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Chinese Pirates: Pitching an Assassin's Creed Game Wishlists Share 13 Sept 2022 Written By: Edited By: Finn Fletcher Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Following the latest Assassins Creed showcase, we can all see that the future of the brand will be exciting and varied. While Mirage undoubtedly stole the show as an exciting return to form for the series, there was a more unusual announcement with the new Assassins Creed Infinity platform. I can't lie, it does have me worried, but my personal concerns aside, the exciting aspects of this new platform is getting to explore more varied historical periods with smaller, stranger stories. Taking advantage of this, and after having fun through replaying the series recently, I had an idea for a story that I think could add wonderfully to this new tapestry. When replaying Assassin's Creed Rogue, I couldn't help but wonder why Ubisoft gave up on the genuinely spectacular naval gameplay. Black Flag was obviously a huge success, and while Rogue wasn't such a smash hit, it was built to fail next to Unity's next gen glitches. Naval gameplay is still beloved and missed by players, whether hardcore Assassins Creed fans or not, and it seems no other developer stepped in to fill that gap. So today I want to pitch Ubisoft an idea, the most simple plan for success I could possibly imagine. At first I thought the obvious location for another naval/pirate game would be India. With a full and vibrant history of piracy and sea fairing, matched with corrupt politicians and tyranny to fight against, the Indian Ocean would definitely provide a great setting for a game in this series. However, with the upcoming and, in my opinion, incredibly bland looking Skull and Bones filling this period, I reconsidered. If we're already getting a pirate, naval game to explore this period, then let's look elsewhere, find a location and culture that could provide something distinct. With that in mind I moved my sights to East Asia, specifically the exploits of Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao. For those who don't know, Zheng Yi Sao was an infamous pirate of the early nineteenth century, who rose from a prostitute to leader of 70,000 men in the largest pirate fleet known to history. She terrorised the coasts of China, plundering both European and Chinese vessels alike. The reason she gained so much success, was because, unlike the pirates of the Caribbean, Zheng Yi Sao's fleet was well organised, with a set governance and rules in place. This pirate confederation stopped the pirates from falling to the greed and chaos that destroyed cities like Nassau and the characters we saw in Black Flag. This period of the great Chinese pirate confederacy, I think could make a stellar follow-up to Black Flag, allowing Ubisoft to show not just different visuals of East Asian culture, but explore new themes for this series. It would also the first Assassins Creed game in Asia, which is mind boggling in itself. The particular region of china I am envisioning is Hong Kong, Canton (modern day Guangzhou) and the surrounding sea and islands. Historically this was the hub of trade and therefore, pirate action and the city of Canton was pivotal in the end of Zheng Yi Saos career. This area would also provide good geography to match the gameplay; two bustling cities that can accommodate the Assassin fantasy and an island filled ocean for interesting naval exploration. Ideally, the smaller islands surrounding the mainland would function a lot like the islands of Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Each will house a target, with stories that involve the locals. This can give fun smaller narratives/side missions, while showing the personal effects of Templar control. In terms of narrative , considering this game's setting, I believe we should start at the turn of the 19th century. The lead character will be an original character (OC) named Lai Jun. Captain of her own ship, and master Assassin. I want her to be older, middle to late thirties , similar to Ezio in Brotherhood. The franchise has settled into protagonists around the age of twenty, and while I appreciate getting to be the age of every lead character, I think we need to push different stories about different types of characters. Having been an Assassin her whole life and from an Assassin legacy (you thought Jun was just a coincidence?), Lai has never needed to question her role. She is determined, talented at the art of being an Assassin and dedicated to its creed. Yet, despite the brotherhood being her whole life, her whole heritage even, she has grown rather cynical. At this period in time, China, like the rest of the world, was in a rather tumultuous position. Globally, capitalism and industrialisation were being born, leading to unmitigated starvation and inequality, revolutions were rising everywhere and power was being funnelled to increasingly fewer people. Then in China, the people were about to enter what would be, in retrospect, called the "century of humiliation" with the death of the emperor just behind them, with in-fighting and rebellions to come. The British Empire was sneaking in, and, while it didn't have the chokehold it had over the rest of the world, it was still only a few decades away from taking control of Hong Kong; an action that has caused trouble in the region which remains to this day. This is the context of Lai's introduction, as she runs across the rooftops of Hong Kong during New Year's festivities to kill a Templar target. The world is changing and the future is uncertain. At this point in her life, Lai has killed more Templars than she can count, and yet there are always more to fill the positions. The war doesn't seem to be swaying either way, and she can't help but feel that her actions are futile in the wider chaos of the world. I think when a franchise reaches a certain point, it needs to consider the emotions of its audience, and its place in the wider culture. Think of Halo 3, a massive event game which was built from the ground up as a war game, the scale of which you've never seen. It was a tour de force, a the best of compilation for the Halo franchise so far, all turned up to 11. Then, having set the world alight with this event game, Bungie made Halo Reach. A game with the same mechanics and fun action of 3, but which took a sombre approach. It was a reflection really, of the franchise as a whole, and how it may never live up to the hype and scale it previously had. After 15 years, 12 mainline games and god knows how much multimedia content, fatigue has set in to the Assassin's Creed franchise. Lai, like us, doesn't know the direction her fight is going or if it will ever have a satisfying end. Searching for her first target will let us understand Lais position, and tutorialise land based gameplay. In general I want to go back to the aspirations of Unity, a stylish free flow movement with a focus on social stealth. Combat should be deadly and swift, I envision the same precision of Ghost of Tsushima, a back and forth of attacks and deflections. Sneaking through the highly populated celebrations, Lai will find her, target a low level and frankly unimportant Templar. His insignificance will be reflected in the confession scene, with Lai seeming unimpressed but still remaining respectful as Assassins are expected. Escaping the scene, Lai will return to her ship and flee the city. We can here get a glimpse of the new naval mechanics, which in all honesty I can't imagine being that different from Black Flags. They are already perfect, adapt them to Chinese ships (that are named "Junks"), which are usually smaller and faster than the frigates and brigs of Western navy's Lai will reunite with the Brotherhood to report on her mission. I really want this branch of the Brotherhood to feel ancient, capturing the atmosphere of Masyaf. Historic dens with intricate architecture retelling the stories of great Assassins from this part of the world. Nevertheless a lot of this has fallen into disarray, rituals and repeated phrases taking the place of effective, organised action. Walking through the den we can see that Lai is comfortable there, friends with everyone she has always lived alongside. The mentor, who's not much older than Lai, is clearly unprepared for his responsibilities and unsure of how to direct Lai from here. His fear of appearing too controlling, and his constant search for approval and advice leave the Brotherhood rudderless. With no new target given to her, Lai heads to her pirate friends and here we can meet some of the more unusual side characters who will join our journey. At this point there was no large spread confederacy, however the region around Hong Kong did have a large pirate presence. One important figure of this group of pirates was the husband of previously mentioned pirate queen Zheng Yi Sao, known by the same name. For my own sanity from here on out I'm going to refer to the male Zheng Yi and original pirate king as "Zheng", while the female Zheng Yi and later pirate queen will be referred to as Sao. Anyway, at this point the two Zhengs were not married. Sao was still a prostitute and while this may not be entirely accurate, I want her to be living among the pirates, already close to this growing fleet. Her and Lai are friends, very different people who manage to see the charm in one another. Zheng meanwhile is a charming gentleman, a rather eccentric character who hasn't yet taken control as pirate chief but has clear ambition. His eccentricities allow him to get close to people, and his cunning mind allows him to continue rising and taking advantage of opportunities. Also historically he was bisexual, marrying Sao but having male sexual partners up to his death. It’s incredibly important to show this side of his life, providing representation for the real historical figures who were LGBTQ+. If I was to use a more modern comparison, I want these pirates to be like the free love hippies of the sixties. Lai clearly enjoys her time among them, and we truly get to understand how this group of criminals find freedom and acceptance in one another. Yet, it's still important to show that this community has important rules and leadership. One of these early missions could see Zheng sending Lai after a crew member who ignored orders, establishing his rulership as firm but fair. This directly contrasts the current Brotherhood, who seem in disarray without leadership. It can also be through the pirates that Lai will meet the main antagonist of the game. When robbing a merchants storage warehouse, we will overhear two British merchants discussing the arrival of a large incoming shipment, led by the aristocrat and famous businessman Charles Vidic (OC and descendant of Warren Vidic), a name instantly recognisable to Lai. Vidic is a Templar grand master, and like Lai, has a legacy in the order. He was raised a Templar, with incredible wealth and a commitment to restoring what he calls “the natural order of things”. A traditionalist, Vidic's ideals heavily resemble the older Templars, who subjugate and control the populace by any means necessary, believing it to be for their own good. He also hides a major secret, but we’ll get to that later. Seeing a chance to hit a huge target and finally make an impact, Lai contacts the pirates to organise an attack on the coming delivery. She wilfully chooses to not inform the Brotherhood, worrying that they may interfere with her plans. The attack is a major failure, Vidic captains a huge man o war, unusual for a merchant vessel, and decimates the pirates. Lai flees, losing a majority of her crew, with only a few pirate ships surviving. Broken and injured, Lai returns to the den and faces the chagrin of the mentor. Lai is criticised for acting too rash, but communication is made with the brotherhood of England to learn more about Vidic. While taking on other targets, both Chinese and British, we will get a better understanding of Vidic’s behaviour and the overall goals of his version of the Templars. Importantly, I want the game to clearly indicate the passage of years. This journey should be long, spanning across the full decade to 1810. We can see the pirate confederacy rise and fall, become a full fledged government, while British merchants become more prominent in the area. During these time jumps, Lai and Sao become closer, good friends who support one another as Sao becomes leader of the pirates. As the journey goes on, Sao pushes Lai to take a more proactive role in the Brotherhood. While not wishing to join herself, Sao sees its importance to Lai and how the disastrous leadership has affected her. It will be in Sao’s final scene where we can truly see her impact. In real life Sao did not go out in a dramatic blaze of fire we like to see for heroes. She did not fall in some great battle like Blackbeard does in Black Flag, screaming some inspiring quote. No, the ever cunning Sao saw the increased pressure placed upon her pirate confederacy, after she’d spent so many years raiding the coasts. In 1810, she sailed her huge fleet directly into the city of Canton, disembarking to hand herself in for her crimes. Due to her high profile, the state handed her and her crew a pardon, allowing them to keep the riches they’d earned as long as they didn’t resume pirating. Before doing this I’d like to see Sao and Lai converse, as Lai begs for her to reconsider. She doesn’t want to lose her friends and allies, seeing this as only another loss, a failure of making any major change in her life. Sao reassures Lai, informing her that we can only try to find the best in the situations we are given. For Lai, she needs to finally stand up to the Assassins' leadership, take control to implement the actions that are necessary. Watching her friends sail off to a peaceful life, Lai is provided with a choice. Settling down, or continuing her fight. Unable to give up on her ideals, Lai returns to the den, demands the position of mentor and creates a plan to finally finish off Vidic. More will be revealed of Vidic throughout the narrative, I want multiple encounters between him and Lai, failed assassination attempts or aggressive responses from the Templars. As it turns out, Vidic's mental state is rather erratic, and while he’s a talented leader the claims he makes about himself seem outlandish. Now let us take a look into the Isu lore for this instalment and I have to admit I’m not an expert in this area. The additions I’m going to make should fit in with the existing lore, however any creed fanatics who see problems with what I write please leave a comment. I’m genuinely interested to know. Anyway, Vidic has the ability to glimpse through time. It’s not clear visions, rather small insights, almost like poetry that describes what has and what will happen. One of my favourite parts of Isu lore in Origins was the description of how the Isu could physically see time. When the humans first revolted for their freedom, Isu who supported the human cause attempted to grant this ability to us. They performed experiments on willing subjects, hoping that if this power was provided they would gain equality, or at least be powerful enough to truly fight. The experiments were not completely successful though, leaving hundreds of people with parts of this code abandoned in their DNA. Through the pure chaos of existence though and centuries of genetic combinations, Vidic was created with the right combination of genes that gave him a sliver of this power. This connection to the Isu drove Vidic into his more fundamentalist Templar beliefs. Glimpsing the future has given him foresight of the coming globalised and industrialised worlds, and the problems that they will cause. This march toward progress must be orderly, and it’s only by having a fully dominated populace that this can occur. He will label the the pirates as degenerate terrorists and the Assassins as mindless, pointing to the poor leadership that has left them unable to ever effectively eradicated the Templars. We can see that he is not necessarily wrong, the current Assassin leadership is weak and the pirates attack and kill merchants in sometimes brutal ways, leaving regular citizens without food. As trade increases, and the demands of the public become much more complicated (internet, television, food that can only be grown in different nations etc.), this level of chaos will lead directly to the downfall of civilization as we know it. His mental gift will also reveal to him the location of an Isu temple, one that was intentionally left unrecorded due to the power it held. Imagine it like a black ops base, redacted even from official records. Being able to glimpse through time is the only way Vidic could find it. The base itself will house a “telescope” that will allow Vidic to gain a clearer image of the future. With it, he could monitor what every person on the planet will do, and act to make sure they behave in a way he deems suitable. That is why he came personally to Hong Kong with such an impressive fleet, to access this temple and defend himself during the search. This way the finale of the game can take place inside the temple, Vidic getting to truly envision the future as he had always wished, only to mentally crumble under the strain. We as people were never meant to have this gift, our psyche cannot process the information and it leads only to madness. An epic fight occurs, where Vidic dies in disgust, knowing of the great terrors that will occur. Nuclear explosions, world wars, climate change and the potentially apocalyptic solar eclipse are all to come, with no way of stopping it. He dies in anguish, screaming at Lai for her foolish commitment to freedom, which will only lead to humanity's ruin. Obviously there’s an irony to Vidic’s belief. The greatest minds to ever live could not figure out how to give the power of temporal sight to humans, with it only truly being solved by the infinitely powerful chaos of existence. In a world as controlled as he would like, the power that guides him wouldn’t exist. This should be explicitly stated in game either by an Isu messenger (like seen in Origins) or potentially Basim if he is still the modern day protagonist. With the telescope available to her now, the temptation of its power hits Lai. She questions whether to use it, whether to see if her fight will be worthwhile, but refuses. At heart, she knows that to do so would stand against her tenants, that seeing what will happen can only lead to the removal of people's free will, whether intentional or not. She destroys the temple, leaving this path behind. Of course as modern viewers we know her fight wasn’t as impactful as she would have hoped. Hong Kong would fall to the British, weaponized addiction would sweep the nation, and the last dynasty would fall. Her people had much more strife ahead of them that no one person could change, but the ideals she preached and her trust in humanity are the only cure to the plagues which face us all. I know this exploration of time may seem out of left field, but I think it could provide an additional layer to the drama of this story. To have someone who can provide accurate information on what will occur in this difficult era for China can truly express the dramatic irony of trying to fight what we know will come. Additionally, a core principle of Chinese political philosophy is the “dynastic cycle”, which refers to the continuous rise and fall of different dynasties' rulership, destined to repeat the mistakes of before. Culturally we can relate this story of time exploration with this philosophy, providing a nice link between the region and narrative, as Vidic (an outsider) acts to defy this ancient belief in cycles of repetition. And so that’s the pitch, the world of a cynic finding hope even in the darkness. With any luck, this can reinvigorate the community, providing a game that can recreate some of the heights of the franchise while reflecting growing franchise fatigue. Gameplay wise, mixing the impressive naval with the heights of city based action allows the best of both worlds, which was never quite reached before. Additional Isu exploration can continue to expand the lore, while potentially setting up future modern day plots. Based on what direction the series heads with the modern day, Basim or otherwise, the telescope can reveal the next major event the modern day Assassins must face. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Finn is a creative writer from Rotherham, UK who has previously supported TOWCB's Fundraising events, and raised awareness surrounding Men's Mental Health. Finn's writing covers a wide scope, with releases so far including reviews, interviews and stories. He is known in the AC Community for his 'Pitching an Assassin's Creed Game' series, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website! Finn Fletcher

