Astor Posted February 8, 2009 Author Share Posted February 8, 2009 Finally! Trade route raids - now we can really cut the enemy off by sea and by land. Trade route raids! Oh my, that's great. I've really been expecting something commerce related to be shown. It at least shows that CA have been following history - supply lines became more important in the Age of Reason - looting and living off the land was slowly disappearing - certainly, in the Peninsular, Wellington forbade it, preferring to pay for supplies. I hope that the raids will actually be portrayed as 3d battles though, with models for caravans, etc. Hmm, I'm guessing Amirals will work as Generals in land battes, with the morale blow their deaths imply, but, as with the generals, I believe there will be only one per battle (at least only one as commandder-in-chief). Most likely, and i'm hoping that each ship has it's own captain. And the naval battles - well, they're just looking better all the time! The poor Admiral...I do believe I smell a Trafalgar historical battle in-game! Of course, I'm curious as to whether it was because of enemy cannon or a sneaky sniper, but that we'll see when the game is released! I have heard that there aren't going to be any historical battles, but it sounds damn strange to me. I'm not sure about snipers, but I am hoping that fleets may use embarked armies as extra troops for boarding actions in addition to the marines that are no doubt on board. Thanks for the update Astor. As always, you're welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serpentine Cougar Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 Browsing Gamespot's screenshots section, there's some which shed some light on the interface and gameplay - The Government Panel, for instance (i'm guessing this shows the democratic system) - Show spoiler (hidden content - requires Javascript to show) Looks like your avatar should fit right in. This game looks interesting; I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 I believe i've neglected to mention that all versions (Retail and Download) of E:TW will require the use of the Steam Content Delivery System by Valve Corporation in order to install and play. The reasons for this are two-fold: To enable updates to be installed quickly To facilitate multiplayer when the patch containing it is made available And, possibly, thirdly, to prevent piracy. If you do not have Steam, you can obtain it here, although it is likely that the retail versions will include it on the disc. It is, however, important to note that you won't have to be online all the time to play E:TW - you can run Steam in 'offline' mode, and still play. AK. EDIT: This is by no means 'new' information, I simply didn't realise it would affect the retail versions of the game. UPDATE 13/02/09: The Total War website now has an FAQ regarding STEAM here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 Another double post... It seems the Demo was leaked on Steam the other day, and it's caused a furore over at TW Center and the Total War Official forums - there's all sorts of rumors flying about - i'd advise ignoring them all. I've also seen people calling for blood for the Demo not being released yet. From Kieran Bridgen (Creative Assembly Staffer) over on the Total War boards: Hello All. Where to start? Well first of all yes we are aware a version of our incomplete demo code has been leaked via Steam. We had great fun watching it being played live on webcam, I can assure you. The easiest way to address all this is to do a short QA style format, any subsequent questions please just ask and I'll answer. i. If the demo was ready and on steam why didn't you just release it? The demo was on Steam only for testing purposes, we knew there was a small chance it could become public if someone found the right way to get at it and someone did. It's since been removed. It wasn't ready for a public release and we have a bit more to do on it. We were testing to ensure that when a demo is released nobody has any problems accessing and authenticating it via Steam. It's slightly dangerous code security wise but at some point we had to test it. ii. Why did you close all the threads and info on the demo? The real answer is 'duplication'. Having a leak is embarrasing but it's not too bad. We just didn't want the method of 'how' to be shared. We're aware everyone wants the code and the demo but this isn't ready yet. It might look ready, but there is genuinly more to do. Hence we needed to ensure the 'how to' isn't rapidly duplicated before we can remove the code. We don't want thousands of you having incomplete code. I know it's maddening, but think of it like this: We take pride in polishing things at CA, even if its behind the code stuff that goes unseen, it's important to us that quality is our top priority (You may remember we even moved the release date for this reason) so please understand this is our love and we don't do 'just good enough', with demos or full releases. iii. When will we get the demo we want? I'm not toying with you when I say very soon. It really isn't too far away. Annoyingly I can't put a date on it, because development is not a quantative process. There will be a demo for general release and it will be soon, it's not a hype machine it's quality control. iv. What about the guy that did it? I want to say something a little controversial here. The exploit was our weakness, and as long as he didn't break any user agreements or laws in getting hold of the demo via Steam then there's no issue here, but that is for Valve to confirm not me. From CA's point of view I want to give the guy my thanks and respect that he's said he deliberately won't pirate the incomplete demo he's got out of respect for the game, I hope he stays true to that statement. He was also really rather complimentary in his commentary whilst playing live and whilst I can't condone or encourage what he did I would suggest that when demoing live one should always try grouping ships in custom formation (Organise then hit g on selected ships) and also account for the wind a little more when