# Medieval Total War 2



## Charming Serpent (Dec 13, 2008)

If u don't have this computer game then I suggest u cash up 40 bucs and get it. As Wert and myself were talking about, there is a Westeros Mod being made even as we speak. He and I have the beta version and its good, but not complete.

I have a link on hand that will show u the coolness of this game and its mods. This one (which is the only one i have linked atm) is perhaps the best guy who mods and he is creating a Middle Earth Mod. 

Enjoy the preview, but btw, if u navigate enough u can find the Westeros thread I believe.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=654


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## Boaz (Dec 14, 2008)

Warning: The following post is a rant... so avoid it like the Plague (1347 AD, not Turn 459).

CS, I loved playing all the games in the series...Shogun, Shogun: Mongol Invasion, Medieval, Medieval: Viking Invasion, Rome, and Rome: Barbarian Invasion. But I've got a major beef with Medieval 2... and it's over a minor issue. 

In all of the previous Total War games, turns passed by seasons and years, yet in Med 2 time passes by turns. In a historical simulation, I don't want to know that Pope Urban II called for Crusades in Turn Five... I want him to call for the Crusades in 1095. I don't want the Mongols to attack Poland on Turn 391... I want the Mongols to attack Poland in 1286.

I think games are already geared enough for cheesy, meta-gaming, whining cheats. I don't need for the game to feel that way out of the box.

I know it's a minor issue, but it throws off the entire feel of the game for me. If the modders can fix this from turns to years, I'd love to play Westeros on the Med 2 engine.

Now if you tell me to just go into Game Options and switch from turns to years, I'm gonna die of shame.

Btw, the Westeros mod on the Rome engine looked so sweet.


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## Charming Serpent (Dec 14, 2008)

I d-loaded the mod Stainless Steel 6.0 which won all the awards as best mod etc etc .... for MTW2/Kingdoms and I believe the creator changed it to  years and not turns. I would have to check again, but when i look near the end turn button it has a year.


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## Boaz (Dec 14, 2008)

Shuuuuweeeeet!

Now, just tell me I'm not crazy regarding the turn/year thing...


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## Brett Howell (Dec 14, 2008)

CS is right - King Kong (creator of Stainless Steel) made it years, not turns. And you can actually modify this yourself in any game you play. There's a file where you can choose to have it show as years or turns (and how long turns last - 1 year = 1 turn or 6 months = 1 turn for example)

Try Stainless Steel, Boaz, I think you'll be pleased with the improvements King Kong made to the game.


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## Boaz (Dec 14, 2008)

Thanks, Brett.


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## Erunanion (Dec 14, 2008)

I actually prefer Rome: Total War to Medieval II; the accurate colour palette used in Medieval (read: brown, and various brightly coloured shades covered in brown mud) makes it hard to see exactly whats going on while maintaining a suitably wide camera viewpoint to control the entire battle.  And yes, the vaunted combat animations are very good, but while I am zoomed in watching a noble lord cleaving his way through the unfortunate peasants the enemy cavalry has turned my flank and chewing through my bowmen!

There is nothing wrong with Medieval II at all, its a solidly-made game (like all of the Total War series); but Rome just appealed to me more.

That said, I am counting the days until Empire: Total War emerges into the light of day, and the flood of praise that games journalists and gamers themselves are already preparing for it.  If they get Napoleonic-era warfare right, Creative Assembly will have succeeding in developing a game which meets just about every fantasy I've had since I first read a Sharpe book, and played the demo of Shogun.


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## Werthead (Dec 14, 2008)

Boaz said:


> Warning: The following post is a rant... so avoid it like the Plague (1347 AD, not Turn 459).
> 
> CS, I loved playing all the games in the series...Shogun, Shogun: Mongol Invasion, Medieval, Medieval: Viking Invasion, Rome, and Rome: Barbarian Invasion. But I've got a major beef with Medieval 2... and it's over a minor issue.



You can switch to years by adjusting one of the text files with the game. It's very easy and safe to do, but I forget how you do it. Google it though, it's a very common complaint  Westeros: Total War does have the years, I believe.

Have you also played Rome: Alexander and Medieval 2: Kingdoms? Both are pretty good, although Alexander is on the short side.


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## MIDNIGHT (Dec 14, 2008)

Is this a PC game? Anybody know if its available for Mac?


