Welcome to our fifth Empire: Total War FAQ. This month we are focusing exclusively on your Land Battle questions…

With so much of the warfare in the period being focused on the use of gunpowder, will there still be a role for melee units?
Despite the emergence of gunpowder, melee and dedicated melee units remain important parts of warfare in Empire: Total War. Flintlock, muzzle-loading small arms were unreliable, relatively slow to reload and not always accurate. If you were sensible you carried a sword, or a bayonet, or both, or an axe or almost anything as a backup weapon. Once you’d fired, you had a tactical choice: try to reload before the enemy closed to stabbing range, or charge home before he could fire and reload. Hence the need for melee combat. The comparative short effective range of musketry makes this a ticklish problem for commanders. At the start of the period, players will have to make the choice between shooting at the last moment and not being prepared for melee or fixing bayonets. The land battles are being designed so that there is no single ‘right answer’ to that decision. This ensures that the tactics of timing and manoeuvre are vitally important. The period was full of successful bayonet charges and cavalry attacks. There’s a huge, rich variety in the period and we’re determined to get all that flavour into the game. Empire is definitely not just Rome or Medieval with gunpowder units.

With ranged combat being so much more important to the way land battles work, will units be able to use cover and stances to protect themselves?
Absolutely, finding cover on the battlefield for your units introduces a brand new idea to the land battles. Buildings on the battlefield can become a tactical focus of battle because of the cover they provide. Historically, farm and village buildings often saw some of the most ferocious fighting in many famous battles of the period, from Blenheim to Waterloo. Empire allows for this by letting men deploy in buildings for the first time in a Total War game.

There is a downside, of course. Concentrating your men in buildings makes them prime targets for enemy artillery. All the buildings on Empires battlefields will be destructible so the walls can come tumbling down!

Buildings aren’t the only cover. There are deployable items such as chevaux de frise (a kind of portable barrier studded with hideous spikes and blades) and earthworks that provide partial protection for units. The walls, trees and the outside of buildings that can be used as cover too. In addition, some units (skirmishers, in particular) are trained to fire from a prone position in order to reduce their vulnerability to incoming fire.

With ranged combat now so crucial, will the land battle engine UI display areas of fire in addition to unit range?
Aside from range, the battle UI will enable the player to view a unit’s line of sight and there are elements that communicate unit movement and fields of fire (the area that can be hit by a unit with its current facing and formation).

What effects do the weather and environment have on armies in battle?
Weather and the battlefield environment will have a variety of effects on the armies in battle. Fog and smoke influence line of sight, while rain affects rate of fire (or even whether a unit can fire at all) and the chance of misfires. The environment meanwhile will have a range of effects on troops via fatigue. Troops will tire on the battlefield if they march uphill or through mud and, as result, you’ll see their rate of fire and accuracy diminish. Ground types will also affect the movement rate of all troop types, as will obstacles like walls. This only goes to promote the importance of manoeuvring your units with care. If a unit is slowed and fatigued by mud, or commanded to climb over a wall whilst under fire, they could be cut to ribbons in no time by a well-drilled enemy.

Uniforms in that time period were mostly similar, how will you keep armies from becoming clones again?
Not all units are created equal - a number of units are not ‘regular’ army troops, and have plenty of scope for variation. Each unit we are using has a variety of different faces, hair colours, haircuts and facial hair. Unit equipments, such as backpacks and ammo pouches, have a variety of positions and sizes and there is also some variation with unit weaponry.

We’re also introducing a system that allows us to alter any part of the unit on a per-unit basis, so for each unit type we can add variety wherever possible and appropriate.  Even the most uniform of uniforms can have hats at different angles, some buttons unfastened, shorter or longer coat tails, different shoes and all manner of visual flavour.  Of course, with the more exotic unit types the world is our oyster!

Faction colouring is done in a cunning way, and we can have slightly different areas of faction colour on each soldier. Dynamic dirt and wounding will mean that in the heat of battle, every man in the unit will display a different level of grime and injury. All of this is intended to give us as much flexibility in de-cloning the units of men as possible.

Will we have the ability to dismount men pre-battle?
Better than that - dragoon units will be able to dismount and mount during battle. Dismounting is a unit ability that won’t be available to all units and must be selected through the tech tree. This opens up many strategic possibilities - dragoons can for example, ride to buildings or areas of cover on the battlefield, then dismount and fire from the cover they’ve seized. Before battle there will also be a few units that can choose to fight on foot or horseback (but can’t change during battle).. Guns will also be able to limber and unlimber on the battlefield; this means that horse artillery will gallop to where they are most needed.

Units could deploy stakes in Medieval 2 - what kind of deployable items will be available on the battlefield?
There are a variety of weapons and defensive structures that can be deployed in battle. Some in real-time, others in the deployment stage of battle. We’ve already mentioned the chevaux de fries. This can be deployed in the pre-battle deployment phase and provide an effective defense against cavalry charges and limited cover. Other examples include the infantry earthworks and gabions (large wicker baskets filled with earth), which can be deployed pre-battle, and provide significant defensive cover form small arms and artillery fire. The latter is a defensive emplacement that offers strong protection for artillery units from small arms fire but fixes your artillery to a set field position - lose the position, and you may have lost your guns! There will also be items such as wooden stakes, depending on other factors.

How will fixing bayonets be handled - will it be an order you can issue?
The order to fix bayonets can be given to any, musket armed, infantry unit that carries them in battle (and not everyone did, strangely). At the start of the period, a bayonet plugged into the gun barrel like a cork in a bottle - the musket became a heavy spear, but could no longer fire. As the game progresses, more advanced bayonet technology becomes available, including ring bayonets and eventually socket bayonets. The socket bayonet in particular didn’t interfere with loading or firing. Actually, that’s not quite true - historically the French decided to offset their socket bayonets above the barrel exactly into the firer’s eye line. This made aiming a bit of a tricky exercise.

