Original MTW Lives On!!

[BAD]

Not played the game in about 18 months, nor logged onto this forum for just as long. Been through all my games and nothing new out is catching my eye, lo-and-behold I spot a shortcut to XL-mod. . . here we go again. . .

[Tristrem]

I haven't played any original mtw since I was living at home. Since moving to school, I've gotten a newer laptop and no matter what I try I can't get this game to run on my laptop. I know it has something to do with vista, and my evil graphics card that was also new and has no old drivers to fall back on. So until summer break I am without mtw. I've tried rome and m2tw and they just aren't the same to me, I never like the new campaign map.

I wish CA showed some love and make a new patch to get the game running on newer systems, and i didn't have to scour the depths of the internet in search of possible fixes.

whatever comes first, I find a fix that works, or I go home for summer break, I will regain some valuable playing time for this game on my old desktop.

[Martok]

Ouch, Tristrem! I feel your pain.


Welcome back, AristofWarfare! Good you to see you again.

[ArtistofWarfare]

Ouch, Tristrem! I feel your pain.


Welcome back, AristofWarfare! Good you to see you again.

Thank you...

Yeah, my pc had it's share of problems and I certainly hadn't planned on it so...it was a tad frustrating.

I'm actually considering starting up a campaign tonight...(MTW really is like a drug)

Thinking maybe huge units, hard difficulty...(perhaps expert, although I'm not in any way in MTW "shape" ...quite rusty).

[ArtistofWarfare]

Not played the game in about 18 months, nor logged onto this forum for just as long. Been through all my games and nothing new out is catching my eye, lo-and-behold I spot a shortcut to XL-mod. . . here we go again. . .

Exactly...and so it begins

lol...

To take from the song "Gimme Shelter": "It's just a 'click' away!!"

I see you posted this a day or two ago- Have you started ?

[BAD]

Exactly...and so it begins

lol...

To take from the song "Gimme Shelter": "It's just a 'click' away!!"

I see you posted this a day or two ago- Have you started ?

Gonna start up an XL mod game. But I lost my modifies version of the unit prods. Gonna try and get them to as close as I had them before. Some of the unit support costs were stupid as I remember, like Chivalric footknights were nly just more expensive than peasants upkeep. I also tweaked some morale stats and speeds.

Though no doubt there is a new update for XL since I last played?

[Tristrem]

Ya, it hurts not having MTW for an extended period of time. Yesterday I sent an email to sega's technical support to maybe get some sort of official help. I'd be surprised if I get a useful response, but who knows?

As of right now, I've started a campaign as the eastern roman empire in broken cresent, and wei'll see how that goes

[Kaidonni]

Whenever I've tried to uninstall MTW, and I stress TRIED, I go cold turkey within a matter of days. No matter how peed off I've gotten at my perfectionism or restartitis, I just have to reinstall. Heck, I did it yesterday...uninstalled earlier this week, had to reinstall yesterday.

[Ironsword]

Emperor Ludwig put the chess piece down, but try as he might he couldn't put down the thought of the Papal states. How he coveted them!

- I know exactly how you feel. It has been back in its box and lent out for over two years! I got it back again just before Christmas and I am completely hooked again. I started with a simple English campaign, but I'm now loving starting as the smaller factions.
Doesn't bode well for my current two years of non-smoking!

[BAD]

O_o Where did all the replies go? Anyways I got my battlemode screen problem sorted. Seemed I had the resolution for battlemode at 726xSomething. I guess either my gfx card/driver didn't support that. Changed it to 800x600 and everything's fine-diney.

After all that repeated driver searching, installing, cleaning too.

Anyways thanks for the help. At least I learned some more PC crap.

[Martok]

O_o Where did all the replies go?

Link

I separated out yours (and caravel's) posts and made a separate thread just for you. Just trying to keep the current thread somewhat on topic.

