Help the uninformed on R:TW

[Sabbat]

Hello

I have had my eye on Rome:Total War for a long time now. I love the time period, and the game seems to include so many fascinating aspects of gameplay. My concern is past experience with some other real time strategy games. I am not a lightning fast thinker, and my reaction times won't break any speed records, so games like Dawn of War, and Warcraft, are not as enjoyable to me because I find myself spending the entire time thinking 'go go go!' My first, and still favorite strategy game was a game called X-com, but I want to play something with much more depth without having to micromanage everything to the point where I lose immersion.
So, is Rome:Total War something a not so quick and nimble fingered person can enjoy?

[Scorch]

Yeah, definitely. It's more geared towards strategy and the like, so you should be fine.

Also, if you find battles too fast-paced you are able to pause it at any time and move your troops and such.

I'd recommend it, as it is a very good game.

[Archer of Sparta]

Yea its not too fast or too slow its good. It gives you time to do strategic moves etc. etc. but its fast enough too keep you entertained. Also the mods are really good.

[Sabbat]

Thanks for the quick replies, its comforting to know I can play the game at a thinking pace. As for mods, which ones would be recommended for someone just starting?

[Timmius]

Thanks for the quick replies, its comforting to know I can play the game at a thinking pace. As for mods, which ones would be recommended for someone just starting?

None, I guess. You're better of finishing the game as it is, and then take a look at some mod. Usually mods are a lot more in-depth and specialized and could thus make you confused about how to play the game in general. Or at least do the tutorial campaign first.

As for mods that I personally would recommend:
* Rome Total Realism ( very nicely balanced gameplay. Great feat of new units and a bit slower campaign game. And lots of mods for this mod )
* SPQR ( Extremely difficult, but probably the best battles )
* XGM - Extended Greek Mod ( Lots of cool new hellenic units)

[Sabbat]

None, I guess. You're better of finishing the game as it is, and then take a look at some mod. Usually mods are a lot more in-depth and specialized and could thus make you confused about how to play the game in general. Or at least do the tutorial campaign first.

As for mods that I personally would recommend:
* Rome Total Realism ( very nicely balanced gameplay. Great feat of new units and a bit slower campaign game. And lots of mods for this mod )
* SPQR ( Extremely difficult, but probably the best battles )
* XGM - Extended Greek Mod ( Lots of cool new hellenic units)

Ah when I heard mods I was thinking of purely graphical or UI enhancements. I should probably learn and play the game without anything that drastically changes gameplay.

I ordered the game! Any recommended pre reading?

Thanks for the helpful replies.

[Kara Kolyo]

The mods for RTW are far more than just cooler looking units I too would advise to play atleast one short campaign with the romans before trying a mod. you can check one of the hellenic factions too to get used to phalanx warfare.
Unfortunatelly in the orginal RTW units move quite fast on the battle map for my taste. the good thing is that many mods slow them down.
Mods that i would recomend are XGM - the old versions look lot like the original game but with slower battles and more units. the new versions have much more changes.
Europa barbarorum is the biggest and most complex mod at the moment and it is something really remarcable, but probably not for first time player.
There are many mods for other history periods that you might want to check.
as for recomended pre reading- any AAR in the mods forums or at the top of this page will help to see how things are going.
Frogbeastegg made exellent guides for all aspects of RTW. if they aren't arround, try at totalwar.org
and Have fun!

[Garnier]

If you like long, strategic battles where you actually have to use realistic tactics to win, then SPQR is probably the best choice. The battles are huge 7000-10000 men usually, and they are slow, yet chaotic and interesting.

[micromegas]

I ordered the game! Any recommended pre reading?

I would recommend you read up on our history of that era. This may not help you in the gameplay at all but it will submerse you into the time period much more, and make the game more enjoyable overall, and it's educational! I recommend reading up on: The Punic Wars, Julius Caesar, the Wars of the Dadoichi, Alexander the Great, Rome Civil Wars, The Greek-Persian Wars, The Macedonian Wars, etc. Also some of the tactics used in ancient battles will loosely translate to the game too.

but I want to play something with much more depth without having to micromanage everything to the point where I lose immersion.

This game allows you to automanage your settlements, so if micromanagement isn't your thing then that's an option for you.

And I would recommend that you play vanilla for a couple of months before trying a mod. A lot of people on this forum don't like vanilla but I thought it was a solid game. Vanilla after all won strategy game of the year in 2004.

I enjoyed the warcraft type of RTS a lot, but more for the story than anything else. I could never compete online because I wasn't fast enough, I like taking my time to build.

[timmy1992]

Also, there is a pause button you can use during battles to see what the enemy/your units are doing and for issuing orders.

