MP playability

**Kas** · 10-03-2010, 13:42

I really hope something will be done to make mp work better then NTW.

This might be a rant about NTW, but STW2 will most likely use the same enigne and...Steam.

Got NTW 3 weeks ago to get the hang of it...SP all nice and fine, but MP is a drama really. Lagging like crazy...players drop out left, right and centre. The often mentioned lack of lobby chat.

I really hope STW2 will improve, because so far it looks pretty much grim.

I've great pc specs and a lovely connection, but it's hardly playable now...In fact I still have to finish a game bigger then 1v1. All bigger games went down the drain, because people crashed out.

No wonder it's quiet on NTW online.

**Orda Khan** · 10-03-2010, 14:14

I like to choose what goes on my machine ... and that choice was removed ... therefore I stopped buying ... a pity but true. We did all this debate about steam and how it works etc and here we are with people still saying how bad it is. 10 years on from STW and still a poor MP experience. Maybe steam is just some pimped up trojan that sucks the life out of every PC? Well nice as it is to chat to all the 'old school' again, I doubt I'll be seeing you on any battlefield soon.

**Kas** · 10-03-2010, 14:33

It's depressing, isn't it?

I played my bum off on NTW SP to get the hang of it again. Now I think it's time to hit the MP arena again (can't ignore all poor swoosh's invites lol) it's a big disillusionment.

Few games there...endless failed to join messages...and when I finally get in a game...people drop out. It really is rediculous...we now live in the 21st century ffs...online gaming should be the benchmark and run smooth.

Publishers (in general) always promise heaven, but in the end it's just "fire and forget".

Now I remember why I smashed my RTW discs within a week and retired from the TW scene

CA...any plans to make STW2 better?

**Swoosh So** · 10-03-2010, 15:51

Its touch and go, sometimes we can run 4vs4 x5 in a row with no problems, alot of the drops in game come from players quitting (doesent help that often the game just goes back to the hosting screen). If we look at tournaments the recent CWC final games had drops on 2 occasions and had to be replayed and that was just the games in the actual final. Were talking about matches that can take over an hour here. Ive played 402 land battles online and the majority of them were fine in terms of connection. Not sure exactly but id say 10% or less had problems hard to tell with the amount of players that just leave when they lose their first unit. One thing that is very stable is the mp campaign or has been so far. I thought it would be hell going from campaign to battle but CA seem to have got it right.
It sounds like you had a run of bad experiences when trying ntw and this may create the wrong impression, it has problems but theyre not in the majority of games.

**Kas** · 10-05-2010, 01:42

Played some nice games with Swoosh, UglyElmo, Tempest and others...only 1 crashed game...so there is hope!

Reduced graphic settings a bit when playing mp...less sluggish now.

I still suck, but less embarrassing each game now...lol.

Swoosh and the others help a lot...thanks

Highlight of the day:
My cav got Elmo's general and moments later Tempest impaled his general on one of my skirmishers spikes.

They doubled swoosh, but with both their generals gone we ...well swoosh did most...won.

Still not used to all the shooty stuff...can't wait for STW2, more decent close combat...I hope

**Swoosh So** · 10-05-2010, 06:46

Heres a link to the replay if anyone wants to see, https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/local...203#linkid5282 Kas attackers left flank, Swoosh attackers right flank and replay view prussia :o, tempest french defender left flank, elmo crazy militia peep defenders right flank. Wierd u cant upload replay files only rar.

Yep kas its easy to get a bad run at the start on steam and think the whole things a disaster but over time and playing with sensible peeps that wont quit games the whole thing apears alot more stable around 80-90% ok.

**UglyElmo2** · 10-05-2010, 07:03

I'm just glad I still have it. I was worried my men would stand and fight instead of running away, but they did not disappoint. They ran off the map squealing like little school girls. woot I am still the Master of the Routing Army. :)

**Swoosh So** · 10-05-2010, 07:16

Did warn u about militia :p Hope you guys on tonight for some more carnage :)

Shame about tempests gen :p done that b4 myself with cav, very easy to miss some spikes later on in the game with ur cavs :p
Im telling you though elm an all spanish line army on medium money would be the elmo yari samurai army of old :)

**Tempiic** · 10-05-2010, 17:21

Meh, I'd have preferred the replay of that 4v4 game we played. I did so much better there and was so much more intense ^^

I need to control my eagerness sometimes a little bit better, as well as running. Timing was off, and I even forgot about a line unit ;)

**AggonyKing** · 10-05-2010, 17:50

swoosh always hosts good games! I still recall the last 3v3, was epic! :D

as far as MP playability...its no secret that after VI, tw was more of a SP focused game rather than mp. Heck, thanks to gamespy I missed all the action of mtw2 and rtw mp. So I was happy and sad that the franchise then advanced to steam. Happy because I could play mp again...and sad because no lobby, horrible connections, etc.

Honestly CA, why have you not adapted Blizzard's system already and do your own thing!

**UglyElmo2** · 10-07-2010, 00:19

I just need to fool around with a few skirmish battles to get the hang of all the units, but alas, I do not have the time available right now. :)

**AMP** · 10-07-2010, 06:06

It sucks this day an age we still have to worry about drops... Why dose steam need to be running while we're in game? Nothing like having a timely drop in a tournament match just so it can be played over. With NTW a drop is more believable which sucks because when I played WiC and someone dropped at just the right time you knew there was a good chance they were full of it cause drops didn't happen much at all. I think out of the whole yr I played WiC I only dropped maybe once or twice out of my 400 clan matches and that's it. I wish it was the same way for TW, but of course we're not so lucky and the sad part is TW is a much bigger name with more money. It all comes down to the servers and steam has to be in the way on top of that... :(

They need their own dedicated servers, but that only happens with big MP games.

**Kocmoc** · 10-12-2010, 11:06

STW/MI. EA did rund the server. No idea, but whats so hard to run a server for such games?
I did run 5 server on my own for NWN and the server did hold around 350 Player in their peaks, while the amount of dates was hundred times higher, this cant be a problem.
As far i know, the server just create the game and get the player together, once the battle started, the game runs on the host. Or im wrong?

Anyway, this cant be about money, i just cant believe that. Some server and the traffic for a game like TW is nothing.

Koc

**Jack Dionne** · 10-12-2010, 15:30

Originally Posted by Kas

It's depressing, isn't it?

I played my bum off on NTW SP to get the hang of it again. Now I think it's time to hit the MP arena again (can't ignore all poor swoosh's invites lol) it's a big disillusionment.

Few games there...endless failed to join messages...and when I finally get in a game...people drop out. It really is rediculous...we now live in the 21st century ffs...online gaming should be the benchmark and run smooth.

Publishers (in general) always promise heaven, but in the end it's just "fire and forget".

Now I remember why I smashed my RTW discs within a week and retired from the TW scene

CA...any plans to make STW2 better?

I used hamachi and only play mods now. You didn’t really destroy your RTW disc did you?

Hamachi and mods solved all my online game problems. Suggestion you should check out Roma Surrectum II, it’s incredible.

**Swoosh So** · 10-12-2010, 18:50

Rome engine and incredible in the same sentence? No doubt the modders will be good but it would take a miracle to make something decent with that engine.. the problems there are hard coded unit speed etc and cannot be modified, you can make units move slower through different terrain but then they just become fatigued.