Prepare for: Total War!!!!

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

The anticipated release of Rome Total War is only hours away.
All those long years of waiting down to a few hours.....Pleasure Overload!!!!

[Havok]

WOOT!!!!

to bad i ordered it from Gogamers so i gotta wait a few more days :(

[MrBug708]

Woot! I might have to make a trip up to CompUSA

[RPI-Fan]

What's the basic idea of this game?

[LionsFan10]

Not a store in my area is getting it until tomorrow, wtf?

[Radii]

What's the basic idea of this game?

It's a seuqal to Shogun: Total War and Midevil: total War.

It's a turn based military strategy game where you build different units and structures and try to take over territory, and when there is a battle, thre is an *amazing* RTS style battle engine that lets you fight out the individual battles. This battle engine is what the history channel has been using on one of its ancient battles shows in the past month or so.

Highly highly recommended :)

[bamcgee]

haven't been this excited about a game in a while. The demo was really impressive, I just hope the strategy "board game" aspect holds up as well.

[LionsFan10]

Has anyone got this game today? I know I can't unless I'm missing a store. EVERYONE around here isn't getting it in until tomorrow.

[Chief Rum]

Did I miss something? I went to the Rome site, and ti said it wasn't coming out until October 1 (although it did mention it was shipping from manufacturers today). Also, boxed, on the shelf computer games aren't usually released on Wednesdays.

CR

[MrBug708]

It's not coming out til oct. 1st in England. I went to an EB today and they said it was coming in later. Best Buy said he didn't see it in the back.

[bamcgee]

I just called EBgames customer service to make sure it was shipping out today and he gave me a definitive "yes". Phew. Now, if only I could remember if I ordered Fed Ex overnight...

[rkmsuf]

The anticipated release of Rome Total War is only hours away.
All those long years of waiting down to a few hours.....Pleasure Overload!!!!

Chem has a party in his pants.

[Samdari]

Did I miss something? I went to the Rome site, and ti said it wasn't coming out until October 1 (although it did mention it was shipping from manufacturers today). Also, boxed, on the shelf computer games aren't usually released on Wednesdays.

CR

I think that the "always released on Tuesday" thing is past.

The 22nd has been the listed release date of this game for quite some time.

[cartman]

I just DLed the demo, and I think I will buy it just to watch Hannibal's elephants keep running over the other guy's troops. That was awesome!

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Chem has a party in his pants.
:D I really need to ask that Rookie Nurse out.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Dah! seems none of the stoes here have received it et. Now I can't brag to people about being one of the first people to get it.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Just got a call from EB. Too bad I can't pick it up till later cuz of class. Ill post pictures when I can.

[Radii]

http://pc.ign.com/articles/550/550373p1.html

Looks absolutely amazing. The battles occuring within the city walls sounds awesome, as do the improved strategy aspects. I would love these games even without the battle engine, add that in and I'm just in awe.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Yeah Im typing this while in class. Gawd time is really crawling. Can't wait till I get there.

[MrBug708]

I got it :D

NOt gonna install it yet

[Fritz]

if only it had the entire pacific ocean and thousands of ships and planes

[Calis]

Bah, can't seem to find any places around here that have it yet!

Probably a good thing though, need to study tonight anyhow. Calling off the weekend plans though! :p

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Just fought my first battle . Greeks v. Romans at Marathon (ie Greek shores map). Wow! The sky changed as the battle raged. Killed the greek general during the first few minutes (hit him with an onanger). I have pics I'll post em soon.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Thing I didn't like is that the terrains and battles from Decisive Battles arent there but eh. Im not disappointed.

[Calis]

Anyone recommend a good book detailing the time period? I'm looking for mostly a good war-oriented read on it.

I know almost nothing of the time, as it was never one that interested me much for whatever reason, but now I have no choice but to study up on it.

Curious as to what some good books are to use as primers, also...I'm not even sure what year(s) the games cover?

[Flasch186]

no one has it yet....argh

[MrBug708]

I walked into the Electronics Botique (spelling?) and the guy had it behjind the shelf and he asked if I preordered it. I told him no and he said, you should have preordered it because we could have been out, but I was also lucky. Nevermind the fact that I was there at 1045, in the mall. I looked at him like he was crazy and said that I figured it would be here. i'm still trying to figure out why I needed to purchase the preorder when he had the game. Ah well. I have the game. It looks like they added better battles at the expense of some of the diplomacy, which is what I had hoped would be more indepth. Oh well.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Damn! I had a lot of good screen shots but realized that the comp only save one screeen shot .

[Coffee Warlord]

Ah well. I have the game. It looks like they added better battles at the expense of some of the diplomacy, which is what I had hoped would be more indepth. Oh well.

Kindly elaborate. I was under the impression diplomacy would be improved here.

[MrBug708]

It's different really. You have a lot of interaction with the senate, who rewards you with money. I didn't go into to deep with the diplomats though. The Senate tells you to go attack this province to win favor or go put down the rebels and we'll throw a celebration for you. I'm going to go in a bit more here for a bit before work though. The system is a bit different from before and it seems the arranged marriages are done with.

[rkmsuf]

The system is a bit different from before and it seems the arranged marriages are done with.


Of course since you'd obviously want a women that arouses your intellect as well as your loins.

[Ben E Lou]

Of course since you'd obviously want a women that arouses your intellect as well as your loins.Bark like a dog!

[rkmsuf]

Hop on one leg

[Desnudo]

The closing comments from IGN's review seem very positive:

'Closing Comments
Discounting those with short attention spans, any gamers with an interest in the strategy genre owe it to themselves to buy, beg or borrow this game. I'd honestly suggest you steal it if none of those other options seem to work for you but in these days of hasty litigation, I had better refrain from actually encouraging anyone to commit a crime to get hold of this game. Still, with a game this good, it'd be a crime not to play it.
This series has always been an office favorite. We never had a problem filling eight seats for a Shogun match, and though Medieval: Total War never quite reached that level of interest, I've played it regularly since the day it came out. But Rome: Total War is such an improvement over its predecessors that it's my new strategy game of choice. The shorter, more digestible campaigns and the intense immediacy of the battles have made it hard for me to drag myself away long enough to get this review written; the more I write about it, the more I want to play it.

Personally, I've never given a score this high before but Rome Total War is without a doubt one of the best games I've ever played. The combination of subject matter, game mechanics, and outstanding visuals add up to one of the best experiences you'll have on the PC.

Now if you'll excuse me, there are some Thracians at the gate just begging for another ass-kicking."

[JeeberD]

So where could an individual find a demo for this game?

[Neuqua]

Google it. You Astro-loving lazy ass.

:)

[JeeberD]

:p

Dammit, do my work for me, Cub-Boy!

[Neuqua]

Only because I know you are in for heartbreak at the end of the year. I feel bad for you.

Just get it from the website.

hxxp://www.totalwar.com/

[JeeberD]

Gracias!


Cubs still suck, though... ;)

[gstelmack]

Anyone recommend a good book detailing the time period? I'm looking for mostly a good war-oriented read on it.

I know almost nothing of the time, as it was never one that interested me much for whatever reason, but now I have no choice but to study up on it.

Curious as to what some good books are to use as primers, also...I'm not even sure what year(s) the games cover?

I can't recommend a good history book, but I can recommend the Belisarius series by David Drake / Eric Flint. It's sci-fi with a divergent history, but has lots of good info on the time period and well-researched historical references. It will give you a good feel for the period. In addition to just plain being a good read.

[Masked]

I wasn't going to buy this game right away, but then I opened up the Fry's add this morning at saw it advertised for $39.99 right next to Neverwinter Nights Platinum for $29.99. I had decided not to get either until their prices dropped.

[Calis]

I can't recommend a good history book, but I can recommend the Belisarius series by David Drake / Eric Flint. It's sci-fi with a divergent history, but has lots of good info on the time period and well-researched historical references. It will give you a good feel for the period. In addition to just plain being a good read.

Cool, thanks! I'll give those a shot at some point.

Oh, installing now! Haven't been this excited about a game since....uhh, probably Medieval. ;)

[Ben E Lou]

I did some reading up on this. I haven't played any others in the series, but this looks quite intriguing. I purchased it at lunch time. I'll be giving it a try early tomorrow morning.

[jbmagic]

hey guys that have the game


can you give us an honest opinion how is total war Rome is compare to Medieval.. how the campaigns and skirmish battles? is the computer challenging?

how is the game compare to the demo..is the speed better now?

how the Manual, it explains the game well?


i only have Medieval and viking

thanks

[Flasch186]

cant compare, dont have the old ones, but im impressed. Im still playing the tutorial and trying to get the hang of it....but it seems very interesting and unbelievably deep.

[Havok]

i hate everyone that has a copy... im still waiting for mine. It better come tommarrow or im nuking the Gogamers office!

P.S. give us some dam reviews already!!!

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Started a campain with the Scipii family. Made the mistake of attacking Gaul too early and well I sent the head of the family with his 2 heirs on a campaign and well let's just say the family 's seed was wiped out during a winter campaign.

[MrBug708]

Playing alittle more and I'm satisfied with it. I think the 3D atmostphere and the unknown Roman frontier is kind of cool. I don't really like kissing the butt of the Senate, but I'm marching through the Gauls like they are nothing. The diplomacy is still kind of weak; It has a very Civilization feel to it now. The Brits demanded 1700 of my cash for 12 turns to see what Ireland looked like. My diplomat just laughed at him and move on his way.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Playing alittle more and I'm satisfied with it. I think the 3D atmostphere and the unknown Roman frontier is kind of cool. I don't really like kissing the butt of the Senate, but I'm marching through the Gauls like they are nothing. The diplomacy is still kind of weak; It has a very Civilization feel to it now. The Brits demanded 1700 of my cash for 12 turns to see what Ireland looked like. My diplomat just laughed at him and move on his way.

That's when you send 1700 troops at im for the next 12 turns. :D

[Galaril]

Cool, thanks! I'll give those a shot at some point.

Oh, installing now! Haven't been this excited about a game since....uhh, probably Medieval. ;)


Here are some links to online sites that I browse for info on the Roman republic to the empire period.

Illustrated history of the Roman Empire (http://www.roman-empire.net/)

Rome Republic to Empire (http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/romanlinks.html)

Ancient Roman Empire (http://www.ghg.net/shetler/rome/)

Roman empire MSN Encarta (http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=1741502785&pn=1)

The Late Roman Empire (http://www.roman-empire.net/republic/laterepublic.html)

[MrBug708]

I played a lot more. It does get into more depth as you go on. It's def not something you can just sit and play for half an hour at a time. You might go 4 years tops, unless you are just sitting and waiting. I'm down to about 210 BC and havent been able to attack one of the other Roman families yet. I conquered Gaul and another family conquered another people, but I didn't click on who. I really enjoy the family tree line and changed my heir to a young 17 year old whose quite advanced. His father was adopted into my family line, sort of like Maximus from Gladiator, into the line as Caesar. There is a lot of side happenings with the other family and you are notified of anything that happens in the world map, which can get annoying. Automanage the Towns is very helpful and hiring Merc's helps out a lot. I just send them in waves on a full sprint. It's easier to kill a leader when you actually fight the battles as opposed to just simming the battles too.

