Opinions on Rome Total Realism?

[econ21]

I happened to catch an episode of Decisive Battles on the History channel the other day - it was Romans defeating Macedonians - and it rekindled my interest in RTW. This time, I'm tempted to try the Rome Total Realism mod - partly because I appreciate historical realism and also because it may make my favorite faction (Rome) more challenging to play. What are other people's opinions of this mod? I looked at the website and liked what I read, but how is it practice? Sorry if this is an old topic.

[Zizka]

I like it a lot, it is different and very challenging. Playing the Romans in the Provincial Campaign I found myself the underdog fighting the Greeks in Southern Italy, some truely Heroic battles occured as I tried to defeat Pyrrus's Hoplite army. The carthaginians are a fun faction to play for once. There is almost no hope of holding on to Spain long if the spanish are agressive and taking Sicily is harder than ever, but once done provides you with an empire within an empire. Four cities already over the 6000 population mark and one lower in number.

The germans are neutered until they can get their cities larger, the barbarian factions get to build stone walls, but it takes forever to get a city that large. Overall, I would say that I couldn't really go back to normal RTW. RTR could be better, but then that is why the team keep updating, and with version 6.0 coming out within a week or two, it should get much better.

Also, the troops on the battlefield look nicer. More tribal shields and tatoos for the barbarians, the Roman shields are all Imperial design but still look very nice. the Hoplites look the same as ever, while mercenaries get a nice dull brown colour which is much better than the bright green.

The AI, apears better, but I am not certain. it is better at assaulting cities, but on the battlefield it still an do some crazy stuff, I am not sure it is RTR or the 1.2 patch.

[hotingzilla]

Where can I download this mod? and does it require any official patch?

[RabidGibbon]

http://www.rometotalrealism.com/


You can find R:TR here. It requires the 1.2 patch. I find it to be a great mod, and for me at least it has really boosted the life span of single player. Theres also a growing multiplayer community, with a great big tournament planned for when 6.0 is released.

[Dutch_guy]

when is this tournament , please some more info, I have always been trying to find people interrested in playing RTR MP in a form of a toournament.

On topic :

RTR is a great mod for RTW almost all units are reskinned and look like they should,also a lot of new units have been added.
It is far more realistic than vanilla RTW, you can't just bliz the map as the romans , you have to manage your provinces closely and bring in reinforcemens from your main city s . Also no building new units until you build buildings of your own culture.
And you can't wage a war on 5 fronts like you could in vanilla, even as the romans.

Playing some factions now is a real challange , Armenia as an example ;
You will have Parthia at your back from the start, they have 3 army's with catatanks you have 3 cats total ion your 1 army.... a real chalange that is.

ANd the Romans are far more interresting to play now, with the elephant army of pyrrus in south ITaly, and an uber-senate army to kill
ANd not to mention the bigger map , which I love.

So my advice : get it right now

[Count Belisarius]

RTR is, IMHO, the best mod out there, especially if you are lazy like me and do not want to learn to mod yourself. The folks who have developed it have volunteered countless hours of their own time, and the results are phenomenal. After installing and playing RTR, there was no way I could go back to vanilla.

You might consider reading up on the other 'major' RTW mod, SPQR, before you go forward. SPQR has a much faster strategic tempo than RTR, which makes for more fighting and less building. If fighting numerous large-scale battles is your thing, SPQR is the mod for you. SPQR has zero build times for most army units, which means you can generate a huge number of troops in a short amount of time.

For me, I enjoy the empire-building aspect of the game. For that reason, I think RTR is the best for its replayability, depth and loving attention to detail. The game is much more challenging than RTW, without being impossible. The only faction that I would classify as 'easy' would be the Ptolemaics and possibly the Macedonians. I am positively salivating over the HUGE RTR update that should be out soon.

[The Stranger]

i think it's great, and probably the only mod, that will ever be able to compeat with EB.

it makes the blitz strategie nearly impossible, cuz there are so many provinces, and though they reduced squalor, you can't just leave cities (of another culture) without a garrisson after capture.

i love the map, though i don't like sum skins. there units are stable. and it's great. but 6.0 is even better

[The_Doctor]

RTR is great. I cannot play RTW without it.

The combat is slowed down, so the battles last longer and you can use tactics.
new combat system, eg archers are weaker against armoured/large shield units.
Loads of new units.
They have gotten rid of the ahistoric units.
Rome is better to play, because they are not a super power.
Bigger map.

In the next version there will be:
New music
New voice overs for the Romans.
Area of rescruitment, you can train different auxillia in different provinces.
New factions
No senate

You should wait until the next version comes out.

[PseRamesses]

If it wasn´t for RTR I´d stopped play RTW a long time ago. V6.0 is soon to bee released and you should seriously check out the EB-mod too.

[www2]

I just started to play RTR last week after I finnished my first campain on vanila.....

So far my observations:

1.I dont know if this is just coincidence but the game looks atleast 50 % easier than before.Maybe this is due to more experience i got or .......

