Rome Total war 2

bizmark

Iv owned every single total war game since shogun this is easly on par if not worse than Empire in fact **** it it is worse.

There is no Battle ai at all none they only know how to preceed from point A to point B and try and engage you with 1700 slingers as they have zero clue how to build or use an army on top of that the battles themselves are unorganized mob battles all units reguardless how disaplined they should be instantly lose formation on contact with the enemy plus theres no guard mode anymore for some inexplicable reason so your lines never hold shape you also lose other funtionality from the old rome such as telling your men to use their missiles just random crap removed for no reason that make the battles much much less interesting and fun.

Theres very gamey systems deployed by the game to try and compensate for this like a capture the flag system after all its easy to script a ai to go to a point and defend/attack than have it respond dynamically to your actions unfortunately this completely removes any advantage the terrain gives you or them (assuming they could even use it) as if you leave the flag for even 50 seconds you lose that's it i believe its how Alexander won at gaugamela so its historical i guess and totaly not to compensate for a AI system that's nothing but the simplest path finding scripts.

The awful battle ai follows you to the campaign map where its so unresponsive that it will nearly never attack you in the field nearly every fight at lest 90% are what could laughably be called siege battles i say laughably cause most citys have no city walls and no ablity to construct them so theres no fun of watching epic sieges of walled towns that rome 1 did just fine nope now its just tiny towns you walk into and cap a flag to win over and over "wars" become nothing more than annoying games of wack a mole.

Then theres many many other issues. The graphic engine its terrible just awful the campaign map is laggy to the point of annoyance i cant tolerate playing it anymore due to the laggyness. The length of each turn processing time is unbearably long. Theres a general lack of anything to do when your not running around siegeing town after town your provinces and towns have very few options for expansion and building your family doesnt really exist not like it did in rome you cant use they to govern citys for instance diplomacy is still awful.

This game is a pale shadow of rome total war do not wast your money

The_Valeyard

yeah, I am not a happy camper.

Can not seem to build up enough prestige/imperial points or whatever they call it to get more than three armies,


Lots of bugs too!!

If this was the real Rome, it was have fallen in a day!

karma_

bizmark wrote: »

Theres very gamey systems deployed by the game to try and compensate for this like a capture the flag system after all its easy to script a ai to go to a point and defend/attack than have it respond dynamically to your actions unfortunately this completely removes any advantage the terrain gives you or them (assuming they could even use it) as if you leave the flag for even 50 seconds you lose that's it i believe its how Alexander won at gaugamela so its historical i guess and totaly not to compensate for a AI system that's nothing but the simplest path finding scripts.

The flag point system is actually as close to game breaking as you get. The thing is - It was so totally unnecessary you have to wonder which dev thought this was a good idea for a Total War game. And did no one notice just how bad an idea it was in development? It even appears on open field battles.

The_Valeyard wrote: »

yeah, I am not a happy camper.

Can not seem to build up enough prestige/imperial points or whatever they call it to get more than three armies,

This is another major flaw in the game. It supposedly promoted other strategies to win then falls back to making the only strategy that works a furious expansionist strategy that causes other knock on effects. Ever enjoy those long plodding grand campaigns? Forget that now.

The_Valeyard

karma_ wrote: »

This is another major flaw in the game. It supposedly promoted other strategies to win then falls back to making the only strategy that works a furious expansionist strategy that causes other knock on effects. Ever enjoy those long plodding grand campaigns? Forget that now.

This is what I used to love about the game, build up massive armies and roll out across the grand map, commanding what is mine and conquering what is not.

bizmark

They arent who made total war what it used to be tbh they have no clue what made the game so involving and interesting its brutaly obvious as they dumbed down everything removed options and inserted systems that make no sense to a game like total war

I remember when rome total war came out i played it and played it i still have it installed i last played it a few weeks ago to completion of a campaign thats how you know a game is just right the graphics are still good the ai is ok its nothing special but it does its job the battles are satisfying feel brutal (when a heavy unit smashs into another it just feels right) and are responsive to what you wish.

This game is nothing its a shallow game that misses the entire point of its series and lied to sell it to us.

