Medieval II: Total War

We've followed the eagles in Rome and commanded the imperial hordes in Shogun, but we secretly have to admit it's Medieval which was always our favourite game from the original Total War trilogy.

Perhaps it was the massed cavalry attacks, the shiny suits of armour or just the sheer range and scope of the Creative Assembly's second Total War outing which captured our imaginations, but it's always held its place as our absolute favourite PC armchair general.

So when we heard CA were making Medieval II we ordered the heralds to sound the trumpet, girded our loins (which is a lot easier to do than it sounds) and prepared to do battle all over again, with the promise of the New World to explore and conquer. During the campaign, we also managed to capture with Bob Smith, CA's Project Director for the title and after a little 'gentle persuasion' on the CVG rack, he revealed the following on the forthcoming imperious strategy offering.

How are you finding revisiting the Medieval era with the new Total War game? What are you working on at the moment?

Bob Smith: It's an awesome period to work in, especially when you really start digging into the history. There's so much interesting stuff that went on, that the really hard thing has been to decide what to include, and what to leave out.

As for we're working on now, we're getting to the end of the project, so it's tying up loose ends and making sure everything's balanced and playing smoothly. Personally, I'm currently examining the kill rates in combat, and the population and money supply rates in the campaign game.

It must be a challenge to continually better yourself with the Total War series? How are you aiming to raise the bar with Medieval II?

Bob Smith: The overall aim with Medieval 2 is to improve upon and bring the awesome gameplay of Rome to the medieval era, while raising the spectacle of the Total War series to a whole new level.

The period is of course renowned for huge castles, lots of armour, colourful flags and heraldry. We set out to build new systems that can do justice to all of this. In terms of gameplay we looked to address all areas of the game and raise the bar across the board - from the turn-based campaign game to the real-time battles.

We have created high standards for ourselves and that is challenging but we're always striving to perfect the Total War formula. With Medieval 2 we're making another huge stride.


You're making further technical advancements with the Total War series in Medieval II. What major features do such advancements bring to the game and gameplay?

Bob Smith: We have made some big technical advancements with Medieval 2 which, as well as making the game look amazing, really increase the player's immersion in the game. After all, the more realistically we can depict things, the more it feels like a real world, and the easier it is for player's to understand what's going on, and how their actions affect it. For example, the inclusion of more individual looking troops and the huge advancements we've made with the combat animation system bring the battlefield to life and immerse the player in the action like never before.

In addition, elements like our new environment rendering system has a direct impact on gameplay. Now we can create impassable terrain on the battle maps which means that both the player and the AI can use the environment as part of their battlefield tactics.


When Medieval II was announced, it was noted that the game is being designed to appeal to a broad range of gamers, not just hardcore strategy fans. That must be a difficult balance to strike - how are you handling that and ensuring that all of the target audience is catered for as well as attracting new players to the series?

Bob Smith: It is certainly a difficult balance to strike. Obviously by making vast improvements to the look of the game it helps us reach out to a wider audience. We're also continually looking for ways that we can make the game more accessible to people who aren't hardcore strategy fans and we've done a lot of work with the tutorials and advisors in Medieval 2 to ensue this.

In terms of game mechanics we try hard to find mechanisms that are simple to understand, while leading to deep game play. Since they also have to reflect the flavour of the period, this isn't always easy. We also have to balance this with developing the game for an established Total War audience and strategy fans. As I've mentioned, for Medieval 2 we've raised the bar in all areas of the game, including areas such as diplomacy, while improvements to AI are always ongoing. So there is so much in Medieval 2 that appeals to both a new and experienced strategy gamers.

In fact, what are you adding to make Medieval II a deeper strategy experience than previous games in the series?

Bob Smith: The campaign game has been overhauled and includes a long list of new features. However two mechanisms from the campaign game spring to mind.

The first is that the player now has to choose whether to develop their settlements as cities or castles. Castles produce quality troops, but relatively little money, whereas cities produce poor quality troops, but are economic powerhouses. The player needs to get the overall balance right in your empire, but they also need to think carefully about where you site your castles, as they really need to be close to where they're fighting, or intend to be fighting.

