By Tim Stone on March 2nd, 2009 at 2:21 am.
My thoughts on Empire: Total War are still a bit jumbled. While I unjumble them (in readiness for a Wot I Think) I thought I’d share a short battle narrative with you. The following heavily illustrated After Action Report is a True and Accurate Account of the Bloody Battle of Bangalore,1714, the latest scrap from my current grand campaign. The glorious Maratha Confederacy (that’s me) has been distracted from its subjugation of the northern Mughals by an unprovoked attack by the cowardly Mysorians. A couple of territories were lost before I was able to assemble a scratch expeditionary force in Hyderabad and march out to meet the new foe. Just outside Bangalore my general-less rabble faced their first test…
On paper things don’t look too promising. Not only does the Mysorian force outnumber mine by around 500, it’s led by a man whose name would score 3784 in Scrabble. The only faintly encouraging thing about the line-up is Bandyopadhyay’s lack of cavalry. Apart from a few mounted archers, his army is completely devoid of hoofed components
The venue turns out to be short on woodland and hillocks and long on farmland and gentle slopes. Good cannon and cavalry country. I’m defending a hamlet located on rising ground on the western edge of the map. At its centre is a garrisonable pavilion. Using tactics honed in the foothills of the Himalayas, I deploy my musketmen in jagged lines, hoping the hovels in the village will help fragment any assault and funnel attackers into discrete killzones. My one cannon battery is positioned on the right flank atop a useful knoll. My one specialist melee unit – a squad of Hindu swordsmen – watches over them. Tucked away behind trees and buildings on the left flank is my secret weapon, three precious clusters of lancers.
Holy Brahmin Bull! There’s fouzands of ‘em! As the Mysorian hordes materialise in the hazy distance and begin advancing on our position, I can almost hear the gasps of disbelief and muttered prayers of my men. For the moment there is nothing they can do but watch, wait, and fill the gaps gouged in formations by the enemy’s cannonballs.
With the enemy line perhaps 500 metres from mine, my lancers move out. Trotting then galloping they charge down the left flank, and swing round behind the Mysorian line and run parallel to it. Concerned formations swivel to engage them. A few give chase. Chaos reigns. The attack is losing its shape. Splendid.
As the lancers continue to harry, never quite engaging, some undistracted sections of the Mysorian army reach the outskirts of the village and start exchanging musket volleys with the defenders. The battle proper has begun. Bodies crumple into the dry grass, smoke swirls and drifts. Thinned by vicious swarms of canister shot, the first enemy formation breaks and runs. Keep it up lads!
At the other end of the battlefield my weary cavalry, almost by accident, find themselves, a short distance from the Mysorian artillery positions. Lance tips are dipped and spurs are applied. The hapless gunners stand little chance.
Recovering somewhat from its earlier disarray, Bandyopadhyay’s forces have arrived in strength on my left. In an effort to reduce the growing pressure on the pavilion defences I rush three reserve units into a flanking position. The manoeuvre pays off. Several enemy formations are caught in vicious crossfire and fall back.
After silencing the guns, the lancers have trotted back up the left side looking for a chance to charge the knot of mounted archers that includes Bandyopadhyay himself. No opportunity presents itself so they make another spoiling ride across the front. Lines forming up for a second attack are once again thrown into confusion. An isolated band of bowmen on the right flank are swept into oblivion.
Two of my hastily committed reserve units are peasant militia – horny-handed farmhands with home-made matchlocks. The ferocity of the fighting around the pavilion is too much for one of them. My first rout of the battle. Hopefully the panic won’t spread.
Over on the right, for the first time, my canister-spitting cannons are seriously threatened. Two lines of enemy musketmen are a short dash away. I spot the danger in the nick of time and unleash my hitherto unused Hindu swordsmen. The turbaned maniacs charge down the slope, raised blades glinting in the sun. After a minute or two of stabbing and slashing they crumble the first line, and, as they seem to be enjoying themselves so much, I order them to charge the second.
