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Empire: Total War; Game Discussion
Topic Started: Feb 20 2009, 06:36 PM (234 Views)
Sedulius
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Field Marshal
Just got done playing the demo downloaded from steam.

It's kinda hard. I like hard. But I don't like the French owning me at sea. Meh...

It was funny charging George Washington and killing him, though.

The game wasn't very user-friendly at first. Keep in mind I only have an nVidia Geforce 7300 LE graphics card, but still, none of their other games lag on the bloody menu and in the videos. A bit annoying.

Turned the graphics down, which took bloody forever, and then finally got into the game.

Land battle graphics weren't great on medium settings. Sea battle graphics however... :love:

Land battle controls felt a bit clunky. It's not as refined as older titles. Sea battle controls however... :love:

We'll see how the overall game is on March 3rd, though I think I'll hold off on purchasing it until I get a monster video card.
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Rhadamanthus
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Legitimist

Ah cool; I'll try the demo when I have the time.
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Sedulius
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Alright, after playing through a second time I was able to pull off a far better victory on land (though the game still listed it as close: I had no routes nor did I lose any units, so meh game, meh!), and a close victory at sea (I had two decently damaged ships, one ship badly damaged on one side of the hull, and the rest of my force had routed or surrendered. Consider I sunk or made surrender all enemy ships and I think I did good.).

After this second playthrough, there's not much bad about the controls. They're slightly different and take a playthrough or two to get used to. That said, the game is certainly harder than its predecessors.

Oh, and you may have noticed something above. The ships take damage separately on each side of the hull, thus when they sink, it isn't random whatsoever. Naval battles on this game truly blow away any other sea game I have ever seen. The detail of the ships (rigging, ratlines, placement on men, etc), the firing of the cannons, the sophistication of the crew undoing and doing the sails, and the boarding actions (especially the boarding actions) are all simply amazing.
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Telosan
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The Foremost Intellectual Badass
What's the full name of this game? "Empire: Total War"?
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Sedulius
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Yup. Out March 3rd.
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Telosan
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The Foremost Intellectual Badass
I've got to check it out. :D
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Al Araam
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Demigod of Death & Inactivity

I really, really want to play this game, but I don't know if either of my computers will run it. With my luck, probably not.
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Sedulius
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What computers are we talking here?

I have 2 GB RAM, 2.8 GHz Dual Core processor (Intel VIIV), and an nVidia Geforce 7300 LE.

If you have anything better than that, you can run it, because I could. Then again, I do overclock.
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Telosan
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The Foremost Intellectual Badass
Oh now I remember see ads for this. It's like the upgraded game of Midieval II:Total War. Land looks just like it for the most part. There was no sea war at all in Midieval, so I can't wait to see that.

It's still a demo, though. Has the final one not come out yet?
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Rhadamanthus
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Telosan
Feb 24 2009, 07:21 AM
Oh now I remember see ads for this. It's like the upgraded game of Midieval II:Total War. Land looks just like it for the most part. There was no sea war at all in Midieval, so I can't wait to see that.

It's still a demo, though. Has the final one not come out yet?
Siadhail
 
Out March 3rd.
Edited by Rhadamanthus, Feb 24 2009, 09:11 AM.
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Sedulius
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Telosan
Feb 24 2009, 07:21 AM
Oh now I remember see ads for this. It's like the upgraded game of Midieval II:Total War. Land looks just like it for the most part. There was no sea war at all in Midieval, so I can't wait to see that.

It's still a demo, though. Has the final one not come out yet?
Oh believe me, the land is quite different. :gnarkgnark:

Cover, garrisonable buildings, and new formations come into play. It does actually look a decent amount different than Med II. I wish I could run it on highest graphics to say for sure. One big thing is the animations are certainly better. You see each individual soldier put shot in his musket and ram it down the barrel. It's also awesome in melee to see people not only fighting, but shooting close in when they get the opportunity. That's how I killed George Washington. :lol: And the sound effect for a bayonet sticking into a person and being withdrawn is just brutal.
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Telosan
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The Foremost Intellectual Badass
Mideval II you can see individual people fighting. One of my favorite parts of the custom battle feature was to set battle plans and follow one specific guy as long as I could.

