The Death Of Total War [Archive]

danimal

03-29-2005, 21:59

The game has lost something. A lot of things. Great graphics yay! SunTzu and his tactical war game is and age old dream now. Shame on you CA. Cant wait for the next smart alec programmer to come up with a better version. I always went back to medievel and shogun cos they were brilliant, absolutely stunning games, not much to look at, but i use to marvel at the moves in the replays. And so on. No more, the tactical and strategic areas should have been expanded on. And whats all this behind closed doors nonsense. Nop Ur Just rubbish. Sorry all, no offence meant but this game is a sellout.

By the way, remember that truly massive thread in medieval about how gr8 the game was, didnt c that thi s time round did u?

Wishazu

03-29-2005, 23:05

a couple of good points there, but i still think that rome is best the game in the series. however i dont think i`ll remember it as fondly as shoggy in the future. Rose tinted glasses

starkhorn

03-29-2005, 23:11

Yeah I'd tend to agree with you. After seeing the poor customer feedback and support for this game, I've had enough. I thought the support for Beyond Good and Evil was bad but what CA are doing is nothing short of a disgrace. I would have thought loyal customers from two full blown games and 2 expansions would have meant something....how naive of me. :(

Stating that it isn't a bug but that the AI is simply thick beggars belief.

For me RTW is dead....I may try MTW/VI again for the hell of it but RTW is dead as far as I'm concerned.

Cheers
Starkhorn

Satyr

03-29-2005, 23:42

Yeah too bad really. MTW was so spectacular I thought I had died and gone to heaven when it came out. Rome was a waste of money!

I truely hope CA learn from this. Next time they won't have all that good word of mouth from their previous game and early sales will probably be quite a bit less than they were for Rome. What with everyone expecting another great playing game it was truely dissappointing.

I really hope that CA signs with someone else as a distributor too. Activision has lost their vision.

So then, what is everyone playing instead?

SpencerH

03-29-2005, 23:53

I really hope that CA signs with someone else as a distributor too. Activision has lost their vision.

Maybe they'll go in with a class act like SEGA. No, that would be too much to ask for.

Colovion

03-29-2005, 23:57

I haven't played RTW in months. I'm only here because I'm still assuming that it'll be worth playing in the future.

Not because of the impending XP.

But because of the EB Mod.

It seems that the game has fallen off it's track that it was once on, selling out as so many successful franchises have to the rigours of capitalism - sell more, it's better, no matter the cost.

Or perhaps what we see in RTW is the building blocks for what will be the evolutionary game; this being merely a prototype for a better game down the road. One which takes from RTW it's positive attributes and perfects them and hones down the engine to a form of perfection.

Or perhaps this is as good as it gets and we should fling our hands in the air to the tune of the shallowness of our society.

Either way the EB mod builds new upon the foundation of RTW, stripping the unpleasant garnishes which it was laden with. It is the sole savior of RTW and even an XP, with the same quality of the vanilla RTW, would never gain the respect that EB will.

Brighdaasa

03-29-2005, 23:59

just remember mtw or shogun didn't really shine untill after the expansion pack

i'm just hoping the expansion pack will focus on a better AI, for me the rest of rtw is of excellent standards. except maybe the pathing problems in cities which i'm sure will be fixed in the xpack, and multiplayer: i haven't been able to connect to a single game even after opening all ports on my router and firewall

I'm even ok with the fact of the quicker combat, if that's the road ca wants to take their game on. i just wish we'd get the terrain and weather factors back in and a better AI. also the fact that the only big contenders are rome and egypt every game doesn't add to replayability imo, unlike mtw (stw had the same problem)

on a final note: remember how the ai in mtw would parade their troops in front of you right inside your archers' shooting range, mtw and stw weren't perfect games people

Benny Moore

03-30-2005, 02:00

The game has lost something. A lot of things. Great graphics yay!

With the shoreline squares that I so often complain about, the game doesn't even look good anymore. I, too, am not playing the game until Europa Barbarum.

Sol Invictus

03-30-2005, 02:28

Only reason I'm playing it is because of RTR and waiting for EB. Six months after release, with much modding, the game is finally enjoyable. I figure after a few more months of modding, the game will be near great. Long time and alot of effort for a game.

