정보 30 in 30: The Creative Assembly

[Nomad_Kensei]

Creative Assembly is the Sussex-based studio responsible for what is considered the benchmark in real-time strategy - a series that has barely fluctuated in quality in its 12 year history.

It may not be as big a name as Warcraft or Command & Conquer, but for hardcore strategy fans, Total War is a deeper, more sophisticated experience than any other franchise in the RTS genre.

In its 24 years the UK studio has gone from strength to strength, delivering what we consider to be some of the best PC titles ever created.

OVERVIEW

Founded: 1987

Location: Horsham, England

Killer quote: "Total War can go more in-depth than any of its competitors ever dreamed."

KEY PEOPLE

Tim Ansell

Tim Ansell founded The Creative Assembly Limited in 1987. He began programming professionally in 1985, working on Amstrad CPC titles as well as conversions to the Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari 800 and IBM PC/Tandy formats. Then one day, a certain real-time strategy game caught his eye...

"We'd seen the first Command & Conquer clones come out and do quite well, so we thought to ourselves, 'that's got to be easy to do'," Ansell explained in an early issue of PC Zone.

"We'd seen this one C&C clone called KKND (Krush, Kill 'N' Destroy) and it was an absolute pile of crap. Then we heard it'd sold 600,000 units. At this point I went mad - there we were busting our balls porting sports games for EA and only selling around 100,000 units, while this crap was selling 600,000. So we decided we'd do our own upmarket clone." And so the idea for Shogun: Total War was born.

Tim Ansell is no longer at the studio.

Mike Simpson

Ansell employed microchip creator turned video game designer Michael Simpson in 1996 as studio director.

Simpson later became the driving force for the creative design of the Total War series and has been called the 'godfather' of the franchise.

His first game, Swords and Sorcery for the Spectrum, won a Game of the Year Award in 1985. Following that, he worked on titles for PSS, Mirrorsoft and Psygnosis before joining Creative Assembly.

Simpson had a hand in the design of Shogun, Medieval, Rome and beyond.

CREATIVE ASSEMBLY GAMES WE LOVE

Shogun: Total War

In 1999, under EA, Creative Assembly made the jump from making low-risk, licensed sports games to higher risk projects in other areas, specifically the RTS genre.

Shogun: Total War was the first release and anyone with experience of the franchise will be able to tell you why it became a strategy fan favourite.

It was its mix of turn-based board game strategy and real-time 3D battles that made Total War stand out from the crowd. The design allowed for an incredible sense of depth and historical accuracy.

"The ultimate strategy gaming experience, which will capture your heart like a rapacious Spanish Inquisitor."CVG

Medieval: Total War

The success of Shogun: Total War meant that a brand new series in strategy gaming was firmly established and, in 2002, Medieval: Total War built on Shogun's foundations.

The main difference, of course, was the setting. Well away from the Japanese Warring States period, the Total War mechanics were taken to the Middle Ages with a focus, once again, on strategic depth and tactical realism.

It wasn't a massive leap forward from Shogun but it was an improved version of its predecessor and topped the RTS table for many.

Rome: Total War

In 2004 another Total War edition introduced a new time and setting to the series. The Roman Empire was now the stage.

It's with Rome: Total War that many feel the series reached a staggering peak. It was in Rome that almost every element of the already complicated and detailed gameplay seemed to come together.

With a typically deep but intuitive strategy map during the turn-based sections, Rome Total War held certain appeal for series veterans and newcomers alike.

Artificial intelligence also demonstrated a new level of smarts, making for some genuinely challenging battles that were all the more satisfying. But it was the depth of the tactical options on the battlefield that secured Total War's position at the top of the RTS table.

Total War: Shogun 2

Despite the success of Total War throughout the ages and its continued development between iterations, the thrill of the very first never really left the hearts of RTS fans.

A direct sequel to Shogun was always the biggest demand levelled at The Creative Assembly and in March this year those demands were met with Total War: Shogun 2.

Not only did Shogun 2 bring the series back to a time and place that was familiar to franchise followers but its setting made for a more compact experience geographically speaking which meant more detail.

This was more than evident when you zoomed in on one of the 100s of troops on the battlefield and were able to see the etchings on his armour. The level of detail in terms of gameplay mechanics was now matched by Total War's graphical package.

In terms of design, Total War: Shogun 2 gave more than most, not just in the RTS genre but in gaming generally.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

"When it comes to historical strategy games, nobody does it better than Creative Assembly."CVG

This year The Creative Assembly announced a new attempt to crack the console gaming market and a completely fresh direction by taking on development of a mysterious Alien game.

Neither the studio nor publisher Sega have been drawn on revealing a genre for the game. CA did confirm‎ to CVG that the game would be making its way to "console", although it didn't specify formats.

"This is very much a triple-A project," Sega West boss Mike Hayes added. "We want this to be a peer to the likes of Dead Space 2."

LEGACY

There aren't many studios that have focused solely on the RTS genre and from a depth, detail and quality perspective, there aren't any that top The Creative Assembly.

The studio pulled away from the crowd by putting the strategy into real-time strategy, making games that were more than races to the nuclear bomb equivalent

[타메를랑]

음, 기사를 대충 해석해 보니 크리에이트 어샘블리 이 친구들이 신비한 외계인 게임? 을 준비하고 있다는데 대체 뭔지 궁금하네요.

[(TheGodfather)]

CA가 콘솔로 게임을 내놓은 경우가 있긴한데 망했었죠. 그나마 최근에 발매된 아스가르드는 좀 할만한데.. 결국 봉인하고 한구석에 처박혀있습니다; CA는 그냥 토탈워 시리즈를 좀 더 집중하는 것이 좋을 것 같네요.

[Nomad_Kensei]

CA에 두팀이 있는데, 한팀은 Totalwar 개발하고,다른 팀에서 다른 게임을 개발합니다.

[(TheGodfather)]

토탈워 개발팀도 또 나뉘어있나요? 로마 개발팀이랑 엠파/나토 개발팀이랑 또 다르다는 이야기를 들었는데 말이죠.

[제대군인]

나토는 왜 언급을 안하지..
제작사도 버린건가 ㅠㅜ

[아크루스]

나토와 엠토는 호주에 있는 스튜디오에서 개발했거든요.. ㅋ 위에는 영국에 있는 본사 스튜디오 얘기인듯