ETW difficulty

[Ghaust the Moor]

Well, I have been contemplating on whether or not to ETW latley and I have a question. How much harder than RTW is ETW in terms of strategy? Like what makes it harder? Also is it fun? I don't want to offend anyone, but I heard that it is horrible. Is that true in some instances?

[al Roumi]

At worst, it can be tricky at the beginning of a campaign, but as with any TW game, it gets easier the longer you get into the campaign.

ETW's campaigns are arguably more complex than any other TW game and there's a bit of a learning curve when you jump from the comparativley simple preocupation of producing an armoured meat grinding empire, as in RTW or MTW2, to building an economic empire that will can support it's own territorial growth.

The current problems (CTDs notwithstanding) are to do with the AI being, for whatever reason, unable to exploit the new features and mechanisms to the same extent as the player can. It can be a bit like playing Tennis against a child, or playing chess with someone who only know how to play draughts (checkers).

It's still fun though, especially when you are discoveringt he new aspects of the game. Any disapointment comes after, once you've absorbed them into your play-style.

That's my opinion anyway! :)

[AussieGiant]

At worst, it can be tricky at the beginning of a campaign, but as with any TW game, it gets easier the longer you get into the campaign.

ETW's campaigns are arguably more complex than any other TW game and there's a bit of a learning curve when you jump from the comparativley simple preocupation of producing an armoured meat grinding empire, as in RTW or MTW2, to building an economic empire that will can support it's own territorial growth.

The current problems (CTDs notwithstanding) are to do with the AI being, for whatever reason, unable to exploit the new features and mechanisms to the same extent as the player can. It can be a bit like playing Tennis against a child, or playing chess with someone who only know how to play draughts (checkers).

It's still fun though, especially when you are discoveringt he new aspects of the game. Any disapointment comes after, once you've absorbed them into your play-style.

That's my opinion anyway! :)

That's about what I would say as well.

With the caveat that if CA start to tweak the AI to a level which is even basically proficient, most of us will have our hands very very full.

The scope of the game means it could rapidly get too hard for many people if CA manage to pull that off.

[Servius]

ETW is FAR from horrible. It's the best TW game in the series. It doesn't have the atmosphere of STW (nothing has match that game in that regard), but has the best graphics, tools, tooltips, etc. in the series. It also includes lots of new features and insight into the inner workings that any previous TW game.

I find it quite fun and regularly spend at least a couple hours a day playing.

On strategy difficulty, I said medium. The way I read your question, you didn't ask about game difficulty (because that can change based on your settings) but rather how difficult it can be to make long-term (strategic) decisions. I find I am often weighing the pros and cons of something that's good in the short term but not so good in the long term (like high tax rates that bring in more money now but retard asset value and population growth, and thus tax revenue, over the long run) vs. things that are sacrifices in the short term but beneficial over the long run.

I'd say it's harder than Age of Empires and Civilization strategically, but easier than Europa Universalis.

[Marquis of Roland]

IMO the campaign is too easy, even on VH. Definitely not something a couple common sense fixes to AI behavior can't fix though. In fact I saw a good number of them being worked on already for the next patch. I think after the next patch the game will be 90% ready. Really looking forward to that.

[anweRU]

I voted for medium as well.

Ironically, I've found that playing the game on a harder difficulty is easier, thanks to the improved economy (for trading nations, which most are). And I agree with all the above - if the AI could play the game properly, it would be a good challenge.

In the mean time, I've stopped ETW, and started EU:Rome until the next patch comes out.

[Prussian to the Iron]

IMO its the best tw game out there. its jst the right difficulty, and battles can be a real bitch if you don't have a big advantage.

the hardest part? probably techs, naval, and balancing economy. the economy post-patch 1.2 is hard to keep up due to high upkeep costs, and the naval aspects of the game are extremely difficult with non-naval factions like Russi, the Marathas, Austria and Prussia.

easiest part? probably the fact that the enemy never sends a serious invasion force into your lands. though ive started to have this happen more, they are mostly just single units of militia or groups of weak units/cavalry.