[Lucius Vorenus]

It's a fantastic game, you'll love it. I've probably logged more hours on RTW than any other comp game, except maybe Empire Earth or AOE2. But after playing Rome, I can't go back to either of those.

[Rasui Runihura]

Agreed. Games like Warcraft and Age of Empires are more about speed. Games like Rome are more about strategy.

[Lucius Vorenus]

Agreed. Games like Warcraft and Age of Empires are more about speed. Games like Rome are more about strategy.

Not just that, but everytime I fired up AOE2 or EE, I always felt like starting the game was a chore, since I'd done it so often and knew exactly what to do. But I still wanted to get the army up and fighting. In RTW, no game is repetitive, and the only parts that are remotely boring is when your faction is far from other settlements when you begin. And even that isn't half as boring as the start of AOE because you still at least have an army.

[Selifator]

I find the beginning more interesting than later times, say around 20 provinces. I never finish my campaigns because I get bored with them.
The challenge goes out of them.
@ Sabbat, RTW is one of the best games ever made. I mean, there aren't many games that still have such a large community after release (not talking about MMO's). I haven't used a lot of mods, but since there are so many you will surely find one you like.

[Oman]

I strictly play online and as a 35 year old gentleman , my reflexes arent the finely tuned machines they used to be. To put it another way, my younger brother beats me in every single play station game that requires speed of hand and eye. But in Rome, online anyway, its far more important to have quick thinking than quick reflexes and my parents got that side of things right 1st time

[Sabbat]

I strictly play online and as a 35 year old gentleman , my reflexes arent the finely tuned machines they used to be. To put it another way, my younger brother beats me in every single play station game that requires speed of hand and eye. But in Rome, online anyway, its far more important to have quick thinking than quick reflexes and my parents got that side of things right 1st time

Ha! I'm right there with you in age...still having a ton of fun going through the single player campaign, and the AI has kicked my rear a couple of times but learning the ropes is fun! I rely on the pause button so much now that I know playing online will be horrific but I'm working my way toward it.

[Selifator]

I find the beginning more interesting than later times, say around 20 provinces. I never finish my campaigns because I get bored with them.
The challenge goes out of them.
@ Sabbat, RTW is one of the best games ever made. I mean, there aren't many games that still have such a large community after release (not talking about MMO's). I haven't used a lot of mods, but since there are so many you will surely find one you like.

[Roshak]

So, is Rome:Total War something a not so quick and nimble fingered person can enjoy?

Yes and no. Pause wise you can do it, but if you want the continuous gameplay you'll need to get a mod for battles are very quick. By that I mean once you've entered melee its all about management and you'll have a short window. Its not as bad as say the games you mention but if your looking for issuing a few orders and commanding and thinking that might prove a little challenging.

RTR does a great job of fixing this and actually allows you to make decisions in the heat of combat.

[Prince_of_Macedon]

Hello

I have had my eye on Rome:Total War for a long time now. I love the time period, and the game seems to include so many fascinating aspects of gameplay. My concern is past experience with some other real time strategy games. I am not a lightning fast thinker, and my reaction times won't break any speed records, so games like Dawn of War, and Warcraft, are not as enjoyable to me because I find myself spending the entire time thinking 'go go go!' My first, and still favorite strategy game was a game called X-com, but I want to play something with much more depth without having to micromanage everything to the point where I lose immersion.
So, is Rome:Total War something a not so quick and nimble fingered person can enjoy?

As far as the online aspect is concerned, you only have to micromanage your troops in battle. Online, there is absolutely no resource-gathering, base-building, or unit-production. That eliminates about 75% of the micromanagement that most RTS games (i.e. Starcraft) forces you to engage in.

This is how battles work online:

1) the host makes a game
- the host sets up the battlefield conditions (such as Summer/Winter weather)
- the battlefield
- how much denarii (money) both players get to spend on soldiers/equipment/upgrades

2) both players select their factions, types of troops, upgrades

3) on the next screen, both players deploy their armies on their respective sides of the battlefield

4) finally, the battle begins

[Sabbat]

As far as the online aspect is concerned, you only have to micromanage your troops in battle. Online, there is absolutely no resource-gathering, base-building, or unit-production. That eliminates about 75% of the micromanagement that most RTS games (i.e. Starcraft) forces you to engage in.

This is how battles work online:

1) the host makes a game
- the host sets up the battlefield conditions (such as Summer/Winter weather)
- the battlefield
- how much denarii (money) both players get to spend on soldiers/equipment/upgrades

2) both players select their factions, types of troops, upgrades

3) on the next screen, both players deploy their armies on their respective sides of the battlefield

4) finally, the battle begins

Thanks for the explanation...and I really enjoyed your videos...makes me wish I could speed up the shipping!