Prepare for: Total War!!!!

[Havok]

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by hukarez

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]

Originally Posted by Havok

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]

Originally Posted by mgadfly

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]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

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]

Originally Posted by Galaril

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]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

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

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by Havok

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 WH40Kawn 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]

Originally Posted by SkyDog

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?

[Havok]

Originally Posted by 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.

FLAMING PIGS FOR EVERYONE!!!!


p.s. Wardogs Rock!

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

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

Hooray, another ten post dynasty!

[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]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Just ordered this game. You all suck.

Ave Romanus!

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Just ordered this game. You all suck.

Makes two of us...

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

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]

Originally Posted by CHEMICAL SOLDIER

So.....What does Catamite mean?

cat·a·mite ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kt-mt)
n.

A boy who has a sexual relationship with a man.

[fantastic flying froggies]

Originally Posted by dacman

cat·a·mite ( P ) Pronunciation Key (kt-mt)
n.

A boy who has a sexual relationship with a man.

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]

Originally Posted by CHEMICAL SOLDIER

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]

Originally Posted by CHEMICAL SOLDIER

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.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by 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

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]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

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.

[LionsFan10]

Originally Posted by CHEMICAL SOLDIER

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

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.

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

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

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

That is why you and I are secretly married.