Page "Shogun: Total War" Paragraph 17

As development progressed, 3dfx video cards began to proliferate amongst consumers, leading the Creative Assembly to move the game from 2D to 3D computer graphics.

Initially sceptical of the results of using 3D graphics, Simpson was surprised when a 3D rendered landscape turned out to be feasible for gameplay.

From this point, the game began to turn away from being a simple low risk product to something more substantial ; the camera view was moved from the traditional real-time strategy top-down perspective to the position of the general on the battlefield.

As this limited the extent to which the player could see across the battlefield, this fundamentally changed the nature of the gameplay.

To accompany this, the game took on a more historical approach for its units and tactics.