02:29:36 -
Britesparc asks: Would you ever consider using the Total War engine for a licensed property? For instance, if someone asked you to do Middle-Earth Total War or something, would it pique your interest?
Kieran Brigden: Something like that would indeed be interesting, and we never discount any options (although we don't have the licence for LotR games) but TW games tend to have to meet certain criteria which can make licences a little difficult. We need a period of great change where several factions could emerge as the dominant power, a period of technological change where new armaments becomes available as time passes and it also has to be a time that lets us to do something new (such as naval battles in Empire) so any possible licence would need to meet those requirements first and foremost to make a fun TW game.
02:32:29 -
lillis asks: I have yet to see a negative review of Empire, but even the most praising ones mention the naval combat as a drawback - mainly the problems which commandeering larger fleets introduce. Most reviewers seem to think that it's simply a bit too much to keep track of, and tended towards auto-resolving fleet battles quite often. Did you design the naval system with a steep learning curve in mind?
Kieran Brigden: This is an interesting point, and one I'm glad to get the chance to address. The naval battles are new. The tactics within them are new. There's a whole depth of strategy yet to be worked out (we're still playing in the office). And I genuinely believe that as people play more they'll master more. Additionally there are a lot of functions that can be used to make controlling large groups more easy group formations and orders are one example and some of the reviews haven't seemed to mention those, meaning its possible they weren't used. That said, it's an area for us to develop, we recognise that this is our first attempt and over time with patches and indeed with any possible new titles we'll continue to polish naval battles. We're proud of them now, but equally we've been doing land battles for years and they just get better and better, so...
02:33:24 -
senso-ji asks: Medieval got a (deserved) sequel. Any chance of Rome/Shogun 2?
Kieran Brigden: Let's just say we're looking at all our options...
02:34:19 -
pevergreen asks: For the inevitable expansion, is it planned to go down the route Kingdoms took and have multiple new campaigns, the older route like Viking Invasion and Barbarian Invasion with a new campaign, general additions to the Grand Campaign, or is nothing really decided upon?
Kieran Brigden: For the expansion I can say we will be improving general gameplay and features, naturally. We're not ready to announce our expansion plans yet but I will say that if the Road to Independence style 'mini campaigns' are of interest to players and are successful we'd like to do more such things, perhaps as an expansion. But for now, it's just conjecture.
02:36:05 -
jimmy444 asks: Have the graphical issues concerning ATI 4800 series cards been resolved? There were a number of issues including tearing, blue markers, strange graphical anomalies involving these cards. Will ATI release a driver for these kind of issues or is this included in the first patch?
Kieran Brigden: Hi Jimmy, the ATI cards had a few issues with the old demo code. A lot of that is our old code. Again, as with everything, the game needed some balance and optimisation. To put your mind at ease I have five computers running 4870s, two with X2s and several top-end NVIDIAs. All of them are now working fine on ultra, no bother.
02:38:07 -
nick_stone08 asks: Why hasn't the team included Africa in the campaign map? As it was a fierce bit of territory for the powers of Europe to fight for.
Kieran Brigden: It was indeed a major theatre of war for the period, and the northern part of Africa is indeed present - what we would now know as the eventual French colonies, and British Egypt. That said, right now, the map is MASSIVE. It is genuinely hard to explain that fighting through any one of these continents and its islands is a whole game unto itself. You won't feel a loss not having that area necessarily, and who knows? Its certainly an area into which we could expand...
02:39:04 -
noobchewer asks: Will nations be able to rebel and make a faction? Like the Irish?
Kieran Brigden: In short, yes. Certain nations when they rebel form their own unique factions, peoples like the Scots, Irish, Hungarians etc. There are loads of these for you to discover... as a result of not running the territory properly!
02:41:09 -
El_Draque asks: Are there plans for a Mac version?
Kieran Brigden: Possibly is the answer to that, I don't want to promise anything at this stage but its something we do keep in mind.
02:43:24 -
Britesparc asks: Do you think there's any way to do a console version of the Total War games?
Kieran Brigden: There is a place for RTS and strategy games on consoles yes. The DS version of Civ is indeed good fun, the recent moves by games such as Halo Wars have also been interesting. Primarily it's about control. Most RTS games on console fail because they're ports. You have to design for console from the ground up, and if we ever crack the magic nut of control then of course we'd love to bring TW to a console audience.
