We’re back from the E3 and the incredible showing of Total War: Rome II! Now that we’re in the office, we have been going through the blog posts, the official forums, as well as our Facebook and Twitter accounts to gather questions on Total War: Rome II. The feedback from the show has absolutely been incredible, we hope you enjoy the upcoming Q&A from the Creative Assembly staff:

Q: Why are animations so over-the-top when men are hit by chariots or artillery?
These animations aren’t final – we’re currently in the process of toning them down to have the right balance between visual impact and realism. There are important gameplay reasons why it might be necessary to indicate that something’s gone very wrong for one of your units, especially when you are zoomed out, but we also need to balance that with the need to maintain a degree of immersion.

They will fly less high in the finished game.

Q: Are Chariots and Artillery over-powered?
The above effect will over emphasize the impact, but it’s important to note that not every solider knocked over by those units’ attacks are killed; a proportion will get back to their feet. These units, and others in the game, are important disruption weapons alongside the direct damage they do. Such attacks are important to use strategically, slowing, demoralising and disrupting the formation of enemy units, causing follow-up attacks to have greater effect.

Q: Does every battle have a capture point?
No.

Most battles in ROME II are either normal field battles or open sea battles. These do not have capture points or baggage trains. Ambush battles don’t have capture points either.

Capture points for cities have been present in all Total War games since “Rome: Total War”. Larger city battles in ROME II now have multiple capture points as this increases the skill and tactical requirements for attacking and defending cities while allowing the use of elements of stealth and surprise, rather than previously where sides could just camp in the centre of the city. Smaller cities will have one, and are likely to be first type of siege battle encountered by most players at the start of the game.

Additionally, the new feature of Baggage Trains (the capture point type you saw in the E3 footage) occurs in battles where an army is attacked while it is in Forced March stance on the Campaign Map. This represents the army being caught while on the move and so being more unprepared for battle. This disadvantage balances out the advantage of being able to move further in a turn and means that players need to judge their strategy more intelligently when selecting this stance. Conversely, as an attacking player, you would do well to time the interception of Forced Marching enemy armies to take advantage of their additional vulnerability.

Also, where there are land and naval forces combined in a battle, the defender’s baggage train will be present to prevent any remaining defending navies winning a battle unrealistically by hiding out at sea, waiting for the battle to end or the attacker to give up, while remaining attacking land forces are unable to reach them from the land.

In this particular instance, the attacker has the disadvantage of time in which to capture the defender’s baggage train, but the tactical advantage of picking the battleground in the first place.

Placement of the baggage train will vary from battle to battle, while still being in the defender’s deployment zone. Both sides will be able to see exactly where during the deployment phase.

In whatever form they appear, Capture Points are not instant wins. They have a timer on them that allows for any reasonably astute player to react to the situation.

The defense of the baggage train was a genuine issue for armies of the ancient world. Losing your supplies, spare equipment and possessions was a disaster that led to some of history’s most catastrophic defeats.

Q: Are you going to change the unit cards?
No, we have no plans to change the unit cards. When you’re hands-on in battle, we find the new card design to be particularly useful for identifying which unit is which in the heat of battle. You should reserve judgement on their effectiveness until you’d had an opportunity to use them. Needless to say, in the thousands of hours of testing so far they have proven their worth.

We like them a lot as their style is in period for our game and the Romans were rather fond of mimicking the art of other cultures, including Greece.

Q: What is the multiplayer element of ROME II going to be?
ROME II will contain traditional Total War multiplayer modes such as versus battles (1 to 4 players per side, 2 sides) and 1v1 campaigns (co-op or versus), there will be some additional features added in here including a neat MP battlefield selector which we will be talking about soon. However, the Avatar Conquest mode from SHOGUN 2 will not be returning in ROME II; we believe we can create a much more compelling persistent multi-player offering for Total War that will appeal to multi-player fans with Total War: ARENA, and we’ll be bringing you more on that at a later date (get involved with the beta for ARENA here).

Q: Will there be blood DLC in ROME II?
Possibly, but it won’t be in the core release due to the age rating we want to adhere to for Total War games, which we intend to be in line with all previous releases. There is the option of potentially doing a DLC down the line, as we did with Shogun 2, but at the moment we don’t intend to talk any further about this before ROME II is released.

Q: Will there be a BETA or demo for ROME II before release?
There will not be, no.

Q: Why does Julius Caesar change into a horse when moving on the campaign map demo?
This is an animation to indicate quick movement across the campaign map, which we find preferable to a ‘Benny Hill’-style fast walk. This is subject to change for the final release.

Q: Will there be a hotseat multiplayer campaign?
No, the hotseat feature hasn’t been present for a number of Total War games. There will, however, be a 1v1 multiplayer campaign – both co-operative and head-to-head.

