Sono state aggiornate le
FAQs ufficiali del gioco.
per ora sono in lingua inglese
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GENERAL STUFF
Q. When is Rome: Total War (RTW) out?
A. We're aiming for publication in Autumn 2004, or "Fall 2004" if you happen to live in one of the old Thirteen Colonies. Then again, you colonial chappies are deprived of Marmite as well as Autumn. One has to feel sorry for you.
Q. What spec machine will it need?
A.
The minimum spec is a 1Ghz processor, plus a sensible graphics card and 256Mb of RAM. We think this is a reasonable machine these days for a game of this depth and quality.
Q. Can I buy the Time Commanders game?
A. You can, well sort of. Time Commanders used an early version of the Total War engine to generate the battlefield action. The latest version of the same engine is what powers Rome: Total War. But at the moment there are no plans to release a specifically labelled "Time Commanders" game. Versions of some battles from Time Commanders will be included in the game when it ships, though.
Q. Have the devs done any testing on multi-processor systems, or on Intel's hyperthreaded processors? And what kind of performance improvement have they seen?
A. Multi-processor and hyper-threading systems have both been tested and work, but the performance improvements are fairly minor. We've seen around a 5% gain and this is mostly due to peripheral code being executed faster rather than the game core benefitting from multiple processors.
HISTORY IN ROME: TOTAL WAR
Q. So is this an RTS. Is there still a turn based campaign map? Has it really evolved much from Medieval: Total War?
A. Total War games are a genre all of their own, quite distinct (in our view) from RTS games. If you love strategy games, you will love RTW but it isn't an RTS. We think it offers much more. You can tailor how you play the game to suit your own tastes. If you want a perfect balance of politics, micro management and real time epic sized battles you've got it. If you want to spend more time running your empire than fighting battles, then that's OK too. . If you want to master the Roman art of war and leave all the management stuff to the PC, then that's OK too.
The biggest change you'll notice is on the campaign map. The 'Risk-style' provinces have disappeared to be replaced by point-to-point movement for armies and characters. These are now fully animated and march (or sneak about, in the case of spies!) at your order. There's an 'operational level' to the game between the strategy of invading a province and the tactics of fighting a battle: you can now choose the battlefield within a province - and marching into an enemy's lands and sitting on valuable real estate is a good way of provoking a fight! But just sitting in a province doesn't actually conquer it - you have to attack the main settlement to do that. Or you can bypass an enemy stronghold and push on into their heartland... the choices and strategies are yours to make!
Cities generate income and train new troops, drawing on local resources. Each city can be assigned a governor, who will do his best (well, probably) to manage the place and keep order. What is cool and new is that when you fight a battle to control the city, every building that's in a city on the campaign map is there on the battlefield. Destroy a building in a siege, and it's gone on the campaign map. Storm a city and take it with siege towers, batterings rams or artillery and you'll find that you can use any buildings still standing to further your plans of conquest. Better still, the buildings in a town even show who made them, as each culture has its own style of architecture!
Q. When is it set ?
A. Rome: Total War starts at roughly the outbreak of the First Punic War (although this might not actually break out in your game world) and continues on until 14 AD, when Augustus died. He was the first Emperor, so it seemed a reasonable benchmark date to aim for, given that your aim in the game is to end up with your faction as Emperors of Rome. You won't have to stop playing in 14 AD, by the way, although your victory (or lack of it) will be determined then - you can carry on and see what happens. The game start-to-end dates cover the rise of the Republic as a player on the 'world stage', the conquest of most of the Empire, and the eventual 'hijacking' of the Republican government by the Emperors. There's a lot of history and action in there to enjoy! We've also included a set of short campaign victory conditions for those who want to enjoy a snack rather than a full-on Roman feast! Oh yes, and there will be a bunch of historical battles (the count and identity of which changes on a day-to-day basis and we can't keep up with it, quite frankly), so there's even bite-sized chnuks of history to enjoy as well.
Q. How "historical" will the big campaign be over time? Will it follow a historical Ariadne thread or will it just be "everything goes"?
A: 'Historical' means different things to different people. We're setting up the game to have accurate starting conditions and have 'historical flavour', but your actions as the player will change 'history' as you play. A game that only evolves along a predetermined - or fated - path rapidly becomes very boring, or an exercise in memory as you learn the right way through levels or missions. That's not what Total War games are about, really. Political and military events in particular cannot be tied solely to the date, simply because then the game would have no idea 'what's really happening' in the world. Events and the game would get out of step and look completely daft, quite frankly!
