FAQ Message from the Shogun

[Captain Fishpants]

It's fallen to me, as the Shogun's Earthly Representative, to see if members of the .Org are interested in supplying questions to be answered on our weekly FAQ updates. Why me? The Shogun has recently taken a vow which involves him communicating only through clicking noises and waving flags of a colour visible only to bees.

However, levity aside, this is a serious offer: put up your TW questions, and he'll try to get them answered.

The simplest way of organising questions would be for people to add questions to this thread and then for some noble and upstanding individual (such as one of the moderators?) to volunteer for collation and editorial duties. Once a goodly number of questions have been organised and sent over to the Shogun, the answers can begin.

Captain Fishpants/MikeB

[Mongoose]

Hurray!


Q:Are there any plans for making auto resolve sperate from regular difficulty settings?

[BobTheTerrible]

Q: Will there be any additions to the vanilla campaign? i.e. Viking Invasion introduced new units etc, will there be anything of the sort for RTW?

[IceTorque]

Q. Is the RTW engine good for more than two games or should we expect a long wait between a new game as in MTW to RTW.

[YAKOBU]

Great news

Question: Will there be further restrictions on creating troops such as the RTR zone of recruitment. I feel it is very unrealistic to take an enemy capital and then start producing high level troops straight away.

Thanks for any reply.

[ChaosLord]

Q: Will any of the hardcoded modding limits (such as faction limit) be removed in BI or future expansions?

Q: Has granting units titles and that sort of thing been considered again for BI or future expansions(the extra command stars/management could really helpt he AI as well as creating more generals to lead armies)?

Q: Is there any plans for a built-in mod management function with BI or future expansions?(Switching/unistalling mods and the like)

I could probably go on for awhile, so i'll stop now. I also think its great CA is taking an active interest in the .ORG again.

[CMcMahon]

Q: What's the deal with not being to kill wardogs/hounds after their handlers have been killed? Can that be fixed?

[Mount Suribachi]

[Montgomery Burns] Excellent! [/Montogomery Burns]

1 (a) Will RTW be coming down in price soon? (can't find it anywhere in the UK for less than £25)

1 (b) Is the quoted price at various online retailers for BI of £25 correct?

[sik1977]

1. Will any of the missing features from RTW, such as the Egyptian and Greek Walls (which are partially there in the data files), will be added back (or activated) in the original campaign?

2. (Related question) What improvements, if any, are planned for RTW main campaign, such as additional features and units, bug fixes (such as fixing the huge list of issues and bugs listed in the Ludus Magna Thread - excepting already released info on save/load issue), which will act as an added insentive for buying BI (e.g. VI added the reinforcements to the original campaign as well and was the main reason, for me, to get VI)?

3. Are there any plans or possibilities for adding a 'Stats Sheet' or something similar which can keep a track of total losses inflicted and incurred during the length of a given campaign, as well as other interesting statistics, such as the most successful General, Most kills by a Unit, Kill-to-loss ratios, etc. (IMO, it is a must for a serious strategy game)?

4. Will diplomacy in RTW and BI be improved, such that there are more diplomacy options, requests, responses, etc., available to factions (also please comment on any general improvement in AI's handling of dipomacy)?

5. I understand that for BI rebel uprisings will be changed to civil-wars like MTW, but what about RTW and its post patch 1.2 rebel brigands nuisance (i.e., too many rebels popping up every turn, which are no more then a nuisance and actually detract from actual and meaningful gameplay, as getting rid of them becomes a chore not a challenge), will it be improved or an option (perhaps a modable option) to exclude/reduce rebel brigands uprisings?

Thank you.

[Duke John]

Q: Will AI missile troops use their missiles on full range or at 2/3 range as in R:TW (1.1/1.2)?

Q: Will AI missile troops still charge my lines before their fellow melee infantry as opposed to actually using their missile weapons?

Q: Will AI generals continue to charge suicidely into my lines while the AI infantry tries to catch up?

Q: Are attacking AI infantry capable of launching a single coordinated attack, instead of feeding me units piecemeal?

Q: Are AI cavalry still coded to immediately charge the players missile troops?

