Medieval 2: Total War

[:FI:TacticalS!]

For folks interested in this upcoming game the Developer finally (finally!) released the minimum specs for this exciting title. Of course it is hard to judge what will be needed to play it smoothly maxed out, but at least it gives folks with aging rigs like me a real hope that it can be played with a fair amount of eye-candy. I wasn't worried at all.

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Tuesday, 3rd October
Medieval II System Requirements!

Today we can reveal the Minimum System Requirements for Medieval II: Total War. Are you ready for battle?

Minimum System Requirements:

English version of Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP.

Celeron 1.8GHz Pentium 4® (1500MHz) or equivalent AMD® processor.
512MB RAM.
8x Speed DVD-ROM drive (1200KB/sec sustained transfer rate) and latest drivers.
11.0 Gigs of uncompressed free hard disk space.
100% DirectX® 9.0c compatible 16-bit sound card and latest drivers.
100% Windows® 2000/XP compatible mouse, keyboard and latest drivers.
DirectX® 9.0c.
128MB Hardware Accelerated video card with Shader 1 support and the latest drivers.
Must be 100% DirectX® 9.0c compatible.
Monitor must be able to display 1024x768 resolution or above.

Multiplayer:

Internet (TCP / IP) play supported, internet play requires broadband connection and latest drivers, LaN play requires Network card.

Important Note: Some cards may not be compatible with the 3D acceleration features utilised by Medieval II: Total War. Please refer to your hardware manufacturer for 100% DirectX® 9.0c compatibility.

[:FI:COM]

This is one of those rare opportunities where I will drop my joystick, hehe, to play this game. I read about the software that randomizes individual soldiers; not only thier uniforms, but their individuated movements! Those system requirements are nothing short of BRUTAL, however. I've got SLI, so, I'm a tad excited.....~S~

[Menace]

Those are for running in ASCII format right? :P

[:FI:TacticalS!]

So this game was released a couple of weeks ago. Who has it?

Macca and I were talking about recently, and he was happy with the performance of the game on his machine (which is similar to my rig).

Been trolling over at their website and reading generally great stuff, though a much needed patch is apparently on its way to hopefully resolve some technical and gameplay issues. I am waiting to see how the patch works out before buying this game to hopefully enjoy over the holidays.

Just finished reading the PDF manual a couple days ago, and I really like the new features/characters. What are other :FI: Total War fans saying?

TS!

[AltarBoy]

Gimmie a couple of days and I'll post up some screens from the game.

[:FI:Macca]

Brilliant game.

runs very well, better than the demo version.And betther than the second demo,too.

I played English version a bit, Polish one is to be released tomorrow, I don't think I'll get it anytime soon, got another expenses. But the game is really worth buying it, hopefully in 2007 I'll get it.

I found a few historical bugs though, e.g. name of the Polish king in the beginning of the campaign (didn't play much so can't tell how it is later).

Were I to become a koening, hesitate shalt I not!!!

This game reminds me a poem by William Blake, whose poetry I first read at the collage.Every time I read this poem I have a medieval battle before my eyes. Though Blake lived in the later, 1757-1827.

Lullaby

O for a voice like thunder, and a tongue
To drown the throat of war! - When the senses
Are shaken, and the soul is driven to madness,
Who can stand? When the souls of the oppressed
Fight in the troubled air that rages, who can stand?
When the whirlwind of fury comes from the
Throne of God, when the frowns of his countenance
Drive the nations together, who can stand?
When Sin claps his broad wings over the battle,
And sails rejoicing in the flood of Death;
When souls are torn to everlasting fire,
And fiends of Hell rejoice upon the slain,
O who can stand? O who hath caused this?
O who can answer at the throne of God?
The Kings and Nobles of the Land have done it!
Hear it not, Heaven, thy Ministers have done it!

[Navvara Ultor]

I, a TW die hard, think that this is a pretty good game, with what promise to be excelent graphics (my laptops radeon 9700 doesn't do M2TW much justice), well balanced gameplay but a totally crappy AI.

There are a lot of extra features in M2TW, making the TW franchise even better but there are also a lot of rough edges like:

1. The AI sucks
2. The AI sucks
3. The turn sistem sucks
4. Speaches although mostly inspiring are repetitive and by such they also suck
5. There are no special FMV's of peaches for great events such as reaching a crusade target (I was expecting a great speach when my crusading army reached Jerusalem but instead heard the classic "They richly deserve the gallows")
6. Finishing moves seldom hit their mark. Most of the time they are a couple of meters off.
7. There is no way to get AI armies off your land other than to attack them.
8.The diplomatic AI will hate you regardless of your well intentioned actions and will scream out for your blood if you take any aggresive action against them
9. The Battle AI sucks
10. The Battle AI sucks.

I also post on the totalwar.com forum, been a member there for years now and i've been playing TW from the days of Shogun. Just my 2 cents. Take them and spend them wisely, you won't get more from me.

[:FI:TacticalS!]

Come on mate just tell us plainly what you think.

Indeed hearing at best a mixed review. Personally I must wait and see if they can fix this obviously rushed game for the holidays before deciding whether I want to purchase it (and I really would like to). While I think some lads are truly enjoying the game, most who bought it are in denial of how significant some of the AI bugs really are.

I must say in reading the manual TW2 does seem like a deeper experience, keeping in mind I have only been involved with the Total War series since the "pretty but shallow" RTW.

TS!

[Navvara Ultor]

over the prospect of playing the game on my new 7600 GT. RTW vanilla had a lot of bugs too but I still enjoyed playing it. M2TW, altough lacking a Total War "veteran" is still a great game. Yet all these bugs.......... methinks that CA (or more likely sega) rushed the game so they could meet their release date.

[:FI:Macca]

As most companies do nowadays....Neverwinter nights 2, Gothic 3, Faces of War, and many more...

[:FI:TacticalS!]

- Taken from the SEGA Medieval 2 Total War website -

"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"

[:FI:Macca]

[AltarBoy]

Holy Ferret Poo! If I had known there were so many bugs in it I would've bought Barbie's Horse Adventures 2. DHL hasn't brought the game in yet. But the excitement has waned a bit I'm afraid.

[:FI:Macca]

No worries, AB, the game is reaaaaly good even with the bugs. And at leas part of them is to be fixed in the upcoming patch.. No siingle TW game has ever been released without bugs, just think bout Shogun or first Medieval, not to mention wonderful Rome TW. Unfortunately, it happens very often that we,gamers, do the job of beta testers without being paid for it. Sad sick world, it seems. In the meanwhile I'm goingto look at Napoleonic Total War 2 - look here. It looks nice, I'm hoping the next game from the Total War family is going to be from the 1770-1914 era.

a couple of screenies from the Mod








S!

Mac

[AltarBoy]

Hey, Macca those shots look way cool! Now you got me drooling now. Can't wait for it Got to use those cavalry in a pincer attack formation, while the riflemen is set in the middle. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!