CA wouldn't delve any deeper than what was written in the article... it could, feasibly, be written to take advantage of CUDA and not specifically PhysX. Funcom has done that with the Age of Conan DX10 patch (which interestingly still hasn't been released).
Quite possibly, yes, although it could also have been written in OpenCL (whose spec is 'final' but not officially released yet)... without confirmation from the developer, we're basically speculating on the outcome. If it is written to use CUDA though, it will also run on the CPU (albeit much slower or with less objects).
I find this... funny, since I didnt bought the 4870 when it came out because nVidia claimed ETW would support PhysX.
Then delayed the GTX260 purchase waiting for the 216 version and am now waiting for the 55nm version.
Hopefullly it comes with the revised PCB and cooler similar to the new 9800GTX+s.
Back to the game, how are the troops and ships transfers from one theatre to another handled?
"how are the troops and ships transfers from one theatre to another handled?"
Good question - unfortunately CA didn't show us how ships move from one theatre to the next. I'm guessing you'll send a ship to the western-most edge of the European map to travel to the North American theatre (eg), but y'never know know with CA - maybe it will seamless.
if a ship catches fire, crew is diverted away from the guns to put it out,
Too bad for the crew that its not based on the farcry 2 engine. that way the fire would only spread a set distance and then go out. Leaving them to man the guns.
(that was a joke people)
Thinking about it, does the depth of a formation effect the amount of people that can fire? I read in your article about the thin line to get as many guns to bear getting smashed which would imply it does. I remember in the previous total war games you could have your archers in a nice easily manoeuvrable block as all rows could fire.
Originally Posted by Veles does the depth of a formation effect the amount of people that can fire?
As far as I understand things, it does. Muskets have to be fired fairly horizontally, so people in the second row can't fire unless the front row ducks (I believe this might be a drill/upgrade that you can research, but CA isn't being ultra-clear about this at this stage).
However, arrows (yes, there are still archers) need to fire more vertically, so all the men in a unit of archers should be able to fire no matter how deep the unit is.
Originally Posted by Veles I remember in the previous total war games you could have your archers in a nice easily manoeuvrable block as all rows could fire.
They would fire, but not as accurately as in a line.
Originally Posted by impar They would fire, but not as accurately as in a line.
Ah, I didn't know that, I'll have to change my tactics a bit.
What I'm really hoping for is cleverer units, especially when persuing. Many, many times I've become frustrated at my cavalry running full pelt all at one guy, and when he dies they just casually trot behind the rest of the fleeing troops.
Trample them into the ground damn you! I want my fields of blood!
Originally Posted by Veles What I'm really hoping for is cleverer units, especially when persuing.
The pursuing unit (eg: cavalry) always tends to go to the center of the pursued unit (eg: infantry). If the infantry unit is too scattered, the cavalry behaves erratically.
Its easier if you micro-manage the cavalry, make it stop to regroup, wait for all the infantry to be at the front of the cavalry and then issue the atack command.
That way the cavalry still goes to the center of the infantry but hopeffully finishes off the stragglers.
Originally Posted by Batou Any idea as to system req's?
Not a clue I'm afraid. The PCs running the sea battle I played were using 620W Corsair PSUs (that red sticker is a giveaway!) but then we had to play in windowed mode, and you could easily run a quad-core CPU and hefty graphics card from one of those anyway. I'm guessing it'll be fairly tough to run just because every other Total War games have been at launch. I'd guees it'll be CPU-hungry as well as GPU but this is all conjecture based on previous games. Probably wont see system specs until after Christmas as the game is due beginning of Feb.
Thinking about it, does the depth of a formation effect the amount of people that can fire? I read in your article about the thin line to get as many guns to bear getting smashed which would imply it does. I remember in the previous total war games you could have your archers in a nice easily manoeuvrable block as all rows could fire.
Hi Veles
yes, the formations have an impact on firing rifles. Only the first 2 rows can fire safely simultanously in a deep formation. The rest of the men cannot fire and have to wait until their time as come to do so.
But if you build a 2 (max 2-3) line formation ALL of your men can fire simultanously. Maximum concentration of firepower = fire superiority (to reach this is the goal of any commander on the field). Devastating for deep formations in firerange.