Will there be different types of ammunition available?
Artillery units in Empire can gain access to a variety of ammo types that can be selected by activating a unit ability in battle. Ammo types include explosive shot - these are cannon balls that fly towards their target and then burst and fragment, showering an enemy with shards of metal that can be devastating to a unit of infantry. Canister shot or grape shot works in the similar way but at a shorter range, turning a cannon into a giant sawn-off shotgun. Then there are grenades which are delivered via grenadiers on the battlefield, with their range and effectiveness based on the experience and training of the unit.

I hope you have enjoyed our Land Battles FAQ. Keep your questions coming on our official forums and stay tuned to www.totalwar.com for the latest updates!

Take care,

Mark O’Connell

First a bit of background on myself. Now I’m sure many of you from the community will know me (so you can just skip the next bit), but for those who don’t I used to be an admin of Total War Center, one of the biggest Total War fan sites. I’ve been playing the series since Medieval: Total War was released back in 2002. I’ve been working here at the Creative Assembly UK since June last year as a Tester and secondee to the Empire design team.

As a tester, I have a wide range of tools available to me with which I can see exactly what the AI is doing and thinking. This makes it easy to spot problems with the AI, and helps Richard Bull (Battle AI programmer) more quickly fix any problems that are found.

There are a variety of battles that we have set up that we use to test the AI on. Most battles will consist of me trying a variety of tactics against the AI to see how it reacts, and noting what it does and doesn’t do well. Other times we will run the game so the AI controls both sides and fights itself, to see how well it does in that situation. That is also one of the most useful ways of exposing flaws in the AI. As the project goes on, the AI will be tested under a wider variety of situations to make sure it plays well in all battles.

During each battle, we can play with all the AI debug information being shown. This lets us see exactly what each AI unit is doing and what tactics it’s engaging. This allows us to get a very clear picture of the AI’s overall strategy and so makes it easy to see where it could be improved and where it isn’t quite behaving right.

Every fortnight myself, Richard and one of the Designers will meet up and discuss the progress of the AI. We’ll talk about the issues with it, new things that have been added in and other progress that has been made since the last meeting. We’ll also make suggestions for improvements by discussing how the AI should react in certain situations and how it should play. For instance some new code has recently gone in based on an idea to try and improve the organization of the AI during the later stages of battle. After each meeting we’ll generally have a few specific areas of the AI that we’ve been asked to test before the next meeting.

The close link between myself as a tester and the battle AI programmer is new for Empire and this process of regular meetings and constant testing helps ensure that the battle AI is always moving forwards. The process will carry on right up until release, and things are looking very promising already.

Also for Empire, I’ve written a series of design documents on how the AI should deal with certain situations and general things it should do based on how myself and others play the game. These documents are constantly updated as more is added to them, new tactics are included and situations arise which have AI design implications. This ensures that there are always up to date documents detailing how the AI should play both generally in battles, and more specifically for certain situations. This helps give clear goals for how the AI should progress, and means we are aiming towards an AI that plays a lot more like a human and so should provide more of a challenge to both our experienced players and those new to the series.

If you’ve got any questions on this blog, please do send them in.

Jack.

Totalwar.com: How did you get into being a motion-capture actor?

Chris Freedman: Getting into Motion-Capture isn’t that easy, particularly the area that we specialize in. First off you need to be a competent actor and next you need to get your stage combat qualifications. Above and beyond that being a skilled acrobat, gymnast, fencer or martial artist will be greatly to your advantage. Finally, once you have all the skills you need, it’s time to find and get the work and that means auditions…. lots of them.

Totalwar.com: Have you ever been involved in any film work?

Chris Freedman: Yes, I have had minor acting roles in Batman: Dark Knight, 28 Weeks Later and a variety of TV productions. Ronin has fought and directed fights in a number of film shorts and numerous theater productions.

Totalwar.com: Have you had any combat training or martial arts experience?

Chris Freedman: We both hold stage combat qualifications, as this is an absolute minimum for the job. Ronin teaches stage combat to actors and is currently undergoing further teacher training with the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat of which he is an advanced actor combatant. He is a resident fight director at a theatre, an experienced fencer and has some training in Chin Woo Kung Fu. I am also an experienced fencer and hold belts in Akido, Karate and Tae Kwon Do.

Totalwar.com: Do you specialize in historical combat, or is a lot of it translatable to both past and modern settings?

Chris Freedman: A lot of our work revolves around sword-based combat, so that generally places us in a historical setting. Having said that, we are equally skilled in unarmed combat, and that has a very definite place in the modern setting.

The thing that we have to remember is, that with Motion Capture, the characters we play can be in any setting, time or genre. They can also be of different skill levels with characters ranging from a general trained in the field of war, to a press-ganged sailor who is just working out which part of the cutlass is the pointy bit. As a result, we are constantly adapting our style and delivery to match the characters portrayed.

Totalwar.com: Doing motion-capture for fight scenes is undoubtedly dangerous work. Has anything ever gone wrong on a shoot?

Chris Freedman: Nothing major so far, fingers crossed! Quite a few knocks and bruises though, which is pretty normal for this type of work. However, it is worth remembering that we are simulating combat, so the risks are real. We are fighting quickly and in very close proximity to each other, and although the blades we use have dull edges, the points are sharp and more than capable of piercing your rib cage or taking your eye out. The potential for injury means that we train vigorously in adapting real techniques for performance. Choreographing a fight and incorporating safety techniques enables us to fight fast and with intent and then do it all over again if required.

Totalwar.com: Did you have to simulate any actions with imaginary props (cannons etc)?

Chris Freedman: Definitely. During the various shoots that we have been in for this game, we have loaded cannons, fired rockets, been in a riot and even set on fire!

Totalwar.com: Do moves have to be consciously over-exaggerated for mo-cap animation, compared to regular acting?

Chris Freedman: In live theatre, the actor uses his voice, gesture and movement to impart meaning to the audience and therefore the exaggeration is only proportionate to the size of venue. Cinematic performance requires the actor to make the movements larger so that the camera can clearly see them. In Motion Capture sequences, all movement needs to extremely over performed as, not only is the actor deprived of using voice, facial expression and gesture, but it is filmed in 360⁰ by multiple cameras so that when it is translated to wire frame figures and eventually to the actual characters, the eventual player can rotate the action in any direction. Therefore, as the movement can be seen from any angle, it has to be both accurate and clearly defined in a short space of time.

