What does ETW have to offer me?

[Subotan]

Essentially, I have not played ETW since March/April. I found the lack of Naval invasion, dim diplomacy and unexciting battles to be a small disappointment. However, I trust that CA has fixed at least some of the issues from the original release, and I'm essentially too lazy to look for them myself. What can ETW offer me, a Europa Universalis III player (That game was awesome :daisy1: was so cash) that will re-grab my attention?

[AussieGiant]

It will make your palms hairy and send you blind.

Move along here, nothing to see.

This isn't the game your looking for.

[Subotan]

Oh. Um. That's, uh, encouraging. It's good to see that I spent $30 on a hair growing formula.

[Quickening]

You could just keep playing EU 3. Personally I found it too uneventful. When there are people reading books during a game, there is something deeply wrong if you ask me.
Have you tried Europa Universalis Rome? I bought that on release because I'm far more interested in the Roman era and I've had some terrific games on that.
I've got to be honest though, the Total War games will never give you the same kind of experience as EU if you ask me.

[Subotan]

You could just keep playing EU 3. Personally I found it too uneventful. When there are people reading books during a game, there is something deeply wrong if you ask me.

I read books whilst playing EB...

Have you tried Europa Universalis Rome? I bought that on release because I'm far more interested in the Roman era and I've had some terrific games on that.

I've hard bad things about that. And I'm not so interested in that era.

I've got to be honest though, the Total War games will never give you the same kind of experience as EU if you ask me.

I guess. I don't care about battles, rather the managing of Empires.

[econ21]

I don't care about battles, rather the managing of Empires.

Then I am sorry, but AussieGiant had it right. ETW is not for you. Total War is all about the battles. Don't get me wrong - the hook to keep fighting the battles is Empire management and I would not touch it if there was not a campaign. But what the series does that no other games do is model the battles in a way which is both cinematically impressive and a decent historical war simulation.

[Subotan]

Oh crap. Any series you'd like to recommend then? I'm partial to all era/places in history.

[Quickening]

Oh crap. Any series you'd like to recommend then? I'm partial to all era/places in history.

Here's a game I'd strongly recommend, Knights of Honor (it uses the American spelling of honour). If I recall it was developed by Sunflower Studios and published by Paradox. Extremely excellent game which uses the Total War format although the battles are in 2D. But it's the campaign map where its at. Excellent AI and intricate diplomacy. The setting is medieval Europe.

If you don't mind a sci-fi setting there is always Galactic Civilizations 2. I have many issues with it but it really is second to none in terms of AI.

[seireikhaan]

Oh crap. Any series you'd like to recommend then? I'm partial to all era/places in history.

You said you've played EU III. If you liked it, I would recommend(heartily) Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun, and the expansion, Victoria: Revolutions. Made by the same company as EU III(Paradox), and is, in my opinion, a superior product to EUIII. Set from 1836-1920 in the original, and extended to 1936 in the expansion.

[Durallan]

Um, Civilizations 4? and its expansion packs, age of empires 3? thats about all I can think of

[econ21]

Um, Civilizations 4? and its expansion packs,

Yes, I was going to suggest that, but hesitated to when talking to an EUIII vet as Civ4 is way across on the other side of the historical realism spectrum. However, as a challenging and fun historical flavoured game, it's great. I just wish CA would steal copiously from it to improve the diplomatic and strategic level of Total War games. (Ironically, watching the opening video for Civ4 made wonder if Firaxis were going to steal copiously from TW games - the video depicts a very total war-ish battle).

[GFX707]

I never got into EU3 myself (I couldn't stand the switch to ugly 3D and the lack of auto merchants) but as a seasoned EUII player and just about every other Paradox game I share your disappointment.

EU: Competent AI
Deep diplomacy system
Deep political system, can finish an entire campaign without ever going to war (other than smacking natives around)
Rubbish battles

TW: AI is an irrational, incompetent, suicidal joke
Diplomacy is pointless
Everyone just declares war on you for no reason and defiantly refuses all peace offers until they're all dead
Pretty graphics

If CA would just take all the money they've made and use it to buy Johan (is that his name?) and get him to do the campaign for their next game, all our troubles would be over.

