Creative Assembly clearly wants to shape the content of the next Total War: Medieval around what players actually want.
All eyes may currently be on Total War: Warhammer 40K, but it is worth remembering that the more traditional side of Total War is also shaping up to be exciting. With Medieval 3, the studio is returning to one of the series’ strongest historical settings.
Development of Medieval 3 is at a much earlier stage than that of the Warhammer game, but Creative Assembly has been surprisingly open with the community so far. The studio regularly shows the game during its pre-production livestreams, and it is now collecting feedback on which factions should be playable in Medieval 3.
Fans are being asked to fill out a survey about which nations, dynasties, and city-states they would like to control. Creative Assembly’s latest Medieval 3 blog post examines the studio’s faction-selection process. According to creative director Leif Walter, three factors determine whether a faction makes it into the game.
The first is the faction’s popularity, the second is the uniqueness of its starting position, and the third is the distinctive nature of its potential gameplay mechanics. Of course, there are several factions that Creative Assembly already considers near-certainties. These include England, France, the Holy Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and the Sultanate of Rum.
However, the developers are seeking player feedback on smaller medieval factions. Would we like to play as Italian city-states such as Venice or Milan? What about the Scandinavian kingdoms? Or perhaps Muslim powers including the Almohad Caliphate and the Fatimid Caliphate?
Creative Assembly has listed all the factions it is currently considering for inclusion. There are also several potential candidates the studio has already ruled out, including the Russian principalities, the Mongol Empire, and the Papal States. The latter would be particularly popular with Total War fans, but Walter said the studio concluded during internal discussions that its gameplay style would be so unique that it would draw a disproportionate amount of attention away from development.
Click here and make your voice heard: Creative Assembly survey.
Source: PC Gamer, Creative Assembly
