I think good 3D campaign map AI can be done. Heck, it was done in Lord of the Realm II in 1997. The AI in that was driven and aggressive. It's armies always had a purpose.

What I think CA needs to move too is a real time campaign map, ala HoI w/o provinces or Knights of Honor. Have the AI concentrate solely on sitting in cities defending or attacking, not wondering stupidly like in Rome.

I am apprehensive about this. The same campaign map as Rome, the forced abstraction between cities and castles (Constantinople does not exist!), the great emphasis on graphics and the lack of any new content (ship battles are too hard!), all make me anxious.

I want gameplay dangit, I want great AI that will be relentless and cunning, I want an interactive campaign map where I can burn the farms of my enemies in raids (something the LOTR II AI would do to you, too), I want to place new cities and design castles, and have months long sieges with constant trebuchet firing, and good diplomacy. I don't want a prettier version of Rome. I want a better version of MTW.

Crazed Rabbit