ZeroThreat

karma_ wrote: »

Seriously I wouldn't even know where to start. There exists currently major issues with everything from the GUI to the Campaign right to the Battles.

Don't want to come across as whingy tbh, I'm a big fan of CA and the series and I see (almost) what they tried to do but it really all just doesn't come together I feel. It was a gamble, given how much the original was so loved and perhaps they are guilty of being just a bit too ambitious with this.

I've just been to the TW forums again, this post http://forums.totalwar.com/showthread.php/81021-Review-from-an-Anonymous-Developer seems to sum up the issues with the game pretty well.
With the original RTW I found the vanilla version good enough for me despite the fact there were a number of mods made available over the years.

It seems as if I'll be relying on the modding community this time round to provide me with a game worth playing.:cool:

coolguyrko

So as it stands I'm the only one who's happy with this game? Thousand times better than shogun which was just laughably bad for me. I didn't enjoy the original Rome 1 as much as everyone else seems to have because for me it's an improvement over it. I'm sure ill get stick for saying that but I don't really care.

bizmark

sigh These guys got through the gates but then didnt know what to do just sat there not pressing the attack just getting arrows in the face and boiling oil poured on them till they broke

This is the game some people find acceptable ?

coolguyrko

bizmark wrote: »

sigh These guys got through the gates but then didnt know what to do just sat there not pressing the attack just getting arrows in the face and boiling oil poured on them till they broke

This is the game some people find acceptable ?

I've not had that happen. I do try to block them there so they get the oil poured on them and javelins but they do break through on me sometimes.

thegame983

I'm really enjoying it. I pretty much ignore the capture points on the map. my policy is still just to kill the enemy. my game is going really slowly ( in a good way). Forging aliiances, creating client states is my favorite part so far. I only have direct control over Italy, but I had half of Greece & Carthage as client states (had to break an alliance with Massilia to get the Cartheginians but it was Massillia's own fault, they started ****ing with Syracuse)

re: armies just standing at the gate waiting to be killed. I had something similar in one of my sieges. Although the gate had been opened by the enemy my men couldn't go through it unrill I had taken the gatehouse. Silly I know.

Maybe I'm lucky that I havn't come accross any bug really at all, bar the games crashing on 3 seperate occasions (probably my fault, I may had over extended my graphics card)

The turns do take too long. I agree. However I do LOVE the amount of factions that you can now have some form of relationship with as opposed to just rebels everywhere. So I suppose I can put up with it.

I'm pretty sure you can 'guard' with your infantry. It's besaide the formation/ testudo buttons.

I can have up to 6 armies right now and I havn't done anything really special. presige points havn't been a problem. I only have 2 majot ones in the feild and the odd general in Cisapline Gaul to keep the population under check

Anyway. I'm liking it.

thegame983

If anyone is luck enough to not be working today can they post some info avout the patch when it becomes available

File size.

What is does etc.

Thanks

CatInABox

I haven't bought the game yet, but here are the patch notes. I'm very glad that I resisted the urge to preorder this, will give it a few months and see how it shakes out.

Here are the patch notes for Total War: ROME II Patch 1 (due for release on 06/09/2013):
For additional information on improving graphical performance visit this thread.

