*the Future Of Total War*

[Divinus Arma]

The purpose of this thread is address the future of the Total War Series. Recent events have created a flurry of speculation on the intent of Creative Assembly in shaping their future. Well I would like to argue the point that the future of Creative Assembly, and the Total War series, is in large part dependant on the information they gather from their target market: YOU AND I.

So with this in mind, where would you like to see Creative Assembly go from here? Where would you like to see the future of Total War invested?

Don't stop there. Why would your idea work from a playability standpoint? Do you foresee obstacles, and if so, how can they be overcome?

SPEAK UP AND BE HEARD OR LOSE THE FUTURE OF THE TOTAL WAR SERIES!

[Divinus Arma]

I have heard multiple ideas over other threads... Space, the American Revolution, World Wars I and II.

One of the impediments to implementing some of these concepts can be found in the evolution of warfare over the centuries. This article: http://www.d-n-i.net/second_level/fo...on_warfare.htm, and other articles on the topic of "generational warfare" focus on an evolution from 1st gen warfare to modern 4th generation warfare.

One of the key components to the transition between one generation to another is the deliniation of battle lines, deception on the battlefield, and tactical/operational/strategic manuever. Where 1st generation warfare holds clear battle lines, 4th Generation warfare sees the elimination of battle lines.

A good example of 1st Gen Warfare is Phalanx warfare in the 5th century BC and earlier. Opposing wills decided the course of their future by standing toe to toe and duking it out until one side was destroyed or capitulated. The battle lines were obvious, manuever was minimized, and civilians (generally) were left out of the battle.

Modern global terrorism is an example of 4th gen warfare and represents a complete elimination of battle lines, sponsor states, and defined combat. The targets are military, commercial, technology, infrastructure, civilians, anything and everything. The enemy blends within our own society and refuses to fight face to face. We call it cowardice. I call it 4th Gen warfare.

Somewhere in between these two extremes are 2nd and 3rd generation warfare. THE TOTAL WAR SERIES HAS SO FAR BEEN RESTRICTED TO 2ND GENERATION WARFARE. We see manuever at the tactical, operational, and strategic level within the game. When battles are fought, the battle lines are clear. The enemy is apparent. The battlefield is apparent.

World War 2 was 3rd generation warfare. We began to incorporate deception and manuever to extremes that had never been seen before. Instead of simply bashing arms against arms, we went around each other and sought critical vulnerabilites to exploit.

How can TW break out of 2nd Gen warfare and into this Arena? I'm not sure just yet. I'll post again soon.

[Zharakov]

World War: Total War
Some kind of a space title
A Nepolianic game that includes things that happined ells where in the world (like the American Civil War, or is that not important enough? )

Are the ones I'd like to see.



However, I believe that CA is going to keep going further back in time.

I think the next one will be Rome:Total War Hunic Invasion, followed by Assryian: Total War, then Cave Man: Total War. With them leaveing off at Paliazoaic: Total War...

[LegolasII]

world war total war game would be hard to make considering the knowledge that most ppl have of it and it would seem weird for imperialism during this time (well for the axis actually yes but its not liekly that america or britain would start attackin eachotehr and try to kill eachother.....) maybe they could have of Tribal:Total war of the indian tribes....... but i guess it would be hard considering i dont think they had that much variety in weapons. Or even a sorcery:total war with demons, sorcerors, etc.

[Come Together]

My ideal TW would be one that plays like MTW(mostly, take the few good features of RTW), looks like RTW, and bugfree. I could really care less what time period it is if it has these elements.

[MadSpazz]

I would just be thrilled to see MTW 2. The same time period, events, etc., just revamped with some of the new innovations of RTW like graphics, strat map, and I like the new boat/trade system. WWI or WWII would be weird because all the fighting would be ranged, and bombings, artillery barrages, etc. would be fun, but would be hard or confusing to develop and use in game, but that is just my opinion.