• Please make sure you are familiar with the forum rules. You can find them here: https://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/index.php?threads/forum-rules.2334636/

[Game] Total War series

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Murphy

Murphy

Grizzled Veteran
Nov 22, 2005
7,059
743
36
liandri.darkbb.com
#1
We discussed some general Total War things and things concerning specific Total War games other than Shogun 2 in the Shogun 2 topic. Didn't feel too off-topic, but a dedicated general Total War topic for all things Total War may be cooler and more comfortable. So here it is.

Share screenshots, discuss the games and their mods, your campaigns, tactics, strategies...





---following the discussion from the Shogun 2 topic---------
@timur:
I decided to stick with Medieval 2 a little longer now. Riding through troops works a better than repeatedly hitting them from one side and retreating each time, but not by enough (imo) and it only works if your foe doesn't have spear troops or tangly infantry in general stationed behind your target.
Maybe I just overestimated cavalry against non-spear-infantry?

@Lemon:
Roma surrectum 2 you mean.;)
Just look at the screenshots, man. They have done so much with this game that it's practically no longer recognizable. The new units are gorgeous and the environments... just, wow. They took great care to make them look realistic, so not only are they made with higher quality than vanilla Rome but the art direction makes them look a lot more like actual environments too.
The mod makes the game look at least one sequel better, if that's a valid measurement.:p
It's bursting with new buildings and gameplay-mechanics too.

My only problem with it and the reason I'm not constantly playing it is that a) there is so much new content that it's overwhelming for someone like me who can barely get a grasp of vanilla Rome and b) it crashes frequently. May be just my graphics card acting up. Medieval 2 doesn't crash though.

Anyway, I think you'll love it.:)
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: timur
#2
In terms of vanilla, Medieval II is my favorite Total War game. And Kingdoms is one of the greatest expansions I've ever owned. There's a good number of factions, there's unit variation, and the graphics are still pretty good for today. The best Total War experience I've had however is with Europa Barbarorum for Rome Total War. You can tell the team is really dedicated to classical history, and I've played countless multiplayer battles even though I'm a campaign man.
 
Upvote 0
#4
well, the thing is that cavalry versus non-spear infantry is always a little tough; you must be very careful. The lightest cavalry, imo, is only good versus artillery or routing troops. Very useful to bring down a routing general, and prevent him from escaping, actually.

And remember that spear troops are a massive No-No with cavalry, unless you are using true elites from a flank. And always use cavalry's mobility as an advantage, as heavy cavalry to the flank can decimate any unit I can think of.

----------Timur's problemo-------

Okay, this is in Empire, I'm doing another British campaign.

Except I didn't realize until much later that I hadn't chosen Global Domination :eek: (by far the best goal, imo). Now I have 2 problems: I require Gibraltar and Hindustan to win. But Hindustan belongs to the Mughals....who lost their last coatsal province last turn. So how do I get it? Unless I take ALL of India from 2 major factions in record time...or I get military acess and then race Maratha for Hindustan (and we all know how that goes :rolleyes:). But I do hold Ceylon, so I have a base.

And Gibraltar...well, it would be easy, if I had a reason to fight Spain. But I've already executed France, so I have no reason to fight, and further more the Spanish have gone Navy-palooza, so I can't really just sail on Gibraltar easily. And, on top of it all, I really don't know if another major war is truly possible, as the Dutch decided to betray me and now I'm fighting for Amersterdam.

Screenies soon, but any suggestions?
 
Upvote 0
#5
Murphy said:
@Lemon:
Roma surrectum 2 you mean.;)
Just look at the screenshots, man. They have done so much with this game that it's practically no longer recognizable. The new units are gorgeous and the environments... just, wow. They took great care to make them look realistic, so not only are they made with higher quality than vanilla Rome but the art direction makes them look a lot more like actual environments too.
The mod makes the game look at least one sequel better, if that's a valid measurement.:p
It's bursting with new buildings and gameplay-mechanics too.

My only problem with it and the reason I'm not constantly playing it is that a) there is so much new content that it's overwhelming for someone like me who can barely get a grasp of vanilla Rome and b) it crashes frequently. May be just my graphics card acting up. Medieval 2 doesn't crash though.

