CA: What we're up to update (Q&A thread)

[CraigTW]

[B]
Sorry Craig, but frankly this is a strange attitude... Do you expect modders to make the next TW title for you while you are a it?
I understand that you don't want to spend time finalizing an editor for modders, but if you really want them to make an editor, you could at least have the decency to provide more information or an embryo of your own editor to get started.
Give documentation about how your campaign map is structured, and I'm sure modders could come out with something. Just letting them have to second guess what strange idea you may have come with to code your map is not very fair, and not supportive AT ALL.

What you have to understand is that documentation has to be done by the people who coded the game in the first place, and that takes time away from making the game as good as it can be.

That said, I'm banging the drum about this stuff all the time in the studio, so your requests aren't going un-noted. We are actively talking about and making progress with new ways of sharing information with you guys, as I feel we're behind where we should be on that front.

[Steph]

A thread has been created here for a petition for a new map.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...9#post10678739

I think if we make a reasonnable demand (no new units, new gameplay feature, but just an improved mpa with more region), perhaps CA could consider it won't demande too much resources and could be worth making a DLC for that.

What you have to understand is that documentation has to be done by the people who coded the game in the first place, and that takes time away from making the game as good as it can be.

I'm sure you understand that a good rule of programming is to write documentation BEFORE coding something (specification? Design document?) and to keep it updated as you develop. Since CA is a serious company, I'm sure you are applying the top of the art project management practice, and you already have the documentation, so it shouldn't take any time away.
If that's not the case... Well perhaps it would explain why the making the game as good as it should be may be difficult?

Even if the documentation wasn't designed to be extremly clear for someone outside of the company, I can't believe you don't have something already. Just release it as it is, and let the modders figure out what's needed from that if it's a little messy.

I invite you to relay this line of reasonning to the rest of your team, and see what is damaging to your reputation, and how helping us would be beneficial to it.

[wangrin]

A thread has been created here for a petition for a new map.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...9#post10678739

On the other hand :

Be aware a new campaign map is months of work, it would need to be a very large amount of demand for it to be viable, especially as it is for a game we have not made a campaign for since Peninsular.

So, I agree with Steph.
We lack information to understand CA : creating a map editor is a waste of time, creating a new map need to much time ?

If it's so long to create a new campaign map, create a map editor that allow to modify it faster (and with a lower cost) isn't certainly a waste of time, but maybe a waste of money if they allow the community to use such tool.

I don't know what CA has done with campaign map system, but they have a really big problem now if it take month to only modify such map.

[PROMETHEUS ts]

Ok thanks for the answers but Coudld I have one Final answer on those topics please???

Q: Can you make an update about the modding situation ? Because since S2 was released we haven't seen anything about that aspect (no offense). Thanks

Understandable that you're frustrated about the silence. Believe me when I say that's about getting it right and ensuring that you hear something of substance rather than fobbing you off with platitudes

I mean three things as for modding :

1 code and text stuff is alreay possible to some extent to change ( look at Darth mod etc)

2 Allow a terrain Editor ( Just like in STW1 ) to create battlefields, place objects , have fun playing wiht it and share the new maps for the gamers online for new cool battlefields ... this is a feature that can't be considerd pure modding but it is a very important feature I think that will ensure a lot of longevity to the game itself .... allow players to play and share maps , erase from their pool the ones they dont like and allow the ones they do , make ppl download instantly a map when joining a battle if they dont have etc.... allow possibility to paint on the same map the dislocation of forces, the passable or unpassable areas , pathfinding etc all this woudl really help a lot.

3 Meshes and models import export and replace ... this is the pure modding features that are gone missing since the total modding of rtw , just look at the flood of mods and total conversion made for RTW and compare with the ones did for STW2 .... this is a pure modding feature that woudl need to be considered for pure modding

4 Map modding and political gameplay , since that is the hardest but still was possible in rtw I would place that at the bottom of my list .... but still a mandatory feature for total overhauls ....


Now that said , on a side note ... I woudl really like to say that the "blood pack" feels more like a mod than a pack to pay for ... I honestly bought and looked at it ingame , looks way exagerated and I will check for a way to uninstall it or disable , so I feel a bit displeased about it , if I didn't have to spend money on it tough it woudl be just another cool feature ingame .... what I personally think is that this "blood thing" shoudl have been inserted in the original game as optional since beginning , and not release it after for money ... as it really has the feeel of a mod!



Oh and can I have an answer n this that I read every once and then when the argument is considered:

Is it true that a korean invasion expansion , featuring china , mongols , japanese and koreans for the war after the unification of japan ( in my opinion way more interesting and worth for an expansion than the boshin 1 year campain , I woudln't even call it a war, and surely not a total war ... ) Is forbidden by SEGA? or scrapped for political implication ??? Seems absurd to me ...

[ASSASSIN1110]

What you have to understand is that documentation has to be done by the people who coded the game in the first place, and that takes time away from making the game as good as it can be.

That said, I'm banging the drum about this stuff all the time in the studio, so your requests aren't going un-noted. We are actively talking about and making progress with new ways of sharing information with you guys, as I feel we're behind where we should be on that front.

