Update on M2TW patch

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-12-13 10:05am

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Update News

A merry greetings from developer central. The day is creeping close; Update 1 is just about baked to perfection. Well ok maybe not perfection, if we had a hundred programmers and a hundred artists then maybe it would be but for Update 1 we are pretty proud of it as it is looking pretty sharp and playing even better. You should be sitting down to play the updated game within a few days from now.

As promised here is a list of what is fixed in Update 1. Of the huge lists gathered from the community (thank you!) we have done our best to fix as many as possible within the allocated timeframe. The remaining ones will have to be picked up in Update 2 (Yes we are publishing another Update!!).

The next Update is pencilled for the latter half of February so hopefully this will tie you over until then. We have some cool things planned for Update 2 which we will announce next year.

Ok here is the breakdown of fixed or tweaked issues, Merry Christmas from everyone at Creative Assembly!!!

Medieval 2:Total War Update 1

Major Fixes
========

-Fix crash in Deathtrack MP map with empty Team 3 slot
-Fixed Battle AI - armies not engaging enemies at close range.
-Fixed CTD when client attempts to join game that the host is ending.
-Fixed instances when A.I is passive on the campaign map and lets the user win on a campaign battle when stuck in-front of open gates.
-Fixed loop between the windows for 'Possible Connection Problems' and 'Really Quit?'
-Fixed AI: Calvary not charging a spearmen army in a Custom Battle.
-Fixed cavalry not attacking - instances when AI sieges a town with infantry and Calvary, if the infantry die and rout and the player still holds the city, the cavalry do not attack nor rout.
-Fixed passive Siege Attack AI
-Fixed Timurids crash (related to elephant artillery not having enough riders, CTD when trying to shoot)
-Fixed Siege Attack AI trying to attack the back of settlements.
-Fixed Passive attack AI
-Fixed Cavalry charge consistency and power. (Still raise and lower lances occasionally)
Added ModTool Unpacker
-Fixed Crash - Auto resolving a siege battle on Gaza and repeatedly Right - Clicking the settlement
-Fixed Merchant Resource value dropping after load/save
-Fixed CTD caused by Turks AI
-Fixed Cavalry not flanking spear walls
-Fixed AI not crossing river to attack (River Jordan)
-Reduced the effect of morale - enemy AI does not rout so easily
-Reduced the power of inquisitors
-Fixed 'move to point' crash
-MP Multinational support
-Fixed Cavalry sallying out and not attacking (bunching at corner of settlement)

Medium Level Fixes
=============

-Fix construction crash when converting settlements when buildings relating to initial settlement existed in construction queue.
-Fixed Settlement still showing as under siege even though sieging army had been defeated.
-Fixed repeating missions
-Fixed indecisive infantry / broken formation (when ordered to a location they would head in the wrong direction first)
-Fixed being able to open gates with siege towers or embed them in walls
-Fixed victory video not always appearing
-Diplomacy - AI no longer counters an open proposition with a gift.
-Fixed deployment lines being rendered incorrectly around ambient buildings
-Fixed Enemy units remain stationary with flags flashing when ladders are thrown off a destroyed wall in a siege.
-Fixed the carroccio standard not fitting through gates
-Fixed gunpowder units being stuck reforming
-Fixed trebuchets disappearing and reappearing when zooming
-Tweaked morale system
-Partially fixed units moving through settlement buildings.
-Units now check if destination is in a building or not.
-Enabled command-line switch to allow unlimited soldiers (removes message)
-Fixed MP player-names being lost on battle results screen if they quit the battle early
-Fixed the ability for a user to 'buff' their assassin experience by continually assassinating different captains

