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Thread: The Eagle Standard, Volume X, Issue II

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    Legio's Avatar EMPRESS OF ALL THINGS
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    Default The Eagle Standard, Volume X, Issue II




    The best Publication for Total War and Modding News!


    Eagle Standard CONTENT INDEX
    (Do not scroll until specific post appears)

    Shogun 2 News
    Latest MTWII & Kingdoms News

    Latest Eras News

    Captains Cabin - Modding Interviews






    Letter from Legio
    Due to the release of Shogun II (an excellent game, I might add), this issue of the Eagle Standard is going to be jam packed with modifications to this newest addition to the Total War series. Also worth noting are our three new recruits - Obi Wan Asterix, SonOfOdin, and Enkidu88! Praise them in their glory.

    Some may notice the lack of an Empire and Napoleon News section for this month's ES. Well, that's right. We do not have one in the April issue. We have something super special coming up for that. It's - no, I've said too much. But keep an eye out in the coming week or two!

    I hope you enjoy reading this month's issue!

    Legio
    ES Editor

    Last edited by Belisarius; April 24, 2011 at 07:46 AM.

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    Legio's Avatar EMPRESS OF ALL THINGS
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    Default Re: April WIP



    Shogun 2 News


    Letter from the Editor
    Total War: Shogun II has been released, and it's a treat! It's a perfect blend of both graphics and gameplay, as I'm sure many of you will agree, and the scope of the game is truly breathtaking. Our resident modders and artists have torn into the game itself with reckless abandon, and in this issue the Eagle Standard team hopes to show this off! I mean, just look at these excellent shots done by MaxMazi :

    Pictures






    And without further ado, some of our best and newest mods for the game! We hope you enjoy reading about and playing them.


    Shogun 2 news
    The Rights of Man 3 - Road to Kyoto by SonOfOdin
    The Rights of Man 3 - Road to Kyoto

    The Rights of Man 3 - Road to Kyoto is the third mod in the "The Rights of Man" series of mods for Total War games, created and leaded by Yarkis.

    The mod aims to create a more challenging and deep experience to Total War : Shogun 2 without removing the vanilla atmosphere and immersion. This is achieved by modding the campaign and battles separately, leaving the individual to choose if he/she wants to alter just the campaign, or battles, or both. So the mod so far does not focus on aesthetic appeal, but solely on gameplay.


    The battles section of the mod improves and focuses mostly on the flaws of the vanilla TW:S2 battles.
    Such improvements include :

    - Slower unit speed(using the same Yarkis' Movement Speed Reduction Mod).
    - Increasing unit morale.
    - Making archers slightly less accurate.
    - Decreasing Artillery range.
    - Making the battles slower, more tactical, and more enjoyable a lot of changes to morale, stamina, unit experience etc.
    - Also, we see the Yari Ashigarus NOT taking out their Katanas in close combat and using only their yari, most probably the first mod to change an animation in-game.


    Despite the work on battles, the main focus of the mod for now is on the Campaign. Several changes have been done and they can be noted early on in the campaign :

    - The overall campaign experience has been hardened.
    - Clans such as the Oda, Uesugi and Shimazu have been strengthened at the start of the campaign so that they, as "great clans", will not be destroyed early on.

    The Oda are no pushovers this time...


    - The player will have more time to finish the campaign with the short campaign ending in 1590, the long campaign ending in 1620 and the domination campaign ending in 1640.
    (this is also available as a seperate mod done by spartan_warrior)

    - The Ikko Ikki and Uesugi given access to elite Monk units.
    - All AI factions having higher caps for agents(Metsukes, Ninjas and Geishas) and a higher replenishment rate.
    - Smaller changes such as a longer movement range for ships, less experience needed for units to gain a rank up, and an alteration to the Realm Divide event also have been introduced.
    - AI armies recruit balanced armies, not Samurai-only or Ashigaru only.

    An Uesugi AI army




    To conclude, though this was my first experience playing "The Rights of Man" as I had never tried out previous releases for previous games, I was fairly pleased with "The Rights of Man 3 - Road to Kyoto". Although it might be overshadowed by mods such as Darthmod, Yarkis has certainly put enough work in his mod to gather his own followers for his mod. The mod can be heading only upwards if more modding tools and options are unlocked in the future.

    The game is currently at Version 0.451, with updates from Yarkis coming in very frequently.

