The #1 Reason Total War: Attila FAILED

[@CulinVlau]

I come from a universe where Atilla is one of the most popular TW games. It's very nice. We already have Medieval III because CA decided not to make saga games.

[@happycompy]

Holy shit can I come there?

[@nomooon]

Next turn CA of our universe razed yours...

[@LonelyMinnesotan1]

SIGN. ME. UP.. SOMEONE GET THE DIMENSIONAL PORTAL OVER HERE STAT!

[@IceniTotalWar]

There can be only 1 ! And I much prefer your Universe to be that 1 !

[@Locklear117491]

I'm still enjoying my ostrogoth campaign XD

[@ducky8075]

Atilla is easily the most thematic of the total war games, with its apocalyptic nature being extremely well done. Everything from the layout of the settlements, to the music, to the amazing cutscenes makes you really feel like the end is here. Great days have come and gone. The storm approaches. That makes surviving it and triumphing, especially if you don’t cheese, feel like you’ve done the impossible. Sad CA has abandoned it. There are some extremely aggravating things I wish they’d fix but atilla surprised me. It felt... thematic, and no total war game really impressed me in that regard.

[@happycompy]

Couldn't agree more. Attila is top tier when it comes to atmosphere imo.

[@wilb6657]

The one thing that pissed me off the most, is that CA NEVER created a Romano-British faction. How are you going to do that, CA? You're a BRITISH COMPANY.

[@TheArsenalgunner28]

Would you recommend playing it, I’m considering it. I mean I’m playing medieval 2 atm and love it but I’m waiting for Atila to go on offer

[@DrewHengy]

Attila to me has always felt like a 1,000 piece puzzle set, that initially every piece has a place, but as you go further along, those pieces form chunks, and then those chunks don't fit with one another. Eventually you end up with 10 or so huge chunks, but you can't go beyond that. The game isn't missing features or content, its just that none of the features it contains flows together to make a cohesive game.

[@pifachu3220]

@@wilb6657 inst that a rome remastered fraction in barbarian invasion?

[@Jakob_KC]

I hope they will make an Empire 2, Empire had and has so much potential

[@happycompy]

Agreed!

[@rockstar450]

Agreed, easy to forget the British Empire was the greatest in history. It deserves a good takw

[@Flowerz__]

@@rockstar450 that’s arguable

[@rockstar450]

@@Flowerz__how is it arguable? Conquered a quarter of the world (largest empire ever), the most common language in the world named after them (modern legacy) among modernising much of the world. I’d accept the Roman legacy is greater but you can’t list the Mongols (who comparatively made European Colonisation look like play school) as higher than the British Empire when they were smaller, shorter and their legacy is diluted due to their brutality leading to their formal vassals cursing their memory.

[@Flowerz__]

@@rockstar450 my argument would be for Rome. From its inception to fall in the 5th century even tho the East continued on for another almost 1000 years was the greatest empire of all time. Especially if you include the republic as part of it which I would bc even tho they didn’t even an emperor it was still basically an empire. Rome had way better characters and intrigue as well imo and there legacy is definitely still felt even to this day even tho a lot of their stuff was copied from the Greeks as far as architecture and government ahha. I feel it’s definitely something to be argued. The British empire is without a doubt one of the greatest of all time and the stuff they were able to do is unparalleled. The last great empire probably for the remainder of human history. Not trying to diminish the British empire but in my opinion Rome is greater for the lasting effects and also just the political intrigue and characters makes it better to me haha.

[@leonst.7471]

Attila will forever be my most favourite Total War (not only because it was the first i owned) but also it feels the most challanging without needing any mods or so

[@happycompy]

Yeah it's extremely tough unless you turn the cheese up to 11 with minor settlement defenses but even then it's a new kind of sanity-testing tough.

[@zephur6788]

you sir are a soldier to be revered lol

[@lucasgueiros7531]

I can't stand Rome 2 UI and Attila has the best mods of all the modern titles, I also prefer the way attila battles play. I really can't understand what people like so much about Shogun 2, it's the most downgraded version of any title in terms of grand strategy/campaign, tried to play it after attila and honesty feels in, that aspect, that is something made for kids

[@tristanjohnson7450]

@@happycompy facts

[@scottshields113]

I have more hours in Attlia than any other one. Its dark and gritty. And I find a challenge every time.

[@happycompy]

UPDATE 5/27: Folks, they did it again. They just pulled the plug on Three Kingdoms in order to make a new Three Kingdoms game that *won't have any connection to the base game.* Thank you for the positive feedback, everyone. Unfortunately, some people seem to think that I don't like Attila or that I don't think it's a good game. Nowhere in the video do I say these things, in fact, I praise it for its atmosphere and superior mechanics. I like Attila, I have 400 hours & own all the DLC. The game "failed" to garner a large player base (meaning it likely underperformed sales-wise) just like Napoleon did. The numbers are what they are. That wouldn't have happened if it was an expansion to Rome 2 which fixed Rome 2's core issues. If that happened, the wonderful modding communities wouldn't be split between two games (like modder Benjin said in another comment), and we'd have one epic-sized Roman history Total War game that doesn't run like shit. That's the point of this video.

[@KenoReplay.]

I don't even own 3K and I'm pissed about this.

[@TheSunderingSea]

Attila does look a LOT better then Rome 2 though graphics wise, especially the terrain.

[@BrorealeK]

lmfao, I was just about to comment asking how you felt about releasing this just before CA pulled the plug on 3K.

[@happycompy]

@@BrorealeK pissed, to answer your question

[@rabbideadpool5190]

I've been playing Attila recently and I've been having a ton of fun. The apocalyptic nature is unique for a total war game and I like the more gritty feeling. It's a shame no effort has been put into the performance issues but if Rome 2 can get DLC years after the fact, maybe Attila can too.

[@happycompy]

We can hope 🤞

[@vincentmalasawmkimajongte7489]

You've never experienced apocalyptic hopelessness till you're hanging your hopes on your Scout Equitae (hope I spelt it right)

[@chungchutien3784]

Playing Attila feel very epic when victory each battle

[@vincentmalasawmkimajongte7489]

@Itachirevived for "bad cavalry" they're pretty fucking powerful if you use them in the right way, I think most Western Roman units are like that.