Q: Why is the battle in the E3 demo so fast?
The Battle of the Nile features a lot of fast-moving units, such as chariots and cavalry. This has an impact on the perceived overall speed of the battle. We’re still tweaking the final foot-speed of units, but we’re happy we’re close to final. It is also worth saying that the battle was chosen to fit within the time we had available with journalists at E3, which is often all too brief. Overall you can expect to experience longer battles on average.

Additionally, we are constantly testing and updating the distances between deployment zones depending on the size of the engagement, while constantly adjusting movement speeds for armies. All of which can have a significant effect on how quickly or slowly battle is joined.

Q: Why aren’t there any minimum or recommended specs available yet?
There are, our current expected specs are listed with retailers at the moment http://store.steampowered.com/app/214950/; these are subject to change as the game is optimised. Our intent is to get the minimum spec as close to Shogun 2’s requirements as possible. When the specs are finalised we will post them on the TW Wiki.

Q: If I pre-ordered the game before the Pre-order bonus was announced, will I still get the Greek States Culture Pack?
Yes, as long as your retailer is participating in the offer. Check with your retailer if you have any doubt.

Q: How cool are the Iceni?
The Iceni are extremely cool. In test, the first ever properly completed game of Total War: ROME II was accomplished by the Iceni by way of cultural victory.

We’re thrilled that the journalists here at E3 love SEGA’s games as much as we do! Congratulations to all of the teams who worked so hard on the games we’re showing this year.

Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse

Best Downloadable Game – Pop.com.br

Company of Heroes 2

Best Online Multiplayer Game (Nominee) – Machinima

Best PC Game (Nominee) – Machinima

Best Strategy Game (Nominee) – Machinima

Best Strategy Game (Nominee) – Gaming Trend

Best of E3 (Nominee) – IGN

Best of Strategy – Destructoid

Best PC Game – Gamer Theory Media

Best of E3 (Nominee) – Dvlzgame.net

Best Strategy Game – GTYOnline.pl

Best of E3 (Nominee) – Gaming Excellence

Game of Show (Nominee) – Co-Optimus

Total War: Rome II

Best of E3 – 9lives.be

Most Valuable Game (Official Selection) – PC Gamer

Best of E3 (Nominee) – WorthPlaying.com

Best of E3 (Nominee) – Multiplayer.it

Best PC Game (Nominee) – Machinima

Best Strategy Game (Nominee) – Machinima

Best of E3 (Nominee) – Vandal.net

Best of E3 (Nominee) – IGN

Best of Strategy – Destructoid

Best of PC – Destructoid

Best Strategy – Russia

Best PC Game – Russia

Best of E3 (Nominee) – Gaming Excellence

Best of E3 (Nominee) – Game Informer

Best of Show (Nominee) – Game Front

Best Strategy Game – Pop.com.br

Best of E3 (Nominee) – Dvlzgame.net

Sonic Lost World

We Love It – The Escapist

Best of E3 (Nominee) – Dvlzgame.net

Best of E3 (Nominee) – Game Trailers

Best of E3 (Nominee) – Gaming Excellence

Best of E3 (Nominee) – IGN

Best Platformer (Nominee) – Pure Nintendo

Best 3DS Graphics (Nominee) – Pure Nintendo

Best of Wii U – Destructoid

Best of E3 – My Geek Review

Best of E3 (Nominee) – Hardcore Gamer

Men of E3 – GayGamer

Congrats to Aaron Webber, who was selected as one of the Men of E3 from GayGamer.net!

It’s E3 2013 day 3! We’ve had an excellent show demoing our titles for press throughout the event, but even if you aren’t at the show, you can still get in on the action. Company of Heroes 2, Total War: Rome II, and Sonic Lost World are all featured in live demos today, so tune in and see what the excitement is all about!

Sonic Lost World

Gamespot.com 2:20pm PT – www.gamespot.com/e3/stage-1-day-3/
IGN.com – http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/07/e3-2013-exploring-sonic-lost-world

Company of Heroes 2

IGN.com 2:20pm PT – http://www.ign.com/events/e3
TwitchTV 3:45pm PT – http://www.twitch.tv/
Gamespot.com (E3 Day 2): http://www.gamespot.com/e3/company-of-heroes-2-e3-2013-stage-demo-6410040/

Total War: Rome II

IGN.com 3:40 PT – http://www.ign.com/events/e3
Gamespot.com (E3 Day 2): http://www.gamespot.com/e3/total-war-rome-ii-e3-2013-stage-demo-6410148/

Thanks for Watching!

After you’ve seen the demos, come back and let us know what you think in the comments below!