    For more information and the download link, visit the official mod thread here;
    http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=437673


    Additional Units Mod - Shogun(AUM-SHO by SonOfOdin
    Additional Units Mod -Shogun
    ADDITIONAL UNITS MOD - SHOGUN (AUM-SHO)

    Additional Units Mod - Shogun is a mod aimed at adding more variety of units to Total War : Shogun 2 while sticking to historical accuracy as much as possible.Swiss Halberdier is already known from his AUM mods for Empire and Napoleon Total War, so it was inevitable that he'd make one for Shogun 2.

    As usual, the mod focusing on adding new units and ships. However in TW:S2, many units from multiplayer or that were only usable in siege defences couldn't be used in single-player campaigns if not for "special" events. Some of these include :

    - Loan Sword Ashigaru


    - Onni Bushi
    - Katana Ronin
    - Yari Ronin
    - Katana Wako
    - Bow Wako
    - Naginata Warrior Monk Cavalry
    - Matchlock Warrior Monks
    - Samurai Retainers
    - Takeda Great Guard etc

    ,all recruitable from specific buildings in the campaign(see more screenshots at gallery below). Since the Ronin and Wako units are cheaper than Samurai units, the AI will gladly use them. AI stacks will have much more variety than before, making for a much more interesting campaign and varied battles.


    However this AUM also adds a lot of existing abilities to specified units such as :

    - Naginata and Yari units can now all use spear wall.
    - Matchlock Warrior Monks and Fire Rockets units use rank fire.
    - All Generals have wedge formation, rapid advance, second wind and an increased aura radius.
    - Katana Samurai, Onna Bushi, Kisho Ninjas, Samurai Retainers, Katana Ronin, Great Guard and all Hero units all have rapid advance.

    Although these give bonuses to the player's units, the AI can certainly use them as well. Yari units will form a pike wall when you charge them with cavalry, samurai units will use rapid advance to charge your lines, Matchlock Warrior Monks will use ranked fire against you etc.

    Apart from land units, AUM also unlocks some new ships for us in the campaign and custom battles like :

    - The Black Ship


    - Wako Medium Bune
    - Wako Trade Ship
    - Nanban Trade Ship(unlocked for custom battles)
    - Red Seal Trade Ship(unlocked for custom battles)
    - Trade Ship(unlocked for custom battles)

    Naturally, the user will face much more diversity amongst enemy navies, making the campaign naval experience much more interesting. These can all be built from their respective harbours.


    Gallery

    Land Units
    Onna Bushi




    Katana Ronin
    [/URL]

    Yari Ronin


    Ronin Recruitment building
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    Katana Wako


    Bow Wako


    Wako recruitment building
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    Naginata Warrior Monk Cavalry


    Matchlock Warrior Monks


    Samurai Retainers


    Unit Abilities

    Pike Wall


    Matchlock Warrior Monks and Fire Rockets unit with Rank Fire


    Rapid Advance



    Naval Units

    Nanban Trade Ship


    Wako Medium Bune


    Wako Trade Ship


    Red Seal Trade Ship




    The most recent version of the mod is the 1.7V

    For more details and the download link, visit the AUM-SHO official thread here :
    http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=429938

    The mod also requires a UPC for the text that partners the new units. You can find the UPC thread here :
    http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?p=9054605
    SonOfOdin


    DarthMod: Shogun II

    Total War: Shogun 2-->DarthMod: Shogun II

    DarthMod: Shogun II is the next installment in the highly successful DarthMod series created by Darth Vader and it once again aims to significantly improve gameplay and AI.




    Darth has listened to feedback from the community and has endeavoured to eliminate or improve upon a number of the problems that have become apparent with the vanilla campaign. This includes a lot of changes to both the campaign and the battles, which help to create a more realistic, more immersive and more balanced experience for Shogun 2.


    One of the first changes you will notice in the battles is that your troops no longer move at the speed of sound, which means you will now be able to see what is happening before the battle has actually finished. This has been combined with several changes that have been made to the moral and battle mechanics to create longer lasting battles and (optional) increases in unit sizes, which end up producing some of the most epic battles you will ever experience in a Total War game.


    -battles are now epic!