playing. In all seriousness, I can't speak about any potential legal issues but what I can say from the dev perspective is, we hoped you liked it (Those watching as well as him playing) despite it being unfinished and thanks for respecting our game and our community at large by ceasing broadcast and not redistributing. We'd ask that that be the end of the matter so we can leave it in the friendly spirit it's at now. Now, let the questions and statements begin! Kind regards, Kieran So 'soon'... In the meantime, there's an awesome E:TW music video here. AK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW01 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Ha! Typical...I bet those same people that whinge about the demo not being out yet would complain about it not having enough in it. They should just be patient. TCA have already shown time and again their expertise, and that we're going to get something full, new, and quite groundbreaking. whilst I can't condone or encourage what he did I would suggest that when demoing live one should always try grouping ships in custom formation (Organise then hit g on selected ships) and also account for the wind a little more when playing. Brilliant! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 Brilliant! I know, 'We can't condone what he did, but we'll tell him how to play it properly!' From a further update of that Q&A... iii. Is the demo naval only? Part of the reason the leaked code isn't intended for the public is that it isn't complete. I'm being deliberately vague here, as I have to be, but rest assured we want to make it 'broader'. Also, today is magazine release day in the UK, so I should find out how well it's doing review wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Maratha Confederacy faction update, woooot: Looking pretty kickass to me. Pretty awesome to imagine Marathas taking concessions from the European in his lands, that's totally mind-blowing. Also, dunno where they got that flag from, I've never seen that wheel as a Maratha emblem, it's more of a Indian emblem in general. The correct Maratha flag afaik is like zis.. Still, it looks pretty sweet, so I don't mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ztalker Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Just bought Medieval Total War 2 Gold today, to fill the gap. Only played Rome after Medieval 2 got...relatively low scores. But for 10 bucks I couldn't resist. This will be difficult, Sabre. I miss the DSMALL army. Now I will have to manually forge an alliance with the Maratha when playing the Dutch! Still, it's cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Our Empire will be gracious towards towards the Dutch... so long as they can stay out of the number of regions required to win the campaign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ztalker Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 We will be. Only interested in the bloody French, Ze Germans and other revenge-motivated field campaigns. You can have the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 Also, dunno where they got that flag from, I've never seen that wheel as a Maratha emblem, it's more of a Indian emblem in general. The correct Maratha flag afaik is like zis.. Still, it looks pretty sweet, so I don't mind. It is a very nice flag... and it certainly looks better (from a strategy perspective) than the real one. Our Empire will be gracious towards towards the Dutch... so long as they can stay out of the number of regions required to win the campaign. I bet it'd be most of India, and probably some European lands - Britain must hold Cairo as a victory condition (not sure why, but hey-ho). Okay, so it doesn't look like the Demo will be with us any time soon... not that it's a big deal. I'd prefer they spent the next two weeks(!) polishing the final product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ztalker Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 O yeah, totally forgot this: I heard a rumour somewhere that historical figures appear in the Rome and Medieval campaigns. Anyone ever saw them? I was already filling myself with wine in Rome's Senate building when Julius Ceasar was to be born so that might have crashed the 'appearance' of him... Not to act proud or anything, but the Dutch current Royal family line directly descends from the ones who freed 'us' from the Spanish so it would be cool to have a historical figure with you every once in a while... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 O yeah, totally forgot this: I heard a rumour somewhere that historical figures appear in the Rome and Medieval campaigns. Anyone ever saw them? I was already filling myself with wine in Rome's Senate building when Julius Ceasar was to be born so that might have crashed the 'appearance' of him... Not to act proud or anything, but the Dutch current Royal family line directly descends from the ones who freed 'us' from the Spanish so it would be cool to have a historical figure with you every once in a while... Washington and Greene are confirmed for the US, so I'd be very surprised if we didn't see people such as Marlborough, Tallard, Cornwallis, Montcalm, and for the Dutch, people such as Overkirk (sorry, he's the only Dutch general I know of). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 The Demo for Empire: Total War will be available from 4pm (GMT) tomorrow (the 20th), and we'll be getting a taste of Naval AND Land battles! From the Total War forums: Hi guys, I am pleased to report that our official Empire: Total War demo will be available via Steam from 4pm GMT on Friday 20th February. Giving you a taste of the epic engagements that you'll be experiencing from 3rd March, the demo will take you through the basics of land and naval command and then unleash you in two historical battles! You will get to play as the mighty British Empire as they do battle against the Americans in the 'Battle of Brandywine Creek' and then take on the French Navy in the 'Battle of Lagos'... Battle of Brandywine Creek After landing from his transport ships on the American coast, Major-General Sir William Howe led the British troops eastwards, with the intention of capturing Philadelphia. In preparation, American General George Washington readied most of his units to defend from this frontal assault around the narrow crossing of Chad's Ford on the Brandywine. The Creek flows through the countryside of Pennsylvania, enveloped by sheer cliffs and heavily wooded hills on both sides. Safe in the knowledge the fast flowing creek could not easily be crossed; Washington was confident of holding his position. However, more detailed surveillance of the terrain would suggest that alternative routes could turn the battle in the favour of the British. Battle of Lagos As so often in 18th Century warfare, French plans to invade England during the Seven Years War were reliant on ships from the naval base at Toulouse joining ships from Brest. The British had both ports blockaded, and the French had to wait for one of the blockading fleets to withdraw for re-supply before attempting any rendezvous. The opportunity came when the British fleet under Admiral Boscawen at Toulon withdrew to Gibraltar. The French under Jean-François de la Clue-Sabran left Toulon, and began to make their way towards Brest. Passing the Straits of Gibraltar, the French were spotted by Boscawen's lookout ships. Giving chase, Boscawen's fleet was only slightly larger than the French force, and caught up with them off the coast of Portugal where battle was joined. Take control of the British and defeat the French to end the invasion threat to Britain. We hope that you enjoy playing our demo, which will give you a small taste of Empire: Total War action in preparation to leading your own empire to victory in March! Thanks, Mark O'Connell (aka SenseiTW) Till tomorrow, then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litofsky Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Naval... battles... Thanks for the news, Astor! I shall use this as a motivation to not perish in school tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 Thanks for the news, Astor! As always, you're welcome! The only problem I can forsee is that now the announcement has been made, the download servers on STEAM will be overloaded - which could mean a several hour wait as opposed to an hour-long one. But, we'll get our clammy hands on it nonetheless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SW01 Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Very good! I look forward to reading many reports from those here! You will get to play as the mighty British Empire as they do battle against the Americans in the 'Battle of Brandywine Creek' and then take on the French Navy in the 'Battle of Lagos' Just right, sir. Rule Britannia and all that, what? Sounds like a couple of interesting battles, anyway - probably the best factions thrown into the mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 The only problem I can forsee is that now the announcement has been made, the download servers on STEAM will be overloaded - which could mean a several hour wait as opposed to an hour-long one. Ehh it'll be on torrent sites in seconds, trust me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 The demo has now been unleashed! In order for the installation to work however, you'll need to close STEAM, and access it through this link - http://store.steampowered.com/app/10620/ It's slow going, however - it says mine won't be ready to play for another 9 Hours and 43 Minutes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litofsky Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Well, I'm rather disappointed: not in the game itself, but in the fact that the demo won't start up for me. I spent the multitude of hours loading it, etc., only to find that when it launched, I got a White Screen of Death. :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 Well, I'm rather disappointed: not in the game itself, but in the fact that the demo won't start up for me. I spent the multitude of hours loading it, etc., only to find that when it launched, I got a White Screen of Death. :/ You're not alone in that. Many people have been reporting similar problems (see here, for example). There's also discontent at the download times - it took three failed attempts and 12 hours for me to download it. The demo itself, when it plays (the loading times are atrocious - twenty minutes just to the main menu) is impressive. The naval battles are *very* good, when you get the hang of them. I'd try to get some screenshots, but the demo doesn't seem to like alt-tab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Litofsky Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Nonetheless, it's still a major disappointment that the demo has this many faults, and the game is due to be released in a week (unless, of course, it's the individual computer's issue, and not the game). Off to go do homework now, but I shall try again in a bit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 Nonetheless, it's still a major disappointment that the demo has this many faults, and the game is due to be released in a week (unless, of course, it's the individual computer's issue, and not the game). Off to go do homework now, but I shall try again in a bit! I don't think it's down to individual computers - I've read of people with computers ranging from low-spec crates to top of the line machines having problems with it. I'm definately glad I've got a retail version of E:TW if this is how the digital distribution works out for the final version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Well looks like I was wrong, it isn't on torrent sites in hours >.> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astor Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 Well looks like I was wrong, it isn't on torrent sites in hours >.> Probably because they're still trying to download it at 41.3 kbps like I had to... I don't like Steam, but it's a necessary evil as I don't want to miss out on Total War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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