So ...

[Kekvit Irae]

Oh, and while I think of it, a big frown and a rap on the knuckles to CA for not fixing the pause/game speed toggle problem/bug/issue/whatever which quite a few people, myself included, kept on reporting with all past versions of the game. Yay. I love not being able to pause most of the time; it's great when the phone rings and I have to leave my battle running. And watching my army being massacred on the highest speed setting while I frantically punch ctrl+t over and over trying to get it to slow back down is great too! Serves me right for trying to speed past the opening phase where my army marches in a mostly straight line, doing not much, in a bid to actually play more of the interesting parts of the game.

That's a not a bug, but rather a lack of video memory. You try cramming 2000 individually-rendered troops into a battle and then see how well your video card works when the game speed is at maximum and the game is trying to catch up on rendering each frame by frame.
Upgrade your memory and/or video card, or play with lower unit-size settings.

[frogbeastegg]

Hmm, quick dash through things here. Apologies, but if I'm not speedy I won't be able to say anything until tomorrow.

1. Remember, I've only played for two hours. I am going to go back for more in the hopes it will improve. Also, I'm only one frog - statistically speaking more people are finding BI to be a lot better. They've also played for longer. I'll be playing several factions to completion or near completion before I decide whether to drop this game, or (I hope!) not.

2. I'm playing on a very high end system here - P4 3Gig, a smidgen over 2Gig RAM, ATI radeon 9800 Pro, latest drivers, and all that. I don't have much up to upgrade to, barring marginally better video cards which cost a fortune I'm not going to spend.

2B I've always had this pause/speed altering issue, right from 1.0 before the minimal UI was even considered. The minimal UI makes it worse because there are no clickable speed altering buttons at all, only the hot keys. Which don't work reliably.

2C. This happens even on tiny, crappy little 500 men total battles. Even once on a 200 man total battle. Even on low graphics settings. I ran through the whole collection of fixes I could think of back in RTW ... 1.1, IIRC.

3. I won't comment further on the graphics issues until I've tried a slightly older set of drivers. Won't be the first time I've had this kind of trouble because of drivers.

4. I'd love to sit about and admire the eye candy during the marching phase, but often I have so little time every single minute counts. The minutes spent watching the marching could be used better and more interestingly for me, for example, in taking more time to consider my moves on the camp map, or in not rushing the actual fighting phase of the battle. Given unlimited time, yes I could enjoy the eyecandy. But now I'm rather forced to stare at the eyecandy knowing all the while I'm not going to have time to fight the battle with anything approaching more subtly than a warhammer to the face.

5. Very hard campaign, medium battle, simply because I hate cheaty battle bonuses handed out to either side.

6. I don't autoresolve any battles. It's a frog thing, and one I've held to since the first days of STW. I also don't reload if my game goes pear shaped (I wish, oh how I wish!), and several other iron man type rules. Autoresolving battles is eyewatering for a control freak like me. The battles are also about 65% of the game's draw for me. If the rebels came out stronger, and with better units, or less often, then I'd be happy. Either give me a real fight, or don't bother me

7. I'd by far prefer too aggressive to what appears to be a card holding member of a pacifist association. It is a wargame, after all. Total war. Well, to be very wishful I'd prefer a medium between the two, which others seem to be getting.

8. I was going to smush up the WRE in France before going to Britannia, and I've already sort of committed myself to that direction. But as soon as is feasible I'll try and head that way.

9. Rome shell?

10. I don't pause battles either, unless I have to answer the phone or something. Which happens distressingly often; people bother me at the worst of times. It amuses me - in STW and MTW I was a frequent pauser because I couldn't keep up with the (slow!) pace of battle. But RTW is faster in battle, and I can keep up fine.

11. I haven't loaded any games, so I've no idea about the load/save thing. All reports indicate it's fixed.

12. I wouldn't blame anyone for my buying the game. I chose to, even if I did still have doubts.

[Pode]

9. Rome shell?

Hit the ` key to bring up the "cheat" window, which says "Welcome to Rome Shell" and allows you to input various commands, like toggle_fow.

[Mongoose]

4. I'd love to sit about and admire the eye candy during the marching phase, but often I have so little time every single minute counts. The minutes spent watching the marching could be used better and more interestingly for me, for example, in taking more time to consider my moves on the camp map, or in not rushing the actual fighting phase of the battle. Given unlimited time, yes I could enjoy the eyecandy. But now I'm rather forced to stare at the eyecandy knowing all the while I'm not going to have time to fight the battle with anything approaching more subtly than a warhammer to the face.

5. Very hard campaign, medium battle...


9. Rome shell?

4:Not having fully working speed controls is VERY annoying. having to watch a bunch of horse archers shoot at each other for 20 minutes is a pain. Though i've never lost a battle just because the speed controls were too slow, just large numbers of


5:I agree, but a minor morale bonus isn't that bad as long as you don't get crazy results like a unit of "town watch" Can't instantly route your best infantry. Something like a +1-2 moral bonus is the best IMO.