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## Shacklock (Dec 14, 2008)

Rome > Med2. Med2 sucked for so many reasons, it was made by a different branch of CA for a start, the Ai was awflul in every respect, milions of bugs and many more. Saying that, Stainless Steel makes it better. But aye, Rome is so much more appealing and Empires looks ill.


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## Boaz (Dec 14, 2008)

Midnight!!! Long time, no see.  Looking at the Total War game purchase webpage, it does not appear that Med 2 is for Mac.

Wert, thanks.  As usual, you are the fountain of all knowledge.  I've not played Alexander nor Kingdoms.  My impression was that Alexander was a console game.

Erunanion, Unless you've got a deep love for older computer games and lesser graphics and interface, then you may not like Shogun.  I happened to start Total War with Shogun's initial release.  I can still go back to it and love playing, but I suspect that if I'd started with Rome that I'd have trouble adjusting to Shogun's visuals and mechanics.


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## MIDNIGHT (Dec 15, 2008)

I'm never too far, always lurking, just to lazy to log in. Noticed that my "George has updated" thread has been locked. Oh well , wish that Total War was available for Mac, sounds interesting.


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## Charming Serpent (Dec 15, 2008)

I keep hiring Sorrowful Men and assassinating my enemies. I figured why not just put Bran out of his misery. U know, like the Spartans did and nature still does.


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## Boaz (Dec 15, 2008)

MIDNIGHT said:


> Noticed that my "George has updated" thread has been locked.


I'd like to swear it wasn't my fault... but apparently it was...

I'll be trying Med 2 and the Westeros mod later this week.


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## Culhwch (Dec 15, 2008)

I'm getting a new PC early in the New Year, and hopefully Medieval 2 will be one of the first games I pick up. I'll definitely be getting the mod...



Boaz said:


> Wert, thanks. As usual, you are the fountain of all knowledge. I've not played Alexander nor Kingdoms. My impression was that Alexander was a console game.


 
I think there may have been a Sparta: Total War or something similar on the consoles - you may be thinking of that...


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## Erunanion (Dec 15, 2008)

Boaz said:


> Wert, thanks.  As usual, you are the fountain of all knowledge.  I've not played Alexander nor Kingdoms.  My impression was that Alexander was a console game.
> 
> Erunanion, Unless you've got a deep love for older computer games and lesser graphics and interface, then you may not like Shogun.  I happened to start Total War with Shogun's initial release.  I can still go back to it and love playing, but I suspect that if I'd started with Rome that I'd have trouble adjusting to Shogun's visuals and mechanics.



Alexander was an expansion for Rome (which might have been standalone, but I don't think so) based on, obviously, the campaigns of Alexander.  It was very different to the standard Rome game, in that you only had around 100 turns to complete the series of objectives - basically, control the whole damn world.  This made for a far more frantic game, as you didn't have time to consolidate the cities you took, or develop a defensive style.  Very much reliant on mercenaries too in order to keep your numbers up - if you really enjoyed Rome its worth having a look at, although there are a few flaws too.

Also, Brian Blessed's voice is in it.  And that makes purchase of it mandatory in my opinion.


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## Boaz (Dec 15, 2008)

I was thirteen when _Flash Gordon_ was released. I've had a soft spot for Brian Blessed ever since. _"Hawkmen.... Diiiiiive!!!"_


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## Shacklock (Dec 15, 2008)

Barbarian Invasion is gooood, Alexander is meh, well if your like me and love a nice deep campaign map. Empires looks like it will deliver that though ^^


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## Gambit (Dec 15, 2008)

grrm and blizzard should get together.  I have been waiting for starcraft II for nearly half my life and well we all know how long it's been with dance...


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## Shacklock (Dec 16, 2008)

Gambit said:


> grrm and blizzard should get together. I have been waiting for starcraft II for nearly half my life and well we all know how long it's been with dance...


 

.......
..........
...............

O_O

.............

WHAT?! Why would you let Blizzard anywhere near GRRM?  Sure Warcraft was alright and WoW was horribly addictive and yet at the same time awfully *****, but they'd sooo fail to do justice to anything as dark and gritty and deep as SOIAF xD

But lol, yeah they are slooooooow with the producing too.

