Shogun 2 TW shipped with no direct x11 support

[TehMac]

I wonder how all the nVision peeps are liking it

 

[Anneka]

Wait what? Why would you even create something these days with no DirectX 11 implementation?

 

[Regs]

On top of all the other positives all ready said, this game seems very well narrated and atmospheric. They did a good job recapturing the cultural appeal of that war period.

It does not appear to have many visual or graphical improvements over its predecessor but I hope they took that extra time to make the engine and campaign map more stable. I would hate to get half way through the campaign and get to an unavoidable CTD error when I click on an army or enter into battle that plagued Empire.

 

[Kudro]

Just an update on the DirectX issues (this what I gleaned from Jack Lusted's posts on twcenter):

- The game has shipped with DX9 only. Their implementation of DX9 does not allow for AA.
- DX10/10.1/11 will be implemented in a patch within 4 weeks
- DX10.0 does not support AA either. Only DX10.1 and 11 will allow for AA.

I'm pretty sure you can still force AA through the control panel, but it will take a bigger performance hit than an in-game option. I'm not one for buying games that are lacking features advertised on the box on release, so when this patch comes out, I'll probably give it a go. Besides the DX10/11 issue, people seem to really be enjoying the game.

 

[Farmer]

Does this have game have campaign A.I.?

For the few weeks that I played Empires, as far as I could tell, there was essentially no campaign A.I., or some extremely rudimentary campaign A.I.

 

[Regs]

Does this have game have campaign A.I.?

For the few weeks that I played Empires, as far as I could tell, there was essentially no campaign A.I., or some extremely rudimentary campaign A.I.

So far they attacked my villages and went for my throat even when they AI knew the chips were in my favor. So far I’m liking their aggressiveness. Still far too early for me to find out about how they navy interacts and if there are any large scale AI invasions.

 

[ayabe]

I got stomped about 40 turns into my first campaign last night, been a long time since that's happened, probably since Rome.

 

[NoSoup4You]

Busting through the tutorial campaign right now, I had about 80 hours into Empire before giving it up - LOVING SHOGUN so far. The game looks and more importantly runs much smoother now. The character models are way better, lots of shiny armor...etc. that I never noticed in Empire.

Empire had so much potential... just missing the needed polish and better AI. The two things about Shogun so far that stick out the most are - the menu screens are incredibly well thought out when compared to the truly abysmal, even depressing, menu's of Empire. And the second thing is this game never makes me feel like my pc is dying under the strain - the loading menu's come and go pleasantly, the game runs nice and smooth, and everything just feels "right". Empire, even when running at settings that were tolerable, still felt like it was two clicks away from bombing out at any moment.

 

[Sulaco]

I'm about 6-8 hours into my Takeda campaign. First things first:

NO CRASHES, NO ERRORS, NO SLOWDOWN

Anyone who played Empire at launch will know why I bolded that. So far, knock on wood, am I THRILLED with CA. Everything that was wrong with Empire out of the gate has been addressed. I had easily 3-4 crashes to desktop an hour on Empire every time I played a campaign. Nothing with Shogun.

Another MAJOR issue for Empire was ridiculous, unacceptable slowdown...on the campaign map! Get 30 or more turns in, and clicking the "End Turn" button was a nightmare, because you knew it would just crawl by (or crash). Ending turns in Shogun is a dream compared to that.

I'm also thoroughly pleased with the battle AI, which kicked my ass several times before I started taking it more seriously, and even the campaign AI is improved and more intelligent, though not as obviously so as the battle AI.

Everything else about the game is an improvement as well. Stellar. The menus, the music, the small touches here and there.

I can't wait to get back to it.

 

[bentheman939]

Just completed my first campaign on very hard/very hard (the hardest difficulty does not allow manual game saves, which I think might be too tedious for me). I played as the Uesugi, as I have always liked the warrior monks from Shogun 1, and hate those meddling Christians. The combat and campaign AI is MUCH better than medieval 2. Cavalry is back to being exceedingly powerful, as better path finding allows for hit - withdraw - hit attacks, causing rounds of panic due to charge on flank/rear plus sudden causalities. Sieges, especially in larger castles, are varied and intense. However, siege type combat was always more fun in European based TW games, with their vast assortment of equipment and fortifications. Naval combat is also very good, but not as impressive or realistic as Empires (much less tedious though). Overall, this is a fantastic game. CA has definitely improved their methods through iterative products, and I hope they keep churning these TW games out for a long time to come.

