ummm what's the update for?

[Orphydian]

how is the performce in online battles now?

can we still play in LAN?

[irishron]

how is the performce in online battles now?

For starters, http://forums.totalwar.com/showthrea...eval-2-low-fps
http://forums.totalwar.com/showthrea...d-by-New-Patch
http://forums.totalwar.com/showthrea...ix-Mod-Support

can we still play in LAN?

Kingdoms campaign only from the looks of things as of their last word but is it only locked to Steam servers?

[Orphydian]

sorry Irishron I didnt get your last answer. I mean LAN battles using VPN like Hamachi or Evolve

[irishron]

sorry Irishron I didnt get your last answer. I mean LAN battles using VPN like Hamachi or Evolve

I thought this is what you meant but so far I have not read anything either way.

[RubiconDecision]

I went in the opposite direction. I completely removed Steam since I'm really angry over them breaking the basic MTW2 vanilla game and kingdom mods. There are all manner of strange things going on with the Battle AI being crippled. I'm installing a regular non-Steam version instead.

So it's not only that the new Steam patch altered the way mods work (there are at least three fixes for that which I've discussed), it's that even if you get that to work, numerous things don't work correctly now in the basic game, some of which you may not or may notice in mods. That's what has me torqued because Steam/CA is praising themselves for doing a favor to us, when in fact other than a new MP solution (which is laggy) they've made the AI take a stupid suicidal pill during battles.

Good luck sorting that nonsense out. The main reason I play MTW2 is to fight custom battles, something they pretty well broke in the Steam version, so there's no way I want that crap version on my system. I also don't want to wait until they fix all of the many things they broke either.

There's a tech topic in the MTW2 subforum for those issues. I've listed what I know about. Basically it's:
1. Sound FX
2. Music
3. Strange unit recruitment
4. Suicidal or incompentent AI either offensively (like siege attacks) or defensively (like sometimes sallying with the whole army and not doing anything and allowing themselves to be killed).
5. Defensive archers not firing upon invaders
6. Defensive units prancing around the settlements, wearing themselves out for no reason.
7. Send a spy in, the gates open, the defending commanders sallies right into the fray and commits suicide.
8. Weird shadows and blackness over the settlements
9. Reinforcements seem not to work
10. Direct x 9.0c issues (it's included as part of Steam)
11. Missing text in diplomacy scrolls, papal events, etc.
12. Attacking AI not knowing what to do with ladders and rams and just blundering about.

I mean, come on! WTF. Why would anyone put up with that nonsense when the non-Steam game works fine? Hell, the Steam game worked fine 72 hours ago.

Note that they messed with the Steam version of RTW1 too.

EDIT: I failed to note two things:
1) Gigantus is rather heroic (as usual) for going above and beyond, and even opening his wallet, in order to duplicate this nonsense, and to repair it. 'Give Gigs some rep!
2) In Steam, you have the possibility of NOT turning on auto-update, something that many of us have turned off, for we have been BURNED before. However, Steam/CA in their crazy attempt for uniformity, elected to bypass this and forced the update. Now updates in Steam go awry all of the time, and they result in bizarre occurrences. If that happens, then see my past posts on the kind of mental gymnastics one is sometimes required to get a game cache integrity to verify. When that happens, it's often fatal, and requires a complete install...which nukes your mods and save-games.

[Dom Pedro II]

Rubicon, would you advice me to buy the retail version of the game, which costs around 20 dolars or digital one on a specific site? Or wait for the goodwill of Steam/CA to fix it?

[RubiconDecision]

Rubicon, would you advice me to buy the retail version of the game, which costs around 20 dolars or digital one on a specific site? Or wait for the goodwill of Steam/CA to fix it?

I'd advise everyone to dump Steam as it's a very unstable way of having software. Realize that its default setting is to update, and even if turned OFF, it will override if the Steam update is important. No thank you. Worse, it's a hassle versus the regular version for modding. I've put up with that nonsense since the very first day when I noticed the brand spanking new MTW2 on Steam which as I recall was earlier than retail versions were available.

