All Under Heaven - A Medieval East Asian Experience - Preview #2: Emperors, Monks, and Ninjas; Viewable Now!

[Augustus Lucifer]

AUH

All Under Heaven is a total conversion modification for Medieval II: Total War - Kingdoms focused on the power struggles of the Far East on the eve of the Mongol Invasions; produced by Augustus Lucifer and Yelü Dashi.

Overview
Features
The Team
Media

Overview

All Under Heaven takes the game and transforms it into a Medieval Asian setting, in a period on the eve of the Mongol invasions of Asia, where the entire continent is about to be thrown into a period of warfare which will shape its history and determine the autonomy of many sovereign nations. In All Under Heaven, you may choose to control one of 15 nations from the start date of 1171 A.D. to the end date of 1271 A.D., with four turns in each year, meaning a total of 400 turns of Medieval Asian goodness. Hundreds of new units, buildings, events, traits, ancillaries, and other features will bring the mystique and splendor of the Far East into your home.




At All Under Heaven, our goals are threefold. First, we want to create a mod that is fun to play. Playability is very important to us, we want to insure that the player enjoys every moment of their experience of AUH and comes away with a new reason to pop in their copy of Medieval 2 from time to time. Second, we want to create a mod that conforms to a degree of historicity and respect for the cultures we seek to represent. Asia is an exciting continent with a very long and rich history, and the Mongol Invasions in particular were one of the most turbulent times in not only their history, but the history of the world. We want to create a game which will teach the western world more about the eastern world and hopefully kindle interest in furthering their knowledge of the region and the times, and give our audience from the eastern world a game which they can feel sufficiently represents their culture. Third, we want to have fun doing it. If a mod is not fun to make, then there's no real point in making it. The end product will hopefully be something that appeals to many users, but in the end we're creating this mod because we want to play it.




The year is 1171 A.D. Chinggis Khan, the man who would come to inherit the lands of the known world from the Pacific to the Mediterranean, has come of age in the steppes of the barren north. A series of military campaigns over the next few decades will set the stage for invasions on a scale that the world has never before born witness to. It is a time of much turbulence throughout the land, with power changing hands and again being consolidated in many of the great nations of Asia. The Jurchens, who overthrew the Liao and established the Jin Dynasty less than a century prior, have recently signed a treatise of peace with the Han Chinese Song Dynasty to the south. Peace is a curious thing though between civilized folk and non-, and the conniving Chinese ministers may spin an illusive tapestry of lies to surreptitiously invalidate the agreement and plunge the two empires into war once more. In Korea, the nation of Goryeo has recently undergone a coup d'état, and is now under military rule with the King in exile and a figurehead on the throne. War rages in Japan as the Minamoto and the Taira clash for control of the land after the downfall of the Fujiwara Regency and the Heiji Rebellion. Tibet has no central ruler after the death of Langdarma and has dissolved into many squabbling dissident factions. In Indochina, a tentative peace has been signed between the nations of Dai Viet and Champa, which may lead to a combined assault on the Khmer. From the west come the Khitans, seeking the land they lost be returned to them, and the Ghurids, who may have designs on the lush lands of the east after consolidating rule over northern India. The continent is in turmoil, and a strong leader could unite all of the nations under his hegemony, if he can stop the raging tide that will come from the north.

Features

New map with over 165 new regions in the Far East.
~ Rebel factions are largely non-present
~ Each faction has many cities, from a minimum of 6, to a maximum of 32!
~ Map size makes field battles the preferred form of combat, especially in the steppes

Re-vamped map textures bring your game to life.
~ Fertile areas feel more lush
~ Foliage appropriate to the region

All new cities, forts, generals, and agents add to the immersion.
~ Over 50 new structure models
~ Over 100 new agent/general models, including faction leaders and heirs

New strategic points make controlling the key areas of your empire even more important.
~ Certain key cities have cultural importance
~ Supply lines and populations can be cut off if regional points are enemy controlled
~ Powerful sea ports control the sea lanes

Two huge navigable rivers make conquest and control of China interesting.
~ Transport troops inland behind enemy lines
~ Cut off supply to the region by blockading the Yellow River

Ports and the trade routes to the west play a significant role in any economy.
~ Land trade with India hinges on control of the passes south of the Himalayas
~ The Silk Road carries eastern goods to the west and provides significant income
~ Sea trade with the middle east is controlled through the Strait of Malacca




