LT Total War Fan, just got Empire, wanting to vent (just a bit!)

[crystallinesheen]

Ok, so I have just upgraded my computer from a 2.3 single core to a 2.6 quad core. For years I have been playing RTW and M2TW. As ya'll can well relate, I must have spent WEEKS of time going through all the mods of each. Ever since 2009 with the release of ETW, however, I have been so disappointed at the fact that my computer just could not play that release. Ever since then (and especially with the release of S2TW) I've been bummed I have to make do with the prior releases due to my computer being too under-powered to play the new ones. No naval battles for me, no playing on high detail either, so all of the wonderful skins of mods like SS and TATW have all been lost on my old wretched computer. The naval battles are a welcome change in ETW, but sadly I have been getting my ass kicked on the high seas. That's okay, I realize I still need practice.

Alas, after about 30 hours playing time I have 2-3 points that are vexing me and I hope ya'll can address them.

The first and foremost is siege battles. My first couple (defending) were a joy. It was a trip just directing my troops where to go and seeing them line up to grab the cannon and make a firing line to shoot at the enemy up on the walls. 'What a quantum leap in AI' I thought, as I fought some good fights with my seemingly intelligent infantry.

Unfortunately, my dream ended the first time I besieged the enemy behind fortifications. So I get up on the walls and whip the enemy that is ensconced on them. After I do this, I put my 8 or so infantry units to shoot the mounted Native gunners from the inside of the walls. I figure it will be like shooting fish in a barrel. Instead I have bedlam, a bunch of troops just run around like lunatics, some climb down walls, a few shoot, and some run out into the open to be prey for the horses. Let me say that I chose each target individually, and where as in M2TW they would stop and shoot, in this game they just act so unpredictably in comparison. The siege AI seems to be screwed, have there been any mods out there to successfully correct this?

Secondly, no movement on the battle screen using the left click? Heresy!

And, well, having to run around repairing your resources is kind of an aggravation, I guess...but yeah, fix the siege mechanics and left click move and I think I will be pretty satisfied. I hope mods like DarthMod might address such things. I'll definitely be getting that soon, but in the meantime I just wanted to get some opinions on these main issues I had with vanilla. Hopefully there have been some improvements in the siege AI in the modding realm, because it is really screwed up. Other than that I have been loving the game! Good times ahead, hopefully I can get those naval battles going my way soon!

[crystallinesheen]

Bump...just hoping for some veteran advice. Yeah, I'm a newb that is behind the times but some advice would be appreciated from ya'll grognards!

[Ariksha]

Sorry can't really say i'm a "Vet" but i'm a veteran to the series. I've read numerous and I mean numerous complaints about the AI being like this. What game patch are you at? I'll tell you now that the Darthmod is a must have mod on this one. I've heard that it fixes the battle AI and makes the campaign AI a little bit smarter. My friend played vanilla for 2 weeks then he found the Darthmod for ETW and he said he's never going back to vanilla again. So try that and see how it goes.

P.S- I don't think theres a mod or anything for the left click movement thing,truthfully I never found that in MTW hahaha. But far as I know there is not a mod for that sorry.

[nokmirt]

Try using smaller unit size, like medium.

[nokmirt]

Try using smaller unit size, like medium. I just feel more confortable with smaller units. It is easier to see people get shot and blown up. Yes, I also agree with the above poster use DMUC 7.0, or try the 8.0 beta patch if you want. I am, and so far so good.

[crystallinesheen]

Thanks for the suggestion, yeah I heard that DarthMod is a must have, good to hear that it fixes the AI.

[Ariksha]

Yea but I don't like listening so i'm going to play vanilla for a bit. Try the DMUC its DarthMod Ulitmate Commander mod I hear that it makes the game 20x better. If you use the DMUC let me know how it works I know no one that is using it.

[Ariksha]

Originally Posted by nokmirt
Try using smaller unit size, like medium. I just feel more confortable with smaller units. It is easier to see people get shot and blown up. Yes, I also agree with the above poster use DMUC 7.0, or try the 8.0 beta patch if you want. I am, and so far so good.

Nokmirt sorry I didn't see this post but ya crystallinesheen do what Nokmirt said

[eschelar]

Gratz on the upgrade. I've got a a similar rig. Feels nice to get things moving on a serious beast finally.

30 hours of playing... hrm... still got a lot to learn. I had a lot to learn after 300 hours. After probably a bare minimum of 500 hours, I still have plenty to learn. That's one reason I like ETW so much. Just when I think I'm getting good at something, I discover more that can be done. I used to think I was getting good at fighting 1 stack vs 1 stack, but now I am comfortable engaging enemy armies up to 3 stacks (I don't mind more than that, but after 3 stacks, you will probably run out of ammo).

Left click movement.... uhm.... left click is for selecting. Right click is for movement. Why do you want it a different way? Do you use your mouse left-handed? My dad does (no idea why, he's not left handed... used to drive me nuts!!!) If you are using it left-handed, you might be able to mod your OS to switch mouse buttons. Or possibly in the controls?

or are you talking about moving around by clicking on the mini-map like in AoE and Starcraft? Not sure about that, but you can double click on unit cards and make good use of hotkeys for selecting units (ie alt-1, then double-tap 1 to center to the unit). I'm not a CPM player, so I don't have a problem with the map movement and that's another reason I like ETW more than SC or AoE.

Siege battles are known to be buggy. I still have countless problems with unit movement and I've played a LOT of sieges... Best is just to move them with a right-click and drag so the little green dots line up on the walls. Then click 'run' and just wait it out.

A lot of people feel that there is a problem with ordering units to 'attack' other units, and the common recommendation is to simply tell them where to stand with guard mode and fire at will ON.

Don't worry, be patient with yourself. It's a fun learning curve but a long one. But that's good! This game is basically the polar opposite of a 2-weeks and your-finished game like NFS Shift or the like.

I personally recommend waiting until you have a really good handle on the game in vanilla before moving on to a mod as this will give you the maximum enjoyment, but to each his own.

[HauptmanT]

Welcome to Empire. As much as I absolutely love M2TW Stainless Steel... Empire has just taken over for me.

Seige battles. Avoid when possible, Use 2 full stacks of troops to take a city, if they dont surrender, autoresolve. Trust me after 500+ hours the siege bugs can ruin the game. Take em in the field whenever possible. I never even garrison my cities, because it's easier to just retake it if I loose it. Unlike m2tw, you dont loose buildings in this one.

Naval battles are the real draw for this game. All of CA's resources went into that, and it shows. Magnificent. Word of advice, avoid actual fights until you have ships of the line, and just hit them with the biggest hammer you can. 4th rates to be replaced by 2nd rates ASAP!

I play on a 3ghz single core myself. It's getting dated but it handles empire fine.

Edit; I just looked, and I am at 950 hours played....

[HauptmanT]

Oh yeh, wanted to add. If you really must garrison a city... such as a frontier city or some lone single colony in the heart of india... dismantle the walls, then it becomes a regular field battle. And I cant loose those with my now regular army make up. 8 line, 1 BG, 2 cav, 6 howitsers (mortors in vanilla) and 3 cannon (howitsers in vanilla) for my DMUC armies.

[nokmirt]

Nokmirt sorry I didn't see this post but ya crystallinesheen do what Nokmirt said

That's ok, no worries. Have any of you tried the ACW mod? It is pretty cool if you like the Civil War and would like a change of pace. Of course it is a work in progress and will be much better in the future, especially when they add ironclads in.