Are we going to be able to view our settlements?

[Lucian Venatus]

You remember in Rome Total War they had this neat little function where you could look at your own settlement like it was a battle map (except it was peaceful with no battle going on) and you could see all the civilians walking around? Are we going to have that in Rome Total War II? I've been looking around for answers but I haven't seen any. So I've decided to finally ask the question.

Also if you don't know whether Rome II will have this, what is your opinion about it? Would you like to see this little feature implemented again? I love Rome Total War (especially with the mod Rome Total Realism) and I like Medieval Total War II (especially with the mod stainless steel) but I've noticed that in Medieval Total War II they don't have a view settlement (though there appears to be a mod for one) and in Shogun 2? Oh lordy I did not like Shogun 2. I mean it's nice but it draws away from the administration in my opinion. And I don't like that, I don't want to just fight battles, I want to BUILD an empire. Constantly fighting gets boring after a while, and that's why I got bored of Shogun 2. With an administration aspect to it though it mixes things up a bit. I heard they were going to try and cut down on the administration aspect, and this really has me worried.

[killerrj8]

I really loved that feature in the original Rome: TW. Every time the city grows you can view the city , the people and the landscape around it. Man I really want to see that implemented again.

[Lucian Venatus]

I really loved that feature in the original Rome: TW. Every time the city grows you can view the city , the people and the landscape around it. Man I really want to see that implemented again.

I know right? And did you see Carthage? having that element in this game would be like a miniature nerdgasm for me! Especially if people created mods for the buildings to be more authentic! (I don't think the walls of carthage were white...) Poor Carthage... a splendid city burned to the ground so many times...

[Rewjeo]

Seeing as CA is putting in the effort to make unique cities, it seems pretty likely to me we'll be able to look at them more than just in siege battles.

[Lucian Venatus]

Seeing as CA is putting in the effort to make unique cities, it seems pretty likely to me we'll be able to look at them more than just in siege battles.

I would certainly hope so, It's been a long while since we had that option.

[CatoTheYounger]

Originanl RTW was the only game where we could look inside to see what the city looked like and what progress was being made when not on the battle map. Shogun 2 and Empire were abysmal. There was no city to look at and on the battle map they were only forts anyway. And the city Console didn't make up for it with any sense of what the city looked like. Terrible.

I hope Rome 2 keeps the city feature as the huge citys got pretty awesome to behold and i loved checking out my new buildings when i upgraded. Many citys never saw battle so it was cool to check them out whenever i pleased.

[Noif de Bodemloze]

I hope it can be possible in Rome 2. It was quite sad in original rome that there was only few people walking in the city. I like to see some improvements in city view:
1. More people walking in city
2. Some guards or patrols walking on streets, towers and walls.
3. Now have harbors in city, so it would be nice see small ships, boats or maybe warships sailing on the water out and in harbor.
4. Maybe animals like dogs, horses and birds.

[yuezhi]

and the markets, theatres, coliseums and senate. cities are dead without that kind of entertainment!

[ErgoSumm]

What I would love to see would be my troops drilling, in the square or my ships provisioning in the harbour. Also it would be a great visual guage of squalor in the city, and maybe (and completely secondry to all of CA's other planned upgrades) seeing angry crowds protesting to the govenor, or even rioting when the city has high civil unrest. That would be completely mindblowing.
On a secondary note, will all the work CA seems to be putting into custom campagin cities like Carthage, it would be a great way of showing their work off when the city isn't being completely destoyed.

[daelin4]

While we're at it let's make it a game within a game and be able to create characters like the Sims.

[Rijul.J.Ballal]

[Swiss Army Cheese]

I don't like the idea of using the "view settlement" function to view the cities because they look pretty. I like the view settlement function because it allows me to have a better logistic understanding of the city I am defending. This is a feature I would of loved to have in the Teutonic Campaign of Medieval II, because of the different village and town designs.

The fact that cities in Rome 2 are going to have greater variety in designs, means that such a feature would be more loved and more useful than it was in the original Rome Total War.

[Kissaki]

I don't like the idea of using the "view settlement" function to view the cities because they look pretty. I like the view settlement function because it allows me to have a better logistic understanding of the city I am defending. This is a feature I would of loved to have in the Teutonic Campaign of Medieval II, because of the different village and town designs.

The fact that cities in Rome 2 are going to have greater variety in designs, means that such a feature would be more loved and more useful than it was in the original Rome Total War.

I agree, though I also like the idea of using the function to view the cities because they look pretty

This was a great function in the first Rome. It adds a bit to immersion as well, perhaps, and though I am sure plenty of gamers will never use it, it's a nice bone to throw to the rest of us.

It isn't a necessary feature, but then again neither are facial expressions in combat. That's another such "bone" to throw to those who like to zoom right in on the action (which, for the most part, you won't really have the time to do). At least viewing the settlement can have a practical purpose, like Swiss Army Cheese suggests, in that it allows you to plan defences ahead of time. Once you're attacked, it's a bit late to realize that you should have had a different balance of archers and infantry, for example.

[Argon Viper]

Seconded, I hope this feature makes a comeback. Especially since they say they're moving away from the cookie cutter cities and more toward individualization it would be cool to be able to enjoy their work.

[Noif de Bodemloze]

Sorry to say this, but this is 2nd thread where is already talking about this. Already posted my view, can we see inside of city or village.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=569869

[Radzeer]

Merged the two city view threads.

And yes, this would be really nice to bring back, especially for AAR writers.

[TheSwordofRome]

Call me a noob, but I have never heard of this function Could you tell me how to activate this function?

[Evalation]

Its amazing how such a little feature can impact people. Please bring it back CA!

[Ngazi]

Yeah in RTW your garrisoned units will walk around with the civilians, but it would make more sense if they walked around or drilled as a unit.

But most harbors are not going to be in or near the city so you won't be able to see them.

[Ne Obliviscaris]

Agreed.
Who knows, if it's not included in release maybe we'll get a dlc...