What campaign features from previous games should be in RTWII?

[Yomamashouse]

MISSIONS! LOTS OF MISSIONS!
I REALLY want to have the senate as a MASSIVE hindrance on the [Roman] player's Imperial plans. As you are one player representing Rome, you will ALWAYS be at odds with the notion of Republic by its very definition, and I'd like to see the Senate have a great restricting power over the player to represent this. I'd like to see them assign you positions on the cursus honorum (political ladder of office), and assign legions to generals - for specific purposes (which I'm sure you can imagine yourselves), to a certain extent over the traditional TW way of raising armies... or maybe they tell you to build a legion and then do this or that with said legion, otherwise you will be stripped of power. This way the player really feels bound into the Republican system, and is actually presented with a motive to wrest control of the empire for him/herself.

Edit: 700 posts

Edit Edit: ^ Yes! with different armour comes the upgrade to Lorica segmentata possible, instead of just creating new troops equipped with it, which is craptastic

I made this request to the EB team. The senate needs to do more than tell you to blockade people.

[Colonel Dax]

Capturing routing troops.

That is, any soldiers "killed" whilst routing were instead captured by your army. After the battle, the player was given the choice to safely return them to their respective nations, ransom them back, or execute them outright. Were this to be included in Rome II, I imagine that an "Enslave" option could be included.

Originally, this seems to have disappeared after Medieval II, for one reason or another. In the grand scheme of things, I suppose this isn't anything major, but it was certainly a nice touch.

I'd also like to see proper, random traits and retinues brought back, replacing Shogun 2's General/Agent tech trees (which defeated the purpose, somewhat; by the end of the game, all of my generals would be paragons of virtue, master strategists, perfectly healthy, and completely obedient. Where's the fun in that?).

[♠ Thomas Cochrane ♠]

Capturing routing troops.

That is, any soldiers "killed" whilst routing were instead captured by your army. After the battle, the player was given the choice to safely return them to their respective nations, ransom them back, or execute them outright. Were this to be included in Rome II, I imagine that an "Enslave" option could be included.

Originally, this seems to have disappeared after Medieval II, for one reason or another. In the grand scheme of things, I suppose this isn't anything major, but it was certainly a nice touch.

I'd also like to see proper, random traits and retinues brought back, replacing Shogun 2's General/Agent tech trees (which defeated the purpose, somewhat; by the end of the game, all of my generals would be paragons of virtue, master strategists, perfectly healthy, and completely obedient. Where's the fun in that?).

In Roman terms, a general being populare or optimate in allegiances would solve this. It meant that a person politically sided with the people or the senate respectively, and would have effects on their standing in game terms, even in later stages of the game

[xjlxking]

Each new Total War game comes with some major and some minor changes to how the game is played from the campaign map. Some features disappear and some stay for future titles. I am curious to see what gameplay elements the people of TWC liked and which should be gotten rid of.

Here are the features from previous games I want to see present.

RTW
Population-Dependent Army Recruitment - Have recruitment of soldiers draw on the population of the region. In RTW you could reduce the population to 400, which would mean everyone but 400 people was a fighting age male - I would argue that the population count should be made more complex and there should be realistic population dynamics that turn fighting-age males into a sort of resource. This will reduce the tendency of AI to balloon and produce endless waves of armies and will be realistic - many factions in history have suffered grave losses and had difficulty mustering a brand new army of men due to the extent of their losses. This will make techtree options that affect population more appealing and create more of a tradeoff between them and other buildings which typically take highest priority (markets/barracks/ports).

Medieval II + Kingdoms
Guilds - I am not an expert on this, but I believe guilds or similar professional associations existed in the era in which RTW will take place. These add a welcome level of complexity and force factions to compete not just militarily, but also economically, in order to gain the favour of these guilds.
Religion and Culture - Religion and culture should both be present to represent the composition of a given region, which will affect order and the availability of certain troops.

Empire Total War
Permanent Forts - Forts which are more permanent than the little wooden things that you can make in RTW would be nice as they can be put up in areas which are vulnerable to invasion by enemy armies and garrisoned. They would have upkeep costs and could be abandoned, but that would result in them degrading or being taken over by rebels.
Area of Interception - This is one of the best features for defending yourself against the endless armies of marauding AI troops who always slip past your forces and into vulnerable regions of your territory. This feature combined with permanent forts would make it possible to set up defensive arrays along frontiers.
Research Tree - Research trees help create an alternative to the expansionist early game aggressor tactic. They offer rewards to those who invest more in their economies rather than just pump out soldiers.
Defenses for Soldiers - I know that Roman soldiers carried materials on their baggage trains which could be used to set up offensive or defensive fortifications. I am not familiar with how extensive these were in other armies, but if they existed they should be present.

Shogun Total War
Taking of Vassals - I know this is present in other games, but STW was the first where any meaningful relationship between protector and protectorate exists. Anytime you conquer (destroy a nation) you should have the option of turning them into a vassal either by threatening the current leaders or by electing some other minor chieftain from within their faction. Very few factions in history have had direct control over every region of their nation - local puppet leaders were instrumental in many nations politics. These should have a greater role in RTWII.