You have to do what's best for you economically. Streaming content is great if say in a torrent fashion as that means constant error checking as it streams. This is why mods released in this manner result in excellent quality installations versus when a mod is hosted (like moddb) and occasionally you have to redownload only upon an CTD.

The problem I've noticed in Stream streaming is that it doesn't error check, but it's an extra step you can optionally do, which is . It's hoping that it loads without failed game cache integrity. Good luck with that.

DVDs can go bad. That's the perpetual issue. This is not an advertisement, but there are alternatives like gamer's gate. I'm sure that there are many, but do you know that a company will be around in a year if you need to migrate it to a new computer?

These are the main issues. I know you can get a cheaper US box version from Amazon than $20, but by the time you add shipping and handling, it might be that much. In some foreign countries, I've been told they sell MTW2 Kingdoms in grocery stores as old software, and it's not expensive. You'll have to check around.

There are other packaged deals, which becomes an issue, for Steam/CA updated and screwed up RTW1 as well with this MP issue in the vanilla version of that too.

[Emperor of The Great Unknown]

I'd advise everyone to dump Steam as it's a very unstable way of having software. Realize that its default setting is to update, and even if turned OFF, it will override if the Steam update is important. No thank you. Worse, it's a hassle versus the regular version for modding. I've put up with that nonsense since the very first day when I noticed the brand spanking new MTW2 on Steam which as I recall was earlier than retail versions were available.

You have to do what's best for you economically. Streaming content is great if say in a torrent fashion as that means constant error checking as it streams. This is why mods released in this manner result in excellent quality installations versus when a mod is hosted (like moddb) and occasionally you have to redownload only upon an CTD.

The problem I've noticed in Stream streaming is that it doesn't error check, but it's an extra step you can optionally do, which is . It's hoping that it loads without failed game cache integrity. Good luck with that.

DVDs can go bad. That's the perpetual issue. This is not an advertisement, but there are alternatives like gamer's gate. I'm sure that there are many, but do you know that a company will be around in a year if you need to migrate it to a new computer?

These are the main issues. I know you can get a cheaper US box version from Amazon than $20, but by the time you add shipping and handling, it might be that much. In some foreign countries, I've been told they sell MTW2 Kingdoms in grocery stores as old software, and it's not expensive. You'll have to check around.

There are other packaged deals, which becomes an issue, for Steam/CA updated and screwed up RTW1 as well with this MP issue in the vanilla version of that too.

I am sorry to here your displeasure with steam and CA, but I would not recommend telling people to run away from the problem and revert to the disc version. Especially if their only copy is on steam.

I was hoping this thread to be a place where people can bring up issues, and solutions not rants about and CA or Steam and their recent or past practices. Also CA and the devs are less likely to read this thread if it is filled with attacks on CA and could potentially discourage further patching or addressing of issues that fellow members have. Of course this would benefit no one.

[irishron]

I am sorry to here your displeasure with steam and CA, but I would not recommend telling people to run away from the problem and revert to the disc version. Especially if their only copy is on steam.

I was hoping this thread to be a place where people can bring up issues, and solutions not rants about and CA or Steam and their recent or past practices. Also CA and the devs are less likely to read this thread if it is filled with attacks on CA and could potentially discourage further patching or addressing of issues that fellow members have. Of course this would benefit no one.

CA knows how I feel about Steam as their delivery system and DRM. I still have my discs in decent working order but Steam down the road maybe the only legitimate option left. People are buying hard copies that are Alcohol 120 and Daemon Tools made and repackaged They don't play nor patch and members are out their money. This is a fiasco going right now. I have two PMs into BitBaboon at .Com trying to help getting the new medieval2.exe to work on LTR and DarthMod for starters. I also linked this thread so (s)he can know what is going on here. I have also been sending people to buy the Steam version because of the way some computers refuse to recognize either .exe of the Gold Edition. Documented in the Tech for your perusal. Also the hassles of trying to upgrade Kingdoms from other sites that sell the download version. Direct2Drive/Gamefly being the worst with Amazon being a close second.

