The TW series is dead. Everything after Medieval II sucks!

[Candy_Licker]

I know very well the feeling! I was used to loosing myself in fantasies while listening to that awesome campaign music, with the wind effect, the bells from afar and such. I guess nostalgia has its weight here, though

True, but it also worked way better gameplay wise with the old map system. It was always tense when you and your neighbour had amassed armies at the border, knowing that the AI will most likely invade as soon as you leave the province undefended. You couldn't just ignore them and keep your province safe with a free upkeep levy, since the AI would invade full force with the simple risk map instead of the micro stack drag the series has been plagued since. And economic damage was done anyway even if you still held the castle. Instead of endlessly grinding the AI down, you had decisive battles.

[napoleonic]

Yes total war is dead to me, only something like a proper medieval 3 game would make me come back, and what I mean by proper medieval 3 is about the mechanics inherited from shogun to medieval 2 kingdoms complete with modernization and expansion of those mechanics, and extensive modding ability.

Tell you what, I never touched empire era games and only played a few hours of shogun 2 and just half an hour of atilla because I couldn't even stomach the new campaign maps... Everything was so clear in medieval 2, in atilla it looked totally confusing... Think about this, civ 6 map is what I feel a modern total war map should look like, people can complain about the cartoony graphics, but it is so user friendly compared to post medieval 2 tw mp.

Omg I'm so old here, look at my join date.

[PikeStance]

I would not expect any retro maps. It would either be more of the same or slight improvements.

[napoleonic]

I would not expect any retro maps. It would either be more of the same or slight improvements.

Which is for me depressing to think about it it's not about retro, it's the simplicity and the user friendliness that lost after medieval 2 map.

[PikeStance]

There is always hope that they will make improvements. However, it is unlikely they would except on the new title.

[Leonardo]

I know very well the feeling! I was used to loosing myself in fantasies while listening to that awesome campaign music, with the wind effect, the bells from afar and such. I guess nostalgia has its weight here, though

Not to mention the architecture of the buildings and portraits of a general or an agent in-game. It's very nostgalic and sometimes I return to MTW, just to start a new campaign despite its flaws and outdated graphics in MTW.

[Dismounted Feudal Knight]

Yes total war is dead to me, only something like a proper medieval 3 game would make me come back, and what I mean by proper medieval 3 is about the mechanics inherited from shogun to medieval 2 kingdoms complete with modernization and expansion of those mechanics, and extensive modding ability.

Tell you what, I never touched empire era games and only played a few hours of shogun 2 and just half an hour of atilla because I couldn't even stomach the new campaign maps... Everything was so clear in medieval 2, in atilla it looked totally confusing... Think about this, civ 6 map is what I feel a modern total war map should look like, people can complain about the cartoony graphics, but it is so user friendly compared to post medieval 2 tw mp.

If they can't chunk it into DLC, it doesn't stand a chance in the modern era of Total War. >.>

Can't say the recent total wars are really confusing on the big map, myself. My complaints are the optimization issues that persist across total war eras, the virtual irrelevance of individual characters, and the simplicity of many mechanics.

[Sandraker]

I like TW, and I totally understand the direction towards arcadiness they've taken in recent times, as well as the whole Warhammer thing. I don't actually like that decision though and I couldn't even get myself to buy any of the WH titles.

My opinion is that the TW "Genre" needs fresh blood. I think a small dev team making everything from the ground up could create a huge twist on the genre with much more suitable gameplay for history buffs such as myself. With access to decently capable game engines being easy now, I think it would be doable too. In fact, I question whether it really is easier to extensively mod an existing TW game instead of just building one from scratch on an engine like Unreal or Unity.

Imagine if a devteam could create a game in the same genre, but unconstrained by the TW series' own conventions. They could try all sorts of things like real time strategic maps, very different battle mechanics, stuff like that.
For example, I'd like to see a battle system that works far more on core mechanics than on stats. Like, imagine if rough terrain really was rough in terms of geometry, and that was the actual factor that causes disruption in a unit.
Or perhaps, a game that is a sort of intermediate between M&B and TW. You're much more limited to what the actual General can do to affect the battle, but you aren't actually playing as him in the sense that you can actually fight yourself (thus saving up resources that would be spent on making every single grunt fightable with an actual combat system).

I wouldn't care if such a game wouldn't look nearly as nice as a modern TW. Honestly, I'm pretty fine with Rome 1's visuals even.

[Diocle]

I don't find any of the recent total war games interesting or engaging. TW Attila is alright, but really it's no comparison to Medieval II in terms of immersion and replayability. I don't like the fact that I can't have garrisons in my towns. I don't like not being able to build walls. I don't like the simplified town building options. I don't like the lack of meaningful family members with their chivalry, dread, piety and other characteristics. I don't like armies auto-replenishing. I don't like the bland music. Campaign map somehow feels less interesting. There's less to do and less fun to be had.

I won't even get into the Warhammer games, which are not my thing and I don't even consider part of the series. I haven't bought any of them and I'm not interested. I attempted to play Napoleon but could never get into it. I have Shogun 2 but same problem. I can't play Rome II as I don't like the dreadful building options and screwed up economy, nor the way factions like Carthage are broken.

Medieval II and Rome (2004) are the only games I can really enjoy. I suspect the TW series is dead and its glory days are not coming back. Anyone else feel the same?

