Haven't played since Rome Total War; what do I need to know?

**TheMantis** · March 03, 2009, 01:31 AM

It's been a long time since I've dabbled in the Total War series. My last experiences were with Rome Total Realism, which was a ton of fun. I've got Stainless Steel downloading now (as a first-time user of M2:TW) and I'm curious about a few things.

I saw the submods forum and thought that was very interesting. However, there wasn't really a FAQ sticky topic for that, so I'm going to redirect some questions here. Are all these submods compatible with each other or are they simply one-shots with no guarantee of cross-compatibility? Are many of them retrofitted to work with the latest patch of the game or is that still an ongoing process? Which in particular are the best?

If I liked Rome: Total Realism, will I like this? What features distinguish Stainless Steel as being the best mod out there? How easy is it for someone to make the straight leap past vanilla to SS in M2:TW? I'd rather do the latter one myself, considering how poor unmodded Total War games tend to be.

Thanks!

**Caesar Clivus** · March 03, 2009, 01:42 AM

Originally Posted by TheMantis

Are all these submods compatible with each other or are they simply one-shots with no guarantee of cross-compatibility?

Most submods aren't compatible with each other unless specified.

Are many of them retrofitted to work with the latest patch of the game or is that still an ongoing process? Which in particular are the best?

Most submods have been made for 6.1. Only a few will work with the latest release version of 6.2. Seeing as you liked Rome:Total Realism (and so did I), you should try out RealRecruitment and Byg's Grim Reality. RR slows down unit availability until they were historically available (so no plate armour in the 12th century). Byg's mod adds a lot of depth to the gameplay. I suggest you check out their threads in the submods forum.

If I liked Rome: Total Realism, will I like this? What features distinguish Stainless Steel as being the best mod out there? How easy is it for someone to make the straight leap past vanilla to SS in M2:TW? I'd rather do the latter one myself, considering how poor unmodded Total War games tend to be.

Short answer: yes you will. SS is light years ahead of vanilla: many more factions, units, better textures and the AI is much, much, much better. If you're familiar with total war games, then you should be able to go straight into SS without trying vanilla first

**TheMantis** · March 03, 2009, 01:51 AM

Thank you for a quick, concise, and accurate reply! I'll take all of that into account once I get everything settled out. Are any of the downloading processes particularly hard? I remember that once false move on any RTW mod meant an irritating reinstall process.

**Caesar Clivus** · March 03, 2009, 03:05 AM

Not really. Just install parts 1, 2 and then the 6.1 patch. If for some reason it doesn't run after you install it, just reinstall it again over the top of your current installation (for some weird reason the installer can skip some things but that usually fixes it).

**strife1013** · March 03, 2009, 08:11 AM

Get empires total war!

**Navajo Joe** · March 03, 2009, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by strife1013

Get empires total war!

Why?
I am not impressed with the demo, I liked the sea battles, but the land battles I thought were disappointing. I am not a fan of all the pops and bangs, far prefer Medieval or Roman times.
One day when the modders get at it and we can use the tech with SS, now that will be good

**django333** · March 03, 2009, 12:10 PM

I'd advise playing a campaign with just SS6.1. Then when you get a feel for how the Mod works add this.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=197224

It is a bundle of the most popular submods for SS6.1. You may or may not like RR as it limits the quality and number of troops you can recruit making the game more realistic. BYG's can be a little intimidating at first but once you get the hang of it, it's awesome. Just make sure you read the readme for both.

**strife1013** · March 03, 2009, 02:11 PM

Originally Posted by Navajo Joe

Why?
I am not impressed with the demo, I liked the sea battles, but the land battles I thought were disappointing. I am not a fan of all the pops and bangs, far prefer Medieval or Roman times.
One day when the modders get at it and we can use the tech with SS, now that will be good

Oh I dont know like you I like the medieval and Roman times better but hey its a new time period and a new total war game, thats always a time to rejoice. Beisides I cant wait to see what KK does with the new engine!!

