The game is just TOO perfect!

[rijde]

This is my response to the TOO easy crowd and the not enough druid head-thrower "unique" units.

Creative assembly did one heck of good job with this game. Looks like their team focused on a solid set of priorities, features and polish. Absolutely one of the best games of all time.

To start, the changes to the campaign are four stars, fantastic. The capital/province system works much better than the jig-saw of the previous games. Immersion, simplification, and flow is all much better than the previous boring slog of move your stack to kill the next speed-bump in zone number 10 of 521.

So far, on VH/VH, as France and Austria, the campaign has presented a solid challenge - with minor nations declaring war immediately. Moving to actual battles, the new features and polish, like replays and saves make me shout another hell yeah.

The battle ai so far has done a really good job compared to the previous two games. My frenchies just got slaughtered by a Huron army! Just cause you got guns don't mean you own the woods. My frenchies next won an epic battle in Europe where my general got the "bloody" trait for losing so many men. So far the battle ai looks much more solid in their scripting.

[Ardri]

I'm not saying the game isn't a good one, but there is no way a game can be "perfect" when it is based in the age of colonization wand empires were rising and falling yet the computer will not move armies with their navies. If they would simply fix that it would go a very long way.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I'm not saying the game isn't a good one, but there is no way a game can be "perfect" when it is based in the age of colonization wand empires were rising and falling yet the computer will not move armies with their navies. If they would simply fix that it would go a very long way.

There was a similar problem in the unpatched M2TW, however after the patch Corsica suddenly became the battleground for the Moors, Spanish, Portuguese, Milan, and the Papal States.

[Ardri]

If they patch the lack of naval invasions and the faulty diplomacy where your allies will remain at war with a nation you take over as a protectorate it would go a long way in my book to making ETW a great game. Luckily I think both of those should be fairly easily patched and hopefully sooner rather than later.

[JAG]

rijde, you are quite right in a lot of the improvements you state, the game is immensely better when it comes to being able to control your territories, and there is less tedious stuff. However, there are significant and horrendus flaws. Some of us just want that sorted.

[Ardri]

I'd like to see 3 things fixed or added:
1) Naval invasions
2) The ability for players to influence AI diplomatic relations
3) A strategic AI where the computer has a massive monetary edge so they can just out spawn you. This would disguise a lot of the other strategic flaws the AI shows and would actually allow for a sense of accomplishment when you are successful.

Those 3 fixes would make this a much better game IMO.

[Beskar]

3) A strategic AI where the computer has a massive monetary edge so they can just out spawn you. This would disguise a lot of the other strategic flaws the AI shows and would actually allow for a sense of accomplishment when you are successful.

No, no and no, at this point. It's bad enough that they all share technology with each other, so even if you got 6 universities pumping out technology, they still at the same level at you, despite the fact, you can't buy any technology off them unless it is at some insane price.

There are changes I would like to see, but seriously not a mass spawning. I remember in my Netherlands game, I kept trying to invade Mysore, and they had 3 stacks and kept killing me as I landed. So, I decided to attack the Mughul Empire instead and I got around to killing them and taking all their land with one (initially, I brought others in later on) stack. [VH/VH setting]

Many of the one-state nations have armies far larger than they should be able to field then what you can do in comparison with a lot larger land mass.

While I do believe there should be some fixes, I don't think just giving them money for nothing should be the key. There are other ways to do it.

[Ardri]

I wasn't proposing that as the fix, just an above VH difficulty. I agree that isn't the fix, but I'd rather have that then have a bunch of house rules where I have to handicap myself. Have it as an option, not a fix. That is all I was suggesting.

[Fisherking]

There was a similar problem in the unpatched M2TW, however after the patch Corsica suddenly became the battleground for the Moors, Spanish, Portuguese, Milan, and the Papal States.

That is not the way to fix this game.

Not only did Corsica become a battle ground, every island did and you could set your watch by who invaded what when!

It was terrible!

