The Daily Update at the Com

[antisocialmunky]

Clone troopers!

More Faces++

[Mailman653]

I don't mean to be a snot, but for those who complain about the new units, what are you really complaining about?

- Are you saying that the units did not look in real life the way CA is presenting them in in the game? If so, how about some pics showing how you think they're supposed to look?

- If you're not challenging CA's representation of the unit, are you instead complaining that you wish they'd provide us with different units other than reskinned grenadiers and heavy cav? If so, what other units would you rather have? Please include unit names and pics so we can all chime in on how rediculous those units look, too.

If you're just complaining that the new units look dumb, you'll have to take it up with the silly outfit designers of the original uniforms, but they've been dead for over two centuries.

-Not so

-They just aren't that different from what we already have. Speaking from a purely modding prospective, the Spanish Grenadiers don't really bring anything new. The German unit is a little better, I'm sure another modder can find a another unit somewhere that resembles this one. As a matter of fact, it's not all the units that I have a problem with, it was just those two. I particuarlly like the Swedish guard and the Russian Grenadiers because they bring something new to the game which can open up possiblities to mod new units based on the new model. The Swedish guard have a hat unlike anything in the game and the cut of their coat is different from any of the other coats in the game, they could make excellent Royal Marines from the movie Master &Commander. And the Russians bring in a new hat which can't be found anywhere in the game either which could double for great Hessian units.

Not so either.

[A Very Super Market]

Honestly, I would forego the unique units for facial diversity. That pic is nice and all, but the symmetrical faces really throws me off.

[Servius]

Didn't RTW or M2TW have semi-random faces (like maybe 5 faces per unit)? I mean, I don't really care, you only see them when you zoom way in, and I'm more of a big picture guy (though if I could automate more of the fight, I'd probably love to zoom in and check out some action).

[Mailman653]

Didn't RTW or M2TW have semi-random faces (like maybe 5 faces per unit)? I mean, I don't really care, you only see them when you zoom way in, and I'm more of a big picture guy (though if I could automate more of the fight, I'd probably love to zoom in and check out some action).

They do have four faces in the textures. I think you don't really notice this unless your playing on High or above. Plus I've noticed that some models only use one for whatever reason despite there being four in a texture, it must be hard coded somewhere in the model file.

[A Very Super Market]

RTW had clone troopers, M2 had the variated clothing. Faces were always the same, but in worse quality, I guess.

[antisocialmunky]

*I didn't realize that the database stuff was restored and my previous post is back*

[Fisherking]

The faces usually bother me more in screen shot close ups than in the game.

In combat I am fighting the battle and not looking at the troopers to begin with.

This is an area I just don’t care that much about.

[KLAssurbanipal]

In Empire TW 1.0 were many clones, too. So I don't know where is problem? I'm very happy, because CA will make unique units for factions! It will be more variety, because in game actually all guards infantry and guards cavalry for all factions look that same.

I think that cA made great work! More units, more models, better mods! Now they make historical Mitre and Bearskin hats for Russian and Spanish grenadiers! Spain have more historical colour: from yellow to white! Prussian Guard Cavalry and Swedish guards have historical uniforms :D
Great work, CA!

Look that in Empire without patch now, there are many clone faces:






These faces of new units are better than from normal Guards and grenadiers from ETW. More details, and more variety: mustaches, beards, blonde, brunette and brown hair (earlier all grenadiers and guards were brunettes):




and these faces aren't clones!

[al Roumi]

Off topic i know but those face textures just look like Eric Cartman's relatives

[Daveybaby]

Is it just me, or is anyone baffled by the fact that people actually give a damn about what the soldiers faces look like? I mean, i know why CA make the units look nice and detailed close up, because you need to be able to compete in the eyecandy screenshots department with FPSs and RPGs and so on in order to get column/website inches and sell more than 3 copies of your game. And, this kind of detail makes sense in those genres, because youre up close and personal with your opponents a lot of the time.