[@DominatorGarage]

@@vincentmalasawmkimajongte7489 especially when its 15 scout in the 60 man unit and they end up killing 800 men

[@trswaney]

Man you hit the nail on the head. You can’t play Attila without wishing you were playing Rome 2 and you can’t play Rome 2 without wishing you had the mechanics of Attila.

[@timokaaarp7779]

That's what mods are for. Ancient Empires 2.0 kicks ass, as does MKTW and as will Rise of Mordor. I've played nearly 800 hours of Attila, and not a minute in vanilla Attila.

[@historyrepeat402]

@@timokaaarp7779 while I love ancient empires how is it modder jobs to fix and think of ways to better a game?

[@mynamejeb8743]

@@timokaaarp7779 u cant be a multimillion dollar company designing a game that the player need to fix themselves. i love mods, but this mentality of most players are wrong

[@killinspecialist1965]

@@mynamejeb8743 welcome to PC gaming mods fix games been that way for decades man and while it has its downsides it works wonders for the mods we get

[@williamanderson2326]

@@timokaaarp7779 does MKTW have a campaign?

[@murielbalmori9441]

It's sad, I really love Attila, it's depressing when you go to the lobby and see there's no one playing it

[@happycompy]

I feel the same 😭

[@marcelogarciagonzalez9984]

Im here bro, always playing Attila totalCHAD😎

[@ΒασιληςΠαναγιωτιδης-ξ7π]

I am playing attila everyday for hours usually at nights whya you mean when you say no one

[@TheToledoTrumpton]

Honestly, I have tried 7 or 8 times to get into it, but I just can't get past the first 20 turns. I even bought a couple of DLC, to see if it would help, but I just find it totally uninspiring. It seems to me you have to win battles heavily against the odds, and that requires a lot of very intense micro-management which is an acquired taste. The minimum skill/proficiency level required is very high. I can watch a playthrough, use exactly the same strategy, and not come close to winning because I simply can't micro-manage the battles well enough to win, even playing on far below the difficulty levels I am watching. I realize this invites the, get gud, response, but for me, when there are similar alternatives such as Warhammer 2 where getting gud is not required, it really isn't neccesary.

[@pergys6991]

@@TheToledoTrumpton mandatory “git gud” comment. But seriously, that’s the appeal of Attila for a lot of players. It’s one of the few TW and only historical title that actively challenges the player consistently. Even when cheesing battles, you have to be very lucky, have the right map and units, and the right timing to win. Once you get the hang of battles, it’s still only the beginning. You have to understand the right builds needed for armies, best settlement build and even the right towns to be used as choke points. It’s super refreshing and keeps you wanting to play more even in late game which is something most TW games struggle to do. For example, In one of my ERE games, I managed to stabilize my empire in around 30 turns and keep it like that for 10 turns. Then I got too arrogant and declared wars on a whole bunch of nations. Then in less than 10 turns, my emperor died, I lost 8 out of the 12 armies I had, the Levant and Egypt got taken, the Huns and Macromani burned Greece down except for Constantinople and I was so broke from trying to maintain my armies and rebuild my economy. You don’t ever get a challenge like this in TW games anymore and winning and bringing my empire back from the brink is what was so satisfying and amazing about the campaign

[@pergys6991]

Attila has honestly ruined Rome 2 for me. I tried going back to the campaign but everything felt so easy and weak. There was no challenge at all. Everything felt slow and there wasn’t as much tactic as it was just have the stronger sword unit to muscle everyone else out. There was no wandering tribe I had to watch, no imminent crisis to prep for, no big threat to constantly fight, and no rebellion to suppress. It feels lifeless

[@happycompy]

Yeah, after playing Attila in 2015 I immediately made a mod that ported in Attila's difficulty into Rome 2 wherever possible for this reason.

[@Kvs-vf9nt]

What about Empire divided?

[@krystofcisar469]

I bought rome 2 after attila - such a mistake - i gave it only like 3 hours of gamepleay because everything just looks and works better in attila.

[@Tonyx.yt.]

@@krystofcisar469 yeah and UI for campaign in Rome 2 is so awfull comparing to Attila, feels like 10 years earlier not 2

[@thedisastricartist5075]

@@Kvs-vf9nt si es bastante difícil esa campaña

[@sirruf9618]

I remember the first time I played Attila. I picked the Sasanids to play it safe, just to familiarise myself with the game. At the beginning of the game I saw my vasals fighting of some weird Eastern-looking faction around the Caspian Sea, some cities got burned, I thought it's just a gimmick. A bit later in the game I sent a spy to Italy. Left him close to Rome, forgot about him. And then I remembered I left the poor guy there and went to check on him... I saw the entire peninsula under siege, burning, dying, entire provinces scorched.... The air was indeed filled with smoke and blood. I was rully shocked, I can still see it, one of thse moments that will always stay with me. Attila is an entirely different experience and IMHO the best modern TW game. And for your comment about 'why it failed' - I never thought it failed, actually it's the first time I thought it might have not been a success, I am genuinely surprised. People do play it and there is a big fan base of Atilla. Sales numbers is not everything if the game is so good and not plagued with bugs or stupid mechanics. It's not a meme like ToB, people don't talk about Attila to describe a failed game. As you mentioned it's a similar case to Napoleon, although I'd argue that Napoleon with its much smaller scope does feel like a DLC, while Attila does not. It's a dark TW game, feels much more like a TW Medieval Prologue, rather than TW Rome Epilogue. It will always be loved and remembered therefore I'd never say it 'failed', Attila's case is too nuanced to call it a failure anyways great video, gib MOAR Total War content and keep it up dude

[@happycompy]

That's Attila in a nutshell lol.

[@Zarkxac493]

I remember when the Age of Charlemagne DLC came out and it was better than the base game, it felt like it could've been it's own game. That is actually kind of sad.

[@happycompy]

Agreed. I feel like Thrones of Britannia is sort of an admission of that fact.

