# Empire: Total War **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 19, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492 "2009-02-19T01:58:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/41 "2009-02-21T02:57:06Z")
The demo looooooaaaaadddddsss soooooooooooo slowwwwwwwlyyyyyyyyy, argh! The actual battles go by fast enough, but getting from the startup screen to the fight takes at least five minutes. This can’t be right. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/42 "2009-02-21T03:01:30Z")
> [@Vox\_Imperatoris](#): > > The demo looooooaaaaadddddsss soooooooooooo slowwwwwwwlyyyyyyyyy, argh! The actual battles go by fast enough, but getting from the startup screen to the fight takes at least five minutes. This can’t be right. Mine is that way also. Hopefully once the full game comes out it won’t be that way. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/43 "2009-02-21T04:01:00Z")
Demo’s are notoriously buggy/unoptomized. I really don’t want to see load times like this when the full game comes out. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/44 "2009-02-21T09:14:22Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I am playing the demo right now. I am enjoying it so far. One thing that has stood out for me is that the battles are going to take a lot longer than in the old games. Really? I mean, longer than the 10-stack, 3-hour battles in the the first MTW? ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/45 "2009-02-23T02:37:47Z")
Well, so far, I don’t think I’ll be getting this game. I’m just not getting the urge to play it—it runs incredibly slowly on my computer and isn’t that interesting, at least judging from the demo. It’s kind of disappointing, since I had high hopes for it. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/46 "2009-02-23T03:25:38Z")
I’m not seeing that battles will take significantly longer than Rome or Medieval II. The demo battle takes a while if you trot your forces across the map and back to cross the second ford, but the actual unit engagements seem about the same. The naval side of things looks decently executed, though in my first attempt I clearly haven’t figured out the command interface. As soon as I issued attack orders everyone broke out of the line astern formation and things turned into a general clusterfuck. That, and I think the ‘go to’ format of movement commands is poorly though through in the naval context - I’d prefer to give heading commands so that my ships don’t keep reefing their sails and stopping mid-battle because they’ve arrived at their destination. Kind of a nitpick though, since it should be easy enough with a bit of practice. This may well end up being my favourite part of the game…to the point where I’ll play England and put no troops onto the continent, just sit on my islands (any Irish rebellion will naturally be ruthlessly crushed) and blockade the entirety of Europe. I sure hope the full game is more stable, though. I crashed/froze three times playing the 2 tutorial and 2 demo battles through once each. ---
**Author:** ![Fly\_Pusher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Fly\_Pusher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fly_Pusher)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/47 "2009-02-23T07:15:43Z")
I wouldn’t necessarily judge the final product by the demo. The demo versions of Rome and Medieval 2 both had much worse performance than the final product. Personally, I always found the historical battles to be underwhelming anyways, though I love the actual campaign games. As far as the naval battle goes, I think it helps if you group the ships and set them to a line formation. When you give move commands the ships appear to stay in formation, more or less. I’ll have to play around with it a bit more but I think there’s potential. ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/48 "2009-02-23T07:18:30Z")
> [@Fly\_Pusher](#): > > I wouldn’t necessarily judge the final product by the demo. The demo versions of Rome and Medieval 2 both had much worse performance than the final product. Personally, I always found the historical battles to be underwhelming anyways, though I love the actual campaign games. You’re right, but if they’re not going to provide a representative product, I’m not going to feel guilty for downloading it to try the real thing out before I buy it. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/49 "2009-02-23T20:47:33Z")
Not that it means all that much, but I noticed that [GameSpy](http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/empire-total-war/955966p1.html) has probably the last preview leading up to the release, so figured I’d put a link in here along with a few quotes in case anyone is interested. > [@](#): > > Spiffy: Incredibly expansive, a game of massive scale; superb attention to detail; relatively simple user interface. > [@](#): > > Iffy: A steep (albeit surmountable) learning curve; crushingly clever AI; friendly fire is “on” for cannon emplacements. > [@](#): > > In the interests of full disclosure, I have to say that I’ve never played a Total War game before. My duties over the past few years at GameSpy have primarily focused on the console side of gaming, so my contact with the extreme edge of hardcore RTSes or 4X games has been limited to the likes of Command & Conquer 3 and Halo Wars (notice that I didn’t even mention Civilization Revolution… I may not be super-conversant, but I’m not stupid either). So when Miguel asked me to sit in on a demo of Empire: Total War, my first reaction was, “Me? Really?” > [@](#): > > Empire: Total War doesn’t seem to leave any details out and takes a staggering number of variables into account, but rather than feeling discouraged by my inexperience, I was emboldened by the lessons I had learned and imbued with a sense that I’d do better next time… and there would most certainly be a next time. Now that we have some preview copies in the office, I’m anxious to play a few rounds with Allen, our resident real-time strategist extraordinaire Allen. Perhaps he can show me some things that will help crush those Saxons beneath my Prussian boots. Going to attempt to download the battle demo tonight when I get back to my hotel room. I remember from demo battles from MTWII and even Rome that the demo isn’t optimized (and so is probably slower than dirt), but I want to check it out and get some experience with the ship combat at least before the game ships next month. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/50 "2009-02-24T11:52:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Iffy: A steep (albeit surmountable) learning curve; crushingly clever AI; friendly fire is “on” for cannon emplacements. Wow. Those are _negatives_? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/51 "2009-02-24T13:57:37Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Wow. Those are _negatives_? Well, I for one wouldn’t mind if my artillery crews had sufficient intelligence and initiative to hold their fire when friendly troops march into their target area. But yeah, I’m not seeing the downside of the other two. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/52 "2009-02-24T14:59:51Z")