[IwasHere]

The closing comments from IGN's review seem very positive:

'Closing Comments
Discounting those with short attention spans, any gamers with an interest in the strategy genre owe it to themselves to buy, beg or borrow this game. I'd honestly suggest you steal it if none of those other options seem to work for you but in these days of hasty litigation, I had better refrain from actually encouraging anyone to commit a crime to get hold of this game. Still, with a game this good, it'd be a crime not to play it.
This series has always been an office favorite. We never had a problem filling eight seats for a Shogun match, and though Medieval: Total War never quite reached that level of interest, I've played it regularly since the day it came out. But Rome: Total War is such an improvement over its predecessors that it's my new strategy game of choice. The shorter, more digestible campaigns and the intense immediacy of the battles have made it hard for me to drag myself away long enough to get this review written; the more I write about it, the more I want to play it.

Personally, I've never given a score this high before but Rome Total War is without a doubt one of the best games I've ever played. The combination of subject matter, game mechanics, and outstanding visuals add up to one of the best experiences you'll have on the PC.

Now if you'll excuse me, there are some Thracians at the gate just begging for another ass-kicking."


This is without a doubt the most insane review I have ever read. How can this game not ba a dissapointment now?


Also, Anyone know the minimum specs? I know it will work on my desktop, but I am curious if it will work on my laptop.

[Ben E Lou]

I was impressed last night. After the Tucker game, I came home and installed it. It had that "just one more turn" thing goin' on definitely. I *love* that the RTS portion of the game is completely optional. (Every battle can be simmed). I've never played this series before, so right now I'm getting CREAMED. I am playing the Julii, and have two Minor Cities and one Large Town, and that is it. I'm probably goign to be conquered soon. If anyone has any general tips, it would be appreciated. For now, this game is playing for me exactly how I would have wanted an advanced Civ 2 to play. I love the little things in it, like how your faction leader has heirs who come of age, become your generals, grow old, and die-and even their portraits change over time to reflect their age.

Tips pls k thx.

[Ben E Lou]

Also, Anyone know the minimum specs? I know it will work on my desktop, but I am curious if it will work on my laptop.From the box:

Win 98SE/ME/2000/EXP
P3 1.0 GHz or Ahlton 1.0 GHz
256MB Ram
8x speed CD-ROM
2.9 GB HD space (plus 500 MB for Windows swap file)
DirectX 9.0b compatible 16bit sound card
Windows Keybaord and mouse
1024x768 monitor
3d hardware Accelerator card

[IwasHere]

From the box:

Win 98SE/ME/2000/EXP
P3 1.0 GHz or Ahlton 1.0 GHz
256MB Ram
8x speed CD-ROM
2.9 GB HD space (plus 500 MB for Windows swap file)
DirectX 9.0b compatible 16bit sound card
Windows Keybaord and mouse
1024x768 monitor
3d hardware Accelerator card
Thanks

[jbmagic]

I was impressed last night. After the Tucker game, I came home and installed it. It had that "just one more turn" thing goin' on definitely. I *love* that the RTS portion of the game is completely optional. (Every battle can be simmed). I've never played this series before, so right now I'm getting CREAMED. I am playing the Julii, and have two Minor Cities and one Large Town, and that is it. I'm probably goign to be conquered soon. If anyone has any general tips, it would be appreciated. For now, this game is playing for me exactly how I would have wanted an advanced Civ 2 to play. I love the little things in it, like how your faction leader has heirs who come of age, become your generals, grow old, and die-and even their portraits change over time to reflect their age.

Tips pls k thx.


skydog i have Mediieval and Vikings , cant wai to get Rome

for battles , strategy comes into play with formations setting, etc....it does make a difference..i no pro, but to do well, is finding a good formation setting and flanking the side is important.....

stil learning

[Dutch]

Oh great, my wife and I will be battling for supremacy when we go to Best Buy later today. The Sims 2 vs. Rome Total War. Who will win? :D

[Apathetic Lurker]

Oh great, my wife and I will be battling for supremacy when we go to Best Buy later today. The Sims 2 vs. Rome Total War. Who will win? :D


I guess you will be playing Sims 2 for a bit...

[gstelmack]

Tactical battle tips (from Shogun/Medieval, have not played Rome yet, birthday next weekend so I can't buy it have to hope I get it as a present):

- Basic law of ancient battles: pin the enemy down, then send cavalry around the flank. Try to keep a reserve while you engage, and then send the reserve to hit from the side or rear. Preferably cavalry.

- Archers on a hill can be DEADLY. They have longer range, and enemies tire trying to get up the slope to them. A line of infantry just in front helps a lot here. In Shogun you could massacre hundreds of troops with 2 60-man musket units on a slope... This is your best defensive option and is great at bleeding enemies dry.

- Watch for unit morale. Units that are breaking need stiffening (with a reserve unit where possible). If the enemy punches a hole in your line, you'll be flanked from the middle.

- When all looks lost, RUN! You'll need to sacrifice a rear guard to let the rest of the troops escape. But most casualties occur when a unit breaks and is mowed down from behind by cavalry.

- Which is another good use for your cavalry reserve: mowing down the enemy as they try to run. Don't let them get away to fight another day.

Without playing Rome, I don't know how elephants and other new units will affect these, but those are your basic tactics for ancient warfare.

[cartman]

Without playing Rome, I don't know how elephants and other new units will affect these, but those are your basic tactics for ancient warfare.


Simply put, the elephants kick ass. Send them charging into anything, and they mow everyone down. That is one of all-time great computing moments for me.

I thought they were the killer unit, until I ran across pigs that were dipped in tar and set on fire. (I'm 100% serious on this) The elephants just freaked out and didn't know what to do.

[Ben E Lou]

Ok. I want tips on econ. Of course I sim all my battles. :)

[gstelmack]

Ok. I want tips on econ. Of course I sim all my battles. :)

I'm just the opposite. Screw the strategic map, I want more tactical battles...

[LionsFan10]

SkyDog, simming all of the battles is a great way to blow off a huge, very enjoyable portion of this game. I highly, highly recommend you cease and desist. Without those battles this game is a Civ clone, let Civ be Civ ... this is Total War. Play it, love it.

[Ben E Lou]

SkyDog, simming all of the battles is a great way to blow off a huge, very enjoyable portion of this game. I highly, highly recommend you cease and desist. Without those battles this game is a Civ clone, let Civ be Civ ... this is Total War. Play it, love it.So far, without the battles it is a much deeper and interesting version of Civ, which is what I'm looking for. If I get bored doing it this way, I'll re-visit the battles.

[Calis]

So far, without the battles it is a much deeper and interesting version of Civ, which is what I'm looking for. If I get bored doing it this way, I'll re-visit the battles.

Heh, great thing about this game. I'm the exact opposite and try to breeze through the Civ part of the game as fast as I can to get back to the battles.

Nice having that option though.

[Dutch]

I guess you will be playing Sims 2 for a bit...

LMAO! Actually, Target won. Once I got the Star Wars DVD box set, the game was over....she got some lamps and a bar stool....oh well...

[jbmagic]

is the AI challenging on Rome Total war ?

how is the AI on skirmish ?

how the AI on campaign?

[Calis]

Ok. I want tips on econ. Of course I sim all my battles. :)

Weird thing, I was having a horrible time with econ starting off as the Julii. I was having a tough time getting ANYTHING. You'll hit a definite turning point though, as I just built roads first in every city I conquered, and then usually markets next.

I also kept sending my ambassadors all over the place to get trade agreements with everyone I could, excluding the Gauls of course who I'm busy slaughtering by the thousands.

I basically would ransack a town, pick the option to kill off about the whole population which gives you a nice income boost, and it would give me enough to prepare an invasion of the next city. I was always cutting it REAL close though. ;)

Not to mention the amount of time it takes to repopulate those towns, ughh.

I hit the turning point though somewhere, and now I'm rolling in an extra 4-5k every turn.

Did I mention I have frigging WAR DOGS? Man those are cool.

I'm starting to like the Romans however. I was a bit annoyed that you HAD to start with one of the Roman factions and beat the game to unlock the other factions, but now I'm glad actually. This'll make me try out a lot more factions for real than I would have otherwise.

As you could probably guess, I'm loving this game.

[Havok]

death to gogamers!!! i still don't have my game.

This blows!

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Anyone know how I can mod the number of soldiers in a unit. I hate just staring with 40-60 soldiers in a company. Want at least 100-120 per so I could have the huge battles. If anyone could help it would be great thanks.

[MrBug708]

I don't think you can, it goes by what they use. Obviously the more technical the unit is, the harder it is to produce that unit. I think you can have up to 20 full units in each troop

[Ben E Lou]

Weird thing, I was having a horrible time with econ starting off as the Julii. I was having a tough time getting ANYTHING. You'll hit a definite turning point though, as I just built roads first in every city I conquered, and then usually markets next.

I also kept sending my ambassadors all over the place to get trade agreements with everyone I could, excluding the Gauls of course who I'm busy slaughtering by the thousands.

I basically would ransack a town, pick the option to kill off about the whole population which gives you a nice income boost, and it would give me enough to prepare an invasion of the next city. I was always cutting it REAL close though. ;)

Not to mention the amount of time it takes to repopulate those towns, ughh.

I hit the turning point though somewhere, and now I'm rolling in an extra 4-5k every turn.

Did I mention I have frigging WAR DOGS? Man those are cool.

I'm starting to like the Romans however. I was a bit annoyed that you HAD to start with one of the Roman factions and beat the game to unlock the other factions, but now I'm glad actually. This'll make me try out a lot more factions for real than I would have otherwise.

As you could probably guess, I'm loving this game.Thanks. This helps a ton. I had no trade agreements in the first game I played (which I lost miserably--never got more than four cities at any point). I'm doing much better the second go-round with the Scipii.

OK. That's *REALLY* cool to know about being able to play with any faction once I win a game!

Yes, I confess that I haven't read the whole manual yet. For a game like this, I like to skim the manual, play a game or two to get familiar with everything, then read it through and through when I can understand the significance of stuff in there.

Actually, in the learning campaign, I did fight the first two or three battles out, but that was before getting war dogs. I will probably fight at least one battle out just to see those suckers in action!

[Calis]

Yeah, I can't vouch for which portion of the above actually caused me to start rolling in the cash, but something did. :)

As far as I know on the faction thing, if you win the whole campaign you unlock everyone. If you play the shorter campaign(which I'm doing now), you just unlock that factions rivals. In the case of Julii it's the Gauls. The short campaign is pretty nice, you just have to eradicate your rival and control so much territory. The large campaign was just a little too uhh..large for me to tackle first time. I think that sucker is going to take a long time to play through.

