 Tuesday Nov 27, 2007
Empire:Total War FAQ 2Hi guys, Welcome to our second Empire: Total War Q&A, where we provide more answers to some of your most burning questions! Q: How many factions will there be in the game? And will [insert name of home country here] be included? Naturally, not all factions are equal. This has always been the case; it is far harder to win as the Western Romans, big though the faction is, than the Saxons in R:TW Barbarian Invasion. We tend to define factions as being potentially playable (or not), by their culture, whether they are major or minor, and whether they might be “emergent” when we look at the candidate list. We then look at getting a good mix in terms of culture, national unit and army lists, and gameplay potential. We use “culture” as a way of collecting similar factions together and sharing resources: you’ll find Western European nations all share a lot of the same cultural baggage, so it make sense to have a common set of game resources for them. Sometimes this means we can sneak in extra factions because they are similar to something we have already done (hurrah!): it is relatively easy to add Mysore if the material for the Mughals and the Maharattas already exists. The major/minor split is our take on whether a faction starts the game with more than one region (e.g. France = major; Hanover = minor). When we are considering who to include a minor faction is less likely to make the cut than a major one. Some potential factions end up as rebels early on because the nation in question simply did not go anywhere during Empire’s historical period. Often these were considered for full faction status before they were assigned to the rebel category: it is not sensible, for example, to do a full faction work up on the Republic of Genoa. Emergent factions (these, you might remember, were in RTWBI) are those nations that did, or might, come into being during a game’s historical period, or could have come into being. The most obvious one in the Empire period is the United States of America. There are no guarantees that the USA will appear, but if there is a rebellion in the right sort of area, at the right sort of time and other factors are appropriate, then rather than seeing rebels, you will see the Continental Army marching off to war. So, the Empire: Total War factions have yet to be finalised. There will be at least 10 playable factions in the game, but we’re currently engaged in a free and frank exchange of views about the candidates for inclusion on that list. Some, like France and Prussia, have guaranteed places as playable factions because they were significant in the wars and politics of the time. The powers that changed status (waxing and waning) are the ones that cause us problems! The full faction list is much longer, and it includes all the AI-controlled factions that we don’t think are that rewarding for a human to play. So, we are currently looking at around 50 factions and scratching our heads to decide which ones make the cut as being interesting both historically and in terms of game play. The final point is that what we’d like to do with the factions and what’s practical are not always the same thing. Often we’ll have to exclude a faction for time reasons. If we’re going to have to create a completely new set of buildings, units, animations and on-screen messages for a minor (and therefore relatively obscure) faction, the chances are that it won’t make it into the game. And sometimes more does not automatically equal better. It can mean that the development marmalade is spread too thinly over too many slices of conceptual toast. Q: Will famous characters such as Wellington make an appearance in the game, and will they have special abilities to reflect their historical importance? What new character traits are there? We’re having to be quite disciplined about the famous people that we include as characters and ancillaries, simply because there could be thousands of them, all with their own claim to a place in the game. Should we include Mozart as a famous composer, Thomas Slade, a naval architect of some genius, Lancelot “Capability” Brown, the man who completely reshaped the English countryside, Jethro Tull, the folk rock band and agriculturalist, or Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a right royal pain in the neck? They’re all interesting people, and made their contribution. The traits system is being revised for Empire: Total War; the Rome/M2TW system could “spam” traits sometimes and we need to address that. We’re not going to give you a list of the new character traits because it (a) would be a bit boring done like that; and (b) the list isn’t finalised, so that if we tell you there’s a trait called “Sausage” might not ever make it into the finished game. There is a trait called Sausage, by the way, but it’s not really the kind of thing you want to talk about in polite company. However, just to whet your appetites there are two interesting traits: “American General” and “Indian General” that have potentially interesting effects. These are gained by Europeans fighting in the relevant parts of the world and represent “going native” in terms of skills and attitudes. If everything goes to plan, the American General trait will even give a general and his unit some stealth ability on the battlefield. It’s also possible for generals to develop a complete dislike of the two continents too - not everyone likes curry or burgers, after all. When the list has firmed up at beta, we’ll return to the subject of traits and historical characters in another FAQ or as a developer diary. Q: The bayonet was invented in this period, so how will the various types be used on the battlefield? Will key technological inventions like this be