Most of what I did with the game was the custom battles. The campaigns, they're not very good in my opinion. If it had a better system of handleling the governmental part, I'd be happier with that.

I need to get this demo. Couldn't stand how the naval part only consisted of transports and naval battles were resolved automaticaly.
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Sedulius
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You need to get some mods for Medieval II. Deus lo Vult (currently in v6.0) changes the game quite a bit. It might give you that extra management you want (or just irk you with the new fees). Broken Crescent brings in a whole new campaign (though that mod is not quite complete).

I find it fun to go back and play the original Medieval or Rome every once in a while. Lately I just play Oblivion though (though highly modded with all downloadable content and Medieval II music put into the game).
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Telosan
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Was bored, so I played Midieval II: Total War. I opened a custom battle online with some random guy that happened to also be playing. I hope it wasn't one of you guys, because I'm sure I made him/her hate the game.

My force of about 1600 to his 2400. I let him have a village at the start. 5 minutes in, my archers and heavy cavalry surrounded the village, waiting at the end of each street heading out. He gathers in the town square, which is what I'd do. Cool thing is, archers can fire over buildings. So for 10 minutes I shot up his army with stakes planted in front of my archers.

14 minutes since the start, I lost 264 men. He lost everything. ^^ No prisoners either. Love this game.

Then I remembered discussing the game, or new parts of the game here. I needed to brag about my victory and I doubt my mom would care in the least. Figured I should brag among my fellow nerds. :D

------------------------

So anyone get the new game yet? How is it?
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Eleytheria-Duo
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Got the game, its a bit generic. Going through steam is a bit of a bitch, too.

A lot of the units are the same for all the factions (Militia, Colonial Militia, Line Infantry [Regulars] etc.) and they all look the same, too. Except Uniform color. Attributes vary slightly from Nation to Nation, and some nations have a few "special" units unique to that faction, but that's about it.

The tech trees will have the biggest influence in your land and sea warfare, such as bayonet technology to increase the melee efficiency of your Line infantry and fend off cavalry and more powerful charges, rifled muskets for greater accuracy, etc. etc. But perhaps the most important piece of knowledge for infantry-oriented armies being the "Fire by Rank," tech.

Normally, from the start, only the front row of your infantry fire, while everyone in the back are just "reserves" in case your front men die. Meaning in order to bring maximum guns to bear, the lines of your armies can be absolutely huge, and spread thin in the event of a charging force. With Fire by Rank, the first row fires and ducks to reload, allowing the line behind them to fire, and so on. Meaning you can make thicker, more shock resistant battle lines while maintaining an excellent volume of fire.

Cavalry can make or break this game, more so than any other TW series; the only exception that comes to mind being Europa Barbarorum mod for Rome, which has ridiculously overpowered cavalry charges (Up in the 48 Charge Attack Power marks). Being attacked in the flank now has tremendous consequences for morale, and with the already high shock value provided by cavalry, smashing full force into the rear of a battle line is usually enough to shake or potentially shatter the company (especially if they've already taken moderate casualties and are still being harassed by gunfire.) Pinching a unit between two charging forces is even more devastating, not much can really stand up to it for long. Unless your charging with Maratha peasants with pitchforks.

The Naval Battles on the other hand ... are nothing short of Kick-Ass. But they tend to last crazy long. Twice to three times as long as most land battles.

One final note: Never trust the computer to fight your battles for you; The results are usually nothing short of a travesty.
Edited by Eleytheria-Duo, May 6 2009, 06:39 PM.
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Sedulius
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It's a great game, but it's too easy on normal. If you want a challenge, play Prussia on a short campaign on the hardest setting, though we'll see how easy it gets.