If you want to make the game the best it can be then when the game is finished set the release date back a week or so and get the devs to make modding tools which come out WITH the game already. modders have done alot for the total war franchise, i bought kingdoms just for TATW, and i wasnt going to get NTW but then i saw TGW and i had to buy it. modders make your games last longer and improve on the things you guys miss

[leSith]

To Craig

When will the mp campaing desync be fixed ?

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=515770

Will buy FoTS on day one if its finally fixed.

[alhoon]

Q. Instead of giving a map editor, would you consider making a DLC just with an updated campaign map with more regions if you get enough demand?

As with any type of business, demand makes the world go round - so if enough people wanted it we’d be fools to not consider it.



Q2 Will you make the campaign map a little more modable?

The campaign map is without a doubt the trickiest thing to mod, because all of the pathfinding data is baked into it. We're thinking about these considerations for future titles, though, and you can bet your bottom dollar that the thoughts and needs of the community are right up there in terms of our considerations.

Q: When will modders be allowed to change the Empire map?

When they work out how! We'd love to see what the community can come up with. Modding the campaign map will not be an easy challenge though (not by design, but by consequence).

THANKS CRAIG!!!

DLC with more regions/bigger map:
I would pay more than 25$ to get ETW with France and Spain, each divided to 3-4 regions, Muscovy, Persia, Anatolia broken to 2 regions and a few of the larger regions in India broken to smaller ones.

Also, there's a petition of people getting signs on whether they would buy a DLC for NTW with more regions. I would pay money for that too.

[Nelduin]

That's no really clear answers. Will see what will be effectively done in the near future.

[Cozur]

On the whole business/demand thing. I imagine that there would be a lot of outcry if modding tools for, say Empire, were released as a DLC, but I know that I would still buy it.

[last_name_left]

Modding the campaign map will not be an easy challenge (not by design, but by consequence).

No, it is by design: poor design.

[Steph]

No, it is by design: poor design.

Let's make a compromise. It's by consequence of a poor design.
Honnestly Craig, when we see how many tables/columns in the DB are filled with information but actually not used since the startpos overwrite them... And we see the many information in startpos that are redundant...
Don't tell me your design is the cleanest in the world.

[Luis Daoiz y Velarde]

I know its the ugly chick nobody wants to talk about but:
Q: Is there going to be any improvements or balancing in naval battles? morale is chaotic, and RoTS ships are way better than the old ones for less kokus... Making victory imposible for non RoTS users...

[renegade765]

Awesome thanks Craig! Anything you guys can do to help modders mess around with world map as people mentioned earlier would be nice.

Mods are the reason I bought Empire day 1. (Though I bought Shogun knowing the limitations.)

[IGdood]

Hey Craig,

Is it possible to see reimplementation of the giving units names like in Empire Total War and Napoleon Total War? It's a very nice feature.
Thanks.

[CraigTW]

Regardless of 'rules of programming', working on a game and getting it out there isn't a walk in the park. There are a lot of pressures and deadlines - and even with a huge team, documentation is often something which isn't a high priority. This is the case at nearly every games studio out there.

Game design docs, specifications are different - they're written by designers. Designers don't code tools, however.

Like I said, though, it's something I'm banging the drum about for you guys as I think we can do more here.

As far as polls go, we always look at them. Any poll out there usually gets seen by the team in some form.

[Steph]

Good to know, let's hope we'll have enough votes to spark more interest.

And I don't want to put oil on the fire, but working on a game probably doesn't have much more pressure than making software for the industry.
Same pressure, same deadlines, same rules?

About the docs, we ahve nothing at the moment for the maps. So we'd take anything you have. Design doc (I'm talking about "map structure design" here, I.e the way it's supposed to be coded, not about gameplay design), specifications, diagram written by hand on a paper napkin during the lunch break, any thing.

[Steph]

And tell us how we can help. I made that offer several times. What if the comnunity makes research or draw the map or fill some tables for you so you jusr have to 'compile'? Surely it would take less thab months. Tell us how we can help.

[Jack Lusted]

Be aware a new campaign map is months of work, it would need to be a very large amount of demand for it to be viable, especially as it is for a game we have not made a campaign for since Peninsular.

[Steph]

Be aware a new campaign map is months of work, it would need to be a very large amount of demand for it to be viable, especially as it is for a game we have not made a campaign for since Peninsular.

Aren't we running in circle here? You claim creating a decent editor would take time. But you said you waste months to create a map? If you had "wasted" a few weeks to make an editor, wouldn't you have saved months on the long run?

I have difficulties understanding how it can take months to add some regions to an existing maps. We are not asking for new army setup, new units, new game rules, or even to create new terrain. Just a few more regions. We can edit victory conditions or script ourselves.

Can you explain why it takes so long? Does it require so much manual work? I'm sure you could find help from the community if it's just work force you are after. Free labour to help you make your map.
As the other said : ask and you shall receive.

We can make the design/historical research for you. We can draw the boundaries for you. We could edit the db for you. Tell us what you need to help. See? The communit tries to be as supportive as it can toward CA. We are just hoping to get some reciprocity.

[alhoon]

Be aware a new campaign map is months of work, it would need to be a very large amount of demand for it to be viable, especially as it is for a game we have not made a campaign for since Peninsular.

The petition has already about 350 votes. Keep it in mind.