Anyways I got my battlemode screen problem sorted. Seemed I had the resolution for battlemode at 726xSomething. I guess either my gfx card/driver didn't support that. Changed it to 800x600 and everything's fine-diney.

After all that repeated driver searching, installing, cleaning too.

Anyways thanks for the help. At least I learned some more PC crap.

Glad you got it working, BAD.

[BAD]

Ah, thanks. Wondered what happened.

First campaign I did was English in XL. Started off by solidifying my position in Normandy and bribing the longbowman stack in Wales. Next turn taking Wales with my King and the bribed Longbowmen. Then just spent time getting more farming going and pumping out more units from the capital. When I got a substantial enough army I took out Scotland. Then proceeded to surround the British Isles with a small Navy, just so I can have a buffer for any coastal assaults. The army that attacked Scotland moves onto Ireland with King of Scotland leading the assault. Gallowglasses are tough. . . However next turn Ireland fell.

By this time I had a new King with three sons, the heir however sucked, Piety 2, Dread 2, Command 1, Acumen 2. So I needed a plan to do away with him. A few turns later one arose. The province north of Flanders turned rebel. Off I sent my heir to conquer it and quell the rebellion. He could keep the province as his own of course. he took down the rebellion and sat on his new found throne of power. Little did he know I was taxing the crap out of the province and sure as sure can be the province had a series of rebellions to which he eventually succumbed.

Two turns later my King died while my next heir was three turns away from maturing. . . Gah! My King was only forty-six too. That'll teach me.

[ArtistofWarfare]

I'm lurking around again tonight

I started a campaign with the Italians last night but deleted it by accident (short story, but still- irrelevant).

Things were going good too...I had just gotten the papal states to offer me a daughter in marriage.

Either way, deciding what kind of campaign to set up and give a long term run.

I've decided to go on "normal" difficulty/"huge" units due to the fact that I haven't been in a total war campaign in some time and I want to guage where my ability is at in this point in time...normal is a good start.

Not sure what faction I'm going to use...I do love the Italians...but I don't want to start over with them again (although might...shrug)

Perhaps a non catholic run with the Eggies, Almos or Turks...we shall see.

Either way, I'm around...

[ArtistofWarfare]

Yeah...I'm going to have to go with the Italians ...and that's it heh.

I just love the units, the starting position and the naval potential etc.

I'm into it...

Starting it back up...

-Vanilla MTW:VI 2.01
-
-Early Period

-Normal Difficulty

-Huge Units

-Italians

[ArtistofWarfare]

Ah, thanks. Wondered what happened.

First campaign I did was English in XL. Started off by solidifying my position in Normandy and bribing the longbowman stack in Wales. Next turn taking Wales with my King and the bribed Longbowmen. Then just spent time getting more farming going and pumping out more units from the capital. When I got a substantial enough army I took out Scotland. Then proceeded to surround the British Isles with a small Navy, just so I can have a buffer for any coastal assaults. The army that attacked Scotland moves onto Ireland with King of Scotland leading the assault. Gallowglasses are tough. . . However next turn Ireland fell.

By this time I had a new King with three sons, the heir however sucked, Piety 2, Dread 2, Command 1, Acumen 2. So I needed a plan to do away with him. A few turns later one arose. The province north of Flanders turned rebel. Off I sent my heir to conquer it and quell the rebellion. He could keep the province as his own of course. he took down the rebellion and sat on his new found throne of power. Little did he know I was taxing the crap out of the province and sure as sure can be the province had a series of rebellions to which he eventually succumbed.

Two turns later my King died while my next heir was three turns away from maturing. . . Gah! My King was only forty-six too. That'll teach me.

Thank god the kings don't all die at 56 like they did at one point, many moons ago

That was just ridiculous...

I like the prospect of having an epic ruler who just by chance also lives into his 70's.

[Ironsword]

Just moved up to hard. VI v.2.01 vanilla.

First campaign was with the English, just scraped a GA victory.

Tried Turks, got obliterated by the GH.