Other Fixes
========

-Fix difficulty level in MP (Affects Morale). Previously defaulting to Normal.
-Fix lobby tooltip that showed incorrect unit sizes.
-Fix Florins display during diplomacy
-Fix Money field looping into negative/positive value when removing / adding money
-Fix overlapping and incorrectly sized deployment zones
-Fixed cut-off graphics in civil disorder message
-Fixed unclear 'Start Diplomacy' button functionality
-Fixed MP Admit Defeat button functionality
-Fixed missions showing as expired even though they have been completed
-Fixed mouse-overs showing incorrect diplomatic information
-Fixed minor FE Historical Battle error (shield remaining highlighted)
-Fixed MP team chat - colours now match recipient and sender.
-Fixed minor audio issue - Audio: Campaign Map when an English Spy is ordered to join an English army he triggers two "Joins_Army" speeches.
-Fixed minor audio issue - Campaign Map when an English Merchant is ordered to disembark a boat, two "Movement_Disembark" speeches are triggered.
-Fixed Mine income
-Fixed MP ignore/ban toggle permanently banning player from chat
-Fixed - Making an offer gives a blank scroll on the Diplomacy Scroll, but removing the offer gives the player help text
-Fixed Mouse Cursor not updating when over certain parts of the UI.
-Fixed miscalculation of some naval unit movement points.
-Fixed units not leaving an army when ordered to abandon it.
-Fixed 'Possible Connection Problems' message not appearing if user alt-tabs
-Fixed On campaign map, castles appear under 'town' or 'city' title on UI
-Fixed Reinforcements box remains greyed when the user deselects 'Attempt a night battle'
-Fixed double speed on units that should only go at one speed.
-Fixed Stakes not appearing correctly in weather conditions
-Fixed non-functional help button on ransom scrolls
-Fixed intro movies playing at x3 speed in Historical battles
-Fixed transfer army functionality - When transferring men the transfer resets after viewing the description
-Fixed Gunpowder units running forward when given targets.
-Fixed clumping units when they are told to do a 180 degree turn
-Fixed stuck Camera issues
-Fixed Fleeing units rallying at breached walls or gates of settlements they are attacking when they should not.

I was dismayed to see that nothing is being done about the goofy bugs relating to city walls (no boiling oil, cannonballs being shot out of English ballista towers, cannon towers not firing at all in some circumstances, etc). But this is a huge list of bugfixes, and I suppose one can't ask for everything. The gameplay should improve quite dramatically once these changes are implemented.

KrauserKrauser · Post by **KrauserKrauser** » 2006-12-13 10:10am

I don't see anything relating to the billhooks, though that might be in the passive AI attack changes.

Time to get to Best Buy.

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-12-13 10:17am

It's not just Billmen. It's every unit with a two-handed weapon- Varangian Guard, Billmen, Dismounted English Knights, etc etc ad infinitum.

They better have fixed it ...

I just encountered my first "ballista tower firing cannonballs" bug when I took Rome- to my utter surprise it started spamming cannonballs at me. I took unecessary casualties ...

I think I'll play a Byzantime game with the 2.00 timescale after I'm done and the patch is released- I've gotten my historical accuracy fix and now I want Bombards before I finish the game.

And are the save games compatible?

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-12-14 10:26am

Here's another update:

Update Out Friday!
That’s right folks, we’ve just had confirmation from SEGA that Update 1 will be released on Friday 15th December!

As Wikiman mentioned in his previous blog, we’ve addressed as much as we could so you would get the update before Christmas. We’re currently working on the second update and are in constant discussion with community leaders to be sure your biggest concerns get looked at first. But to the modders out there, you’re finally getting the unpacker so you can mod even more of the game, enjoy.

As a teaser for Update 2, we’re currently playing with some of the fixes and tweaks and have to say, you will absolutely love the more aggressive Scotland and Mongol campaign AI, more naval assaults, an even more consistent less powerful cavalry charge, less devastating gunpowder units and last but not least, stronger 2-handed axe men and billmen.

If I don’t see you till after Christmas have a happy healthy holiday and enjoy your Total War. To those multiplayer people my sword will be sharp and my aim steady so watch out in the lobby.

Till next time,

Jason

So they're balancing out the cavalry charges by making them weaker but making charges more successful, more often. Hmm. Sounds like Rome. Not a bad thing.

Stravo · Post by **Stravo** » 2006-12-14 10:44am

Does the stronger 2 handed billmen/axes in update 2 mean that the no attack bug is not being addressed in Update 1? If so that fucking sucks, a key counter to cavalry essentially useless on the field makes for crappy battles.

And a more aggressive Mongol horde worries me since I'm already not thrilled with the stacks of doom with multiple silver and gold chevrons knocking on the Eastern border doors. Mind you not an issue when you're playing a power like France England or Spain but if you want to try out an Eastern power like Byzantium it can really put a damper on your experience if you're fighting off hordes like that while the West is having a cakewalk or even worse, sapping away your lands while your busy out east with the horde.

Otherwise I'll be happy to finally load this update on Friday and see what the improvements do to the game.