Decoding the Creed: Assassin's Creed Mirage Calligraphy Drawings Analysis Share 22 Jun 2023 Written By: Edited By: Noon (TheHiddenVirtuals) Colum Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the first article in a new series dedicated to decoding the secrets hidden within the Assassin's Creed series. In this article, new recruit The Hidden Virtuals examines the drawings featured on the Assassin's Creed Mirage official website, made up of Arabic calligraphy by artist Hatem Arafa . In a social media post, Hatem shared this message covering his time working with Ubisoft on Mirage. Here is our analysis of the drawings! لَدغُ العقَاربِ لَم يَكُن لِعَداوَة A scorpion's sting was never out of spite بُنِيَ بَيْت العَنكَبُوتِ عَلى وَهْن Spiderwebs were built upon frailty وَ قَد دَبَّ مِن أقْصَى المَشَارِق حَيَّة And a serpent slithered/creeped from the far east ثُمَّ مِن الظَّلاَمِ تَخرُج نَحوَ النُّور Then you emerge out of the darkness towards the light The full message reads: A scorpion's sting was never out of spite. Spiderwebs were built upon frailty. And a serpent slithered/creeped from the far east. Then you emerge out of the darkness towards the light. What could this be referencing? Does Basim encounter an enemy that puts an end to his naivety, kickstarting a path to the Brotherhood? We can't wait to dive even deeper into the hidden mysteries of Assassin's Creed Mirage when more material releases through the marketing campaign and game's launch in October 2023. You can find links to our social media platforms below to stay up to date on everything Assassin's Creed. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Noon (@HiddenOnesN) is a Virtual Photography enthusiast and writer who joined TOWCB social media team in Summer of 2023 as an Arabic Translator. In a series of Twitter threads decoding hidden messages within the Assassin's Creed Mirage Marketing campaign, Noon made a strong impression online as a codebreaker. By joining TOWCB, we boosted her findings with a larger audience, and are working together to improve our social media strategies and grow our community. In late 2023, Noon notably be led our 'Decoding the Creed' series, diving deep into the mysteries hidden within the franchise. She also worked alongside the Virtual Photography Team to grow our Twitter community, and encourage interactions. Noon (TheHiddenVirtuals)

AC Community Questions: Michael Doyle Community Interview Share 7 Jul 2022 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database For this round of Assassin's Creed Community Questions, we invited Michael Doyle, member of the Assassin's Creed Partnership Program // Isu Network's Writing Team. Col: Hi Michael, thanks for joining us today! Please could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your connection to the Assassin's Creed Community. Michael: Hi I'm Michael, I'm 25 years old and I'm from the UK. I've been playing video games for as long as I can remember, with the first game I ever played being Cool Boarders on the PS1. My connection to Assassin's Creed began when I was about 10/11 years old, getting the first game on release in my local Blockbuster. One of my favourite early memories from Assassin’s Creed is a horse glitch that launched my character across the map. More recently, my close friendship with TOWCB admin team has brought me back into the AC Community. Col: Which Assassin's Creed game is your favourite and why? Michael: AC III - I loved the history, weapons, different environments and Connor’s character development. Especially with the twist that his father was a Templar. I also loved the introduction of the battle ship mechanics, which was a great addition to the franchise. Col : Have you visited any of the locations from the games? Michael: I’ve been to Rome, where I was able to explore the Castel Sant'Angelo, the Pantheon, the Sistine Chapel and the Colosseum. Whilst at the Castel Sant’Angelo I also recreated some assassin parkour photos. Col: What would be your dream setting for the upcoming AC Netflix TV show. Michael: My ideal location for an upcoming AC Netflix TV show would be Egypt, as this is one of my favourite historical periods and would be totally unique. Col: Where do you personally think the franchise is heading to next, and are you excited for the future of Assassin's Creed? Michael: I’d love to see the franchise do something in the modern day, almost like the Kingsman, with honour and tradition in todays world. The idea of a modern day assassin in futurist city like Singapore or Dubai would be interesting take. Col: What are some of your most recent Assassin's Creed Community Projects, and what are you working on currently? Michael : As I am new to the community I have only just starting writing content. So far I have recently written a Valhalla weapons guide for a fire build. However, I am looking to do more of this content over the coming months with a focus on how-to, and tips and tricks to optimise gameplay. Col: Do you have any personal AC goals you would like to achieve? Michael: I have always wanted to speed run an assassins creed game, preferably AC III. I have speed ran a number of games in the past such as Skyrim and Crisis 2, but never an AC game. I’d also love to meet the voice actor of Ezio. Col: What do you think Ubisoft are planning to show at the September AC event? Michael: I think Ubisoft are planning to show the new AC Title, in addition to the AC Infinity hub which I can see being marketed as a similar platform to the Halo Master Chief Collection/Halo Waypoint. All we can hope for is that the Ubisoft showcase is going to be more exciting than the September Apple announcements. Col : Do you collect AC merchandise? If so, what if your favourite item? Michael : Not yet… I do collect Marvel, Harry Potter, Pokémon and Star Wars merchandise. The only AC merchandise that I remember owning is an original AC poster from HMV. If I could own any one piece of AC merchandise it would actually be a game, and that would be the Ezio Collection. Col: Where can our community members find you online? Michael: I have a new Twitter account where I keep track of the AC community and all the latest Ubisoft content. We would like to say a huge thank you to Michael for joining us for this round of AC Community Questions! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