2.The battles are better....of course this also could be my imagination

3.I hold 23 provinces and my money is just piling up.In vanilla I never finished a turn with any money.Every turn i got 'bout 10-15 k and spend it imediately.At this moment i have about 60 k and rising

4.I didnt have 1 (one) riot or rebbelion since start and this is very veird coz in vanilla i used to have it here and there almost every turn.

And I have one question concerning no. 4.

Did the RTR change anything about the general happines coz I have every single city on VERY HIGH tax rate and still the happines doesnt go bellow 100 % ????

[The Stranger]

yup EB is awesome, look at their subforum. BARTIX RULES

[Zizka]

www2, I don't know about you, but I have the exact opposite problems, I can't earn enough money, with so many cities, keeping them growing in Pop and then building, I never have enough, and any city I hold with a significant number of other culture buildings is always ready to revolt no mater how many units I station there, oft I have to station a family member with a good deal of Influence in order to keep a large newly taken city happy.

[Aetius the Last Roman]

Well, most of what can be said has been said.

However, I will vouch for RTR, it is brilliant compared to vanillia. So many more units, so many more cities.

An added bonus is that there are RTR mods for RTR and those are worth checking out.

With regards to www2, the game is harder than vanilla. Put the extra ease down to experience. I've never had a revolt for my last 20 campaigns. It really is a joke if you cannot manage rebelious attitudes.

[www2]

www2, I don't know about you, but I have the exact opposite problems, I can't earn enough money, with so many cities, keeping them growing in Pop and then building, I never have enough, and any city I hold with a significant number of other culture buildings is always ready to revolt no mater how many units I station there, oft I have to station a family member with a good deal of Influence in order to keep a large newly taken city happy.

Thats weird.I have money as much as i want and all of my population is happy.Nice to see all of those green faces

Any one no the answer to my question.

[The_Doctor]

Any one no the answer to my question.

What faction?
Difficulty?
Provinces?

[RabidGibbon]

@ Dutch Guy

Sorry my bad, its not a real tournament, more of a campaign map thing with the battles fought online. If your still interested you can find it on the forums at the link above under "R:TR Online Tournaments."

[Dutch_guy]

Ok thanks for the info RabidGibbon, now everyone sign up, so we can get some good online play ( remember CoH is your friend )

[Mega Dux Bob]

The bigger map and no anachronistic Egyptians alone make it worth it.

[a houston chronicler]

I'm not so sure i dig the new Egyptians in RTR. Playing as Pontus, the battles have become ridiculously boring. Every Egyptian army is made up of the exact same phalanx units. you fight the exact same battles every turn. is it challenging and more realistic? sure. but i wouldn't say it's a jolly good time.
all things considered, it is a very good mod; lots of work has gone into it, and it certainly can't hurt to try it out, Simon. just beware the slog-fest!

[Uesugi Kenshin]

RTR is quite fun and with the exception of a few bugs and a few problems with a small bits of the game is an excellent mod.

[Simetrical]

Faction difficulties vary wildly and somewhat nonsensically in RTR 5.4. The experience will be much harder or easier depending on your faction. Look at the difficulty settings listed when you're choosing a faction—they should be taken probably more seriously than the built-in difficulty setting. In 6.0, which is due out in a few weeks, faction difficulty will also vary widely, but much more sensibly given historical considerations. Hopefully . . .

Anyway, many people love RTR. If you back up your files so you can ditch the mod if you don't like it, it doesn't hurt to give it a try. (Just back up the whole \data\ directory.)

-Simetrical

[Azi Tohak]

I think it is superb. I really like what happened to phalanxes. The Ptolemaic (Egyptian) first generation troops are great. Which is a real pain for anyone facing them (:

Makes life more exciting though. And the slow downs helped enormously.

I can't recommend it enough.

Azi

[econ21]

I gave RTR a quick look last night. I was surprised how close it seemed to the vanilla game in terms of the tech tree and troops, but then I was playing the Romans and I guess these are not badly done in RTW. One thing that scares me about EB is how much of the original game they are binning. I was also pleased to get a senate mission and it seemed appropriate (they give the Roman game direction, IMO).

I liked Rome starting off with just two provinces - promises to be a fun campaign for them.

I was surprised to be attacked on the first turn by a very powerful Greek army with elephants. I was outmanned but fought the battle for the fun of it. The slow down in the battle speed was very noticeable - both move speed and kill speed. My initial reaction to the slow move speed was frustration - I guess I have got acustomed to RTW - especially as the animations now depict men seeming to run on the spot. However, the slow kill speed made the phalanx-legion battles last much longer and made the battle more memorable, like those in STW or MTW. On balance a very good thing.

The unit strengths and match ups seemed good. The Romans seemed to handle much as in RTW but without the very useful General's heavy cavalry.

The Greeks had light cavalry and I had none, but they seemed greatly toned down from RTW vanilla. They even charged my velites in the rear but did not seem to do massive damage. I did not notice any leaping horse animations and Roman heavy infantry seemed to shrug off the light cavalry, which is what feels "right" to me. The elephants thankfully routed before they hit my line due to pila fire.