I actually really like the War Dogs so far. They're expensive as hell but are great morale crushers. It's basically a one shot deal though, as you ain't getting the dogs back under control in the same battle...so pick targets wisely. I like to lump them in with the cavalry and have them tear into the archers and other backlines. It's nice to have the enemy retreat right through them.

CHEMICAL- I swear there's an option to set units to large, and it'll change the size from 60 to 120 or thereabouts for default. I'm not sure where it is exactly though, I'll have to fire up the game again and check. The bad news is I've heard that the AI falls apart if you do this. They have no idea how to manage their population with the bigger armies and wind up converting their whole population to units, basically killing off their entire economy. Hopefully this will be patched up soon.

[GrantDawg]

You guys are killing me. Maybe I can sell a kidney or something.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Yeah, I can't vouch for which portion of the above actually caused me to start rolling in the cash, but something did. :)

As far as I know on the faction thing, if you win the whole campaign you unlock everyone. If you play the shorter campaign(which I'm doing now), you just unlock that factions rivals. In the case of Julii it's the Gauls. The short campaign is pretty nice, you just have to eradicate your rival and control so much territory. The large campaign was just a little too uhh..large for me to tackle first time. I think that sucker is going to take a long time to play through.

I actually really like the War Dogs so far. They're expensive as hell but are great morale crushers. It's basically a one shot deal though, as you ain't getting the dogs back under control in the same battle...so pick targets wisely. I like to lump them in with the cavalry and have them tear into the archers and other backlines. It's nice to have the enemy retreat right through them.

CHEMICAL- I swear there's an option to set units to large, and it'll change the size from 60 to 120 or thereabouts for default. I'm not sure where it is exactly though, I'll have to fire up the game again and check. The bad news is I've heard that the AI falls apart if you do this. They have no idea how to manage their population with the bigger armies and wind up converting their whole population to units, basically killing off their entire economy. Hopefully this will be patched up soon.
I heard something like this too on Total War .com but can't find the post. Oh well It might take time to mod but we'll get there.

[Apathetic Lurker]

Anyone know how I can mod the number of soldiers in a unit. I hate just staring with 40-60 soldiers in a company. Want at least 100-120 per so I could have the huge battles. If anyone could help it would be great thanks.


I believie you can do it the same way M:tw did it. There is a slider in options I do believe. Never tried it as my system is a big pile of "ancient"

[Apathetic Lurker]

Yeah, I can't vouch for which portion of the above actually caused me to start rolling in the cash, but something did. :)

As far as I know on the faction thing, if you win the whole campaign you unlock everyone. If you play the shorter campaign(which I'm doing now), you just unlock that factions rivals. In the case of Julii it's the Gauls. The short campaign is pretty nice, you just have to eradicate your rival and control so much territory. The large campaign was just a little too uhh..large for me to tackle first time. I think that sucker is going to take a long time to play through.

I actually really like the War Dogs so far. They're expensive as hell but are great morale crushers. It's basically a one shot deal though, as you ain't getting the dogs back under control in the same battle...so pick targets wisely. I like to lump them in with the cavalry and have them tear into the archers and other backlines. It's nice to have the enemy retreat right through them.

CHEMICAL- I swear there's an option to set units to large, and it'll change the size from 60 to 120 or thereabouts for default. I'm not sure where it is exactly though, I'll have to fire up the game again and check. The bad news is I've heard that the AI falls apart if you do this. They have no idea how to manage their population with the bigger armies and wind up converting their whole population to units, basically killing off their entire economy. Hopefully this will be patched up soon.

If you play the short campaign and win you will unlock all factions which have deen killed. Even if another faction knocked them off you can then play them. As the Julii I only knocked off the Spanish and Guals but have just started one with the Greek Cities.

[valhalla]

I would HIGHLY recommend this game especially if you enjoyed the civilization games. I spent 11 straight hours sunday (i missed all the football games, and im a football junkie) playing this game and would have kept playing all night but my eyeballs were stinging. Very immersive, best game IMO since Knights of the old republic on xbox.

[Izulde]

While I liked Medieval:Total War better, I have to say that this game is *extremely* addicting.

I haven't played that much yet... but I've started a large campaign as the Scipii... Right now I control all of Sicily and just conquered one of the Carthaginian cities in North Africa. The Julii and Brutii are beating me in terms of Senate Offices, but since I just conquered that North African city, the Senate promised me special consideration for an office next go round.

I'm also on my second generation leader, Gaius Scipio whose been totally kicking ass in battles and just tearing things up. Ironically enough, the guy I just appointed as my Faction Heir is one who was adopted into the family after he married one of my daughters.

Question: Is it possible to move your capital? I really want to move it from Capua to Syracuse so I have less travel time for sending out my family members to govern provinces. Moving it to Syracuse would also give me a more central base from which to launch invasions into North Africa.

[Apathetic Lurker]

No . I don't believe you can move your capitol.It will move(no control where) if your original was captured, as I found out the hard way :mad:

[henry296]

I read on the Total War home page that you can move your capital. I don't have the game so I don't know how.

Todd

[MrBug708]

I read too that you could move your capital. I'm assuming you'd probably would look at the city zoom in that city, this being Syracuse in this instance, to find out where you can change it.

My favorite part is looking at the family tree and figuring out heirs and who is going to be it. I had an "original heir" who was referred to as "Titus the Mad" and an attribute he had was that he scared small children on sight.

[sabotai]

I'm very disappointed in all of you...

This game has been out for over a DAY and I STILL don't see any dynasties. What the hell?

[hukarez]

Finally decided to get this game - seeing as I was able to pick it up used at the local EB here. In any case - it's been a headache getting this sorted out.

It seems the box I had didn't include Disc 1 and 2, which was pretty much on an identical case and still back at the store. So I ended up having to double back and get the case left behind - which wasn't too bad, seeing as it's just practically down the street.

Went ahead and defragged the old hard disk, since re-installing as well as uninstalling some old games seems to have put things out of whack. Then, I went ahead and tried to install, where I received a "Error 1305" in regards to the Voice1.DAT file. I thought, "What the hell?" and retried, and rebooted, and retried the installation procedure. No such dice.

When I went to the TotalWar.com page, and checked out the Forum boards, there seems to be a stickied thread about the Error 1305, where one of the board administrators stated that there could possibly have been a bad batch of CDs that resulted in the error.

Needless to say - I was pretty pissed. There have been a couple of games in the past, where I received a "bad batch" of sorts, but this has been the first for me this year. In any case, I was going to double back and return the game (couldn't complain too much, since I got this used), when I noticed another post stating that some folks upgraded their DVD drive's firmware.

I figured I'd go right ahead and make some comparisons - and sure enough, there's a later firmware revision for my Pioneer DVD drive. In any case, I downloaded it...and realized I'm going to need to update the firmware via MS-DOS - and not the DOS prompt you get with WinXP or 2000. In any case...

It was a pain in the ass to get my firmware updated, with a few searches of old floppies for a working Windows 98 Startup disk - not to mention editing the autoexec file to read the CD-ROM drive, etc...etc...

Finally got through with that - and luckily, I was able to install the game. Whew...now I think I'm too tired to try playing it. What a frickin' day... :eek:

[jbmagic]

for people that play MTW and rome total war, whats better?

[Aylmar]

You can move your capital by going into the 'Settlement Details' screen. On the left side of that screen (IIRC), there is a button called 'Declare Capital' or 'Make Capital'. Words may be slightly off, but you get the ponit. :)

[Apathetic Lurker]

You can move your capital by going into the 'Settlement Details' screen. On the left side of that screen (IIRC), there is a button called 'Declare Capital' or 'Make Capital'. Words may be slightly off, but you get the ponit. :)


I did not know that.... I thought we couldn't do it ourselves. I guess I SHOULD crack open the manual

[bamcgee]

Rome Total War is a significant improvement over Medieval, particularly the battles. I spent all weekend on it, and I think I got carpal tunnel as a result. Beware attacking the cities with AI reinforcements though - your AI controlled general of your other troops likes to do suicidal mad dashes to the town square. Lost a 6 star general that way, among others.

After two full, long days, I was ecstatic to finally take Rome. However, I was a little disappointed to realize that I only had 15 provinces out of a required 30+ for victory. Oye. That's a lot of gaming left.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Rome Total War is a significant improvement over Medieval, particularly the battles. I spent all weekend on it, and I think I got carpal tunnel as a result. Beware attacking the cities with AI reinforcements though - your AI controlled general of your other troops likes to do suicidal mad dashes to the town square. Lost a 6 star general that way, among others.

After two full, long days, I was ecstatic to finally take Rome. However, I was a little disappointed to realize that I only had 15 provinces out of a required 30+ for victory. Oye. That's a lot of gaming left.

With the Julii family Im taking it slowly. Conquering Gaul until I a certain general by the name of Gauius Julius is born.

[Coffee Warlord]

Couple questions for all you assholes who had the money to pick this up. :)

1) Is naval combat still that god awful 'roll the dice and pray to god you win' deal?

2) How much CAN you do diplomatically? One of my biggest wishes with M:TW was being severly limited on what I could negotiate with other nations.

3) What's the timespan the longest 'open' campaign covers?

[MrBug708]

Couple questions for all you assholes who had the money to pick this up. :)

1) Is naval combat still that god awful 'roll the dice and pray to god you win' deal?

2) How much CAN you do diplomatically? One of my biggest wishes with M:TW was being severly limited on what I could negotiate with other nations.

3) What's the timespan the longest 'open' campaign covers?


1 - Weak stuff. Lookingat my current game though, The Greeks have about 40 ships around their city states. Looks like it'll be a land battle. I had a Naval Battle where I had 30 ships to their 120 and it was a draw, while another time I had 40 ships to their 20 and it was a defeat, so it's not very good. The manuel said that Naval Combat wasn't as popular in those times so they didn't spend a lot of time on making it a key part.

2 - Depends on what you call "Diplomatic". You can make alliances, trade map information, bride regions to yourside, demand tribute, et al, but it didn't really go that indepth. Most of the time it was rejected and the few times it did work, the Senate would ask me to invade that city 2 years later then change its mind the next turn because I'm allied to them. I haven't seen an Allied country help me invade or just invade another country for land, but if the army is in the vicinity, it did help my battle.

3 - For some reason the year 1400 stands out, but I have no idea why and it doesnt make sense. I'm in year 208BC and it seems like I have been playing forever. I'm on my third leader, but he's in his late 50's

[Coffee Warlord]

I guess one of the key diplomatic points is...is there a troop passage agreement? I wanna sign a treaty that lets the Empire move their troops through places to invade outlying shit, dammit. Always sucked to have to basically attack anyone if they were in your path in MTW.