Now if Bioware (*Cough* Baldur's Gate *Cough*) did something with a SOIAF licence...mmmmh


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## Gambit (Dec 16, 2008)

Ha ha yeah, i was mostly pointing at the ridiculous amount of time it takes both of them to get out a product.  And i don't think grrm needs any more projects.  In fact, until he's done with ASOIAF he shouldn't even think about it lol


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## Rider (Dec 16, 2008)

I would also think that RTW is better than M2TW. M2TW just isn't right, it may be fancy looking and all that, but it isn't 'right'.


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## Shacklock (Dec 16, 2008)

Rider said:


> I would also think that RTW is better than M2TW. M2TW just isn't right, it may be fancy looking and all that, but it isn't 'right'.


 

Like I said its cos a different branch of CA made it, but Empires is being done by the Rome team! Yeaaah


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## Ghost of Harrenhal (Dec 16, 2008)

I bought M2TW about a month ago and I think it is amazing!  I can't get enough of it.. I bough it specifically because I heard about the Westeros mod, I will admit, but I gotta say I like the original game a lot better than the current beta version of Westeros.  They try and make it in the period of time around the War of the Five Kings but it just doesn't work.  

They should have it start the second the books start, and instead of following the storyline you just wage war.  Have Eddard as the leader of the Starks, not Robb.  And don't have Bran at age 16 just so he can be a general   I'm not that happy with the mod and while the map looks good zoomed out, the way the mountainous areas are handled such as the Rills, the Vale and the West around Casterly Rock is all quite bad.  I'd like to see the mod revamped or attempted by someone who is more interested in balancing the game than having it true to the books.

It would be cooler to make your own story I think.  I could just imagine playing as the Starks and seeing my family tree being Eddard and Catelyn and then their children:  Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon all with the right ages.  It doesn't take long for people to age in M2TW anyway so you'll have your general's soon enough.  You could have Jon Snow under the adopted son branch and you could even have a second house such as the Umbers or Cassels thrown in there.  This way you could send your daughters down south when they are old enough and forge new marriage alliances with Riverrun or any house you choose.. And you could ally with or wage war with anyone you want!  At the moment you start as the Starks with a large force, no money and about two castles so you are bankrupt by the second turn and no way to get out of the huge debt.  I know it's realistic because the North is poor but it just isn't fun.

This wasn't meant to be a huge walltext rant but that's what it turned into   I completely strayed from my original point which was to say that I think M2TW is a great game, although I haven't played RTW so I can't say which is better.  Still.... That's my thoughts on the current Westeros Beta.  The only fun I had was playing as Renly.


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## Boaz (Dec 16, 2008)

Ghost of Harrenhal said:


> The only fun I had was playing as Renly.


Just like Garlan Tyrell... playing _as _Renly.  Now, playing _with_... that was Loras.

Ghost, I thought your comments were right on target.  This is what the topic is supposed to be... Brian Blessed's film career is not.


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## Shacklock (Dec 17, 2008)

Just for anyone that is interested and not seen it.
Empire: Total War Road to Independence - Google Video#
Empire Total War Video 4/5 The Road to Independence Mini-Campaign.


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## Charming Serpent (Dec 17, 2008)

German is truly earths worst sounding language.


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## Boaz (Dec 18, 2008)

Achtung! Seien Sie vorsichtig... Meinst du das oder sagst du das nur so?

(Warning!  Please be careful... Do you mean that or are you just saying it?)


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## Charming Serpent (Dec 18, 2008)

Truly, truly the worst sounding.


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## Charming Serpent (Dec 18, 2008)

I always thought Latin sounded the coolest followed by French or Italian.


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## Erunanion (Dec 18, 2008)

That game cannot come out soon enough.

I've always like the sound of Spanish, although quite a few Spaniards speak with an incredibly rapid shotgun manner which diminishes its prettiness for me.


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## Ghost of Harrenhal (Dec 18, 2008)

I only want Empire to come out so they can start working on Medieval 3.   This is why I used to want to write games.. I have so many ideas for them!   They should totally have family trees separate from your royal family.. So you can have more governors without the fear that one of them will be king.  And each settlement can have its own noble house.


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## Erunanion (Dec 18, 2008)

An interesting idea, but it might clutter the world map a bit.  That is one of the reasons I was not a huge fan of the multitude of special characters in Medieval II - I never liked the merchants, they never seemed to add anything of substance to the game.

