Noob Alert!

[scudknight]

Hi there I just signed up today and wanted to immediatley post my newfound love for the total war series

I was at a Half-price books a few days ago and saw both shogun and medieval total war on the clearance rack for 5 bucks a piece - no manuals http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif so my curiosity got the best of me and I have to say it's the best ten bucks I ever spent I have'nt even gotten around to installing shogun (should I after playing MTW?) and I plan on going out and getting the VI expansion this week.

My questions are -
1. I run a decent gaming system here in my room but noticed that the game seriously lags when I have an army of over 600 men. Just recently I updated to direct x 9 and it seems like the problem has been resolved. Is it a direct cause of that?
2. My games came with no manual and I've had to learn much of the gaming engine through tutorials - mostly stuff off this site. Should I purchase the strategy guide as well? Is there a way to get the original manual through creative assembly? I'd like to have something to go along with my newly fashioned dvd covers http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
3. Think my cd-key will still work online since this is a used copy? I hope so.

Well looks like I have a library of info to go through here in this forum alone, I look forward to reading it all and hope to be a worthy opponent by the time RTW comes out

[frogbeastegg]

Welcome to the org http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

Most MTW performance problems can be solved by turning off sound acceleration in windows. Go to your conrtol panel->sounds and audio devices->then somwhere there will be an option for sound acceleration. On my PC it is under the audio tab, then advanced. Turn this all the way off.

The strategy guide was invaluable to me when I got the game, but that was on the day of release. Since then the patches and viking invasion add-on have altered the game too much for the guide to be that useful. There are two topics in particular on these forums you should look at:
The beginners guide to total war (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=15;t=9203)
Table of contents (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=7;t=3823)
These threads cover everything in the guide and a lot more, they are also up to date.

Shogun is a different experience to medieval as it is a smaller game (fewer provinces and unit types) but it has the better atmosphere. The community here is quite split over which is the better one. Just play them in the order they appeal to you - if you are more interested in Japanese histopry play Shogun, if medieval history is your thing than play medevial.

Cannot help with the manual or CD key questions, sorry.

[Gregoshi]

Hello scud. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

Check out this old thread: Art of War (http://www.totalwar.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=15;t=4950;hl=manual+and+warlord)

It discusses possible locations and file names for some of the game documentation. I don't know if this information applies to the classic release of Warlords Edition (jewel case only).

[scudknight]

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys. It sure makes buying these games worth it. Well aside from playing of course. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Jochi Khan]

Hi scudknight

Welcome.

By all means play shogun as well as mtw. That way you can then decide which you prefer. If you are like others here, you will probably finish up playing both. I enjoy both styles of play.
For online games you will need to get the latest patches

........Jochi

[Jacque Schtrapp]

Hello scudknight http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wave.gif

Does anyone have a link to that korean site with the online tech tree? That could be of considerable help in fiddling around with the game.

In the meantime, feel free to post any questions (no matter how silly you might feel they are) and we'll answer them to the best of our ability http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Quokka]

Here's the Clan Berserk Unit Comparison Tool (http://shogun.cafe24.com/medieval).

[barvaz]

About the manual, there is this great site that was created exactly for cases like yours (buying used games, lost manuals etc).

Replacement Docs (http://www.replacementdocs.com)

It has the manual for MTW (not sure about VI though) in pdf format.

- barvaz

[scudknight]

OMG Barvaz you are a lifesaver Thanks so much You're officially on the Favors I owe list