Benny Moore

03-30-2005, 02:42

It's not that the game has not given me enjoyment. It's that throughout the entire time of playing, half of the experience is enjoyment and half is frustration at the bugs. Finally they fix most of the bugs, and then, suddenly, we have new, worse ones. If it weren't for the fact that I've already dealt with them for long enough, I'd go back to the old versions and deal with the old bugs. As it is, again, I simply don't play.

ichi

03-30-2005, 02:55

Calmarac

03-30-2005, 03:52

But a lot of people have uninstalled it while others play for hours each day.
Well, with the Loadgame bug breaking almost all the seiges and crippling the AI - those are really the only viable options. You can either play for many hours at a stretch, or just give it up as a bad job. There just isn`t any point trying to play the game as and when you can, like many of us have to.

But help me to understand how these titles can be so loved and so hated, apparently so good and yet so bad.
I think it`s a love/hate thing because the game is so very nearly there. It`s almost what TW players have been dreaming of for all these years - but then it turns out to be fundamentally flawed. And that`s heartbreaking.

[SWISS TONY]
Playing RTW is like making love to a beautiful woman
[/SWISS TONY] ~D

It`s like a bad love affair. That fabulous girl you admired from afar and finally got together with. She`s lovely to look at, she`s into all your interests, heck she even likes computer games - but 3 months down the line you realise she`s an alcoholic, inveterate gambler or whatever...

And just like a breakup, or bereavement, we`re seeing the classic behaviour stages...

First there comes Denial - "Well I play this game all the time and I don`t see these bugs you`re all so bothered about, everything`s just fine here"

Then comes Fear - "OMG it really is broken. Please help us CA! Mods can u fix this? Anybody!!??"

Then comes Anger - "THiS &^$£* GamE Sux big time AND ca are aLL *@%*$*"

Then comes Bargaining - "Please CA would you mind taking a look at this and maybe fixing it for the Expansion. I`m sure it will be fixed soon and we`ll all be happy to buy the XP and the next title which I just know will be awesome"

Finally, there comes Acceptance - "Well that`s it for me. I can`t play this game as it stands, so I`ve just uninstalled and I`m off to play SH3"

Trouble is that`s not really a healthy closure, as there`s still a residue of bitterness left behind.

*Sigh* RTW, you promised so much, but in the end you turned out to be like all the other games ~:(

tai4ji2x

03-30-2005, 04:42

lol, cloudnine. in only your 16th post to the ORG, you've said it better than a 1000+post vet could have.

hoom

03-30-2005, 09:46

I think some of you are doing a disservice to RTR and SPQR (haven't personally tried SPQR).

RTR 5.4.1 is as far as I'm concerned as good as RTW gets right now & to assume that EB is going to magically fix a lot of the problems of RTW that the others haven't already is ludicrous because most of the problems are hard-coded.
EB has a more rigourous historical accuracy + total conversion regime but most bug fixes that are possible are already implemented by other mods because all mods are working together on finding/sharing fixes for stuff.

Silencer

03-30-2005, 09:52

hmm,

at this moment, I can't evne access totalwar.com site.
I heard something, that creative has been bought over and is now only working for PS2?

tai4ji2x

03-30-2005, 09:52

how are we doing a disservice to rtr/spqr/eb? most of their teammembers are as frustrated with CA as everyone else. i for one play rtr, appreciate spqr, and eagerly await eb. however, that does not mean that TW as a serious wargaming franchise and CA as a company aren't somehow as doomed as the thread title implies.

hoom

03-30-2005, 10:33

I meant the ones who said they have uninstalled RTW till the great panacea EB comes out.

I'm a caller for better from CA.

tai4ji2x

03-30-2005, 10:37

hehe, sorry. i shoulda read your post a little more closely.

Shambles

03-30-2005, 11:01

All i can say is if CA make a nother patch and it turns out to be more junk Then im going to Smash my RTW cd's in to pices so i cant Reinstall it,

They spent to much time on The Gfx and the game suffers accordingly,
IMO they should have worked on the game More and then added in nice gfx after The game was finished,

not make snazzy looking game that Just Sucks to play.
Dont get me wrong It has some good ideas, and In theory could have been So much better than STW.
But honestly, It just makes me want to yell, DAMN YOU TO HELL YOU PICE OF JUNK!
then smash my pc with my palm.