Anyway, I think you'll love it.:)
Click to expand...

Yes, ROMA SVRRECTVM II. Remember the Romans wrote the U as V. :p

Hmm, I've played it now, the game DOES look gorgeous, performance is a huge issue, I've basically had to reduce the game to near Rome levels to have somewhat acceptable performance. No problem though as I don't care for gfx.

I agree that they maybe added too many buildings, it makes the game really hard to get into... what do I need, what don't I? Still, playing on medium difficulty allows you to somewhat forget about all the stuff and just fight for your empire, because BOY, those scripts are extreme. 4 turns into the game and I'm already fighting for my very existence. :eek:

Battles are extremely fun and I love the way they somewhat scripted each enemy army to represent it's RL counterpart, IE Hannibal's army having a weak centre of light infantry and extremely strong sides. Although anything above medium difficulty gives the enemy ridiculous amounts of bonus health and armour and makes them absolutely unbreakable. I've literally had a 1000 of heavy infantry completely surround 400 men light infantry and lose. Yes, my units broke and ran, while the enemy general was dead and the enemy forces were completely surrounded and attacked from all sides. So I'm playing on Medium/medium right now, which makes the mod highly enjoyable.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
#8
timur said:
what of multiplayer?

Or are you refferring to unit AI? (which I heard has also improved massively)
Click to expand...
Ya but multiplayer you can't play the metagame (i.e. the "strategic layer") unless you feel like dragging it out over like a month. Sure you can play tactical battles but they're not nearly as satisfying to me at least if they're not part of the metagame.

But I'm talking about AI on the strategic and tactical level in SP. It's not like Civilization where you can play multiplayer and have a game end in 3-4 or whatever hours, because you have to fight out each battle which might take up to an hour. So playing the "grand campaign" in multiplayer really is kinda... not possible?

I mean, I remember back when Rome was Vanilla... I literally NEVER did not get a "heroic victory" or whatever it's called. Partly because the AI would send piecemeal stacks at my legions, and partly because the tactical AI was basically just... ATTACK STRAIGHT FORWARD IN A TOTALLY DISORGANIZED FASHION. I won plenty of battles even when heavily outnumbered because I would just bait the enemy formations away from each other and then take them apart individually.

Even when the first couple great mods started to come out... sure they made the game more realistic, better looking etc... but the only way they could really do anything to make the game challenging was to give the AI MASSIVE bonuses.

It's a real shame, because I'm obsessed with Greco-Roman history. Napoleonic stuff doesn't appeal to me that much. If Shogun 2 had good AI (I don't expect it to be as good as a human of course, but just at least DECENT, so that a fight between two equal forces will at least result in significant casualties on my side unless I pull off something brilliant)... As for the tiny stacks the AI would send at you... man I just feel like the devs at TW (not Tripwire mind you! :D) are just sitting around eating pizza.

TW's AI isn't anywhere near as complex as a game like say... combat mission so it shouldn't be THAT hard for them to make it at least pretty good. They just don't bother because they rake in sales because of the "purty grafix" and admittedly cool idea of commanding thousands of troops in fascinating historical settings.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
#9
NoxNoctum said:
Ya but multiplayer you can't play the metagame (i.e. the "strategic layer") unless you feel like dragging it out over like a month. Sure you can play tactical battles but they're not nearly as satisfying to me at least if they're not part of the metagame.

But I'm talking about AI on the strategic and tactical level in SP. It's not like Civilization where you can play multiplayer and have a game end in 3-4 or whatever hours, because you have to fight out each battle which might take up to an hour. So playing the "grand campaign" in multiplayer really is kinda... not possible?

I mean, I remember back when Rome was Vanilla... I literally NEVER did not get a "heroic victory" or whatever it's called. Partly because the AI would send piecemeal stacks at my legions, and partly because the tactical AI was basically just... ATTACK STRAIGHT FORWARD IN A TOTALLY DISORGANIZED FASHION. I won plenty of battles even when heavily outnumbered because I would just bait the enemy formations away from each other and then take them apart individually.

Even when the first couple great mods started to come out... sure they made the game more realistic, better looking etc... but the only way they could really do anything to make the game challenging was to give the AI MASSIVE bonuses.

