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Thread: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

  1. #1
    Commissar Caligula_'s Avatar The Ecstasy of Potatoes
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    Default Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    In order to facilitate reasonable discussion and keep the forums clean, Moderation Staff is opening a Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia praise thread. This thread will work similarly to the 'criticism' thread and the previous Total War: Rome II praise threads [1] [2]. Moderation Staff will use its discretion to merge 'praise threads' with this larger thread. Moderation Staff can and will remove any posts that it deems necessary to prevent disruption, derailment, and other unsuitable behavior. Questions and concerns about should be directed to a Moderator or Administrator, or posted in the Moderation Commentary Thread.

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    Total War Center Moderation Staff
    Last edited by Commissar Caligula_; May 03, 2018 at 07:45 PM.



  2. #2

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    I like how you don't need huge stacks to go conquering One decent stack to meet the enemy's armies, and a couple of small ones to pop his settlements does the trick early on.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    Game is ing great.

    Campaign UI and Characters are a bit of a step back, but the overall flow of the map is great, the battles are surprisingly satisfying and the battle UI is wonderful. The game FEELS a lot nicer than attila as well due to much better performance on my machine.

    I was going to add the caveat that on hard I thought it was too easy (and the first 20 turns were) but holy that mid game difficulty spike. Give me my king back pls.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    So many nice touches in this game. For example, I love the chanting and roars during battles and especially after a victory.

    I started Wessex on N/N just to get a feel for the game (Strathclut H/H is next). The campaign seemed a bit slow and easy at first, but the more I learnt, the more interesting it became. And as factions became embroiled in wars and raiders came to wreck stuff, the campaign developed a life of its own and things keep getting more intriguing and threatening to tumble out of my control. There's a 15 unit Nordmann raiding army tearing up one of my vassals, another one has rebelled and declared war. My ally, Mierce, is hard pressed by three surrounding minor factions, and will need my help soon, and my generals and governors are finicky and disloyal. I'm having a blast. Well done Mr Lusted and crew, very well done.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    I finished Circenn on VH via long fame victory, and it has been pretty enjoyable so far. I didn't notice any bugs and the campaign definitely wasn't easy for me for quite a while. I was stuck trying to batter down Gallgoidel, Dyflin and Lochlann and I couldn't really get over to Ireland due to their pretty hefty naval advantage. Although once I got a foothold there it got easier but Dylin's annex script caused problems as they got a bunch of land in Wales which meant more naval shenanigans . The end game invasion didn't manifest much threat though except for the initial surprise invasion location.

  6. #6
    Gaius Baltar's Avatar Old gods die hard
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    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread : Van Zandt's Appraisal and Recommendations


    I preordered and was ready to go Thursday morning here when I awoke. Started a Dyflin campaign on hard/hard. It took some time to get used to the campaign mechanics, and this early campaign came to a hard ending when the faction heir revolted with a large portion of the army. Several large armies from neighboring territories attacked as well. So a rough start. I started again reducing the challenge to normal/normal. Now that I was familiar with the mechanics I was able to keep my generals happy and grain coffers full. I expanded and by 900 AD was in control of over half of Ireland. Battles are similar to RTW2. Campaign map is lush and the colorful event videos are good.

    Some thoughts:

    PRO:

    1. Game is stable and runs well even on my old rig. I have never had a crash and have found only one graphics bug (crow hovering) during a siege battle. Load times are relatively quick as well.

    2. Campaign mechanics are enjoyable to work with, buildings and research work well. Family tree, estates and governorship's are great to keep cities garrisoned and loyalty high. Diplomacy makes more sense and also works as well as could be expected. Different options for dealing with disloyal generals and bastard offspring. Doesn't break the bank either.

    3. Two games in one! - I spent all day playing for Ireland, and haven't even done much across the sea, in Enlaglaland.

    CON:

    1. Battles are way to fast. I had a siege battle of a large city, fully garrisoned..that took only 8 minutes. Hard to manage your troops fast enough to keep up with that blistering pace.

    2. Sea borne movement is abysmal. I had a general embark from Castletown in the Irish sea to raid the west coast of England. First move (Spring) makes it to the out end of the island, second move (Summer) makes to the inlet near a small settlement, next move (Fall) lands next to the settlement, and finally (Winter) takes the settlement. So a whole year in game time to accomplish as task that probably takes no more than a few weeks. I would think that since this is the "Age of the Vikings" seaborne mechanics would be much smoother. In addition, there is no boat building slot in the ports, which presumably could be used to build, refurbish and upgrade ships. Again, another major component of the time period.

