Australian Gamer Studio Tour :: A Visit to The Creative Assembly

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A Visit to The Creative Assembly

The award winning developer behind the Total War games, Join Matt and Yug as they take a tour of the Creative Assembly offices.

Studio Tour��|�� Interview with Ash Parker (Senior Producer)��|�� Interview with Ken Turner (Project Director)

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Visiting The Creative Assembly has been something of a mission for us.

Honestly, we really don't have any excuse. I used to walk right past their building every day on my way to work, and Matt worked in the same building as them, literally the floor above them. Then when he left that company, he went to work for another one on the floor below them.

Yes, we were slack.

However, with the impending release of Kingdoms, their expansion pack to the award winning Medieval 2: Total War game, we thought the timing couldn't be better.

I was, of course, late to arrive for our 11am tour, much to Matt's annoyance ("You live 2 minutes up the road, what the hell were you doing?"). The office building where The Creative Assembly (and Matt's work for that matter) reside is your typical old school Brisbane brick beast, similar in style Krome Studios building just down the road. Inside it's a different story.

After stepping through the glass Sega branded doors, we were cheerfully greeted by Kim Sellentin, Associate Producer on Kingdoms and our self-appointed tour guide for the day.

What it's like on the inside

The first thing you notice about the place is that it's a very open environment. There are no cubicles as per se, merely rows of long desks with multiple computers setup on each one. Half the staff weren't there when we showed up (on holidays after completing the game), but the impression was that the setup was geared to work socially as well as productively.

We then met up with Ashley Parker, Senior Producer on Kingdoms, and were lead through a series of corridors to the conference room where we had a sit down to talk about their game (you can read it here). We also got to talk to Ken Turner, one of the founders of Creative, about the company's origins and their upcoming projects (you can read it here). Needless to say it was great to pick their brains and have a chat, and conversations kept going long after our tape recorder ran out - always a good sign!

Ashley Parker (Senior Producer) and Ken Turner (Project Director)

Next stop on our tour was the 3 rooms where everything Audio takes place.

The rooms were practically identical except for the objects sitting in the corner of each one. The winner being a metre long two handed broadsword. You had your room for music, room for sound effects, and room for speech, headed up by Jeff van Dyck, Richard Vaughan and James Vincent respectively. Jeff has actually been associated with the Total War games since Shogun, and won a BAFTA for his efforts on Shogun. A BAFTA!! How cool is that?

Both myself and Matt found the whole audio process more fascinating then we expected, and spent a fair bit of time with the sound guys. Consider for a moment the amount of dialects and accents required for this game. We're talking tens of thousands of seperate audio files. Now consider the fact that they all have to be done again in different languages for non-English speaking countries. That's a hellovalot of files. The amount of research put into the music and sound effects was also impressive, and it's really quite a kick to hear some different styles of music in a video game than the usual techno rock. I mean cmon, how often do you get North American Indian chanting in a soundtrack? Other aspects you never really think about - such as how to make what is typically a down tempo type of music sound more action packed during the battle scenes.

Jeff van Dyck (Audio Director), Richard Vaughan (Audio Engineer), and Matt discuss the audio aspects of Kingdoms

Concluding our tour of the offices involved more empty desks and explanations of areas... System Admin (Matthew Pawlowski), QA Testers, Programmers, Designers (all still present - including Dan Toose of Hyper Magazine fame and the always entertaining Praz 'Pornfunk' Moorthy). All that was left was to sit down and get some hands on time with the game itself, Matt taking the controls being the more experienced Total War player out of the two of us.

The smell of woodsmoke hung in the air, homes burned, businesses put to the torch. Each stinging sniff an insult to France, an insult to God Himself as it made its way to Heaven. Each breath carried with it a reminder of what we were here for. Every man felt in his soul the conviction that can only come from knowing the Lord is on your side, and that by his grace and your own strength the day will be won.

Soon they would learn, these English yapping dogs, would what it can be to take the field against men who fight for their homes, and for their freedom.

I surveyed my ranks quickly, to assess my best route to victory. Knights and heavy cavalry, fast moving and with unstoppable penetrating forces these gentlemen could do bloody work on breaching an enemy line. Finest archers in France were one of my most potent weapons, given high ground and shelter. Rounding out my troop were the unwashed peasants. Despite their poor station, a double line of pikemen is a bulwark against even the heaviest horse. With high ground advantage they would lose their critical vulnerability to missile fire, and shield my archers from the desperate mounted forces of the enemy.

Orders were shouted and squads broke and ran, forsaking discipline for speed, seeking to gain that pivotal position in enough time to setup defensive formations. To the North-West streamed the heavy cavalry, hooves churning the dark, pounding the dew drenched earth with a rumble that would strike fear into the heart of any listening enemy. To the north west ran archers, slower than the horse, but no less willing and able to deal death for King, for God, for France. To the northwest ran battle hardened veterans of years of fighting these invaders. The humble and hardy pikemen charged northwest, strong of heart, and united in a purpose that would make their line hold though the devil himself charged it. Under my command the northwest began to run with the colours of France, a river of controlled violence, directed by my will. Northwest, northwest, to glory, to battle!

Many have questioned this, considering the fight was actually North-EAST. With the benefit of hindsight, I must reluctantly agree.

The finest of France slowly turned and began running the CORRECT way to battle. Cavalry made it with time to spare. The archers and pikemen did not fare as well. The cold smoke-ridden air that had filled their lungs with rage now had trouble filling their lungs at all, as they struggled to their new destination, straggling into positions hastily declared.

Slowly defensive positions were filled, but the pike were slow to arrive, and poorly positioned. Archers reached their own firing position later than they should have, and having no time to prepare were not able to be used to full advantage.

A wall of cowardly british dogs were marching towards us. A hasty charge was mounted, to scatter or slow the incoming forces, but they showed uncharacteristic discipline for English cowards, and a wall of spikes met my brave cavalry wave. A second wave was sent, circling round the damnable infantry and into the now moderately useless archers. The archers, true to their English roots broke and ran, fleeing as they saw death chase them down.

But the English infantry met with mine, with superior numbers, and battle was joined. The end was not decisive, but it was swift and bloody. Sapped of courage my men ran, first the pike, then the archers, hotly persued. As they ran they came close to my original starting position, and I realized that a large proportion of my men were still there. Having never been given orders they had stood still. These fresh troops made a second line of defense, but this split force was no match for what my larger force had been unable to stop, and soon they took flight too.

Cursing their cowardice, I left the battlefield, a loser.

As we said our teary goodbyes, we look forward to visiting their offices again, and are very excited to hear what they're working on next. They wouldn't tell us. We tried, believe me. But we'll know soon, and then we'll let you know.

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