Totalwar.com: Approximately how many moves did you capture for Empire: Total War during the days shooting?

Chris Freedman: To date, we have performed between 50 and 60 fight sequences, each consisting of between 2 and 5 takes, together with 10 - 20 acting sequences for the game and 5 - 10 cut scenes.

Totalwar.com: Finally, did you wear the mo-cap suit on the train home?

Chris Freedman: Well of course…. wouldn’t you?

I hope you have enjoyed our exclusive talk with one of the Empire: Total War stuntmen. For more information about the mo-cap shoot itself, be sure to check out our accompanying Blog and Video Diary from the day. Stay tuned to www.totalwar.com for all the latest information.

Best regards,

Mark O’Connell

Top of the bill on the day were a selection of the combat moves that you will see individual troops carrying out in the massive land battles featured in the game. We also captured some fierce sabre fighting that you will witness in the duelling scenes of the campaign game. A variety of props to simulate interaction with guns, mortars, cannons and walls were also used, as we put the stuntmen through their paces.

In the morning we set up the cameras, tripods and workstation, and then used specialist software to calibrate the equipment to create a virtual space to work in. Once the stuntmen had been briefed on the day’s plans, they warmed up and donned their motion capture suits. Markers were placed in a specific layout, and the combatants performed test captures in variety of poses.

A film crew then arrived to record the day’s action for use in today’s trailer release. Their equipment was carefully set up outside of the capture area to avoid any interference with the light, cables and tripods. Knocking any one of the 10 tripods mere millimetres would require a total recalibration of the system that typically lasts between 15-30 minutes. Fortunately though, this didn’t happen!

The seamless precision in which the actors choreographed their moves was really impressive to watch. As our lead and cutscene animators directed them, another incrementally checked all of the hardware and software. All of the captured moves were reviewed throughout the day and recaptured if necessary.

We also simultaneously conducted a series of interviews with some of the artists and designers who work on Empire: Total War. Positioned outside of the camera volume, our team spoke about how the data will be used as the battles waged on behind them. The resulting footage is part of a new developer diary entitled “The Art of Dueling”, which is now available to watch here!

Back in The Creative Assembly studio, our team is now busily implementing the motion-capture information, as part of the massive collaborative effort on Empire: Total War.

I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse behind the scenes and accompanying Dev Diary. Stay tuned to www.totalwar.com for more features in the coming months!

Best regards,

Mark O’Connell

Welcome to our fourth Empire: Total War FAQ. This month we are once again setting sail on the high seas to answer more of your Naval warfare questions.

Q: Is there a deployment stage for naval battles and if so, what exactly can be set during this phase?
A: Yes, there is a deployment phase but what can be done during the phase is still in development. We do know about the formations and tactics of the period and their benefits and drawbacks. It’s just a question of which ones actually make most sense in a gameplay environment. As we develop the game the best formations will be added to the mix. Like everything “in development”, what we have right now and what we’ll have on release may change.

Q: Can naval battle formations be set during battle?
A: They can, but it’s not always that useful. In the 18th Century, once a battle commenced, changing formations and tactics was very unlikely unless you had a lot of time and sea-room. Communication was only possible by signal flag and by sending boats. In the swirling smoke of battle both of these became impractical methods of communication. It’s a bit like forming up a “Big Wing” (for those of you familiar with WW2 air tactics) for a dogfight when the battle has already started. Changing formations can leave your ships vulnerable to attack while you try to sort yourself out. There’s nothing stopping you doing it, but you’ll need to be aware that it can all go horribly wrong - just like the real thing, in fact.

Q: Will naval battles incorporate a morale system and if so, how will this work?
A: Yes naval battles will have a naval battles morale system. It will be different in a number of ways to the land battles. We will provide more detail nearer release.

Q: How dynamic will the weather conditions be during a battle. Will wind speed and direction change regularly?
A: Wind speed and direction will change but not dramatically. You won’t suddenly find yourself in the middle of a storm, for example. You are more likely to get changing conditions from battle to battle in the same area.

Q: Will varying weather conditions affect range and accuracy?
A: Yes. The intensity of the weather will determine how much effect. We won’t allow battles in full-on storms as it just wasn’t wise or often even viable to open the gun ports in conditions above sea state 5 on the Beaufort Scale (to be a trifle anachronistic for a moment). That’s waves up to around six feet high. Fighting in a sea rougher than that risks swamping when opening the gun ports.

Q: Will the damage model include critical hits?
A: Yes. A ship struck in a particular location, will show those effects at the point of impact. So if you somehow mange to hit or set fire to the ships gunpowder stores the results will be spectacular to say the least.

Q: How will ship damage in your fleet be displayed in the user interface?
A: Through our very handy, clear and useful UI, damage will be indicated in a number of ways: per side of the ship’s hull, to the sails and to the guns. Even if you don’t bother with the UI and just look at the ship itself you will have a reasonable idea of how much trouble it is in.

Q: How will range be incorporated into the naval battles and how will it be communicated to the player?
A: Range will be indicated using feedback from positioning the cursor over valid targets

Q: Will naval battles include a waypoint system to allow the player to set a series of movement orders?
A: Yes. The player can set waypoints that will be clearly visible.

Q: What range of camera controls and views are you looking to include in naval battles?
A: This is an element that is still in development. Lots of people have different ideas about what they want. What we are doing at the moment is looking at how many of these are useful and practical.

Q: How much control will the player have over the speed at which naval battles are played out?
A: At present it is planned to allow the player to speed up and slow down time in battles as well as pause the game.

Q: Will reinforcements be included in naval battles as they are on land?
A: Yes. Although that may not be what you think it is, as we have changed the campaign map and the methods of reinforcement from Rome and Medieval 2.