This Month in Assassin’s Creed Virtual Photography: April 1st Community Share 1 Apr 2023 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Colum Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the weekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from The AC Partnership Program. Every week I will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. Aaron is a keen virtual photographer and loves to post his journeys through Assassin’s Creed on Twitter. Keep an eye on the site as more weekly shots are added, we are looking for captures across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture for a chance to be featured. This week’s theme: Assassin’s Creed Invisible Man Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ Falconswift87 I would say this is a great start to the week but the NPC in question is hard to see. Most people will see right through this one, but I thought it was worth a mention. You don’t often see things like this in video games. Birb Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins VP Artist: @ TheLordReylus Photo number two gives us a bird’s eye view. I am loving the pixilation here as it really adds to the feel of the shot. That tree growing out of Senu neck is giving me real hidden blade vibes. Snoozing Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ TheaMR1305 Next up we have an after action report from London. Some enemy solider has an arrow in the neck, at least they fell onto something soft. Talk about lying down on the job! A Powerful Stance Game: Assassin’s Creed Freedom Cry VP Artist: @ col_96 I had to feature this shot, how often do we get a chance to see some Freedom Cry virtual photography. Fun fact: this shot was first published in April 2022, and went on to become a sensational meme……………….if you get a chance check it out. Comfort Break Game: Assassin’s Creed Unity VP Artist: @ FrameHoldPhotos We end this week’s showcase with Arno stuck in a prison cell with Bellec. We all know how this one plays out. I love how this shot catches Arno off guard, it’s like he didn’t know that camera was on while taking a pee. And that sums it up for this week’s Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out this week’s photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next week keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

This Week in Assassin’s Creed Virtual Photography: 7th to 13th August Community Share 15 Aug 2023 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Colum Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the weekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from The AC Partnership Program. Every week I will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. Aaron is a keen virtual photographer and loves to post his journeys through Assassin’s Creed on Twitter. Keep an eye on the site as more weekly shots are added, we are looking for captures across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture for a chance to be featured. This week’s theme: Team Light & Team Shadow From the Dark Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ PodToGo “You bested me. Yet, I am the one left standing” Basim is very much the focal point for this wonderful series right now. His origins story later this year is being greatly anticipated. If there was ever a character that embodies light and shadows it is him. I love how this capture gives the full Basim feel without actually being him. The use of his robes and the darker beard allows Eivor to cosplay the troubled Assassin. The lighting is terrific, highlighting just enough of Eivor to make him look like a classic Assassin. Hiding the eyes with the shadow is easily my favourite part, perfectly fits the theme. Don’t Mess with Me Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @ AkiraAoyama_VP “Order, Chaos…If Either Triumphs Alone the world dies” Kassandra epitomises the light, she is the brave warrior who fights for good. She isn’t an Assassin and her enemies are unlikely to find her working in the dark. For a character who lives longer than anyone else she remains dignified and grounded. I adore her expression in this shot, the eye glancing to the side is just perfectly timed. The sunlight glowing on Kassandra meets the theme but also signifies her godly status. The details are so good too, especially with the bow on her back. It a beautiful capture of a legendary figure in the franchise. Ghost of Wessex Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ _Liamism_ “If Hell is real, I’m glad you’ll get to see it” My excitement for Codename Red could not be higher, as a massive fan of Ghost of Tsushima I am really looking forward to Assassin’s Creed’s attempt at the time period. Eivor maybe a long way from a Samurai but thanks to an item pack you can at least dress her as one. I feel like this capture is a great insight into how Red could look, and the armour used for this shot is nothing short of stunning. Once again the lighting here is faultless. The fine points of this armour are highlighted beautifully, I love the colour of the hood with the dragon markings. Most impressive of all is the stance, demonstrating excellent timing with Eivor’s hand on the sword ready to draw. A glorious portrait that is clearly team shadow. Reach for the Stars Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @ G_Assassin90 “Earth, mother of all, I greet you” Although Kassandra isn’t a demi-god she is often seen as one due to her links to the Isu and in particular the spear of Leonidas. It is classed as the Spear of Eden and eventually ends up in the hands of Kassandra. This capture of her raising the spear into the air is gorgeously saturated to fit the #ACTeamLight theme. It’s fitting that she is wearing the ‘Wonder Women’ set too as it further solidifies that purity vibe. Everything about this shot signals hero, and I think we can all agree that is what Kassandra is. Link to set: Through the Fire Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ theonlyjess_vp “You wanted fire, well now you have it” Due to the political pressure in Norway, Eivor sails to new lands. Once in England she finds that it isn’t really any different, with both Saxon’s and Danes fighting over who will rule. For a Viking Eivor is very composed and knows when she must adopt the dark for the good of her clan. This black and white capture truly exemplifies both sides of Eivor. The hood and the cloak representing the Creed, along with the elegant shadow across her face. Then there is the glow of the flames sprinkling over her head bring Eivor’s scared face back into the light. The innocent flowers just in front of her also add a touch of light to balance this shot impeccably. Link to set: The Ones Who Came Before Photo of the Week Judge: Dave Rutter (@ dpruttz_vp ) ''The perfect choice of black and white in this shot. Straight away it puts the emphasis on the contrast of shadow and light, and is bang on with the theme. Great work and awesome shot by Jess.'' And that sums it up for this week’s Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out this week’s photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next week keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Compartilhe sua opinião Seja o primeiro a escrever um comentário. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

Futuristic Time Jump : Pitching an Assassin's Creed Game Share Written By: Edited By: Reporter Name Back To Database Could the 'present-day' be replaced by a futuristic storyline? TOWCB Team members Gargudon and Ubicypher (Rally the Creed #6 ) pitched the idea of transporting the modern day segments into the future. They noted that Ubisoft have always been extremely cautious about real-life current affairs, avoiding mention of wars or ongoing issues, even recently glossing over the Covid-19 pandemic by only referencing it in an in-game email. Dataminers uncovered an unreleased cutscene in the files for Assassin's Creed Mirage which featured a conversation between two Animus operators, discussing DNA found by Assassin Mentor William Miles. The pair refer to the 21st Century as 'Ancient History', suggesting that they are much further ahead in time The Evidence Canon In the Assassin's Creed Brahman graphic novel, Jasdip Dhami, a member of the Indian Brotherhood of Assassins encountered Abstergo Operatives wearing futuristic head gear, a mission to locate the Koh-i-Noor diamond (Piece of Eden) which ended in failure, and the deaths of Siobhan Dhami (Assassin) and Monima Das (actress). Jasdip returned in the Assassin's Creed Uprising comic book series (2017) by Titan Comics, continuing his search for the Koh-i-Noor diamond, this time representing the Instruments of the First Will after leaving the Assassins. This shows that technology which could be classed as 'futuristic', or ahad of its time still exists within the Assassin's Creed universe. The armour worn by Sigma Team in Assassin's Creed Origins (2017 ) is somewhat reminiscent to Predator, giving it an almost-alien-like feel. The team returned in the long-running Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple manhwa (online graphic novel), wearing the same outfit. Non Canon In the 'Assassin's Creed Visionaries' comic book series, issue #2 variant cover art by Moy R. Marco featured a giant Assassin robot, similar to a Transformer. The cover was created to showcase a short story within the issue written by Kevin Roditeli, titled 'Project Altair'. Synopsis by AC Wiki ''For the past two years, giant creatures have appeared at random to cause destruction, razing everything in sight and vanishing as quickly as they appeared with apparently no rhyme or reason for it. Humanity has finally developed a possible way to counter these monsters: giant robots. Atop a building, Minerva watches another monster attack. She removes her cloak and performs a Leap of Faith down into her giant robot, Altaïr-01. Her support team confirm that all systems are ready and, from the command chair, Minerva activates her plasma Hidden Blade and, with it, the machine. Minerva then maneuvers the robot towards the creature and engages it in combat, having Altaïr-01 strike it with its own Hidden Blade.'' Fan Content Over the years fans of the franchise have dreamt up countless possibilities for future projects, including a game set in the future. Seeing all the great ideas brought to life by artists makes us here at TOWCB wonder if it's only a matter of time before Assassin's Creed takes the leap forward in time Pitching a Futuristic Assassin's Creed With the difficulties that come with setting a game in reality, Ubisoft could commit to a time jump where Abstergo have finally taken over civilisation through technology, and the Assassins are fighting back. This could look very similar to 'In Time', or 'The Hunger Games'. Access the Animus released a really intriguing article (written by ) on the topic, piecing together a number of hints towards an upcoming shift in time. History is our playground simulation ultimately end with someone taking control over humanity, whether that be a branch of the Templars, such as Abstergo, the Isu returning, or something new entirely. cycle of comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author This is placeholder text. To connect this element to content from your collection, select the element and click Connect to Data. About the Author

Rally the Creed Episode 8 Released Podcast Share 16 Jul 2024 Written By: Edited By: Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon) TOWCB Team Back To Database Episode 8: Gaming Photography & The Music of Assassin's Creed In Episode 8 of our community podcast Rally The Creed, host Gargudon is joined by in-game photographer and video creator Armin, better known as Mentor Captures throughout the community. Together, the two talk photography in the AC community and its evolution in gaming overall, as well as the music and soundtracks of Assassin’s Creed; from favourite tracks, iconic composers, soundscapes, fan themes inspired by and more. Enjoy listening! Episode originally recorded 31st March, 2024. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment 分享您的想法 率先撰寫留言。 About the Author Gustav is an active community member who specialises in Podcast Hosting & Composing. By joining the program, he has had the opportunity to expand his audience and further his skills, even helping to revive 'The Memory Corridor' series, which had been offline for nearly a year. His unique skill set made him the perfect candidate for our AC Partnership Program, of which he has been a part of since it began back in 2019. He is known in the community for the Sounds Of History music project; an original instrumental project featuring five tracks inspired by AC, written and produced by him, and more recently, video interviews with Jesper Kyd and Lee Majdoub. Fun Fact: Gustav is the only member of our team to have a tattoo of TOWCB logo! Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon)

