CVG preview & impressions

[Martok]

This article is probably a must-read for all of us interested in ETW. In addition to revealing a fair bit of new information, it also gives an idea of how the game actually plays.

Perhaps even more importantly is the perspective from which the article is written. The author appears to be a Total War veteran, and is quite obviously skeptical as a result of his experiences with Medieval 2. Fellow cynics like myself would probably benefit from checking it out.

[gollum]

... muskets featured in Medieval II, they were so wayward as to verge on useless.

Excuse me? Does he know what M2TW mp players think about how powerful guns are in the late era?

He s a veteran alright, just not a total war one. Judging from the style i d say he s a veteran reviewer; the type of hired hand that can make the description of a tactical battle in an RPS game more mezmerising than a love scene from Lady Chatterly s lover.

His *impressions* seem suspiciously similar to press releases and promo-videos to me, word for word in parts.

One of the best ways of needling the enemy is to use a new unit called the Gentleman. This loveable rogue can be sent into enemy territory to duel opposition commanders or assassinate dignitaries, allowing high rankers to be eliminated without the need for battlefield confrontation. Wipe out a number of a faction's generals and they'll declare war. The Gentleman also has several other key skills. Ensconce him in an enemy's university and he'll steal their research, or if he's placed in one of yours, speed your discovery of new technologies.

I guess his name is Bond. James Bond.

The campaign can be played without fighting

CA is claiming this since MTW, and back then i couldnt figure out why, very few people were playing the SP part with autoresolve - at least now the mp campaigns give CA a valid reason to prepare for this. Another spreading out of resources amidst an ever increasing scope... hmmm i wonder in what that may result

Thanks for the link.

!it burnsus!

[Oleander Ardens]

I liked the preview, it seemed rather even-handed. Good info, I especially liked the ability to raid settlements of the enemy when his forces are too weak to attack me in the field of honor, while being to strong to overcome when defending the walls of the city.

[Sir Beane]

That was an interesting and well written preview. I especially liked the bit about being able to completely avoid conflict. I wonder if there will be a way to achieve a peaceful victory this time around?

It would be nice if there were diplomatic or social influence victory conditions, like those in Galactic Civilizations.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Sir Beane, from what I can tell, if you can get the most Prestige points without fighting anyone, then you could theoretically have a peaceful victory. Technology is one way to get those, making money might be another. I don't know if there are other ways though.

[Sir Beane]

Sir Beane, from what I can tell, if you can get the most Prestige points without fighting anyone, then you could theoretically have a peaceful victory. Technology is one way to get those, making money might be another. I don't know if there are other ways though.

Hopefully other ways will include building up infrastructure and developing your lands. I would also hope that good diplomatic relations would help as well.

[Divinus Arma]

RE: Ship combat

all the more difficult by the need to manually reload cannons after firing at the enemy.

GAH!

[Sol Invictus]

No uproar here; I will deal with the system that I am provided with. What else can we do but speculate?

[Sir Beane]

Reloading cannons after firing is just part of the 18th century experience. If you want fancy automatic weapons with muliple shots then it's best to play something more modern

Seriously though I don't really mind having to reload the cannons, so long as it's just one button to click. If they make us go along the boat and reload each cannon individually.... I'll jump overboard.

[King of Finland]

Empire was previewed in a Finnish game magazine, and they had some information that I think is new. I posted it here because I didn't want to start a new thread.

Gentlemen can steal technology from foreign universities, but if a war starts they are kicked out of the country

Ministers can enhance the state or make it worse with their abilities. Monarchs can choose their own ministers, but republics must have elections. If all of your ministers are complete idiots, you can have early elections, but if you do it constantly it can lead to a civil war.

Artillery can fire direct fire or can prevent the enemies movements by firing in front of them. (barrage?)

The sea battles seem very arcade. The problems lie in sailing: You don't have to move your ships at all because you can just turn them around like cannon turrets. Even more agile ships can't avoid a broadside from a ship of the line. Upwind is not important because you can sail directly against it. Guys from CA said that they'll focus to sea battles most during the last parts of development and the UI is still completely unfinished.

[gollum]

The sea battles seem very arcade. The problems lie in sailing: You don't have to move your ships at all because you can just turn them around like cannon turrets. Even more agile ships can't avoid a broadside from a ship of the line. Upwind is not important because you can sail directly against it. Guys from CA said that they'll focus to sea battles most during the last parts of development and the UI is still completely unfinished.

heh - The sea looks great though - its alright if gameplay balancing and tweaking is done in February 2009 since they got till 2011 to fix it with the expansion - happy beta testing Empire players. I hope in the next TW title they put in aerial battles too.

Thanks for the info King of Finland

!it burnsus!

[SpencerH]

The sea battles seem very arcade. The problems lie in sailing: You don't have to move your ships at all because you can just turn them around like cannon turrets. Even more agile ships can't avoid a broadside from a ship of the line. Upwind is not important because you can sail directly against it. Guys from CA said that they'll focus to sea battles most during the last parts of development and the UI is still completely unfinished.

From whats been mentioned in another thread, it seems likely that the review was played with the naval movement set on "computer control". IIRC CA has said there is a more realistic mode where such irregularities wont happen.

[CBR]

Seriously though I don't really mind having to reload the cannons, so long as it's just one button to click. If they make us go along the boat and reload each cannon individually.... I'll jump overboard.

Oh I think you would get tired of it trying to handle up to 20 ships and still have to think of such details.

But no need to panic DA, reloading will be done automatically. There is a fire/broadside button to handle situations when you want to control exactly when to fire: perfect raking position etc.


CBR

[Jack Lusted]

You don't have to reload cannons automatically after firing, they do of course automatically reload just like in previous games.