Q
. Will there be a Caesar at Alesia custom battle? Also is the battle of Jerusalem planned? I'm more interested in the custom battles, and would like to know all the ones that are even speculated as being included.
A: Even at this stage the list of battles is undergoing constant review. We have a number of candidates for inclusion and those that aren't included in the box will be made available later as downloads. If we mention specific ones here, you can guarantee that plans will change immediately and we'll have inadvertently told you a fib, which we wouldn't want to do.
Q
. Will there be different Legionary units for the later Roman period from the 3rd to 5th centuries ?
A: Rome: Total War has an end date of 14AD (although you will be able to play on after this date). We had to draw a line somewhere as far as the size of the technology tree and army lists were concerned, and the end of the Republic seemed like a good place to stop. At that point the Legions are what everyone thinks of as "typically Roman".
If you think about it for a moment, the later period is as far away from the game end as we are from, say, Columbus! That's probably too big a chunk of history to add to an already enormous game.
CAMPAIGN GAME
Q. Can we have the official list of playable factions.
A: The official list is: three Roman factions - the Brutii, Julii and Scipii families - along with Carthage, Egypt, Seleucia, Parthia, the Greek Cities, the Gauls, the Germans and the Britons. The non-playable factions are: the Senate, Macedonia, Pontus, Armenia, Dacia, Numidia, Scythia, Spain, Thrace and the rebels - and what would a Total War game be without rebels? These decisions are based on what makes the game challenging and fun to play, not on trying to offend anyone! We have divided these into a set of broad 'cultures' who share architecture styles and units, but individual factions within each culture can still be added. We've had major arguments about exactly who and who isn't a 'Greek/Macedonian' at different times in history.
This isn't quite a simple as it sounds, given Alexander's ability to conquer everywhere he fancied.
Q. Will we be able to choose our own capital city rather than have the AI select it for us?
A: Yes. Shifting your capital city is possible, but something that should be done carefully. The level of discontent in lesser cities is affected by the distance to the capital city, so if you move your administration to a distant corner of the world don't be surprised if some of your people become disenchanted now that they live in backwaters of the empire...
Q. Can you give me some details on the main campaign modes that make up the game?
A. The main section of the game is the Imperial Campaign. As one faction contending for ultimate power within Rome, you won't control the whole of the Roman world. Instead, you'll have to deal with external and internal enemies and listen to the demands of the Senate.
The Senate will ask you to carry out task for them from time to time; these will be missions like suppressing barbarians, fighting common enemies, developing the Empire, or crush rebels. Do well, and your influence in the Roman Senate will grow. Do badly - or attack your fellow Romans without permission - and you'll be in serious trouble! You might even trigger a damaging civil war and let Rome's enemies crush the Republic. The Senate, by the way, is one route to getting enough influence and political 'clout' to be declared Imperator (Emperor) of Rome and winning the game!
You will be able to play as a non-Roman faction. The good news is that if you're commanding the Carthaginians you don't have to worry about the Senate. The bad news is that you have the mighty Roman army on your case!
Each faction, by the way, has its own version of the tech tree, its own collection of exclusive units, and some even have their own Vices and Virtues for characters to collect.
Q. After I essentially beat the game by staying Imperator of Rome for 20 years do I have the option to continue to play and conquer the world???
A: Actually, the victory conditions have changed! We now have a "short game" and a "long game" condition for each faction. You'll need (1) to conquer and hold 15 or so provinces (2) see a given faction driven to extinction. Who has to fail depends on who you are playing: the Scipii, for example, have to outlast the Carthaginians and the Numidians. The long game victory condition requires you to conquer Rome and a substantial part of the map (if you're not Roman) and (if you are Roman) wipe out the rival families.
Q. How is the game going to handle leaders and heirs? If you're leading one of the Roman factions, what is your title, and how do you have an heir if you are a general or senator and can't expect your son to automatically succeed you like a monarch would?
A: There's a family tree in the game that you can access and see how your generals and governors are doing. You can also assign the status of heir to anyone you want, but the man who lost the job may become slightly resentful at his loss in status and job prospects! The title of a faction leader depends on the faction in question, of course. To deal with the Romans specifically: they had quite sophisticated laws and customs dealing with adoption and would make strategic marriages to keep power and wealth 'in the family'. It was quite possible to adopt an able man as a son, marry him off to your daughter and make sure that they and their children would inherit all the goodies. We've reflected this in the game by allowing adoption and marriage into the leading family of a faction. For the historians out there, have a look at Julius Caesar and Octavian (Augustus): they were cousins, as well as "father" and "son". Alternatively, you could look up the Caecelii Meteli or the Scipios to see the kind of family shennanigans that went on.