Quick-Fire Community Questions Round 7: Caleb Allen Community Interview Share 12 Aug 2019 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database For this round of Quick-Fire Community Questions, we invited Cosplayer Caleb Allen, the newest member of the AC Partnership Program. Caleb as Ren Faulkner, the Scottish Assassin Col: Hi there Caleb. Welcome to the series! Please could you tell us about when you first start playing Assassin's Creed games, and which one is your favourite? Caleb: I first started playing AC when AC:III was released. I heard the hype surrounding it and decided to pick up the first game and go from there. I've been hooked ever since. My favorite game has switched over the years, but currently my favorite is AC: Origins. It's an amazing setting, with a great story and fluid gameplay. Col: How long have you been cosplaying, and do you have any favourite Cosplayers? Caleb: I've been cosplaying for a year now, and a few of my favorite cosplayers are @ appalachian_assassin and @ annettabarbierithementor on Instagram. Both are fantastic people and they supported me when I first started cosplaying! Col: When creating Ren Faulkner, what was your main inspiration? Caleb: My inspiration stemmed from the lack of Scottish Assassins in the AC universe. The idea was just too cool to pass up, and I went with it. Col: Did you use many reference images to aid you in the production of your Scottish costume? Caleb: I only used a couple I found on deviantART, the rest came from my imagination. There's not many Scottish Assassins to be found online, so I went ahead and added to the roster. Caleb as a Levantine Assassin during the Third Crusade Col: How do you decide on a backstory for your characters, and are you looking forward to developing these further now that you're a member of the partnership program? Caleb: Absolutely! I love delving into the backstory of OCs. It's a fun challenge because I want to stay as historically accurate as possible, which is a bit hard since Ren Faulkner is a bit anachronistic. Col: How long does a cosplay project normally take from start to finish? Caleb: That depends. A lot of my costumes I've gathered from performing in the Sarasota Medieval Fair, so I had the kilt and shirt already from 2015. But making cosplays from scratch can take a bit of time finding and/or making the right pieces. Col: If Ubisoft were to include one of your characters in a future game, which one would you choose and why? Caleb: A Scottish Assassin's Creed game set in 1314 with the War for Scottish Independence! You could meet historical figures like Robert the Bruce and Walter Stewart, and explore the moors and lochs of Scotland. It would be such an awesome game and would bring the series back to its medieval roots. Col: Which is your favourite cosplay project you have done to date? Caleb: Ren Faulkner! It's what started my page and I've had the most fun working on it. Caleb as a Pirate Assassin Col: How easy/difficult is it to make an Assassin costume? Were there any challenging details or processes involved in creating the finished product? Caleb: With my three Assassin OCs so far, the most difficult was my Scottish one. Creating the look and putting together the leather pieces was a nice challenge. I think the shoulder belt was the hardest to get right. Col: Which part of one your cosplay projects are you most proud of? Caleb: The leatherwork I do for my cosplays is my strongest area. My favorite piece I've made is a full length scabbard for Ren's sword! Col: Do you wear your costumes at events, and what is the general response to them? Caleb: I've worn several of my cosplays to renaissance festivals and events! I've gone to METROCON twice now with Ren and people have loved it! Col: Do you have any future plans? Caleb: I want to make a Roman Assassin! Not Renaissance, but early Imperial Era. I was hyped for the rumors surrounding Ubisoft's next game, but since that's not happening anytime soon I want to make my own take on it! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Condividi i tuoi pensieri Scrivi il primo commento. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

Q&A with with Thibaud de la Touanne (Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice) Interview Share 10 Aug 2019 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Assassin’s Creed®: Brotherhood of Venice is a tabletop board game with miniatures aiming to capture the essence of Assassin's Creed® and turn it into a fun, fully cooperative game for 1 to 4 players. It is played in a campaign spanning several months in 1509 in which you play a small team of Assassins in charge of developing the Headquarters of the Brotherhood of Assassins in Venice, after Ezio Auditore has defeated Cesare Borgia and his allies, between the events of Assassin’s Creed®: Brotherhood and Assassin’s Creed®: Revelations. Players will use their Assassin's skills, equipment and their own sense of tactics to complete various objectives while evading detection from the Guards. The campaign will pit you against Templars, let you explore unknown events of the Brotherhood in Venice, and determine the fate of the Brotherhood in the famous City of Masks. Our Community Admin Col_96 sat down with Thibaud de la Touanne, Founder of Triton Noir, the Montreal based studio behind Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice. Col: Welcome Thibaud, thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. How are you? Thibaud: Working on the game’s development, so very good, thank you! Col: Fantastic. I understand you’ve been very busy recently. How would you describe the project, and how did it all start? Thibaud: Our first tabletop game V-Commandos was inspired by the fun gameplay of some famous stealth-based video games such as Metal Gear Solid, the Commandos series, and obviously Assassin’s Creed. As we thought about our next game, it struck us that the gameplay of V-Commandos could be a good inspiration for an Assassin’s Creed game. What’s more, our Story Designer Fabrice Lamidey was Creative Director of Assassin’s Creed Initiates. His knowledge was crucial to start developing the board game because he gave us a great insight on both the passion and diversity of the fans as well as on the way the universe and franchise work. Actually, a big part of the whole team has been into those video games for quite a long time, which makes it very easy and natural for us to develop an Assassin’s Creed board game. Having kept great relations with Ubisoft, it felt natural to talk to them about the idea of making Assassin’s Creed®: Brotherhood of Venice. Col: This is one of the first ever crowd funded Assassin’s Creed projects. How does it feel to know that it has been a huge success, and to see that over 7100 people have backed the project? Thibaud: We are very proud of such a success. With a license deal signed with Ubisoft Montreal, Triton Noir has been developing Assassin’s Creed®: Brotherhood of Venice for months. The first public demos and the campaign indeed received a warm welcome from both the press and the players. Like we said already, behind the new game, there is a whole team of veterans from the board and video game industries. To ensure a top-quality Assassin’s Creed tabletop game, we made the call to go on Kickstarter. Having financed the first development steps, we needed the support from the backers to make sure the project was to be fulfilled with all the cool stuff we wanted to implement – fans of the famous Assassin’s Creed® franchise, but also players who were convinced by our first game V-Commandos, and those who are into cooperative and/or infiltration games in general. Anyway, with thousands of people backing the projects on Kickstarter, we are the happiest board game developers! Thank you all for making it possible! Col: How has the development process changed since the financial backing? Has the project become more ambitious at all? Thibaud: We had very high expectations in terms of quality and quantity. We wanted to create a collector game. The campaign just allowed to do it as we planned. Well, that said, we could not resist adding some new features or improve some assets for the game… We also decided to rework some of the assets shown during the campaign, such as the tiles which were entirely redesigned, or Dariâ’s miniature. Col: How much freedom do the team in Montreal have over the creative direction of the project, and are Ubisoft overseeing its development? Thibaud: Ubisoft is working closely with us on every aspect of the game. We are checking every single asset, character, miniature use in the game, getting sure that everything is up to the Assassin’s Creed® standards. That said, the trust between our team and Ubisoft allows us to be creative too, which is, to us, very rare in a license deal. It’s a blast to work with those guys that have been friends for years, and former colleague as well! Col: Are there anyone individuals at Ubisoft who have really helped to make this project a reality? Thibaud: Yes, let’s give a warm thank you to Transmedia & Business Development Director at Ubisoft, Aymar Azaïzia! Col: The game has been available to play at several events. Have you had any feedback from fans, and has anything been changed/adapted at all? Thibaud: We definitely run tons of playtests during conventions since the game was ready to test, about 2 years ago. Quality Assurance playtests have been part of the video games development, and we work the same way. We get lots of positive feedback and the fans of the licence tell us that they find the spirit of the Assassin’s Creed® video games. This is great for us, but what we are looking for most of all are all the feedback allowing us to improve the game by any way (cards, icons, rules, etc.). Col: Does the game add new characters to the franchise, and if so, can we consider them canon in the AC Universe? Thibaud: Yes! The narrative set in the past, is canon with what happened during the Italian Renaissance and deals with the Brotherhood established by Ezio Auditore da Firenze. The narrative set in the present will also be canon and we are working on it now! Col As the miniatures all come unpainted, are the team encouraging players to paint them? If so, will guides become available on how to do this successfully? Thibaud: Definitely! Check out the awesome work of Angel Giraldez on Facebook and YouTube. He had our minis painted and the results are amazing! Col: You can see the intricate detailing of each miniature, and it’s clear that lots of time and effort has gone into making this project a reality. What’s the next stage of the project, and how are the team preparing for launch? Thibaud: All the minis sculpt are done now; it was a huge amount of work that required up to 7 artists. What they did exceeded our expectations! We are currently working the illustrations and tiles, designing the remaining Memories (missions) and cards, the Assassins hideouts, the rules and balancing these Memories difficulty. Launch is planned for June 2020, so we still have time to think about it :). You can now pre-order Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice! Links: Brotherhood of Venice: Facebook Page Twitter Triton Noir website Pre-order Kick Starter Giveaway Finally, to conclude our 5 year anniversary celebrations, we are giving you the chance to win an exclusive Follower of Romulus miniature figure from the Brotherhood of Venice tabletop board game! Ends 30/8/19 comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

Ubisoft UK Community Celebration Awards 2022 Photo Log (Jan 2023) Events Share 3 Apr 2023 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Back in January, I had the pleasure of joining fellow UK community members at an awards ceremony in London hosted by Ubisoft. It was such an incredible experience, and so nice to see content creators and fans of Ubisoft titles recognised for their contributions. Here are my photos (and a few others) from the event. This was by far one of the best events I have ever attended, so a big thank you goes out to Marcus and Neale from Ubisoft for hosting, and for inviting TOWCB members. We are so proud of our very own Lisa Zaman from TOWCB Art Team for winning the 'Artist of the Year' award! It was also a surreal experience to be nominated for the 'Editorial Piece of the Year' award, a prize deservingly won by the Let's Talk Assassin's Creed team. Huge congratulations to all the winners! The Afterparty comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment 分享您的想法 率先撰寫留言。 About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

