CA: What we're up to (28.09.2011) - Archive
September 28th, 2011
Hi guys,
It's a very short one this week - as I'm sure you can imagine, Rise of the Samurai's release has been keeping us very busy (as a result, the final part of my campaign diary is on its way, just a little slower than expected).
In the interests of full transparency and disclosure about what goes on at CA towers, I thought I'd talk you through what we have been up to since RotS came out.
The run-up to release is tense and exciting. We watch the clock like hawks to make sure that the game goes live when it's supposed to and that the Steam downloads work fine. Once we get the "go" from Valve, it's a strange feeling of excitement and nerves as we wait to see if everything's downloading OK. There's no amount of preparation you can do that will allay that - but we try to cover every base.
Once we see the playtime start clocking up, we move towards looking at reaction. I spend most of the evening and night trawling the forums, looking for potential issues with the game. Once I've got a "feel" for the reception to the DLC, I will compile a summary to let any developers who don't read the forums what issues are really sticking out, in order of severity.
I will also take this opportunity to verbally explain to designers, coders etc. exactly what bugs are out there and the circumstances in which they occur. This is then looped round to key players, including quality assurance, who will further investigate the issues in question, attempting to reproduce them in-house so we can see what's going on with the game and why the issues might be happening in a debug environment.
These issues are all now logged in the bug tracking software we use internally, with new issues reported as and when they come in. With all of the world's eyes on our game, sometimes things crop up that won't or can't be detected by our QA department, as large (and great) as it is. Developing huge PC games brings with it its own challenges that we're experienced in working through.
Today our coders, designers, QA and myself have been mostly operating in this reactionary role, keeping an eye on situations as and when they develop and acting quickly to identify their severity. So far, feedback has been very good on the whole for Rise of the Samurai, with a few issues we now know about reported.
If you do spot any problems, the support forums for Shogun 2 are your best place to report them.
Anyway, with that I'll return to the breach. I hope this information was helpful in understanding what goes on behind the scenes here at CA.
Have a great day - and keep on playing Rise of the Samurai!
Btw, our campaign diaries will be put together into a big blog post at some point - will let you know when that's online.
Craig.
September 21st, 2011
Hi guys,
Quite a short instalment this week, in preparation for next week's climax to the Rise of the Samurai campaign diary!
PART THREE
In last week’s instalment, you might recall that I was sweeping westwards through Japan with my fearsome naginata army. Tragedy befell my great clan though – at the end of last week I’d just lost my Son & Heir, Fujiwara Kunihara. After a sleepless night of ****ing and turning in my Rise of the Samurai duvet set, I awoke desperate to make amends for this dreadful travesty.
Having tackled the Minamoto army, I vow to crush it completely. Sending my remaining force against their lone Bow Levy unit, they last little more than a few seconds before succumbing. Not a glorious victory, but a necessary one. I want to let the Minamoto family know I mean business.
I set my sights on regrouping before continuing my assault. Looking through my buildings, I decide to upgrade to a pasture in Miyagi. This will enable me to recruit some cavalry and balance my armies somewhat.
I’m offered a choice by my retainers. Should I go down the route of war, or the route of civic mastery? Given my previously outrageous warmongering, it would seem somewhat hypocritical and duplicitous to go down the civic route, so I opt for further warmongery.
In the meantime, I use one of my junsatsuhi agents to bribe a Minamoto army. It can be nothing else now but all-out war. My brother clan, the Kubota Fujiwara, earlier decided to join me in my acrimony towards Kamakua Minamoto, but I also incur the ire of their brother clan, the Kiso Minamoto, who unite against us. Japan is now truly at war.
Immediately, the army I bribed (a single unit) comes under attack. I retreat heroically, hoping to preserve, rather than needlessly waste, the unit of Foot Samurai now under my command. I feel a tinge of dishonour at this, but I figure Sun Tzu would probably back me up on this one.
I sense a large conflict brewing as Kamakura Minamoto’s armies form on the border, so I begin to turtle slightly, conscious of not overstretching myself. These lulls, the calm periods before the storm, always make my stomach knot with anticipation. I spend several turns improving buildings, mastering arts and bolstering the attacking options available to me.
Meanwhile, I see an opening in the Kamakura defences and attack Musashi. Pre-occupied with attacks of their own elsewhere, I catch them only half-guarded and autoresolve my way to glory, pinching the region from under his nose. I expect he’s furious. I peacefully occupy the region and dig in for the inevitable reprisal.