But... is there anyone out there that actually *plays* a total war game zoomed right in like that? When i first ran the game, i had a bit of a zoom about and looked at the lovely graphics and animations and everything, and thought 'oh that's all very nice', and then i actually started playing the game and i havent used anything but maximum zoom out since. Same thing goes for the strategic map, by the way.

I guess it's the same thing as with those people that can't play the game because the incorrect detailing on the uniforms makes them furious. Its... just... how can you tell at any zoom level where its possible to play the game?!?!?

[crpcarrot]

Didn't RTW or M2TW have semi-random faces (like maybe 5 faces per unit)? I mean, I don't really care, you only see them when you zoom way in, and I'm more of a big picture guy (though if I could automate more of the fight, I'd probably love to zoom in and check out some action).

agree

faces are the least of my worries. it also confuses me when people who are making big noise about wating time on new units actually complain about faces. does anyone actually ever play battles so close that they can see the faces??

[AussieGiant]

Is it just me, or is anyone baffled by the fact that people actually give a damn about what the soldiers faces look like? I mean, i know why CA make the units look nice and detailed close up, because you need to be able to compete in the eyecandy screenshots department with FPSs and RPGs and so on in order to get column/website inches and sell more than 3 copies of your game. And, this kind of detail makes sense in those genres, because youre up close and personal with your opponents a lot of the time.

But... is there anyone out there that actually *plays* a total war game zoomed right in like that? When i first ran the game, i had a bit of a zoom about and looked at the lovely graphics and animations and everything, and thought 'oh that's all very nice', and then i actually started playing the game and i havent used anything but maximum zoom out since. Same thing goes for the strategic map, by the way.

I guess it's the same thing as with those people that can't play the game because the incorrect detailing on the uniforms makes them furious. Its... just... how can you tell at any zoom level where its possible to play the game?!?!?

It's just part of the joy of having to please all of the people all of the time.

I fall squarely onto your side of the equation Davyebaby

[Servius]

Okay, I hope we're resolved on the issue of the importance of faces (or lack thereof). I think the only thing less important would be the diversity in eye color.

As someone who has mostly played GB, can others who have played more factions tell me whether the new units are:
a) just reskins of existing units with the same stats
b) replacement units with different stats
c) additional unit with different stats

I feel like most are B and a very few are C, but I'm not sure.

Also, any word on when this patch is coming?

Also also, ETW post-release support is vastly superior to Relic's support of DOW2 (the other game I was playing, but haven't for months now). Funny how both games cost the same (at least for me to buy, no idea what they cost to make), but ETW is SO much bigger than DOW2, and has also had WAY more post-release support, even though DOW2 was sold with the implicit promise that additional content would be readily available a la Fallout 3's DLCs.

[antisocialmunky]

Its not really the faces, its more of the clone army impression that M2TW broke up despite having the same faces and the feeling that TW has taken a step backwards. People just look too much alike despite having 4 faces and 2 uniforms. People from different parts of Europe don't look so similar as to all look like The Mad Magazine guy or Jonathan Frakes circa 1990.

Honestly, I don't really mind that the rank and file infantry look alike but the militias and less disciplined units probably shouldn't as much. Its more of an annoyance than anything else.

And yes, I do zoom in to watch the battle because its fun especially when you can 100% everything and watch the mayhem. Otherwise what's the point of all the eye candy? I'll be happy with whatever they give us anyways.

[Quickening]

I just played Empire for the first time since the last patch and for some reason the game is running really slowly even if I lower the settings whereas it ran perfectly previously. Has anyone else reported this issue?

[Razor1952]

I just played Empire for the first time since the last patch and for some reason the game is running really slowly even if I lower the settings whereas it ran perfectly previously. Has anyone else reported this issue?

Opposite is true for me, though I also went with windows 7 RC the combination made things a lot better. I suspect you may need to tweak your graphics settings as possibly how graphics interact with hardware was tweaked in the last patch??

[Fisherking]

Now word on the patch yet. They are still showing us units.

June 15th

Hi guys,

Today's update features a forthcoming free Prussian unit. The Prussian life guards are equipped similarly to line infantrymen. However their uniforms are altogether more splendid, marking them out as a superior force, in arrogance if nothing else. They do a good job as garrison troops and are dedicated to the crown.