Assassin's Creed Cast Reunion set to assemble voice talent from Valhalla and Odyssey News Share 19 Oct 2024 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) TOWCB Team Back To Database The team at Podcast141 have announced that an upcoming livestream has assembled a huge collection of Assassin's Creed voice actors who provided performances Assassin's Creed Odyssey & Valhalla. Magnus Bruun (Eivor) @ magnusbruun Michael Antonakos (Alexios) @ michaelantonakos Melissanthi Mahut (Kassandra) @ melissanthimahut Gudmundur Thorvaldsson (Sigurd) @ gthorvaldsson David Menkin (Dag) @ davidmenkin Aron Már Ólafsson (King Harald) @ aronmola Boris Hiestand (Rued/Fenrir) @ borishiestand Craig Burnatowski (Glod) @ craigburnat Mike Kovac (Krauser from RE4 Remake / Expert Host) @ fightmikekovac Marwen Heni (Host) @ marwenheni The show, hosted by Marwen Heni ( VenomSnake141 ), is set to bring together a total of eight actors who contributed performances to Odyssey and Valhalla, including three main characters, Eivor (Havi), Kassandra and Alexios, voiced by Magbus Bruun, Michael Antonakos, Melissanthi Mahut. We can't wait to see the cast re-enact fan favourite scenes, tell behind-the-scenes stories and answer community questions! Check out the stream which airs October 22nd at 12 PM PT / 8 PM BST: VenomSnake141 on Twitch comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Deel je gedachten Plaats de eerste opmerking. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

The Ones Who Came Before Spider-Man Logos Art Share 15 Dec 2022 Written By: Edited By: ActualSpider-Man Ashlea Blackett Back To Database The Ones Who Came Before has always aimed to make an impact on the web, but these new Spiderman inspired logos take it to a new level! Our new partner ActualSpider-Man has been getting creative with TOWCB logo, putting a unique spin on our classic silhouette hood insignia design. Let us know down below in the comments which one is your favourite! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment 分享您的想法 率先撰寫留言。 About the Author Author of the all-encompassing timeline, Codex Temporis, and the Isu-to-English dictionary, Codex Transferendum, Your Friendly Neighborhood Mentor is here to help unweave the confusing web of AC! ActualSpider-Man

Assassin’s Creed Virtual Photography: 2nd to 13th September Community Share 26 Sept 2024 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Renzo Back To Database Welcome to the biweekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from the AC Partnership Program. Every two weeks we will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. This theme has been run by the TOWCB VP team. We have been monitoring the hashtag and the community hub to see all your wonderful shots. Keep an eye on the site as more shots are added, we are looking for captures across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to #ACFirstCivVP for a chance to be featured. Theme: Assassin’s Creed Blade in the Dark Game: Assassin’s Creed Mirage VP Artist: @ saskiaemmischVP The Ones Who Came Before Photo of the Week Judge: @ CapturesByRenzo Renzo Saskia has recently become one of my favourite artists in the whole virtual photography community, and this shot proves why. During the last couple of weeks, she has consistently delivered so many breathtaking captures for this general theme, and this shot definitely stood out from the rest. This is a wonderful piece of art. I love the way the colours fade from brighter tones in the upper part of the shot to absolute darkness below the protagonist. In addition to that I want to compliment the composition, as well as lighting and the use of depth of field in this capture. Basim’s silhouette looks great with the sun behind him casting rays of light into the scene. In my opinion, this shot is a worthy winner for this general theme, and I want to congratulate Saskia for that. I am looking forward to seeing more of her work in the future. Aaron “I have faced my past. My pain. Embraced it”. If you think back to the release of Assassin’s Creed Mirage there was that standout image of Basim surrounded by the red smoke. For me this shot gives off the same vibes thanks to the gorgeous mix of light, fog and shadows. I adore how well the colours work creating an almost coffee glass approach. That warm orange hue is delightful, and Basim’s stance is so good. Basim appears to be rising from the darkness mirroring the split personality he portrays in the story. The shadows can often betray you but the one who embraces them will be rewarded. I really hope this isn’t the last we see of this complex character. Breathtaking Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @ WonDerNooB_VP Selected by @ _Virtualtourism “No man should pass from this world without knowing some kindness”. Assassin’s Creed is one of the video game series that is so much more than its title suggests. Yeah, there is the inevitable battle of good and evil, but it is the locations and landscapes that often have people coming back for more. Here we have a picturesque shot of the environment in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. There is so much to like about this capture with the wide range of landscapes bringing together contrasting colour tones. That snowcapped mountain with the birds in the sky is stunning, and the water with the reflection is ultimately the most impressive part of this shot. A truly spectacular photo of the Greek world. I am Vengeance Game: Assassin’s Creed Mirage VP Artist: @ PodToGo Selected by @ Falconswift87 “And as for those who thought to bind me…should any of them still walk the earth, I so look forward to our reunion. But until that day…a new world awaits”. I did not need to pick the quote this week, Pod did all the work for me. A chilling yet powerful statement from Basim as Assassin’s Creed Mirage concludes. I feel the black and white really works with this shot, as it resembles a fade out to the story. The whites of the robes really pop and the shadow work on Basim’s face is a dream. Like Pod I too enjoy using the Valhalla outfit at the end of the game. It seems fitting given we know where he is going. Plus, that snake on the arm shows the Loki side has arrived. A fantastic capture of a man focused on his path. Spirit of the Night Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ futurescreed Selected by @ TuridTorkil “Every land has its spirits.” The Glowecestrescire arc is excellent for spooky shots, thanks to the gothic atmosphere and the Mari Lwyd outfit. It then carries over nicely into the Irish DLC where the jump scares intensify. This portrait of Eivor wearing the skull mask and hood looks so intimidating. I really like how the colours look clean and rich. The skull with a sprinkling of light touching it adds to the dramatic effect. I think Eivor plays the role of dark spirit sent from Odin really well. With Halloween just around the corner this shot serves as great inspiration. Senu Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins VP Artist: @ Defalt368 Selected by @ TuridTorkil “May the gods smile upon you.” Senu is such a pivotal character to the Assassin’s Creed Origins story. Her connection to Bayek is deep and becomes somewhat spiritual with Senu reminding Bayek of Khemu. Senu rejoins with Bayek before he sets off on his quest for vengeance and becomes his close companion. I feel Josh has captured the elegance and beauty of the Bonelli Eagle. There is a softness to her look, but you can also tell she means business. With the trees and shrubs in the background it seems like Senu is a wild bird rather than a Medjay’s companion. And that sums it up for this Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out the photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next time keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

