Got my fingers at STW at last

[Blacknek]

Here we go, I got time to play STW-WE yesterday evening, after some of you guys encouraged me to get it in the first place in my previous thread.

In short words (playing v1.02beta):

I needed only a few minutes to adjust to the little bit different controls from MTW. I wonder what problems I had last time I tryied it.

The ONLY thing I really am annoyed of is the fact, that you have to open the "build"-menu and click on a province to see if it is building. Plus that the left building-time is not displayed. But this is not new to you.

I think sound and graphics are quite alright. The cav-animations look even more fluent than in MTW (despite the same engine).
Also cav seems to bee quicker than in MTW. Heavy cav have the speed of mounted sergeants.

The ingame-movies are great, although after some time you click them away because of their redundance. But seeing the first time a different ending of the assasination-movie was fun. I cheered as my agent slaid the ninja with a single thrust of his daikatana (wow, even negotiator carry them?).

The throme room: not a big factor. But seeing the other factions agents bowl before me for a coalition is entertaining. Seeing his own negotiators head brought before me - I was shocked !

What makes the game a little bit straining are the names of the factions. In MTW for example I knew who the Danes are and if I have a coalition wigh them. In STW I had to guess two times wich faction to keep my alliance with as I had to choose. I just can't memorize this Japanese names as easily...

A short comparison to MTW: The battles have the same feel. AI is not giving too many easy shots. On the other side: The AI really loves archers. Some armies consist almost only of archers and they are easy prey for my cav (despite their really good range compared to MTW).
The campaign-AI is REALLY agressive. I had to defend myself from the second season on ! On the other side: all factions have comparable starting positions, at least as far as I can tell. I was able to hold my borders while gainig some new territorys (thanks to the corrubtible rebells).

Now a gameplay-question: If I retrain units, there is now display of the costs AFAICS. Does upgrading f.e. armor while not retrainig numbers also cost?
Sadly one can not recrout a new unit in the province while I retrain one.

That much for now,
Blacknek

[Drisos]

Great to hear!

I am now in shambles foyer, so we could do some MP right now!

hope to see you!

[Toxopholite]

Just got STW as well,being a bit bored with Age of Kings. I was looking for a game with more strategy in it, rather than the usual rushing of AoK.
Anyone else played both? Which is better? Why?

[Drisos]

Welcome to the .org! Toxopholite.

Great to see another new STW player!

STW is far better, in my eyes. I played both and STW is so much more. . .I don't know. It has such a great atmosphere, is very strategic. There are not much MP players left but they are all nice!

See you soon!

[Toxopholite]

Thanx for the kind words,Drisos.
Kind of nice not to be immediately flamed as a "noobie"

[Drisos]

Thanx for the kind words,Drisos.

Well, get used to it! Serious: the .org is a great community! People here are all being nice, so you'll love it here.

Feel free to ask anything on STW gameplay here.

P.S.: could I count you in as an MP player? or will you just do SP?

[Toxopholite]

Don't know yet - but the whole series looks addictive. Arigato

[Togakure]

Don't know yet - but the whole series looks addictive. Arigato

LOL. Oh it is ... it is! TW games can cost you grades, jobs, friendships, girlfriends, suntans, extra weight around the waistline for not eating regularly, and can cause sleeplessness and a sore throat (from screaming at your men when they don't do what you tell them to ...). Enjoy them, but compulsive-addictive types beware ... . Hehehe.

[Methos6848]

I can attest to what Toga's said!!! Though, I tend to expand both my waistline and my tolerance for alcohol whilst playing any TW game!!!

[Blacknek]

Now a gameplay-question: If I retrain units, there is now display of the costs AFAICS. Does upgrading f.e. armor while not retrainig numbers also cost?
Sadly one can not recrout a new unit in the province while I retrain one.

Anyone ?

[screwtype]

The ONLY thing I really am annoyed of is the fact, that you have to open the "build"-menu and click on a province to see if it is building. Plus that the left building-time is not displayed. But this is not new to you.

IIRC, you do not have to open the build menu, you only have to click on the province and you can see what is being built there at the bottom of the screen.

You can tell how long you've got to the end of a build by the area of darker shading on the building graphic.

I think sound and graphics are quite alright. The cav-animations look even more fluent than in MTW (despite the same engine). Also cav seems to bee quicker than in MTW. Heavy cav have the speed of mounted sergeants.

It's not the same engine. I've often pointed out that STW has a better engine than MTW. It's smoother, faster and crisper. Units are more responsive to your commands as well.

After you've played STW for a while, and then go back to MTW the latter will seem to be quite sluggish and jerky by comparison.

A short comparison to MTW: The battles have the same feel. AI is not giving too many easy shots. On the other side: The AI really loves archers. Some armies consist almost only of archers and they are easy prey for my cav (despite their really good range compared to MTW).

They can do nasty things to your units once they get a few weapon and honour upgrades though.

The campaign-AI is REALLY agressive. I had to defend myself from the second season on !

Yes that's a good point, the campaign AI is a lot more aggressive than in MTW. One of my disappointments in moving to MTW from the other game was the general lack of aggression on the part of the AI.

Does upgrading f.e. armor while not retrainig numbers also cost?