02:45:43 -
Tullaris asks: To many veteran Total War players Medieval II was perhaps too easy. Battles were only lost against overwhelming forces. Do you think winning the Empire Total War campaign on very hard is going to be more of a challenge?
Kieran Brigden: In short, yes. The new Battle AI is a genuine challenge, it will continue to try and outfox you and is much more dynamic than its predecessors. The campaign AI too is a lot more nuanced, especially from the diplomacy side. Something we're doing with Empire as we go is also to continue to evolve the AI through post-release patches and balance fixes, this means where we think it can be improved further we will do so and continue to offer replayability to the player. There is naturally still work to do, but this TW feels much more accomplished in that sense than our previous titles.
02:47:27 -
Jesterrr asks: I'm really intrigued by the different equipment, drills and tactics you can research in the game. How does this work in terms of skirmishes and online battles? Also, sometimes I felt that the scope for customising your force in these battles was a little too broad. Has any thought ever been given to creating skirmish scenarios where the player has to choose a force that adheres to some restrictions, i.e. no artillery, only up to 20 per cent of your force can be cavalry, limits on unit experience etc.?
Kieran Brigden: As far as drills and tech are concerned these depend on fighting in the early or late period of the game, as certain techs are assumed to be available in the 'early' period and others in the 'late', although in the campaign the rate at which you unlock them is up to you. By choosing a period certain troops and drills become unavailable or are added. When it comes to adding multiplayer restrictions we leave that to players to discuss, so if you and a friend want a full army on full army battle using only pikemen in Paris, that's your call.
02:48:46 -
michaelius asks: Have you considered using 17th century wars in Eastern Europe, Baltic Sea area and Turkish invasions as a possible setting for another Total War game?
Kieran Brigden: There are lots of historical periods that are incredibly interesting and could be used for a TW title. As before, all our titles need to meet the fundamentals required by a game of this nature and scope. The great thing about working form history is (ironically) it's infinite.
02:50:41 -
Moderating Hero: On this note, out of personal curiosity - we see a lot of people commending Total War for its realism, but do you ever get approached by an institution or a historian and told off for anything?
Kieran Brigden: All the time! We get some fantastic lobbies telling us we didn't represent bagpipes properly or that the moustaches are of the wrong style etc. Our designers are genuinely great and eagle-eyed on this fact, but we can't please everyone all of the time. For some people they want more 18th century silverware to be featured and there just aren't enough spoons in Empire for them. It's a weird mix, but we always try and take everything into account and make adjustments where possible.
02:52:55 -
modo_komodo asks: Do I need to have a good understanding of Napoleonic warfare in order to progress or can I still win with more generalised tactics?
Kieran Brigden: Yes and yes. Your tactics are your own. If you find a certain combination of weapons that work for you or a unit drill that you like then you will have a fighting style. Every general in history has had their own ideas and tactics and these are what make TW so much fun. Do you want to try and win by throwing a thousand troops into the meatgrinder? Go ahead. Are you a 'throw some donkeys in the mix then hit them with bayonets' type? It's up to you. Or you can use speical tactics of the period - it's up to your playing style. Not that a little knowledge of the period wouldn't help of course...
02:55:36 -
Schaep asks: In the previous games, alliances were pretty much useless. The campaign AI always had its mind set on certain settlements, even if they had never belonged to them. This always resulted in betrayal of alliances, even if your faction had overwhelming military strength. Sometimes the AI would even attack settlements with only 1 unit! Has this changed at all in Empire?
Kieran Brigden: Alliances are an element of diplomacy and have received much more attention this time around. If anything it may be the player that ends up having to break long-standing alliances in order to push for a certain province! Now countries' opinion of you rises and falls over time - trade helps increase it for example - and eventually if they like you enough you can form a alliance. There is a huge depth to the diplomatic menu, friends of friends, same religion, an enemy of my enemies, trade, etc. All of these things mean a more realistic diplomatic world. No longer does the AI love you for 50 years only to stab you in the head for no reason when you wont hand over a key region. That said, it can indeed betray you if it REALLY REALLY must, or if you've pushed it that far.