Interview with Magnus Bruun (Eivor in Assassin's Creed Valhalla) Interview Share 21 Dec 2020 Written By: Edited By: Colum Blackett (Col_96) Ashlea Buckley Back To Database To celebrate AC Day, we interviewed Magnus Bruun, who provided the voice and mo-cap performance for the male version of Eivor in Assassin's Creed Valhalla! Colum: Hi Magnus, thanks for joining us today! I'd like to start by exploring your Assassin's Creed journey. When you first auditioned for the role, did you know that it was for an Assassin's Creed game or a Viking related project, and was it always with the intention of playing male Eivor? Magnus: When I first heard of the project back in the spring of 2019, it was called The Black Wolf Saga and was an animated Viking series to be filmed in Canada. So when I made my selftape I had no idea what was actually going on, nor did my agent. It was first when I got the call back and the invitation to come to London for the audition that we found out that it was Ubisoft who was producing it, but we still didn’t know exactly what it was. So I flew from Copenhagen to London still in the blind, but when I entered the audition room and was met by Darby McDevitt and three other directors from Ubisoft Montreal it all became very clear. Also I originally auditioned for the role as Sigurd, but that changed when I got the call back and for my two days of castings in London I was auditioning for Eivor. Colum: What were your initial thoughts on the character? Magnus: I loved Eivor, such a great character to dive into. Eivor is stubbornly independent, honor bound, strong and adventurous but also a character dealing with a childhood trauma trying to find the way to a brighter future. Colum: This is the first time the series has split a character into both male and female versions. How did filming work, and did you take turns with Cecilie to film scenes? Magnus: I shot almost all of the cinematics for Eivor so we never really took turns, but we did shoot one scene together, though I really can’t talk about that one since it would spoil the game for the players who hasn’t completed it yet. I love the fact that everyone playing AC Valhalla gets to met and live as Eivor and that you as a gamer make your own choice to how and who your Eivor is going to be, so I think the character choice in the game is working very well. I also really love Cecilie Stenspil's acting and voice work and I think she did an amazing job with the character. Colum: How are you finding the motion capture, and do you ever get used to it? Magnus: I found the motion capture a bit weird an unsatisfying in the beginning because I just came from shooting two seasons of The Last Kingdom. On the big Netflix set in Hungary I had an army, was riding a black stallion, looking like a true Viking warlord in my armour with scars, full beard and face tattoos, and now I had to be clean shaven for the facial scans and HMC (head mounted camera) and my costume was a tight spandex suit with small dots all around, not very ‘Vikingy’. At the Alice Studios in Montreal there was nothing, or all most nothing. It’s an enormous room with green screen, a hundred cameras on the ceiling and four steady-cam operators walking around you, but there are no horses, the castle is made of boxes and when I jump over Yggdrasils roots (spoiler, sorry), it’s just me jumping over some big ropes and sandbags lying on the floor. So I had to cope with that, but after a few days it gave me a lot of freedom. In a studio like this everything is suddenly possible and from the moment I fully understood that, I embraced it and never looked back. BTW the people working at the Alice Studio were so professional and helpful and they made all my weeks of shooting feel great, adequate and very fun. Colum: Did recording during lockdown present any challenges, and did the team manage to overcome them? Magnus: I filmed my last performance capture in Montreal the day after the Danish Prime Minister locked Denmark down. Then I flew home and we actually managed to record all the rest of the voice overs without having any real difficulties, thank God! Talking about the voice work I have to give my utmost respect to my voice director Thor Bishopric. Working with him made Eivor come to life in the voice-overs and I have a feeling that we created the character together. I also want to praise Allan Beaupre our incredible voice designer, Sebastian Vaskio my sound technician ninja and all the other wonderful people working with me and Cecilie Stenspil during the hundreds and hundreds of hours we used in voice studios all over Canada, England and Denmark. There wouldn’t be any Eivor in this game without their tireless work. Never forget! Colum: Do you think that your time working on The Last Kingdom contributed towards any of Eivor's traits? Magnus: Portraying Cnut in The Last Kingdom definitely gave me a great deal of stamina towards playing Eivor in AC Valhalla. Though they are two very different characters, (one off them allegedly being being a villain) they are both Viking warriors getting more and more power and influence. Family and a home for their clan and their people are important to them and they are both very ambitious, but then it sort of ends there. Cnut being the unsung hero of his own saga, Eivor actually is the real hero of the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Saga. I shot my last scene as Cnut for season four of The Last Kingdom a week before I flew to Canada and started the first motion capture shoot as Eivor, so I was in the mindset of a Viking and had been it for more than three years, and that helped a lot. Colum: Which type of flyting do you prefer? Normal (insults) or reverse (compliments)? Magnus: Normal flyting with insults of course! Colum: Which missions were your favourite to shoot, and did you have fun working on the game? Magnus: My favourite part of the game is the main story with Sigurd and Basim and in details I think everything involving Fulke, brilliantly portrayed by Gaia Weiss. The four of us had so much fun shooting all the performance capture scenes and Gummi, Carlo (Gudmundur Thorvaldsson & Carlo Rota), Gaia and I had a blast in Montreal when we had any spare time. And YES I obviously loved working on the game and I love that it’s still not finished. I’m currently working on the DLC’s, Seasons and press for the game, so Eivor is still out and proud and doing all the dirty work. Also I made some great friends in Montreal and I don’t think I want to go back to my old life without Darby McDevitt and Alain Mercieca in it. Best damn writers, brains and lovely funny people I’ve ever met. Period. Colum: Do you have a favourite (non-spoiler) line? Magnus: As Eivor returns to his childhood home in Norway he says: ‘Home. Or it used to be home… Now it’s nothing but bone.’ And may I just add that I freaking love Norway in the game. It’s the most beautiful stunning place! Colum: Have you had much time to play Valhalla yourself? If so, are you focusing on story or exploration? Magnus: I haven’t been playing the game much since the release, but I’ve played it while we where making it. I’ve been watching some of my friends play it and I enjoy that a lot. The thing is that I know everything. I have read it all. Said almost all of it. So there’s no surprises. But when I’ll finally sit down and dig deep into it, I’ll plow through the main story so I can listen to my great colleagues work. And then I’ll go back to Norway and just explore. Jump from Island to island and enjoy the northern lights. AC Sisterhood graphic by Dylan and Sebastian Dell’Aria from The Mentor's Guild Colum: How do you feel the game has been received overall, and have you seen any of the fan content created to celebrate its arrival? Magnus: It feels like most people really enjoy the game and that makes me happy. Of course we can’t satisfy everybody but when millions of people are playing the game that’s always a hard thing to do. I heard there were people wanting Eivor to sound like Kratos from God of War, those people are hard to please. (BTW I love Christopher Judges voice) Back when we approached the character we wanted Eivor to be someone people would listen to, someone people would fall in love with, make alliances with someone to follow and genuinely like as well as be afraid of at the right times. We wanted to make a real human being with strengths and flaws. So if you are only looking for a bloodthirsty Viking, sorry, Eivor can be that, but not all the time. About the fan content and art. I freaking f****** love it! Keep it coming! Colum: One thing that was noticeable during the marketing campaign was the focus on male Eivor over female, contributing towards the creation of the AC Sisterhood movement. Do you have a message for fans picking up the game for the first time regarding character selection? Magnus: I believe that AC Sisterhood is a very important movement and I really think you should keep up the incredible work you are doing and keep pushing. Things are changing in the world and also in the gaming communities and the female representation will change for the better even though the battle sometimes feels Sisyphean. I’ll personally do what I can to push things in the right direction and you can always call on me for help, I mean that. When my Eivor arrives in England the first place I will go is the western part of Wessex. Here I’ll find myself an underground entrance so I for the rest of the game can show off some powerful tattoos with the most wonderful logo! And I think that you should pic the Eivor you want. It’s a great game anyway you play it. Cecilie Stenspil did a fantastic job with her Eivor and I did my absolutely best with mine. Whatever choice you make you can always switch whenever you play it or you can let the Animus decide. Just go with your gut feeling. I think I’m gonna give Female Eivor a go because I’ve been listening to my own voice for all my life and I know how I’ve said and played every single one of the eleven thousand lines Eivor has in the game, so for me it’s time for a change. But pick your poison it’s a good drink anyway you drink it. Colum: You recently attended the Assassin's Creed Valhalla launch event in Denmark, organised by the Ubisoft Nordic team. How was it? Magnus: Yes I did, and it was great. Drunk Uncle Covid has f***** up the entire planet at the moment, so obviously it wasn’t the launch we wanted, but we had a good time. I met a lot of fans of the franchise, talked about making the game and signed posters. When we get to the other side of this weird period in the world I really look forward to meeting more fans at conventions but at the moment it has to be online, sadly. We’ll prevail and when the sun shines again it’ll all be perfect. So wear your face mask and take care of each other then we’ll get to the other side faster. Meanwhile I’ll make you a second DLC. Deal? Cheers Magnus Look out for our Assassin's Creed Valhalla review, coming January 2021! We would like to thank Magnus for joining us for this interview, and to Kim Beacham and DMJ Consultancy for making it possible! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Compartilhe sua opinião Seja o primeiro a escrever um comentário. About the Author Col is one of the UK's leading Assassin's Creed Community members, and is best known for establishing both 'The Ones Who Came Before' fan community and 'Isu_Network' content creation program. As Team Leader for The Ones Who Came Before, Col was officially recognised by Ubisoft, becoming one the UK Assassin's Creed community ambassadors in 2016. He has attended many events after spending a decade in the AC Community, and has worked on countless projects, all of which you can find here on TOWCB website. He is also a former Ubisoft Star Player and member of The Mentors Guild, two recognisable community programs which opened doors and took his status within the AC Community to the next level. Colum Blackett (Col_96)

Assassin's Creed Art Reveal: Edward Kenway by Yasmin Page Other Share 17 Mar 2024 Written By: Edited By: Yasmin Page Colum Blackett Back To Database We are pleased to reveal this digital artwork by Yasmin Page (@ _MinPage ) created as a tribute to Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag. Last week, 10th March 2024 marked Edward's 331st birthday, so what better time to share this recreation of the original Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag Cinematic E3 Trailer which started the journey. The game has received renewed interest due to the disappointing launch of Ubisoft title 'Skull and Bones'. We love how Yas has depicted the smoky backdrop, created by canon fire. You can find more art by Yasmin Page on Instagram ( @ _MinPage ) or via the links down below. Instagram | ArtStation | Tumblr | Twitter comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Yasmin is a Digital Artist based in Melbourne, Australia who discovered the Assassin's Creed series in 2019. Since then she has fallen in love with the franchise and created beautiful realistic digital artworks of several of the main characters. By joining TOWCB, we hope to introduce Yasmin to the AC Community by collaborating on a number of exciting projects such as art releases and podcasts. Yasmin Page

Rally The Creed Episode #3 w/ Kyle Marvell - Hosted by Gargudon Podcast Share 6 Nov 2022 Written By: Edited By: Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon) Back To Database comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Condividi i tuoi pensieri Scrivi il primo commento. About the Author Gustav is an active community member who specialises in Podcast Hosting & Composing. By joining the program, he has had the opportunity to expand his audience and further his skills, even helping to revive 'The Memory Corridor' series, which had been offline for nearly a year. His unique skill set made him the perfect candidate for our AC Partnership Program, of which he has been a part of since it began back in 2019. He is known in the community for the Sounds Of History music project; an original instrumental project featuring five tracks inspired by AC, written and produced by him, and more recently, video interviews with Jesper Kyd and Lee Majdoub. Fun Fact: Gustav is the only member of our team to have a tattoo of TOWCB logo! Gustav Poulsen (Gargudon)