Wherever you look now there are white Mysorian flags fluttering. Bandyopadhyay seems to be mustering what’s left of his force for a final assault on the pavilion. His own archers arc arrows onto the flat roof of the building. Bargirs fire back at them from behind sawtooth crenelations. Musketmen edge forward and are driven back by a hailstorm of lead. Perhaps sensing the last chance of victory has slipped away, the Mysorian leader charges his own horsey formation into the corpse-strewn pavilion yard. A musketball knocks him permanently from the saddle.
02/03/2009 at 02:37 Mad Doc MacRae says:
Wow, you trashed them.
What difficulty settings were you on?
02/03/2009 at 02:37 Pags says:
That image of the Hindu swordsmen charging into the first line is nothing short of epic. I’m looking forward to reading Wot You Think.
02/03/2009 at 02:37 Mr. Hobo says:
Awesome Read! Can’t wait for this game. I ROFL at “Not only does the Mysorian force outnumber mine by around 500, it’s led by a man whose name would score 3784 in Scrabble”
02/03/2009 at 02:38 Pags says:
Also, you must have a beefy rig, because those screenshots look damned purdy. Unless Empire’s just really well optimized…
02/03/2009 at 02:53 Muzman says:
That lead screenie looks like a conga line.
Just sayin’. I’ll go read the article now.
02/03/2009 at 02:56 noexes says:
From my time with the demo I think it’s both. Thumbs up to Creative Assembly.
02/03/2009 at 03:07 thefanciestofpants says:
I goddamn love total war. Cannot wait cannot wait cannot wait.
02/03/2009 at 03:18 Poindexter says:
I cannot wait for this game. Too bad I have several papers and a presentation to keep me away from playing it when it comes out…
02/03/2009 at 03:19 Ben Abraham says:
This was great!
02/03/2009 at 03:41 DigitalSignalX says:
You didn’t stand in front of your ranks, moon the enemy commander and give a speech ending in FREEDOMMMM!!!!™ ?
Ahh nothing says war like hundreds of men standing in orderly lines waiting to shoot/stab other orderly lines of men. Though I imagine having your groups dissolve into chaos once the shooting/stabbing starts would be a bit *too* realistic.
02/03/2009 at 03:41 Radiant says:
What kind of fool fights with no cavalry in a total war game?!?
A crushed and crying fool!
I love total war most when it’s epic-ness bumps up against my own plans.
Enemy General: “What are those Elephants doing on that hill to our left?”
Elephants: “Nuffing”
General: “You sure?”
Elephants “Yep just getting a drink… you got any mice?”
General: “No…why?”
Elephants: “No reason”
02/03/2009 at 03:43 CannedLizard says:
God those graphics are amazing. Looks like another killer Total War.
02/03/2009 at 03:49 Alex says:
Look what you’ve done, you’ve only made me go and pre-order it now. Great article.
02/03/2009 at 04:59 Rich_P says:
More AARs by Tim Stone, please.
02/03/2009 at 05:26 Krupo says:
If they had an interesting pre-order deal I would be pre-ordering it right now.
As such, come Tuesday it’ll be a case of figuring out which retailer is breaking ranks and offering a deal… then instant sale!
02/03/2009 at 06:10 Calistas says:
Welcome to your cross posting ping thing to afteractionreporter.com :)
02/03/2009 at 06:29 DMcCool says:
Fantastic Article, this game looks like a whole new type of Total War bliss. The most tantalizing bit seems to be just how much the mechanics of land battles have ACTUALLY changed, and if all reports so far are anything to go by, they’ll be at least as epic or even more so than the battles we’ve seen before.
The only other, childish thing I have to do is point out the real-world significance this line “he hapless gunners stand little chance.” holds for many Englanders.
Sorry.
02/03/2009 at 06:55 Fumarole says:
Yes, more AARs from this gent please.
02/03/2009 at 06:56 DMJ says:
The fact that this was posted after 2am (and on a school night too) says a lot for its “just one more turn – is that dawn I see?” draw.