[anweRU]

the lack of auto merchants

I just started EU:R VV and EU3:IN three-four weeks ago, after getting tired of ETW 1.2. I'm enjoying my current EU3:IN campaign. I'm not sure about the lack of auto-merchants - did you set your CoT priority slider correctly?

EU:Rome with the Vae Victus expansion is good.

I haven't been encouraged by the threads I'm seeing to start another ETW campaign. May be after 1.4 is released...

[GFX707]

I just started EU:R VV and EU3:IN three-four weeks ago, after getting tired of ETW 1.2. I'm enjoying my current EU3:IN campaign. I'm not sure about the lack of auto-merchants - did you set your CoT priority slider correctly?

I haven't played since I got EU3 just after its release....I remember being annoyed at having to send merchants out one by one, and people were making bad noise in the forum about this. Have they changed it to more like EUII where you can set it to send them automatically?

[Subotan]

Here's a game I'd strongly recommend, Knights of Honor (it uses the American spelling of honour). If I recall it was developed by Sunflower Studios and published by Paradox. Extremely excellent game which uses the Total War format although the battles are in 2D. But it's the campaign map where its at. Excellent AI and intricate diplomacy. The setting is medieval Europe..

Coooool. I'll have to check that out.

If you don't mind a sci-fi setting there is always Galactic Civilizations 2. I have many issues with it but it really is second to none in terms of AI

The closest I've ever got to a serious Sci-Fi Empire building game is "Star Wars: Empire at War". Needless to say, I was not impressed, so I'll have to check that out.

You said you've played EU III. If you liked it, I would recommend(heartily) Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun, and the expansion, Victoria: Revolutions. Made by the same company as EU III(Paradox), and is, in my opinion, a superior product to EUIII. Set from 1836-1920 in the original, and extended to 1936 in the expansion.

I was thinking about getting that, and I heard the economics was excellent.

Um, Civilizations 4? and its expansion packs

Been there, done that. I'm currently fixed on Rhye's and Fall (Awesome, awesome mod) and Total Realism, and anything else Civ wise gives me withdrawal. Zoroastrianism FTW.

age of empires 3

Eww! AoE3 seemed to tke the worst parts from AoE 2 (Of which there were not many) and the worst parts of E:TW and make a rubbish game. Not only was the Campaign's plot amazingly cheesy and implausible, but it felt so dated after playing TW games.

Have they changed it to more like EUII where you can set it to send them automatically?

Yep, you can have it totally automatic now, at least with In Nominee.

Thanks guys for all the responses, this is really helpful. I've started Summer Holidays today, so now I've got something to sink my teeth into.

[Durallan]

well thats entirely to ones taste, I myself have not played the single player campaign I played multiplayer with my friends and we had a blast, so I don't really see whats so eww about it

[Didz]

You said you've played EU III. If you liked it, I would recommend(heartily) Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun, and the expansion, Victoria: Revolutions. Made by the same company as EU III(Paradox), and is, in my opinion, a superior product to EUIII. Set from 1836-1920 in the original, and extended to 1936 in the expansion.

The thing that put me off the early EU system was the real time campaign movement. I really hated sitting and watching multiple armies baby-stepping across the campaign map and having to co-ordinate everything by personal judgement.

Do the EU games still use this unecessarily awkward campaign movement system or have they reverted to turn based movement now?

[GFX707]

Do the EU games still use this unecessarily awkward campaign movement system or have they reverted to turn based movement now?

Well, the real-time system is quite versatile. If you are in the middle of a big war you can slow the time down so that you can coordinate everything perfectly, or if you're like me and like to suck up other countries by diplomatically annexing them you can leave it on extremely fast and get 100 years out of the way in an hour or so.

It does take some getting used to though.

[Didz]

Pfft! I can't be arsed with the real-time campaign rubbish, its unecessary and about as interesting as watching paint dry.

Personally, if I had my way CA would have stuck with the chess piece system used in Shogun. There was something really satisfying about picking up your pieces and placing them where they needed to go, and it avoided all this stupid pathing claptrap you get on the new campaign maps.