Q. Will travel be inhibited or obstructed by mountains (i.e., to cross a mountain range, will an army HAVE to go through a pass)?
A: Mountains are impassable terrain on the campaign map. You'll need to find a pass to march through (or conversely defend). Once you start getting enemies pouring over your borders you'll actually be quite glad that they can be 'headed off at the pass' and forced to fight their way into your lands!
Q
. Are strategic ambushes possible? I hide an army in a forest, in... say Germania, and an enemy army comes along, say a Roman one, will they always see me or can they stumble upon me?
A: Strategic ambushes are set up by placing an army in the right kind of concealing terrain. When an enemy marches past there's a chance that the ambush will be sprung and a battle take place. If the ambushers are successful then the defenders are deployed as a marching column and don't get to redeploy before the fight! Whether or not the ambushers are spotted depends on the commander's skills...
Q. How will river crossing be handled now?! At both strategic and tactical level.
A: Strategically rivers are barriers and armies need to find crossing places, but the campaign map only includes significant rivers like the Rhine, the Seine and the Thames! Tactically a crossing place on a battlefield might be a ford or a bridge, depending on how developed the roads in the battle's province.
Q. Will there be supply lines in the game? If so, will this result in making it very expensive for an army to remain for longer periods of time behind enemy lines?
A: Supply is in the game, but subsumed into the system so that you don't have to micro-manage this kind of thing. We want you thinking in grand strategic terms like a man aiming to be Emperor, not be the quartermaster worrying about beans, spoons and an adequate supply of socks.
If your army doesn't have a line of retreat, though, you'll find it risky to be caught in enemy territory. With nowhere to retreat it's possible that your army might get destroyed when defeated and driven from the field...
Q
. Will I only be able to train only one unit per city per turn again?
A: Yes. It's a nice simple system that works. What is new is that many units can be retrained at the same time; either brought back up to numerical full strength or given new battle gear such as improved weaponry or armour. However, we've added "rally points" to the game for every city, so that troops can be automatically sent somewhere as and when they are trained. If a few settlements have a common rally point an army can be quickly gathered.
Q. How important is Naval units in RTW. How do you get your men across the Mediterranean Sea, with out walking.
A: Naval combat is abstract in Rome: Total War. The emphasis in the game is on land battles - the Romans were, after all, soldiers rather than sailors - and we've been working hard to make them as insanely great as possible. Unlike M:TW fleets now carry passengers from place to place. An army has to march onto a fleet, be carried to its destination, and then disembark. While the army is aboard it can be lost through enemy action and natural disaster, and a storm can wipe out an invasion force just as surely as enemy triremes!
Q. Can your allies start inside your city's walls and help defend it?
A: Allies start outside your walls, but they always approach the battle from the right strategic direction. It's even possible that they'll march into the fight right in the rear of the enemy! This is fun when it happens to the enemy, not so good when it happens to you.
Q. Now that sieges have been largely revamped will there will be more than one gate for the besieged army to undertake sorties against neuralgic spots as baggage trains (assuming they'll be included) or siege machines?
A: Settlements have more than one gate, so while the enemy try to take one it's always possible to leave by another and hit them in the flank, or in the siege equipment! We've also included sally battles: the defenders emerge (sally forth) to drive off the besiegers. This can be a good last ditch defence,
Q. Can you make your own treaties?
A. You will be able to negotiate specific treaties and other agreements with other powers. This lets factions agree military treaties, trade agreements, trade cities and territory, demand tributes, pay blackmail money, swap information and so forth. Deals don't have to be symmetrical, so you can trade cash for military access. You can also intimidate lesser factions into joining you as protectorates too... maybe it's better sometimes to live on your knees than die horribly!
Q. Are maps fully dynamic i.e. what happens on the battle map has a physical effect on the strategy map and vis versa?
A. Rome: Total War features a continuous 3D map covering the whole of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, and any point on this map could be a battlefield. The Campaign map is comprised of thousands of 'battle maps'. This means that you could fight on approximately 10,000 battlefields, each of which can change according to your actions in the game. This continuity between the two levels of the game opens up all sorts of strategic options. You can build forts to guard mountain passes, set ambushes in forests, make beach landings, launch fast raids into enemy territory, move your armies through allied territory to co-ordinate campaigns, capture Wonders of the World, ford rivers and generally try to out-manoeuvre your enemies.