Thats how Napoleons first infantry attack waves have been beaten and pushed back by Wellingtons 2 row rifle lines on the hill by Waterloo. The weak spot in 2 Line Formations is that they cannot withstand long in close combat. Soldiers needed a special training to be able to successfully use this formation. The English loved it. They were trained to stay where they were and fight and die there.
Very deep formations had also a big psychologic effect on the enemy, lowering the moral, thus weakening will and resistance (for example the 150 man x 20 rows deep formation that Napoleon used in Waterloo in his first attack wave) while the own soldiers felt more protected and comfortable.
I'm looking forward to imply all this tactics and formations in Empire Total War :-) This will be a great game for sure. CA is an amazing game developer, innovativ and highly skilled and experienced. And they are listening to the feedback of their customers.
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ReplyAnd props for being on Steam too!
No PhysX?!
nVidia lied then?
Do you know if it was GPU or CPU powered?
I find this... funny, since I didnt bought the 4870 when it came out because nVidia claimed ETW would support PhysX.
Then delayed the GTX260 purchase waiting for the 216 version and am now waiting for the 55nm version.
Hopefullly it comes with the revised PCB and cooler similar to the new 9800GTX+s.
Back to the game, how are the troops and ships transfers from one theatre to another handled?
Good question - unfortunately CA didn't show us how ships move from one theatre to the next. I'm guessing you'll send a ship to the western-most edge of the European map to travel to the North American theatre (eg), but y'never know know with CA - maybe it will seamless.
It is difficult to think where they could go from here, I wouldn't say no to a Shogun 2 though
Are there gonna be mongols in this one?
(that was a joke people)
Thinking about it, does the depth of a formation effect the amount of people that can fire? I read in your article about the thin line to get as many guns to bear getting smashed which would imply it does. I remember in the previous total war games you could have your archers in a nice easily manoeuvrable block as all rows could fire.
As far as I understand things, it does. Muskets have to be fired fairly horizontally, so people in the second row can't fire unless the front row ducks (I believe this might be a drill/upgrade that you can research, but CA isn't being ultra-clear about this at this stage).
However, arrows (yes, there are still archers) need to fire more vertically, so all the men in a unit of archers should be able to fire no matter how deep the unit is.
Ah, I didn't know that, I'll have to change my tactics a bit.
What I'm really hoping for is cleverer units, especially when persuing. Many, many times I've become frustrated at my cavalry running full pelt all at one guy, and when he dies they just casually trot behind the rest of the fleeing troops.
Trample them into the ground damn you! I want my fields of blood!
Its easier if you micro-manage the cavalry, make it stop to regroup, wait for all the infantry to be at the front of the cavalry and then issue the atack command.
That way the cavalry still goes to the center of the infantry but hopeffully finishes off the stragglers.
Not a clue I'm afraid. The PCs running the sea battle I played were using 620W Corsair PSUs (that red sticker is a giveaway!) but then we had to play in windowed mode, and you could easily run a quad-core CPU and hefty graphics card from one of those anyway. I'm guessing it'll be fairly tough to run just because every other Total War games have been at launch. I'd guees it'll be CPU-hungry as well as GPU but this is all conjecture based on previous games. Probably wont see system specs until after Christmas as the game is due beginning of Feb.
Hi Veles
yes, the formations have an impact on firing rifles. Only the first 2 rows can fire safely simultanously in a deep formation. The rest of the men cannot fire and have to wait until their time as come to do so.
But if you build a 2 (max 2-3) line formation ALL of your men can fire simultanously. Maximum concentration of firepower = fire superiority (to reach this is the goal of any commander on the field). Devastating for deep formations in firerange.
Thats how Napoleons first infantry attack waves have been beaten and pushed back by Wellingtons 2 row rifle lines on the hill by Waterloo. The weak spot in 2 Line Formations is that they cannot withstand long in close combat. Soldiers needed a special training to be able to successfully use this formation. The English loved it. They were trained to stay where they were and fight and die there.
Very deep formations had also a big psychologic effect on the enemy, lowering the moral, thus weakening will and resistance (for example the 150 man x 20 rows deep formation that Napoleon used in Waterloo in his first attack wave) while the own soldiers felt more protected and comfortable.
I'm looking forward to imply all this tactics and formations in Empire Total War :-) This will be a great game for sure. CA is an amazing game developer, innovativ and highly skilled and experienced. And they are listening to the feedback of their customers.
Greeting from Switzerland, Andi
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