[Aptorian]

Just out of curiosity.

Does time going by change the game? Is it like Civilization where at some point new technology pops up? So, for example if you actually played into the 90s, does world war two start or something like that? Or do you just stay in the 1700 era?

[Traveller]

Time passing does change the game (damn, I just lost it..) as each turn is 6 months, technology improves, and with it the weapons, buildings and units you can build.

So you start with a forge, which you can upgrade to a foundary, then an armoury etc as the game goes on.

The campaign on Empire runs from 1700-1800. If you capture the target areas and win by then, you can carry on if you like, but I doubt anything improves by that stage - that will be in the expansions.

[Impirion]

No new techs pop up, that would be amazing if they made a Total War that spanned all the ages done so far....

[Cause]

no point. you would likely conquer the world before the age changes. Im thinking the napoleon expansion will be awesome. Old guard line infantry, polish hussars. the grand battery. Sounds awesome

[MTS]

I haven't played Empire yet - I'm waiting till my free government money comes so I can get a better computer. But is it any good? Frankly, I was just a little underwhelmed with Medieval II. It seemed a little formulaic and more-of-the-same, kind of. Don't get me wrong, I had loads and loads of fun playing it (and still occasionally pop it out sometimes), but I would've liked something a little more...different I guess? I dunno, it seemed a little too much like Rome to totally stand out as an awesome game. But I digress. What's changed in Empire? Can you do your own naval battles? and is the AI improved? That damn Medieval II AI lost me so many battles I wanted to scream. Infantry not going where I want, cavalry charges...

[Sir Thursday]

Mappo's Travelling Sack, on Apr 25 2009, 11:13 AM, said:

I haven't played Empire yet - I'm waiting till my free government money comes so I can get a better computer. But is it any good? Frankly, I was just a little underwhelmed with Medieval II. It seemed a little formulaic and more-of-the-same, kind of. Don't get me wrong, I had loads and loads of fun playing it (and still occasionally pop it out sometimes), but I would've liked something a little more...different I guess? I dunno, it seemed a little too much like Rome to totally stand out as an awesome game. But I digress. What's changed in Empire? Can you do your own naval battles? and is the AI improved? That damn Medieval II AI lost me so many battles I wanted to scream. Infantry not going where I want, cavalry charges...

Naval Battles? Check.
Improved AI? Check. (Though it's still not amazing)

Other big changes:

Tech research
3 different theatres of war
Garrisonable buildings
De-centralised cities


There's quite a bit that's different, and it certainly feels like a change from Rome/Medieval II, which were, as you say, quite similar.


Sir Thursday

[MTS]

Sounds good - I might get it when I get my new computer. Is it tough to run?

This post has been edited by Mappo's Travelling Sack: 26 April 2009 - 04:23 AM

[Tapper]

Mappo's Travelling Sack, on Apr 26 2009, 06:23 AM, said:

Sounds good - I might get it when I get my new computer. Is it tough to run?

What STD didn't put in, is:

* fairly little difference between countries - check

But that's a minor aside to all the big plusses Empire packs.

[Cause]

Everyone says that and its true. But I onder if its really fair. There is only so much you can do with line infantry. THey fight in lines and they have guns. Its up to you to research there tech to make them better. Also Is it really fair. Yes in RTW everyones cavalry looked alot different but when you got down to stats it was 2 extra armour on less defense one extra damage difference.

[Sixty]

I've started playing DEFCON and have been enjoying it a lot. Anyone else tried it?

[Impirion]

DEFCon is really fun, especially when you play with friends, what with all the backstabbing and stuff that goes on

[Tapper]

Cause, on Apr 26 2009, 01:08 PM, said:

Everyone says that and its true. But I onder if its really fair. There is only so much you can do with line infantry. THey fight in lines and they have guns. Its up to you to research there tech to make them better. Also Is it really fair. Yes in RTW everyones cavalry looked alot different but when you got down to stats it was 2 extra armour on less defense one extra damage difference.

It's both fair and unfair. In medieval, rome and shogun, there was a distinct disadvantage between ranged and melee infantry, shock and light cavalry, and the balance of a nation's unit rosters. In Empire, line fulfills a function as pike/shock/ranged infantry all by itself, and the skirmish units are not massively outgunning/ outranging them for quite a while (also due to unit size), nor did everyone have the same roster - for example horse bowmen were unique to a few factions in Rome etc, but nearly every nation has light infantry and half have lancers.

So, I'd say that while it comes down to stats for a large part, it is also how rosters are combined that gives a flavour and Empire is more uniform in that respect then previous TW games (Shogun aside).

[Sixty]

Impirion, on Apr 27 2009, 06:49 AM, said:

DEFCon is really fun, especially when you play with friends, what with all the backstabbing and stuff that goes on

I probably won't even get the chance to try it since all my friends have tried it and generally hated it. We've started playing a shitload of Settlers of Catan, though, which is fairly entertaining.

[Traveller]

I think I'm going to give up on Empire until I can run it faster, and they've ironed out the bugs. I'm just not enjoying it that much, as I spend such a long time waiting for things to load. And, much as I like the period and the ships, I think I prefer the earlier eras - I miss my knights and trebuchets, and my bands of assassins.

[Imperial Historian]

Anyone any thoughts on the new patch? Apparently they have revamped the trade system and the economics, so armies and fleets cost a lot more to maintain, seems to have ruined a few peoples games as it's taken them from earning tens of thousands a turn, to losing tens of thousands after the patch was applied. AI seems to be more aggressive now as well, which is unfortunate as I quite liked the new AI apart from the lackof naval invasions.

Not had chance to play it yet, but starting a new game as england I noticed immediately they have 2 more towns, so there may be quite a few more changes which have occured.

[Impirion]

Yeah, I went from like 30 grand profit to 20 grand deficit. It was interesting to say the least... Apparently starting a new game is the way to go. The AI is a lot more aggressive, which can be annoying when I have to protect trade routes all the time against the French and spanish.

[Tapper]

To do a Tiste:
the new patch released a few replacement units to make every nation feel more diverse. Moreso, dLC is introducing 14 more units, these one all additions. anyone still playing E:TW and caring enough to purchase?
It basically feels a bit like a fix, imho.

[Adjutant Stormy~]

Empire Total War!!!!!!!!!!

I've not gotten into it much except playing against my friend in pitched battles. Although I loathe the infantry-line combat style, the tactics hang together fairly well. I've won a few matches with a wandering division for the surprise flank.

Cavalry are still annoying, though.

[Impirion]

Tapper, on Jun 22 2009, 07:38 PM, said:

To do a Tiste:
the new patch released a few replacement units to make every nation feel more diverse. Moreso, dLC is introducing 14 more units, these one all additions. anyone still playing E:TW and caring enough to purchase?
It basically feels a bit like a fix, imho.

Yeah, I am still playing it. The new patch seems to have really sorted stuff out in terms of time taken to do stuff although the computer is still annoyingly aggressive in campaign mode

[cerveza_fiesta]

I had a p1rated version of Medieval II and it ran fine on my computer (its old, but by system reqs it should be fine)

Decided to buy the game on steam and I get reduced framerate and lagged to shit in the 3D battles. Is this typical of steam? Consumes more resources or is harder on the gpu?

EDIT: graphics settings were identical for both the steam version and the p1rated one btw.

This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 25 June 2009 - 02:45 PM