Most találtam Totalwar forumon, érdemes elolvasni :
Q. First off, why don’t you tell us a bit about CA and its team? We obviously know about The Shogun and Jerome who are members but whom else forms part of the team?A. The team is actually made up of programming ninja. The Ninja skills are so up-to-date that each Ninja is assassinated and replaced by a new Ninja every 30 minutes.
But seriously the team is incredibly talented and we are very lucky to have such a great bunch working here. You are likely to see some new faces from the Oz team who are currently developing Medieval 2.
Q. Would you say the team works well together?
A. Absolutely. The team has had a very low staff turnover in the last few years. This not only means we all know each other very well, it also means we have a wealth of experience working on the Total War series.
Q. What Inspires and drives you guys?
A. We are all keen gamers ourselves and share a love of gaming. What’s more we are lucky enough to be in a position where we’re able to create the games that we want to play. It’s that passion for gaming and the desire to create games we love that drives us.
Q. We know that you have moved from a concentrated specific audience with Shogun TW and Medieval TW to a wider audience with Rome TW and its expansion Barbarian Invasion was this, in your opinion, a good move?
A. It was a necessary move. In the Games industry you have to strive to be the best to stay competitive. This also means you need to produce games that are accessible to a wider audience. Making games that appeal only to specific audience just wouldn’t give us the resources to realise our vision and ambitions for the Total War games and the means to expand the series.
Q. I know this might be a secret and controversial topic but, have you any concrete plans for the next instalment in the Total War series?
A. As you know, we’ve now released information on our new title. Medieval 2: Total War and we hope you are all as excited about it as we are.
Q. What elements of the Total war series do you wish to improve and expand on from Rome Total War to the next installment in the series? Assuming there is one.
A. All of them. We’re always striving to evolve and improve the Total War series and when we look at Rome today we just see new possibilities to take the series further. Being able to take the foundations we have, the lessons learned and the feedback from the community and use this to further improve the series is a great position to be in and a very exciting prospect for us and, we hope, the fans.
Q. What about an expansion to Rome Total War, will there be another one?
A. Watch this space.
Q. Will there be more patches?
A. Watch this space.
Q. I’m sure you have browsed TWC and noticed our numerous Mod Projects, have any of these impressed you? Also, is it possible that the CA team might be inspired by these projects and their teams?
A. We ‘re always impressed by the achievements of Total War mod teams. They are a talented bunch and some of them should be working in the industry.
Q. Do you regard the modding community as an asset to the popularity of the Total War genre?
A. Completely. We certainly appreciate the role of the modders in the Total War community and have a great deal of admiration for the content they’ve been producing over the years.
Q. Is there any chance of CA releasing any tools to aid their modding in the near future?
A. We have taken steps to improve the tools we use to create the Total War games and as with Rome, these tools will be made available to the modding community but we can’t go into any further details right now.
Medieval 2 will contain have one campaign that stretches from 1080 till 1530. It starts with the time of the knights and the crusades, going to the Mongol invasion and the gunpowder age and ends with the Renaissance and the discovery of America. In order to introduce the new player to the game mechanics, there will be a prologue campaign. There will be 21 playable and non-playable factions. You will recognize old friends, but you will also see new factions like Venice, Portugal and Scotland. Since every faction has his unique properties, different factions will offer different challenges in the campaign. For example, Scotland has a strong neighbor, the English. They will need to bide their time quietly before they expand their lands. Their troops consist of spearmen from the Lowlands and fickle savages from the Highlands. Once the Scots have bred sufficient warriors, they can trample over the English (not a nice view, with the skirts and all). The British Island will then be the perfect harbor from which to conquer the mainland. The English on the other hand have a weak economy at first, but they have excellent prospects. Their army is reliable and this is necessary, for they have to be on their guard for an alliance between the French and the Scots. The French have an excellent economy thanks to their rich farmlands, but they have to compensate for their weak foot soldiers by recruiting knights. Venice has an excellent starting position for they only have a “symbolic” starting army. Their economy is strong though and they can bribe, assassinate and attract mercenaries in order to expand. Because of the introduction of the new factions, there are more units to choose from (over 250!). Especially cool are the Gothic Knights whose horses, as well as themselves, are completely covered in steel Armour. Since most projectiles don’t hurt them, these fighters are very difficult to take down. The Turkish have a mortar that is modeled after that one that was used during the siege of Constantinople. The barrel is more than a meter long en the projectile that fits in it (stone, bullet, clowns) can weigh a couple of hundred kilos. In the ranks of the English, one can find the famous Longbow men, blokes who have bows with a length of over 2 meters. In order to protect them against cavalry, you can put spikes in the ground, which impale the knights who have bad horse-brakes. The Spaniards and Italians love gunpowder and the bullets that their musketeers fire, can pierce even the strongest Armour with ease. It goes without saying that these new units will bring new tactics to the field. In order to represent the chaos of battle, Medieval 2 uses the praised Rome engine, though there have been lots of changes underneath the hood. A predictable change is the higher number of polygons and the more detailed textures, which even allow you to read the names of the programmers on the tombstones. A new feature is that armies no longer consist of clones. There is a more varied collection of heads, bodies and limbs available to the soldiers. There are also more types of shields, weapons, Armour and even horses. The engine can thus render armies that are more “individual”. A second change is that settlements are represented differently. The developers want to do the huge cities and keeps justice and they strive for as much realism as possible. In Medieval 2, the castles and cities aren’t placed at “pre-fib” positions, but are nicely integrated