events on the campaign map? Finally the socket bayonet slides onto the musket and then locks on a barrel lug. The blade is offset, so that the musket can be loaded and fired easily, and it won’t come loose when thrust into an enemy’s guts. This kind of practical, brutal weapon made it possible to introduce “modern” bayonet fighting as a drill. And no, we’re not handling technological advances as set historical events. We’re giving you more control over the game than that, but as to how -that’s for another day. Q: Won’t the rampant expansion of European powers over less developed countries unbalance things in Empire? Won’t players be able to simply sweep aside native populations and establish colonies? There was “rampant” European expansion during the Empire period, but the European nations and their trading companies weren’t guaranteed to have things their own way at all. In India, for example, the Europeans fought against each other and used proxies in a series of vicious little wars that could have seen the Europeans driven out on several occasions. That they weren’t is more a tribute to cunning diplomacy, bribes, and the fact that some local princeling was always willing to cut a deal. Interestingly, native populations weren’t always swept aside. At least part of the sense of grievance felt by the American Colonials towards the British government was fuelled by the agreements that London had struck with the native tribes to restrain their colonisation efforts. In India the Europeans were in no position to sweeo “the natives” aside. Instead, they mounted a “hostile takeover” and left the senior and middle management in place; the poor old peasants at the bottom of the heap probably never realised that they were now farming “colonial” land. Q: Will the game be totally different from M2TW? Secondly, the Empire period requires a different approach to the medieval era. Warfare, politics, and technology have moved on. We have a “palette” of game mechanics that we can use to bring these to life, and we must pick and choose the right ones for the subject matter. Naturally, some aspects of a Total War game are “givens”: a turn based strategy game and real time battles. We won’t - and wouldn’t want to - change that. Within that broad constraint, though, we hope to use mechanics that are appropriate to the period. Papal sanctions are important in the medieval world, but they don’t matter so much during the Enlightenment. Therefore, the Pope doesn’t need to be simulated in detail in Empire. The choreography of musket fire is important, so that gets a lot of attention. And then there’s the naval game: not to blow our own trumpets too much, but some developers would publish that as a separate game in its own right! And finally, the development team on Empire is not the M2TW group. The Empire people did Rome: Total War, and some of the core team have been on TW games since Shogun: Total War. Chrysler don’t just have one team working on all their different car models, you know! Keep your questions coming on our official forums, and stay tuned to TotalWar.com for all the latest Empire: Total War news and updates! Take care, Mark O’Connell
Posted by Mark in CA Updates on 3:38:31PM Nov 27, 2007
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Comment # 1
i know that you guys have already spoken about which nation’s will part of the game’s playable factions, but that strikes me a little bit odd that, Portugal isn’t one of them, since in that era the Portuguese Empire was one of the main players in the european shes kebab, that was europe at the time!!I am not telling you guys how to do your work(lololol).But i was just wondering if maybe Portugal would at least be one of the unlockable nations (if there is the unlockable feature that is),just you guys did in Medieval “: Total War.keep up the good work fella’s.
Posted by Vitor Araújo on December 4th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Comment # 2
If you have the setting on highest difficulty would you be able to retain alliances (if you do your best to keep them allies) or will they just end up attacking you like in all the previous TW games?
Posted by David Sharpe on December 5th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Comment # 3
Empire’s sound’s (if they do it right) the best yet and thats doing a lot because Rome was just about the best RTS if notthe bst game ever. But will there be more tactics on the campinan map on both Rtw and M2tw it was pretty much send arimes into one and other and the tactics hardly went ferther then the battel fild?
Posted by Frank on December 5th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Comment # 4
is there a release date yet? and do you need game testers?
Posted by Alex Osmand on December 6th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Comment # 5
i was wondering what the computer requirements will be with all the talk about the great graphics. I know that MTW2’s requirements had a substantial impact on my and many of my friends abilities to play the game and was hoping that this would be addressed in this next installment because we are all huge fans of TotalWar
Posted by Matthew on December 6th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Comment # 6
hope they will consider supplying troops. for instance, if an army is too far away from its base, then it can’t be supplied properly, which is not a big deal if you are using swords, but guns without being re-supplied with bullets are useless. and also, they need consider logistical problem. for instance there is no way for an amry to march deep into enemy territory and still be able to fight. not only they can’t be re-supplied, but also they should be tired of marching, which reduces their performance in battle.