[@rockstar450]

AoC fixed a lot of what made Attila terrible. No sanitation and no razing, the two stupidest parts of Attila

[@AksamRafiz]

@@rockstar450 wait sanitation and razing were terrible?

[@MrRazer94]

@@AksamRafiz playing ERE, with all sweat, blood, and tears shed to survive till 410 AD and see your cities ridden with diseases. no sanitation building in late game due to retarded technology tree.

[@Arcaryon]

I mainly bought Thrones of Britannia for the mods. And what can I say - they really work. And Charlemagne, it’s a really nice expansion and a lot of fun.

[@derekscanlan4641]

I went to like this video... only to realise that I already did years ago The pain of attila still feels new

[@happycompy]

I just made a video about how good the atmosphere is in Total War: Attila, and the pain hit me all over again. Same with Napoleon and Empire.

[@daborinkid7279]

I like attila but it should of been an expansion to rome 2, but with that said i still love the game

[@happycompy]

The air was filled with smoke and blood.

[@daborinkid7279]

@@happycompy the roman empire was divided

[@Danymok]

I know it's a small thing, but I really dislike Atilla's removal of the faction banners in the battle map, and now all (or mostly that I know of at least) the newer Total War titles use the green/yellow vs red and it's boring.

[@happycompy]

I actually prefer the more "video gamey" icons of Attila, BUT I'm glad that 3k and WH have options for flags for people who prefer them. The flags definitely add more color and character.

[@roronoazoro1010]

I think Attila is underrated, because most players are playing rome 2, warhammer 2, shogun 2. Sometimes lobby is so empty in Attila. Nice video though!

[@happycompy]

Thank you! I agree Attila is overlooked by many, including CA 🤣

[@rockstar450]

Actually fire it up and play as ERE for 4 hours. Next day, do the same with Rome 2. You’ll see the mechanics mean there is only one way to play Attila, turtle and burn everyone else’s stuff down. CA were so obsessed with a baron Europe by turn 70 the game requires no risk to be taken. If you so much as get sieges for 1 turn your buildings are damaged for a few turns which means a revolt due to sanitation PO nonsense. Everything makes the game a grind. I’m currently competing a legendary campaign and I’m nearly finished but pride is what’s taking me there, it isn’t fun, and I like total war with challenge!

[@ottomatic3123]

@@rockstar450 ERE?

[@Krafanio]

@@ottomatic3123 Eastern Roman Empire. The eastern administration of the Roman Empire.

[@sasi5841]

@@ottomatic3123 normally refered to as the Byzantine empire

[@Gyrosmeister]

The faction intros/trailers have a lot of references to the apocalypse of John (the narrator mentions the 4 riders (white, red, black, yellow/pale for example). If I had to sum up Attila in one sentence it would be "Attila runs like shit and is as balanced as Caligula's mind". And to experience the Fall of Rome you would need a 15th century DLC for that XD

[@happycompy]

"Attila runs like shit and is as balanced as Caligula's mind" had me dying man. So true. Really cool info about the biblical references btw, thanks for sharing.

[@MollymaukT]

They basically gave us the best provincial management system in the franchise in the game it matters the least, cause you're gonna get screwed no matter what so you resign to crushing rebellions instead of taking care of public order and live off raiding instead of building a steady economy

[@lefthandpathmedia5958]

@@MollymaukT this is it man for real

[@matthewwebster3143]

So the MK1212 mod for Attila makes attila into a wonderfully amazing game

[@cannavega9770]

Sadly I have FPS issues with big armies....

[@TheToledoTrumpton]

From what I can see, the mod is currently broken.

[@sztypettto]

@@TheToledoTrumpton , mods are developed as a hobby by people whose wives/girlfriends leave them for some Chad guy who doesn't even know there's such a thing as Atilla TW capable of mods that add flavour to the game. So yeah... give it a couple years or join TW forums and your contribution would be appreciated there.

[@kevind.k7512]

The solution: Ancient Empires mod for Attila.

[@pii9729]

Atillas grand campaign is really fun for me. I alway play the Roman's and like the idea that I'm fighting against impossible odds. It's a hard game yes, but beating out barbarian scum from my lands is so satisfying

[@napowolf]

Same here, not my most highly rated total war game, but certainly most played.

[@gm2407]

WRE for the joy.

[@camorarr142]

Attila is my favourit Total War🙏🏼

[@happycompy]

Perfect timing, I just uploaded a mod showcase video for Attila! ;)

[@danielrivkin3156]

I think Atilla is fine as its own game: It's a different age of history (dark ages vs. Iron/classical age), with different tech, cultures, forms of gov't religions and world powers. And that's why it could support its own DLCs extending the period well past Rome's fall. The problem was CA's post-release policy: using Atilla as an excuse to abandon Rome II and then Rome II as an excuse to abandon Atilla. That doesn't mean the games couldn't have both been developed to work well.

[@happycompy]

You know what, this is the most unique take I've heard so far. I guess it never occurred to me that CA could theoretically walk and chew bubble gum at the same time, because they've never once shown us that they can. They are not good at balancing support for two titles at once, as we can see with the disparity between 3K & WH2 support. They go where the money is, which makes sense, but that's why Attila was doomed to fail from the get-go. Thanks for the comment btw :)

[@bilbobaggins8794]

Attila is there to play Medieval Kingdoms 1212 AD and....... thats it.