BTW wouldn't it be nice to have a game that generally works and is balanced out of the box? The waiting a month for a patch that puts the game where it should have been out of the box is really an irritant with computer games. I know this has been going on for years but it seems like the patches more and more are putting the game at where they should have been out of the box instead of fixing little niggling bugs or adding some nifty features.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2006-12-14 10:57am

Does the stronger 2 handed bill-men/axes in update 2 mean that the no attack bug is not being addressed in Update 1? If so that fucking sucks, a key counter to cavalry essentially useless on the field makes for crappy battles.

I think it may mean they are being improved in the next patch, whilst in this one they will actually work.

And what time tomorrow? Hopefully sometime in the afternoon when I'm off college and not in the US afternoon, due to the fact I'll be asleep at the time

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-12-14 01:46pm

Stravo wrote:Does the stronger 2 handed billmen/axes in update 2 mean that the no attack bug is not being addressed in Update 1? If so that fucking sucks, a key counter to cavalry essentially useless on the field makes for crappy battles.

And a more aggressive Mongol horde worries me since I'm already not thrilled with the stacks of doom with multiple silver and gold chevrons knocking on the Eastern border doors. Mind you not an issue when you're playing a power like France England or Spain but if you want to try out an Eastern power like Byzantium it can really put a damper on your experience if you're fighting off hordes like that while the West is having a cakewalk or even worse, sapping away your lands while your busy out east with the horde.

That's not much different from BI, where a WRE player had to desperately fend off horde after horde of barbarians while the ERE could basically just sit back and watch while it dueled the relatively easy Sassanids.

Otherwise I'll be happy to finally load this update on Friday and see what the improvements do to the game.

BTW wouldn't it be nice to have a game that generally works and is balanced out of the box? The waiting a month for a patch that puts the game where it should have been out of the box is really an irritant with computer games. I know this has been going on for years but it seems like the patches more and more are putting the game at where they should have been out of the box instead of fixing little niggling bugs or adding some nifty features.

It would be nice, but that's part of the nature of PC games. Console games have to be more or less final out of the box, but PC gamers have become accustomed to acting as the final-beta test brigade, and PC developers have become accustomed to treating them that way. Armed with that knowledge, anybody who really wanted to skip this step could simply wait until at least one patch is out for a game before buying it.

frogcurry · Post by **frogcurry** » 2006-12-14 06:02pm

The worst thing about Medeival 2 is the fact that for many people the disks are unreadable by a lot of CD drives for some reason... I have a friend stuck in that position who I'd hoped to play against. Until Sega/ CA fix that I consider them to have little respect for their customers.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-12-14 06:05pm

frogcurry wrote:The worst thing about Medeival 2 is the fact that for many people the disks are unreadable by a lot of CD drives for some reason... I have a friend stuck in that position who I'd hoped to play against. Until Sega/ CA fix that I consider them to have little respect for their customers.

...perhaps because they're DVD-ROMs, not CD-ROMs?

Just tossing it out there.

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-12-14 06:51pm

LOL, I AM ROTFL

I never got to fight the Mongols in my England game- I mean, I suppose I still could, all I need to do is load up my victory save game that I made and keep playing, and I won't fight them as the Greeks either because it's not even 1150 and I'm close to finishing the game (thanks, 0.50 timescale

).

I'll play the Greeks again on 2.00 timescale, just to fight the Mongols and Timurids. I'm satisfied now that the 2.00 timescale is long enough to take over the whole map if you want to- historical quirks aside.

And it sucks that you can't choose faction heirs. I don't want raving lunatics who are 56 years old as my next King, thank you.

In Rome I would pick the first born of my leader's family line, wherever possible.

frogcurry · Post by **frogcurry** » 2006-12-14 07:08pm

Hotfoot wrote:...perhaps because they're DVD-ROMs, not CD-ROMs?

Just tossing it out there.

Grrrrrr...

you know what I mean.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2006-12-15 12:39pm

Darth Wong wrote:It would be nice, but that's part of the nature of PC games. Console games have to be more or less final out of the box, but PC gamers have become accustomed to acting as the final-beta test brigade, and PC developers have become accustomed to treating them that way. Armed with that knowledge, anybody who really wanted to skip this step could simply wait until at least one patch is out for a game before buying it.

Hell, I do that already just to save me the trouble and money of having to buy the initial game and then the expansion packs separately. Get em both in the "special edition"/"collector's edition"/"whatever you want to call it" for a lot less.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-12-16 08:21am

Is it my or doesn't cavalry charge at all now?

