Castles

[Oaty]

I'm kind of curious as to how castles will work in the game. First of all when you knock a bunch of holes in the castle walls will they always be there till they are repaired. I'm kind of hoping so, so that when there is a failed assault it is still there so if reenforcements come in time there will be easy access to the castle. The other thing I am wondering is such as a citadel wich takes 12 years to build in MTW and it gets besieged in its 11th year in the making, will it be built in parts since its a realtime game so you have almost a complete citadel but not quite completely finished and if the assault should fail will the work continue. And my last little rant will castles be customizable such as a gatehouse on both sides of the castle instead of 1 so that it is harder to lay siege to since now you have to guard 2 entrances to stop it from getting resupplied

[chilling]

I'm hoping that after 11 of 12 years of build time, we are finishing the last little twiddly bits at the top so the castle will be almost complete (you know, just like when your builder says 'It's fisished&#39http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif.

I agree that the extent of the fortification upgrade should be reflected on the battle map when the time comes.

[Cobra]

Yeah, I think a turn by turn slow upgrading would be cool.
Battle damage has to be fixed? Hmm, that would be a cool option, realistic too.

Not for the first few turns, but after 3 or 4, you might see some new towers and 5 or 6, maybe some walls.
Granted, I know little on Roman fortifications, weren't they usually just simple wooden structures? Though there were some big fortresses in ancient times.

[magnatz]

Castles as we think of them (ie walled buildings with towers) appeared only during the middle age and evolved from wooden forts, exactly like in MTW. However ancient cities were generally protected by walls, made of stone or wood according to the importance of the city and the familiarity of the specific culture with masonry.

Rome had stone walls since 7th century BC, first the so called Walls of Romulus (Romulan Walls doesn't sound right http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif) of which few traces still exists, and then the Servian Walls, built by king Servius Tullius in 4th century BC, which served as the main defense system of Rome until late imperial age (a big segment can be seen near the railway station). However in 3rd century AD emperor Aurelian built a new wall circle around the city (the Aurelian Walls), which is still mostly intact, and ordered all the cities in the empire to build or renew their own wall systems.

(photos and maps of the walls of Rome here: http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Arc/5319/mura.htm#vaticano )

As for the other factions, I would be surprised if Greeks, Persians and Egyptians didn't have stone walls either. Gauls and Germans probably relied on wooden structures, but not necessarily simple - Caesar was impressed enough from some Gallic wooden wall design that he described it in detal in the De Bello Gallico.

[The Wizard]

Yes, but we are talking about, for instance, a mighty fortress protecting the most important pass through the Alps. Not a city... albeit it would be cool to see that after 11 years of building your walls around Rome, for instance, it protects all of the slums, yet fails to protect the Palatine and Capitoline hillls http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Castles as we know them did indeed not come to be as they were until the Middle Ages. Before that, fortresses usually relied on their own bulk (in a medieval castle that was the central keep) to protect them. Thus, they weren't huge and imposing. If there was a 'castle' built somewhere, it was usually built in the migdol style, a style of 'castle'-building pioneered by the ancient Egyptians. What it essentially is, is a couple of towers (usually 3 or 4) connected by thick, strong walls.

And RTW real-time? Eh? It's still turn-based in a stragetic level, albeit it would be cool to see the all-important fortress protecting my northern border from large Gallic incursions being half-finished once the Gauls manage to get to it Or how about Hannibal and his elephants? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[magnatz]

Agreed, being able to build fortresses (and watchtowers, which still abound around Rome) in strategic points of the map would be a big plus.

Hell, for that matter something like the Hadrian's Wall would fit well with my strategy http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[hoom]

Cool, thanks for the link, I've been interested to see what the walls of Rome were like http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Cobra]

There were fortresses outside cities, werent there? Didn't many colonies spring up from fortresses?
What was that rebellion in Judea, where the rebels held up in some mountain fort, and when the Romans broke in, they'd all Killed themselves? Well, that was a stone fortress, right?

[magnatz]

Yes, that was Masada. Info here:
http://mosaic.lk.net/g-masada.html