Do you....

[Zim]

I do, partly because I've enver played STW (started with MTW). I'm most a fan of the RTW time period, but that just makes the move to East Asia and interesting change for me. Plus, when RTW2 does come out any kinks features used for it from STW2 will be worked out (I hope ).

[Prussian to the Iron]

Yes. I started at Rome, so I never got to play Shogun. I'd love to finally see something so exotic as Dark Ages Japan in a Total War game.

[Phog_of_War]

Dark Ages Japan is such a bad description IMO. Japan, at the time that the Dark Ages were happening in Europe, was almost as advanced as the Chinese or the Muslim countries of the Middle East IIRC. I might be off by a few years or decades on that statement but its true.

Also, I'm not saying you're wrong, its just a bad description of the Edo and Jindai periods in Japan. But in terms of the unrestricted warfare you are correct.

[Daveybaby]

Are they definitely making R2TW next? Has that been confirmed somewhere or are people just assuming?

I can see the point in revisiting shogun and medieval, because technology has moved on so far since the original games, and what with the new style campaign maps etc, the remakes are significantly different games to their originals.

But i really cant see the point of remaking rome with slightly better graphics. The old one still works on current computers (i cant get the original shogun or medieval working on mine) so you'd have to be bringing some significant gameplay changes (not just graphical upgrades) for it to be worth it IMO. Not sure what those would be... i guess you could add naval battles but they wouldnt be a scratch on empire's.

Personally I'm really, really hoping the next TW goes somewhere new (as empire did). I'd rather see a fantasy TW than rome all over again.

[Prussian to the Iron]

Where could it go though? there really aren't that many unused time periods they can use that appeal to a good amount of players. I mean I suppose they could make a game in different parts of the world, like a Total War based entirely in China and the surrounding areas/based just in Southeast Asia and maybe India. I doubt it though since they wouldn't make that right after one in Japan, if anything they could do something about Africa I guess, but eh.

[Daveybaby]

True, its becoming difficult to think of new eras/regions that fit into the TW model - china and india are the two main ones i could think of. But even then, i cant think what new gameplay features these would bring to the game, so it'd be more like playing a well developed mod than a new game. Still better than replaying RTW all over again with better graphics, IMO.

This does make me wonder about where CA go from here. Are they just going to keep churning out the same 4 games over and over with (increasingly marginal) graphical improvements? Will it really be useful to model the individual hairs of stubble on each soldier's face while your player is trying to command an army of 1000's of men zoomed out all of the way? Personally i think that all of the graphics upgrades since RTW have been completely irrelevant to actual gameplay, albeit useful for selling copies of the game via shiny magazine articles. Mind you, this hasnt done the civ franchise any harm.

20th century warfare? It wouldnt be TW as we know it, but at least it'd be different. Fantasy? It would make a lot of fans vomit blood but i have to say it'd be pretty fun to be ordering dragons and elves and whatnot about for a change. Sci-fi space battles? Hmmmm... maybe not.

Meh, having said all of this i'm sure the people at CA have got the next half dozen games roadmapped, so i guess all this wondering is kind of irrelevant innit.

[Prussian to the Iron]

I thought about 20th century, but it really wouldnt fit with Total War. WWII and after was all about squad/small unit based warfare. In WWII you didn't have large masses of soldiers charging at eachother, or getting within range and firing calmly in ranks at eachother. It was mainly urban combat with small individual units all over the place. Yeah you have large armies, but in regards to actual battles it wouldn't work with the Total War we all have played. They'd have to figure out how to work in aircraft, tanks would be tricky too to balance (can't make it too good for obvious balance reasons, but if it takes up a whole unit card then it has to be pretty freakin beast), increase the unit limit while decreasing unit size, and many other things to port it from warfare en masse to the kind we have had in the time period.

Other games have done it successfully, but they don't go by the same tradition Total War does.

[Orda Khan]

It was a better choice because Rome and its period are just too complex. Look at the first offering of RTW ... awful. However, for all those who are hailing this as an amazing step in the right direction, start thinking about FLAMING ARROWS ... yet again. Seems CA are hooked on this nonsense.
Hopefully they will add Korea to the expansion, at least it will offer variety. I only see sengoku jidai as good for MP because of the unit selection. SP, even in the first game, was repetitive and quite boring.