Posted by alvin on December 6th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Comment # 7
I was wondering if you guys will be somehow allow the campaign game in this one to be multilayer, that would be cool if you could figure out how to do that—seems that the only problem would be waiting for other players to fight the AI on the battle map any just noticed it said new multi player stuff
Posted by Erich on December 7th, 2007 at 5:50 am
Comment # 8
I think there is many fans wanting to be game testers. Me included! And even for free.
Will we be able to make coop tactics, and make “alliances-war”? Will AI allies come to your aid? will it be multiplayer on different computers? will we be able to build forts? and forts by the sea? and then attack ships or attack fortress or cities from sea. Will there still be the big hunt after retreating armies. How huge eill the armies be? Can peasent or rebels join your war? Can we make trad companies? (The east-indian tradcompany). will nationalism be important?
Posted by Malme on December 7th, 2007 at 9:10 am
Comment # 9
WOW!!! It sounds amazing I can’t wait. What I really can’t wait for though is the world war sagas. Now I know you haven’t said weather your gonna do them or not but at least think about it. Just start with the Europe Chapter cause you have the map laid out already (from RTW & M2TW) then for the expansion you can do the Pacfic/Usa & Africa Chapters. It would be fantastic. Anyway thanks for the greatest games in the world and keep up the good work.
PS need any hints on the World Wars game I’d be happy to help as I’ve already put the game together in my mind haha. Cheers.
Posted by Samuel on December 7th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Comment # 10
when does it come out
Posted by nataniel on December 8th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Comment # 11
k, about the marching and getting tired ideas, remember that each movement faze takes place over the course of roughly 6 months, so im sure they get plenty of time to rest
also, the whole idea of armies taking up your money infers that you are readily supplying ur troops
now an idea i like is having soldiers appear with bloody bandages, beards and such after long campaigns or being around for a while, or if these looks began to appear on them after they level up showing they are grizzled and veteran
Posted by George on December 8th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Comment # 12
Ok, i’m started to get interested in this now! (gets tissue and wipes away drool from his chin)
I just hope the publishers (and the fans) will give you guys (the devs) all the time in the world for you to get this right
The last thing any of us would want is a game to be released prematurely. If this becomes even half the game its hoping to be, i’ll be happy 
I’m a big fan of TW and EU (Europa Universalis) and I always wondered if it’d be possible to get the TW format onto this era. Gonna be so exciting!
On thing though, what would be a rough idea of system requirements. Obviously its a way away from completion and so these things can be a bit fluid, but you must have an idea of what’d be needed to get this running as smooth as a babies backside, and as gorgeous as the monalisa (from a distance).
TW FTW
Cookie
Posted by Cookie on December 8th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
Comment # 13
Game sounds great. The inevitable expansion pack, given the timeframe SCREAMS Napoleon, which should be exciting as well–with the naval element added, great naval battles: Trafalgar anyone?
That said, as a long time fan of the series–and full disclosure, as a Japanese gamer, I’d be ecstatic if TW went back to its roots and did the Japanese Sengoku period again.
Posted by RO on December 9th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Comment # 14
Is the position of Holy Roman Emperor going to factor in at all? You seem to be hinting at having multiple German factions, and I think it would be great to have it be possible to get one’s faction leader elected as Emperor. Thats actually always been my greatest disire for the Medieval games too…
Posted by Graf von Schellenberg on December 10th, 2007 at 2:22 am
Comment # 15
Yes! I gotta say it again: YES!!! Awesomeness! I’ve recently downloaded the Napoleonic Total War mod for RTW, and was pretty please to find a strategy game of Total War-quality that featured gun powder smoke and bayonet charges. And I got so excited when I heard that Sweden soon will be downloadable (ofc I’m swedish :P)! Now, if E:TW will include Sweden as a playable nation… Then I won’t know what to do… but to stay home for months and months and play like a maniac! You hear that all the time though -.- Anyway, just wanted to ssay that, and I’ll add that Sweden have an interesting history from the 17th-18th century, and that I agree with comment #6 about supplies. That is hugely important for realism!!! THANK YOU!
