What Are You Looking Forward To Most In Empire?

[Durango]

Suffice it to say, I'm trying not to look forward to the game too much. RTW and MTW2 had great things about them, but the replayability was much less than MTW1 which remains my favourite of the series.

QFT.

But you just have to use a different part of your brain when playing the newer games. A part that ignores any expectations regarding a challenging AI and subtleness. Instead, the "five-year-old-on-christmas-eve" mode will serve you well.

[Sir Beane]

The new AI looks interesting. Also, the new artwork and look of the game is enticing.

I also hope that there are no pathing and unit glitch issues with battles in urban areas; RTW and MTW both turned into Total Siege where you were forced to fight most battles inside glitchy cityscapes where very little fighting occured once you broke the walls, merely a death-charge into the center square where you were forced to sit and attack a bugged AI.

Suffice it to say, I'm trying not to look forward to the game too much. RTW and MTW2 had great things about them, but the replayability was much less than MTW1 which remains my favourite of the series.

If you belive what CA have stated in interviews then ETW has fewer seiges and a greater number of field battles. They have also mentioned that city fighting will no longer take place in the city centre, which might mean fewer pathing problems.

QFT.

But you just have to use a different part of your brain when playing the newer games. A part that ignores any expectations regarding a challenging AI and subtleness. Instead, the "five-year-old-on-christmas-eve" mode will serve you well.

Is it bad that that mode seems to be my brain's default mode?

[Durango]

Is it bad that that mode seems to be my brain's default mode?

Certainly not, to each his own and I enjoy pure spectacle too. I'm actually looking into some other games for the serious cerebral activities, such as the Take Command series and Europa Universalis

I was just over at the TW Center, and read a few topics there were they discussed graphics. Jeez, every post seems to be filled with ill-hidden boasts about how they can max out this and that, how their daddy's new rig is better than somebody elses and so on and so on. I get the feeling that they just like to use the Total War games as benchmark tests...

Appreciating graphics is natural, but you can tell when it goes overboard.

[Megas Methuselah]

CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK REPORTING:

MULTIPLAYER WILL BE SO AWESOME! CAN YOU GUYS EVEN IMAGINE ITS AWESOMENESS? IT MIGHT EVEN BE ALMOST AS AWESOME AS ME!

But seriously, I'm actually going to give multiplayer a try this time around. Sir Beane, I'm speaking directly to you: Let's buy the game as soon as it comes out, and duke it out online, learning on the go, aight? The extent of the battle on the field will be amazingly large, oooooh I can't wait to see how many factions/rebels are playable.

[Polemists]

The excitment over at TW center forums is a bit on fully tilt, even more so then here (no 9 page threads here).

That said the game looks very good and lots to be excited about, each day that ticks away is one day closer to the glorious game :)

[Monk]

The excitment over at TW center forums is a bit on fully tilt, even more so then here (no 9 page threads here).

That said the game looks very good and lots to be excited about, each day that ticks away is one day closer to the glorious game :)

More like rabid. You could lose an arm over there in their demo thread!

The more I think about it, I'm really looking forward to the AI and the merging of the diplomatic and military AI schemes. Not having a faction being torn between trying to do two conflicting things at once would be nice, and then there's the battle AI which I'm itching to test. Unfortunately the only way to truly test them both is to get my hands on the retail product so i'll just have to wait.

[Polemists]

More like rabid. You could lose an arm over there in their demo thread!

Yes....that's not me in that thread......that's that OTHER Polemists in that demo thread....lol

I'm really looking forward to the AI and the merging of the diplomatic and military AI schemes.

The more I look at the maps the more excited I get about trade theatres and the possibilities.

Unfortunately the only way to truly test them both is to get my hands on the retail product so i'll just have to wait.

Yes....unless you know CA provided us with something, perhaps a small set of files that would help DEMOnstrate how the game works properly.