Q: Can any military ship be used for troop transportation or are there specific transport ships for this purpose?
A: Troop transportation will involve commandeering transport ships as needed, filling them with troops and shipping them with a protecting naval convoy. Transports can’t defend themselves, so you’ll probably want to send a defending naval vessel with them.

Q: Can crew be trained to be more efficient and effective via campaign game upgrades?
A: Yes there are items and systems on the campaign map that will effect the quality of your ships and crew.

Q: Will there be night battles for naval combat and if so, is this an option presented to player at engagement in the campaign game?
A: Yes. They will normally be more like dusk and dawn battles than true night-time warfare. Finding a ship in the dark at sea isn’t easy unless there is enough moonlight and a clear sky. Even then, it’s hard.

Q: How will naval officers be rated and affect crew and ship performance?
A: There will be Admirals, Commodores and Captains. Commodores and Captains have a set of fixed effects and Admirals are of variable quality. Admirals, like generals, will have their own set of character traits and ancillaries that can add to their skills.

Q: Can crew from sinking ships be rescued?
A: No. The poor souls drown horribly and the sharks feed with gusto!

Q: How are lost crew numbers replenished post-battle?
A: Two ways. Either by pressing captured crew from ships captured in battle or by heading back to friendly ports for more men.

Next time we will be dropping anchor to discuss a different area of Empire: Total War, so keep your questions coming on our official forums!

Take care,

Mark O’Connell

Just in time for Christmas, we are pleased to bring your our third Empire: Total War Q&A, featuring more of your questions from the official forums. This month we are taking the fight to the seas with an indepth look at Naval warfare.

Q: Will naval battles be fun and easy to command?
A: Where possible we have tried to use intuitive and easy to grasp controls.
There are a fair number of elements of control and game play that are shared with the land battles in Empire. Most people who have played Total War or another RTS game will select units, give basic orders and be able to move the camera around without a tutorial.
We have also been working extremely hard at making naval battles fun to play from the first minute, while leaving room for depth in the gameplay. The variety of ships available just adds to that depth and enjoyment.
The user HUD is going in the right direction, but is still undergoing refinement and development. It’s a good sign that the fans over at the Total War Center were able to work out the functionality of a lot of the prototype interface in one of the screenshots, and all with a little guesswork and no help from tooltips.

Q: What’s the maximum number of ships we’ll be able to command in battle?
A: The number of ships that will be commanded by the player is still subject to development. There are gameplay issues being resolved. It’s very likely that it will not be more than 20 per player. More than that could make battles too tricky to control, certainly for most “normal” people (or “us”, to use the shorthand term). Experts will, of course, scoff at our uselessness, but then we only have the standard number of fingers having not stitched on extra ones to give us an advantage in WOW.
What has to be remembered is that most ships have two broadsides to fire, as well as boarding actions to fight. When you mix in the effects of wind, waves, shot type selection, timing of broadsides, hull and sail damage, and the crew being killed… Well, the experience is already epic and engaging. With too many ships to control, battles could be overwhelming rather than fun.

Q: Will ships gain experience and associated bonuses and, if so will, they be gained by ships sunk or men killed?
A: Ships crews will gain battle experience and this will have gameplay effects. We’ll talk more about this another time.

Q: How are the Physics of naval combat going to work - are there going to be factors to do with the wind/weather?
A: That’s cheeky, more than one question in a question? It’s a taste of the cat, for you! Not easy to answer in a short Q and A either. Where do I start?
In this game we are looking at trying to create the best and most realistic environment and sea battles you will have ever seen, running in real time, in a game. Golly.
Ships have buoyancy models that effect their motion through and across the waves. Get a big hole in your hull and you will sink. All ships have location modelling of hull damage too.
The wind itself is modelled using simplified physics acting upon the ships, the ships sails and the sea. Rain, fog and snow are also weather that will be present in battles.
The projectiles fired from cannon each have their path and velocity tracked individually and so will cause varying amounts of damage to anything (sails, masts, rigging, hull, decks and men) that block that path. Obviously a big first-rate ship of the line is going to be able to take a pounding; a sloop, on the other hand, is going to have to rely on keeping out of the way of the big guns.
As part of creating a realistic sea battle, the sea will be using statistically accurate waveforms found in seas in the real world. These waveforms are animated using a Fast Fourier Transform. The sea surface itself is rendered using the Fresnel equation to blend between reflection and refraction. This sea acts upon the ships that sail on them, causing them to roll and pitch. This roll and pitch then effects the accuracy of the gunnery. Have we baffled you with technical terms yet? Good.
Hope that answers your question.

Q: Will ramming be a last ditch tactic that can be employed in naval battles?
A: You can certainly attempt to ram but, as you probably know, ships of this period were not really designed for ramming. The damage that you might do to your ship definitely makes this an act of despair! Ships of the line are not lightweights, and a few thousand tons of wood, steel and men colliding will cause havoc! Having said all that, a sloop should do everything it can to avoid getting in the way of a first-rate: failure is not pretty for the sloop.

Q: Will merchant ships be part of your fleet, so that the warships need to guard the merchant ships in a battle?
A: There are two types of merchant activity in Empire: trade routes and trade fleets. These can be guarded by your navies. There is a boatload to say about this so I think we are going to leave that for another time.

Q: Will you be able to see men jumping off the ship when it is sinking?
A: Yes. Some will be holding on for dear life as the ship slips beneath the waves and visits Davy Jones’ Locker. As most sailors of the 18th Century weren’t good swimmers, this is a very sad sight to see. The designers are still angling for ambient sharks (but without frickin’ laser beams on their heads).

Q: Will we be able to use captured ships in our own naval and merchant fleets?
A: Yes. There is a whole chapter that can be written about this but that’s for another time

Q: Will the ships be very expensive or take some time to build, so that recovering ships or taking ships has a real effect?
A: Yes. Building ships is a large investment of time and money. The bigger they are, the more they cost and the longer they take to build. For example; HMS Victory took 6 years from the laying of her keel, in 1759, to her completion in 1765. They are also a drain on your resources once constructed. Achieving a balanced but effective naval force will be one of the challenges of the game.

