Exclusive: TWC Interviews Craig Laycock and Jack Lusted from Creative Assembly

[Belisarius]

Introduction

How far we have come since the days of Shogun Total War! It does not seem long ago that “total war” was seen as just a small title aimed at a niche of strategy gamers. Indeed any gamer of significant age has watched and played as it has ballooned into the commercial franchise it is today; setting the standards for its competitors and has solidified its position at the forefront of the strategy genre. Like CA, TWC has also advanced and expanded! It is one of the largest Total War communities and is one of the best places to go for information about the games. Today TWC’s content department has grown into a cohesive group of professional writers and reporters who enjoy a healthy relationship with Creative Assembly. Recently we have enjoyed a podcast interview featuring Jack Lusted and today both Jack and Craig, who are very active in liaising with the community here, have joined us for this interview. Please enjoy the following which is an exclusive available only on TWC!

- Belisarius

Official Interview with CA

1. Firstly, tell us a little more about yourselves and how you started working on total war!


Craig: I’m Craig Laycock, and I’m the community manager for The Creative Assembly. I’ve always been a huge Total War fan and, seeing an opportunity to work for CA had to apply. Initially I worked in QA, and from there moved into PR and Marketing where I get to make use of my journalism background on a daily basis.


Jack: My name is Jack Lusted and I am the Unit Design Lead on the Total War team. I used to be a modder and was also an admin on Total War Center before I joined the company.


2. As a team, how would you describe the creative process that you guys go through when building a total war game? Has this changed at all from earlier titles such as Medieval Total War and Rome?



Craig: Well, I wasn’t around for Medieval or Rome (I joined for Empire), but anecdotally the main change has been the size of the team involved. We’ve gone from a handful of guys to a huge team, and we have to make sure our creative distinctiveness is retained with that level of expansion. It can’t simply be about making bits of a game – everyone has to buy into the big picture. We’re getting really good at that.


Jack: Likewise I joined the company when Empire was in development. Talking to the older members on the team (and a lot of the people who worked on Shogun and Medieval I are still around) the big jump has been team size and the way the team structure has changed. The process starts with deciding on what we are going to cover in a game, and from there the initial scope is decided at the top level of the team. From there it filters down to the different areas such as battle, campaign and multiplayer. The different teams come up with feature and content ideas, and lots of big discussions are had as to what makes it into the final game.



3. The TW games have so far spanned at least three differing eras of warfare. As individuals, what era in history do you think best fits the total war concept?



Craig: It’s really hard to say! I don’t want to be the guy who says “this Total War was the best” when there are so many amazing games made by the studio. Nobody would talk to me for a week. We always say the best eras are the ones where there is a lot of potential for mass-conflict. When you look at human history, there’s quite a few! That said, if I have to pick one in particular I’d go for the Viking Invasion expansion of Medieval 1. That, to me, had everything.


Jack: There is a huge variety of eras that fit into the Total War concept. All we need is a period with lots of war and human history is hardly short on that! The Sengoku era covered by Shogun and Shogun 2 is possibly the best example of a time period that fits with Total War. Long periods of war, lots of factions who could win, nice bits of diplomacy and intrigue. Lovely time period.



4. Do you think that total war could ever work in later eras and global conflicts such as those found in WW1 and WW2?



Craig: Total War is all about epic-scale conflict. Wherever that exists, there is the potential to make a game based on it. Yes, some eras might bring with them gameplay challenges, but that just drives us to innovate more.



Jack: I don’t think we could ever rule out a time period, even ones where conflict is much different from the ‘normal’ Total War formula. It just presents a different challenge for us to overcome.


5. Individually, if you were to have the power to dictate what era of history you want the next total war game to be, which would you choose and why?


Craig: It would be something epic. Something that would give us the opportunity to really stretch Total War’s legs. For me, that’s what Total War is – huge conflict.


Jack: Oooh a tricky question, for me there are many time periods that would be fantastic for the next game.


6. Have there been any non TW games that have inspired you when working on the franchise?


Craig: We’ve always kind of done our own thing – that’s how we ended up doing Total War in the first place. Having said that, there are a lot of games that we enjoy, and it would be silly to say we didn’t look at what other games do and don’t do well.



