San Francisco Event Questions: ANSWERED !!

[dom385]

The new multiplayer thing sounds amazing, if you want to know more about all this go on the official forums. But basically, you can pick literally anywhere off the campaign map to fight and you can save locations in single player or multiplayer. So no more maps in the typical sense, unless you have a list of favorites saved.

[super_newbie_pro]

Can you summarize what is being said on the official forum? Or we put a link?

Originally Posted by alQamar
I read a thread today that some community members asked CA about multiplayer directly.
I try to keep you informed.



I doubt that they are going to give away the most keep secret about Rome 2 over a private message on a forum.

My optimistic side says this:

They promised something BIG for the MP.
Then they cut the Avatar Conquest out of the equation. Without saying what is there instead of it.

So if you look at it that way:
Step one: Promise something new and BIG for the MP
Step two: Crush their hopes by taking out the main part of the MP from the previous game aka the Avatar Conquest
Step three: Dazzle all the fans with the revelation of the new, BIG MP in full that is the reason why Avatar Conquest was removed.
Step four : profit from the hype going through the roof


Keeping my fingers crossed that I am right about this.

Only in the last two weeks will they reveal something about this.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...cussion/page30

[Semper_Fidelis]

... I'm disapointed that there won't be any pre battle speeches, it really added tone to the game and made it feel more realistic. Also I'm also quite disapointed that they won't have 40 unit armies. I don't know the first thing about making a game, but I feel if they can accomplish what they have so far, they should have been able to add the simple option to either have 40 unit armies or not.

[vietanh797]

8. Slavery: There will indeed be a "slavery" mechanic in game. Al and Craig both pointed out that CA did not completely flesh out the mechanic because slavery is a rather controversial topic/ As of typing, players will be allowed to: capture and enslave enemy units on the battlefield. Slaves will be treated as a resource on the campaign map. Will send an email in order to further clarify this topic.

Time to farm slave, let Roman throw waves of Legion at us and we enslave them all, we will be rich

[dom385]

http://forums.totalwar.com/showthrea...me-Questions!?

Thats the thread on the totalwar.com forums.

[Raikou]

Originally posted by ShinoGH @TW Forums:

1. Food System: Total War Rome 2 will have a food system that contains two parts. The first part will utilize "food" as it has usually been used in previous Total War games. Food will affect the income that a city will have. The second part of the food system will be similar to Total War Shogun 2. Players will have to carefully plan the development of cities lest they fall trap to a shortage of food and causing a drop in population happiness due to starvation.

2. Ruling Factions: Recently, we have learned that Rome and Carthage have three ruling families that players can choose from. Each family will have common traits that it shares with the other two families while having traits unique to itself. Al confirmed that only Rome and Carthage will have different ruling families. Other factions will utilize a single "family" or "tribe" to rule the faction. They will have options that are not available to Rome or Carthage. One of the possible diplomatic options that Al mentioned was that barbarian tribes will have the ability to form confederations with other barbaric tribes.

3. Elephants: There will be a visual differentiation between elephants from India and elephants from Africa. Stats-wise, I am still waiting on further clarification from Al whether the two units are similar or different.

4. Naval Regions in Rome 2: I believe mmurray821 asked this question at the Q&A. From what I recall, in order to "control" a sea region, factions must have a navy present. With a navy present, any hostile or un-allied navies will be forced to engage the controlling naval force before being allowed to land an army. (Correct me if I am wrong mmurray821; I was busy eating the pizza balls)
If your fleet is in a defensive/raid stance you control that region (raiding stance also used for reducing piracy). An ally or neutral fleet can sail into that zone but if a hostile fleet comes in a battle will take place. Also if a fleet tries to attack a port or invade it will generate a battle.

5. Multiplayer: Hmm... I think this was mmurray821's question, so mmurray, feel free to correct me if I make a mistake here. Multiplayer in Rome 2 will have the some of the things that we want like the Co-Op Campaign and what have you. The big, and I mean BIG thing that we learned at the event is that players will have a new way to pick out where they can fight.
Vs. and Co-Op are in, just like in Shogun. The big, and I mean big thing that has changed with multiplayer is how maps are chosen. You will have the entire campaign map in front of you and you can zoom down to whatever area you want and fight on that spot. You want to fight at the Hot Gates? Zoom down. Fight just north? Zoom down just north. Also you can set the coordinates as a favorite spot for future battles and you can also post your favorites to social media so if you find some out of the way area that has a really cool spot to fight on you can let your friends or the world know.

Stay tuned for more on this: Need to grab a cup of coffee real quick and read my notes.

6. Ranged Units: Ranged units such as javelin throwers must be stationary in order to throw. Confirmed by Al and other attendees playing demo. Other units such as legionary cohorts will be able to both throw while stationary and while on the charge.

