Looks like the boys at The Creative Assembly are getting ready for Halloween! Click on the wallpaper above to enlarge it to full size. (Thanks Andalus)
Oh, and if you join the Total War facebook page before November 30th you get entered in a draw to win a copy of ‘Empire: Total War – The Warpath Campaign’.
Tags: Creative Assembly, Empire: Total War, ETW, Facebook, Halloween, Napoleon: Total War, NTW, The Warpath Campaign
The Creative Assembly have started to put up unit previews for ‘Napoleon: Total War’ on their official website. The first two units posted are the Artillerie à Pied, an elite unit of artillery, and the 106 Gun Ship of the Line, one of the most powerful ships on the seas possessing more artillery than most armies on land.
Source: twcenter.net
Tags: 106 Gun Ship of the Line, Artillerie à Pied, Creative Assembly, France, Napoleon: Total War, Napoleonic Era, Napoleonic Wars, NTW
The folks over at GamesRadar have published a “first look” article on ‘Napoleon: Total War’. The most interesting things they reveal is that there will be 322 unique units in the game, more soldiers will be visible on the battlefield than in previous installments in the series, new abilities will be available for generals (and there is a finite pool of them), and supplying your armies as they expand your empire will be a major factor. You will also be able to play as different factions than France and certain features will be transferable to ‘Empire: Total War’ if you own both games. Check it all out here.
Tags: Creative Assembly, GamesRadar, Napoleon: Total War, Napoleonic Era, Napoleonic Wars, NTW
Björn Hurri, the artist who’s been doing the artwork for ‘Napoleon: Total War’ (here) and ‘Empire: Total War – The Warpath Campaign’ (here), has posted the unedited versions of his unit concept art for NTW. These images are slightly larger than the ones posted before, and the detail on them is more visible. Check out his post about them on Gorilla Artfare, where you’ll also find more great art.
Tags: Artwork, Austrian Uhlan, Björn Hurri, Black Watch, British Heavy Cavalry Officer, Brunswick Infantry, Creative Assembly, French Cuirassier, Napoleon: Total War, NTW
Total War Video Mayhem
A look at the videos of the Total War series
Written by Augustus Lucifer
So I was thinking about what to write this month, and like all good writers I tried to analyze what demographics of my readers and prospective readers I had yet to alienate. Rome got paltry representation in my Modding Front articles, check that off the list, and Empire constantly gets shtick from this columnist, check and double-check, so it’s about time to stick it to the other games. And what better way to stick it to the other games than to do a segment on videos. Well the videos aren’t actually all that bad, but my first idea for a segment about Norman and Milanese inbreeding was turned down by Calvin. A right stickler that one.
In this segment I take a look back at the videos in the series and rank the games and their expansions by the quality of their videographic representation. I know, I know, videographic isn’t a word, but in keeping with the terms of my ES contract I’m obligated to make up at least three words per issue. We all try to do our part as citizens of the internet in the ongoing pursuit of butchering the English language. Of note, the two games which will not be represented in the Top 10 are Viking Invasion and Rome Alexander, since they don’t really have any intro videos. Plus I’m lazy and I don’t like Nordics or Greeks. There goes another reader demographic, on a freaking roll here.
I’ll be rating them based on three factors: Imagery, Sound, and Immersion. Each is worth between 1 and 10 points, and each game also gets an added 0.5 points for every year it is old, to reflect the increase in graphical capabilities. The videos being rated are the trailer/intro videos, not in-game videos. Anyone who thinks my rating system is unfair is welcome to not be right. Did I just alienate opinionated people? Oh yeah!
So sit back, relax, get inebriated, and enjoy.
I might be being a little bit generous here. The images in the Mongol intro, which is the same for both the main campaign and the historical Kublai Khan campaign, are lacking. It goes something like… angry dude, more angry dude, ooh shiny weapons, more angry dude, hey look horses, more angry dude, Drew Barrymore no wait just more angry dude, hey look boats! And it seems like the stampeding horses and the large fleet of boats should have evoked something, but it just didn’t.
