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Thread: Player from way back with ?'s, please

  1. #1
    General Member WebOfComplexity's Avatar
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    Default Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Hi there. I used to play Medieval1 and Rome1 pretty heavily back in the day lol. I'm 36 now and have been doing a ton of other things in life since I last played but a link to a free month of WoW brought me back to updating my PC, looking to buy a new gaming laptop because this one's old, and next thing I know...I've played 4 battles of Arena:TW aleady and have a Level 3 Germanicus with all level 3 infantry lol. Since I last played this great series of Total War, I've played years of Chess. It's clearly already helping out tremendously.

    My question is this: For someone like me who's laptop right now, according to "canirunit", is more than good enough for Rome 2 - Where would I start with the series if I'm really looking for a heavy strategic and tactical challenge on the campaign map and battlefield RTS map? I'll obviously start out getting crushed but that's what I'm looking for.

    Is Rome 2 a good start? I'm confused by what's come after it, too with all of these Kingdoms games, etc. I'll have to dig into what era they cover, etc. I know there's nothing on the Medieval front since M2TW and the other era that interests me most is the one Rome covers. If I just purchase Rome 2: Emperor Edition, should this be enough to get me started and serve as a good launching point right now? I know there's a lot of pay content you can buy on top of these things, along with DLC, but I don't know where to find any of it after browsing trough the totalwar website itself.

    Thanks in advance for any and all help. I'm really happy to see the series and this community still thriving like this. It's been SO long and yet it's almost as if nothing has changed and everything has gotten better at the same time.

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    Travelling Knight Content Manager Nigel's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Hello and wellcome back.

    I am myself a "recently returned" old boy. I got back into the series with Attila, which uses essentially the same engine as Rome2 but apparently with improvements. I can't judge myself, as I never played Rome2 - only heard that Attila would be the better game. What I can say is that I am having a lot of fun with Attila and that it seems a good game for getting back into it. There are various DLC, but also free Mods. And if you like the historical era of Rome, there is a "First Triumvirate" mod, which basically takes Attila back to the times of Julius Cesar.

    Hope this helps.

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    General Member WebOfComplexity's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Quote Originally Posted by Nigel View Post
    Hello and wellcome back.

    I am myself a "recently returned" old boy. I got back into the series with Attila, which uses essentially the same engine as Rome2 but apparently with improvements. I can't judge myself, as I never played Rome2 - only heard that Attila would be the better game. What I can say is that I am having a lot of fun with Attila and that it seems a good game for getting back into it. There are various DLC, but also free Mods. And if you like the historical era of Rome, there is a "First Triumvirate" mod, which basically takes Attila back to the times of Julius Cesar.

    Hope this helps.
    Thanks for the reply. I would probably be able to run Rome 2 maxed out (or near) whereas I couldn't with Attila. This, however, isn't really a big deal to me and if I get back into things enough I can always buy a $500-$700 gaming laptop that will run anything today.

    I see that Attila's gameplay/engine is very similar to Total War: Arena. I don't see a forum for Arena here. Do you guys play that at all? I would imagine Attila is where all the TW multiplayer is centered right now, other than of course Arena?

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    Member Member hoom's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Wow, new blood! Welcome

    For the record both Shogun1 & Medieval1 are now available on Steam, patched to run on modern OS & cheap for that full retro experience. (personally I prefer the old-style campaign map with the simultaneous turns over the sequential type since Rome1)

    Medieval2:Kingdoms is mainly of use for running mods like Europa Barbarorum2, Third Age etc.

    I believe if you're running Arena OK then Rome II should also run fine.

    Yes basic game should be a good start, probably I wouldn't buy it at the full price they're apparently charging atm, but then I've been playing since it came out... (Steam says 1400hrs)

    The available factions is a bit thin in the basic game but does cover the main areas, a few notable absences but a few interesting quirky ones.
    What factions are you particularly keen to play?

    Aside from Grand Campaign the Emperor Edition has the Emperor Augustus Campaign which is a good intro to the Campaigns (major point is they are 4turns per year -> your characters stick around longer -> get ample time to rank up to max, tend to die off mid-tier in Grand Campaign)

    The ingame info got a lot better last couple of patches but this site https://www.honga.net/totalwar/rome2/ is still very good for exploring what units are available for a faction & what buildings you need to recruit them.
    maybe those guys should be doing something more useful...