I would rather have no fix than THAT FIX!!!!!!

Just cranking up the aggressiveness of the AI and having them spam invasions is a horrible idea!

If you like that sort of game you have M2TW and RTW. Don’t spoil this one with that kind of silly spam invasions.


If the AI is not managing its resources and units properly and not taking advantage of its opportunities, then by all means, it should be tweaked, but not spamming invasions of ever rock in the sea.

In the other two games I actually went back pre patch. I would rather play with the bugs than have it spoiled with such predictable behavior. No one can do that with Steam. Everyone gets the same game.

We don’t know what the AI priorities are as to why it is not transporting troop. Lets see what they can do other than making it a farce.

[Freedom Onanist]

This is my response to the TOO easy crowd and the not enough druid head-thrower "unique" units.

Creative assembly did one heck of good job with this game. Looks like their team focused on a solid set of priorities, features and polish. Absolutely one of the best games of all time.

To start, the changes to the campaign are four stars, fantastic. The capital/province system works much better than the jig-saw of the previous games. Immersion, simplification, and flow is all much better than the previous boring slog of move your stack to kill the next speed-bump in zone number 10 of 521.

So far, on VH/VH, as France and Austria, the campaign has presented a solid challenge - with minor nations declaring war immediately. Moving to actual battles, the new features and polish, like replays and saves make me shout another hell yeah.

The battle ai so far has done a really good job compared to the previous two games. My frenchies just got slaughtered by a Huron army! Just cause you got guns don't mean you own the woods. My frenchies next won an epic battle in Europe where my general got the "bloody" trait for losing so many men. So far the battle ai looks much more solid in their scripting.

If there were +rep here you'd be getting it now.

At last the campaign doesn't feel like the crap filling between the meat/battles that it was in all previous TW games.

The point about "not enough druid head-thrower "unique" units" is well made

[Dogfish]

That is not the way to fix this game.

Not only did Corsica become a battle ground, every island did and you could set your watch by who invaded what when!

It was terrible!

I would rather have no fix than THAT FIX!!!!!!

Just cranking up the aggressiveness of the AI and having them spam invasions is a horrible idea!

I've seen several posters make the same kind of comment, and I'd just like to state that it is a very, very strawman argument.

People who are clamoring for the AI to properly use their navies as transport, like me, obviously don't want CA to put in a bugged solution to address a faulty part of the game. We want them to fix it. So everyone, please stop pointing out the MTW2 patch as a corollary to what will happen if CA tries to fix this problem. Because it is one. Naval transport is rather essential to colonization and warfare in this area.

And yes, this game is great. But it can be better. Really the conversation about this "game has bugs/game is perfect" thing reminds me of politics here in America. If you try to point out ways in which our country or this game can get better, you get people saying that it is perfect and everyone should shut up our leaders are doing a great job. Well, if something is perfect, it can't ever get better. If this game was perfect, we'd never need another Total War game, CA should just retire. So the first step is admitting that there are things that can be improved. This by no means is the same as saying that the whole things sucks. I feel like I have to include a damn caveat about how much I like the game everytime I'm discussing or venting about some of the flaws I'm running into. Jeebus.

Edit: Also, sorry, but this "Absolutely one of the best games of all time." is almost an absurd level of hyperbole. It can get there, yes, but in it's current state, no. Civ, X-Com, Jagged Alliance... there is some tough (and very polished) competition out there for being in the group of best ever. Let's not get carried away on the other end of the spectrum here.

[Graphic]

This is my response to the TOO easy crowd and the not enough druid head-thrower "unique" units.

Don't forget the screaming women and bee-hive chuckers!

[Quickening]

No, no and no, at this point. It's bad enough that they all share technology with each other, so even if you got 6 universities pumping out technology, they still at the same level at you,

Sorry I hadn't heard this. So if one faction gets a technology the rest do as well or are they just very generous when exchanging with one another?

[Quickening]

That is not the way to fix this game.