It's a real shame, because I'm obsessed with Greco-Roman history. Napoleonic stuff doesn't appeal to me that much. If Shogun 2 had good AI (I don't expect it to be as good as a human of course, but just at least DECENT, so that a fight between two equal forces will at least result in significant casualties on my side unless I pull off something brilliant)... As for the tiny stacks the AI would send at you... man I just feel like the devs at TW (not Tripwire mind you! :D) are just sitting around eating pizza.

TW's AI isn't anywhere near as complex as a game like say... combat mission so it shouldn't be THAT hard for them to make it at least pretty good. They just don't bother because they rake in sales because of the "purty grafix" and admittedly cool idea of commanding thousands of troops in fascinating historical settings.
Click to expand...

well, I've been hearing reports that the AI is actually decent in Shogun 2, so maybe it is getting better (I don't know, I don't have it yet)

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

Also, my problem in Empire has come down to a tough decision/problem.

I dealt with the existing problems well enough, and now all I need is Hindustan. However, the Marathas have gotten to where they are actually invading Persia and entering the Middle East...and I only have 8 years. Any kind of invasion will be difficult, and immediate. I can either try and weedle it out from under them, or I can turn on them and enter a massive war (diplomacy is possible, as we are at very friendly relations, but given how the Empire AI does not like this sort of thing, it may be impossible)

Which avenue should I use?
 
Upvote 0
#11
Shepherd said:
Salvete, omnes!

I've only played vanilla Rome and would like to try out a mod, but which one? Europa Barbaorum and Rome Total Realism look both very difficult. How does Roma Surrectum 2 compare to these in terms of difficulty?
Click to expand...
Roma Surrectum 2 is pretty much annihilating the base game and, at last for the Romans, Carthage and a couple of other "big" ones, replaces the campaign with RL events. Most units have a recruitment time of 0, which is, for most nations back then, realistic.

Your best bet would be to try Roma Surrectum, start a Roman campaign, and see how you like it. :)

In terms of difficulty, Roma Surrectum definitely is the hardest one.
 
Upvote 0
#12
worthwhile thread cos I'm always sidetracking the other one(s) asking general questions about the series.
Shame theres not a poll to see what the most popular one is - but i suspect it's rome followed by med2

I'm mostly interested in the actual battle part rather than strategy - is rome the best in this regard? i'm thinking of installing med 2 but i have the collectors which i might trade in if it isn't particularly good.
Finding the time to properly get into the games is the problem - i'm wondering if the second medieval is considerably better than the first.
 
Upvote 0
#13
timur said:
Also, my problem in Empire has come down to a tough decision/problem.

I dealt with the existing problems well enough, and now all I need is Hindustan. However, the Marathas have gotten to where they are actually invading Persia and entering the Middle East...and I only have 8 years. Any kind of invasion will be difficult, and immediate. I can either try and weedle it out from under them, or I can turn on them and enter a massive war (diplomacy is possible, as we are at very friendly relations, but given how the Empire AI does not like this sort of thing, it may be impossible)

Which avenue should I use?
Click to expand...

Capture the region even if it means going to war, then buy peace :eek:
 
Upvote 0
#14
LemoN said:
Roma Surrectum 2 is pretty much annihilating the base game and, at last for the Romans, Carthage and a couple of other "big" ones, replaces the campaign with RL events. Most units have a recruitment time of 0, which is, for most nations back then, realistic.

Your best bet would be to try Roma Surrectum, start a Roman campaign, and see how you like it. :)

In terms of difficulty, Roma Surrectum definitely is the hardest one.
Click to expand...
Aye, sounds great, but is it hardest because the AI "cheats" or because they improved the AI code? (no more sending tiny stacks, no more utterly retarded tactical battles)
 
Upvote 0
#19
Love the TW games.

That said, I think Rome is the best of the series in terms of massive scope, unit variety, AI, and overall polish.

Empire COULD have been the best, but the AI mainly broke that game completely. I play it regularly with Darthmod, though, which is the only way I will ever play the game now. The AI still sucks, though.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply
Jump to latest Follow Reply
Community News
Forums
Merch
Menu