Why does CA have no competition? Why not sell engine?

[ket222]

It's very frustrating to me that only one company seems to be doing high graphical quality games like TW!! Think what the possibilities would be with a good competitor or two! We could demand better more realistic AI, fewer bugs, and have the opportunity of more scenarios in diff time periods!

I guess it's just because CA is the only company with the resources to do this at a high level? Why couldn't they at least see their Medieval 2 engine now that they are coming up with a new engine?? They would still be ahead of their competitors, but there could be some other good games coming out of the old engine? I know there are mods, but the ones for new eras seem to take forever to complete (this is understandable of course), while a different company could put new games out faster!

anyway, I'm probably just venting, since no one seems able to come close graphically to making other games...I'm just VERY discouraged that there are so few quality war games out there (graphically speaking). The only ones I look forward to are a couple WW2 tank simulations coming out ...Les Grognards and the civil war games from MadMinute (SP?) just aren't exciting graphically, although they have more realism....

also, when are we going to see screenshots of landbattles, and how much better do you suppose they will be than the previous medieval engine? (just speculation I know)

[chapman104]

They wont sell the engine because they have complete control of their target market due to the uniqueness of total war
Any competition would result in the loss of customers

[Spartacus the Irish]

Why sell the engine? The reason CA is so singular in the field, sans competition, is that they did it, and still do it, much better than the competition. Though your sentiment of being able to demand bigger and better games if there was competition is what every gamer wants, it's not what every company wants. This way, CA don't have to iron out the kinks in the game, yet the game still sells thousands. I can't complain too much, because I am going to buy ETW, bugs and crappy AI et al, and in the end, that is all that matters to CA.

The only way CA will make their games much better is if no-one buys ETW. And that just isn't going to happen. Unfortunately.

[ket222]

sorry, to clarify I meant why can't they sell the Medieval 2 engine now since they are going for a superior engine with Empires!

anyone want to vent about the depressing state of wargaming in general, based on my comments above?

[Icefrisco]

sorry, to clarify I meant why can't they sell the Medieval 2 engine now since they are going for a superior engine with Empires!

anyone want to vent about the depressing state of wargaming in general, based on my comments above?

The first great war gaming series in my opinion was close combat but thats pretty much dead. Then came Rise of Nations which was killed off by Rise of Legends(wasnt popular) and Age of Empires I+II were succeeded by AOEIII which sucked. So at this point there arent any good new war games since the good old ones now suck or they stopped making them. MTW2 is only playable with mods which is very upsetting.

[Spartacus the Irish]

sorry, to clarify I meant why can't they sell the Medieval 2 engine now since they are going for a superior engine with Empires!

anyone want to vent about the depressing state of wargaming in general, based on my comments above?

That's what I meant. Why sell the MTW2 Engine? That would merely create more competition for the previous TW games. And who would want to buy the engine? Any games created would be too similar to MTW2 to sell well, considering most fans of the genre would already own one of the TW games.

[Lavastein]

That's what I meant. Why sell the MTW2 Engine? That would merely create more competition for the previous TW games. And who would want to buy the engine? Any games created would be too similar to MTW2 to sell well, considering most fans of the genre would already own one of the TW games.

not unless they make the game better than EB mod.

[Romano B.]

I think it would be most strategic for CA to keep their monopoly on this unique engine. If they sell it, the competition would be too tough. You wouldn't want some upstart company outdoing them, right?

We all love CA.

[GrnEyedDvl]

Another point is that if this genre of gaming was as popular as say shooters, then other companies would develope engines that do lots of the same things, and that competition would force CA to make better improvements. Both companies would try to keep ahead of the other. Why the AOE guys or any other dev company for that matter hasnt, is beyond me but I am sure they have their demographic reports that they base their decisions on.

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

@LJ--No, we love whatever company delivers us (the customer) what we want.

CA still does that (to an extent), so we buy their product. If another company releases a better game, I won't just not buy it out of some odd notion of 'loyalty.'

[GrnEyedDvl]

Exactly. You also wouldnt buy something just because it has CAs engine. It has to catch your eye either through gameplay features or graphics.

[InF3sTeD]

I think the main reason they have no compition is because knowone wants to build that kind of engine because its just to much work and would take way to long. I remember hearing something about it. It might have been on the MTW2 bonus disk.

