Total Realism

[turbohacker]

I've seen a post about this program, but... was wondering... if i should install it or not.

I like realism, but i find when realism comes along, i also find bordom, the game as it is can be really fun...... but i think realism would take that away.

Although im not sure yet.... but you think i should install it? and if i do, what do i back-up? and will the "cheat patcher" still work (the one that disables once per game cheats)

Thanks

[Basileus]

you could run 2 copy of rome if you want, one vanila and one with total realism.

the mod is great btw alot of fun, the ones involved have put alot of work on it..i realy love the new additions like corinthian and athenian hoplites that look awesome..go check it out:)

[turbohacker]

where do i get it, i went to the site and its not there

[Simetrical]

Yeah, it's tricky to find a download site for RTR. It's just too popular. You may as well wait a few hours for version 5.0 to be officially released tonight. Check here for a download link.

-Simetrical

[lancer63]

Version 5.0 has been released already. When yoy get to the TW center forum go to the 'Workshop' section. The DL link is there.

[turbohacker]

well i must congratulate all of you for recommending this to me... you have totally F***** up my game.

It will no longer play campaignes. I can play custom battles, but that is all......

[Rodafowa]

Call me Blanche duBois, but personally I feel that "realism" is a vastly overrated concept. I can understand why those folks who have actual educations and who've devoted chunks of their lives to studying the period in question get all bent out of shape at the Romans deploying ninja, or gladiators wearing arena-style armour on the battlefield. And I can understand why those same people get a bit sniffy when people say that they like screeching women, or the druid units, or head-hurlers. But the nature of the beast is that at some point you're going to have to draw a line and say "I can accept exactly THIS much unrealism (is that a word? It is now)."

Because, y'know. It's a game. Entertainment. Unrealistic by definition. And personally, I'm vastly more interested in the game mechanics/units/whatever being fun than I am with them conforming to someone's fairly arbitrary notion of "realism".

I really don't care that it's ahistorical that my generals ride horses, and that they're more difficult to kill than the common herd. I don't care that an army could move much further in six months than the campaign map seems to suggest that they could. I really, really don't care that some of the provinces have the "wrong" names. I want the game to feel authentic, in the same way and for the same reason that I want a period movie to feel authentic - but if slavish devotion to realism cuts into the fun, then give me enjoyable fantasy, please.

"Well," say the makers of the mod, "it's not been developed for people like you, but for folks who prefer historical accuracy over balanced gameplay."

"And that's fair enough," I reply.

It's a shame, really, there are lots of little touches to RTR that I like, but at the end of the day I couldn't get past the plodding pace of combat, the complete vulnerablility of one of the games most valuable resources (ie, generals) and the wealth of changes that have been made for pedants rather than players.

Bottom line, if you're someone who had kittens over the way the Egyptian units look in the game, you'll probably eat Total Realism up. If you're someone who's just looking for a more challenging version of the game, then give it a whirl but beware - part of the increased challenge felt a bit arbitrary to me, like game mechanics have been specifically and needlessly added to make your life more difficult (in much the same way that Doom III was made more challenging by the developers deciding you couldn't use a gun and a flashlight at the same time). Personally, I just couldn't get on with it and despite the horrible temptation to give the Britons a whirl, I'm sworn off Total War again until the patch.

Sorry to ramble on a bit, I just hope that was a little bit more helpful to someone than "It's great" or "it's rubblish".

[Shottie]

That was great.

[FURRY_BOOTS]

to me, mods have always been about extended game play, bringing something new to a game many have got bored with, ive plated rtr5.0 & rather think its good, i like the idea of just playing as the romans & a massive map, but not for everyone ill agree. Could it be any less buggy than vanilla! i think not plus everyones expecting miracles with the new patch from CA, i think were in for a dissapointment guys, i think they wont deliver!
RTR use it or dont

[Fridge]

Just my two pence, but the main improvemenr for me about RTR was the change in kill speeds, for one reason and one reason only: It actually brings some tactics back into the game. With vanilla, it seems that any 1v1 is decided within seconds of contact: a few deaths; one unit routs. With the slightly slower attack rates, it means you can actually use units to pin people down so you can flank and your formation and battle line becomes more important. I think people see 'slower kill rates'' and automatically think it's going to make the game less exciting. If you've tried it and still don't like it (and I'm sure that's the case with many people on this thread), fair enough, but if you haven't tried it yet, don't let the words put you off.

Slower kill rates means more scope for maneuvering, more exciting battles and less of those epic 6000+ men five-seconds-of-fighting-followed-by-ten-minutes-of-mopping-up-routers encounters.

The other changes (missile troops are less effective, some units are missing, more territories, more buildings) are again matters of taste, but to be honest they don't seem to have a huge effect on the game.

[afrit]

I played RTR 4.1 campaign on Medium/Medium and toyed around with 5.0. My biggest reason to try the mod was improved gameplay (i.e more of a challenge), not realism.

I liked the slower kill speeds in battle, although the AI is still pretty dumb. Didn't get to try the ZoR system much (I played Macedon and conquered mostly greek cities). Didn't like the idea of slower build times, new building requirements (Carpenter, stone etc.). It also felt less stable than Vanilla.

BUT, my biggest problem was that it looked like the strategic AI was totally lost with the new buildings. In 10 years (20 turns) few factions had captured anything beyond their borders. Rebels were still everywhere, while my faction was at 20+ provinces already. In Vanilla, the AI expanded better.

So I went back to Vanilla. Which was a disappointment. Now I am just praying for the patch to make the AI better; otherwise, I guess I'll have to take up making my own personal mod to suit my play style.