[WSUCougar]

I guess one of the key diplomatic points is...is there a troop passage agreement?
Yes, there is.

And the diplomatic (influence) skill of your diplomat has a definite bearing on the success of your diplomatic ventures.

The manual said that Naval Combat wasn't as popular in those times so they didn't spend a lot of time on making it a key part.
Wow, they actually said that? Kind of an ignorant statement on their part... :p

[mgadfly]

Anyone know how to tell if a computer has the specs needed to play this game? Specifically, I'm worried that I don't have the "3D hardware Accelerater Card" and "latest drivers"

[MrBug708]

I noticed the best and most challenging aspect thus far. When a town gets the plague, the Governor can also get infected. I havent seen them die, but it seems to turn them into a host for the plague. I've moved one of my more higher officials out of Rome (I assasinated a captain and had war declared on me) all the way up to Britian where he is fighting there. Every town he passes through has a brush with the plague and I had to assign him to help fight in a battle with another of my leaders and that leader is also a host now and is up in Britian. Outside of a suicide attack into some enemy troops, these guys are lifers with it.

On downer is how large your family tree can get and once you add a few adotped kids, it dilutes the natural line a bit.

[WSUCougar]

You might try the demo and see if it works for you.

[mgadfly]

I actually already bought the game, but the graphic quality is a bit sketchy (lines across the screen where the clouds should be, etc...) and the sound is a little messed up at times. I'm trying to figure out what the problem might be.

[hukarez]

I actually already bought the game, but the graphic quality is a bit sketchy (lines across the screen where the clouds should be, etc...) and the sound is a little messed up at times. I'm trying to figure out what the problem might be.
Running on the latest drivers for your videocard, by chance?

[Apathetic Lurker]

Anyone know how to tell if a computer has the specs needed to play this game? Specifically, I'm worried that I don't have the "3D hardware Accelerater Card" and "latest drivers"

I have a NVidia 440 mx w/64meg ram with original drivers. Game works fine

[Pumpy Tudors]

Does the tactical battle mode have, of all things, a USEFUL MINI-MAP? I hatedhatedhated the mini-map in M:TW. The orientation was all screwy, I had no idea where all of my troops were, and it was just a disaster. Honestly, that map ruined the entire game for me. I'll never play it again. Is the map in R:TW any better?

[Havok]

Does the tactical battle mode have, of all things, a USEFUL MINI-MAP? I hatedhatedhated the mini-map in M:TW. The orientation was all screwy, I had no idea where all of my troops were, and it was just a disaster. Honestly, that map ruined the entire game for me. I'll never play it again. Is the map in R:TW any better?


I don't remember the mini map in MTW being wierd at all. I never had a problem finding my guys and besides, they shouldn't be all over the map anyway unless your just mowing down the enemy as they retreat.

You missed out on a hell-of-a-game if you quit because of the mini map.

[mgadfly]

Running on the latest drivers for your videocard, by chance?

My question was whether anyone knew how I can check this. I've never had to ever determine what video card I have, and what drivers are loaded.

[MrBug708]

So I conquered 50 provinces and th egame ended. Nothing special, but there are playable factions now. You can't keep playing either, you need to start over

[Desnudo]

I just had a fight defending a city with stone walls from the Britons. Man what an awesome addition ladders are. Watching their infantry crawling over the wall and fighting on top of it was a lot of fun. This game is so much easier to play for me than Medieval, which felt like a struggle against the GUI sometimes. I still have problems keeping control over a full army, but I suppose that adds to the realism.

One feature I wish they'd add is the option to have your army always turn to face the enemy once they stop marching. Its a real pain to move someone back and then have to click on them again to rotate them the right direction.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I don't remember the mini map in MTW being wierd at all. I never had a problem finding my guys and besides, they shouldn't be all over the map anyway unless your just mowing down the enemy as they retreat.

You missed out on a hell-of-a-game if you quit because of the mini map.I can accept that I'm an awful strategist, so if I shouldn't have had guys all over the place, I concede that I screwed up there. I ran into problems figuring out which way to make my troops go. If I saw something on the map like this (X is my group of guys, O is the enemy group):


O

X

I figure that I need to send my troops generally northwest, right? Okay, which way is northwest? Which direction are they facing right now? Maybe I'm not remembering the map as well as I thought, but I don't think there was a compass or anything to orient me. I ended up just telling my guys to move forward, and then I'd watch the mini map to see which direction they were headed. If they were going the wrong way, then I have to try to get a formation of a couple hundred troops to swing 115 degrees or something and still try to keep a positional advantage. It was a headache. :(

[Galaril]

My question was whether anyone knew how I can check this. I've never had to ever determine what video card I have, and what drivers are loaded.

You can check your video card a number of ways.One easy one is to Run the dxdiag in Run and you will find the video card among other things or you can right click on your display screen and go to properties-> settings->advance ->and you should find it in their onder video I believe you can also update drivers by right clicking in their.

[Havok]

I can accept that I'm an awful strategist, so if I shouldn't have had guys all over the place, I concede that I screwed up there. I ran into problems figuring out which way to make my troops go. If I saw something on the map like this (X is my group of guys, O is the enemy group):


O

X

I figure that I need to send my troops generally northwest, right? Okay, which way is northwest? Which direction are they facing right now? Maybe I'm not remembering the map as well as I thought, but I don't think there was a compass or anything to orient me. I ended up just telling my guys to move forward, and then I'd watch the mini map to see which direction they were headed. If they were going the wrong way, then I have to try to get a formation of a couple hundred troops to swing 115 degrees or something and still try to keep a positional advantage. It was a headache. :(



Well..... the best way that "I" found to move troops in MTW when attacking (defending i always just set up in a bigtime defensive formation, Spearman & swordsman in a semi-circle around my archers and horses on the sides) is to set-up small 2-3 unit groups. Like 2 units of spearman grouped together or 2 units of swordsman grouped together... whatever. (to make groups click a unit, hold down the alt key and click another unit. Then hit the 'G' key or the 'group' button on the interface) Then pause the game and move those small groups 1 at a time. Figure out where you want them to go, then left click and hold down the button and stretch the formation to the right or left. Right if you want them facing the way your screen is facing or left if you want them facing the opposite way.

Trying to move an entire army all at once and having them end up anywhere near where you want them to be is next to impossible. Also, i know reading the manual sucks and all but you should read the part for the tactical battle screen. All the hotkeys and stuff are great once you get used to them.

Hopfully i at least somewhat answered your question :) I really think you should install it again and just do like 10 battles back-to-back-to-back-etc... MTW is one of the best games i've ever played and RTW is shaping up be even better.

[mgadfly]

You can check your video card a number of ways.One easy one is to Run the dxdiag in Run and you will find the video card among other things or you can right click on your display screen and go to properties-> settings->advance ->and you should find it in their onder video I believe you can also update drivers by right clicking in their.

Thanks!

[Coffee Warlord]

Well, I finally broke down and picked it up last night.

And played for 6 hours straight. This one has ungodly insane
'Just One More Turn' syndrome. I'm still in the dark in a few
things and getting the hang of it. (One huge question. Does anyone
know why the hell some provinces will go from profitable one turn,
and just utterly PLUMMET one turn later, turning into a money
sink from hell for ages and ages - it seems there's no rhyme or
reason to my provincial province.)

But, the point is. Gaul, while proving a stingy adversary, who
has yet to be fully conquered, will die. Soon. The glorious
armies of Rome continue to march north, destroying the barbarian
Gauls. In time, we shall bring the Light of Rome to all barbaric
lands. Ave Romanus!

[WSUCougar]

This one has ungodly insane
'Just One More Turn' syndrome.
Truer words were never spoken. This game is an ultimate sleep depriver. Not since Civ II or Imperialism II have I lost such sleep to a game.

One huge question. Does anyone know why the hell some provinces will go from profitable one turn, and just utterly PLUMMET one turn later, turning into a money sink from hell for ages and ages - it seems there's no rhyme or reason to my provincial province.
Check the settlement detail screen. (After you double-click on the city itself, it is a button from the following screen.) It will list all of the factors that contribute to the settlement's income, happiness, etc. Squalor, poor management, etc. In my very limited experience thusfar it seems that the development of the settlement catches up with a poor governor and you need to build some happiness-related, law-related, or health-related improvements.

Edit: Also, the size of the garrison affects this. The bigger the better in terms of keeping the inhabitants in line.

[WSUCougar]

dola
Does the tactical battle mode have, of all things, a USEFUL MINI-MAP? I hatedhatedhated the mini-map in M:TW. The orientation was all screwy, I had no idea where all of my troops were, and it was just a disaster. Honestly, that map ruined the entire game for me. I'll never play it again. Is the map in R:TW any better?
I think the mini-map in R:TW is fine, but another trick I use to keep track of all my troops is to periodically pause the game and then double-click on each unit. This pulls the camera to that unit and gives me a quick peek at their respective situations. It's also obvious when they are isolated or off on a wild goose chase after a fleeing, routed enemy unit.

[Coffee Warlord]

We will live and die as Romans!

The Light of Rome will shine forever!

Senatus Populusque Romanus!

Once I get a really good feel for everything, there will be dynasty. Oh yes.

[Havok]

We will live and die as Romans!

The Light of Rome will shine forever!

Senatus Populusque Romanus!

Once I get a really good feel for everything, there will be dynasty. Oh yes.


Does anyone else actually like the speaches before battles??? Im sure they get old after awhile but since i've only been playing for 2 days... i love them :)

[Coffee Warlord]

Does anyone else actually like the speaches before battles??? Im sure they get old after awhile but since i've only been playing for 2 days... i love them :)

Love em. The sound effects/voices a whole are just AMAZINGLY done in this one. I stared in awe for a solid minute the first time I zoomed in on a column of roman infantry and just heard that good old 'thud thud thud thud' marching.

[Eilim]

Ran across this on Gone Gold and thought some of you might be interested, http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/rome-total-war/551582p1.html . Have to say between R:TW and WH40K:Dawn of War being released this past week I haven't been getting much sleep. :)

[Ben E Lou]

Not only does this game have the "just-one-more-turn" thing goin' on, but it has sent me to the dictionary twice already. Just had to look up "catamite." {Shudders}

[Eilim]

I'm making a strategic nightmare of a push north with my Julii forces in a campaign for the sole reason I want to experience something I read about on another forum:

"The enemy general, who's entire Warband had been slaughtered at the gates, regains his courage and decides to charge. I'm zoomed way in on him, just admiring the fantastic graphics as this lone warrior, dressed in leather armor and wielding a short sword, charges down towards my forces, not even noticing the faint whirling sound I hear. Then, with a wet splat, a couple dozen human heads slam into the guy, tossing him backwards with tremendous force and leaving him in a crumpled heap on the ground, surrounded by dozens of severed heads.