Those are the features I would like to see - please share your thoughts and add anything you think you would like to see.

I agree with Population-Dependent Army Recruitment

Guilds were really dumb in M2. The rewards+mission was dumb and something that just got in the way of your choosing how to play. They would give you mission that were irrelevant and dumb.

Religion and Culture- Yes, culture was very very important in this era but as far as religion go... dumb and unneeded. I hated it in M2 because we just spammed monks/priest/bishops..etc. Now, the only reason we did it is because the game centered around the catholic church.

Permanent Forts- this feature is not needed. For starters it doesn't make sense why a person would pay to upkeep a empty fort but not pay to the upkeep for a unit+a free fort? Not to mention, I can see how this will be spammed on every location to keep a static map.

Area of Interception- Yes and no. Road were the ideal way to travel in any game. It was fast and quit and usually where most battles met. They just have to make sure that it's harder to move without roads and you will get your area of interception

Defenses for Soldiers - Pretty sure Romans were one of the few who had just a professional army. Though, i would mind seeing things like what Longbow men had in ME2; putting spikes in front of archers..etc.

Taking of Vassals -Totally agreed

[Wetblowdryer]

Napoleon Total War

I like it how each major AI (except for Spain) had their own AI personality according to ESF. I'd like that to be implemented but on a massive scale. (like technologies they research first, etc.)

And the ability to deal with provinces in diplomacy.

Medieval II

The ability to raid, slaughter and occupy regions.

[Kinjo]

Unique faction leaders models that look their part for both the campaign and battle map. I want my Barbarian/Eastern Kings to look like Kings and a Roman Emperor to look like an Emperor. I like what Shogun 2 did and hope that system is developed a bit more. I want to see my Faction Leader decked out in ornate regalia of the period maybe even crowns for some of the faction leaders, just don't want them to look like a regular general. On that note it would also be cool if the faction leader's bodyguard was dressed up a bit more to make them distinct and regal from the regular general's bodyguard after all you only have one faction leader.

[Asuryan]

I haven't play ETW so I can't give opinion on them, but I want that useless feature called City Viewer that existed on RTW.

I thought M2 also has permanent forts, I remembered making a couple during my campaign but nobody garrisoned in it but it lasted for more than a century.

I've heard someone talked about Religion a long way back, heard some people said Romans aren't that strict so it's pretty much pointless to have them in the game.

[♠ Thomas Cochrane ♠]

Unique faction leaders models that look their part for both the campaign and battle map. I want my Barbarian/Eastern Kings to look like Kings and a Roman Emperor to look like an Emperor. I like what Shogun 2 did and hope that system is developed a bit more. I want to see my Faction Leader decked out in ornate regalia of the period maybe even crowns for some of the faction leaders, just don't want them to look like a regular general. On that note it would also be cool if the faction leader's bodyguard was dressed up a bit more to make them distinct and regal from the regular general's bodyguard after all you only have one faction leader.

That has been implemented in Shogun 2 very nicely. We can be more or less sure that all the good points of S2 will be in R2 like that

[SamueleD]

I agree with all your posts (especially about the population thingy, I don't know why they removed it, it was the only thing that could slow down development and steamrolling), I'd also like to see the city view from R:TW make a come-back, it might be a "useless feature" (it doesn't have to be), but it was just great, it was one of the things that gave you immersion. Also the fact that you could see the buildings being built and upgraded and changing the city look, it gave a sort of continuity between your hard work in the campaign map and what you would see once they attacked your cities.

[LestaT]

If I'm not mistaken in the original Shogun you can only get income at the end of the fourth turn. Will bringing this back increase a difficulty in managing economy a bit ? All Total War games is only difficult economy wise the first few turns. In Shogun 2 even once you manage to get around 4 or 5 province at the start you can turtle a develop more once the economy is set.

[Emperor Domitianus]

I think it would be interesting the Pows option.
I mean in MTW I you captired troops after a battle and could decide what to do with them. The same in MTW2.
It would be interesting to have this features back with the option to use them in diplomatic actions or, as the Romans did, use hostages for peace or other things.
I do not agree with permanent forts. The Romans made permanent forts when defending an area but the legions were able to build up and then dismount everything when they were leaving. So the forts had to exist until you leave a garrison inside.

[Strattios]

Shogun-
-Separate tax per region

Med-
-Mercenaries
-Civil Wars
-More traits/ancillaries based on generals action than just what you choose.
-Armor upgrades can be added to existing units

Rome-
-A population dependable recruitment system

Med 2-
-Settlements containing more buildings
-Settlements being the location of seige battles
-Armor upgrades change model

Kingdoms-
-Area of Recruitment units

Empire-
-Permanent forts
-Intercept Zone
-Research Tree

Tweaks-
-Defending armies in field get fortifications (research-able & multi level)
-2 Trait trees for generals with separate experience. 1 military & 1 civil.
-Ability to retrain (bring to full strength) a unit in one turn. Not just slow replenishment.

[Adarken]

I'd like to see the hordes from Barbarian Invasion in some form, maybe in a DLC campaign. I enjoyed starting a chain reaction of hordes as the Huns. It sucked when you'd conquer a city, only to give the AI 5 stacks to attack you with though.