Rome Total War: Total Realism Mod

[Monte Carlo]

Hello.

 

A friend has burnt this mod onto disc for me, and by the look of the Total Realism website it should be bags of fun for someone like me who has thrashed the original game to death.

 

I'm a bit busy with work to install it and get stuck in, I'll be doing that next week. However, I do have time to read the comments and observations of the small band of TW fans on this forum who might have some experience of it. What should I look out for? Is it stable? How much fun is it? I've got the core mod and the 5.3 patch.

 

When I get round to it I'll post some observations for further discussion, until the equally excellent-looking Europa Barbarorum is released.

 

Who needs an official XP that costs money?

 

Cheers

MC

[Leferd]

On a similar note, how is the SPQR mod?

 

(apologies to MC if he views this as a bit of a thread hijack)

[Aaron Contreras]

I have the latest version (5.3, I think) installed now. I don't have a strong opinion on it yet. They take out a lot of the questionable units - the Screeching Women, Druids and Head Hurlers. They also made Athenian Hoplites almost as good as the Spartans...which strikes me as not very accurate.

 

On the plus side it offers a very challenging start for Rome.

 

edit - I'm also interested in feedback on SPQR from anyone who has played it.

[EUIX]

It expands the map as far as Afghanistan and corrects alot of mistakes. THere were no screeching women, or wild dogs historically.

[Aaron Contreras]

I've heard the women mentioned in quite a few sources. I quite liked the gameplay feel of the dogs and morale units.

 

The mod doesn't seem to fix the two types of units that bug me the most - phalanxes and chariots.

[Monte Carlo]

The Germanic tribes apparently often brought their fairly savage womenfolk along to cheer them on in battle. I doubt, however, that they performed a morale-sapping light infantry function akin to the one envisaged by the Creative Assembly!

 

I agree with Aaron C. Chariots are very frustrating. The British version are just pointless and a waste of a General's heavy cavalry unit. The Seleucid "Mad Max" version is just plain annoying. The Egyptian archer version is OK. Just about.

 

Phalanxes are doubly frustrating. Their "fast move" function doesn't allow for a fast deployment of the actual phalanx that I'm sure the extremely seasoned veteran spearmen would have been able to accomplish. I'm sure the phalanx was unwieldy, but this unwieldy?

 

I'm an either/ or person on realism. I like realism if the combat engine supports it (pace close combat series) but the lateset TW for me swaps out some of that for a more cinematic feel. Therefore, the "fun" units like Head Hurlers and Arcanii don't unduly bother me. The combat engine tweaks on Total Realism, if they make the combat more authentic/ crunchy will be enough fun for me not to notice that the novelty units aren't there.

 

Cheers

MC

[Ivan the Terrible]

Thanks for posting this. Ended up downloading it and playing it a bunch today, and I like it.

 

I've gotta say, I really like what they've done with the Romans; that is, consolidated them into one faction while stripping them of most of their cities and leaving them much weaker. While I always liked playing the Romans, it's normally just so easy, what with all your flanks perpetually protected by three other powerful factions who won't ever surprise attack you.

 

Now, playing on the hardest difficulty levels, the Romans are actually proving quite a struggle. I'm slowly pushing a seemingly unending tide of Gauls beyond the Alps, and unlike in vanilla R:TW, they're actually putting up a fight.

[Rosbjerg]

I'm having some annoying stability issues .. where the game crashes to my desktop once every hour or two!

 

But I *really* like the mod! therefore I won't uninstall it, it is the game I had hoped the original would be .. the map is much bigger, the game is harder! it's a great mod! and finally! I can play ALL of Rome instead of just one of the families!

 

but damn it takes a serious effort to secure the Italian peninsula!

[Ivan the Terrible]

but damn it takes a serious effort to secure the Italian peninsula!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yep. I've had to restart before I even finished with the north; I overreached myself, and two huge Gaulish armies appeared out of nowhere and annihilated the bulk of my troops. Very frustrating.