9: "Rome shell" is a text box that can be opended by hitting ~. you use it to enter Cheats.

[Puzz3D]

I'm also using an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro with 128 MB video memory. I haven't had any problems using driver version 6.14.10.6525 dated March 22, 2005. I have the secondary display disabled. I run the game with large units, 1024x768x16, anti-aliasing: none, unit scale: large, terrain detail: high, unit detail: medium, building detail: medium, effects detail: high, grass detail: none, vegetation detail: high, with smoke/dust and unit shaders. I don't have an LCD display. I have an AMD xp2400+ cpu (2.0 GHz) and 512 MB RAM.

Rome Shell is a command console for the game. You can enter it by pressing the key to the left of the 1 key. That's the tilde key on my keyboard.
This is a complete set of shell commands as posted by Finn last Oct 25, 2004. Many of these are restricted commands which are not enabled. The ? to get help within the shell doesn't work, and there is no official documentation on how to use these commands.

toggle_tow : shows/hides the tabbed output window
add_money : adds an amount of money to a faction's coffers, can be negative, default is player faction
add_population : adds an amount of population to a settlement, can be negative
move_character , : moves named character to position on campaign map
auto_win : the attacker or defender wins the next autoresolved battle
create_unit : creates one or more units of the specified type
toggle_fow : toggles the fog of war on or off
toggle_restrictcam : toggles camera restrictions on or off
give_ancillary : gives the character an ancillary
give_trait : gives the character a trait at level (default = level 1)
process_cq : Completes all (possible) construction pending in queue
character_reset : resets the character back to it's start of turn settings
show_cursorstat : shows the cursor position and region id
bestbuy : sells units cheaper
oliphaunt : big elephants
jericho : and the walls came a-tumblin' down
write_ui_cache: writes out the ui texture cache to disk
toggle_terrain : toggles the terrain to display various data sets, no param resets to normal
give_trait_points : gives the character points for trait
list_traits : lists all the available traits
list_ancillaries : lists all the available ancillaries
mp : gives the character movement points
list_characters : lists all the characters in the world or those belonging to a faction
show_landings : shows the landing positions available to the ai from a given region, default hides them
filter_coastlines : applies filter to world map coastlines
toggle_coastlines : toggles strategy map coastline display
set_building_health : sets health of a building of the specified type (eg core_building) in a settlement, so that the final health percentage is as specified; for building chains see export_descr_building.txt
ai_turn_speed : sets the maximum speed of turn processing during the ai round
amdb_min : sets aerial map overlay depth bias for min zoom
amdb_max : sets aerial map overlay depth bias for max zoom
amdb_offset : sets aerial map overlay offset towards camera
zoom : zooms to specified aerial map zoom
set_ranking_interval : sets the denominator of the faction ranking graph interval which is calculated as (number_of_turns / denominator). If set to 0, then the denominator will be set to number_of_turns, giving an interval of 1
regenerate_radar: Does what it says on the tin
adjust_sea_bed : adjusts whole sea bed to specified height
reload_shaders : reloads all vertex shaders
reload_textures : reloads all textures
toggle_perfect_spy : toggles everyone's spying ability to perfect and infinite range, and off again
building_debug: toggles building debug mode. TAB to toggle view modes, RIGHT SHIFT-TAB to reset mode, LEFT SHIFT-TAB to go back modes. G damages mouse-over building. P displays plaza.
reset_display: Forces a display_close(); display_open() display reset cycle
toggle_underlay:
toggle_overlay:
process_rq : Completes all (possible) recruitment pending in queue
force_diplomacy : Forces the negotiator to accept or decline a proposition
diplomatic_stance : Set the diplomatic stance between the two factions
shadow
ie
invulnerable_general : makes that named general invulnerable in battle
test_ancillary_localisation: adds all ancillary to the character info display. Ancillaries aren't actually added to the character
perf_times: Toggle display of simple performance times of game update vs display
burn_piggies_burn : ignite all the piggy winks
test_message: Test the event message specified in descr_event_enums.txt
show_terrain_lines : display defensive terrain features
message_collation_set: Set the message collation on or off (sets all factions)',0
show_all_messages: Show all messages to all factions (on/off)
clear_messages: Clear all the current stacked messages
puppify_my_love
reapply_rigid_model_influence
toggle_flowing_water: toggles display of campaign map flowing water
nw_stats: toggles display of network stats.
toggle_pr: toggles pr mode.
list_units : lists all of the units in an army, with details.
victory : show victory message for faction for short or long campaign.
trigger_advice: triggers an advice thread
damage_wall : Damage wall of settlement. Forces 40% damage to a random gatehouse and a nearby straight section. Destroys gatehouse if 'gate' parameter present; breaches wall if 'breach' present'
test_victory_scroll : 'Opens up the victory scroll declaring that the given faction is the victor
date : changes the campaign date to the given year
season : changes the campaign season to the given season
upgrade_effect : triggers unit upgrade effect
force_battle_victory : forces the local player's alliance to win the battle, completely destroying the enemy alliance
force_battle_defeat : forces the local player's alliance to win the battle, completely destroying the enemy alliance
output_unit_positions : output the positions of all units in the battle to the specified file
show_battle_paths : show all valid processed paths in the pathfinder
show_battle_paths_for_unit : show all valid processed paths in the pathfinder for a specific unit given a unit id
show_battle_street_plan : show the street plan for the settlement
show_battle_marker : display a marker at (x, y) for t seconds
show_battle_circle : display a circle at (x, y) of r radius for t seconds
diplomacy_mission : creates a diplomacy mission
event : creates an event at position
kill_character : kills a character with the given name
control : switches player control to specified faction; old faction may not act correctly as ai faction
create_building : creates a building of the specified type in a settlement; for building level id's see export_descr_building.txt
capture_settlement : evicts any resident characters and armies and gives the settlement to the local player
disable_ai : disables the ai, so that it does nothing
halt_ai : halts the turn sequence just before the start of the specified faction's turn, or the current faction if no faction given
run_ai : re-starts an ai turn sequence after disableai or haltai has been triggered