Just as an aside, to all the people comparing this game to Empire: have you tried the mods? I know many of you may say it is unacceptable that mods need to fix a game because the devs cannot/wont. The Darth mod, for example, fixes many of the inconsistencies in vanilla Empire, improves the campaign and battle AI an enormous amount, reskins all units, tweaks and otherwise refines the gameplay. I honestly don't even remember if vanilla Empire was good/bad, but mods make it an exceptional game. I agree the guns/cannons are not as visceral or appropriate as swords and shields, but the comments on this forum are really selling Empire short imo. Bashing it as almost become a truism, where even people who have never tried it "heard" it was buggy/too ambitious/not fun and so believe these things implicitly. To any doubters: try it again, with some mods... you might be surprised.

 

[Sulaco]

Just completed my first campaign on very hard/very hard (the hardest difficulty does not allow manual game saves, which I think might be too tedious for me). I played as the Uesugi, as I have always liked the warrior monks from Shogun 1, and hate those meddling Christians. The combat and campaign AI is MUCH better than medieval 2. Cavalry is back to being exceedingly powerful, as better path finding allows for hit - withdraw - hit attacks, causing rounds of panic due to charge on flank/rear plus sudden causalities. Sieges, especially in larger castles, are varied and intense. However, siege type combat was always more fun in European based TW games, with their vast assortment of equipment and fortifications. Naval combat is also very good, but not as impressive or realistic as Empires (much less tedious though). Overall, this is a fantastic game. CA has definitely improved their methods through iterative products, and I hope they keep churning these TW games out for a long time to come.

Just as an aside, to all the people comparing this game to Empire: have you tried the mods? I know many of you may say it is unacceptable that mods need to fix a game because the devs cannot/wont. The Darth mod, for example, fixes many of the inconsistencies in vanilla Empire, improves the campaign and battle AI an enormous amount, reskins all units, tweaks and otherwise refines the gameplay. I honestly don't even remember if vanilla Empire was good/bad, but mods make it an exceptional game. I agree the guns/cannons are not as visceral or appropriate as swords and shields, but the comments on this forum are really selling Empire short imo. Bashing it as almost become a truism, where even people who have never tried it "heard" it was buggy/too ambitious/not fun and so believe these things implicitly. To any doubters: try it again, with some mods... you might be surprised.

Don't get me wrong, Empire was a great game (eventually) with great potential, but I'm only comparing Shogun 2 to where Empire was at the same time in its life cycle.

It was released, however, in simply deplorable condition.

Simply put, next to perhaps Gothic III, I can't think of too many other big-budget PC games I've played in the past several years that were as bug-laden and problem filled.

The fact that Shogun 2, so far, is free of all those issues, while improving things across the board, just goes to show how great this series can be. Not perfect, sure, but I'm just thrilled the game is playable, fun, and all it was cracked up to be right out of the gate, rather than months later after patch 2.xx

:thumbsup:

 

[ayabe]

It's not completely bug free, at least wasn't on launch day. A lot of people including myself were experiencing hard machine reboots after a certain amount of time. The patches from the other day may have resolved it but only time will tell. I played around 3 hours yesterday and didn't have any problems.

 

[Anneka]

Well for the time being it looks ok. Only played a few hours last night... No bugs so far!

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Wait what? Why would you even create something these days with no DirectX 11 implementation?

because directx 11 isn't that widely adopted yet and there is pressure on them to publish and start the cashflow...

 

[Farmer]

Don't get me wrong, Empire was a great game (eventually) with great potential, but I'm only comparing Shogun 2 to where Empire was at the same time in its life cycle.

It was released, however, in simply deplorable condition.

Simply put, next to perhaps Gothic III, I can't think of too many other big-budget PC games I've played in the past several years that were as bug-laden and problem filled.

The fact that Shogun 2, so far, is free of all those issues, while improving things across the board, just goes to show how great this series can be. Not perfect, sure, but I'm just thrilled the game is playable, fun, and all it was cracked up to be right out of the gate, rather than months later after patch 2.xx

:thumbsup:

So, Empires has been patched up to better condition now? Would you consider it a good game? Because I would certainly pick it up if it was. The period it covers is awesome, I was just disappointed at release.

I love Total War!

 

[bentheman939]

So, Empires has been patched up to better condition now? Would you consider it a good game? Because I would certainly pick it up if it was. The period it covers is awesome, I was just disappointed at release.

I love Total War!

Empire is great! Napoleon too, which is sort of a series of scenarios using Empire mechanics. Using mods, like the Darth mod for example, makes the game much more challenging and smooths out any rough edges still remaining. If you like the period, get the game!

