My Compliments/few questions

[Streen15]

First off,

I have been playing BC for quite some time, but with the recent release of Stainless Steel 6.0, I have been distracted with Europe. However, the skins and the overall feel did not quite suite my taste, so I returned to BC and find the skins just plain amazing and the overall feeling of the game just right. So, first off, my major compliments to the BC team for creating such a flawless mod. It literally feels like an entire expansion pack centered around the Middle-East.

My questions:

1) I'm currently playing as the Eastern Roman Empire, and it seems that certain units have 'two weapons.' My Emperor's Guard (god they're pretty) have spears out, but every once in a while they will switch to their swords...I don't know what the cause of this switch is, and I almost wish I could somehow command them on this. Sometimes I witness them putting away their spears when charging cavalry, or keeping their spears when charge infantry. Also, I've noticed this with the Two-handed axe-man. Every once in a while they will take the shields off their backs and take a single-handed axe out - they are much more effective this way anyway. What causes this? Perhaps if i know what causes this, I can better maneuver them between their weapons.

2) Take a gander at this 'sub-mod.'

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=162498

Ignore the banner-portion of this. I'm interested here solely on the COMBAT. Basically my question is, would there be any chance of implementing this 'total combat' in BC? I realize that 'sub-mods' are not something the BC team likes to do, and I don't blame you guys for this policy - you guys should be proud and protective of your work. However, this total combat mod does make the battles feel and act more realistic. They updated a number of animations - swords mostly - that made the battles look MUCH nicer. The shield-bashing for instance has been removed, as it is seemingly useless other than for aesthetics. The overall feeling just seems a bit better, and my apologies if this has been asked before. It's definitely something to check out. The latest patch of DLV has the same animations, so you can check them out there too. The two-handed units for instance are VERY much improved in this 'sub-mod.' Please check it out BC team if you can, and see if it meets your flavor. As far as I know, these new animations have not been criticized once, everyone has been complimenting the creator, stating that the new animations surpass CA's originals.

3) I know this has probably been asked 50 times, but what is the latest news on the patch? Sooner or later? I'm not asking for a time frame, just whether it's close or not .

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That's it for questions. Thank you again BC team, I can't stress enough my gratitude for this apparent 'expansion pack.'

[Faris ad Din]

1) I'm currently playing as the Eastern Roman Empire, and it seems that certain units have 'two weapons.' My Emperor's Guard (god they're pretty) have spears out, but every once in a while they will switch to their swords...I don't know what the cause of this switch is, and I almost wish I could somehow command them on this. Sometimes I witness them putting away their spears when charging cavalry, or keeping their spears when charge infantry. Also, I've noticed this with the Two-handed axe-man. Every once in a while they will take the shields off their backs and take a single-handed axe out - they are much more effective this way anyway. What causes this? Perhaps if i know what causes this, I can better maneuver them between their weapons.

I can answer your first question. Each unit in Total War has access to a maximum of two weapons (one of which must be a melee weapon/attack by the way).

As to how you can toggle the secondary weapon, the quick answer would be to use the ALT key (then right click) an enemy target. This is how you command archers/horse archers to attack with melee instead of ranged. It also affects melee units with two melee weapons, so you can command pikemen/spearmen with an extra weapon to attack with that weapon.

For that matter, the ALT key is also very handy in moving formations. It move a single unit or groups of units to another location, having it/them facing the same compass direction and in the same spacing/formation relative to one another (right clicking on empty ground, rather than an enemy unit). Alternatively you can click and drag the right mouse button to rotate the unit(s), also keeping the same shape/spacing/formation to have them face another direction.

The ALT key is easy to use for commanding units with two weapons that are not engaged in combat. It is trickier for units that are already engaged in combat. As to why units may switch between melee weapons (it's obvious why ranged units switch to melee weapons, bows make awful melee weapons), I and many others cannot say. It is a critical issue for units like pikemen, who come armed with a secondary (and often inferior) personal weapon like a short sword. When combat is engaged in M2:TW, pikemen often face the issue of gradually putting away their pikes and using their swords as the enemy gets closer and they are more tied up in melee. But players have come up with a solution:

Put the unit on guard mode, pause the game, single-right click the enemy unit to attack it, and then take off guard mode. They will "magically produce" pikes again. This may be a way to get any unit to default back to their primary weapon from a secondary one. To do the opposite, use the ALT button and right click. I hope this helped.