Assassin’s Creed Virtual Photography: 5th to 15th February 2024 Community Share 21 Feb 2024 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Colum Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the biweekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from the AC Partnership Program. Every two weeks we will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. This theme is all about celebrating our 100th article. It has been an absolute honour to feature all your shots over the last 2 years. The collection below is a small selection of our favourites from the last few weeks, with write ups from the artists. We look forward to many more articles in the future. Keep an eye on the site as more shots are added, we are looking for captures across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to #ACFirstCivVP for a chance to be featured. This week’s theme: Assassin’s Creed 100th Article All Father Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ Cll3ar The Ones Who Came Before Photo of the Theme ''When it comes to virtual photography, I aim to bring creativity and artistry to every shot. I enjoy capturing everything from dark, moody scenes to vibrant magical moments. Take for example this shot of Eivor (Havi) emerging from the red leaves left behind by a fallen enemy. I’ve been a fan of Assassin’s Creed for ages, and the photo mode features in the latest games have been a real game-changer for me. Allowing me to freeze moments and tell stories through my lens. The Assassin’s Creed community has been awesome, giving me the opportunity to showcase my work in articles and virtual photography magazines early on. This support has meant the world to me. Big thanks to everyone for letting me share my world with you.'' Judge: Admin Team Aaron ( FalconSwift87 ) “The realm is changed. But this is not Surtr’s doing. It is something more.” Assassin’s Creed Valhalla boasts a considerable section dedicated to Havi. When entering these mythical worlds, photography options become a lot more varied. On reflection I cannot wait to revisit them soon. This stunning landscape shot of Havi gives me real box art vibes, in fact it isn’t too dissimilar to what Ubisoft produced. I adore Havi stance as it shows him in pain, something he must endure a lot of during the Ragnarok DLC. The cold tones in the background fit beautifully with the Norse theme, reminding me of the Norway arc. I love the red leaves; they look so graceful fluttering up behind him. The remains of an enemy put to the sword by the High One. Turið Torkilsdóttir Raven has a distinctive way of utilizing the environment of a game. She combines pleasant colours and interesting scenery to create something unique every time. This photo is the best proof of it and well deserved first place. Kai ( KaiVirtualPhoto ) I’m a fan of Raven and her work with colours, and this shot makes no exception. I love the contrast between the red leaves in the foreground and the white/blue tones in the background. Eivor passing by with his eyes covered by shadows, as well as the cinematic aspect ratio, make for a magnificent picture and composition. Congratulations Raven. Jack ( _Virtualtourism ) Raven’s distinct style and perspective consistently yields stunning virtual photography across various games. In this image her talent shines through in her ability to convey motion within the image. The sense of Eivor traversing the scene is heightened not only by a great composition but also the vibrant red leaves, which are drifting through the scene, and helped by being excellently contrasted against the cold blue backdrop. Truly a breath-taking capture. Church Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ PodToGo ''Hi, I’m Payableondeath from Germany and I’ve been doing VP since 2015. I started just taking screenshots for me and my friends, but from 2017 with Horizon Zero Dawn, I discovered photo mode. I was impressed by everything I could do that couldn’t be done in real life photography, such as pausing the action and moving the camera or changing the time of day. I’ve loved challenging my creativity again and again. I got to know Assassin’s Creed back then with AC2. It picked me up during a difficult time and that’s not the only reason why it has a place in my heart. Assassin’s Creed also showed me to be open to foreign cultures and people. It is great to share my passion for both, with this wonderful community.'' Viewpoint Game: Assassin’s Creed Syndicate VP Artist: @ juanmawl ''I remember the exact moment I took this shot (along with others in that location). I was particularly fond of the WW1 sequence in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. I was experimenting with a free roam injector for the PC version of the game. I loved the colours on the horizon, and I decided to place Lydia at the top of London Bridge. I tried some unusual angles, but I think the shot turned out beautifully overall. I love virtual photography in general and Assassin’s Creed in particular because it allows me to capture the details beneath the visuals, such as short angle shots, expressions, or the tranquillity of a landscape. There is so much difference between the gameplay shot and the final outcome. That is one of the things I love the most, comparing the two. I’ve been honing my photography skills since AC3, and shots like this one make me fee proud.'' Restricted Game: Assassin’s Creed Mirage VP Artist: Siobhan from AC UK (@ mysticheero ) ''I’m a big Assassin’s Creed fan. I am part of the Assassin’s Creed United Kingdom group and former Mentor and Star Player for Ubisoft. I enjoy virtual photography and exploring the world of gaming through it, capturing scenes I find amazing and inspiring. I love discovering how changing colours, focal points and angles alters our perception of an image. Strong colours stand out and impact the emotion of a scene but, equally the lack of colour can have just as powerful effect. Assassin’s Creed has something for everyone, across all its transmedia sources. The community is a great place to express our love from different viewpoints. It’s always great seeing the community come together to share their passions, supporting and inspiring each other to be part of such an inclusive community.'' Under the Sea Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ RaffGN7 ''This shot was a little difficult to take. I had to centre Eivor with the ship, and Eivor needed to be closer to the camera because of the photo mode restrictions. I took some shots, and this was the one that turned out best. Obviously, it’s a little retouched in photoshop, so you can use it as a wallpaper or poster. My passion for this saga inspired me to take this shot. I call it Between two Worlds.'' Dracarys Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ Amaya_Nocturna ''This is truly an honour. This particular shot was all experimental. It was during my first time playing the Dawn of Ragnarok DLC. I was using Sýnin (with the dragon skin) to look for something, until I noticed the smoke from the chimneys. A lightbulb essentially went off in my head. It took a few tries to time it just right, but the result is something I am so extremely proud of. I would like to say that my virtual photography is still very much a work in progress. I am trying new things as often as possible, and I am trying to grow with it. Its like a traditional artist trying to have diverse styles. However, portraits like this are my forte. Virtual photography is fun and is another digital art form that we can explore. When it comes to Assassin’s Creed, I have to say that it is a great series. Personally, it has taught me that history is far more interesting than school makes it out to be. It taught me and continues to teach me history in a fun and engaging way. As far as the community is concerned, it is a place where I have met some amazing people and have formed lots of friendships. I continue to meet new people because of this fantastic series. I even met classmates who are also fans of Assassin’s Creed. I know the community isn’t always perfect, but I think we all need to remember that we are here for a mutual love of this game series. It’s a great community and we need to stick together.'' Tactician Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ 9b75 The good thing about Assassin’s Creed is that as an Assassin we can set the world straight. At the same time, we can get in touch with nature and the lives of the people who lived in that time-period. I don’t know of any other game where we can climb Big Ben, run freely around the Palace of Versailles, or stand at the top of the pyramids. It’s the best. I will continue to take photos of these great moments. I want to thank the community for featuring our work in this way. It is nothing short of a source of energy for us. Thank you so much. Surveying the Land Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @ cop_filip ''Assassin’s Creed is the first gaming franchise I ever got into back with Assassin's Creed 2 and it's also where my virtual photography journey started all the way back in 2017. These are the games I've captured and posted most, and even after all this time and all the different games I've captured over the years I still love coming back to them and capturing their beautiful worlds. I really love this series and I'm happy I can be a part of and contribute to the community. '' Anubis Game: Assassin’s Creed Origins VP Artist: @ zurullotarra ''I love doing virtual photography because I can explore my favourite games looking for beautiful places to capture. That way I can get lost in their fantasy worlds and forget about real life.'' And that sums it up for this Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out the photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next time keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

This Week in Assassin's Creed Virtual Photography: 19th -25th March 2022 Community Share 4 Apr 2022 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the new weekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from The AC Partnership Program. Every week, we will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. Aaron is a keen virtual photographer and loves to post his journeys through Assassin’s Creed on Twitter. Keep an eye on the site as more weekly shots are added, we are looking for capture across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to the #TOWCBWeeklyCapture for a chance to be featured. 1) Dawn of Ragnarok Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla This week’s first capture comes from @coalabr14 over on Twitter. Our first Dawn of Ragnarok shot to be featured. I am yet to play the DLC myself, however this picture inspires me to give it a go. I love the statue of what looks like Thor in the centre, with the steaming cauldrons either side. I am definitely getting God of War vibes from this. 2) Havi Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Photo number two comes from @Toringtino over on Twitter. Again I think this capture comes from Ragnarok, especially with how Eivor looks. This is a great portrait of the main man himself. He is fully armoured up and ready for battle, with a stare like that I would not want to get in his way. I really like how this shot showcases that epic beard. 3) The Revolution Game: Assassin’s Creed Unity This week’s third shot comes from @Zorik323 over on Twitter. A stunning black and white portrait of Arno. I particularly like how he is stood in an archway with the blurry background. The detail on the building in front of him is excellent. I am loving the pose more than anything though, classic Assassin. 4) Twilight Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP number four comes from @dpruttz_vp over on Twitter. This shot is too good. I love it when a portrait of the lead character comes off like this. It feels like a painting more than a game capture. The Twilight armour really is on show here, and the sparks behind Eivor just amplify it. Really enjoying the turned head look, showing off the eye patch, nice little touch. 5) Stones Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla The final capture of the week comes from @PodToGo over on Twitter. An amazing bird’s eye view of Aveberie Megaliths Standing Stones. There are so many of these picturesque locations in the game. What I adore about this shot is the camera angle, it really plays tricks on your mind. The white 8 with the stones all around looks very mysterious. And that sums it up for this week’s Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out this week’s photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next week keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Share Your Thoughts Be the first to write a comment. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Orlog Dice Game Review Reviews Share 7 Mar 2022 Written By: Edited By: Michael Smith Ashlea Blackett Back To Database Assassin’s Creed has been a staple for the modern gaming community with its mixture of stealth, combat, and story driven gameplay. Players are immersed into history via interactions with important figures and landscapes, giving a large world to explore and learn about alongside the Assassin vs Templar storyline. Within these worlds players are exposed to the art, language, and culture of each location from Ancient Greece to Victorian London. To better influence the player’s experience of being in the Golden Age of Pirates or Revolutionary America, the design team included playable iterations of historical games such as Liar’s Dice and Dead Man’s Morris. The latest example of this is in the 2019 release of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla where players were introduced to a new and original competitive dice game known as Orlog. Promotional image by PureArts Players are introduced to this game via protagonist Eivor and meet various characters across Viking-era England that challenge her to this game consisting of alternating dice rolls, resource management, and the power of the Norse Gods. A game that can turn its favor in an instant of luck and strategy. Orlog became an instant success with the player base as fans began replicating the game in the real world. This showed Ubisoft that they had an opportunity to create an actual version of the game and via the help of the gaming statue company PureArts this became a reality. In the Spring of 2021, an exclusive limited Deluxe Edition of Orlog was created. A combination of wood, metal, and linen were used to design a tangible game, of which a limited 500 units were sold within Northern and Southern America. This did not take long to sell through and those that were lucky enough to claim one (myself included) would receive one of the most unique real world replicas of a video game asset. However, fans from around the world who missed out on this purchase were upset that they were unable to buy this themselves and voiced their opinions across social media. With this spike of global interest, the PureArts team opened a Kickstarter to fund a retail version of the game for all fans regardless of geographical region. On July 13, 2021, the Kickstarter for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Orlog Dice Game was launched and within 35 minutes met its goal of CA $75,000. By the end of the campaign, a total 12,409 backers had funded the campaign for a total of 1.1 million Canadian, unlocking multiple stretch goals and enhancing the base game (for the Kickstarter) to be nearly identical to the Deluxe Edition that had been sold earlier that year. After a lengthy production process due to issues with materials, transportation, and the COVID-19 virus, PureArts began shipping Orlog to players around the world. I myself received mine within a few weeks of each other as they were shipped separately, the Deluxe Edition first and later the Kickstarter “Tavern Edition”, which included an exclusive resin replica of Eivor’s horn, used to call her raiding party as they invaded England. The game is played in three phases after a coin-flip to determine the first player. In the first phase, much like the dice game Yahtzee, players alternate rolling six dice and selecting dice to attack, defend, or steal God Favour Tokens (GFT's) from the opponent in the hopes of lowering their opponent’s fifteen stone health pool to zero. This is followed by the players being able to use their collected GFT's via gold bordered dice sides and stealing from the opponent to activate a God Favour Card (GFC's) that can deal damage, heal, or even duplicate the dice they rolled to give a better advantage in the round. Once this is selected and the priority of the GFC's is played, the players enter the final round, the Resolution phase where the outcome of their dice rolls are matched against each other in a battle of axes, armour, arrows, and shields. The player that has depleted their opponent’s health to zero is declared the victor. I played both iterations of the Orlog release with my family to compare the quality of the Kickstarter enhanced retail version and the Deluxe Edition. Gameplay was easy to explain with the included instructions and a variety of game modes to alter the difficulty of the game. Within a few rounds, my fiancée, who is not a heavy gamer, shared how much she enjoyed the game. I found myself surprised by my comparison and which aspects of each version I preferred over the other. So let's compare the Deluxe and the Kickstarter Editions as I determine which is the best Orlog release. Packaging To start, let's compare the boxes. The Kickstarter Edition was the standard Retail release of the game but with enhanced materials included (such as stones, tokens, and cards). The box itself has nice official game art and is themed to the Valhalla standard teal and black, detailing the contents of the game and a synopsis of how it is played; a traditional game packaging. The Deluxe Edition came in a carved, individually numbered (1-500), wooden case that shows the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla logo within an intricate etched border and secured by a metal clasp. There is no further information on the game displayed on the box as it is a designer piece. WINNER: Deluxe Edition - the beautiful wood box looks great on the shelf for collectors. Storage The Retail Edition has a traditional plastic tray that houses the materials of the game. Each area is designed to hold half of the pieces divided between the players with a shared coin in the centre, making distributing the game pieces quick and easy. The Deluxe Edition does the same but in a much more snug foam material. WINNER : Retail Edition - the plastic, while a lesser quality than the foam, is much easier to remove the components from, as it has space to grab the pieces, whereas it takes more time to remove the wood and metal pieces from the foam of the Deluxe Edition. Dice Bowls The dice bowls in the Retail and Kickstarter versions are made of plastic and detailed to look like wood. Due to the Kickstarter reaching a stretch goal of CA $575K, they were able to add a felt liner, as backers were concerned with the sound of dice hitting the plastic. While this is a nice addition, it is visible that the felt was not cut to size and looks poorly installed. The Deluxe Edition bowl is real wood and has a great quality but doesn’t appear as defined in the detail as it was carved by machine and not by hand. WINNER: Tied - While the wood of the Deluxe Edition is higher quality, the plastic bowl and felt liner have nice sound and feel when rolling the dice. I prefer the wood myself but wish it had the detail of the plastic. Coin The Retail Edition of Orlog will include a cardboard coin (not shown) to determine player order. Both the Kickstarter (after meeting the CA $200K stretch goal), and the Deluxe Edition have a metal replica coin designed after the Silver from the game. WINNER: Kickstarter/Deluxe Edition - The metal has a very nice weight and feel to it over the cardboard that I could compare from other pieces in the game. God Favour Cards In my opinion, this is the biggest comparison between the game pieces of different versions of Orlog. In the Retail Edition, the GFC's are printed on cardboard showing great detail of a carved wood design and a cheat sheet of what each god does on the back. For the Deluxe Edition, wooden GFC's are included to mirror those which are used in the video game version. Kickstarter backers were able to upgrade their GFC's to wood (CA $35) after feedback from the players influenced PureArts. WINNER: Retail Edition - While the wood is nicer than the cardboard, it is very hard to see the image of each god in the Deluxe Edition, and requires the use of the included detail card that shows each GFC and what it does. Being able to flip over the card and read right away what it does is a plus. God Favour Tokens Unlike the GFC', the tokens are instantly identifiable regardless of edition. The Kickstarter backers upgraded (CA $42) the Retail Edition’s cardboard tokens to the Deluxe Edition’s metal tokens. The only drawback to the metal tokens is that they have a finish to them that make them oily and hard to stack at times. WINNER : Deluxe Edition - While the finish can be annoying at times, the metal tokens are very nice and look great. I love clinking them like poker chips when I play. Dice Now this section isn’t as much of a comparison as both the Retail and Deluxe Editions of the Orlog dice are sold with the Bone Die option. With the Kickstarter, a stretch goal at CA $300k allowed backers to switch the base dice to a glow-in-the-dark option for free, or add them on at the end of the campaign for CA $15. However these dice though are difficult to read because of the golden borders. Alternatively, the green glittery dice or “Valhalla Dice” were sold as an add-on for CA $25. WINNER : Kickstarter - Due to the options available, the Kickstarter was the best way to get dice. My personal favourite were the Valhalla Dice. Health Stones & Rules The original plan for Orlog was to include cardboard counters to track the health of each player, however after the Kickstarter reached its first stretch goal of CA $100K, the counters were upgraded to the higher quality polished stones of the Deluxe Edition. This success also allowed the retail edition to be shipped with these stones. The linen bags with the Valhalla logo were included with the Deluxe Edition as well as the Kickstarter after its CA $250K stretch goal was reached. These are used to house the health stones in the packaging. All versions come with an Instruction Guide and God Favor Cards Reference List. Kickstarter Exclusive Items With the exception of the play mat that was included in the Deluxe Edition, the Kickstarter campaign for Orlog offered multiple items for purchase via stretch goals or included with the Tavern Edition. The playmat (55 cm x 86 cm) was expanded in size after the CA $850k stretch goal and sold (for those that just backed the base game or wanted multiple mats) for CA $30. This is a beautiful mat that feels fitting for the historical setting. The main draw for the Tavern Edition of the Kickstarter campaign, and the reason I decided to purchase the game after buying the Deluxe Edition, was an exclusive Horn Replica from the game. Valued and sold for CA $185, the horn made the purchase of The Tavern Edition at $200 great value for money. Its quality of resin, cloth, and wooden base not only look fantastic on my shelf but actually allow you to blow the horn and call your party to the table. At CA $400K a tournament bracket and Orlog Champion Coin (based on the in-game achievement art) were provided to all backers. Edition Winner The best value and version overall in my opinion would be the Kickstarter. Being able to upgrade the various game pieces on top of the Tavern Edition with the horn replica and playmat included, allowed users to have everything that the limited Deluxe Edition had except for the wooden box and bowls. This game as a whole is easy to play and easy to learn. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Orlog Dice Game can be purchased from PlayArts, Ubisoft, and various retailers. comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment 分享您的想法 率先撰寫留言。 About the Author Mike Smith is a collector of all things Assassin's Creed and a major supporter of transmedia who joined TOWCB as a writer from 2021 - 2024 With nearly a full library of Assassin's Creed media, his work explored the universe in order of Genetic Memory. Notably, his Assassin's Creed Timeline became an essential tool for fans of the franchise looking to complete their collection and consume AC media in a particular order. Michael Smith