Q: Will my faction’s navy be able to take on repairs at neutral or allied ports?
A: No. There are a number of issues involved in allowing the player’s warships to enter friendly/neutral ports that don’t really add anything good to gameplay. One of the challenges in Empire will be to maintain a fleet at sea and have sufficient ports around the world to carry out repairs and replacement of lost crew and ships. If you want to do well, you’re going to have to emulate the Royal Navy!

Q: Will Pirates/Privateers play any roles in the game? Can we hire them to harass ports of call or go after enemy nations merchant ships to disrupt their trade?
A: Yes. They will raid your trade routes and on occasion attack ports that are poorly defended. If they think they can outgun an isolated naval vessel they will give it a go too. The player can raid the trade routes of enemy factions and also blockade enemy ports with their naval vessels during wartime.

Q: How will we get to India? Will you incorporate a ‘warping’ system where you warp around the map or do we sail around the Cape of Good Hope?
A: We have a cunning plan but we can’t give too much away just yet. Keep an eye out as we reveal more in the fullness of time. You will like it.

On behalf of the entire Total War team we’d like to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Take care,

Mark O’Connell

The poem is of course a riff on the famous gunpowder plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament on 5th November 1605. The event is commemorated each year in England and New Zealand with fireworks and bonfires. All Saints Day is celebrated in the Christian calendar on 1st November, a day after Halloween. On the 11th, War veterans are remembered for both Veterans’ Day and Rememberance Day in the US and Europe respectively. Americans dine on a feast of turkey and stuffing for Thanksgiving on the 22nd, and then begin the online holiday shopping season four days later during the lesser-known Cyber Monday. But enough small talk - lets get on with the Calendar Competition!

David Haigh kicks off November’s blog with a bang with a tribute to Guy Fawkes Night:

Demonstrating how much fun you can have with Photoshop and a little time on your hands is Fatih Köymen, who has upgraded his medieval troops with the latest anti-aircraft missiles. Unfortunately they will have to wait around for several hundred years to get any proper use out of them…

Maciej Sprada from Poland won last month’s Calendar Competition and has wasted no time in coming up with another cracking entry for November:

“My main inspiration to do that scene was Teutonic campaign. This campaign is the most bloody and dark of all in kingdoms. The campaign reminds me of autumn because most of all time is dusky, rainy, gloomy and foggy. So of course I included that motif in my art too.

This scene was created in 3ds max. I created all of the models myself. At the end I did some adjustment with brightness in Photoshop. That was very hard for me because I don’t have much time to do things like this (I study) so it took a couple of nights to do the scene. But I think that the last effect of my work is very good.”

Marcus Roberts from Kent, England sent in this image of a Knight stood in front of an intense fire.

“I got the Knight from a photo I had taken at a wedding. It was my uncle posing in his full armour just before the big moment. The knight was mostly made from threshold filter and playing with the contrast and colour of the photo using different layers.

I had been inspired by a number of model paintings and illustrations of Medieval battles depicting the events taking place. A knight and his army are taking revenge upon their victims in the scorched earth of the enemy’s land.

I used Photoshop 7 and Corel Painter 9 on a number of photos I had taken during the year. I combined a number of layers to create depth and colour. At different stages I printed it out and scanned it back in the piece to give a dark distressed feel.

This was an experimental piece I been working for a couple of days. I like to try new techniques and processes in both programs to take my work to the next stage.”

James Young is back for a record breaking fifth consecutive month with another fantastic pencil drawing. Here is James with the full scoop:

“November 1095, Council of Clermont. The call for Holy War. Diplomats wait nervously during a lull in the council as bishops and priests prepare the speech for Pope Urban II that will launch the First Crusade. Christ had told men to love their enemies, while Urban urged extermination. Who knows what discussions took place behind the scenes? Days later, the crowds would cry “God wills it!”"

This is a pencil drawing, with ink and bleach layers, and has been digitally coloured and manipulated in Photoshop. Thanks to all www.totalwarblog.com for two pictures on the last blog!

Inspired by Empire: Total War, November’s winner makes his winning Calendar competition debut with an incredible navel scene. Congratulations go to Tomasz Jedruszek from Poland, whose artwork is currently decorating my desktop.

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

You have until Friday 30th November to get your entries in for December’s competition, and this month’s prizes include a copy of Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms, plus signed Total War artwork, Rome and Medieval II soundtracks. For full entry details, please click here.

As an extra treat, all 2007 Create A Calendar winners are going to have their artwork turned into a limited edition 2008 Calendar, which they will receive in the new year, signed by the Empire: Total War team! If you would like to have your art featured in this must-have collectible, get your entries in by 30th November 2007!

Good luck,

Mark O’Connell
(aka SenseiTW)

Welcome to our second Empire: Total War Q&A, where we provide more answers to some of your most burning questions!

Q: How many factions will there be in the game? And will [insert name of home country here] be included?
A: These two related questions are two of the most popular, particularly the “Will my country…” bit. People also wondered how we end up with the faction list. Surprisingly, nationalism and irrational prejudice do not drive our choices. If they did, then Yorkshire, Dorking, the Kingdom of Bognor, Chicken Madras and the Democratic Workers’ Republic of Woking would automatically be factions. In every game.

Naturally, not all factions are equal. This has always been the case; it is far harder to win as the Western Romans, big though the faction is, than the Saxons in R:TW Barbarian Invasion. We tend to define factions as being potentially playable (or not), by their culture, whether they are major or minor, and whether they might be “emergent” when we look at the candidate list. We then look at getting a good mix in terms of culture, national unit and army lists, and gameplay potential.

We use “culture” as a way of collecting similar factions together and sharing resources: you’ll find Western European nations all share a lot of the same cultural baggage, so it make sense to have a common set of game resources for them. Sometimes this means we can sneak in extra factions because they are similar to something we have already done (hurrah!): it is relatively easy to add Mysore if the material for the Mughals and the Maharattas already exists.

