The (Old) Official ETW Criticism Thread

[centurie]

[quote=shedaevil totalwhore;4607192]Quite frankly some of the moaning about the game is ridiculous.


The gripe about the amount of turns doesn't hold any water as there is so much to do in each turn that it's still going to take a long time to finish.


i played for 6 hours straight today and i only done 40 moves..............my forces were all over the map...i had so much to think about it was unreal..wars going off everywhere ,me having to decide which country to side with as both were allies with me but went to war with eachother....one minute i have a nice plan going then the next its all changed...i love this game and like i said 6 hours and 40 moves ,so 200 moves is more than enough,any more and the game would take too long.plus having only 200 moves you have to decide what route to take regarding research because you can't research everything,this in itself makes the decisions you make far more tacticle,the game will be ruined if mods make the game longer because being able to research everything and take over the whole world would be boring.

this game is all about decisions and what path you take,not to take it all.

[Queen Annes Revenge]

METW2 -> somewhat improved AI

[centurie]

I'm going to be playing the campaign map Risk style for a bit autoresolving battles just to see if it's interesting enough (it sure looks and feels more diverse than in previous tw games) and then I'll move back to M2TW.

Can't play any battle because on high (automatic settings) I'm getting 6-14 fps and turning all options down to either medium or low gives absolutely no improvement in fps (how that is possible is this years biggest mistery).

I'll come back when patches and mods have been released and might actually buy a new pc to play this on ultra but the game is just not good enough to make me accept a 6 to 14fps performance. Especially since I can play M2TW with settings almost maxed out with 20+ fps.

If they can make a trully working medium settings where I'd actually get the fps improvement over high settings, it might pull me back in.
Though the graphics on low are basically worse then the graphics in Rome.

so its CA's fault you have a crap computer..you said yourself you play medieval at 20fps ..well thats crap and that game is a few years old..this is a new game.i can't believe that people blame the games when its really there virus spyware old driver ridden heaps of crap....its not anyones fault the game crashes.....i have a 3 year old mid range systemn and iv yet to have it crash and freeze.......you realy need to learn how to keep your computer clean its not a games console.

[Tharros]

Ah yeah. Do you remember all the AI and pathfinding bugs in M2TW when it was released?

[TheMantis]

All these apologetics who are defending ETW by saying "Oh, just wait for the patch" or "Wait for the mods! They'll fix it" are the reason why we can't have good games at release. A game should be playable, fun, and have no major bugs out of the box. The Creative Assemblies Defense Force has been enabling CA every step of the way and allowing them to release shoddy products, only to MAYBE patch them six months, even a year later, and let the modders handle the rest. It's absolutely pathetic.

[UniQ]

Ah yeah. Do you remember all the AI and pathfinding bugs in M2TW when it was released?

Holy so bad it was then.... The AI in ETW should be none existant if it's worse....

[Tharros]

All these apologetics who are defending ETW by saying "Oh, just wait for the patch" or "Wait for the mods! They'll fix it" are the reason why we can't have good games at release. A game should be playable, fun, and have no major bugs out of the box. The Creative Assemblies Defense Force has been enabling CA every step of the way and allowing them to release shoddy products, only to MAYBE patch them six months, even a year later, and let the modders handle the rest. It's absolutely pathetic.

Um no.

EVERY game (or program for that matter) has bugs on release. How long have you been playing TW games? Becase RTW and M2TW wern't exactly bug free on release either - M2TW was arguably more buggy than Empire was on release.

[Merino]

so its CA's fault you have a crap computer..you said yourself you play medieval at 20fps ..well thats crap and that game is a few years old..this is a new game.i can't believe that people blame the games when its really there virus spyware old driver ridden heaps of crap....its not anyones fault the game crashes.....i have a 3 year old mid range systemn and iv yet to have it crash and freeze.......you realy need to learn how to keep your computer clean its not a games console.

The 20+ fps was stated because I've never actually measured it through Frapps (or at least not that I can remember). It ran very smooth so it was obviously far above 20fps but for Empire Total War 20fps would actually satisfy me.