into the landscape, even if steep hills or cliffs dominate that landscape. This not only creates more realism, but also brings more strategy with it. If you want to take the settlements, you now have to pass defensive barriers created by both man and nature. Most of the time, you will need the artillery to smash through the outer wall, while you use the siege towers to scale the inner wall. If your men managed to pries open the city gate, then you can let your units storm the keep with storm ladders. Of course, a couple of well-aimed cannonballs should do the trick as well. The localized damage (what you hit is what you destroy) also adds to the realism. If you zoom in during the fighting, you will notice that the animations have progressed greatly. The makers have recorded thousands of motion-capture sessions in order to create synchronized fights. Soldiers will block attacks, parry and combine movements in order to cleave their way through their opponents in a graceful way. Units with a hole in their stomach will go down with a “bang” and others will go looking for new meat to chop up. The fights no longer consist of set animations that are repeated until the opponent hits the dirt. The soldiers in the rearguard, who have no sparring partner, are forced to either to sling insults at the enemy, or quiver next to the mounts of friendly dead. This creates a realistic battleground, which increases the immersion dramatically. As every TW game, Medieval 2 also has a turn-based side to the game. It has the same 3D map as in Rome, on which you can block mountain passes and blockade areas of strategic importance with your forces. A difference with Rome is that you can choose whether you can develop your settlement in a castle OR a city. A castle improves your military and a city boosts your economy. A stronger economy allows you to bribe your enemies. If money doesn’t work, you will need to attract mercenaries in order to defend your lands. A castle requires much less management than a city, but cities grow more important as the game progresses. On the campaign map you can see “agents” running around, including assassins, priests and princesses. Most of them are under your control and you can use them in non-military interactions with other factions. A princess can be used to negotiate or to marry (once), so that you can cement an alliance with another faction. Merchants can be used to open new trade routes or you can order them to “attack” an enemy faction, thus disrupting its economy. A priest spreads the faith, but can become a heretic. In that case, the AI takes over control of your servant and uses him to undermine religion in your territory. You better not let him continue unabated, because there is, like in Rome, an external force : the Pope. He will not come enter your doorstep personally to smash a bible on your head, but he can excommunicate you and you will gain a lot of enemies. If the Pope likes you, he will warn your enemies to cease hostilities with your faction. Also, the campaign map is much larger than in Rome since you can also discover America. In the beginning, this isn’t possible, but once you have the technology to cross the ocean, nothing will stop you. In America, you will find unique and lucrative resources like tobacco, chocolate and, of course, gold. It goes without saying that they will do wonders for your treasury and if you convert some heathens, you will become a good friend of the Pontiff. Of course, conquering America isn’t going to be a breeze: the Aztecs aren’t too happy about your presence and it will take more than a sneeze to conquer them beneath your boot. Their numbers and fanatic zeal will compensate their lack of military technology. A harbo in the New Land however can bring you closer to your end goal: Total Domination!
The Interview:
Quote:
PCGP: Can you tell us a bit more about the team?
Prasant Moorthy: Medieval 2 is being developed by a section of CA in Brisbane, Australia. At the moment, the studio has 37 members and the most of them have worked on previous titles of the Total War franchise (including Spartan Total Warrior). Medieval 2 will be our first solo project.
PCGP: What is the role of religion? Will it affect the gameplay like it did in Civilization 4?
Bob Smith: Religion was very important in the medieval period. If we ignored it, we would break the realism of the game. Religion will be more important in Medieval 2 than in any other TW title. An important aspect is that player needs to be on the good side of the Pope. The Pope will formulate, just as the senate in RTW, requests. These are, for example, to organise a crusade against the Muslims, Orthodox factions or pagans. The faction who manages to succeeds in his mission first, will gain lots of prestige and wealth. If you grant this request, and others, the Pope will think of you as his friend. Another way of keeping him friendly is to build cathedrals and convert your population to the Catholic belief. The Pope will then warn your enemies to cease hostilities against you and he will accept suggestions of your faction to declare a crusade against a faction of your choice. If you disregard the requests of the Pope, he will become irritated and sent inquisitors to your lands to kill the infidels. He can also excommunicate you, which makes you lose lots of prestige with the religious populace. If the Pope dies, for any reason whatsoever, a college of cardinals will elect a new Pope. If one of your priests is a cardinal, he can participate in the discussion regarding who is to become the new Pope. And if he is very successful, he might become Pope himself, thus ending any difficult relationships you might have with the Pope.
PCGP: Will settlements work in the same way as in Rome?
PM: There are six levels of development, from humble villages tot vast cities and from wooden forts to stone castles. Settlements can now be either a city or a castle, and each has their own unique tech-tree. Castles are ruled from a feudal system, have an excellent difference, and allow you early in the game to recruit strong units. However, because of limitations in space and management, they will never contribute the same amount to your economy as your cities do. Cities are excellent for trade and technology and as the game progresses, they will grant you the best units. On the lowest level of development, you can change your cities in a castle and vice versa. However, buildings that aren’t compatible with the new type of settlement will be lost.PCGP: Can you give some examples of buildings that can be build in your cities?PM: There are a lot of new buildings who will grant access to new units and possibilities by upgrades. Churches and Mosques will spread the faith in your settlements and will give access to priests. Cannon foundries will give you gunpowder-based artillery and a smith will improve your units with better armour and weapons.
PCGP: When can we start conquering?
BS: For now we cannot give a fixed date. Let us say that with some luck it might be possible to play this game this year.