That said, it would be good if the families were worked in to be a more important aspect of the game.  Maybe has a proper family tree for each nation on the world map, and note how inter-marriage affects the behaviour of generals and governors towards you.  Perhaps if you married off your daughter to a governor, it would substantially lower the bribe cost of turning the city.

I think the diplomacy in the Total War series needs toning up, making it more than just a side bar for attaining trading rights and map information.  That said, apparently they have done just that in Empire, so I wait in hope


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## Shacklock (Dec 18, 2008)

Med3? No thank you, Rome or Shogun 2 next please! I love Shogun but I cant play it anymore, seems too simple, a new one would be luuush.


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## Charming Serpent (Dec 18, 2008)

On the mtw2 mod forums the new ai mods are sick. Crazy depth at diplomacy and charatcer traits.


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## Highlander II (Dec 18, 2008)

moved to the gaming section... carry on!


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## Erunanion (Dec 18, 2008)

Charming Serpent said:


> On the mtw2 mod forums the new ai mods are sick. Crazy depth at diplomacy and charatcer traits.



Ooh.  I think I may have to find my copy of the game and some mods 

Also, I definitely agree that Shogun II would be an awesome way to go with the game after Empire.  However, CA have gotten used to great big Europe to play with (and now America); going back to the relatively small islands of Japan may feel constrictive to them.  Still, I'd love for them to do it, it was a great setting for a game in Total War's style.


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## Boaz (Mar 6, 2009)

Okay, it took me awhile, but I've got my first game of Westeros Total War going.



> *The Chronicles of Maester Pylos of Dragonstone; chiefly being concerned with the lives of King Stannis and his successors.*
> 
> 298 AL - Robert, First of His Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men dies. The noble houses of Westeros begin plotting against the true king, Stannis. House Lannister conspires to deny Stannis his rights by setting Joffrey, an abomination of Cersei's incest, upon the Iron Throne.
> 
> ...


 Are you kidding me? Seven turns into the game and Stannis is dead!!! Should I quit or press on?.... uuuuuhhhhhhhhh, I guess I'll continue....



> 302 AL - Lord Alester drives the abhominable Slynt from Dragonstone. Lord Alester becomes protector of Princess' Shireen and Jeyne in order to secure their inheritance from their wicked uncle Renly.
> 
> 303 AL - Balon Greyjoy openly defies the Crown by declaring himself King of the Iron Islands. Lord Alester promises Princess Shireen that she shall not inherit a divided land.
> 
> ...


Well, that's as far as I've gotten... we'll see what happens from here on out.


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## Pravuil (Apr 29, 2009)

Hmm. More selfless and unabashed promoters of a Westeros mod over a LOTR mod; that just won't do.

Third Age: Total War - Total War Center Forums


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## Werthead (May 5, 2009)

The new version of _Westeros: Total War_ has been released here. Similar to the last one, except it only needs a folder installation rather than messing around with the core game files. The team is regrouping following a hiatus so hopefully there will be more developments soon.

Downloading the Middle-earth one as well. That looks totally sweet.


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## Urlik (May 5, 2009)

downloading both Westeros and TATW as I type

I haven't read ASOIAF so I don't really know what is going on in Westeros and that will probably sit on my hard drive until I've played out a few campaigns in TATW (all will fall before my orcs )


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## Montford_Fan (May 7, 2009)

Just found this thread, I'm a big Total War fan and I must say that the TATW mod is one of the best out there, its also the most challenging to play. The AI has been totaly reworked and all the units rebalanced for middle earth. This mod rules over Empires as much as Rome did over the first Medieval edition.


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## Culhwch (Jun 2, 2009)

Finally got all the bits and pieces to get the Westeros mod up and running, but haven't had time to play it beyond jumping in to check it worked. Something strange though - on the campaign selection screen I'm still seeing a map of Europe. Anyone else get that? When I start the game I'm in Westeros, but that just seemed a touch strange to me...


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## Montford_Fan (Jun 3, 2009)

The Westeros mod is a beta and isn't completly finished...


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## Culhwch (Jun 3, 2009)

Yeah, I know that, but still you'd think that'd be a relatively small thing to change, so it made me wonder if mine was somehow buggy, is all...


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