Imagery: 4/10
Ugh, the sound on this thing has to be the worst sound in the series, bar none. There was a couple bits of throat singing in the background, which was decent, but the narrative by Kublai Khan makes him sound like a caveman. Me.. mongol.. me.. smash.. japan.. big.. stick.. wood.. sea.. horse.. urgh.. RAWR! If that had been the dialogue it might have gotten a higher rating in this category.
Sound: 1/10
Well what’s to expect here, considering the above I’d have rather there been no video at all. The video just made me feel bad for trying to steal those nice Samurais land. Me.. mongol.. me.. misunderstood.. me.. just.. need.. hug.. sadface.
Immersion: 2/10
Age Bonus: 4
Total: 11
Tags: Barbarian Invasion, Creative Assembly, Empire: Total War, ETW, Intro, Kingdoms, M2TW, Medieval II: Total War, Medieval: Total War, MTW, Napoleon: Total War, NTW, Rome: Total War, RTW, Shogun: Total War, STW, The Mongol Invasion, The Warpath Campaign, Total War, Trailer, Video
A
TREATISE
ON
Napoleon: Total War
IN NINE PARTS
CONTAINING
Sieges, Diplomacy, Campaign and Battle Maps, Characters, Music, Multiplayer, Units, Formations, and Miscellaneous Features
Written by Reiksmarshal
The purpose of this treatise is to consolidate many of the community feature request and feature improvements that have been proposed on the various forums and boards. Most requests stem from the desire to want more or if the game design falls short in certain areas. We as a community and fans get excited when we hear things from Kieran Brigden such as “We listen to what the fans have to say” but also have to be realistic about our requests. Hopefully we can see some of the current features improved and maybe a few new features added. This treatise is more about refining what has already been done by the Creative Assembly and making it all come together in what could be the grandest and most polished Total War game to date.
Sieges in Empire: Total War is probably one of the game design areas that needs an overhaul the most out of all the features listed above. Sieges should be a fairly simple affair, make a breach in the wall and kill everything inside. The siege AI on the other hand has a hard time managing to make a breach in the walls with its artillery. Grappling hooks are another thing that seems to be an issue with most players. If I could list priorities for how sieges should be fought I would add a couple of new elements such as pioneers and ladders. The pioneers would use axes to destroy the gates of forts or bust down doors of houses were troops would be hiding in a siege battle. I would also replace the ropes with ladders if it can be programmed properly and function better then what they did in M2TW. Here is the list of priorities for the AI when conducting sieges. Also the objective of a siege should not be a little circle with a flag pole, maybe you could introduce a new element to sieges such as taking the building in the center of the fort or a governmental/palace building in the center of a city. I think this would make sieges and city battles so much interesting since you actually have to defend something that is more defensible. You could also make sieges with multiple layers, for example if you attack a city that has a ring of forts as a defense, you would have to take the fort first before you could assault the city. This is something that could be added to increase the difficultly of capturing a city.
Tags: Creative Assembly, Napoleon: Total War, Napoleonic Era, Napoleonic Wars, NTW
‘Napoleon: Total War’ is the Creative Assembly’s latest game in the Total War series and, unlike the recently announced ‘The Warpath Campaign’ expansion pack for ‘Empire: Total War’, it will be a standalone release. The campaign in NTW will, of course, focus on the life and deeds of l’Empereur Napoléon Bonaparte, and it will be split into three story-driven chapters dealing with his Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars, the Egyptian Campaign, and culminate in the Battle of Waterloo. Whether you play the Emperor himself, or as one of his opponents, will be up to you.
CA have opened a Facebook page for the game and promises that «the first 1000 fans will be entered into a draw to win a signed piece of Napoleon: Total War artwork!» As I write this there are 120 fans, so if you’re on Facebook and like the art shown below, you might want to sign up!
More information about the game can be found at the official website.
Tags: Artwork, Austrian Uhlan, Black Watch, British Heavy Cavalry Officer, Brunswick Infantry, Creative Assembly, Facebook, French Cuirassier, History, Napoleon, Napoleon: Total War, Napoleonic Era, Napoleonic Wars, NTW, Screenshots, Trailer, Video
