Medieval II: Total War Official Thread

I think now that its confirmed that Medieval II: Total War is CA's next game, we should keep speculation and news about the game in this thread.

Confirmed game features:

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The game boasts an impressive array of new graphical and gameplay enhancements, including the capability for a massive 10,000 dynamic characters to be taken into battle at any one time. On top of this, The Creative Assembly have implemented a fully redesigned multiplayer mode that offers a dynamic multi-battle campaign bolstered by an unprecedented level of visceral combat choreography that reflects the brutality of medieval warfare.

* Set in the most turbulent and bloody era in European history, Medieval 2: Total War will allow gamers to lead their armies across the battlefields of Europe and the Holy Land before discovering the Americas and doing battle with the fearsome Aztecs.
* Medieval 2: Total War offers a vastly enhanced terrain model to create new graphically rich environments portraying breathtaking cliff top castles and enhanced settlement features that are unique to each civilisation. Over 200 new units, greater depth in siege warfare, new weaponry and a highly detailed building damage model all combine to make Medieval 2: Total War the best version of the PC’s greatest strategy game ever made.

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Key Features Include:

Real-Time Battles On a Massive Scale

Epic Battles with Enhanced Unit Detail

Thunderous battles on a huge scale with thousands of units on screen. Armies are now made up of meticulously detailed troops built with unique heads, body, weapons and armour with unique animations and poses that gives each individual unit character and depth. Troops and cavalry are decorated with all the heraldic finery and colour of medieval warfare that’s gradually muddied and bloodstained through the course of battle.

New Unit Abilities
A legion of more than 250 new and unique units split over 21 factions, each with their own new special abilities that open up a wealth of intuitive battlefield tactics.

Advanced Combat System
Zoom to the frontline and witness the fast, visceral melee combat enhanced by new spectacular battlefield animations. Troops block and parry attack moves and string together deadly combo attacks and finishing moves before scanning the battlefield for their next kill.

New Explosive Sieges
Embark on spectacular siege battles as huge armies and fearsome siege machines rumble into action. Devastating cannon, pummel imposing defences of fully destructible cities and castles before setting them aflame under the night sky.

Advanced Lighting and Richer Environments
A newly enhanced graphics engine brings the battlefield environment to life like never before. The stunningly realistic landscapes feature detailed vegetation with sprawling settlements. Newly detailed dynamic weather effects beat down on new terrain types illuminated by enhanced lighting that captures every glint and spark as arms and armour clash under a gleaming sun.

Enhanced Multiplayer Battles
New multiplayer battle modes will ease the player’s passage to the battlefield and keep the online conflict raging.

A New All-Conquering Campaign

History in the Making
A huge campaign spanning from the years 1080-1530, that will take the player beyond the first Crusade up until the dawn of the renaissance. An extended campaign map will allow passage to South and Central America bringing the player into battle with the Aztecs.

New Settlement Types
Build through six levels of settlement ranging from humble villages to vast cities and wooden forts to mighty stone fortress. Develop your faction as a feudal aristocracy using you castles to keep the peasants in check whilst conquering your enemies with your powerful armies. Or build cities to develop a wealthy urban society, and battle your foes with diplomacy, bribery, assassination and armies of mercenaries.

A Supporting Cast
Put an array of ancillary characters to work and smooth your path to global domination. Boost your coffers with Merchants. Grease the cogs of diplomacy with Princesses and manage your faction’s path to religious enlightenment with Priests. Charge assassins to wipe out enemy generals and witness their cold-hearted killing first-hand with assassination movie sequences.

Embrace Religion
Will you obey the demands of the Papal States, catering to the whims of the Pope? Or shun his requests and risk facing his fearsome Inquisitors or even excommunication? Make a stand against him and you can infiltrate papal affairs by rigging elections.

Global Crusades
Win favour with the Pope and round up your armies for global crusades at his request. Players can even prompt the Pope to commission crusades as Catholicism wages a spiritual battle against the Muslim, Orthodox and Pagan religions.

