Sweet God in His Heaven...I've seen the Alexander map... [Archive]

King Henry V

05-29-2006, 21:46

For those of you who are considering buying the latest release by CA, the Alexander Expansion, I have just seen the map on TWC.
http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/709/709064/rome-total-war-alexander-20060517040417811.jpg

I'm sorry but that is just disgusting. If this map were a living being, it would be a deformed, mutated prematurely born alien baby, who's own mother upon seeing it would try to drown it in the nearest stream before anyone else would have the misfortune to see it.
Just look at Cyprus! Look at the Dead Sea and Crimea! I can map better than that, and I have never even attempted to make a map in my entire life! Any Byzantium, though a Greek colony, has been lumped in the Barbarian faction.
This looks like one of those jobs where the maker of this magnificent work of art did it in about an hour and a half, then went to his boss and said "Well I've done that, now I'm off to the pub. See you in a couple of weeks time".
:no:

Barbarossa82

05-29-2006, 22:00

I know, I feel your pain. Don't understand why they couldn't use the physical geography from the old RTW/BI map, even if they had to cut down/resize. Oh well. Still gonna DL it and hope that screenshot was a work in progress.

Craterus

05-29-2006, 22:07

Haha. That's hilariously bad. I definitely won't get it now.

:laugh4:

professorspatula

05-29-2006, 22:34

http://pcmedia.ign.com/pc/image/article/710/710220/rome-total-war-alexander-20060525061446460.jpg

That's another image of the map. To be honest, I don't care about how the map looks, rather if the expansion plays well and is worth the money. It probably doesn't, and it probably isn't though.

I also find it amusing how the advisor woman is wearing a helmet. Perhaps after forever giving us poor advice and telling us to build things we don't want, she's expecting things to go pear-shaped and the enemy to come knocking on her door any minute, hence the need for protection. A helmet won't save you love, but a bloody unit we actually need might!

Ciaran

05-30-2006, 10:12

Well, using old content for an expansion isn´t really a new phenomenon, but actually worsen it, when one just could have cut out the area from the existing RTW map (which would have looked better and been faster to do), that does give it a new "quality" :inquisitive:

I think for a mini-campaign, I´ll rather pass and play instead something like Caius´ Crusader mod.

Lorenzo_H

05-30-2006, 10:51

There is nothing wrong with the map!

Lorenzo_H

05-30-2006, 10:52

sorry dp

ZombieFriedNuts

05-30-2006, 11:49

The map looks kind of good

I also find it amusing how the advisor woman is wearing a helmet

It looks like her hair to me

professorspatula

05-31-2006, 01:53

Zenicetus

05-31-2006, 04:48

Or she's a man.
Well, if it's a really accurate Alexander expansion... oops, better not go there.

Lorenzo_H

05-31-2006, 13:06

Well, if it's a really accurate Alexander expansion... oops, better not go there.
Hermaphrodite?

magnum

06-02-2006, 19:49

To me it looks like they were trying to make a map that would have been made/used in that era. When you add the RTW/BI 3d effect and detailing to it, it ends up looking odd though. Probably would have been better to just use modern (more accurate) maps. Gameplay and units are more importan to me. Can't see it effecting my sense of immersion though.

To me it’s a non-issue. Major cities of the time missing might be a valid criticism, especially if they had an effect on Alexander’s conquests, but the map to me is just a ‘what ever’ in this situation. At $20 bucks, I'll get it.

Seasoned Alcoholic

06-02-2006, 23:04

I ain't done much research into this Alexander expansion tbh. From the bits and pieces I've scratched together in the bits and pieces of free time I now have, this expansion appears to encourage the player to steamroller as fast as possible. I'm assuming this is the case due to the apparent number of playable turns that are available.

I don't see how anyone can get enjoyment from steamrollering, its bad enough when the AI are at it (EG Egypt in vanilla RTW). Even though this is a provincial-type mini-campaign expansion, it should at least allow the player an amount of time to assess the situation, plan some strategic decisions on army positioning, settlement targeting and so on.

From that campaign map, it appears that with whatever starting armies the player is provided with, its simply a race against time sacking settlement after settlement from the combination of Persian peasantry and heavy cavalry that exist.

Surely once you've completed the campaign there will be no incentive to plow through it again, especially with the restrictive number of factions that are apparently available.

Stoneface

06-03-2006, 00:05

You got a dark monitor or something? Looks like a corinthian style helmet in the up position. Or maybe it's some kind of headwear that was the height of fashion for the Greek lady at the time. Or she's a man.

She is a goddess born from a headache. Athena is often shown wearing a helmet, a shield with a medusa head. Regarding the map what strikes me most is the size. It's scaled down considerably and I guess it might be no more than twice the size of the map in the prologue.