• Higher average frame rates with out-of-the-box settings (more conservative settings)
• Fix for DirectX 10.0 Lighting issue reported - environment map wasn't being created leading to black reflections.
• Fixed a sunken Samothrace temple complex world wonder on the Campaign map.
• Fixed defender being able to create encampments when involved in a combined battle.
• Added some localisation fixes to audio packs in French, Russian, Italian, German and Spanish.
• Fixed lock up in Multiplayer Campaign battles when a desynchronisation occurs. Players are now notified of the desynchronisation, and the battle ends.
• Fixed Multiplayer Campaign battle "overrun" prompt, which was not being shown to a player if they were a reinforcement and the other player was spectating.
• Fixed corrupt loading screen when changing to fullscreen / windowed mode after a battle, and then going into another battle.
• Fix for Multiplayer Campaign host being unable to move the camera in campaign, after reloading a save game on some rare occasions.
• Safe guards added to prevent a very rare crash in coastal assault battles.
• Fix for game lock up during end turn sequence / Celtic AI faction turn in single player campaign.
• Improved AI use of walls on Athens large settlement battle map.
• Improvements to Auto-resolve balancing in Single Player and Multiplayer Campaign modes.
• Aligned ship unit upkeep costs with land units - made mercenary ships more expensive and non-mercenary ships cheaper.
• Fixed slow turning rates for transport ships.
• Improved civil war balancing in relation to campaign difficulty.
• Fixed vehicle ground pipes, to prevent Siege Towers becoming immovable when they are left empty during the Deployment Phase of a Siege Battle, then units were moved into the Siege Tower when the battle has started.
• Fixed bug when ramming sideways into moving ship, which caused the ramming ship stick to target and strafe along with it in battles.
• Reduced the chance of Naval units sometimes clipping through the ground or harbours / ports during Port Assault battles when attempting to disembark.
• Fixed issue where armies would be stuck in Muster stance and could not exit that stance in Campaign modes.
• Fixed case where spies could get stuck on top of fleets in Campaign modes.
• Fixed rare post battle lockup in Campaign modes.
• Improved unit pathfinding in Barbarian village battle maps (fixed no go zones).
• Fix for Multiplayer Campaign lock up when the player was reinforcing an AI ally who was victorious in battle, causing the player to become stuck with no victory / continue / exit battle user interface functionality.
• Fix for cultural influence bonus from the Shrine of Neptune building
• Fix for “Zone of Controls” of hidden armies being visible to both players in head to head Multiplayer Campaign mode on mouse-over.
• Assorted minor fixes to city battle maps.
• Fix for "Rome Wasn't Built in a Day" achievement failing to unlock when its requirements were met in some situations.

thegame983

CatInABox wrote: »

I haven't bought the game yet, but here are the patch notes. I'm very glad that I resisted the urge to preorder this, will give it a few months and see how it shakes out.

Cool. Does anyone know if this is save game compatible?

karma_

Having a look through the patch notes, I don't think that is going to come close to fixing things and it's obvious that this patch had lined up in advance.

CA have a big problem with this, they basically had something as perfect as the wheel and they tried to reinvent it and judging by the flak coming their way; it's alienated about 75% of the core group who buy this game.

thegame983

ZeroThreat wrote: »

I've just been to the TW forums again, this post http://forums.totalwar.com/showthread.php/81021-Review-from-an-Anonymous-Developer seems to sum up the issues with the game pretty well.
With the original RTW I found the vanilla version good enough for me despite the fact there were a number of mods made available over the years.

It seems as if I'll be relying on the modding community this time round to provide me with a game worth playing.:cool:

I don't suppose you could copy & paste that post here? I can't acess TWforums in work and I'm really bored.:rolleyes:

ZeroThreat

thegame983 wrote: »

I don't suppose you could copy & paste that post here? I can't acess TWforums in work and I'm really bored.:rolleyes:

Good Evening All,

Let me start by saying that this comes from a veteran and lifetime customer of this series first, and as a customer I have an opinion to share with this community. My experience as a developer is solely to substantiate and back up my opinions with industry knowledge and experience. Any attempt to delete, lock, or otherwise hamper this post goes against the community spirit of honest feedback and customer responsibility. If any moderator wishes to see my purchase receipt I am more than happy to provide it but I am exercising my right as a paid customer to express my opinion. Thank you.

Let me also state that I was part of, and still am part of a development team that has recently released a PC game in the Military genre. I will not give specifics however the level of complexity was not as high, and the team was smaller than the current CA team.

I will attempt to as brief as possible explain in layman terms what sort of things crop up as a developer, what those issues can be, and what should be done about them. Hopeful it will be more clear what CA's failings are and what just...happens.

In summary there are generally 3 groups of issues a game will have at launch, and although these granted are simplifications (I just don't have the time to go into more detail), it suits the general purpose of this post.

