TW Next Gen

[underworld1]

I was thinking the other day what TW games would look like in 5-10 years.
I figured that there were two main directions they would go (neglecting what era);
My first idea was that the amount of units would stay more or less the same, with about max 10k units on the battlefield at one time. But each unit would be extremely detailed with loads of different animations and maybe even differentiated men in each unit. Loads more types of units would be available and (my dream come true) a unit editor of sorts where you could easily import models and skins so modding would be a lot easier and I could finally make my four-armed, naked, head-hurling, screeching woman unit riding elephant-lions and complete my life.

The other idea I had was instead of focusing on quality, CA would choose quantity and go for super-huge epic battles with each army composed of tens of thousands of units. One worry with this would be, despite being able to re-enact the movie Troy, the battle may take as long as the movie troy.

Both have their pros and cons. Personally, I prefer the former as then the developers could focus on refining battles more, such as more interaction with enviroment and better ai. Either way, there are many possibilities. What are all you guys' thoughts on the matter?

[Fishies123]

I personally would go for the gameplay. Its all good have extrememely detailed graphics and such, but without the good gameplay the game is just extremely pretty. I would love to see tens of thousands of men!

[Valerius Tiberius]

i think withing 10 years there will be super game computers and the both combined will be able

[Xavier Dragnesi]

I would think that they would have managed to strengthen the intelligence of the AI, to make it more of a challenge to play. Better graphics would also be good, as well as more than 10k men on the battlefield cos that would make it even more realistic as there were often hundreds of thousands of men on a battlefield.

[Valerius Tiberius]

and more then 20 slots would be handy too

[Sandrus Castus]

But you're able to control your reinforcement armies too, in Kingdoms, so that's not a big problem.

[SkyAnimal]

Crazy idea I have for Rome 2.

A Message to Creative Assembly: Idea for Rome 2: Total War.

[Selifator]

In 10 years we will be in Virtual Total War, playing family members and seeing the game literally through our own eyes.

[Valerius Tiberius]

@sandrus castus, you can only set them to "attact/defense/..." so you can't really control them!!!

[NobleNick]

In 10 years I think we will have it all: bigger armies, more slots, better detail, much better strategic and tactical AI, an integral mod engine, AND 3D holographic battles!

[♔The Lizard King♔]

I think I'll take the third rode. Having an alliance with the AI that actually benefits me in some way, shape, or form.

[candle_86]

massive battles, say 100k men on a field

[century x]

massive battles, say 100k men on a field

I was going to post that but you said it first. Yes 100,000 men on a battle field will be the most insane thing ever. I like graphics and details but if I have the ability to have 100,000 men on the field I would say screw graphics and give me my ARMADA.

[Master_Templar]

My vision of the future for Rome: Total War.

The game will be able to be played in Multiplayer Campaign Mode, with some 15 players playing as different factions. (Hey, turn based multiplayers can work, Civilization did it.)

Graphics will be stepped up so high that it is the equivlent of climbing Mt Everest. 100 times. Much higher detailed soldiers, ones that change expression. For example, in the event of a charge, the soldiers would put on a fearless expression, open their mouths and yell, 'CHAAAARGE!'

For a better feel of a cheaply thrown together army, the shields, swords and armour should differentiate between the soldiers. Arrows should get stuck in the soldiers armour and shield. Missed missile attacks should lie on the ground and roll down a hill, if there is one.

Deaths should be better animated and in much bigger variety. Soldiers can fall to their knees, fall backwards, fall over and curl up on the ground. For arrow related deaths, instead of just spontaneously combusting, soldiers can be flung back, clutching their wound while staggering backwards. Soldiers should scream in pain, and other soldiers witnessing the death should be horrified (when the death is sudden). Blood.

For ballista related attacks, the bolt should smash shields, pierce armour and impale a couple of men. They should be thrown back a couple of metres and hit other soldiers. Catapult related deaths would be spectacular. Men getting squashed, men flying everywhere, occasionally killing other men by accident. The rock should explode, with shrapnel killing other soldiers.

As for cavalry, tramples should be more realistic. The front soldiers hit by the charge will either die or fall over, depending on the strength of the soldier. The soldiers that happen to be unlucky enough to be on the ground while horses are running through, are trampled to death.

That is some of the ideas I have for the units of Rome Total War (insert number here). I'll post again, this time, on the Terrain of future RTW.

[Prince_of_Macedon]

Awesome - I'm gonna move this to the other thread (which talks about future concepts of Total War).

[Master_Templar]

No problem, I might have not noticed this, but thanks for moving it.

[underworld1]

Master_Templar you've got the same likings as me I see. A TW game like that would be awesome. Something I would really like to see would be men squirming in pain on the battlefield. Those that survive can be sent to work as slaves or gladiators to redeem themselves for the trouble they caused. Or perhaps sent off to be interrogated if they're a higher ranked soldier, which could reveal things map info and the sizes of armies and cities.
Also, what do people think of the unit editor I mentioned in the first post? The units wouldn't have to be as fanciful as the one I put forward, but it could really improve gameplay for a lot of people. For example, if someone wanted to pull a William Wallace (atleast, I think he did this) or a Mordor orc vs Minas Tirith attack, they could alter onagers to throw heads, and make them severely injure moral.
Also, a bit of storyline wouldn't hurt (besides a limiting linear one) but maybe something as simple as being able to work with allies properly (as someone mentioned earlier) and extra cut scenes if you follow history or something...

[candle_86]

really give me epic battles, simillar to what we saw at Minas Tirth in Return of the king or at least Helms Deep. I want Epic

[NaptownKnight]

In ten years a TW game will have the graphics of Oblivion but with hundreds of thousands of people on screen fighting.

[Templar Knight]

In ten years a TW game will have the graphics of Oblivion but with hundreds of thousands of people on screen fighting.

but i want the graphics of Crysis