Steeped in the richness of the middle ages - Fire dead animals into besieged towns to spread disease, ransom or execute captured nobles, marry daughters into rival families to secure alliances, and even fight in the Crusades under the banner of your religion.

There will be 21 playable factions for custom battle and multiplayer. England, France, Scotland, Holy Roman Empire, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Milan, Venice, Papal States, Sicily, Poland, Russia, Hungary, Byzantium, The Turks, Egypt, The Moors, The Mongols, The Tumurids, The Aztecs.

We've included several factions that weren't included in the original Medieval; examples being Scotland, Venice and Portugal.

The final lineup of playable factions is still to be decided, however there will be a rich variety of factions to play, each with their own unique units and abilities that add a great deal of variation to the grand campaign experience.

As an example, Scotland start with the English breathing down their necks, so they will have to keep their heads down, bide their time, and seek allies. Scotland's army will be a mixed bag of solid lowland spearmen and fierce but unreliable highlanders. They'll have to work hard diplomatically at the start to avoid being overrun by the English, but if they can become the dominant power in Britain, they have a base to expand and seek wider domination.

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Pics

https://img18.imageshack.us/img18/940/screen20dk.jpg

https://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9310/screen19ib.jpg

And links to the others:

8 more pics

It looks fantastic I'm sure you'll all agree. CA/Sega are expected to officially announce the game later, where we can perhaps expect more pics, exact time frames, factions, map info, gameplay details, etc. These are exciting times no doubt!

Thanks BKB. We'll sticky this for a bit.

I just want to add that certain aspects of the game look very interesting - it would APPEAR that soldiers within units appear to have different faces, shields, clothing, etc. Although this can't be confirmed yet, if this is the case it would be a first for a Total War game, and would be great. They could be officers/generals, but in that first shot I can spot at least 3 different shields amongst the infantry. Also check out the Knights' lance in the second pic, I can spot many different colours, and those horses surcoats have different patterns too.

I wonder how the recent release of Stronghold II will affect this game. TW games are better but I love the detail of building and running castles. If only we could find a way to merge the two.

well, thos pics sure look great. is there any official or unofficial release date?

just hope it wont be during my finall exams.

On a link on the previous topic, speculation. It was supposed to be to screenies but all I got was a message saying 'screenies taken down at the request of sega europe, back online 4pm gmt'. Which is in 15 minutes, perhaps something is about to happen?

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Originally Posted by dkdnt

well, thos pics sure look great. is there any official or unofficial release date

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sorry i didnt saw other thread.

Hey guys, check this out...we got some canons and the timeframe is 1080 to 1530 & here's a link 4 some pictures

http://www.pcgames.de/?menu=browser&...mage_id=489500

It does look good!

:stares at the pretty pictures: Ooooh.

:remembers how excited she was when RTW was first announced. And all that followed.: Oh.

Well. BI was IMO the game RTW should have been, and since the Sega swap there's been better support for the series in terms of patches etc. Also this time it's an evolution, not a revolution, and that usually goes smoother; there's a lot which must have been learned. So I guess my overall feeling at the moment could be summed up as cautiously hopeful.

But regardless of how this turns out, I do have to do this :gives CA one giant cookie to share between them for choosing a medieval setting for the game: It's my favourite time period :gring: You people seem to have an uncanny knack for that; back when RTW was first announced the late republic/early Empire was my favourite bit of history. It always had been, until about a year and a half ago. I think the medieval passion is here to stay.

:waits for the crowd of people to turn up, exclaiming things like "The knights aren't couching their lances properly!" and "Aketons don't lace up down the front!":

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Originally Posted by dkdnt

well, thos pics sure look great. is there any official or unofficial release date?

just hope it wont be during my finall exams.

