Total War: SHOGUN 2
Total War: SHOGUN 2 is a strategy game developed by The Creative Assembly and published by SEGA and was released in on 15 March 2011. I Worked on this title as QA Coordinator.
About the Game
Total War: SHOGUN 2 returned to the 16th Century Japanese roots of the Total War series. Rival calns led by local warlords each battle for control. The game aimed to refine and re-simplify the Total War series, which had expanded in complexity with Empire and Napoleon: Total War. SHOGUN 2 maintained the blend of turn based and real time strategy gameplay and featured 8 playable clans / factions at release, and up to 10 in total with DLC.
In the campaign, the player needs to oversee the development of settlements, military production, economic growth, and technological advancement respectively. The armies and units are organised and moved around the stylised campaign map by the player to carry out battles with other factions. In addition to fighting, the player is able to engage in diplomacy, political manoeuvring and the use of special agents to gain the upper hand. Ninja and geisha are also present in the game as assassins and spies.
In Total War: SHOGUN 2, leaders and generals are given personality and depth in gameplay, with high emphasis on role-playing. Generals and agents are portrayed as "larger-than-life" heroes with unique characteristics and powerful abilities. The player is able to improve and unlock traits and special abilities for the characters as they gain experience. However, the player may also be inclined to engage in family politics within the clan to keep its members loyal.
The battles of SHOGUN 2 involve large-scale engagements between armies that meet on the campaign map and can take place on land or on water. The developers proclaim they are paying particular attention to re-designing the naval and siege battles appropriate to the new setting.
Shogun 2 is known for a unique event for the series known as Realm Divide, in which one by one, all computer-controlled surviving clans declare war on the player and ally with each other, though the player's allies tend to do so later. Realm Divide is triggered when the player captures enough territories or captures Kyoto. The clan's fame shows how close the player is close to triggering realm divide.
The Mac OS X version of the game, was ported by Feral Interactive and released for the Mac on 31 July 2014.
Skills and Experiences
One design philosophy which permeated this project was "The Zen of Total War". Where Empire and Napoleon: Total War went for scale and bombastic, Total War: SHOGUN 2 was refined and minimalist. We tried to make each element of the game smooth, polished and simplified - trim off all the bloat.
My role on this project was similar to on Empire and Napoleon. I lead the QA team, in their daily task allocations, and setting up the wider test plan.
I was credited with "Additional Design" on this project, as I helped an out of hours effort where the QA team made battle maps for the Custom and Multiplayer battles, some of which made it into the final game and helped some of the QA team move into development positions.
The Campaign map in Total War: SHOGUN 2 is a stand-out in the series as it featured a unique visual effect, where undiscovered areas appeared as a flat ink drawing and as areas were discovered, they'd pop out into vivid 3D.
We released 8 DLCs for SHOGUN 2, including new factions, new units and a new Campaign pack (Rise of the Samurai). Fall of the Samurai expansion stand-alone was also developed on the same foundations.