The major/minor split is our take on whether a faction starts the game with more than one region (e.g. France = major; Hanover = minor). When we are considering who to include a minor faction is less likely to make the cut than a major one. Some potential factions end up as rebels early on because the nation in question simply did not go anywhere during Empire’s historical period. Often these were considered for full faction status before they were assigned to the rebel category: it is not sensible, for example, to do a full faction work up on the Republic of Genoa.

Emergent factions (these, you might remember, were in RTWBI) are those nations that did, or might, come into being during a game’s historical period, or could have come into being. The most obvious one in the Empire period is the United States of America. There are no guarantees that the USA will appear, but if there is a rebellion in the right sort of area, at the right sort of time and other factors are appropriate, then rather than seeing rebels, you will see the Continental Army marching off to war.

So, the Empire: Total War factions have yet to be finalised. There will be at least 10 playable factions in the game, but we’re currently engaged in a free and frank exchange of views about the candidates for inclusion on that list. Some, like France and Prussia, have guaranteed places as playable factions because they were significant in the wars and politics of the time. The powers that changed status (waxing and waning) are the ones that cause us problems! The full faction list is much longer, and it includes all the AI-controlled factions that we don’t think are that rewarding for a human to play.

So, we are currently looking at around 50 factions and scratching our heads to decide which ones make the cut as being interesting both historically and in terms of game play. The final point is that what we’d like to do with the factions and what’s practical are not always the same thing. Often we’ll have to exclude a faction for time reasons. If we’re going to have to create a completely new set of buildings, units, animations and on-screen messages for a minor (and therefore relatively obscure) faction, the chances are that it won’t make it into the game. And sometimes more does not automatically equal better. It can mean that the development marmalade is spread too thinly over too many slices of conceptual toast.

Q: Will famous characters such as Wellington make an appearance in the game, and will they have special abilities to reflect their historical importance? What new character traits are there?
A: Famous and some not-so-famous characters are present in the game, yes. However, because the unfolding of a TW game isn’t a fixed path, there is not going to be a guarantee that an Arthur Wellesley (the Duke of Wellington eventually), a Napoleon Bonaparte, a George Washington or anyone else will *always* appear when the game is played. If they did, then camping on their spawn points until the right date would not make for a very interesting game. This, by the way, is all part of the larger counterfactual-historical debate in Total War games: history probably won’t repeat itself exactly as you play.

We’re having to be quite disciplined about the famous people that we include as characters and ancillaries, simply because there could be thousands of them, all with their own claim to a place in the game. Should we include Mozart as a famous composer, Thomas Slade, a naval architect of some genius, Lancelot “Capability” Brown, the man who completely reshaped the English countryside, Jethro Tull, the folk rock band and agriculturalist, or Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a right royal pain in the neck? They’re all interesting people, and made their contribution.

The traits system is being revised for Empire: Total War; the Rome/M2TW system could “spam” traits sometimes and we need to address that. We’re not going to give you a list of the new character traits because it (a) would be a bit boring done like that; and (b) the list isn’t finalised, so that if we tell you there’s a trait called “Sausage” might not ever make it into the finished game. There is a trait called Sausage, by the way, but it’s not really the kind of thing you want to talk about in polite company. However, just to whet your appetites there are two interesting traits: “American General” and “Indian General” that have potentially interesting effects. These are gained by Europeans fighting in the relevant parts of the world and represent “going native” in terms of skills and attitudes. If everything goes to plan, the American General trait will even give a general and his unit some stealth ability on the battlefield. It’s also possible for generals to develop a complete dislike of the two continents too - not everyone likes curry or burgers, after all.

When the list has firmed up at beta, we’ll return to the subject of traits and historical characters in another FAQ or as a developer diary.

Q: The bayonet was invented in this period, so how will the various types be used on the battlefield? Will key technological inventions like this be events on the campaign map?
A: The bayonet is quite an interesting technology that directly impacts on battlefield behaviour in units. Before it arrives, musketeers have to reverse their muskets and use them as crude clubs to beat down opponents. The plug bayonet is a big step in the right direction, but once it is fitted (like a cork in a bottle neck) it prevents a man from firing and reloading his gun. It does give a musketeer a short “pike” for hand-to-hand fighting, and that’s useful. Incidentally, the bayonet was seen as a substitute pike and accordingly pike drill was used after its introduction. The ring bayonet allows fire and slow reloading, but isn’t very secure in its fixing to a musket; it’s better in a fight, but not that much better.

Finally the socket bayonet slides onto the musket and then locks on a barrel lug. The blade is offset, so that the musket can be loaded and fired easily, and it won’t come loose when thrust into an enemy’s guts. This kind of practical, brutal weapon made it possible to introduce “modern” bayonet fighting as a drill.

And no, we’re not handling technological advances as set historical events. We’re giving you more control over the game than that, but as to how -that’s for another day.

Q: Won’t the rampant expansion of European powers over less developed countries unbalance things in Empire? Won’t players be able to simply sweep aside native populations and establish colonies?
A: No, not necessarily. This is where the art of the game designer comes in, at least in our opinion. It’s our job to make sure that the game isn’t just a predictable rush for colonies. The question also ignores the number of wars that went on across Europe during the 18th Century as well.

There was “rampant” European expansion during the Empire period, but the European nations and their trading companies weren’t guaranteed to have things their own way at all. In India, for example, the Europeans fought against each other and used proxies in a series of vicious little wars that could have seen the Europeans driven out on several occasions. That they weren’t is more a tribute to cunning diplomacy, bribes, and the fact that some local princeling was always willing to cut a deal.

Interestingly, native populations weren’t always swept aside. At least part of the sense of grievance felt by the American Colonials towards the British government was fuelled by the agreements that London had struck with the native tribes to restrain their colonisation efforts. In India the Europeans were in no position to sweeo “the natives” aside. Instead, they mounted a “hostile takeover” and left the senior and middle management in place; the poor old peasants at the bottom of the heap probably never realised that they were now farming “colonial” land.

