I bought RTW, but ended up playing STW WE instead.

[Biggus Diccus]

What can I say: STW rulez! Too bad I didn't play it when it came out 5 (?) years ago. I finished both Shimazu and Uesugi campaigns on medium, and now I think I'll take a Oda campaign on hard.

I guess I'll play RTW again when the community figure out how to balance things to make battles more fun, and perhaps another patch

[Sasaki Kojiro]

cheers

[Irinami]

Somebody mentioned this in a modding thread here: One of the challenging things about S:TW (and the Sengoku-jidai period in general) is the homogenity of the units. There is no game of Rock-Paper-Scissors like you get in some fantasy or other historical wargames. OK, so yari beat horses... but everyone gets them.

For my money, I prefer a historically accurate wargame which has been modified to be fun without sacrificing too much accuracy. Coming from a WWII Grognard background, I find S:TW to be a decent balance of those two concerns...

... for a game without hexes, that is.

[gatoshin]

As a former miniatures gamer who no longer has the space or the free time to maintain this hobby, I fell in love with Shogun immediately. Then as the historical background of the game stirred my interest in the Sengoku Jidai, I became absolutely enthralled.

The Europa Universalis games had this effect on me, as well.

[Ed TW]

Same for me Gatoshin.
I played rtw twice and probably won't play it again.
maybe I'll trade it in. Hope the furture ones won't be like it,
but I have a feeling it will.

[Wilbo]

hahaha, Ive been considering buying Rome for weeks now, but I guess this has convinced me not too... I'll wait for a bundle pack of Rome and its expansion pack in about a years time

Plus, Ill have the processor to run it well by then.

[Drisos]

What can I say: STW rulez!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

STW is da rulah!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

same opinion!

[ROCKHAMMER]

I am with Wilbo on this one. I too have been considering to buy RTW but I think this has helped me to decide to hold off for a year or so. Things should be straightened out by then (hopefully). Thanks Guys. I will happily play STW WE and MTW VI over and over again...

[gatoshin]

I think the fundamental issue I have with the other Total War games is, as well as the tactical interface works for other historical periods, it is difficult to find an equally dynamic, involving setting for a grand campaign.

At this point, I'd be delighted if the next Total War game was simply an updated Shogun with more choices for the use of ninjas, better graphics, improved terrain that better reflects the battlegrounds of the Sengoku Jidai, etc.

[ROCKHAMMER]

I agree Gatoshin. I would much rather see a revamp of STW WE and MTW VI with the new game engine than see actually new games. I hope the guys at CA have this on their agenda. I am ready to buy right now..

[Shogun Karai]

I agree with alot. A STW and MTW remake would be excellent. I bought Rome but only play various mods. I can't wait until Sengoku Jidai mod comes out. IMO:
STW WE>MTW>VI>RTW

Shogun is so great. It's a shame that there hasn't been a remake yet..........

[Quietus]

Addicting ain't it?

I didn't play MI but the original had a terrific pace. There's no bulldozing since you can't churn out troops at a high rate without getting broke. Great balance.

[Shambles]

I have both shogun and rome tw.
and i played shogun for a few years then threw it in a box.
bought rome total war played it 1ce or twice and threw that in a box and got out shogun total war and Its much better lol.

[Jay Tee]

OK that's it! You guys made me order a copy of STW (just did it). So far, I've only played RTW, but reading the posts on the .org convinced me to try out STW (it's only 7 euro anyway).

I got the Warlord Edition. Are there any patches/expansions/mods that are essential to improve the gaming experience?

And now the waiting begins... should get it somewhere next week...

Edit: Can I have both RTW and STW running on the same machine or do I have to uninstall RTW?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

OK that's it! You guys made me order a copy of STW (just did it). So far, I've only played RTW, but reading the posts on the .org convinced me to try out STW (it's only 7 euro anyway).

I got the Warlord Edition. Are there any patches/expansions/mods that are essential to improve the gaming experience?

And now the waiting begins... should get it somewhere next week...

Edit: Can I have both RTW and STW running on the same machine or do I have to uninstall RTW?

You can have both running, no problem.

[Shambles]

OK that's it! You guys made me order a copy of STW (just did it). So far, I've only played RTW, but reading the posts on the .org convinced me to try out STW (it's only 7 euro anyway).