Every mountain, hill, forest, farm, volcano, city and Wonder of the World that you see on the campaign map is right there on the appropriate battlefield. As the map changes as roads, forts and farms are built this is reflected on the right battlefields. As the seasons change you'll see snow on the north of the campaign map and on northern battlefields.
Q. How much will you be able to customize the campaign map? Just change the unit/city status of each faction? change the borders of the provinces as well? Will you even be able to change the landscape and maybe even create a completely new campaign?
A: The campaign system is fairly moddable, but you'll need to know what you are doing! Rome: Total War is not only big, but under the hood it's quite complex. Changing stuff is challenging, but for a modder with good skills not out of reach. We're not necessarily the best people to ask about modding, because changing things is now second nature to us, so once the game is out and the modders have had a look, a consensus about the ease of changing things will emerge.
BATTLES
Q. Can we adjust time of attack at enemy (for example at 6:00 o'clock in the morning or at midnight)?and can we see real time of the day in the screen instead of time limit and when a battle continues for a long time, and night falls then opponents leave the battles for tomorrow.
A: No. You can wait for better conditions for the battle, but picking a starting time isn't just a matter for you! The enemy have a say in when they want to fight as well. What you may see (sometimes) is the coming of dusk.
Q. Will you be able to build siege towers and battering rams while besieging a city, or will you have to bring them along with your army from the get go?
A. When your army arrives at a settlement or fort you'll be given the option of building siege equipment on site: ladders, rams, siege towers and saps. Depending on the type and level of defences some of these may not be offered as options - there's little point building saps to knock down wooden palisades, for example. Producing this gear will take at least one turn, unless you have a large force for the work. Some of the general's skills and retainers can also help in the process: an inventor gives a beseiging army more build points to make siege equipment.
Q. Will it be possible in the game to use Testudo formation (classic turtle formation) in the game.
A. Absolutely! We've assigned this as a special battlefield ability to Roman Legionaries trained after the Marian Reforms (the complete re-organisation of the Roman army that historically happened around 105 BC). It's a great way of protecting your troops from missile fire, but not so good when faced with charging elephants!
Q. Can a horse-archer fire his weapon while he is in motion?
A: Yes. Parthians use the 'Parthian shot' automatically, but other horse archers can use a special Cantabrian circle battlefield ability. This allows a unit to circle near an enemy and keep up a constant barrage of fire rather than volley and then reload. It's a lot of fun to see your troops use this move and wear down an enemy!
Q. How about changing unit statistics and appearance with a special idiot-friendly tool? Maybe you could even create completely new units with this option. Those who have no expertise in 3d-graphics could simply create super-legionaries (Legionaries with only one man per unit, but with awesome fighting capabilities) or any other unit, that looks identical to another. For those who ARE good with 3d, the sky's the limit. You could create a completely new game!
A: Idiot-friendly tools are being kept inside CA's walls for the moment, where the friendly idiots can't do too much damage with them!
Again, this comes back to skills of the modder - it's possible to do all kinds of things, but play the game first!
However, just putting in super-powerful units is a bit, well, "cheaty", isn't it?
Q
. Will we be able to put stakes in the ground and make traps for the enemy to walk on? Also, now knowing it is TB mode, how will we be able to set ambushes...like the ones in MTW or say you know where the enemy is coming from so you put units on either side of the road they will going on lets say.....Will we be able to do this when not in Battle-mode?
A: No, battlefield defences like stakes aren't in the game. However, armies construct forts and these will appear on battlefields if they are present where the battle takes place. On the battlefield units can hide in woods, and a few can hide almost anywhere. They'll get the chance to do tactical ambushes. We've also introduced the idea of strategic ambushes, and these are discussed a couple of questions down from here.
Q. Is there an option to save during battles?
A. The game auto-saves immediately before a battle, but this isn't an option during a fight. There is, however, a pause key so that you can answer the phone, eat foods, talk to your nearest and dearest, feed the cat and do all that non-Roman conquest stuff... but why would you *want* to?
Q. Is there a chance to witness dynamic weather systems on the battlefield (imagine your elephants dealing with ice wind and blizzard...)?
A. Yes, there's weather on the battlefield and changes to the light level as the day progresses.
Q. How do the naval battles work?
A. Abstractly, as we said in the campaign answers. We've concentrated on making land battles the most exciting and immersive things anyone has ever seen in a PC game.
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Appena sarà possibile, saranno pubblicate in italiano sul sito...
Intanto gustatevele in inglese.
PS:
Se qualcuno ha la buona volontà di tradurle per tutti, avrà la riconoscenza di tutta la comunità... altrimenti chiedo un po' di pazienza.
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