Why designers think that players enjoy watching a manikin carrying an a-historical flag waddle over a map is beyond me, I just want to play the damned game not be bored into an early grave.

[GFX707]

Pfft! I can't be arsed with the real-time campaign rubbish, its unecessary and about as interesting as watching paint dry.

Personally, if I had my way CA would have stuck with the chess piece system used in Shogun.

I agree. I liked the style of the board and pieces campaign map. It was like you really were the Emperor/King/Khan/Sultan standing there in your throne room planning world domination personally.

I don't know what this 3D men walking around on a map is supposed to be.

Plus the AI could actually use the boardgame version properly.

There was something really satisfying about picking up your pieces and placing them where they needed to go, and it avoided all this stupid pathing claptrap you get on the new campaign maps.

Yes, and "Path blocked" every time you try to leave someone to go somewhere without babysitting them and re-moving them every turn.

[Subotan]

If you don't mind a sci-fi setting there is always Galactic Civilizations 2. I have many issues with it but it really is second to none in terms of AI.

You'll be pleased to know that I bought that on a whim, along with Morrowind and Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 (Hardcore RPGs, amirite?), so I'm pretty set for the summer.

[econ21]

... with Morrowind and Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 (Hardcore RPGs, amirite?), so I'm pretty set for the summer.

Absolutely - each of those games has probably got 100 hours of gameplay in them.

The Baldur's Gates are old games, but definitely worth perservering with. There's a definite chronology, so you want to start with BG1. You may find it rather slow - although I enjoyed the relaxed exploration. However, be aware that BG2 is in many ways a far superior product - especially in terms of a more cinematic plot and richer NPC characterisation - so if you fail to connect with BG1, still give BG2 a spin. It's a precursor to games like Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and a strong contender for best CRPG of all time. Morrowind is on the other end of the RPG spectrum - more of a sandbox game, but awful pretty even after all these years.

[ReluctantSamurai]

give BG2 a spin. It's a precursor to games like Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and a strong contender for best CRPG of all time.

And with all the mods available, especially the WeiDu packages, that game is, and will remain on my HD for as long as I own a computer........

[Subotan]

The Baldur's Gates are old games, but definitely worth perservering with.

I have a friend who has had Baldur's Gate 2 for some time, and we used to play co-op campaigns together when all the way back the early 2000's. We never got much further than that troll infested castle, but I've always been interested in it and wanted to carry on.

So I bought it :D

[QUOTE=econ21;2285794There's a definite chronology, so you want to start with BG1. You may find it rather slow - although I enjoyed the relaxed exploration. However, be aware that BG2 is in many ways a far superior product - especially in terms of a more cinematic plot and richer NPC characterisation - so if you fail to connect with BG1, still give BG2 a spin. [/QUOTE]
Ok, I've never played No1 before, so I'll give it a whirl.

It's a precursor to games like Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and a strong contender for best CRPG of all time.

There are other contenders?

Morrowind is on the other end of the RPG spectrum - more of a sandbox game, but awful pretty even after all these years.

I've messed round a bit with it, and it seems pretty decent. Combat is annoying the Hell out of me though.

And with all the mods available, especially the WeiDu packages, that game is, and will remain on my HD for as long as I own a computer........

There are mods? Coooooool.

[Beskar]

I hope you meant Baluder's Gate as PC version, as that was completely different to console version.

[ReluctantSamurai]

There are mods? Coooooool.

Oh yeah....tons. Look here:

http://www.gibberlings3.net

Ok, I've never played No1 before, so I'll give it a whirl.

There's a mod that allows you to play BG1/SoA(Shadows of Amn)/ToB(Throne of Bhaal) as one single campaign. It's found at G3, also....................

[Subotan]

I hope you meant Baluder's Gate as PC version, as that was completely different to console version.

Oh God no, I played the console version for about 5 minutes and loathed it.

RIP Black Isle.

Oh yeah....tons. Look here:

http://www.gibberlings3.net



There's a mod that allows you to play BG1/SoA(Shadows of Amn)/ToB(Throne of Bhaal) as one single campaign. It's found at G3, also....................

Excellent, thanks, I'll check that out.