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I hope/believe it will be in 2006. Each year since Shoguns release a TW installment has been released. A new game every two years, with expansion packs filling the gaps. Plus they are not building a new engine so that shouldn't add extra time, my moneys on late 06.

Love the new pics. Just a shame it didn't start at Charlemagne's coronation (800AD) and go on til 1530. Now we're probably gonna get another 'Dark Age' themed expansion pack. While this is still good, its a little bit repetitive I believe. It should have started at 800, ended at 1453 then had an 'Ottoman Invasion' expansion, with things like the New World exploration and more artillery made available.

According to that German site its scheduled for Autumn this year!

A cannon and early muskets, looks like we could do something with that...:idea2:

LZoF

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Originally Posted by frogbeastegg

: "Aketons don't lace up down the front!":

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they don't? blast. no wonder they've been laughing at me in the taverns.

great pictures! i'm with Blind King on an Ottoman/near east expansion pack, the Dark Ages was nice novelty but i keep returning to the Medieval period.
TW Conquistadores? the thought of fighting historically accurate battles is pretty grim and probably impossible under the current game engine (300 Spanish against tens of thousands of natives...we'd have to be talking some serious overpowering of the Spanish stats here, and i hate jinettes enough already)

To The games description:

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he game boasts an impressive array of new graphical and gameplay enhancements, including the capability for a massive 10,000 dynamic characters to be taken into battle at any one time. On top of this, The Creative Assembly have implemented a fully redesigned multiplayer mode that offers a dynamic multi-battle campaign bolstered by an unprecedented level of visceral combat choreography that reflects the brutality of medieval warfare.

* Set in the most turbulent and bloody era in European history, Medieval 2: Total War will allow gamers to lead their armies across the battlefields of Europe and the Holy Land before discovering the Americas and doing battle with the fearsome Aztecs.
* Medieval 2: Total War offers a vastly enhanced terrain model to create new graphically rich environments portraying breathtaking cliff top castles and enhanced settlement features that are unique to each civilisation. Over 200 new units, greater depth in siege warfare, new weaponry and a highly detailed building damage model all combine to make Medieval 2: Total War the best version of the PC’s greatest strategy game ever made.


COPYRIGHT 2001-2006 TOTHEGAME.COM

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Discover the Americas looks very cool, looks like a larger map. Also multiplayer campaigns :)

well now i cant wait. why i checked this, i could live in ignorance thinking it would be released for a few years, now i got this expecting feeling. :wall:

Sovereign, my haemorrhoids just dropped reading that description - America and Aztecs, my wishes have finally come true! Awesome stuff.

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Originally Posted by The Blind King of Bohemia

Sovereign, my haemorrhoids just dropped reading that description - America and Aztecs, my wishes have finally come true! Awesome stuff.

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Oh also it is officially official http://www.totalwar.com/community/medieval2.htm

Official site and all that.

Now all I need is for play.com to allow me to preorder it!

Edit:

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Originally Posted by Totalwar.com

For the first time in the Total War series each troop is an individual, garbed with the rich heraldic colours and glinting arms and armour of the period.

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YEY!

Edit: uh oh! Looms like To The Game where out about MP.

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Enhanced Multiplayer Battles
New multiplayer battle modes will ease the player’s passage to the battlefield and keep the online conflict raging.

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From that, looks like no mp campaign :(

Looks fantastic. I just need a new PC to play it. It makes RTW look like a cartoon in comparison. It seems each unit has at least 3 variations of soldier attire, though perhaps there's a few officers in there messing up things. And is that blood on the back of one of the soldiers in the second picture? Can't be. I can sense some would-be scholars already looking for historical inaccuracies....

I think it's pretty obvious why CA haven't opened up certain things for modders in RTW when their new baby is coming along later in the year.

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Originally Posted by professorspatula

Looks fantastic. I just need a new PC to play it. .

