One Slap Too Many

[Tamur]

all right guys...

The RTW demo comes out and so far it's been said in this forum that it:

-- is not engaging
-- has bad graphics
-- is slow to respond to cursor movement
-- has bad camera controls
-- gives people headaches
-- makes people nauseous
-- has no melee animations
-- moves too fast
-- eats up too much CPU
-- doesn't allow people to change formations
-- doesn't allow people to charge units
-- needs modding to be vaguely playable
-- is boring
-- etc
-- etc
-- etc

The crowning comment has been, "I'll probably buy it anway but..."

Do you have any idea what it feels like to put in oodles of overtime hours to create a high quality product, and have some wally say, "I'll probably buy it anyway, but..."

Enough splattering the demo with inane whining --- critique is a good thing, but displays like this are why game companies ignore forums and focus on user group feedback. The masses clearly haven't got what it takes to express themselves constructively.

Tamur (buries his head in his hands)

[ShadesPanther]

there are some things I don't like but they can probably be modded out no problem or it could be a setting.


for CPU problems and graphics. Really this has brilliant graphics and really you should have a newish PC to run it on.

-- has no melee animations

All I can say is WTF. There is an otion called zoom use it to watch the CQB in all its glory

[HicRic]

To be fair to the forum, it isn't all negative by far.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=35359

Here's a perfectly positive thread about the demo. Don't forget, it is just the demo, and people generally don't like too much change. It seems RTW will be in some ways very different, so that's a lot of change. We'll adapt and enjoy, I expect. :)

[Spartiate]

One cannot help but feel that the demo is being used to help CA iron out last minute changes i.e "okay they hate the damn units talking,edit it out or put an option in for it".
I sincerely hope that this is the case but even if the game has many problems i will still buy it as CA have said its middle name is "moddable".I really do think that this feature was put in just for us guys on these forums as they probably were aiming at a more teenage market this time(for the cash) and the editing tools are there to keep us happy.

[frogbeastegg]

I suspect this topic is nothing more than flame bait, hoping to draw a reaction but provoking anyone who has an issue with the demo. I won’t take that bait, thank you. Most of those issues you find trivial, such as performance and the camera, are not at all - they are major aspects of the game.

Have I any idea what it’s like to put in oodles of time and effort into a project only to have it dismissed and criticised? Yes, and I listened to that criticism and improved my work.

[Aelwyn]

LMAO!!!!!!!! Ok we're flaming them a bit, sure. But they did the same thing inside the 0.pak file hahah!. Here's what I found:

;;; fires a message once every 30 seconds for goldfish brained players

lol!

Theres another one:

;This is a check for stupid idiot players

There was another one but not referring to players:

;;;;stops units running back and forth like fools

[TexRoadkill]

My guess is that many people are too stupid to figure out:

How to adjust the camera controls for classic style.
How to adjust the graphics settings (or they have a crappy computer).
You have to RIGHT click now instead of left clicking. Charges work fine for me.
You can change formations using the Shift+Number keys or sometimes the 'J' Special Ability.

I don't like how the demo starts you 5 seconds before you make contact but, oh well.

[Tamur]

Thanks all, after posting this I kept digging and found quite a few criticisms that were put very succintly and solidly.

The fact that so many people are having trouble FINDING the controls that would take care of a lot of these problems should send a signal to CA that the options need more visibility.

Edit: an apology to anyone who took offence at my initial post. I didn't mean it to sound like any and every criticism of the demo was bad! Only that the way in which they're put (and the kinds of problems that are coming up) has a very strong bearing on how and when things get "official" attention.

T

[andrewt]

There is also an option so movement is not synchronised. I think this is so that troops will all act differently instead of acting like clones of each other. I haven't played the game yet, just looked at the options.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

This demo is better than the MTW one. Way more interesting combat (how did the British peasants manage to beat Kataphractoi, anyway ), awesome graphics (even on my crap laptop) and realistic cavalry charges!





AND DID I MENTION WE ARE PLAYING ROME: TOTAL WAR???

(OK, CA, now get me an advance copy of RTW, seeing as I didn't flame you like the rest of the ingrates)

[frogbeastegg]

Edit: an apology to anyone who took offence at my initial post. I didn't mean it to sound like any and every criticism of the demo was bad! Only that the way in which they're put (and the kinds of problems that are coming up) has a very strong bearing on how and when things get "official" attention.

T

Well that is a relief - I thought you meant anyone who has an issue was whinging pointlessly, hence my statement about flamebaiting. My apologies for the misunderstanding.

I think personally I will now be waiting for some reviews before I buy RTW instead of getting on day of release as previously planned. Some of my issues are undoubtably bugs (the red glare, the broken hotkeys), some can be fixed by options (the difficult to control default camera which never quite does what I expect and consequently makes me feel a tad nausious), some by some easy modding (the green triangles) but others such as the incredibly fast pace and voice acting are less likely to be altered.

[ShadesPanther]

I really hate the voice at the end of the battle. He is SOOOOOO annoying

[Chimpyang]

I think personally I will now be waiting for some reviews before I buy RTW instead of getting on day of release as previously planned.

Look at what you have done ot us CA!

[Bob the Insane]

Well personally I am going the other way and pre-ordering I think... For me the actual battle where only half the game in MTW and the half that I occasionally skipped when it was late and I was tired...

And to that IMO the battle section is a least as good as MTW in all areas and much better in some... I am very excited..

Edit: Except for the white flags thing for routing units, thats daft IMO...

[ShadesPanther]

The white banner is a good idea. It's just a problem if Carthage are on the battlefield

[King Azzole]

I think the game kicks ass