they have and I don't think they will this time.

[hoom]

Ooh, wow!

Wind strength and direction is modelled as a physical force in Empire, so it’s entirely possible to draw alongside a ship and steal its wind.Hadn't expected the wind model would be detailed enough for this :2thumbsup:

[hoom]

Ahh, OK, page 3 of the Bit-tech, no Physx in ETW.

CA says that it’s not currently using Nvidia’s PhysX physics API in Empire but that the development team is playing with it. This is in contrast to Nvidia’s claims that CA is using PhysX for Empire. The sails certainly reminded us of the better PhysX cloth demos, but CA is adamant that the physics engine of Empire has been developed in-house.

[Polemists]

See and that I am all for. I love in house engines. I loved Infinity Engine and i'm sure TW engine is up to the challenge (as proved by awesome screens)

[Fisherking]

Wow! I found this interesting. Does it mean literally what it says? Could we have situations like Clarke’s attack at Vincennes? Then there was the Indian technique of looking weak and drawing the enemy into a trap…. How cool would that all be! But I do have my doubts…:inquisitive:



It all has an impact, though - present your forces as more impressive than they are, and it'll be intimidating to the AI. It's a matter of presenting your troops in the strongest possible light, even if it's just you and a bunch of scarecrows. Bear in mind who you're fighting, though - as usual, every general will have his own style.


Also this piece caught my eye. So you could win as some of the minor players…


The developer, Creative Assembly, promises that the Grand Campaign victory conditions for Empire will be tighter and more relevant to the faction you’re playing. This will be especially true of the smaller factions which will have more manageable goals than having to conquer half of the known world as was the case in so many previous Total War games.


And I haven’t finished reading the last one yet!

[Sol Invictus]

The Bit-tech preview had some really juicy details. And yes, Lords of the Realm II was one of my favorite games ever. It was really the spiritual predecessor of TW. It was a biter disapointment when LotR III was released. How could they have taken such a classic and completely trashed it like that.:furious3:

[Fisherking]

For a more narrative campaign, there’s the new Road to Independence mode, which chronicles the founding of the British colony in Jamestown through to the French-Indian war and finally the American War of Independence.


I don‘t know how this plays out. Jamestown was founded in 1607and the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), but in a game it could go longer I would suppose. Also, I am not saying that CA sees it this way but the War of 1812 was seen by many as the Second American War of Independence. Could this be where the 1820 comes in???

Depending on how closely the campaign is scripted this could be loads of fun all on its own.

[Mailman653]

The first article states you can use the worlds first machine gun.....ouch...I wonder what two units of those can do to another unit in line formation.

[Martok]

I don‘t know how this plays out. Jamestown was founded in 1607and the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), but in a game it could go longer I would suppose. Also, I am not saying that CA sees it this way but the War of 1812 was seen by many as the Second American War of Independence. Could this be where the 1820 comes in???

Depending on how closely the campaign is scripted this could be loads of fun all on its own.
I forget which preview it was mentioned in, but the Independence campaign will be split into three phases: Jamestown, the French & Indian War, and the American Revolution. The first phase will focus more on building your colony, the second phase will be more combat-oriented, and the third phase will bring both elements together as well as involving greater diplomacy (the Americans working with the French & Spanish against the British, etc.).

[Fisherking]

Well drat! :embarassed:

Call out the moders! :furious3:

I would have loved this game to start in 1600! :laugh4:

I also see from the screen shots that they took liberties with the controlled areas in Europe.

What happened to that big middle section of Norway that Sweden used to own?:whip:

[Oleander Ardens]

Nice previews, thanks for digging them out for us

OA

[Megas Methuselah]

OMG, NICE!!!!

The only downside I see is this:


The article also confirms that you need to take the main city in order to actually take the region as well.

Yes, I agree, Martok. But it is nonetheless a small sacrifice, compared to the greater good. Btw, I'm sure a few mods will make short work of it, anyways! :tongue2:

[Polemists]

I forget which preview it was mentioned in, but the Independence campaign will be split into three phases: Jamestown, the French & Indian War, and the American Revolution. The first phase will focus more on building your colony, the second phase will be more combat-oriented, and the third phase will bring both elements together as well as involving greater diplomacy (the Americans working with the French & Spanish against the British, etc.).

So my question then is are we dealing with a tutorial or campaign.

Tutorial I think of something like rome. Little segments, lasting as many turns as you like, one line victory conditions.

Aka: Defeat all british forces in 13 Colonies, Hold of British Invasion for Twenty Turns until the French Arrive, etc etc.

Where as a campaign, I think of hundreds of turns, expansion, cities, etc, etc.

Now I know in Rome once you finished the tutorial you could just continue playing as Juli and perhaps ETW will offer the same option, but if the 13 colonies become independent in 1776, and the game ends in 1800, won't you be missing most of the game years?

Just a thought.


I'm also kind of curious to here how advisors work this time, supposedly they got a overhaul.

[Praxil]

http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2008/11/empire-total-war-hands-on-preview/2.jpg

Oh my ******* girl, that looks so beautiful!

[Mailman653]

IGN Preview (http://pc.ign.com/articles/934/934366p1.html)
Whole lot of info we already know I think. But it does suggest the game wil be released on time.

[neoiq5719]

new video http://www.eurogamer.net/tv_video.php?playlist_id=18644

[Mailman653]

new video http://www.eurogamer.net/tv_video.php?playlist_id=18644

I like all the in-game footage, although I noticed in a few cases the game seems to seamlessly transition from game to cinematic and back to game, if I'm correct it seems like a pretty cool concept. Plus it showed North America and the Caribbean which was cool, Spain is all over the place, I wonder if they start out that way in a campaign.

Oh and the ocean maps looks huge!

[Mailman653]

Gamespy preview (http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/empire-total-war/940881p1.html)

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Wow, really good stuff in that short gamespy preview:


The Road to Independence mode is a first for the Total War series. It's not a freeform campaign; rather, it's an episodic sequence of scenarios, taking place across several key sites of American history, starting with the colonization of Jamestown. All the bells and whistles of an RTS "campaign mode" are present. Scenarios are bookend by cutscenes (the one we got to play set the stage for the Battle of Bunker Hill), and you'll be directed toward completion by concrete tasks and missions.

During our recent demo, Brigden mentioned that the studio is interested in pursuing this approach further if it's received well by the audience. Brigden specifically mentioned the possibility of further campaigns becoming available as DLC-style expansions.

The possibilities for this kind of content are as limitless as history is bloody and storied. We'll likely have to wait a while beyond Empire: Total War's March release before we know what CA has in store.