I played a World Domination campaign as Russia. I met the victory conditions long before 1799. About 1778, I overthrew the monarchy in favor of a republic, which literally flies the flag of the Russian Federation. Republican units (conscripts, republican guard) are pretty cool, but you lose several cool imperial units (guards, household cavalry, cossacks).

By 1799, all Europe was part of Russia; the entire Caribbean and South America was Russian (though Mexico was invading into Panama); parts of Canada were Russian; Florida, Georgia, Lower Louisiana, and the Cherokee territories were Russian, with Republican forces closing in on the last of the Cherokee in Upper Louisiana (they attacked me and wouldn't make peace. They are enemies of the Republic!); an invasion of India was well under way (Russia held the tip, the Mughal Empire held the rest, and Persia, Russia's ally, maintained the northern border.); and Russia held most of the trade routes.

Just stating in detail to give everyone a picture of what a crazy world I created. I got bored after winning and haven't played it since.
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Eleytheria-Duo
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Sedulius
May 6 2009, 10:22 PM
I got bored after winning and haven't played it since.
QFT.

This game will be MUCH more promising after they implement a Grand Campaign Multiplayer Mode. Which they promised to do in an upcoming patch, but we all know to what lengths CA / Sega go to keep their promises. :rolleyes:
Edited by Eleytheria-Duo, May 6 2009, 10:43 PM.
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Sedulius
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Eleytheria-Duo
May 6 2009, 10:42 PM
Sedulius
May 6 2009, 10:22 PM
I got bored after winning and haven't played it since.
QFT.

This game will be MUCH more promising after they implement a Grand Campaign Multiplayer Mode. Which they promised to do in an upcoming patch, but we all know to what lengths CA / Sega go to keep their promises. :rolleyes:
Really now. I'll be surprised if they live up to that promise, but I'll go apesh-t if they do. That'd make the game a thousand times more worth it.
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Eleytheria-Duo
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Sedulius
May 6 2009, 11:12 PM
Really now. I'll be surprised if they live up to that promise, but I'll go apesh-t if they do. That'd make the game a thousand times more worth it.
Aye, I can't wait. Here is the link to the announcement, top post. In the mean time, I'll tweak with it and the mods / mod-tools for my amusement.
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Telosan
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The Foremost Intellectual Badass
The new game is in another time period? I have no access to the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Just Midieval Europe. The best gunpowder technology they have is a cannon that hits your own men just as much as theirs.
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Rhadamanthus
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Telosan
May 7 2009, 09:42 AM
The new game is in another time period? I have no access to the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Just Midieval Europe. The best gunpowder technology they have is a cannon that hits your own men just as much as theirs.
Of course its in a different time period. If it was in the same time period it would be Medieval 3.
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Ulgania
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A better Zarathustra has never rode a horse
I'm still pounding away at Medieval II. I can't NOT enjoy it.
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NRE
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Map Tsar and Southern Gentleman

Sedulius
May 6 2009, 11:12 PM
Eleytheria-Duo
May 6 2009, 10:42 PM
Sedulius
May 6 2009, 10:22 PM
I got bored after winning and haven't played it since.
QFT.

This game will be MUCH more promising after they implement a Grand Campaign Multiplayer Mode. Which they promised to do in an upcoming patch, but we all know to what lengths CA / Sega go to keep their promises. :rolleyes:
Really now. I'll be surprised if they live up to that promise, but I'll go apesh-t if they do. That'd make the game a thousand times more worth it.
This really isn't related but I played SW: The Force Unleashed and I have to say Sed, if you've never played it you should know you bare a good resemblance to the main character!
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Telosan
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The Foremost Intellectual Badass
Quote:
 
This really isn't related but I played SW: The Force Unleashed and I have to say Sed, if you've never played it you should know you bare a good resemblance to the main character!
Good to know I'm not the only one who thought so.
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Sedulius
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Hmm. I've never bought the game since it isn't for PC. I never thought the character looked like me, but I suppose there are some similarities in bone structure. The eyes are a bit big, the face is a bit thin, especially the jawline. But yeah, other than that he's pretty close.
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