How often do you finish a game?

[powdermonkey]

Hey guys'n'gals. How often do you finish a SP game?
I find most of the challenge has gone after the first 60-70 years, once you have secured your homelands and borders.
The only challenge to completing the game (even 60%) is the massive rebellion thing.
I find that I most often play the start, and then once I have gotten into an unbeatable position, I just give up and start again with a new faction.
Don't get me wrong, I love this game, and thanks to the easy modding, it does have a high replayability factor.
It's just that the poor AI can't beat me (even on expert) after I have achieved a certain position.
That doesn't mean I always win - but usually http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smokin.gif

[Brutal DLX]

Always, well with one exception.
Usually I play the GA mode though, I don't like the Total Domination mode.
In GA you expand slower, and even later on you might run into some tricky situations, and so far, I have only abandoned one campaign, in TD, because my frontline went from Austria all the way to Kiev, and I was attacked each turn by Novgorod and Byzantine armies that required personal command of all the battles. Frankly, that was too much, 4 hours per turn...

[Knight_Yellow]

well i usualy try to play them through but i need to try this glorious achievement's thing. i dont usualy like being given orders and specific times but maybe GA can inject a bit of life into olde Medieval

[Cazbol]

I guess I can say that I always finish my campaigns. This is however made easier by the facts that I'm only playing my third campaign, and that my second campaign ended after 2 years. Still I'm the kind of guy that likes to finish what I start so I believe I'll always finish.

[Jxrc]

Alwyas playing GA, I usually (everytime except one to be accurate) stops when I get the possibility to claim a lesser victory (after conquering 60% of the map). After that it becomes a bit tedious cause battles start taking way too much time.

BTW, does anybody know how many provinces is 60 % ? Never thought about counting them ...

[Exile]

Maybe 50%. Once I get to the point where there's no challenge it gets tedious. If I make it as far as the masssive rebellions, that's where I end it. Who wants to fight all those rather pointless battles, especailly when the outcome is certain? By then my economy and army are usually huge and it's just not fun being a big bully and beatin' up all the lesser AI factions http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I suppose if I count the campaigns that I lose as playing to the end, it's more like 60% http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wacko.gif

[Red Harvest]

Rarely. I've got half a dozen "won" campaigns that no longer pose any challenge. By the time I have 50% of the map, highest income, largest armies, best tech, and a good line of heirs their is not much reason to continue. I've had zero problems with late revolts. The one campaign I did complete (Byzantines--High) was only because there was a serious challenge to win before time expired (and I did, with about 5 years to spare.) I would complete more but the time required to complete a "foregone conclusion" is several times more than what it took to reach that point in the first place.

I only play on expert. I agree that the fun is all in the first 100 years or so, when you still often face superior generals, numbers, and armies. After that I would have to handicap myself in several ways to make it a challenge again. Suppose I'll have to try GA next.

[+DOC+]

Yep, there's no doubt about it the first 100-200 or so years is the most exciting part of any MTW campaign. Once the initial struggle for a little foothold is over and one's borders are secure, the game can become a bit of a procession.

Still, with modding it is possible to slightly increase the difficulty and the skill of the AI factions. Once VI is out i hope that ECS's promised modifications to the AI will further increase the campaign's longevity. The fixed GAs should go a long way to ensuring that. Playing 60% conquest really can get a little mundane, especially when certain turns can take anywhere up to 2 hours to complete as a result of repetitive large scale battles.

I really hope that with Rome TW, victory conditions other than total conquest exist and might include diplomatic or economic routes to achieve victory. GAs in MTW were a significant step in the right direction, it's just such a bloody *%$£?* shame that they're broken. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif In fact, in general i hope that diplomacy will play a much greater role in increasing the longevity of any given campaign.

One of the situations any game like the TW series should strive to create is the potential to lose from any given situation (especially regarding the human player). So far STW and MTW have both failed in that you can essentially reach a stage in the game where victory is assured and the process for achieving this is rather uninteresting. Again the GAs came close to this, but just not close enough.

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Nobunaga0611]

I have yet to finish a single campaign. I've played around 10 or so. More of a MP player. But I usually lose interest when I get tired of using the same units over and over, and building the same type of units in the same provinces again and again. Moving them here and there....so I just start a new campaign.

[Teutonic Knight]

Quote[/b] (Knight_Yellow @ Feb. 14 2003,09:01)]well i usualy try to play them through but i need to try this glorious achievement's thing. i dont usualy like being given orders and specific times but maybe GA can inject a bit of life into olde Medieval
hey Yella, you ever play MP?

[Satyr]

I have probably played about 20 campaigns. I have finished 1 with a 100% victory. I have lost two, italy when sicily attacked 2nd turn, and turkey high game where the byz and the egyptians both attacked me within the first few years and then the mongol horde finished me off. The rest usually get dumped when I am obviously going to win and I have done the first few battles with the last remaining power and have broken their back. I am anxiously waiting for VI.

[Monk]

i Myself play to the End everytime. no matter what the outcome may be i play to the end. i don't restart my campaigns after a lost battle. i go with what i have and if i should lose...then oh well. i have 5 campaigns saved and in progress as of right now and i will tell you how one will turn out as soon as its finished. one more story from Monk before long http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/eek.gif

[The Last Emperor]

The fun part is usually the 1st 100 yrs where u have to struggle on all fronts. u gotta work on a tight budget between building the tech-tree and having enough troops to defend the borders...after that the only thing that interest me is the golden horde.

