Talk:Empire: Total War/Archive 1

Archive 1

Archive 2

Archive 3

United Provinces

To whoever added the United Provinces to the list of the factions, could i know where you got such information? —Preceding unsigned comment added by The Observator (talk • contribs) 22:20, August 25, 2007 (UTC)

→→Yes, the list of factions is from the second reference in the article.71.145.163.138 05:07, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

Ok thank you. The Observator 22:27, 26 August 2007 (UTC)

Faction List

To who reverted my last edit, i changed the reference link for the faction list to a post with more information made by an official CA developer on Total War Center. The post also links to other posts made by another CA developer. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.146.102.11 (talk) 21:47, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

I think is better have two separated topics about factions...because we alrealdy have some confirmed factions (but nor playable), like Portugal... I have added Portgual before but someone have reverted, stating that it's not playable from the beginning...well, I really think is better to add all factions confirmed on the game, plus the confirmed as playable from the beginning. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.49.6.157 (talk) 15:29, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Too many playable factions

The article says that there will be 10 playable factions, but there are 11 factions listed. Are some of those 11 factions possible playable factions? If so, maybe we should make a list of confirmed playable factions, and another of possible playable factions (i.e. those that haven't been confirmed yet). Imperator3733 15:59, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

Because people keep editting it to say that the following are playable factions. It's a list of factions confirmed to be in the game. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lieftastic (talk • contribs) 03:33, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

I dant know anything about New France beeing a playable faction.. seems rather dubious to me.

what about unlockable? most of the non playable faction becomes playable after their conquest. i wonder if this feature is still available. 10 faction is too few when compared to the series. Akinkhoo (talk) 06:32, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

Playable

Nations: Playable: 11. (temporarily list according to Cn Iulius Flamininus). - Britain - America - Sweden - United Provinces(Netherlands) - Poland-Lithuania - Russia - Prussia - Venice - Spain - France - Ottoman Empire

This is from http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/21848?page=1 and should be used until better information is given. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Järnblomma (talk • contribs) 12:27, 2 December 2007 (UTC)

Zaporozhian Cossacks

I've removed the mention of Zaporozhian Cossacks from the factions section as i've seen no CA dev make a comment relating to them. If whoever keeps on adding them in culd link to an article/post that mentions them it would be great. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.151.209.154 (talk) 20:09, 16 December 2007 (UTC)

Right, i've done that again as no ones provided a link, and replaced the playable and confirmed faction lists with just confirmed given this post at the official forums:

http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/reply/350985/t/Facts-about-Empire-Total-War-.html#reply-350985 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.135.103.77 (talk) 19:26, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

America?

If the game is set between 1700's and early 1800's, USA was hardly a major power americian war of independence not as big as other wars in Europe at that time.... Does anyone think that perhaps Americia is included for a marketing reason rather than historical...? just wondering —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.155.176.95 (talk) 15:34, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

"One instance is the United States of America may only come into existence if the rulers of that area are unable to maintain social order." I assume that the game is likely to end in about 1815 or so, so America wouldn't be around very long, but it would be extremely important for the period. --J.StuartClarke (talk) 16:55, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm confused how they can be playable. America never existed in any form until 1776. Now the game runs from about 1700 - 1850 as I read it. At best they should exist for the latter half of the game. That plus the above quote about America coming into existence means that they should be like the Romano-British of Barbarian Invasion. A faction that only appears if certain conditions are met. If Great Britain, or whichever faction captures the thirteen colonies off them, fails to rule them right fair enough that they revolt. But if they are ruled well they should continue to be part of the empire. Colonial from the Middle Island (talk) 08:52, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

Oh I don't know....a quick genocidal campaign against the natives would mean American could play an important part in the game (and still have legal slavery at the end of it! Hoorah for 'freedom'!)

