Rock, Paper, Shotgun

A source of what could gently be called discontent amongst the Total War community of late has been the lack of modding tools for the most recent games. Empire, Napoleon and Total War have all been bereft of official utilities to alter and add units, maps et al, which was partly a result of the relevant files being compressed and thus tricky to edit. At last, the Creative Assembly have found a way to open things up a little more – releasing the complete, original, unpacked raw database XML (data from tables) and XSD (table structure and field properties) files for both Empire and Napoleon.
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The man they call SAeN brought this to our attention. We bring it to yours. Sign up for the Empire: Total War beta is now open. Options apparently include playing the entire campaign with another player, co-operating and backstabbing at will and fighting the real-time battles against the AI, or have your friend take the place of the AI. Oh – and a AI faction nations improved too. Though we’ve heard that one before. [Visit Bobsy's lonely thread of love to find yourself a multiplayer partner, should you need one - Jim]

Sega says that the 1 vs 1 Campaign Multiplayer Open Beta of Empire: Total War will be available to all Empire: Total War consumers globally on December 7th, via Steam. This will apparently allow two players to enter into turn-based conflicts with each other, or cooperative against the AI nations on the full grand campaign map of Empire. Thanks, Mr Sega! You will, however, have to sign up to the beta program, because Creative Assembly want lots of feedback, and we don’t seem to have a link for that at present. I’ll update this post when it turns up.

UPDATE: Trailer posted south of here.
Sega send word that they will be releasing a new mini-expansion for Empire: Total War, which should allow you to forge an entertaining alternative history for the US, to be delivered on Steam. It’s a North American campaign that will feature some new native North American playable factions. Sega tell us that a new “Campaign Map expands the Empire: Total War experience, with 5 brand new American Indian factions, new units and technologies.” And that means Shaman and Scout agents to fill out the NPC ranks, and support for multiplayer with these armies. Warpath will cost £5.99/ €6.99 and be out some time in October. There’s also a new patch for the game tomorrow, 1.4, which “fixes some minor issues” and delivers two new historical battles: the Battle of Rossbach and the Battle of Fontenoy.
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Empire’s new 1.3 patch is out, and will update via internet fairy dust when you relaunch Steam. The fairly chunky list of changes and fixes can be read here. The patch includes fourteen new units to replace generic unit types for specific factions in the game. There’s also DLC up on Steam, the details of which are here. The micro-expansion unlocks fourteen elite units, including US Marines and Russian Gardes à cheval, whom, it is noted, “were selected not for their soldiering ability but more for their relative attractiveness to Catherine the Great.”

They’re bringing sexy (horse)back.

As if more proof were needed that Febrooairy and Marrtch were months made of strategy, we hear glad tidings of little army men achieving great commercial success. Across the world (including the US, UK and Oz) last week, Dawn of War II hit the top of the PC charts like a, er, Space Marine hitting a pile of Orks with a powerfist. Or something. God, it’s too early for tortorous similes.

However, come this week in the UK, DOWII’s down to number 3 in the PC charts, below the latest instalment of perennial UK man-magnet Football Manager. In the all-formats chart, it places a mere 29th. DOOM! PC GAMING, DEAD! DEAD LIKE MY ABILITY TO DEVISE FUNNY SIMILES! Except… we have a new champion. One that achieves even greater success.
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Having dabbled with Empire: Total War for the best part of a week, I reckon I’ve slain enough redcoats, sunk enough sloops, and lost enough rakes to sit in judgement. After the jump, the thoughts of a man who’s now so enthusiastic about 18th Century warfare, he’s bought himself a tricorn hat, a bicorn hat, and a unicorn hat. Read the rest of this entry »

Tom “Tom Bramwell” Bramwell of Eurogamer messages me to ask if I can mention the Creative Assembly Live Interview they’re doing at 4pm GMT today (i.e. 11am EST). I say yes, because I like the money Tom gives me. My loyalty is only bought by cold hard cash. That’s right – you heard. It’s a free for all. Whoever sends the largest wedge gets a 10/10 no question asked.

Anyway, while we wait for my SHIELD-strike-squad-esque retirement fund to arrive, you should consider trundling along to EG to quiz Creative Assembly’s Kieran Brigden on all things Total War. Be mean. It’s for their own good. Or alternatively, ask him about terrain.

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…

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My review of Empire: Total War has just gone live over at Eurogamer. I have to run to catch a train, so a quick link is all you’re getting for now. Expect RPS’ Wot I Think from Mr Stone early next week

February is, it seems, the official month of killing tiny soldiers, and today in particular is St. Man-Squisher’s Day. This fine Friday has already seen the launch of Dawn of War II – which I’m alt-tabbed from right now, excitingly – and now we also get to behold the majesty of the new Total War game. The 2 gigabyte (lawks, lummee, won’t somebody please think of the children etc) Empire demo’s just gone live on Steam, ahead of the launch of the whole epic shebang on March 4th. We shall, of course, be sharing some sort of opinion on ETW cometh the hour, but let’s be honest, the odds of it being anything less than spectacular are tinier than a vole’s pinkie finger.

Beneath the magical clicky words, details on exactly what’s in this here demo.
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