Besides, I don't blame CA for loving Steam, I blame Sega. I don't think programmers being as a whole worry about if it's cd, dvd, floppy, tape, or cloud as long they can sell their work. They leave that to the sales people.

Will I get a PM back? I doubt it. Did the studio working on this multiplayer patch work over the weekend? My money says the studio door is locked until Monday morning. I will be polite. And I will keep my discs.

Some things with this eight year old game you can't win for losing.

[RubiconDecision]

HA! A Steam anti-CA rant? Hardly. I'm a hardcore fan who bought MTW2 Kingdoms when it was most expensive and every product for full price up to that point as well. How is that not supporting CA?

I'm pissed because they BROKE a working Steam version to give us MP. Wow. Whoop-de-doo.

They should have the balls to take some criticism for bypassing Steam owners' wishes to opt out and not be an experiment inflicted upon us.

So after over seven years, I need someone's permission to complain? Uhhh WTF.

Who has spent more time documenting this Steam issue than me? Who's combed through forums looking for ways to get mods to work? Who else has tried to document the plethora of issues after the patch? How is that not constructive?

You're kinda out of line there, Mate.

The forced Steam patch would be like someone sneaking into your home, changing your satellite tv programming, buggering it up, and then not apologizing.

[RubiconDecision]

A video tutorial walking you through getting a mod to work post-patch. There are multiple ways, but the Steam problems are still there in the vanilla game. That's the folder rename method, which is not recommended, which can result in some real mix ups later with installing a new mod.


There are no such problems in the non-Steam version or in the Steam version released prior to the last 72 hours.

A pictorial guide to other ways of accomplishing this plus clean installations. This guide uses an alternative launcher since the kingdoms.exe was eliminated, then uses Squid's tool to do the registry editing, then your mod is back in a familiar way that you're used to seeing.

Or you can use the method previously described of adding a non-Steam game to the Steam library.

Or you can use program commands to run your mod as detailed a few posts back.

[scdandme]

Man, I am really depressed over this after reading Rubicon's post about all the OTHER issues that this "patch" has causes...especially all the new AI problems....us getting mods to work with the game is something everyone here has done well to help each other figure out, but these issues should not have been there due to a MP update.....sucks. I honestly have not played the game since the patch...just loaded a few saves and scrolled around the map some for testing purposes, so I am not yet familiar with these issues and as such am not as excited to play after waiting for these issues to be sorted out by CA and steam.....not sure if they ever will either.

So after reading the other member's post asking for advice about which version of the game he should look for to own/use I am now thinking myself about trying to find a boxed version of this game to get......heck maybe I will try to buy two !!!

[RubiconDecision]

When Valve initially came out with Half Life 2 and Steam, then I think everyone who was a consumer back then thought, "This is the future. They could stream anything now: comic books, films, art, software, etc.". If anything, I thought Steam was amazing.

Not so much really. Sure, it's great that you can't lose your software and can redownload it, or it's supposed to make migration of software easier for a new computer purchase. Few games are ever going to stay on your computer for years. My only regret is losing Half Life 2 since I really enjoyed it and the mods that came with it.

I never enjoyed the endless Steam issues for modding. With Steam, sometimes installation programs can't find the registry version of MTW2, something I remember bringing up to Gigantus several years ago. Over the years I've answered lots of questions about Steam installation under my first TWCenter name. All during that time, modders would say, "Don't you wish you'd bought the box version?" and every time I did. Now I do and I feel sorry for anyone who has a crippled version of MTW2 now.

Given that Steam collaborated with the NSA to spy on its users, they honestly lost me when that became public.