So i uninstalled it.

vindapop

03-30-2005, 11:50

I'm fed up with all you guys slagging this game off.

I have both MTW and STW and i think Rome is far better, especially the campaign map in that the last 2 were 2D and weren't realistic moving armies. And the graphics are extremely good.

I can go on forever going on about how better the game is but i wont.

As far as the bugs, the AI does admitadly need tweeking and some of the bugs fixing but so did MTW before the expansion pack and in my opinion it doesn't spoil the enjoyment.

So quit slagging off the game because your all on a RTW forum. :charge:

derF

03-30-2005, 11:53

The game is a monument to underachievement. All in all, i was dissappointed at how un-tapped the game was. It had so much potential to break away from just basic "rock-paper-scissors".

However, i do still find myself playing it for 2 reasons: 1) I love the Romans. 2) Its a nice arcadey-fun type of game.

Mikeus Caesar

03-30-2005, 14:32

heard something, that creative has been bought over and is now only working for PS2

You misinformed nitwit. They now have a contract-thingy with SEGA, so now any games they make are published by SEGA. And yes, they are making a console game, but this doesn't mean they won't stop making PC games.

Research stuff before coming out with silly rubbish.

hoom

03-30-2005, 14:57

I'm fed up with all you guys slagging this game off. Look, its not like we don't recognise the good, its just that those bits show up the bad/uncomplete/broken/bad design parts and some of them are game killers.

Personally I'd have rather seen the Risk style campaign back again because it was cool.
RTW campaign map looks like a PC game where M & S had a general's map feel.
You can just imagine yourself sitting in the grand hall of a castle or in a tent on campaign moving around the pieces, with advisors taking notes and sending out the orders by rider.

[seminoles]shadow

03-30-2005, 15:26

The game has lost something. A lot of things.
yes i agree with you on this matter but it also gained alot of things.MTW and STW both had bugs and glitches in them but after 4 or 5 patches they were all fixed and everyone loved them. i believe that RTW will be like this also. :stupid:

Mikeus Caesar

03-30-2005, 16:42

but after 4 or 5 patches they were all fixed

But that's the problem!! Don't you remember, the 2 freekin patch policy!! Thanks to that damn policy, now we will never have any more patches to tweak the game to perfection!!!

Personally I'd have rather seen the Risk style campaign back again because it was cool.
RTW campaign map looks like a PC game where M & S had a general's map feel.
You can just imagine yourself sitting in the grand hall of a castle or in a tent on campaign moving around the pieces, with advisors taking notes and sending out the orders by rider.

If i had had it my way (which i doubt i would have) then CA would have given you the option of changing from a risk-style MTW map, or having the nice looking 3D RTW map. Then everyone would be happy!!

BeeSting

03-30-2005, 18:56

Two patch policy for a strategy game like RTW is laughable. Why with all the gaming experience would CA sign an agreement like that?

Old Celt

03-30-2005, 22:08

They would sign a 2 patch policy because they were no doubt, desperate for a publisher. Money talks. And when the game was 18 months late (and would have been later if CA had its way) you have to wonder if dollar ONE has even been made in profit. The overhead had to be murderous.

Now we have to hope SEGA is willing to finance work effort for a patch, and it will be no small thing. I think chances are against it, because it will place them in a bind where they would need to sell a million copies to make a profit. The market for true strategy games is admittedly small...

Turbo

03-30-2005, 22:25

Help me to understand something.

Rome received numerous awards and tons of accolades, just as Shoggie and MTW did.

But a lot of people have uninstalled it while others play for hours each day.

When MTW came out there were many bug issues and complaints about CA support.

But a lot of people bought and played and liked the game.

Just to be clear, I've uninstalled Rome - I just didn't care for it.

But help me to understand how these titles can be so loved and so hated, apparently so good and yet so bad.

ichi :bow:

The disatisfaction with Shogun and MTW pales in comparison to the disatisfaction with Rome. Shogun and MTW were quality products that had a few bugs. Rome has glitzy graphics but a crap AI and has broken features in addition to numerous bugs. You are right about one thing, the lack of support from CA has not changed.