The other is the new recruitment system that makes it more difficult to build armies composed entirely of one or two types units. So now the player will have a realistic mix of troops in battle so they'll really have to figure out how to use those lighter cavalry or peasant spearmen within their tactics on the battlefield.


Which factions/nations are playable in single-player, and what are some of the coolest unique units attached to these?

Bob Smith: There are 21 factions in the game of which 17 are playable in the campaign game. Of these there'll be a wide range of factions to play, as you'd expect from a Total War game. In fact we've included several factions that didn't make it in the original Medieval game. Examples being Scotland, Venice and Portugal.

The beauty of the Medieval period and the timescale we've chosen (1080-1530) allows us to offer the player a huge variety of units to play with. These really introduce some unique strategies to the battlefield as the player climbs the technology tree and as events like the invention of gunpowder and the discovery of the Americas are unlocked.

The Turks will get a monster bombard modelled on the one they used in the siege of Constantinople. This is an incredible contraption that had a bore of more than a yard, and through a rock weighing a thousand pounds.

The English will get their famous longbowmen. As an improvement from the previous game, they'll now be able to plant a line of stakes to protect themselves from charging cavalrymen. Then of course we have the gunpowder units. The Spanish and Italians will get musketmen whose heavy guns will be able to pierce any amour.

What are the historical missions or campaigns you're including in Medieval II? Why did you go for those particular scenarios?

Bob Smith: On the campaign side, there are 17 factions that you can play, and while they all take place in the same world, they should really be considered as separate campaigns.

Each one has a unique set of problems to face, and a different set of tools to deal with them. For instance if you play as England you'll have a good range of troops, including the best archers in the game, but you're not especially rich, and are stuck between Scotland and France who each need completely different tactics to deal with. You'll also have to keep the Pope sweet, and worry about going on Crusade.

On the other hand, if you play as Egypt your homeland is rich and well protected, but you'll have a vast unruly population, many soldiers that are nothing to write home about, and vast tracts of desert dividing up your empire. On top of this, you'll face a stream of crusader armies coming to seize the holy land, and will have to watch out for the Mongols turning up unexpectedly and deciding to come your way.

When you don't have time to dive into the campaign, we've included loads of one off historical battles. These let you play as a number of historical figures such as Saladin and Richard the Lionheart. We're including a good mix of interesting battles that span the period of the game and offer a great deal of gameplay variety, from the axes and chainmail of Hastings to the guns and pikes of Pavia.

What improvements or adjustments have you made to diplomacy or interaction with other factions/empires?

Bob Smith: We've made some considerable improvements here. There were several areas of the diplomacy system we wanted to tackle.

One was to give the player increased and improved feedback on their relations with a faction before entering negotiations. We've used a combination of speech and text to offer this feedback. So now, even before opening the diplomacy scroll, the player can get a feel for how a faction regards them from the greetings they get as you click on characters belonging to rival factions on the map. Once you open negotiations the player will also be greeted by that faction and receive a text based summary of your standing with them before you begin to consider an offer.

We also wanted to remove the mystery of how a rival faction felt about the offer being built before it was actually laid out in front of them. So now as the player builds up an offer, the player will get feedback on how the rival faction sees the deal. Once negotiations are over the player will also get a feel for how the relationship has been affected from the farewell message received.

We've also made big improvements to the diplomatic AI. In Medieval 2, the AI will remember their previous dealings and events in the game far better, and bring grudges to the negotiating table. This also means that the player has to conduct themselves far more carefully in diplomacy or face the consequences in the campaign game.


What new feature would you say you're most proud of, and why?

Bob Smith: There's so many areas of the game I'm pleased with, however right now I'm particularly pleased with the way the castle/city choice has turned out - it adds a whole new layer of strategy to the campaign game. Then of course I just have to mention the look of the game - I love the way the graphics recreate feel of the period. We've captured both the colour and pageantry of it, yet still made it gritty and real.

What plans do you have for multiplayer in Medieval 2?

Bob Smith: We're concentrating on making this a quality multiplayer experience. So we're focusing on making the environment really solid and easy to use, and making the armies well balanced. We're also bringing back the choice of "eras" form the original Medieval. So if you pick the early period you'll get games dominated by chain mail and swords and axes, high will be about knights in shining armour, and the late period will of course bring in guns.

CVG Staff