This is not a forum Philbuck222 (talk) 21:05, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

To clear up some of your confusion, Colonial, there's going to be a separate campaign called "Road to Independence" in which you start as the Thirteen Colonies. Hamza883 (talk) 21:04, 21 October 2008 (UTC)

Playable faction list

I've removed the tabble as only 6 factions have been confirmed as playable so far as can be found at the official site www.totalwar.com, and this thread at the official forums includes info on the known factions so far: http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/21848?page=1 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.128.86.146 (talk) 10:50, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Age Rating

Is it known? If so, what i it. This is Kai Su?, I forgot to log in —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.112.77.70 (talk) 16:37, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

It will be known only when the game is near to the release. --SkyWalker (talk) 03:58, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Playable Factions

I've cleaned up the faction list. Removed factions that are not confirmed like China, Krygz Empire, Sardinia and Venice.Please add reference if you add a confirmed faction to the list. Any new factions added without proper reference will be deleted. Generalsbodyguard (talk) 08:03, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

I've added the Thirteen Colonies back on. It seems like people are taking too many confirmed factions off the list. Hamza883 (talk) 20:45, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

Verification Needed

"The battlefield becomes strewn with dead, dying and dismembered bodies. The game makes use of ragdoll physics to add to the chaos." I have not heard of such a thing for ETW. Dismembered bodies? Ragdoll physics?

"The new animated campaign map features a huge cast of characters" This is highly unlike as CA have said they are streamlining the campaign map. And I quote:

"The array of personalities we’re used to seeing standing around the map has also been reduced: no diplomats, and priests and princesses have probably got the chop too. Instead of spies and assassins, we now have the rake, a presumably caddish bounder who’ll ingratiate himself into your enemies’ corridors of power. His abilities have yet to be confirmed, but we’re guessing that it’ll be something more deadly than guzzling all the Prussians’ sherry and seducing a duchess. Spies have not definitely been cut, but the new campaign map is freer with its information" from the PC Gamer UK article. This means it is highly unlikely there will be more agents or characters on the campaign map.Generalsbodyguard (talk) 18:07, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps, characters as in historical characters was meant. Mallerd (talk) 21:57, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes perhaps. But that will be assuming things. That sentence is a bit unclear and perhaps should be edited when more information is available about the campaign map.Generalsbodyguard (talk) 05:06, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Good work on the article general. The article needs to be updated. I have read those two somewhere. It is indeed there on the game. Let me search for it. Once i finished with it. I will add it here. --SkyWalker (talk) 05:23, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. Just doing my part. Alright take your time. Generalsbodyguard (talk) 05:54, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

I found the first one :- Look at this link. Go to General and you will find this - The field of conflict will become strewn with the bodies of wounded and dying men, lacerated and dismembered by pike, bayonet and shot. Also remember this game makes uses of physics engine. Which is also adds up to ragdoll. So you have now heard of this feature being added to ETW. --SkyWalker (talk) 05:56, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Well the official ETW page does talk about dead and wounded men etc but i still dont think it constitutes ragdoll physics. It would mean the bodies of men should react like the bodies in Half Life 2 etc. The dead and wounded could just populate the environment. Ragdoll physics is a very specific feature.Generalsbodyguard (talk) 14:24, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Coming to second one. Look at the same link given below and this time look at Campaign map and you will find this - An all-new fully animated campaign map with all buildings and upgrades visible, upgrades are done by clicking on them on the Strategic Map. So now we have half :-The new animated campaign map features. Now we need this:- a huge cast of characters . Iam not sure what huge cast of characters mean. It can be heroes? or armies?. So this concludes.--SkyWalker (talk) 06:05, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes we need more information before we can conclude what exactly it means.Generalsbodyguard (talk) 14:24, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

shoguntotalwar.yuku.com

Time Period: The game is set in the years 1700 to the early 1800's, a turbulent age of gunpowder, revolution, discovery and Empire Building.

Victory conditions: the player's aim is to create the greatest Republic or Empire the world has known, spanning not just a continent but the world! Can you hold on to lands in the New World, or establish a rich trading empire in the Indies?

AI: - Empire: Total War will boast a full re-write of the AI with a wider range of strategies and tactics, providing a formidable opponent on land, sea and on the campaign map. - One of the quirks of the old engine was that the diplomacy and military AI were two separate routines, developed separately by two different programmers. Those systems fought each other. The military side would say 'we need to invade' while the diplomatic side will say 'well, I just made a treaty with them.' Getting them to work together was difficult. It meant the behaviour wasn't always consistent.' Throwing out those systems should fix the quirks, while allowing for new game mechanics.