Jack: Most of us here are gamers too, there are a lot of different games we play. Obviously some of them will inspire us but we do like to forge our own path.


7. How would you describe the working environment in Creative Assembly?


Craig: It’s extremely hard working and professional, with a strong current of camaraderie. In all seriousness, it’s the best place I’ve ever worked. It’s full of brilliant, creative people – I feel like I learn stuff by osmosis just by being around them.


Jack: We have ice cream Wednesdays. ICE. CREAM. WEDNESDAYS. That pretty much sums up how much of a great place to work at this is. It is just such a lovely relaxed, slightly bonkers and fun place.


8. When developing a game, what do you find to be the most enjoyable part of the experience?


Craig: I think that moment when you see it all come together for the first time. It’s usually one exact moment in the dev process where you just see it running and think, “wow”. I can clearly remember the first time I played the E3 demo of Shogun 2 – it was extremely exciting.



Jack: I’ll fully agree with Craig, it is that moment when what you’ve been working on starts to come together and you can see what the final game will be like. Very exciting moment on every project.


9. What do you find to be the least enjoyable?


Craig: Most people in the industry will tell you the same: crunch time. At the end of the project, overtime hours really kick in and everyone works flat-out to deliver the project. There’s free pizza, though, so it’s not all bad.


Jack: Crunch time can be a slog at times, but it’s something that just has to be done at times.


10. The BAi has been a point of some criticism in past titles, the new approach used on Shogun 2 has had a positive reaction from most fans. Do you plan to keep improving the BAi experience?



Craig: Yes, we’d be crazy not to. AI is an area under constant development. We’ll keep working to make it better as long as we’re making games.


Jack: BAI, and AI in general, is a constant process of improvement. It’s something we will always work on to make better and we’re not going to stop trying.


11. If yes do you have any hints as to how you aim to improve the BAi in the future?


Craig: We’ve been working hard to avoid any “idle” AI behaviour. I know the guys have looking out for any instances of that and addressing those if they arise.



Jack: Often some of the big improvements in the AI can come from small fixes or tweaks that have a sort of ripple effect elsewhere. We are always making small fixes and improvements, so the BAI will continue to get better.


12. Many members of the community state that Rome seems to hold a special place in their heart and since release its popularity has not waned within the TWC community, as its creators, why do you think many people feel Rome is special?


Craig: The story of the rise and fall of Rome is one that is familiar to any student. Roman history is popularised wherever you look, from glitzy TV shows to incredible computer games *cough*. That definitely plays a part in the appeal, but beyond that I think the sheer scale of the Roman war machine is epic. Everyone can appreciate that.


Jack: I think for a lot of people it was their first Total War Game, and for others the huge jump in graphics from the Shogun/Medieval engine also helped make Rome special. A big part in making Rome special has also been the huge mod community and the dazzling array of mods that have been made for it.


13. In Alexander TW we saw the beginnings of a story based campaign that was also present in Empires "War of Independence" and Napoleon TW's Italian, Egyptian and Iberian Campaigns. Shogun seems to have drifted slightly from this campaign concept used predominantly in Napoleon. Is there any reason why? Additionally are CA exploring the idea of adding campaigns in future content and/or future titles?


Craig: We’re always keen to see what works and what doesn’t. With Shogun 2, the setting seemed better suited to the idea of warring clans, and bringing the original feel of Shogun back to life, than focusing on an individual.



Jack: As Craig says it will vary from title to title. Some lend themselves more to story or single character focused campaigns, others to more sandbox campaigns. It will always be something we decide on depending on what we are doing. There is certainly more content for Shogun 2 coming.


14. One feature that was very popular in Medieval Total War was the choice between different periods of the era to start ones campaigns. This was especially popular with people who didn't have time to finish a whole campaign but wanted to play with high end units. Was there any particular rational for not including it in Rome and subsequent titles? Is there any chance of this feature popping up in the future?


