Video 4/5 Road to ''Independence''

**Thermal** · 12-18-2008, 00:07

I'm guessing the 5/5 discusses the games online multiplayer features, awesome new look, the new panel and stats seen on an indian unit i think near the start, and really in-game footage, i like the whole thing at the start that shows you the territories you own, and the recruitment queue is on the panel, saves space, great unit models on campaign and battle too, i get the feeling this will be terrific, great find

**Thermal** · 12-18-2008, 00:13

PUT THIS IN THE OPENING POST!

IN ENGLISH!

http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/e...e-trailer?hd=1

AMAZINGLY I WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO VIEW IT, IT LITERALLY WAS BROUGHT OUT IN ENGLISH THE MINUTE BEFORE I WATCHED IT! AND IM THE FIRST PERSON IN THE WORLD TO WATCH IT IN ENGLISH (POSSIBLY)

**Alexander the Pretty Good** · 12-18-2008, 00:42

Was that a priest or bishop moving around the campaign map early in to the video? I thought they weren't doing any agents besides rakes...

**Haxorsist** · 12-18-2008, 01:31

Great video. I see you have the ability to name each of your units. If you pause when they're watching the Powhatan Bowmen, there's a box that says "my unit name". It appears units also have abilties. I wonder if units are able to gain experience in range, accuracy, reloading skill and ammunition (gaining experience in ammunition would be weird).

I would assume the agent is either a Rake or a Gentleman.

**Haxorsist** · 12-18-2008, 01:45

Sorry for the double post, but I couldn't find the edit button. When the mouse is held over a town it says that the town's name is New Haven and that it's poor. That possibly means that you won't get much money if you sack it. It also just said New Haven: School. I wonder if this means that you have to wait for a new town to pop up or grow larger before you can build new buildings. Maybe it's only required when constructing new buildings not when upgrading, or maybe I'm totally off.

**Megas Methuselah** · 12-18-2008, 02:24

Originally Posted by Haxorsist

When the mouse is held over a town it says that the town's name is New Haven and that it's poor. That possibly means that you won't get much money if you sack it. It also just said New Haven: School. I wonder if this means that you have to wait for a new town to pop up or grow larger before you can build new buildings. Maybe it's only required when constructing new buildings not when upgrading, or maybe I'm totally off.

Nice find! I had to go over it three times before I found out what you were talking about. I think it's building a school, and did you notice the "right click to enter city"? Yay, I believe we can view our settlements on the battlemap again! I was so angry when M2TW left that option out...

Oh, I can't wait 'till March...

Originally Posted by Haxorsist

Sorry for the double post

I don't know why, but junior members can't vote. Don't worry, take part in community discussions with good posts of the sort you already posted, and you'll be made a member in no time. Heh heh, not like that kid who had 80+ post and was still a junior member...

**Haxorsist** · 12-18-2008, 02:33

Well, apparently I've been a junior member since '06. That must be some record right?

Yeah, it might be building a school. I wonder if the number of towns effects how fast or how many buildings you can construct. Maybe they're just a new form of governor's house/city wall. More advanced regions have more towns which means more building options.

I don't know if it means we can see it on the battlemap again. A general was selected, so right-clicking would garrison the army in the town, no? I do hope option to see the towns and cities on the battlemap is back in. I liked checking out my cities in Rome. I wouldn't be too pissed off if it's not in, but it was a nice touch.

**hoom** · 12-18-2008, 02:50

Some things I've noticed:
Experience bars for various combat stats? Or is it just a visual indicator of relative strength? Would be pretty cool if a unit that did a lot of melee would get better melee stats, while one of the same type that did a bunch of shooting would get better missile stats.

In this you can see a ramp for the wooden walled town, there was one in the star fort too.
Looks like the way to get artillery on the walls.
Palisade has gaps between logs, I wonder if you'll be able to have muskets up against the palisade fire out directly through the wall like in Shogun? That would be a very good thing I think.

Vegetation looks much more varied but at the same time, often manages to look odd somehow. (2D low res?)

Looks like you can garrison the region towns at least in defense, would be very cool if you can invade & garrison an enemy town, at least preventing the enemy from using that resource if not actually gaining the bonus yourself.

The battle where there is a town on the other side of the river has ships, I wonder if they are taking part or just there to look pretty?

In the same battle, there are US units listed as (Allied) which the player has direct control of.
There was also in the land campagin trailer, some (Allied) cavalry that was deployed by the player.
I really hope this means that allies are able to transfer units to each others control.
Being able to directly militarily help out an Ally by donating some of your units to their war effort would be way cool.
Likewise, getting control of some friendly allied units would be sweet, even if sometimes they give you rubbish.
This would transform Alliances into really useful tools again.
They were fairly often useful in Shogun/Medieval, where an Ally sharing a border would often send units to help or you would be drawn in to help the ally.
But in Rome & Medieval 2 alliances are basically useless other than that an ally is less likely to attack.
Handing over a strong army to a weak ally would enable you to really help the AI without having to micro-manage them yourself like you would have to in the Rome/Medieval 2 engine.

**Thermal** · 12-18-2008, 03:02

loving the info there

**Megas Methuselah** · 12-18-2008, 03:40

Originally Posted by Haxorsist

I don't know if it means we can see it on the battlemap again. A general was selected, so right-clicking would garrison the army in the town, no? I do hope option to see the towns and cities on the battlemap is back in. I liked checking out my cities in Rome. I wouldn't be too pissed off if it's not in, but it was a nice touch.

Yes, that means we can garrison towns! I wonder if an invading army can occupy enemy towns without having to destroy them, etc. And yes, I do hope we can view cities. It was awesome...

Originally Posted by Hoom

Looks like you can garrison the region towns at least in defense, would be very cool if you can invade & garrison an enemy town, at least preventing the enemy from using that resource if not actually gaining the bonus yourself.

Yeah, this is sweet. To carry it further, I hope enemy towns can be... assimilated, i.e. remain in your control even after a peace settlement, and/or can be used as bargaining chips during negotiations.

Originally Posted by Horxist

Well, apparently I've been a junior member since '06. That must be some record right?

Lol, I see! That is not just!

**Mailman653** · 12-18-2008, 03:45

I like the scene of the British walking through the woods and rebels behind the trees waiting to ambush because the rebels appear to be a mixed unit of militia and natives which is awesome. I wonder if that's a specific unit or if its possible to have mixed units of militia and natives or regulars and militia, etc.

Although my only complaint is that a video about diplomacy and the tech tree would of been more informative that the road to independence which pretty much showed off what everyone already knew, that the US is a playable faction.