[@GetDunkedJin]

Thank you for explaining in this short video what I've been trying to explain individually to various people for *_years_* now. Attila, IMO, should never have been its own game entirely - it should have been a standalone expansion to Rome 2, like how Fall of the Samurai was to Shogun 2. Doing that would have helped add more depth to the original game it was based off of (why wait for the Rise of the Republic update for the family tree in 2018 when it could have been added as early as 2015?) and it would have also kept the community more united. Right now, as a modder myself that focuses on this era of TW (yes, I am the same Benjin who worked on AAA: Generals and various 3D art-related mod content for Rome 2), I know that it's rather disheartening for modders in both communities atm. Basically, people who mod Rome 2 want to have the same tools as modders in Attila have (e.g. battlefield / siege map editing, more scripting possibilities, more core mechanics / depth etc), while people who mod Attila want the game they're modding for to be more popular (i.e. have the same number of players as Rome 2 has) and also have a more optimised experience for the core game (in comparison, Thrones of Britannia - which is mostly based on Attila and I believe was originally slated to be a campaign pack DLC before being made into a standalone "Saga" title - is far more optimised. There was a time when lots of Attila modders / overhaul projects were seriously considering moving over to ToB, but realised after a month or two that the player numbers were even worse + there were some core features cut out that could not be re-implemented (e.g. agents, hordes, navies, ambush battles etc) which made it a less attractive idea to initiate a move to that game). This could have all been resolved if both games were united in the first place and it's still such a shame that it happened - you'd have thought that CA would remember what happened with Napoleon and not repeat the same mistake? I'm not gonna be too harsh though. Perhaps there was a technical reason at the time as to why they didn't which we're not fully aware of (e.g. memory limit / file sizes)? Whatever the reason was, how about now, what with many technical improvements since then (e.g. the move from 32-bit to 64-bit)? Warhammer 2 (and soon Warhammer 3) proves that such scale / diversity can be achieved and still be technically viable. I would love it if CA remastered both games into one big package some day along with many extra improvements to bring them both up to more of a modern standard and unite the community for this era of TW again, but I doubt they'll ever do that.

[@happycompy]

Benjin! I absolutely love your mods! Your explanation of the sad modding situation is salient. It was the same story modding Empire + Napoleon. Shogun 2 modders have no such problems, because as you said, they are united under one game.

[@thunderbagel3886]

Ahhhh I just discovered HappyCompy's YT channel and Benjin's on it too! I love BOTH of your mods and always followed your work while I was learning to mod Rome 2. I picked up Idreaus' Roman Houses mod and HappyCompy, I believe you created a DEI bridge for my "A More Aggressive AI" mod! You both are legends!

[@happycompy]

@@thunderbagel3886 Turquoise Falcon, I love your A More Aggressive AI mod! You're a legend for taking the reigns on Roman Houses also! I covered Roman Houses in my "7 mods to make Rome 2 like Rome 1" video :)

[@ManiacMVK]

Sry, i must disagree with your video! Attila is the better Rome 2! Maybe many folks don't like the setting, but the cities in Attila are populated, there are civillians in the street and so, cities and town feel more realistic. And: There are some mods, which fix all the negative content that you was talking about. Ancient Colors HD, Water HD, Massive Battle IA mod and a mod, which accelerated the round calculation per turn. AND Attila is still played by a small, but loyal group of players. Its not just a big number as we can see in three kingdoms and so on.

[@MollymaukT]

The campaign mechanics in Attila and the sieges are amazing, but they kinda feel "wasted" in the apocalyptic setting where you don't have much motivation to build a thriving empire like in Rome 2

[@navy2843]

Low-key thought that is would be why Atila couldn’t conquer the Roman Empire

[@happycompy]

Hahahahaha

[@Landshark4008]

Ancient👏 Empires👏

[@godisforever7263]

Attila end turn is so slow that I finished the crusader and grand campaign in medieval 2

[@happycompy]

🤣👍

[@godisforever7263]

@@happycompy 😂👌🏽

[@gangfish6900]

on the other hand Attila being separate game enabled it to have early medieval dlc that would be impossible if it was Rome 2 expansion but still.. it's too similar to Rome 2 to be separate game therefore people don't wanna buy same game for the second time set in the worse era and horribly optimized.

[@happycompy]

Yeah if it were DLC we wouldn't have gotten the amazing Age of Charlemagne.

[@benjamintrueman4318]

I enjoyed Attila but yeah it needs patches and updates.

[@AJ-lv4ck]

After Attila, CA released thrones of Britannia which felt like Attila but without the performance issues. I really wish Rome 2, Attila and thrones of britannia to be integrated into a single game one day.

[@happycompy]

That's the friggin dream man.

[@TheNamesDitto]

Rome remastered pls

[@edlubitz2968]

they never finish their games, they get them to a point where they think that they can sell it, then forget about supporting it

[@AnimalBlundetto601]

Attila is great

[@_ShahriarKabir]

To me, I don't even know what Total war attila is but I know what Medieval Kingdom 1212Ad is!

[@pelinalwhitestrake5055]

I have sunk over 500 hours into Attila and loved every second of it, bugs and all. I've never beaten the grand campaign except age of Charlemagne and the last roman. It was never about completing the campaign, it was the journey that made it memorable.

[@Tyraeleon]

I didn't even know an Atilla game existed until I heard of Three Kingdoms

[@skowollon84]

the one thing that bothered me most was that it took way to long to completely regrow a plundered/ burned down town or village. after the huns plunder most of the map i really did not see any point of conquering and repopulate the map because it would have taken to much time. this was in an early version. dont know if it was fixed with some update or mod

[@happycompy]

The Huns existing in their current form hurt Attila's replayability, and not enough fans are willing to admit that imo. Age of Charlemagne doesn't suffer the Huns issue. I wish we could disable them or turn them down.

[@jeffvella9765]

Going out there to hunt an AI stack to beat 3 times to stop endless stacks coming your way was annoying to say the least. WH2 kinda fixed that with mission battles which give benefits or remove penalties once the battles are done. It solved the problem of having overpowered AI stacks hitting your small villages which annoys even the saints.

[@shayanshafiei321]

2023 and I keep on finding myself playing Attila over the new TW games. My favorite thing is just how massive the armies can be.

[@sgtbuckwheat]

Besides the forever end turns, one of the things about Attila that really bothered me was the feeling that the game was punishing you in bursts, rather than a gradual ramping up. Things got really difficult, really fast, and it felt like if you could survive that big burst you just played the waiting game for Attila to die (because you can't really fight an enemy that gets free full stack replacement armies the turn after you defeat them). Another thing that really could have been done better is the problem of an empty map. After the first 50 turns or so it is a few powers left hiding from the huns, most of the map a series of ruins. I feel like both of these problems could have been solved by changing AI behavior in each chapter. At first it could be be some slow barbarian border incursions, then ramping up to more desperate barbarians trying to seek shelter from the hunnic storm, then Attila raiding and sacking (but not destroying the cities that were his source of tribute income), concluding with the barbarians who were still around being willing to make alliances to defeat the huns, then a final chapter after Atilla's death to try to scratch an existence from the ruins.

