What have you been playing?

[DrummerKidJack]

 

 

Medieval 2 was good, although I personally find Rome has eclipsed it. Other than the AI issues that are constant throughout the series, what others remain in Rome?

 

 

Rome 1, I assume. Impossibility to play a diplomatic game, troop unbalancing (see above), bloated troop types, lack of support for barbarian nations (though I realize this was addressed with Barbarian Invasion), naval combat ridiculously underdone... the biggest one is the first one. The only way to win Rome was to troopblast everyone, war war war. Couldn't even bribe allied towns without the senate demanding you give it back to the original owners.. Couldn't assassinate everyone in a roman family, thereby destroying their dynasty; they just picked some random dude to lead them instead. I once killed every major player in the SPQR, thinking that might make it easier for me to declare myself Dictator, but nop. Same with the Scipio and Brutii families (I was playing Julio, because Caesar is my homedawg). There should've at least been some level of civil unrest, right? Closest I ever got to playing more strategically than that was sticking spies in allied towns, destroying happiness-inducing buildings with assassins and hoping they rebelled, then swooping in and snatching it up.

 

But yeah. I know. It's total WAR; diplomatic games aren't exactly encouraged. But there should still be that option; diplomacy shouldn't equate to "bribe this army" or "trade agreement?", which is pretty much the only effective options in Rome 1. At least in later titles (Empire and Shogun 2) the diplomacy began to make more sense.

[Xydonus]

Those issues have remained throughout the series, in a way they were acceptable for Rome TW 1 because frankly the game was that good, that the diplomacy issues and AI problems were minor compared to what the game was about. However there has been no improvement in most aspects of the series after RTW.

 

The series never had diplomacy in the fore-front and that didn't change with Shogun or Empire. In Empire/Shogun, the AI would declare war at random times for no apparent reason. There was a tiny smidge more depth when it came to diplomacy because you had a trading system and a more fleshed out prestige system, but in the end the faults from the first Rome still crept into the later series. In particular, Shogun 2 drove me up the wall with its cheating AI. Sure, the AI cheats in all the games of the TW series, but its more apparent in Shogun 2. The AI has no problem sending a spy to freeze your armies movements on the campaign map, doing this turn after turn while seemingly having an endless supply of gold for which to pay the spy. Or the massive armies that it seemed to have no problem summoning. The diplomacy was also pretty much non-existent in Shogun 2, I can't honestly give an example of how different it is from Rome because its essentially the same mechanic.

 

Again, all this was acceptable in the first Rome. These were problems that should have been fixed as the series progressed. However because of the financial success that was RTW they must've figured, "Hey, lets just paste what we have from Rome and copy that into a series of new games!" Rome 2 is the best example of this. I would dare call it a graphics update for Rome because nothing has changed. The same problems that have plagued the series time after time is still there. Rome 2 was marketed as groundbreaking with its motion capture and sea invasions, but in the end its a shallow experience. All that lovely money spent on motion capture, and for what? It's utterly pointless if the core of the game remains unchanged and that the problems that Total War players are far too familiar with continue once again to persist in the series.

[TheCenturion]

Rome I certainly wasn't the feature rich game of the series, but I still hold onto it as one of the 'best' simply because it had that simple, to the point formula. I don't play purely for the challenge; if I wanted true challenge, I'd play Europa Universalis IV (which I've now gone and addicted myself to again). And don't drop the nostalgia bomb on me- I never played the Total War series till late Empire. It just works for me.

 

Empire was a mess, but right now it's my favourite Total War game with the DarthMod. Could just be I like the 18th century though. In fact, I can't think of a 'worst' Total War game since they all excel in different areas. So... Rome II is new, it was overhyped and such. I'm still holding onto CA's ability to fix it, but they're avoiding the issues so glaringly obvious; the AI, for instance.

 

To each his own, I guess.

[Xydonus]

Another thing I want to add that is slightly off-point is that the series overall has been hugely profitable for them. Can't imagine what they made on pre-orders alone, but I imagine they did well with Rome 2. Sadly I feel that they won't pick up on the feedback from consumers (they've yet to show they listen) and learn from their mistakes. The Total War series will probably continue on with no real positive change being introduced far into the future simply because, like the COD series, its profitable and its their flagship franchise, and unless people start noticing the decline in which the series has begun, they'll continue investing into the series and Creative will continue to repeat its mistakes time and time again as long as the money keeps flowing. Although eventually they'll come to a point of diminishing returns if the series declines to a certain point.

