A lot of New Screens!!

[Crusader Invasion]

56 new ones on... These may be Demo screens!

http://www.4players.de/4players.php/screenshot_list/PC-CDROM/7867/Screenshots/13323/1686209/Medieval_2_Total_War.html

and more on...

http://www.tothegame.com/screenshot.asp?id=4972

[Dan.o6]

Visual secks.

[Myrddraal]

It's true that the terrain generation is stunning, both visually and in terms of strategic features. A huge improvement in an area RTW was quite lacking.


EDIT There are screens of Agincourt and Hastings in there. Demo battles? And it would appear a tutorial of some kind.

[Lord Adherbal]

no one can deny that it looks phenominal. Not that I think many people will be able to run the game on even half that detail, especially in MP.

If only those battles play like good old MTW and not 5 minute rush fests like in RTW. That would be such a waste.

[Bigfoot]

I don'n know if anyone noticed, but on http://http://www.4players.de/4players.php/screenshot_list/PC-CDROM/7867/Screenshots/13323/1686182/Medieval_2_Total_War.html (http://www.4players.de/4players.php/screenshot_list/PC-CDROM/7867/Screenshots/13323/1686182/Medieval_2_Total_War.html) it says "Dismounted English Knights." I wonder if this means that mounted knights will be able to dismount?

[Myrddraal]

It's probably like it was in MTW I, where you could dismount knights before the battle started. Particularly useful in sieges when you haven't got enough infantry. I assume in MTW II it will be even more usefull in sieges since you can't put cavalry on the walls.

I hope that in MTW II walls will be hard to breach. I find that it is very easy in RTW to take a settlement once a wall is down. If you try without catapaults or sapping, it's harder, and more fun.

[Myrddraal]

http://www.4players.de/4players.php/screenshot_list/PC-CDROM/7867/Screenshots/13323/1686189/Medieval_2_Total_War.html

Look at those explosions! I really hope that's naptha, because if it isn't... :no:

[Lord Adherbal]

yeah but I fear CA will care more about what we saw in LOTR RotK in the siege of Minas Tirath then what would be realistic and challenging ~:(

[Lord Adherbal]

Look at those explosions! I really hope that's naptha, because if it isn't...

you know as well as I do that those are flaming arrows. Instant igniting soldiers are back.

[econ21]

Very nice graphics. Looks like the tutorial is being a Norman (Rufus?) helping out William at Hastings.

The only thing I don't like visually are the unit cards along the bottom of the screens - at least not the English ones. They don't seem to clearly enough depict the unit (e.g. the dismounted knights don't look so different from the other infantry) and the artwork is less naturalistic than RTW.

[Bakma]

http://www.tothegame.com/res/game/4972/feature/2006-08-23/screen13_large.jpg

are these Timurids?

[L'Impresario]

The ones in the back yes, those with the 3 disks in their banners. The colours are a bit unusual, but I could be wrong.

[eastemnet]

Adherbal']you know as well as I do that those are flaming arrows. Instant igniting soldiers are back.

I hope I am not seeing what I think I am seeing:

http://www.tothegame.com/sshotfeat.asp?screen=7559&pic=4

:dizzy2:

[Bob the Insane]

Anyone notice the chivalric knights stats?

http://static.4players.de/premium/Screenshots/07/b9/1686181-medium.jpg


Attack 19 Defence 28, Admittedly half of that value is armour but setting the defence stat higher than the attack ones is a tactic used in many mods to slow don't the dreaded kill rate... :2thumbsup:

[Myrddraal]

I hope I am not seeing what I think I am seeing:

Actually, I think that's the cannon firing, just behind him, but the other picture is bad enough.

[paullus]

I'm not certain about this, but judging by the unit clumped up against the low wall, there are still some pathfinding issues in the cities:

http://www.4players.de/4players.php/screenshot_list/PC-CDROM/7867/Screenshots/13371/1686816/Medieval_2_Total_War.html

And again in this one, unless those guys are just in time out:

http://www.tothegame.com/sshotfeat.asp?screen=7559&pic=10

[Darth Nihilus]

Those graphics are stunning, I can't wait to play. It would appear, at least to me, that all of the settlements do not look like carbon copies of each other.

[Furious Mental]

Looks like we can see what the most basic castle looks like; pretty much just a stone keep. Hopefully they have some motte and bailey type castles early on though.

[Dooz]

Interesting little detail on the strat map, irrigation province improvements are visible.

http://i.i.com.com/cnet.g2/images/2006/234/931592_20060823_screen012.jpg

[Myrddraal]

If you're talking about the farmland appearing, it did that in RTW, but not very well.

Looks good! I still can't get over the improvments in the terrain. The rolling wooded hills of pre-RTW are back, and greatly improved. Goodbye strange tiny wood outlines on the sides of ridiculouly steep pointy mountains.

[Monarch]

http://www.4players.de/4players.php/screenshot_list/PC-CDROM/7867/Screenshots/13323/1686158/Medieval_2_Total_War.html

Can I gather from that theres just a run button, and not the speed slider thingy we had in MTW? I much preffered the speed slider.

