So what's actually new?

[z3n]

I've seen some people mention that the campaign mechanics are improved; as a series veteran I'm slightly suspicious of this. I'd love to be wrong so I can rush out and buy it.

Some common things I've seen mentioned about the strategy level

1) Diplomacy: Is this really "improved"? I remember seeing settlements trading in RTW and marriages in M2TW (which were even affected by character traits of the princess and the general). So what's genuinely new and improved?

2) Towns: Are towns still generic with limited and formulaic building slots and population non existent?

3) Heroes: Does equipment actually change how they look visually or is it still the equivalent of an ancillary from M2TW? I thought of doing a mod in M2TW using the change_battle_model function where the family member had their equipment and look changed if they had specific ancillaries like a new Thracian helmet but never made a mod like that, since I don't have as much time as a developer.

Anything I'm missing? I was impressed they finally adopted the old Knights of Honor (one of my favourite games from 2004) mechanic of spies infiltrating a kingdom and doing nasty things but I'm not aware of anything new aside from that.

[♘Top Hat Zebra]

1) Yes. It's by far the most improved part of the whole game, and it is vastly better than the diplomacy of any other game in the series. A couple of examples:

I won my last campaign because the leader of my primary rival died while my allies and I were pressing towards his capital. His successor was too young to rule, and the regent who took over was a cowardly appeaser, and he immediately abdicated his claim, giving me the last cities I needed to win. Very, very rarely has the AI ever surrendered to me in a Total War game, and never have the reasons been so clear and easy to follow.

2) Mostly. Population exists again, but it doesn't feel as important as it did in older games. Towns are slightly more interesting, and they have more room to grow into economic powerhouses, but it's still largely the same. As provinces, however, there is more interesting interactions you can take, in assigning administrators and giving characters missions to do in them. It's still mostly stat bonuses, but you also have to worry about how the different characters interact with each other, which is interesting.


3) Yes, it does change how they look. Each class has it's own weapon animations, in the sense that Champions use polearms and Sentinels use single-handed weapons, but that can mean some Champions use spears and others use giant maces, or some Champions use longswords and others use battle axes, etc. You can also determine what horse they mount, and whether they have heavy or lighter armor, and none of this is taking into account special unique weapons that certain characters have that you can steal. It's definitely not an RPG, there's not a ton of variety, but it's still a very promising system, and I can't wait to see what mods manage to do with it.

[zoner16]

1) This is probably the most functional diplomacy has ever been in a Total War game. The AI is mostly rational, and the game is fairly transparent about what's affecting it. The genuinely "new" interactions are:

• A few new vassal interactions that actually make vassals worth something. The ability to annex a vassal makes them a lot more appealing, though you can set up more 'march' type vassals with greater easy by giving them a guarantee of autonomy. Supporting the independence of vassals elsewhere occasionally comes in handy as well.
• Food trading adds some more options for getting what you want out of diplomatic trades without committing money. The food economy is very real, especially since high level cities consume it like candy, famines can really hurt armies and public order, and farm settlements tend to get attacked first.
• Coalitions are a nice addition that gives you cooperation (military access, visibility) without forcing you to join wars. They can get very hectic, but its good to have a form of multilateral alliance without surrendering your military discretion.
• Alliance wars help rationalize massive alliance conflicts, so all the members peace out together, rather than having a bunch of people who got called in later continue the war long after the initial belligerents make nice.
• The separation of offer/receive marriage is helpful.
• You can trade ancillaries.

2) I'm not entirely sure what "generic" means in this context. Here's how settlements work:

• Towns still have slots, though it's more Shogun 2/Thrones of Britannia style with a main town that can grow up to 10 levels and several outlying settlements that focus on a particular resource each.
• Like Thrones, resource towns (counties in this game) are technically their own settlements, and can be individually captured (with their own type-unique battle maps).
• I don't find settlement administration formulaic, since the choice of building in the main settlement depends a lot of factors (reforms, administrators, position, resources). I've certainly been putting more thought into my settlement layout than I do with basically every other Total War.
• Population is indeed a factor as well. There are a few factors in its growth and decline, and it effects peasantry income, replenishment rate, construction time, and public order. It's not a factor in recruitment (or mustering time as it is here) as it was in Rome1/Med2, though that's handled through other factors.

3) Equipment does change how both the 2D portrait and the 3D model look. Changing weapons will change the animation set.

Some other things that are new aside from the espionage system:

• Character managements is fairly different. Generals/governors/nobles have their likes and dislikes in each other and ones who get along get buffs when working together and vice versa for people who don't. They form relationships over time, so keeping friends together and enemies apart becomes a helpful tool.
• Loyalty has been expanded. Each character has a "satisfaction" gauge that measures how happy they are with serving your faction. If it dips too low, they'll leave, and if they're commanding an army or governing a province, this will turn into a revolt. You can increase their satisfaction by keeping them with their friends, satisfying their ambitions by giving them offices or promoting them through the ranks, not letting them sit on their hands in court, completing various missions, taking certain reforms, having the right faction leader traits, and giving them shiny stuff.
• Armies are subdivided by retinue, each commanded by a specific general. Generals pass certain bonuses on to their retinues and others to the entire army. The general recruits troops to their retinue rather than to the army (which the retinues can be split off from and merged back into) and the kind of general determines what kind of units are available for them to recruit. If a general is recalled or dismissed, their retinue will go with them, though if they die, their retinue can be succeeded by their successor, or their successor can disband them and raise their own.

That's what I can think of right now. There are a lot of smaller changes that I probably am forgetting right now.