Siege Talk: Behind the battering rams of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla's Siege of Paris DLC

By now, most of us should be acquainted with Assassin's Creed in some shape or form, and if you aren't, one can only wonder what kind of rock you've been living under for the past decade or so. Ubisoft's most prominent game franchise has spawned a huge and dedicated international following since its debut in 2007, one that's only continued to grow with every passing title. 

So with that, we're here to discuss the most recent addition to the family - Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, or rather, the studio behind its upcoming Siege of Paris DLC - Ubisoft Singapore. Going by the adage that there's no better place to get an answer than "straight from the horse's mouth", we have Lead Animator Joan Hsu join us on our metaphorical longship today.

Taking center stage

For those who might not have gotten the memo, the Ubisoft Singapore team has made significant contributions to numerous AC titles in the past, especially with regard to the naval warfare segments in Assassin's Creed 3 and Black Flag. However, this DLC is a different ball game because it presents the first real opportunity for them to take the lead on content development, and so the first thing we did was to check in on what the team thought about this new challenge.

On her part, Hsu first expressed that the team was pretty hyped up about it from the moment it fell into their lap, and considering what they've been doing so far, it's certainly not hard to see why. After all, taking charge of an entire DLC is a huge step up from merely "contributing" to a game.

The team also saw the DLC as a personal invitation to hone their respective skills in animation, creative direction, coding, and suchlike. "It was a great opportunity for us to continue on this trajectory of growth that we've been able to establish,", Hsu says, "and to build on the expertise that we've accumulated over the years.". Among other things, it was this eagerness and desire to hit "a new personal best", in that sense that kept the team motivated throughout the project, and when such a project involves letting you run around swinging a deadly scythe around (more on this later!), it might be difficult to resist giving it a go. 

Local flavours

We also asked Hsu what many might call the elephant in the room with regard to the setting of the AC games. Fundamentally, the bulk of the franchise's action takes place within the Western Hemisphere, and although there have been small snippets here and there featuring Assassins of Asian descent, one can't help but wonder how the team has managed to overcome the cultural roadblocks along the way. 

To answer that, Hsu elaborated a little on the research process that goes into each AC title. Fundamentally, it can be broadly split into a "research" as well as a "practical" aspect - the former involves the academic side of the equation, which includes bringing in historians and other established authorities as consultants for the game's environmental and cultural setting.

Meanwhile, the practical aspect is basically fieldwork. According to Hsu, before the arrival of the pandemic, she was part of a team that visited France to learn more about the country's history and milestones, so as to better inform their decisions when developing the DLC. Interestingly, she shared a couple of memorable snippets with us as well, one of which includes the team learning how "Paris" is supposed to be pronounced.

I do remember that, as we were working on the project, they would occasionally share nuggets of information about where they come from and their culture. Something that really stuck with me was this one video they showcased during the Alpha party (sic) featuring these members from Paris, and they were sharing how to properly say the names of these places that we were currently recreating in-game. For example, most people would pronounce Paris as "pair-rees", but in actual fact the native (and proper French) pronunciation sounds more like "pah-ree".

Shafts and scythes

Needless to say, a new DLC usually means that the team intends to introduce a bunch of new gameplay features, so we asked if there were any additions in the DLC that the team was particularly excited about bringing to players, and if you've been following our breadcrumb trail closely, you should already be able to guess one of them. 

That's right. Move over, dual axes - scythes are Eivor's new best friend. 

Admittedly, Valhalla is hardly the first game where players can wield a scythe in combat, but we're going to bet a metaphorical dollar that you didn't know the one in here features two different hit-boxes - one for the blade, and one for the shaft. Yes, hitting enemies with the shaft does damage, and you can essentially kill with it. At this point, you're probably thinking that getting beaten to death by the shaft of a scythe instead of the blade would be an extremely embarrassing way to go, and while we might second that, it's not just the scythe's hit-boxes (and potential comedy value) that the team is excited about.

Rather, Hsu says that it was the process of churning out weapons that were new to the team, and so they had to start learning the ropes from the ground up. 

"It was a challenge that was entirely new to us - something that we really haven't done before. So, we had to learn how to create animations and gameplay for the weapons, one of which was the scythe. Of course, we put our own spin on it too - it's the first weapon in Assassin's Creed Valhalla that features two hit-boxes - one for the bladed edge and one for the shaft. Accordingly, the attack animations and feel for the scythe had to look very different from say, the bearded axes or the spears, and the short answer is that our animators had a lot of fun working on it.".

In fact, you could even say that the process of developing the animations for the scythe is even more unusual and amusing than the weapon itself. According to Hsu, one of the animators actually ended up wielding an umbrella as a makeshift scythe in the studio just to get an idea of what the animations should look and feel like!

As for other notable additions, Hsu said the Rebel missions were probably one of them. "Fundamentally, the Rebel missions are replayable missions where Eivor teams up with a group of Frankish rebels to take on Charles the Fat's forces. Some of these missions can be infiltrations for the purpose of intelligence acquisition, or just doing away with high-profile individuals that are being escorted from one place to another." 

Developing games from home

Last but not least, we checked in on a topic that we're sure many of us resonate with - working from home. After all, COVID-19 hasn't exactly been willing to play ball, and while it's easy for anyone to say that WFH regulations have changed our daily lives, how exactly has it affected the game development process, for better or worse?

In response to that, Hsu first talked about how Ubisoft Singapore has naturally had to undergo drastic changes to accommodate the government rulings, such as having to utilise video conferencing and staggered attendance slots for the staff in the office. However, what really changed for her and the team was the extent of their interactions, and she explained how it has been especially difficult for game developers in general considering that the industry is founded on people working together.

Game development is fundamentally a collaborative effort. Animators will work with various people from various teams, and naturally we benefit the most when we can work in a studio together. When we were still working in the office, it was common to see people moving around and going to each others' desks to ask questions or test animations, but with everyone working from home nowadays, it has indeed been difficult for us to maintain that level of communication.

At the end of the day, although she (and by extension the team) understands that the situation can't be helped because of the ongoing pandemic, it doesn't erase the fact that working from home does introduce its own share of problems into the equation. 

Nevertheless, Hsu is still quite proud that the team has managed to pull through what has undoubtedly been and continues to be a very intense period for the industry, and they've got a brand-new DLC chock full of content to show for their efforts. The Siege of Paris DLC is already available for purchase on all major gaming platforms, and while we'd love to let Eivor have a good crack at Charles' goons, we also hope the narrative will be able to shed more light on the franchise's central conflict between Assassins and Templars. 

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