When balancing the battles in Medieval II there are many factors to
keep in mind, not least the way in which our fans play the game. Some
players prefer a realistic simulation; some players want a tactical
balanced game and prefer good sprites over realistic animations; and
the majority want a bit of both.

This makes balancing the battles rather challenging because most of the people we hear from via fan sites and the community are at the two extremes so as a designer, you sometimes need to be prepared to make assumptions about the majority that are unseen or unheard. If you assumed the population of Total War fans was like any other then you could assume that the two extremes would give you an approximation of those that sat in the middle, this is the approach we took when it came to balancing the battles in Kingdoms.

M2TW was an interesting game to balance due to how far it had pushed the simulation, the battles looked amazing. When it came to the way they played out, the initial focus was to get the global feel right in terms of speed of combat, introducing personal space so players couldn’t squeeze 100’s of troops into small spaces for combat advantage, balance morale so that whole armies wouldn’t rout on impact and ensure the basic paper scissor rock balance was evident. Following the release of M2TW, the subsequent updates addressed certain mechanics and tried to find a middle ground on cavalry. KIngdoms was our chance to make another significant step in terms of improving balance on the battle map.

As a fan turned developer, I understood the value of our lead customers in the community. Lead customers are those that work for the game and see it as an experience to share with others rather than a box product that sits on a shelf. They manage fan sites, run tournaments, organize clans, make mods, teach others how to make mods, but most importantly they understand the difficulties faced in games development and wanted to be part of the sollution rather than make demands. I knew that if these people were engaged in the balance design process effectively, amazing things could be done. The question was, how could they get involved.

During the development of M2TW we had made significant moves to establishing stronger relations with the community, in particular the modding and multiplayer community. This ensured that there were lines of communications open and that the fans had the capacity to modify many elements of the game that they previously couldn’t. In addition, at the studio we made a conscious effort to walk in the shoes of the fans. We ran an internal multiplayer ladder and tournament and we had meetings exchanging knowledge about the competitive multiplayer play and some of us even started to make our own M2TW mods. This process revealed exactly “how” we could involve the community in the next stage. By developing our own balance mods we had moved closer to the community which meant the modders could get involved in this work. Together we could create the best balance mods possible and get the community to play and provide constant feedback. We could then use this feedback to quickly make the desired balance changes to the mods and then play some more.

There was never one absolute mod version everyone played early on as the strength in numbers needed to be supplemented with strength in ideas. At the end of the process we still didn’t totally agree but common ground was found. In the last week, the design team looked at all the variations and found that middle ground that could appease the ardent fans but could also provide a suitable balance for all M2TW fans - that version became the Kingdoms battle map balance. I’m personally very happy with the final product and I know Lusted will be providing a blog in the near future that delves deep into what has changed. However as always the proof will be in the word of mouth that spreads throughout the community post release.

There’s no doubt that this process has directly benefited the battlefield balance in Kingdoms. But also, it’s significant that we found an effective means of working with the community that doesn’t require lots of red tape to go through, has a fast and efficient process, utilizes the community’s strengths in a manner they feel comfortable with and most importantly makes significant improvements to game play in quick time.

I would like to pass on a special thanks to the following people who played a part:

The guys at Celtiberos - Special thanks to Carlos “CeltiberoMordred” Sanchez, Luis “CeltiberoLerend” Lasso de la Vega, and Jordi “CeltiberoThrandhuil” Caymel. Celtiberos has always been consistently one of the best clans in TW history. You guys know the ins and outs of the multiplayer game like few others but best of all you keep it fun for all your members all the time. My deepest regret was that I couldn’t speak Spanish so couldn’t effectively be part of your party over there in Spain. For those out there that are considering clan life and can manage their way around the Spanish language look no further than: http://www.celtiberos.net/.

The guys at Devoti Custodes  - Special thanks to Juan Luis “Erigion” Barahona. To visit Clan Devoti Custodes go to: http://www.devoticustodes.com/

Man these Spanish players have cool names; makes Jason “Palamedes” Turnbull seem rather drab!

Jack “Lusted” Lusted -  Your constant dissatisfaction and need to explore further kept the process seeking new avenues and  insights. It’s great news to see you have become  part of the developer team in the UK. Keep the community torch burning ever brightly mate.

Thomadis “Darth Vader” Nick - I don’t know what planet you come from or what “Side of the force” you use but there are few that can contemplate or see what you do. They just have to try and see.

Richard L. Webb - Your insights into engaging and managing the community effectively have been inspirational to the whole process. Thanks again good friend and here’s to doing more innovative things in the future.

Szamado “RTKLional” Szabolcs - As always the rock of reason and a source of deep insight into the core of the Total War experience.

Stefan “Alpaca” Reutter - Just when I thought we were done you turned up to throw something else into the decision making process. Thanks again - it made sure that we all took a breath and reassessed.

All the best gents and I bet you can’t wait to see Kingdoms and check how much of you became part of it.