Other than that if Hastings and Aginccourt are in the demos then thats pretty cool. Because that means we get English, HRE and France at least, three of the factions I'm most looking forward to playing (but I'd really like an Islamic faction in there too)

[sunsmountain]

Attack 19 Defence 28, Admittedly half of that value is armour but setting the defence stat higher than the attack ones is a tactic used in many mods to slow down the dreaded kill rate...:2thumbsup:

What I don't get is why still use 1 hitpoint, when you can get combos? That must mean that the success rate of attacks has gone down (else you'll never get combos), effectively slowing down the dreaded kill rate as well :2thumbsup:

The chain of attacks and the lower attack success rates effectively raise the number of attacks during a fight, meaning better statistical results. Lower hit probabilities also apply to hitting somebody from behind (ie very low armor value), meaning they can still miss, unlike in Rome (where even town watch score a hit from behind). :2thumbsup:

[caravel]

http://www.4players.de/4players.php/screenshot_list/PC-CDROM/7867/Screenshots/13323/1686158/Medieval_2_Total_War.html

Can I gather from that theres just a run button, and not the speed slider thingy we had in MTW? I much preffered the speed slider.

Other than that if Hastings and Aginccourt are in the demos then thats pretty cool. Because that means we get English, HRE and France at least, three of the factions I'm most looking forward to playing (but I'd really like an Islamic faction in there too)

Looks to me as if the speed may be variable via those left and right + and - arrows.

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

The Spanish/HRE against French seems to be Pavia, so it looks like that battle made it in the game also.

[Little Legioner]

Very impressive pictures! Masterpiece skins and models, tons of colorful flags, shiny armors... That's it, here it comes medieval warfare.

I'm just wondering why battlefield sizes are different in campaign battles and historic battles again?

In RTW it was nearly impossible to make a tactical maneuver with full stack armies and huge unit size. Will there be any options to change or select sizes? I'd realy want to learn it.

However, game looks completely brilliant. I wish gameplay be equal to this stunning visuals.

[Monarch]

Looks to me as if the speed may be variable via those left and right + and - arrows.

Not exactly sure where I'm looking, but that + - I thought was zoom in on the battle map? :dizzy2: Not sure lol..

[caravel]

Not exactly sure where I'm looking, but that + - I thought was zoom in on the battle map? :dizzy2: Not sure lol..

Well looking at the pause/play button you can see to the left two smaller round + and - buttons for the zoom, but above the pause/play button are two small 'arrow' buttons facing left and right. They're not very clear but you can just see a - symbol on the left one and a + symbol on the right one. I could be wrong, but I take these as being the game speed accelerator/decelerator controls.

[hoetje]

You can gossip all the way , but in the end we will only know it once we have the game in our own hands :laugh4:

[Myrddraal]

Well looking at the pause/play button you can see to the left two smaller round + and - buttons for the zoom, but above the pause/play button are two small 'arrow' buttons facing left and right. They're not very clear but you can just see a - symbol on the left one and a + symbol on the right one. I could be wrong, but I take these as being the game speed accelerator/decelerator controls.

That looks right to me.

[caravel]

Also directly above this is a blue 'porthole' which in some screenshots is illuminated with an infinity symbol. For replays? Above this again is a red meter. I'm not sure what this is? Kill ratio?

[Furious Mental]

Anywhere we can get those screens in glorious high res?

[AussieGiant]

It's look'in good people....very bloody good!!

:2thumbsup:

[Leet Eriksson]

The ones in the back yes, those with the 3 disks in their banners. The colours are a bit unusual, but I could be wrong.

There are 2 versions of his flag, the blue background and white disks, and the black background and red disks.

I think i saw an earlier screenshot with the flag of the golden horde too(crecent and sun symbol, used by Ghengis Khan).

[Templar Knight]

It appears that regimental banners are in: http://www.4players.de/4players.php/screenshot_list/PC-CDROM/7867/Screenshots/13323/1686174/Medieval_2_Total_War.html

I wonder if every province has a unique coat of arms and flag?

[Ignoramus]

Adherbal']you know as well as I do that those are flaming arrows. Instant igniting soldiers are back.

They aren't. Look carefully.

http://www.4players.de/4players.php/screenshot_list/PC-CDROM/7867/Screenshots/13323/1686189/Medieval_2_Total_War.html

You can see an arrow with no fire on it. I think econ21's right: it's cannon.

Also, I think motte and baileys are in, I can't find the screenshot, but I definately saw them.

This is amazing! 24 hours ago, I probably wasn't going to buy MTW2, but now I almost certainly will.

[caravel]

They aren't. Look carefully.

http://www.4players.de/4players.php/screenshot_list/PC-CDROM/7867/Screenshots/13323/1686189/Medieval_2_Total_War.html

You can see an arrow with no fire on it. I think econ21's right: it's cannon.

Not sure what it is, but how can it be a cannon. I can see no cannon amongst those infantry, producing those mussle blasts. If you mean that those fires are caused by incoming, then I doubt it because cannonballs, weren't incendiary munitions.

My guess is that it's greek fire launched from a from a catapult or similar.

[Ignoramus]

Unfortunately, CA's cannonballs seeming to be exploding.