Posted by David on December 10th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Comment # 16
when will some videos of the battles (both sea and land) be avaliable, as well as the new campagin map
Posted by carlo on December 11th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Comment # 17
with the cannons and ships. for the cannons, will there be special ammo like grapeshot were theres 100s of musket balls in a canvas bag wicth will tear through infantry will there be expoding ammo ect. thous tipes of things. will the ships be able to bombard citys and forts close to the sea?thous little details?
Posted by branden on December 11th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Comment # 18
I think i will buy a new computer just to play this game.
I hope Portugal appears in this game as a playable faction because they had many importante colonies in Africa, India and of course Brasil,
Posted by PTlusitano on December 12th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Comment # 19
When will Empire:Total war be available in shops in the UK
Posted by matthew on December 12th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Comment # 20
Yet again, sounds awesome. I still like going back to play Shogun just to see how much the games have improved over the years. I’m especially excited about the naval battles and the new game engine.
Posted by Baker on December 13th, 2007 at 1:39 am
Comment # 21
Hi….this game sounds AWESOME!
but will the Austrian empire be playable????
Posted by Gaute on December 13th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Comment # 22
How modable will Empire be?
If we want to make a roman or a medieval version for example, will we have proper foot melee, cavalry and archery? What about Elephants and chariots? Will we at least be able to create all these features?
Posted by Tankai on December 13th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Comment # 23
another question! will the game focus mostly on European powers at the time, or will you be able to take on the world with the potent Ottoman Turks, Indian Mugals or the Safavid Empire in Persia? I think it would be awfully Eurocentric to assume that Western Europe was indeed totally superior to the Islamic middle east, and thus destine to rule the world (as has come to pass.) Hell, had history happened only slightly differently, America might have been discovered by the Chinese Ming fleet, and I would be writing to you in Mandarin right now… Basically, I hope that both the near and far East is given a fighting chance, so that under more enlightened leadership the great Islamic empires could prove potential viers for world trade domination.
after all the Mugals were distinguished inovaters in musket craftsmanship as well as early rocket technology.
perhaps next you should make a Total War Middle East …
Posted by ryder on December 13th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Comment # 24
1. will there be some kind of supply system for armies in the field? as in giving you the ability to harrass or block enemy supply lines or fight a guerilla war?
2. How will the generals be handled? will there be a family tree or what?
Posted by admiral krunch on December 14th, 2007 at 5:57 am
Comment # 25
will the campaign map cover the globe or what?
Posted by joe on December 14th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
Comment # 26
I’ve got all the TW games so far and I’m waiting for Empire with bated breath.European armies of this era started to uniform their armies in national colours e.g. Britain in Red,France and Prussia in Blue,Austria in White and Russia in Green, can’t wait to see all the many uniform’s of this period.The thing I’m hoping for is that the deployment area’s on the battle map disappear.In this period light cavalry were used as scout’s so few battle’s were encounter’s.The invading force being the attacker and the home force being the defender in most cases.The defender got to choose a good defensive position using the terrain and fortifications while the attacker searched for weaknesses in the line or tried to outflank the defensive position.This is just an idea for you lot to think about as land warfare had moved on since M2TW and RTW when armies just basically faced each other.If you need a play tester I’m your man.
Keep up the excellent work so far.
Posted by Frederick the Great on December 14th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
Comment # 27
total war games are the best games i’ve ever played i have them all this ones gonna be great i just wish there was a way to play the campaign on multi player it’d be cooler playing humans if their was a bigger picture than just a single battle- if you can figure out how to do it practically
Posted by Erich on December 15th, 2007 at 1:02 am
Comment # 28
this game sounds like the most awesome thing ever. im saving up to buy a stronger computer from scratch and i hope i have enough money by the time Empire comes out. I agree with comment #14 a Holy Roman Emperor would be so awesome. anyways i know you guys wont screw up you all rule youve never let me down before ive loved every total war game ever. rock on
Posted by George on December 15th, 2007 at 1:07 am
Comment # 29
will you guys be publishing a portugal total war eventually??? one that spans the entire history of thie poor and ignored noble country? I think you should just drop empire altogether and start work on that game. I mean seriously, who wouldn’t want to play as portugal?