It’s 1184, and time feels tight. I’m starting to feel the pressure of my turtling, and feel I need to get a move on. Moving my junsatsushi south-west, I notice the extent of the Kamakura Minamoto borders. Hampered by the rapid expansion of their sister clan, the Kamakura have suffered. They have just one remaining province, surrounded in all directions with Kiso Minamoto regions.
My next move was obvious. I had to take Sagami. Having taken significant losses in their battles elsewhere, their troops were few. A handful of garrison units, ripe for the taking. I autoresolve with my 15 stack and take the prize for myself. But wait, there’s a region I’ve missed. There is still a dark blue shaded region on the map, the tiny jut of Izu.
To my delight, I see the Kamakura Minamoto have been busy with their construction. Available to recruit (once the castle is repaired) are mounted samurai and bow warrior monks. I can hardly resist the opportunity to recruit these chaps, and so I do.
The very next turn, Kamakura Minamoto begs me to stop the hostilities against him. This dreadful, unprovoked war, it seems, has finally got the better of him. Honourably, I tell him where to stick it and prepare my invasion force. “This is most unfortunate”, blubs Minamoto Masako, “I hope you will have no cause to regret this decision”.
I send my junsatsushi across the borders of Izu and suddenly see why the poor chap was so desperate. His garrison is nothing to write home about – just a few units. He’s clearly suffered at the hands of his dominant sister clan’s rapid expansion. Each clan has its own ambitions, and even between families there may arise such power struggles.
I quickly push further west before Kiso Minamoto can provide backup, crushing the meagre forces of Tate Tadafuyu, the last remaining general of the Kamakura Minamoto force. I capture the province, eliminate the Kamakura Minamoto and increase the recognition of my clan to “noted”.
To be concluded...
See how I get on with the final instalment of our campaign diary early next week!
September 14th, 2011
Hi guys,
Two bits of tasty info for you this week. Firstly, we’re about to announce the release date of Rise of the Samurai. Keep your eye on the Total War blog – we’ll be posting it up there in the next few hours.
UPDATE: Announced! RotS will be released on September 27th.
While you’re waiting for that, the second instalment of my Rise of the Samurai campaign diary is now complete. Before jumping in, we recommend you check out last week's instalment further down this post.
PART TWO
It’s been a long week. Things have happened. We’ve seen the best of times; we’ve seen the worst of times. We’ve seen men in great hats.
I’ve been spending a lot of time admiring my general’s hat on the battlefield this week, mostly while playing the new “battle realism” mode. This feature’s fresh to Rise of the Samurai and is enabled through a checkbox when you start a new campaign. It aims to make things a bit tougher for more experienced players, or those who prefer an old-school challenge in battles.
When the mode’s active, your camera is restricted to a radius around your troops, detailed enemy tool-tip information is not available and your radar is disabled. In short, when it all goes wrong you’ll cry.
I didn’t touch much on last week’s battle against the Ashikaga, but I feel it merits inclusion in this diary in more detail, as it involved a drop-in battle.
I sought a noble warrior to seek me out and challenge me in an honourable dual. I couldn’t find one, but Will, one of our QA assassins, was eager to rise up against the oppressor of worlds, as I’m sometimes known. A self-professed ninja, I knew he’d be fighting for the enemy’s pride.
His force was made up of two naginata levy, one bow attendant, two naginata levy garrison and a bow levy garrison. His Daimyo, Ashikaga Yukimura, stood there before me, too. It might have been my imagination, but he looked somewhat smug. He couldn’t be allowed to survive.
My forces comprised six units of naginata levy, a bow levy and my Son & Heir, Fujiwara Kunihira. He refuses to stop for autographs, so there’s no point in asking. My men totaled 737, Will’s 660.
As battle commenced, I ordered my naginata troops into a line, standing my Son & Heir behind in the warm bosom of safety at the back of the field. My brave archers stood alone at the front, leading my glorious lines. Moving forward, I see Will’s Daimyo – stood on a hill in the middle-distance. Sensing an opportunity, I try to get my archers in range. He retaliates by ordering his archers to position along my right side.
I have two goals: kill or rout the enemy force, or capture the Tenshu at the centre of the map. But I know destroying the enemy, and subsequently Will’s hopes and dreams, would be rather more satisfying. His bow troops begin to close in, and without cavalry to charge them down, I’m faced with the prospect of rushing my naginata troops headlong into them to kill them - or at least push them out of position. A few tense exchanges ensue. First he has the advantage, and then I.
