SOME QUESTIONS ANSWERED by Kieran (not all)

This has been written by nuccio africanus (thanks to him), member of the shoguntotalwarforum: he went to san francisco and met kieran. http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/67230?page=3

"Well I haven't written my review yet, but have been fooling around with some outlines and drafts. I will be posting my review hopefully soon.

In my upcoming review I will reveal all the components of my "once in a lifetime experience", while I will also reveal how I left San Francisco with more than just memories.

I have answered the questions I could from the list of questions you asked me to ask. There were some questions that I wasn't able to ask because of time and there were some questions I couldn't get answered because of CA's dedication to secrecy. But I did the best I could and I hope you all enjoy the answers I was able to get.

Napoleon Total War Questions
Game Play Questions:
1. What are the official Playable Factions for Napoleon TW?
A: Italian Campaign
1.Austria
2.France

Egyption Campaign
1.France
2. Ottoman Empire

note: The Mamalukes, British and many tribes are present in the Egyption Campaign. Looks extremely Detailed. Kieran emphazised that weather(heat) and terrain will effect the European troop(French and British) to an extreme degree.

Campaign of the Coalition
1. Prussia
2. Austria
3. Russia
4. British

note: In my actual review I will tell you how I confirmed this little detail.

Multiplayer Battles Note: These are the ones I remember 100% are in the Mutliplayer Battles, there may be more

1. Spain
2. Portugal
3. France
4. Sweden
5. Denmark
6. Russia
7. Austria
8. Prussia
9. British
10. Ottomans

2. What is the General recruiting system like? Are traits developed differently than in Empire and other Previous Titles? Are there different ancillaries? Is it the same system for recruiting Admirals?
A: This might be my favorite new feature! Every General/Admiral you hire was an actual General or Admiral of the time(or some random guy named Jack Lusted or Kieran Brigden lol). Each General and Admiral have a rally ability and give certain bonuses to units within their command zone(A ring around the actual general unit), but each General and Admiral has their own unique bonuses and PRICE!, Great Generals are very expensive to hire, but they give extreme bonuses to your men in the heat of battle, while also maybe influencing your empire positively on the campaign map. Also each General and Admiral have their own unique artwork that apears as a Portrait in their stat window.

Each ancillary is both specific and historically accurate for the General or Admiral. How ancillaries are changed or gained I don't know I didn't ask.
3. What effects do Generals and Admirals have on the Campaign Map and on the Battle Field, do they have a larger or smaller impact on Battles than the Generals of ETW?
A: Having played the game they basically are the same unit when fighting in melee combat, Although how they impact the game is revolutionary compared to ETW. The in battle boosts Generals give to units allows the player to utlize the general like never before in TW.

note: I played no Navel Battles

4. What changes if any had been made to the AI on the campaign map? – Will the A.I. act differently on the different difficulty settings? – Will the A.I. act more in its own self-interest?
A: I only played multiplayer battles so I never did get to test the battle A.I., but I can confidently say that the A.I. on the campaign map, at least in the Italian Campaign I played, is much better. I played as Austria against Dionysious, who played as France. Every Faction except for basically France was indifferent toward me. My allie was Savoy who was at war with France, and of course I was as well. The first turn I was able to secure a trade agreement with Venice, while Dionysious was able to get Genoa to break its alliance with Savoy while also getting a trade agreement with Genoa. In the beginning I was extremely agressive and after two hard fought battles with Dionysous I had captured a region from France and had basically decimated the French army. at this point my forces were feared throughout Italy. Of course my expansion had caused hostilty from all the other Italian states. So quickly the once indifferent Italian states had turned unfriendly toward me with Genoa being hostile. Although Dionysious could find no ally since all the small italian States were not willing to join him in a losing war against me. The A.I. truly did respect my military might in this campaign. Yet as hard as I tried I could not get Genoa to break its trade agreement with France. Genoa realized that if I declared war on it, that my Allie Savoy would be angry with me since they had good relations so it was the only faction who still traded with France. Although as hard a Dionysious tried he could not get Genoa or any other Italian State to join him in his losing war against the Austrians. Genoa was very clever in being able to still trade with France while being able to remain neutral in the conflict.

