Total War series

[zinger]

Has anyone played the Total Wars thoroughly? I'm interested in the quality of the games as well as how they have developed throughout the series.

Shogun: Total War
Mongol Invasion

Medieval: Total War
Viking Invasion

Rome: Total War
Barbarian Invasion
Alexander

Medieval II: Total War
Kingdoms

Empire: Total War
Warpath

Napoleon: Total War

[icycalm]

Played only the first one, sometime in 2000-2001, for about an hour or so. Was not impressed at all, neither in terms of mechanics (the turn-based part of the game was far too simplistic for my tastes, whilst the real-time did not seem very well realized), nor in terms of aesthetics (laughably cheap medieval Japanese flavor FTW).

But I understand the series has progressed greatly since then, and I have been planning to explore it.

[TheBob]

Empire: Total War is still broken almost a year after its release. I played the game again recently with full updates and later again with a popular mod (Darthmod). Both fail to fix the AI, as it does not know how to fight battles well (or at all sometimes). Here are some of the problems:

In a field map the AI armies will scurry back and forth across its own troops, locked in an insane death loop, making easy targets for my troops. Rarely will the AI actually fight by forming a line and moving for an attack. This same problem of the troops moving back and forth over each other without end happens in both defensive and offensive battles.

Siege battles are no better, since the AI does not know how to use cannon, so they will be forced to attempt to climb your walls. They will try to spread you out on your walls, but in the worst way possible. The AI will move into your rifle range first, then start moving around to different points to attack, rather than circling around your fort first outside of gun range.

Also, the strategic AI is little better. The developers claim the AI can do naval invasions with the newer updates. I never saw this in any campaign at any time.

[zinger]

I played the Shogun demo when thirteen years old or so and was very impressed by the number of units on screen as well as the Japanese theme back then. I guess my judgement was a little bit off. Thanks for the impressions.

[TheBob]

Creative Assembly announced they are working on a new update to fix the battle AI in Empire:TW.

Dear All,

Today we’re announcing that a new update for Empire: Total War will shortly be entering its beta group phase.

We’ve spent the last few months listening to and acting on fan feedback on the battle AI in Empire, and this update has been designed to improve your experience.

This update seeks to reduce the occurrence of aggressive melee behavior in the AI armies, milling or ‘blobbing’ behavior during formation and the leapfrogging of units sometimes experienced.

It’s important to set expectations realistically with this update, where these issues occur they will be significantly reduced but not altogether eliminated.
The Battle AI will be a significant improvement over Empire 1.5, and is based on Empire. It will not exhibit the progression seen in Napoleons more advanced Battle AI system.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=331066