[SmurfDude]

I completely disagree with everyone taking potshots at this game.
ETW is very different sure, but a step backward? your kidding. There are DEFINATLY some bugs and issues that need to be ironed out, but for everyone that ACTUALLY played during the release of RTW and M2TW , the bugs their where terrible, just as bad. and in RTW case, for me far worse.
the AI and Unit Pathfinding being the huge issues.
If you dont have a PC good enough to play, even if it does scrape through and reach syst reqs, the game was NEVER going to play that well.
And this argument that all the units look the same, of course they do, its the 18th century, most military doctrines where starting to become uniform. But to say "oh no the british and the french look similer!!!!" is um... OF COURSE THEY DO! but do the Prussians and the Turks. um no.

I feel sorry for anyone that has been having tech issues even when they have a decent enough PC, but for everyone else too lazy to get a job or stave off the KFC for 2 weeks, you could actually improve the PC and gaming experiance your moaning about.

ETW is a different step forward in the TW series. Sure it has issues, but what game these days doesnt have them on release? first big patch comes out next week, then CA are going to be all over the issues of this game. I for one am looking forward to playing this game for a long time, like the rest of the series.

Fantastic game and concept. Cant wait for the modding ideas to start flowing once CA send a toolkit. Regards!

Good post, you make a lot of sense and I agree with you on everything

Once the rough edges are patched up E:TW will be an instant classic, no doubt about it

[TheMantis]

Um no.

EVERY game (or program for that matter) has bugs on release. How long have you been playing TW games? Becase RTW and M2TW wern't exactly bug free on release either - M2TW was arguably more buggy than Empire was on release.

That's funny, because I didn't say "bug-free", I said that it shouldn't have any major bugs. Console games rarely release with game-threatening bugs. You know why? Because they can't wait a year to patch it while modders clean up their dirty work.

Want an example of a game made before ETW that is remarkably bug-free? In the same genre, even? Let's take a look at Europa Universalis III, with or without both expansions. EUIII had no game-threatening bugs out the gate and was playable as a vanilla game from day 1; trust me, I know, because I played it quite a bit! Despite this, the developers kept around and fixed all the minor bugs that were hanging around, such as issues with Holy Roman Empire electors, and then released two incredible expansions, neither of which had any game-threatening bugs attached to it.

And yet you're telling me that, two years later, a game company that is a giant compared to Paradox Interactive can't release a product that doesn't have game-killer bugs like FUBAR pathfinding and an AI that can't even assault a fortress properly? Is that seriously what you believe?

[Kip]

Return of the clones? Soldiers wore the same uniform in this era. And yes there's only 12 playable factions from the start. There's like over 60 factions, and they'll probably be playable within a few weeks through modding.

[Lord of Lost Socks]

That's funny, because I didn't say "bug-free", I said that it shouldn't have any major bugs. Console games rarely release with game-threatening bugs. You know why? Because they can't wait a year to patch it while modders clean up their dirty work.

Want an example of a game made before ETW that is remarkably bug-free? In the same genre, even? Let's take a look at Europa Universalis III, with or without both expansions. EUIII had no game-threatening bugs out the gate and was playable as a vanilla game from day 1; trust me, I know, because I played it quite a bit! Despite this, the developers kept around and fixed all the minor bugs that were hanging around, such as issues with Holy Roman Empire electors, and then released two incredible expansions, neither of which had any game-threatening bugs attached to it.

And yet you're telling me that, two years later, a game company that is a giant compared to Paradox Interactive can't release a product that doesn't have game-killer bugs like FUBAR pathfinding and an AI that can't even assault a fortress properly? Is that seriously what you believe?

Comparing EB and Total War genres productionwise is just silly. Total War series are way more harder to make due to all the work that has to be done on the battles. It's like comparing Monopoly to stock market. Both might be equally time consuming and fun to play around in, but one of them has a much higher risk.

[gingerbill]

Personally I quite like the new campaign map, yes there are less settlements in the traditional sense, but over time the other locations in each region build up and become targets for the AI. In a funny way they have turned the siegefest into a way to have more regular battles. The small towns and ports can be garrisioned and are frequent targets for the AI. However they are not siege battles, but rather normal field battles but fighting for an objective.

Over time individual regions can be come pretty well populated with small towns, so what is a pretty empty looking map becomes more crowded.

definetly agree with this , thats a step forward for the series .

my main complaints are performance and unit varation , i think there's a great game hiding under the terrible engine.

[Osskssa]

Still not as many as mtw2 for the map size! theres 1 in scotland ffs and 1 in england !!!