Campaign map: - An all-new fully animated campaign map with all buildings and upgrades visible, upgrades are done by clicking on them on the Strategic Map. - New improved systems for Trade, Diplomacy, Missions and Espionage in that Diplomats, Spies and Assassins will no longer be represented on the map. - A refined and streamlined UI. - Improved Advisors and tutorials. - Queens are portrayed: According to Mike Brunton "But given that there's Queen Anne and Catherine the Great and Empress Marie-Therese, we'd be a bit remiss not to include proper queen-type queens, now wouldn't we?" - New agents and diplomacy traits functions are also planned, but no details are known about that yet. - Revolutions can happen, leading to the separation of countries. (As an example, a rebellion of the Scotts was given). - Enhanced auto management. - The big change for the fans is the reinvention of army movement. "It's fair to say that the campaign map in Rome and Medieval was divided into army-sized tiles, "Each tile could hold one army. In Empire, there's no tiling system. The player will never see any type of tiling artefact - it's entirely freeform. It's like taking the squares off the chessboard." - Slavery appears, but it's not something you can actively get involved in. - 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. - Each nation will still have a capital. - You can change the form of government between: absolute monarchy, constitutional 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. - The event movies will be in aswell, as there are already some screenshots from them too. - We are working hard to ensure that naval battles assume a greater significance on the campaign map as well and that fleets really project power rather than just being transport containers for armies. - For the first time, we are actually having a technology tree that lets player's research pure technologies as well as construct and upgrade buildings. We have a host of different technologies that the player can choose to focus on. Some will give units new abilities on the battlefield, or allow your artillery to develop new types of ordnance. Some will improve ships' sailing and fighting performance, others will develop your economy and enable new buildings and infrastructure, and others will advance the educational level of your nation and speed up future research. - Religion plays a role in the game, but it doesn't play such as central part as in the medieval era. Religion does have an impact on happiness levels, and conversion can still help bring a newly conquered region under your control. - We've really beefed up the diplomacy side of the game, and tried hard to make the AI factions behave in a more human way and respond to the player's treatment of them. Religion does play a role in terms of factions' attitudes towards each other, and it can be harder to maintain a close friendship with a faction with a different religion.

Continents: - North America: Spanish settlements in the Caribbean. British Colonists/Americans in the west. Native Americans.

Regions in the Americas tend to start the game with low populations, and we do model the migration of people from Europe to the Americas as a result of dissatisfaction with their lives in the Old World. Therefore, American regions can see extremely fast development, with population and hence new towns growing much faster than is possible in Europe.

- South America

- Europe

- North Africa French colonies in North Africa. Native Africans. - Central Asia English trading posts in India. Mughals in India. Indonesia.

Historical figures: - Peter The Great - Malborough - Charles XII of Sweden. - Wellington. - Napoleon (according to PC Gameplay). - According to Mike Simpson, there's even a possibility to have Napoleon himself in your own ranks when around the end of the century you recruit an artillery unit in Corsica.

Nations: Playable: -Britain -Prussia -France -Spain -America: Become a founding father. Control the fate of the United States of America, from its revolution against the British to overcoming the challenges of a young independent nation. -Ottoman Empire.

Confirmed: - Sweden - United Provinces(Netherlands) - Russia - Venice - Spain - Poland-Lithuania.

Non-playable: approximatly 40.

Land Battles: - Maximum of twenty regiments (according to James Russell in PC Gameplay). - Real time battles will pose new challenges with the addition of cannon and musket, challenging players to master new formations and tactics as a result of the increasing role of gunpowder within warfare. - Capturing and occupying key buildings around the map. They will automatically take up defensive positions and fire out of windows/doors. You'll need to be careful however, because artillery can destroy buildings. - Using cover, such as behind walls. - Earth walls can be constructed, units entrenched and the battlefield is fully destructible. - One can only besiege star shaped forts... - Sound will be adjusted and improved so that the battlefields will become much more alive! - On the battle map (both land and sea), the increase in visual quality and the number of men on the battlefield is incredible. The new engine has allowed huge improvements in graphics, terrain & vegetation, destructible buildings, as well as more advanced unit behaviour and abilities

Artillery: - Heavy artillery in the form of cannons, mortar and early rocket launchers, with bouncing cannonballs who bounce differently depending on the surface they hit slicing through drifting gunsmoke to tear up lines of infantry. - Cannons will seize up and explode. - Well-organized batteries of cannon. - We have artillery units, some of which can be limbered up and moved around the field at speed by teams of horses. You can develop all kinds of exotic ammo for them to fire.