But what impressed me the most was how Savoy my allie, acted in assisiting me. Dionysious had captured a city early on from Savoy but soon after, I took the city back and began to reinforce the city. Savoy moved two small forces through my newly acquired lands toward the French boarder. One force consited of a single calvary unit while the other consited of 3 militia and a 6-ib horse artillary. Savoy knew that they could never fight the main French force, but Savoy was able to harass the French by keeping its main force's in my boarders but near the french city while it used its calvary unit to raid the French Supply depot. Dionysous quickly moved his main force out towards Savoys main force, Savoy retreated its armies back to a safe proximity where my main force was preparing. Savoy without its main force keeping the French army in check quickly withdrew its calavry unit from the French lands. Later on I defeated Dioynisious in a large battle, guranteeing my dominace in the area, so Savoy moved a force throught the alps around the top of the map toward the back side of the French capital ( I don't think Dioyniousious could see this). I giggled a little when I saw this, I thought simply "thats clever". unfortunatly we had to end the campaign at this point but this little taste of the campaign A.I. has made me starving for the real meal.
5. Can Napoleon and other Faction Leaders who were Generals on the battlefield be killed off in Battle?
A: Yes and No, All Generals and Admirals can be killed of in battle, but if the General is the faction leader then they are revived in a hospital and become usuable again when they recover. If the General or Admirals is not a Faction leader then well they are simply dead forever. But note that if a faction leader dies in battle, until he returns your faction will be void of any positive bonuses assiciated with him.

6. What changes have been made to the Battle A.I.?
A: Unfortunatly I did not play against the Battle A.I. but Kieran ressured me that major changes had been made to the B.A.I, that the B.A.I. in NTW is extremely more "deadly" than the B.A.I in ETW, although he did admit that their were still some problems during sieges that occured in the form of path finding. So in his words, "Its not perfect but its a hell of a lot better than the A.I. in Empire."
7. Has the BAI improved in its ability to path find, flank, siege, and in it engagement of melee and fire fights?
A: I can't answer this sorry
8. Can the A.I. handle all these new cutting edge features?
A: On the campaign map I would say that yes the A.I. can handle all these new features while handling the old features better than ETW, but I don't know if the B.A.I can since I never saw it perform.

9. Does the AI retreat more often now if outnumbered?
A: Absolutly!!!!!!!! If the A.I is under strength it will avoid powerful armies all together. Urza said that the A.I. accepted a surrender to save its army even though the power bar was 60% to 40%. I mean I probably wouldn't accept that.

10. Have any changes been implemented that effects how the A.I. and player reinforce their armies on the campaign and battle map?
A: Yes the supply line system really changes how you replenish your forces. After a units takes damage it automatically starts trying to replenish, yet the speed at which it replenishes depends on how built up your supply line is, accessibility between neighboring regions, the weather, availabilty to food, technology, and other factors.

You can also repair ships during naval battles. You can stop the crew from fighting and put them into repair mod, also you can have other ships help repair another ship.
11. What are the different difficulty settings a player can play on? What economic and stat bonuses are accordingly rewarded to the A.I. for the different difficulty setting’s. Does the A.I. get better with higher difficulty settings?
A: The A.I. will get stat boosts very similiar to Empire, yet unlike Empire, the A.I. of a faction will not get more or less agressive toward you depending on the difficulty. The real thing that changes with the difficulty is how the different factions build armies and research tech. On the highest difficulty the opposing factions will research the best techs for that specific faction so that faction will build the most deadliest armies it can, while developing the most productive economy it can. Kieran also said that the jumps from normal to hard to very hard are extreme.
12. How do Factions with overseas Empires get their money or income from their colonies?
A: There are no trade theaters any more, but around the rims of the map in the Altantic Ocean are trade nodes which correlate to North America, South Africa, India, South America, etc. These can be utilized by trade ships. These trade nodes represent the different incomes that come from overseas Empires. These nods are also where the different trade goods come from; Spices, ivory, cotton, furs, etc.

13. Can the player and A.I. re-supply / equip / repair fleets in allied ports?
A: I doubt it but don't know for sure

14. Are there movies for events? Do the Allied Coalition get specific movies as well as specific movies for France? Is there a Faction Specific Movie at the start/end of a campaign?
A: I pretty sure yes, also the coalition factions have "goal states" where they need to end in a certain position. Although sometimes the different postions interfere with the other coalition factions and can cause conflict with them. So when playing as a coalition faction you might have to fight another coalition faction before you can complete your campaign.

Multiplayer Questions:
1. Will there be a dedicated server for NTW? Will there be a more efficient ranking system that is different from ETW?
A: Same regional servers basically as ETW, but the ranking system is greatly improved and you now can get medals for performing well in battles. The medals are cooler than they sound.