Turbo

03-30-2005, 22:27

Two patch policy for a strategy game like RTW is laughable. Why with all the gaming experience would CA sign an agreement like that?

CA is hiding behind the 2 patch policy. There is nothing preventing CA from releasing a developer patch.

FURRY_BOOTS

03-30-2005, 23:38

Pretty much agree with what you guys are saying, but i think theres an undercurrent to this whole deppressed attitude thing, the truth is, CA have "sold out", eg- i called my 8 year old son through to show him the preview of "total warrior", cool he said, will it be out on x box,,,, can i get it, totally looks cool, & i thought thats it, its over , because thats your new core niche, console twich gamers, (damn them to hell) all devs seem to be going down this path,(bethesda) catering for the masses, its a money thing, im sure some of the CA guys must hate whats going on with THEIR product, the fruits of THEIR labours, THEIR hard work & efforts, & to these guys i say, REBEL, leave CA & form your own company, give us the game we need & we'll give you our support, when some of ea games staff left(moh) & created infinity ward we got call of duty, the same could happen here :wacko:

Evil_Maniac From Mars

03-31-2005, 00:02

To Creative Assembly: Why did you do this to me? I would much rather be playing Medieval with better graphics than Rome. Also, if you got a spokesperson onto these forums to correspond with us directly, I would appreciate it.

1dread1lahll

03-31-2005, 00:42

hummmm, Ive still got my Shogun disk and still play it; still got the medi disk; I figure I played RTW about 10 times before tossing the disk. There were problems with STW/MTW but they were worth playing through, I guess pretty graphics arn't everything.

Puzz3D

03-31-2005, 00:45

Furry_boots,

They did leave.

Satyr

03-31-2005, 01:55

Come on Puzz, give us the goods! Did they leave to build the game we all want and need?

I didn't play much STW but I bought MTW the day it came out. It had very few bugs and just got better from there. The VI expansion was superb. But... thank god for Medmod or I would have been bored with MTW too. Unfortunately, just getting the AI to build better units doesn't fix RTW like it did MTW.

Lochar

03-31-2005, 04:58

I am not a die hard strategy gamer, I like tactical battles and strategy wargames, but I wont play a hex based game anymore. With that said I have all 3 TW titles, and of them all so far RTW has been played the most.

I admit I like my eye candy, why else would I buy the best vid card I can and a bigger processor. After all the complaining of MTW being so much better I reinstalled it to remember what it was like, heh I unistalled it pretty much that same day. Sure RTW has flaws, but it also has alot of things fun to play IMO, IF you dont abuse the load bug, IF you dont use cheap tactics knowing the AI cant counter, IF you do your own thing and either play RTR or similiar mods or make your own internal rules, then there is still a game.

I find it amusing to see on similiar posts about how they think this game sucks because its so easy to defend against the AI, yet they use known bugs to exploit this easiness everytime. These are probably the players that use the load game bug to break sieges and then complain how the game is too easy. I see numerous complaints of the bad traits, but since I read the trait guide I very rarely get generals with horrendous traits unless I forget about them.

I still find myself losing battles because I am drawn to my cavalry charge or paying to much attention to the havoc my chariots are doing to focus on the whole battle. I still laugh at the silly little speeches my general make.

My only complaints are that the city details are almost uncontrollable, like corruption, I would love to send in a governor to clean it up in a city, or an easier way to control squalor than pumping out peasants and moving them all over. Or how my allies call me liars when I have yet to break any pact with anyone. I never break ceasfires and never start war during an alliance, but when I do get attacked I tend to conqueor, and that seems to cause an adverse affect against my other neighbors. But overall I am content.

I am on my 2nd faction for long campaign and while I dont play it as much as I did at the begginning, I still enjoy it. I never recall during STW or MTW going to sleep thinking of a better army setup to try against parthians, or kicking the game on first thing when had a day off and spending the whole day carving out my empire.

