My experience of attacking small settlements

[equinoxsolar]

So I decided to try the game again f - Clocked another 4 hours over the past two nights and this time opted for Ptolemy's Egypt in the Grand Campaign.
My experience of attacking settlements tends to follow the same pattern.

I recruit 6 units of slingers/archers
I stand 50 odd feet from the road leading to the town centre.
The AI camps 5-6 stacks of spearmen/hillmen
I let my slingers attack.
The ai shuffles his infantry back and forth until they all die.


Is this what everyone else is experiencing in Seige battles of small towns? I've fought maybe 10 and its the same old routine. I win each of them without losing a single unit.

Also - does anyone notice that the fast forward button makes no difference when selected? It appears to be running at the same speed as when forward is selected. I.e it runs double speed when either one is pressed.
Open battles however are noticeably improved from launch and are quite fun now.

[BigHairyMelon]

Yes and to make it worse with all the changes to auto resolve, units with javelins are OP in auto resolve so you have to fight those battles so you don't lose half your army to those units, when in real battle one charge from a horse unit wipes them all out. It is the only thing related to battles that still needs to be fixed/made to not suck.

[Huberto]

It's not just sieges that are FUBAR in Rome 2. The village battles are a mess too. I wonder about the people applauding this game. Are they just ignoring stuff like this?

[Tullaris]

It's not just sieges that are FUBAR in Rome 2. The village battles are a mess too. I wonder about the people applauding this game. Are they just ignoring stuff like this?

Denial. Its beautiful.

[DeliCiousTZM]

That is why i play MPC, because the AI can't be relied on to perform in anything but Naval engagement. To me though this is because Rome II is more complex, to me the battles in Rome II can have much more dimension and it must be hard to create an AI capable of performing on a normal human level.

[RedGuard]

That is why i play MPC, because the AI can't be relied on to perform in anything but Naval engagement. To me though this is because Rome II is more complex, to me the battles in Rome II can have much more dimension and it must be hard to create an AI capable of performing on a normal human level.

you represent a minority in the total war community that only play multiplayer campaigns. Your answer seems to be every time "Hey guys the games not broken just play a multiplayer campaign its fine." what about people that have no interest in a MPC?

[Leftcoaster]

As for the speed buttons, how advanced would you consider your rig?

My system is on the very low end, and I play all all the lowest settings, and smallest units. I barely notice any speedup when using the speed buttons, only the muting of battlefield sounds.

However, if mid battle I alt-tab out to windows, wait a few seconds and tab back in, the speed will be ultra fast like it's supposed to be for a while and then get slower and slower until it's back to normal speed.

So unless you're on a top of the line computer, it's possible your graphics limitations are what is holding back the speed-up option.

[DeliCiousTZM]

you represent a minority in the total war community that only play multiplayer campaigns. Your answer seems to be every time "Hey guys the games not broken just play a multiplayer campaign its fine." what about people that have no interest in a MPC?

Evolve

[Huberto]

to me the battles in Rome II can have much more dimension and it must be hard to create an AI capable of performing on a normal human level.

How do the battles in Rome II have 'more dimension'? The speed? Special abilities buttons?

[BigHairyMelon]

Evolve

You do realise that the total war series is primarily a single player series right?

[DeliCiousTZM]

You do realise that the total war series is primarily a single player series right?

We were once hunter gatherers, then the agricultural revolution came.

How do the battles in Rome II have 'more dimension'? The speed? Special abilities buttons?

More diverse units, faster combat,bigger cities that you cannot just automatically scale. You think it was a coincidence that they would scale the walls in Shogun2,Empire esque?

Naval/land hybrid battles,three flag settlements with Naval and land hybrid battles. Ambush battles,fortification battles straight up normal battles with a huge unit diversity. Slingers/Jav/cav/spears/swords in a typical army.

Dude the list goes on and on.

[Huberto]

We were once hunter gatherers, then the agricultural revolution came.