2. In the Empire Beta there were problems with players de-synching from the server. Has this problem that resulted in ETW Beta been resolved in New NTW Multiplayer?
A: No one had any problem playing multiplayer battles, no one de-synched, there were absolutly no stability issues at all. Everything from the load times to the quality of the battles was vastly improved from the beta multiplayer that was given to us in ETW. After playing NTW multiplayer I will never play ETW multiplayer again, and I doubt anyone else will play ETW multiplayer after playing NTW mutliplayer. To be honest I don't even consider ETW a multiplayer game after playing NTW multiplayer.

3. Will the host be allowed to have more customizable rules? For example could a player host a battle and restrict both players from playing with artillery?
A: No but everything is so stable and balanced in NTW that I can't imagine anyone demanding customizable rules like they did in Empire.



Historical Battle Questions: 1. Will there be a DLC for The Peninsular War?
A: Sorry I didn't ask this question.

2. Will the Histroical Battles section include;
Waterloo ___
Trafalga ___
Battle of Marango ___
Battle of Montebello ___
Battle of Hohenlinden ____
Battle of Arcole ____
Battle of Dresden ____
Battle of Austerlitz ____
Battle of Borodino ____
Battle of the Pyramides ____
Battle of the Nile ____

A: I didn't really ask or look sorry guys!


What other Historical Battles will be Included?
A: I didn't really ask or look sorry guys!

Upcoming Projects Questions:
1. Will there ever be a Rome2 TW?
A: I asked Kieran this question, he immediatly tried to hold back a smile. Before affectionatly replaying,"Nochio, now do you really think that I can answer this. Even if we were I couldn't tell you?"

note: read Kierans reply with a British accent and pronounce my name incorrectly for full immersion



2. Are there any future plans for ETW? Will these new NTW Features be implemented in Empire? Units of the East, is that the only unit pack left for ETW?
A: I aksed Kieran this question, he tried to be aloof about it, but I could see in his eyes that the probable answer was no. I could tell he was disapointed in how CA had somewhat abandoned Empire, he was almost emotional about it.

Also he accidently told me that the vast majority of units from the East will be Ottoman and Marathas Units.

Faction Specific Questions:
1. Will the French Faction have an eagle on top of their flag poles?
A: Nope
Modding Questions:

1.How will NTW's files be set out, will everything be in pack files like ETW or open like RTW/MTW2?
A: I didn't ask sorry

2. Will NTW allow the player the ability to create and edit unit models with the new unit system, and will they release an importer/exporter for 3ds Max?
A: Yes, but there are no tools being released for it.

3. Will NTW allow the player the ability to edit the campaign maps?
A: Yes, but will be very, very, very hard to do. No tools will be released for it. And actually doing it will require a wide range of knowledge and skill that might require multiple people to accomplish.

4. Will NTW be more moddable overall than ETW?
A: Yes and No, you will have access to absolutly everything in NTW, but the accessibilty(easiness in changing things) will be much less than in Empire.

5. Will it be possible to open packs (eg, able to use a PFM to open them)
A: I didn't ask, but I assume the answer is yes


6. Will maps be editable (Do Players and CA have the ability to add/change/fix regions), or will we be able to create maps if the proper tools are released?
A: Yes, but will be very, very, very hard to do. No tools will be released for it. And actually doing it will require a wide range of knowledge and skill that might require multiple people to accomplish.

7. Is the AI in NTW moddable?
A: Yes, but will be very, very, very hard to do. No tools will be released for it. And actually doing it will require a wide range of knowledge and skill that might require multiple people to accomplish.


8. Are the ancillaries gained by agents and Generals Moddable?
A: I didn't ask but assume you could.
9. Please tell me what you can about the New Uniform Editor Feature. In what ways can the player change the uniforms and overall appearance of the different units in NTW?
A: Will be released after the game

Technical Questions (Computer):
1. Are we playing the press build or the release build?
A: We were playing the release canidate, the NTW we played was gold but not final, they will continue to tweak certain little things.

