Religion

[Daveybaby]

1700 to 1820? That's a pretty short game.

That depends on how many turns per year.

[Stuperman]

That depends on how many turns per year.

I think that TC was talking historically, Rtw covered almost 300 years, M2tw more than 400 and ETW will cover just 120....

I hope they get rid of religion, the crusade mechanic is fun, but makes it really hard/scary/unappealing to be a non catholic faction. and it royally screws the orthodox factions.

[Trax]

1700 - 1820 is fine with me.
From the first years of the bayonet till the last years of the flintlock gun.

From 1700-1815 constant wars between great coalitions. After 1815 things cooled down considerably.

[Monarch]

I think that TC was talking historically, Rtw covered almost 300 years, M2tw more than 400 and ETW will cover just 120....

I hope they get rid of religion, the crusade mechanic is fun, but makes it really hard/scary/unappealing to be a non catholic faction. and it royally screws the orthodox factions.

I personally prefer the smaller focus, maybe we'll get actual years back? No need to make it turns due to incredibly long time span.

[Daveybaby]

I think that TC was talking historically, Rtw covered almost 300 years, M2tw more than 400 and ETW will cover just 120....

It all a matter of how much happens during that period. Its a pretty well known fact that as time goes on progress becomes more rapid - which is why the civ series, for example, actually changes the number of years that each turn takes. In the stone age it can be hundreds of years per turn, and by the modern age its only 1 year per turn, yet the rate at which interesting stuff happens (both in terms of technology and change of control across the map) remains roughly constant.

The number of years is irrelevant, its how much stuff you pack in there each turn that matters. You need time to use each technological innovation for a bit before the next one comes along. You need a balance between getting around the map quickly enough to keep you from getting bored, yet still have time to see the enemy coming and react accordingly.

If there was a total war style game covering the period of world wars I and II, it would only need 40 years from start to finish. You'd probably have 1 or 2 months per turn in that situation, but you'd still have plenty to keep you busy, because things moved so much faster during these periods than in roman, medival, or even napoleonic times.

I hope they get rid of religion, the crusade mechanic is fun, but makes it really hard/scary/unappealing to be a non catholic faction. and it royally screws the orthodox factions.

Agreed. Any crusade type gameplay is just going to seem totally out of place in napoleonic times. But, as the article linked to in one of the other threads states, its a completely new game engine, from the ground up.

[Fate]

I think that TC was talking historically, Rtw covered almost 300 years, M2tw more than 400 and ETW will cover just 120....

Yes, but you must keep in mind, as aforementioned, turns per year (i wouldnt be suprised it it were 4 or more), and the fact that there would be an extraordinary amount of technological advancements in a relatively short time.

We could very well end up with month turns to show emphasis on the speed that things happenned, with the advanced technology. Where as in RTW and M2 it would take a considereable amount of time for an army to cross the map, where as in Empire, things would happen much faster.

[Monarch]

Agreed. Any crusade type gameplay is just going to seem totally out of place in napoleonic times. But, as the article linked to in one of the other threads states, its a completely new game engine, from the ground up.

I don't know much about this period of history, but I guess they could do something similiar like "expeditionary forces". Or something...I don't fancy going half way round the world with units just to get say India. I supposed one solution would be to make ships move alot further so you can sail like as fast as a crusade, but then I guess you can just hop around from port to port if they go really far in one turn without risking them in open water :/

It'll be a delicate balancing act I guess, interesting.

[SaFe]

Imagine Napoleon marching from France to Russia in 10 years.

I always had the opinion that the lenghty travel times were frustrating.

RTW:Marching from Rome to the forest of Germani in 3 or 4 years - unrealistic
M2: Marching from Rome to Jerusalem 5 or 6 years - more unrealistic even with ship transport.

Perhaps they solved the probelm this time...

[lars573]

Yes, but you must keep in mind, as aforementioned, turns per year (i wouldnt be suprised it it were 4 or more), and the fact that there would be an extraordinary amount of technological advancements in a relatively short time.

Actually I think it will be 2 turns per year. CA is of the opinion that >250 turns in the sweet spot for a campaign. So 120 years *2 (turns per year) =240 turns for a campagin.

[Rhyfelwyr]

2 turns per year seems ideal.

On religion, although there were no Crusade type expeditions during the ETW timeframe, there were still several religion-related civil wars. For example, as I said earlier, the Jacobites in the UK. Conflict between Catholic and Protestants will have to be well represented.

[NagatsukaShumi]

A smaller time frame didn't kill Shogun, in fact it was more focused. Empire looks like it will be a great game, although alot depends on how the AI handles the next step up when it hasn't entirely adapted to the previous revolution, who knows, I will buy it and give it a chance regardless.

Religion will probably feature in the same way it does now, there will just be more of it, which is fine by me to be entirely honest.

[IrishArmenian]

I'm not too keen on the 18th century, 3/4 of the world map with only 10 playable factions. However, that can be modded and is eclipsed by the new engine! Oh, joy!

[Bob the Insane]

Well 120 years are two turns per year is 240 turns (obviously) which is around that ideal turn number they worked out for M2TW...

[Randarkmaan]

I'm not too keen on the 18th century, 3/4 of the world map with only 10 playable factions. However, that can be modded and is eclipsed by the new engine! Oh, joy!

10 playable factions doesen't mean only 10 factions, it means 10 factions which are sort of meant to be played by the player, and probably at least 10-20 other factions which are unplayable, but can probably be unlocked just as easily as before (by editing text files).

But it can't be only 3/4 of the world, because in order to portray the trade you (and as the trade in India seems to be going to be important) you have to have atleast the whole of Eurasia, America and Africa (you need Africa to get to India).