[capablecenturion]

I believe they've fixed the 'blackened towns' problem recently -- I certainly am not suffering from it any more. Anyone else?

[RubiconDecision]

I believe they've fixed the 'blackened towns' problem recently -- I certainly am not suffering from it any more. Anyone else?

I no longer have Steam on my computer, so I cannot check if a new Steam Client for M2TW has been released. But you can check. Here's how.

The last known Steam Client ID was 334162 as of July 24th in America. The way that you check the Steam Client ID is to:
1. Right click on M2TW in your Steam Library
2. Click on Local Files

and the Steam build number will be displayed.
I have been following the Steam Community discussion on M2TW each day. It's mostly updated by tech support between the hours of 9 am to 8 pm Eastern time. Since the 24th, there has been no mention of a new Steam Client release. That main forum discussion and the last page of it is here:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/4700/d...658755047/#p17

Compare your ID number to 334162. If it's identical, then no new update should have been pushed to your computer. Follow that main Steam Community link to check for a newer patch.

The only way to collect all of the bugs in the Steam patch is to play lots of campaign turns and fight some battles, and to try various screens. For this particular issue, then fighting many custom battles as sieges would show the shadows of black and gray. Think of yourself as a beta tester, and as one, then when you see a glitch, then write down what you were doing, what screen you saw it on, what missing sound didn't play, what atypical AI behaviour you witnessed, etc.

There are lots of you who have visited, but only a few who are talking. So some of you may know things that others don't.

As the bugs came in originally, I frequented the most common M2TW sites, and looked for reports, as well as that Steam Community, and this website. It takes a lot of time to do that, and I can no longer test the Steam version.

When a Steam Client loads to your computer, it's usually optional. In this case, it overrides the normal schemes set by the owner, and performs an update no matter what. However, unless you do a game cache integrity check, you will NOT know if there were errors in transmission. This means you should be doing that to troubleshoot, and then if there are more than four errors, then reacquire the missing pieces. It's not abnormal to have a tiny few as these are preferences that might vary based upon your playing habits.

Since many people may have a faulty transmission of the Steam Client, then some of the errors may result in strange appearances within the game. I know this to be true from past experiences with odd situations that were very specific, while the rest of the game worked fine. In one case, some landscaping didn't appear correct within the battles. In another, the Map Editor didn't work, a feature not usually utilized by the bulk of players.

This is why we need many beta testers to check their Steam Client. Some of you may merely need to do a complete reload, and then you'll all likely have similar issues. It's not perfect. The Steam tech support acknowledges issues with the patch that's affecting the vanilla campaigns, besides also affecting many mods.

As some of you may not fight out your battles, you might not see some of these issues at all, which is frankly bad, because you may think everything is fine, but it's just that you never see that part of M2TW.

[Lord Baal]

There has been no update yet. At least it doesn't appear for me. I live in Venezuela, (South America for those that don't know geography or haven't seen the news in the last 15 years)

[capablecenturion]

There has been no update yet. At least it doesn't appear for me. I live in Venezuela, (South America for those that don't know geography or haven't seen the news in the last 15 years)

When I posted that I was checking off into bed didn't pay particular attention to the downloads that had happened on my Steam. You're right, though, no update.

I've played numerous times recently and have had no particular problem with lightning -- The only thing I did change graphically as of late is turn off BLOOM setting (on 'Shader 2'). I will have to get back to you to see if that was what helped it.

[RubiconDecision]

When I posted that I was checking off into bed didn't pay particular attention to the downloads that had happened on my Steam. You're right, though, no update.

I've played numerous times recently and have had no particular problem with lightning -- The only thing I did change graphically as of late is turn off BLOOM setting (on 'Shader 2'). I will have to get back to you to see if that was what helped it.

Thanks Bud. That's the kind of thing we need people to do, take some responsibility and post it. This helps everyone, especially if we can place all of the intel in one topic so people can refer to it for answers.