I'm telling you, it just doesn't get any better than this."

I just can't wait to see headhurlers in action, going to have to try and recruit some as mercenaries. Then I'm off to find the "flaming pigs" :)

I'm being a little more conservative and practical with my main campaign though.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Not only does this game have the "just-one-more-turn" thing goin' on, but it has sent me to the dictionary twice already. Just had to look up "catamite." {Shudders}
So.....What does Catamite mean? :confused:

[Havok]

I'm making a strategic nightmare of a push north with my Julii forces in a campaign for the sole reason I want to experience something I read about on another forum:

"The enemy general, who's entire Warband had been slaughtered at the gates, regains his courage and decides to charge. I'm zoomed way in on him, just admiring the fantastic graphics as this lone warrior, dressed in leather armor and wielding a short sword, charges down towards my forces, not even noticing the faint whirling sound I hear. Then, with a wet splat, a couple dozen human heads slam into the guy, tossing him backwards with tremendous force and leaving him in a crumpled heap on the ground, surrounded by dozens of severed heads.

I'm telling you, it just doesn't get any better than this."

I just can't wait to see headhurlers in action, going to have to try and recruit some as mercenaries. Then I'm off to find the "flaming pigs" :)

I'm being a little more conservative and practical with my main campaign though.



FLAMING PIGS FOR EVERYONE!!!!


p.s. Wardogs Rock!

[JeeberD]

Once I get a really good feel for everything, there will be dynasty. Oh yes.

Hooray, another ten post dynasty! :p

[tucker342]

fantastic game. I''ve been playing it pretty much non-stop since last Thursday

[Coffee Warlord]

The Spanish are no longer content to sit in the Iberian. Unfortunately,
they chose the wrong nation to declare war upon. Joining forces with the
battered and nearly exterminated Gauls, the Spaniards have dared to attack
the Roman Empire.

Led by General Antonius Collius, the legions have stormed into the Iberian.
Another young General, freshly outfitted with ballista and the finest Roman
soldiers, is currently sailing towards Spain. We will quell this barbaric
uprising and bring the light of Rome to these people.

Fuckers have a navy, too. This should be a good fight.

[GrantDawg]

Just ordered this game. You all suck.

[Coffee Warlord]

Just ordered this game. You all suck.

Ave Romanus!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Just ordered this game. You all suck.

Makes two of us...

[Coffee Warlord]

Makes two of us...

Ave Romanus Dolanus!

[Critch]

I bought it last night, make that three.

[sabotai]

I will be (hopefully) buying this tonight. But I was going to buy anyway, so I can't blame the people in this thread. :)

[MrBug708]

I love the quotes that show when the game is loading. There are some good ones.

I've played a little as the greeks and let me tell you, the Roman advantage in the Cavalry is HUGE. Makes playing the Romans that much more easier

[MrBug708]

Found this gem on the RTW forums

If egypt ever sends a diplomat to you demanding you become a protectorate, he says

"Pharoah -health and strength to him- states "All Your Base Are Belong To Us!". It is time to become a client kingdom under the kindly rule of the Pharoah."

[WSUCougar]

Actual exchange of quotes between me and my wife late last night:

Mrs. Coug (half-asleep): "It's very late..."

Coug: "I was going to come to bed a couple hours ago, but I had to deal with the back-stabbing Numidians."

Mrs. Coug: "zzzzzzzzzz"

[fantastic flying froggies]

It's been a few days already and not a single real dynasty yet...

I'm very disappointed in you guys!!!

[Coffee Warlord]

We're all still getting the hang of it. At least I am. I've been plotting starting the great Scipii Dynasty tonight, actually. Gonna try em tonight, if I like em enough to get a long term game going with em, then the struggles of the Senate and People of Rome will be recorded into the annals of FOFC.

[dacman]

So.....What does Catamite mean? :confused:

cat·a·mite http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/JPG/pron.jpg (https://secure.reference.com/premium/login.html?rd=2&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdictionary.reference.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dcatamite) ( P ) Pronunciation Key (http://dictionary.reference.com/help/ahd4/pronkey.html) (khttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/abreve.gifthttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/prime.gifhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/schwa.gif-mhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/imacr.gifthttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/lprime.gif)
n.
<DL><DD>A boy who has a sexual relationship with a man.</DD></DL>

[fantastic flying froggies]

cat·a·mite http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/JPG/pron.jpg (https://secure.reference.com/premium/login.html?rd=2&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdictionary.reference.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dcatamite) ( P ) Pronunciation Key (http://dictionary.reference.com/help/ahd4/pronkey.html) (khttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/abreve.gifthttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/prime.gifhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/schwa.gif-mhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/imacr.gifthttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/lprime.gif)
n.


<DL><DD>A boy who has a sexual relationship with a man.</DD></DL>Kinda like a dolamite then, no?...

[Apathetic Lurker]

Armored war elephants are just plain amazing!!!

[TazFTW]

Are you able to assign multiple assassins to kill someone? I remember in Shogun you were able to, to increase your odds of a kill.

I'd really like to kill a traitorous nephew but my armies are stretched taking on the Greeks and the odds of one assassin is like 3%.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Anyone know how / where in the RTW folder the soundtrack is or where I could get a copy of the track? Thanks.

[LionsFan10]

Anyone know how / where in the RTW folder the soundtrack is or where I could get a copy of the track? Thanks.

You too huh? I LOVE the music from Rome: Total War, it's great. Sometimes I let it sit at the start screen so I can listen to the music for a minute.

[Chief Rum]

I want to find where the speeches are stored and load mpegs with Mel Gibson's "they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom speech" and Aragorn's "it's not this day...this day, we fight!" speech in LOTR:ROTK. :)

Sure, the Romans didn't fight for freedom or good, but that would give me chills. :)

And, yeah, the music was cool. I was actually replaying it in my head a bit going to and from work yesterday.

CR

[daedalus]

Anyone know how / where in the RTW folder the soundtrack is or where I could get a copy of the track? Thanks.From the GoneGold Forum (http://www.gonegold.com/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=018409).

[Honolulu_Blue]

I want to find where the speeches are stored and load mpegs with Mel Gibson's "they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom speech" and Aragorn's "it's not this day...this day, we fight!" speech in LOTR:ROTK. :)

Sure, the Romans didn't fight for freedom or good, but that would give me chills. :)

And, yeah, the music was cool. I was actually replaying it in my head a bit going to and from work yesterday.

CR

Theoden's speech before the Riders charged down the hill in ROTK is a classic as well. A few sound bites from Maximus wouldn't hurt either. Strength & Honor!

[WSUCougar]

I actually got the soundtrack as part of the third disk. Some kind of Best Buy special deal.

[sabotai]

I got mine from Best Buy too. Didn't know abou tthe soundtrack thing until now, though.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

I actually got the soundtrack as part of the third disk. Some kind of Best Buy special deal.

Damn! CuzI was suppose to get a bonus disk but never got it from EB. :mad:

[LionsFan10]

Damn! CuzI was suppose to get a bonus disk but never got it from EB. :mad:

For everybody that wants to listen to the music but didn't get that special CD there is a mod over on the TW Center site for an idx extractor that will extract the files into playable music on your computer. It converted mine into WMP files. Link ... hXXp'ed to be safe. :D

hxxp//www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=8057

[Dutch]

I got 4 CD's in my gamebox. One being the soundtrack. I don't see anything special about the box at all to make it seem like a special addition or anything like that. (FWIW - The botoom of the box says it has 4 CD's in the contents.)

BTW - This is an awesome strategy game.

[Peregrine]

I'm just about caved in to buying this game, it just sounds too damn good! Not that I really need another game right now of course, but the strategy mode sounds great! For some reason I had the idea the game was mostly about RTS style battles, which I don't care much about, but the strategy side sounds great as well, I can see myself spending most of my time there.

Not sure if this has been posted here before, but I saw this on another forum about how to unlock all the factions from the start if you don't want to wait through several campaigns:


That is what I thought too. A little search at the TotalWar.org
revleaed that there is text that sets up the campaigns. The file
should be in folder:

C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\Data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign

and is called the : descr_strat

If you open it the first few lines will read:

; Custom campaign script generated by Romans Campaign Map Editor

campaign imperial_campaign
playable
romans_julii
romans_brutii
romans_scipii
end
unlockable
egypt
seleucid
carthage
parthia
germans
gauls
britons
greek_cities
end
nonplayable
romans_senate
macedon
pontus
armenia
dacia
scythia
spain
thrace
numidia
slave
end



Just change it to:


; Custom campaign script generated by Romans Campaign Map Editor

campaign imperial_campaign
playable
romans_julii
romans_brutii
romans_scipii
egypt
seleucid
carthage
parthia
germans
gauls
britons
greek_cities
end
unlockable
end
nonplayable
romans_senate
macedon
pontus
armenia
dacia
scythia
spain
thrace
numidia
slave
end

[Galaril]

If you are liking this game and want to make it better check out this site for a discussion about a RTW realism /improvement mod,Great stuff.

RTW mod (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10207&st=60)

[Buccaneer]

Not since Civ II or Imperialism II have I lost such sleep to a game.


That is why you and I are secretly married.

[Buccaneer]

Heh, great thing about this game. I'm the exact opposite and try to breeze through the Civ part of the game as fast as I can to get back to the battles.


That's crazy talk.

[Buccaneer]

Chief Rum, I've heard from all of my other strategy game brothers (even the ones who love clickfests), I need to hear from you, man. Can you envision playing RTW in the same manner you and I played MTW (albeit in a different time period)?

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

I got 4 CD's in my gamebox. One being the soundtrack. I don't see anything special about the box at all to make it seem like a special addition or anything like that. (FWIW - The botoom of the box says it has 4 CD's in the contents.)

BTW - This is an awesome strategy game.

Odd cuz mine only had 3 discs.

[Chief Rum]

Chief Rum, I've heard from all of my other strategy game brothers (even the ones who love clickfests), I need to hear from you, man. Can you envision playing RTW in the same manner you and I played MTW (albeit in a different time period)?

Yes, I can. In fact, I feel like I am playing the same game in many respects, but it's deeper almost all the way through. Diplomacy is at another level. The battlefield feels simpler to operate on. There are Civ-like elements to empire-building that increase the importance of the campaign.

I haven't played or met enough of the other factions yet to know if there is the same variety in unit types, so I can't really speak to that. And I am undecided on how they changed the generals (they are family members now, and not every unit has a head guy), but I like that everyone has an age now. No generals living through your emtire game history anymore.

I don't know if I have played far enough to really give you a definitive answer, Bucc, but I like what I have seen so far, and the switch from province-to-province fighting to more specific point-by-point battle locations isn't that different from the M:TW model (a switch I seem to recall you having a lot of concerns about). Really, it's like instead of having 100 battlefields (the provinces), now you have thousands of possibilities, and the ability to choose a battlefield for advantages to your army or to station an army at a ford or a mountain pass to stop an enemy advance adds a whole new element to the game.

