Shogun II Total War

**A Nerd** · 05-28-2010, 15:14

I just hope (again) that this is the game to revive the genre.

You never know. The new engine (if new) might be more adaptable to factions that are similar (culture, end goals, unit roster) than starkly different ones of latter titles. The expansive diplomacy models of ETW and NTW would also be interesting in S2TW, however we don't want dormant, docile AI clans.

**caravel** · 05-28-2010, 15:38

Originally Posted by A Nerd

You never know. The new engine (if new) might be more adaptable to factions that are similar (culture, end goals, unit roster) than starkly different ones of latter titles. The expansive diplomacy models of ETW and NTW would also be interesting in S2TW, however we don't want dormant, docile AI clans.

I suspect that the game will use the same engines as ETW/NTW? I haven't played either, but as far as I know the ETW/NTW battle engine is much the same as the M2TW one, with some extra bling. The campaign map is much the same as well but smoother and less tiled looking - to cut a long story short they're not "new engines" as such but improvements to RTW with lots of add on bits. The only really "new" part is the naval battles.

It is true that factions with very similar or identical rosters will be more easily managed by the AI to give a more balanced game. The NTW diplomacy, I'm also not familiar with, but from what I've read it's still not as good as it should be.

**A Nerd** · 05-28-2010, 15:57

The NTW diplomacy, I'm also not familiar with, but from what I've read it's still not as good as it should be.

Time makes space for improvement. ETW and NTW faiing was the gunpowder tactics vs. the melee of older titles. A return to melee and a limited scope I think will be a good thing.

**caravel** · 05-28-2010, 16:16

Originally Posted by A Nerd

Time makes space for improvement. ETW and NTW faiing was the gunpowder tactics vs. the melee of older titles. A return to melee and a limited scope I think will be a good thing.

Indeed but they've had since RTW to sort out the diplomacy issues. They released the same broken diplomatic model in M2TW and then, after half admitting that diplomacy had been broken all along, claimed that it would all be fixed in ETW - from the screenshots and write ups I've seen of ETW, it clearly wasn't fixed and still isn't.

**A Nerd** · 05-28-2010, 16:29

ETWs isn't as bad (in my opinion) as many say. The problem lies in difficuly level. They want a tough strat and battle experince, but the coding also makes diplomacy more difficult as well. I don't know why they are connected, but my diplomacy/economy has always thrived on normal. This, in my opinion, seems to be the root of the problem.