As many battles ultimately do, this too hinges on a decisive moment. Sensing a weakness on one side, Fujiwara Kunihira crests the hill behind Will’s troops and begins to shoot arrows into his lines.
One unit routs, and my naginata make progress too, routing a unit of his levy garrison troops. The tide starts to turn. There is yet time for me to throw this away, however, and I make a noble attempt by sending my Son & Heir into the fray. Before you could say “shameful display”, he was under attack. Fortunately I managed to promptly remove him, at the expense of a couple of his bodyguards. Bet their families are delighted with me.
Eventually Will crumbled, but not before killing 512 of my men. A mere 225 remained – a completely pyrrhic victory. I’d have plumped for the adjective “tasty” personally. That’s why I’m not in charge.
Taking a few moments to verbally abuse Will, I take the region. I take a few more moments to verbally abuse Will before choosing the option to peacefully occupy the region.
Here’s where I hit my first real problem. You see, this region (Shimotsuke), has 100% Minamoto influence. Those pesky Minamoto… I suspected as much. Unfortunately, I’d also jumped the gun in my eagerness to fight Will while he was online and had forgotten to soften up my target first through the use of my agents.
Fortunately, my junsatsushi’s presence (coupled with my ownership of the region), pushed my influence up to 20% before very long, and quickly beyond. Happiness increased accordingly, allowing me to reduce my garrison of troops and commit forces to my war in the west.
While I’m talking about moving my forces around - you might have seen in the campaign map comparison video we put up last week, there’s a much clearer delineation now between different forest types on the map. This has importance. Areas in which you can lay ambush are now carpeted in a different type of tree to those areas that are not traversable. That helps visually when making strategic decisions, and I’m all over that.
For the first time, I see my true enemy at my borders. A clan of one of the great families, Kamakura Minamoto is set to be a considerable challenge. Defeating his forces and conquering his regions is a critical act if I am to unite Japan under my own family banner. I will have to think about this one carefully if I am to succeed.
Firstly, I note that my Son & Heir is now ready to level up in rank. He’s currently only two stars, so an extra level certainly will help my cause. For my first upgrade, I must choose my path: leader, or warrior. I’m a big fan of the idea of warrior kings from European history, like Henry V, so the idea of having my Heir cut his teeth on the battlefield appeals to me. I pick Warrior, and invest two skill points. This gives his unit +3 melee defence: useful for the inevitable skirmishes ahead.
I also get to pick a retainer. My choices are Enyaku-ji Marathon Monk (-5% chance of assassination, +1 melee attack for general and bodyguard), or Kyudo Master (+1 accuracy to bow samurai under my general’s command). I plump for the Marathon Monk… my Heir will get stuck into battles on a regular basis if I have my way. My son is also married to a greedy wife. It increases my upkeep costs for his units by 5%, but issues me with a +1 morale bonus: useful again in the heat of battle.
In Ashikaga, I discover I can recruit Sword Attendants and Fire Bomb Throwers. Noting a decent surplus in my treasury, I do just that. In the meantime, my junsatsushi agent is sent on a daring mission behind enemy lines. I want to know how my enemy’s defences look before I engage in a direct assault.
Noting I have completed research of the “Plough and Oxen” art, I begin to study “Provincial Officials”. This will grant me a further 10% bonus to my junsatsushi agents’ chances of successful actions.
Sending my junsatsushi into enemy lines (in itself not an act of war), I seize the opportunity to try my hand at paying off a Minamoto agent travelling with an army. My chance of success is 44%, and the cost will be 800 koku. I fail, and the enemy agent remains loyal to their cause. I wait a turn before trying again. Once more I fail, and the enemy army retreats to a safer location. However, it’s not all in vain: on my next turn, my junsatsushi increases in rank.
My options are as follows: upgrade his cunning for paying off officials (+1), or upgrade his ability to sway settlements. This is a tough one, and makes me think hard about recruiting another junsatsushi and specialising each down a different path. For now I put a level in each skill, limiting me to +1 bonuses, but not requiring me to make any tough decisions for a while at least. I also pick the Shogi Set retainer, increasing his cunning when overseeing armies by +1. What a cunning chap!