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-12-16 08:26am

wautd wrote:Is it my or doesn't cavalry charge at all now?

Just you.

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2006-12-17 12:30am

Darth Wong wrote:That's not much different from BI, where a WRE player had to desperately fend off horde after horde of barbarians while the ERE could basically just sit back and watch while it dueled the relatively easy Sassanids.

I had to deal with the Huns, Goths, WRE, while trying to fight off a very tenacious Sassanid Empire who was persistent as hell trying to attack Antioch with huge stacks for 15-20 turns. I had to survive on 2 full stack armies guarding the east and western frontiers of my empire while maintaining some border troops elsewhere.... Killed off the Huns with hordes of assassins while facing them on the field of battle twice... ouch.

THen again, I was playing VH/VH so I Should expect such resistance.

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-12-17 06:50pm

I love it how the patch is out but there's absolutely no download link to be seen anywhere on the official site. I had to find it with a bloody google search. Not home at the moment, so I'll have to patch it later ...

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-12-17 11:36pm

You know, I didn't want to get involved in some of the CA-bashing that has been going on in certain venues, but this patch sucks.

My two biggest irritations were the fucked-up city walls and the two-handed weapon troops being useless against cavalry.

City walls are still fucked. I've got cannon towers that fire ballista bolts, ballista towers that fire cannonballs, and worst of all, it's not even consistent. In most cases the cannon towers do correctly fire cannonballs, but occasionally they seem to go insane. Do you know how ridiculous it looks to see a ballista bolt coming out of a cannon muzzle?

And the two-handed weapon troops? They're still useless against cavalry.

Fire Fly · Post by **Fire Fly** » 2006-12-18 12:32am

I installed the patch and wanted to tinker around with it to see what some of the changes are I actually haven't been able to play a game for too long before it crashes. I've decided to put MTW2 on hold until my final exams are done and some of the mods come out. I can say, though, that MTW2 inversely proportional to the amount of fun that RTW delivered.

Raesene · Post by **Raesene** » 2006-12-18 01:25am

Vympel wrote:I love it how the patch is out but there's absolutely no download link to be seen anywhere on the official site. I had to find it with a bloody google search. Not home at the moment, so I'll have to patch it later ...

I thought only I was blind on that eye.

I haven't installed it yet, because I'm in middle of conquering France as the HRE and didn't want to loose this game due to the patch.
Has anybody tried yet whether you can load savegames from before the patch after patching ?

Post by **Vympel** » 2006-12-18 05:26am

*snort*

What's the point of installing it then? I'll wait for Update 2 then, I'm not going to risk losing my game either.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2006-12-18 05:34am

Vympel wrote:*snort*

What's the point of installing it then? I'll wait for Update 2 then, I'm not going to risk losing my game either.

Uh, all of my games work after I installed it on Saturday, is this a fairly widespread problem? or just a few people?

How confuzzling...

Brother-Captain Gaius · Post by **Brother-Captain Gaius** » 2006-12-18 05:39am

Dartzap wrote:Uh, all of my games work after I installed it on Saturday, is this a fairly widespread problem? or just a few people?

How confuzzling...

Well, historically, TW patches have invalidated save games from previous versions. Though huzzah if that isn't the case here.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-12-18 08:08am

Ace Pace wrote:
wautd wrote:Is it my or doesn't cavalry charge at all now?
Just you.

Played some more, so yeah, they still charge.

However, they seem to have the greatest difficulty to kill running broken units from behind which is fucking stupid.

Another thing with the patch is that it seems less stable now. There was this time when the enemy was laying siege to my castle. If I'd play manually, I could easely win this battle if not that the game kept CTD halfway the battle for some reason. When I choose auto resolve instead, I'd get a clear defeat

I can't remember the vanilla version crashing at all

KrauserKrauser · Post by **KrauserKrauser** » 2006-12-18 08:16am

Huzzah for not going to Best Buy yet!

I'm not in a raging rush to play a buggy crashy game if all I have to do is wait till mid February to do it.

Though I will miss out on the Cannon Ballistas, at least I hope I will.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2006-12-18 09:00am

The game gets slower if you've been playing it for a long time, especially long battles, which says to me that there's a memory leak or some kind of similar problem. That happened before the patch and it still happens now.