7. Battles Speeches: This one came as a little bit of a shocker to me. If I heard correctly, there will be no pre-battle speeches for standard battles on the campaign map. The only battles speeches as of right now are those included in historical battles. Might be for the best though. I only listened to the battle speeches a few times before I just skipped over them to start deployment. Better usage of funds to dedicate elsewhere rather than battle speeches.

8. Slavery: There will indeed be a "slavery" mechanic in game. Al and Craig both pointed out that CA did not completely flesh out the mechanic because slavery is a rather controversial topic. As of typing, players will be allowed to: capture and enslave enemy units on the battlefield. Slaves will be treated as a resource on the campaign map. Will send an email in order to further clarify this topic.

Just to clarify, cities will also be subject to the slavery mechanic.

9. Campaign City Appearance on a Siege Map: Besides famous cities such as Rome, Carthage, Alexandria and what have you, other cities will not be specifically rendered on the battlefield. There will be a form of increasing points to capture similar to Shogun 2's castles. Higher tier cities will be larger and have more defensive positions in comparison to lower tier cities, similar to Shogun 2's building system.
Also the non-famous cities will be randomly generated on the battle map.

10. Fantasy Units: Units such as the "Tessakonteres" will not be present in Rome 2.

11. Unit Cap on Battlefield: mmurray821, I'm going to need your help on this one. I didn't really understand what Al was saying regarding this topic. 20 units will be the standard cap for a legion on the field but players will have the option to have another 20 as reinforcements? To the total of 40 units?

12. Routing Units: Was not able to ask about this question at the event, so I have sent an email regarding this. What I can tell you is based on what I gathered from my experience with the demo and input from other attendees at the event.

Playing as the Romans for the Battle of the Nile, I noticed that units that were particularly disciplined managed to stay in combat despite heavy losses, which makes sense. During one moment of my playthrough of the demo, I had managed to surround several Egyptian units from all sides. Rather than running and just being slaughtered like helpless sheep like in some instances of Shogun 2, the Egyptian soldiers stood their ground and fought to the death.

Another instance is when I routed a unit of pikes with my Evocati. Rather than just completely abandoning the fight, the Egyptian soldiers at the front of the line continued to fight while soldiers at the rear ran for their lives. At which point, my cavalry swooped down upon the few hardy survivors and annihilated them without an afterthought.



Main post has been updated slightly more still to come over the weekend hopefully

[DogSoldierSPQR]

Another instance is when I routed a unit of pikes with my Evocati. Rather than just completely abandoning the fight, the Egyptian soldiers at the front of the line continued to fight while soldiers at the rear ran for their lives. At which point, my cavalry swooped down upon the few hardy survivors and annihilated them without an afterthought.

Could you clear this bit up for me please? Are you talking about two different units or one unit? It sounds to me like some men out of that pike unit ran away while the other few in that unit stayed until death. Have I gotten this bit confused because that's what that sounds like to me?

[jtfjtfjtf]

No 40 unit stack option? Nooooooo.

[IlluminatiRex]

The new MP thing sounds intense!

[Steel*Faith]

Is it too late to ask questions???

I really wanted to know if you play a co-op campaign, can both players play the same faction (both chose sub-factions or different Roman houses), or are you forced to choose different factions? I posted this on the main forum before, but I guess no one asked it for me

Thanks for all the info though - very much appreciated!

[Raikou]

Is it too late to ask questions???

I really wanted to know if you play a co-op campaign, can both players play the same faction (both chose sub-factions or different Roman houses), or are you forced to choose different factions? I posted this on the main forum before, but I guess no one asked it for me

Thanks for all the info though - very much appreciated!

Yeah events over and ShinoGH already asked all the questions he's just waiting on Al to get back to him on them

I think your questions been asked at Rezzed and pretty sure it's been stated you can't play as the same factions such as Carthage or Rome unfortunately.

[Brudagon]

Not sure how I feel about the new multiplayer. So it's just like Rome: Total War multiplayer except you choose where you want to battle? Kinda meh, was hoping for something amazing.

[Raikou]

Not sure how I feel about the new multiplayer. So it's just like Rome: Total War multiplayer except you choose where you want to battle? Kinda meh, was hoping for something amazing.

Maybe more to come ? Never know until release or a reveal

[MrOuija]

Not sure how I feel about the new multiplayer. So it's just like Rome: Total War multiplayer except you choose where you want to battle? Kinda meh, was hoping for something amazing.

I don't know, I think thats pretty amazing myself. You essentially have an unlimited number of multiplayer maps. The community itself can then decide which is most popular, balanced, interesting etc.