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too. Of course, the author admits that he has never played a Total War game before, so that probably accounts for his steep learning curve…a lot of the stuff we all take for granted is probably completely new to him. Still, if those are the only real negatives then…BRING IT ON! 😛 As far as I know the game is on schedule for release next Tuesday(!!). -XT ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/53 "2009-02-24T16:16:58Z")
I don’t know… if the AI doesn’t account for friendly fire, I’ll find it a pain in the neck, especially if it takes so long for units to change their targeting and you have no way to identify what exactly a unit is shooting at. That’s the one thing I really do miss from _Shogun_. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/54 "2009-02-24T16:23:09Z")
Well…FF has been a recurring problem for armies of all ages, so I think of it as a ‘feature’, not a problem. The ground crews of course are focused on doing their jobs and not getting killed and if I, the god commander from on high, run them in front of a battery of artillery…well, that seems to be my fault. I, as the god commander COULD just take the responsibility for telling the crews when to fire or when not too as well, especially since my view is unobstructed by the fog of battle or the potential of being over run. I seem to recall that there were several very nasty instances of FF accidents during the Napoleonic Wars on both sides involving artillery and cavalry…as well as LOTS of FF accidents involving battlefield smoke, artillery and ground troops, especially allied troops. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Hugh\_Jass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4da419/32.png) [@Hugh\_Jass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/55 "2009-02-24T17:38:37Z")
I’ve tried to play the demo, but I’m getting weird graphics issues. The screen loads for a while, and then I get a white flickering “thing.” I upgraded my video card drivers. I’m running a nvidia Geforce 7300. Is that just waaaayyyy too old and gimpy to run this game? Would a too slow processor cause this? I seem to remember a website that would test your system to see if it was capable of running a game. Does anyone recall anything like this? I want this game, but would hate to buy it and not be able to run it. Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/56 "2009-02-24T17:41:25Z")
> **[Requirements Test](https://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri)** > > Check your system requirements. Can I Run it? Test your specs and rate your gamimg PC. that’s the website, unfortunately they don’t have empire total war on it yet. You can try finding a game with similar required specs though. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/57 "2009-02-25T00:11:52Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Well…FF has been a recurring problem for armies of all ages, so I think of it as a ‘feature’, not a problem. The ground crews of course are focused on doing their jobs and not getting killed and if I, the god commander from on high, run them in front of a battery of artillery…well, that seems to be my fault. I, as the god commander COULD just take the responsibility for telling the crews when to fire or when not too as well, especially since my view is unobstructed by the fog of battle or the potential of being over run. No, I see your point, but missile troops in Total War games tend to take a long time after receiving an order to hold fire or change targets to actually do so. I don’t object to the idea, but given past performance, I’m nervous about being able to implement these things myself. Still, it’s an improvement over those damn Samurai archers in Shogun whose wild shots hit the man in front of them in the back. ---
**Author:** ![PopeJewish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@PopeJewish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PopeJewish)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/58 "2009-02-25T00:18:14Z")
> [@Hugh\_Jass](#): > > I’ve tried to play the demo, but I’m getting weird graphics issues. The screen loads for a while, and then I get a white flickering “thing.” I upgraded my video card drivers. I’m running a nvidia Geforce 7300. Is that just waaaayyyy too old and gimpy to run this game? > > Would a too slow processor cause this? > > I seem to remember a website that would test your system to see if it was capable of running a game. Does anyone recall anything like this? > > I want this game, but would hate to buy it and not be able to run it. > > Any ideas? Both [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_total_war) and [Kotaku](http://kotaku.com/5140671/empire-total-war-dated-with-bonus-system-specs--screenshots) list the sys reqs as: System requirements 2.4 Ghz processor 256 MB video card 1 GB RAM XP / 2 GB Vista 15 GB hard disk space[3] ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/59 "2009-02-25T01:50:40Z")
Ok…finally got the demo down and loaded. My first thought is…this is not nearly as slow as I’d been told. For an unoptimed demo it runs fine on my laptop. -XT ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492/60 "2009-02-25T04:43:48Z")
I guess there is an option to buy the game right from the demo and ‘Play it as soon as it’s released’. Did anyone do this…if so, could you give some details? I’m considering this as it would mean I could have the game immediately instead of having to go in search of a game store in my rental car. -XT [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/empire-total-war/486492.md?page=4)