    These are not the only changes that have been made to battles however, as Darth has made sure that you will no longer be faced with the laser guided, super accurate, arrows of instant death that were present in the vanilla version of Shogun 2. The arrow trails have been removed and there accuracy has been decreased (they are still alot more useful than they were in some of the previous games though). This means archers will no longer destroy all units before they reach your lines and you will be forced to think more to achieve victory. Another aesthetic change, for all of you who hated the giant balloons on your general's back, is that the Horo's have also been removed meaning your general is now under no threat of floating away.



    No More Horo's!







    The campaign has not be neglected either with numerous changes being made. The most important of these is that all of the cheats that were given to the CAI to create the illusion of a challenge have now been removed. There will still be a handicap system to represent different difficulty levels though, which should help to provide you with the same level of challenge. Extensive changes have also been made to the diplomacy and campaign AI (partly to compensate for the removal of the CAI cheats), which amongst other things ensures that the AI uses more balanced armies and also decreases the effects of one of my most hated aspects of the vanilla game - realm divide. Other small, but equally significant changes have been made to the campaign as well including extra upgrade points when your character levels up, better auto-resolving of battles and a slighty better economy system. These changes all add up to create a great campaign experience which will leave you with a sense of accomplishment when you finally manage to tear the Shogunate away from the grasping hands of your many rivals.


    More Upgrade Points




    All-In-One mod review
    The All-In-One mod is the successor of the most excellent mod of the same name for Napoleon Total War. ToonTotalWar has shown his usual dedication to the cause and compiled many of the best Shogun 2 community mods, made them all compatible with each other, and provided them as a single download. There are too many to list here, but you can see the which mods are included Here. It also includes an option to integrate Darthmod into the All-in-One Mod. For the purposes of this review I’m only using All-in-One 1.8, as Darth mod makes enough changes to gameplay to demand a review of its own. What the All-in-One mod does is give the game a visual and audial overhaul.

    The visual mods, featuring a wide range of optimizations and improvements, all combine to create a more immersive experience on the real time battle maps. The removal of the dreaded “Shakey Cam” alone makes this mod worth the download, now you can actually watch the battle at close range without needing to take a Dramamine. While my computer needs to be dipped in liquid nitrogen in order to run this game on Ultra, Toon's 32-bit textures look wonderful without any noticeable drop in framerate.


    Alright guys, smile! I said smile! Smile....ah forget it!

    The mod also includes a Double Unit Size mod, but that combined with Ultra graphics and my ancient monolithic computer, proved to be too much for me. Luckily it's easy to change this setting in the User.script provided in the mod, which I changed from 1.5 to 1.25, which gets you an even 250 for Ashigaru units, 200 for samurai and 75 for calvary (50 for generals).

    The blood mod adds a more visceral feeling to the combat, unfortunately it's kind of low resolution and looks more like the soldiers are spraying ketchup rather than blood. But I have high hopes that with more work, and as modders find new ways to incorporate blood into the game, this will improve. As it is, it’s a great step up from not having blood at all.


    One of my Samurai catches two arrows in the chest and neck...this would be tragic if didn't look so damn good! Also, note the bloodsplatter in the middle of the screen.

    Overall the All-in-One mod provides an excellent change in the visual and audio quality of the game, and a must download for anyone who values their retinas and eardrums!

    Download the mod Here

    Tools, Tutorials and Resources for TW:S2 by SonOfOdin
    TW:S2 Tools
    [Tool] User Script & Preferences Editor


    This small tool created by husserlTW is used to manage the preference file, user script file and save games of TW:S2 and also Napoleon/Empire TW. This tool streamlines the process of having to access the Application Data every time you want to edit in the specified files, saving the user precious gaming time.

    The thread containing the download link can be found here!

    [Tool] Pack File Manager

    This tool published by Lord Maximus does the same actions that the PFM from Empire and Napoleon does. It replaces, extracts, deletes, renames and edits the .pack files in TW:S2. Very handy for experienced modders, but caution is advised using it as reckless tempering can mess up the game's data files.

    The thread for the tool can be found here
    and the tool can be downloaded here


    [Tutorial] Clan's traits

    Deathblow has given us a simple tutorial to edit a clan't traits and edit a clan's rewards for missions.
    This makes the game easier, but also more interesting.

    The Mori clan with a lot of traits and the added units that they bring


    The tutorial can be found in the TW:S2 : Tools, Tutorials and Resources section here


    [Tutorial] Quick Scripted Modifications
    husserlTW has made a simple tutorial for some scripted modifications. He has covered some minor things in a game that some users don't want to use, such as a small treasury and fog of war. The changes aren't big, but come in handy for some users.

