Icerian Rex
09-17-2004, 19:35
When I was a kid, I always enjoyed the cafeteria food at my school. Now, there were some kids that didn't, but in my case I thought that pizza and a salad for a buck wasn't such a bad deal. I always thought that the kids that didn't like it wouldn't have liked much of anything, and (perhaps because I played alot of sports and would have eaten anything/fought about anything at the time) were probably a bunch of negative pansy nellies anyway.
With this in mind, I chafe at my opinions on NTW, and will attempt to recognize it in the context with which it was created. NTW, in my opinion, does not seem to work adequately (at least as far as the development) with the total war engine.
Before people get out their ropes and start searching for a tall tree though, I've got to explain myself: The Napoleanic Era, probably far more than the Medieval era, was known for secret treaties, shared alliances, etcetera. The miniscule observance to the idea of diplomacy exhibited in MTW becomes painfully obvious in NTW.
Second, Unlike in MTW, where there is a fair amount of play-testing and literature to document what units do what, there is very little in my opinion with regard to NTW: You've got guys that shoot, you've got guys on horses, and you've got artillery. But who is better, and for what situations?
Third, You start out with an exorbitant amount of money, and this simply grows exponentially as the (few) years in the game pass. I'd be willing to bet it's virtually impossible to run out of money playing NTW.
However, despite this, there are many things the developers did correctly (and I realize, lest others remind me, that they were working with their hands tied behind their backs) -
1. Castle fights (what little I saw of them) were far more interesting, as units had to enter fortified villages, or attack something approaching a 19th century fortress.
2. Artillery, artillery, artillery! - Not only can they move, but they shoot more than the standard (paltry) one shot per battery! Fantastic. Artillery realistically becomes far more a part of the action than in the past.
3. The map - Man, o, man, does it bring me back to the days when me and my buddies would pull something out of a National Geographic and create a game out of it: Cigarette burns, Coffee stains, it's all there! In a way, it's kind of plain vanilla, but in these days of "over the top" colors and cartoon characters, it was a pleasant surprise.
4. Improved tech tree: Not only can one build farms, but now they can improve the infrastructure, etc..!!! That's good, and - it's more realistic.
What could be improved:
1. Despite the fact that I'm not a huge fan of "cartoonish" drawings, it can be very difficult to understand what buildings do what: Why not at least "colorize" a little bit? (Green for farms, Black for infrastructure, Red for War/Military, Blue for Diplomacy/Spies). Trying to disseminate a picture that measures an inch by an inch on my screen is difficult.
2. I don't know of any 19th century units "armed with bows"..... but it's right there on my screen. Perhaps this is something that couldn't have been fixed, I dunno, but if it could be, it'd be nice to see it changed. Same goes for a number of other inconspicuous insertions that I saw.
3. What's the point of generals?!? I understand what the point was in real life, and again realize that perhaps this stuff couldn't have been changed, but why in the heck have a general when you could simply use a "line infantry" with similar stats? If anything, it's too bad you couldn't simply pick a line infantry -for- a general, after which the line infantry loses one man and now you've got your general.
4. Overly generous statistics: It's my opinion that the reason this was done was to "balance out the game", so that you didn't have eight star generals continously fighting against two star generals (think: the Byzantines). Still, just for picking up some backwater province some guy gets not only stars, but loyalty, as well as various other traits.... it just seemed a bit overboard, and it made the other entitlements (chamberlain, master of the kings horse, etc...) a little redundant.
Well, those are my thoughts. Again, I realize the developers had alot working against them, and bear this in mind while I play the mod. Still, if there were things that could be done/problems that could be fixed.....
With this in mind, I chafe at my opinions on NTW, and will attempt to recognize it in the context with which it was created. NTW, in my opinion, does not seem to work adequately (at least as far as the development) with the total war engine.
Before people get out their ropes and start searching for a tall tree though, I've got to explain myself: The Napoleanic Era, probably far more than the Medieval era, was known for secret treaties, shared alliances, etcetera. The miniscule observance to the idea of diplomacy exhibited in MTW becomes painfully obvious in NTW.
Second, Unlike in MTW, where there is a fair amount of play-testing and literature to document what units do what, there is very little in my opinion with regard to NTW: You've got guys that shoot, you've got guys on horses, and you've got artillery. But who is better, and for what situations?
Third, You start out with an exorbitant amount of money, and this simply grows exponentially as the (few) years in the game pass. I'd be willing to bet it's virtually impossible to run out of money playing NTW.
However, despite this, there are many things the developers did correctly (and I realize, lest others remind me, that they were working with their hands tied behind their backs) -
1. Castle fights (what little I saw of them) were far more interesting, as units had to enter fortified villages, or attack something approaching a 19th century fortress.
2. Artillery, artillery, artillery! - Not only can they move, but they shoot more than the standard (paltry) one shot per battery! Fantastic. Artillery realistically becomes far more a part of the action than in the past.
3. The map - Man, o, man, does it bring me back to the days when me and my buddies would pull something out of a National Geographic and create a game out of it: Cigarette burns, Coffee stains, it's all there! In a way, it's kind of plain vanilla, but in these days of "over the top" colors and cartoon characters, it was a pleasant surprise.
4. Improved tech tree: Not only can one build farms, but now they can improve the infrastructure, etc..!!! That's good, and - it's more realistic.
What could be improved:
1. Despite the fact that I'm not a huge fan of "cartoonish" drawings, it can be very difficult to understand what buildings do what: Why not at least "colorize" a little bit? (Green for farms, Black for infrastructure, Red for War/Military, Blue for Diplomacy/Spies). Trying to disseminate a picture that measures an inch by an inch on my screen is difficult.
2. I don't know of any 19th century units "armed with bows"..... but it's right there on my screen. Perhaps this is something that couldn't have been fixed, I dunno, but if it could be, it'd be nice to see it changed. Same goes for a number of other inconspicuous insertions that I saw.
3. What's the point of generals?!? I understand what the point was in real life, and again realize that perhaps this stuff couldn't have been changed, but why in the heck have a general when you could simply use a "line infantry" with similar stats? If anything, it's too bad you couldn't simply pick a line infantry -for- a general, after which the line infantry loses one man and now you've got your general.
4. Overly generous statistics: It's my opinion that the reason this was done was to "balance out the game", so that you didn't have eight star generals continously fighting against two star generals (think: the Byzantines). Still, just for picking up some backwater province some guy gets not only stars, but loyalty, as well as various other traits.... it just seemed a bit overboard, and it made the other entitlements (chamberlain, master of the kings horse, etc...) a little redundant.
Well, those are my thoughts. Again, I realize the developers had alot working against them, and bear this in mind while I play the mod. Still, if there were things that could be done/problems that could be fixed.....