I've been invited for a Med2 preview event... post questions here.

[Soulflame]

Hello all,

You might remember me as the author of one of the most succesfull Rome guides (http://www.twcenter.net/downloads/db/?mod=108). I haven't been around at all here for the last 6 months (and even then I was usually only just reading topics).

But nevertheless, I've been invited to a Medieval 2 event in the Netherlands this friday because of my efforts, where I can try out Med2 and chat with people from Sega, Atari (who asked me to come) and I think even CA will be there.


So since I'm there, if there are any burning questions you want answered, or things that are unclear, I can probably poke around there to get the answers. In fact, the person from Atari thought it would be a great idea to do it, so here it is. Of course afterwards I'll post here again with a summary of the event and the answers on the questions.

So fire away!

Cheers,

Harm - aka Soulflame

[hoetje]

Hello all,

You might remember me as the author of one of the most succesfull Rome guides (http://www.twcenter.net/downloads/db/?mod=108). I haven't been around at all here for the last 6 months (and even then I was usually only just reading topics).

But nevertheless, I've been invited to a Medieval 2 event in the Netherlands this friday because of my efforts, where I can try out Med2 and chat with people from Sega, Atari (who asked me to come) and I think even CA will be there.


So since I'm there, if there are any burning questions you want answered, or things that are unclear, I can probably poke around there to get the answers. In fact, the person from Atari thought it would be a great idea to do it, so here it is. Of course afterwards I'll post here again with a summary of the event and the answers on the questions.

So fire away!

Cheers,

Harm - aka Soulflame

Very cool,dude!

Ok i have a question : will the gameplay (read : campaign map A.I.) be less repetitive then in rtw (For exemple,will Sicily be the dominating Italian faction the first campaign,and will say Milan be the dominant faction the second campaign?I don't wanna see things like Scipii always taking over Sicily,Jullii beating gauls etc.

[shifty157]

I hope youre prepared to get absolutely bombarded with questions. lol.

I figure ill ask the question thats closest to everyone's heart here on these forums. How accessible will CA make MTW2 for modding? Will unit/faction limits be increased?

When will they release the demo?

[Pindar]

Ask if there will be reemerging factions. Thank you.

[Bob the Insane]

Ask if there will be reemerging factions. Thank you.

I agree, good question...

[The_Doctor]

1. Will towers have limited amount of ammo?

2. When the attacker captures a tower will it fire on the defenders?

Thanks and have fun.

[Midnight]

Good questions so far!

I have a few:

How will civil wars work?

What's the relative speed of units like? (ie running cavalry vs running infantry?)

What are the kill-rates like?

Is the 'squeezed-too-tight' penalty back?

Is it easy to see, at a glance, the fatigue-state (ie fresh, exhausted, eg) and morale-state (ie eager, wavering, etc) of units in battle?

Just how different are the various factions this time around?

Have the Catholic factions received more attention than the Muslim and Orthodox ones? Do the starting 5 (England, France, HRE, Spains, Venice) have the most 'chrome'?

How's the AI's usage of ships now?

Do Crusades seem easy to abuse?

How does the AI cope with recruitment pools?

Is diplomacy meaningful this time?

Exactly where are the land-bridge crossing points on the map?

What's weather like now? Does it affect archery\gunpower\visibility etc?

How's the heat\armour penality playing out this time? Do knights get suitably knackered trekking through desert sands?

Thanks for this!

edit: exactly how does the whole turns\no-more-years thing work?

[Masy]

1) Are seiges the main focus for the game, or will the AI try and play out battles in the open? Cos, you know, RTW kinda degenerated into repetetive wall assaults.

2) Once you become Pope (by bumping him off and placing your own chap in) can you order other catholics around (unlikely i know...)

3) How much of America will become accessible?

Thanks for taking our questions, and enjoy the preview!

[highlanddave]

unit speeds? (cavalry hopefully always faster than foot guys of any type)

kill rates?

will cavalry chase infantry by riding alongside like rome or charge right at them?

[Martinaz]

hi cool that youre invited!
My question is:
1
The AI of the campain map. Is that now more aggressive and that they use more tacticks instead of the guerrilla tactics like RTW has?
2
And will the AI of the battlemap be much smarter? like that if they siege you and attack, you need to be much more strategic becouse they are smarter?
3
Will it take now more time to prepare an attack on a enemy's city? So that the city's of the enemy are much more well aware of there importand strategic posision and becouse of that they defence there city better?

BTW, are you Dutch?(like me)
becouse I really wonder why they invited you in holland if you live in England(i mean, the HQ of England is much bigger)

BTWBTW, when does a demo comes out?

[Leet Eriksson]

Are Eras in the game? (the ability to choose between early, high and late)

Is there a chance for playable mongols this time around? (preset without modding, i mean).

[The Spartan (Returns)]

can you relese the demo now?
will marcing over dead bodies impede marching?
are there still siege towers, ladders, rams etc. in assaults?
what are the modding limitations? hopefully we will be able to access to CA tools. and who knows? a unit maker!