More diverse units, faster combat bigger cities that you cannot just automatically scale. You think it was a coincidence that they would scale the walls in Shogun2,Empire esque.

Naval/land hybrid battles,three flag settlements with Naval and land hybrid battles. Ambush battles,fortification battles straight up normal battles with a huge unit diversity. Slingers/Jav/cav/spears/swords in a typical army.

Dude the list goes on and on.

So you must be comparing Rome II to RTW? Not Shogun 2 I take it. Because if you compare the TWR2 battles to Shogun 2 the only new thing is naval/land hybrid battles (sort of, because we did have naval bombardment in FotS)...The lack of scalable walls as implemented is an embarrassing failure and profoundly broken...we would be better served by grappling hooks.

I suppose the combat in TWR2 is faster than Shogun 2, I don't consider sped up combat deeper, in fact the opposite and that's not a positive. Fort battles, ambush it's all there in Shogun 2....multiple capture points in castle siege battles..yep...so this is about...what, javelins and slingers???

[Sir_Pee_Alot]

Yes thats there intelligence AI or how they call it. they now have squares conntected to the pathfinding of the AI and in those squares the AI defends (but all they do is stand there)
you can watch this video and you know what i mean http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWwr1...CC8F6335D64288

[DeliCiousTZM]

So you must be comparing Rome II to RTW? Not Shogun 2 I take it. Because if you compare the TWR2 battles to Shogun 2 the only new thing is naval/land hybrid battles (sort of, because we did have naval bombardment in FotS)...The lack of scalable walls as implemented is an embarrassing failure and profoundly broken...we would be better served by grappling hooks.

I suppose the combat in TWR2 is faster than Shogun 2, I don't consider sped up combat deeper, in fact the opposite and that's not a positive. Fort battles, ambush it's all there in Shogun 2....multiple capture points in castle siege battles..yep...so this is about...what, javelins and slingers???

Rome II knocks Rome 1 Out of the park just as it knocks Shogun 2 out of the park. Even though Shogun 2 had its charm for sure, and i love that game still. To me Empire started a new era with the new engine. + and - to be had i suppose. So i do compare Rome II with the last iteration of total war which is Shogun 2.

I don't quite understand what you mean when you write about scalable walls? Of course we shouldn't have scalable walls in Rome II unless it is some epic ninja unit(All for)

There are no ambush battles in Shogun 2 and there is only one mainobjective flag to take in order to win never two. and to call naval bombardment a Naval/Hybrid is silly your grasping at straws here.

Can't we just accept that Battles in Rome II are more complicated than they have been in previous total wars? I mean it is obviously so,the diversity alone will vouch for that.

The lack of scalable walls as implemented is an embarrassing failure and profoundly broken...

Yes that my legionaries don't pull up batman style grappling guns and fire them at the walls is profoundly broken! Jezz

[Huberto]

I don't quite understand what you mean when you write about scalable walls? Of course we shouldn't have scalable walls in Rome II unless it is some epic ninja unit(All for)

But the AI can't attack walled cities and succeed. It gets lost, it gets confused, it doesn't follow through. As has been demonstrated time and time again, really, ad naseum through beta patch 9...soooo

Wouldn't it be better to just have them grapple up the walls ETW style? Or perhaps ditch siege battles all together? The current mess is hardly more complicated, it's just lacking in challenge. The combined naval/land battles also don't work when the AI has naval units also as has been shown repeatedly.

I think in the end this boils down to your preference for lightning fast, twitch style combat.

[DeliCiousTZM]

But the AI can't attack walled cities and succeed. It gets lost, it gets confused, it doesn't follow through. As has been demonstrated time and time again, really, ad naseum through beta patch 9...soooo

Wouldn't it be better to just have them grapple up the walls ETW style? Or perhaps ditch siege battles all together? The current mess is hardly more complicated, it's just lacking in challenge. The combined naval/land battles also don't work when the AI has naval units also as has been shown repeatedly.