02/03/2009 at 07:19 Lord Forkington says:
Quick question – How did your enemy manage to kill 100 of his own men?
02/03/2009 at 07:45 Fumarole says:
Quick question – How did your enemy manage to kill 100 of his own men?If I recall correctly, starting with Medieval 2 casualties were not always killed.
02/03/2009 at 08:17 Mike says:
A similarly epic AAR for Rome: Total War begins here:
http://houseofjimius.wordpress.com/2008/11/04/i-270-266bc/
And is rather good.
02/03/2009 at 09:01 Ginger Yellow says:
WANT
02/03/2009 at 09:01 l1ddl3monkey says:
Pre ordered and sort of twiddling my thumbs (well – not really I’m still only half way through DOWII) while I wait for it to come out.
02/03/2009 at 09:11 Feet says:
Awesome AAR Tim, I love reading this kind of thing.
02/03/2009 at 09:20 Reid says:
Another RPS article makes me want to buy a game I was convinced I wouldn’t pick up
02/03/2009 at 09:24 Heliocentric says:
I never end up playing these games with that much passion. Its always generic infantry blocks 1 through 10, generic archers 1 through 5. The idea of reserves always seems meaningless as it involves holding forces back making them useless in the melee. Eh. I should play on harder difficulties but that just feels like setting my morale low. These thoughts are from rome total war mind you.
02/03/2009 at 09:27 Uglycat says:
The Hindu swordsmen *crumble* the line? Is this some vicious breading culinary tactic forged in Hindu Kush?
02/03/2009 at 09:31 Mark-P says:
I’d have to second the initial request for more info on the difficulty setting you’re using Tim. I’m still feeling burned by Medieval 2, where even a mediocre RTS clutz like myself can consistently humiliate the flailing AI on even the highest difficulty settings.
It does look oh so pretty though. :O
02/03/2009 at 09:54 Tim Stone says:
There are four notches on the battle difficulty slider and I’ve been playing on the third, so that would be ‘hard’ assuming the notches stand for easy/normal/hard/veryhard.
If the Mysoriams had fielded some cavalry (which AI forces usually do) things could have gone very differently.
02/03/2009 at 10:32 Don says:
>the Mysorian leader charges his own horsey formation into the corpse-strewn pavilion yard. A musketball knocks him permanently from the saddle.
Hmm, didn’t I read something about ‘no more suicidal generals’ in E:TW? Perhaps what the meant was that AI generals commit suicide at the end of the battle, as distinct from the start in the previous TW games.
02/03/2009 at 10:36 dartt says:
A great read Tim, it’s great to hear the facts and figures about new features and mechanics but you can’t beat a rousing war story to get me excited about a game.
Roll on Friday!
02/03/2009 at 10:42 UncleLou says:
Awesome.
I’ve bought a new graphics card just to do this justice. In the past, Total War games have always been released when I was just so getting by, but could never whack them to the max, and once I had upgraded, I had already lost interest and the next, shiner TW game had been announced. Can play the demo in 1680*1050 with AA and everything turned to 11 now. \o/
Sorry for the unashamed upgrade-geek-bragging, but I am just so happy. ;-)
02/03/2009 at 10:46 MeestaNob says:
Questshun for Tim!
Does Empire run better (ie loading times) in the full version that the demo? I only ask because no matter how good the game is, the disgraceful 4+ minute load times are a Total Dealbreaker.
Great article too.
02/03/2009 at 10:49 reiver says:
>Hmm, didn’t I read something about ‘no more suicidal generals’ in E:TW? Perhaps what the meant was that AI generals commit suicide at the end of the battle, as distinct from the start in the previous TW games.
I think it was more meant as the Ai wouldn’t treat his general as just another piece of heavy cav and sacrifice it at the start of the battle in a head-on charge into pikes. In the situation Tim describes it seems an appropriate point to throw the General into battle.
