Empire Total War

VasikkA · Post by **VasikkA** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:44 pm

S4ur0n27 wrote:I'm getting weird lag in there all the time. Clicking on a unit lags until the green moving area appears around it. Scrolling the map, when moving the mouse to the sides of the screen, lags.

Even with a smaller resolution, shader 2.0, no AA, bilinear filtering and low graphics.

I mean, Fallout 3, Crysis, C&C3, CoD4 all run at medium/high without trouble, Medieval 2 ran at max details, and Empire seems like pretty much the same graphic wise?

Turn off the grass n' shit and it'll run fine.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 12:58 pm

But the problem isn't the battles, it's the campaign map. Right?

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:32 pm

Kashluk wrote:But the problem isn't the battles, it's the campaign map. Right?

Right, the campaign map, the battles are sweet. The best part of the game is the campaign map though.

For some reason, I decided I would try updating my drivers, then Catalyst started crashing on startup, so I uninstalled everything ATI from my computer, then reinstalled the drivers, and now both the battles and the campaign map run totally fine in 1280x1024, at Shader3(high) and with pretty much all settings at medium except one or two at high.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Tue May 19, 2009 6:26 am

Twelvety-million updates later, the game finally works again. Hooray for unfinished games and post-release patches!

Thus I actually managed to complete the Grand Campaign (Long), which was pretty sweet by the way, and started to play the Road to Independence - campaign. It was fun to have something more story-driven, but it didn't last for long and the episode structure really ruined the point of putting any effort into world conquest, since the beginning of an episode is always fixed, ie. whatever you do earlier has no effect to the future whatsoever.

I also downloaded the mod called 'Minor Faction unlocker', which works surprisingly well, allowing to play the rest of the factions (20-30 or so?) in the game. Right now I'm kicking some butt on the American continent with my Plains Nations :ugh: It was really shitty to find out that you couldn't unlock all nations legit through completing the campaign, like in earlier TW-games.

jetbaby · Post by **jetbaby** » Tue May 19, 2009 4:21 pm

It's not too bad. Nothing quite as glorious as grapeshot into a line of advancing infantry and watching them drop like flies.

Superhaze · Post by **Superhaze** » Tue May 19, 2009 6:29 pm

four puckleguns will clean up any opposing infantry in a jiffy.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Tue May 19, 2009 8:04 pm

It's pretty funky how War Elephants, the most over-powered units in earlier Total War -games, are complete crap (yet expensive crap) in Empire: Total War. Good stuff to drop a couple of AI's hard-earned elephant units with two mortar rounds from the opposite end of the map.

jetbaby · Post by **jetbaby** » Thu May 21, 2009 9:16 am

It destroys my PC by specs, I get long ass load times and I can't put combat on super fast without destroying the world, but runs fine on an ancient machine, low settings. Haven't played around a lot as said load times are long. Furthest game thus far is Austria and it's killing me. Made the mistake of taking Poland-Lithuania's capital and France as well, stretching me far, far, far too thin. Having large portions of my populace only not revolting because they're not being taxed, putting excessive drain on my economy and dragging my income down to the point that I can barely support my garrisons, much less fight the wars currently engaged with Russia as well as the Ottoman Empire. Basically I think I'm boned, but we'll see how it turns out.

jetbaby · Post by **jetbaby** » Thu May 21, 2009 9:18 am

S4ur0n27 wrote:
jetbaby wrote:
S4ur0n27 wrote:Medieval II is probably the best of the serie, because the more polished, the best graphics, etc, but I think Shogun is still my favorite.
My sentiments exactly
We're bound to be together.

Not even death can take you away from me, my love.

S4ur0n27 · Post by **S4ur0n27** » Fri May 22, 2009 12:30 am

Cimmerian Nights · Post by **Cimmerian Nights** » Fri May 22, 2009 4:21 am

I like Empire, but the scope is overbearing. Europe would be enough but India and the new world - it a lot to take on.
Got to say though, I picked up the series at Shogun long ago, and the series has improved each time, but still keeps the core gameplay the same.
As a New Englander it's nice to finally play a game that takes place on familiar territory.

