Latest strategy game from Total War gets new release date for Steam PC
Creative Assembly has announced that Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia has been delayed until May.
The news was announced today (March 21st 2018) by the developer that their first installment in the Total War Saga series will not be released in April as planned, due to several factors - primarily for "a bit more time for the final push". The game, published by SEGA, is a standalone Total War game which will challenge players to re-write a critical moment in history, one that will come to define the future of modern Britain.
With ten playable factions, you must build and defend a kingdom to the glory of Anglo-Saxons, Gaelic clans, Welsh tribes or Viking settlers. Forge alliances, manage burgeoning settlements, raise armies and embark on campaigns of conquest across the most detailed Total War map to date.
What Creative Assembly has said
The Creative Assembly blog stated "We’re nearly there with Thrones of Britannia now, and a few weeks back we invited some press and influencers to play the latest build. We let them loose with the factions of Gwined (Wales), Circenn (Scots), and Northymbre (post-Wedmore landed-gentry Vikings. Plot twist: still angry!).
"As this is the first in what we hope will be a series of Total War Saga titles, we are – understandably we hope – anxious to get it right, and we’ve been encouraged to hear the positive reactions to the many changes we’re making while we panel-beat the ATTILA engine into a leaner, sportier, more Anglo-Saxon shape. It’s been a delight to read and watch many of those impressions so far.
"We’ve been picking through those write-ups, videos and comments in search of criticism as well, as it helps give us a steer on what we could be doing better. The final weeks between now and launch – like any software project as it draws to its conclusion – are crucial to final quality, as they’re all about finding and squashing bugs, balancing things out, and adding polish. But there’s always more you can do, and in this case, we’ve decided to do just that.
"We’d like to buy ourselves a bit more time for the final push, so we’ve made the call to nudge the release date back by two weeks, from April 19th to May 3rd. Alongside our usual pre-launch procedures, we’re adding and tweaking a few features we wouldn’t otherwise have time for.
"These changes will include some quality-of-life UI improvements, such as showing the player a breakdown of sources contributing to their current War Fervour level. We’re also implementing multiple shades of plus-and-minus effects regarding different levels of food, and how each level interacts with upkeep and supplies.
"We’re doing some more balancing work on the campaign AI, chiefly regarding its aggression levels on different difficulty settings, and the number (and composition) of the armies it recruits. Generals will also change in appearance as they age, which is reflected in their portraits.
"Perhaps the biggest area we’re focusing on is battle. We’re making some improvements to the AI’s flanking behavior, and we’re addressing the way the AI targets enemy units, to better account for intervening units blocking charge pathways. We’re also tweaking certain animation sets so that soldiers now hold their shields out as they walk, reinforcing the shield-wall focus of the age, and ensuring they better maintain unit coherency on the move.
"We’ve looked at some of the default unit-states from WARHAMMER, and as a result we’re implementing toggles in the options menu so you can choose which states you wish to be on by default (such as always-run, skirmish and guard modes).
"On top of that, we’re making a whole raft of alterations to numerous aspects of battle, including (but not limited to): collision damage, unit stats, maximum drag-out widths, collision radii, unit mass and spacing, and we’ll be removing an experimental feature you may have seen at work in game footage where units were slowed by missile fire, as this was affecting the coherency of the targeted unit’s formation. In aggregate, these changes are making combat feel tighter and more attuned to the age."
The CA blog concluded "It’s never easy delaying a launch, not least because it means a longer wait for you. But we strongly feel the game will be better for it, so do please bear with us as we get things finished up!"