[@happycompy]

Completely agree. The Grand Campaign has severely limited replayability compared to Rome 2's because of the issues you outlined. Age of Charlemagne is much more of a sandbox.

[@ГрафСорочанский-и4я]

I still don't understand why it is bad to have an Attila as a separate game? Why? Because it is a separate game. It has a completely different map, completely different setting, completely different feeling. It is rightfully a separate game and a well done one. Unlike fall of the Samurai, that screams: I'm just a DLC! Hell, infantry doesn't even have bayonets in this game! A GAME SET IN THE 19TH CENTURY DOESN'T HAVE BAYONETS!

[@happycompy]

Oof I forgot about the lack of bayonets lmao. That was a big oversight.

[@KTA1sVidsandFacts]

Attila should have been a standalone DLC for Rome II, 100%, maybe in a brighter future it still can be, because man, its battles are one of the most enjoyable to play. It's challenging in so many aspects and the mod Ancient Empires is just really beautiful as it combines Rome II into Attila. Woe to us, that we live in the wrong timeline.

[@rafox66]

There is a fix for the performance of Attila by taking some files from thrones of Britannia and merging them into Attila, this works because ToB is pretty much an Attila DLC. I can actually play this game now on the same hardware I had when I bought the game 6 years ago, couldn't run it then but it runs pretty good now.

[@stepanpytlik4021]

Attila is a great game in my opinion, though some things are really frustrating such as no terriotry trading, no regular tributs, the broken food system, limited number of agents or that nonsense with generals.

[@happycompy]

That's interesting, none of those things really bother me (aside from territory trading...), my main issue with the game is the slow turn times. If Attila ran as well as Rome 2 or Warhammer I'd play it way more than I do now.

[@thepuppelpuppel4175]

I disagree with the agents part. Because converting enemy agents is really broken.

[@michalkors3619]

Who would like a game where the roman empire is under the reign of emperor Augustus in 7ad or emperor Trajan in 112ad

[@Aviral_Agarwal_Coins]

Damn that's actually way fewer players for Attila than I was expecting. Attila is the one in which I've put the most hours into and it's also my favorite. I mostly play the 1212AD mod. But yes the performance issues are absolutely horrendous. I have a 3070 and I get fewer than 30 fps in a lot of sieges/large battles without the game even looking that graphically impressive. I only really play it due to the mods and the gameplay features which I really like.

[@happycompy]

Yeah it's really a buzz kill how bad the game runs. Personally I love the features and the aesthetic so it's a damn shame CA never fixed the game.

[@aranighosh3945]

At what resolution do u play ? Attila does get bottlenecked by the CPU at 1080p. However if u crank up the resolution to 1440p or 4K, performance will improve as the GPU will become the bottleneck then. Considering you have a 3070 it might improve the performance.

[@Aviral_Agarwal_Coins]

@@aranighosh3945 I play at 1440p and if I check my GPU usage most of the time it doesn't go above 60%. I have a 9700k and that also for that the usage doesn't go very high. I heavily doubt that bottlenecking is the issue. It's just very poor optimization. It's a real shame that this game was left unoptimized.

[@aranighosh3945]

@@Aviral_Agarwal_Coins yes it is. No other Total War Game is as badly optimized as Attila considering it as a modern game.

[@Another_Caesar]

Napoleon wasn’t a mistake. It still has a cult following in its vanilla and mod communities. It’s more popular than empire imo and it would’ve suffered more if it was an expansion of empire

[@dont2835]

People always whine about games. Attila is fun and all of the mods make it even better. Medieval 1212 is one of the best mods I've played in any game.

[@noneinparticular2338]

I tend to ignore its faults and go for good battles. Never played Attila though. Some online footage shows 4 units in towns defeating 20 barbarian units , very unrealistic

[@grimaldus1523]

Attila isnt unpopular because it is a standalone game or because of performance, it is unpopular because it doesnt appeal to the teenage male powerfantasy that most rome 2 simps want, they want to be the alexander who spends all his time conquering and never having to worry about governing, Attila doesnt do this, it makes you face the consequences of your conquest and how much money you have to spend to incorporate new provinces into the empire and how hard it is to stabilize a conquerored region and incorporate it.

[@Oberschutzee]

💯

[@omba3905]

In my opinion, what CA tried to do with Attila being a separate title, it's that it was supposed to be like a Dark Ages Total War, covering the fall of Rome and the early middle ages, which could've worked if not by the terrible performance. Maybe even the Viking age, but, we got Thrones of Britannia instead. Nice video! KZbin's algorithm actually giving me good content for once. In the end, what Atilla needed was some love.

[@happycompy]

That's a great perspective, I never thought of it like that. A Dark Ages Total War. A shame they abandoned it.

[@davidderr8705]

I tried playing Rome Remastered last night and I realized just how used to Rome 2 I've become. While I own Attila, I never jumped on the train. I have about 1000 hours in Rome 2. As a kid I would guess I didn't get higher than 250 hours and that's probably stretching it. Rome 2 gets way too much crap. And yes Attila SHOULD have been an expansion just like Barbarian Invasion was for the original Rome. CA has been really good at jacking things up over the years lol

[@happycompy]

Me too. Playing the remaster made me Miss things I had taken for granted in the newer games.

[@davidderr8705]

@@happycompy I've really been enjoying your channel btw. Great content.

[@happycompy]

@@davidderr8705 thank you man! It means a lot.

[@Paintpenetrator]

just one minor thing about FoTS. The introduction of FoTS actually changed shogun 2 naval battle where ships become much more durable against cannon fire and it became extremely rare for ships to sink (99% of time ship's morale will break due to crew loss). Considering how many underlying mechanics of attila are different from rome 2 I am not too sure whether integration would have been practical or better. It might be possible for CA to spend resource to ensure proper integration but considering how Shogun 2 and FoTS had some apparent issues, I doubt it.