If you reduce the above questions to: Has the AI been improved? Then don't bother asking or answering and I won't bother buying BI.

Currently the AI cavalry charges my missile troops but are so outnumbered that they flee immediately after a short melee.
the AI missile troops either charge or shoot at 2/3 range allowing me either easily crush them easily in melee or crush them in a missile war as I start shooting at full range.
Then the AI infantry comes, one unit at a time, which are again outnumbered and thus flee after a short melee.
I am capable of winning battles without doing a single thing, simply because the AI is incapable of attacking coordinated.

[Epistolary Richard]

It's fallen to me, as the Shogun's Earthly Representative, to see if members of the .Org are interested in supplying questions to be answered on our weekly FAQ updates.

Hmmm... I think you can probably take that as a given.

You may have seen some of these before, but the thread on twc seems to have gotten a little sidetracked:


Question
Will you be releasing a list of the script and console commands that function with RTW and RTW:BI along with the parameters that they use? If not, what's your reason for not doing so?


Question
MikeB mentioned an auto-run feature that can be used to run a game without player intervention. This would be very useful for mod testing. Is there any way we can activate it now? If not, will we be able to in the future?


Question
There's a mention in the documentation of a file called available_ui_element_ids.txt
Can we please have a copy of it?

Question
I understand that you have been asked about whether the save/load prohibition could be lifted from campaign scripts - that is, a script activated from within the descr_strat file and you said it was not possible. That is not a problem for us as we now use show_me scripts activated through the advisor which do allow loading & saving while they're running and we have written scripts that work effectively when they are manually activated after a game has been reloaded. The difficulty we face is that there is no way of automatically running these show_me scripts (that we call background scripts) when the game is reloaded. Is there anything that can be done to help us?

If nothing can be done to auto-activate them could Guy please add another event called Reload that would activate when a game was loaded? Then at least we could trigger the advisor consistently at game start so that the player would always be reminded to reactivate the script.

[Catiline]

I'm notnoble, and by the end of the evening will not be upstanding with a bit of luck. I'll do my best to collate the questions however. What's the deadline?

[mfberg]

Will there be a battle speed bar (a la MTW) or just the current three speeds?
Will we still be able to stack multiple units into the same area to get the dreaded stack bonus or will there be a limit or limiting factor to the number of units/men in one area?
Will there be battle replays/campaign reviews?

mfberg

[Epistolary Richard]

There's no deadline, just whenever there's a worthwhile number. Similar threads on other sites weed out the questions that have already been asked and answered in previous instalments of the FAQ.

[player1]

Hurray!


Q:Are there any plans for making auto resolve sperate from regular difficulty settings?

To expand on this question:

Or better yet, why is currently autoresolve difficult tied to campaign difficuty?

It gives weird results. For example good Civ3 player wants to play RTW, and gets VH campaign (so AI is more developed) and Easy battles (since he doesn't play RTS).

Then to his horror, every autoresolved battles is losed badly, while doing same battle manaly gives easy wins, effectively inreasing micromanagemnt, since such player is forced to play every battle manualy, even against small patch of barbarians.

Using Battle Diff for autocalc instead seems more resonable, since if AI gets bonus in battle, it should in autoresolve too.
Doesn't it?

Althouhg having it as seperate slider could be good option too if you ask me (BI request).

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Q: Will BI allow mods to add more factions to vanilla RTW or just another campaign similar to what RTR did?

Q: How will religion and loyalty be represented in BI? It has been mentioned that they will be included, but will they be included a la MTW or in a new way?

[Little Legioner]

Yay! That's it What a great news! Those are my questions!

They have discussed (133 replies 3,253 views - 06-24-05- PM 21.44) on my own created "Bad news from CA about Battles" topic.
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...t=49485&page=1

- - -

Q. Will there be any improvement for battlespeed? Do you think lowering the speed of kill rate?

Q. Will there be an option for battlefields? Big / huge or or your preferred term for usage? or simply you'll make them big? (please do not dig my question)

Q. What do you think about to do for tightening the tactical deepness of the R: TW BI besides swimmable units and night battles?