Thanks for the AAR Tim. If posssible could you describe how reinforcements work as there’s some ambiguity over it. Is it possible to have more than 20 of your units on a battlefield at once (ala RTW and M2) or will it be limited to 20 with a 1 in 1 out system (like the original Medieval). Cheers.
02/03/2009 at 10:56 UncleLou says:
I only ask because no matter how good the game is, the disgraceful 4+ minute load times are a Total Dealbreaker.
I’ve read this so often now that I don’t believe it is hyperbole anymore – while loading times are noticably longer than in Medieval 2, I’d say they were under 1 minute. Bog-standard hard-drive in my PC.
Do you maybe have 2GB or less of Ram? I guess this can make a huge difference.
02/03/2009 at 11:09 BooleanBob says:
I could easily read a whole campaign history of this stuff. Key battles, wider context, vying factions, all that. This would save me a) having to buy the game, b) having to admit that my computer cannot possibly run the game, c) having to actually play the game myself, which usually takes just a little too long, with a little too much micro-managing macro-sized forces, and a little too much geisha/shinobi/soft, stabbable general’s neck endgame for me to ever find the series as fun to play as it is to imagine playing. Or read about someone else playing for me.
Which was meant to be a compliment to Tim, but got tangled up in the usual griping. Keep up the good work Tim.
02/03/2009 at 11:18 Andrew says:
Oh, man, I cannot wait for Empire. The feverish daydreaming will start soon so it’s just as well I pre-ordered it.
02/03/2009 at 11:21 Andrew says:
Oh, and as to the demo’s load times, they’re because the whole demo is packed and compressed to reduce the demo’s download size and it needs to be uncompressed every time you load a battle.
02/03/2009 at 11:35 lanster says:
This sounds like an awesome game. I always thought that in Rome Total War it was hard to outmanuever the AI because they seem to counter everything. But your battle has shown that in Empires, AI play much more realistic and fun.
02/03/2009 at 11:38 Heliocentric says:
That is bad demo design, uncompress on install. Any word on the multiplayer campaign?
02/03/2009 at 11:55 mbp says:
Hats off to your Generalship sir. Truly a stunning victory.
You have well whetted my appetite for this game.
02/03/2009 at 12:16 Don says:
@Reiver – In the situation Tim describes it seems an appropriate point to throw the General into battle.
No it doesn’t. A General’s job is to manage the battle, not fight it. And if the battle is being lost he should try to withdraw his troops in the best order possible and save his own skin. By the 18th century army commanders had pretty much given up leading the charge. Plenty of them still got killed of course because they still had to stay near the front and got clobbered by artillery and so forth but few of them voluntarily engaged in combat.
02/03/2009 at 12:25 reiver says:
That may be true but CA have once again made the General unit a combat unit (personally i’d have prefered them to be a 4 man unit seperate from the 20 with no combat skills). Not that all Generals stayed out of the battle. Wellesley got stuck in at Assaye.
Not that that’s the issue. You’re talking about the suicide General problem from RTW and M2 where the enemy would cheaply throw away his general. That’s not the case here and this combined with personal experience from the demo says that they have sorted this issue.
02/03/2009 at 12:33 Kieron Gillen says:
Yeah, I’ll vote for a lack of suicidal general. Generals get involved and die, but they’re guarded. The Enemy AI also really know how important your general is – there was one horrific battle where the Cherokee piled en masse towards mine, which I’d left in a relatively weak position.
KG
02/03/2009 at 12:34 Aubrey says:
Wait, are after action reports generated into a narrative?
I’d love to be able to do things like that. Get some generative text into games a bit more. Like the Hitman news reports, but… more detail.
02/03/2009 at 12:45 Quine says:
Good read- I salute your indefatigability in the face of Mysorian peril!
So this Total War has multiplaye campaign mode yes? An RPS grudge-match campaign with spiffy AAR write-ups would be an entirely good idea, or at least a few selected battles with hand-picked sides.
02/03/2009 at 12:53 Kieron Gillen says:
It won’t have it on release, but apparently eventually.
