Bunch of new E3 shots

[hoom]

http://www.totalwar-zone.de/index2.php?g=etw&id=5
(found link at TWC)
Some pretty good land battle shots there.
Some show 2 ranks firing & I think at least one is showing 3 ranks.

[Sheogorath]

Well, looks like Russia is confirmed.
I can only hope those are very early-era screenshots, though. I cant say as I fully approve of the odd headgear. I'm fairly sure that by 1700 Peter had most of the army in tricorns and wouldnt've tolerated any sillyness involving funny hats which werent approved by western europe :P

[Divinus Arma]

Somebody can feel free to correct me, and I am no expert on the period, but something seems odd about riflemen in a formation 12 across and 8 deep, give or take. Those shots of deep formations seem very strange.

[CBR]

I must admit I'm starting to get tired of watching formations in 6+ ranks...

What about showing off the uber size of the ETW battlefield instead of all the soldiers bunched up in a small field.


CBR

[Sheogorath]

Somebody can feel free to correct me, and I am no expert on the period, but something seems odd about riflemen in a formation 12 across and 8 deep, give or take. Those shots of deep formations seem very strange.

Riflemen, maybe, but I've heard that the reason people didnt use musketeer formations more than three men deep was because people occasionally got shot in the back of the head with four-man deep formations.

Although it might just be a game mechanic, and only the first three ranks are firing. Its kind of hard to tell from the screenies.

[Belgolas]

they probably did it for marketing reasons.

Quote from Jack Lusted

Or as has been said before they are just in a block for the screenshot. By default line infantry deploy in thin lines.

[Mailman653]

I can barely make out what I think was a drummer in a screen shot, but no standard bearers? Maybe he hasn't been implemented yet.

Overall, cool screens.

[rajpoot]

In the overhead shot of the battlefield, I can see the smoke of the gunfire, and a somke 'trail' of the musket-ball...........which seems really unusual, as I never knew the smoke from muskets used to spout to such a long distance and that musket balls left smoke trails!!

[Mailman653]

In the overhead shot of the battlefield, I can see the smoke of the gunfire, and a somke 'trail' of the musket-ball...........which seems really unusual, as I never knew the smoke from muskets used to spout to such a long distance and that musket balls left smoke trails!!

Tracer musket balls

[JeromeGrasdyke]

In the overhead shot of the battlefield, I can see the smoke of the gunfire, and a somke 'trail' of the musket-ball...........which seems really unusual, as I never knew the smoke from muskets used to spout to such a long distance and that musket balls left smoke trails!!

Well, we could leave out the trails, but then you might have some difficulty in figuring out why your elite unit was losing a dozen men every 5 seconds... gameplay > realism, in this case, anyway ;)

[hoom]

Could we perhaps have a toggle option for trails in the config file?

[rajpoot]

Well, we could leave out the trails, but then you might have some difficulty in figuring out why your elite unit was losing a dozen men every 5 seconds... gameplay > realism, in this case, anyway ;)

Ahhhh right, well that's a good idea, but all the same a toggle option would be nice........

And thanks for the quick response

[lars573]

Well, looks like Russia is confirmed.
I can only hope those are very early-era screenshots, though. I cant say as I fully approve of the odd headgear. I'm fairly sure that by 1700 Peter had most of the army in tricorns and wouldnt've tolerated any sillyness involving funny hats which werent approved by western europe :P

Which one do you think has Russia in it? I see one with Turks though.

[Sheogorath]

Which one do you think has Russia in it? I see one with Turks though.

Hm, you might be right. I just saw green and assumed it was Ruskies, since it was sort of the dominant color in their military.
Of course, that begs the question of what color they intend to make the Russians >_>

[rajpoot]

I see a rank and file formation of Red Indians in one of the screens, anyone else notice this?

[lars573]

Yep saw those too. I suspect that you need to turn on the fancy light infantry formations.

Hm, you might be right. I just saw green and assumed it was Ruskies, since it was sort of the dominant color in their military.
Of course, that begs the question of what color they intend to make the Russians >_>

They could be Kossacks too. I also noticed a shot of what could be dismounted Dragoons.

[comrade_general]

N2TW looks better graphically than those ground battle shots if you ask me.

[Sheogorath]

They could be Kossacks too. I also noticed a shot of what could be dismounted Dragoons.

Or militia, maybe. Dammit, CA, next time caption your screencaps! >:(

N2TW looks better graphically than those ground battle shots if you ask me.

The up close shots show guys with detailed models for heads. RTW's models just have cylinders.
Overall, I'd say that the long-distance shots look roughly on-par with MTW2, maybe a little better, and the up-close shots show significant improvement.

EDIT:
Although, in terms of uniforms, you might be right. But it looks as though most of those screencaps are from early eras, with cheaper units.

[Vuk]

Well, we could leave out the trails, but then you might have some difficulty in figuring out why your elite unit was losing a dozen men every 5 seconds... gameplay > realism, in this case, anyway ;)

I agree with having a toggle. That is one of the things that you as a commander will have to figure out. If it is toggleable (which I sincerely hope it is) I will certainly play with it off.