Regards,

Jason

Hi, my name is Brendan Rogers, AKA ‘Caliban’ to the Total War
community.  I do various jobs here at CA such as artwork, design and
also modding support for the community and I’m currently working on Kingdoms, the expansion pack for Medieval II. You may remember that in the first part of my diary, I focused on the Teutonic Campaign, one of four campaigns featured in the Kingdoms, and in particular the Teutonic Order faction, the Lithuanians, and describing the role that certain alliances and guilds play in the campaign. I’ll also be touching on some of the new units and battlefield weapons that players will have at their disposal.

Like the Teutonic Order, the Lithuanian faction also offers a significant change from the standard Medieval II faction. The Lithuanians utilise a new pagan religion game mechanic based on numerous temple chains that when built, unlock recruitment of elite religious warriors. The Pagan religion can move along one of three temple chains. Each chain provides unique benefits such as increased trade and better farming. Each chain has three levels, with each level providing units of greater strength, culminating with a special pagan unit unique to that temple chain. These elite units will help the Lithuanians withstand the relentless aggression from the Teutonic Order but if Lithuania starts to buckle, they will be given the opportunity to convert to Catholicism. This conversion will unlock opportunities to construct larger cities and new building types. This will come at the cost of losing the benefits associated with pagan temple chains and their unique pagan units so when the player reaches this crossroads in the campaign, they have a significant decision to make.

Alliances and guilds play an important part in the campaign. If you’re playing as Denmark, you will be given the opportunity to form the powerful and permanent alliance with their Norwegian neighbours known as the “Union of Kalmar”. This event will trigger when Denmark occupies certain regions on the campaign map. When the Union is formed, Norwegian cities and armies are turned over to Denmark, and Norway is effectively destroyed. The Danish faction additionally gains access to recruit three of Norway’s most powerful units for themselves.

In terms of guilds, all factions will be provided the opportunity to construct the Hanseatic League Headquarters provided they are not followers of the Pagan religion. The League Headquarters is a unique building, and only one can exist in the campaign game at any one time. To be offered the chance to construct the Hanseatic League Headquarters building, a faction must hold at least one of a number of historically important Hanseatic League cities. The more of these cities a faction can control at the same time, the sooner they will be provided with the construction offer. The Hanseatic League Headquarters building provides a power trade bonus increase to all settlements of the faction whcih controls it. To a faction like the Teutonic Order, who must fund their vast armies through captured cities, this is certainly an attractive proposition.

There are a heap of new units in the Teutonic campaign from the feared Teutonic Ritterbruder to the Lithuanian pagan followers of Perkunas. We have selected a wide range of new units to capture the diversity of the era and to bring these sometimes forgotten warriors to the screen. The campaign also features new weapons such as the fearsome Mangonel with its devastating exploding barrels and burning oil that can be poured through muder holes by siege defenders. Cannons also receive an overhaul, allowing them to shoot a deadly ‘grapeshot’ of mixed shrapnel that is sure to send the infantry running. This campaign certainly has no shortage of spectacular battlefield moments.

That’s all for now. I hope I’ve given you some insight into what you can expect from the Teutonic Wars campaign and the factions, weapons and the gameplay mechanics you’ll be able to explore in this facinating setting in Medieval history.

Hi, my name is Brendan Rogers, AKA ‘Caliban’ to the Total War community.  I do various jobs here at CA such as artwork, design and also modding support for the community. In this diary I’m going to talk a bit about the different ideas, features and history of the Teutonic Wars campaign, one of the four campaigns included in the Kingdoms expansion for Medieval II.

The Teutonic Wars campaign recreates the conflict in Northern Europe between Christendom and Paganism, fuelled by the desires of the dreaded Teutonic Order. The Teutonic Order was very appealing to us for the focus of a campaign because of their controversial and influential impact on Medieval Europe. The Order was formed in Palestine during the Eastern Crusades, which was then later recognized by the papacy as a military order. Their influence on Medieval Europe stretched hundreds of years and played a large part in the conversion of pagans to Christianity. Recreating the Order as a faction in the expansion allowed us to create something completely different to the factions available in Medieval II.

The campaign takes place on a brand new custom map, the boundary of which covers the northern area around the Baltic Sea from Abo down to Kiev and from Hanover through to Novgorod, and Poland with the Holy Roman Empire included as an unlockable faction. As I’ve mentioned, The Teutonic Order is the most unique faction to play, because of their religious foundation; they play quite differently to the other factions in Medieval II. First of all, there is no family tree. The faction leader is the Grandmaster of the Order known as the “Hochmeister”. Faction members can’t marry or have children nor is there a faction ‘heir’. A suitable leader for the faction is selected only when the Hochmeister dies. Secondly, and more significantly when it comes to gameplay in the campaign, the Teutonic Order’s method of unit recruitment is driven by religion; Teutonic Knights will only be available from regions with high levels of Catholic belief. This means that the Order will need to utilize mercenaries if they are to expand quickly, while the use of priests is crucial in order to ensure that any newly taken lands convert to Catholicism as soon as possible.

When it comes to settlements, the Order can only construct castles so they will need to utilise captured cities wisely or alternatively convert them if they are able to. We’ve given The Teutonic Order new Castle architecture and texture sets. This is unique to the Teutonic Order and helps differentiate their castles from other Northern European settlements.