1. Community system diversity
Symptoms: Bugs/glitches/graphical issues/crashes/etc.

These are essentially things that happen...just happen. This is what CA is talking about when they say that "due to so many different end user configurations and systems, there are issues caused by some people". These issues are common, wide ranging, and various, not to mention they take up the majority of the developers time early after release to fix. Let me be clear, it is widely known and accepted in the developer world that this happens. It can take between a month and three months for the most common issues to rise, peak, get fixed and trough.

Example 1: The common graphical issues? That belongs here, and don't be too upset this is normal. CA will fix it.
Example 2: Battles lag? That probably belongs here, don't worry it will be fixed
Example 3: That weird crash? This likely belongs here, don't worry it will be fixed.

CA Summary

The graphical issues seem to lie with CA, however to be fair a game of this level will definitely have the issues you have all reported.

2. Testing
Symptoms: Game play issues/Battle and Campaign AI/content/etc.

These are entirely a different issue and almost exclusively the responsibility of the developers and the testing cycle. A robust, wide spread, detailed, and non marketing/sales driven testing cycle is imperative to the successful public launch and initial feedback. Note I didn't talk about financial success; poor games can have financial success early on with excellent marketing.

A successful testing cycle normally irons out the nature of the AI, some of the mechanics that affect various aspects of the game, the content both lore/events/historical/general immersion, and other gameplay issues. Note a comprehensive testing cycle may not affect the first grouping related to bugs, but I can tell you clearly...they do stop a number of the issues you people have with this game.

A good developer in my professional opinion should include lengthy in-house testing, outside independent professional testing, semi public testing and a demo is a good idea. I'd guess that CA in-house tested it but nothing else. Allowing your customers to help you make your game great is simply the way forward.

Example: Battles lasting 5mins? That belongs here and will have been picked up in a robust testing cycle
Example: Passive Battle AI? Units rushing your troops then breaking off last second? That belongs here and will have been picked up in a robust testing cycle
Example: Passive Campaign AI? That belongs here and will have been picked up in a robust testing cycle

CA Summary

CA have clearly fundamentally and comprehensively failed to test this game properly. This isn't the first time as many of you know, and I simply do not understand how or why CA have not improved their testing cycle. CA will have certainly known battles are over within minutes, they would have seen campaign AI passive, and will absolutely have seen battle AI rushing and retreating multiple times. If they missed it they have the worst testing team I've ever seen, or if they knew about it...well I'll leave that up to you guys to judge. Either way this is in my professional opinion the worst failing any developer can do. If we are charging you for a game, it is our responsibility to test it adequately.


3. Developer Choices
Symptoms: Gameplay mechanics/content/lore/historical accuracy

These are entirely the choices made specifically by the developers. They are put in, developed and are specifically meant to be there. This covers things like the capture the flag on open battles, the restricted building options, the various historical inaccuracies or....historical tweaks perhaps. This covers things like the lack of events, or the new family/house system.

Example: Capture the flag on open battles? That belongs here and was chosen by CA
Example: Can only build 4-6 types of buildings in your city? That belongs here and was chosen by CA
Example: No family tree? No events? Praetorians having 100 damage? That's all here and was chosen by CA

It is my professional opinion that CA have taken what was an immersive, detailed, tactical, and market leading series and have turned it into a better looking but fundamentally simplified and dumbed down version of its formal self. They have seriously damaged the tactical element to this game, taken out tried and tested elements and have replaced them with arcade elements.


Summary of CA's performance

As a fellow professional, that came up from testing to being part of a small but fairly successful developer I can say from a position of knowledge, experience, and strength...that CA's performance has been average to poor. This is because they essentially have failed on all 3 grouped issues. They released a game with serious bugs and graphical issues, they released a game with extremely poor AI and multiple gameplay issues which clearly shows a fundamental testing failure, and lastly they seriously reduced the immersion, detail, and complexity to make this feel more like an arcade version not what it was supposed to be.

Just to be fair, how did we fare when we launched our game?

We failed at number one as many do, there were lots of bugs, glitches, and graphical issues and crashed reported in the community.

We somewhat succeeded in releasing a game where the AI worked, and general game play worked. Many customers enjoyed it and many customers didn't but essentially we released a working game where the elements we marketing worked as they were supposed to. Testing was a huge priority for us and we felt contributed to it being released generally working ok.

