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Empire: Total War

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Revision as of 17:22, 14 July 2010 by Mr mm (talk | contribs) (→‎Overview)
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Overview

Empire: Total War is set in the turbulent 18th century. It is a period alive with global conflict, revolutionary fervor and technological advances. With themes such as the Industrial Revolution, America’s struggle for independence, the race to control Eastern trade routes and the globalisation of war on land and sea, Empire: Total War™ is arguably amongst the richest and most dynamic PC RTS games of all time.

Empire: Total War has seen the debut of 3D naval combat within the Total War™ franchise. PC Gamers are able to intuitively command vast fleets or single ships upon seascapes rich with extraordinary water and weather effects that play a huge role in your eventual glorious success or ignominious defeat. After pummeling your enemy with cannon fire, close in to grapple their ship and board them, as your men fight hand to hand on the decks for control.

Along with the revolutionary introduction of Naval Combat, Empire: Total War™ has seen further enhancements to the Total War™ series signature 3D battles and turn based campaign map. Real time battles pose new challenges with the addition of cannon and musket, challenging players to master new formations and tactics as a result of the increasing role of gunpowder within warfare. And the Campaign Map – for many the heart of Total War™ – has seen new improved systems for Trade, Diplomacy and Espionage with agents, a refined and streamlined UI, improved Advisors and extended scope taking in the riches of India, the turbulence of Europe and the untapped potential of North America.

“Empire: Total War™ is a huge revolutionary step for the series. We’re delighted to introduce true 3D naval combat, something that adds a totally new dimension to Total War™ games. We’re genuinely excited about what we’re achieving with the naval battles and also by the scale of the improvements being made to the core of the game – the land battles and the campaign. This will undoubtedly be the biggest and best Total War™ game we’ve ever made.”

- Mike Simpson, Studio Director at The Creative Assembly and the father of the Total War™ franchise. Read More

The second major area of gameplay is the battle system. Unlike the campaign part of the game, players control battles in real-time. As with all titles in the series after Shogun: Total War, battles in Empire: Total War can take place on both land and water. However, Empire is the first Total War title to allow naval battles as well as land-based engagements to be fought in real-time; previously, when a naval battle was fought it would be automatically resolved by the game's artificial intelligence, taking into account factors such as number of ships and crew, and armament types to decide the victor. Automatic resolution of battles during a campaign is an option for both land and sea battles. Outside of the main campaign mode, players can participate in recreations of historical battles in the 18th century and early 19th century.[18]


Land based combat features a greater focus on gunpowder weaponry than in previous games In land engagements, players are given access to an 18th century army consisting of a variety of units, such as cavalry, musketeers, riflemen and artillery. Each unit has its own intrinsic advantages, disadvantages, cost, and overall level of effectiveness. Players must use 18th century tactics and formations with the units they have available to defeat their enemies. The terrain of the battlefield and the weather also impact on how a battle is fought.[19] Factions can lay siege to settlements, replacing open land battles with street fighting and close-quarters combat. Each unit has morale, which can increase if the battle goes well for their faction, or decrease in cases such as heavy casualties, loss of regimental colours or the death of the general. Tactical situations such as attacking from a flank or a rear, or depriving a unit of allied reinforcements would also cause the morale of the unit to drop dramatically. When a unit's morale is sufficiently depleted, it will rout and attempt to flee the battlefield. Depending on whether the unit's morale is merely broken or entirely shattered, the player may be able to rally the men in the unit and regroup. Victory in battle is achieved by causing every enemy unit to rout, or by killing or capturing the opposing army. In addition, siege battles can be won if the attacker manages to take control of the settlement's central square for a set amount of time. Empire: Total War also introduces several new battlefield elements to the Total War series. Units can take cover behind walls or in buildings, allowing increased interactivity with the terrain and making some buildings points of strategic interest.[13] Field defences may be set up in real-time on the battlefield, to adjust for given situations. Infantry units can also scale small obstacles in the field, such as walls and fences. Weapons based on gunpowder are prone to accidents, and can even malfunction and kill their users. In naval battles, players can control a fleet of up to twenty ships, varying in class, size, armament and crew. As in land-based conflicts, players must make use of 18th century tactics to overcome enemy fleets. As with army units, each ship's crew has a set amount of morale that changes as a battle progresses; a crew may attempt to withdraw their vessel from the battle if their morale is broken, or in extreme cases may surrender without further enemy action. A battle is won when all of the hostile ships have been sunk or captured or have left the map.[20] Individual ships can be adjusted to allow for a maximum field of fire while attempting to maintain a minimalised target, all whilst remaining within an overall formation with the rest of the fleet. Players can designate which parts of a hostile ship they want a crew to target, making ships prone to sustaining authentic damage during a battle: masts can be toppled, sails and gun ports can be destroyed and various other damage can entirely disable a ship's ability to maneuver or eventually sink it.[13] Various types of ammunition can be used during a battle, such as grapeshot, chain-shot and round shot, which have different uses, from killing enemy crew to disabling enemy movement. As battles progress, crews can attempt to board enemy vessels and fight hand-to-hand in an attempt to capture the ship.[20] Lastly, the weather in a naval battle can impact how it is fought; bad weather can result in effects from poor visibility to endangering a ship's safety.[20]