 

[SabreWulf69]

1680x1050 with no AA is horrible. The main screen is horrible. AA won't force in the NVIDIA drivers properly no matter what I do.

 

[Farmer]

Empire is great! Napoleon too, which is sort of a series of scenarios using Empire mechanics. Using mods, like the Darth mod for example, makes the game much more challenging and smooths out any rough edges still remaining. If you like the period, get the game!

Crap, it's still fairly costly on Steam. I figured it would've dropped below $20 by this point. Not sure if I should get Shogun II or the Empires superpack. Am I really going to spend over $100 on games this month?

 

[Merad]

Is there a way to change the camera settings so that the mouse wheel zooms the camera towards its focal point instead of just moving it vertically?

 

[Farmer]

Is there a place where I can see the number of possible trade routes I have?

 

[Sulaco]

1680x1050 with no AA is horrible. The main screen is horrible. AA won't force in the NVIDIA drivers properly no matter what I do.

lol.

No it's not. I'm running at 1680x1050, and while AA would certainly make things look better, the actual game looks great. The terrain and map are fine, and the units look excellent.
Honestly, the worst part is the menu screen, with he obvious "jaggies" around the fortress in the background. But who spends more than 10 seconds on the main screen anyway?

 

[TehMac]

Crap, it's still fairly costly on Steam. I figured it would've dropped below $20 by this point. Not sure if I should get Shogun II or the Empires superpack. Am I really going to spend over $100 on games this month?

Just get Napoleon. Empire has a cool time period, but it's not that great, frankly. Napoleon has redone sound, tweaked graphics, and imo, cooler looking units.

 

[bentheman939]

Just get Napoleon. Empire has a cool time period, but it's not that great, frankly. Napoleon has redone sound, tweaked graphics, and imo, cooler looking units.

Empire has like 150 capturable regions and a diverse array of playable factions, including native north americans and the martha confederacy in India. You literally play as a nation state, and can take over the entire world using the tools available in the colonial period. The game includes trade theatres from africa, polynesia, and south america. It is an amazing experience, and with mods that improve the AI its extremely tactical and challenging. You really appreciate some of the idiosyncrasies you might read about in history class. For example, England or the Netherlands, with their strong navies and colonial holdings but little presence in Europe play the game with certain challenges. They completely depend on overseas trade for income, and so defending their trade routes from naval harassment while maintaining peace with their stronger European opponents is vital. Playing as landlocked Prussia, however, requires a strong army and an expansionist strategy regarding its weaker continental neighbours. The Iroquois have their own completely different play style and priorities. Empire is so good at modelling reality, you get a real sense for the global issues of the time. Empire is an amazing game.

Napoleon, while "tweaked", is a much smaller game in scope, covering the Napoleonic wars only. It is arguably what CA should have started with and perfected, before trying something as ambitious as Empire. However, I would say it is definitely not "better" than Empire is now... more of a stand-alone expansion.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Empire has like 150 capturable regions and a diverse array of playable factions, including native north americans and the martha confederacy in India. You literally play as a nation state, and can take over the entire world using the tools available in the colonial period. The game includes trade theatres from africa, polynesia, and south america. It is an amazing experience, and with mods that improve the AI its extremely tactical and challenging. You really appreciate some of the idiosyncrasies you might read about in history class. For example, England or the Netherlands, with their strong navies and colonial holdings but little presence in Europe play the game with certain challenges. They completely depend on overseas trade for income, and so defending their trade routes from naval harassment while maintaining peace with their stronger European opponents is vital. Playing as landlocked Prussia, however, requires a strong army and an expansionist strategy regarding its weaker continental neighbours. The Iroquois have their own completely different play style and priorities. Empire is so good at modelling reality, you get a real sense for the global issues of the time. Empire is an amazing game.

Napoleon, while "tweaked", is a much smaller game in scope, covering the Napoleonic wars only. It is arguably what CA should have started with and perfected, before trying something as ambitious as Empire. However, I would say it is definitely not "better" than Empire is now... more of a stand-alone expansion.

Europa Universalis 3 gives you that stuff but much better. Just without the flashy battles. Not that TW games are bad mind you.

 

[bentheman939]

Europa Universalis 3 gives you that stuff but much better. Just without the flashy battles. Not that TW games are bad mind you.

Ya! I play EU3 + expansions, Victoria as well. Great games. Very tactical, VERY deep. Like the most complicated board game in history. TW games have always been about the gorgeous real time battles, which most other TBS games don't offer. They make the game much easier, as the AI is terrible at combat compared to a human (I have never won a game of TW on very hard only autocalcing). They also make it really fun though! EU can get a little dry after a while imo.