Rome Total War Demo out on Monday 08/23

[Anonymous]

It's official - according to the .COM site - the R:TW demo will be out by Monday 08/23.<br>
<br>
You will be able to play the Carthaginians at the battle of Trebbia - elephants and all!<br>
<br>
Here is a link w/ more information;<br>
pc.ign.com/articles/540/5...?fromint=1<br>
<br>
BTW, all signs point to a week of 09/20 release.<br>
<br>
Oh boy!<br>
<br>
Barkhorn. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Excellent, I've been waiting for it. And yeah, the last time I looked the release date was the 20th...though it will probably take longer to get to Australia. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Here is the link;<br>
<br>
pc.ign.com/articles/540/540898p1.html<br>
<br>
Barkhorn. <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I wasn't psyched about this game until I saw the screen shots.<br>
<br>
I soooo gotta play this one.<br>
<br>
Tom/Cavetus <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Got it - played it.<br>
<br>
The GOOD - The code is solid and VERY smooth on my comp. The game has "polish". And it is easy to play/control units tho' the commands are a bit diifferent from M:TW.<br>
<br>
The not so good - I don't believe that the Carthaginian unit selection or set-up is very accurate for the battle of Trebbia. The Romans look more solid. These issues can no doubt be taken care of via modding w/ the final release.<br>
<br>
Verdict - go get it!<br>
<br>
I can't wait for the release - this one is going to be special<br>
<br>
Barkhorn. <p></p><i></i>

[StrategyM]

Quote:</em></strong><hr>I can't wait for the release - <strong>this one is going to be special</strong><hr><br>
<br>
(Emphasis Mine). Just curious: Why? <p>Strategy <br>
Designer/Developer <br>
Imperium - Rise of Rome</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

There is a patch to allow you to play the romans.<br>
I do not have the Demo yet (all the sites are mexed), but I did find the patch. I got it from www.gamershell.com . <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Why special?<br>
1. The Strategic game is filled w/ chrome:<br>
·&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp 500+ Vices and Virtues that your generals, diplomats, assassins and their lackeys pick up as the game progresses<br>
·&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp A family tree that must be managed for your faction to prosper<br>
·&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp The fully 3D Campaign map – and (we are told) - where you move in a province is now as important as when.<br>
·&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp The diplomatic model now has real depth<br>
·&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp There is now a reason to assault a besieged as city - as they will hold out a bloody long time – they can be betrayed and the materials to assault them (ladders, towers, ballistae) will be available locally as time moves on.<br>
2. The tactical battles;<br>
·&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp When you see that Roman army rolling towards you – you must admit that it is an awe-inspiring sight.<br>
·&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp And try a close-up of a melee – it does indeed look like I would imagine it to look.<br>
·&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Just wait until larger units are available and more accurate depictions of historical battles are produced (editors should be included)<br>
·&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Imagine battles from The Great Battles series with naturalistic movement/formations/combat.<br>
<br>
3. Modders will have at it. I’ve made no secret of my unhappiness with the fantasy units (pigs, dogs, screaming women) and the odd game-play issues (the strength of the Elephants, the lack of strength of a pilum volley – you mentioned the Hastatii on Wargamer.com – they seem to be a bit on the uber side.) Doubtless, the modding community will address all of these issues and the result will be a game that has a high fidelity tactical engine. I do not know what can be done at the Operational level – it is claimed that terrain can be used as choke points and ambushes are possible – we shall see.<br>
<br>
BTW, you can already get rid of those distracting green arrows (when you select a unit) and the unit banners, by changing the appropriate lines in the preferences file. These 2 small changes alone improve the look of a battle by about 10%.<br>
<br>
Out of the box R:TW should be fun – 6 months from now it could be great.<br>
<br>
Barkhorn.<br>
<p></p><i></i>

[StrategyM]

Quote:</em></strong><hr>And try a close-up of a melee – it does indeed look like I would imagine it to look.<hr><br>
<br>
I recall Catiline and I had some discussion on this way back during the Shogun days... and agreed (I think) that some significant changes in the combat model would be required to model Roman battles properly (primarily in terms of formation fighting). As far as I can see, those changes have not been made - it still looks like a Hollywood movie to me, which is not what I imagine it would look like.<br>
<br>
Quote:</em></strong><hr>Imagine battles from The Great Battles series with naturalistic movement/formations/combat.<hr><br>
<br>
You'd get wildly ahistorical results, since the combat model (unit capabilities) wouldn't allow for historical results. IT may be fixxable (as you say); it might also not be.<br>
<br>
You're right about the Trebbia demo btw - incorrect battle line up for the Carthaginians - and the Romans as well incidentally (they should have Gallic troops with them as well).<br>
<br>
I agree its visually impressive; I'm sure it will be great fun (I expect I'll be writing it on the list for the Christmas tree); but to judge from the demo it seems an increment on MTW rather than a huge improvement.<br>
<br>
Not a bad thing, mind you - MTW is a great game to begin with. I guess I just don't get the excitement.<br>
<br>
Thanks for the explanation. I look forward to seeing the full version and finding out whether it deserves all the excitement.<br>
<p>Strategy <br>
Designer/Developer <br>
Imperium - Rise of Rome</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Ok, I am not a historian.<br>
But I played the Romans after applying the patch.<br>
I can not seem to find a way to win... hehe.<br>
Normally I am pretty good at this stuff and within a couple tried get it down. Not in this case.<br>
<br>
Anyone get the Roman victory after running the patch? <p></p><i></i>

[Praefectusclassis]

Well, it certainly looks pretty and is very playable. Not too hard to crush the Romans into pulp though. <p>Greets<br>
<br>
Jasper</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

Yea, get the patch and try the Roman side:<br>
files.filefront.com/3612352<br>
Decidingly more difficult <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I've had no luck w/ the Romans either. I believe there are issues w/ the AI as - this being a demo - the code provided is somewhat limited.<br>
<br>
One of the issues is VERY low Valor Romans vs. VERY high Valor Carthaginians. This makes a Roman victory very tough.<br>
CA's emphasis on "Valor" as a primary measure of unit effectiveness can lead to some ahistoric results (I agree w/ you here Strategy). In the future it should be possible to "cap" Valor - and change units types strengths through the promised Battle Editor. If this is so, rest assured I will - at some point - reconstruct the "historical" battles along more historical lines.<br>
<br>
(bad syntax in orginal)<br>
<br>
Barkhorn. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=barkhorn1x>Barkhorn1x</A> at: 8/24/04 5:13 pm<br></i>

[StrategyM]

I will look forward to that, Barkhorn. <p>Strategy <br>
Designer/Developer <br>
Imperium - Rise of Rome</p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I was able to split my forces and take out the 4 flanking units.<br>
Then I circled behind while the Carth forces continued to face the river. I charged their command unit from behind and took them out. I was hoping that would demoralize them, but to no avail.<br>
<br>
After that I could not overcome the elephants and skirmishers.<br>
I tried everything I could to get them to commit their elephant calvary or their light units but they wouldn't.<br>
They would pull the elephants back into their ranged attacks and their skirmishers would use their special move and circle just out of reach of my forces. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=bhshaman>BHShaman</A> at: 8/24/04 9:14 pm<br></i>