New Shogun readme at the com

Actually, it's not that new, because it was posted on the 20th. But since I can't find a thread about it here, I'd thought I'd post it, or at least, the updated part of it:

Q. Will there be any improvements to the battle or campaign AI in the expansion?

A.Improvements are a constant and ongoing process.

Q. Will there be improvements to the diplomatic engine in the expansion?

A. See previous answer.

Q There are many console commands that can only be accessed by scripting, but not with in-game console menu. What was reasoning for this? Any chance to get all of them "unlocked" in expansion (good for MOD testing).

A. Some can, some can't. And yes, there were reasons: console commands that can be accessed by scripting were needed for the prologue; those that weren't, can't. It's unlikely that the console commands will change much for the expansion. We're not doing another prologue because if you get BI you already know how to play the game and have played the prologue anyway.

Q.. It has been commented on the .Com boards that the issues within RTW would be corrected in the expansion. Will a patch with these corrections be released at the same time for the people that have bought RTW but do not want to buy the expansion?

A. There will be an announcement concerning the load / save issue, the expansion pack and a definitive statement on any chance of a patch regarding this issue. This will not be announced until some after E3. I am sorry it's not going to be any earlier. This is not a 'one dimensional issue' and I am not trying to fob you off, but I am not in a position to make a clear statement at the moment and I won't be able to do so for at least a couple of weeks. As soon as I can I will. As for the TWC FAQ the first part of the answers will go up on the official forums on Friday.


Q. What would you characterize as the best improvement(s) of the Barbarian Invasion expansion pack over the original Rome: Total War game?

A. Everyone working on the expansion would give you a different answer on that one. You'll have to make up your own minds about it.

Q. Will CA include Campaign Map Editor in expansion?

A. No. According to the bloke who wrote the campaign map editor, there are tools out there already that are actually jolly good.

Q.. Is there any chance for MP Campaign in expansion?

A. No. Apart from anything else, you wouldn't live long enough to play one, unless you are expecting to have a greatly extended life span.

Q.. If not, at least a Hot seat multiplayer, with player vs. player battles auto calculated (should not be too difficult to make, since game is turn-base oriented)?

A. No. That's not the thrust of the expansion.

Q. Which things that are currently hardcoded do you plan on changing (e.g. number of men per unit, faction limit, number of factions that are controlled by the Senate?)

A.None. The way factions are managed is more flexible now, but that's something that most people won't notice. Actually, the Senate is gone in BI; by the late 300s they were no longer a significant force in Roman politics, so they won't be 'controlling' anyone.

Q. Will there be improvements to the AI prioritization on the campaign map (avoid attacking when defeat is certain, especially desperate attempt to relieve sieges)

A. AI programming is an art as much as a science, and this aspect the game is constantly tweaked during development and after.

Q.. Do you plan on making heterogeneous units a possibility? E.G make the unit consists of a selection of unit models and randomly give all of these men a selection of various weapons. Such a feature would be particularly good for Barbarian or Peasant units.

A. No. Every extra model within a unit is the equivalent of a new unit type on the battlefield in terms of graphics, and this kind of thing could completely overwhelm some graphics cards.

Q. Do you plan on reintroducing the provincial campaigns, of which we have seen remains in the data files, to R: TW? E.g.: Caesars Campaign in Gaul, Scipio¡¦s Campaign, Hannibal in Italy, The Pyrrhic Wars.

A. No. There are no plans at present to reintroduce the provincial campaigns.

Q: What will be the next expansion & next TW game?

A: We’ll be making an announcement about the expansion pack shortly. Indeed, it might already have happened by the time you’re reading this answer. As to what the next full TW game will be… Sorry, not quite yet. We have plans and plans for after the first lot of plans are carried out.

Q: Any hope for a Napoleonic TW?

A: There’s always hope! Let’s face it: this would be an outstanding period for a TW title, as it has everything you might want as source material for such a game. On the other hand, we refuse to be limited in what we can consider as a good subject for a TW game. Even the most enthused and clever suggestions on the forums haven’t quite matched one or two of the ideas that have been tossed back and forth inside the gates!


Q: What is the situation on campaign battle replays? I want to know what we should expect in regards to this missing feature, i.e. some miracle patch or future expansion.