[@olivergenz8877]

IMHO it's one of the best of the series. Great sieges, great maps. I also loved the setting of a falling roman Empire, the climate change and higher difficulty, Sanitation and public order, different religions, Horde factions that make you settle where you want etc Also the modding scene is great witj Ancient Empires and 1212. i would say it's launch was a problem and it faild in that regard, but today, i can't stop playing it. I loved Shogun1/2, Rome 1/2 empire, also the Warhammer series( Less, i never been a fan of immortal generals and magic in a TW game.)

[@happycompy]

Attila made me interested in late antiquity. They did an amazing job with the atmosphere and world building, you really feel like the world is ending. Even the objectives are simply "survive until turn x" for the majority of the game.

[@R0v3R_W]

6:51 spoiler alert for all of us three years ago, they didn't. Made me chuckle to hear this thought again after the Troy/Pharaoh disaster.

[@happycompy]

Yup...

[@vladboch]

Honestly Attila's battles are one of the best they ever had in the series. Thus being said, it has very small replayability even with all its DLC's compared with Rome 2.

[@nazdhillon994]

Can you elaborate why Atilla has lower replay ability to you ? I want to buy this game for the replay-ability factor !

[@vladboch]

@@nazdhillon994 I am just more gravitated to Classical Antiquity, rather than The Fall Of Rome, even though this period is still interesting to me.

[@LUFC273]

It has way more replay ability than Rome 2 there are many horde factions meaning you can play the same horde and settle somewhere new every game, plus the age of Charlemagne DLC was great

[@ryanthan3595]

This is the reason I found your video, I was doing so well with a mod until I got fed up with the constant barrage of troubles from literally all provinces...

[@happycompy]

I think all of us Attila players have felt your frustration lol.

[@ryanthan3595]

@@happycompy the additional frustration is that the battles in this game are beautiful, smooth and satisfying as hell (considering all the ui and effects). The sea of mods are able to add more depth, features, and units, which is an exciting thing. But goddamn CA had to fuck up on the grand campaign so badly and didn't even bother to patch it like Rome 2, it's sad. The game just doesn't give you any vision-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel kinda feeling early on, combined with the shitload of micro you have to do. It just doesn't feel like any other TW where you go and seize enemy's land after hard fought battles, and easily expand your realm. I just wish they'll make a remastered version of the game like they've just done with Rome.

[@jolopanda8797]

i liked attila but i go to the bathroom everytime i end a turn cuz it is so slow

[@happycompy]

Relatable af

[@chemicalconfusion6164]

Based see so many people say nothing is wrong with empire, bruh the ai don’t work half the damn time

[@happycompy]

Yup!

[@kashual]

Now they are doing it with 3k... I want to just stop existing.

[@happycompy]

You and me both man.

[@ultravolt4555]

3k was kind of bad tbh, it somehow felt so generic

[@AnUtterSimpleton]

I enjoyed Attila to no end. Being a merchant lord was easier than in any other game. When the Huns arrived I couldn't just afford enough troops to defend myself against them, I could afford a horde of my own to absolutely style on them. Can't argue with the turn times though.

[@kingtheoden1786]

I have been waiting for your video

[@happycompy]

Theoden King rides alone. Not alone.

[@legio1942]

As a fan of Atilla, there are a few things I disagree with: 1. Less interasting time period. Completely false. More happened in the span of 200 years, let's say 270-470, than in 200 years before and after. 2. Roman legions with longswords, Cataphracts and, well, pants, are just more appealing. 3. Last Roman is a peek of historical TW. That said, if they made Atilla and R2 one game, they could patch and polish them together, and we would have probably wound up with superior product.

[@happycompy]

Good comment. I agree that Longsword Cohorts with chainmail, oval scutum, and PANTS are the superior legionaries, but classical antiquity has so much cultural diversity that's all but dead by 395. Sarissa Phalanx and Sacred Band go brrrr.

[@legio1942]

@@happycompy Undeniable, but while we lose Greeks and Carhage (well, it's on the map, but, you know..), all of the factions that stayed are much richer. Celts get crossbows, Germans get actual good cav, and some of it even top tier, Rome gets shock cav and pikes, etc. If you don't agree, try playing Rome in Rome 2, and don't use mercs or auxilia, just the troops from field of mars and it's upgrades. It's just heavy infantry, with like 1 or 2 skirmishers and some cav of debatable quality.

[@MikeBlinkComedian]

+1 for that Frankly pun

[@happycompy]

Finally someone appreciated the pun hahaha.

[@jansiodmiak5982]

Greetings from this man who did "this is total war" in attila. Months of frustration and failures repaid.

[@hunterthewerewolf]

I think the same thing about Total War: Attila that I think about Napolean: Total War, it looks like an expansion that was turned into a whole game

[@happycompy]

Yup!

[@rosenbaek5708]

I personally love Attila but I'd wish they had gone the route of shogun 2 with the DLC's. Total War is at its best when you have access to the rise, hight and fall of (insert era) in the same game. It becomes a complete package worth revisiting.

[@happycompy]

I couldn't agree more man.

[@LordWyatt]

I thought Rome 2 was a lost cause until empire divided...That’s why I like Attila, it’s about the fall of the Roman Empire and there’s far too much for Rome 2 to handle. Attila by itself had options for mods and expansions like Age of Charlemagne, Arabian expansion, etc. It feels like the end of Antiquity

[@happycompy]

It does have an amazing atmosphere, I'll give it that.

[@LordWyatt]

@@happycompy 🙂Great video👌

[@edwardwang9170]

The most epic battle for with the entire total war series was that I who played as WRE, revitalized, fought against the Huns led by Attila, who at the late-stage game has burned a half of Europe, with 9 armies on each side. Yet the amazing part of the Attila total war is that even when the Huns are dealt with the game is not over yet as the Sassanids in the late game almost dominates all the territories in Asia and challenges whatever territory I left in Africa. That campaign was so great and tense that I didn’t mange to finish it up till today.

