Rome 2 Total War and Europa Barbarorum

[moonburn]

I sincerely hope and fervently wish that RTW2 be a stunning success, and due to that, CA may come forward with a proper tool that allows us to build the next generation of the EB mod, just as this one is taking its final shape. Perhaps I'm shocking the guys back on the team by saying this while we're still struggling in EB2, but the Christmas present that I want from CA is a proper tool to mod RTW2. But don't get any ideas: we're not planning any engine switch. :)

you better not i don´t feel like buying a new tw game atm :X

you should run for office that is a very politically correct thing to say

and i do agree with the efforts that ca as put into their games and allowed us to evolve both on pleasure and in knowledge but i feel like most people that ever since ca and sega teamed up the games have went jap/korean hardcore with lots of lights explosions click buttons as fast as possible and don´t stop to think and plan ahead

i like a proper chess game as most people who are in this forum but ca and sega have been disapointing us ever since the last rome total war and therefore and altough i understand your need to keep this forum unbiased and friendly towards the owners of the franchise the truth is that they are money blind and not caring about our needs anymore as someone stated if they had more proper competition i believe they would be trying harder (but like most greedy companies they´ll only understand when it´s almost too late because thats the truth of what really happens when passion disapears and cold hard numbers take over)

[JMRC]

you should run for office that is a very politically correct thing to say

Not at all. I really mean it.

[Lusitani]

Hello all,

Did you guys manage to see this video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPQCn7beqew

[cahtush]

The link is broken.

[cahtush]

Seems like you forgot an ":".

And now on to your question:

Atleast I did.
It seems like the map will be full of nothing but cities late game (did he really say 3-4 times the size?).

And while some depth seems to be lacking, atleast in that build, it looks really nice so far.

[Rifal]

it looks really nice so far.

But that is all it will do. No soul, no Passion, no Depht, no Buy

[Exanimus]

This is the third time I've reviewed this entire thread-line, and I've composed my thoughts and wanted to share my thoughts on RTW2, as I am a die-hard fan of realism and authenticity.

1) The latest videos do have that feel of Rome: Total War for me, and while they do have 'general's abilities' I don't find that so abhorrent; in the end it is a game, and we still have the rally call in EB, don't we?

2) I've scoured the net for intense articles of Q&A about the game, many questions which seem as if they could have been plucked out of these forums. From what I have read, rest assured the team is very intent on making an EXCELLENT game. They not only have used metrics based on users' choices but also listened to people's questions and optimized the gameplay to retain depth and vim while reducing needless micromanagement (I was in EB Today and I realized I hadn't removed any of the conquered factions' government buildings... it was quite tedious and took me a good half hour of wasted time. I am happy to think that this won't be the case in RTW2.)

3) It saddens me to see people bash the game, and attack it for either not being a simulation, being too arcadey, or completing throwing out core features which the original game had. Whether the former or latter or last or combination of the three we won't know until the game comes out. Fortunately, what I have seen is getting progressively more brilliant and appealing, and I hope that we here, with all our reverence for Europa Barbarorum, will come to appreciate the effort of CA if it indeed is as well-crafted as I believe it to be, and at least approach it with an open mind.

I also am still looking forward to EB:2

[Gaius Sempronius Gracchus]

This is the third time I've reviewed this entire thread-line, and I've composed my thoughts and wanted to share my thoughts on RTW2, as I am a die-hard fan of realism and authenticity.

1) The latest videos do have that feel of Rome: Total War for me, and while they do have 'general's abilities' I don't find that so abhorrent; in the end it is a game, and we still have the rally call in EB, don't we?

2) I've scoured the net for intense articles of Q&A about the game, many questions which seem as if they could have been plucked out of these forums. From what I have read, rest assured the team is very intent on making an EXCELLENT game. They not only have used metrics based on users' choices but also listened to people's questions and optimized the gameplay to retain depth and vim while reducing needless micromanagement (I was in EB Today and I realized I hadn't removed any of the conquered factions' government buildings... it was quite tedious and took me a good half hour of wasted time. I am happy to think that this won't be the case in RTW2.)

3) It saddens me to see people bash the game, and attack it for either not being a simulation, being too arcadey, or completing throwing out core features which the original game had. Whether the former or latter or last or combination of the three we won't know until the game comes out. Fortunately, what I have seen is getting progressively more brilliant and appealing, and I hope that we here, with all our reverence for Europa Barbarorum, will come to appreciate the effort of CA if it indeed is as well-crafted as I believe it to be, and at least approach it with an open mind.

I also am still looking forward to EB:2

We can't know for sure what the game will be like until it comes out but....from the previews and from the Q&A the point still stands; in terms of R2:TW and EB2 being in any way similar, there is no comparison. R2:TW is, as you say, a game, and a game devised to appeal to the widest possible audience. That wide audience is not interested, necessarily, in historicity so much as gratifying pre-conceived ideas they have; particularly of Rome and its glory. It appears, also, to veer toward novelty over reality.

The language of the previews still points toward an idea of the 'barbarian' cultures (the name says it all really) being near sub-human savages in need of civilising by the Romans.

There doesn't seem to be a particularly large variation in unit types, and they seem - by and large - rather stereotyped and....flaming pigs are back (along with new hurled boulders and flaming balls). It is, to all intents and purposes, R:TW with flashy graphics and a few new bits (naval warfare, for example).

I don't want to be entirely negative, but even the good things they seem to have put in they have weakened. A clue as to how immersive it is likely to be; the 'character' boosts, which are preset. For example House of Julia will be particularly good at defeating the subhumans...I mean barbarians; why? Well because Caesar defeated the Gauls...over 200 years after the start date. No sense of characters earning particular traits. The whole thing seems arbitrary, and seems often to be based upon events that took place between 200-300 years after the start date (Iceni, Boudicca; Alemanni, Arminius; House of Julia, barbarians).

Simply put; there is no comparison between R2:TW and EB2. There are two very different audiences, and two very different conceptions behind both games. Let's not forget, also, that EB2 is made for free, by individuals working in their own time to bring it to us.

Oh and...how on Earth can they claim that Shogun 2 is the most moddable game of the TW series? What? If R2:TW turns out to be moddable to any reasonable extent then it may become interesting but...in terms of the dynamics of the games there is no comparison between EB2 and R2:TW; they are not for the same audience.

One other thing. From the brief glimpses of the campaign game (I know its only a pre-amble, but..) the battle AI seems just as stupid (perhaps even more so) than in R:TW. What I have seen doesn't convey any sense of a need for tactical nouse on the battlefield. The more I see, the less enamored I become.