Empire Total War = Can't wait for Europa Barbarorum II

[syct23]

GOODNESS the worst of the franchise has arrived with ETW..

[/Bean\]

I hope you dont think EB II is running off E:TW...

[syct23]

NO thats not what I said I know that EB2 is running off of MTW2, just saying ETW is horrid

[/Bean\]

I only want ETW to complete my collection...I would probably only play it to laugh at it. So I'm just going to wait until theres a cheap used version of Ebay or Amazon...Anyone played Imperial Glory? Thats basically exactly the same game, made many years ago, just with a bit worse graphics and Med 1 style campaign map...that's a good enough game for me, only cost a tenner

[Aemilius Paulus]

GOODNESS the worst of the franchise has arrived with ETW..

Well, I am glad I have found a comrade in opinion. M2TW and ETW are setting new lows. More so with ETW though.

[/Bean\]

Dont you think they were rushed jobs, that were more about bringing out new games rather than good ones? I just dont think they've really concentrated on more than one thing each time; like Med II was about giving each person individuality so they werent all exactly the same, and ETW's all about the naval fights. It's a bit of a waste. EB II might be taking a long time, but the amount of times it betters Med II will far outweigh the extra time taken.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

The video game industry, like all industries, has found the perfect balance for profit. If they make utter crap, nobody will buy it. If they make something great, it will cost too much and take too long to develop it. So we get something in the middle, not good but purchasable. That is how consumerism works.

[Bucefalo]

Well i think ETW is good enough as a gunpowder game that still use regiments and not only trench warfare or guerrilla. It could have been better? Of course, but i think it is good enough...at least for me.

As always, modding can convert a passable game into a great one. So don´t worry

[/Bean\]

I'd be interested to hear of someone whos played Imperial Glory and ETW and hear a comparison

[Ca Putt]

I completely agree with MarcusAureliusAntoninus, that's what wrecked Ensemble and Westwood studios :(

[HunGeneral]

I have played Imperial glory and I gotta say I found it horrible compared to Rome:TW. But I don't think I'll try E:TW any time soon ... My comp will probeably not even be able to take M2:TW.

[mlp071]

I'd be interested to hear of someone whos played Imperial Glory and ETW and hear a comparison

I own both (IG & ETW). Naval battles ETW are pretty much stripped from IG(including no collision).IG has board map like Shogun and MTW , and ETW dynamic like RTW $ MTW. Other differences are more developed research tree and units in ETW have morale (i am not saying that its great).

ETW feels more like improved(or redone) IG then TW game.Didn't have to much time to play , so i just tried it so far.Pathfinding problems, same old weird campaign non-AI, only 1 model for same type of infantry units.There are some good things , like slower campaign pace , etc..

One thing that really annoys me is that ,as it looks like, you going to need some sort of SDK or CA provided editor/tool in order to mod almost anything in ETW.They promised to release some "tools " down the road , but who knows if and when that is going to happen.

CA reasoning for that is "possible cheating in MP", which game is supposedly geared towards(can't say how).

So modders are pretty much at mercy of CA.

From my first impressions, i would say people are better off with EB att.Or EU3 if you are really itching for XVII century fix.

[Aemilius Paulus]

I am still sticking with Cossacks. EU does not have real-time combat similar to RTT/RTS games.

[SwissBarbar]

Cossacks is a very, very cool game, but IMHO nothing compare to EB. I just too much love the ancient world, and the turn-based aspect gives more time to plan strategy and stuff calmly ...

[Aemilius Paulus]

Cossacks is a very, very cool game, but IMHO nothing compare to EB. I just too much love the ancient world, and the turn-based aspect gives more time to plan strategy and stuff calmly ...

That is true, which is why I was comparing it to ETW. Which one is better, do you think?

[Βελισάριος]

Well... how's this for an incentive to want to play EBII?
It sure makes me want to change the old laptop for a faster one. I don't want to play this on anything but the highest quality.

[A Very Super Market]

Forgetting the topic for a moment, I want to say that ETW would be horribly suited for a mod like EB. Only five slots per city....

[Aemilius Paulus]

Forgetting the topic for a moment, I want to say that ETW would be horribly suited for a mod like EB. Only five slots per city....

I hope that stuff is not hardcoded...

[Βελισάριος]

Five slots of what?

