New trailer for Empire Total War

Link

WIKI

Article

Land Battle Screenshots



*and no, I don't work for the dev's or SEGA...

__________________
Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.
- Goethe

Jump in with both feet!
- Me, indulging my inner eight-year-old

*** *** ***

"Are you a mad-hatter that just types what he wishes, or have you actually any physics training?"
Occam's Ghost to Grant Hutchison.

Looks superb, but I doubt my PC would run it .

I'm waiting for three PS3 games - Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Ghostbusters and Indiana Jones.

__________________
I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, was in no way fair comment and was motivated purely by malice. I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.

Wait, this exists? I... I need a moment.

__________________
Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

Thank you for the heads up.

I really, really mean it.

I have frequent LAN wars in my apartment. We played the heck out of the Empire Earth series until we had it beat against any but the most absurd settings. Currently we are playing "Sins of a Solar Empire". The story line is a bit "Eh" but the game mechanics and combat rock out loud. But it isn't going to take years to beat like Empire Earth.

__________________
Gimme a minute to read through Jay's latest observations...

For my money, the Total War series are the best strategic and tactical simulation games ever produced.

I'm really looking forward to this iteration. Anyone who has ever read the Sharpe series or the Aubrey (Master & Commander) books, or enjoyed studying the wars of the Napoleonic, Indian (subcontinent) or American Independence era should enjoy the title.

Unlike a typical RTS, where you're scrambling for resources (and use your mob in a tactic-less effort to destroy enemy mobs) this is a turn-based strategy game (kind of like Civ was, originally) except that you get to take control of your armies and go to a tactical map where you can use real tactics to fight the AI - and influence the outcome...

The MP battles are also a real treat.

(Leastwise that's my experience with Medieval, Rome and Medieval II)

__________________
Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.
- Goethe

Jump in with both feet!
- Me, indulging my inner eight-year-old

*** *** ***

"Are you a mad-hatter that just types what he wishes, or have you actually any physics training?"
Occam's Ghost to Grant Hutchison.

Looks great, but I haven't had much luck with the Total War series. I couldn't beat the tutorial level of the very first Shogun: Total War. They swore up and down my archers could beat their peasants if I started them up top a hill and let the peasants try to charge up to me. Nope. Every time I've tried it.

The other problem I've had is that they only give you one very short day's fighting a season with a loss of honor if you're not in enough of a rush. I'll happily stare at "them" across a choke-point for weeks if that's what it takes to bore the enemy army to death.

__________________
In Fallout 3, 'happiness' is a warm junkyard dog and a loaded gun. It's mostly the loaded gun.
- Moose's one-line review.

"your going to regret that one. You are now a colonoscope...
- Chrissy, corrupting PraedSt's wish.

Moose,

Buy an old copy of Rome Total War - or download its demo first - and try again. I'll bet you're hooked!

__________________
Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.
- Goethe

Jump in with both feet!
- Me, indulging my inner eight-year-old

*** *** ***

"Are you a mad-hatter that just types what he wishes, or have you actually any physics training?"
Occam's Ghost to Grant Hutchison.

I'm downloading it now.

__________________
In Fallout 3, 'happiness' is a warm junkyard dog and a loaded gun. It's mostly the loaded gun.
- Moose's one-line review.

"your going to regret that one. You are now a colonoscope...
- Chrissy, corrupting PraedSt's wish.

IIRC, it is a pretty challenging demo - but fun to play. There are also codes you can enter into one of the files that will unlock your ability to play the Carthagenian side (which is quite fun).

Remember: the demo only covers the tactical battles; you don't get a taste of the truly immersive play available in the empire-building strategy portion of the game. (Here's a screenshot showing the 3D map (you can see the lands to conquor in the lower left) and a comparison to the Medieval Total War Campaign Map.

One of the best demos of the series (and the one that accurately teaches you how to use your units) is the original Medieval Total War demo.

For anyone unfamiliar with the game mechanics, the MTW demo is the best demo to start off with. That demo (if it's still available/working) used an old pre-3D build, but was one of the best games I've EVER played - and will work well on any old computer (yes, even for those of you who still have dial-up and have not upgraded your video card since the '90s). The difference is the "Old Sarge" who teaches you how to use the interface correctly WRT infantry, archery and cavalry units.