Infantry: - Bagpipes, drummers, flautists and trumpeters will fill the air with play out over the crack of musket fire, the boom of artillery and the thunderous charge of cavalry. - Generals will bark out orders to their regiments as the player orchestrates the battle utilizing formations, unit abilities and drills. - Formations: Line to mass their fire, Square to defend against cavalry charges or spread out in loose formation to minimize damage from cannon fire are all excellent tactics that the player will have to keep in mind. - There will be a fire button. It's a sort of override tool so you can time your shot when you want to. And timing is critical. Let off muskets too early, and you won't do enough damage. Let off your muskets too late in the face of a cavalry charge, and you've got every chance of being crushed by a flying dead horse." - There's more of an emphasis on fire in Empire, but that doesn't mean that shock isn't also a vital component of battle. (Most of your fire units will have a shock attack as well.)

Cavalry: - We have dragoon units -- mounted men that you can order to dismount and fire and attack the enemy as infantry. Then you can order them to mount up again and chase across the field on horseback.

General: - Weapons will jam and misfire. - The field of conflict will become strewn with the bodies of wounded and dying men, lacerated and dismembered by pike, bayonet and shot. - Draw armies out of the cities, removing the dominance of sieges. That's being done by making region improvements - structures such as barracks, mines and palaces - exist outside of the city, vulnerable to attack. Generals can no longer afford to hide behind their city walls in the event of an invasion. They must sally forth and chase the aggressor away.

Sea Battles: - 3D naval combat - Intuitively command vast fleets or single ships - After pummelling your enemy with cannon fire, close in to grapple their ship and prepare to board taking control of your men as they fight hand to hand on the decks. - Once a ship is conquered by bordering it, you add it to your navy, but, this doesn't mean you can deploy it straight away, you'll have to return to a harbor, recruit a crue, repair damage to the ship before you're able to put it into service. - Movement of ships is identical to the way land armies are moved, you have several harbors in which you can construct ships and these are then one at a time moved on the campaign map. - Realistic sailing model. (Different wind conditions, different light conditions, different weather conditions). Example: A gust of wind is caused by a whirlpool of wind moving vertically; they actually move quite slowly and cover quite large areas - you see it because it makes the surface of the water rough, and the rest shiny. It means you can build gameplay into entering and chasing gusts of wind, and using them to overtake an enemy fleet." - There will be rigging. Stays, shrouds etc. (Exactly how detailed they will be will depend on performance). - Cannon and musket fire. - Boarding actions. - A full and very detailed damage model . The cannonballs can knock down masts, damage the sails , riggings and hulls and they'll kill individual men. That obviously affects the manouvrability of your ships. - Full range of weather effects to influence battles. These will play out on stunning, ultra-realistic seascapes, as cannons and muskets blaze away, cutting through the smoke and fog to splinter, pierce and shatter hulls, sails and masts, laying waste to crew members and sending them to Davy Jones' Locker. - Ship-specific formations and admiral traits. - Each ship takes up a single unit space. - There will be reinforcements. (Cn Iulius Flamininus, 03/07/2008). - You can capture ships, and that will be important. (Cn Iulius Flamininus, 03/07/2008). - It will take a lot of money and time to build 1st rate ships of the line. (Cn Iulius Flamininus, 03/07/2008). - Players can field fleets of up to 20 ships with each of about 100 men on board who will make sure there is utter chaos and explosions on board. - Pirates are included. - You'll have a variety of choices to make when engaging in naval combat. Your cannons can be directed to aim for the hull to sink an enemy, for the decks to clear the way for boarding action by your marines, or for the masts to reduce the enemy's speed and maneuverability. - There are only enough crew members to man one side of a ship, so if you attack a ship from two sides you have an advantage. - There will be various classes of vessel, which will essentially vary by maneuverability, speed, and firepower. - Command your ships whether you want to aim at the sails or at the hull, or at the men on the decks. You can choose what ammunition to load (Three types). - You'll see and feel it all: the wind in the sails, the choking atmosphere of the gun-deck as the crew frantically reload the cannons, the fights on deck... the man at the steering wheel, driving the boat. (we definatly need to read up on those nautical terms ). - Seablockades can be performed to cripple the economy of other nations. - Screenshot: Sinking ship.(PC Gameplay).