Craig: I’ll have to defer to Jack on this one, as I’m not sure what the rationale was behind leaving it out. However, I wouldn’t rule out its return. It featured on the recent community suggestion threads, so we are aware that there are people out there who liked it and would like to see it return.


Jack: Multiple start dates is one of those great features that becomes a huge time sink in development. Having 3 different start dates for Shogun 2 for example would have required 3x the amount of testing the campaign right through, and 3x the balancing work. It takes a huge amount of time to fully test a campaign, and we are constantly tweaking the balance of the campaign in development. We prefer to focus on doing one campaign start date and spending as much testing and balancing time on it instead of dividing it between 3 different start dates.



15. Have you guys played any mods, if so which mod did you find most enjoyable?


Craig: Yeah, I play quite a few in my spare time. I’m actually really interested in the World War mods for Napoleon – “The Great War” looks pretty interesting… tanks! I also had Imperial Splendour installed at home for a while for Empire. For Rome, any mods that Jack worked on…!


Jack: Well obviously I’ve played the mods I made: Terrae Expugnandae for Rome and Lands to Conquer for Medieval 2. I’ve also played Fourth Age, Europa Barbarorum, Rome Total Realism and Chivalry. Since I started working for the company not played that many on recent titles as I play our games every day at work and tend to play other titles now in my free time.


16. What positive affect do you think modding has on the total war franchise?


Craig: It’s been hugely positive – there’s no denying that. I’m a big fan of modding, I think it’s something we should look to encourage – and I think most people in the studio agree, too. Whenever I talk to fans, they always mention the importance of modding. For a lot of people, I think it brought them to the series, so we’re keen to help modders out where we can. Empire, Napoleon and Shogun 2 were trickier to mod, but that wasn’t at all by design. We’re doing what we can to break through those barriers by supplying info where possible.


Jack: You just have to look at how popular some mods have been to see they have had a positive effect on the community. It’s helped build the community and led to a lot of awesome mods. Mods keep people playing our games long after they’ve finished the main game. I also wouldn’t have my job if it wasn’t for the modding I did on Rome and Medieval 2.


17. Do you think modding has any negative effects?



Craig: I can’t think of any. Except when people try mod the game so that paid DLC becomes free. That sort of thing isn’t really fair.


Jack: I don’t think it has any negative effects.


18. Do you have any advice for people who are currently modding who might want to have a career in the gaming industry?



Craig: Tell us about your mods. If they’re good, they’ll get noticed – and that can lead anywhere, as Jack will tell you.



Jack: Yup, without my mods I would not be doing what I am doing right now. Modding shows you have a good understanding of how games work, and give you something to show potential employers.



19. Have you got any entertaining stories to share from the workplace? If so what would be the most entertaining one you can share with us?



Craig: Loads… some of which I can’t share! We have some glass “bowls” on the doors of our new downstairs meeting rooms. When you’re inside, they’re convex, but if you’re looking straight on they look almost concave. I recently tried placing my head inside one, only to meet the cold, hard thud of glass as I faceplanted the curved exterior of the bowl. I would write this off as personal idiocy, but a colleague also did the same recently, so it’s now officially a thing. A worry for Total War fans!


Jack: Ooh blimey which one to pick. I suppose one of my favourites was on someone leaving the company recently. We tend to gather round peoples desks on their last day to give them a send-off (and the proper amount of embarrassment!) and this person pulled out a ukulele and played a song about his time in the company which had us all in laughter.

Conclusion

We would like to thank CA for their time and also the Curia for promoting an initiative that helped in the forming of this project. Any questions and suggestions can be PM'd to jimkatalanos and belisarius.

[Boustrophedon]

Although I read the interview beforehand this new formatting is very pleasing to the eye. Very interesting interview and I'm truly glad that TWC now enjoys such a healthy relationship with the guys over at CA

[Halie Satanus]

The most impressive part is Bel's big title graphic.

Well done all on the interview...

[Inhuman One]

A nice interview, although it is a shame they do not want to name the era they would choose themselves. Or games that inspired them.

Thats pretty much the answers I'd be most curious about.

[CraigTW]

A nice interview, although it is a shame they do not want to name the era they would choose themselves.

