So...its out

[Dradem]

I'm getting my copy in a few hours the shop is still unloading the shipment :D

[Husar]

I'm not going to believe any release enthusiasm anyway, there was a lot of it with ETW as well, but somehow it changed with time...

[Marten]

Mmmmh ...

I watched "justin.tv" yesterday, saw someone playing campaign and campaign land battles ... i have to admit: Seems to be a proper AI (in comparison to empire).

Would have been a nice marketing btw. to see someone from CA doing this in the last 2 weeks. But back to this campaign yesterday:

The AI formed lines, fired 2 rounds, "fix bayonets" and attacked. That's completely different to what i saw in empire and no "melee bug". The guy was in real trouble in 2 battles (saw 4-5 battles), the defending AI in the first battle i saw was acting really good. It took troops out of battery range, charged 2 of his regiments from the back with cav and advanced in a gap in his front. Defending AI seems to work.

In another battle the guy was nearly beaten by the AI. He attacked Danmark with Prussia, in the end the better prussian troops won. But it was long time not sure ... i have to say i was really impressed from the ai behaviour in this battle. So i've started this morning with a look on amazon.de ... but not sure right now.

Edith says: Did i mention the flutes? That was awesome ... advancing prussians with a nice tune ... great moment! Someone at CA took a long look on popular mods ...


Marten

[Lemur]

Yeah, Marten is right, CA clearly took inspiration from some of the better ETW mods.

Played about 2 hrs last night, tried to blitz through the Italian and Egyptian campaigns to get to the general campaign. Didn't quite make it. Graphics improved, lots of interface tweaks, definitely some improvement in the CAI, but I'm going to need a lot more time before I can qualify that. BAI seems better, but due to a graphics glitch (time to update my card drivers?) I was only able to play one battle.

One thing that drives me nuts about Steam—I fired up NTW and walked away for several hours before I was able to really play it. So now Steam says I was playing it for eight hours or something like that. Gah! I wish my offline mode weren't borked. I like to leave games up so that I can just jump into them when I get the time, and find Steam's tracking irritating. Is this irrational on my part?

[gollum]

Originally posted by Husar
I'm not going to believe any release enthusiasm anyway, there was a lot of it with ETW as well, but somehow it changed with time...

Bingo... lets see what people say in 3 months or so...

[gollum]

Originally posted by Lemur
Is this irrational on my part?

Nope, if you ask me.

[Vuk]

That is encouraging to hear. I heard something about being able to design uniforms or something, is that true?

[Lemur]

I heard something about being able to design uniforms or something, is that true?

Haven't seen anything like that yet, but then I haven't gotten to the main campaign. Maybe I can finally have my hot-pink grenadiers. Who knows?

Diplomacy options seem to be a good bit improved. You can ask allies to join in a war, for example. We'll see about asking them to make peace ...

[Dradem]

c**p not able to play my game untill friday, I have my copy already. But steam says hey in your country this game can't be installed. :-(

[Vuk]

You can let someone else who is online enter your single player campaign long enough to control the opposing forces in a battle. You can limit this to a friend’s list if you like. Or you could just call a friend and ask them to login and join your game for a key fight. I don’t need to elaborate just how huge a difference this could make to a campaign. When my son had someone take over the Austrian Army in one of his battles he got a close and bloody victory instead of the waltz the AI would have given him.

Ah, now this sounds like lots of fun. The campaign map will actually be a challenge for once now. :P

Haven't seen anything like that yet, but then I haven't gotten to the main campaign. Maybe I can finally have my hot-pink grenadiers. Who knows?

Diplomacy options seem to be a good bit improved. You can ask allies to join in a war, for example. We'll see about asking them to make peace ...

lol, I was thinking of a second Fekete sereg, but whatever turns you on.
It is good to hear about diplomacy though, asking people to help in a war is a much needed feature.

[Lemur]

One thing that made me quite happy last night — you can now repurpose buildings instead of tearing them down and starting over. Anybody who has torn down a level 4 naval dockyard 'cause they need more trade routes will appreciate this feature.

[Royce]

I'm with you! I think I'll wait until I see how things go...ETW leaves so much I wouldn't know where to start. I'd love to get Napoleon and I have them all. I waited to purchase ETW and was still disapointed. They should have gone with French & Indian War then maybe went into the American Revolution. That would have been better. I do not remember the Prussians attacking Britian etc. too many silly factions attacking each other in ETW.

[Durallan]

Wow! theres a Napoleon Total war forum, I didn't even realise there was one... anyway the Emperor's Edition is sitting on my desk! I don't know whether to open it or just stare at it, hmmmm

[Beskar]

Wow! theres a Napoleon Total war forum, I didn't even realise there was one... anyway the Emperor's Edition is sitting on my desk! I don't know whether to open it or just stare at it, hmmmm

How long can you stare at it without opening it?

[Durallan]

My Bioshock 2 Special Edition is also sitting on my desk in its protective plastic wrap! just because I haven't had time to play it lol, so theoretically it could sit there for awhile! But if anyone would like some hi res photos of the box and whats in it I have a Digital SLR I can take pictures of the box and contents with, and at that point there'll be no excuse not to play it!

[Ethelred Unread]

Can we have some NTW and Bioshock 2 one on one action shots please?