Thanks,

Mark O'Connell
(aka SenseiTW)

http://www.totalwarforums.com/

[maestro]

What is it with all these sodding updates?

I just want the game fixed. I haven't played it for about 6 weeks now, waiting for the next patch and I'm starting to get a little impatient with all the fluff that's coming from CA. I'm never one to diss software developers; I work in that field myself and know how hard it can be, but whoever is project managing the curent workload needs to seriously reprioritise You know what: we don't care about faces and more uniforms can wait for a major content update. What the public is waiting for is not a content update - it's fixes for game killing bugs and mechanics and a bit of balancing.

I'm not sure why this is so hard to grasp

Last night, I even reinstalled CIV4 cause I'm sick of waiting for ETW. May 1st was the last update and it was apparent within hours of that release that the game still has fundamental flaws. Why is it that 6-7 weeks later, we've seen nothing released which even attempts to fix these issue? Why is it that CA seem intent on releasing "the mother of all patches" as a panacaea rather than allow us poor folk that paid for the game to actually play it?

/rant over

[Husar]

Their description makes them sound like a replacement for guard units but with worse stats than normal line infantry.
I mean if they're really an expensive elite unit, why would they be good for garrison duty?

[Wausser]

What is it with all these sodding updates?

I just want the game fixed. I haven't played it for about 6 weeks now, waiting for the next patch and I'm starting to get a little impatient with all the fluff that's coming from CA. I'm never one to diss software developers; I work in that field myself and know how hard it can be, but whoever is project managing the curent workload needs to seriously reprioritise You know what: we don't care about faces and more uniforms can wait for a major content update. What the public is waiting for is not a content update - it's fixes for game killing bugs and mechanics and a bit of balancing.

The people that work on new units are other people then the guys that work on diplomacy/AI or CTD fixes...

[al Roumi]

'cos they look nice and have shiny buttons. Like the Spanish King's Irish guards in Sharpe...

Doesn't sounds like they'll be of much use though: expensive garrison units. If they cost more than dragoons and don't receive the policing bonus, what's the point of them? Another uniform?

(can we have the patch now please)

[maestro]

I appreciate that. The issue is that why haven't the bug fixes been relseased? Why do we have to wait for new units and faces to be ready before we can play the game? I don't believe for one second that it's taken 6 weeks to fix the bugs found since the last patch - if that is the case then they need to take a long hard look at their resource allocation.

I just find it frustrating when we're sat here, twiddling our thumbs waiting for ... well, an acknowledgement would be a start ... but waiting for fundamental game mechanics to be fixed, for some serious CTDs to be fixed and general bugs to be fixed and the only updates we're getting are about faces.

How about "today we fixed XYZ bug aaaaand we've got some new faces for you. But no: there's bugger all on bug fixes which is what actually counts. Smacks of bleedin' politicians more than developers to me

[Marquis of Roland]

Prussian fire-by-rank unit with guard reload and accuracy stats would be awesome. That's like rank 5 Prussian line infantry right off the bat.

Policing bonus wouldn't hurt, but wouldn't really help with a unit like that either.

[Fisherking]

I appreciate that. The issue is that why haven't the bug fixes been relseased? Why do we have to wait for new units and faces to be ready before we can play the game? I don't believe for one second that it's taken 6 weeks to fix the bugs found since the last patch - if that is the case then they need to take a long hard look at their resource allocation.

I just find it frustrating when we're sat here, twiddling our thumbs waiting for ... well, an acknowledgement would be a start ... but waiting for fundamental game mechanics to be fixed, for some serious CTDs to be fixed and general bugs to be fixed and the only updates we're getting are about faces.

How about "today we fixed XYZ bug aaaaand we've got some new faces for you. But no: there's bugger all on bug fixes which is what actually counts. Smacks of bleedin' politicians more than developers to me

It could be they are playing that kind of game you know.

They are reporting the good things they can talk about.

If it is just the units the art department is turning out then that is all they will say.

