Beta testing Real Warfare 2 Northern Crusades

[mitra]

I have the possibility to making beta testing of Real Warfare 2 Northern Crusades 1 week before the official release; I'll post during this week videos and screenshots of gameplay experience (with the authorization of Unicorn Studio).

I start with a introduction of what you will see after have started the game: the main menu is very similar to that of RW1242, with custom, online and lan battles. What change is the main campaign section where you are introduced in the strategic campaign of Teutonic order. This campaign has to be played before in the storyline mode for unlock finally the sandbox mode.

The first impact after the vocal introduction is with the magnificent strategic map: not only is enormous but has the detail of a tactical map, the rivers and the mountains are real obstacles to your army path, no zones of subdivision like in the strategic map of TW, you control cities,castles and villages for control the ground. NPG players move around all the map managed by the AI, robbers assault villages, merchants move from city to city, armed patrols search bandits, private and official armies move in search of battle and engagements. All of this managed by the AI on a splendid map which displayed Europe from east germany to the gates of Moscow and Kiev; the strategic map is in realtime like in Hegemony, but unlike Hegemony you can observe the time pass and the meteo offects: you can observe the sunset moving your army to east or enter in a fog zone; if you observe from high the map you can find your army covered by the clouds.


We go to the storyline of campaign: you're a young Brother of Teutonic order, just arrived from Outremer, your banner is composed only by 20 knights and 150 militiamen; you must present yourself to grand master of teutonic order, what territories are still very limited (the game start little time after Frederick II gave the permission to order to conquer the pagan lands in Prussia).

The grand master assign you as Komtur the castle of Thorn; at Thorn you will do the first experiences with the administration menu: going to locations as cities,villages or castles you can collect taxes, exchange to markets, manage location garrison, obtain informations, collect mercenaries,upgrade or reinforce your troops, and other things.

The exchanges in the markets are very importants because your troops, with the time consume foods, and need weapons armours and horses for the upgrades. YOu need also money and you can gain it collecting tax in your territory or selling captured to enemy goods.

Like all the games with RPG elements the experience is a important factor of game: you have three experience level in the game: PG experience (which permit to gain personal abilities), leadership and army experience (which permit to upgrade and increase your army).

THe storyline campaign is quests based, you receive missions from the grand master and you must follow them for proceed (time and mode at your decision); you can receive also secondary quests like help cities or villages in danger.

THe fist mission as Komtur is to defeat a prussian robber-noble which raids your territory; you will defeat him in a series of battles and at the end (perhaps) you will capture him; for save his life he will help the Teutonic order to conquest a prussian city, giving you access with a selected force to a secondary gate of city......

In the game is present also a diplomacy and economical panel: the economical panel give you info about economic resources, demands and offers of various locations; the diplomatic panel give you info about the world where you move: holy Roman Empire,Russians,Scandinavians,Lithuanian,Poland,Mo ngols and others move, managed by the AI, in this open world, they make alliance and declare wars each others, in the meantime you conduct your missions; in the storyline campaigns you have little diplomatic possibility because this is managed by the grandmaster but in sandbox mode this will have more importance.

We go to tactical part: the battle engine is the same of RW1242 with the introduction of sieges weapons; for who don't know the engine I can resume telling is similar but far more complex that of MTW2; the battle is managed at single soldier level (similar to cossacks concept of unit formation), with more than 80 factors in battles. Moral and ground are the decisive factors in battle. The sieges weapons have great range but little precision (and the rocks don't explodes :) , but roll ), so they are lethal only for campers players. The battle maps are randomly generated; no two identical maps exists in the strategic campaign.

The AI is very good both on the strategic map and the tactical map: on the strategic map I'm found myself persecuted by a prussian army which continue to try to battle with me. In the tactical map, the AI switch from offensive and defensive attitude following the situation, it try to take high ground and it has a good pathfinding.

Stay tuned, more news in the next days..,,,


The italian community of Real Warfare is here http://www.strategygamesitalia.eu/re...ades-f115.html ; you can find here my tactical guides and the modding tools.