I may try the Italians before resurrecting my great Sultan ambitions...

[ArtistofWarfare]

Just moved up to hard. VI v.2.01 vanilla.

First campaign was with the English, just scraped a GA victory.

Tried Turks, got obliterated by the GH.

I may try the Italians before resurrecting my great Sultan ambitions...

You know, last night I wound up falling asleep a little earlier than expected and I didn't actually start that Italian campaign (it's all set up and ready to go though).

Just for the record- Egypt/Almos has been considered quite a bit by me. Perhaps after this Italian campaign I too will resurrect my great Sultan ambitions

That is, of course, after I manage to rebuild the true Roman Empire with the Italians...

[Martok]

Tried Turks, got obliterated by the GH.

I may try the Italians before resurrecting my great Sultan ambitions...

Tip: Many Turk players go after the Egyptians right away, especially the sultan in Antioch. Capture him in battle, ransom him for a hefty sum, then repeat. Soon the Eggies will be too broke to build or train anything, and won't be able to put up much resistance as you conquer their lands. You'll then have the economic base necessary to take on the Byzantines.

Just for the record- Egypt/Almos has been considered quite a bit by me. Perhaps after this Italian campaign I too will resurrect my great Sultan ambitions

Eggies! Eggies! Eggies! They rule!

[ArtistofWarfare]

Tip: Many Turk players go after the Egyptians right away, especially the sultan in Antioch. Capture him in battle, ransom him for a hefty sum, then repeat. Soon the Eggies will be too broke to build or train anything, and won't be able to put up much resistance as you conquer their lands. You'll then have the economic base necessary to take on the Byzantines.



Eggies! Eggies! Eggies! They rule!

How are their start up economics? I'm assuming they have extremely valuable, fertile land to begin with but I'm not sure how their money making capabilities fair against say the Italians or the Spanish.

Especially in Medieval Total War, I'm very much along the lines of a "turtle" economics player. I like to dig in, and build the best economy in the game...while building everything needed for the first major offensive somewhere down the line.

[seireikhaan]

Well, personally, I'd take out the Turks ASAP, which, for me, means taking Syria the 1st turn, then regrouping a bit, and then taking Armenia and Rum. After that, you can turtle to your hearts content and get insanely wealthy, just so long as you fend of the occasional crusade and any potential "annoyances" from the Byzantines. I would also advise, after about 40 or 50 turns, to gang up on the Almos with the Spanish, and take a bit of the North African coast to relieve any immediate pressures on Egypt. I'd say Egypt actually has much better economic potential than Venice, with Egypt, Antioch, and Tripoli all pretty good to very good on trade income and farm income, and Palestine very good on farm income as well.

[Martok]

How are their start up economics? I'm assuming they have extremely valuable, fertile land to begin with but I'm not sure how their money making capabilities fair against say the Italians or the Spanish.

Especially in Medieval Total War, I'm very much along the lines of a "turtle" economics player. I like to dig in, and build the best economy in the game...while building everything needed for the first major offensive somewhere down the line.

If you're asking about the Egyptians, then I can tell you that they start with three of the wealthiest provinces in the entire game -- Antioch, Tripoli, and Egypt itself. (Palestine gets decent income as well, although it lacks trade goods).

Even if all you did was build the farm upgrades in these provinces, you would already be making a good amount of florins every year. The real potential of Egyptian wealth is in trade, however. Once you have your boats running around the Med calling at every port, your treasury will skyrocket. I've managed to pull down over 10,000 florins a year from Antioch alone, and both Egypt & Tripoli possess similar earning potential.

[ArtistofWarfare]

If you're asking about the Egyptians, then I can tell you that they start with three of the wealthiest provinces in the entire game -- Antioch, Tripoli, and Egypt itself. (Palestine gets decent income as well, although it lacks trade goods).