Have you ever heard anyone say;

Blast! We just can't figure out how to fix about 70 of the 437 known bugs and every time we try it causes about 6 new ones to crop up! We have fixed a few but we still haven't got to the other 300 yet.

It has been a couple of weeks since the beta patch went out for testing and as we have heard diddily about it in that time , it doesn't sound like a good sign. Just like the multiplayer campaign. It has been mentioned in one or two posts but that leaves you thinking there may be a lot more to do to it...

[TB666]

I appreciate that. The issue is that why haven't the bug fixes been relseased? Why do we have to wait for new units and faces to be ready before we can play the game? I don't believe for one second that it's taken 6 weeks to fix the bugs found since the last patch - if that is the case then they need to take a long hard look at their resource allocation.

It's the opposite, the units are already done, what we are waiting for are is the patch to pass testing.
CA tried to do the quick way and that didn't work and only added more bugs so it's much better now when they take their time and make sure the bugs are fixed without adding in too many new bugs.

I just find it frustrating when we're sat here, twiddling our thumbs waiting for ... well, an acknowledgement would be a start ... but waiting for fundamental game mechanics to be fixed, for some serious CTDs to be fixed and general bugs to be fixed and the only updates we're getting are about faces.

How about "today we fixed XYZ bug aaaaand we've got some new faces for you. But no: there's bugger all on bug fixes which is what actually counts. Smacks of bleedin' politicians more than developers to me

I suggest you actually read the previous updates.
CA has time and time again stated some of the major fixes that has been done.
Only reason why we haven't gotten the full list yet is because as I said, the patch is in testing.
The fix list might change, some fixes might get removed because they weren't working properly or fixes might be added because they might have discovered a big bug and wanted to add that to the new patch which again the patch has to go through testing.
The units preview is just something to keep us occupied with while they test the patch.
It's better then "well the patch testing is going well, bye" for 1-2 weeks.

It has been a couple of weeks since the beta patch went out for testing and as we have heard diddily about it in that time

Last update about the testing June 5th and stated that the testers were positive about the patch.
And update about the MP campaign was done June 4th and again things sounded like it was going well.

[maestro]

I hear ya - still could have released ittereative patches to fix game-breaking mechanics. I guess I just call into question the wisdom of trying to fix everything in one patch.

I've just project managed a large software implementation and so-called mission critical patches are written, tested and rolled out to Live in a very short period of time. Big updates can wait but anything that's system-breaking (i.e.game-breaking in this context) gets dealt with quickly.

[AussieGiant]

I hear ya - still could have released ittereative patches to fix game-breaking mechanics. I guess I just call into question the wisdom of trying to fix everything in one patch.

I've just project managed a large software implementation and so-called mission critical patches are written, tested and rolled out to Live in a very short period of time. Big updates can wait but anything that's system-breaking (i.e.game-breaking in this context) gets dealt with quickly.

I certainly agree maestro. However, what I assume they have done is made the decision that for 96% of the user community the game is stable. Therefore they are focusing on a substantial patch to address a number of core areas of the game, including the final stability issues.

[Durallan]

I certainly agree maestro. However, what I assume they have done is made the decision that for 96% of the user community the game is stable. Therefore they are focusing on a substantial patch to address a number of core areas of the game, including the final stability issues.

I'm certainly not one of those 96% lol

[Fisherking]

June 16th

Due to popular demand today's update will be more technical in nature.

1. We made fixes to campaign map data reprocessing.

2. SimpleUniString bug fixes, we corrected some string values so they were default constructed.

3. We changed rebel data storage to store data in regions as well as armies for code sourcing purposes.

4. Reduced the prestige bonus for obtaining technology first, as a rebalance.

5. Unit group speed matching changes implemented. Unit group formations match speed more coherently.


For those of you hoping for new unit details, this will follow shortly.

Kind regards,
Kieran

AG, I don't know about % but lots of us just suck up the CTDs and lags, reload if we must and save a lot...

not much use in complaining if you can find a fix.


Edit: as of now this is half the update! There is a new unit if someone would like to port it over!