Posted by TangleRED on December 15th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Comment # 30
Hello first of all when does this game hits retail, I’m probably the biggest fan of the total war series and can’t wait to play what looks like the greatest game ever!! I live in Denmark (I would like to see Denmark as one of the playable factions) but is there any chance I could be a game tester, I’ve played total war since shogun, and would very much like to contribute to the game if possible. Furthermore I had reviewed medieval II in one of the most read newspapers in Denmark with top score, I expect too review Empire as well… If I can’t be a tester can I help in any other way to develop this great game.
Troels
Posted by Troels Lundin on December 15th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Comment # 31
this game sounds awesome
and it would be so cool if Hanover was actually made to be a playable faction (i live there at the moment)
Posted by Patrick on December 15th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Comment # 32
How many provinces will there be and what lands or continents will be included in E:TW?
Posted by Alexander on December 15th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Comment # 33
In Medieval 2 total war ther was no faction georgia which was one of the strongest countrey in caucasus.And I want to aske you to corect this mistake at empire total war
Posted by besi khobelava on December 16th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Comment # 34
when will empire total war be avvailable in shops in georgia(country)
Posted by besi khobelava on December 16th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Comment # 35
I wanta say first I am a huge fan of the total war series, but I urge you to make the US a faction beacuse it did have an impact in this peroid the American Rev. beacme a world war (with France coming in) and it lead to The French Rev. which was important in the time (Napoleaon. Not a 100% sure on this though but since its taking place around the world the US should be included.
I hope you’ll strongly consider the US to be a playable faction cause there hasnt been a game out yet that deals with this period in time with the US in it.
Posted by Kevin on December 17th, 2007 at 3:42 am
Comment # 36
Sounds good but if your updating stuff again its going to be a pain to run battles…. i already have troubles on medium and i have a 512 ddr2 PCI-e graphics card and i don’t expect new comp anytime soon…
Posted by joe on December 17th, 2007 at 6:07 am
Comment # 37
Comment # 14
Is the position of Holy Roman Emperor going to factor in at all? You seem to be hinting at having multiple German factions, and I think it would be great to have it be possible to get one’s faction leader elected as Emperor. Thats actually always been my greatest disire for the Medieval games too…
Posted by Graf von Schellenberg on December 10th, 2007 at 2:22 am
I hope the HRE will not exist in E:TW. Prussia and Austria should be two states. The HRE was politically destroyed and exist only for other countrys. Prussia and Austria were also enemys in some wars (like the “Dritter Schlesischer Krieg”).
And SenseiTW said, that Prussia would be an own fraction. I find this great. I´m living in the old Prussia
Posted by ace on December 17th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Comment # 38
i hope the mighal empire or some indian faction will be playable as it will make the sub-continent more interesting than just a playing ground for the europeans
Posted by shail on December 20th, 2007 at 12:58 am
Comment # 39
hi, i would like to know if the map would as far as california
Posted by Jacob on December 20th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Comment # 40
Your game soundsAWSOME!It most take forever. Keep up the good work an you`ll do just fine.
Posted by strategize on December 21st, 2007 at 11:12 am
Comment # 41
WOW!!! this game sounds totaly wicked. i just hope you guys bring in supply lines. how cool would it be if you could starve your enemies to death in your country, slowly watching them die. HAHAHAHA.
i also like the idea of choosing your own government. you never know maybe britain will have a revolution?
When does E:TW come out in australia can’t wait till it gets out
Posted by Victor on December 21st, 2007 at 1:04 pm
Comment # 42
Finally someone that agrees with me!!! Portugal was Englands first ally in the Naploleanic War and if it wasn’t for them, england would have been invaded by the french and Spanish. And if those are the criteiria for making a playable faction cut, them Portugal should make it because they still held Indian and African colonies and Brazil, more territory then most of the countries that made the cut
Posted by dillon on December 22nd, 2007 at 1:08 am
Comment # 43
I have a question whenever you guys get the requirments will you post them?
Posted by Sean on December 23rd, 2007 at 4:17 am
Comment # 44
one thing i have learnt about the total war series is, not to ask to many questions. it spoils the fun and the suprise.