And, yes, it’s an idea we’ve considered, shall we say.
KG
02/03/2009 at 13:42 Ginger Yellow says:
” An RPS grudge-match campaign with spiffy AAR write-ups would be an entirely good idea, or at least a few selected battles with hand-picked sides.”
Yes please. 1Up has a similar, very enjoyable, running feature, Tom vs Bruce, but with different games each time. A grudge match format could make it even better.
02/03/2009 at 14:02 Wacky says:
Excuse my ignorance,what is an AAR?
02/03/2009 at 14:02 Gunrun says:
“There are four notches on the battle difficulty slider and I’ve been playing on the third, so that would be ‘hard’ assuming the notches stand for easy/normal/hard/veryhard.”
Judging by the older games the difficulties will be more like “really easy/easy/easy/sweet jesus”
edit: @Wacky – After Action Report
02/03/2009 at 14:26 UncleLou says:
Good idea with the RPS battles – how does it work, everyone writes his own AAR after a battle without seeing the other’s? That could make for some amusing reading.
02/03/2009 at 14:29 Ginger Yellow says:
Just received this email from Play.com: “Your order for Empire: Total War – Special Forces Edition (with Play.com Exclusive ‘USS Constitution’ Unlock Code) has been posted.”
Huzzah!
02/03/2009 at 14:30 Dozer says:
My PC couldn’t even change the resolution – I’d like this game, but I’ll upgrade the PC first. And that’ll be after I pay the council tax.
Entertaining article! Moar plz.
02/03/2009 at 14:37 Taillefer says:
For sure, I adore your Bangalore Galore – An Empire: Total War AAR. More!
Finished DOW2 just in time. Can’t wait.
02/03/2009 at 15:06 Kieron Gillen says:
UncleLou: I suspect we’d have to work it out.
KG
02/03/2009 at 16:35 SOVIET says:
Never played Total War series before and I’m afraid it looks like it is complicated enough to suck away all my time. Hmm
02/03/2009 at 16:56 Plopsworth says:
Are the procedurally constructed battle-speeches still in? They were great fun in Rome and Medieval II. Especially once you had a general with strange quirks affecting them:
“Remember, they may have the moon people on their side, but we have lovely hats! Those hats will shield us from their evil gaze!”
02/03/2009 at 16:57 Plopsworth says:
Addendum:
I’m not going to pick favourites among you RPS lot, but Tim should write more than once a week.
02/03/2009 at 17:37 Sartoris says:
This was wonderful, short and sweet. Please write more of this sort of thing.
02/03/2009 at 17:50 reiver says:
>”Are the procedurally constructed battle-speeches still in? They were great fun in Rome and Medieval II. Especially once you had a general with strange quirks affecting them:”<
CA guy said no when someone on the official forum asked him. Pity because, like you say, there were some classics.
02/03/2009 at 17:52 PHeMoX says:
Is it just me, or are the graphics very unimpressive???
02/03/2009 at 17:57 Pags says:
Just you.
02/03/2009 at 17:57 Ginger Yellow says:
It’s just you. There are thousands of soldiers on-screen. Or over 1,000, anyway. And it all runs very smoothly on my system at least.
02/03/2009 at 18:08 Gap Gen says:
Yeah, I might hack this to add many thousands rather than just around 2000, assuming this doesn’t gimp my computer.
02/03/2009 at 18:39 unclelou says:
“Is it just me, or are the graphics very unimpressive???”
I’ve recently played Burnout: Paradise, and found the graphics rather unimpressive compared to the photo-realistic rendering of the inside of a small cardboard box I’ve seen.
02/03/2009 at 18:45 UncleSmoothie says:
I hadn’t been planning on getting this until this AAR.
02/03/2009 at 19:53 Warduke says:
More AAR’s from Tim!!! Awesome stuff, just awesome.
I’m thinking seriously of getting this game now and wasn’t before.
