TosaInu
07-10-2003, 18:06
Richie The Shogun from CA just mailed the answers to the FAQ organized by Stormer. Enjoy.
1)How will trade work in the game?
A) From a player's point of view, fairly simply. You'll be able to build
roads (naturally, as a Roman) and trade fleets to connect your cities, and
they'll then trade automatically with other cities to which they are
connected. The range of goods that they can deal in is based on historical
information, so you'll find lead in Britannia, olives and oil around the
Mediterranean and so on. You can also improve trade by building and
upgrading marketplaces in settlements and cities.
Armies as well as pirates and brigands will be able to interdict trade
routes and cut city income, which will lead to some forces sitting in key
locations (such as mountain passes) to protect or ruin trade.
2)what role will ships play in Rome?
A) A) Naval combat is abstracted in Rome: Total War. A quick
back-of-the-envelope calculation showed us that the average player would
die of old age if he had to fight through all the naval battles on top of
the all the land battles. In conventional circles, it's considered
frightfully bad form to kill your players. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif However, the abstract system
isn't as abstract as the one in Medieval: Total War. Sea regions don't
exist in the game, so it is possible to position fleets to blockade and cut
off cities. It's also possible, therefore, to sail around enemy fleets or
just attack a portion of a blockading force. You won't get to control at a
battlefield level, but you do get a finer degree of 'operational' command.
We've also tried to include an interesting mix of ancient warships.
3)What will be the level of diplomacy, strategic management and empire
building in RTW?
A) This is a huge question - and covers pretty much everything in the
strategic game apart from marching armies into enemy territory No, hang
on, that's diplomacy at sword-point... The diplomacy system we're
developing is deeper and 'richer' than in Medieval: Total War. You'll be
able to offer subtle deals to rivals involving more than just military
alliances, so you'll be able to strike trade agreements, gain permission to
pass through other lands, sell cities, take on client kingdoms and much
more besides. The strategic management is the heart of the game, of course
It's up to you how much you automate through city governors and how much
detailed management you do, so there's as much or as little as you want You
can split your time between building an empire and bashing enemies in
battle to suit your own tastes.
4)To boil it down, are there more than one city per province?
A) The game doesn't work in this fashion. The assumption is that 'provinces'
are fixed areas on the map, which they aren't. Each settlement has a region
around it which can be exploited by that city. It'll only exploit the whole
region when it's properly developed.
5)Will there be a demo and - dare I ask - when?
A) Yes, there will be a demo. We think it's fair to say that holding your
breath while waiting for it will not be a very good idea. There's a fair
way to go yet before the game is releasable as a demo, and we want the demo
to be as good as possible.
6)Have the tree models been improved? they are nuisance in MTW (hard to
draw formation in forest, much more difficult to select).. STW tree models
were so much
better.
A) With the shift to a full 3D system, you'll be impressed by the new 'look
and feel' of battlefields. Trying to fight through the German forests won't
be very easy though - and it shouldn't be
7)Will certain buildings like the concept of the triumph (a procession for a
victorious
general through Rome) be used in any way? Perhaps as a reward or a way to
"level up" a
general?
A) It will be possible to obtain Triumphal arches and columns in the game.
Romans will get these as a gift from the Senate - going around erecting
your own Triumphal arches lacks a certain Roman 'dignitas' and looks a bit
sad, now doesn't it?
8)How well developed will the roleplaying aspect of the game be, in light of
things such as the personality of the generals, i.e. V&V system from MTW?
A) Vices and Virtues are in the game, a development of the system that
appeared in Medieval: Total War. VnVs are logically linked to in-game
events, so a character will gain these little quirks depending on what
happens during a game. Some are not under the player's control: a General
who is unlucky enough to be present when there's an earthquake might develop
the feeling that the Gods are trying to get him, for example There's a
system in place that allows us to check all kinds of conditions for a
character, and then assign points weighting his chances of picking up some
kind of character trait (either a vice or virtue). Some vices and virtues
are limited to some factions in the game - even some families
What is different is that many of these VnVs are mutually exclusive: there
won't be any kind-hearted harsh rulers, for example. VnVs can even be
assigned for doing nothing, so a character who wastes his life will pick
up, erm, disgusting habits if there happen to be fleshpots in the
neighbourhood, or extra political and military skills if there happens to be
an academy. The whole VnV system is altogether more transparent than it was
last time, and should add a lot of 'character' to characters
9)We have had hints from MikeB that night battles are possible, and yet the
turns seem still
to be yearly things. So if we can pick what time of day we want to attack,
will we also
be able to pick the season?
A) Night battles will be possible, for example when attacking a city or
sallying forth to beat up besiegers. You might also want to attack at dawn
in the traditional fashion
10)Will it be possible to attack the agricultural base on which a city
depends, something like
slash and burn tactics, perhaps as a way to hurt the enemy without having to
attack the cities
themselves? Along the same vein, will the agriculture around a city be
damaged during sieges as the
besieging troops tear up crops to feed themselves?
A) Yes: strategically by sitting an army on or near a city's farmlands.
Being besieged will reduce the agricultural base around a city, of course.
11)Will the maps file become more customizable: deployment zones, no go
zones, terrain properties (swamp, rock, small rivers having different
speed modifiers), usage of custom textures and model folders, reinforcement
type.
A) Yes, and we're including an editor - the tool we're using in house for
the job - to help players create maps for themselves. If you want to
customise Rome: Total War maps, you'll have everything that our own experts
have at your fingertips
1)How will trade work in the game?