Personally, I've always been a massive fan of medieval history, particularly English medieval history, so I'd love to see another Medieval: Total War at some point.

[Inhuman One]

Personally, I've always been a massive fan of medieval history, particularly English medieval history, so I'd love to see another Medieval: Total War at some point.

It's too early now for another, but I would definatly like to see another medieval total war again in the future.

There is just so much more that could still be done with it, I am sure you guys will want to add drawbridges and moats into total war at some point.
That alone would make the siege battles completely different.

Medieval naval battles are also something that never gets much attention, with the crusades and the Venetians, I see a lot of potential there too.

And with the battle improvements of recent total war titles, the field battles would be much more interesting as well, with unique regiments, much improved finishing moves, unique generals and maybe flails and morning stars will be possible as well at that point.

I'd say wait for another medieval untill you guys can add flails, moats and drawbridges.

To finish with a question though, is there any chance of something like the avatar editor being added to singleplayer at some point in the total war franchise? I can see it not happening with shogun 2, but many of us where rather disappointed that its only for multiplayer. I believe most people play only single player or prefer it over multiplayer when it comes to total war.

[Border Patrol]

I'm actually really interested in hearing what kinds of games they play in their free time. Why would they feel the need to censor themselves about that?

[CraigTW]

I'm actually really interested in hearing what kinds of games they play in their free time. Why would they feel the need to censor themselves about that?

I play just about everything, I'm a massive PC gamer. At the moment I'm playing a lot of:

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Minecraft
EVE Online
Football Manager 2011
Company of Heroes
VVVVVV
Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

I'm actually going to Minecon in Vegas in Novemeber - not for work, just for fun

Only reason I might have come across as cautious is people tend to read things into your answers. I didn't want people to assume we were making Football Manager: Total War based on the amount of playtime I'm giving it at the mo (believe it or not, that does happen).

[Border Patrol]

They haven't "locked" their Warscape games and there's nothing underhanded going on. The games are starting to get more complicated and as that happens it's becoming more difficult to make changes.

It's not complicated guys.

I play just about everything, I'm a massive PC gamer. At the moment I'm playing a lot of:

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Minecraft
EVE Online
Football Manager 2011
Company of Heroes
VVVVVV
Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

I'm actually going to Minecon in Vegas in Novemeber - not for work, just for fun

Only reason I might have come across as cautious is people tend to read things into your answers. I didn't want people to assume we were making Football Manager: Total War based on the amount of playtime I'm giving it at the mo (believe it or not, that does happen).

Definitely approve of the CoH, have you tried out that Eastern Front mod?

[mfdoom]

Football Manager: Total War

That would be awesome!FM is the most addictive game ever.They should make it a Class A drug.Can't wait for 12.

[Mads]

I’m sorry if I offend anyone, but how is this interesting. No special statements are made and the quick questions do not tell me anything new. I know this is going to sound a bit like a stupid rant, especially from a guy who does not have ’10,000+’ written posts, but…

The questions are not very well thought through in my opinion. ‘Which one is your favourite game’, ‘whats the best part of your job’, ‘whats the worst part’, ‘are you improving the AI(come on, of course they are, ‘how’ they are would be a good question)’. And the questions are not very fulfilling when the answers actually could provide some additional knowledge.
Take question 5 as an example. ‘If you could choose what timeframe the next game would be set in, what would it be?’, simple albeit interesting question. But Craig Laycock and Jack Lusted do not really answer, the only clear message is that they like ‘epic periods of time’. I know sometimes it can be difficult to decide when asked a question, sometimes there is no real answer, but this interview is full of questions where the interviewed just seems to slide their way through without making a statement or having much of a personality, they apparently love everything CA does, except working ‘overtime hours’, which isn’t all that alien. My point is:
This interview does not tell us, the fans, who love some of the games and especially the mods, nothing. Nothing whatsoever, maybe a bit about Shogun 2 (but I will return to this subject) and how they fool around and headbutt glass.

I know you make this in good faith and that no harm is actually done, but the interview looks a lot more like a thing which is done so CA gets some focus on the new Shogun installment while showing that they are people too. And that they like modders, because they have one in their staff.