Not only did Corsica become a battle ground, every island did and you could set your watch by who invaded what when!

Hehe, ah yes the Portuguese were regular as clockwork when it came to invading Ireland

[Sir Beane]

I've seen several posters make the same kind of comment, and I'd just like to state that it is a very, very strawman argument.

People who are clamoring for the AI to properly use their navies as transport, like me, obviously don't want CA to put in a bugged solution to address a faulty part of the game. We want them to fix it. So everyone, please stop pointing out the MTW2 patch as a corollary to what will happen if CA tries to fix this problem. Because it is one. Naval transport is rather essential to colonization and warfare in this area.

And yes, this game is great. But it can be better. Really the conversation about this "game has bugs/game is perfect" thing reminds me of politics here in America. If you try to point out ways in which our country or this game can get better, you get people saying that it is perfect and everyone should shut up our leaders are doing a great job. Well, if something is perfect, it can't ever get better. If this game was perfect, we'd never need another Total War game, CA should just retire. So the first step is admitting that there are things that can be improved. This by no means is the same as saying that the whole things sucks. I feel like I have to include a damn caveat about how much I like the game everytime I'm discussing or venting about some of the flaws I'm running into. Jeebus.

Edit: Also, sorry, but this "Absolutely one of the best games of all time." is almost an absurd level of hyperbole. It can get there, yes, but in it's current state, no. Civ, X-Com, Jagged Alliance... there is some tough (and very polished) competition out there for being in the group of best ever. Let's not get carried away on the other end of the spectrum here.

Well said Dogfish! There really is no need to align yourself with one extreme or the other. The game is not perfect, nor is it a buggy mess. It's a great game, that needs a bit of hard work and polish (and maybe some mods) to turn in it into a fantastic game .

[Fisherking]

I've seen several posters make the same kind of comment, and I'd just like to state that it is a very, very strawman argument.

People who are clamoring for the AI to properly use their navies as transport, like me, obviously don't want CA to put in a bugged solution to address a faulty part of the game. We want them to fix it. So everyone, please stop pointing out the MTW2 patch as a corollary to what will happen if CA tries to fix this problem. Because it is one. Naval transport is rather essential to colonization and warfare in this area.

If you had noted the quote I used then you would see why I referred to RTW &M2TW.

I didn’t think it address the problem so much as made those who wanted to see places invaded get their wish.

There are several possible reasons why the AI is not transporting troops. And yes it need to do that, at the least with some of the factions.

But the quick fix is usually what gets taken, and for me and others it is much worse than what is happening now.

If you want surprises and an AI that is unpredictable you would want that solution either.

Some of the Factions need to be intervening in wars across sea lanes and transporting reinforcement where they need them. Not just trolling for some place to invade.

The AI may be mishandling its units and fleet resources and not correctly assessing threats or opportunities.

If that is properly working, then you will see sea movement and possibly invasions from time to time.

If they take the standard quick fix they will up the aggression of the AI and make Island invasions a priority the AI can’t ignore…meaning that there will be a mad dash for every island in every sea and you can watch the same process in every campaign.

We have had two games degraded by this in the past. It would be about time to fix the underlying problem rather than continue with the same old same old.

If they can’t or won’t do that, then I would rather keep no sea transport by the AI than have these idiotic spam invasions.

I don’t know what priorities are coded into the AI but sea invasion should not be in the top 10.

I think trading away contiguous areas for provinces or islands far distant for their lands is a much bigger problem by and large.

England and France need to move troops by sea most definitely, and may need a higher priority in attacking the other anywhere in the world. Spain and UP do too but to a lesser degree.

Think of the bigger picture than just the narrow title…because if you don’t nothing else is going to get addressed.

[Sir Beane]

Thread closed until further notice.

[Martok]

The voice of the Camel Lord:



I've re-opened the thread after doing a bit of clean-up. So long as we remain civil with each other and not get too emotional with our arguments, the staff will allow it to remain open. (Otherwise I'll sic Sir Beane on it again. )