Rome II

[Jarhead0331]

JH I think a lot of the things you mentioned may be linked to the Prologue. The one that stands out to me is the use of formations. I selected a line formation for one battle and my troops stuck to it, fought as a line, not as a blob.

I think you are correct. I just played a custom battle and it felt much more "authentic."  It also felt like more of a brutal struggle than any of the battles of I fought in the prologue.

[Gusington]

I am enjoying the Prologue but I expect to be blown away by the actual game. The Prologues are always scripted and kinda weak when compared to the rest of the game.

[Sir Slash]

Just won my first siege battle as Pontus despite the pre-battle force ratio favoring the AI. Generalship matters. AI was very reactive to my moves. The battle only lasted 8 min. AI's morale falls very fast.

[JudgeDredd]

It surely can't just be me that thinks this game doesn't look that great surely?

Admittedly I have a sub par system. But I would expect to have things looking great even if they were a slide show...but having all the settings up - it doesn't look all that. The Strat map looks - well bad. The advisors that show up are nowhere near as good as the ones in Shogun 2 - in fact - graphically I think it's way below what Shogun 2 is like (just about to fire it up to clarify for myself).

Maybe it's just my system....but I expected more beauty - even if it was a slide show

It's almost like there's some auto adjusting going on.

[Bison]

It surely can't just be me that thinks this game doesn't look that great surely?

Maybe...Are you wearing a kilt and holding a bag pipe while playing the game?

[JudgeDredd]

Case in point

Shogun 2 Strat Map


Rome 2 Strat Map (with dodgey scary looking advisor) and this screenies are from window mode (as with Shogun 2) and EXTREME settings (with other things switched on that aren't switched on by default with Extreme)

[Yskonyn]

Well JD, you are tricking us with showing vastly different perspectives.
If you zoom in on the Shogun map as much as you have on the Rome one I doubt you will find Shogun's map more beautiful.

I find the game's graphics pretty awesome. Sure here and there are some weird looking models (like the unit portraits with the actual 3D faces like the advisors) and some bland textures. But on the battlefield I am just amazed by the level of detail you can see.
Oh that reminds me: CA have confirmed an issue with Extreme texture setting on some systems; If you select Extreme as a texture setting some systems will not show detailed textures but a low res ones. This has got something to do with memory allocation or such. Perhaps this is your problem?

If not then I do not know how you would find the graphics poor? Just look at the textures on the soldier's armor and shields, the weathered paint on the boats, stuff like that. It's all nicely detailed as far as I am concerned?
But don't forget the game needs to be able to run at the scale it portrays. Battles can become HUGE and so we should not expect the latest FPS engine goodness here?

And I'll repost again; the in-game Anti Aliasing option doesn't seem to do much. If you want to get rid of jagged edges properly I would advise to override AA from within your video card's properties.

[JudgeDredd]

First Rome II pic - granted - it is a different perspective. But the second one is almost the same.

I can't be bothered to fire them both up and look again. I just remembered playing Shogun 2 and thinking how stunning it was - and that was NOT my impression of Rome II

But I'll leave it there - I don't want things to kick off. Lets put it down to my system.

[Gusington]

Someone post some Pontus pics!!

[Yskonyn]

First Rome II pic - granted - it is a different perspective. But the second one is almost the same.

I can't be bothered to fire them both up and look again. I just remembered playing Shogun 2 and thinking how stunning it was - and that was NOT my impression of Rome II

But I'll leave it there - I don't want things to kick off. Lets put it down to my system.

No worries, taste is not something to argue about. :)
I was just mentioning some factors that might be contributing to your opinion that might help you change your mind. ;)

[undercovergeek]

First Rome II pic - granted - it is a different perspective. But the second one is almost the same.

I can't be bothered to fire them both up and look again. I just remembered playing Shogun 2 and thinking how stunning it was - and that was NOT my impression of Rome II

But I'll leave it there - I don't want things to kick off. Lets put it down to my system.

These are my sexy campaign map pics - if i could fk them i would

[mikeck]

I play on ultra...I think they are about the same: Shogun and Rome.
Wish someone would mod the battles so they last longer. The fact that no one has makes me think this game is harder to mod than previous. Not a big fan of "victory locations" on battlefields either.

All in all, this is a better TW game at release than any past TW games except Shogun 2.

[Gusington]

HA dear God 'Geek you perv.

[Yskonyn]

How would that work, technically? Fk-ing a monitor?
Call me intrigued!

[undercovergeek]

I play on ultra...I think they are about the same: Shogun and Rome.
Wish someone would mod the battles so they last longer. The fact that no one has makes me think this game is harder to mod than previous. Not a big fan of "victory locations" on battlefields either.

All in all, this is a better TW game at release than any past TW games except Shogun 2.

ive seen a 2 seasons and 4 seasons per year mod as opposed to the default 1 turn 1 year - im sure theyll get there soon, the speed mod is the one im looking for too

i think most of the file structures are the same for Shogun II and i have the speed mod for that - i dont know how hard it is to mod it myself though