Moving my junsatsushi south, I spot a lone Minamoto unit awaiting reinforcement. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to bribe the army, with a 95% success chance. It would cost me 560, but it would be an enormous embarrassment for my enemy. Sadly, I run out of movement points by a fraction, and the unit regroups with the main force. Embarrassing for me – perhaps I should’ve picked the retainer that would’ve boosted my movement extent!
I’m greeted by the news that a shirabyoshi has made herself available to our cause. Shirabyoshi can seduce rival characters and entertain your generals and provincial nobles. Deciding this would be a good thing, I immediately walk her to my front lines. Meanwhile, my junsatsushi tries again to payoff the enemy army, this time with a 69% chance of success. I fail again and try to laugh away the tears.
I receive a news report that the Emperor Antoku has abdicated, leaving his infant son to the throne. The “rightful heir” Prince Mochihito has issued a call to arms asking to free Japan from villainy. Now, I’m as keen as the next man to crush villainy, but what I really want is that throne. I hear good things about its posterior cushioning. Now might be a good time to push harder west.
I leave a small garrison of troops behind, enough to keep the happiness up with taxes exempt, and push towards Minamoto territory. My junsatsushi has scouted a route to the castle town of Edo, and its defences are weak. I march my army, a mix of Sword Attendants, Naginata Levy and Fire Bomb Thrower troops, south towards my target – and hope that my enemy doesn’t notice my advances.
Without provocation, a Kamaura Minamoto army (one I missed with my junsatsushi) shamefully jumps me. Roughly evenly matched, this will be a tough fight – one I wasn’t expecting. I win by the narrowest margins, but disaster strikes. A disaster that will live with my clan forever.
To be continued…
September 8th, 2011
Rise of the Samurai Campaign Diary
Hi guys,
I’ve started recording a diary of my progress playing Rise of the Samurai, from first impressions onward. A lot of people have been asking for information on the campaign. What better opportunity than this week’s update?
For those of you who don’t know, Rise of the Samurai is a brand new downloadable campaign for Shogun 2. Set some 400 years before the dramatic civil war depicted in Shogun 2, it features the Gempei War, a conflict between three legendary families, and the six clans they’re made up of. The war culminated in the first Shogunate, and the rise of the Samurai as a ruling class, which is handy given the title of the campaign.
I spent a while choosing which clan I should go with. The options were Kamakura and Kiso (under the Minamoto family banner), Yashima and Fukuhara (Taira family) and Hiraizumi and Kubota (Fujiwara). Now I don’t know about you, but I always like to pick factions or clans that allow me to picture a clear strategy from the go.
Being that type of player, I was immediately drawn to the Fujiwara family. Their eastern position, I decided, would allow me to sweep westwards, proudly spreading the family colours across Japan as I went. That left me with a choice between the Kubota or Hiraizumi clans. Keen to play with the “junsatsushi” agent, I picked Hiraizumi, as they offer bonuses to that agent type (+10% success chance to junsatsushi actions, -20% cost for junsatsushi actions). They also start with the “rice loans” art already mastered, and I love rice.
I plump for the short campaign, which starts in 1175. By the end of 1199 I need to capture and hold 25 provinces, including Echizen, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, Kyoto and Yamato. (Incidentally, the long campaign would require 40 provinces by 1219 and the domination 60 by 1219).
Plumping for normal difficulty, I kick things off. My clan starts with possession of Iwate and Miyagi, with Ugo and Uzen belonging to my family buddies the Kubota. We start allied, but there’s no reason why you can’t declare war on them, if you’re a monstrous tyrant. I was tempted, but I didn’t fancy such shena****ns would do me any favours right at the start of a campaign.
The campaign map, by the way, has been overhauled a little visually. It looks different to the map in Shogun 2. There’s a new skybox, the landscape detail’s been improved, there are new textures, better flora variety, there’s a specular layer on the sea and a smaller wave-set too. It’s a series of little tweaks and changes, but they really help the immersion - and it doesn’t take me long to fully get into the spirit of things.
I’m generally an auto-resolver, although I do make a point of fighting key battles. I want to be there at the moment the enemy general falls. That gives me an excellent opportunity to rub it in his face. I don’t care if he can’t hear me, or if he’s virtual… whatever.
So, here’s my strategy. I’m going to take Fukushima first. It’s currently owned by the Soma, and we’re at peace, but the way I see it, peace is there to be shattered. This is, after all, Total War.
Double-clicking on my castle town, Sendai, I notice a new bit of text: Influence, followed by a percentage. This indicates how loyal this region is to my family (note, not clan – this leads to good co-op opportunities with your friendly family member). At the moment, this region sits at 100% loyalty, but enemy actions can change this.