Overall what type of demographic player I am, I have no clue, and I know that saying the game is great now would cause the devs to slack off thinking they have a fixed product, but IMO lashing out the hate this or game sucks may just cause them to toss in the towel altogether and quit. Then who will design your TW? In this , this may cause the death, but I am hoping they keep going on, it may not be the best product out their but I have spent far more money on games I played far less. And with 1 more patch due, who knows what maybe fixed but 1.2 corrected a few, so I would rather wait and see a good list to correct for 1.3.

I am no modder but I see some that taken their own initiative to make their own changes. And like the old sayinbg goes, if you think you can do better , go for it..... :bow:

screwtype

03-31-2005, 06:51

My take on the game is simple really. CA have taken it in a direction contrary to that in which I hoped and expected it to go.

Like many other gamers here, I can take or leave the eye candy. As long as a game looks good enough, I will play it. STW and MTW were good enough as far as I was concerned. (In fact I'd argue that in many ways STW is graphically superior to either of the other two games).

What I was hoping for in RTW was a game where the tactics (AI) and strategy (campaign game) were much superior to the previous games. We didn't get that. Instead, we got eye candy. The AI, meanwhile, did not noticeably improve, the new more detailed campaign map arguably did nothing but detract from the strategy side, and the game balance in all sorts of ways was askew. (I won't mention the bugs).

I think where the sense of betrayal comes in is that fans of the previous two games had a conception of what the TW series is about that CA developers no longer share - if indeed they ever did. In any case, it seems clear that CA are not really interested in developing the kind of intense, intellectually challenging combat and strategy game that hardcore strategy gamers love. CA wants to go where the big bucks are, and if that means ditching the elements that fans of the earlier games loved, so be it.

I do still entertain some small hope that the RTW system will be refined from this point into something truly challenging, but nothing CA's staff have had to say on the matter has reassured me. I don't think the commitment is there. What CA are interested in as developers is in pushing the envelope to see what kinds of spectacular effects they can create - which translates in the marketplace to instant gratification and mass appeal. I'm afraid this is the direction that the market as a whole is taking.

tai4ji2x

03-31-2005, 06:57

screwtype

03-31-2005, 07:19

well, i don't know if i'd say the move to a fully 3D, navigable campaign map was just "eye candy" and appealing to the lowest common denominator. it's just they bit off more than they could chew. the AI as it currently stands just can't fully adapt to the complexity introduced by ditching the old risk-style province-by-province map.

There's no real economic system. The tech develpment system is still as simplistic as it was in STW. The diplomacy is extremely underdone. The movement system is nonsensical. There's no depth, challenge or sense of realism in any of this. Just enabling armies to wander around in provinces rather than dropping them in Risk-style is not much of an improvement, indeed in many ways as you've indicated it's actually detracted from the strategic challenge.

demon rob

03-31-2005, 07:32

..... it's just they bit off more than they could chew. ....

yeah, you can see what they wanted to have in but couldn't quite implement, even with their extra year. Shows also in patch 1.2 where they added extra eye-candy (pyramids, ships, etc viewable from the battlemap) - nice stuff, but adds nothing to the actual fight and doesn't fix any playing bugs. Shows when they give us a battle editor but neglect campaign editors cos obviously they couldn't complete it for release. Shows with the 250,000 different traits, which they couldn't debug right.
Even found a file which defines constellations in the sky for night battles! Full marks for the concept, but um, there are other more important things to do first! Plus there's only a handful of constellations in the file anyway. Don't know if it actually does anything though. Think this was an example of feature creap.

Buy hey, if they do finish this game wont it be great!

screwtype

03-31-2005, 08:18

But hey, if they do finish this game wont it be great!

ROFL. It is kind of like that isn't it :)

I think you've put your finger on part of the problem. CA seems to spend scads of time adding tinsel like easter eggs, in-jokes, trait-itis and so on, at the expense of tackling the really hard stuff like design and balance.

I suppose they have to have some fun to retain their sanity, but it's really quite remarkable how much of this game seems unfinished and underdone.

Paul Peru

03-31-2005, 08:24

Even found a file which defines constellations in the sky for night battles! Full marks for the concept, but um, there are other more important things to do first! Plus there's only a handful of constellations in the file anyway. Don't know if it actually does anything though. Think this was an example of feature creap.

Buy hey, if they do finish this game wont it be great!
It's been a while since I did a RoR (Rant on Rome), so I thought I'd join in.