Graphical: - Brand new graphics engine and technology which will include: - Seascapes rich with extraordinary water and weather effects that play a huge role in your eventual glorious success or ignominious defeat. - New advanced landscape and flora systems, dynamic weather and new battle choreography and occupy-able and destructible battlefield buildings. - New ballistics and physics model.

Gameplay: - The game won't start full tilt with access to every single feature. Players will have the chance to wade around in the shallow end of the pool for a while before having to contend with all the options the game has to offer. - Even when the other options start opening up, the team has reduced many of the management hassles that are present in the series. Recruiting big armies in Medieval II or in Rome require you to issue individual production orders in a number of different provinces. Empire will allow you to build large armies simply by recruiting units at your general. He'll then translate that request into production orders in nearby provinces. - Similarly, players of previous Total War games have had to balance each of their provinces individually to maximize tax output and minimize unrest. Now, the game makes use of a more comprehensive tool to manage things across your entire empire. - Given the time period, managing unrest is going to be a relatively important concern. As your society advances, your citizens will demand more and more freedom, which can definitely put a crimp in your own policies. You can choose to liberate them and become a modern enlightened state, or you could hold on to your power a little longer by crushing your people under an oppressive regime. Where previous games saw peoples aligned by religious affiliation, Empire will tend to focus more on this concept of political freedom as a component of happiness. - Colonial regions also tend to produce exotic commodities such as sugar and tobacco.

Multiplayer: - A brand new multiplayer component will include player rankings, leagues and ladders and completely new gameplay modes.

Modding: - Modding: we want to give the modders a push in the back by releasing some tools we also work with, with these tools you can as a designer make adjustments without having to harass the programmers, this make these tools ideal for modders. We're not certain yet whether will release these tools with the game itself or put them online after the release of the game.

That's what that site has found. Mallerd (talk) 21:45, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

You could atleast point the website and make some valid points. Instead of copy and paste. Yes that is the official forum of Creative Assembly.--SkyWalker (talk) 05:25, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Time line

Empire: Total War is set in 17th to early 18th century not 18th to 19th century.--SkyWalker (talk) 04:21, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Actually the 18th century refers to 1700 to 1799 and 19th century refers to 1800 to 1899...you can search for it in wikipedia for confirmation.Generalsbodyguard (talk) 08:13, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

If you feel thats confusing, you could change the sentence to something like "from 1700's to the early 1800's"Generalsbodyguard (talk) 08:23, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

I have already changed it to 1700 to early 1800's. It causes less confusion this way. The reference to the official page is correct and uses the same sentence. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Generalsbodyguard (talk • contribs) 10:31, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Indeed 17th to 18th century is confusing. 1700 to early 1800's is much better. --SkyWalker (talk) 13:38, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

• It's only confusing if you don't understand. Jasca Ducato (talk) 10:08, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

It's not that hard to grasp considering we live in the 21st century. I doubt anyone thinks its 2108. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Colilace5 (talk • contribs) 01:11, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

ETW official boxart released

Hey guys, CA just released the official boxart. Now if some kind soul could upload it and place it on this page.... 13:06, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Yes. Iam thinking of uploading it but the only thing that is stopping me is the ratings it says "TBC". I assume that is the only part which is unconfirmed and all others are finalised. --SkyWalker (talk) 14:05, 15 July 2008 (UTC)

Ok, BoxArt addded. --SkyWalker (talk) 14:23, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

Since the boxart was released some time ago and the Netherlands has its own boxart, wouldn't it be reasonable confirmation that the Dutch Republic is a playable faction in this game? 62.194.182.191 (talk) 09:32, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

the Dutch played a major part in the time period but nothing is truly confirmed yet. Ace blazer (talk) 07:06, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

New information and in-game screenshots.

Since the Leipzig Games Convention, CA has released many new screenshot's as well as new information. Among the screenshot, for the first time 3 campaign screenshots were shown.

1st showing the player playing as the British in Britain.

