CA: What we're up to (07.09.2011)

Hi all, I've edited this post to bring you this week's CA update - the first part of our Rise of the Samurai campaign diary. I'll bring you updates on this as I make progress and will edit this post to include them below.

Cheers!

Craig

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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 shenanigans 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.

I can't wait to try it Thanks for each one in The CA team Keep the good work

Patch notes?

wtb patch notes

http://nooooooooooooooo.com/

ok, tomorrow then

Patch tomorrow? Great news finally we'll get rid of Loan swords spam.

Originally Posted by Joxer86

Patch tomorrow? Great news finally we'll get rid of Loan swords spam.

when did he say the patch will be out tomorrow?

Well he said weeks before release of Rise of Samurai, so I can only assume it'll be around 21-23 of Sept.

I think he means the news and not the patch.

Ahh now I get it "this update" is not a game update

Yes, sorry, should've been a bit more specific

We have no set release date for the patch and Rise of the Samurai, except "September". Both will happen on the same day.

Anyway, soon you can see how I've been faring with the campaign. I'm playing through honestly and as though as I'm playing it at home, so hopefully that comes through. It's been a lot of fun so far. I know you're thinking, "he would say that", but I mean it.

I'll edit the post at the top tomorrow with the diary. Have a great rest of day/evening!

Originally Posted by CraigTW

Yes, sorry, should've been a bit more specific

We have no set release date for the patch and Rise of the Samurai, except "September". Both will happen on the same day.

Anyway, soon you can see how I've been faring with the campaign. I'm playing through honestly and as though as I'm playing it at home, so hopefully that comes through. It's been a lot of fun so far. I know you're thinking, "he would say that", but I mean it.

I'll edit the post at the top tomorrow with the diary. Have a great rest of day/evening!

This is like a cold shower. I was so happy about the patch being released tomorrow. Probably now we'll see it at the end of the month so many other days with loan swords spammer to ruin multiplayer.

Craig is it possible to fix loan swords issue with a small patch like you did for heavy gunners? Multiplayer is unplayable these days and a lot of people won't play until the LS problem is fixed. I mean you heavily nerfed the heavy gunners that were the only way to beat ashigaru spammers so i think should fix as soon as possible.

Originally Posted by Joxer86

This is like a cold shower. I was so happy about the patch being released tomorrow. Probably now we'll see it at the end of the month so many other days with loan swords spammer to ruin multiplayer.

Craig is it possible to fix loan swords issue with a small patch like you did for heavy gunners? Multiplayer is unplayable these days and a lot of people won't play until the LS problem is fixed. I mean you heavily nerfed the heavy gunners that were the only way to beat ashigaru spammers so i think should fix as soon as possible.

It makes more sense to "fix" it along with everything else in the main patch since we're allegedly close to the patch's release (no more than 23 days, right CA??).

Now, if the patch doesn't show up by then...

Originally Posted by Karmatura

It makes more sense to "fix" it along with everything else in the main patch since we're allegedly close to the patch's release (no more than 23 days, right CA??).

Now, if the patch doesn't show up by then...

It should be fixed as soon as possible because at the moment multiplayer is a disaster. They did a mess nerfing heavy gunners (the only way to beat LS spam) with a small patch so they must do the same to fix the LS problem.
I don't think that CA would take a long time just to put a limit of that unit usable and increase the cost.

Originally Posted by CraigTW

I'm playing through honestly and as though as I'm playing it at home, so hopefully that comes through. It's been a lot of fun so far.

You know you've done well for yourself when they're paying you to play games

Originally Posted by T.C.

You know you've done well for yourself when they're paying you to play games

Seconded

Originally Posted by T.C.

You know you've done well for yourself when they're paying you to play games

Ah, yes. If anyone gets the opportunity to work for a games dev, take my advice and snatch it with both hands. The hours are tough sometimes and it's not always a thankful task, but at the end of the day you get to live, talk, play and make games. Not much in the world better than that.

I'm going to stop talking like that now though before anyone gets the impression that I'm rubbing it in!

Originally Posted by CraigTW

Ah, yes. If anyone gets the opportunity to work for a games dev, take my advice and snatch it with both hands. The hours are tough sometimes and it's not always a thankful task, but at the end of the day you get to live, talk, play and make games. Not much in the world better than that.

I'm going to stop talking like that now though before anyone gets the impression that I'm rubbing it in!

Well I feel rubbed.

Originally Posted by CraigTW

Yes, sorry, should've been a bit more specific

We have no set release date for the patch and Rise of the Samurai, except "September". Both will happen on the same day.

Anyway, soon you can see how I've been faring with the campaign. I'm playing through honestly and as though as I'm playing it at home, so hopefully that comes through. It's been a lot of fun so far. I know you're thinking, "he would say that", but I mean it.

I'll edit the post at the top tomorrow with the diary. Have a great rest of day/evening!

Well, that's great that you're having fun and all, Craig, but I'd rather WE were playing the damn campaign.
I don't really understand this aspect of development; If you're playing the game, but it's not out for us plebs yet, does that mean it's actually still requiring some tweaks, but playable? Or does it mean the DLC's ready, but that the patch still needs work to be released with it? Or does it mean y'all get a huge Dr. Evil kick out of making us wait?
Preordered with impatience. Go captialism!
If Craig's keeping us busy with a CA staff action report, and there's no new, completely different pics, then I'm guessing late September, but would love to be wrong. Cutting it pretty close to the release of major titles, though. Rage comes to mind. I don't know if that's good strategy or bad; whether to rejuvinate Shogun 2 when new titles come out to help it compete, or if it would be best to release the DLC sooner. I've stopped playing Shogun 2 atm, not because of boredom, but becaus I like continuity, and want to play the Genpei period before the Sengoku.
As much as I love the TW franchise, I can see most of my time in the next several months playing Rage and Skyrim. A lot hinges on the quality of Rise of the Samurai. The Ikko Ikki DLC seemed like a cash cow, and the the Sengoku DLC didn't really change gameplay experience for me. RotS decides whether or not I continue putting money into Shogun 2.

Will the new and improved graphics tweeks be in the standard campaign (not just Rise of the Samuri)? Thanks in advance.