Starwars: Empire at War

[Volcano]

Wow, someone come over here and take this game away from me. I need some sleeeeeeeep!!!!! The evil game!!! Very bad!!! Devil box machine steals your soul!!!

[mapman]

I guess you really like it then?

[Captain_Thunder]

Played the demo. The Star Wars features and sound effects were cute, but it got tiresome after a while. The space battles were the most fun for me but there was only one in the demo.

The zoom into cinematic mode was kind of neat, but you couldn't really fight a battle in that mode.

Beyond the "Star Wars" theme of the game it was nothing special, IMHO. Just another gods-eye view game moving miniature people and vehicles about the maps with maze-like features.

[ShotMagnet]

Ed, I saw the game and almost picked it up. Is it really that good?

Shot

[Captain_Thunder]

Try the demo.

[Volcano]

Yeah I like it a lot. To each his own but I have been playing it since I purchased it until about 3 in the morning each night.

It just all depends on what you are looking for. I am the biggest fan of strategy games and Starwars of course so combining the two will automatically make me biased towards it. But it is very ambitious game, and easily approachable. I mean, granted, it is not SB in the level of detail. But the real strength is in the campaign where you are faced with problems of what to do next and developing technology and managing your heroes. I imagine you have to first like Starwars to begin with too.

Here is a link to a pretty accurate review:

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/starwarsrts/review.html?sid=6144457

[Captain_Thunder]

Oh, I like Star Wars. I just thought that beyond the Star Wars graphics and sounds of the game, the game itself was just average and another clone of other similar games of the past, at least as far as the ground combat was concerned.

[Volcano]

Well I agree with you there to some extent. I guess to the extent that it is in real time and there are facilities to produce certain units on the ground. But beyond that it is diffent. In the sense that there are no resources to gather to build new units (thank god). The dilemma is that if you are invading you have a finite pool of forces to use (that with which you brought) where as the defender can get forces during the battle if they have the right facilities.

But really the game is pretty much the old Starwars: Rebellion which was made some ten years ago and this is improving upon a similar system. Of course that was one of my favorite strategy games then, so another reason why I like this one so much now I am sure. :)

Now granted I definately would have liked a more realistic approach, more of a Total War approach to the land and space combat but I cant complain.

[Hackworth]

i played the demo as well. i played it ALOT, but eventually tired of it. ah, so the game is pretty fun huh volcano? i might have to buy it "for my nephew"... i love star wars though, so i include myself in the biased group.

my cousin got me into Rome: total war about a month ago. i tired of that pretty fast too once I figured out what i consider a perfect OOB for my armies. i regularly maul my enemies even with 2:1 or greater odds against me :) i'm two cities away from conquering the world (conqured rome about 20 years ago after putting egypt, greece and all of eastern europe including Russia under my thumb...go Brutti!) that one is tons of fun since the ancient weapons cause for different tactics than lasers or sabots. now, i haven't played MP on that yet though... anyone play that on MP? the battles can be pretty quick, so i'm thinking that MP in total war might not be so much fun. does empire at war offer MP in any form?

oooo and one last thing, volcano, do you still have that SB rap you recorded a LONG time ago? I was mentioning it yesterday under teh SB music thread in general discussion and realized i can't find it (easily) anywhere. i do have it burned somewhere, but could you repost it for download if you have it? that song cracked me up...

[mapman]

Hack...it is the one halfway down this page?

http://www.steelbeasts.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownload&cid=13&min=5&orderby=titleA&show=5

[Hackworth]

yea. SCUD set up a link for me in the SB music thread. thanks though!

[Volcano]

So you found it? :)

If not I might have it somewhere here.

As far as Rome:Total War is concerned, I like it too. I have to mention though I am playing Starwars:Empires at War on the hardest difficulty. I also play Rome:Total War on the hardest (strategic) difficulty level. I leave the battles on medium because anything higher then the AI just cheats with higher combat factors.

But when you play Rome:Total War on hardest I guarantee it will challenge you (make sure you have the latest patch). I only mention the difficulty level because I was like you, I got to a point where I tired of it because it was not challenging. I think they set the game to be accessable by all ages and then we need to raise it to the maximum because we SB'ers are obviously superior in our gaming, intellelectual and critical thinking skills. ;)

[Hackworth]

yea, i found it. it's still in the uploads section here in SB land :)

i think i started total war on regular levels for everything when i started the campaign. i've already got it in mind to crank it all up for my next go at it. i didn't patch for this campaign either. i didn't want it to screw up my progress, so i'll have to add that too before i start my next one. hehe, then i'll get back to you on the difficulty level ;)

goona start playing online once PE comes out volcano?