Assassin’s Creed Virtual Photography: 20th to 31st January Community Share 22 Feb 2025 Written By: Edited By: Aaron Young Colum Blackett Back To Database Welcome to the biweekly virtual photography roundup hosted by Aaron Young from the AC Partnership Program. Every two weeks we will be picking our top 5 favourite Assassin’s Creed shots and showcasing them on The Ones Who Came Before website, in order to promote virtual photography and talented content creators within the community. This theme has been run by the TOWCB VP team. We have been monitoring the hashtag and the community hub to see all your wonderful shots. Keep an eye on the site as more shots are added, we are looking for captures across all Assassin’s Creed games. Tag your photos to #ACFirstCivVP for a chance to be featured. Theme: Assassin’s Creed Framed Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: @ cyriellevp.bsky.social The Ones Who Came Before Photo of the Week Judge: @ FrameHoldPhotos I love the frame within a frame technique used in this shot. The wooden window frames, the building in the distance, and the gentle sunlight casts gorgeous shadows on the landscape. The deliberate and artistic framing of this shot really makes it stand out as a stellar capture. Aaron If you like ornate carved wood with exquisite details or robust wooden architecture, then you should take in the wonders of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. I am very jealous that the development team got to study and visit all these amazing places to further enhance the experience of Viking life. This capture is so wonderfully framed, hats off to Cyrielle for pulling this off. The blur in the foreground is executed brilliantly, with just enough focus to see those amazing details. The elegant structure in the distance looks amazing with the sunlight bathing it from the left. I really like how the terrain rises, drawing your eye up to the spectacle in the centre. Through the Storm Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @ AkiraAoyama_VP The Naval sections of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey were bittersweet for me. I enjoyed how gorgeous the Greek world looked from aboard the Adrestia, and at times how satisfying the combat would feel. But ultimately, I am not a huge fan of spending too much time at sea. In this shot we can see how moody and unforgiving the sea can be. The storm has been captured superbly here with the eye lit up amazingly. That lightning bolt striking the sea is a reminder of Zeus’ true power in these lands. I've got to say that I really like the composition as it feels like we are filming this high-speed ship as it chases the storm. Capturing Ikaros following behind is a nice touch too. Jackpot Game: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey VP Artist: @ UnfazedVP Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is full of small details that are easily missed when focusing on the story. As virtual photographers we often see everything as we pan that camera around looking for something to shoot. It almost feels fitting to feature a shot of some pots in honour of Jack as this is our first article since he departed the team. I have had the pleasure of viewing Unfazed’s Assassin’s Creed VP over the last few years, and it’s been awesome to see how each shot has evolved and improved. This is one of those shots that showcases the development teams' efforts to bring these worlds to life. For me it’s all about the sunlight streaming through on to the pots. Definitely worth checking the set for this one as it works beautifully. Making a Stand Game: Assassin’s Creed 3 VP Artist: @ JLunarTraveler I always get excited when we pick a classic Assassin’s Creed game, as it's rare to see shots from these games. I really hope in the future we will get remakes/remasters of the old games so a photo mode can be implemented. This particular shot is so badass, it’s got those superhero vibes thanks to the composition. I love how the soldiers are stood across the road in formation ready to halt our hero in his path. The shadow from the trees really adds to the ominous presence of the Templar order. Connor’s robes look so good with the details really popping. Impressive for a game that is almost 13 years old. Eyes in the Skies Game: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla VP Artist: Carmo Fernandes (@ Raider_Warrior ) I could not really be any more excited for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, however I am disappointed there will not be a bird companion this time around. Not only is it great having eyes in the sky but you get such a unique view of the world. Plus, as a virtual photographer, the bird allows for a camera range I cannot get from the normal Photo Mode. Distinctive shots like this one are also a treat thanks to our bird companion. I have to applaud Carmo for her patience to achieve this photo. Lining up Sýnin with the longship is not an easy task. I love how the wings almost mirror the oars on the boat, and how both are traveling in the same direction. And that sums it up for this Assassin’s Creed virtual photography recap list! Thank you for checking out the photo collection. This would not be possible without the virtual photographers out there so a huge thanks to them. Until next time keep those shots coming in! comments debug Comments Write a comment Write a comment Compartilhe sua opinião Seja o primeiro a escrever um comentário. About the Author Aaron is a passionate Assassin's Creed fan who joined our AC Partnership Program as an Online Article Writer back in 2021 after the release of Assassin's Creed Valhalla. After building momentum and interest on TOWCB website for Virtual Photography, Aaron established TOWCB Virtual Photography Team, of which he is now Team Leader. Throughout 2024, TOWCB VP Team will be sharing community captures in dedicated articles, and providing a positive environment on Twitter for gamers to share their shots. Aaron Young