02/03/2009 at 19:55 clive dunn says:
Really looking forward to this dropping on my doormat this week, but just one query, can you turn off the big-bloody-flags. They kind of ruin the realism for me; i don’t mind the glowing green selection thingys and all the other bumph but the flags just strike me as being intrusive and annoying.
Maybe it’s just the mood i’m in. Hoping that Empire will get me through giving up smoking is one of my more futile projects i am undertaking this year!
02/03/2009 at 19:57 jon says:
Fuck it, pre-ordered the bastard
02/03/2009 at 20:38 reiver says:
The flags are easy to turn off. There’s a bit in the menu and it has three options: Always on, on when selected (or something) and always off.
02/03/2009 at 20:48 Mad Doc MacRae says:
yeah, they did a lot better at letting you tweak some aspects of the UI. You used to have to hunt through text files to change that stuff.
02/03/2009 at 21:01 Rei Onryou says:
It’s stories like this that make me want to buy Empire. I just have to complete the Medieval II campaign first to justify the upgrade.
02/03/2009 at 21:02 MeestaNob says:
@ UncleLou
I’ve got 3gb of RAM on a still capable system (4600 x2, 1950xtx, blah blah). It could load 3 levels in Crysis in the time E:TW takes to get past the splash screen – literally.
I’ve read about the unpacking issue on the Steam forums, people have tried manually unpacking the files with no success. I’ve run the demo a few times now so it should all be done, but nothing has improved – I think the demo might just be shit. No reviews really mention this, so I’m thinking it’s a bug introduced creating the demo. That’s what I’m hoping it is at least…
I’m gonna wait until Real People get their copies, then we’ll see what’s happening.
02/03/2009 at 21:12 clovus says:
There’s plenty of praise here all ready, but I’ll add mine anyway. This was a really fun read. It is nice to know that other people play strategy games like this.
Although I know that the computer AI is following a bunch of simple rules in combat and the world map, I still add in all kinds of motivation and story to what happens. In the end I often have a really satisfying epic history. I’ve enjoyed this so much in the past that I’ve written them out and made up maps.
I was quite relieved when I found out about AARs. It’s nice to know I’m not the only person who does this kind of thing.
02/03/2009 at 21:13 jalf says:
MeestaNob: It seems the load time varied widely in the demo. Getting past the splash screen didn’t take long for me, but others complained of 4+ minute waits.
The load screen before a battle was more annoying for me, but still below 1 minute.
But if it varies that much, it could be sign of a bug that’s easily patchable. I’d be more worried if *everyone* reported the same insane load times.
And slightly on topic, I can’t be the only person hoping that Tom Chick will write an ETW game diary… :D
02/03/2009 at 23:04 myname says:
What’s more important, is that it once more underlines HOW WELL YOU BRITS WRITE!
All of you UK lads write far better then any american game-journalist – period! The guys of Eurogamer and RPS are just two (slightly interchangable) sources.
I’d really like to get a serious answer as to why this is? WHY do british game-journalists write better than americans?
02/03/2009 at 23:50 A-Scale says:
I still demand to know why my units (in the demo) won’t fire even if they are within shooting range. Only my front line ever shoots, and even then only at a very slow pace.
02/03/2009 at 23:54 Gap Gen says:
I think you need to enable the “shoot your own guys in the back of the head” command.
02/03/2009 at 23:54 A-Scale says:
Three possible reasons
1. Different focus- experiential versus descriptive articles
2. They’re better trained in history and the classical works of literature than us
3. They’re not, you just happen to read the really good ones.
02/03/2009 at 23:55 Gap Gen says:
In addition to myname’s question, I’d like to know how much of Your Sinclair’s fault that is.
03/03/2009 at 00:09 sinister agent says:
2. They’re better trained in history and the classical works of literature than us
Bless your kind heart. I wish I were so optimistic about the UK.
03/03/2009 at 00:17 clive dunn says:
2. They’re better trained in history and the classical works of literature than us
I was going to say something like this but felt it would be a bit bigheaded. I blame the people who employ the good journalists. How do we explain their good taste in people?
