New Empire: Total War expansion announced.

[Dillon]

http://www.totalwar.com/empire/campaign ... =EnglishUK

Is the game still really glitchy? I've been considering getting it, but after hearing about the general lagginess and freezing problems, I decided I'd wait until they patched the game up and made it more playable.

[Thanas]

Another one?

Hey, looks like Creative finally reveals why they use Steam. So they can release more and more DLC to get more cash out of a product that should not have been released in its current state.

[Lonestar]

I see that they are running with the "Noble Savage" motif. Just like eveyr other media depiction of the American Indians as a monolithic group that is vaguely animalistic(but with a Great Spirit).

[Samuel]

Couldn't they at least include the groups that assimilated and adopted Euopean tech? What is the fun of a completely ahistorical outcome if you can't sack London with the Cherokee?

[Steel]

I heard there was a new patch about to be released. Will it still be possible to get on its own or will people need to buy the expansion?

[Vympel]

The 1.4 patch is about to be released later today, it has nothing to do with and is separate from the expansion and includes two new historical battles apart from numerous fixes.

Also, this expansion is only $9.99. I won't even feel that.

EDIT: of course, I won't get it till I'm done with the original game. Which I haven't even started. Waiting to see how the 1.4 patch goes.

[Thanas]

Does anybody have a link as to what will be fixed in the 1.4 patch?

[Gaidin]

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/50020 ... iled-Dated

[Thanas]

^Thank you.

So we get the battle of Rossbach. Hmmm, could be interesting. (Chances that it will actually resemble the battle: zero IMO).

The rest of the fixes sound promising, however it does not look as if they would fix the memory leak issue.

[ray245]

I still have to wonder they can even fixed the AI after 4 patches. As long as the AI's only sole goal is to destroy the player without any regards of the cost and risk involved, I do not have much faith in having a decent AI.

A quote regarding how they programmed the AI for ETW and how they are going to improve on the AI in NTW basically showed that they have no idea how to create an AI that is even functional from a diplomatic point of view.

Attrition, two week turns and starker diplomatic environment... it sounds spiffing but could the Total War's AI routines really cope? Kieran was optimistic, describing progress made since Empire's release (there's another big AI patch on the way) and a new AI Director System that should factor stuff like logistics and short-term goals into it's cognations. "As opposed to 'wipe this faction out - I have a hundred years to do so.' we're aiming to have the AI think in a more spotlight manner. Instead of trying to utterly destroy a player it may decide it's wiser just to frustrate them." Promising.

[Thanas]

^Yeah, because micromanaging more small groups is what the game needs.

[Vympel]

The new patch is available on Steam.

[Dartzap]

The new patch is available on Steam.

It auto-downloaded for me - didnt half confuse me when I loaded up and there were a load of Natives hollaring

It seems to work with saved files - I've managed to call cease fires in three wars that I'd be trying to do for about fifty years in my Polish campaign.

[AniThyng]

Finally, I finished the last 5 turns of my british campaign! It had been crashing for no reason repeatedly with 1.3,,,,

[Dartzap]

Well, now I know somethings been done with the diplomacy - a few turns ago, The Barbary States of all things asked for a cease fire and trading rights. Madness, utter madness.

[Vympel]

Finally, I finished the last 5 turns of my british campaign! It had been crashing for no reason repeatedly with 1.3,,,,

It's my firm belief that developers are purposefully vague with what crashes they fix because they're embarrassing.

Take Fallout 3. Post Broken Steel, many uses had a problem (including me) whereby whenever you quit the game, the game would crash so that the last image remained on your monitor but otherwise your PC was running in the background. Brilliant stuff- the only way to quit without restarting your PC was to alt-tab out and then alt-f4 the game. After the latest patch (pre/post Mothership Zeta, I don't recall) - the problem went away. Note this was after two patches (1.5 and 1.6 IIRC) had not fixed it.

Was it noted in the notes for the 1.7 patch? Nope.

[AniThyng]

Well, now I know somethings been done with the diplomacy - a few turns ago, The Barbary States of all things asked for a cease fire and trading rights. Madness, utter madness.

It does seem somewhat better...I started a new game as Prussia, and Saxony got dragged into war with me when Austria decided to invade (ok, makes sense for Austria to do so), and when i promptly laid siege to Dresden, Saxony was begging me for peace

It's my firm belief that developers are purposefully vague with what crashes they fix because they're embarrassing.

I would agree - it is not at all obvious what or why the crash happens, though it seems to me like a malformed linked list or whatever. It is incredibly frustrating to end a turn, fight 2 or 3 pitched battles, then see the damn game crash. I go and delete some random army somewhere and it seems to fix it...then it crashes AGAIN THE NEXT FUCKING TURN.

At least 1.3 got rid of the "crash when clicking on ports/ships".

That said, does 1.4 feel a little choppier on the main map then before?

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Moving naval units on the world map is definitely much slower, but on the plus side at least I can move two of my fleets out of their harbors in Gibraltar and Morocco without crashing now.

I'm liking the naval overhaul, for the most part. Galleons feel a little less ridiculous (my 3rd rates turned them into flotsam right quick), the rebalance definitely favors frigates a lot more. This makes my 2-3 frigate patrol teams a lot more effective at hit-and-run. Ship stats are a bit less obfuscated now as well, although "Firepower" remains as idiotically obtuse as ever.

And maybe it's just me, but chain shot was feeling a bit more effective at mast destruction (as opposed to merely shredding sails). My hit-and-run 5th rates were practically running circles around a bunch of ships with blown-off bowsprits and mainmasts (mizzens and fores seem bizarrely difficult to knock out) by the time I was ready to disengage.

The dragoon improvements are very nice. I always liked them for their versatility, now they're downright boss. Regulars can rank fire properly while the light dragoons descend upon the battlefield from out of the skies, screaming for vengeance. They're not terribly accurate whilst galloping, but slow 'em down once they've reloaded and watch the morale plummet. Also had some unpleasant encounters with enemy carabiners.

[CmdrWilkens]

Well, now I know somethings been done with the diplomacy - a few turns ago, The Barbary States of all things asked for a cease fire and trading rights. Madness, utter madness.

I've noticed that states who you are crushing now tend to beg for mercy which is much more reasonable. I was getting ready to crush Courland as the Poles and they spent all 4 turns of my siege offering me escalating cash bribes as well as becoming my protectorate just to let them live (I didn't).

[GuppyShark]

A well received patch from the sounds of it?

Might be hope for CA after all.

[Stark]

That really says everything you need to know about CA and their fans.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I just find the whole "X Company did something wrong? UNACCEPTABLE, I AM NEVER BUYING X COMPANY'S PRODUCTS AGAIN" - "Oh, looks like X Company did something right FOR ONCE. Guess I'll give them another chance..." thing laughable in general.

[Stark]

You can't expect people to miss out on games they might want because they're broken or whatever or have any kind of conviction, can you? Even Vympel is waiting and he's a hopeless addict.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I've got no problem with people buying shoddy games (as Empire clearly was on release), heck I do it myself 'cause I tend to take a pretty positive stance toward any given game when I try it. I just think all the screeching and self-important posturing about how X Company is/isn't doing whatever the poster thinks is their god-given right demand is hilarious.

If you don't like X Company, don't buy their stuff, plain and simple. Informing the entire internet about how X Company is in fact the Anti-Christ (and then buying their stuff anyway) reminds me quite a bit of the people who do the same with Obama and the political left in general.

[Stark]

Well that's what I mean; E:TW might eventually be a good game, but I'll almost certainly never play it.

I'd rather buy shoddy Paradox games instead apparently.