How is Empire: TW this awful?

[AyashiKaibutsu]

So I kind of skipped from Rome:TW to TW: Shogun 2 (love both), and a while ago steam had a big bundle sale of old TW games so I bought that. I was trying to get into Empire, but the battle AI is just too awful to play against. Most of the time the AI cavalry charges straight into my fortified infantry long before any of their other units are around. It practically sends it's infantry in one at a time. Rarely uses it's cannons well and often leaves them undefended vs cavalry charges.

I mean the TW ai has/are always dumb, but this is just too much to deal with. Doesn't help that the whole lining up infantry as the primary means of fighting seems to not be as entertaining as other TW games. Is there some way to make it smarter (increase difficulty(usually just makes them have more)) or is napoleon any better?

 

[motsm]

I don't think it's any worse than previous games personally. CA says the AI gets smarter on the harder difficulties though, not that I've compared them, but you can give it a try. Also, you should be able to find some AI mods at www.twcenter.net.

 

[NoSoup4You]

Yep, plus the game was riddled with AI issues on the campaign map. I'm not sure if those ever got sorted out with patches later on. You'd advance on an enemy country only to find 15 "troops" with only one guy in each, instead of just having them all grouped under one banner. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Stuff like that breaks immersion, I quit the series but I will say that I still got about 80 hours of gameplay out of it and did thoroughly enjoy parts of it. When it was going good, man was it good! The graphics were outstanding at the time, and the time period is exciting with the tall ships and cannons, progressing from basic muskets to long rifles...etc. I remember pushing through on into Russia playing as Spain, it was an awesome game when it worked.

But you're right, the brutal AI and not just in the battles, that killed the game and the series for me. While I bought Shogun 2, I never bothered with it...

 

[irishScott]

What got me more than anything was the simple things, like not being able to garrison an empty building or repair my walls. These are simple counting operations that my amateur self could code, and they couldn't even fix them (and they should have worked out of the box). Sure the game was "playable" without either of these features (especially when dumb AI simply banzai charges any breach in the walls) but it killed any immersion and shows a lack of even basic polish.

On the flip side I'm thoroughly enjoying Shogun II, had fun with Rome, and even Medieval II wasn't bad, if a bit slow.

 

[Kristijonas]

I recommend using Darthmod for E:TW. It improves the AI well.

 

[Anteaus]

I think it got a bad rap because of a grossly unoptimized game engine and ai problems. Ironically it's my favorite TW game because I love the time period and its scale. It reviewed well because all things considered there is still a decent game buried in that stupid engine.

The game is much more enjoyable if you have a system that can overcome the shortcomings of the game engine. The AI still isn't all that great, but then again, can you name any game in the TW series with decent AI...well maybe Shogun II, but look how many tries it took!

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I think it got a bad rap because of a grossly unoptimized game engine and ai problems. Ironically it's my favorite TW game because I love the time period and its scale. It reviewed well because all things considered there is still a decent game buried in that stupid engine.

The game is much more enjoyable if you have a system that can overcome the shortcomings of the game engine. The AI still isn't all that great, but then again, can you name any game in the TW series with decent AI...well maybe Shogun II, but look how many tries it took!

My computer can run it fine (i7 860 8 gigs of ram 460gtx). The AI is unbearable to play against. It's like trying to play chess vs a computer that just uses a RNG to make it's turns.

 

[bentheman939]

I recommend using Darthmod for E:TW. It improves the AI well.

This. The AI becomes much smarter. Playing on very hard/very hard is a real challenge.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I recommend using Darthmod for E:TW. It improves the AI well.

I'll give it a shot when I get a chance.

 

[acheron]

It's been a couple years since I tried this, I should start it up again. Loved the concept of the game, but it was awfully buggy. maybe I'll check out that AI mod.