A: We hadn’t realised just how popular this feature had been in earlier titles, and we now know that it’s something that many people want to see in Rome. The code base for Rome: Total War is very different from what has gone before, and it was not written with a replay feature in mind. There is no ‘miracle’ patch that can put this feature into the game. However, now that we know it’s important to a lot of people we are planning to reintroduce the replay feature in future games.

Q: Since the patches were cut short on RTW, when the expansion comes out, will the team be dedicated to fixing all bugs for both games before moving on to the next project? I know you did your best to fix all the problems in RTW, but as is the case with all patches, there are different bugs that pop up. I am curious if you will support the game and expansion until all bugs are fixed, or are you going to set a limit of 2 or so again.

A: This isn’t an issue over which CA has much control. Patches have to go to Activision for approval, and the level of support offered for any expansion pack is entirely a matter for them. If they want patches, we can assign the people needed to do the work.

Q: Will path finding be a major focus in the expansion?

A: We’re looking at many areas of game code, and battlefield behaviour is one part of that. We’re always striving to make the games better, and pathfinding is always on the ‘to do’ list - it’s one of those chunks of code that always gets refined even when it’s ‘finished’.


Q: I know all games have path finding problems, but considering RTW holds the largest battles, path finding is very important. I know the cities were built for normal unit combat, but huge size has many path finding problems in cities. Currently, it is next to impossible to make a unit charge even when it is settled on a street in ready position.

A: See the previous answer.


Q: Any plans to deepen the strategy map side of things in the Total War series - making it more like the Civilization series? An official collaboration with Sid Meier-san. called Civilization: Total War would be nice, but failing that a cheeky rip-off would not be amiss. I appreciate this would not be universally popular with the existing clientele, but it would create the mother of all strategy games, surely?

A: Sounds like a dream game for some people! Civilization is a great game, but it’s not really got a huge overlap with Total War when you analyze all the gameplay elements in each title. Currently there are no plans for an official collaboration with Mr Meier.


http://p223.ezboard.com/fshoguntotal...ID=19529.topic

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CA

Q. Will there be any improvements to the battle or campaign AI in the expansion?

A.Improvements are a constant and ongoing process.

Q. Will there be improvements to the diplomatic engine in the expansion?

A. See previous answer.

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Sounds very evasive, but otherwise the expansion sounds great!

Yes interesting stuff...I like the idea of a Civilization TW. :bow:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Shogun

Q: What is the situation on campaign battle replays? I want to know what we should expect in regards to this missing feature, i.e. some miracle patch or future expansion.

A: We hadn’t realised just how popular this feature had been in earlier titles, and we now know that it’s something that many people want to see in Rome.

---

~:confused:
How can that be? How could one possibly miss this?

Is it just me or does this sounds like an answer of a politican under a corruption charge:
Q: So what improvements will there be?
A: I don't no improvements are a hard thing.

Q: Does the expansion redress the RTW clientele's concerns?
A: No comment.

This is just evasive and uninformative reporting.

This is better then before, but it does sound rather evasive.


Why not just only answer the questions that they have actual answers to?

Hmm well I read it slightly differently. I think the fact that they have chosen to answer the question about battle and campaign AI at all, albeit obliquely, and the fact that they have put these questions right at the top, indicates that they are aware of the broad dissatisfaction with these aspects of the game and that they are working to improve them.

It would have been nice if they'd said "we are making this area a priority", but their reply at least gives hope that we are going to see an improved AI in BI and hopefully further improvements in later games.

this belongs in the shogun category not the rome category

They didn't actually answer anything...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clayton ballentine

this belongs in the shogun category not the rome category

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No, it belongs here as it is a Q&A by "The Shogun" (.com admin) on the RTW expansion.

Reminds me of a politician answering questions which he knows the answers won't satisfy.

This is ridiculous. Either CA needs a new PR rep, or they need to start informing us on what is actually going on so we aren't left with another RTW disaster where 2/3 of the forum population feels they were misled.

Updated again and this time the answers are much, much better.

Right up util this one:
Q. Will the issue of infantry behaving sometimes like cavalry be fixed?
A. Sorry, but after much thought we have no idea what this question means.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

I know what the question meant, most of you do too, I reckon. Why not CA?

very disapointing. No change basicly. I really am giving up hope..........

is it just me, or has CA's posting on community forums gone WAY down since RTW was released?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elmar Bijlsma

Updated again and this time the answers are much, much better.