02:56:10 -
Catafrato asks: Do Scottish regiments have bagpipes in the full game?
Kieran Brigden: Again with the bagpipes? Seriously though, all I can say is tartan makes an appearance.
02:57:56 -
Tullaris asks: What games from other companies do CA staff like? Do you prefer strategy games such as Europa Universalis, Civilization or are you playing totally different games?
Kieran Brigden: We play everything. There's a strong belief here that you cant just be a PC-based strategy gamer to design good games. Its like a chef only eating olives. We have to look at everything and we do - console game, PC titles, and lots of board games too. We have some seriously obscure strategy board games here. There's a bit of a Left 4 Dead fetish with the QA department at the moment, and every other title gets a look in too.
02:59:14 -
greg99 asks: Will there be any surprises like in Medieval 2 when the timurids invade?
Kieran Brigden: There are plenty of surprises, but I wont spoil them. There's also a fantastic kitten Easter egg but I've already said too much.
03:01:26 -
Darren asks: Not related to Empire Total War whatsoever but is there any chance of a sequel to the rather good Viking Battle for Asgard on the consoles?
Kieran Brigden: Thats a nice question, the answer is maybe. We're looking at a lot of ideas on the console side at the moment. Some kind of sequel to Viking is naturally amongst them. But there will be more on any possible projects in the near future.
03:01:59 -
Moderating Hero: We're getting a lot of suggestions for future Total War games. My favourites so far are Cold War Total War "where you do nothing for 199 turns" and Jurassic Park Total War. Any fantasy scenarios you guys enjoy?
Kieran Brigden: Can I take a minute before I answer this question and say Empire goes live on Steam in Europe in about 60 seconds?
Moderating Hero: Yep!
03:04:17 -
Moderating Hero: Now answer my very serious question about Jurassic Park.
Kieran Brigden: On the question - I love those ideas. My personal favourite would be Caveman total war, where you bash each other over the head for 100 years and then get wiped out by a disease.
03:04:53 -
rsslcs asks: Will the game feature a map editor, like the editor that could be unlocked in Rome Total War?
Kieran Brigden: This one links in with the earlier questions on modding tools - we will offer tools in the future and I expect there will be a user-generated map editor pretty soon after release.
03:06:21 -
Shroomthing asks: As I understand, there will be no blood in Empire.
What's the motivation behind this? And without blood will there be other signs we can look for to see if a soldier (or a general, since in previous TW games it was always a good thing to retreat your general when he looked "bloodied") is injured?
Kieran Brigden: As always units have a 'status' when you mouse over them. If the unit is injured or hurt it will be indicated there along with morale. There are also some more obvious signs too - when a unit keels over on his face, he's pretty much a goner. But the relative health of a unit is best seen via its popup status, or its number of men still standing.
03:08:26 -
nick_stone08 asks: Again of the subject, following your point about the kitten Easter egg, does that explain Mark O'Connel's avatar having a kitten? On topic - why has it been said that it's near to impossible having 15-20 ships fighting each other?
Kieran Brigden: Question the first - No comment on Marko's kitten avatar. He just kind of likes that stuff, but...maybe. On the second part, it's not by any means impossible. With a good usage of grouping, target selection and good ship-usage there's no reason you should find it hard to control twenty ships. But as before, naval battles require tactics, new ones. And these will take everyone time to master. It's just an added element in that respect.
03:09:50 -
El_Che asks: Why wasn't this game available for preload on Steam? Right now Steam is going down because of it, and at least I can't download the game I bought.
Moderating Hero: We're getting a few of these. Do you know?
Kieran Brigden: No problem, this is a genuine issue. Sadly it's one that's out of CA's hands. The Steam preload was something we wanted to do but for regional reasons we aren't able to implement. I'm sorry if it's caused a problem for anyone, which I know it has for some. All I can say it was our intention to offer this and we weren't able to do so for technical reasons outside our control.
03:10:52 -
Sailorboy asks: "If you have purchased a boxed copy...You will be able to activate your boxed copy of Empire and play on Wednesday 4th March." quote from the totalwar.com. At what time (CET) is the activation to be released on the 4th of March?