03/03/2009 at 00:49 A-Scale says:
Most of what we read is comprised of Shakespeare, and then a lot of modern American literature. I don’t think we ever read Homer or any of the old OLD classics. Perhaps that was just my experience. Did you guys read the classics?
03/03/2009 at 01:01 Heliocentric says:
There are a few yanks who are excellent, but then not everyone will agree.
And most of my favourite Americans have actually left journalism. Heh, why do British games journalists write so well? Because no-one else wants them :P
Americans podcast better in general, the British are too apologetic.
03/03/2009 at 01:22 Oak says:
Interestingly, I find the US PC Gamer podcast a bit too apologetic and dry, while the UK version is very entertaining.
03/03/2009 at 02:23 BoltingTurtle says:
My experience is that the education system hammers Shakespeare (as they bloody well should), but as for “the great books” that aren’t by The Poet himself, most X-Files fans know more just from watching the show than your average inhabitant of this Sceptered Isle. There is one difference I have noticed; most Brits are more likely to pick up the classics in later life. If Americans are going to read, they do it their whole life. Very seldom do they have a sudden urge to read the classics. For whatever reason, there is still more of an idea in the British mind that the classics are somthing that SHOULD be read.
03/03/2009 at 06:21 A-Scale says:
Surely you jest. They could fire and then retreat to the back to reload, as many armies did. Or they could all fire in staggered ranks.
In any case, ALL of the enemies soldiers fire, but only the front row of mine. Strange, strange.
03/03/2009 at 07:40 schurem says:
Werent firing drills one of the techs you need to research? Seems the demo guys only know the most basic one…
Get your boffins on that trick of fire, step back reload, step forward, fire thing!
03/03/2009 at 08:52 UncleLou says:
I still demand to know why my units (in the demo) won’t fire even if they are within shooting range. Only my front line ever shoots, and even then only at a very slow pace.
I read in a review that you can research the “line-shuffling”, ie your first two lines shoot, then move behind to reload. I guess with units that can’t do that, you need to spread them wide for maximum effect.
03/03/2009 at 10:08 Anthony Damiani says:
I’m still iffy, mostly because the extra $20 they’re charging for a couple extra units on Steam.
I’m OK with special editions and all of that, but less comfortable when they include gameplay-altering content that really ought to be included in the core game. I mean, seeing the Ottomans without organ-gunners would just be like a day without organ-gunners.
03/03/2009 at 11:22 TC says:
Multi rank firing is a tech upgrade, yes its gameplay balance>realism and something I imagine will be modded out relatively quickly.
03/03/2009 at 11:47 Gap Gen says:
“I don’t think we ever read Homer or any of the old OLD classics. Perhaps that was just my experience. Did you guys read the classics?”
Well, that would explain the epic battles depicted in the review of The Longest Journey, or how the gods came down from Olympus to intervene in the feature on upgrading your graphics card.
03/03/2009 at 12:05 Bhazor says:
Fantastic stuff but lets see a “Plan B” style diary for the joy of spotting the inevitable screw up days in advance.
I’m forcing myself not to buy this on release and instead wait for the second patch or gold edition.
The difference between Medieval 2 on release and Medieval 2 (v 1.2) was immense. Better balanced, better optimised, vastly improved ai and so on.
I think I’ll have to play through the four mini campaigns of Kingdoms before I get into this. I mean I want to, I don’t have to. There’s no ransoms or anything. I’m fairly certain my mum won’t die if I fail to convert Lithuania. Not 100% certain but fairly sure.
Better safe than sorry is what I’m saying here.
03/03/2009 at 12:05 CdrJameson says:
I have my copy here in my very hands.
And it won’t install, of course. Not even put the files on the hard drive, because Steam has its fingers in its ears and is going ‘la la la’.
03/03/2009 at 12:51 UncleLou says:
Fantastic stuff but lets see a “Plan B” style diary for the joy of spotting the inevitable screw up days in advance.