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    General Member WebOfComplexity's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Quote Originally Posted by hoom View Post
    Wow, new blood! Welcome

    For the record both Shogun1 & Medieval1 are now available on Steam, patched to run on modern OS & cheap for that full retro experience. (personally I prefer the old-style campaign map with the simultaneous turns over the sequential type since Rome1)

    Medieval2:Kingdoms is mainly of use for running mods like Europa Barbarorum2, Third Age etc.

    I believe if you're running Arena OK then Rome II should also run fine.

    Yes basic game should be a good start, probably I wouldn't buy it at the full price they're apparently charging atm, but then I've been playing since it came out... (Steam says 1400hrs)

    The available factions is a bit thin in the basic game but does cover the main areas, a few notable absences but a few interesting quirky ones.
    What factions are you particularly keen to play?

    Aside from Grand Campaign the Emperor Edition has the Emperor Augustus Campaign which is a good intro to the Campaigns (major point is they are 4turns per year -> your characters stick around longer -> get ample time to rank up to max, tend to die off mid-tier in Grand Campaign)

    The ingame info got a lot better last couple of patches but this site https://www.honga.net/totalwar/rome2/ is still very good for exploring what units are available for a faction & what buildings you need to recruit them.

    1) As for Medieval classic: I'll definitely pick that up. I, too, love the depth and strategic realism of Medieval. This is still one of my favorite games of all time.

    2) I may jump in and go right for Atilla alongside Arena here. I don't need to buy Rome 2 to play Attila do I? That said, I see Rome 2 has much more DLC and I do want to play it simply to cover them material. Are the battle map engines similar between the two games?

    The R2 Augustus Campaign, as well as the main game, are the material that intrigues me most. I like the medieval era a lot but also like the age of expansion covered in Empire. I never played empire or napoleon so I'll have to catch up on them at some point, too. Isn't there a new Rome 2 expac coming in the fall?

    As for Arena: This is getting very good reviews as of their most recent patch and I'm telling anyone here who hasn't played it yet: Don't do anything else today if possible except install + play that. It's amazing, IMO and will be around for a long time. 38 battles played, 60% wins, level 5 general and level 5 principes, soon to be all level 6. The guys in game are telling me that's about as fast as you can level and at one point my teams won 12 in a row lol. I'm having a ball and can't wait to get into some really epic battles against the AI in my own campaigns.

    How hard is the Rome 2 main campaign and Augustus campaign, etc out on the battlefield?

    edit: I'd have to assume my pc specs would be fine for Atilla. I keep turning up Arena's settings and am not having a glitch or hiccup whatsoever now that I've updated and tweaked my graphics drivers, settings, etc.
    Last edited by WebOfComplexity; 07-16-2018 at 19:40.

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    General Member WebOfComplexity's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Oh: One other thing - Will Rome 2 and Atilla auto update/patch to the newest version for me upon install? Same with DLC - it will auto update? I guess this is through Steam?

    Thanks again, guys.

    edit, yet another: I forgot to talk about factions, troops. It would definitely be best for me to use Rome first, ideally northern armies if it breaks down that far. It's basically step 1, the main game off the bat, and is in line with what I'm doing with my Arena army. This will be a good way to familiarize myself with everything again and is also in line with my current playstyle. I had to "modernize" my infantry at one point yesterday because as I hit level 3+ on the tech tree, enemy missile/ranged started becoming devestating. I have a lot of speed, missile block, and other abilities tied to non melee defensive and positioning skills now. At the same time, the army is as it should be for backbone infantry: Flexible in that in can provide all different roles - Main attack, main defend, ambushes, capping the base, etc. I'll unlock Armored Legionaries later today but right now, I have fully decked out level 5 principies, and my general is one battle away from level 6. I'm itching to upgrade from Germanicus to Scipio Africanus but then I'd have to spend a few days bringing Scipio up from 1-6. I'll do that at some point but I'm having fun leveling right now and progressing. I've read that a lot of people stay at a certain level due to being comfortable there and not wanting to invoke high unit costs, etc but ...I am not finding progression challenging nor grindy right now. As an old school Medieval guy, I know that if the masses complain (just enough) that the game is too hard, too grindy, and too strategically demading - it's absolutely my kind of game.
    Last edited by WebOfComplexity; 07-16-2018 at 21:18.

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    General Member WebOfComplexity's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

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    So, I've sat here farming for a few games and at this tier, my infantry is like unstoppable lol. In this battle, they never broke. Every unit on my team was killed and mine never lost the center. In the end we wound up retreating to a treeline as the enemy capped our base but it was madness before that.