Iam sure all things have been thought about and diccussed form wind speed and how it affects a battle feild or a naval vessle to loadings time of a musket and how many shots could be fired in a minute by a well organised group of men. (3 i beleive)
All i know for sure is we are all waiting on the edge of our seats for this one, perhaps more than the others as it seems with each new series of Total war the media frenzy gets larger.
all i wish to say is keep up the amazing work and thank you all for the great games to present date.
(A: These two related questions are two of the most popular, particularly the “Will my country…” bit. People also wondered how we end up with the faction list. Surprisingly, nationalism and irrational prejudice do not drive our choices. If they did, then Yorkshire, Dorking, the Kingdom of Bognor, Chicken Madras and the Democratic Workers’ Republic of Woking would automatically be factions. In every game.)
as a Woking lad myself all i can say is…. a faction….. dear god NO!
Midnight kababs and indian take aways from jafflong and washing it all down with a cool crisp pint from oneils. Then stumbling around the peacocks centre for hours wouldnt make much of a game.
Then again….. perhaps thats an idea best pitched and grandtheft auto.
Posted by CasteR on December 27th, 2007 at 8:40 am
Comment # 45
Yeah but it was more like Austria, Prussia, and Bayern (Baveria for u english speakers) that were the powers at the time, and bavaria was part of the Confederacy of the Rhine. so i think they need CTR, Austria and prussia.
Posted by Roberto on December 29th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Comment # 46
I don’t think we’ll have to worry about having portugal in the game, I mean seriously who’d leave them out?
I can’t recall the years that empire covers but I’m pretty sure it included the time when portugal and spain were still exploring the world nearly unchalenged
To the totalwar staff, about the 50 factions that you have, I’m sure you’ll make the right choice
Come to think about it there are a lot of major players at that time…
Just make sure you include Portugal, I really wanna crush them (I’m portuguese by the way)
As a last resort you can always submit the 50 factions to a poll;)
Posted by LK on December 30th, 2007 at 8:05 am
Comment # 47
In my humble opinion Denmark should not be Rebels but a non playable nation…
Reason: Im guessing that were the only nation in the World that surrendered an entire fleet to a Enemy, after making a BAD MOVE to be Neutral in the war between England and France…
P.S. England invented a new type of warfare, when the Fleet started terrorbombing Copenhagen…
Posted by WolfDK1984 on January 2nd, 2008 at 1:04 am
Comment # 48
so the the Kingdom of Bognor has not been ruled out Totally?
cant wait for this one to come out….all the other total war game have been truly amazing.
Posted by peps on January 2nd, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Comment # 49
i hope they makethe holy roman empire a faction because it did exist
Posted by corey on January 3rd, 2008 at 4:08 am
Comment # 50
k, about the marching and getting tired ideas, remember that each movement faze takes place over the course of roughly 6 months, so im sure they get plenty of time to rest
—–> not quite right, 6 months means they have been matching for 6 months, not matching 3 months then have a holiday for the rest 3 months. if you have been matching 6 months and sleeping in the tent every night, will you be able to fight, if you can, then Napoleon didn’t have to retreat from russia.
also, the whole idea of armies taking up your money infers that you are readily supplying ur troops
–> get real, war costs money, when your amry station in their camp, it’s easy to feed them, imagine your amry is 200 k inside enemy territory, it costs you triple to feed them, cause you need to feed more people who has to carray food to your amy, and that takes time, and your enemy can attack your supply line, back then starvation was the best weapon, you really think an invading army will waste time to sack every fortress on the way? they skip, that’s another complicated issue, takes hours to explain. anyway, do you know a term called “stretch enemy supply line and starve them to death”, russians were good at that. otherwise how can Napoleon and hitler fail?!
now an idea i like is having soldiers appear with bloody bandages, beards and such after long campaigns or being around for a while, or if these looks began to appear on them after they level up showing they are grizzled and veteran
–> wasting of graphic card power
Posted by alvin on January 8th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Comment # 51
ok, first of all im not goin 2 waste my team saying i love yous etc, i do however agree with #46 about the poll but i d not believe it should be global just keep it small as if it went Global i would be screaming for Ireland to be a possible nation to rule the world wich lets face it just won’t ever happen
I think we ALL need to badly see gameplay footage as, if you plan on taking these seriously we need to know what we’re talking about.