Kieran Brigden: Empire goes live at 1700GMT 1800CET TODAY. For the US its 0900GMT tomorrow.
Moderating Hero: Kapow!
03:12:35 -
FornicatingBaboon asks: What sort of process is involved when deciding on issues of realism versus game balance?
Kieran Brigden: Good question. It's what works regarding gameplay. Some historical tactics might be fun (line formations and demasting for example) and others are difficult and annoying (tacking, which got dropped). It's about what's fun and realistic; if we can't make it functional and fun it doesnt make it.
03:13:15 -
Blackguard asks: Which of the factions has been your favourite to play?
Kieran Brigden: I'd be tried for treason if I didn't say Great Britain, but on top of that I really enjoy the Prussian campaign and the Indian faction campaign is also a real breath of fresh air in that it's very different.
03:15:26 -
dangerpuss asks: How has being bought by SEGA changed the way you develop games? Do you get encouraged to do more console games?
Kieran Brigden: Being bought by SEGA has actually been a positive for both parties. And I'm not just saying that because Sonic will kick me. SEGA gets a guarantee of solid and critically acclaimed titles from a studio like CA and we get the guarantee of getting to make the games we love for a publisher that recognises their critical and commercial value. We have a whole console team which would be working on console games regardless; the difference is we have SEGA's backing on this too.
03:18:05 -
Schaep asks: Would you please comment on why the blood has been cut? Since you seem to have masterfully dodged that in the previous question!
Kieran Brigden: Thank you for noticing my masterful dodging. The blood hasn't been 'cut' per se. There are age rating reasons, but it's not like we've removed violence. Men are still impaled on bayonets and the like but we don't have intestines running all over the floor as a result. It's technical in some ways, when ten thousand guys are running around on screen having each of them bleed and expel objects and textures is an additional workload. On top of that it doesn't necessarily add anything. You get that same feeling of brutal combat without having the newspapers on your back.
03:19:19 -
modo_komodo asks: I really enjoyed your Prussian campaign progress report on total war.com, will you be adding to it? What happened to the Dutch! I must know!
Kieran Brigden: Haha! For those of you unfamiliar with this, I wrote a report on how the campaign went through the Prussian faction as I was playing it. I might indeed add to it in future, but as I said in my closing statement, the game is yours now and so are all the epic stories that will come from it. As Empire ships I plan to do two things. 1. Sleep. And 2. Spend even longer playing it.
03:20:58 -
Rorsch asks: Much of the fun I had with previous Total War games was the brutality of the battles - waiting for the enemy to come, getting charged, charging. In the demo of Empire Total War the battles felt more slow, tactical, calculated. Don't you feel that as Total War moves for more civilised times the game experience will change a lot?
Kieran Brigden: Yes and no. The age of the musket is also the age of the bayonette and the sabre. Men will still have to clash in massive numbers and smash one another with rifle butts and stab one another with sword and point. It's just more calculated. It's now about firing lines, and drills, shots and volleys and only committing to that brutal, bloody charge when the time is perfect.
03:22:51 -
Moderating Hero: Right, and now to avoid being brutally charged myself, I'm going to have to wind up! However, we have one last, killer question, which all must face. Would you rather be invisible or have lasers for eyes?
Kieran Brigden: Invisible. Because then I could go to an army defence lab and steal laser eye technology before being only a pair of glowing disembodied laser eyes. SWEET.
Moderating Hero: Genius! Thank you Kieran, you've been amazing. Any last words for the Eurogamer readers?
Kieran Brigden: Thank you so much to everyone thats taken the time to follow Empire and for reading about it and waiting for it. Not to gush but its you that make all this possible, if you like it, discuss it, buy and play it we get to keep making them. Thank you.
Moderating Hero: Good night!
Re: [ Empire: Total War ] Topic Ufficiale
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Originariamente Scritto da Wiston
Il server è intasatino...
, il vento nn ci facevo neanche caso !asd
ma davvero sono 14? io nn ho + spazio nel pc... devo incominciare a ripulire !!!avevo letto che bisogna registrare il prodotto su internet? ma è vero?
Re: [ Empire: Total War ] Topic Ufficiale
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