Q. Will there be any improvement on geography in the game? River crossings, cliffs or valleys?

Q. Vanilla R: TW and BI will use the same 3D campaign map? or Will you create another map for the expansion... ( I preferred the same because any improvemets on map directly affects vanilla R: TW too)

Te Salutare
LL

[Conqueror]

Q: In RTW 1.2, attacking a faction that is allied to your protectorate will cause the protectorate to renounce it's status as a protectorate. Is this intentional? Could it be changed?

[Myrddraal]

My first question (and my second actually), not surprisingly, is based around modding and is quite important to me and a hell of a lot of modders:

1. Will we be able to add more factions (as in VI)?

2. Will you be releasing your campaign map editor? (We know you have one)

[Lord Adherbal]

quite some questions I see here have already been answered. I hope the person who will eventualy send them to the Shogun is well informed ? It would be silly to ask a lot of questions that we already know (don't want to look like we aren't paying attention, now do we ;))

[Epistolary Richard]

Yes, we've already got answers to some of these, I'll try and dig them out. If these are satisfactory or you want further clarification then please ask your question again.

ChaosLord
Q: Will any of the hardcoded modding limits (such as faction limit) be removed in BI or future expansions?

Q. Which things that are currently hardcoded do you plan on changing (e.g. number of men per unit, faction limit, number of factions that are controlled by the Senate?)
A.None. The way factions are managed is more flexible now, but that's something that most people won't notice. Actually, the Senate is gone in BI; by the late 300s they were no longer a significant force in Roman politics, so they won't be 'controlling' anyone.

Q: Is there any plans for a built-in mod management function with BI or future expansions?(Switching/unistalling mods and the like)

I'll handle this one, this already exists in vanilla RTW by using the -mymod command line, alternatively if you don't like that there's Vercingetorix's RMOD ModSwitcher which will switch between and combine compatible mods

BobTheTerrible, sik1977 & Uesugi Kenshin
Q: Will there be any additions to the vanilla campaign? i.e. Viking Invasion introduced new units etc, will there be anything of the sort for RTW?

1. Will any of the missing features from RTW, such as the Egyptian and Greek Walls (which are partially there in the data files), will be added back (or activated) in the original campaign?

2. (Related question) What improvements, if any, are planned for RTW main campaign, such as additional features and units, bug fixes (such as fixing the huge list of issues and bugs listed in the Ludus Magna Thread), which will act as an added insentive for buying BI (e.g. VI added the reinforcements to the original campaign as well and was the main reason, for me, to get VI)?

Q: Will BI allow mods to add more factions to vanilla RTW or just another campaign similar to what RTR did?

Again, I'll handle this one, this expansion pack isn't just adding a few things onto the vanilla campaign - it's changing the time period to the late Roman Empire. You can find more details about it here.

The Shogun _has_ however announced that there may be another patch for RTW in the works that may be released some time after the expansion pack.

A. Much I want to say this is now sorted and carved in stone, I can't. Please remember that expansion pack is in development and there is still much going on at the moment that I can't talk about for various reasons. I am prepared to say that it is certainly our intention to address the load/save issue in the expansion pack. "And what about a patch?" I hear you ask. Again I can't say this is set in stone but we hope to bring out a patch at roughly the same time as the expansion pack (in reality it will probably be few weeks later).
That's the state of play at the moment. When I know more, I'll make sure that you know more.

mfberg
Will there be battle replays/campaign reviews?

Q. Will we be able to save the replays for campaign battles again?
A. No. The underlying game code will not support this feature.

Uesugi Kenshin
Q: How will religion and loyalty be represented in BI? It has been mentioned that they will be included, but will they be included a la MTW or in a new way?

Q. . Is religion going to change at all? Since it will be a Christian Rome now, will they get new religious agents/ buildings?
A. Yes. Religion will be an important factor in BI. In 363 when the game starts Rome is techincally not Christian, by the way, as Julian the Apostate spent his reign suppressing the Christians and returning to pagan ways. His successors did re-establish Christianity as an official religion, but there's no absolute requirement for a player to do so. The technology tree alllows for pagan and Christian structures to be built, and even allows for different religious policies in different parts of your empire, if you wish.