[R'as al Ghul]

I wonder if every province has a unique coat of arms and flag?

That would be great for a Shogun mod for Medieval II. :2thumbsup:
The more different shapes of flags the better.

[Myrddraal]

There are definately regimental flags. I wonder if they will actually be tied to anything specific (like a region or a unit type), or if it will simply be a couple of random extra flags given to each unit.

[Lord Adherbal]

I think they are valour banners, and they're most likely random

[Myrddraal]

I think they are valour banners

Probably true. :yes:

[econ21]

Anyone notice the chivalric knights stats?

http://static.4players.de/premium/Screenshots/07/b9/1686181-medium.jpg

Attack 19 Defence 28, Admittedly half of that value is armour but setting the defence stat higher than the attack ones is a tactic used in many mods to slow don't the dreaded kill rate... :2thumbsup:

Sadly, I think those stats imply a higher kill rate than RTW. Cataphracts in RTW had attack 7 defence 23. The key thing in determining TW kill rates is the difference between attack and defence stats. It looks like that has narrowed from 14 to 9, implying higher kill rates. But maybe the formula for kill rates has changed?

From a realism point of view, it does not seem like the RTW and M2TW stats will be strictly comparable, the knights having a higher defence than the kats is plausible. But the jump is a big much - it's all due to the defence skill and the knights' 10 is higher than the highest in RTW (9 for Spartans). Knights should be a bit more "killy" that kats too, IMO, but a jump from 7 to 19 is even more extreme. The highest attack stat for normal (non-ellie or chariot) troops in RTW was about 12.

[Puzz3D]

Sadly, I think those stats imply a higher kill rate than RTW. Cataphracts in RTW had attack 7 defence 23. The key thing in determining TW kill rates is the difference between attack and defence stats. It looks like that has narrowed from 14 to 9, implying higher kill rates. But maybe the formula for kill rates has changed?
One of the guys who played the demo said the first hit in melee makes the target man get bloody, and it takes a second hit to kill him. So, it would seem that men now have 2 hitpoints. Tests in RTW indicate that each combat point advantage increases chance to kill by 10%. If so, 5 more points would represent 160% chance to kill, but divide that by 2 for the 2 hitpoints and it's 80% chance to kill compared to the RTW cataphracts. Of course, the length of the combat cycle is also a factor, but so far it doesn't sound like that has changed.

[danfda]

Well looking at the pause/play button you can see to the left two smaller round + and - buttons for the zoom, but above the pause/play button are two small 'arrow' buttons facing left and right. They're not very clear but you can just see a - symbol on the left one and a + symbol on the right one. I could be wrong, but I take these as being the game speed accelerator/decelerator controls.

http://www.gamestar.de/aktuell/screenshots/medieval_2_total_war/52236/medieval_2_total_war_p2.html

It appears that while there is no speed slider, there are a significantly larger number of speed options than just x1, x2, and x3. If you open and look at the center picture in the third row (#20), above the pause button and just below the "infinity" symbol (time limit, I assume) you can see "x20" in red letters.

Upon moving to pic #21 (the next one) in the same place is an "x10" in red. I assume this means you can go up to at least twenty times the actual speed, as well as ten times and probably many in between.

I think this is a suitable compromise between the slider of MTW and the three settings of RTW, but it still doesn't fix the other speed issues of RTW. We'll have to wait and see!

BTW, sry for the jumbled directions...

Also, sorry if this has been mentioned before.

[CBR]

Im pretty sure its 1.0 and 2.0 not 10 and 20. Someone enhanced contrast so the little dot was easier to notice. X20 would also be pretty insane if you think about what speeds that would involve. Infantry would be running 200+ mph. RTW would generally be very laggy at x3 so overall I think that rules out x20


CBR

[Templar Knight]

Nope, I dont see a dot, its x10 and x20

[danfda]

Could be 1.0 etc. Honestly, I hadn't thought about that. :shame:

But it still looks like x10 and x20, to me. Another thing we'll have to wait for the demo for.

Though, CBR, 1.0 and 2.0 do make a wee bit more sense...

[L'Impresario]

Try not to see what you want to;)


https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showpost.php?p=1225229&postcount=12

[danfda]

Ahh...nevermind then! I have been further humbled! Those silly senior members and their extra effort... :)

[econ21]

One of the guys who played the demo said the first hit in melee makes the target man get bloody, and it takes a second hit to kill him. So, it would seem that men now have 2 hitpoints.

Except that the screenshot shows they have 1 hitpoint. 2 hitpoints would be a massive change - those bastarnae (and general's cavalry) etc are really hard to kill compared to normal troops.

I've noticed with RTR, with reduced kill rates, there are a lot of "false" kills. Infantry are knocked to the ground and you think "crumbs, he's bought it" but then he gets back up. Maybe people getting bloody in the melee in M2TW is like them falling down in RTW?

[Mount Suribachi]

You got that with chariots in vanilla RTW as well.

[Templar Knight]

arrh ~D I see it now

why not just x2, x3 etc?

[Callatian]

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=68538

[CBR]

Well maybe the game allows increments of 0.5: 1.5, 2.5 etc


CBR