Oh really? well i have like 6-7 towns in England....what game are you playing? L2P

[TheMantis]

Comparing EB and Total War genres productionwise is just silly. Total War series are way more harder to make due to all the work that has to be done on the battles. It's like comparing Monopoly to stock market. Both might be equally time consuming and fun to play around in, but one of them has a much higher risk.

It's true, the TW series does take more work. Conveniently, SEGA is a multi-million dollar company that can afford to do such work, while Paradox is a home-grown Swedish gaming company that gets by year-to-year. If you're seriously implying that SEGA/CA doesn't have the resources to release a Total War game that is free from game-breaking bugs, you really need to be posting in the kiddie section of the forums, because this conversation is not for you.

This shoddy quality would have been unacceptable were it not for you people enabling CA to do such things. Instead of taking a hard line against releasing shovelware, followed by patches, you rolled over and let it happen. Here is your result.

[BlazingDragon]

I have to concur with the unit variability issue - they all look pretty much the same

I know this is period was the "time of clones" historically, but maybe a little ahistorical clothing would have helped

In fact thats the reason i dont like this time period - the advancement of massed infantry fire really takes away the "epicness" for me

I need to see the sun glinting of the edge of a curved sword and feel the earth shaking to the charge of the havy cavalry and see the fear in the eyes of the infantryman as his doom thunders towards him

I still like the game, if only to have some fun with the ships - some AI issues there

otherwise no crashes

[Glorious Arc]

I havent read all the posts but I did see that many people were upset by the fact that there is only "200" turns.

I bought my copy at Game Stop and read that little game booklet that came with it. On page 10 in the Starting to play, Under The Turn System, I quote.

"The Grand Campaign game progresses by a year every two turns. The campaingn begins in 1700 and you have until the end of 1799 to achieve your victory conditions. Once that date passes, you can continue to play without the victory conditions."

Theoredically speaking, You could play until the year 3000.

[SGT Grimm 978]

Return you game then

[SuperKyle]

I havent read all the posts but I did see that many people were upset by the fact that there is only "200" turns.

I bought my copy at Game Stop and read that little game booklet that came with it. On page 10 in the Starting to play, Under The Turn System, I quote.

"The Grand Campaign game progresses by a year every two turns. The campaingn begins in 1700 and you have until the end of 1799 to achieve your victory conditions. Once that date passes, you can continue to play without the victory conditions."

Theoredically speaking, You could play until the year 3000.

Yes, I read this on the forums and found that out, but that's kind of cooky. Also, you missed the real gripe about the turns. The gripe is that historical-minded people want to be able to have a short war instead of marching around for years and having to conquer a foe in like...15 years. For example, the war of independence was only a few years, but in this game, assuming 13 colonies are hard to beat, it may take you 10+ years to move the men there and do any good.

I was playing Russia a second ago and it took me 3-4 years to mobilize enough men on veryhard/veryhard to fight some muslim invaders from around the ottoman empire and crimea. That was just to repel their invasions, it'd probably take me another 2 to conquer crimea and then another few turns to march into the caucus. add in time to reinforce and such.. .. you get my point. that's a 10 year war right off the bat before you can do anything and that's 10% of the game gone.

A mod can easily fix that though. But, considering AI, I just played the Road to Independence, I'm on ch.2 and I fought an indian battle where 700 indians stood still and died. Their archers killed 70 of my men and I shot 700 in about 8 minutes of them standing there. =( ??

[MightyHealthy]

Anyone whining about the time setting... and a lot of other issues to do with the timeframe empire is set. Go and Play Rome!

I will apologise on behalf of CA that they didnt make Rome2TW for you all. Grow up.

@TheMantis . how are you comparing EUIII, which can probably run on an asus e-pc to ETW which is a massive game that actually requires graphics.

EUIII was fun, but it did have its major bugs, go and check the patch notes for the first 2 patches, and you will see them. Just because you didnt experiance them doesnt mean they dont exist.

And no PC game since the mass inception of the internet has been released 'major bug free'. Because a) they are on a lot bigger scale than is capable of those running on consoles
and b) the internet allows for developers to get quick feedback and then quickly reply to any issues, consoles thats nearly impossible. e.g StreetFighterIV needs a patch fast, but i cant get it cos my console is connected to the net. . . hate consoles.

voice your legitimite issues with the game, sick of posts about people that probably never played through any release of any TW game, complaining about stupid things like music, and the fact their ancient PC cant run the game. SIGH!