Q: Will the game be totally different from M2TW?
A: Firstly, Medieval 2: Total War was a development of the Rome: Total War engine. For Empire: Total War we’ve started again with new game and graphics engines. Apart from anything else, we needed to do this for the naval combat system. This follows our revolution-evolution pattern of game development at The Creative Assembly: a new game engine, an evolved version of it, rinse and repeat.

Secondly, the Empire period requires a different approach to the medieval era. Warfare, politics, and technology have moved on. We have a “palette” of game mechanics that we can use to bring these to life, and we must pick and choose the right ones for the subject matter. Naturally, some aspects of a Total War game are “givens”: a turn based strategy game and real time battles. We won’t - and wouldn’t want to - change that. Within that broad constraint, though, we hope to use mechanics that are appropriate to the period. Papal sanctions are important in the medieval world, but they don’t matter so much during the Enlightenment. Therefore, the Pope doesn’t need to be simulated in detail in Empire. The choreography of musket fire is important, so that gets a lot of attention. And then there’s the naval game: not to blow our own trumpets too much, but some developers would publish that as a separate game in its own right!

And finally, the development team on Empire is not the M2TW group. The Empire people did Rome: Total War, and some of the core team have been on TW games since Shogun: Total War. Chrysler don’t just have one team working on all their different car models, you know!

Keep your questions coming on our official forums, and stay tuned to TotalWar.com for all the latest Empire: Total War news and updates!

Take care,

Mark O’Connell
(aka SenseiTW)

We recently offered our forum community the chance to submit questions about Empire: Total War to the team. Here we’ve tried to address some of the most common themes.

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

Will religion play an important role in Empire: Total War?
It’s clear that the Enlightenment caused a few headaches for some of the clergy of the time. With that in mind, religious issues are still relevant in Empire, but less important than in Med II. The Pope won’t be dropping Lord Nelson a line asking him to retake the Holy Land, but religion does play a part in social order and diplomatic relations.

Will diplomacy be improved?
The 18th century was a little more civilized than some periods we’ve covered in previous Total War games. To reflect this we’re giving our diplomatic AI a complete overhaul. Previously in Total War the diplomacy AI and the campaign map AI were separate entities but in Empire we’ve unified these two aspects so they work more harmoniously. Diplomatic relations are now much more closely linked to your activities on the campaign map. And you probably won’t get your ambassador’s head back in a bag.

Will trade be more important than previous Total War games?
Absolutely. Empire is a game about war AND colonialism. The expansion of trade was a driving force of the European colonial effort. Trade is the both the impetus for and the engine that powers imperial advancement so we’re obviously paying a great deal of attention to this area of the campaign system. Combined with the new naval battles, establishing and protecting your trade routes have become a very exciting new aspect of strategy.

Will you try to improve the computer AI during battles?
Again, the changes in the period require a massive shift in AI. This is as true of warfare as it is of diplomacy. The tactics of the 18th century battlefield require a completely different mindset to the largely simple tasks of running one bunch of men with sharp objects into another bunch of men with sharp objects. Winning the day on an Empire battlefield will require a more intricate tactical awareness than in previous centuries. It was less about pure brawn, more about brains. Our AI routines have had to change radically to reflect this fact.

War in the 18th century? Won’t troops just line up in front of each other and fire away?
Um, no. It’s a bit of a paradox that the “romanticized” idea of the warfare is one that can be interpreted as dull. Men did not line up in orderly queues to be shot while singing their national anthems (apart from anything else, there were no national anthems). Muskets are not modern assault rifles, and once you’d fired your gun you had to close with the enemy and use cold steel. There’s nothing tame about a battlefield of any era, and hand-to-hand fighting was still a major part of any engagement. The bayonet is invented during our period! Melee fighting was as vicious in the 18th century as it had ever been. Cavalry played an important role on the battlefield too, not only in some famous charges but as a vital harassing force, constantly menacing the enemy into formations which were vulnerable to artillery. Formation discipline was crucial to victory so players will have to learn and master these, making more intelligent use of formation and maneuver than before. Add to that the importance of finding cover from enemy fire plus the ability to occupy and defend buildings and you have an environment more diverse and tactically challenging than any previous Total War battlefield.

How are the physics of naval combat going to work? Are there going to be factors to do with the wind/weather etc.
Naval battles are one of the most exciting new things for us in Empire. We’ve wanted to do proper naval warfare for ages but this is the first time that the era and our technology have been up to the standard we’ve demanded. Those high standards had to include factors like wind and weather. The sea battles in Empire are not just lip-service to naval conflict, we’re as serious about them as we are about our land battles and that means, wind, weather and of course water. We’ve had one guy just working on getting the water to behave realistically for two years! We’re doing stuff like modeling every cannonball so we can map accurate damage to masts and sails, things that will make Empire’s naval battles feel truly authentic.

Will the game be moddable?
Of course. We’ve always wanted to encourage our modding community and help them out. There’s been a lot of great work created for previous Total War titles and we’ll be looking to encourage more of the same for Empire.

Will land battles suffer and lose attention, from the incoming sea battles.
Not a chance. As we’ve already mentioned the change in land warfare is so dramatic in this period that if anything we’ve had to concentrate on that aspect of the game more this time around than ever before. All previous Total War games have dealt with a largely similar style of combat. This time around we’re having to work and think extra hard to get authentic land battles that accurately reflect the period.

Will naval battles be fun and easy to command?
We’re working hard to get a balance between ease of use and depth in naval combat. We’re confident that we’re heading in the right direction and it’s already fun to play naval battles in the office, even roping in members of the CA staff who haven’t been working on the naval stuff, so it can’t be that hard to pick up!

Will multiplayer actually be considered when the game is created?
Multiplayer is very important to us this time around. A lot of the team are long-term multiplayer fans and we felt it was time to address their needs more openly. We’re trying some things out in multiplayer that are completely new to Total War which we hope players will find interesting.

Thanks to everyone for your questions, and stay tuned to TotalWar.com for all the latest Empire: Total War news and updates!