    I've been holding my infantry in the rear, issuing orders and chatting with my team, and then looking for the best place to "drop the hammer" and rip through the enemy with support (more players than not are providing great support on both sides). Even without support, there's times I can engage 2 enemies (6 units), be taking constant missile fire, and just hold, hold, hold. As said, the speed and missile block abilities are helping me get into position and maintain tactical mobility and then when we charge and engage, we start pumping away at our buffs/melee abilities and go back to reassessing the field, checking flanks/rear, issuing orders, and waiting on our cooldowns. Tons of fun. This is very much an RTS/MMO and I'm seeing a structure of tanks, damage dealers, "healers" (support). You need backbone infantry to eventually lock and hold the center hard and if it can't get there, support needs to aid it in doing so with "crowd control". Very, very cool game so far.


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    Last edited by WebOfComplexity; 07-17-2018 at 03:22.

  8. #8
    Member Member hoom's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Really can't speak for Atilla (yes its stand-alone, don't need Rome2) or Arena sorry.

    Yes there is a new Rome2 campaign coming, pretty much confirmed to be early expansion of Rome within Italy.
    Apparently Rome2 has had better sales/more ongoing players -> is getting patches/expansions while Attila is tapped out.

    Yes Steam will download latest version & automatically patch.
    Current beta patch is opt-in & CA have used the Steam beta options to allow access to older patches since they have broken compatibility with older mods. (there was about 3yrs between patch 17 & new patch 18)

    Honestly the battle AI isn't especially scary or at least not as long as you've done your work on the Campaign level.
    Its probably better at keeping formation than Med1 etc, it maintains a line, tries to get on your flanks with cavalry, holds back missile units etc.
    At least initially anyway.
    maybe those guys should be doing something more useful...

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    General Member WebOfComplexity's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Quote Originally Posted by hoom View Post
    Really can't speak for Atilla (yes its stand-alone, don't need Rome2) or Arena sorry.

    Yes there is a new Rome2 campaign coming, pretty much confirmed to be early expansion of Rome within Italy.
    Apparently Rome2 has had better sales/more ongoing players -> is getting patches/expansions while Attila is tapped out.

    Yes Steam will download latest version & automatically patch.
    Current beta patch is opt-in & CA have used the Steam beta options to allow access to older patches since they have broken compatibility with older mods. (there was about 3yrs between patch 17 & new patch 18)

    Honestly the battle AI isn't especially scary or at least not as long as you've done your work on the Campaign level.
    Its probably better at keeping formation than Med1 etc, it maintains a line, tries to get on your flanks with cavalry, holds back missile units etc.
    At least initially anyway.

    Thank you for your reply, as well. Yeah, I'm going to start off with Rome 2 and go from there. I don't want to just skip over it and as you pointed out: It's community and DLC seem the most robust of any TW game out there right now.

    I'm sure the battle map will give me trouble at first on the hardest settings because I haven't played a TW campaign since my mid 20's and after all of these Arena battles, I'll have to get used to managing 20+ units again, reinforcements, as well as bring myself up to speed on all the new battle mechanics/commands.

    Honestly - I think this series is about to explode. This segway into RTS/MMO is exactly the direction they need to go, while keeping the single player campaign games pumping out the door. Hitting the market from both angles like that, joining up with Wargaming.net, and marketing as heavily as they are, should make this franchise a huge thing this fall/winter coming. Basically, TW: Arena, Rome 2's new expac, the new Call of Duty, WoW's new expac next month, and the new Age of Empires coming out soon - These are the big hitters in the PC gaming world right now if you're into war games.

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    Travelling Knight Content Manager Nigel's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Quote Originally Posted by WebOfComplexity View Post
    Thank you for your reply, as well. Yeah, I'm going to start off with Rome 2 and go from there. I don't want to just skip over it and as you pointed out: It's community and DLC seem the most robust of any TW game out there right now.
    I just looked.
    Attila: 3220 players online
    Rome2: 8048 players online

    Maybe I should give Rome2 a try.
    Do you guys think the game has overcome the difficulties it had been criticized for at the launch? I could imagine, yes. With so many years of patching.


    Then again, I am currently having a lot of fun with Attila´s Age of Charlemagne DLC. That era really appeals to me.
    Last edited by Nigel; 07-17-2018 at 20:20.

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    General Member WebOfComplexity's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Quote Originally Posted by Nigel View Post
    I just looked.
    Attila: 3220 players online
    Rome2: 8048 players online

    Maybe I should give Rome2 a try.
    Do you guys think the game has overcome the difficulties it had been criticized for at the launch? I could imagine, yes. With so many years of patching.