    3. Their is only one religion. Catholic church's, well that is your only option. I would suspect that an addition of a pagan religion, perhaps Odin and the gods of Norse mythology, would be more likely to represent the Viking factions.

    Overall I give this a thumbs up. Certainly releasing a stable, relatively bug free product is a huge success. The large map and well dome campaign mechanics make for a number of interesting possibilities for modifications. I am hoping that the Arthurian Total War group comes out of retirement to mod this one.

    After making the short victory conditions Dyflin became "Irish Vikings". Now almost in control of the whole island.

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    Neither is this the dawn from the east, nor is a dragon flying above, nor are the gables of this hall aflame. Nay, mortal enemies approach in ready armour. Ravens are calling, wolves are howling, spear clashes and shield answers



  7. #7
    ♔Greek Strategos♔'s Avatar THE BEARDED MACE
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    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    Only one religion and the extremely fast battles are the biggest issues for me. Plus the stripped down features of the full ''normal'' campaigns. The quite stable performance is surely a plus.

  8. #8

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    Battles vary in length. I've played a pretty even spectrum ranging from 5-10 minutes through to 20 minutes. I like them, though once or twice the AI bugged out, and they do need to fix the shuffling behaviour. Easily patched I imagine.

    That aside, the sounds of the battlefields are brilliant. The arrows whoosh and thump, the shields clatter, the men roar and chant. It sounds fantastic when you zoom in between the two armies trading arrows and chants.

    Also, has anyone recognised the officers' voices yet? Playing Wessex, in one of my battles the officer was definitely the guy who played Leofwic (the Saxon dude who called Uhtred "Arseling"). In another battle I was 50/50 as to whether the officer was Uhtred himself.

  9. #9
    ♔Greek Strategos♔'s Avatar THE BEARDED MACE
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    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by Theramines View Post
    That aside, the sounds of the battlefields are brilliant. The arrows whoosh and thump, the shields clatter, the men roar and chant. It sounds fantastic when you zoom in between the two armies trading arrows and chants.

    Also, has anyone recognised the officers' voices yet? Playing Wessex, in one of my battles the officer was definitely the guy who played Leofwic (the Saxon dude who called Uhtred "Arseling"). In another battle I was 50/50 as to whether the officer was Uhtred himself.
    Sounds exciting. I really like sound immersive additions.

  10. #10

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    Fantastic game. Great campaign map, fantastic battle maps, lot of variety between faction groups. Love it!
    "The trouble with facts is that there are so many of them." - Samuel McChord Crothers

  11. #11

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    I love the game. The campaign map is very good, and the battle terrain is excellent. For some reason the battle map reminds me of the earlier Rome TW?--or some earlier feature in a TW game I liked. I like the unit cards and the character pictures.
    I would like it if all units were available, not only the upgrades.
    As always, the dialogue leaves a little to be desired, but an improvement on Rome II and Attila.
    Last edited by Lannes1; May 11, 2018 at 03:09 AM.

  12. #12
    Julio-Claudian's Avatar Senator
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    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a vanilla campaign so much. The map is great, I long for the day we can have a grand campaign map with this level of detail.

  13. #13
    ♔Greek Strategos♔'s Avatar THE BEARDED MACE
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    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    What do you guys think about the AI ?

  14. #14

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    Its very easy to like at first but the more you play the more you realize how stripped down and overly simplistic it is. Its going to need a lot of modding to get it to a level worthy of praise.

    I wish Jack Lusted and the developers would read history books and get really into research and then make a game based on what they've read.

  15. #15

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by Greek strategos View Post
    What do you guys think about the AI ?
    It has its moments. It knows how to flank with cav and prioritizes its ranged fire decently. It's also usually good at keeping a coherent battle line (except when reinforcing, as usual), and will sometimes keep reserves, especially if there's enemy cav around. It can't, however, focus fire on one unit at a time unless said unit is the only thing around worth shooting at, will only flank directly from the sides and doesn't go all the way around, even when it has a clear numerical advantage, and will still sometimes randomly reshuffle its line in the face of the enemy (it will do this multiple times when on the defensive during sieges).