2nd showing the player playing as the Spanish in Spain.

3rd showing the player playing as the Dutch in India / Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

Which confirms both the Spanish and Dutch are playable. (the Spanish and Dutch also both have their own box art)

Why American Box art?

http://shoguntotalwar.yuku.com/topic/36021

Its Clearly stated that there are several kinds of box art and also a general one with a bunch of flags. Anyways the British box cover was out first. America wont even be in the first part of the game, this is just typical American flag waving. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.233.170.29 (talk) 22:51, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

The American box art is simply meant for North America. There are several box arts by the way, and each is meant for their own respective markets (there are box arts for the French, the Germans, the Dutch, etc...). There will be a separate campaign besides the main one called Road to Independence where you take control of the Americans and lead them to independence. I suppose in the main campaign you will be able to choose the 13 colonies and try to break loose of Great Britain yourself. Sherif9282 (talk) 09:17, 7 September 2008 (UTC)

Just a note, discussion at the WP:VG on this general issue has resulted in the consensus that the box art of the developer's native country should be used, or if they are not an English speaking nation, then the first available English box art should be used. In this case, the developer is British, so the British box art should be the de jure art used. However, there is also a general one coming out from what I can tell, which is multinational. I would highly recommend using that one when a higher resolution version can be obtained (these aren't of a decent enough resolution to do so), as it represents an international box art. The relevant guidelines and notes are at Template:Infobox_VG#Syntax_guide and Wikipedia:VGSCOPE#Screenshots_and_cover_art -- Sabre (talk) 16:14, 18 September 2008 (UTC)

So we're agreed then. British developer, British box art. Until at least a multinatinal version box art is released. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.233.170.29 (talk) 15:05, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

I hear tell there will be a separate "Road to Independence" campaign in the ETW FAQ blog for those American enthusiasts. It is a good story and scenario to play, not to mention it caters to a large demographic. This is already mentioned as "story mode" in the article. Ace blazer (talk) 07:09, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

Faction listing - Specifically the Dutch Republic (United Provinces)

Alright, several people have already stated this before and I'm going to repeat this here. I'm hoping that everyone who decides to edit the faction list doesn't do so without reading this particular post first, because I'm going to post the reasoning why it is highly likely that the Dutch Republic is a playable faction..

First of all; there's a seperate Dutch website for Empire: Total War here; [1]. Secondly, faction specific boxart also exists: [2]. As you can see, this file is hosted on the SEGA servers and is therefore not a fake or photoshopped boxart image..

Thirdly, sometime in late August, several campaign map screenshots were posted online, including this particular one ([3]), which shows the player playing a game as the Dutch..

Lastly, in this FAQ blog entry for Empire: Total War ([4]), Mark O'Connell mentioned the following:

"Will the emergence of new governmental systems be reflected in the game? Will we be able to play as a monarchy or republic and will that affect the gameplay? Revolution is a key theme of the era. In Empire there are three different potential forms of government. Players will have to decide how to contend with social changes as their society “progresses”. This is a really exciting area we’re currently developing at CA. Ruling a monarchy with an iron fist involves different challenges from governing a republic. The three government types have their own advantages and disadvantages and as pressure for reform grows, revolution and civil strife can occur, and players will have to deal with the consequences of that."

Seeing as how Republics will be one of the government forms (alongside Absolute and Constitutional Monarchies) it is highly likely that players will be able to play as one of the few Republics in 18th century Europe, in order to give them a different experience from the many monarchies.

Now, I hope I've sufficiently stated the case for the Dutch Republic and I hope therefore that it will not be removed the next time it is added to the list. Especially since factions like Sweden and the Mughal Empire hardly have had the same level of confirmation that the Dutch Republic has had.. --62.194.183.137 (talk) 00:49, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

It got removed again. Ace blazer (talk) 07:10, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

That's a textbook case of how WP:SYN applies to video games. Rather than post lots of different, related sources that advance the potential that the Dutch are in the game (note that I don't actually dispute that they're going to be there, but Wikipedia works on verifability, not truth), if you can find a solitary source that shows the Dutch are definitely and unquestionably in the game from either a reliable source like IGN or GameSpot, or from Creative Assembly themselves, then you can add them (or indeed any other faction that has been confirmed in a similar way) to the article.