    In short, it covers :

    1) Treasury
    2) User Script
    3) Rebellions(and how to disable them)
    4) Fog of War
    5) 1-turn building.

    The tutorial can be found here


    [Resource] Shogun 2 Music Names explained
    CoconutFred has discovered some interesting finds on the TW:S2 music system. In this resource, he points out which music is activated by what, and explains thoroughly the music file names.

    Check out his full article here

    [Resource] Easy, quick word translations
    Baleurion has shared a link for an easy to use Japanese dictionary.

    [Resource]Shogun 2 "Language" and "Encyclopedia" files
    Swiss Halberdier has given us details on TW:S2's Language and Encyclopedia files located in TW:S2's data files.

    The Encyclopedia file is located in "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\total war shogun 2 demo\data\encyclopedia", depending on where your steam is installed, and on the file, Swiss wrote:
    This folder contains lots of ".html" files that represent the whole in-game information of the encyclopedia.

    This new "html" based system could be very useful to create customized descriptions for mods.

    > If you remove/rename this folder, then the in-game browser shows a blank window.

    > If you change your language in the Steam options then complete "encyclopedia" folder will be re-downloaded.

    > It is possible to browse through these files with your Internet Browser without starting Shogun 2.

    > If you edit the content of the ".html" files, then it only appears to the in-game encyclopedia. If you change the "stats values" in the ".html" file it doesn't update the internal "real" db values. The in-game encyclopedia is fully independent and doesn't recognize the changed db table values of mods automatically.
    The language files, are found here "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\total war shogun 2 demo\data" and again, Swiss wrote quite a bit on the subject :
    The file "local_en.pack" contains lots of individual *.loc's in the "text\db" folder. Basically all "basic strings" have now an individual table. The file "local_en_patch.pack" contains tables which overwrite the tables in the "local_en.pack".

    It is now possible to include an own "custom_localisation.loc" file that will be added to the internal DB. In Empire and Napoleon could be only one "loc" file at the same time in the "data" directory.

    I downloaded the English, German, French and Spanish language files.

    The strange thing is the following:
    Only the English loc file structure is like that. The German, French, Spanish and I guess all other versions use the same loc file structure like in ETW/NTW. There is only the "localisation.loc" in these languages. There aren't any individual loc tables like in the English version.

    If you change your language in the Steam options then these files below will be re-downloaded and installed.

    The "*" determines the language like en, ge, fr, sp.

    local_*.pack (release version of the language tables)
    local_*_patch.pack (this file will be updated with further language fixes)
    Most definitely a step forward for TW:S2 language text editing, eventually in time more will be revealed.


    SonOfOdin


    Shogun 2 Realism




    DaVinci and the realism team have struck again! From the creators of Empire Realism and Napoleon Empire Realism comes Shogun 2 Realism, a mod not intended to radically change shogun 2, but to tweak it to make the best possible gameplay in Shogun 2. So far, they have achieved their goal admirably by slowing down battles (through increasing defense stats), capping unit numbers for samurai and units that were too powerful in vanilla, and adding units. (including the first custom unit in S2, naginata ashigaru) Here's the full set of goals/features:


    1. Battles last much longer due to increasing armor and defensive skills vs. attack ratio. This results in more tactical battles,
    with more maneuvering. Also, the battles are much more fun and interesting to watch because you now have time to see what's happening, before it is over.
    2. Sieges are more difficult for the attacker.
    3. Battles better reflect the reality of the Sengoku Jidai period. Armies will be comprised of mostly Ashigaru units, with Samurai units being much more rare, precious warriors and true elite.
    4. Unit sizes are changed to reflect rarity. Example: base Yari Ashigaru unit has 250 men, while a Yari Samurai unit has 80 men Ashigaru's are capable fighters also in melee, trained soldiers with their weapons.
    5. Routs occur less frequently
    6. Samurai units in particular are now much more important than in vanilla, because they are more rare and truly elite vs. Ashigaru. Losing a Samurai unit will now be a big deal.
    7. Cavalry and General units tend to be less fragile in comparison to vanilla cavalry, they are now able to show their high value.