[A Very Super Market]

Okay, the contructing is completely different for the regional capitals

Grouped into five different buildings (Well, 1-5), they are upgradable in their respective building lines and occasionally branch off. I believe the five different ones are: Barracks, Public Order building, Government building, Admiralty, and Cannon-makers. Plus the defenses of the walls, which btw are 18th century forts.

For the other towns in the region, you can use what they will develop into. Certain towns will have resources that allow special settlements to be built, fertility (methinks),fur, iron, a coastline etc.

For towns that don't have any of those, you can choose to make into a
School town
Church town
Industry town
Leisure town


It is completely different from the RTW engine, and modding will be an alien experience to say the least.

[Starforge]

I too await EB2 but I don't find ETW bad.


As to the building issues - yes it's different in that you only have the 1-5 plus walls (almost all the time) in the city itself but that doesn't mean you don't have the other buildings we used to have in RTW. Instead of in the city they are on the Campaign map now. Schools, farms, churches, several types of ports, manufacturing, mines, and plantations (goods rather than food.)

[Relic]

I completely agree with MarcusAureliusAntoninus, that's what wrecked Ensemble and Westwood studios :(

Uhh... no.
EA bought Westwood and they pretty much wrecked it with their marketing.
Ensemble was shut down by MicroSoft to save money.

How can you guys be so strongly opposed to Empire: Total War?
I can't comment on MTW2, but Empire has been very enjoyable for me; and you guys aren't even giving reasons to back up your claims.

Edit: Shouldn't this be under "Europa Barborum II" and not "Europa Barborum"?

[Ibn-Khaldun]

I am still sticking with Cossacks. EU does not have real-time combat similar to RTT/RTS games.

I have Cossacs and it's good game. But because it's not a turn-based game then it's not for me. I like the battles and the morale stuff and all that.

I also have Imperial Glory and just recently started a new campaign as England. I like it's research tree and it's campaign map. But IG's land battles are horrible! If unit is engaged melee you can't get it out from it anymore and it is always fight to the last man! But naval battles.. I just love them! First game where I had seen naval battles and they are beautiful!

I don't have ETW yet cause my current comp just can't handle it but I will buy it about half a year from now. I hope most of it's bugs are repaired then. But as far as I've heard from some people, it's a good game but not great one.

Anyway, if I have to decide between buying Kingdoms or ETW then Kingdoms win cause that way I can play EB2.

Can't wait for Europa Barbarorum II!

[Ca Putt]

Uhh... no.
EA bought Westwood and they pretty much wrecked it with their marketing.
Ensemble was shut down by MicroSoft to save money.

I think you missunderstood me there what i meant was that westwood and ES were wrecked becasue of this tendancy to mediocre games on behalf of MS and EA. a good game needs more time to make than the big ones like to pay for it, which did not work out with ES.

in the end it's all abouit making max money with minimal effort.

[Rilder]

Shouldn't these ETW threads be taken elsewhere? Their distracting from the EB discussions.

Or we could take it as a sign that EB needs their own forums. :p

[IrishHitman]

Well, I am glad I have found a comrade in opinion. M2TW and ETW are setting new lows. More so with ETW though.

M2TW's Britannia Campaign was satisfying though :P

[miotas]

Naval battles ETW are pretty much stripped from IG(including no collision).

There are collisions but for the most part only very minor damage is imparted and its more of an annoyance than anything because the ships get stuck until they can maneuver away from each other. However I did once "accidentally" have one of my heavy first rate's collide with a sloop, the sloop lost its masts and suffered quite heavy damage, so much so that when I tried to turn it, it sunk.

only 1 model for same type of infantry units.

There are actually differences like facial hair colour and ammunition boxes in different places but only on ultra and my pc runs like snail on tranquilizers if I put anything above medium and even then the large battles chug if I zoom in even a little.

On the game play side of things I think the battles are a step backwards, although the AI seems smarter so maybe some modders will be able to do something with it later on. The campaign however is very good, multiple towns and ports in a region, the possibility to have multiple building projects going at a time, being able to choose who you trade with, blockading trade routes as well as seizing ports, and the clincher, AI that keeps alliances as well as coming to your aid in battles and offering good deals in diplomacy.
However I realise that not everyone is going to like this game, but that is fine with me, so long as I enjoy it I don't mind if others feel like playing Frisbee with their disc.
That said, EB is still my favourite game.

(Damn this American spellchecker saying my words are spelt wrong )