Going back to MTW

[econ21]

Like almost everyone i was excited by the release of RTW and then RTW BI, but i have not really found it a challenge anymore.

Yes, I wonder why this is? I suspect it is that the AI has a harder time with the more free-form campaign map in RTW. With the Risk-style MTW/STW maps, there are less options so it is easier to programme a good strategic AI.

But there are things you can do to make the game more challenging. I found Rome Total Realism made the game a bit harder - it restricts recruitment in newly occupied towns. Some self-imposed house rules restricting the proportion of cavalry, archers and uber units in your armies goes a long way too.

I have recently been lured by the nostalgic feel of playing MTW VI again.What does RTW have better than MTW other than graphics?

As a player, I much prefer the RTW campaign map. It feels more authentic and there is less of a problem of the AI telepathically anticpating my moves (such cheating in STW was a little extreme in particular).

I really liked the direction and reward provided by the Senate. Also the Roman pre-battle speeches were fun.

Strangely, I find RTW more historical in feel than MTW - at least if you play RTR. MTW just did not feel quite right with its bogus sword and spear units, armoured Saracen infantry, sword armed Byz infantry and obsolete cats, etc etc. With RTR, you get a lot more flavour of different fighting styles - Roman, phalanx, barbarian, horse archer etc. They are more diverse and more historical than the distinctions between MTW armies IMO.

Better mods, IMO. No disrespect to the MTW modders, but there seem to be no modding teams of the size and professionalism of RTR and, I hope, EB.

Brevity is another RTW virtue - the MTW and STW "conquer the world" campaigns just become an enormous and exhausting pain after a certain point. Endless massive battles. Plus there is a tipping point where it becomes too one-sided, especially due to the economic advantage a naval trade network can give you over the inept AI inability to trade. I find finishing a RTW campaign a more realistic proposition from a personal point of view, whereas I always burnt out in MTW/STW. The civil war twist for the Romans was an excellent way to make RTW still fun and challenging in the end game.

Does anyone think that it is better to play MTW than RTW?

Could be. I have not really gone back to MTW. But if I had to vote, it would get the nod. (Although BI and the 1.3 patch corrects some of the stuff I did not like about RTW - especially the uber missiles and cavalry, which are odd in an era famed for its heavy infantry).