I’m forcing myself not to buy this on release and instead wait for the second patch or gold edition.
I see where you’re coming from, but if everyone did that, it would never happen.
/follower of Kant ;-)
03/03/2009 at 13:19 Kieron Gillen says:
Gap Gen: “I’d like to know how much of Your Sinclair’s fault that is” The character of British game magazines has, I suspect, altered the approach of most British game writers. While the Americans, generally speaking, seem to have come from the tech side, British people were riffing off pop magazines. (YS was lifting directly from Smash Hits, for example).
While doesn’t make it better or worse, how the two developed in separate markets changes lots of fundamentals (in terms of what a writer is thinking when setting forth to right).
For me? In short, YS was permission to go mental.
KG
03/03/2009 at 13:20 Ginger Yellow says:
Assuming this is true, and not just a bias, my entirely speculative reasons would be:
1. A better, more competitive market for expensive, in depth magazines that can afford to spend lots on writers (by journalistic standards of course) – think Edge in particular, but there are a ton of mags covering PC gaming in the UK, and hardly any in the US (and the main surviving one is owned by a British publisher). This is largely a function of geography and media culture, which means that UK mags are much more dependent on sub revenue and much less on ads than US mags. Consequently editorial quality is more highly prized.
2. A distinct, non-console based British gaming culture going back to the Speccy/BBC Micro days, but now sadly disappearing. While the US had the NES and SNES, the UK had the C64 and the Amiga. This gives British writers a different perspective on games and the market. Even more tendentiously, the PC-centricity of the UK market until recently could mean that there were more games worth writing well about. This isn’t a diss on console games at all, it’s just that PC genres like RTSes lend themselves better to AARs than, say, Madden.
3. Point 1 means there is a lot of work available (again, by journalistic standards) for a relatively small community of freelance writers, who live and die by the quality (OK, and quantity) of their writing. There was a much closer connection between individual writers and the readers than in the US (in my experience, and only until podcasts came along and changed everything) , which again promoted quality writing. I remember chatting with the editor of ST Format on their BBS with my 2400 baud modem.
03/03/2009 at 13:30 AndrewC says:
Set forth to right?
03/03/2009 at 13:41 Bhazor says:
This is getting off topic so before the overlords condemn us I’d like to mention Games (TM) as the best of british games journalism. Focuses on the experiences whislt being surprisingly light on PR stuff. An obscure Japanese import will get the same respect as a fanboy fave and it’s detailed looks at old classics and interviewers with the last gen developers are really nicely done and dang well researched.
Fat Rab said it best
“Its marching down the street naked banging it’s ane plonker against it’s chest and shouting games, games, games games games!!!”
03/03/2009 at 19:30 sinister agent says:
My experience is that the education system hammers Shakespeare (as they bloody well should)
I actually disagree with that, kind of. Studying shakespeare is worthless without ever seeing it, and most schools don’t take the kids to see it, certainly not often. It takes ridiculously good teachers to teach shakespeare with the plays, let alone with just the texts. I utterly despised shakespeare in school, and it’s only with a great deal of effort and some fortunate circumstances that I’ve come round.
03/03/2009 at 21:16 A-Scale says:
Hyperbol-wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
03/03/2009 at 21:54 sinister agent says:
No, really. If you’re going to teach a play in school, chances are most of the people there have never been to the theatre. If all you do is tediously read them through a fuck-tonne of obscure, impenetrable text in a language and style they’re not familiar with in a format that’s utterly alien, you might as well not bother, because you’re only going to instill boredom and contempt. If you watch the plays, though, reading the text becomes infinitely easier and more meaningful, even as an adult.
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18/03/2009 at 16:45 David Damerell says:
Multiplayer campaign mode “eventually”?
As I recall, we were told that before the release of Shogun; before the release of the first major Shogun patch; before the release of The Mongol Invasion; and before the release of the first major patch for that. I suspect the same claim was made about other TW games.
I’ll believe it when I see it.
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