The Total War: Rome II booth at this year’s E3 is pretty incredible. On the outside you can see the massive art pieces that wrap around the behind closed doors area within. Inside are 16 stations set up across two platforms, first to watch a guided demo from the Creative Assembly staff, followed by a hands on demo from the Battle of the Nile.

Total War: Rome II at E3 this year is massive. The Creative Assembly team have a huge stage with full presentation and hands on demo of the Battle for the Nile within the main campaign. The walkthrough is excellent, showing off the incredibly detailed new Campaign Map.

If you’ve not seen the recent trailer release, check it out and then read up on the battle below:

Battle of the Nile

After pursuing his former co-consul Gnaeus Pompey Magnus to Egypt in 48BC, Caesar found himself embroiled in the civil war between Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIIIth. Caesar, along with the 13th Legion of Rome, became besieged in Alexandria by Ptolemy’s forces. However, Caesar’s increasing support for Cleopatra led to Ptolemy fleeing the city.

Realizing he needed more armed forces, Caesar called on his ally, Mithridates of Pergamum, for assistance. Mithridates heeded the call and marched from Asia Minor with his army, crossing onto Egyptian soil in 47BC. Ptolemy sent a force to intercept them, but this was summarily defeated. Free now to maneuver , Caesar took the 13th, combined forces with Mithridates, and marched on Ptolemy’s position.

Our interpretation of The Battle of The Nile will appear as a historical battle in Total War: ROME II, and enables players to employ a number of exotic units. At E3, the battle can be played from the Egyptian perspective as they defend their hilltop encampment, or as the Romans as they assault the hill. Playing as Rome is distinctly more challenging!

Screens & Concept Art

To get a better sense of the Battle for the Nile, there is a massive update of over twenty new screens and concept art – all available in our Total War flickr album. We’ve picked a few samples for the blog, but we encourage you to check them all out!

Have a Question on Total War: Rome II?

We’re gathering your feedback and sending it straight to the Creative Assembly team for a Q&A at the end of the show. If you are curious about anything, let us know, we can’t guarantee an answer, but we’re commited to passing fan feedback directly to the developers!

E3 2013 is here and we’re live from the SEGA Booth in the South Hall! We’ve got a lot planned for the show, so sit back and enjoy the coverage!

First thing first, let’s take a little stroll through the E3 booth, we’ve got a lot on floor this year and we’re really excited for journalists to get hands on with our upcoming lineup.

Total War: Rome II

Company of Heroes 2

Castle of Illusion

Sonic Lost World

If you’ve got questions for any of our titles, let us know in the comments below! We hope you enjoy the E3 2013 show.

Today we are proud to announce the SEGA titles on display for this year’s E3 Expo. The show will see a world premiere of one of SEGA’s most iconic franchises, the HD remake of a gaming classic, as well as the finest in PC strategy gaming.

Sonic Lost World

Making its hands-on debut at E3, Sonic Lost World puts Sonic up to the challenge as he faces his most powerful enemy to date – The Deadly Six! Using his dynamic new parkour moves and Color Powers, Sonic must speed across a variety of unique terrains – racing inside, outside and upside down in every level. The game will launch exclusively on the Wii U™ and Nintendo 3DS™ this Holiday as part of the recently announced partnership that makes Nintendo consoles the number one destination for Sonic gaming for the next three Sonic titles. The game marks an evolution of the Sonic series and SEGA is excited to showcase the title at E3.

Castle of Illusion

Mickey Mouse returns to star in Castle of Illusion, a fantastical reimagining of the Sega Genesis classic. With all-new HD graphics and gameplay, Castle of Illusion brings Mickey and his magical world to life. When the evil witch Mizrabel kidnaps Minnie, it’s up to Mickey to brave the dangers of the Castle of Illusions to rescue her. Gather your courage and take on hordes on rebellious toys, traverse enchanted forest and navigate mazes of living books. Play as Mickey and save Minnie from Mirabel’s evil clutches! E3 will be the first hands-on opportunity for Castle of Illusion. The game will be available this summer for Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation Network, and Windows PC.

Company of Heroes

As the eagerly anticipated follow-up to one of the best loved strategy games of all time, Company of Heroes 2 looks to make a big splash at the show with its stunning depiction of the Eastern Front. Visitors to E3 will get to exclusively go hands-on with the action packed ‘Land Bridge to Leningrad’ mission from the game’s campaign. Featuring innovative True Sight, Cold Tech and Seasonal Warfare functionality brought to life by the cutting-edge Essence Engine, Company of Heroes 2 will once again push the boundaries of strategy gaming.

Total War: Rome II

Destined to be the biggest game in the entire series so far, Total War: ROME II will be playable for the very first time at the show with a thrilling battle between Egypt and Rome on the banks of the River Nile. Developers Creative Assembly will also unveil the Total War: ROME II campaign map, showcasing the most ambitious campaign mode in any Total War game yet – packed with innovative new features, detail, and breathtaking in its scope.