I'd love to see a War Between the States mod. Smaller in scope, more digestible. This engine is a no brainer for that. Hasn't been a good Civil War game since Sid Meier's Gettysburg.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Fri May 22, 2009 5:20 am

There's some speculation flying around on what era the next piece of the series will be set in... US Civil War would fit in nicely for a world-wide 19th century campaign, with imperialism and all, African tribes etc. The main problem is that the core game itself would have to change quite a lot. The line formations and stiff tactics pretty much 'died out' in the 1700s, so there would have to some radical improvements to the engine.

Superhaze · Post by **Superhaze** » Fri May 22, 2009 11:11 am

I think the scale is pretty ok. Should be bigger (ie, most of the african coast) but its acceptable. The fact that france is two, count them, two regions, makes the building of forts and having continental armies on the standby all the more important.

i would like the napoleonic war to be an expansion, even though empire juuust touches on the era in the very late game.

Frater Perdurabo · Post by **Frater Perdurabo** » Fri May 22, 2009 4:05 pm

Not real-time, but if you guys like historical scenarios then Civ III Conquests is fucking fabulous for that. If you liked Civ III and never gave the Conquests scenarios a go then you should, awesome fun and will completely revitalize the game for you. Also, the used made content is not too shabby.

Cimmerian Nights · Post by **Cimmerian Nights** » Fri May 22, 2009 5:55 pm

Kashluk wrote:There's some speculation flying around on what era the next piece of the series will be set in... US Civil War would fit in nicely for a world-wide 19th century campaign, with imperialism and all, African tribes etc. The main problem is that the core game itself would have to change quite a lot. The line formations and stiff tactics pretty much 'died out' in the 1700s, so there would have to some radical improvements to the engine.

Well the US Civil War certainly stuck to the rigid line formations, it's a natural for this engine. But Africa would be nice, am playing the campaign as the Limeys and really want to get into some Rourke's Drift type Zulu mayhem.
But I would hate to see the core gameplay change. I really don't like the frenetic, sloppy nature of a lot of modern RTS games. I just can't imagine say a WWII version. How the fuck could you recreate like Kursk in RT without it being a disorganized, sloppy mess? Better stick to Panzer General 2.

I think the scale is pretty ok. Should be bigger (ie, most of the african coast) but its acceptable. The fact that france is two, count them, two regions, makes the building of forts and having continental armies on the standby all the more important.

I have to admit, I started a few campaigns and just looked at the scale and stopped right there, of course I was really baked and not all that ambitious to bite off that much. Now that I'm into it it's not that bad, I was just intimidated by what I knew I was getting into having to fight in the New World, everntually France/Mainland Europe, India was a lot to chew on at first.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Fri May 22, 2009 7:13 pm

Well yeah, rigid line formations is what this engine does best. The problem still exists: think of units like the "snipers" (rangers), native americans and other more or less special units in ETW. They're all acting pretty much the same as your average line infantry, and the closer we get to modern ages, the less important such formations become. But, yeah, you're right... they still did mostly fight in lines by the end of the 19th century. I guess it's the 20th when it really becomes an issue?

VasikkA · Post by **VasikkA** » Fri May 22, 2009 8:30 pm

Kashluk wrote:I guess it's the 20th when it really becomes an issue?

Considering there's been 30+ centuries of warfare in the history of mankind, finding a suitable scenario shouldn't be too hard?

Thinking outside the box, why not make a 23rd century mecha Total War game where neat formation warfare has experienced a renaissance?

Cimmerian Nights · Post by **Cimmerian Nights** » Sun May 24, 2009 3:54 pm

It's not just the presence of line tactics. It's making them an effective way to prosecute the war, and thus making adherence of sound strategy a must - TW does this great by making morale a huge factor. Very rarely in war is it necessary to deplete the enemy down to the last man, it's enough to drive them from the field. TW's combat implements it really well, where you get morale boosts from covering your flanks, leader proximity, cover, elevation (entrenchment would be a nice addition). It's always reminded me of Sid Meier's Gettysburg in that regard, a great model for that kind of warfare.

But yeah, guerilla/skirmishers kind of get short shrift.