Even if all you did was build the farm upgrades in these provinces, you would already be making a good amount of florins every year. The real potential of Egyptian wealth is in trade, however. Once you have your boats running around the Med calling at every port, your treasury will skyrocket. I've managed to pull down over 10,000 florins a year from Antioch alone, and both Egypt & Tripoli possess similar earning potential.

That's amazing...(regarding 10k florins per year in Antioch)

I'll definitely be commanding Egyptian forces next

That really is my style: Naval/Mercantile empires first, and then build the ridiculous army off of it's income/power. The key balance I try to strike is while still in Naval/Merc/Government mode, still building the capabilities to pump top quality ground forces out whenever necessary. I just don't hold the standing army up and instead try to squeeze and maximize every penny, while still building in every province, every turn.

Right now I'm at 1106 in my Italian campaign and I'm already dominating the central and eastern Med...working on the western med now.

Which brings me to a question, but I'll save it for it's own thread since I haven't seen anything about it...

Added W/ Edit: Oh- btw...pertaining to the Egyptian province discussion: How difficult can I expect it to be to subdue the population and get it to be a loyal tax paying group when I'm taking these same provinces (tripoli, antioch, etc) as the Italians? ...I believe that militarily I could take some of these lands quite soon...

[Kaidonni]

Well, the Eggies are Muslims, the Italians Catholics - the religion of the provinces you conquer will be different to yours, causing public loyalty issues. Then, you also want to be careful not to give any titles of those provinces to high Piety generals, as it will make things worse. When the religion of a province is different to yours, and is also at a very high percentage, you want governors with high Dread and low (or no) Piety. Also make sure you garrison the provinces sufficiently to prevent any revolts and to defend against re-offenses.

[Martok]

Added W/ Edit: Oh- btw...pertaining to the Egyptian province discussion: How difficult can I expect it to be to subdue the population and get it to be a loyal tax paying group when I'm taking these same provinces (tripoli, antioch, etc) as the Italians? ...I believe that militarily I could take some of these lands quite soon...

As Kaidonni said, make sure to appoint governors with high dread and/or low piety; that alone will make things eaiser for you. IIRC, I didn't need huge garrisons in my Holy Land provinces, although I did still station about 400-500 men in each, at least at first.

Your bigger worry, however, probably isn't rebellions -- it's dealing with the inevitable Egyptian reprisals. If you Crusade to the Holy Land, be prepared to fend off mulitple counterattacks by huge armies, as the Sultan will almost surely attempt to retake what he lost from you. Fortunately, the Eggies don't usually attack with troops of the highest quality, which will help somewhat. You still shouldn't get cocky, though, as they can bury you just under the sheer mass of men they can bring to bear against your brave Crusaders. Be prepared to reinforce them often!

[ArtistofWarfare]

Thanks guys...

Dread > Piety when it comes to this...I got it.

As said, it's 1106...A crusade or simply an invasion into the Holy Lands is not too far off.

[Ironsword]

Folks, as I trust you all to be completely impartial in all things Totalwar...

...is it worth checking out MTW2?? TBH i'm still loving MTW VI, and haven't dipped a toe into XL yet, and, there seems to be a lot of negativity surrounding its successor. I'd rather live in ignorant bliss than suffer an anticlimax.

Still got an Eggy campaign to be getting on with, so, down with the Catholic oppressors!

[caravel]

It may be worth having a look at considering the Gold Edition is out and it's coming down in price. I can't say whether you'll be disappointed or not as I've never played it. RTW was generally a disappointment and M2TW is based on it.

You see a lot of conflicting opinions, some where M2TW is a vast improvement over RTW or the others where it has nearly all of the same problems. At the end of the day it's down to personal preference.

If you're really into MTW and like everything about it, including the risk style map and the 2D unit sprites, then the chances are that the newer games may be a disappointment.

[Kaidonni]

I agree that it's personal preference. The reason I lost interest in M2TW was all the tedious reading required of it...it just got too in-depth. MTW:VI has just the right level of detail, not too tedious, not too lax (well...unless I take it upon myself to inspect every last detail of a province...that never goes down well with me). I just never got around to playing much.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
I stopped comparing RTW with MTW and conceded that it's a different thing. It has its own upsides and downsides, and provides a good modding basis for gems such as EB.

