Video 4/5 Road to ''Independence''

[General SupaCrunk]

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

1 Maps are larger

2 The best chapter yet!

3 Russia is green

4 Now it's in English

[Megas Methuselah]

In German? Might as well have given it to us in Latin or something...

Anyways, thx a lot, friend! Mine ears understand not, though mine eyes daren't betray!

EDIT: YES, RUSSIANS ARE GREEN!!!
EDIT2:

[Sir Beane]

Lucky, lucky Germans. How come they get a shiny video and us Brits don't? Have you no national pride CA?

Edit: Also I too shall join in the celebration of Russia escaping a murky brown fate.

[Thermal]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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...

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]

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]

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]

loving the info there

[Megas Methuselah]

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...

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.

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

Lol, I see! That is not just!

[Mailman653]

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.

[Sheogorath]

Hmmm...maybe the brown->green shift represents Russia going from Muscovy to the Russian Empire. I don't believe it became official until 1721.

Or maybe CA just read the outrage here :P

[hoom]

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 think its just a scripted battle intro.

[Slammer]

Did any one see the Regiment that was cought on the road ad was firing in both left and right .

[Divinus Arma]

Watching the land battles seems a mix of Total War and almost of "World in Conflict". I like it. I think there is great, great hope for a WWI era TW. I think their gunpowder experiment is going to be a great success and lead to bigger and better things. Imagine the sea battles with WWII era navies! Now that would be something spectacular!

It almost seems like there are actually 13 colonies, treated as seperate factions. I wonder how this will play out? That makes me wonder if they have developed the "protectorate" feature? A true protectorate would be required to submit at least some of its military force for your use. Now that alone would be an amazing development in diplomacy.


I'm getting excited. This will be my reward for finishing graduate school. April 1st. It's mine!

Edit: Look CLONES! Too bad they all look the same, but if they managed to make it so they dont all stand the same, march the same, fight the same... thats good 'nuff. Seems they all have the same face, but at least they all have different ways of holding a gun.

[Megas Methuselah]

Edit: Look CLONES! Too bad they all look the same, but if they managed to make it so they dont all stand the same, march the same, fight the same... thats good 'nuff. Seems they all have the same face, but at least they all have different ways of holding a gun.

Ah, don't worry about it. I'm sure CA will make some new life for the regiments; hopefully some younger guys to contrast with those wrinkled, middle-aged soldiers.

[Polemists]

Ah, don't worry about it. I'm sure CA will make some new life for the regiments; hopefully some younger guys to contrast with those wrinkled, middle-aged soldiers.

I think CA had a easier time in MTW2 and Rome when people were not wearing uniforms but rather armor, and had unique shield/sword combos. Once everyone is in a uniform, carrying a rifle. Kind of hard to differentiate beyond faces.

[Sheogorath]

I think CA had a easier time in MTW2 and Rome when people were not wearing uniforms but rather armor, and had unique shield/sword combos. Once everyone is in a uniform, carrying a rifle. Kind of hard to differentiate beyond faces.

Well, that was kind of the point :P

But don't worry, not EVERYBODY is in uniform. I know for a fact that the Russians had a HUGE militia force whos only 'uniform' was a state issued cap. And a musket if they were lucky. A lot of them apparently got pikes during the Napoleonic wars.

[Thermal]

at least they look like people, previous faces have been dodgy lol

also dont under-estimate the primitive americans and indians with there bow and arrow, in forest (and forest/woods only) they will be lethal, as gun men will have many problems shooting fast targets amongst trees, however in open ground they'd be slaughtered naturally

[Fisherking]

That ambush was likely a scripting of Braddock’s ill-fated campaign!

We also know at least one Indian Nation from the video, The Powhatan!

Certainly a strong Nation when they met the whites but by the 1700s they were pretty much a shadow of their former power.

[Megas Methuselah]

But don't worry, not EVERYBODY is in uniform. I know for a fact that the Russians had a HUGE militia force whos only 'uniform' was a state issued cap. And a musket if they were lucky. A lot of them apparently got pikes during the Napoleonic wars.

Yeah, same with the Quebecois militia under French rule. Civilian clothes with a blue hat (I don't even know if it was gov't issue).

Kind of hard to differentiate beyond faces.

Exactly my point... Younger, varied faces to contrast with the old ones. Moreover, unbuttoned vs. buttoned jackets, long/short hair, different backpacks (if any), etc. Small things count.

[Thermal]

i think the idea of getting help from allies is much better, as historically and realistically, your allies sent aid, med 2 and romes alliances serve no purpose, and even increase the chance they'll attack you in my experience, also the thirteen colonies, well the indian guys worked for the french mostly, but there were lots of german mercenaries too, along with english spanish german and french from europe, plus many mative american-indo tribes, and america itself thats alot

i expect the mowhecken, comanche and apeache tribes to appear aswell now we know the powhatan are around

[Oleander Ardens]

Indian units known so far:

Powhatan bowmen
Powhatan riflemen
unknown fighters with tomahawk and knife

Good points, hoom

That ambush was likely a scripting of Braddock’s ill-fated campaign!

My thoughts. The guy on the left seemed to me a man of Nouvelle-France not an "American milita", the native warrior on the right fits neatly in too.

We also know at least one Indian Nation from the video, The Powhatan!

Certainly a strong Nation when they met the whites but by the 1700s they were pretty much a shadow of their former power.

Yes, certainly not a brilliant choice for a strong faction...

[Fisherking]

As Road to Independence starts out in the 1600s the Powhatans are not so bad. In that time they had about 200 towns and had conquered an empire of their own.

Relations stared off good but naturally broke down and degenerated into war (somewhat half hearted, after the initial attacks, from the Indian side anyway). That ended with that famous marriage but stared up again when the old leader died. Of course they had been decimated by disease by that time but it was still a bloody affair. It could have been a very ticklish time when the English could have been pushed into the sea.

Of course they are not or you wouldn’t have a game!

[Oleander Ardens]

Does "Road to Independence" start really well before 1700? Then their choice would make more sense. Around 1640 they were a strong alliance, around 1700 only a shadow hiding in the woods...

[Fisherking]

@Oleander Ardens

In one of the articles it spoke on the subject. It starts either in the late 1500s or in 1600. I just can’t remember which. But Martok said that it skips around in time. Like in three parts… I may have read that too, but I just don’t remember which interview…

[Oleander Ardens]

Ah thanks for the info. A good choice IMHO.