I think in the end this boils down to your preference for lightning fast, twitch style combat.

No, it wouldn't be better at all. for me the AI performs well enough in most sieges, and i can tell because i play actual players and some of them are worse than the AI at laying a proper siege.

Naval/Land battles work normally, the AI gets of joins his army or just head right into the fray. If you want claim that the AI doesn't work all of the time i won't challenge that. But for me it works most of the time. For me even when the AI works he is a disappointed because he is after all just an AI created for a strategy game with so many equations.

People tend to forget that we look at Rome II, and we say simple,streamlined,straightforward. But to the AI Rome II looks a whole lot different. With so much space to manevour and so many tools,stances and other AI movements to put into the equation it isn't hard to understand how the AI can't be more then average at best! And average is just what it is.

I think in the end this boils down to your preference for lightning fast, twitch style combat

Yes! I have played Total war for almost ten years and all i ever wanted from it was a Call of duty clone! Finally! Herp derp. Sometimes Huberto, i feel like you see right through me man.

[The Forgotten]

So I decided to try the game again f - Clocked another 4 hours over the past two nights and this time opted for Ptolemy's Egypt in the Grand Campaign.
My experience of attacking settlements tends to follow the same pattern.

I recruit 6 units of slingers/archers
I stand 50 odd feet from the road leading to the town centre.
The AI camps 5-6 stacks of spearmen/hillmen
I let my slingers attack.
The ai shuffles his infantry back and forth until they all die.


Is this what everyone else is experiencing in Seige battles of small towns? I've fought maybe 10 and its the same old routine. I win each of them without losing a single unit.

Also - does anyone notice that the fast forward button makes no difference when selected? It appears to be running at the same speed as when forward is selected. I.e it runs double speed when either one is pressed.
Open battles however are noticeably improved from launch and are quite fun now.

I was playing TATW just recently and that is how is how most sieges went. All that was different was that there was a wall that the archers shot over. They still stood there, just meandering around getting shot at. In FOTS you could also get a few cannons and blow up a besieged army. Like shooting fish in a barrel because of the small castles. Nothing has really changed, but if it is fixed then it's nothing but a plus.

[Sun Jetzu]

I agree with the monetary. This game is more complex in its combat than previous total war games. What it lacks for me is in campaign since they removed and streamlined most features. The complexity and choices are gone. Except for the 3 options in auto resolve (why the hell would I choose aggressive stance if I lose to a Pyrrhic victory when a defensive stance gives me a close win? Its like they gave us this choice to free up the game to not think on how best to handle our autoresolves). Anyway the game itself is fun to an extent but I like seeing that its getting better through patches and mods.

True Story

I was protecting an unwalled village from a horde of Epirotes. Normally I would have to only block up 1 street, maybe two with pikes as the AI mosh pittes itself trying to get through. But this time was different. They did send all their cav into my pikes as usual. But after sent missile units to pelt my defenders! And its infantry just sat there for the most part! I was like where have I seen this before. Then thought, oh bloody hell. I do this when I attack unwalled cities. After their missile units were done. They sent in their infantry. But this time They swarmed through the streets around the courtyard. Like locusts. I had to start plugging up the street behind me with reserves. I couldnt handle this out maneuver. I didnt have enough men. I Lost the First Knossos Expeditionary Force in some in southern italy.

See Progress.

[Garensterz]

How were the combat in Rome 2 more complex? CA just added a Mo-cap 1 on 1 duel feature (very terrible and unrealistic to watch on Roman Units) in the animations and thats it. nothing else! On the bad side, they have removed alot of features in combat such as "The Push System" which is very very realistic, and very immersive when my few roman legions gets pushed back with a lot of heavy barbarian infantry when they clash. And thats how realistic RTW's engine was.

[Zhayedan]

We were once hunter gatherers, then the agricultural revolution came.

Speaking with your own language, you do realize that this game still has a section named "Hunting Gathering", thus, one might expect if that mode still features in the game, it still functions correctly. Right?