[Volcano]

Sure, if I can get my connection to work. To make a long story short I am using a university connection (since I am paying for it and there is no DSL here in tumbleweed Texas) and they are apparently firewalling the connection. I am looking into it.

Also, speaking of Rome:Total War, you should pick up the Barbarian Expansion for it. It should be around $10 now and is a nice addition. It advances the time to the end of the Roman Empire. It is very difficult to say the least.

[Chain]

I can be found in the credits of this game (Aki Holopainen) :)

[Scorpius]

I played the demo but found myself getting bored kinda quickly. I thought it was like an extension of Galactic Battlegrounds with slightly better graphics and a few more features, which was in itself a slightly better version of Force Commander.

[Viper-3]

Yeah I like it too. I was always a Air combat guy with the Star Wars type games. Just a new twist I guess.

[Destraex]

its C&C with a star wars theme/skin. the stategic layer is ok but the battles!!!! 2d space combat WTF
play the hw2 mod its light years ahead for the battles

http://warlords.swrebellion.com/gallery/

http://warlords.swrebellion.com/

[Volcano]

Three months later:

I agree that it would have been better for a 3D "Homeworld" approach to space battles but I think they saw that as unnecissary complications. It takes the Star Trek Fleet Command approach to battles, which is the same aproach used by some pen / paper games.

Anyway, I am still playing it. I cant seem to bring myself to play the Rebellion though, only the Empire. Does that say something about my character... I hope not! It sure is fun to blow up a planet with the Death Star though.... :) There is some expansion announced for it now, "Forces of Corruption" or something. It seems odd... like a 3rd party to the conflict of some sort.

Also, FWIW, I have only been able to get a challenge from the AI when playing it on hard... anything else is too easy. I guess if you take away the Starwars theme from the game it would not hold my attention.

Speaking of Rome: Total War, they are remaking Medieval: Total War (Medieval 2: Total War). Maybe they will remake Shogun after that. Joy!

[Charlie]

Apparently they are going to make some sort of multiplayer campaign for Medieval 2. That was my biggest gripe with the original (apart from not being able to get enough time to play it). It would be great embarking on months and months of battles against some buddies.

-C-

[NEpi]

volcano, in R:TW the AI is compensating bad strategy with better factors. it can be beat, but you can't just go head first with your cohort line and trample europe.
the expansion pack, Barabarian Invasion, is even better. now, the barbarians have very good units, and they are dangerous. also, the hords flood western europe. the AI is also better, IMO.

[ShermansWar]

Once you think you've done it all in Rome:Total war, then, try playing it as the senate(no temples that you yourself can build)on very hard for battles and campaign and see how you do. It's also fun to play as carthage.
In BI i had fun with the Huns.

[NEpi]

yes, carthage has lousy infantry, but the elephants make the difference. I loved using them over bridges best. that way I got over 600 kills in one battle. ah, the horror!

the senate? never tried it. do you remember what you changed to enable it?

[ShermansWar]

Unlock All Factions – In RTW, some factions are playable, some are unlockable and some are unplayable. This is how you unlock and play all the factions (thx to littlecheese07 of TWC for this idea).

Go to your folder, RTW>world>maps>campaign>imperial_campaign>desc_str at.txt. Simply move all the factions under the “nonplayable” and "unlockable" that you want play to under “playable”. Thus, in this list, Egypt to Greek_cities are unlockable, Roman_senate to Slave are nonplayable (it is advisable from other players NOT to touch or play the “roman _senate”) and Romans_Julii to Romans_scipii are playable. After you’ve arranged the text files, do not forget to SAVE. You may now play the new factions when you load RTW.

campaign imperial_campaign
playable
romans_julii
romans_brutii
romans_scipii
end
unlockable
egypt
seleucid
carthage
parthia
gauls
germans
britons
greek_cities
end
nonplayable
romans_senate
macedon
pontus
armenia
dacia
scythia
spain
thrace
numidia
slave
end
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .......................

You CAN play as the senate, but you will get some crashes. the main thing is never click the "senate" tab, because as soon as you do the game will crash.dont ry going looking at senate missions, cause thats what makes it crash, mainly. either way, above is how you unlock many of the other factions.