[GrnEyedDvl]

That could be, in the end its all about money, after all they are a business. And with everything moving towards console games the situation is likely to get worse, not better.

[Aldaris]

The only way CA will make their games much better is if no-one buys ETW.

Actually, that's not the case. If no one buys ETW, CA will cease to make TW games. This is not soccer where the losing team says "well, better luck next season". This is commerce, where the losing team says "this TW crap is not keeping us afloat."

[James Cook]

You dont cut off the hand, that feeds you

[caratacus]

I think the main reason they have no compition is because knowone wants to build that kind of engine because its just to much work and would take way to long. I remember hearing something about it. It might have been on the MTW2 bonus disk.

I believe "The Lordz" are working on a project with Slitherine to produce a Napoleonic War Game. There seems to be little going on at present though!

Hope that it will be more like "Total War" and less like "Legion Arena".

http://www.thelordzgamesstudio.com/index.php?page=press

[ket222]

someone mentioned consoles. do you think in a few years the total war series will be on consoles alone? please no!
the problem will be if most games go to consoles, and with fewer war games on pc, there will eventually be no point in buying an expensive upgrade to the pc I know this is probably obvious, but depressing nonetheless

my point is, I can't justify making expensive upgrades for only one or two games, and that is what's happening these days!

why for instance has there been no recent ww2 flight sim with greatly upgraded graphics--they used to come up all the time!

i just wonder if the pc market is going to dry up for any historic, meaningful wargames and just be Crysis shooters... it just seems like too much work for companies to create TW type games (you would think with the large sales for TW, another major company would have tried though!)

ok i will go and shoot myself now

[Jacob Debroedere]

Well look what happened with other war games who tried to use some sort of campaign map+turns. Empire at War was at least a disapointment, and don't get me started on Empire Earth 3. I don't think other game compagnies will bet their money for developing a new TW-like game. Besides, the general rule in gaming business the last few years is milking out ideas from the past but with improved graphics; look at Age of empires 3, Command and Conquer 3 and also M2:TW. I doubt some other compagny will have the guts to build a new engine from scratch to compete with the Total War series.

[GrnEyedDvl]

someone mentioned consoles. do you think in a few years the total war series will be on consoles alone? please no!
the problem will be if most games go to consoles, and with fewer war games on pc, there will eventually be no point in buying an expensive upgrade to the pc I know this is probably obvious, but depressing nonetheless

I dont know if CA will go that route or not, but from a developers standpoint it certainly is more lucrative. Think about it for a minute. The hardware is set, there are no hardware variations at all unless they develope it for more than one console. They dont have to worry about which video card might cause issues or the different processor architecture, the hardware is static. That alone makes developing for consoles worth it.

why for instance has there been no recent ww2 flight sim with greatly upgraded graphics--they used to come up all the time!

I also love the ww2 flight sim games, the two big ones being Sturmovich and Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 3. But look at it from Microsofts point of view. Do we pay some guys to build Microsoft Flight Sim 4, and sell a hundred thousand, or do we pay the same guys to build Halo 3 in half the time and sell a million? In the end it always comes down to money, and thats before you throw in the piracy issue.

[Hellenes]

I dont know if CA will go that route or not, but from a developers standpoint it certainly is more lucrative. Think about it for a minute. The hardware is set, there are no hardware variations at all unless they develope it for more than one console. They dont have to worry about which video card might cause issues or the different processor architecture, the hardware is static. That alone makes developing for consoles worth it.



I also love the ww2 flight sim games, the two big ones being Sturmovich and Microsoft Combat Flight Sim 3. But look at it from Microsofts point of view. Do we pay some guys to build Microsoft Flight Sim 4, and sell a hundred thousand, or do we pay the same guys to build Halo 3 in half the time and sell a million? In the end it always comes down to money, and thats before you throw in the piracy issue.

Console=dumbing down beyond recognition...
Without Mouse and Keyboard TW games would end up trash exactly like Halo designed for racist teens that screech in the mic...
Also marketing and SDK and additional fees cost make a console game much more expensive to make than a PC game thats why there arent any indeoendent developers in console world...
As for that piracy thing console piracy is much safer than PC piracy that may end you in jail...with consoles you just flash rent copy and play you dont even need internet access...
May god protect us from a console TW...or we'll have to lower our IQs to 10 to enjoy it...