 

The only way I can foresee them fixing this is by shaking up their development team and getting fresh minds, new people involved with ambitious goals for the series. So far, there is nothing ambitious or new, about their latest games. They're going to milk as much as they can out of the series before there is any real change.

[DrummerKidJack]

But I want to like Rome 2

[EnigmaGrey]

But I want to like Rome 2

You will.

Don't let them tell you different! :'(

[TheCenturion]

 

But I want to like Rome 2

You will.

Don't let them tell you different! :'(

 

 

... heretic! Burn the heretic!

 

... is what you get labeled on the TW Center forums if you spout such madness. I learned the hard way.  

[RedKrypton]

I play a lot of War of the Vikings Alpha (awesome), EUIV and Kerbal Space Program Carrier Mode ( I managed, after sucking out as much Science as possible from the mun orbit, crash landing my probe (everything intact) to suck even more science out from the mun surface. It's really tough to build reliable designs when you haven't got every part. But I like the challenge.

[PK'EZ-54]

I bey het 4 20 dollers is gud d33l yes?

[harakka]

 

Also been playing bit of Arma 3. Despite the teething issues it's a very pleasant upgrade form Arma 2 engine-wise, with much smoother animations, the very neat stance system, and controls and weapon handling that no longer feel like a 3D game from the early 90s.

 

I'm a fairly big ArmA nut. I mean I was obsessed with OFP in my day, the original one, not the sham that Codemasters came out with. All I can say about ArmA 3 is that it will take a year or more for me to become interested. Right now its a shallow experience, and not an enjoyable one. My whole clan who plays ArmA 2 religiously have essentially shunned ArmA 3 until its ready. That's pretty much the norm with the series.

The community I play Arma with is still on Arma 2 too, but we've been looking to transitioning to Arma 3 in the near future. Since we're not dependent on any mods or specific content, it should be a bit less painful than for most other communities.

 

The engine side of things seems fairly finished, no big issues except for stamina system balancing and the server choking a bit with larger playercounts. Hopefully they'll introduce a medical system too at some point, even one on the level of A2 medical modules would be welcome.

 

Plus, Altis is pretty amazing.

[Xydonus]

The community I play Arma with is still on Arma 2 too, but we've been looking to transitioning to Arma 3 in the near future. Since we're not dependent on any mods or specific content, it should be a bit less painful than for most other communities.

 

 

 

The engine side of things seems fairly finished, no big issues except for stamina system balancing and the server choking a bit with larger playercounts. Hopefully they'll introduce a medical system too at some point, even one on the level of A2 medical modules would be welcome.

 

Plus, Altis is pretty amazing.

 

 

I agree, I think Altis is their best island yet. They put a lot of heart and soul into the detail of the island.

 

However, I just can't get behind their design choices for everything else. When they decided to bring ArmA 3 into the future, they took a big risk going into unfamiliar territory. To make it work, they needed a very talented and creative design process for creating the new models and new tanks, some of which is based on actual outdated prototype designs that have long been cancelled. They've made the Iranian units far too 'alien' looking and high-tech while the US designs are just abhorrent. So their creative designers didn't live up to the task, in my opinion.

 

I'm looking forward to when the Ace team gets their hands on ArmA 3 and increases its assets tenfold. It's sad that I have to rely on a mod to improve the ArmA experience, because I didn't need to rely on it for ArmA 2. But with no campaign, and no increase in assets until the campaign modules are all out (could be half a year for all that) I don't really have a choice but to wait.

[DrummerKidJack]

Recently been playing XCOM:EU after realising I'd barely touched it... It's fun as jam. Can't wait to blow up the alien baddies once and for all. 

 

(Although I do feel horrible about wanting to wipe out an entire race...)

I'm going to be all over Enemy Within when it comes out. Honestly one of the only strategy games to accurately transfer to the console.

[PK'EZ-54]

 

Recently been playing XCOM:EU after realising I'd barely touched it... It's fun as jam. Can't wait to blow up the alien baddies once and for all. 

 

(Although I do feel horrible about wanting to wipe out an entire race...)

I'm going to be all over Enemy Within when it comes out. Honestly one of the only strategy games to accurately transfer to the console.

 

The xcom dlc is the only thing I'm looking forward to

[BaronVonBoom]

Ive had the new version of Xcom on my steam account for about a year & have only now just started putting a few hours into it.

I played for a bit when i got it but somethings just not quite right for me, loved the original on my Amiga 1200 but thats not getting in the way or is it:/

[Kitt Frostpaws]

Payday 2, GTA Online and Microsoft Office.

I know the last one doesn't count, but by god it's for my mental stability.