Fifteen diverse factions throughout Medieval Asia
~ Goryeo
~ Jin Dynasty
~ Song Dynasty
~ Kara-Khitan Khanate
~ Kingdom of Dali
~ Mongol Khanate
~ Khmer Empire
~ Tibetan Kingdoms
~ Dai Viet
~ Xi Xia
~ Taira Clan
~ Minamoto Clan
~ Kingdom of Champa
~ Pagan Kingdom
~ Ghurid Sultanate (emergent)

Six New Cultures
~ East Asian
~ Pacific Asian
~ North Asian
~ Central Asian
~ Indochinese
~ Middle Eastern

Five New Religions
~ Theravada Buddhism
~ Mahayana Buddhism
~ Vajrayana Buddhism
~ Tengriism
~ Daoxue




Hundreds of new units from rank and file militia to warrior monks and tribal warbands.
~ Elite units are now much more precious
~ Different regions have different effects on your unit roster
~ Unique units only become available in certain circumstances

New administrative policy system changes the way you think about managing your empire
~ Your policy determines the buildings you can commission
~ Significant benefits and penalties come with each policy

Challenge factions represent a unique sense of adversity to the player depending on which faction they choose.
~ Minor oppositional forces can cause major damage
~ Every campaign has different adversities

Changes in the way we look at win conditions means there will sometimes be other ways to win than conquest.
~ Regional dominance can bring about faction specific victory
~ Peace and the maintaining of traditional borders along with cultural development can also bring about victory

Existent buildings like the Great Wall of China, The Grand Canal, and Heian Palace provide incentive to control those regions.
~ Every region has a story to tell
~ Control of a number of settlements that share a unique distinction can grant major benefits

Famous figures of the time wander the world providing prosperity wherever they venture
~ Schools of thought can be founded in your settlements
~ There's a chance to convince these figures to stay and provide even greater prosperity

And much more...




New interface to reflect an asian setting.

New splash screen, menu, and loading screens insure you never leave the far east until you press Quit.

New event pictures, ancillaries, buildings, unit cards, and more...

The Team

Yelü Dashi ~ Team Leader - Artwork
Augustus Lucifer ~ Team Leader - Textwork

danova ~ 2D Art and Media
RollingWave ~ Lead Researcher
Himitu(??????) ~ 2D Art
GrnEyedDvl ~ Scripting
B. Ward ~ Art and Consultation
Chaghatai Khan ~ Researcher
DerDiskusWerfer ~ Text work/Skinning
el_bandito ~ Researcher

Various Researchers




Charge ~ Map Textures Mod (Temporarily)
xeryx ~ XAI
gigantus ~ Mod Folder Elements
alpaca ~ Mod Folder Elements




Recruitment Status: Open
Preferred Form of Contact: PM Augustus Lucifer

Available Positions

Historian
2D Artist
Text Descriptions

(Note: Besides the listed positions, we will also accept help in other areas from experienced modders who know what they're doing and would like to contribute. The key here with helping in areas we are otherwise not requesting help in is proven experience. This includes Coding, Scripting, Modeling, Skinning, Mapping, etc., we don't need help currently in these areas, but we will not turn it down from valuable modders.)

In the future:

Text Translation
Voiceovers
Sounds Production Manager
Music Composer
Video Creation Engineer

Job Descriptions

Historian

Experience Requisite: No experience is required, just a general interest in the period we seek to address.

Your Job: The gathering of research material and interpretation of material into in-game equivalents. Raw research has to be of extreme quality if the researcher cannot also help convert it into game equivalents. Stagnant researchers are common and will be removed from the team if work is sub-par or lacking in investment.

2D Artist

Experience Requisite: Skill with GIMP or Photoshop in the creation of original 2D Art.

Your Job: Produce pictures to accompany events, buildings, ancillaries, officer/agent portraits, loading screens, and other manner of 2D Art. May also involve skinning, but main focus for 2D Artists is in the miscellaneous 2D Art of the game, rather than the units.

Text Descriptions

Experience Requisite: Comprehensive grasp of the English language.

Your Job: Take information provided by Historians, coders, and artists made into short descriptions of units, buildings, events, etc. and extrapolate and lengthen this into a proper in-game textual description, using both comprehensive facts and flowery rhetoric. Essentially you only have to be able to write about the information and provide comprehensive descriptions, and submit them, and they'll be added into the game after quality/facts check.

Media

Preview Scroll One ~ Faction Mini-Preview: Taira Clan and Minamoto Clan
Preview Scroll Two ~ Emperors, Ninjas, and Monks




Courtesy of AUH Team



Courtesy of [user]sud commander[/user]





More signatures and userbars coming soon!

If you would like to create signatures or userbars in support of the mod, you may contact me and they will probably be added here for others to wear around.