• New Horizons on Maelstrom
    Maelstrom New Horizons


    Visit our website www.piratehorizons.com to quickly find download links for the newest versions of our New Horizons mods Beyond New Horizons and Maelstrom New Horizons!

Released Empire: Total War

Pieter Boelen

Pieter Boelen

Navigation Officer
Administrator
Storm Modder
Hearts of Oak Donator
It's been ages since I played a good RTS game and I was thinking of getting Empire: Total War because I like the concept of the game series and the addition of the naval warfare.
Does anyone have this game? Any comments on it? And does Napoleon: Total War offer better gameplay or not?

One thing I wondered about is if in the naval battles, can there be land around as well or are they always fought well on open sea?
 
I never played this one, just up until Medieval 2 total war, still from what one reads on the forums and from my past experience with total war games I didn't get it and gave up on this series after Medieval 2.

Note that I was and still am a big fan or fanatic of these games, they were loads of fun, strategy was trully great in the games concept, but after Medieval 2 the bugs were plenty, the games started even to crash and that was pretty unheard of in the series. Also the concept of online play and online activation was buggy and had problems, don't known if it still is.

Try reading the forums and try to find info on they're latest Shogun 2, there's 2 or 3 good forums besides the official forum.
 
I have Empire total war, but I dont really play it anymore, not a bad game though. It could get a bit tedious at times, might just be me, its the only strategy game I have and just manouvering around taking

colonies got old once i had finished all the campaigns. the campaigns were really fun and well done though I really liked some aspects of the naval battles, like the graphics, and to a point the way the ships

moved (by clicking where you wanted them to go) this was kind of arcade like but fun too. a big problem( for me at least) was that sometimes the ships wouldn't follow the exact path you gave them,(going in

a straight line instead of a curve, or vice-versa) and this made a huge difference. instead of your third rate raking their 1st rate, their first rate would, rake, dismast, and force your 3rd rate to surrender while

you were focusing on another ship. :facepalm The battles could be decided pretty fast like this once most the ships were engaged. They could be challenging (in more than just frustrating bad calls by your

captains) the AI could make some pretty good moves and there were also some historical ones if I remember right (battle of the saintes, 1789 was one I think, might remember camperdown too, im sure

there were others) the ship models themselves werent as good as say POTBS, and they kinda bobbed up and down alot. there was also the problem of size. the ships of the line just dominated, and it was

way too difficult to batter even a two decker 44 into submission with a squadron of frigates. so ships of the line became pretty neccessary as time went on, and the small ships didnt have much use, except

in far-off parts of the world.even then, a few east indiamen could have a very good chance in fighting off/sinking 2 attacking sixth rates. the lineship battles eventually became boring too because they

were all so similar. there werent enough uniqu battles i remember. also, to answer your question on land, unfortuatley no, you cant fight sea battles off land.( though I think some brit lineships can be seen

anchored at the campaign battle of bunker hill) I probably sound really critical of the game, but it was really a solid game overall. I just tried to include all the shortcomings i can remember. :yes The land

battles were more fun than the sea ones for me( though it would be the other way around)They just had greater variety, more different scenery, scanarios, and diddnt get as old so quick. If only the people

who made th game let ship battles be off pieces of land, there would have been SO much more variety :facepalm ) the ship battles were certainly fun for awhile, but I don't think they could hold their interest like

the ones in potc. I remember thinking napoleon total war looked cool when it was announced, but never got it, so I dont know if they fixed some of these things in the new game.

Hope this helped :doff
 
Empire Total War is awesome!

The land battles are incredible and there are tons of excellent mods for the game. Lots of extra special units (including naval ships like Razees and the Constitution).

The smoke effects are really good and the music and sound effects are epic.

Unfortunately the naval aspect is a little weak. No land/sea component mix(bombardments). All naval battles are deep at sea. The effects of blowing your opponents out of the water are a little goofey. Instead of cannon ball shaped holes, damage appears as gaping holes blown in the sides of the ships. Also you are limitted on the selection of ships. Most of the ships are 18th century, but there are a couple of 17th century ships. There is a small Elizabethan galleon and the Wappen von Hamburg is their "Galleon". The other ships are three variants of the 1st rate, 2nd rate, 3rd rate, 4rth rate, 5th rate, 6th rate (Frigate), Razee (special unit or mods only), sidewheeler (later in game), brigs, bomb ketchs, Sloops, East Indiaman, and a myriad of eastern ships, xebecs, prahas, etc. Unfortunately no junks. The only distinguishing nationality features different during battles are gunwale colors and flags. It becomes easy to stump the AI even on the highest standing once you develop skill. I can capture 1st rates with brigs given patience to stay out of the line of broadside and bring down masts and then sit at their blind spot and pummel them into routing. Still a lot of fun and the crew graphics and gun drills are stunning. Very limited control however, but hundreds of percent better than the Nitro games controls.

The global scope and moving from area to area (i.e. Caribean to India and Far East) is genius in game design and I wish we could do the same in Storm engine. The trading aspect is cool and that's where you must key in order to grow wealth to power your military machine for conquest.

The multi player aspect is really cool. Keith created a Pirates Ahoy group for us on Steam. I encourage you to join. I play online Empire Total War (ETW) battles with my geographically far removed sons and friends often. Real opponents are always better than AI.

Unfortunately besides a few more units to offer and new campaigns, Napoleon offers almost identical capability to Empire. No mods have yet been created with additional ships, which I have been hoping for for years now.

I do still prefer Medieval Total War II to Empire. MTW mods like Deus Lo Vult ROCK! The enhanced graphics for towns and castles(rubbling), technology trees, historical and diplomacy updates, the authentic heraldry and pennants(down to the Baron/sub noble level), dozens of factions, not to mention being able to manage your family line and generals and the most intense in your face battles in the historical PC gaming genre, make it the most in depth tactical offering on the street in my humble opinion. The only thing that would make these types of games better is if you could have the choice at certain times to move within individual formations and play a commander 1st person like in Mount and Blade Warband. Now that would really be something!!!

MK
 
Are you aware of darthmod 7.0 mod for Empire Total War
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=341088
It adds a ton of new units,new unit sizes,new graphics and sounds ,campaings a lot while even lowering requirements ( at least in my case i think i had 6000 units on screen and everything went smoothly ) i highly recomend that you try it...
the instalation is easy and mod so far is very stable

 
all total war including empire are really awesome

when i talk about a total war game i cant stop

the stock game of empire is already awesome (with all dlcs its really great !) the only bad point is that in long game the most powerful faction is the marath (india) but still an awesome enemy challenge :)

so i will just give you the most interressant link, here is all you want to know about its mods and works of the community:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=393c3ff3ec6469a82c16ee4f7cae1fc6&f=470

even dev' are on total war center ;)

instead of napoleon, naval battle are really better and much mods modify in dept to look real more realistic

i personnaly love to make my own mod and/or compilation to still have the stock game feeling but with more accuary (flags, some new units i create myself, dept in naval warfare...) i work on napoleon too especially for roleplay multiplayer campaign :) [i mod in shogun 2 too but a little]
=> i make a lot of steam screenshots about my work and/or lot of things about the games ;)

total war world is huge, and the most awesome community & games & dev'
 
If you're interested in a realistic mod, you should give "Empire Realism 4" a try.
They have changed the stats of all units, the battlefield mechanics, the technology trees and the choice of units to better reflect reality (as far as it is possible). Now the game makes much more fun.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top