In RTW, the dev's moved to true 3D, which made the game much more graphically appealing. However, I don't recall if the demo did as good a job of teaching you how to use your units as the MTW demo did...

If you buy the game - make sure to download all the latest patches, which fixed some original gameplay and balance issues.

__________________
Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.
- Goethe

Jump in with both feet!
- Me, indulging my inner eight-year-old

*** *** ***

"Are you a mad-hatter that just types what he wishes, or have you actually any physics training?"
Occam's Ghost to Grant Hutchison.

I still play Medieval: Total War quite often - with the Viking Invasion expansion. I have the Rome one somewhere, I took it off the PC to free up some space and never got around to putting it back on. All this talking about Total War is making me think about digging it out!

__________________
I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, was in no way fair comment and was motivated purely by malice. I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.

Looks entertaining - I may have to try this. Currently, I'm also doing Sins of a Solar Empire, as well as the latest expansion pack on Company of Heroes, but I can always use more games

__________________
WANTED:

Schroedinger's Cat

Dead And Alive

I've played Rome Total War, which was pretty good, but not great... I think the new one will be much better I got Civ 3 about 3 years ago and still play alot... I think it's the best strategy game around right now... a very "deep" game

__________________
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool.
~~~ Richard Feynman ~~~
There is no harm in doubt and skepticism, for it is through these that new discoveries are made.
~~~ Richard Feynman ~~~

Dyerwolf, thanks. You were right, this is a blast to play. And there's that nice "take your sweet time about this" setting, too. Picked up a copy of RTW Gold last night.

My, where did the morning go?

__________________
In Fallout 3, 'happiness' is a warm junkyard dog and a loaded gun. It's mostly the loaded gun.
- Moose's one-line review.

"your going to regret that one. You are now a colonoscope...
- Chrissy, corrupting PraedSt's wish.

If you want a really authentic experience with RTW, 35 named legions etc..try out this mod after you get bored with Vanilla. Roma Surrectum:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=251

I'm a little skeptical the era they have picked will transfer well to the TW series from a battle strategy perspective. Lots of blocks of musketmen shooting at eachother with the occasional charge of cavalry on the flanks? Is that going to be exciting for long? Not to sound too blood-thirsty of course

What i like about RTW and M2TW to a lesser extent is the variation of types of armies and variability of tactics one can employ in battles. They had way more weapon variety and style in both medieval and ancient eras than in the era of empires.

Well, I'm in it more for the strategic side of things, not the tactical. I couldn't care less about the battles, just the empire-building.

__________________
Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

I have Civ IV, and it's definitely a good way to eat up time in 12 hour chunks

__________________
WANTED:

Schroedinger's Cat

Dead And Alive

indeed... I usually spend 1-2 hours a time... after about 5 hours I have to put it down... because a) my head hurts b) it gets a little boring
but I could play everyday for 1 hour and not get bored... it's just I don't like gaming for too long at a time...

__________________
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool.
~~~ Richard Feynman ~~~
There is no harm in doubt and skepticism, for it is through these that new discoveries are made.
~~~ Richard Feynman ~~~

I've reinstalled R:TW and have been playing it a lot.

However, I found and installed a fantastic mod - in fact, it changes so much that it's practically a new game.

If anybody's interested, it's called Europa Barbarorum.

__________________
I offer a complete and utter retraction. The imputation was totally without basis in fact, was in no way fair comment and was motivated purely by malice. I deeply regret any distress that my comments may have caused you or your family, and I hereby undertake not to repeat any such slander at any time in the future.

Here's a question, just out of curiosity.

If I'm playing the Scipii, are there special consequences if I were to... say... push the Brutii and Julii off Italia before the Senate decides I'm too much of a threat? If I'm going to do the time, I'd like the opportunity to do the crime. The idea of having three major factions declare war on me simultaneously doesn't fill my days with joy.

Elephants, btw, are a pain. Still, Carthage makes an epic Captial city.

__________________
In Fallout 3, 'happiness' is a warm junkyard dog and a loaded gun. It's mostly the loaded gun.
- Moose's one-line review.

"your going to regret that one. You are now a colonoscope...
- Chrissy, corrupting PraedSt's wish.