    On the campaign, it's good at bypassing defenses to strike at unprotected areas, and usually doesn't travel halfway across the map to do this. However, this sometimes happens at the cost of getting armies isolated and leaving its own lands open to counterattack. Diplomacy is still kind of a mess, as always.

    All in all, I think it could be decent at playing the game if the things that were meant to stop the player from curbstomping even engagements worked correctly.

    Quote Originally Posted by Athos187 View Post
    Its very easy to like at first but the more you play the more you realize how stripped down and overly simplistic it is. Its going to need a lot of modding to get it to a level worthy of praise.

    I wish Jack Lusted and the developers would read history books and get really into research and then make a game based on what they've read.
    Wrong thread.

  16. #16

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by zoner16 View Post
    It has its moments. It knows how to flank with cav and prioritizes its ranged fire decently. It's also usually good at keeping a coherent battle line (except when reinforcing, as usual), and will sometimes keep reserves, especially if there's enemy cav around. It can't, however, focus fire on one unit at a time unless said unit is the only thing around worth shooting at, will only flank directly from the sides and doesn't go all the way around, even when it has a clear numerical advantage, and will still sometimes randomly reshuffle its line in the face of the enemy (it will do this multiple times when on the defensive during sieges).

    On the campaign, it's good at bypassing defenses to strike at unprotected areas, and usually doesn't travel halfway across the map to do this. However, this sometimes happens at the cost of getting armies isolated and leaving its own lands open to counterattack. Diplomacy is still kind of a mess, as always.

    All in all, I think it could be decent at playing the game if the things that were meant to stop the player from curbstomping even engagements worked correctly.



    Wrong thread.
    Woops, sorry I mean ... I love it! Best game ever

  17. #17
    ♔Greek Strategos♔'s Avatar THE BEARDED MACE
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    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    Quote Originally Posted by zoner16 View Post
    It has its moments. It knows how to flank with cav and prioritizes its ranged fire decently. It's also usually good at keeping a coherent battle line (except when reinforcing, as usual), and will sometimes keep reserves, especially if there's enemy cav around. It can't, however, focus fire on one unit at a time unless said unit is the only thing around worth shooting at, will only flank directly from the sides and doesn't go all the way around, even when it has a clear numerical advantage, and will still sometimes randomly reshuffle its line in the face of the enemy (it will do this multiple times when on the defensive during sieges).

    On the campaign, it's good at bypassing defenses to strike at unprotected areas, and usually doesn't travel halfway across the map to do this. However, this sometimes happens at the cost of getting armies isolated and leaving its own lands open to counterattack. Diplomacy is still kind of a mess, as always.

    All in all, I think it could be decent at playing the game if the things that were meant to stop the player from curbstomping even engagements worked correctly.
    Thanks for your inputs. AI's improvements (especially in sieges from what I have seen) are quite promising. Plus the updated detailed map, graphics and immersion effects etc
    But the most important question for me is, does it feel too Arcade ?


    Quote Originally Posted by Athos187 View Post
    Its very easy to like at first but the more you play the more you realize how stripped down and overly simplistic it is. Its going to need a lot of modding to get it to a level worthy of praise.

    I wish Jack Lusted and the developers would read history books and get really into research and then make a game based on what they've read.
    Well, I appreciate you opinion, since I'm aware of your modding work.
    Last edited by ♔Greek Strategos♔; May 11, 2018 at 04:01 PM.

  18. #18

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    Have to say I was a bit worried about this title, especially the battles. However, I was over joyed when I played my first battle. The units definitely have a lot more weight and mass and graphics are crisper with more detail, sound effects are awesome too.
    Campaign + Battles overall much more immersive. Really enjoying it!

  19. #19

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    Athos, what's wrong with the history? To me it seems that there is an incredible amount of research on name spelling and factions, etc, locations of settlements, even cults of minor saints and so on from an ultra-obscure time when hardly anything was written in English. They did consult an academic in Scotland I think and after all the game was done in 18 months and most PhD students take a lot longer than that just to work out some fine historical details about just one character or one economic feature, something quite minor.

    As this is about praise, personally I find the historical research to be very praiseworthy and add to the immersion. If someone knows more, I would be more than happy that he adds those details into the game.

  20. #20

    Default Re: Thrones of Britannia: Praise Thread

    Sorry I'm not allowed to criticize the game on this thread

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