[Kennylz]

You are saying that when he refers to the two weapon unit switching to shield that to get them to switch to shield all he has to do is hold alt when clicking attack, right?

[Ahiga]

1) I'm currently playing as the Eastern Roman Empire, and it seems that certain units have 'two weapons.' My Emperor's Guard (god they're pretty) have spears out, but every once in a while they will switch to their swords...I don't know what the cause of this switch is, and I almost wish I could somehow command them on this. Sometimes I witness them putting away their spears when charging cavalry, or keeping their spears when charge infantry. Also, I've noticed this with the Two-handed axe-man. Every once in a while they will take the shields off their backs and take a single-handed axe out - they are much more effective this way anyway. What causes this? Perhaps if i know what causes this, I can better maneuver them between their weapons.

It's complicated when it comes to infantry bearing two melee weapons. It's not necessarily supported too much by the engine. I believe what faris Al din says holds true - Alt attack with your Pelekys and Varangian Mercenaries. As for Emperor's guard, they are kind of unique in wielding the spear and sword, and it can be a bit of 'voodoo' to get them to work. Strelac did the unit, so he'll know more than I.

2) Take a gander at this 'sub-mod.'

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=162498

Ignore the banner-portion of this. I'm interested here solely on the COMBAT. Basically my question is, would there be any chance of implementing this 'total combat' in BC? I realize that 'sub-mods' are not something the BC team likes to do, and I don't blame you guys for this policy - you guys should be proud and protective of your work. However, this total combat mod does make the battles feel and act more realistic. They updated a number of animations - swords mostly - that made the battles look MUCH nicer. The shield-bashing for instance has been removed, as it is seemingly useless other than for aesthetics. The overall feeling just seems a bit better, and my apologies if this has been asked before. It's definitely something to check out. The latest patch of DLV has the same animations, so you can check them out there too. The two-handed units for instance are VERY much improved in this 'sub-mod.' Please check it out BC team if you can, and see if it meets your flavor. As far as I know, these new animations have not been criticized once, everyone has been complimenting the creator, stating that the new animations surpass CA's originals.

Actually the banners interest me. I know they use officers for it, but any information on them I'd be happy to hear.

Strelac's been working on animations and I believe removed the sword-punch animation as well as done some other stuff to make combat look better. He and Grandviz have also been working on stats to deliver more of a Real Combat like experience.

3) I know this has probably been asked 50 times, but what is the latest news on the patch? Sooner or later? I'm not asking for a time frame, just whether it's close or not .

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That's it for questions. Thank you again BC team, I can't stress enough my gratitude for this apparent 'expansion pack.'

I can't give a release date, however progress is going well on it. I'd estimate it to be around 25-50% done. We're going to have some surprises with the Auxilia, as well as something else.

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

Good, enough time to get through another full campaign.

It's great to hear the work being done as well!

[Streen15]

Wow, great information and good news all around. The Alt-key is very handy information - never knew about the usefulness of the alt key in general.

The banners are indeed a great addition. They have some screenshots of it, and it does work well on the battlefield - it adds a lot of color. The animations for the flags are better than what I originally expected, and I can actually take a few screenshots of my own if you want further information on it. They do use 'officers,' each unit has it's own ideal 'officer' - including arrowmen. Some units have banners, some don't - the 'higher-up' units have the banners. Like I said, if you want some screenshots, I can give it to you. I think with this particular mod they got rid of the 'floating' banners and replaced it with 'real' banners (you can see this in the screenshots in the above link). One thing this effect does is, if units begin to route in this mod, you won't notice the flashing white banner at the top...because they have been removed. However, I personally like the removal of the floating banners, as it seems a much more realistic portrayal without the flashing white/red flags. For instance, many of the 'merceneries' flags have been given worn-tattered flags. You can actually see holes in it and such. While this is a very small detail that many will not notice, I did on the battlefield. I loved the fact that the banners were actually HELD by my troops, and that the men holding these banners can be slain...flags on the ground and all. It's a nice little effect, and makes for some epic screenshots of your defeated enemies.

I'm glad work has been done on animations. I thought I'd pass the information on that some progress has been made by others. The two handed Axemen for the danes for example work so much more flawlessly in this mod. They are not 'overpowered,' but they just work much more effectively - and the swords are just the same.

Anyways, good news! And thanks for the alt-key tip. And thanks for the time estimate. It'll give me enough time to finish my Eastern Roman Campaign .