Talking History, the Environment, Woolly Mammoths and More with Jeff Spock
CW: So, you've been working in further tactics to your terrain types, such as mud, but the question I have is will there be a weather system in Total War Saga: Troy? So, if you're fighting on a grassy plain and if it's raining, it'll be muddy in areas or if it's sunny, it won't be muddy?
TN: We are going to have a weather system in the game. it's already there. So raining will bring a certain amount of debuffs. In some cases, units will fire their arrows with reduced range and it will take more to move in any certain direction. It won't have any effect on terrain, but it will affect the entire army.
CW: So you will have regular debuffs to do with the weather. Moving back to units, you're fighting in the Aegean Sea, have you got any ideas of naval units or a style of naval combat that's different to the auto-resolve?
TN: We did our research related to the question that you're asking. We're not sure whether naval combat ever took place back in the late Bronze Age, even if it did, it would not have been a large engagement because it would require a certain amount of coordination, we're not sure about that. It will be overwhelming to represent it in a Total War game but, apparently, we need naval combat because a large part of the campaign map is covered in water.
Our solution came from the vampire DLC of Warhammer two. We basically have this system where when two seaborne armies meet at any point in the sea, they will be deployed on a conveniently nearby island. Luckily, in the Aegean Sea, there are plenty of islands around. A land battle will ensue with the major difference that this particular battle will depend on the favour of Poseidon because people that were fighting know that even though they are on land, they are in the realm of Poseidon, the sea.
CW: So, that links into the gods and favour system. So, Mars, the god of war, Poseidon, the god of the sea, how will the other gods like Hera and Zeus come into this? How will you earn their favour and what areas will they oversee?
TN: Well, we've got seven gods. You will earn and lose favour basically with most of the actions that you would naturally perform as a Total War player. For example, Ares, straightforward. You kill your captives after the battle, you get favour because Ares is bloodthirsty. If you flee from battle, you will lose his favour. You also have the ability to build temples. You also have the priest agent who is capable of performing rituals at temples and can increase your favour while reducing the favour of other factions. So if you send your priest agent to another settlement, you get to reduce the favour of that faction.
You have a bespoke interface where you can pray through the gods or make sacrifices. Gods will also occasionally enter conflicts. For example, you might have Ares and Athena suddenly proclaim that they are into conflict. So, you know, the priests have told you that the gods of Olympus and quarrelling. You'll get to choose sides, there are plenty of things to do with that system. The gods themselves, each is related to a different aspect of gameplay.
So, as you said, Poseidon, everything sea-related, whether it's battle or campaign movement across the sea. Ares, battle, damage related stuff. Athena is more related to the strategic part of warfare. She's related to your heroes, she helps them in battle and she also helps you perform sieges or defend while sieging. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, can's do without her although she's the least Total War God that we have in the Pantheon, she's related to diplomacy. Hera is related to resource production, unit replenishment, stuff like that.
At this point, it was almost the end of my allotted time for the interview
Third Person: We're getting close to the time, so the last question, make a big one!
CW: Okay, tell me everything about Total War Saga: Troy!
TN: [laughs]
The third person: [laughs] That's not a question
CW: Foiled again. Okay, can you tell me everything?
TN: [laughs] I don't think we have the time
CW: It is a question though! Okay, on a serious note, let's end on something based on the aesthetical quality of the game. Particularly, I mentioned is when I was watching the presentation. You've got the parchment style on the ocean which burns away. Then it's the skybox, is it a sort of clay pot style design?
TN: Yeah! So, we've built the concept of truth behind the myth, as you know. It also encompasses all parts of the game. So, when you're looking at realistic objects, such as everything on the campaign map and what you see in the battle maps, you see Bronze Age reality. How units are armed, how the cities looked. But parts of the interface, gameplay pieces and art, are what the ancient Greeks imagined the Trojan War would be.
Examples are the shroud or the skybox. As background, in the game, for example, you play as a kid is might receive a message event about Achilles, it will contain art. And in this art piece, which follows the art style, the ancient Greece, you will see Achilles not as he's in the game, you will see him as like the Greeks imagined he would look like.
CW: Brad Pitt.
TN: [laughs] exactly!
CW: Excellent. Thank you very much for your time.
TN: Thank you. Thank you. It was a pleasure.
CW: The problem for me is that I could talk about this all day long.
TN: Me too. Me too. I wish we could tell you more!
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About the author: Chris Wray has been writing at Wccftech gaming section since 2015 and is an opinionated bloke from the north of the UK (think Ned Stark). He enjoys video games, films, books, beer, whisky and other alcohol. He also supports Manchester Utd and for some reason he writes profile pages in the third person. His expertise is in gaming and the games industry, primarily on the PC. In addition to this, he works with and contributes to the finance and tech sections.
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