Q. Will there be civil wars?
A. Yes. The rebellion mechanisms have changed to allow for rebellions to spread, and to allow for disloyal generals making a stab for ultimate power themselves.

Q. In addition to barbarian invasions, will we see signs of internal strife in the western empire with break-away empires such as the Imperium Galliarum.
A. Yes. And no. There are mechanisms in place to allow for rebellions to flare up into civil wars. We also have taken account of the rival Emperors that appeared from time to time, so a Roman faction may split and have more than one Emperor in being. The Gallic Empire is 100 years before the period of BI, so you won't see that happening. You might find that there is a breakaway faction in that area, though, if you don't keep an eye on the internal order of Rome as well as defending the borders.

Little Legioner
Q. Do you plan on having an option of making the battlefields bigger for campaign battles? Will there be an option for it? Big / huge or or your preferred term for usage?

Q. Will the battle model be :Fast battles, flat grounds, high kill rates, close armies, small map(with red line-Current RTW style) or: Long battles, non-flat grounds, slow kill rates, far armies, bigger map (without red line-old TW series style).
A.The basic battle game won't change that much; this is an expansion, not a re-imagining of RTW.

Myrddraal
1. Will we be able to add more factions (as in VI)?

Q. Which things that are currently hardcoded do you plan on changing (e.g. number of men per unit, faction limit, number of factions that are controlled by the Senate?)
A.None. The way factions are managed is more flexible now, but that's something that most people won't notice. Actually, the Senate is gone in BI; by the late 300s they were no longer a significant force in Roman politics, so they won't be 'controlling' anyone.

2. Will you be releasing your campaign map editor? (We know you have one)

Q. Will CA include Campaign Map Editor in expansion?
A. No. According to the bloke who wrote the campaign map editor, there are tools out there already that are actually jolly good.

[InsaneApache]

great news indeed..

now will you marry me and bear my children?

well you get nowhere by not asking...as this thread has revealed.

cheers guys

[Red Harvest]

Q: Will AI missile troops use their missiles on full range or at 2/3 range as in R:TW (1.1/1.2)?

Q: Will AI missile troops still charge my lines before their fellow melee infantry as opposed to actually using their missile weapons?

Q: Will AI generals continue to charge suicidely into my lines while the AI infantry tries to catch up?

Q: Are attacking AI infantry capable of launching a single coordinated attack, instead of feeding me units piecemeal?

Q: Are AI cavalry still coded to immediately charge the players missile troops?

If you reduce the above questions to: Has the AI been improved? Then don't bother asking or answering and I won't bother buying BI.

Currently the AI cavalry charges my missile troops but are so outnumbered that they flee immediately after a short melee.
the AI missile troops either charge or shoot at 2/3 range allowing me either easily crush them easily in melee or crush them in a missile war as I start shooting at full range.
Then the AI infantry comes, one unit at a time, which are again outnumbered and thus flee after a short melee.
I am capable of winning battles without doing a single thing, simply because the AI is incapable of attacking coordinated.

Ditto on Duke John's questions! Very important. Adding to the list

Q Will charging make more sense from a stats standpoint? There is currently an issue with charge bonus having a very minor impact, while armour level greatly influences the charge.

Q Will rank depth effect have a strong impact on spear unit performance? (Rank bonus?)

Q Will rank depth effect archery/slingers/etc? Slinging would be tough in anything but the shallowest formation. Rear archers should be ineffective or unable to fire.

Q Will distance attenuation be added (or made noticeable) to archer accuracy/effectiveness? Ditto for non-direct LOS archer fire.

Q Will the AI problem of reassembling its line at ~60 meters be addressed? (Back to cohesion/coordination.)

Q Will pushback figure in combat? As best I can tell pushback is not effecting casualties directly.

Q Will weather effects be amplified, both visual and combat? More reduction in archery in rain/snow/cold. Fire missiles not available (or at least mostly non-useful) in rain. Reduced archer range/effect in fog/heavy fog? Winds?

