MTW: Played it lately?

**Kaidonni** · October 15, 2006, 05:38 AM

I got bored with RTW...went nostalgic, got MTW: GE in August...now engrossed in a Sicily/Hard/GA/Early campaign - it has been going for over a month. Fun, too. 1217AD currently. Won't be interested in M2:TW yet.

But, I also started with MTW, not RTW. It isn't everyone's cup of tea. Some of those who start with RTW can go back to MTW. Others can't. Each to their own. For me, it's nostalgia run-amok. Seriously. I also have Age Of Empires Gold and Age Of Kings Gold! I like the original Half Life now and then, too. Nostalgia is fun.

To be honest, CA have done excellent in all of their Total War games. The effort they have put in especially. Sure, no one is perfect and they will make mistakes here and there, and make decisions some of us don't like. I only like constructive criticism (I despise CA bashing, or bashing of anyone for that matter - if you want to criticise, you have to do it constructively, to help someone out, not do it out of spite).

Me being bored with RTW? Personal, really. And not being too interested in M2:TW? Personal, again. Nothing against CA whastsoever. Everyone has their reasons for the games they like and don't like, and I prefer MTW: GE because of nostalgia, and the atmosphere it provides. I find the gameplay fun indeed.

Heh...yesterday I managed to cause a civil war in the Byzantine Empire. They had an heir come of age, so my assassination of their emperor didn't go *quite* as planned. Their heir must have come of age the same turn. But...BAM! Civil war for Byzantium. I also took care of the second Egyptian re-emergence (the first I had to fight two epic battles over Tripoli, the second I just did away with their leader with my assassins...I wasn't gonna tango twice with 'em over my territory).

Here is a link to the topic in another MTW forum where I go more in-depth about my campaign:
http://p223.ezboard.com/fshoguntotal...ID=18279.topic

Edit: The link only takes you to the forums...not the topic...for some reasion...oh well...

**DarkKnight** · October 15, 2006, 12:26 PM

I think I'll still be playing MTW when MTW2 comes out. I played the demo for the first time and the only thing I could think of while playing it is RTW. Basically, what CA did was they took RTW and reskinned it so it is in the middle ages. Of course this is no surprise as myself and many others have been saying this for awhile. And correct me if I am wrong, but isn't there already a mod out there for RTW which reskins it for the middle ages? I am not sure if I am even going to waste my money on this refurbished piece of garbage called MTW2.

**John I Tzimisces** · October 15, 2006, 12:28 PM

If RTW isn't working (like its been) or I don't have access to it, I play MTW. I've been playing the Pike and Musket Mod. It's been a blast and sorta has to do with one of the classes I'm taking at UCONN...

**moonlapse** · October 15, 2006, 12:54 PM

i couldnt play viking invasion when it came out,but couple of weeks ago,i had some cash in my pockets and ordered the thing.
and im having terriffic fun playing it.

**Lusted** · October 15, 2006, 01:03 PM

I think I'll still be playing MTW when MTW2 comes out. I played the demo for the first time and the only thing I could think of while playing it is RTW. Basically, what CA did was they took RTW and reskinned it so it is in the middle ages. Of course this is no surprise as myself and many others have been saying this for awhile. And correct me if I am wrong, but isn't there already a mod out there for RTW which reskins it for the middle ages? I am not sure if I am even going to waste my money on this refurbished piece of garbage called MTW2.

Yes Chivalry TW. But no mod team can ever make M2Tw, because we are not CA. And CA can edit the engine, add in new game features(crusades, princesses, merchants, new world, no clone armies, better ai etc) and make a better game as the result.

Btw did you play STw then MTw?, because both have basically the same graphics, but are 2 very different games, and both are very good. Its going to be the same with RTW and M2TW.

Oh, and also, please try to be more polite in the way you post in future.

**DarkKnight** · October 15, 2006, 07:26 PM

Originally Posted by Lusted

Yes Chivalry TW. But no mod team can ever make M2Tw, because we are not CA. And CA can edit the engine, add in new game features(crusades, princesses, merchants, new world, no clone armies, better ai etc) and make a better game as the result.

Btw did you play STw then MTw?, because both have basically the same graphics, but are 2 very different games, and both are very good. Its going to be the same with RTW and M2TW.

Oh, and also, please try to be more polite in the way you post in future.

Well the thing is that I don't really care about the campaign features because I only play multiplayer. And as far as I could tell from the demo battles are identical to RTW only they are medieval units. Lets just say I was thoroughly dissappointed with the regression from MTW to RTW in terms of battle quality. RTW marked the change from strategic, in depth tactical gameplay to clickfest, repetitive eye candy. Seems the latter will hold true with MTW2.

I discovered the TW series at MTW and remained too hooked on MTW to try STW.

EDIT:

Oh, and also, please try to be more polite in the way you post in future.

Maybe this is more suited for PM, but I can't seem to figure out where in that post I was rude. Maybe its just my passionate hate for RTW that seeped through that you may find offensive.

**turtle** · October 15, 2006, 07:48 PM

I would have to say that I agree with the majority of the posts in here. I think RTW was very cool 'looking' and had a few good breakthroughs on the game play. But in general MTW was a much better well balanced strategy game. And STW is a classic. I'll always remember marching my armies of Yari Samurai against each other. I'm hoping to see MTW game play quality pass on to M2TW.