2. What are the minimum system requirements for NTW?
A: Same as Empire
3. It was said that there'll be no more clone armies, if there's 64 different faces on the lowest settings - how many will there be on max?
A: Well I got to say that yeah there was absolutly great diversity in the units, no more clones. Even facial expressions are very different. I mean a guy in one of my militia untis was just way to happy to be sent into melee combat, lol.
4. What drivers are compatible with Napoleon TW?
A: Same as Empire

5. When will the Demo be released?
A: After NTW is released probably "

Nochio Awesome, dOOd. Just too bad you didn't pay attention during the historical battle questions

Originally Posted by helmersen

Nochio Awesome, dOOd. Just too bad you didn't pay attention during the historical battle questions

That's saying dead in dutch.

there is some news there, mainly old news though

good to see ottomans and asutria playable in italy and egypt
he missed out the dutch from MP which was confirmed by Lusted
bad to hear about the modability

i feel about sorry for Kieran, he gets all the flack from everyone when hes only doing his job, if he didnt go around saying these games are the best things ever hed get sacked

Originally Posted by TheAussieDigger

there is some news there, mainly old news though

good to see ottomans and asutria playable in italy and egypt
he missed out the dutch from MP which was confirmed by Lusted
bad to hear about the modability

i feel about sorry for Kieran, he gets all the flack from everyone when hes only doing his job, if he didnt go around saying these games are the best things ever hed get sacked

He does more than just his job. If you've ever read what he's posted here, you know his tone is impersonal, academic, and condescending. That's not a great way to build a relationship with your customers. It sounds like he's fairly charismatic in person. He needs to carry that over into his writing/posting.

Originally Posted by Marshal Beale

my lads will mod those eagles in my mod, Napoleon Order of War (sig), one way or another but excellent news that everything will be moddable, but sadly harder to edit, but at least everything is changable!

All we need is an army of unemployed software engineers to make tools and we'll be ready to go! CA can now claim it's moddable, but it's not their fault we're too stupid to figure it out. They listened and responded (cynically).

Excellent, sad to see no French eagles, not to fret, my lads will mod those eagles in my mod, Napoleon Order of War (sig), one way or another but excellent news that everything will be moddable, but sadly harder to edit, but at least everything is changable! Excellent news, thanks panzer, I reconize those modding questions where the ones I asked at TW forums! +rep!

Also good to see that other factions are playable in the Italy and Egyptian campaigns other than France!

When will the Demo be released?
A: After NTW is released probably

Am I understanding this right or is this a joke?

I mean demo after release?

Originally Posted by Alf

When will the Demo be released?
A: After NTW is released probably

Am I understanding this right or is this a joke?

I mean demo after release?

yes, I was wondering about the same question...

That was EPIC

4. Will NTW be more moddable overall than ETW?
A: Yes and No, you will have access to absolutly everything in NTW, but the accessibilty(easiness in changing things) will be much less than in Empire.


Hahaha, that's really true that they care a lot about the modding community as they told elsewhere ...

Less than in Empire, unbelievable, they even never released a DB field descriprion...so I wonder what to expect this time...

"Are you cheating on me"
"Now even if I was, I wouldn't tell you" *smiles*

What would you think, R2TW or not?

of course they're working on R2TW lol

Multiplayer:
1. Will there be more than 1v1 options for multiplayer campaign?

Also, unless we get bright minds here i am guessing modding NTW will take years for a good mod to come out.

some very useful info there!

1. Will there be a dedicated server for NTW? Will there be a more efficient ranking system that is different from ETW?
A: Same regional servers basically as ETW, but the ranking system is greatly improved and you now can get medals for performing well in battles. The medals are cooler than they sound.

Why hallo that 5 second lag again.

3. Will the host be allowed to have more customizable rules? For example could a player host a battle and restrict both players from playing with artillery?
A: No but everything is so stable and balanced in NTW that I can't imagine anyone demanding customizable rules like they did in Empire.

People asked about it since ETW 1.0 release. I've not even mentioned different game modes, like capture the flag alternatives or attacker\defender options for players - CA would never ever do those things, cuz "customers are negative and thus they got no money and can't fix their games". Fags.

Wait, there's no grand campaign? Or am I missing something?

GC is present, they are just playing MP campaign.

Originally Posted by Lockhard

GC is present, they are just playing MP campaign.

In which I assume the playable factions are going to include France? Otherwise calling the game 'Napoleon: Total War' would be a little...silly for lack of a better word.

1.How will NTW's files be set out, will everything be in pack files like ETW or open like RTW/MTW2?
A: I didn't ask sorry

wtf no rep points for you

good read mate, I beleive more and more that NTW will rock & roll

I'm glad Kieran's finally admitting E:TW 1.5 AI was terrible.