Oh, yeah, and seige assaults are a lot more fun.

If you have any specific questions, lay it on me. :)

CR

[Godzilla Blitz]

Stayed away from this thread for as long as I could. Gave in a couple of days ago, and read the whole thing through. Ordered the game yesterday from GoGamer.

Blast you all.

[Buccaneer]

Thanks, Matt. You did hit the proverbial nail on the head with what I was concerned about. Bummer about the aging generals though, you and I did have some good ones, eh?

[Chief Rum]

Yeah, I would develop some good ones. But I like the realism. It just makes more sense. You know what a pain it was to explain in my Poland dynasty that I still had the same general around who was the brother of my opening faction leader--200 years after the fact? :)

I mean I got guys in the First Crusade, fighting Mongols and leading musketeers in an army all in the same game. That's just wrong. :)

CR

[Chief Rum]

dola,

Feel free and check out my R;TW dynasty if you like, Steve. That might help you, too.

CR

[Calis]

That's crazy talk.

Heh, well I was being sarcastic somewhat. I actually do prefer the tactical game, but I do enjoy the strategic portion as well. I go back and forth on which one is better about every hour. :) Btw, I was in no way demeaning Civ, as I was also a huge fan of Civ2..I just love me the tactical battles.

Btw, pertaining to my book question early..it's not Roman, and it's before the time of the game, but I've been reading Gates of Fire, which is an extremely well written book about the Battle of Thermopylae. Good stuff.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Anyone tried the Arcani units? WOW! I had 3 Arcani companies trapped from the Legion. Ended up fighting their way back to friendly line taking little casualty and inflicting lots of casualty on barbarian hordes.

[Buccaneer]

Ok, I take back what I had said last year. They did a good job on improving the Total War series.

But here's my predictament: November 16 is only 6 weeks away.

[Chief Rum]

November 16?

What? Pirates?

CR

P.S. I would just get it from gogamer. I mean, $30 for this game is just a terrific value buy.

[Peregrine]

I bought the game today. Pretty fun so far from what little I've checked out. I got pretty badly mauled in my first battle as the Scipii because you have to take a big walled city and operate a ton of seige equipment and stuff. Some questions I have:

1) There seem to be weird movement issues, like several times I've given a unit an order to charge to a location, they move a little bit and then just stop. Do the units have trouble moving through/around other units? Usually if I clear their path and give them another move order they will get where I want them to go. This seems to be a particular problem with big units like seige towers and ladder guys.

2) Can your units hurt your own units? I see archers firing into melees and I'm not sure if I should tell them to back off or not. In fact in the tutorial battle I thought I saw my archers shooting at the allied purple guys. I don't really have the hang of archers yet, in my Syracuse battle they wasted all their arrows outside the walls shooting at something or other, then weren't effective inside when I really needed them.

3) When another faction wants trading rights, is that a good thing? I can't tell if it means I'm ceding them some trading income or it's some kind of mutual trade pact.

[Chief Rum]

1. I haven't run into that, but it makes a sort of sense that bigger things like seige engines might have trouble moving through units. :)

I haver ordered normal (non-seige) units through other units all the time, and that seems ot work just like M:TW--it can break up the formation abit and slow them down, but they reform ont he other side and keep going where they are supposed to.

2. Yes, you can hurt your own guys. I don't know if you can actually order it, but I have seen my unit take casualties from fighting hand-to-hand with a unit targeted by one of my missile-firing units. You can tell by comparing enemy kills to the number of men you have actually lost.

3. My guess is trade rights opens up new markets for your goods, assuming you can reach them. I usually offer trade rights to all new factions I meet.

CR

[Peregrine]

Guess I'll work on the trade rights thing Chief, I'm just digging into the game and have a lot to learn, I don't know how much of it works yet, never played the other games in the series. I read there are pre-set battles you can play? I wonder if there's a Teutoberg Forest battle, not too long ago I finished reading a book about that battle.

[WSUCougar]

Yeah, the trade rights are a positive exchange for both factions.

The question about units stopping might involve the "skirmisher" setting. If they reach their missile range they will halt, and will retreat if attacked or advanced upon.

As for aging generals, might stud faction leader - the guy who held every Senatorial position and had seemingly dozens of traits - just died. All Scippii flags and banners are at half-staff as we speak. *weeps*

[Havok]

If you are liking this game and want to make it better check out this site for a discussion about a RTW realism /improvement mod,Great stuff.

RTW mod (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10207&st=60)


wheres the link to downloading the actual mod??? all i see is the explanation of the mod, no actual link.

[Chief Rum]

Anyone know if any of these mods can work on games that have already been started (even partially)?

CR

[Peregrine]

In case anyone is interested in learning more about the real life history of the Julii, Scipii, Brutii dynasties and the other factions in the game, The Wargamer has a couple of really nice articles on them.

http://totalwar.wargamer.com/factions.html

http://totalwar.wargamer.com/factions2.html

[sabotai]

I've had the problem with the movement, but not very much. I see when I tell my cavalry to move somewhere and have to run through one of my infantry units and they slow down to go through them. Things like that. I'd imagine having to go around siege weapons would be a problem. But, there's a reason for a pause button. Use it. :)

Yes, you can fire on your own guys. When the hand-to-hand fighting starts, do two things. Turn off "Fire at Will" for your missle units (they always start the battle with it on) and get them out of harms way. Fire at Will basically means if the missle unit is in range of an enemy unit, even if it's hand-to-hand fighting one of your units, they will fire. You don't want that to happen (them firing when you have troops there.)

[Peregrine]

Yes, you can fire on your own guys. When the hand-to-hand fighting starts, do two things. Turn off "Fire at Will" for your missle units (they always start the battle with it on) and get them out of harms way. Fire at Will basically means if the missle unit is in range of an enemy unit, even if it's hand-to-hand fighting one of your units, they will fire. You don't want that to happen (them firing when you have troops there.)

Ah, that would explain it. In one battle they seemed to be shooting at something even though I didn't order them to. Guess I'll have to watch for that option next time. Also, are there bonuses/penalties for having archers in different formations? I guess I can look them up in the manual when I get home.

[mgadfly]

I like what I have seen so far, and the switch from province-to-province fighting to more specific point-by-point battle locations isn't that different from the M:TW model (a switch I seem to recall you having a lot of concerns about). Really, it's like instead of having 100 battlefields (the provinces), now you have thousands of possibilities, and the ability to choose a battlefield for advantages to your army or to station an army at a ford or a mountain pass to stop an enemy advance adds a whole new element to the game.


This is my favorite improvement in the game. A couple days ago I had captured Carthage and was trying to gain a foothold in Africa. The enemy kept moving armies past me along the coast. On one turn I attacked a passing army and had them pinned against the ocean. I spread out my infantry units to hold them in while my archers just pounded them with arrows. Eventually they broke through the middle, but I collapsed on them with my calvary from the sides and behind. Some of the fleeing enemy actually ran away from (so back towards the beach) a charge of war dogs and I slaughtered every last one of the guys in that unit.

I was only able to kill 3 of their 6 elephants before lead the charge that broke through my line. I think the flaming arrows really worked well against them. On a side note, war dogs are completely useless against elephants.

[daedalus]

By the way, if what I've been reading is right: get ports, get ports, and get ports. That should be some decent help with finance. But watch the farm building since it seems squalor can become serious issues.

[Chief Rum]

Watch the farm building, as in "do it?" or "don't do it?"

CR

[Galaril]

wheres the link to downloading the actual mod??? all i see is the explanation of the mod, no actual link.

It is suppose to be released this weekend maybe friday for some beta stle testing. ;)

[Calis]

Anyone know if any of these mods can work on games that have already been started (even partially)?

CR

I haven't seen one yet that has to be restarted. Most of them just involve swapping a txt file and it'll take effect immediately.

[WSUCougar]

I’ve hit an interesting stage with my faction’s development and progress. Playing as the Scippii, I’ve taken most of western North Africa, ousted the Carthaginians (who are a minimal threat holed up in southern Spain), and eliminated the back-stabbing Numidians. I tried to convince them to become a protectorate, but they just wouldn’t listen to reason. Now their ashes are being blown around by the warm Mediterranean breezes.

However, things are not all peachy. My incredible faction leader - a Senatorial luminary and all-around stud – just died. I have plenty of leaders, but few really strong ones. The military is fine, and my navy in particular is quite strong. But the bulk of my cities are hitting a crisis of development. I cannot go beyond a low tax rate in most of them, and the damn gladitorial games I have to put on to keep them happy are draining my funds. In short, I am wondering if I have hit a barrier in terms of the high military costs vs. garrisons required to maintain order in conquered areas. It’s one of those points in a game where you start flipping through the manual trying to find anything else you can do to salvage a deteriorating financial situation.

To top things off, I am out of obvious enemies to attack. It may be time to go after the Brutii Romans, but given my financial worries I’m just not sure. Perhaps I should demobilize a bit to lower upkeep?

[MrBug708]

Not sure what you are doing in the cities? Most cities love having a leader in the cities for control issues. Once the city has been a Roman Settlement for a while (10 years or so) it tends to be pretty loyal and the troop presence needs to be minimal.

As for good leaders, they tend to gain more traits as they win more battles and become more popular. Fame brings noteriety so to speak.

[Critch]

Check your squalor levels in your cities, once they get to 25k-ish population it gets to be a real problem. In my game some of my big cities are up to 80% squalor (almost as bad as Baltimore?) and they've all had to go to low taxes to stop the red faces. Not sure how to cure the squalor, did see something mentioning destroying all the buildings that attract pop to the city (like farms and temples I guess). Not tried it yet, so not sure if it works.

[TeotihuacanYaxK'ukMo'II]

That's right same here WSUCougar all my military leaders died and I got worried. I then decided since I was already making a move on the Gallics to send new generals to fight so far they have fared well only because I had good battle hardned troops. The Scippii are tough in my game also having taken Carthage now they are advancing on Numida. I think they're mad at me because I failed to support them in Carthage. I went straight for trade when I started and would of traded with the great Tyre empire HAHA! Right now we are streched thin as the Julli since all my great leaders died I had 4 family members at one time right now we are up to 7,8 due to adoption. Egypt it real strong now I would advise my other senator brothen to make haste in their sight besides I hope they'll fill my coffers in trade while I concentrate on the Barbarians. Gaul then Thrace who might be formidable then the Germans. I will take out the Britons before then can reach and inflict the New Natives hahaha!

JM

[Peregrine]

How can you stop a city from revolting? I took over the first city I was ordered to by the Senate, but then the next turn it suddenly revolted, kicked out my occupying army, and a new army twice the size of the force I had just defeated appeared! What gives?