    and here are some screenshots of new units:

    naginata ashigaru
    Ronin recruitable in sake dens



    My personal experiences with this mod have been amazing. The battles have been slowed to just the right pace, there is less A.I. spam of one unit (archers and samurai were the big ones that were problems before), and the campaign is over all more fun. I highly recommend this mod to anyone who wants slower battles and more realistic recruitment and armies. Get Shogun 2 realism here: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=437766

    Unit Variety Mod

    The Hedge Knight has struck again! This time with one of the most popular visual mods for S2: the unit variety mod. This mod offers a greater variety of armor and equipment in individual units then what is shown in vanilla. Not only that, but the new textures are absolutely amazing! The best part of this mod is it's compatible with almost every other S2 mod. Just look at these pictures of the mod (credits to LuckyLewis for these):


    Samurai









    Ashigaru







    Cavalry










    Monks









    Others










    So what are you waiting for? For more info on the unit variety mod and for Download links, go here: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=437574

    Lines of Battle Shogun 2

    Lines of battle is a familiar name to Napoleon Total War mod users, one that offered one of the best AIs for NTW. Now, The Hedge Knight and Gunny have made a new Lines of Battle, one for S2. Currently it's changes are rather limited, but take a glance at this features list to get an idea of what it aims for:

    -Uses Josst's UAI and Unit variety (for more on this, readme the article on it)
    -Doubles unit sizes (note that this does not work with starting armies)
    -Nerf's muskets a tad (decreased accuracy)
    -Slow down units 25% (balances out lower musket accuracy)
    -All factions hopefully playable in custom battle
    -Other stat changes to hopefully increase the length of battles


    Japanese Speech Fix

    This mod corrects certain phrases spoken by your units when issuing commands on the battle map. As for me I don’t speak a word of the language, so all the soldiers could be insulting my mother and I would still think its proud military jargon, but if you do speak the language I imagine this is a must-have mod!
    You can download the mod Here

    More Pain Sounds mod
    For the sadist in us all comes this mod from Pisoiasul which increases the screams of the wounded and dying during combat. A full barrage of arrows striking their target will illicit shrieks and gurgled coughs, and the crash of metal on metal will be accompanied by the screams of the wounded when two melee units clash. I would recommend the 1.1 version without the moans, as the moans unfortunately seem to drown out any of the other sounds.
    You can download the mod here

    Ninja/Wako/Retainers Replacement Mod
    This mod replaces several unit textures with newer, varied ones. It includes a very cool new model for the Ninja leader featuring a face mask right out of the depths of Hades, and also the Hattori get a different Ninja model that features light armor plating and looks very cool (It doesn’t change any stats however). The Wako now look much more like pirates and brigands than before, with rusty armor and ratty clothing, while the Samurai retainers now only have robes rather than full armor like in vanilla. Overall a very solid mod.
    You can download it here

    Coloured and Tweaked Unit Cards Mod

    This mod is simple and yet has a profound effect on gameplay. It recolors the unit cards and adds new artwork to make it easier to identify different units. You can now quickly ascertain what units are what type with a mere glance at the unit cards, where as in Vanilla it often took a few seconds to figure out what the heck you were looking at. The additional artwork makes it blend in seamlessly with the rest of the Shogun 2 UI. A definite download worthy mod.
    You can download the mod here

    Less Shiny/Glossy Mod

    Ever notice how your units seem to arrive to battle only after they’ve wrapped themselves in cling-film? And how they reflect the sun like giant reflecting mirrors that rival those on the International Space Station? Well no longer, with this mod, your soldiers forego their cling-film preparations and arrive in battle with only their armor to protect them. It’s a much needed visual improvement that removes the annoying plastic appearance of soldiers in vanilla Shogun 2.
    Get the mod here

    Bigger Font mod

    For those that play at High Resolutions but on smaller screens, this mod will increase the text size on the campaign map so you can read it without the use of a magnifying glass!
    Get it here

    General Horo Removal
    This mod, simply, removes the balloons attached to your General’s Bodyguard. You can argue about historical accuracy until you’re blue in the face (and many of you already have), but if you’re tired of seeing giant hot air balloons wandering through your epic fight scenes, this mod is for you.
    Grab the mod here

    Custom Mini-Map Pips Mod
    Custom Mini-Map Pips Mod
    Ever feel like you’re fighting the Polygon Wars when looking at the battle map? Or worse yet, get flashbacks to preschool where you tried to fit a triangle in a square hole and everyone laughed at you? Well forget those traumatic childhood memories, and get a breath of fresh-air from this mod which replaces the squares and triangles with better pips actually shaped like units. My therapist thanks you, dear mod!
    Grab ithere


    Shogun 2 Gameplay Tweaks

    The Radious Mods
    The Radious Mod

    The Radious Mods are a massive collection of various modifications that provides anything from new units to improved AI to improved unit experience. All featuring various versions to fine tune your gaming experience and all capable of working together or independently. Only want the experience mod? You can do that, too. Want Swiss’ AUM mod to work with it? Get Radious’ unit mod! Want all of it? Go for it.

