Latest Update on patch 1.2

[Odin]

This is the first time I was on this forum for the release of a Total War game. I do love the series but for the next Total War installment, I'll wait and see what the people on the .org have to say about it a month or so after release before buying.

Nothing personal man, but this cant be the 1st game you have had this issue with? This is pretty industry standard mate, pick the game at release its got some issues.

I waited until 1.1 until i bought the game knowing that there were issues, but those issues have been addressed in mods (LTC 2.1). So yeah, watch the boards, do your due diligence as a consumer and know the product you are buying.

[Quickening]

Nothing personal man, but this cant be the 1st game you have had this issue with?

No. Ive been playing PC games since 1993 and this is certainly not the first game Ive had an issue with. However, I can't recall an issue with a game that bothered me so much.
I don't know about MTW and RTW because I only began really playing them after all the patches had been released (not intentionally, just turned out that way).

Perhaps it is just the kind of game this is that makes the issues such an irritant for me. I can put up with weird clipping bugs in FPSs. I can put up with the odd balancing issue in your standard RTS. But a game like Total War is built on it's battles and for me at least, things like the shield bug and two-handed bug really grate because they cause deep problems. I don't care about weird diplomacy, out of place sound effects or dodgy terrain etc so much. I do care about battle mechanics in a game based on battles.

Like I said this is the first Total War game where I have been active on these forums for release. I remember someone here saying "the next time a Total War game is released I will be ripping the modem out of the wall" because of the amount of complaining about the game. At the time I agreed with his sentiment and I still do to a degree. I hate seeing new topics like "this game is broken!111!!!!!11". But after three months I want the game fixed.

Someone earlier raised the issue of the game getting such high scores in reviews. I read PC Gamer UK which gave the game 94%. But as also pointed out, most of the bugs were not discovered until after a month or two. There was no chance that reviewers were going to notice them on their schedule. Would the game have scored less had they been aware of them? Absolutely, Id say.
Although I write game reviews for another forum (it's nothing serious, just for fun) and interestingly, I won't be letting the bugs influence it. Because the fact remains that even now, M2TW is immensely enjoyable to play (for me at least) and has massive potential.

This could be debated forever so just to sum up my point of view. M2TW is a fantastic game. It's my favourite in the Total War series and my favourite strategy game over all. There is nothing like it. But no way should specific bugs such as the shield bug, two-handed bug and passive AI have escaped notice before release. But I do love the work CA has done and am very, very eager/impatient to play the game as was intended.

[Husar]

I just read that 3DRealms wanted to make the perfect game and call it "Duke Nukem Forever" and now we all know what happens with perfect games.

The interview can be found here, I just read a summary on another site which is german though.

[whodat]

My, what an interesting series of replies and comments.

First of all, just checked the update thread on totalwar.com, no further comments from CA/Sega since the notice regarding they were fixing a new bug they found. Like I said originally, I would expect to see it sometime next week now, unless the bug they found is causing a major rewrite of codes. I am sure when they know something, they will keep us informed as to a new patch release date.

Now, I have to throw in my 2 cents. MTW2 has the potential of being a great game, but isn't there yet. It is not unplayable in it's current state, just annoying in that after I fell in love with MTW, I anticipated even more fun with MTW2. IF, and I repeat If, the major combat bugs are fixed and characters can perform as advertised, then this game stay on my shelf for a long time.

But this game's CD is not coffee coaster material. Compared to other games and sequels that came out with HUGE hype and were major disappointments (can I mention Master of Orion III and Temple of Elemental Evil - want to talk about unplayable out of the box?) this game is heads above that category.

I bought into the industry review hype and got all excited to play MTW2. I should have remembered that reviewers; don't have much time to review in depth if they are going to publish anywhere close to the game launch; will often take a KNOWN AND PROVEN publisher's info on the game at face value; seem to value eye candy too highly; often don't dive deeply into the mechanics; and rarely play a game out to the end. You can get far better reviews from a game's forum within 2 weeks of it's launch.

I have been playing computer games since I got my first Apple IIE, and was playing strategic board games for years before that. Believe me, I have seen games come out that were such dogs that there should have been a flea collar in the game box. MTW2 ain't one of them. Yeah, it would be nice to get a game that is so perfect on launch it never needs a patch. It would also be nice to have peace on earth, end world hunger, a car in every garage, and hit the lottery every week. So have a little more patience and let's all send positive vibes so the programmers get it right with this patch.