Well done.I repped you.

[capablecenturion]

When I posted that I was checking off into bed didn't pay particular attention to the downloads that had happened on my Steam. You're right, though, no update.

I've played numerous times recently and have had no particular problem with lightning -- The only thing I did change graphically as of late is turn off BLOOM setting (on 'Shader 2'). I will have to get back to you to see if that was what helped it.

I've decided to test the theory of 'BLOOM' -- it has nothing to do with it. I was wrong, and the reason is particularly interesting:

The mod which I run (that contains no blackened-towns) is a mod called GUAM (Grand Unit Addons Mod) - I'm certain a lot of people are familiar with that. I have done no modifications to it (not graphically such as a particular graphics mod which I can't recall the name of -- its here somewhere) except through files regarding units and factions.

The mod is run on Retrofit folder-base, which may have something to do with it.

Screenshot of my settings:
http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/573399836921471558/7FC30A0F6D687DA8A950D08E1BAD297281541669/
-- These settings are 'universal', meaning every mod uses these exact settings as in Vanilla Med2.

and these are the screenshots of my tests, they don't particularly show much, but they do show that bloom has apparently nothing to do with it.

Vanilla

Bloom: http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/573399836921370678/BD71A2B7E4A64FBBB331FEB52376792AABDC9500/

No Bloom: http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/573399836921377879/F55E8C6B918FC041230EACB42C08FBA4B7F12DB5/

GUAM

Bloom: http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/573399836921026701/2EA52C3FE4A5FCE89A413158149611EEF9CD7602/

No Bloom: http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/573399836921020935/FF2BB6D358E0D4F84745A081CDCE2A6F28BC2959/

I've also noticed in particular that this 'blackened-shadow' appears on mostly buildings which are UNIQUE; they are buildings like cathedral, archery range, ballista maker, etc... which are found to be buildable in campaign map and such. There are fewer encounters of 'miscellaneous' buildings which have this bug. I believe this may also influence how this bug works.

Sorry for double post (I still can't seem to edit ), but I also forgot to mention my SHADOW setting, which is set to 'none'. This, like bloom, may not influence anything. However, I'd like to think that perhaps due to the nature of GUAM (Or Retrofit, perhaps both?) bloom and shadow may both 'influence' one another someway, somehow. Just a thought.

[RubiconDecision]

When some Steam users signed up for it, and downloaded the first Steam client, they "opted" to have the Steam Client beta software. Based upon the complaints I am seeing, a good number of folks who are having trouble with redownloading the complete installation of M2TW didn't realize that they were using a beta version of Steam.

To determine if you did this, or how to opt out of betas, then read this. Some computer users don't really bother to learn what Steam is, or what it does, or all of its features. They just want to play games. It's important you realize its functions and what you signed up for, if you're going to troubleshoot your current issues with M2TW.

While most people are talking about the multiplayer (MP) aspects that this latest Steam Client was supposed to address, it also was supposed to assist with making more language support too. However, it actually broke some current international players language support. I've seen several posts from Italian players. If you're noticing issues with something related to this, then making a post might make Steam programmers aware of your plight. It seems to be happening MORE to the RTW1 players who also got a Steam Client update. It's possible that those players had a packaged deal of RTW1 and M2TW. See this for an example.

Some players who actually play their battles instead of autoresolving have noticed a major slowdown in the framerate and this is called lag. That means while playing a battle, the units slow down, the screen freezes, and makes the game far less enjoyable. Unless you test your system with a custom battle, then you might not notice this issue for some time. Unless you had benchmarked your system with a program like FRAPS, then how would you know? That's the kind of things you should have done prior and should be doing now in order to ascertain what Steam needs to repair in a future patch. Some people are only seeing that lag in multiplayer. If you make an inquiry to Steam, and you can't communicate some statistics on framerate, or know what it was before, then they have no evidence of the issue except your opinion.