Take care,

Mark O’Connell
(aka SenseiTW)

Before we kick things off, I recently received an urgent email from James Young, who you may recall sent in an image for last month’s competition featuring the battle of Stirling Bridge. Anyway, it turns out he accidentally sent in the wrong version. So for his own piece of mind, here is the one he meant to send in:

Taking the term “Birdseye view” literally, Don Fellini from Australia has sent in this image of an eagle swooping majestically over a battlefield. Just in case the grandiosity of the image is ever called into question, here is Don to set the record straight:

“I’ve no doubt you have 1000’s of “epic” screenshots, but how many look as awesome and fulfilling as this?  I call it “The Eagle watches the troops storm the city outskirts”

Alexander Boros (GreatkingOfall) from Canada sent in this colourful image of the Teutonic Order modelling their autumn range of armoury.

Phil Delves (known to most as Kaiser Invictus on the forums) sent in the following screenshot of a cavalry unit appreciating the unseasonably warm October weather! 

“It’s called “El Nuevo Mundo”, or “The New World”. It’s simply an in-game image, with a bit of very basic image editing. Of course, its a Spanish Conquistador, as he lands in Mexico to start a Spanish Colony and ultimately begin the conquest of El Nuevo Mundo.”

Sarban from Turkey has submitted a wonderful pencil drawing entitled “soldier and horse” featuring a… well, you can probably guess that from the title.

“I drew it and then used PhotoFiltre to give it some yellow tone which gave it an older effect and High Quality Photo Resizer to fit the image to the Competition rules. The idea in that image is the second pitch battle of Kosovo which was between the Ottoman Empire and Hungry.  The war is very important both for Turkish and European History. In the image a tired war horse drinks water and a Turkish soldier caresses the horse’s neck.”

Bill Bockos (aka VasileiosThe2nd) has also called in the cavalry for his latest effort:

“1071 AD. Mazikert. One of the most important and famous battles of Early Medieval history. The Byzantines, after using several clever “hit’n'run” tactics on the enemy, were finally defeated by the Turks, loosing almost complete control of Asia Minor for ever. In the pic I drew 2 Turkish horse archers of a squadron, harassing a Katafraktoi squadron, who are charging against them. I firstly drew the picture with a pencil and paper, and after scanning it, I used Adobe Photoshop to further edit it (colouring, etc).”

In a nifty bit of cross-promotion, Pawel Derejczyk (Pyrrus) of Poland has sent in a dramatic drawing of a Viking, clutching to his faithful weapons as he is seemingly struck in the neck by a powerful blast of lightning.

James Young’s entries keep getting better, and this month’s (his fourth) is no exception. For partygoers, it also offers a variety of great costume ideas for Halloween!

“October 1415, Agincourt. In the approaching dusk, the English king, Henry V, surveys the battlefield.  This zealous, all-competent man had the appearance of a cleric, yet proved to be one of England’s most fearless generals. The image is a pencil drawing with layers of ink/bleach added and manipulated using Photoshop.”

In surely the funniest picture we have received this month, Joe Dodds from Australia is also the very first person to actually get dressed up for their competition entry. 

“It’s probably the worst you’ve seen this month but it was very fun making it. This idea came around when I was watching the Britannia campaign video, and at the end I saw a group of mounted Scottish knights charging a group of English. The picture was of the charging Scots and in the foreground a pair of muddy hands holding a spear. Unfortunately we’re not allowed spears in Australia, so I took the perspective of the Scots.
 
Firstly using QuickTime I froze the movie and took a snapshot of it. I sent that to Photoshop and worked on blotting out the Medieval 2 total war sign in the bottom. I then went outside and my brother took photos of me in a bunch of mum’s tartan material, the bad thing was our neighbours were having a party and I had no top on so I had to be discreet. I then put the masked me on top of the English and adjusted the sizes and everything. Then, after unsuccessful attempts at putting grass over my feet, I shadowed myself to reflect where I think the position of the sun would have been in the picture. And hey presto, I had a picture.”

Making his debut in the competition, Muhammed Ibrahim Kavranoglu (better known as Sipahioftheporte on our forums) has got into the Halloween spirit with this ghoulishly glowing pumpkin picture!

Ian Douglas from Leicester sent in a wonderful illustration entitled “Return October”.

“This picture was quite different for me in that it’s more of a scene way after a battle when the units are returning after war in October. It represents the Knight’s love waiting forlornly for the man she thinks may be dead in some distant land, just as he arrives. The tree is slowly beginning to brown at the onset of Autumn as the leaves begin to fall…
 
It was done with pencil to draft, lightly inked, painted with luminous ink colours and inked over again, but much more carefully so as not to let the black overtake the picture too much.”

We typically only feature one entry from each artist, but as Ian also created this disturbing image just in time for Halloween, I couldn’t resist!

Making his second appearance in the competition, Maciej Sprada from Poland has hit the jackpot with this winning 3D rendered image. Proving that Halloween isn’t the only fear-enducing date on the calendar, here is Maciej to tell us about the October origins of Friday the 13th:

“This is my second encounter with this competition. My main inspiration to do this Templar grave is very important date of 13th October 1307. This Friday morning was unlucky for all Templars because they were captured, arrested and executed. From that time 13th Friday is considered as an unlucky day when anything can happen.   Everyone believes that this day is unlucky but most of all they don’t know why. I wanted to show everyone the origins of why we consider this to be such an unlucky day!

(Alex Ed - I felt compelled to add here that I didn’t know this either so thanks Maciej!).
 
I created all models individually in 3d Studio max 8 (Textured objects I created in CorelDraw, some in Photoshop, the remaining I created in 3d max material editor). I rendered the scene and I adjusted some things in Photoshop (adjusting brightness for example).”

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

So concludes another productive calendar month of community creativity.  November’s competition has now officially started, and there are plenty of events on the calendar to use as artistic inspiration, including Guy Fawkes Night (UK) and Thanksgiving (USA).  You have until Friday 30th November to get your entries in, and this month’s prizes include a copy of Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms, plus signed Total War artwork, Rome and Medieval II soundtracks. For full entry details, please click here.

Take care,

Mark O’Connell
(aka SenseiTW)