They have had so many great ideas, and quite a few bad ones. And of course the road to hell is paved with stuff that seemed like a good idea at the time. And stuff that makes the mags go "This game is fab, it's even got X in it!!!". Where X may be the big dipper or take away barbeques. I love the bells and whistles, but the gears and levers should have been sorted out first. What makes me really wonder about their development process is how tons of stuff that's not actually used is still placed on my hard drive when I install the retail product. I think I saw a wad of chewing gum in there. ~;)

CA: We have overdone a lot of things in the game, including pork
PP: You're so clever today, you'd better be careful your foot doesn't fall off!
CA: Is that what happens to people when they have brilliant ideas?
PP: Oh yes! My brother had this brilliant idea of cutting his toenails with a scythe, and his foot fell off!

I wont preorder the next TW item, but I'll watch this space. Hoping. I'm not sure CA know what's going on in the game themselves, but if they figure it out the expansion or the next TW game may be the best game ever. *cough* moddability *cough*
whatever

Benny Moore

03-31-2005, 09:54

they added extra eye-candy (pyramids, ships, etc viewable from the battlemap) - nice stuff, but adds nothing to the actual fight and doesn't fix any playing bugs.

I don't know how many times I have to point out that this addition actually caused a large graphical bug that we didn't have to deal with before. Do people really not notice the shoreline squares, or do they have such a short attention span that they forget about them as soon as the battle is over?

Browning

03-31-2005, 10:00

Well, I concentrate actually more on the Egyptian carriots smashing through my precious principes than about squares or triangles on the shoreline.

But at least the patch 1.2 corrected the pri/sec weapon bug, apparently, which was also a kind of showstopper.

Benny Moore

03-31-2005, 16:48

That it did, and also the friendly fire problem, which was the very worst thing about the game (actually, I personally prioritize the shoreline's pristine condition over the archers' competence, but I'm quite aware that my position is extreme). So the folk at Creative Assembly are not all bad.

Khan48

04-01-2005, 00:10

I am baffled at why all of you seem to hate this game so much. Why? You seem to offer miniscule reasons that often are only problems when players exploit them, such as holing up in the corner of the map w/ 5 cretan archers. The AI may be incredibly stupid in battles, namely bridge and sieges, but in real battles on open ground they are quite competent. If you want a challenge put the game on very hard/very hard and stop taking advantage of things like being able to pump out 3 cheveron legionarys, and chosen swordsmen. After the archer fix the only game stopping bug is sieges. As far as the campaign map most of you seem to complain about romes lack of realism, but the new campaign map is as close to a real life as possible. Moving 500 miles in one provence in russia and moving 30 in europe is not realistic. Unit selection is easily fixable by mods. Credit must be given were credit is due and you guys are not giving CA enough. In some regards the game may be one step backwards in some aspects but its the first step into a new generation of games. They are experimenting w/ a completely new engine and right now it is by far the most realistic strategy game out there, and blows away competition which is proven by the fact it has won nearly every strategy game of the year awards, even agains "mainstream" strategy games. Appreciate this game.

Turbo

04-01-2005, 01:57

Khan,

What users hate is not necessary the game, but the fact that CA stonewalls and ignores repeated requests to patch what continues to be broken. The lastest major bug -- the load/save bug is a major, gameplay disrupting bug.

I suggest you look into the load/save thread over at .COM and learn more about why veteran players of the series are upset and fed up.

Lochar

04-01-2005, 02:56

Turbo,

I saw that thread and the problems inherent to it but let me ask you this, if CA only will do one more patch, would you just want them to stop everything and put out a patch to fix the load game bug, OR Wait a month or 2 and put out a patch that not only fixes the load game bug but several others AND maybe just maybe throw in some additional content that didnt make release.

IMO what is making such hate is that CA isnt addressing threads about the bugs themselves, and that some have been on the boards forever, and feel like they should be answered by the devs. For me I always adopt a wait and see attitude, altho I am content now so any improvements will be that much better for me. I see this all the time at the place I work, a tech is correcting a problem but the customer isnt happy knowing this, they want to know what he's doing and how much longer, so usually the repair gets put on hold while he takes time away to give some feedback. And then, you would think the customer is finally happy? No, now he is back complaining its still not repaired, and wanting another update.