**Kara Kolyo** · October 17, 2006, 06:29 AM

since i'm not going to buy M2TW at least for the next 6 months, i'm thinking of getting the original MTW today or tommorow. the problem now is which mod to install XL or BKB. i have played XL in the past so maybe this time will give BKB a try if it doesn't take too much time to download

**RodentDung** · October 22, 2006, 12:08 AM

Howdy Medieval people,

I just got this game and Vikings add-on a month or 2 ago and it really is the best PC I've ever played with no doubt. I should mention the Sudden Strike series is a close running 2nd. I just started playing the XL mod yesterday and it definitely rocks

with all those new factions and unit types to try. I was thinking about getting Rome Total War until I saw this thread. :hmmm: I watched the Decisive Battle series and the RTW scenes were a delight, but without a decent AI like MTW has it must be like trying to eat a delicious looking plastic cake.

I also expect MTW with the VI and XL enhancements to be better than MTW2 given the gaming industry's tendency to follow the movie industry formula of making sequels all fantastic looking, complex and flashy while forgetting to add fun and creativity to it.

Anyways, back to the battlefield.

**Germanicus75** · October 22, 2006, 07:03 AM

I'm playing it right now too and loving it. Just got owned as the Northhumbrians. Will have to rachet the diff level down :-/

**Kaidonni** · October 22, 2006, 10:33 AM

Heh, I have never stuck with anything below Hard. Since August 2nd, I tried an Easy MTW and Norman VI campaign...not inspiring. Hard as Sicily, GA, Early (now 1251AD)...woah! Really fun. Now the French have died after growing to become a massive superpower (their monarch died without an heir), the Spanish and Italians have re-appeared, the Golden Horde are conquering...and I've decided on a second Norman invasion of England (LOL!). My empire is very small...I'm the richest, happiest and strongest. It's all about management. Managing not to grow too big, and picking the right fights.

Hmmm...my assassins are all ready just in case I get excommunicated when I launch my invasion against England. 5 bishops to a region (yep), 3 spies per region for at least 3 regions (hehe...gonna open the gates), 5 invading armies (invading ALL of Britain - Scotland, Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex and Wales all on the same turn...the 3 spies per region are for Northumbria, Mercia and Wessex - got 1 spy per region for the others). Heh...'all hallowed are the Sicilian Normans'...

**big_feef** · October 22, 2006, 11:04 AM

The problem I have is that my video driver won't let me play... it CTDs as I get to the campaign map when starting up. This has happened with every driver since the catalyst 6.1 drivers. So, if I want to play MTW, I have to uninstall my video drivers and reinstall the 6.1 drivers.

I'll probably do that next weekend because I still have an unfinished Turks campaign that's in 1327. In that campaign, I have all of the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, and most of the Balkans; and my armies are poised to invade Italy from the Balkans and France from Spain. After I take Italy and crush the French (I just want to smack them around and weaken them), I'm going to take out the Russians (who survived the Mongol Invasions only because of me) and crush the Hungarians.

**Germanicus75** · October 22, 2006, 11:59 AM

I've gotten around that by lowering the camp map to 800*600 but having the battle map at 1600*1200. It's acceptable.

**Kaidonni** · October 22, 2006, 04:59 PM

Ahhh...the good life. I'm conquering England as we speak (in a sense). Just fought a battle over Northumbria. They retreated in the end, without much fighting save for my Longbowmen, Arbalesters and Turcopoles practicing their aim. Scotland, Wales and Mercia have all fallen to me, the enemy in Scotland and Mercia hiding behind walls. Have to fight another battle over Wessex. This second Norman invasion has been very entertaining...

**RodentDung** · October 22, 2006, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by big_feef

The problem I have is that my video driver won't let me play... it CTDs as I get to the campaign map when starting up. This has happened with every driver since the catalyst 6.1 drivers. So, if I want to play MTW, I have to uninstall my video drivers and reinstall the 6.1 drivers.

I'll probably do that next weekend because I still have an unfinished Turks campaign that's in 1327. In that campaign, I have all of the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, and most of the Balkans; and my armies are poised to invade Italy from the Balkans and France from Spain. After I take Italy and crush the French (I just want to smack them around and weaken them), I'm going to take out the Russians (who survived the Mongol Invasions only because of me) and crush the Hungarians.

The crash that occurs just as the game finishes loading on the campaign map is almost always caused by an nvidia card. The fix is very easy:

1) On the bottom right of your monitor find the nvidia symbol and rightclick on it.
2) Select 'performance and quality settings'
3) Then select 'antialiasing settings' and set it to 4x
4) Repeat the process and this time select 'anisotropic filtering' and set that to 2x

It will load fine once you've done that.

**big_feef** · October 22, 2006, 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by RodentDung

The crash that occurs just as the game finishes loading on the campaign map is almost always caused by an nvidia card. The fix is very easy:

1) On the bottom right of your monitor find the nvidia symbol and rightclick on it.
2) Select 'performance and quality settings'
3) Then select 'antialiasing settings' and set it to 4x
4) Repeat the process and this time select 'anisotropic filtering' and set that to 2x

It will load fine once you've done that.

Problem is that I have an ATI card... and the above tip doesn't work for it unfortunately. Lowering the campaign map resolution to 800x600 does work; but it looks horrid after paying at higher resolutions for so long. I think I'll stick to reinstalling my video driver everytime I have an overwhelming itch to play MTW.