[troymclure]

yep, first 100-150 years is normally where the challenge ends. If i play GA i normally finish it, but not definitely when it gets to "that stage" i sometimes lose interest...
just thinking i normally play through till the end if i have time. Like if i started a campaign at say 10 am sunday, finish sometime reasonable it's all good, but if i startd late, so those big 2000-4000 men battles are hitting me at 2:am, then it's game over. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif

[Bhruic]

The fact that you can finish the game is not something that I have proven for myself yet. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I find every time I get to the "Ok, it's obvious I'm going to win" stage, I want to restart. I've never seen any Janissary unit, nor Gothic. I just barely got to gunpowder. I'm definitely in the "first hundred years" camp. Although I've been playing some of the harder factions now, and it's a bit more challenging. Playing the Polish now, and although I am doing quite well, there is a very powerful French and Egyptian presence in the game as well. So it's still fun.

Bh

[pdoan8]

In TD mode, I usually end the campaign at 60% domination. I only had 2 100% domination in 9 campaigns (abandon 1).

In GA, I play until the end and win all 3 campaign by having more points than others.

Jxrc,

60% is about 60 provinces. If I counted correctly, there are 100 provinces but Africa was disable.

[Ryttare]

I always en my campaign in the years of 1200-1250. I dont know why...i just do =)

[rasoforos]

i ve played a lot of campaigns , probably about 20 , i ussually go all the way expept probably for 1 one them that i quit , 1 that i lost the civil war , and 1 when i sent the whole danish royal family to a province where i could not retreat :/

[jayrock]

play it through to the end, even if it is bittersweet...lol. been pasted a few times, but oh well, don't mp at all, personal reasons.

[Alrowan]

well i have a turkish campagin, a french campagin, a italy campagin, a dane campagin and a HRE campagin all up to about the 60% mark... anyone want to finish them?

[chilling]

I'm determined to play my present campaign to the end. I want to play with all those late units. It's the one thing I've missed so far.

[Jxrc]

thanks pdoan8 http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

[LordKhaine]

Quote[/b] (Bhruic @ Feb. 14 2003,21:21)]The fact that you can finish the game is not something that I have proven for myself yet. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I find every time I get to the "Ok, it's obvious I'm going to win" stage, I want to restart. I've never seen any Janissary unit, nor Gothic. I just barely got to gunpowder. I'm definitely in the "first hundred years" camp.
Makes two of us. I just started a late game for the Spanish recently so I'd finally get a chance to use the late units http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Elwe]

Only finished 1 campaign so far, the only campaign I've properly played (the first two were trial).

I played my Byz campaign to a specific personal goal: restore the Roman Empire to it's borders of 280AD, whilst still playing the GA game. I achieved my goal in 1379.

The last 50 years were spent clicking End Turn and skipping past the Notice Parchment so I could reach the year 1453. Was not invaded once in that time. 8)

Now I'm playing as the English, still GA.. personal goal this time will be to restore the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne, I think, and to control and hold the Holy Lands in the Middle East.. and ONLY the Holy Lands.

Makes it more fun for longer if you set yourself a specific goal and work towards it.

Cheers.

[Alrowan]

i finished england 100% conquest.., and i think thats it for completed, oh and the alamohads

[Ligur]

Hay guys where do you grab the time to finish the campaigns? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I've never finished one, mostly because at some point after year 1200 it will take about 1 hour to finish a single round if you manage your lands at all, and when the horrible 6 stack battles really start off one round might take 4 hours as several players mentioned before me... I don't have 4 hours for Medieval on an average day, more like once a week.

I'm trying a GA ATM like many people suggest, kind of roleplaying the English. My goal was to crusade and set up a three province (GA goals) Christian Kingdom to Outremer, and then control the Wool trade (and all of the trade infact, hehe) and hold on to at least my starting provinces, the Middle East Kingdom + Ireland and Scotland.

So far almost so good, I ran into trouble with the Byzantines when they got annoyed with my Outremer lands and invaded; had to kick their ass a bit, now I have Constantinopole also http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif But I had to since they were closing in on me in GA score, so what could I do. Also, by some freakish accident I'm now controlling Scandinavia and several former Russian provinces (Russia collapsed in a civil war). That makes a lot of territory already. And to control trade I need the Mediterrian Islands. And a HUGE fleet. Only way to keep economy stable (currenty waging two wars, +10k gold a turn, 280k in bank).

It is 1236 and the rounds are starting to take that hour or so already...

[Ligur]

Quote[/b] (Elwe @ Feb. 19 2003,00:41)]Only finished 1 campaign so far, the only campaign I've properly played (the first two were trial).

I played my Byz campaign to a specific personal goal: restore the Roman Empire to it's borders of 280AD, whilst still playing the GA game. I achieved my goal in 1379.

The last 50 years were spent clicking End Turn and skipping past the Notice Parchment so I could reach the year 1453. Was not invaded once in that time. 8)

Now I'm playing as the English, still GA.. personal goal this time will be to restore the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne, I think, and to control and hold the Holy Lands in the Middle East.. and ONLY the Holy Lands.

Makes it more fun for longer if you set yourself a specific goal and work towards it.

Cheers.
Now this is a cool way to play the game, one that even time depraved players could use to actually finish campaigns.