Questions to RTR veterans about the mod and it's endgame.

[RantingHeretic]

I've been playing RTR lately, as well as RS and EB, to get a real feel for how the mods differ and what makes them unique.

Choosing between these three, in so much as you have to choose, is like a daily question that gets asked here and on other TW forums, and I want to be able to answer people with something more concrete then "play them and see."

So I was wondering, as my limited RTR expierence won't compare to someone who has been watching and playing this mod for years and completed several campaigns...

1. What do you think are it's best and most unique features?
2. How long does it take to reach the point at which you are powerful enough to steamroller everything in your path?
3. Does the game end with large AI empires giving you a credible challenge? Do they mostly maintain their borders?
4. How does the mod "feel?" By which I mean, all the tweaks, re-balances, scripts, trait systems, economic simulations- what is the end and cumulative effect of these on how a RTR campaign feels, as opposed to one played on a different mod?

So far, I think I would say that RTR is a patient and mature mod, that rewards role-playing, planning, and thought. The building tree's and trait systems reward careful exploration and add significant depth to the campaign game. Battles seem to be long enough to allow tactics, while not being too long. Units reform after routing easier than I have seen in other mods, which give battles an ebb and flow and give a more important role to light cavalry.


What do you think? I am totally off or do my observations sound correct?

[Caligula Caesar]

1. Probably the map, which is more zoomed in and allows more depth to the gameplay. It also looks great

2. That depends on the faction. As the barbarians, it can take a while, as you are at a severe disadvantage to the other factions in terms of your economy, and sometimes also in terms of units. The first ten years are usually tough with any faction, but things tend to get easier after that, especially in Greece. But once you have expanded past your immediate sphere of influence (for a Greek faction, that means the rest of Greece), things get a lot more tough.

3. AI factions tend to perform well. They don't create mega empires which own half the map as was seen in RTR-PE, but frequently dominate sectors of the map. So a faction will unite Gaul, and another Iberia, and another the Balkans (these factions can amalgamate sometimes), whilst Carthage will usually hold all of Africa and sometimes somewhat more, and there is often a dominant faction in Greece, which can be very powerful. Rome doesn't tend to expand enough, unless of course you are playing as the Gauls on hard - then they come straight at you.

4. To me, the mod feels like it actually works. I don't really know how to describe it. Let's just say, I don't see too many crazy things happening. I remember I was once playing another late Empire mod as the Romano-British and then suddenly found that one of the Germanic factions had exploded, conquering the entire western empire in about 15 years. That just showed me exactly how much of an improvement RTR-VII is, at least from Vanilla level.

As for your observations, I'm pleased that you've made them, because that is the sort of thing we were aiming at