[cromwell]

Moral system and how it works in MTW2. I would like to know the difference, between RTW/MTW2.

Thanks,

Cromwell

[Dutch_guy]

Will campaign battle replays be back in M2TW ?

EDIT: En veel plezier natuurlijk!

[highlanddave]

how moddable is the game going to be?

for instance can we quickly mod to get the most factions playable quickly? another would be; how difficult will it be to mod out units (fantasy for instance) of the game?

[Mount Suribachi]

Just think the burning issues for the community.

Campaign map AI
Battle Map AI
Diplomacy AI
Movement speeds
Kill rates
What is and isn't moddable
And whatever bugs the MP guys the most.

[The Blind Samurai]

1 who will get the elephant with canon on their back

2 who has the rocket lanchers

how will trade work

[Mithrandir]

What event is it exactly?

[|Heerbann|_Di3Hard]

Hi,

please ask all about the multiplayer:

Will be eras (early, high, late) in multiplayer?

Are 4vs4 possible with normal PCs ( 3ghz, 1gb-2gb ram?, gc..)

Will be the old maps available? stepp maps, agincourt with familiar size?

Is there a ranking system?

And all questions, that are possible about multiplayer

They must understand the importance of the multiplayer for the community.

Singleplayer are played some month and the game is forgotten. Multiplayer will be played for years.

[TB666]

2. When the attacker captures a tower will it fire on the defenders?

Well it did in RTW so I see no reason why it shouldn't do that now

[Ibn Munqidh]

Thanks a bunch soulflame. Two very basic, yet the two most important questions:

1. Please check the speed of the AI, as you're a veteran with Rome, please tell us how u feel about the unit speeds, for cav and inf.

2. The battle AI, please tell us about that and how it responds to natural obstacles and how it counters your tactical manoevers.

All this of course, while asking if this is the final game version, or if things ae still being tweaked.


PS: One more thing, please ask when the demo is gonna be out...

[Soulflame]

What event is it exactly?

It's being labeled 'Medieval 2 Preview Event'.
I have the opportunity to play the game for a while, and there are people from Sega, Atari and CA there to talk.
It lasts from 12h - 17h, with interviewing around 14h. There will be people from the press (at least one gaming site... probably more) and probably a few more people invited specifically.
And of course there is a drink afterwards with a snack :)

Because the person that invited me was really enthusiastic about me trying to gather questions on this site and Total War Center, I think the main reason is to generate interest in the game and give people a first feel of the game. I know the gaming site that's coming brought a camera last time {{edit: last time they went to a preview event that is... which was for a racing game of the xbox.. forgot which one}} , so if they are allowed to make pictures/make video's, those will be available on that site too (not sure if link to the site is allowed on these forums?)


It's a pretty nice initative, and I'm very lucky to be able to go :).

I'll try to get as many questions answered as I can... I'll group them on thursday evening so until then, keep them coming :).

[Mithrandir]

Where does it take place?

And please take some pictures and post them here .

[Ignoramus]

Will Protestantism be a religion late in the game?

[Myrddraal]

My most important question is on the moddability of the game. It's easy to imagine more detailed questions on the subject: Will they lift the faction limit? Will they be releasing any tools, will they change the 3d model format.

Another question: What happens to crusading armies that didn't make it in time?


Thanks for this Soulflame
You are indeed lucky.

[Furious Mental]

Are artillery fortifications back?
Do towers still have ridiculously short range but ridiculously high rate of fire?
What are the late game units like (there appears to be a transition to less heavily armoured pikeman and swordsmen)?
Exactly what benefits do you get from the particular guilds?
Can the Papacy be conquered, or made a protectorate, etc?
What are the mod possibilities (esp. tools)?

[Soulflame]

Where does it take place?

And please take some pictures and post them here .

In The Gamesyndicate in The Hague. It's a cybercafe with a complement of 53 pc's according to the site. I might as well just post the links, remove them if you consider that advertisement for a gamesite or whatever;
The Dutch gaming site; http://www.insidegamer.nl/
The contest to win a spot to go to the event; http://www.insidegamer.nl/pc/medieva...ubrieken/11811
(note that I didn't have to compete since the Atari representative contacted me through the forums... but at least 5 other happy gamers will win a spot and come, and of course the PC press guys from the website... and presumably more websites with more people)

The location; http://www.gamesyndicate.nl/

Perhaps I can bring a camera as well, I'll see if I can do it, but the gaming site will no doubt cover it themselves as well.

[Myrddraal]

remove them if you consider that advertisement for a gamesite or whatever;

There's no rule against posting links, thanks for the info

[Lord Godfrey]

Will titles and governorship work like MTW?
Will there be a retinue system like RTW?
Release date?

Have fun sounds like a great opportunity.

[Vladimir]

1. Why wasn't Froggy invited?