Please give us something better, maybe a bit more juicy, some actually statements. We love the games but we are not sheep!

Peace and love

[Bolkonsky]

@Mads, Keep in mind that they are bound by a form of NDA. If you read any interview with any game developer, you'll notice some of the same.

[MasterBigAb]

[Jack Lusted]

I'm actually really interested in hearing what kinds of games they play in their free time. Why would they feel the need to censor themselves about that?

That was more to do with the question asked than anything else. Talking about other games in relation to what has inspired us for the series could lead to people taking it the wrong way if we talked about certain titles or "oh why don't you play this game to inspire you". I will quite happily tell what games I'm playing at the moment (a lot, and I mean a lot of FM2011, Space marine, DX:HR, BF:BC2). I hope you can understand though why we are more cautious when talking about games not made by use in relation to the series.

Take question 5 as an example. ‘If you could choose what timeframe the next game would be set in, what would it be?’, simple albeit interesting question. But Craig Laycock and Jack Lusted do not really answer, the only clear message is that they like ‘epic periods of time’. I know sometimes it can be difficult to decide when asked a question, sometimes there is no real answer, but this interview is full of questions where the interviewed just seems to slide their way through without making a statement or having much of a personality, they apparently love everything CA does, except working ‘overtime hours’, which isn’t all that alien.

The reason I at least did not give a direct answer to that question is that I know within five seconds of this interview being up, everyone will think whatever the answer is will be our next game even if it isn't.

[Border Patrol]

That was more to do with the question asked than anything else. Talking about other games in relation to what has inspired us for the series could lead to people taking it the wrong way if we talked about certain titles or "oh why don't you play this game to inspire you". I will quite happily tell what games I'm playing at the moment (a lot, and I mean a lot of FM2011, Space marine, DX:HR, BF:BC2). I hope you can understand though why we are more cautious when talking about games not made by use in relation to the series.

Much obliged good sir. Maybe I'll see you on Bad Company 2 one of these days.

[Mads]

@Jack Lusted, and people who read my post
I know what your saying, but cant you see that it kind of undermines the concept of interviewing? Right now I regret that I didn’t know about the restrictions made on the people being interviewed, so in that sense im sorry for being dramatic about this, but I cant help but feel that it’s a bit off having interviews where people aren’t really allowed to talk about the things the people actually wants to hear.

[Kinjo]

Ice cream Wednesdays! I'm sold where do I sign up?

[Dominick]

Ice cream Wednesdays! I'm sold where do I sign up?

I want pancakes... THERE'S NO PANCAKE MIX IN THERE!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Had a nice read though, also its always interesting to hear from Jack and his experiences as he's employed for the reason of modificating the games in an excellent way.

[Omnipotent-Q]

I think having an expectation that you'll learn all about what the next games going to be or their business plan for the next 5 years is never realistic. I liked the insight into the job they do an office antics, and there's some good mod shout outs and the like in there . The Great War....I've never actually had a chance to give that a go - but on hearing about the tanks - no brainer I gotta try the goods at last!

Ice cream Wednesdays! I'm sold where do I sign up?

I'm going to wager one White Chocolate Magnum that this is their top choice on a Wednesday.

[Belisarius]

I think people need to put this interview into the context of everything else we do. What it shows is a small piece of that is becoming a very mutually beneficial relationship between TWC and CA. This is the first time we have done something like this so the focus was not to intensely drill CA. We chose to focus on something easy and light within the context of the rest of our content. You have CA's monthly update, the competitions where CA donated prizes, the Lusted podcast, the modding statement, the Eagle Standard and the TWN all giving the community content monthly. Indeed there is nothing that CA have released to the public which isnt on TWC. While this shows that our staff are good at their jobs it also shows that CA is really committed to our community! The question re what jack plays was done in the podcast (with he mentioned minecraft afaik).

Now we tried to get some hints but CA is a business and cannot just release information that could potentially harm the company. Indeed even if given the choice I would not want Jack and Craig talking about anything that could endanger their jobs! I personally have been playing total war for close to 8 years now and personally within those answers I found some tremendously interesting points that give serious food for thought.