[@marcelogarciagonzalez9984]

I start playing total war with Attila... it was hard as hell but I freaking love it! I play it always and never get bored. And the mods... they are another games. It could be nice if you can do a video about some of their mods like Ancient empires 2.0 🍺👌

[@happycompy]

Attila definitely has some amazing mods. I love Age of Vikings.

[@Arcaryon]

That really nails the origin of nearly all of my main problems with the, let’s call 'em, modern , strictly historical total war’s. Rome 2, Atilla and Thrones of Britannia. First of all - I have grown to love them all, regardless of their undeniable flaws. They have solid base mechanics and relatively few remaining minor technical issues ( apart fro ,the major ones. And yet, while neither of their basegames is bad, I feel like they could be so much more if the devs had focused their efforts on cleaning up one game and then added the same kind of content instead of three separate titles that really could be part of the same thing. Stuff like problems with the AI or the major improvements in parts of the gameplay mechanics could carry over so much better but CA seems to have forgotten a lot about Shogun2 + expansion and why that game works so well to this day.

[@renebaan7430]

Tbh I think Attlia is way superior than rome total war 2. Better family, tree system, better religion system, better battles. To me personally I'm glad Attila was a stand alone game game separate from rome because it improve so many more systems compared to Rome 2

[@happycompy]

Fair points. Barbarian Invasion for ROME 1 had religion where the base game did not, and we ended up getting a family tree anyway in R2 years after Attila, so I believe if that Attila dev time was instead put towards fixing ROME 2, we would have had a better, more complete, more satisfying core game with its own Barbarian Invasion 2 DLC. We will agree to disagree :)

[@renebaan7430]

@@happycompy you may be possibly right looooool, regardless love your videos Happy, can't wait for the next video to come out. May I suggest a retrospective look at Thrones of britannia or the new remastered for rome total war 1

[@happycompy]

@@renebaan7430 Thank you! Glad to have you here! As far as Thrones goes, I don't even own it, so I can't make any content for it until I do lmao. Rest assured, I plan on making a lot of ROME: Remastered content, and I can't wait to play Barbarian Invasion again! Also, new video comes out tomorrow at 10:30 est ;)

[@renebaan7430]

@@happycompy awesome! Thanks for the heads up, can't wait to see what it is =D

[@mace7754]

I feel the same way you do. I remember buyinh Rome 1 with the Barbarian Invasion expansion pack from best buy. Back when we still used CDs lol. Rome 2 and Atilla should have followed the same as Rome 1, Atilla felt out of place and should have been a dlc for Rome 2.

[@lukaskovac6778]

Attila is kind of game for hardcore players only - it has unnecessary overcomplicated character/ politic micromanagement, broken public order mechanic, the AI Huns are indestructible, That are main reasons, why does not have player base in my opinion

[@krystofcisar469]

All the things i hate/love on attila. I like how its not simple. The politics system really pissed me off few times :D

[@megoriasfjuun8889]

I disagree with one thing, and that is the main cause. I think that the main cause of Attila being abandoned was because of the difficulty that was so frustrating for a beginning player. It took a looong time to get used to and it felt like the game did not explain things thoroughly enough. I still don't understand where the main growth modifiers come from, and those that are explained are minor (from happiness and from large surplus of food). Other than that, I 100% agree.

[@ggregor123]

I loved Attila.

[@Λυκάων]

Failed? Attila is my favorite Total War game from the 2010s

[@happycompy]

Failed to garner a large playerbase for reasons outlined in the vid, not failed as in it's a bad game. It's got great atmosphere, difficulty, and mechanics. If it ran better, I'd still play it regularly.

[@LordWyatt]

Attila is Underrated. Edit: the only problems with Attila is the AI does not focus on building up its own kingdom and focus’ on wasting troops. Also the campaign should’ve focused on the Germanic tribes instead of Attila/Romans. If total war is about building empires then the Franks are the best first play for that experience.

[@154Kilroy]

My first total war game was Attila. I couldn't really figure it out. Got Three Kingdoms, which is even more complex. Then I got Fall of the Samurai and I loved it. Now I'm playing Rome 2. I went back to Attila after playing 2 campaigns in fos. Easier to figure out, but yeah, I wanted to play in Rome 2's timeline.

[@magako_v.3]

Ngl Attila was and still is one of my favorite total war games. Not as much as rome II but then again, I also have the opinion that it should have been incooperated in some way with rome 2. Same as shogun 2 and fall of the samurai. I of course own all of these games and yes I do call fall of the samurai "game" since you dont need shogun 2 to play it.

[@happycompy]

Completely agree.

[@aquilathegreat9486]

It really felt like Rome 2 was supposed to be the Definitive 'Ancient Era' Total War. They had the Peloponnesian War, the Roman Kingdom, fledgling of the Roman Republic, the survival of the Republic and the changing of power from Carthage to Rome, Caesar's Rise in Power, the 2nd Civil War, Empire Divided, and Attila. If you add in Charlemagne, lower Middle Ages, you have quite literally every major part (besides the 1st Civil War) of the Ancient World, including the first major part of the Middle Ages. I am surprised they never did an "Triumph of Alexander" DLC where it happens just before the Grand Campaign of Rome 2. If they did that, wow they have the entire Ancient Era and THE best Total War (imo) ever.

[@jdurthu4304]

That is just 100% right. I am unable to make any more interesting comment, because it has been all wais by You xd Really good video

[@happycompy]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@jdurthu4304]

@@happycompy maby the only thing not menshioned, that is imo allso really important with Attila is, that thos game is mainly about destroying an empier, not building one. It i sprobably the hardest TW to expand and make bigger nation, and we as TW fans usually like this aspect of the game

[@happycompy]

@@jdurthu4304 Very good point

[@juliantheapostate8295]

Nothing beats the challenge of holding the WRE together against all the odds. Pro tip, raze all your churches on turn one and build food and sanitation buildings. Once the sclerotic economy has been fixed, you can support more armies and rebuild the churches

[@kacper.1326]

At first I ignored Attila, because I thought it's just a cheap version of Rome 2. When I finally decided to play, I actually enjoyed barbarian/pagan atmosphere as well as city destruction. What I disliked is that especially in early game you have to choose between having strong army or economy and not having rebellion every single turn. The game also feels like it's abandoned by CA.