    Radious’ mod allows for an astounding amount of customization in how you play Shogun II. For instance, I found Radious’ Garrison mod v3 too powerful, so I downloaded his V2 instead which essentially cut the garrison level in half while still keeping it better than the vanilla garrison. Radious’ Stats Mod allowed me to fine tune exactly how much Armor/Morale/Defense that my units had in battle, giving me the exact battlefield experience I was looking for.

    If there’s something you don’t like about Shogun 2, it’s likely that Radious’ has a mod to fix it.

    You can download Radious’ Unit Mod Here, as well as a list of all his other mods at the bottom of that page.

    Monthly Turn Mod
    I’m one of those people that likes to take his time playing through a campaign, to slowly consolidate my resources and build up my cities before starting a new war. And I was always kind of sad when one of my favorite generals would literally die of old age before I ever started a war. It was also disconcerting to find that I sometimes lost the entire campaign before I had even conquered half of Japan.

    Enter Langtutheky’s Monthly Turn mod, now all the seasons are divided into three months and there are now twelve turns per month rather than just four. He also features an extended campaign for some truly epic campaigns. This also has the added bonus of making winter attrition a major factor in planning a campaign as suffering three months of winter attrition will result in some pretty heft casualties. I often found myself waiting for spring to begin offensives, whereas in vanilla Shogun the attrition was never more than a minor annoyance.

    Hurry up and enjoy the mod Here

    Extended Campaign
    This mod extends the campaign victory conditions to 1640, giving you a full 160 turns more to conquer Japan. That’s it really, a simple yet elegant mod.

    Download it Here

    Missile Unit Rebalance
    This mod cuts down on the reload times and accuracy of Missile units. Further it gives Samurai, and Monk Warrior archers an increased range over the standard Ashigaru units which is a great improvement over the Vanilla stats.

    Download the mod Here

    All Factions Playable
    Ever wanted to try and lead the Ikko-Ikki in battle? Or lead the Imagawa to victory over the armies of Oda? Well then check this mod out, which allows you to take control of any faction in the Custom Battle screen. It does not, unfortunately, work in campaign yet but one can always hope! Regardless, this mod adds a lot of replay value to the game.

    You can get the mod Here

    Realm Divide Mod
    Remember in Vanilla Shogun, when you finally hit the top of the reputation meter, when everyone suddenly decided to gang up on you like bullies on the schoolyard? Wouldn’t even respond to diplomacy?

    Well with this mod, the Realm Divide effect is significantly lowered and is responds to already established diplomatic ties. Have a Clan you’ve been allied with for the entire game? With this mod they’ll no longer backstab you after a few turns, which makes having a coalition of Clans a viable strategy in the end game. By contrast, if you had a belligerent neighbor with whom you’ve maintained an uneasy peace, the Realm Divide will still likely push them over the edge and declare war. Also included is a version that removes the Realm Divide effect entirely should you want to.

    Ensure the safety and prosperity of your alliances by downloading the mod Here

    Spawned Garrison Mod
    Tired of building up huge castles to defend your lands, only to see it topple when the enemy so much as stares harshly at it? Well then, step right up and try the Large Garrisons mod. This mod increases the number of troops stationed in each level of castle you build, and can now safely rely on the garrison to fight off anything but a determined attack. Now longer will you lose your famous castle to a handful of Ashigaru units and a General. This also has the pleasant side effect of allowing the AI to survive longer since a single roaming stack of enemies can no longer conquer the AIs castles on a whim.

    Come and download the mod Here


    Reduced Reload Rate
    Have you ever stared at your matchlock units and wonder at the machine gun like quality of their volleys? Well stare no longer, this little mod will reduce the reload rates of all ranged units, Bow and Matchlock alike.