The phalanx-legion match up seemed about right - the phalanx wins head-to-head but it is a slow death and the legions can pull off a victory by flanking or going for the rear. I did not notice the AI being so useless in handling its pikes - in vanilla, they veer off in all directions at the last minute and so can be destroyed in detail - but this may be because I was so outnumbered and outmatched.

Archers and balearics did not seem too decisive. I had none and did not feel too disadvantaged, although the slingers were surprisingly handy in a melee - killing my general.

I'll restart (I lost the battle by a whisker) but it looks like this mod is a keeper.

[Slaists]

I like the mod. I do have a question though: does any site/forum contain a comprehensive list of the changes they have made to the vanilla game? The readmes for the downloads contain mainly change notes for version 5.2 and up (i.e., comparing the most current realism mod to the previous version).

[a houston chronicler]

you might try their homepage at
http://www.rometotalrealism.com/

[Brave Sir Robin]

I would recommend RTR to everyone.

I'm on my first campaign, as the Romans, and after playing for a week (i manage about 2hrs each day- computer game playing that is) i'm still hooked.
The bog standard game (is that what people call vanilla?- is that after original icecream?) very rarely held my interest after this time as i would normally be on the ascendency with very few competitors and the game would just become a dull process of going through the motions - a bit like a day at work with Mr Grey making grey goods for the grey people we all know and wish to shoot electrical charges into their grey cells to give them a shot of life.

Anyway getting back on track, in the game i was initially confronted by the Greeks and in their army a band of elephants (where was my cohort of mice when i needed them?). Eventually i repelled the feta cheese brigade from mainland Italy and turned my attention to the North and the hairy men with the stripey trousers (or pants if you prefer - but i always think of people in y-fronts when people say that term). I've now pushed them back to modern day French borders and have set my armies on freeing the mafia in Sicily, and then i'll show the Greeks who's the big cheese - well i view myself as a wensleydale - crumbly but a bit tasty.

RTR is worth it although if you only have 56k connection learn to knit as the time it will take to download you will be able to master the art and create a scarf Tom Baker would be proud of.

[Divinus Arma]

RTR is a good solid mod and adds a new flavor to the game. It is an excellent "stop gap" (as someone else referred to it) until EB comes out.

I am very pleased with having downloaded it, even though I was reluctant at first.


Gragh

[antisocialmunky]

I would recommend RTR to everyone.

I'm on my first campaign, as the Romans, and after playing for a week (i manage about 2hrs each day- computer game playing that is) i'm still hooked.
The bog standard game (is that what people call vanilla?- is that after original icecream?) very rarely held my interest after this time as i would normally be on the ascendency with very few competitors and the game would just become a dull process of going through the motions - a bit like a day at work with Mr Grey making grey goods for the grey people we all know and wish to shoot electrical charges into their grey cells to give them a shot of life.

Anyway getting back on track, in the game i was initially confronted by the Greeks and in their army a band of elephants (where was my cohort of mice when i needed them?). Eventually i repelled the feta cheese brigade from mainland Italy and turned my attention to the North and the hairy men with the stripey trousers (or pants if you prefer - but i always think of people in y-fronts when people say that term). I've now pushed them back to modern day French borders and have set my armies on freeing the mafia in Sicily, and then i'll show the Greeks who's the big cheese - well i view myself as a wensleydale - crumbly but a bit tasty.

RTR is worth it although if you only have 56k connection learn to knit as the time it will take to download you will be able to master the art and create a scarf Tom Baker would be proud of.

Have you tried the Legionary pilum? Do they tear apart a formation like a phalanx like in real life?

[econ21]

I've got a little further with my first RTR campaign as Romans (267BC) and I must say this mod is absolutely brilliant. The Greek in Italy have put up a real fight, including shipping a full strength army of reinforcements! The Senate has dragged me into a cold war with Carthage and the Gauls have invaded the north while I am in a life or death struggle with the Greeks.

I've had a few pitched battles against the Greeks and think RTR has gone a long way to compensating for the AIs weakness when handling phalanxes. RTR seems to have pumped up the hoplite stats - they are better than Triari - and although they do still tend to fall apart due to meandering then being flanked etc, their high stats compensate. I agree the campaign is a bit of a slog, due to more provinces and slower battles, but I have adjusted to the latter. One battle where the Greeks had a lot of cavalry and reinforcements was particularly frenetic.

I really like what has been done to cavalry (and archers) - greatly toned down from vanilla, but still very useful in their proper roles.

The only slightly strange thing I've observed was a Greek scorpion battery, which seemed like some a WW2 155mm artillery battery, the way it wiped out half of my general's spearmen in a couple of shots. If ancient artillery was so good in reality, I think all armies would have relied heavily on it.

A really excellent mod. I can't see myself going back to vanilla after this. It may even make RTW better than MTW and STW. It allows you to keep the much improved campaign map (which feels like running a real war, rather than playing Risk) and unlike vanilla still have a challenge.

[lars573]

My opinion of RTR? It's crap, will always be crap, and can never be anything but crap.