    Then again, I am currently having a lot of fun with Attila´s Age of Charlemagne DLC. That era really appeals to me.
    Yeah, I definitely want to play the multiplayer of Rome 2 and Attila in addition to Arena. That + the single player campaigns and I'll have to be careful to not wake up and find myself 58 years old seemingly tomorrow lol.

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    Member Member hoom's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Do you guys think the game has overcome the difficulties it had been criticized for at the launch?
    Definitely much improved.
    Perfect no.
    This latest beta patch might be the biggest improvement.
    maybe those guys should be doing something more useful...

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    General Member WebOfComplexity's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    https://store.steampowered.com/dlc/214950/

    I guess this is where I would find all the Rome 2 DLC? I can't believe how much there is.

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    Travelling Knight Content Manager Nigel's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Thanks for the comment, hoom.
    I've added Rome2 to my wishlist, but will wait for good price before I get it. Too much else to do with Attila.
    And then there is Thrones of Britannia - and the minor fact, that I need to work, eat and sleep :P

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    Member Member hoom's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    I've added Rome2 to my wishlist, but will wait for good price before I get it. Too much else to do with Attila.
    And then there is Thrones of Britannia - and the minor fact, that I need to work, eat and sleep :P
    Yeah know that feeling.
    I feel CA is probably going to be missing out on some sales with the pricing as it is.

    I can imagine a bunch of people who had stayed away hearing good stuff recently & going to Steam Store page doing some quick maths: Game + several DLCs = holy how much for a game released in 2013? -> walk away again.
    They should be doing a package with all current DLC for about 2/3 or even 1/2 what the basic game is currently set at IMO.
    maybe those guys should be doing something more useful...

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    General Member WebOfComplexity's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Quote Originally Posted by hoom View Post
    Yeah know that feeling.
    I feel CA is probably going to be missing out on some sales with the pricing as it is.

    I can imagine a bunch of people who had stayed away hearing good stuff recently & going to Steam Store page doing some quick maths: Game + several DLCs = holy how much for a game released in 2013? -> walk away again.
    They should be doing a package with all current DLC for about 2/3 or even 1/2 what the basic game is currently set at IMO.
    They're selling Rome 2 Emperor's Edition for $60 USD on Steam. This includes all current DLC to date and some special units added to each in the emperor's edition. That's just above the price of a brand new game and although I would expect the core game to cost less than it does right now - this isn't a terrible deal.

  17. #17
    Member Member hoom's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Its slightly deceptive language on the Steam page IMO.
    In addition, Emperor Edition includes all content and feature updates made available for ROME II since its launch in September 2013. These include Twitch.TV integration, touchscreen controls, new playable factions and units, and Mac compatibility.
    l believe that is just the free content/patches not the charged DLC or they'd list the included DLCs in the package.
    maybe those guys should be doing something more useful...

  18. #18
    General Member WebOfComplexity's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Quote Originally Posted by hoom View Post
    Its slightly deceptive language on the Steam page IMO.

    l believe that is just the free content/patches not the charged DLC or they'd list the included DLCs in the package.
    They do on Steam.

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    Ja mata, TosaInu Forum Administrator edyzmedieval's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    I would wait for the Steam Autumn Sale to get a very good deal on Rome 2 with all of the DLC.

    I suggest picking up Attila and Med 1 & Med 2 until then.
    Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.

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  20. #20
    General Member WebOfComplexity's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Quote Originally Posted by edyzmedieval View Post
    I would wait for the Steam Autumn Sale to get a very good deal on Rome 2 with all of the DLC.

    I suggest picking up Attila and Med 1 & Med 2 until then.
    You know, I just saw your signature and remembered TosaInu from back around 2004-2007. What happened?

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    Member Member Crandar's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    https://forums.totalwar.com/discussi...74/bitter-news

    I can't find the original .org announcement.

  22. #22
    Member Member hoom's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    maybe those guys should be doing something more useful...

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    Travelling Knight Content Manager Nigel's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please


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    Ja mata, TosaInu Forum Administrator edyzmedieval's Avatar
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    Default Re: Player from way back with ?'s, please

    Ja mata, TosaInu. You will forever be remembered.

    Proud

    Been to:

    Swords Made of Letters - 1938. The war is looming in France - and Alexandre Reythier does not have much time left to protect his country. A novel set before the war.

    A Painted Shield of Honour - 1313. Templar Knights in France are in grave danger. Can they be saved?

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