Right up util this one:
Q. Will the issue of infantry behaving sometimes like cavalry be fixed?
A. Sorry, but after much thought we have no idea what this question means.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

I know what the question meant, most of you do too, I reckon. Why not CA?

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Pesonaly, I think whoever posted wuch question deserved that answer.

You can't expect from developer to read every post of fourm and know every bug by their code-name.

"Infantry behaving sometimes like cavalry" means nothing to someone who hasn't read proper posts about bug. If there was at least link to some relevant threads or proper description of bug that would be another thing.

Thanks for posting the Q & A Screwtype. Some info is better than no info. I am looking forward to the expansion. With the Medieval expansion, CA really enhanced the experience. I am optimistic about the Rome expansion.

Meh, i just read the FAQ updated 26 of may and i don't think i will be buying the XPAC.....maybe once there are mods out for it.

Well expansion packs aren't for everyone...

Gee you people are a bunch of whiners. I bet 90% of .org contributors rush right out and buy the XPack the minute it hits the shelves.

Anyhow, here's a couple of positives from the latest update:

Q. Will there be civil wars?

A. Yes. The rebellion mechanisms have changed to allow for rebellions to spread, and to allow for disloyal generals making a stab for ultimate power themselves.

Q.. Improved cavalry AI and more importance on a Generals command stars in a battle. (suggestion as question)

A. The AI has improved generally (pun not intended).

well, like i said, i will buy it once there are mods like EB out that will add dozens of factions....not really trying to whine

Oh, I agree. It will be better to wait until the reviews are out, better still to wait for the mods.

I see BI not so much as something to look forward to in itself but as (hopefully) better raw material for the mods to work with.

The vanilla version really does not do justice to the games engine, i just wish more could be modded...maybe the xpac will have less hard codeing ~:cheers:

Hope so :)

Quote:

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Q. Which things that are currently hardcoded do you plan on changing (e.g. number of men per unit, faction limit, number of factions that are controlled by the Senate?)

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Quote:

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A.None. The way factions are managed is more flexible now, but that's something that most people won't notice. Actually, the Senate is gone in BI; by the late 300s they were no longer a significant force in Roman politics, so they won't be 'controlling' anyone

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Ok I know very little about programming but something tells me hardcoding factions numbers is probably one of the easiest things to change.

You guys might not be aware of this, but this updating of FAQs is caused by a TWC boycott threat and a subsquent Shogun promising us more updates and info.

Thus,

Quote:

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This is better then before, but it does sound rather evasive.


Why not just only answer the questions that they have actual answers to?

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is because we told him to under the point of a sword.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by General_Sun

You guys might not be aware of this, but this updating of FAQs is caused by a TWC boycott threat and a subsquent Shogun promising us more updates and info.

Thus,

is because we told him to under the point of a sword.

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huh? i don't recall anyone saying, "give us weekly updates, regardless of whether you know the answer or not".

and re" "infantry behaving like cavalry", CA don't have to trawl through every thread to know what this is about, just the "bugs" list thread.

"infantry behaving like cavalry",
Is prety self explanitory wouldnt you say?

And i dont think il buy XP any way,
Seeing as ive been using my rome cd's as
cup holders
and something to lean my cigaret on when in battles' of STW
or playing a campaign in MTW VI

Quote:

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Originally Posted by General_Sun

You guys might not be aware of this, but this updating of FAQs is caused by a TWC boycott threat . . .

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This is baseless speculation. It's much more likely the overall dissatisfaction fans have expressed through any number of media than it is the TWC boycott alone.

-Simetrical

Quote:

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Originally Posted by screwtype

Q: Any plans to deepen the strategy map side of things in the Total War series - making it more like the Civilization series? An official collaboration with Sid Meier-san. called Civilization: Total War would be nice, but failing that a cheeky rip-off would not be amiss. I appreciate this would not be universally popular with the existing clientele, but it would create the mother of all strategy games, surely?

A: Sounds like a dream game for some people! Civilization is a great game, but it’s not really got a huge overlap with Total War when you analyze all the gameplay elements in each title. Currently there are no plans for an official collaboration with Mr Meier.

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A game like that is not such an impossible dream:

http://www.slitherine.com/GameIndex.htm

~D

ARGHHH!!! the thread is gone! :hide:
err, no! to arms! EZboard is falling apart!

:knight: :knight: :knight: :knight: :knight:
:charge: :charge: :knight: :knight: :knight: :knight:
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