Developer The Creative Assembly has launched the 'Assembly Kit' for Total War: Shogun 2, arming fans with the weaponry it needs to modify the strategy game. Included in the release is an update to the existing Battle Map Editor, which enables Steam Workshop integration.
With the Assembly Kit - freely available to download from the Tools section of Steam for Shogun 2 owners - players can edit any database values in the game, including game logic, unit values and more as well as the ability to create, edit and render in-game assets. Complete details can be found after the break.
To help kickstart content (which includes the ability to script single-player battles) The Creative Assembly released a "sample historical battle" on Shogun 2's Steam Workshop page to give modders a "convenient starting point."
To celebrate its release, the Total War franchise will be on sale through October 1, with rotating deals each day on Steam.
Creative Assembly's Mike Simpson says the popular Total War series of strategy games wouldn't work on the current console generation, just in terms of hardware requirements. "They don't have enough memory, by a large factor," Simpson tells Eurogamer. The audience for console games tends to be a little more action-oriented and a little less strategy focused, and the experiences are very different as well, he asserts. But there's hope yet, "for all sorts of reasons."
The user interface is another issue, according to Simpson, but it's fixable through solid game design. While he doesn't mention the Total War version coming to iOS, that's definitely a clear indicator that the game can work on platforms other than PC. And Simpson says that despite the differences, Creative Assembly has some "very clever ideas" on adapting its popular strategy games for the next wave of consoles and the pick-up-and-play style that go along with them.
Until Saturday, Amazon has several Sega titles deeply discounted for procurement through downloadable means. Although the sale has been going on all week, both Total War Shogun 2 and Shogun 2: Rise of the Samurai were added today, at $7.49 and $2.49, respectively.
Other deals include Sonic the Hedgehog: Episode 1 for $5, along with Sonic Generations and the 48-game Sega arcade bundle for $7.50 apiece.
If strategy and platforming isn't your thing, there's also the non-Sega NBA2K12 for sale at $10.
Total War developer The Creative Assembly is hard at work on the next installment of the strategy franchise. Eurogamer confirmed with Studio Director Tim Heaton that work began on the next installment while the studio was finishing Total War: Shogun 2. "Absolutely, we're on the next," said Heaton.
Sega recently announced that Total War: Shogun 2 sold 600,000 copies. Creative Assembly's Mike Simpson said the series has a "long tail" and that the original Shogun sold "more copies in the second three years of its existence than it did in its first three years." Of course, that wasn't at full price. There's no word yet which period of history (or future) the next game will be set in.
Sega has released a multiplayer trailer for Total War: Shogun 2. The war does appear large, though we're not so sure it's total. There are clearly some empty spots on the battlefield, and they're not even filled with corpses! Then again, we suppose "Substantial War" doesn't have the same ring to it.
Sega has released a multiplayer trailer for Total War: Shogun 2. The war does appear large, though we're not so sure it's total. There are clearly some empty spots on the battlefield, and they're not even filled with corpses! Then again, we suppose "Substantial War" doesn't have the same ring to it.
By all that is bushido, a demo for the name-reversing Total War: Shogun 2 will be available on Steam beginning February 22, 2011, Sega has announced.
Additionally, the publisher has teased some pre-order bonuses available from your local GameStop or BestBuy. Honorable GameStop samurai will receive (online or in-store) the historic Battle of Kawagoe, while those who partake in the Best Buy bounty will unlock 1,000 Koku, the in-game currency used to purchase new buildings, train new units and upgrade towns.
Shogun 2 is still scheduled to wage total war on PC this March 15.
There's totally a war going down between the old and new shogun, and this latest CGI trailer for Shogun 2: Total War from The Creative Assembly and Sega really demonstrates that. Thankfully for us, it's a virtual war based on events that took place long ago. Whew!
Pummel your enemy from the expanses of the sea or wear them down with a good old-fashioned siege! This is the third part of the walkthrough for Shogun 2!
You can't get much more bang for your buck than this gameplay demo video for Shogun 2: Total War. Well, actually, all the trailers we post are free, so there's no "buck" required. Regardless, at sixteen minutes and change, this one's guaranteed to take a good chunk out of your day.
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Sega and the Creative Assembly's sharp-looking Shogun 2: Total War—or Total War: Shogun 2, depending on who you ask—will get a limited edition release next year, but today it gets a beefy video preview of deep tactical gameplay. More »