[Brudagon]

I was just hoping, with them taking out Avatar Conquest, there would be a replacement system that would be even more addicting and would add to the replayability. Infinite maps would be cool for a bit, but it wouldn't make me keep coming back to the multiplayer, and I'd probably just end up trying to find a flat field to fight on anyways.

[MrOuija]

I was just hoping, with them taking out Avatar Conquest, there would be a replacement system that would be even more addicting and would add to the replayability. Infinite maps would be cool for a bit, but it wouldn't make me keep coming back to the multiplayer, and I'd probably just end up trying to find a flat field to fight on anyways.

I know what you mean. Maybe Arena will be better than we think and fill that void, but then again maybe not. I guess we'll find out.

[Steel*Faith]

I don't know, I think thats pretty amazing myself. You essentially have an unlimited number of multiplayer maps. The community itself can then decide which is most popular, balanced, interesting etc.

Exactly, not to mention this new choose any map from the campaign is going to be amazing for an online league campaign I'm organizing.

[SamueleD]

I wonder how the confederate mechanic will work...
Will other tribes just plain disappear and give you their lands? Is it just some special kind of alliance? Or other tribes join your faction and become a part of the internal politics, so you now have your tribe as a ruling faction and the confederate tribes as other parties?

I know barbarians only have their tribe as "internal faction" but maybe the confederation allows you to aquire others?

[alQamar]

I check a bit of the thread of TW.com you linked. There are already lots of thinks I dislike. But what I've seen is really not fine: they show both army setups in the victory screen.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3805/9...56216f53_o.jpg
God hope this does not come for classic multiplayer. On the other hand we are finally able to see if someone broke the setup rules.

the ability, if I understand right, to pick a location on the whole campaign map sounds amazing and remembers me to Rome 1 where you can do own map packs the same way picking a custom location from the campaign map and save them as a mp map, and the battle map is depending from the location picked.

refer this wonderful Rome 1 multiplayer map pack:
http://rtw.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=4273

Can someone PLEASE!!! either 100% confirm or 100% deny if there will be multicore utilisation in the game? We know you are aware of the problem, that's not a valid answer 1 month before release. I don't mean to sound angry, but I really don't want to relive the melee lag of Shogun 2 (even with superb specs)

EDIT: Or at the very least tell us that you've gotten rid of rendering unit detail and shadows through the CPU... All this talk of better animations and more details have me worried to say the least if you haven't made any breakthroughs when it comes to CPU utilisation...

Please refer the multicore utilisation thread for more information. OFFICIAL comparison benchmarks Shogun 2 vs Rome 2 would be highly appreciated Will.
Perhaps you can also have a look why i7 and i3 is not running well with standard settings as seen in the thread I linked. I guess this is a small error and costs the user 5-13% CPU performance without need
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?549498-Multiple-core-CPU-utilisation&p=13057026&viewfull=1#post13057026

[Raikou]

Another slight update for you guys. Not sure if this holds true but apparently there may or may not be certain stances your armies can take while autoresolving siege battles. From the looks of it there will be either an all out rush of the walls with ladders etc or more methodical well thought out sieges.





Originally Posted by mmurray821

Hey guys that were at the event. I have been wracking my brain trying to remember the last half of something Al said. He was talking about autoresolving sieges and he said there were two stances you could take now. Aggressive and methodical. The aggressive way was mass assault with ladders and the like to get over as fast as possible but caused greater casualties and the other way was taking things slower with siege engines and miners and took less casualties.

He also said something along the like of the second way being slower and taking more time and I know he said more about how it worked but can't remember. Did it have the possibility of being spread out over the next turn? It is driving me nuts I can't remember.



Originally Posted by ShinoGH

Gah! I know what you are talking about but I don't remember specifically what was said. From what I can recall, the aggressive auto-resolve option enabled players to end assaults and battles quickly with a sort of high risk/high reward.

I don't know/recall if Craig or Al mentioned anything regarding splitting an attack over several turns when using the "cautious" auto resolve.

It seems to be an interesting turn on how the auto-resolve works primarily because the auto-resolve button has mainly been an "all-or-nothing" approach for most of the series. Maybe the aggressive assault enables players to push more soldiers onto the field and causing a higher kill rate/casualty rate with some form of reward?


Originally Posted by The Indomitable Gaul

He didn't say anything about multiple turn engagements, and actually his answer didn't do much to shed light on the question. What he said was that there would be two options for auto resolves, one aggressive and one methodical (as you said). What that means he didn't say. My impression was that aggressive would put your men at more risk, but would inflict higher casualties on the enemy. Meanwhile the methodical option would reduce the risk to your own men, but the enemy might be able to retreat with more of their army intact. Risk vs. reward stuff.