If the province falls to the enemy, loyalty to our cause will weaken, and the enemy’s sway will increase in turn. Similarly, if the enemy deploys junsatsushi agents to interfere with my affairs, it will also increase his power over my populace. So, now you can see why I went for junsatsushi! I have great plans for these guys…
So, back to the peaceful land of the rising sun, which is about to be stirred by my unprovoked attack on Soma. Keen to do things “the right way”, I declare war via the diplomacy panel, where it’s revealed that their natural disposition to me is “Unfriendly” anyway. That settles it then, they must die.
I call my allies to help, and they willingly join me. Bonds between families are strong, and such ties bring with them a certain impetus… and a certain potential for treachery further down the line. Keep an eye on what they’re doing. Most times they will support you blindly, but it’s not a given. They too have ambitious goals to unite Japan under their banner.
I recruit a few Naginata Levy to my cause and move an army south, led by my son and heir. Before long, I’m issued with a mission to use my junsatsushi against the enemy. I’ll receive a nice reward if I complete it – “influential exponent”, which will grant my junsatsushi a further 10% boost to his success chances for 8 seasons. I also start researching Confucianism.
In the interests of brevity, know this: I destroyed Soma. The history books might ask, “did they deserve it?”, but we all know the answer was yes. An emphatic yes. They stood between me and victory, after all.
Their defences put up a fairly strong challenge (635 of my men vs 810 of his), but they crumbled after some frenetic exchanges. Even so, I knew much sterner tests lay ahead of me. Tests like the Minamoto family, banded together and spreading close to the borders of my new frontier. They too must die.
I carve through the innocent, and previously very neighbourly, Satake, Ashikaga and Nitta clans to reach them, not even stopping to ask how they were before viciously assaulting their towns. Taking their provinces helped fuel my war effort, and soon I was recruiting more powerful units – Naginata Attendants and Fire Bomb Throwers.
With the blast of war blowing in my ears it was onwards, onwards into the breach. For the real test was yet to come…
To be continued.
[Post removed to fit wordcount]
August 24th, 2011
Hi guys,
It’s that time of the week again – ice cream Wednesday. Which can only mean one thing: I’m fuelled up with sugar and ready to spill the beans on what’s going on at CA.
Firstly, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you guys for the feedback on these posts. We love that they’re stimulating discussion and keeping you informed as to what’s going on. It’s something I don’t think we’ve been good enough at in the past, but hopefully you’ve noticed a considerable change in our approach in recent months.
With that out of the way, let’s get on to today’s main talking points. First up, I’ll give you a bit more info on another of the clans in the game: the Fukuhara Taira. Fairly centrally located, these guys have the following traits:
• Naginatajutsu (-20% to upkeep costs for naginata units)
• Customary armour (+1 to armour for all naginata units)
• Predominant (rules over more territory and vassal clans)
As descendants of Emperor Kammu, they have a long history, with a record for suppressing piracy in the Inner Sea during the Heian period of Japanese history. That’s what I’m talking about, fact fans.
Moving on to other things, we’ve noticed a lot of people have been hitting the level 10 ceiling in the avatar conquest mode. With that in mind, we’re introducing a new “prestige” system. In short, this means if you reach level 10, you can be promoted to a new Prestige rank and re-play the conquest mode.
Coloured stars are used to define the level of Prestige you’re at – Bronze, Silver and Gold. Upon promotion to a new Prestige level, the avatar’s skill-tree is reset, but his units retain their veterancy. He also keeps retainers gained through armour pieces and random drops, as well as clan tokens. Each time you level up in Prestige tier you’ll unlock 10 VETERAN slots.
Each level will take more XP to gain (and your avatar will cost slightly more), so the Prestige system is really designed to sort the men (and ladies) from the boys (and girls). In addition to that, we’ve reworked the matchmaking system so it now prioritises avatar rank when deciding opponents. It will still take ELO rating into account, too.
We’ve also rebalanced some of the units, including matchlocks and loan swords. As well as that we’ve had a look at rebalancing 16 of the retainers, so we’ve been fairly busy there.
And perhaps the most interesting nugget – I’ve seen the provision full patch notes for this coming update and they’re huge. We haven’t committed to a release date for the patch and DLC yet, but keep your eyes peeled in September.
And that’s all for this week!
Thanks,
CraigTW