A) From a player's point of view, fairly simply. You'll be able to build
roads (naturally, as a Roman) and trade fleets to connect your cities, and
they'll then trade automatically with other cities to which they are
connected. The range of goods that they can deal in is based on historical
information, so you'll find lead in Britannia, olives and oil around the
Mediterranean and so on. You can also improve trade by building and
upgrading marketplaces in settlements and cities.
Armies as well as pirates and brigands will be able to interdict trade
routes and cut city income, which will lead to some forces sitting in key
locations (such as mountain passes) to protect or ruin trade.
2)what role will ships play in Rome?
A) A) Naval combat is abstracted in Rome: Total War. A quick
back-of-the-envelope calculation showed us that the average player would
die of old age if he had to fight through all the naval battles on top of
the all the land battles. In conventional circles, it's considered
frightfully bad form to kill your players. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif However, the abstract system
isn't as abstract as the one in Medieval: Total War. Sea regions don't
exist in the game, so it is possible to position fleets to blockade and cut
off cities. It's also possible, therefore, to sail around enemy fleets or
just attack a portion of a blockading force. You won't get to control at a
battlefield level, but you do get a finer degree of 'operational' command.
We've also tried to include an interesting mix of ancient warships.
3)What will be the level of diplomacy, strategic management and empire
building in RTW?
A) This is a huge question - and covers pretty much everything in the
strategic game apart from marching armies into enemy territory No, hang
on, that's diplomacy at sword-point... The diplomacy system we're
developing is deeper and 'richer' than in Medieval: Total War. You'll be
able to offer subtle deals to rivals involving more than just military
alliances, so you'll be able to strike trade agreements, gain permission to
pass through other lands, sell cities, take on client kingdoms and much
more besides. The strategic management is the heart of the game, of course
It's up to you how much you automate through city governors and how much
detailed management you do, so there's as much or as little as you want You
can split your time between building an empire and bashing enemies in
battle to suit your own tastes.
4)To boil it down, are there more than one city per province?
A) The game doesn't work in this fashion. The assumption is that 'provinces'
are fixed areas on the map, which they aren't. Each settlement has a region
around it which can be exploited by that city. It'll only exploit the whole
region when it's properly developed.
5)Will there be a demo and - dare I ask - when?
A) Yes, there will be a demo. We think it's fair to say that holding your
breath while waiting for it will not be a very good idea. There's a fair
way to go yet before the game is releasable as a demo, and we want the demo
to be as good as possible.
6)Have the tree models been improved? they are nuisance in MTW (hard to
draw formation in forest, much more difficult to select).. STW tree models
were so much
better.
A) With the shift to a full 3D system, you'll be impressed by the new 'look
and feel' of battlefields. Trying to fight through the German forests won't
be very easy though - and it shouldn't be
7)Will certain buildings like the concept of the triumph (a procession for a
victorious
general through Rome) be used in any way? Perhaps as a reward or a way to
"level up" a
general?
A) It will be possible to obtain Triumphal arches and columns in the game.
Romans will get these as a gift from the Senate - going around erecting
your own Triumphal arches lacks a certain Roman 'dignitas' and looks a bit
sad, now doesn't it?
8)How well developed will the roleplaying aspect of the game be, in light of
things such as the personality of the generals, i.e. V&V system from MTW?
A) Vices and Virtues are in the game, a development of the system that
appeared in Medieval: Total War. VnVs are logically linked to in-game
events, so a character will gain these little quirks depending on what
happens during a game. Some are not under the player's control: a General
who is unlucky enough to be present when there's an earthquake might develop
the feeling that the Gods are trying to get him, for example There's a
system in place that allows us to check all kinds of conditions for a
character, and then assign points weighting his chances of picking up some
kind of character trait (either a vice or virtue). Some vices and virtues
are limited to some factions in the game - even some families
What is different is that many of these VnVs are mutually exclusive: there
won't be any kind-hearted harsh rulers, for example. VnVs can even be
assigned for doing nothing, so a character who wastes his life will pick
up, erm, disgusting habits if there happen to be fleshpots in the
neighbourhood, or extra political and military skills if there happens to be
an academy. The whole VnV system is altogether more transparent than it was
last time, and should add a lot of 'character' to characters
9)We have had hints from MikeB that night battles are possible, and yet the
turns seem still
to be yearly things. So if we can pick what time of day we want to attack,
will we also
be able to pick the season?
A) Night battles will be possible, for example when attacking a city or
sallying forth to beat up besiegers. You might also want to attack at dawn
in the traditional fashion
10)Will it be possible to attack the agricultural base on which a city
depends, something like
slash and burn tactics, perhaps as a way to hurt the enemy without having to
attack the cities
themselves? Along the same vein, will the agriculture around a city be
damaged during sieges as the
besieging troops tear up crops to feed themselves?
A) Yes: strategically by sitting an army on or near a city's farmlands.
Being besieged will reduce the agricultural base around a city, of course.
11)Will the maps file become more customizable: deployment zones, no go
zones, terrain properties (swamp, rock, small rivers having different
speed modifiers), usage of custom textures and model folders, reinforcement
type.
A) Yes, and we're including an editor - the tool we're using in house for
the job - to help players create maps for themselves. If you want to
customise Rome: Total War maps, you'll have everything that our own experts
have at your fingertips