Hello from an player of the past

[LordTed]

Is anyone still playing from the STW erea online? I ve played a few games of STW in the past, but I have not played RTW yet due to a crap computer.

Now Ive got a nice new one, it is going to be my first purchase.

Is RTW as good as I am told it is?

Thanks
Ted

[vladiator]

RTW is great. Some people may tell you otherwise. It is true, the game has some problems (which game doesn't), but even then, an unpatched unmoded vanilla version is still a great game.

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hi and welcome back LordTed,
For multiplayer, generally the answer is no. Many features, including the ladders and the rankings from the originals were dropped, as well as the quality of performance, which I think many will agree is rather poor.

Battle speed also probably may be found to be an issue - R:TW battles run at the speed of a Charlie Chaplin movie, which results in little time for tactical implementation before one player's army is fleeing for their lives.

Balance also could be found to be problematic. Due to loss of the simple "rock paper scissors" mechanism, many units, especially Roman units, are practically unbeatable. This is regardless of the unit's type.

A final note on the tactical battle side of things is the poor variety of battle maps. Basically almost every region is a flat open plain. Some areas have a few small mounds, and some trees, but these don't really offer much advantage against the opponent. The AI is also considered inferior by many, and is efficiently defeated on the field.

Graphically the game does also have a negative side. Although everything may be glitz and glamour when zoomed in, when you attempt to zoom out for a tactical overview, you probably will find everything rather blurry and hard to make out. In addition, when zoomed out, you can see a sort of tiled texture on certain areas of the map. I, for one, do find this rather ugly and unappealing.

The campaign map level also is heavily flawed. The challenge presented by the foes on the campaign map is poor, and steam rolling over them is rather easy. This is primarily due to a combination of excessive ease of money making and an AI which lacks the ability to coordinate its forces and economy to an adequate level.

On a more neutral note, the campaign map level has undergone a massive overhaul, replacing the traditional risk style methods with a titled type map comparable to that seen in the Civilisation series. For some veterans, this is an improvement, others are indifferent, while a large number oppose the move.

Hope this is useful to you!

[TosaInu]

Hello LordTed.

[Gregoshi]

Welcome back LordTed! There seems to be a rash of old guard STW players returning lately. This is a nice thing.

[R'as al Ghul]

Is anyone still playing from the STW erea online? I ve played a few games of STW in the past, but I have not played RTW yet due to a crap computer.

Now Ive got a nice new one, it is going to be my first purchase.

Is RTW as good as I am told it is?

Thanks
Ted

Hello LordTed,

if you're looking for the tactical component in Multiplayer battles, RTW is not your game. What Shogun offered was not continued past MTW/VI in the Total War series.
It's possible to play the old Shogun:TW online using a fakeserver but hardly anybody does that anymore. If you log on (need to change a file first) you won't meet anybody if you haven't made an appointement before.
Those of us who enjoyed Shogun and can't stand the newer titles, due to lack of implementation of tactical features and depth, play "Samurai Warlords". That's a mod for Medieval:TW/ Viking Invasion which was started by barocca, whom you may remember. If you click on my signature you'll be taken to our subforum with more details.
We've a small but growing Multiplayer group who play Samurai Warlords on Sundays, 19:00 GMT. We frequently play everything from 2v2 to 4v4. We'd welcome you in our group if you have a copy of Medieval (10 bucks at Amazon nowadays). We also offer a replay archive if you want to check out the gameplay of the mod. MizuYuuki and others developed the stats we're using. They are similar to the old Shogun stats.
If you're after a single player game I'd check out the bug threads of RTW first before buying anything. That could save you some frustration.



R'as

[Shahed]

Is anyone still playing from the STW erea online? I ve played a few games of STW in the past, but I have not played RTW yet due to a crap computer.

Now Ive got a nice new one, it is going to be my first purchase.

Is RTW as good as I am told it is?

Thanks
Ted

Hi Ted !

It's good to see you again. I remember when I first started on STW you were the top player. Respect for your achievements.

I don't want to say anything positive or negative, but as you've asked I will.

IMO past STW the game changed. It held some of it's original appeal in MTW:VI. RTW was a huge disappointment for me. It is a great game but it's just not what I expected. M2:TW is better IMO but it's still lacking, M2:TW Kingdoms is the best so far, as a game. But again it does not have what STW had in terms of strategic depth and sheer brilliance of gameplay.

As far as tactical gameplay is concerned, past MTW:VI, forget it. Unless you're playing with mods and with like minded opponents i.e those who are looking for a good tactical battle, you won't get it.

Salute !