[@SplendidFactor]

The Terminus Total War mod was some of the best fun I've had with this game. it's just too bad Attila suffers from some performance issues.

[@zrize101]

Also why tf did they remove the guard mode button... Such idiocy.

[@happycompy]

I forgot about this lmao. Agreed, idiotic.

[@maou8253]

Imagine living in the universe where CA knows what it's doing.

[@happycompy]

I want to live there

[@receivedbeans8555]

As a relatively new Total War fan that started with Total War: Warhammer 2, besides the epic fantasy setting, I think what made Warhammer such a massive success was how in-depth they went with the game. I think any historical settings could compete with Warhammer if they are as detailed as they are in Warhammer so far. Commit to a title until it’s finished instead of canning it after a few years and pump out a lot of detailed and fun dlcs. If they want to explore an entire area make compatible sequels or however many it takes to fill out the timeline. Example: Rise of Rome as the first game. Fill out that game for years until there is an insane amount of content, then make a compatible follow up game for the next historically significant period about Rome, ending the series with Fall of Rome. Less standalone titles, more dlcs and integratabtle games. As a Paradox fan, I know how much people complain about too many dlc, but WE BUY THEM ANYWAYS. CA should go all out with their titles.

[@happycompy]

Fucking nail on the head right here!

[@OdysseyAviation]

The only reason why I love Attila its for the Charlemagne dlc and the medieval mod . And tbh rome 2 is on of the best total war .

[@abigfish1620]

personally the fall of Rome is one of my favorite periods of history and Attila is probably my favorite title, I have almost 900 hours logged in it, with around 1000 in rome 2, but i do agree it should have been an expansion that brought more features into the Rome 2 campaign. Also, Attila is not without its flaws of course, the Huns are just broken AF, all their units are god tier and have the scare ability, fricking ridiculous, and they JUST KEEP COMING. But yeah, my two cents.

[@ahmedmahfuztalukder413]

"And that's Frankly, a sham" *shows the Franks faction icon. Oh you are good :)

[@happycompy]

Thank you :)

[@deleteduser7132]

The endless rebellions made me uninstall the game.

[@happycompy]

Judging by the likes your comment has, you aren't alone lol.

[@Holems1]

On your final thoughts, they should have merged the games; just think how dynamic the campaign would have been playing all the way from Rome's claim to fame, down to it's sad sputtering out. Now that I think about it, trying to build a campaign spanning the better part of a millennium is likely one big reason why they may have divided the games in the first place for better or worse. Also, I wonder how merging the games would have effected the modding scene. I can only imagine what Divide et Impera or 1212 A.D. (personal favorite total conversions) would have looked like.

[@shibre9543]

i think they were afraid to put attila as a dlc because they didn't want to associate it with the "disaster" of rome 2 , anyway good vid man !

[@happycompy]

Good point and thank you!

[@Robert399]

That's a real shame. I love playing Rome 2, but the campaign map is WAY too easy. It feels like your only obstacle is tax inefficiency, and even that you don't have a choice about because you can't raze settlements. Those extra campaign features sound great... but I have no patience for ∞ free Hun doomstacks.

[@happycompy]

Yeah, it really is a shame

[@ElZilchoYo]

Lel you delete my comment? The mod i advertised is the Rome 2 setting in Attila, and there is no other way to contact you, you have no contact method except these comments. Jeez. Yes obviously Attila should have been folded into Rome 2, but it isn't, it's still a good game. One thing it has is much better graphics than Rome 2, they couldn't have ported that back easily.

[@happycompy]

I assure you I didn't delete any comments lol. KZbin automatically flags and blocks some. Probably thought it was an ad or something. Can you repost it?

[@ElZilchoYo]

@@happycompy Ah strange, it just disappeared. I just mentioned the mod Ancient Empires, it brings the Rome 2 setting to Attila, so along with 1212 you have two good reasons to buy it.

[@anenthusiast6942]

This makes me wish CA did so many things differently Like I still enjoy Empire total war and I'm thinking of getting Attila once I get a decent PC, the fact that they fumbled so much is just sad.

[@happycompy]

It really is sad. Attila is a fun experience though if you enjoy the "survival" theme.

[@nicklancaster8855]

Atilla total war failed as it poorly optimised and runs like trash.

[@happycompy]

I agree. It runs terribly.

[@huszarokkyzhe3695]

I think CA generally gets really in-depth on their historical titles. I mean, from Empire to Napoleon is about 100 years give or take. Rome II (counting DLC) to Attila is about 1200 years. A lot of things happened at that time. From an economical perspective, CA wanted to release a game with high anticipation and with short-term economical gains whilst making the (I think) better gameplay of Attila. I'm a huge fan of the Attila time period, and so I could not be any happier with it (although I do like my mods for it). That being said, it would not have been impossible to merge the two games. It's just, we would have been waiting for 4+ years for this goliath game to come out, and only for it to have tons of bugs and problems. In the long term, it would have been better for them to do the merge and for us to wait years longer. It's saddening to see, as you pointed out, one or the other, but not both. Personally, I like Attila more, but I love Rome too. I believe the biggest reason that Attila is not liked is because of the lack of interest in the time. Had they both been merged, this problem would have been erased, and players may have come to admire the Attila time period instead of shutting it out before even trying it.

[@happycompy]

This is such a good take. Well thought out, reasoned, and nuanced. Thank you for sharing.

[@jonflora1]

I liked playing Total War: Attila, but I always dreaded that inevitable crash around turn 80 or so

[@nedak4363]

Just started a campaign as the White Huns and I'm having a blast with it.

[@ibeast1337]

"but they are just wrong"--- clicked out after that one lmfao

[@happycompy]

Hahahahaha something a Lee Sin player would do. Fair play.

[@ibeast1337]

@@happycompy Another childish statement lol. keep going

[@Kupferdrahtful]

Idk it always bothers me when I have build up my little empire and then an unbeatable giant force comes from the east and obliterates me