EMPIRE was GREAT! Napoleon is GREAT! Shogun is GREAT and AWESOME and MAGNIFICENT and POETIC and ELEGANT and BEAUTIFUL, Shogun actually is a DREAM! Rome 2 and Attila are so so .. but, .. when modded, they can reach the most absolute GREATNESS! I didn't buy Warhammer, for I love Warhammer40k and I'm not interested in fantasy games, but .. c'mon the game is GREAT!
So, no, I'm not so negative about the serie, try to find some other real time strategy title with such a good graphic and two maps! There is no other!
The problem is that Warscape is now old, actually it's almost dead and .. WE NEED A NEW ENGINE! WE NEED A NEW ENGINE!! WE NEED A NEW ENGINE!!

[Aexodus]

I feel emboldened

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[PikeStance]

The game uses two engines: TW3 and warscape. Before Warhammer the games ran on 32 bits. Now it is 64, but it is barely using any of it. The Warscape engine can stretch its legs more!
I read something about CA is working on better animation which is one of the complaints that people have made about the games since ETW.

[TheRomanRuler]

Downhill since Medieval 2 yes. Empire was awful. Napoleon was already good but still not as good in every aspect. Shogun 2 was brilliant. Then something horrible happened but it was soon forgotten because another horrible mess happened. Warhammer TW thought was brilliant. Then Warhammer 2 seems to be disappointment, but i can't say that since i have not played it yet.

Rome TW and Medieval 2 are iconic Total Wars to me. Rome 1 was revolutionary and Medieval 2 improved on it a lot.

[Johnadiw26]

EMPIRE was GREAT! Napoleon is GREAT! Shogun is GREAT and AWESOME and MAGNIFICENT and POETIC and ELEGANT and BEAUTIFUL, Shogun actually is a DREAM! Rome 2 and Attila are so so .. but, .. when modded, they can reach the most absolute GREATNESS! I didn't buy Warhammer, for I love Warhammer40k and I'm not interested in fantasy games, but .. c'mon the game is GREAT!
So, no, I'm not so negative about the serie, try to find some other real time strategy title with such a good graphic and two maps! There is no other!
The problem is that Warscape is now old, actually it's almost dead and .. WE NEED A NEW ENGINE! WE NEED A NEW ENGINE!! WE NEED A NEW ENGINE!!

Well Diocle being Diocle, hello fellow invansio barbarorum and Batavian Horse AAR fans


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[douglas]

While I get that Totalwareddit is far more popular than TWC how do you find quality information there? It comes across as a jumble of upvoted posts and there is just way too much crap there to weed through in the search for a topic of interest. It's also dominated by Warhammer fanboys and CA white knights posting mash notes to the company, and in general feels like a place to get lost in rather have a good discussion.

Excellent recap of the site.

[twc01]

I liked empire. But have stopped playing after rome 2. The battles are simply a disgrace.

[KamenLily]

I liked empire. But have stopped playing after rome 2. The battles are simply a disgrace.

No, they are a shameful display!

But seriously, I like the new games too. Rome 2, Shogun 2 and Warhammer in particular.

[Gaius Baltar]

I was impressed with the naval combat opportunities in Empire. Seems like if they worked on that they could have a very interesting set of scenarios. Unfortunately is virtually unmoddable.

[♘Top Hat Zebra]

Total War is wildly more popular than it's ever been since the release of Warhammer. They pumping out DLC and free improvements for Rome II (a five year old game), they're making the first in a new SAGA series, Thrones of Britannia (ThrOB) with many features completely overhauled in a way we've never seen in Total War before, including a completely new recruitment and technology system, and simultaneously they're also working on the next fully featured historical title, Three Kingdoms Total War, the first Total War game set in China.

So, no, Total War is not even remotely dead by any stretch of the imagination.

What you meant to say was, "I don't like this anymore."

Okay. You're free to not like something.

[PikeStance]

I was impressed with the naval combat opportunities in Empire. Seems like if they worked on that they could have a very interesting set of scenarios. Unfortunately is virtually unmoddable.

Well, battle mechanics, in general, is a pain in the rear to do, but a lot of patience and you can get what you want.
The ships themselves are not very moddable. However, there is some wiggle room if you are creative.

Total War is wildly more popular than it's ever been since the release of Warhammer. They pumping out DLC and free improvements for Rome II (a five year old game), they're making the first in a new SAGA series, Thrones of Britannia (ThrOB) with many features completely overhauled in a way we've never seen in Total War before, including a completely new recruitment and technology system, and simultaneously they're also working on the next fully featured historical title, Three Kingdoms Total War, the first Total War game set in China.

So, no, Total War is not even remotely dead by any stretch of the imagination.

What you meant to say was, "I don't like this anymore."

Okay. You're free to not like something.

I think people who say it is dead say so because, in M2, they can completely change the game and map. You can make some significant changes in later titles, but it requires learning scripting which is much more difficult than what you needed to do previously. Personally, DB tables are easy to change, but it did take awhile to decode the intent of each variable. If a person wants to mod today, it is infinitely easier than it was upon the release of ETW.

If TW has any drawbacks it is definitely its battle mechanics. It is a pain to mod and it is a little arcade-like when released, but this is due to its target audience which is obviously not anyone who would frequent a forum.

[♘Top Hat Zebra]

I mean, don't get me wrong, there are plenty of mechanics that I feel have been downgraded, and there are plenty of things I think could be improved, but from a business sense, CA is doing better than ever.


To be perfectly honest, though, I feel like in terms of realism, the peak of the series is DEI for Rome II. While it's true that the newer titles are harder to do large, total conversion overhauls, modding hasn't really died down that much. Warhammer has an impressively large and active modding community, it's just that it's all on Steam Workshop instead of here.


I agree with whoever it was in this thread that said Total War isn't dying, but Total War Center is. Between Reddit and Steam Workshop, this sort of modding forum just isn't super relevant to people anymore.