[Mithrandir]

Welcome back LordTed

[Jochi Khan]

Welcome back LordTed

If you really want to enjoy the glory days of STW, as R'as says, join us on Samurai Warlords on Sundays 19.00 hrs GMT.
Check out Yuukis sig for details of install required.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Welcome back LordTed

Despite many bugs* RTW is a great game in its own right, so is BI, its first expansion. If only for playing Europa Barbarorum, buying RTW is a just investment.

It should not be seen a direct sequel to Shogun and Medieval though. The gameplay and overall feel is much different. I haven't had the chance to play Shogun yet (will do, as soon as I clean up some disk space) but Medieval is still up and alive, and receives new converts from the heathens of RTW and false heretics of MiNO.

MiNO: Medieval in Name Only, that is M2TW

_
* Major RTW bugs include:

• Memory Leak. The game becomes virtually unplayable due to extreme lagging after two-three hours. Physical RAM >= 1 GB negates that problem, so I presume you'll not suffer from it.
• Reinforcements. If one or more of your armies commanded by a general (Family Member) joins a battle as reinforcements, they're commanded by the AI even if you uncheck the box telling it to do so. It has a workaround, which is good most of the time.
• AI not disembarking. AI fills its ships with armies, transports them to their destination but never disembarks. It's been solved in BI but unfortunately not in the latest patch for vanilla. No workaround that I know of exists.

Aside from the bugs, the AI is much more stupid and dull compared to Medieval Total War. Some mods do workaround the tactical AI to some extent but it's mostly hard-coded. Diplomacy interface and available options are much more variable but it's an unfeature in that the military AI totally ignores it. However, you may use it to enrich your role-playing with the force diplomacy mini-mod. OK, I shut up here lest my initial praise become void.
.

[LordTed]

Thanks for all your feedback guys its all very interesting.

From what I am reading, a lot of people are saying that the MTW sequal is better than Rome. Being a fan of the series I am more than likely to get this as well.

I notice modding has taken off on this in a big way. What are the mods that are most popular then.

Ted

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
You may check the Hosted Mods and Mod Downloads fora for yourself.

In my biased opinion (being a fan of historical accuracy and a former team member) Europa Barbarorum is the best mod available. There are certainly other good ones but I haven't played any else yet. That is for RTW.
.

[CaesarAugustus]

For RTW, you will definitely want to play Europa Barbarorum which can be downloaded here. Do not bother with Vanilla RTW, it is a waste of your time. EB is a total conversion mod that changes everything to be historically accruate as possible, has unique music, soldiers now speak in their original language, and dozens of other unique improvements. The current version, 1.0, is extremely stable. Highly recommened, 11 stars out of 10. If you buy the BI expansion as well (which I suggest you do, it can improve the EB experience), you may also want to try the late roman period mod Invasio Barbarorum.. I basically does the smae thing as EB for the late period, but a little less in depth (still excellent, though). I would also disagree that M2TW is better than RTW, but if you do choose to buy it I would recommed Deus Lo Vult (can be found over at the TWC) for added realism, although it is not a total conversion like EB or IB.

[Shahed]

I only played one or two vanilla RTW campaigns, and that too not till the end. After that I played EB, in one of it's early releases. It's leaps and bounds better than vanilla, Unfortunately I quit RTW after starting my 3rd campaign, so I don't know how good it is now. But I'm 100% sure that EB is absolutely brilliant from all I've seen and read about it.

For M2:TW:

LTC 4.0: Improves vanilla campaign and makes it much harder and much more interesting. Massive improvement.
Darth Mod: This is one of my favorites, it has bugs, but the AI is simply much, much better.
Ultimate AI Mod: Again way better AI, hard to choose between this and Darth.
Broken Crescent: Not yet released, but IMO this is THE mod for M2:TW. Complete conversion of the game, better AI, more than 200 new units, new music specially composed for the mod. Call it the EB of M2:TW.
Stainless Steel: A very popular mod, and IMO well worth the effort, excellent skins, but I have'nt played much of this.
Sicilain Vespers: Another great mod, have'nt played much of it either as it focuses more on the West like Stainless Steel and I'm more a Eastern cavalry player.
Med Manager: A mod switcher for M2:TW, required installation of you play mods, much easier to use this with mods, though most mods make their own folders and all. It's still a handy tool.

I don't think I played any mods for MTW:VI.

[bovi]

For RTW, you will definitely want to play Europa Barbarorum. Do not bother with Vanilla RTW, it is a waste of your time.

While I as developer naturally encourage playing EB, I would suggest playing a bit in vanilla first for a gentler introduction to RTW. Europa Barbarorum is rather unforgiving for newbies with its tight finances and assistance to the AI, and while I wouldn't say it's harder than STW on expert (depending on faction and difficulty chosen) there are a lot of new concepts in EB, in addition to those that are new in RTW in the first place compared to STW.