**TheMantis** · March 04, 2009, 03:45 PM

Is there any way to speed up the AI action phase? As of now it's going horrendously slow. My computer can handle M2TW easily, but despite turning everything from high to low, the speeds remained the same: anything in battle or on my turn went fine, but the AI action phase still takes an eternity. Hopefully this isn't normal.

**django333** · March 04, 2009, 04:00 PM

There is a submod for it i think. Check the submod forum.

**Caesar Clivus** · March 04, 2009, 05:27 PM

Originally Posted by TheMantis

Is there any way to speed up the AI action phase? As of now it's going horrendously slow. My computer can handle M2TW easily, but despite turning everything from high to low, the speeds remained the same: anything in battle or on my turn went fine, but the AI action phase still takes an eternity. Hopefully this isn't normal.

There are several threads on this topic already. If you do a search in the SS forum you'll find them.

**virtu** · March 06, 2009, 03:07 PM

Originally Posted by TheMantis

Is there any way to speed up the AI action phase? As of now it's going horrendously slow. My computer can handle M2TW easily, but despite turning everything from high to low, the speeds remained the same: anything in battle or on my turn went fine, but the AI action phase still takes an eternity. Hopefully this isn't normal.

umm..if u mean they're moving so slow, just press the space bar.

**runtheplacered** · March 05, 2009, 01:09 AM

Originally Posted by Navajo Joe

Why?
I am not impressed with the demo, I liked the sea battles, but the land battles I thought were disappointing. I am not a fan of all the pops and bangs, far prefer Medieval or Roman times.
One day when the modders get at it and we can use the tech with SS, now that will be good

Why? Because the game is amazing, that's why. It's completely made M2TW and Rome obsolete. The technology tree, all the new agents, the (finally) useful diplomacy, the sea battles, the theaters, the optimization, the amazing amount of detail, the added strategy of having towns/villages/ports/etc within regions, all comes together to make one amazing game. The battle AI is the only thing I feel needs a little work still, but even that is superior to Medieval 2. Hey, if you like the setting of Medieval 2 and absolutely refuse to budge because of that reason, you're missing out. I find the new era a refreshing change of pace. I really had my doubts going into this game (I don't play demo's anymore. It's just not fair to rate a game on it, I find) but all of my expectations have been met and then some.

**Corrupted** · March 06, 2009, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by runtheplacered

Why? Because the game is amazing, that's why. It's completely made M2TW and Rome obsolete. The technology tree, all the new agents, the (finally) useful diplomacy, the sea battles, the theaters, the optimization, the amazing amount of detail, the added strategy of having towns/villages/ports/etc within regions, all comes together to make one amazing game. The battle AI is the only thing I feel needs a little work still, but even that is superior to Medieval 2. Hey, if you like the setting of Medieval 2 and absolutely refuse to budge because of that reason, you're missing out. I find the new era a refreshing change of pace. I really had my doubts going into this game (I don't play demo's anymore. It's just not fair to rate a game on it, I find) but all of my expectations have been met and then some.

... ETW is pretty bad but that's completely off topic anyway. My suggestion for TheMantis is to play M2TW vanilla, see how bad it is then play SS and see how sexy it is and cherish every minute of that long AI turn because it's WORTH IT.

PS: without BYG turns go a lot faster (though I love BYG too much to remove it) also theres other scripts you can get rid of to make it go faster, just search the forum

**Massive_attack** · March 04, 2009, 11:06 PM

I find myself agreeing with caralampio. You don't need to play a full campaign per-se, just get to know the game's roots. You'll find much has changed: Gunpowder units, merchants, princesses, a different style of play from the factions, larger map, and other quirks that Rome didn't have. You'll be pleased to know that the fundamentals of battle however, have remained much the same. (except where you might have used legionaries as your main troops, you now must get to know and love the all time favorite of every practical medieval general: the humble spearman).

Edit: Oh, and i forgot to mention, two emergent factions appear out of nowhere at set dates and totally clusterf*** everything east of Italy. They are called the Mongols and Timurid's, beware of them !