RTS Game Used For TV Show On Epic Roman Battles

Thanks to Wired News for its article discussing the use of forthcoming PC strategy title Rome: Total War in a History Channel TV show called Decisive Battles - the piece explains: "As video-game graphics evolve to portray increasingly realistic environments, TV producers are turning to game developers for help in re-creating history." Heartwarmingly, the article continues: "While TV can't compete with the visual spectacles created by big-budget, computer-generated scenes in movies like the upcoming Troy, the History Channel can put viewers in the middle of battles with thousands of men hacking and slashing each other to death." Elsewhere, it's mentioned that the Creative Assembly-developed title "also lent its technology to a BBC series called Time Commanders", in which "teams of contestants [battled] against a computer loaded with the tactics of the greatest military minds of all time."

Comments

R:TW

[Anonymous Coward]

Rome: Total War could be the only game coming out this year, and I wouldn't care. This game alone would be enough.

Medieval: Total War was a fantastic game which came as a complete surprise when I first played it on my roommate's computer. I almost immediately went out and bought it, and I still find myself going back to play "for a turn or two" and find myself plugging away 5 or 6 hours later. But as fantastic as Medieval is, Rome appears to trump it in every way imaginable.

First, Check out the trailers.

Wait, one more.

Okay, seen all that? Those are around a year old. Here is E3 2004 footage. (Apologies, WMP appears to be the free version of the videos. You have to register to see the Gamespot vids, but I suggest checking THOSE out...there is a much longer, better trailer that doesn't appear to be at IGN or gametrailers.com) The horses no longer move in unison, can jump over fallen bodies, people can get thrown when hit from a charge, everything looks even more fluid, I could go on for hours.

And this is just the real-time battle portion of the game, to say nothing of the turn-based portion.

Half-life 2, Doom 3....those two very touted PC games? I could care less at this point. Give me more Total War.

Time Commanders

[CaptainCheese]

If that was the engine used in Time Commanders I'm not impressed. Graphically it successfully portrayed the action, but was certainly not particularly lifelike, but the finished product may be better.

In AI terms, the players generally whipped the pants clean off the computer, even though none of them had any war or wargaming experience whatsoever. Even though they had the advantage - The players always got to play the historical winner, such as Hannibal when he ripped Scipio and Sempronius (and their troops) a new one at the river Tribius IIRC. "greatest military minds of all time" my arse, although it may have been crippled so the contestants would have a chance...

Re:whats next using Counterstrike

[Deraj DeZine]

And here the police use the well-documented "wall hack" technique and an awp snipe their opponents through a solid wall. That evildoer just got pwnt!

Time Commanders

[blackwater]

Time Commanders was a great show. I enjoyed the preview of Rome Total War but I enjoyed more the study in detail of group dynamics. The basic format was that each week a team of 4 somehow-related people (usually work colleagues) fought against the AI. 2 of the team took responsibility for a flank each, moving their units, etc. The other 2 stood on a raised platform with an overhead map (updated in real-time) shouting directions to the other 2 - i.e. behaving as generals might perhaps.

Almost without fail, each week one of the 'generals' would be spectacularly clueless and be disobeyed and / or generally ignored. I guess I've probably worked too long in cubicle-land but it all seemed horribly familiar - I guess PHBs go back to the dawn of time.

Mmm maybe if you watch it like that

[SmallFurryCreature]

Personally I had hoped if they had used slightly more cluefull people. I watched it two times and each time they were complete and utter total idiots, their "victories" feeling more like a hollywood scripted one then one won by solid strategic thinking. Or thinking at all.

Basically all the fights were chosen in such a way that the historical winner, wich the team of course played, had the upper hand and were the enemy never exploited the obvious mistakes made by the players.

I would have preffered it if they had for instance gotten real generals to play, history proffessors, politicians, business men. People who might show some intresting aspect on how they would deal with it. How would a modern airforce general deal with an ancient army of footsoldiers. How would a proffesor filled with knowledge of what happened before and after the battle deal with the actual battle when everything is constantly changing?

How would a politician who now a days has to worry about 1 coffin coming home deal with a bodycount in the hundreds of thousands?

Another instance of Machinima

[ILL Robinson]

This is why we believe so strongly in Machinima. It provides the environments, the actions and events to not only embellish stories (like in this case), but also allows people to tell stories of their own.