Following the success of the Dominion Of The Sword mod for M2TW, mod leader Ross Downing has proposed a concept for another ambitious mod, this time for Empire. The mod will bring to life a post-apocalyptic future, a world in which the aftermath of a cataclysmic global war has pushed civilization back to the standards of the 18th century.
A dark mix of Orwellian dystopia, dictatorship and propaganda, twinned with First and Second World War imagery, dominates the concept materials. They outline a global battle for supremacy between the 13 surviving factions, factions which are loosely based on degenerated versions of current world powers.
Currently the mod is still in it’s initial stages, and the team say they are keen on recruiting new artists and modders to help with it’s development. “Hopefully 1:13 can nurture some up and coming talent,” says Downing. If you would like to get involved, the team can be contacted on this thread over at Total War Center.
After seeing the promo videos for ourselves, the team here at ETW Unofficial are definitely very excited, and look forward to more news from the 1:13 camp.
old TEASER TRAILER MOVIE:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
WARNING: This mod contains graphic real-life images from the Great War and the Second World War that some people will (and have) found offensive or disturbing. Do not watch the video if you are likely to be upset by such things.
NOTE: The images or work in this mod are not intended to disrepect, belittle or take advantage of the war victims in any way. I personally have a great respect for the soldiers of the world wars, this mod only underlines the brutality and tragedy of conflict. The fact that I use artistic license and not make a mod specifically based on the Great War (or any other real historical war) is in itself to avoid personal issues I would have with that. I felt that making a mod based on a possible extension of our present actions -global warming, WMDs, terrorism, aggressive capitalism etc was in itself making a moral point and artistic warning. I am sorry if others don't see it that way.
SIGS & BANNERS
Sigs:
Avatars:
By FiletOfBaby
By SGT Grimm 978
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is 1:13 about?
-Basically 13 factions each with a semi-historical atmospheric identity. It's a fictitious mod set in a post-apocalyptic future. The ideas are based on the imagination of the mod team.
Is it historically accurate?
-No it's a fictitious mod.
What about research?
-Research into relevant sources of inspiration such as the world wars can be useful, but in the end imagination is the major force in the mod.
So what are the factions like?
-There are brief presentations on the factions below
What time period is it set in?
-It is set a few hundred years in the future. Our civilisation dies out around now and after a a period of regeneration there is a major war, the Zonewar, after which there is an era of peace and reform which is when the mod starts. Ready for war and revenge again.
What kinds of units can we expect?
-It is very early to be able to claim to mod very much in ETW yet, but if we assume that CA will release unitmaking tools, or that unitmaking will become a reality, then there should be no real limits. Our units and technology ideas are not too crazy, no rocketpacks or lasers. The majority of unit types will be similar to world war one styles. We envisage, grenades, gas attacks, mortars, rockets, cannons, automatic fire, flamethrowers, landmines... many of these things are already in ETW we just have to refine their abilities and appearance a little. There are some mod proposals here that are planning spaceships and lasers but all we are thinking of is basically changing the appearance of the musket-firing units- in theory it is not impossible to imagine that we can mod this soon.
If it's post-apocalyptic what about radiation? Will there be mutants?
-No not mutants or zombies. No aliens, monsters or mechanised spiders either. Just human survival and the drive of cultures and social groups to use politics, religions, hierarchies and law to fuel individual versus altruistic visions. There will be nuclear fallout and pollution, we hope, there will be contamination zones and even epidemics of diseases. The nearest idea we have to anything like mutants or zombies is an idea for an extreme disease across the map that will effect all factions - a plague. More about that later.
Will the map be based on Europe?
-No the map will be based on the planet as a whole after severe climate change and apocalyptic wars. Expect something very new and surprising.
What about the campaign?
-Again, it is just a dream until CA gives us modding tools to be able to make maps and a very different campaign type. We have so far discussed releasing the mod step by step, based on fronts or warzones. The main plan is to release a basic custom battle mod first, showing units and the battlefield with the kinds of weapons and tactics we want. The battlefield should look very different from the current ETW world of green grass, farmlands and fine buildings.
What will battlefields be like?
-Ideally we will see some variation between deserts and tundra, but minimal greenery/vegetation and a great deal of urban areas, ruins and the ability to constantly use cover to block direct fire. The battlefield will hopefully be key to making this mod work. We envisage the atmosphere being created specifically through dark and unnatural skies, crater-blasted landscapes and something you'd expect to see in old photos of Stalingrad. Debris, smoke, fog, chemical smog, contaminated rivers, industrial complexes and acidic wastelands...
If we can do it we would like to see artillery bombarding bunkers and heavy machine guns set up in ruins as snipers and assault units move through cover. Barbed wire and obstacles will be constant and intrinsic to the gameplay. We hope the AI will use the battlefield intelligently, although since we know from experience and common sense that this in unlikely, we have already considered giving the AI a number of abilities that the player would lack on the battlefield- such as the ability to deploy bunkers and defences, in this way the AI will set up immediate defences and cover for itself without having to 'think'. For the player meeting an unseen enemy in a complicated detailed battle environment, the AI will seem surprisingly placed and literally dug-in.
My experience with mods such as Dominion of the Sword has led me to think of ways to let a game's limitation work FOR a mod and a player. It really depends on your imagination. Since the mod won't have to worry about working for years forcing the game to represent perfectly the world as it was in World War One, or in the Star Wars mythology, we can adapt our ideas to represent what we know is possible.
So far the kinds of points we have responded to-
fougasse
grenades
quicklime
puckle guns
canister
Religions?-Yes there might be religions, but it's likely that they will be changed to represent say political types. It is too early to discuss many details about a potential campaign.
***Please avoid questions about the campaign, that we cannot answer yet without knowing what we can mod. We will try and focus on discussing units, factions and the vision of the battlefield.
Some Work In Progress flags for some of our 13 major factions>
Example of Japanese faction units>
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
More multi-media plus a full background story presentation coming soon
Major Factions are WIP Factions with @themes, currently sit at:
Eisenreich @Nazi Germany
Greybitten Isles @British Empire
Jidai @Shogun Japan
- @early Communist China
Belotzarstvo @Imperial Russia 'Vostroyans'
Eurosia @Renaissance Venice
Arania @Persia
Archangel (under wraps)
Syama Khmer @Viet Cong/Siam
Confederation of Survivor States @US
Nordia @Scandinavia
Mwene Overlordship @Medieval Congo
Cuantioso Unidad @Central American/Hispanic
Partisans of the Red Dawn @Revolutionary Russia 'Valhallans'
Last edited by l33tl4m3r; September 25, 2010 at 03:25 PM.
This mod looks very promising, if I can get past the ridiculously bad naming for the factions.
Arkangel?
Crescent?
Greybitten?
Really? And the faction flags need a lot of work too. I wouldn't tell you to get anyone to do them for you though. Most of the fun of modding comes from being able to make those sort of things yourself.
Still.
Last edited by Kennylz; March 11, 2009 at 04:26 PM.
Since it's in the future, the names are often based on the devolution of language, contractions etc Great Britain= Greybitten, America= Amega etc. Sorry you found it all so ridiculous, feel free to give constructive criticism and suggestions
What I like about this potential mod, is the fact that technology could have taken a step back, and brutal open field battles and very believable. I would be willing to write a little for this mod.
What I like about this potential mod, is the fact that technology could have taken a step back, and brutal open field battles and very believable. I would be willing to write a little for this mod.
Devolution of the language? Can you point to an example of this ever happening in history? As long as people are not across the board mentally hindered by whatever chemical, nuclear attacks that have happened I am sure that they can remember at least the name of the place they live. I think going with more rational names would lend more credibility to the atmosphere. It would feel better to me if I was playing as Great Britain. Communion of the Great (British) Isles. It has an ironic tone because nothing is too great about them anymore. Greybitten just strikes me as trying too hard, and any minute Morrowind will launch a naval invasion.
Crescent is a bad name for the Muslim superpower. Despite the fact that Muslims do not identify with the symbol in a linguistic manner, but only as a very simple visual cue, no self respecting Nation would call themselves some characteristic of their emblem. It would be like the American nation calling themselves "Stars and Stripes."
If they are crazy zealots they would name themselves something that denotes that they follow 'x' religion utterly. A brutal Theocracy. Not just a shaped object. It would be a Caliphate. You could do some research and find some information regarding Jihad and get creative. I give it to you that the religion would have devolved a lot by then, but a religion can never devolve so bad that in the end they just follow an icon with no idea whats going on at all. They would just be zombies, and therefore wouldn't really work in a TW game.
All I'm saying is that you have a very cool, surreal setting with a big group photo of people in gas masks, and children playing war, but it is offset to me once you get into the names and locations because it seems like the surrealism dissipates and starts taking itself all too literally.
If you want to discuss it further PM me. I also do some graphics work and have very mild modding experience. I did writing, research, testing, and checking scripts.
Last edited by Kennylz; March 12, 2009 at 12:53 PM.
Since it's in the future, the names are often based on the devolution of language, contractions etc Great Britain= Greybitten, America= Amega etc. Sorry you found it all so ridiculous, feel free to give constructive criticism and suggestions
Have to agree here, language devolution is not a too far fetched premise, seen Mad Max 3?
Tho i have no experience in the programming or modding side, if i can help with this i would be more than willing (ideas/voice acting/drawn concept art)
Kennylz, I'm still having a problem understanding your point. You are reading a lot of reality into something which is sheer projected fantasy. My idea was that I wanted a loosely recognisable culture for each faction, I thought the name would have some devolved element in some cases.
I take your point about Greybitten and Crescent being too obvious though, if that's what you mean. I haven't done developing the icons or names yet, but I'm glad to receive some feedback and refine the concepts.
Devolution of the language is actually a highly frequent occurrence in linguistics. Contractions and the loss of meaning of loanwords etc happens all the time. A lot of languages do this when borrowing from say English for instance. I can think of about ten instances in Swedish alone. Anyway, it's supposed to be a game.
Why Gothika as the badman? The point is that all the factions are supposed to be totalitarian nutcases -in the style of '1984', not just the 'Germans'.
This looks interesting. Will be keeping an eye on this thread.
"Altså, det er jo sådan mere inden for de, for de, inden for murene, så det, vedkommende der, og æhhh, altså det... det" - Kronprins Frederik af Danmark
1:13 (post-apocalypse) with movie
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Re: 1:13 (post-apocalypse)
Originally Posted by Sharpe