General Information

  • Empire: Total War is arguably one of the most accessible Total War game ever. Enhanced auto management, revolutionized UI, improved advice system and tutorials all combine to introduce new players to the concepts of Total War, quickly and easily.
  • Empire: Total War includes a full re-write of the AI with a wider range of strategies and tactics, providing a formidable opponent on land, sea and on the campaign map.
  • The game is set in the years 1700 to the early 1800’s, a turbulent age of gunpowder, revolution, discovery and Empire Building.

Factions

-See main article: Empire: Total War Factions

More than fifty factions are included in the game, 36 of which are playable. The other factions cannot be unlocked and have to be modded into the game. The eleven playable factions from the the beginning are:

Playable Factions

Unplayable Factions

Starting Protectorates

  • Barbary States - Islamic Absolute Monarchy
  • Courland - Protestant Absolute Monarchy
  • Crimean Khanate - Islamic Absolute Monarchy
  • Louisiana- Catholic Absolute Monarchy
  • New Spain- Catholic Absolute Monarchy
  • Saxony- Catholic Absolute Monarchy
  • Thirteen Colonies- Protestant Constitutional Monarchy

Emerging

  • Afghanistan- Islamic Absolute Monarchy
  • Gran Columbia- Catholic Absolute Monarchy
  • Greece- Orthodox Absolute Monarchy
  • Hessen- Protestant Absolute Monarchy
  • Hungary- Catholic Absolute Monarchy
  • Ireland- Catholic Absolute Monarchy
  • Mamelukes- Islamic Absolute Monarchy
  • Mexico- Catholic Absolute Monarchy
  • Naples & Sicily- Catholic Absolute Monarchy
  • Norway- Protestant Absolute Monarchy
  • Punjab- Sikh Absolute Monarchy
  • Quebec- Catholic Absolute Monarchy
  • Scotland- Protestant Absolute Monarchy
  • United States- Protestant Republic (Grand Campaign)

Campaign Map

  • The game includes 12 playable factions in the beginning, including Britain, Prussia, France, Spain, America and the Ottoman Empire.
  • The total number of factions in ETW is higher than 50 [1]
  • Revolutionized Total War campaign spanning 5 continents and featuring new, enhanced systems for Trade, Diplomacy, Missions and Espionage.
  • An all-new fully animated campaign map with all buildings and upgrades visible.
  • Huge cast of historical figures including Peter The Great, Marlborough and Charles XII of Sweden

Battlefield Gameplay

  • New Real-Time 3D Naval Warfare takes Total War’s unparalleled battle action to the high seas with players commanding single ships or vast fleets.
  • Realistic sailing model, cannon and musket fire, boarding actions, fully destructible sails, rigging and hulls and a full range of weather effects to influence battles.
  • It is possible to capture ships and use them as a part of your fleet[2]
  • Land battles that feature heavy artillery in the form of cannons, mortar and early rocket launchers, with bouncing cannonballs slicing through drifting gun smoke to tear up lines of infantry. Bagpipes, drummers, flautists and trumpeters fill the air with play out over the crack of musket fire

Multiplayer

ETW multiplayer was supposed to be revolutionary with the addition of a brand new feature the multiplayer online campaign. Aside that we can also highlight that with the integration with steam the game could get a ladder system, giving players the motivation to pursue constant online battles.

The Multiplayer online campaign only reached beta phase, and thus is not integrated into the game. Although it was fully implemented in the Napoleon: Total War. This move was done since that the Hot Seat feature would be discard

System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements
Supported OS: Windows® XP Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista™ or Windows 7™
Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel® Pentium® or greater or AMD® Athlon® equivalent CPU, with SSE2 instruction
Memory: 1 GB RAM (XP,) 2 GB RAM (Vista™)
Graphics: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible hardware accelerated video card with shader version 2.0 support, 256 MB video memory
Display: Minimum screen resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels
Sound: Directx9.0c compatible sound card
Hard Drive: 15 GB free hard disk space formatted as NTFS
Peripherals: Windows compatible mouse and keyboard
Recommended Requirements
Supported OS: Windows® XP Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista™ or Windows 7™
Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel® Core 2 Duo® or greater or AMD® Athlon64® equivalent CPU, with SSE2 instruction
Memory: 3 GB RAM (XP,) 4 GB RAM (Vista™)
Graphics: 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible hardware accelerated video card with shader version 3.0 support, 512 MB video memory
Display: Minimum screen resolution of 1280 x 1024 pixels
Sound: Directx9.0c compatible sound card
Hard Drive: 15 GB free hard disk space formatted as NTFS
Peripherals: Windows compatible mouse and keyboard

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