[Desnudo]

How can you stop a city from revolting? I took over the first city I was ordered to by the Senate, but then the next turn it suddenly revolted, kicked out my occupying army, and a new army twice the size of the force I had just defeated appeared! What gives?

Choose Exterminate and then set tax rate to Low. If they are still kicking you out, bring a larger army, or keep exterminating them.

[Desnudo]

I’ve hit an interesting stage with my faction’s development and progress. Playing as the Scippii, I’ve taken most of western North Africa, ousted the Carthaginians (who are a minimal threat holed up in southern Spain), and eliminated the back-stabbing Numidians. I tried to convince them to become a protectorate, but they just wouldn’t listen to reason. Now their ashes are being blown around by the warm Mediterranean breezes.

However, things are not all peachy. My incredible faction leader - a Senatorial luminary and all-around stud – just died. I have plenty of leaders, but few really strong ones. The military is fine, and my navy in particular is quite strong. But the bulk of my cities are hitting a crisis of development. I cannot go beyond a low tax rate in most of them, and the damn gladitorial games I have to put on to keep them happy are draining my funds. In short, I am wondering if I have hit a barrier in terms of the high military costs vs. garrisons required to maintain order in conquered areas. It’s one of those points in a game where you start flipping through the manual trying to find anything else you can do to salvage a deteriorating financial situation.

To top things off, I am out of obvious enemies to attack. It may be time to go after the Brutii Romans, but given my financial worries I’m just not sure. Perhaps I should demobilize a bit to lower upkeep?

What I learned from my experience is that you shouldn't try and build all things in all cities. To keep costs low, set-up military cities to produce all your units and don't bother building military buildings anywhere else. If a city moves from military to normal, destroy all the military buildings.

You can try destroying farms and whatnot, but they add to your income, so that might not be wise.

In either case, if you've hit that point in your game, its probably well past time to march on Rome.

[daedalus]

Watch the farm building, as in "do it?" or "don't do it?"Caveat, of course, is that I don't have the game. But based on what I've read it's: do it but watch how much you do it.

From the sound of it, squalor is a constant cumulation with no real way of getting rid of it. Which means, you have to watch yourself while growing so that you don't accumulate it too quickly. I saw two opposing but interesting approaches that sound like they should work. One just slowly built with a limit on farm then once population get to a certain level, he levels the growth off to nothing by destroying farms and raising taxes. Then he uses a decent garrison to maintain order. The other just let the town grow then once it gets tough to handle then he brings in his army, let them riot and exterminate (rinse, lather, repeat) until they stop (and obviously cut down on growth). That brings his population down to non-rioting level while still having all the benefits of the upgraded structure (since they don't need the town level to stay around, apparently) without having to keep a garrison.

[WSUCougar]

I just thought I'd mention that one of my lesser generals has a "pet idiot." This is not a good thing, if you're scoring at home. Pet monkeys, yes Sachmo, they have those and they are a good thing. Pet idiots? No.

Tip in case you missed it: you can swap the followers in your general's retinue. This can be important if, for example, you have followers who are good at war-related actitivities (siege building, army movement, etc.) and your governor is in a rear area. The tricky part is that both leaders need to be in the same place to swap. Also ,check your leader traits periodically since some pop in without notice and can alter things significantly, good and bad. They can also free up some of the retinue if they are redundant.

[daedalus]

Oh, yeah. Don't forget to keep an eye on your general's age, too, so that you can transfer their retinue out before they pass on.

[Ben E Lou]

...you can transfer their retinue out before they pass on.You can do that???? How???

[hukarez]

Any idea as to whether or not you can move ballistas out of settlements during a battle sequence? (Or vice versa??) Mine have a nasty habit of always hitting the wooden palisades or gates when I try to launch a volley from within. I can't seem to get one of them out, for the sake of preventing self inflicting damage! :mad:

[Masked]

You can do that???? How???

You need to have the two generals in same place. Then just drag the members of the retinue from the generals info scroll onto another general in the army window.

[Galaril]

Guess I'll work on the trade rights thing Chief, I'm just digging into the game and have a lot to learn, I don't know how much of it works yet, never played the other games in the series. I read there are pre-set battles you can play? I wonder if there's a Teutoberg Forest battle, not too long ago I finished reading a book about that battle.


yes there is a battle of it.They have about 10 historical battles nad othes are building more and releasing them.

[Buccaneer]

What I learned from my experience is that you shouldn't try and build all things in all cities. To keep costs low, set-up military cities to produce all your units and don't bother building military buildings anywhere else. If a city moves from military to normal, destroy all the military buildings.

You can try destroying farms and whatnot, but they add to your income, so that might not be wise.

In either case, if you've hit that point in your game, its probably well past time to march on Rome.
Does the MTW strategy of having specialized cities (an armor city, a farmland/production city, etc.) still hold true for the captured cities in RTW?

I haven't had time to read much more than what's in this thread so I have a very dumb question. Do you take turns?

[jbmagic]

is the battles more challenging in rome total war over MTW against the computer?

[Havok]

once people start modding the hell outta this game its gonna be even better. Im using the, slower kill speed mod and the slower movement speed mod right now and they are perfect.

[hukarez]

Seems like they released patch v1.1 for this already:

http://p223.ezboard.com/fshoguntotalwarfrm7.showMessage?topicID=10490.topic

[Havok]

Seems like they released patch v1.1 for this already:

http://p223.ezboard.com/fshoguntotalwarfrm7.showMessage?topicID=10490.topic


yeah... they tweaked elephants down some. Which is a good thing since they were way to overpowering.

[Galaril]

It is suppose to be released this weekend maybe friday for some beta stle testing. ;)

This mod is available now on Total War Center in the worksop section of the forums.
Check the link and page 15 there is the read me by Gaius Julius.It will go thru some user testing jsut PM him and you can get the files to test.The public release will be this weekend.

mod (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10207&st=300)

[Galaril]

On second thought here is the read me pretty extensive and this is only the first version they are promising more new units with skins later.If you have any model skinning experience (That didn't come out right did it?) give them a hand.

This mod REQUIRES the official Rome Total War patch v1.1. Install the patch first, and then install this mod.


;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;; GENERAL CHANGES & FIXES;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

- Macedon and Pontus are now unlockable after a successful Imperial Campaign. They also have custom maps in the faction selection screen.

- Egypt is now The Ptolemaic Empire. Spain is now Iberia.

- Greek Royal Pikeman now use pikes, instead of simple spears. Thanks to Eldaran for creating this fix first!

- Wardogs are now EXCLUSIVE to the Barbarian factions. Roman factions can no longer produce these animals.Added Wardogs ability to Hide In Long Grass and Run Amok. Changed Attack from 14 to 12. Changed cost of upkeep from 40 to 100 to replicate replacement of handlers costs, etc, while still not making them an impossible choice to train. Decreased handler/dog ratio to 8/24.

- All buildings build times extended by 1 turn, except the basic level of wall defences.

- CHANGES MADE TO CARTHAGE: Added Diplomat nearby to Carthago. Carthago Nova starts with a port & a Governor's Villa (Spain was big interest to Carthage, it must have had a damn port), upgraded Carthago's port to a Shipwright. Added a number of ships to bolster their sea defences. Increased 'Iberian infantry' Defensive Skill by 1, and rose attack by 1, and raised recruit cost to 280. Changed the Civ. type to Sailor Caesar. Added assorted buildings to different cities, to make them more technologically advanced. Changed Carthago's population to 7300. Gave the provinces of Numidia, Tripolitania, and Baetica to Carthage, as this was the correct state of the empire at the time of the first Punic War.

- CHANGES MADE TO EGYPT: Altered the Civ. faction type to religious mao. removed a number of buildings from Egypt's various cities, as they were EXTREMELY well advanced compared to nearby (and pretty much every other) factions. Removed many natural resources in their beginning territories. Lowered beginning population amount for each city.

- CHANGES MADE TO NAVAL WARFARE: All ships take 60 population cost. All ships costs have been inflated. the Decere has been replaced with the Quadrireme, and the Corvus Quinquereme is now the best ship buildable. Boats are now named Warships, and Large Boats are named Large Warships. Warships are roughly equal to a Bireme, while Large Warships are only slightly weaker in defense than a Trireme.

- CHANGES MADE TO THE GREEK CITIES: Families have been reworked, so, to replicate 2 seperate leagues, you can choose which families have power in the faction by choosing heirs and leaders. Syracuse is now rebel, along with Pergamum, & Apollonia now belongs to The Greek Cities.

- CHANGES MADE TO THE ROMAN FACTIONS: Hastati, Principes, and Triarii are ALL recruitable with a Militia Barracks. They are now represented in three forms; Early, Contemporary, and Late. Early Hastati, Hastati, Late Hastati. The lowered stats reflect this. Early troops are available with the Militia Barracks. 'Normal' troops are available with City Barracks. Late troops are available with City Barracks. The Late troops have the regular, CA supplied stats.

- Reduced Base farm Fertility Levels across the whole entire board for a slower, more realistic population growth rate. This, in turn, extends the games longevity.

- Diminished all cavalry's charge bonus to about 66% of what they once were. This will stop units from routing as easily, but not go as far as to make cavalry flanking negligible.

- Equites stats have been lowered from a 7,4 attack, to 6,3. Defence has been lowered from 3,5,4 to 4,2,3. Previously they had the best defensive rating out of all early cavalry, and only 1 point lower than Long Shield Cavalry. All early Barbarian Cavalry defence has been raised by 1 point to 3,4,4.

- Praetorian Cohorts now have the same attack value as a Legionary Cohort, but have slightly improved armour levels to reflect their status of being elite, but not super human. Urban Cohorts have the same armour value as Praetorian Cohorts, but have an improved attack. Overall, though, this has been diminished slightly.

- Macedonian and Egyptian family names have now been reworked and made correct.

- Lowered the probablity of a Senate assigned mission. Lowered the reward money that you are given for a successful mission. All offices held durations have been shortened to 2 years. Pontifex Maximus can ONLY be held once by any single character.

- Increased the probability of some natural disasters occuring. Storms can now happen over land as well as sea.

- Diminished trade values of all resources by 1.

- Changed the name of 'Pharoah's Bowmen' to 'Ptolemaic Heavy Bowmen'. Diminished stats to have less of an attack than Gaulish Huntsmen, but better defense and armour.

- Libyan Spearman now have the ability 'Phalanx'.

- Corinth is now stronger garrisoned to reflect its historical state as a 'frontier' town.

- Velite Gladiator no longer trainable. Mirmillo & Samnite Gladiators no longer trainable, but recruitable as mercenaries.

- Removed the 'Head Hurlers' unit.

- Senate begins game with more units as not to be so much of a push over.

- Syracuse is now a rebel city.

- Reduced handler/incendiary pig ratio to 8/24 for both Roman and Greek factions.