Sorry I can't help you here. I rarely retrained units in STW anyhow. You usually only get a chance to upgrade a handful of provinces and they seem to end up too far away from the front line for you to bother moving your units back there for retraining.

STW has great atmosphere BTW. Wait till you fight a battle in a thunderstorm, or on one of those misty battlefields. The music is great too.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Does upgrading f.e. armor while not retrainig numbers also cost?

Uprading armor, weapons, or anything like that does not cost anything. Only bringing a unit up to 60 men costs you money.

Ninja units only take one season to retrain, much nicer than the 4 seasons for a new unit .

[Togakure]

The way I look at retraining, there is a cost: the time it takes to get the unit to the retraining area, and the turn taken to retrain an existing unit rather than produce a new one there. Hence, I do not retrain.

I simply develop my economy to the point where I can train new units every turn if I want/need to. I keep a constant line of troops moving from my training areas to my front lines. I merge older, attritioned units into new ones with the better upgrades after battles, bringing them back to full capacity, and then remove the remaining partial units to a province just behind the front lines--ready to move in after a battle to top of depleted units when they are needed again.

[Blacknek]

IIRC, you do not have to open the build menu, you only have to click on the province and you can see what is being built there at the bottom of the screen.

Sadly no. That's only true for MTW, where the build/recrout-button is exchanged by the corresponding building/unit that is actually under construction. In STW currently builded structures only appear if you click on "build" and look at the area of the UI where the provinces existent buildings are displayed in default view.

You can tell how long you've got to the end of a build by the area of darker shading on the building graphic.

That's true, but with longer building times I have to gues how many seasons it takes to complete the building. In MTW there was additionally the number of turns left displayed.

It's not the same engine. I've often pointed out that STW has a better engine than MTW. It's smoother, faster and crisper. Units are more responsive to your commands as well.

Hmm, do you mean it's not the same engine or do you mean the engine is differently used in MTW ? Since the games at least look so similar I doupt they programed a completly new engine for MTW
But I agree, Shogun feels a little bit more fluent during battles. But maybe it's the lower hardware-requirements ?

Anyway, thx for the imput (to all)

[Irinami]

The names will come with practice. For pronunciation, just remember 2 things:

1.) Pronounce EVERY LETTER.
2.) There is ONLY ONE proper pronunciation for each letter. Period. End of story.*


*=Except for sometimes. But that's more corruption in everyday usage, such as how we really say "d'" instead of "the."

[screwtype]

Sadly no. That's only true for MTW, where the build/recrout-button is exchanged by the corresponding building/unit that is actually under construction. In STW currently builded structures only appear if you click on "build" and look at the area of the UI where the provinces existent buildings are displayed in default view.

You may be right, it's not how I remember it but it's quite a while since I played so I forget the exact mechanism.

That's true, but with longer building times I have to gues how many seasons it takes to complete the building. In MTW there was additionally the number of turns left displayed.

Once you get familiar with the buildings - there aren't too many types - it becomes second nature to you. You really don't need the number of turns displayed as well.

Hmm, do you mean it's not the same engine or do you mean the engine is differently used in MTW ?

No, I'm sure I read somewhere they are actually different engines. I have a pretty old, slow PC, and the performance is markedly different on both games. With MTW, the units are a lot more sluggish even if you only have one or two on the field, so it's not a performance issue, it has to be the engine itself IMO.

Also, the "feel" of the two engines is quite different. STW units obey commands more briskly, they move faster, and they are more disciplined. For example if you pause the game in MTW some individuals in the unit will continue to move for a microsecond or two, that doesn't happen with STW.

I'll never understand how the engine got worse instead of better with the sequel, but that's what happened. I much prefer the STW engine, it's so much more responsive.

[Drisos]

Blacknek, have you configured for shambles server and downloaded v1.02 yet? I hope to see you soon in MP.

[Blacknek]

Blacknek, have you configured for shambles server and downloaded v1.02 yet? I hope to see you soon in MP.

Hy Drisos, I'm playing v1.02 already. I got my eyes on the thread, which explains how to edit the internet.cfg-file. Concerning your post, I guess I should set it up for shambles fake-server.

Right now I planing to go onlone tomorrow evening (about 7.00 central european time).

Do I need any type of messanger to play online (voice-over or something)? Or just the multiplayer-button in game? Sorry, as you know I'm new to online-play. But I knoe from some flight-sims, that you need voice-comm-software for online. Or is it like in old starcraft-times: Blacknek writes: "who wants some more?"

Hopefully someone is interested tomorrow

[Drisos]

Hy Drisos, I'm playing v1.02 already. I got my eyes on the thread, which explains how to edit the internet.cfg-file. Concerning your post, I guess I should set it up for shambles fake-server.

Great! Please do shambles server, yes.

Right now I planing to go onlone tomorrow evening (about 7.00 central european time).

I'm afraid I can't be there that time tomorrow. But I will be there quite often these days, because school's about over now.( holiday! )

Do I need any type of messanger to play online (voice-over or something)? Or just the multiplayer-button in game? Sorry, as you know I'm new to online-play. But I knoe from some flight-sims, that you need voice-comm-software for online. Or is it like in old starcraft-times: Blacknek writes: "who wants some more?"

As far as I understand this, no.

You can donwload a speaking program, but you don't have to.