[Garvanko]

I never use Rome Shell. Total War is not that difficult.

[Kraxis]

Ok, now I'm certain.
The Saxons are more than just easy a whol lot of the time.

First, I used them for a 10 year testrun to check for the siege-bug. I never did anything and nobody did anything to me either. I had actually chosen them for this very thing to happen (aw those Saxons are not worth it, they are poor and out of the way, lets go plunder Constantinople).
Then I hear a friend say that he had never played an easier game in RTW, he simply rolled over the WRE.
Now this and several others.

I think it is partly because the Saxons are like the English of MTW, secure and out of the way. And then there is the fact that the hordes do not go north, rather southwest, well away from Saexland. That means that the Saxons have the enemies working overtime to deal with that while they are free to do what they want.

So you want a challenge? Don't pick the Saxons.
Though I'm happy to hear RabbidGibbon has experienced something better, so it can be challenging, though I think it is stacked against that.

[Doug-Thompson]

Kraxis, I'm inclined to agree with you, but having a boring faction is still a flaw.

Like you, though, I don't think any faction is going to be boring throughout a whole game.

Whether you have a boring game for any span of time, and when, relates to an exchange Tincow and I had on another thread.

Originally Posted by Doug-Thompson
Hordes are wild. Crusades in M:TW were usually focused on the Levant provinces. If not, they had a specific region as a goal.

Hordes are just looking for a home. They might attack your province. They might not.

Exactly. I can tell you for a FACT that if the second horde (Goth) hadn't just walked peacfully through my territory I would have lost that game right there and that was only about 20 turns in. At the same time, if neither of my two horde fights had occurred, I would be sitting pretty with half my abandoned territory reclaimed already. I must say though, hordes seem far more threatening when they're wandering. After taking one homeland, they don't move anywhere near as much even if they have several full stacks left.

It is possible, at least in theory, to go through a whole game and never have to contend with a horde. It's far less likely, I'd guess, to escape a horde's attention if you're a poorer, barbarian faction, but even the poorer factions have to conquer something civilized before winning the game.

[Kraxis]

Kraxis, I'm inclined to agree with you, but having a boring faction is still a flaw.


It relates to an exchange Tincow and I had on another thread.

Yes, that is true. I think some of the chances for a challenging game is for the Vandals to go after the Burgundians. That will force them northwest. But as noted the hordes are wild and we don't know what makes them tick.

I think CA knows this. They have made the game quite like reality that way, the Saxons did have an easy time compared to the peoples of the balkans and eastern Europe.
But what could CA have done? Vandals scripted to go north could be an answer as the Burgundians would not need to find a new home. But that would leave the south too strong for the Huns to make a true impact in too many cases.
Burgundians another horde? That one I like, but then cahnces are they would fall in with the Vandals, ripping the strength from each other. Result could be even worse than the first.
Stronger WRE would weaken the hordes too much.
Weaker Saxons could be a nice answer I think, but that would only set them back rather than making them harder to play. And it could even make them easier to play since you wouldn't be going into war with the others for a while, making them shift moer focus to the hordes, that would weaken them. So instead of getting into war when the enemies are strong you would got into war when they are weakened.

I simply don't know what could be done with the game as it is. And I think CA didn't know this would happen until the work was done. Backstepping for the sake of one faction simply isn't a solution. And I think that happened.

[Doug-Thompson]

To clarify, I'm not complaining about inpredictability per se.

The game would have a lot of replay value if you never know when a horde will hit. The trick is to have hordes hit often enough that no faction can safely ignore them.