Previously scheduled for Summer of 1999, Shogun: Total War's release date is looking more like Spring 2000 now. Producer, Michael De Plater commented, "With so many realtime strategy games coming out in the next few months, we know that many gamers will buy the same one they bought last year. We'd prefer to let those games fight it out first, use the extra time to benefit the game and come along later with a really awesome product. As Sun Tzu might say - when surrounded by smaller enemies allow them to fight amongst themselves." Some of the new features added will include dynamic weather, flowing water, desynchronised animations and wind effects.

Shogun: Total War's design combines a turn-based conquest game with real-time tactical combat resolution. The setting is 16th Century Japan, with numerous samurai clans competing politically and militarily to decide who will rule Japan. The game intends to be fairly firmly based on history, including historical daimyo (lords), unit types, weapons, political considerations, and historical events. Tactical combat will involve thousands of individually detailed and animated soldiers on a huge 3D landscape, organized into units under leaders, with the units, leaders, and each individual soldier having individual controlling AI's and ratings for such factors as experience, honour, morale and fatigue tracking, all of which will have their effects on what the soldiers do, and how well they do it. Honour will be particularly important, as different characters' honour can determine how well units obey orders, and how firm allegiances will be. Some clans may switch sides in mid-battle, as happened with some frequency in historical 16^th Century Japanese warfare. Other combat elements will include a variety of unit formations, terrain and weather effects. In addition to tracking the decisions of every soldier, Creative Assembly adds that the game's AI includes many maxim's from Sun Tsu's The Art of War, and will observe, react to, and remember the strategies that you use against it. The game will offer a variety of historically-based military and political units, ranging from different samurai and conscript weapon systems to strategic units such as ninja, geisha, and priests. Multi-player support for up to eight simultaneous players can be either combat-only or include the strategic game as well.

Opinions & Observations:

Richard: Wow! The real-time tactical part of this game looks to be incredibly detailed and rich. If they finish off everything they have advertised this will be a truly awesome game. This game looks like it could satisfy hard-core tactical gamers, as well as fans of real-time strategy games and 4X conquest games. Here's to hoping they can do it!

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