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Yeah looks like it's gunna take alot to get it going. I think if I have low settings and such i'll scrape by :2thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by professorspatula

Looks fantastic. I just need a new PC to play it. It makes RTW look like a cartoon in comparison. It seems each unit has at least 3 variations of soldier attire, though perhaps there's a few officers in there messing up things. And is that blood on the back of one of the soldiers in the second picture? Can't be. I can sense some would-be scholars already looking for historical inaccuracies....

I think it's pretty obvious why CA haven't opened up certain things for modders in RTW when their new baby is coming along later in the year.

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And as I said they ARE competing with the modding community just look at this:
http://www.stratcommandcenter.com/fo...howtopic=14227

Hellenes

Wow. It certainly looks excellent (unit variations :2thumbsup:) although one should always take promotional material with a few grains of salt, particularly in terms of the scale.

The feature list isn't terribly illuminating though. I'm curious to know how they plan to accomplish extending the map across the Atlantic in particular.

"Multi-battle campaign" seems a little cagey marketing-speak to me. It looks like they've done something to improve the multiplayer experience (which is nice) but I don't think that equates to a multiplayer campaign mode. It would be awesome if it was true though, multiplayer campaign has become a kind of Holy Grail to many TW fans.

I guess one thing that can be inferred is that, while similar in setting and nominally a sequel, this isn't simply MTW on a revamped Rome engine, but a new game entirely, which I suppose could be both a good thing or a bad thing.

Personally my main hope is that the game is more modifiable. The size and vitality of the RTW mod community indicates that RTW was a step in the right direction, but there's still a lot modders wish they could do that RTW doesn't allow, and if MTW2 increases the amount that can be done it would be excellent news.

Antagonist :balloon2:

Let me be the first to say this:

For the love of GOD and the POPE, please, please, PLEEAAAAASE include proper import/export tool for modders!!!

Hmm.. those screenshots have just changed. Heck they're better than the last lot! Look at all those different shields and helmets!

It will make things a little more difficult for modders. Not the good ones, but the more amateurish types like me! You won't be able to get away with as simple graphics and models than before - though saying that, the textures don't look all that detailed in places. The massive screen resolution and improved lighting and glossmaps probably make the units look a bit better than they are. The cities look incredible though.

http://www.tothegame.com/sshotfeat.a...een=6125&pic=4

A few more here.

Yeah, three totally different ones have appeared now at the top! Just look at that city, and how many different shields there are in that last shot!

I've got a great feeling about this one lads (and ladies), CA have really outdone themselves this time. Now if we can just add more factions to the 21 stated it really will be something special.

hehe, bandwidth theft is in progress

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Originally Posted by frogbeastegg

::waits for the crowd of people to turn up, exclaiming things like "The knights aren't couching their lances properly!" and "Aketons don't lace up down the front!":

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Although I dont know much about the medieval military outside of Ireland, I'll do my part for the Irish units, and try to be as annoying and whinging as possible :inquisitive:

In anycase, there is going to be 21 factions (at anyone time possibly, might be CA have devided up the time periods like in mtw 1). Let the speculation commense as to what these factions will be (Aztecs is 1, and I think the Poles feature in a few of the screenshots).

Hmm... I wonder if there will be a return to multiple concentric walls and the introduction of moats.... I'm not convinced. I guess I'll have to invent a time machine and find out. Or wait to see more... whichever is quickest to achieve.

Lol!

Lovely new pictures by the way. Those are even more 'life-like'. I wonder how many polygons are in those units.

Two more screenshots from MTW 2 newsletter:
(you can subscribe to it from totalwar.com frontpage)
https://img18.imageshack.us/img18/93...een19ib.th.jpg https://img18.imageshack.us/img18/940/screen20dk.th.jpg
click to enlarge

Obviously the English too. Hopefully the Aztecs might be an emergent faction, and therefore may not count.

And yes the pics are gone, I'll post links this time.

EDIT: First post has been updated. From now on I'll try and edit that with any new pics and info that emerge.