Multi-player battlefields for NTW

[Scooby]

Hi guys.
I have just started to fight multi-player battles in drop-in mode, I thought that these battles were fought in someone elses single players campaign game. After two battles the battlefield terrain were not what you would find any where in europe. Can any one clarify this?

[Fisherking]

I think that the battle fields come from real terrain found in the region using satellite data.

The trouble is that that data is after the invention of the bulldozer.

[ollicompolli]

In drop-in battles, you tend to fight a normal multi battle, not a campaign battle (these are pretty rare).
Or maybe you fought in the Egyptian campaign?

[Scooby]

Thanks guys,
It seems to me that if two players are waiting for a drop-in battle the sever/computer puts the two players together for a battle and the battle field terrain is random. Your units are small so regular infantry cannot form square, usually 1 howitzer, and 1 cannon. 3 light infantry used for skirmishing, three cavalry units plus your General, Infantry ranging from militia to standard to guard.

[Dionysus9]

....but drop-in battles are supposed to be in Single Player campaign. I only play MP, but I'm wondering if you started an SP campaign if you could try some drop in battles from your campaign (rather than clicking on "drop in battle" from the multiplayer menu).... I haven't heard any complaints from the SP guys, so I'm guessing it works fine...

[Nigel]

From what I have heared, if you try to drop in on a SP battle, the engine will look for a running SP game looking for someone wanting to drop in. If no match can be found this way for a certain time, the game will pair up two players looking to drop in with a random battle set up.

As there are probably at a given time more players looking to drop into a SP campaign battle than there are SP campaign battles looking for drop in players, the SP campaigns will always get the match they want, while the drop in players only sometimes get in on a real SP campaign battle, but can still play a random battle without too much of a dragging wait.

[Scooby]

Also every battle fought is ranked whether the battle is a SP Campaign battle Vs a drop-in player or two players waiting for a drop-in.

[Davis International]

I've played the Italian campaign recently with drop-ins enabled. When you enter a battle it doesn't tell you who you're online opponent is, it just says the name of the character in the SP game you are fighting, so there is no sure fire way to tell who your human opponent is. This, in my opinion, is the pinnacle in NTW MP. For one, the armies are based on the SP campaign, and not some yahoo camping out with 8 units of howitzers and rockets. So the players have equal advantage on a strange map with realistic army builds. Secondly, you get to utilize your art of war. There is so much more to being a successful commander than the battle itself and applying your art of war with a MP flavour is the tops. You don't get to make the same kind of headway in the SP game with drop-ins though, but who cares, its way more fun then beating on the poor helpless CPU all night.