I love everything i’ve heard so far from, U.S not always emerging in the campaign to the diplomacy actually being able to make Alliances that matter!
What i would love to see is not fantastic unnessessary stuff but proper tactics from allied factions, including more contact wit your allied friends as in M2TW i got an alliance with whoever and told them to attack whatever faction and i nevr heard from them again-laughs-
I would like to see me being lets say the Spanish Empire making an Alliance with Austria to attack France on a pacific turn and a pacific point eg. Paris. Then me being the hopefully better Nation will be able to give Austria money which they have requested for to build guns, cannons etc. (like Hitler did before WWII with General Franco of Spain)
i know this is a long comment but i feel really strong about proper Alliances this time as in real life England and France have been allied for nearly 200years and have backed each other in evry war since (except the current one) thank you for hopefully reading this
Always intrested to help (like evryother person here -laughs-)
anyway good look lads and women (who are working on the game)
Dónal O’ Néill
Northern Ireland
Posted by Donal O' Neill on January 11th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Comment # 52
does this game require a better computer than one needed 4 m2tw
Posted by ben on January 11th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Comment # 53
I would like to be able to play as the iroqois confederation of indians over in new york and canada who built an empire in the west using firearms or the thais who were the only asian nation who were never colonised and had a modern army. The maoris would also be cool, they would be like aztecs but with guns!!.
Posted by Mick Killeen on January 14th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Comment # 54
Sounds well cool. I’ve got the others and I can’t wait for it to come out but will you be able to gradually upgrade your units as time passes?
Posted by Ben on January 21st, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Comment # 55
I would like to know how you intend to deal with miliatary units which were allied to various nations, ie The Kings German Legion, which at the time is an integral pat of the British army but obviously not from Britain (also not allowed to set foot on British main land). This would also apply to the French armies Polish Lancers, no doubt there are others.
Additionally, would you be looking at numbering Battalions as they were at the time eg the 95th Rifles. Would you be looking at keeping these as accurate as posible?
Posted by Spiro Marcetic on January 23rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Comment # 56
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope my computer will be able to run it. I also hope you have th irish. When I play Brittania I always play as them and take out the ******* English. I like English in real life ( Kinda) so I hope no one is offened.
Posted by Ian B on February 4th, 2008 at 12:55 am
Comment # 57
Victoria Silvstedt…
Man i love reading your blog, interesting posts !…
Posted by Victoria Silvstedt on February 6th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Comment # 58
Comment #55 - good idea!
I’ve always wanted to see mixed armies in Total War games - maybe you’d even be able to ‘lend’ units to your allies?
Portuguese cacdores units fought integrated into the British army in the Peninsular, along with German units, the French had Swiss, Spanish, Germans, Belgians, Dutch, Croatians, Corsicans, Italians (and even an Irish regiment!)
I do hope that rifle units are incorporated into the game, as they would really bring a new element to the battlefield (although strictly speaking they were only really used by PROPER units from 1800).
But, also I’d love to see light infantry tactics - like those pioneered by units like the 95th, 43rd, 52nd & 5Bn/60th.
I’ve been reading a lot about the Peninsular Campaign recently (not just in Sharpe books!), and really would love to get the feel of a unit being like a Regiment which grows it’s own reputation & history - it’d be nice if you can actually name your regiments (almost so that they seem to be characters themselves), and they can be trained up & equipped - not just marked with bronze-silver-gold marks beside them, but so that you can open up a regimental screen - which would be just like the general’s screens in RTW.
I think this would make you look after your regiments much more, and care for them a lot more and make sure they don’t get wiped out carelessly.
I’d like to see many more cities & towns too, rather than there only being 3 cities in Britain and 6 in France or whatever.
If we could have multiplayer on the same computer, that would be good too.
Enough!
Stop typing!
Posted by Colonel Sir Sidney Beckwith on February 11th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Comment # 59
Jack…
Thanks for the post. I couldn’t agree with you more….
Posted by Jack on February 17th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Comment # 60
hee guys
are the dutch playable? because they were a main factor in trading and they fought a 80 year war against spain those things are very interesting for me as american . And they had the VOC , they were the rulers of Indonesia ,New Amsterdam ,Suriname etc.
please response?