[SFViper19D]

If you all want a new challenge with Rome:Total War visit the Rome:Total Realism site. It's a group of game enthusiasts/history buffs who developed a mod which totally revamps the game in a much more historically correct version than vanilla RTW. I haven't played it yet due to my job and laptop constraints but have downloaded it and have been waiting to try it out at home at some point.

[NEpi]

viper, thanks! much better now.
some of the inaccuracies were pretty obvious.

another good way to increase realism in R:TW is by having a "general camera", which means you won't be able to control too distant flanks or skirmishers too well, and will have to rely on the crappy AI, and by NOT pressing the "pause" button to give orders. you'll have less precise timing, which will hurt a lot to some tactics.

[ShermansWar]

Interesting concept inasmuch as command and control in those days during the battle was limited to how far the commanders voice could carry. I used to play a game by Sega( don't remember the name) that was somewhat simlar. One of the attributes of the generals was their voice and how far away it could be heard. Any units out of distance did not respond to orders.I think Cornelius Scipio and his son had the farthest range, interestingly they were 2 of the greatest commanders of their day.

[TankHunter]

Unlock All Factions – In RTW, some factions are playable, some are unlockable and some are unplayable. This is how you unlock and play all the factions (thx to littlecheese07 of TWC for this idea).

Go to your folder, RTW>world>maps>campaign>imperial_campaign>desc_str at.txt. Simply move all the factions under the “nonplayable” and "unlockable" that you want play to under “playable”. Thus, in this list, Egypt to Greek_cities are unlockable, Roman_senate to Slave are nonplayable (it is advisable from other players NOT to touch or play the “roman _senate”) and Romans_Julii to Romans_scipii are playable. After you’ve arranged the text files, do not forget to SAVE. You may now play the new factions when you load RTW.

campaign imperial_campaign
playable
romans_julii
romans_brutii
romans_scipii
end
unlockable
egypt
seleucid
carthage
parthia
gauls
germans
britons
greek_cities
end
nonplayable
romans_senate
macedon
pontus
armenia
dacia
scythia
spain
thrace
numidia
slave
end
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .......................

You CAN play as the senate, but you will get some crashes. the main thing is never click the "senate" tab, because as soon as you do the game will crash.dont ry going looking at senate missions, cause thats what makes it crash, mainly. either way, above is how you unlock many of the other factions.

So Sherm, what is your favorite faction to play?

[ShermansWar]

I've played the imperial campaign to the end as all 3 roman houses, the carthaginians and the greeks.Carthaginians are the hardest to get started, but it is a blast to go astompin' with them elephants, the Scipii are a lot of fun cause they have that cool navy,but I kinda like the red Romans you get as the Julii, they are the coolest looking troops in the game. :thumbup:

[TankHunter]

I've played the imperial campaign to the end as all 3 roman houses, the carthaginians and the greeks.Carthaginians are the hardest to get started, but it is a blast to go astompin' with them elephants, the Scipii are a lot of fun cause they have that cool navy,but I kinda like the red Romans you get as the Julii, they are the coolest looking troops in the game. :thumbup:

Hehe. Them guys running around in red are pretty impressive :)

[ShermansWar]

The Greeks look like a drunk porcipine during battle, lol.

[TankHunter]

The Greeks look like a drunk porcipine during battle, lol.

LOL, try Spartans vs Roman troops. Makes for an interesting blood bath :twisted:

[NEpi]

tried the Rome: Total Realism, and it is GOOD!
I play the Ptolmai now, and at last they look macedonian and not ancient egyptian. they also have elephants (smaller ones), and they have to battle the Seleucids constantly.
cavalry works better this time: it's costly like never before, it's vulnerable (no more rushing through enemy infantry), but the charge is awesome, and frightening to the poor infantry.
I also love the regional units idea. in the game you can recruit regional auxilia: units who are drafted from the particular region and are also unique to the faction. it simulates units drafted from the local population and trained by your officers. it also means that composition of your armies changes according to location.

there are more mercenaries than before, from more kinds.

taking control of a settlement takes much longer.

diplomacy is more appropriate: no more "I'm alone in this world".

playing in "hard" strategical settings isn't easy.

AI still sucks, but now his general at least goes around my line instead of through.

[[panzer]]

Julii has the Urban Cohorts. MMMMMMMMMM