I got the Warlord Edition. Are there any patches/expansions/mods that are essential to improve the gaming experience?

And now the waiting begins... should get it somewhere next week...

Edit: Can I have both RTW and STW running on the same machine or do I have to uninstall RTW?

I doubt youl regret it lol :). im new to this forum but have loved the game for years.
The setting is perfect for a game of this type, but whats more perfect is the technolagy for a game of this kind.

the "battalions" of men you controll each serve a purppose,
cavalry and "pike men" archers and musketeers all have there distinkt advantages and dissadvantages. The ballance in fighting is prety damn good as in what can beat what,
i.e cavalry runing in to a wall of spikes = dead cavalry.
but cavalry slaugters most other things. Height advantages and tree cover are all part of your battle plan,


I could go on lol.
and tell you how much i prefer the layout of the single player campaign mode compared to rtw.

but if youve read all this then ive already wasted to much of your time :)

[Jay Tee]

Thank guys for the answers.

@Shambles: you're definately not wasting my time as I haven't received the game yet

So nobody has tips on what patch version / mods I should use?

[Togakure]

1.02 is the final official patch, which is what I use. If you want to try different ones(1.02, 1.03, 1.05) you can download and install the statswapper, which lets you switch between them as you like. There's a link for it somewhere in the STW MP thread, stickied at the top of this forum. Look for a post by TosaInu.

1.05 is really just 1.03 with improved Mongol stats. I use it for Mongol battles against other human players only. 1.03 tones down the muskets and beefs up nag inf and monks, among other things (cav charge is stronger, but cav melee is weaker, etc.). We used 1.03 for a while, even had a tourney using it, but almost everyone (in the "second generation" of STW players that played online a lot over the last two years or so) eventually went back to 1.02. At the time that the official server shut down, it was in use exclusively, pretty much.

I haven't heard a lot about mods for STW that are good--the game itself is so nice you don't really need a mod, imo. There is an MTW/VI mod called Samurai Wars that makes MTW look and play like the original STW. Some people really seem to like it. If you liked the way the original STW played (less powerful guns, arguably more emphasis on proper unit match ups and flanking), then you might want to give it a try. Some very talented people have put a lot of work into it recently. Check the MTW forums for info on it.

[Jay Tee]

Thanks TogakureOjonin, I downloaded the stat swapper. From the reading I did, I think I'll start with either 1.03 or 1.05 as I don't really like the idea of overpowered gunpowder units.

[Togakure]

Have fun. If you ever play with other humans online on a fakeserver, remember that your stat versions must match. If they don't, the game will drop any non-hosts with a different stat version when you go to the battlefield (after you select mons and armies, which can be annoying if that took a while). With the statswapper you can ALT+TAB out from the game, switch and ALT+TAB back. Just be sure you haven't entered a game before you do this (do it while you're still in the lobby).

The tell-tale sign of a stat mismatch is the message "Player X dropped out of sync" upon reaching the field. This message occurs with other problems occasionally, but in my experience it most often occurs when there is a stat mismatch.

EDIT: The game host will get this message. The non-host(s) whose stat version doesn't match the hosts will simply find themselves back in the lobby, wondering what the hell happened.

[Wilbo]

And you guys use v2.0 for online battles?

[Togakure]

When the official server shut down, most (95%) were using 1.02 exclusively. Only some old-timers who prefer gameplay closer to that of the original Shogun used 1.03, and they rarely came on.

After the official server shut down and the fakeserver was put up, there was a very brief period where a regular group showed up on the weekends. Most were using 1.02, but some of the 1.03 players showed up for a few games too.

My take is this: if you find anyone on the fakeserver, they are more likely to have 1.02 than 1.03. If you arrange to meet here first, you can discuss what patch you'd like to use. Installing a swapper will allow you to take advantage of any opportunity to play that presents itself.

Personally, I tend to play 1.02 because I've played many more games using it, so I'm used to how it plays. When I use 1.03 my guys don't perform like they do in 1.02 because of the stat differences, and I have to adjust my playing style and unit selections, which takes time to fine tune. As one rarely plays more than a few games here and there nowadays, I never get to the level of proficiency using 1.03 that I have using 1.02. Granted, given that I hardly play anymore, it really doesn't matter. I play little better than a newbie regardless of which stat I'm using.

Anyway, hope that helps.