[Xehh II]

I can't see the screenshots, some weird unclosable german(?) ad pops up, anyone know how to stop this?

[rajpoot]

I can't see the screenshots, some weird unclosable german(?) ad pops up, anyone know how to stop this?

That thing is damn annoying if one doesn't know German, I know, I don't.........
Click the lowest option on the top right corner, that'll do the trick.

[Zenicetus]

The ship combat screeenies still don't look right to me. Too many ships fighting with neatly furled sails, when that's the engine that makes maneuver possible. You'd furl 'em in rough weather, but in that case all ships would be fighting that way. You wouldn't have this mix of some ships with sail on, and others fighting with bare sticks. Look at any of the great paintings of sail combat, Trafalgar, etc where all the ships are flying as much sail as possible, for tactical advantage. Maybe the screen shots are set up this way to show a clearer view of marines on deck or something, but it's still a bit worrying.

I hope there's more to sail combat in this game than eye candy.

[hoom]

Normally they furled the lower course of square sails before battle to reduce the chance of loosing masts if the rigging was damaged & to reduce clutter on the decks.

I'm a bit surprised by all the pics with all the square sails furled & only the fore & aft sails flying though, I don't think they did that

Trafalgar was fought in light wind & with the English fleet following a very unorthodox tactic, heading directly for the middle of the French line, a rather dangerous place to be so its not surprising if the English carried more sail to help close that gap as quickly as possible.

& really, most pics of Trafalgar seem to be showing the lower course furled on most ships eg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Trafalgar1.jpg

(BTW, sorry about the ads, I don't see them myself with Firefox, adblock & noscript)

[cannon_fodder]

In the fifteenth shot, the huge flags kill any aesthetic pleasure that shot would otherwise have given me. Aside from being a failed attempt to integrate the information of faction allegience into the environment (50 foot man-held flagpole?), they occlude far too much. Make it half as big on each axis and I'll still recognize it at a glance even at a more achievable resolution. Also, the option of just using a small transparent out-of-perspective icon drawn at the middle of the unit would be nice.

I know units' standards have never been realistic in TW games but they've never been this offensive.

[Sheogorath]

In the fifteenth shot, the huge flags kill any aesthetic pleasure that shot would otherwise have given me. Aside from being a failed attempt to integrate the information of faction allegience into the environment (50 foot man-held flagpole?), they occlude far too much. Make it half as big on each axis and I'll still recognize it at a glance even at a more achievable resolution. Also, the option of just using a small transparent out-of-perspective icon drawn at the middle of the unit would be nice.

I know units' standards have never been realistic in TW games but they've never been this offensive.

They're just markers, like in every other TW game thus far. They aren't supposed to 'actually' be there, but are intended to help distinguish units and make selecting individual units in a chaotic melee much easier.
'Sides, within a week there'll be a mod out to turn them off, if they haven't included that option already.

[hoom]

In Rome:TW (& M2:TW?) we have the SHOW_BANNERS: option, set to FALSE to have no banners.

[pevergreen]

Yes, the option is in M2TW.

[cannon_fodder]

They're just markers, like in every other TW game thus far. They aren't supposed to 'actually' be there, but are intended to help distinguish units and make selecting individual units in a chaotic melee much easier.
'Sides, within a week there'll be a mod out to turn them off, if they haven't included that option already.

As I said, I know it's been done in every Total War game so far, just not this badly (maybe in Medieval, only played that very briefly). I'm also aware that they're not actually meant to be there, but they are of course closely integrated with the environment- they're supposed to look like flags on poles, and are in correct-ish perspective. Which is damn ugly. IMO everything should either be fully part of the world or an abstract GUI element.

I thought the second part of my post made it clear that I believe the flags serve an important function. That same screenshot highlights the fact that units from opposing factions can look very similar at a distance, and there's the selection difficulty you mentioned. I don't want to just turn them off, I want an alternative option for their display.

[Sheogorath]

As I said, I know it's been done in every Total War game so far, just not this badly (maybe in Medieval, only played that very briefly). I'm also aware that they're not actually meant to be there, but they are of course closely integrated with the environment- they're supposed to look like flags on poles, and are in correct-ish perspective. Which is damn ugly. IMO everything should either be fully part of the world or an abstract GUI element.

I thought the second part of my post made it clear that I believe the flags serve an important function. That same screenshot highlights the fact that units from opposing factions can look very similar at a distance, and there's the selection difficulty you mentioned. I don't want to just turn them off, I want an alternative option for their display.

I think they're quite a bit nicer than some horrid flag-block-thing, myself. Smooth integration with the environment promotes immersion, while still giving you a good idea of where your guys are.

Like I said, there'll be a mod out for it within a week of its release. Such are the wonders of PC gaming

[anders]

umh, those infantry units firing at each other in some of the screens look to be standing very close to each other, a lot closer than archer units in M2TW. Hope they wont stand on top of each other like that in the game.

btw, anybody does anybody here known the effective range of the muskets, and at what range they usually engaged each other?

and isnt that screen with the cavalry unit in the mists and fog beautiful.. hope its in-game.