We succeeded in one of the largest choices we made....Sticking with what was done well with our first game and improving on it. We listened to our base, and we judged that our first game was good, but needed to be improved so we did just that. We didn't go in a different direction. We released "improved previous game 2", and CA should have released "Massively improved Rome1" as it was such a success.

The future

The likelihood is this game will be both a commercial, critical, and community success but it will be a 3 staged effort. CA will likely fix the first grouped issues, and will likely contribute the second grouped issues, but it will be the Modder's who will really fix this game. They will turn the ok vanilla version into something really good.

It's a sad day for CA when many, many TW gamers know in their heart that it will take people like DarthMod and others to fix this game...


Lastly SEGA

I need to be very careful here for obvious reasons but I want to touch on the impact SEGA have here. Firstly I have experience with them, and we decided NOT to work with them/for them. It was clear to us that SEGA's influence, controls, expectations and business model was fundamentally at odds with our philosophies. We knew that if we went down that path we would be contracted to release X amount of games at Y timeline, with Z budget, and we took a long hard look at it and decided that we essentially would not really control the destiny of our games, SEGA would. Also worth noting that we concluded we would not have the time to test our game properly...

I'm not going to comment on SEGA's influence of CA here today but I will ask that the true veterans amongst you that remember what it was like before, and what it was like after and make your own minds up.

I'll check on this post to respond if I can, and will likely see the mix of arrogant fans, ignorant haters, but hopefully some enlightened thinkers.


Anon

thegame983

ZeroThreat wrote: »

I'll check on this post to respond if I can, and will likely see the mix of arrogant fans, ignorant haters, but hopefully some enlightened thinkers.

Cheers dude. :cool:

coolguyrko

Anyone find out if the patch is save compatible. Would like the fixes but I'm not going to be starting a new campaign until this one is done

ZeroThreat

thegame983 wrote: »

Cheers dude. :cool:

btw, you do know that the line you quoted is also part of his post, not what I said? :P

grizzly

coolguyrko wrote: »

Anyone find out if the patch is save compatible. Would like the fixes but I'm not going to be starting a new campaign until this one is done

I don't know, but I'd guess yes. In the past patches never broke saves.

thegame983

ZeroThreat wrote: »

btw, you do know that the line you quoted is also part of his post, not what I said? :P

Yeah i just didn't to quote the whole post. Nice one.

Griffin87

Such a dissapointment. what the hell are CA doing with this franchise ?

ZeroThreat

Griffin87 wrote: »

Such a dissapointment. what the hell are CA doing with this franchise ?

The only thing that could be worse than the present situation would be if CA had gone into bed with EA instead of Sega

karma_

A 27mb patch will fix a lot.

CatInABox

ZeroThreat wrote: »

The only thing that could be worse than the present situation would be if CA had gone into bed with EA instead of Sega

Rome: Total Microtransactions 2

Griffin87

im not a happy bunny. i have been playing the tw games since shogun on my ****ty gateway 2000 windows 98 machine.

anyway i only managed to launch the game once went set my GFX options. rebooted the pc and now it just crashes on the spalsh screen.

verified cache and all that crack

whats wreaking my head the most now is i upgraded my already beefy i7 920 to a 4670k. I done this to improve the minumum framerate as it can get choppy in shogun 2. waste of time and money.

The AngryJoe shows some great examples of non existent AI.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdpIENG0Y2k&feature=c4-overview&list=UUsgv2QHkT2ljEixyulzOnUQ

Griffin87

Im going back to play shogun 2 with Darthmod..

bizmark

CatInABox wrote: »

Rome: Total Microtransactions 2

They are chargeing 7 euro for the city state dlc and you can bet they will charge as much for something else like dlc that reinstates basic functionality like guard mode

thegame983

bizmark wrote: »

They are chargeing 7 euro for the city state dlc and you can bet they will charge as much for something else like dlc that reinstates basic functionality like guard mode

I'm pretty sure there is a guard button beside the 'testudo' button. I might be wrong.

doccy

Ignore everything ... install ... install