Empire: Total War Update

by Gaius Colinius | 8/30/2007 11:15 AM

There's been a lot of discussion in the new ETW forum and lots of news in the Empire: Total War Discussion thread.

First up are previews from IGN and Gamespot. There's also a preview of the prototype naval battle interface to look at and drool.

Also Andrew Dunn has posted a load of details on what we can expect in the new game:

The campaign map will be larger. It includes Europe, North and South America, North Africa, Central Asia, India, and Indonesia.

You will be able to build colonies. It will make a difference, whether you settle in the wilderness of the Americas, or whether you can use preexisting infrastructure in India.

All infrastructure built within a province, will be represented on the Strategic Map. You can upgrade buildings, by clicking on them on the Strageic Map. There will still be a capital though.

Enemy armies can plunder or conquer buildings within provinces.

Revolutions can happen, leading to the separation of countries.

You can change the form of government between: absolute monarchy, constituional monarchy, and Republic. This will directly influence how you can deal with revolts and how fast you develop new technologies. Other factions will treat you according to your form of government.

Taxes can be set seperately for Nobles, Burghers, and Peasants.

Generals can now directly recruit units. They will join them after a few turns, instead of being recruited in settlements.

Historical generals can appear.

Infantry can occupy buldings. They will automatically take up defensive positions and fire out of windows/doors.

Wind will play an important role in the battles. You can set the sails of your ship according to your desired speed. You can choose between three types of ammunition, geared towards damaging hull, sails, or crew respectively (probably round shot, chain shot, and canister shot).

Total War Games Available On Steam

by Gaius Colinius | 8/29/2007 9:36 AM

Hairy Scary Man dropped in to let us know that Steam now have Total War games in their online store. Read the press news here.

They will have M2TW: Kingdoms as well as RTW Gold (RTW & BI) & RTW Complete (RTW & Alexander) available in their store. This is especially good news for euro-zone buyers with the current exchange rate as there are now some very good bargains available on Steam.
The downside is that these are only available in North & South America

Empires: Total War - New Screenshots in Gallery

by Gaius Colinius | 8/28/2007 1:44 PM

Three new Empire: Total War screenshots have been added to the Empire: TW Gallery.
Don't they look stunning? Start saving up for a new graphics card right away!

HeavenGames announces StarCraft 2 Heaven!

by Crazed Ewok | 8/26/2007 8:42 PM

HeavenGames (heavengames.com), the popular network of gaming fansites, has opened its latest chapter with which to bring the real-time strategy world yet another hallmark in game information and community: StarCraft 2 Heaven. Covering the highly anticipated game, StarCraft 2 Heaven promises to offer up-to-date content, the latest news, and an integrated and active community.

StarCraft 2 Heaven (starcraft2.heavengames.com) launched on August 25th, 2007 and already provides a wealth of coverage, including a preview from BlizzCon, a gallery of artwork and screenshots, news, game information, and discussion forums. Few other sites provide such various and complete content as StarCraft 2 Heaven!

Empire: Total War Announced

by Gaius Colinius | 8/22/2007 6:52 AM

We all know that TW like to work in a two-game cycle and have one revolutionary game followed by another evolutionary game before starting out again with another revolutionary game. Now we have confirmation that this cycle is going to continue.

It's official. The next game in the TW series will be Empire: Total War.

Here's what we know so far:
-It will be set in the 18th century.
-It will feature the American war of independence.
-It will feature the industrial revolution.
-3D naval combat. Yes you read it right!
-Buildings will now be outside cities to encourage players not to button up inside cities, i.e. say goodbye to endless sieges.
-Completely enhanced combat system to take account of the changed nature of warfare.
-Release date: 2008

Previews & other info can be found by clicking on the magical link.

You can discuss it to your heart's content here. Thanks to Andrew Dunn for the news.

Official HeavenGames CEO Blog Opens

by Angel Socrateius | 8/2/2007 3:03 PM

Source: The HG Blog


(I'm pensive about so many things in this photo)

Hey everyone,

My name is Socvazius; I'm the new CEO of HG, but I've been around for quite a long time. I started visiting HG in late 1997 (at age 11), joined the staff in 2000 (my first article, a masterpiece by any standard), joined the executive board in 2003 (I have nothing to say here but I wanted to add a parenthesis for consistency), and became owner in 2005 (when I turned 18). Over all that time, I have been webmaster of 6 Heavens and have done about every possible job.

Offline, I go by the name Sergio Prado and I study history at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. I am currently working in marketing at Vivendi Universal on Empire Earth III and World in Conflict. I love philosophy, history, physics and politics among other things, and to compensate for my nerdy tendencies I've been known to karate it up as well as do all the other things that college students do. Oh yes.

Anyway, this is my blog! While I will surely use this blog for my own narcissistic ramblings, I intend it to be used mostly to keep everyone up to date on what's going on in HeavenGames, especially the stuff that pertains to my job: management, PR, and all the other fun parts of a gaming website. In fact, I do have some news that you guys might be interested in. For the past couple months the owners have been discussing a major revamp of how HG operates, including its staff management and exactly what services it will provide to the community. We're zeroing in on a finalized plan, so keep your eyes peeled for a freakin huge article that'll be way too long to be worth reading!

Until the next post my friends,
Soccy