The Cave

Named GameInformer’s Best Adventure Game of E3 2012, The Cave is an adventure game from Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion creator Ron Gilbert, and Double Fine Productions, the award-winning studio behind Psychonauts and Brütal Legend. The mobile version of The Cave will be shown for the first time at the Online and Mobile Game Pavilion located in the Concourse Foyer.

Follow us on Instagram

Be sure to follow us on Instagram for updates throughout the E3 Show! We’ll be updating with photos from the show, including some behind-the-scenes photos, food pictures, and other fun activities! Posting pictures from our booth at E3? Our hashtag on Instagram is the same as Twitter — #SegaE3

SEGA’s Favorite Places in Los Angeles – The LA/E3 Foursquare List

Here at SEGA, we love to eat. We’ve even got a whole blog category dedicated to food. We travel a lot, and we’re all from different parts of the world. All of that adds up to us knowing some pretty spectacular places to eat, drink, and be merry. We launched our Foursquare account earlier this year, and we’ve loved adding our tips and seeing people using our recommendations to find great stuff. As many of us are veterans of E3 and/or Los Angeles, we’ve compiled all of our LA-based tips onto this handy Foursquare list.

TL;DR

Games at E3:

• Sonic Lost World
• Castle of Illusion
• Company of Heroes 2
• Total War: Rome II
• The Cave

Please use the hashtag #SegaE3 when tweeting about our E3 stuff, or posting Instagram photos of our E3 stuff.

We’re on Instagram! Our username is SEGA.

We compiled a Foursquare list of awesome places to go in LA.

This new Total War: ROME II trailer highlights the story of Cleopatra, with the first glimpse of the campaign map and a taste of the battle action the E3 press will be getting to grips with on the show floor next week.

Will you betray, or be betrayed? How far will you go for Rome?

SEGA & Creative Assembly is happy to reveal the release date, final pack art, pre-order bonus and Collector’s Edition for Total War: ROME II! The global release date for will be September 3, 2013 across all territories on both physical and digital formats.

Pre-order Bonus

Those gamers who pre-order any edition from participating retailers will receive ROME II’s first DLC for free alongside the game on release day. This first DLC, the Greek States Culture Pack, adds three additional playable factions to the game; Epirus, Athens and Sparta.

These factions have their own unique units, buildings, missions and win conditions alongside a distinct tech tree and, in the case of Sparta, will present a considerable challenge to the advanced player wishing to restore the famous city state to its former glory.

Collector’s Edition

The Total War: ROME II Collector’s Edition will be produced in a single, extremely limited run; only 22,000 individually numbered copies will be manufactured. The CE contains a wealth of custom, Roman-themed games and items, bound in a leather-effect presentation box, complete with gold logo and magnetic closure; including:

Numbered copy of Total War™: ROME II: The most ambitious and expansive game in the Total War™ series to date, ROME II brings the statecraft, politics, intrigue, diplomacy and epic battles of the ancient world to life in thrilling detail. This version comes in a debossed Steelbook™ case, laser-etched with your unique collector’s number in Roman numerals.

Tabula set: The Roman forerunner to Backgammon, this Tabula set comprises 30 bone-effect game pieces supplied in their own burlap drawstring bag; the board itself is built into the base of the Collector’s Edition box.

Tesserae Dice: Three replica bone-effect dice for use in a variety of games. The design is based on original Roman Tesserae, found at the archaeological site of Herculaneum.

Total War Cards: PUNIC WARS: Designed from the ground up to echo elements from ROME II, Total War Cards is a game of skill and luck for two players. Involving combat, territorial control, resource management and technological development, PUNIC WARS consists of 58 high-quality playing cards and a game-board printed with the PUNIC WARS tech-tree.

Roman Onager: A complete, fully-functional Onager, or Roman siege catapult. This easy-to-assemble kit is constructed from weathered wood and steel, measures 26cm x 12cm x 12cm, and is capable of unleashing small projectiles at a variety of inanimate objects which may have affronted the glory of your empire.

A remarkable way to mark over 10 years of Total War games and Creative Assembly’s 25th Anniversary, the Total War: ROME II Collector’s Edition is only available through selected retailers. Follow the link to pre-order from a list of participating retailers: http://www.totalwar.com/rome2_collectors

Creative Assembly today released the first behind the scenes look at what went into the jaw-dropping first look at Total War: ROME II; “The Unmaking of Carthage” dev diary reveals some of the thinking behind the spectacular new tactical map and combined naval and land battle features. There’s also a rather unsubtle hint at what’s coming next…