Its funny but when a game is good theres usually a dozen clones out there, offering this or that but CA seems to be the ONLY one that has made these types of graphic strategy games, and made them enjoyable. Grabted there is one coming out that looks like it may have grabbed alot of their ideas, but its the first one I ever saw to try to capture this type of genre other than CA.

As some other threads shown, there are alot of unfinished things shown in the game but werent implemented, and I dont think its because CA doesnt care but that they have a deadline with a publisher. If anyone wants to hate, hate activision for wanting it out when they did.

Khan48

04-01-2005, 07:35

Which save/load thread? lol. Always wondered why the other romans expanded so slowly. Learned that from the ones i read

Benny Moore

04-01-2005, 09:22

If you want a challenge put the game on very hard/very hard

You are aware, I believe, that putting the battle difficulty on Very Hard does nothing more than to give the computer hugely unrealistic combat bonuses to make up for its dumb decisions. It's exactly the same as being limited to auxilia while the enemy gets Praetorians. It's no fun at all, and makes the game hard in the wrong manner. While nearly everyone wants a hard game, making a game hard doesn't necessarily make it enjoyable. You have to make it hard in the right manner. What you suggest is exactly the same as forcing yourself to use anything more powerful than auxilia when facing Praetorians. That's not a reasonable solution to wanting a more difficult game against the dumb computer.

Your last post demonstrates, I think, that you now see that my previous post was indicating the campaign artificial intelligence. But I disagree with you on the battle artificial intelligence; they're dumb in open battles as well. I know artificial intelligence is very, very hard to create, and I actually think that Creative Assembly mostly did a pretty good job on it, but the fact remains that they are dumb. A few things I feel they could have fixed are things like standing under a hail of arrows, sending one unit at a time to its doom, and the infantry behaving like cavalry after the patch.

Shambles

04-01-2005, 09:33

Rome just sux

Enough said

starkhorn

04-01-2005, 09:47

Turbo,

I saw that thread and the problems inherent to it but let me ask you this, if CA only will do one more patch, would you just want them to stop everything and put out a patch to fix the load game bug, OR Wait a month or 2 and put out a patch that not only fixes the load game bug but several others AND maybe just maybe throw in some additional content that didnt make release.

IMO what is making such hate is that CA isnt addressing threads about the bugs themselves, and that some have been on the boards forever, and feel like they should be answered by the devs. For me I always adopt a wait and see attitude, altho I am content now so any improvements will be that much better for me. I see this all the time at the place I work, a tech is correcting a problem but the customer isnt happy knowing this, they want to know what he's doing and how much longer, so usually the repair gets put on hold while he takes time away to give some feedback. And then, you would think the customer is finally happy? No, now he is back complaining its still not repaired, and wanting another update.

Lochar,

It would only take a few minutes for someone from CA over at .com to post a 2 line thread saying, another patch is being worked upon which will try to fix all unresolved issues in 1.2. Please be patient.

If they simply did that then it would stop the vast majority of ill feelings and frustration.

The fact of the matter is that they haven't which seems to suggest that no patch is being planned for release or one is being planned but senior management hasn't approved it yet so CA cannot make any announcement.

I live in the hope that it is the latter scenario but I am very doubtful indeed to say the least.

Cheers
Starkhorn

Attalus

04-02-2005, 05:35

Lochar,

It would only take a few minutes for someone from CA over at .com to post a 2 line thread saying, another patch is being worked upon which will try to fix all unresolved issues in 1.2. Please be patient.

If they simply did that then it would stop the vast majority of ill feelings and frustration.

The fact of the matter is that they haven't which seems to suggest that no patch is being planned for release or one is being planned but senior management hasn't approved it yet so CA cannot make any announcement.

I live in the hope that it is the latter scenario but I am very doubtful indeed to say the least.

Cheers
Starkhorn

It would also only take a second to state that there will be NO patch.

At the moment they seem to be making like ostriches...heads in the sand.

I don't CARE if there is to be another patch...I just find the stony, embarrassed silence from all concerned to be ridiculous.

Time to put your balls on the block...