    Try it out Here

    Speed Reduction Mod
    The first thing I noticed about Shogun 2 was how quickly everyone seemed to move, as if they were all hopped on caffeine and were late for a very important appointment? Luckily for me the Movement Speed Reduction Mod is here to help, successfully giving the units a sedative and rescheduling that appointment. The mod comes in several different variations so you can fine tune just how much speed you want to cut off and whether you want it to affect calvary units.

    Download it Here

    Morale Mod
    You see your units ready to crash in an epic fight worthy of the Sengoku period, ready to slaughter your enemies so you can claim your rightful place as Shogun. Your army clashes with the enemy and two seconds later the enemy breaks, fleeing for the hills like scared rabbits. Well that was easy and yet somehow unsatisfying.

    Well download the Morale Mod which boosts morale of all units by 50% and allows your warriors to actually fight the enemy rather than just chase down their routing hindquarters. Give the samurai the bravery they deserve.

    You can download it here

    Gallery











    Last edited by Legio; April 24, 2011 at 04:43 PM.

  3. #3
    Legio's Avatar EMPRESS OF ALL THINGS
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    Default Re: April WIP


    Letter from the Editor Welcome to this month's Medieval 2 section. We're not very large this time, but we still got all the juicy info you'd like to know. This month the team has presented to you such interesting reviews as Secession: Civil War and a review on the Call of Warhammer! There is also an important message from the Das Heilige Romisches Reich team, make sure to check it out. Enough advertising though, let's get straight to the news!

    - Antwerpen

    Letter from the Editor

    Index
    Spotlight






    Spotlight
    Today's review: Call of Warhammer

    Call of Warhammer by General Brittanicus
    Call of Warhammer Review by General Brittanicus

    Medieval 2 Total War>Kingdoms>Call of Warhammer>Version 1.4 released!



    Call of Warhammer is a total conversion mod based around the fantasy world created by games-workshop and in this particular case concentrates on the storm of chaos; The empire is threatened by wave after wave of Chaos warriors and terrifying demons pouring from the north as well as hordes of the fearsome Greenskins marching relentlessly from the badlands. CoW allows you to take command of many of the armies of the warhammer world, from the mysterious high elves of Ulthuan to the terrifying undead constructs of the Vampire Counts.


    This new patch changes a vast amount from the previous versions, with new traits and ancillaries, new units, new strat map models and much more. One of the biggest updates though is to the scripts that are used, you will now have to face a massive Orc invasion led by Grimgor Ironhide as well as the even bigger re-vamped Chaos invasion, which arrives in three waves and will test even the most experienced generals to their limits. Don't lose hope though as even if your allied provinces in the Empire are picked off by one by one by these massive forces you will still have a chance due to another new script; This script will give you the option to resurrect a defeated allied province if you liberate its capital and thus re-claim the Empire's lands from the Chaos storm.


    A very small part of the Chaos Invasion...



    A number of special effects have also been added with this release such as new shells for Empire rockets as well as a number of new strat models mainly for agent type units; On top of this a handful of special abilities have been added to a few of the generals, you will now be able to influence your mighty Greenskin hordes in battle by using the Waaaargh ability or fill your enemies with despair with Manfred's "wind of death". The trait and ancillaries system has also been given an overhaul, with many new ones being added along with a lot of the old ones being enhanced, these changes all combine to create a truly immersive experience.


    New Strat Map Models.






    Over 40 new units have been included with this patch along with the refinement of previously included units; From the unstoppable steam tank of the empire and the wise elders of the dwarves to the powerful Tzeentch mages of Chaos and blood curdling wraiths of the Vampire Counts a wide range of new units has been added to this fantastic mod.



    So if you want to take command of the forces of good and defend the Empire and it's allies or take control of the forces of evil and use your mighty hordes to rip it apart you can find a list of the updates here and the download for version 1.4 here!

    by General Brittanicus








    On The Shelves
    Fresh off the presses! The main attraction!

    Secession: Civil War by Dewy
    Secession: Civil War by Dewy
    Secession Civil War is a mod for M2TW Kingdoms and as you hopefully have guessed is about a civil war; more specifically the American civil war. At the time of writing Secession Civil War only features custom and historical battles with, you guessed it the Union and Confederacy as factions. To the best of my knowledge future releases will feature a campaign map and several new factions such as Great Britain, Mexico and Indian nations.



