Stable without CD

[amhero15]

Which purchase of rome total war is the most stable? I'm considering between steam and direct2drive. I'm finding the fixed exe to be troublesome when playing major mods like roma surrectum ii. I want stable exe and no use of CD.

[Imperator_OfRome]

Mods are more stable and easier to apply to the game when you have the hard copy. You are likely to have more problems with steam and other sources.

[thesmiter1]

I'm not sure about Direct2Drive, but Steam has some pretty irritating anti-piracy stuff in place. It requires you to launch the game from Steam. It is very irritating to mod for it.

You have to keep any copy of RTW that you wish to actually play in the "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common" folder. The folder that you wish to play must always be named "rome total war gold". So I have to change the names for different mods when i want to play (I install mods into a clean RTW gold folder).

THEN you have to change the "launch options" under the "properties" tab when you right click on your game in Steam. The name of the desired mod (the FOLDER name) must be the name that you put in the launch options thing. There is other crap, too.

Here is an example for Europa Barbororum:

-mod:EB -show_err -nm

Notice the spaces in front of each "-".

If I wanted to switch from EB to Roma Serrectum II, I'd have to change the folder with RSII in it back to "rome total war gold" (assuming you have it installed already, and it would have to be in a duplicate copy of RTW. Always keep a clean copy of RTW!). I would then have to change the launcher options in Steam to the following IF I WISHED TO PLAY ARMENIA:

-modlay_Armenia -show_err -nm (the damn smiley is actually a ":" and a "p", making "mod: Play" (but without a space)

This would be an example for Rome:

-modlay_Rome -show_err -nm

The folder names are all under the RTW folder that it is installed to, as are other mods, so you can just copy and paste the folder name. This has worked with EB 1.2, Chivalry 1.07, and RSII for a few different factions.

For RSII, you must individually put the faction name in the mod-folder-name area, because each faction has their own folder. They are divided so that playing each faction is like playing a different mod. This is due to how drastically RSII alters the game.

It is a huge pain in the ass to use mods with Steam. I don't know why they do this, but whatever. I don't know if D2D has some kind of anti-piracy measure, but I heard it offers unlimited downloads and does not have annoying crap like Steam. I wish I would have got it from somewhere other than Steam, but too late. And I've discovered how to do it with Steam (for RTW) so I'm happy for now. It may work with M2TW, but I'm not sure.

SUMMARY: Get Steam if you like solving stupid puzzles using research and trial and error. Or go with some other way if you like simplicity and fun. I BELIEVE D2D and Gamers Gate both actually GIVE you the game, as opposed to Steam. I'd double check on this if I were you, and if they actually let you play the game without anti-pirate crap, then go for it.

[darth_dov]

I got the game from D2D and it gives you the actual game without any anti-piracy stuff, I've never had any issues with mods and have played EB, RTR and SPQR without any problems.

[thesmiter1]

I got the game from D2D and it gives you the actual game without any anti-piracy stuff, I've never had any issues with mods and have played EB, RTR and SPQR without any problems.

I really wish I would have gone with D2D for these games. I like the thought of having all my games in one place with Steam, but it's just such a PITA to use mods, which is a HUGE thing with pc games.

I may re-buy M2TW Gold via D2D or Gamer's Gate if I can't effectively mod it (when I get a more capable machine, lol).

But if you can deal with the hassle of using Steam, I guess it's not too bad. Well, it still sucks, but whatever.

(Steam is cheaper than D2D at least with M2TW and Kingdoms, which was $10 on Steam, and is about $25 at D2D. Maybe go with Amazon?)

[Imperator_OfRome]

Why would you use steam to buy these games when you can buy M2TW on amazon for £5 RTW for £4 etc. You can buy any game on amazon for less money than steam.

[thesmiter1]

Why would you use steam to buy these games when you can buy M2TW on amazon for £5 RTW for £4 etc. You can buy any game on amazon for less money than steam.

It's about the same price for me. Around $10. And I don't have a dvd drive anymore. I don't need one for anything else, as I use flash drives almost exclusively for school, and any software I need installed for school I either already have or can get through the internet. So I will not be buying a new dvd drive. Not to mention my laptop is too old to play most games.

[empr guy]

well, CD's are the most stable and usua;;y safest, but if you cant then i'd go with the one that isnt steam.

[LegioXXII]

I would recommend buying the CD copy of it. It just works better in my opinion... it is pretty stable.