During the campaign the player will experience a host of new missions including the arrival of Adventure Crusaders. These European nobles arrive on the map seeking to fight alongside the Order for papal favour. Large cash rewards will be awarded to the Order if they can show them a good time. On the flipside of this, the Lithuanian Council of Nobles is understandably distressed at their arrival and is eager for the Adventuring Crusaders to suffer a gruesome death, so you get a completely different perspective if you’re playing as the Lithuanian faction.

Previously known as Quintilis in Latin, July was renamed after the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar. Also taking his name in the UK is a popular brand of dog food, but that’s another story. The United States celebrates its Independence Day on 4th July, shortly followed by Venezuela (5th), Malawi (6th), Argentina (9th), Columbia (20th), and Peru (28th).

The entries this month are amongst the best we have ever received, and I am delighted to kick things off with Neset Kaya (aka Manco) from Bulgaria. He sent in an image depicting “A brave English knight who is throwing himself in front of a hail of arrows shot from the numerous enemy archers on a warm July night.”

I took the screenshot with the Cinematic Editor and edited it with ACDSee Pro and corrected some mistakes with Picasa. I used ‘oil painting’ and changed the contrast significantly. I added a little rain and highlighted the flame arrows so that they look like meteors in the night”

Tarcea Raul from Romania (aka Gebeleisis from the forums) sent in the following sunny image that definitely couldn’t have been taken in England!

“I used Picasa II and Paint.Net as editing programs. I then added a sun layer to the photo, highlighted it, saturation soft focus effects and another one or two things that I will not point out so that they will be a secret. The photo was created without a cinematic editor and is just a photo I made during one of my custom battles. Cheers for who wins, and see ya next month.”

It’s been a couple of months since our last pencilled entry.  James Young from Devon, England, sent this detailed woodland scene, along with the following description:

“The glade exists - the picture is based on some photos I took in July last year. I figured that such a surrounding would be a welcome break in any campaign - it wasn’t all hardship and bloodshed! The image is a pencil drawing with layers of paint and ink/bleach added and manipulated using Photoshop.”

Jorg Bommes (aka Sleepy) from Germany began work on his image back in May, and the extra time has resulted in a really well thought out submission:

“The program I used is called Micrografx Picture Publisher. On the picture I worked with masks, colour brightness, gray effects, some filters, and a lucky hand at cutting, and a good eye for finding the best screens (I hope).

The first time I saw the news on Totalwar.com, I thought of joining in. A month later I saw the film Kingdom of Heaven again. At the end of the film Saladin gets asked in German: “Was bedeutet Jerusalem? (”What does Jerusalem mean?”) He answers: “alles… nichts” (”all… nothing”). My brain kept working on… doesn’t that fit to MTW II? I have played so many MP games and with one wrong click your army is sent to hell! In the picture I tried to get the facts of good and evil together and support the thoughts of the little text I wrote with one good line, one bad, and one side dark, one side in colour. In the middle of a kind of colour battle.”

Making a welcome return to the competition is Bill Bockos (aka Vasileiosthe2nd) in Greece, with a hilarious image that wouldn’t look out of place on a postcard!

“A bored to death veteran knight, who doesn’t care at all about his general’s orders and prefers to sunbathe a bit almost naked by the beach, while a savage battle (of his own men?) occurs just a few yards farther on! Oh, and of course he has some ale to keep himself fresh and cool. I drew the basic lines with a faber castel pencil and scanned the paper to continue with colouring and editing the image in Adobe Photoshop. Also, some help from in-game screenshots I took helped a bit. ;)”

The quality continues in our next image. Tomas Mitkus from Surrey, England, sent in this dusty sandstorm image that really captures the harshness of the desert to full effect.

“I used Photoshop CS 2 to colour in, but the first few sketches were made with pencil on paper. First idea about July was that it’s summer, hot, sunny…So I came to an idea that best picture to show would be the Arabian Desert. It would be somewhere near Tunis, where a lonely pilgrim travelling to Jerusalem or Mecca gets into a desert storm.”

He’ll be getting the sand out for weeks…!

Marek Chadzynski from Poland sent in this month’s winning image. Full of vibrant colour and beautifully painted, it is guaranteed to brighten up even the dullest of desktops this month.

“At first I created simple 3D models of human forms, shield and sword. Then I found many desert photos from stock. Finally I painted everything in the graphic program ArtRage.This program uses paint techniques. I used tablet to paint, and I made several corrections in PhotoShop. For ideas I read many books about crusades, particularly about the first crusade.”

July 2007’s Create A Calendar wallpaper is available to download in two sizes here.

As an extra treat this month, Marek has kindly provided some of the 3D models he created to construct his winning image.



Many congratulations to Marek, and thank you to everybody who entered this month. I look forwards to seeing what you come up with for August’s Create A Calendar Competition - which has now officially started. You have until Friday 31st August to get your entries in, and this month’s prizes include some signed Total War artwork, a copy of Medieval II: Total War, plus Rome and Medieval II soundtracks. For full entry details, please click here.

Keep up the great work!

Mark O’Connell
(aka SenseiTW)