Shogun 2: Total War - New Battle Report gameplay vid now online!

**CraigTW** · 09-02-2010, 16:23

Hi guys.

I just posted this on the TotalWar.com forums, but thought you guys might like to see it too.

Fans have been asking to see more in-game action from Shogun 2: Total War, so that's exactly what we've put together.

Our Land Battle Programmer Ingimar Gudmunsson and Communications Manager Kieran Brigden talk you through an epic night time battle, as the Chosokabe clan take on the Takeda clan.

As a storm rages and lightning flashes from the sky, we get a look at some of the units available to you in Shogun 2: Total War, as well as some of their unique abilities.

The video will demonstrate some of the new graphics technology integrated into Shogun 2: Total War, including new lighting, accurate fire and building damage simulation and rainfall effects. The video also demonstrates the sheer scale of the castles you can expect to encounter during Shogun 2 battles.

With fire archers raining down arrows on the Chosokabe and an epic hand-to-hand engagement on the battlefield showing off some of the new motion-captured animations in Shogun 2, who will prosper in this winner-takes-all battle?

Watch the video now to find out!

Thanks,

CraigTW
The Creative Assembly

**Kas** · 09-02-2010, 16:36

me like a lot!

**Monsieur Alphonse** · 09-02-2010, 16:46

This is the same or almost the same battle as shown before at some games convention (i forgot its name). It looks of course fantastic but I hope that they will show us some daytime battles. At the moment I don't see any superior AI. I hope that this guy from Island will do some miracles.

**Sp00n** · 09-02-2010, 16:50

Yes many thanks for keeping us up to date Craig, a much better resolution of the presentation than we had from a previous post, watched it with no sound at work, will watch again later. Does look stunning already, weather in particular (I can almost forgive you guys for making us wait 10 years for Shogun 2), nice to see some of the old favourites.

Yaris, Sam Archers, Heavy Cav and No Dachi I saw.

Can't wait, just please give us a MP lobby like the original, sorry had to get that one in :P

I get more excited by the day and please post any further updates in the future.

**Gregoshi** · 09-02-2010, 17:42

Very nicely done and good commentary. I think we'd all love to see more of these kinds of videos showing off the AI and other features of the battlefield as the game developes. Craig, the thing I'm most pleased to see is the prolonged unit vs unit combat which will allow the player to utilize maneauver tactics, such as the cavalry flanking shown in the video.

I also liked the AI archer ambush as well. The map was not only gorgeous to look at, but had a variety of terrain features to make the battle interesting. Yeah, judging by my racing heart, I'm excited.

**ReluctantSamurai** · 09-02-2010, 21:15

Not sure if this feature was available in ETW or NTW (as I have played neither), but it appears you can "draw out" multiple units with a single click, instead of having to do each unit individually.

My apologies if I've simply missed this feature by not having played any recent releases.

At any rate, looking awesome, so far!

**Kagemusha** · 09-03-2010, 02:55

Thank you for sharing this with us CraigTW.

I am loving what i am seeing in the vid. In this early phase already i am seeing level of detail i am happy about. Like the large Nobori flags carried by the infantry formations. One thing i would suggest to try out would be to make the colour of armour less uniform. You have already the Nobori Flags, the sashimono flags on the back of the samurai and ashigarus. which makes it easy for players to identify their own and enemy units. During the period the "units" if that is a right word, were not very uniformed at all, apart from few execptions, like the "fire cavalry" of Yamagata Masakage of the Takeda Clan, or Il Naomasa´s red devils a third execption being the Date army under Date Masamune.

Dont get me wrong as this is in no way complaining, but a simple suggestion to maybe test how a unit would look like with different coloured body armours and lacings inside a unit. Ofcourse if it wouldnt be working it should not be used.

Apart from my rambling.Great job!Cant wait to see more!

**Monsieur Alphonse** · 09-03-2010, 04:43

Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai

Not sure if this feature was available in ETW or NTW (as I have played neither), but it appears you can "draw out" multiple units with a single click, instead of having to do each unit individually.

My apologies if I've simply missed this feature by not having played any recent releases.

At any rate, looking awesome, so far!

That draw feature has been possible in earlier TW titles as well. You can do it in RTW and M2TW. I can't say anything about earlier titles because I haven't played those.

**Monk** · 09-02-2010, 16:40

Thanks a lot for the link, Craig!

Thoughts:

It looks very similar to the battle we saw from Gamescom, only much higher in quality and a lot better info in regards to unit identity and behavior. Since we've seen this a few times played out: Is this a historical battle that is scripted, or was this a custom battle put together to display various aspects?

The "battle report" vids have vastly improved in quality since ETW. Iinstead of watching you guys play the game you're simply playing it and giving us off-screen commentary. That lets us focus 100% on the game, i like it a lot.

I have to admit, i am really hoping that is pure AI behavior there and not results of a single scripted event. Very good line cohesion from the AI Takeda with covering fire provided.

**CraigTW** · 09-02-2010, 16:45

Originally Posted by Monk

Thanks a lot for the link, Craig!

Thoughts:

It looks very similar to the battle we saw from Gamescom, only much higher in quality and a lot better info in regards to unit identity and behavior. Since we've seen this a few times played out: Is this a historical battle that is scripted, or was this a custom battle put together to display various aspects?

The "battle report" vids have vastly improved in quality since ETW. Iinstead of watching you guys play the game you're simply playing it and giving us off-screen commentary. That lets us focus 100% on the game, i like it a lot.

I have to admit, i am really hoping that is pure AI behavior there and not results of a single scripted event. Very good line cohesion from the AI Takeda with covering fire provided.

Thanks for the nice comments, guys.

Monk, as you sharply noticed, this is the same night-time battle from Gamescom, but we've featured a bit more depth and detail to help you get a feel for the game as though you were playing it yourself.

Stuff like tighter line cohesion and better unit tactics are undergoing a lot of focus at the moment to make sure we absolutely nail it in Shogun 2. As you can see from the video, we're getting there!

Again, just a reminder that this is very early pre-alpha footage, so we've got a way to go yet!

**Monk** · 09-02-2010, 17:02

Originally Posted by CraigTW

Thanks for the nice comments, guys.

Monk, as you sharply noticed, this is the same night-time battle from Gamescom, but we've featured a bit more depth and detail to help you get a feel for the game as though you were playing it yourself.

Stuff like tighter line cohesion and better unit tactics are undergoing a lot of focus at the moment to make sure we absolutely nail it in Shogun 2. As you can see from the video, we're getting there!

Again, just a reminder that this is very early pre-alpha footage, so we've got a way to go yet!

Thanks for the quick reply, Craig - can't wait to see what you guys deliver.