Posted by dennis on February 19th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Comment # 61
Do i smell create a faction? no cuz that would be silly, anywho i hope you get another hole in one on this baby, big fan of the others, looking forward to the historical accuracy and the great competance shown be the develpoers to put a great game on the shelves!
Posted by Shayne on March 7th, 2008 at 2:01 am
Comment # 62
I am really looking forward to play this game and hope it would cover the 30 years war, the English Civil war, The French Indian wars andd The Napoleonic wars. and have historical battles from these wars. And hopefully i can control more than one faction during custom battles and smoothly shift from one faction to another during gameplay. And lastly for the ultimate total war experience more than 20,000 combatants on the Battlefield. Thanks to the maker of this game. Right now I have RTW gold edition medieval II and Kingdoms, and would like to add Empires to My collection.
Posted by Paolo Lee on March 11th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Comment # 63
I think portugal should be playable, maybe not as a starting faction but maybe as an unlockable. They were at the forefront and had colonies in africa southeast asia, india, and south america. This has to be considered. Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Posted by Dillon on March 13th, 2008 at 2:26 am
Comment # 64
during this period european powers were all over the globe looking for new land. Are there any chance of playing the Japanese armies of this period or the Indian sepoys or the Ching Dynasty armies? thanks
Posted by Paolo Lee on March 16th, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Comment # 65
O DEAR GOOD LORD PLESASE READ THIS GUYS WORKING ON EMPIRE TOTAL WAR U CAN HAVE AMERCIA IN THE GAME MAN A THOUGHT COMES TO MIND MAKE IT WORK SORTA like the roman factions in rtw taking orders from the senate HENCE amercia can take orders from britan HELLO by well i mean its self explaintory cmon already and well thats all i have to say i guese
Posted by JOESPH!)!ST on March 18th, 2008 at 5:50 am
Comment # 66
I honestly believe you should include as many factions as possible. You cannot deny the fact that if someones roots are not in the game they would be pissed and probably not buy it all together.
So making the USA not a nation would be a grave mistake. The Total War series would take a serious blow. All the patriotic Americans would be omega pissed.
I myself am Portuguese and if they aren’t in the game. I wont buy it.
Posted by David on March 23rd, 2008 at 1:44 am
Comment # 67
love all the games
U rock.
But when is it out?
Posted by Da Pancake on April 2nd, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Comment # 68
If Prussia is a playable faction, Austria must be one too. Prussia only became a Great Power after the Napoleonic Wars. Prussia should definitely be a playable faction, but considering that Austria becomes president of the German Confederation after the Napoleonic Wars and that not until the wake of the Crimean War does she start to lose power over the Confederation, it would be anachronistic to imply that Prussia was the more powerful.
I also feel that diplomacy should not be neglected, and should receive the same attention that the military does. This is an age that is not just about marriage alliances. For example, for Britain the Balance of Power is important from 1688 (which, incidentally, is a date that should be included - the Anglo-Dutch Alliance made the modern world) on to the 20th Century. Britain gained its power from the Navy and diplomacy; it had no great land army to control its empire and preferred informal empire to formal empire.
The Nineteenth Century should also be definitely included too. The Scramble for Africa and China cannot be ignored with a title such as ‘Empire’, nor the Indian Mutiny, for that matter. Neither should the Ottomans be neglected or Russian expansion in the Nineteenth Century. I agree with Paolo Lee and those who believe that Spain and Portugal should be included. In short put in as many factions as possible.
Posted by Historian on May 12th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Comment # 69
im a huge TW fan. i really think religion should be a big part in the game there should be obviously catholic, islam, orthodox and several of the protestant religions like the english anglican church, the lutherans the calvanists etc. also i really liked the feature in RTWBI where family members all came of age a certain religion either christian or pagan. That feature wasn’t present in M2TW. I think it would be a good idea if this feature was incorperated in EMPIRE. It would be very intresting if u were france or spain, both catholic factions and u had the option of adopting or bribing a family member of a non catholic faction, eventually getting that family member as the faction leader then converting the entire faction to that religion. I believe it would add replay value to the game during the grand campaign. Imagine England becoming catholic again or the french becoming lutherens.
Posted by danny seleb on July 8th, 2008 at 9:22 am