- Gave Belgica to the Rebels. The Britons only have their British provinces, and they will have to fight to expand. This is to make the major barbarian factions the Germanics and Gauls.

- Added Centurions/Signiferis to the proper units.

- Integrated adonys' 'Killing Rate Mod' for longer battles, and a slower kill rate. No unit attributes are changed with this, only the KILL RATE is slower. For a more in-depth explanation of this, please visit the following link: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9877

- Integrated Apollonius' 'Movement Rate Mod' for a more realistic movement rate. For more information on this mod, please visit the following link: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9703

- Edited the Barbarian Peasants to be a more logical choice. Raised attack to 2, charge bonus to 2, group size to 80, and lowered upkeep cost to 90. Compared to the more 'civiliszed' civilians, the barbarians were very weak. For instance, Carthaginian peasants have an attack of 3 and a charge bonus of 2. I left these at normal.

- Removed the use of Arcani.

- 'Gaesatae' are only available to the Gauls, as was true of history.

- Removed the use of 'Egyptian Chariots' and 'Egyptian Chariot Archers'.

- Removed the use of 'Screeching Women'.

- Lowered Druids attack from 13 to 10 and charge bonus from 5 to 3, and lowered their recruit cost to 440, to make them more of a general back-up role, to accompany their troops mainly in a chant, and not to actually engage in combat.

- Changed the name of 'Trier' to 'Treverum' for the German city.

- Changed the name of Rome to Roma.

- Changed the name of 'Corduba' to 'Gades'. Corduba was founded by Rome in 164 BC. Gades (Cadiz) was an ancient city belonging to Pheonicia, then Carthage.

- Changed the name of Carthage to Carthago.

- Renamed 'Bull Warriors' to 'Iberian Infantry'.

- Changed the name of 'Naked Fantics' to 'Gaesatae'.

- Changed the name of 'Heavy Peltast' to the proper name of 'Thureophoroi' for The Greek Cities.

- Changed 'Macedonian Cavalry' to 'Prodromoi'.

- Changed the name of 'Cataphract Camels' to 'Heavy Camels', as Cataphract sounds misleading.

- Changed the name of 'Spanish Mercenaries' to 'Iberian Mercenaries'.

- Changed the name of 'Nile Spearmen' to ' Machimoi'. Reskinned.

- Changed the name of 'Desert cavalry' to 'Ethnic Cavalry'.

- Changed the name of 'Pharoah's Guard' to 'Agema'.

- Changed the name of 'Barbarian Peasants' for all factions to reflect their race. Gaulish Barbarian Peasants become Gallic Peasants, Dacian Barbarian Peasants become Dacian Peasants, British Barbarian Peasants become Breton Peasants, Scythian Barbarian Peasants become Scythian Peasants, and German Barbarian Peasants become Germanic Peasants.

- Changed the name of 'Barbarian Cavalry' for all factions to reflect their race. Gaulish Barbarian Cavalry become Gallic Light Cavalry, Scythian Barbarian Cavalry becomes Scythian Light Cavalry, etc.

- Changed the name of 'Barbarian Noble Cavalry' for each faction to reflect their race. Dacian Barbarian Noble cavalry becomes Dacian Noble Cavalry, etc.

- Changed the name of 'Barbarian Warlord' for each faction to reflect their race. British Barbarian Warlord becomes Breton Warlord, etc.

- Changed the name of 'British Light Chariots' and 'British Heavy Chariots' to 'Celtic Light Chariots' and 'Celtic Heavy Chariots'.

- Changed name of 'Nile Cavalry' to 'Cleruch Cavalry'.



;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;; NEW & ADDED UNITS ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

- GALLIC INFANTRY: These are gallic troops only available to Carthage to train. These soldiers contribute to a deverse Carthaginian army.

- NUBIAN MERCENARIES: These are Nubian Spearmen, available to any faction for recruitment in the Nile Delta, Middle Edgypt, or Thebais.

- FUNTIDORES: These are slingers for the Roman factions. In the time before the Marian reforms, the Romans made use of 'slingers', not archers.

[Peregrine]

Played a lot more today. My favorite new thing about the game is how it gives your leaders nicknames depending on their traits and (possibly) their actions. My faction heir that has been rampaging through Carthage and enslaving and exterminating their citizens is now known as Gaius the Harsh. That's cool. He travels around with a Slave Trader in his retinue, that's got to tell you something.

[Peregrine]

Galaril, looks like a great mod to make things more historical. I like the idea of getting rid of war dogs for Rome, those are great for the barbarians but never felt right for the Romans.

[Havok]

where the heck do you download that mod at Galaril?? all i see is the readmetxt this

[Havok]

nevermind... i didn't read through your entire first post

[Desnudo]

Anyone know what the difference between an alliance and trade rights is? It seems like military access and allied war are additional options, so I can't figure out what the point is.

[Galaril]

nevermind... i didn't read through your entire first post

If you PM Gaius Julius on the Total War Center Forums /workshop Board section saying you would like to help test the Mod he will send the files to you otherwise just wait another two days three max and they will be releasing it .I will post a link here when it is out.

[WSUCougar]

Anyone know what the difference between an alliance and trade rights is? It seems like military access and allied war are additional options, so I can't figure out what the point is.
An alliance enables you to conduct joint battles, I believe. You are given the option to join the engagement if your army or fleet is adjacent to an allied army or fleet that is going into battle.

[Galaril]

If you are liking this game and want to make it better check out this site for a discussion about a RTW realism /improvement mod,Great stuff.

RTW mod (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10207&st=60)


Ok, it has been released and it is hardcore good! If you like historical accuracy and them some check it out.This is hardcore , so you grizzled war gamers should check this out definitely.Not beginners would be an understatment.The AI is on spot now.

Rome Total War mod (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=11231&st=0&)

[Havok]

Ok, it has been released and it is hardcore good! If you like historical accuracy and them some check it out.This is hardcore , so you grizzled war gamers should check this out definitely.Not beginners would be an understatment.The AI is on spot now.

Rome Total War mod (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=11231&st=0&)


sweet.... this fixes alot of the smaller things i didn't like about RTW.

[DaddyTorgo]

I can't post here anymore. Every free second is spent conquering the known world for the glory of Rome!! Not to brag or anything, because I'm sure others have done better, but I'm rather proud of the fact that it's 186 BC and I've got control of Europe from Gibralter all the way across Europe below the Danube (is that right...everything south of the Germanic states basically) all the way across Italy (south to Rome) and then going across East to Byzantium and Nicomedia and extending out into the ocean to the island cities in the Western Mediterranean. I've got the highest popularity rating with the people, but the Senate absolutely can't stand me (not that they can stand any of the other factions either though, so I'm not worried). I too love the nicknames and personality traits given to characters. I've got "Gaius the Mad" who is apparently nuts, as well as a bunch of drunkards, adulterers, and gamblers. But the coolest thing I've seen is one guy who is convinced that spiders are his enemies and he has to drown all of them. Needless to say he's going nowhere fast. I do wish though that we could see personality traits for the women, and maybe for the children also, as well as have some control over who the guys were marrying like we do the women, so we could do more...genetic-manipulation, so to speak. Going to have to install the mod so i can check it out!

[Draft Dodger]

just got this today.

this game is HUGE. I don't even know where to begin (well, I do, but...you know)

[TeotihuacanYaxK'ukMo'II]

That is good daddy im still in the 230's taking out gauls with 2 provinces left. I helped the Brutii defeat the Macedonians (however you spell it) but that is about it in helping my fellow romans. I have controlled the senate so I guess thats good. They accuse me of searching for personal glory instead of for Rome. I have one province in the east just a step from my allies the thracians. Hahaha who do you think is next. I guess I will be true roman and be a true back-stabber hahaha. They are next then Germany but surprising they are being overun by the britons. The Spanish have kicked out Carthage now they are held up in Parma(sp?). I have just besieged them so now I hope the Scipii relax against me. I hope they attack the spanish then that would give me a good chance to help them conjointly while attacking the rest of gaul. Once I get through this game then I will try all the mods out there. Till then Im taking my time...

[Draft Dodger]

...

holy cow, that screen name even puts buccarhdenhendu to shame!
I hope you've got FOFC set up to remember that login name. :D

[Blade6119]

If your guy is the head of the senate is there anything special you can do...i control the top three spts in senate, but does this really do anything for me?

[Havok]

Playing as germaina last night on hard/hard and with that realism mod that makes the game much more challenaging. I got attacked by the Guals and the Britons at the same time. so i fended off they're attacks barley, built up 2 big 900-1000 man army's(large unti sizes) lead by my 2 best generals and sent one at the gauls capital and the other 1 at the britons lone province on the mainland.

I started to seige the gauls capital but didn't attack since i had to wait 1 turn to build seige equipment. And my other army was closing in on the britons town. I click the 'End Of Turn" button and the gauls attack my army sieging they're town with 550 guys that were in the town and another 600 guys from another army.

Since it was 2 separate army's hitting me from both sides, i rushed up and overwelmed the reinforcements before the other guy could get close to me. Then, i turned my troops around and i crushed the other guys also :) i only lost like 150 guys total (Spear WarBands rock) and i killed like 900. So im loving life!!!

After the battle its still the Gauls turn and they attack that same army with 900 more guys and they're 4 star faction leader!!!! But since im on the defense and my army is mainly Spear Warbands(alot like hoplites) and cavlery, they had no chance. I beat them back, killing like 750 guys and only losing like 200 (They're dam King got away!).

Finally the gauls turn is done and i have they're capital since they attacked me from it in the first fight. Then its the Britons turn and they attack my other army of around 900-1000 with a stack of 1400 men :eek: So i get to the battle screen and the game kicks me to desktop and i lost everything :(

Im not happy right now......

[MrBug708]

I've beaten the long campaign with the Julii and the short campaign's with Egypt and the Greeks. I tried playing as Germania and wow, that is about 50x's as hard

[DaddyTorgo]

yeah. I messed for like 3 hours last nite after modding at hard/hard and came to the conclusion that with the realism mod, the AI is absolutely OWNING me. Well, I guess it is. Feels like it at least. It's ~265 BC or so and I've only managed to capture one of the gauls cities in northern Italy permenantly (picked up another via bribe but then lost it rather quickly), (the one to the East...starts with P). Mediolanum is holding out against enormous numbers of Roman troops and I've lost 3-4 generals trying to take it. Last time I was within a HAIR of seizing it when they beat me back. Realism mod definately makes the game WAYYY more challenging, which I guess is good.

[DaddyTorgo]

bump

Rome: Total Realism version 6.0 is out guys. havn't played yet, DLing now, but this should satisfy my desire for a new game!

[WSR]

Resurrecting an old thread here.

I just played RTW last night for the first time and it is great so far.

This is my first TW experience ever, so is there any VERY Basic advice you could give me? Thanks!