[TinCow]

Ok, back on topic. I do have a question about the patch fix list. The list includes the following AI fixes:

• AI does not deploy outside of enemy gates.
• Siege AI is not passive.
• AI now effectively assaults 2nd tier of a Fortress.
• Attacking Siege AI concentrates on taking the settlement rather than chasing down units outside the settlement.
• Enemy AI reacts to being bombarded with Trebuchets while inside a settlement.
• Siege AI now more difficult to defeat if player places missile units outside the walls.
• AI controls it units more effectively in a Citadel
• Remaining AI army now advances to use siege equipment
• AI now responds to missiles when sieging settlements
• AI responds more quickly to gates that have been opened by Spies (while sieging).
• Enemy AI effectively attacks when player's units in a settlement square
• Enemy AI now utilises spare rams

I cannot tell from this whether the bolded fixes refer to attacking or defending AI. "Siege AI" seems to read like the AI that controls attacking a player-held settlement. But if that's the case, why do they call it simply "AI" and "Enemy AI" in the italicized fixes? Essentially what I want to know is... does the passive AI fix apply to attacking, defending, or both?

[Sarsfield]

Hi folks,

first post and all. Sorry if it oversteps the mark but the debate on here has induced me to post. (I throw myself on the mods' mercy m'Lud...)

I've been playing TW games since 2003 and may I say, I've enjoyed then all (including the current one) immensely and I hope that CA keep on making games of this type for some time to come as it is not hyperbole to say that they have raised the bar for strategy games in a very real way. I have no vested interest in criticising them and the issues I relate here have application for many other games and publishers/developers.

Right, disclaimer inserted I shall proceed. That M2TW was released in essentially an unfinished state is shocking but given the industry context, hardly surprising (anyone who's played FarCry will know what I mean...). It's all about getting the product to market and because there has yet to be any sort of proper legal test case on this issue developers and publishers know that we consumers haven't a leg to stand on. They have our money, we've bought the product and now we are relying on their good faith to sort out the problems. May I say that I have no doubt that CA and Sega genuinely want to fix the game, I would imagine they are as passionate about the series as we are but the fact remains that they'll take their time, there is no imperative to sort it out, the vast majority of us will not only continue playing but will buy the next iteration unquestioningly.

In part, this is our own fault. If we as consumers sent out the message that we will not accept unfinished games by not buying them until they are properly patched then pub/devs would get the message quick smart. I've done that with M2TW, I whiled away the last few months playing Company of Heroes and Anno 1701 because I played M2TW at Christmas and found it too annoying for sustained play. I rather thought that there would have been a second patch by now but then, anybody who remembers the fiasco of the RTW 1.2 patch would no doubt smile wryly. At the moment, the wise move appears to be; give a game six months before buying (it's cheaper that way too!).

On the developer side there is a very obvious solution too: mass public betas. You don't need to look far here to find enthusiastic, technically proficient fans willing to help out in their droves. The issues that plague the game we all love could have been expunged for very little cost and far more comprehensively than with the more traditional testing model. It's win/win. Maybe I'm missing something here so if I'm being myopic or naive, please let me know!

To finish off, a little anecdote. I was playing as the Sacsanaigh against the Scots, there was a battle on the slopes down to the North Sea outside York. The weather was a typical North of England summer day - i.e. p***ing it down. I deployed my troops and pressed the battle button. I immediately pressed pause though and spent about ten minutes gawping at how Goddamn beautiful a vista CA had conjured up with a series of 1s and 0s. It was truly breath-taking. Then the charge bug kicked in.... I don't want this series to go the same way as the Aftermath, Aftershock, Afterlight series (I've stopped buying) because of silly bugs and dumb copy protection issues (one word: Starforce).

Games should ship in working order, no ifs buts or maybes. I don't care how much I like CA's work, buggy is buggy and it's not acceptable. If it's not ready, don't release. As a fan, I'm sympathetic to a delayed release date but I'm deeply annoyed by release day patches and late patches. Do it right, first time. It's the standard for every other producer of goods and services and it's about time the software industry towed the line. Ultimately though, the only thing that'll make them behave is out collective wallet...

[Lusted]

TinCow it refers to the ai used in sieges, so both attacking and defending.

So theoretically, after this patch there should be no more problems with any two handed units right? Or any units at all for that matter.

Theoretically yes as they're fixing the bugged 2 handed axe animation, fixing cav charges and the shield bug.

[Quickening]

So theoretically, after this patch there should be no more problems with any two handed units right? Or any units at all for that matter.