Q Will naval invasions require proportional numbers of boats?

Q Will weather effects in the sea make naval invasions/maintaining ships at sea historically challenging?

Q Will port blockades be based more on level of the port--such as proportion level of boats to port level, etc?

[Divinus Arma]

Q: What's the deal with not being to kill wardogs/hounds after their handlers have been killed? Can that be fixed?

This is a feature, not a bug. If someone kills you, does your pet die?

[Mikeus Caesar]

Hurrah! Nice to see CA taking interest in us again! we may be the Unofficial Total War site, but you still care! Anyways:

Q. Will we finally be able to merge Admirals? It is rather annoying, when you can merge all sorts of things together on land, but if an Admiral has just one star and he commands just one ship, and you want to put him in another navy, it's rather annoying.

Q. Will there be fantasy units? I can accpet a few fantasy units, but the amount that were in RTW was ridiculous. And will factions be historically accurate? After all, we've all come to love Egypt for it's wonderful accuracy...

Q. Will there be less rebellions? After all, it is impossible to control a city once it reaches 30000+, which is a tad unrealistic, considering real-life Rome had 1,000,000+ and they didn't decide to start rebelling.

Q. On the subject of rebellions, will they be more realistic? After all, i don't think your wonderful army of Spartan Hoplites and Cretan Archers would be kicked out of a city by a bunch of peasants would they? They'd make a stand in the city center, with all the marauding peasants trying to kill them and sack the Government buildings.

[Red Harvest]

This is a feature, not a bug. If someone kills you, does your pet die?

Yes, but if the owner's dog is in my yard chasing my cat, I target the dog and make short work of it. In RTW I don't have that option. There is the rub.

[Divinus Arma]

Will CA do a TW on the imperial gunpowder era? Please. Colonisation. Please. World map. Please.

[BobTheTerrible]

[i]Again, I'll handle this one, this expansion pack isn't just adding a few things onto the vanilla campaign - it's changing the time period to the late Roman Empire. You can find more details about it here.

I know that BI is adding a completely new campaign, that's obviously the point. In VI for MTW, they added not only the entirely new campaign, but also added a few new units to the regular, full European campaign. I'm going to assume the expansion pack lets us choose to play either the new expansion campaign or the 'old' vanilla campaign, much like MTW let us choose either the old MTW or the new VI. So my question is, will there be any additions to the vanilla campaign for the expansion, ie new units etc?

[Epistolary Richard]

Okay, maybe there will be. Hopefully the Shogun will give us a definitive answer

[sik1977]

Yes, we've already got answers to some of these, I'll try and dig them out. If these are satisfactory or you want further clarification then please ask your question again.

BobTheTerrible, sik1977 & Uesugi Kenshin
Q: Will there be any additions to the vanilla campaign? i.e. Viking Invasion introduced new units etc, will there be anything of the sort for RTW?

1. Will any of the missing features from RTW, such as the Egyptian and Greek Walls (which are partially there in the data files), will be added back (or activated) in the original campaign?

2. (Related question) What improvements, if any, are planned for RTW main campaign, such as additional features and units, bug fixes (such as fixing the huge list of issues and bugs listed in the Ludus Magna Thread), which will act as an added insentive for buying BI (e.g. VI added the reinforcements to the original campaign as well and was the main reason, for me, to get VI)?

Q: Will BI allow mods to add more factions to vanilla RTW or just another campaign similar to what RTR did?

Again, I'll handle this one, this expansion pack isn't just adding a few things onto the vanilla campaign - it's changing the time period to the late Roman Empire. You can find more details about it here.

The Shogun _has_ however announced that there may be another patch for RTW in the works that may be released some time after the expansion pack.

Thanks for trying to answer our questions from already released info in the FAQ. Unfortunatley, I feel whats already stated in the FAQ doesn't quite answer the question regarding any direct improvements to the original campaign, and if any, what. We already know about the possible fix to save/load ofcourse, but apart from that my question stands.

In case you manage to find appropriate answers for our questions, I will remove those questions from my post (maybe replace them with others).

Thank you once again for your great efforts and time in trying to identify answers to our questions.