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

[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.

[Jack Lusted]

@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.

Unfortunately that is always likely to happen in the games industry, people will always want to know about things we can't talk about such as what our next game will be. We will be as open and honest as we can, but to some questions we just can't give answers.

Would you like them to respond in relation to item 16.

So, why Shogun 2 is not mod friendly? Do not you think it is killing the mod community?

This thread has our answer on that.

Interesting interview.
Truth is hiden behind words though.

In other words:
Stop modding because we will not be able to sell new DLCs. CA wants to make money and modders offer their services free. That's not fair.

That is not what he is saying at all, people have made mods for Empire and Napoleon that have basically done what some of the DLCs have and we do not mind that. What we do care about is people trying to unlock paid for content for free. That is what we would have a problem with.

[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).

[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.

[CraigTW]

Interesting interview.
Truth is hiden behind words though.

In other words:
Stop modding because we will not be able to sell new DLCs. CA wants to make money and modders offer their services free. That's not fair.

Absolutely not what I'm saying whatsoever. If you've read any of my posts, you'll know that I'm extremely pro-modding, as is Jack. However, it's important to distinguish between modding and cracking. Making that clear can really help us push modding internally.

By the way - big thanks to Belisarius for being so patient with us while we put this interview together!

[Joxer86]

I would have asked them why we had to wait 6 months after release to have the loan swords bug fixed and why again after 6 months since release multiplayer is full of bugs and cheaters while games like Starcraft 2 are nearly perferct since dayone and have continuous patches and balance fix.

[Gralachthule]

I would have asked them why we had to wait 6 months after release to have the loan swords bug fixed and why again after 6 months since release multiplayer is full of bugs and cheaters while games like Starcraft 2 are nearly perferct since dayone and have continuous patches and balance fix.

While I'm personally not happy about the state of Loan Swords as well, give them some credit; comparing Starcraft to TW is just not fair from many perspectives. Starcraft is a Game heavily influenced by Pro Gaming and as such has an entire industry behind its normal marketing; it is pretty clear that Blizzard has nearly unlimited resources to balance the a game. Starcraft 1/2 are the only games that have ever reached such a level of popularity and are probably the most balanced / bug free RTS games on the market for years to come.

[Joxer86]

While I'm personally not happy about the state of Loan Swords as well, give them some credit; comparing Starcraft to TW is just not fair from many perspectives. Starcraft is a Game heavily influenced by Pro Gaming and as such has an entire industry behind its normal marketing; it is pretty clear that Blizzard has nearly unlimited resources to balance the a game. Starcraft 1/2 are the only games that have ever reached such a level of popularity and are probably the most balanced / bug free RTS games on the market for years to come.

You are right probably i have chosen the wrong comparison. Anyway 6 months just to change two numbers on the loan swords statistics in unacceptable.

[ginger_hammer]

thanks for your time guys.

[AnthoniusII]

Unfortunately that is always likely to happen in the games industry, people will always want to know about things we can't talk about such as what our next game will be. We will be as open and honest as we can, but to some questions we just can't give answers.



This thread has our answer on that.



That is not what he is saying at all, people have made mods for Empire and Napoleon that have basically done what some of the DLCs have and we do not mind that. What we do care about is people trying to unlock paid for content for free. That is what we would have a problem with.

Absolutely not what I'm saying whatsoever. If you've read any of my posts, you'll know that I'm extremely pro-modding, as is Jack. However, it's important to distinguish between modding and cracking. Making that clear can really help us push modding internally.

By the way - big thanks to Belisarius for being so patient with us while we put this interview together!

Forgive me if i misunderstand what you say.
But does your words could mean a full unlock of the game after 2-3 years when there will be no new DLCs?
Then why CA did not help modding community wiyh still locked files (like world ones) for M2TW that is a game of 5 years old?
Cracking is a very serius crime indeed. but company's policy is/will be not only for S2 but also for previus games.
Facts :
In interviews CA admits that M2TW and RTW sold as many copies in their "2nd" life as in their 1st couple of years.
If that's true did the modding communities help in this promotion?
If yes why CA still refuses to unlock features of those old games?
If that restriction exists for old games how can we expect a CA's help in modding (fully modding and not just recoloring) in newst games even after a couple of years?

I hope that my aufull english did not allow me to see a helpfull future in your answers.
If that is the cause I apologise.
AnthoniusII

[Deutschland]

Nice and interesting but hell these guys have mastered the art of avoiding to answer the most interesting questions...

[MorganH.]

I found the interview a very nice read so well done to all involved.

Im not gonna nitpick about the sometimes evasive answers as this was to be expected of course.

However i,and i think the whole community would also very much like to hear from CA about questions raised about the ''Old games''(RTW and M2TW);as Why isnt there a more open approach towards the Modding community about releasing feature hardcoded unlocks and soforth.

A ''new'' policy of taking away some(or all) of the still hardcoded limits of the ''old'' games could only mean a rise of sales when new and more innovative Mods are being released in future.

[LestaT]

Some hardcodes might be linked to the actual souce codes. I'm sure CA wont release that. Might have as well make games for free then.

[Dubh the dark]

What I'd like to know is how much historical research goes into each game.

Does the CA office turn into Oxford for a few months each year?

[Huberto]

Nice interview, thanks for doing it. One question I have, anyway:what's next in terms of support for modding?

[Humble Warrior]

And when will you allow an optional non-Steam version of your games, Jack Lusted and Craig?

[DarkLiberator]

Very interesting read.

I think just about everyone plays Minecraft.

[Ybbon]

Well personally I liked the interview, sure it wasn't really in-depth in some places but I can fully understand that. My company has a whole ethics policy that probably employs a few full time lawyers on it's own (fortunately they're very big and can afford lawyer salary's!) so I can completely get why Jack and Craig didn't answer some specifics, because if they do it gets read as policy or a commitment.

That said, if and when another interview is given, I, like Dubh, would be interested in how much research is done and how - especially given Jack's work on RTR, the idea of regiments of flaming pigs from the original RTW is a bit silly in hindsight, so are we likely to ever see another release with such units (please no!)?

[Kinjo]

And when will you allow an optional non-Steam version of your games, Jack Lusted and Craig?

They will let you know when the Origin version will be available.

http://store.origin.com/

[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?