Rome II

[Yskonyn]

I have skipped Shogun 2. It's the only game in the series that I haven't played. Yet, people seem to keep insisting that it's the best to date... The setting just doesn't do it for me.
I am looking VERY much forward to Rome 2, though!! :D

[Sir Slash]

Yeah. And those Ottoman Naked Dancing-Girl Units were great too. -- Just kidding Gus-- Just kidding.

[Gusington]

No Ottoman naked whirling dervishes?

[mikeck]

I have skipped Shogun 2. It's the only game in the series that I haven't played. Yet, people seem to keep insisting that it's the best to date... The setting just doesn't do it for me.
I am looking VERY much forward to Rome 2, though!! :D

I am with you that I have no interest in Japanese history. I purchased it anyway and it definitely is the best out of all of them. Best Ai, best graphics, runs the smoothest, best balance if options (buildings, spying, tech growth), etc.

So I have high hopes for Rome 2 if they are using the same engine.

[Gusington]

IIRC they are indeed using the same engine.

[Martok]

The ETW AI often refuses to accept very good deals to sell or swap territories but the other behaviors you listed Martok, I've not noticed a lot since the game first came out when it was bad. It seems more predictable now but will still do strange things. Alliances hold well and protectorates pretty much stay loyal. Most factions will accept peace if offered and they are losing but usually demand outrageous terms if they are making the offer. The latest version of the Empire Total Realism mod is out & looks very nice.

Hmm, you tempt me... 

Does the Total Realism mod do anything to address the "ships being able to move against the wind" issue?  For that matter, did later updates do anything about it (as with Rome, I stopped playing ETW only a couple months after it came out)?  What else does the TR mod change/fix/do? 

[Gusington]

They fixed the ships against the wind issue in Fall of tbe Samurai by adding steam boilers :)

[MengJiao]

They fixed the ships against the wind issue in Fall of tbe Samurai by adding steam boilers :)

  The sea fights alone would have made Shogun2 a great game.  Okay, I mostly have played FOTS and that has the best naval battles I have yet seen anywhere.

  So yeah.  Might as well wait for Rome II now though.

 

[Sir Slash]

No Ottoman naked whirling dervishes?


Sorry Gus. No naked dervishes for the Ottomans. But if it makes you feel any better, viewing the Maratha War Elephants from behind does remind me of an old girlfriend. Minus the tail of course. Well... no actually when I think about it.... :o

[Sir Slash]

I haven't actually played the Total Realism mod so can't comment directly on it but the American Revolution mod corrected the naval combat pretty well, adjusting the AI morale so it wouldn't just roll-over & give-up. Same with land combat. I got it cause I'm a sucker for new units and there are a bunch for almost every power. Most have unit histories and distinct uniforms. Playing Russia on the "Hard" difficulty level feels just about right in terms of AI aggressiveness, economic development, and city management. It's made a poor game into a really good one for me. But even vanilla improved over the launch version.

[Martok]

A couple videos: 

A look at the game's music & sound.  Mark Strong does the voice acting for the main character in the tutorial campaign.  Yay! 

A very brief (and not terribly informative) look at campaign gameplay.  Bloody immersion-breaking American voice actors make their return.  Boo! 

[TheCommandTent]

You realize you are making it harder and harder to resist preordering this.....

[Gusington]

^You still haven't caved? Shame on you.

[Kushan]

You realize you are making it harder and harder to resist preordering this.....

Those of us who haven't pre-ordered should form some sort of support group.

[Gusington]

The support group is located over at Steam...where a preorder page is also available.