[Rosbjerg]

in my very first play I was suprised that the greeks where in southern Italy .. when they then decided to visit me, in a very 'friendly' way, with a couple of elephants and enough Hoplites to literally walk over me (and this was after 2 minuts or so) I kinda lost ..

 

in my next game the exact same thing (the two Gaulish armies) happened to me ..

 

but I guess I'm a wierd that way .. I found it absolutely great! I like having to fight for my very exsistence (in a game)

[EUIX]

One thing they got right was Phalanxes are downright invincible from the front. I played Greeks before I never have trouble deploying my phalanxes you don't put them in phalanx formation all of the time. Using Phalanxes is for the patient player.

[Monte Carlo]

Well, I've tinkered around with it for a bit. It's a very impressive piece of work; a real labour of love. Even the load screens are classy.

 

Firstly, I like the re-skinned character models. The legions look just right with their duller colours and heavier armour. Hastasi look like light infantry now.

 

The way that Rome appears on the map in a fairly vulnerable position is far more satisfying for the player looking for a proper challenge. Even denari needs accounting for and every army needs to be composed just so. Having a formidable Greece and Carthage on your doorstep is not only historically accurate for the period but also (more importantly) feels right, unlike the flaccid twilight empires sitting there awaiting to be swatted in the vanilla version of the game.

 

My first battle was my not inconsiderable legion of 950 or so men versus King Pyrrhus and his hoplites....but guess what? The Greeks actually fielded a balanced army! Phalanxes flanked by light cavalry, backed up by archers and slingers and of course those bloody horrible elephants.

 

My backside was handed to me. Having Roman general units composed of patrician Triarii spearmen as opposed to flexible heavy cavalry is a bit of a culture shock!

 

And, yes, the barbarian horde to the North feels like a barbarian horde, not a crappy, prone-to-routing, easily mopped up by light cavalry bunch of toerags like they were before. The dilemma is, of course, which way to expand first? North or South...it's a real landgrab dilemma with all those rebel settlements.

 

So, as has been pointed out, for me this mod makes R:TW feel much more like Medieval (more brutal AI) and much more like the game I was hoping for. Kudos to the modders; a big thumbs up. I've had no stability issues as yet, just the clean install issue, which was easily sorted out.

 

I recommend the mod heartily to TW fans, and wish the R:TR crew every success with whatever they do next.

 

Cheers

MC

[Rosbjerg]

Just installed 5.3 and no crashes or any stability issues..

 

My biggest shock was the size of the map! not only did they add a whole (big) new area, but they even made the excisting landmass much wider .. and all the cities they added!

 

Having Roman general units composed of patrician Triarii spearmen as opposed to flexible heavy cavalry is a bit of a culture shock!

 

yes that takes some serious getting used to! but then the Roman General unit was a very powerful little sucker .. and able to completly turn the tide in early battles with a single flanking motion.. not now!

 

+ all the new historical battles they added ..

 

 

all in all .. a must have for any Rome:TW fan! (who wants a bigger challenge)

[Ivan the Terrible]

And, yes, the barbarian horde to the North feels like a barbarian horde, not a crappy, prone-to-routing, easily mopped up by light cavalry bunch of toerags like they were before. The dilemma is, of course, which way to expand first? North or South...it's a real landgrab dilemma with all those rebel settlements.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Precisely. I remember when I started my first game of R:TW as the Julii, I was expecting desperate pitched battles of countless Gauls or Germans smashing against my vastly outnumbered (but much more disciplined and professional) Roman legions; instead, I almost casually walked over Gaul and then Germania, sending any barbarian army running with an almost effortless cavalry flank whenever they attacked me.

 

Oooh, boy. Not now. While conquering the Gaulish cities on my side of the Alps, I had more than one occasion of having a nearly full Roman army bled dry and forced to return to the nearest city that could offer retraining. I never realized how powerful the Roman general cavalry units were until I was forced to use equites alone at the start of the game.

 

+ all the new historical battles they added ..

 

Yep. I was wondering when someone would attempt Cannae.