Antioch

**retep219** · September 19, 2009, 04:47 PM

Antioch. The Seleucid's ancient capital, built 1300+ years ago. It has thrived much since then, and is now one of the world's great cities. This map is not terribly historically accurate; I had problems with cliffs and not many sources, but it is decent. It is also designed to be extremely hard to capture.

Two overviews of the city.

Antioch's famed citadel, well-defended on mountainous slopes. It would be nigh-untakeable....if it actually did anything!

A view of the Orontes river, which guards Antioch's west edge. You can see a fortified island in the middle. I would have put more buildings, but then pathfinding across it would have been impossible...

A view from atop the island, taking in the city's northern "suburbs."

The city's southern "suburbs". I wish the game would build on slopes instead of terracing.

The walled city of Antioch.

And there you have it. I designed Antioch to be very hard to capture. All the gates are assailable...but it is difficult to actually get an army to the gate. Stake walls were abused in order to limit the mobility of the attacker. I think I may have overdone it, but there is no way to test the AI that I know of yet. Just remember: if you want to assault Antioch, bring a spy or artillery....

**Meister Röhrich** · September 19, 2009, 05:01 PM

Man, your speed is amazing, but Antioch looks yet a bit too "fantasy-style" due to all this cliffs

Btw, do you also build on MTW2? Could some parts or features not show up if ported to Kingdoms like boiling oil? I changed my mind, I think we really have to solve this issue with siege battles first, there are too much variables!

**retep219** · September 19, 2009, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by DerÄrzteFan

Man, your speed is amazing, but Antioch looks yet a bit too "fantasy-style" due to all this cliffs

Btw, do you also build on MTW2? Could some parts or features not show up if ported to Kingdoms like boiling oil? I changed my mind, I think we really have to solve this issue with siege battles first, there are too much variables!

Yes, I build with vanilla MTW2 as well. Those cliffs...well...there is no solution. If I want a reasonably accurate Antioch landscape, I need the mountains. And unless I want completely empty, boring mountains, I need to put buildings, which create cliffs. I hate that 'feature'.

We do need to solve the siege battle issue. My attempts to mod the descr_battle have all failed miserably. I'll need professional help...

**Meister Röhrich** · September 19, 2009, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by retep219

Yes, I build with vanilla MTW2 as well. Those cliffs...well...there is no answer. If I want a reasonably accurate Antioch landscape, I need the mountains. And unless I want completely empty, boring mountains, I need to put buildings, which create cliffs. I hate that 'feature'.

We do need to solve the siege battle issue. My attempts to mod the descr_battle have all failed miserably. I'll need professional help...

I'll give it a try again tomorrow, if it doesn't work (what I almost expect

) we have to ask professionals like the guys of TATW.

**retep219** · September 19, 2009, 05:12 PM

Originally Posted by DerÄrzteFan

I'll give it a try again tomorrow, if it doesn't work (what I almost expect

) we have to ask professionals like the guys of TATW.

You are right...I didn't even think of them. We probably should ask around that forum.

**romy** · September 19, 2009, 05:46 PM

you're a driven man , nice work!

**Hengest** · September 19, 2009, 06:42 PM

it may be possible to assign some buildings likke the citadel some defesive value, like missiles etc

**retep219** · September 19, 2009, 06:55 PM

Originally Posted by Hross

it may be possible to assign some buildings likke the citadel some defesive value, like missiles etc

That would be VERY interesting if it could be done...it would add a whole new level to city defense...but I have nowhere near that level of familiarity with the game code.

It's definitely not a priority, though, in my opinion.

**Monarchist** · September 19, 2009, 10:03 PM

Wow, my poor CPU will die when it sees this in-game.

**sithlord447** · September 19, 2009, 10:41 PM

wow all of these cities are fantastic! great job guys

**Basil 11** · September 20, 2009, 04:50 AM

A nice map; however, have you tried adding churches / cathedrals as opposed to all mosques? Antioch had a predominately Greek Orthodox population at the time - in 1080 in DOTS it is still in the hands of a renegade Byzantine/Armenian (I forget) general.

**retep219** · September 20, 2009, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by Basil 11

A nice map; however, have you tried adding churches / cathedrals as opposed to all mosques? Antioch had a predominately Greek Orthodox population at the time - in 1080 in DOTS it is still in the hands of a renegade Byzantine/Armenian (I forget) general.

I haven't actually put any mosques INSIDE the city, though I might swap a few of the outside ones for churches.

**Basil 11** · September 20, 2009, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by retep219

I haven't actually put any mosques INSIDE the city, though I might swap a few of the outside ones for churches.

Good idea - that would create a nice variation.
Thanks for answering my questions.

**Cochus1** · September 21, 2009, 07:10 AM

But the antioch citadel was in the city not out...

**retep219** · September 21, 2009, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by Cochus1

But the antioch citadel was in the city not out...

I know, but putting the citadel in its proper location would screw up the AI to kingdom come.

**Meister Röhrich** · September 21, 2009, 04:44 PM

In addition it's not possible to place any building models inside city walls without getting CTDs afterwards testing them I fear!

**retep219** · September 21, 2009, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by DerÄrzteFan

In addition it's not possible to place any building models inside city walls without getting CTDs afterwards testing them I fear!

I'm not completely sure about that...the original Ani worked fine with buildings inside its walls. It all depends on luck, really, I suppose.

**Meister Röhrich** · September 21, 2009, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by retep219

I'm not completely sure about that...the original Ani worked fine with buildings inside its walls. It all depends on luck, really, I suppose.

Yeah, I'm also not sure, I've just cleared all the placed models in Tyre and Acre and they worked, on the other hand did the same in jerusalem and Baghdad, but they still crashed, it could have s.th. to do with "overwriting" the automatically generated buildings by loading the battle, it's an annoying mystery!

**Ozzmosis** · October 27, 2009, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by retep219

Antioch. The Seleucid's ancient capital, built 1300+ years ago. It has thrived much since then, and is now one of the world's great cities.

Very great job, it looks amazing!

a little bit of trivia, though: modern Antakya is hardly a great city, after the collpase of the ottoman empire, the syrians wanted it, the new turkish government wanted it and the mayor of antakya wanted it to be independant. in the 1930s though, the the turks walked in and took it with no resistance. However, since then it has not really developed much and is but a small town.