MiNO is a sequel to RTW, being based on the same engine and interface etc. An analogy can be built with the case of Windows XP and Vista: Many Vista users are upgrading back to XP. Likewise, several MiNO players have upgraded back to MTW or RTW and been content.
.

[Martok]

Folks, as I trust you all to be completely impartial in all things Totalwar...

...is it worth checking out MTW2?? TBH i'm still loving MTW VI, and haven't dipped a toe into XL yet, and, there seems to be a lot of negativity surrounding its successor. I'd rather live in ignorant bliss than suffer an anticlimax.

Note: I have not played Medieval 2 very thoroughly -- I've probably not spent more than 15-20 hours on the game in total, plus I've not played it in the last 6 months -- so take my words with as many grains of salt as you're comfortable with. That said, my impressions are as follows:



Medieval 2 is....okay. It's not a bad game, but it's not a great game either. While it is a noticable improvement over Rome, that's not really saying much IMO.

Pros: Obviously, when zoomed in, combat is somewhat better than MTW from a visual/graphical standpoint. The controls and UI are a little more user-friendly, particularly the battle interface. The combat AI is a little better this time around. Although Inquisitors in Medieval 2 have an annoying tendency of burning your best generals for heresey, I overall like how religion is handled in the game -- Papal elections (and the political maneuvering that goes on behind them) can be pretty fun. The castle/city system is an interesting innovation as well, as it adds another layer of strategy (do you focus your province(s) on either primarily making money or producing troops?).

Cons: Remember what I said about Medieval 2 being better graphically? Well that doesn't apply to battles from the "general's view" (zoomed out); in fact, MTW still looks better in this regard. Nor does it apply to the campaign map, which -- despite the fact it's now set in a 3D environment -- still looks just as cartoonish as it did in Rome. Diplomacy is still broken, despite the more sophisticated model in M2TW; factions will still attack you for little or no reason, and refuse to sign peace treaties even when it's clearly in their best interests to do so. The AI, while not quite as bad in RTW, is still not exactly a strategic *or* tactical mastermind. In battle, it still isn't particularly clever or imaginative. On the campaign map, the computer still leaves cities under-defended....despite the fact that it probably has a couple good-sized army stacks nearby (that are often just standing around doing nothing).

As another demerit, I positively hate the fact that when you install & play Medieval 2, you're limited to only 5 initial factions (English, French, Germans, Italians/Venitians, & Spanish). In order to unlock the other playable factions, you must first beat the game with one of those 5 factions. Yes, I know that everyone says this is easy to mod so all factions are playable right away; but that's hardly the point. The point is, you shouldn't *have* to mod the game just so you can play as all the factions from the start. It's maybe a minor complaint overall, but one that I strongly disapprove of.


In the end, despite the numerous improvements and added bells & whistles, M2TW basically feels like Rome with a medieval skin. If the Total War games were women, I would describe them as the following:

MTW: She's the cute librarian who always flirts with you when go in to return/check out a book. She's smart and funny, and likes talking about all sorts of different subjects, be it the nature of the universe or the local sports team.

RTW: She's the incredibly hot blonde that you've wanted from when you first met her. When you finally hook up with her, though, you find out she's not only shallow and dumb as toast, but that she's not even very good in bed.

M2TW: She's the dumb blonde's brunette friend, who -- while only marginally more intelligent -- is still at least smart enough to not want to be viewed the same way as her. So she gets a make-over, and then does her best to look and act like that cute librarian you always run into. In the end, however, she can't cover up the fact that she doesn't have much more intelligence & personality than the blonde.



I've said it over and over and over again: MTW (and Shogun, for that matter) actually immerse me in the world. Medieval 2 (and Rome) just feel like I'm "playing a game".