Mooks

06-03-2006, 04:47

Who wants to bet that sparta is a rebel country that you can conquer???

Pathetic map...

Lorenzo_H

06-03-2006, 09:22

Who wants to bet that sparta is a rebel country that you can conquer???

Pathetic map...
Sparta isn't even on the map.

Seasoned Alcoholic

06-03-2006, 09:45

Just look at Cyprus! Look at the Dead Sea and Crimea! I can map better than that, and I have never even attempted to make a map in my entire life! Any Byzantium, though a Greek colony, has been lumped in the Barbarian faction.

Yeah, the islands have been neglected - what's with the isolatory watchtower on Crete? S'pose this has been the case to force the player's attention onto Asia Minor, any other distractions outside of the main campaign focus would probably chew-up the crucial number of turns it takes to complete the victory conditions.

ZombieFriedNuts

06-04-2006, 15:49

You got a dark monitor or something? Looks like a corinthian style helmet in the up position.

Ok from the blown up picture id does look like on of those Greek helmets and I do actually need to sort my monitor out I just cant be bothered

ZombieFriedNuts

06-04-2006, 15:49

Sorry dp

Mooks

06-09-2006, 03:50

Trajen the 1st

06-09-2006, 06:00

That map..Is sad. I can draw a map out on a peice of paper in 5 minutes and it would be more accurate then that peice of :furious3: (better not say anything before the admin gets on to me again)

How can they accurately present greece without islands? The greeks depended on islands for resources like wood and used them for commerce. You gotta love that Thebes, corith,athens, amphilos,lemnos,Sparta,babylonia arent even represented on the map, and that theres not even a tiny speck of land off of tyre (one of the most famous seiges that alexander fought, maybe the famous one).

One thing going for it though, it doesnt have alexandria (lmao :2thumbsup: ) But wheres cairo and egytian thebes?....

:wall:
1.Babylon is repesented,(look at the minimap agian) 2.I dont think the siege of Tyre can be portrayed realisticly with the RTW engine(or even just a city on an island could for that matter) and 3.Cairo doesint even exist yet.:laugh4:

I do wgree with all your other points however, CA did a terreble map.

fallen851

06-09-2006, 08:30

I really can't stop laughing at that map.

Lorenzo_H

06-09-2006, 09:13

I really can't stop laughing at that map.
I really don't see anything worng with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cras

06-09-2006, 09:15

I hate steam rolling... especially when I move with multiple armies. For some reason the AI that is stearing my other armies in a multi army battle always gets like 800-900% more casualties then I do.
- they never keep formation
- they dont use the terrain
- takes them ages to form up
- the cavalry comes into play way to soon and sustain heavy casualties
- archers never take their times to soften up the enemy
- the AI doesnt take my army into account when forming up
- the formation the AI makes is usually really really bad (just a long line)

*sigh*

econ21

06-09-2006, 09:25

I hate steam rolling... especially when I move with multiple armies. For some reason the AI that is stearing my other armies in a multi army battle always gets like 800-900% more casualties then I do.

You make a lot of good points, but on the other hand, now you know how the AI faction leaders feel! ~;)

Normally, I don't like steamrolling either. I like turtling (Oda, HRE, WRE etc are my favorite TW factions). But with this campaign, I quite like the idea of trying to make Alexander's achievements - it should be both historical and challenging.

I don't expect to fight battles with multiple armies of my own, but I do think what stacks I have will get dangerously depleted as my lines get over-extended. That's just what I think the TW series needs - especially after RTW - a sense of danger: that you might just lose to the AI. Viking Invasion had it. If Alexander has it, I'll be a fan.

player1

06-10-2006, 13:36

Note that this must be a beta or alpha map since mini-map textures are still missing.

Silver Rusher

06-10-2006, 14:05

Note that this must be a beta or alpha map since mini-map textures are still missing.
Then why release a screenshot?

player1

06-10-2006, 14:27

Why not?
None of the screenshots are ever part of the finished game.
Otherwise it would be already released.

Anyway, I do remember various RTW units seen in pre-release screenshots that never seen light of the day.

Myrddraal

06-10-2006, 15:03

I really must say, they could have done a better job than that.... :no:

@ CA, hire me for a fiver and I'll make you a better one.

manbaps

06-10-2006, 19:14

It really is piss poor, CA are a joke these days... if they are charging money for this pathetic excuse for an expansion they really should be beaten. I can see why EA and Activision got rid of them.

Dutch_guy

06-10-2006, 19:23

Showing some more respect towards CA wouldn't kill you my friend(s). Don't completely destroy something before you've had the chance to play it.

If one doesn't like the product, don't buy it, it's as simple as that.

:balloon2: