The Silver Shield - 5th Edition

**y2day** · November 29, 2009, 05:00 PM

A Letter From the Editor

Happy holidays TWC! A time of celebration, family, and giving is upon us. With that in mind The Silver Shield has enjoyed bringing our TWC family another edition. With Thanksgiving here and Christmas on the way we hope you take the time to look at our newest edition. Some changes have taken place since the last issue. Armatus our founder has taken a break from guiding the Silver Shield and I y2day have taken the helm. I would like to take this time to thank Armatus publicly for the vision he had, the determination he shown and the hours he contributed to make the Silver Shield what it is today. Which is a fresh look from local moderators at the TWC communities. The Silver Shield has become an official Total War Center publication! What does that mean for you the reader? Nothing really

. We will continue to do our best in bringing news from the local communities. We have a new writer this month. Sübü'ätäi who patrols the forums of the promising super mod Dominion of the Sword. When Sübü'ätäi isn't working hard contributing to DoS he is busy in the Graphics Workshop. He is a talented contributor in that forum and that is what he shall cover with his monthly installment of "A Graphic State of Affairs". We are also trying something new with a Classifieds section for all of those Mods looking to hire. Now enough of my rambling, fix you a plate of those Thanksgiving leftovers and enjoy reading the Silver Shield. We have another great edition this month!

y2day

5th Edition Staff

Editor/Group Moderator y2day
Group Moderator Armatus
Art Director Tzar
Reporter Rebel6666
Reporter Nazgûl Killer
Reporter Sübü’ätäi
Reporter |Sith|3|DarthWarman88
Reporter Nakharar

Contents

Claimants, Heirs and Conquerors

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Hi there,

Fellow Silver Shield readers, let me present to you an upcoming mod created by a member that has just learned how to mod, I must say that I'm surprised and happy for him as he has done great work.

"Claimants, Heirs and Conquerors" Created by (Druvatar)

Beta Version information:

- New map
- New music + loading, menu screens
- This is the first release and hopefully soon I will release 1.0 but now it is still very playable

Details:
- Start date 1375

- This mod is about Southern Europe just before the dawn of the renassaince,
the focus is on more localized and provincial domination even if the map is extensive,
spanning from western Italy, southern France, all of Spain and to Northwest Africa.

- 14 factions

- 10 playable

The mod will also contain new and completly unique loading and menu screens as well as new and unique loading, menu and Campaign music

The playable factions will be:
Genova
Le Chez` Burgun
Le Chez` Bordeau
casa de Navarre`
casa de Barcelone`
Caliphate of Tangiers
Sultanate of Tunisia
Malikate of Murcia
Casa De Leon Castilla
Vatican offices of greater Spain

There will be four invasions one by HRE into Burgundy another by the Kingdom France into Bordeau and Portierres then Venice on Genova and finally Portugal on Southern Spain.

Interview with the Creator:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Q-1: Hi Druvatar, for starters could you present yourself to our Silver Shield readers?

A-1: Well I am a grad student that lives California, but I am originally from N.Y.C. I am 38 years old. My interests are varied and I try to derive some value out of whatever it is I am engaged with. I'm disabled from an anuerysm I suffered in 1992, so most of my proclivities are of a "mental" nature, such as modding. My goals via school are to eventually work with indivduals who are disabled, help them develop their skills which will enhance their independance. Give them a greater meaning, purpose to live a good and normal life.

Q-2: Why or what made you want to create a Mod for M2TW? Why Claimants, Heirs and Conquerors as the name of your modification?

A-2: First, because I love mtw2 and I'm the kind of person who needs to put a "personal stamp" on anything that interests me and takes up my effort. I chose (CHC) Claimants, Heirs and Conquerors because I think it articulates my focus for this mod being more localized and provincial but yet still challenging and dynamic.

Q-3: What is the point or the objective(s) of your Mod?

A-3: I want this mod to give the player a feel of what Southern Europe was like just before the Renaissance. Like the nice feeling you get in the morning when your half awake but still interacting with yours dreams: your in a fog but you feel the clarity coming .

Q-4: What special or unique features that you think your Mod will have compared to all the others Mods out there?

A-4: Well many, first I have scripted many historical events and designed the factions to give a more cultural representation of themselves rather than a pure focus on military attributes.
It' a completly new map, The using in my mod of the Northern Africa and the Southern France are not as barren as in most mods.

Q-5: What do you think from your Mod will attract players the most?

A-5: New factions and an new economic design for the player enable him to get rich, unlike other mods your where your population becomes happier when you grow and expand not the other way around , which for me doesn't make sense!.

Q-6: With the Beta version now out, what are the most common feedback that you have received as off yet and what will or did you do to address them?

A-6: So far I received very positive feedback, aside for technical bugs. What I will do is simple; make changes, yes this mod is "my vision" but it is a vision I choose to share so input is paramount!.

Q-7: Referring a bit to my previous question, do you now understand better game developers from the way they feel receiving comments, feedback and critics directed at their work?

A-7: Yes of course that is why like them, I have decided how to manifest my ideas about the game.

Q-8: At what stage do you think your Mod as progressed (in %)? How much work have you already put in?

A-8: This question really cannot be answered in quantative terms I have put in a lot of work,hours and hours for now my goal is 1.0 and I am rather close to that! But it will not be a "finished project" in no terms because I am already visualizing 2.0,3.0 and so on.

Q-9: By seeing the evolution of your work when do you think your first final Version 1.0 will be out and how much more time / work is still needed to have a final version out for players?

A-9: I would say a polished 1.0 should be available by Christmas.

Q-10: We all know that a Mod isn’t made by one member, could you give me the names of the ones that really help you and what they actually did?

A-10: Most importantly, GiGantus in his constant stewardship and guidance also he set me up with the "original" mod folder when I new barely nothing about making a mod. Everyone in the mod workshop who diligently helped me find the answers I needed such as Caesar Clivus, Augustus Lucifer, Swagger, IrishRon and many others too numerous too name. IVIark21 who did all the faction symbols for me.
GOGO T from Bulgaria total war 2.0 who gracsiously let me use the "Latin Empire" for Genova.

Final comments from the creator:

This mod (ChC)Claimants, Heirs and conquerors focuses on southern europe just before the dawn of the renaissance. It will include unique new music, events, economic parameters and overall gameplay to give the player the impression of the european experience after coming out of the dark ages and travelling towards the light that would be the renaissance. As said before the "twilight before the sunrise"

Thanks
Druvatar

"Note: To view screens below in a proper format just click on them."

Map and in game map Screens:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

The First Pop-up screen players will see when starting a new campaign:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Menu screens:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Loading Screens:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Historical Events Screens:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Islamic Bride Offering:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Regards
Rebel6666

A Graphic State of Affairs

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Welcome to a Graphic state of affairs. A frank observation of the goings on in the Graphics Workshop; where I usually reside, if I am not in the Dominion of the Sword, or A Proper Empire: TI forums.

Introduction
I am Sübü’ätäi, named ominously after the great Mongol general, who was strategically in charge of the conquest of the Russian steppes and Eastern Europe, as well played a key part in the conquest of Xia and the Jin districts in China. In his long career as a general he had suffered only one defeat that is confirmed. There was a raid against the Volga Bulgar that ended in defeat but it is unlikely that Sübü’ätäi was actually in command of the smaller raid. At the ripe old age of 70 he was summoned back to China to complete the conquests started there. Why Sübü’ätäi you may ask. Well I read. I read a lot. I usually have about 6 books on the go at any one time. And way back, years into the past, back to junior high (grades 8-10) we had 'reading break' and I had a book that I had just finished the day before. Since I did not feel like reading it again the next day, I asked a friend what he was reading and he handed me his book cause he was also reading something else. As it turned out that book is one of my favorites to this day. It was written by Dan Dandrea and the title of the book was "The Snow Warrior". It is 90% pure fiction but it keeps in line with the historic architecture of the Mongols rise and subsequent conquests of Central Asia and of China and the Eastern European campaign. It, as you may have guessed, follows a young man by the name of Subedai Bahadur (Sübü’ätäi) through his teenage years to that of the aged general. That book was the sole reason I have developed a keen interest in the ways of life and of war on the frozen steppe.

I have a great passion for history though I am no historian and I love art; the freedom it gives the spirit and, the joy it grants in allowing you to create beauty. I have been an “artist” since I could hold a pencil, ask my mother. In my late teens I left art behind to pursue most things males of that age chase; women. And through the years I have lost some of my skills, due to lack of use, and scarred by years of technical drafting. But I aim to regain them and that is how I ended up in the Graphics Workshop. I am still only a mediocre Photoshop & Gimp user, though the pictures I paint in my minds eye would blow even one of the great masters away .
So welcome, and thanks for the opportunities here to those who need thanking , and lets move on to the Arts.

Regards, Süb

News from the Front

Tzar has stepped down as GC manager, apparently he is having more fun giving out infraction points! Giovi has stepped back in as manager, welcome back il mio amico.

Registration for Intermediate and Advanced Gimp Course now open, Classes start Dec 9. Register HERE.

Abbews and LuckyNinja will most probably be running a photoshop basics course, Check it out HERE.
Remember you can harass the artists of TWC here, and get a new signature as a reward.
Keep an eye on this thread.

Graphics Workshop competitions a month in review
GC #44 [Superhero] Oct 25 - Nov 1
The winner of which was Fev with a rather spectacular animated sig about Wolverine. In my opinion the only thing that fev could have done to make this sig better would be to have added a shine effect along the blades. Nevertheless it is a great piece and well deserving of the win.

IMAGES ENCLOSED
WINNER

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Runners Up

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Runners up in that comp were both Lolgast's wolverines sig and my Batman sig.

GC #45 [Magic] Nov 1 - Nov 8
Maяcel, proved his mastery of the dark arts with this beautiful piece of work. Only thing I could comment on is the lack of colour, and that would only have added to his arcane abilities.

IMAGES ENCLOSED
WINNER

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Runners Up

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

GC #46 [Lord of the Rings] Nov 8 - Nov 15
Louis Lux pulled this 'precious' picture out and has received a bronze medal for his efforts.

IMAGES ENCLOSED
WINNER

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Runners Up

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

GC #47 [Music] Nov 15 - Nov 22
Thanks to the voters on this one. It was a quick submission but it turned out not bad. I think it was the content and not the actual art that one this one.

IMAGES ENCLOSED
WINNER

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Runners Up

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Other Art Items
Congrats to Giovi for the November wallpaper win. The theme was the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius on the 1st of November in 79 AD. Giovi once again spewed forth this very nice piece of work. LINK

Welcome to the Graphics Workshop!
Lcd Soundsystem gallery. New to Gimp a very abstract style, but does show promise. Sig #10 is a good start my friend.

Tokus' 2D Workshed. Tokus is a proven artist just take a look at his stuff. Tokus has been a member of TWC for long while, but just recently opened his gallery.

Panman's Workshop. Penman has some good pencil work, keep at it mate.

Blackomur's workshop Looks pretty good mate. Keep it up.

Darius' drawings Darius is off to a nice start, and shows good potential.

Noodles boredom Photography and a mushroom fetish

There has been it seems quite a surge this past month in the GW. There are many new galleries opening up. A lot of paper artists of late which is nice to see. I should find my old sketch books.. (thinks there in the rents basement somewhere)
If I missed you and you feel you need mentioning in the next issue PM me with that request.

The Spanish inquiry
A quick glance into the mind of an artist. Shall we remove the layer mask?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Q: While you are fairly well know inside the Graphics workshop please; if you don’t mind give us some back story on yourself.
RB - Well, there isn't that much to tell really. I'm an 18 year old high school student from Belgium. I'm currently studying mechanical techniques. For those who are interested it involves big machines! I plan on keeping up my studies to become a Industrial Engineer with a side study in CNC operated machines.

Q: What brought you to TWC? And what brought you to the GW?
RB - I discovered Medieval 2 about a year ago. I quickly got hooked on destroying civilizations, pillaging and murdering. It was not long until I got Kingdoms to enrich the experience. After installing it the only joy I had from the game were the constant crashes. That's how I found TWC and after roaming the forum for a while there was a question to which I found no answer. So I registered to ask my question, to my delight my question was quickly and thoroughly answered. After that there was a hiatus in my activity, which disappeared after the CTD's (Okay you can scrap this but CTD is the right name for crashes, no? ) returned. This return was enough to get me hooked on TWC, it lured me back in and wouldn't let go of me. Shortly after I discovered the then unreleased mod Third Age : Total War and it really interested me. Because the mod wasn't released yet there wasn't much to do but talk about it. Tolkien discussions, what we were expecting to be in the mod, etc... And like I said before there was also a thread for requesting signatures and I was amazed at the beautifully pieces of art being crafted there. I still remember Fereveldir (He goes by "Fev" now.)and Louis Lux, there were more but my memory is not something that can be counted on. Anyways, my first few signatures were a real disaster, a soar to the eye. Someone (I can't remember who.) gave me a link to the tutorial section of the Graphics workshop. The other workshops were very impressive and the competitions looked very interesting. The theme at that time was [Party] and I decided to enter. To my surprise and delight my first entry was also my first win. After that I was hooked to the GW and never left again.

Q:I noticed that recently you have become a Content Writer and Librarian, congrats on those moves up the cursus honorum, which internal publications do you write for? What chain of event conspired to bring you to here? (please provide links to works)
RB - My first experience with writing here at TWC was an AAR called "The Rise Of Venice?". It wasn't the greatest one ever written but I had some positive comments nonetheless. I also enjoyed the Critic's Quill very much and after reading it for a while I inquired Fergus about being part of the team. I was happy when I was accepted and by issue VIII I was making my first contribution to the fine review section. Now I have been contributing for a little over 3 months and I'm still enjoying it very much.
My position as Librarian came to me as a surprise. A while ago the Scriptorium was looking for new members and although I didn't meet up to the standards required, (I had active infraction points) Pontifex decided to give me a chance. We had a few run-in in the past so I wasn't really expecting it, but he did nonetheless. I was exited about this and determined to make it work.. And it did.

Q: I just finished reading your AAR what happened you kind of let it die out?
RB - I lost the save to the game. I tried to continue it as you can see by the last update without pictures. This didn't really work out to my liking so I decided to start a new one.. But that never happened. I had a lot going on back then and when my personal life freed up a little I got my spot with the Critic's Quill so I concentrated on that. I do plan starting a new one soon, so keep out an eye for me!

Q: How long have you been working with Photoshop/gimp? What drew you to it?
RB - I only started with Photoshop after my arrival here at TWC. I would say about 5-6 months now. It all started in the TA:TW forum, it had a thread for signature requests. My dad had a copy of Photoshop so I decided to try and help people with their request. My first tries were horrible off course, but it got better over time.

I remember that comp, you had the Daft Punk submission. It was a good one. You have come along way since then.

Q: Are you naturally artistic, can you pick up a pencil and create magic? And if so do you find it easier or more difficult to do graphic arts?
RB - I can draw a little as you can see by my drawings in my workshop but I'm certainly not an artist. I prefer to work with pictures and manipulate them to make something nice. My artistic peak passed by in kindergarten I'm afraid. I can visualize what I want but I lack the skill to make it myself from scratch.

Q: How do you approach making a signature? Eg: someone has requested one with just a descriptive outline. I imagine the visual process is quite different than that where the user has supplied images, (I know it different for myself)
RB - It depends from request from request. Sometimes an image pops into mind but sometimes I must browse the internet for pictures before I get inspired. But that doesn't mean that the signatures were an image pops up are always the best because I find it harder to make them in fact. This comes from having a certain view for it but no resources as I can't draw everything myself. So I have to find pictures but it's extremely hard to find to right pictures.
If someone provides pictures I always ask how he wants them arranged because I find it hard to work with images that I didn't pick. It lacks my .. hmm.. How do I put this.. my touch, if you catch my drift? But I always try to make them as good as I can, effort is always put in my signatures and it always a slap in the face when they don't like them. I don't take it personally but it's kind of disappointing.

Q: If you had to pick one past signature or competition entry which would it be, and why?
RB - It would either be my very first one [Party] or my the [My Art] entry. These two would be my favorites because they involve my main passion. MUSIC! Music is so essential in ones life, just try to imagine a life without music.. It's impossible.

Q: You have made mention of TA:TW do you play others?
RB - I don't play as much Total War as I used too. The few times I do play it's either Stainless Steel or Third Age. Both are mods made by King Kong, I really love that guy. I'm currently having loads of fun with an English campaign were I had to save the French (Duh.. ) from the Moors and having an all out war with them. I use the 6.2 sub-mod which increases the difficulty a lot. So it's a war with a lot of heroic victories but also crushing defeats. My king has just died yesterday while defending a city from 4 stacks of Moors. Quite epic.

Q: Right now you are not a mod member; do you plan on changing this in the future?
RB - I have tried to work on mods, I really have but I don't work well when I have to. Even when there is no time pressure I just lose the drive to work. I have been on 3 mod teams so far and the longest that I held out was a few days. I lack a serious attention span. I'm still interested in working on mods but I'm not sure that I am capable of doing so.

Q: Is there anyone in the TWC Graphics Workshop that you look to, as a standard of quality?
RB - There are many great artists in the GW and if I have to say a name of who's best (as I had to with the Forum Competition) I would say y2day is the best. But it isn't him that makes my give that extra bit of effort. That would be Abbews, he and I have this sort of competition going on as who can create the best signature. All in good fun off course as Abbews has become a great friend of mine during my time spend on-line. I sadly I have to say that he has surpassed me in Photoshop skills. I still remember him being kind of a newb (not noob) at it but he has grown so much over a short time. So if I have to say who I look most at as standard it would be him.

Q: Lastly, is there any advice you can give to people who are taking thinking of learning Photoshop.
RB - Practice, practice and fun are the essential keywords in becoming a Photoshop artist. There are loads of tutorials all over the internet, also here in TWC you can always find some good ones in the GW. Abbews and I are even working on a Photoshop class for in the University. Also if you can't have fun while making signatures it might not be for you. It makes things easier and you will be more motivated if you're having fun.

Dank u wel RatBag!

Nazgul Killer's Modification Previews - This Month - All Under Heaven

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Art compliments of Tzar.

After the birth of the astonishing Broken Crescent, few modifications dared challenge its legacy and generally did not approach the Far East in their modifications - But now, this has all changed.
A new rival to the Broken Crescent legacy has arisen, All Under Heaven. The modification, lead by the talented Augustus Lucifer and the resourceful Yelü Dashi, seems to be growing in quality and popularity by the day, and will probably grow to one of the greatest mods this community has ever seen.

With new events and buildings, this mod promises an amazingly different and diverse atmosphere and a very attractive look to it, Japanese styled buildings and messages, amazingly done cities, settlements and other kind of buildings... Needless to say, it looks better by the day.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

All Under Heaven appears to focus on the Far East, before and during the Mongols invasion of Asia, you will have to take hold of one of the Eastern factions and rewrite history, using the full arsenal of their weapons, that are, as all Medieval 2: Total War fans and veterans know, are not to be trifled with.

With the team apparently very enthusiastic about this modification, playability seems to be a very big part of its development, whether that means better AI, eye candy or improved gameplay - I don't think anyone will complain.
Above all of that, this modification will probably be a very good chance for us Shogun veterans to reminisce and enjoy a Medieval 2 engine playing a Shogun-like game, along with that it will probably be an opportunity to learn more of the history of the Far East, and with that enrich ourselves in ways we never figured.

The more I look at the previews of this modification, the more my excitement towards its release grows. In a relatively short time span, the team managed to spring up two amazing previews; The Faction Mini-Preview - Taira Clan and Minamoto Clan and the Emperors, Monks and Ninjas preview. To add to the growing excitement, the more I look at the previews, the more this game looks like Shogun to me - Shogun, a franchise starting, blockbuster classical game which most Total War veteran remember for the better - And Shogun in a Medieval 2 engine cannot be a bad thing.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Needless to say, I'm quite anticipating this modification, for many, many reasons. If this proves to be what it promises to be - We will probably be looking at the heir of the Broken Crescent legacy, or it will be the starter of its own legacy. Either way - I am positive this modification will be a whopping success.

I would also like to add that the growing fan support of this mod seems rather astonishing to me, the fans provided the team with excellent artwork and unbelievable signatures, avatars and banners, including KingTheoden's amazing work shown in the spoiler below.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

With all that said, I now have my interview with AL (Augustus Lucifer) to give you all some more information about this modification and how it will play out - I don't think you will be disappointed!

Art compliments of Tzar.

This time I'll be interviewing Augustus Lucifer, a renowned citizen, active member and helpful technician of this site. He is also a co-leader of a rather famous modification, All Under Heaven.

Hey AL - Would you care to tell us, what is the modification about?
I think I've captured the focus of our mod best in the information thread, so I'll paraphrase that -- All Under Heaven takes the game to Medieval East Asia, in a period on the eve of the Mongol invasions, 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. More specifically the mod starts towards the end of the 12th Century, during a time of relative peace, which would all change over the course of a few decades.

In Japan the Genpei War has just begun and two clans vie for dominance and a change to the administrative systems which would breed the events of Shogun 400 years later. The Indochinese nations of the south are coming to the end of a cultural renaissance that brought about such wonders as Angkor Wat, and are clashing in a series of minor border conflicts which could escalate under the right conditions to full-scale war. Korea is under military rule; Tibet is fractured and lacking a national identity; The Khitans are seeing their power wane in the central steppe; The Song, Jin, and Xi Xia are all participating in a grand interwoven diplomatic tapestry with constantly shifting alliances and proxy wars. And to the north, the Mongols are beginning to stir. A man by the name of Temujin has come of age and is gearing up to unite the fearsome warriors of the north under one banner, transforming them into the unstoppable juggernaut we know to history.

This... is... TOTAL WAR.

Sorry, where was I? Planet Earth, right, thanks. It might seem like this is a setting that favors Mongol onslaught and will be very Mongol-centric, but that's not really the case. While the Mongols did make a name for themselves as some of the greatest conquerors in history, the nations they conquered were anything but pushovers. Their conquests weren't quick or easy, it took them 20 years to conquer the Jin Dynasty and another 30 to triumph over the Song. It's never as simple as Total War games make it out to be, and this is no exception. We're hoping to represent all of the political and economic factors which underlie the military situation, but there's only so much we can do when the name of the game is Total WAR.

What are your guidelines? I mean, what do you work by?
We want to have fun, that's the bottom line. If that means we have the Tibetan salamander cultists which grow to 19 feet tall and shoot lightning out their arses, fighting Tungusic reindeer axemen, so be it. We're not making a fantasy mod and we really do want accuracy, but at the same time we don't suffer complaints about historicity, especially when the matters are trivial or add to gameplay. That said we have a continuous call out for historians to help flesh out the mod, since I fancy myself a rather terrible researcher, just can't retain any of the knowledge I read on it, too dry. And we also realize that our mod will likely be the only representation these peoples and this period gets in the TW community, so we want to do good by the descendants of those people, making sure our game does the time and place justice.

If you want it more specifically, I guess you could say we're a 'historical gameplay' 'total conversion' modification. Aesthetic value and gameplay take precedence over history, but are both derived from history. We don't say "Hey, you know what would be good? If the Mongols employed Ogre Bunny Throwers." Well, I do, but they usually tell me to go sit in a corner. But if our units aren't perfectly period accurate in the eyes of the world's leading historians, then that's tough shite. Our artists have the final say on whether historicity inspired changes fit with their vision, and the period we're working on leaves a lot to the imagination.

At the same time, Yelu does a particularly admirable job at finding reputable sources and deriving his work from them. Our researchers have also gotten us some pretty good material for a great number of the factions. Most notably we're in a special collaboration I won't elaborate on yet, which has given us access to University material on the full 3D reconstruction of the Khmer Empire. This will probably make it into a future preview, so don't want to spoil the thunder!

Do you aspire to make this somewhat similar to the franchise-starting Shogun in any way?
Well I'm someone who can say that I joined the series with Shogun back when it came out and have bought every game since. I do have really fond memories of Shogun, but I've tried not to go back and play it again, since it seems like the game would be better in hindsight, and I don't want to tarnish that with a conic view of modern graphics capabilities. So in answer to your question, yeah we do plan to have some similarities to Shogun. We plan to be similarly awesome. But aside from being awesome, we aren't really looking to Shogun for any inspiration or ideas, and most of the things it has can't be modded into the M2 engine.

There are some other mods and games that we have drawn some inspiration from though, so I'll mention those. Europa Barbarorum deserves special mention, since it's a really boundary busting showcase of massive collaboration efforts from very talented people. We admire their depth and conviction, and hope to achieve some of that, but in no way expect to be similarly detailed. Broken Crescent gave Yelu his start and has been a constant source of inspiration. What BC shows is that a mod with good scope and high production values doesn't need to make groundbreaking gameplay innovations -- they used a LOT of vanilla buildings and such -- in order to be a huge success. Aside from that there's too many to count: RS, dHRR, Rusichi, RTR, FA, DLV, etc. Last but not least, I get inspiration from Paradox games like EUIII when it comes to non-military aspects of how a game of war and intrigue should be handled.

How many factions will be doomed to fight in a state of total war in the modification?
At the risk of rattling on this question for far too long, I'd suggest that people interested in the mod look up details of our factions either by browsing through the [Faction Discussion] threads on our forums or looking around the internet, since there's a lot of information to be had. Then if any pique their interests, they can search for books detailing them, and maybe even join the mod as a historian! Our full list of factions, which is final and won't be changed any time soon, consists of: Song Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, Xi Xia, Kara-Khitan Khanate, Tibetan Kingdoms, Pagan Kingdom, Khmer Empire, Kingdom of Dali, Dai Viet, Kingdom of Champa, Goryeo, Minamoto Clan, Taira Clan, and Mongol Khanate.

In addition to the above, the Ghurid Sultanate is an emergent and non-playable faction, which might be changed and is low priority. We also use some extra faction slots for various non-faction purposes. With regards to the naming conventions of our factions, they may change, but what they represent probably won't, and we're going for the most legible names not necessarily the most proper. Various other minor peoples are likely to be included, but details on those aren't forthcoming since it's too early to say with conviction.

How long will be the campaign? What era will it focus on?
The campaign is planned to last for 100 years, currently that time period is 1180-1280 A.D. with four turns per year. This changed recently from 1171 due to a change in why we selected our start date; it's now based on the beginning of the Genpei War, the latest time we could start the mod and still have two factions in Japan rather than one. Due to this, some other events will happen sooner than they did in history. Historically the Mongols didn't invade until around 1206, but their conquests also occurred so rapidly in Total War time considerations that from 1206-1227 it would be impossible to represent them realistically without a 6tpy or 12tpy mod. They also historically invaded China, Japan, etc. later on, in some cases much later.

So we chock it up to creative license and the fact that this is a Historic RTS game, not a simulation, that these events will invariably happen differently and sooner than they did in history. There also will naturally be some open conflict where there may have only been pretense in history, but all that we try and do is within the realm of possibility.

As for era, well, the era we've been talking about up until now! We have no intentions to create a campaign focusing on the aftermath of the Mongol Empire, though that would certainly be interesting if we had infinite time and resources. The game sets up the situation in 1180 A.D. with a few liberties, and from there it aspires to be a sandbox.

Who's the team?
The team is shown here, in large part. There's been a few additions since I last updated that, researchers and a couple modelers. If I labor on about who does what and how much then I risk forgetting people or misrepresenting roles. Suffice it to say that Yelu is the heart and soul behind the team, and all our artists, our music man, and a handful of our researchers are solid contributors to varying extents.

What do YOU do in the modification?
I'm the pretty face. The AUH Kieran. No, but I do handle PR in addition to most managerial tasks when I'm not swamped. I'm also coder, scripter, and build manager, so it's my job to tie all the pieces together and help establish design direction then implement it. Don't claim to be any good at it, but that's what I do such as it is.

Do you like how it's progressing?
Lately it's been good. Like all volunteer projects we go through our ups and our downs. I've been going through a bit of a down lately, haven't had much time to commit to the mod due to various reasons and it's really quite frustrating. On the other hand our artists are doing good work, every last one was performing adequately, and a few of our researchers have kept active, which is something we often have not happen. I wouldn't say the mod is progressing at a quick rate, there's still a lot of work to be done across the board in every area, but each little or big thing add up, and we have a high retention of completed work so very little 'goes to waste'.

Still a mod will never progress as fast as we might like it to, and certainly not as fast as the mod supporters desire. There's still a lot of work left to be done, and we're in no position to take stock of it all and come to some conclusive timetable right now, so it is what it is.

I've noticed that AUH is quite a famous modification, mostly because of its eye-catching-first-glimpse resemblance to Shogun: Total War, have you received much community support when it comes to this?
I wasn't aware it was all that popular, though the view count on the last preview is pretty respectable. Now don't get me wrong, we received good feedback with our last preview, even the high praise by a respected member that our preview was better than some complete mods. But I've always thought we were reasonably obscure in the modding scene, popping up now and again with some eye candy, but overall not inviting a huge buzz in the interim. And personally I like it that way, since it sorts the casual supporters from the avid supporters, which means we get better and more dedicated suggestions, as well as the ability to work without being bothered much.

Overall we're happy with the support we receive from the community. It should be particularly noted that our Vietnamese friends from Ministry of Rites have done a great job feeding us information, as you can see from the swollen Dai Viet faction thread. We regret that our attention hasn't shifted to that faction just yet, largely because we have broader things to attend to, but are happy to know we have a wealth of information to reference. There's also no doubt that a number of good suggestions have cropped up, and at some point I've got to take stock of some of the accumulated ideas that fit with our design plans, it's just not at the top of my list right now.

Do you have anything you would like to say, add or anything?
We'd like to thank the supporters of the mod for their continuing encouragement and patience. It's no secret that we aren't a mod that has quick previews, nor are we a mod that has the amount of people in vital areas common to a mod of our scope. Obviously our last preview was something we're proud of, but it was also the culmination of a few months work with creating and compiling, and overall was an undertaking out of proportion to our production. It'd be fair to say that there's some things we've showcased which have a lot of tinkering still needed, and plenty of things we haven't showcased which we haven't been able to frame as we'd like just yet.

In the future it's probably unlikely that a preview on the scope of our last one will be the direction we take, but we are toying with the possibility of a variety of previews for the future. Our focus right now as a team is on strengthening our base and developing where we have the resources, so this approach doesn't necessarily lend itself to faction by faction previews, but it is more important to the success of an actual product. As always our philosophy for supporters is that it's best if you expect nothing and are pleasantly surprised, since you might otherwise become a slave of your expectations and project that perspective to us, which simply isn't a healthy environment to work in.

Lastly, we're always looking for able hands who are interested in the product and can be of use. The listings in this post are still up to date. All of that said, we will hopefully have some things to look forward to in the near future, and our next preview is being worked on in the art department...

As you can all tell, the team's cooperation was amazing and contributed a lot to this piece being formed. I believe this mod will be one of the best we've seen. I'd like to thank Augustus Lucifer and his co-leader Yelu Dashi for their outstanding work and cooperation, as an example to that, AL has once again provided, and with excellent timing, an unseen unit - The "Alixi" of the Jin Dynasty auxiliary cavalry units.
Well done boys, keep it up!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Interview with Interactive History Player AggonyDucky

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Mount&Blade - A PC Game Review

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Mount&Blade - A PC Game Review

Art compliments of Tzar.

By Nazgûl Killer.

With the ever-growing market of PC gaming and gaming overall, extraordinary and popular games are not hard to come by, but quality can run very scarce, however, it is true that the gaming companies do try and compensate, always try and provide better and better products, as the gamer audience becomes more and more sarcastic, demanding and fond of intellectual stimulation along with daunting and adventurous tasks.

TaleWorlds and their recent game Mount&Blade are somewhat of unknowns amongst gamers, but that did not deter them from making one of the best games I have ever seen, nor has it prevented them from expanding that game forward, making a game easily comparable to the Total War genre's Medieval 2 Total War and Rome Total War due to the era and the action.
Mount&Blade is a user and modder friendly game, a game that never fails to provide action and a challenge, in which you engage in full scale warfare of the Medieval kind, with a rather large world to explore and a wide variety of fates and choices - Especially with modifications.

This game has an amazing gameplay interface, allowing for a swift learning of the game's fundamentals and basics, not to mention the amazingly detailed and excellently done tutorial and the ability to re-enter the tutorial at whatever stage of the game, and even getting a reward of experience for it, the game never ceases to amaze me.
The game has graphics that, I must admit, made me shake my head at first, all I could think was: "Why am I going to buy this game, it looks like a Web Browser Game!"... How wrong was I...

For the first month I played this game, all social attachments and contacts have been broken, I stayed at home and sucked that game fully, and I just couldn't stop. This highly addictive medieval first person warfare game was everything I had ever dared dream of - All of the possibilities you have in adventure games like Diablo II, with better graphics and the first-person (Third person as well) feel of the Call of Duty genre, in the mayhem of battle.

Whether you ride on a horse or run of foot, the action just refuses to stop. Everywhere you look, enemies march to kill you and your party of brave comrades and soldiers, arrows flying about and javelins being tossed at you - The chaos is so addictive that even when you fail and lose a fight - You don't even get mad, you are just disappointed that the killing stopped.
You get to choose between wielding a spear, lance, sword, axe, crossbow, javelins, throwing axes, throwing daggers, bows and dozens of other weapons, with four weapon slots available, the combination of such weapons are seemingly endless, needless to say that the number of different armor and equipment out there, including different types of horses, make the game even more complicated and all that much more fun.

You can order your soldiers in map by pressing "Backspace" and commanding them in the minimap, adding an additional strategy part to the game and allows you to control and trap your enemies in the fight for survival!

There are certain "Rebellious" personalities, one for each faction, which request you take up their cause and fight in their name, as such you invoke a full-scale civil war, all in the name of your new lord - Would you choose that to be your fate or not, that is your choice, but that is only one example of the hundreds of different choices and paths you can take through-out the game.

The game has dozens, if not hundreds, of modifications - The most popular of which must be "Prophecy of Pendor" and "Wedding Dance" - And every single modification allows for many different aspects, thousands of new weapons, units and armies and completely different stories, all in the name of your enjoyment, and it definitely adds more and more aspects to the game.
To add to that, it seems TaleWorlds was ready for this, in fact, it seems like they planned it to be like this, as the game is extremely modder-friendly, both in files and in the total gameplay and interface of the game, allowing you to make amazing changes to it.

The additional beauty of this game is the "Campaign Map" - In which you can conquer cities for your king, or, if you're playing certain modifications, build your own kingdom!
Armies are represented by lords and hundreds of soldiers following them, and your character stats are just like any other adventure game, with certain skills to develop that add an additional depth to the game.

Additional depth is added as you must supply your army with food and supplies as you march upon the plains of warfare and into No Man's Land, supply your "Heroes", special units, with armor and equipment - You can loot caravans, loot villages, conquer castles and cities and even duel with lords! In addition to that - You have tournaments to never end the fun, fight for glory and money, gain honor to be loved by your peers and fight for the loot and for your glory.

To add to all that, you also have to keep your soldiers happy! Your heroes have their "Likes" and "Dislikes" - One may not like looting villages, but he may love another companion you have, and one may hate a certain companion you have yet relish the slaughter of combat - Each of them with different stats, dislikes and likes, and it's up to you to fit yourself, their equipment and the way you play the game to their liking, adding more and more depth to the game and allowing you to feel as if you really do manage a group of soldiers.
Morale is also an issue, an unfed and bored army turns upset, and may abandon you and your cause, but a happy army will fight vigorously in your name and win fights you could not even imagine!

Whilst it is true that the Mount&Blade community is not large, it is also true that it is growing rather rapidly, and with the newest addition (Mount&Blade - Warband), the community is growing ever so fast, in fact, the Mount&Blade community has a subforum right here in TWC if you wish to learn more, or you could even go to the TaleWorlds forums themselves and learn more there, from the official makers and the official forums of the game.

Stay tuned next edition for my preview of Warband!

Nakharars Modding Monthly

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

La Guerre de Cent Ans

Possibly one of the most medievalist wars of the entire medieval period. The War which pitched the best knights and technologies of England and France, has suprisingly not been represented until La Guerre de Cent Ans. The scale of the mod is amazing, with such a huge map and amazing detail and great balance. The map is so big, that even the tiniest villages are represented.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Though the first version had factions other then France and England the other factions were boring to play as as they didnt really have a part in the war. But now they have added more factions and factions that actually had a part in the war and would be a good conquest.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

The atmosphere is also very well done aswell as amazing detail and a huge amount of options and micro management from everything to sailing down to do a suprise raid on Paris. Though the rosters lacked mercenaries and a variety of units, the open minded team listened to comments and remedied the problems also adding more factions aswell as a more indepth script with special characters and hordes.

Mod Forum is here:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1236

Descr_Sm_factions#

A pretty important file which controls a lot of minor things but important things too

faction england / faction name
culture northern_european / culture name
religion catholic / religion name must change with religion
symbol models_strat/symbol_england.CAS / the symbol position for strat symbols change if you wish
rebel_symbol models_strat/symbol_rebels.CAS / rebel strat symbol
primary_colour red 215, green 0, blue 0 / the colours for banners on strat map and mini map
secondary_colour red 255, green 210, blue 0 / colours for strat banners and mini map(the side colour)
loading_logo loading_screen/symbols/symbol128_england.tga / not releveant
standard_index 12 / not relevant
logo_index FACTION_LOGO_ENGLAND / faction symbol big
small_logo_index SMALL_FACTION_LOGO_ENGLAND / the faction symbol small
triumph_value 5 / not relevant
custom_battle_availability yes / gives ability to play custom battle or not
can_sap no / not relevant
prefers_naval_invasions yes / speaks for itself
can_have_princess yes / speaks for itself
has_family_tree yes / means if it has regular family tree or papal states or teutonic

special_faction_type slave_faction

a special line which shows a special faction type, this shows rebels, it could be papal_states

faction england , shadowing france

shows a shadow faction not guaranteed to work first time "kingdoms"

Hordes

horde_max_units 20 / horde max units
horde_max_units_reduction_every_horde 10 / speaks for itself
horde_unit_per_settlement_population 250 / amount of units per population
horde_min_named_characters 2 / required generals
horde_max_percent_army_stack 80 / maximum amount of horde units
horde_disband_percent_on_settlement_capture 0 / units disbanded on capture
horde_unit Mongol Heavy Lancers / horde units received
horde_unit Mongol Heavy Archers
horde_unit Sabadar Militia
horde_unit ME Halberd Militia
horde_unit Turkomans

Review the Modder - Wundai

Some may know Wundai, some might not, you might of seen him in those Asian Mods or the guy who loves Japanese stuff in his avatars, whatever

heres his factfile.

NAME: [user]Wundai[/user]

KNOWN FOR: "The Asian Obsessed Building Guy"

MAIN MODDING SKILL: Building Development(battle, strat)

ACHEIVEMENTS: Artifex(Patron: Augustus Lucifer)

MODDING CAREER: Well in April 2007, he joined "Ran No Jidai" the great RTW mod as a building modeller, he did amazing work there which is a milestone to make RTW modders today. He tried his best to do Japanese buildings and then he textured them. He was pulled into coding them ingame, which he and many other moders hate to this day. After a while and practice Building modelling became less hard. After alot of "Ran No Jidai" buildings were done he joined guess what but another Asian Mod but on M2 "All Under Heaven". His great skill was transfered to M2 too, and made strat map models which look excellent and battle map too and hopefully in the future city models as they become more possible.

Joining Ages of Darkness II(phew not an Asian mod

) he was known there for his Justinian Buildings which add great atmosphere.

Mods:
Ages of Darkness II
Ran no Jidai
All Under Heaven

Silver Shield Classifieds

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

© The Silver Shield A Total War Center publication brought to you by members of the TWC social group and: The Silver Auxilia

.

**Tzar** · November 29, 2009, 05:03 PM

Congrats the team and new Editor, job well done!

**Subuatai de Bodemloze** · November 29, 2009, 05:11 PM

Good job everyone!

**Nikos** · November 29, 2009, 07:35 PM

Another excellent edition! Good job Silver Shield team!

**Armatus** · November 29, 2009, 08:47 PM

Good work guys, and thank you y for carrying the torch, and I love your use of the word "break" in reference to me

I am happy to see the paper blossom as it has, I look forward to reading future editions!

**apple** · November 29, 2009, 11:02 PM

Great job guys.

**abbews** · November 30, 2009, 12:56 AM

Great work, and I love "A graphic state of affairs"!

**Ratbag** · November 30, 2009, 10:39 AM

Nice job all of you.

**Silent Assassin** · November 30, 2009, 11:43 AM

Very nice Edition Indeed, I would like to say good work to all my fellow Silver Shield partners but also say thanks to the readers because without them we wouldn't exist.

Regards
Rebel6666

**IVIarkI2I** · November 30, 2009, 01:55 PM

nice work congratulations to everybody who made such amazing reading

**Viking Prince** · November 30, 2009, 04:05 PM

An amazing job by the whole team and a special atta boy for the new editor. I have a personal reason to respect the first time attempt.

**Giovi** · November 30, 2009, 04:59 PM

wow that is awesome i can't wait for the next relase

**Wundai** · December 01, 2009, 12:07 AM

Scary scary man Nakharhar, I wonder where you grabbed my picture from and edited it so...

Seriously though very nice interview

And I'm glad one of the mods I work on is also displayed, vice-a-vi, All Under Heaven

**lolgast** · December 04, 2009, 10:12 AM

Congrats guys

**Nole4694** · December 05, 2009, 11:38 PM

Good stuff dudes, great read

. I especially liked that review of All under heaven thier last preview caught my eye and ive been dieing of anticipation since.

**Nazgûl Killer** · December 08, 2009, 05:45 AM

Originally Posted by Nole4694

Good stuff dudes, great read

. I especially liked that review of All under heaven thier last preview caught my eye and ive been dieing of anticipation since.

Thanks mate.

**Sebulba** · December 08, 2009, 05:08 PM

Excellent edition guys!
Espetially for me Rebel6666 article.

**lolgast** · December 11, 2009, 04:07 PM

How's it even possible to have 1,069 views and only 16 comments

**Nazgûl Killer** · December 11, 2009, 07:38 PM

Who knows.

But it's not all about the comments, we're just happy to know that people read our publication and our work was put to good use.

**Nazgûl Killer** · December 29, 2009, 12:23 PM

Le bump.

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