What are the differences between MTW and RTW?

[IceWolf]

I've been a RTW junkie for about a year now, and on a whim, I bought MTW-Gold. It installed ok, but I haven't played it yet. How is it different from RTW? thanks

IceWolf

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hi IceWolf,
Perhaps this thread could help you out. Hope this helps, cheers!

[Peasant Phill]

Icewolf, expect to lose your first few battles. You have to be more tactical in this total war game.

[Martok]

Hey IceWolf, good to see you picked up MTW; I think you'll find it was a good purchase.

In my opinion, there are three key differences between RTW and Medieval:

1.) Visuals: MTW's graphics are obviously somewhat primitive compared to Rome's. Troops appear on the battlefield as simple 2D sprites instead of the full 3D models you're used to.

2.) Campaign map: Instead of a 3D map, Medieval's is a 2D Risk-style map. This is significant because armies, fleets, and agents move differently in MTW than in Rome -- instead of posessing a certain amount of movement points, they all simply move from province to province (or between sea regions, in the case of ships).

3.) AI: At both the empire level and (especially) the combat level, Medieval's AI is far for more competent than in RTW. The computer is generally much better at attacking with good-sized armies -- you won't see very many battles where you're invaded by a pitiful half-stack of troops! Likewise, the battle AI employs its units against you in a fairly logical and sensible manner. It's not perfect, of course, but on average you'll find the combat AI provides a good challenge; you have to use actual tactics and good maneuvering to be victorious.


For further details, you should follow Omanes' recommendation and check out this thread.

[Gimli]

MTW/VI is great! I would recommend it to anyone!!! I started playing just normal MTW on my brother's computer, then bought my own game which had both MTW and VI. It was SOOOO much better! THEN I discovered the org! It was here that I was introduced (after some lurking around for a few weeks) to the MTW mod! Since that day, I have played it for HOURS AND HOURS and loved it!!! Also tried a few other mods, all good! (well, the finished ones!)