    A random fact about the mod before leaving you with a trailer for the mod: Secession Civil War is made by a group of French modders rather than Americans.

    [/SPOILER]

    by Dewy







    Showroom
    Other announcements strut their stuff.
    Das Heilige Romische Reich Announcement
    Das Heilige Romische Reich Announcement by Antwerpen

    Not so long ago the dHRR team has issued a Call to Arms: HannibalExMachina, the mod leader, invites modders into his team to help him polish his mod about the Holy Roman Empire, one of the most interesting states of medieval era.

    The most anticipated modders are scripters, coders, modellers and skinners, so if you know how to do it and feel interested, you are very welcome to the team.

    But obviously, as a mod oriented publication, the ES is much more interested in the freshest bits of the team's work they presented: if you follow the link at the end of this article, you'll find awesome artwork in the menu, a new model for Mathilda, the weather map, and my favourite part: screenshots of the ingame stratmap.

    Check out these stylized menus (click to enlarge):



    Make sure to read the whole announcement HERE.

    by Antwerpen




    -- The Medieval II News Team

    Return to ES Main Index



    Last edited by Belisarius; April 24, 2011 at 07:42 AM.

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    Eras News

    IBUR Mod interview.



    Hello Eagle Standard readers! This is MorganH,and I'm happy to announce that for this edition I have 2(!) exclusive interviews lined up for you.

    We will be starting with a Q & A with the head developer of the upcoming IBUR Mod for Rome Total War's Alexander expansion pack:Magister Militae Flavius Aetius



    The IBUR Mod;what is it about?
    INVASIO BARBARORVM : VLTIMVS ROMANORVM (IBUR) (Alex.exe) Amidst the Ruins of the Western Roman Empire, a new hero has emerged; Flavius Aetius and his Milites Romani will bring the Empire to it's former glory once more. But a new threat looms just over the horizon; Attila and his Huns are currently ravaging the balkans, but when will he turn west to betray a years old friendship? Experience the internal conflict between Aetius and Bonifacius, ravage Africa as the Vandals, or re-enact Aetius' legendary victories over the barbarians as the Western Roman Empire. This new mod features Aetius, Attila, Gaiseric, Theodoric, and many other new leaders, along with new units, factions, and buildings covering from 429 - 461 AD.




    Q1 Tell us a bit about yourself - where are you from? How did you enter the world of the TWC and what makes you come around the site all the time? What do you love about history and why?

    I'm from South Carolina,USA,and I like Halo, Pizza, and History. I found TWC looking for RTW mods on Moddb (I was DL EAW stuff(Empire at War;a Star Wars game) and came across RTW stuff) and looked into Rio's mods online.
    I stalked the forums as a guest for a few months reading different threads and etc. Then I joined as a member and DL IBFD BRG III. And it didn't work. I quickly became involved in the IB forums and talked with Rio about starting a Mod which evolved into IBUR. I come around because there's a lot of sensible, intelligent people to talk too. There's also a lot of insensible ones that are just fun to chat with. I love history becuase there's also something new as history is never complete.

    Q2 For those of us who do not know anything about IBUR,can you tell us what it is about and how it's different from other IB mods ?

    IBUR is the first mod for INVASIO BARBARORUM that is not on the BI platform. We use Alex TW because it's much more complex, albeit incomplete. We did the game halfway and then decided to take advantage of that and switch over to that platform.
    Plus IBUR is the first RTW mod to incorporate naval battles LEGALLY. (Im sure there are plenty of people who have illegally done it for private use.)

    Note: For an image of the IBUR ships,take a look at the screenshot gallery.

    Q3 What makes the IB Mods unique in comparison to other Roman era TW Mods?

    IB is probably the most extensive and largest set of mods for RTW, and probably the most advanced, particularly for the IB platform. Europa Barbarorum and Roma Surrectum would also be up there competing though.

    Q4 Hows the Mod progressing?

    Progress was slow until July, things picked up then. Died down again in October, slow minor things since then, hope to see it pick up soon.

    Q5 How did you end up in the IB team,and what exactly is your role?

    Rio and I got into a discussion in IBFD forums, eventually he supported me and allowed me to use IBFD III and later IBFD IV as a platform for IBUR. A few days later I had both a Dev and Main Forum under Rio's Forums. My role particularly is Co-ordination of resources and staff, and when I get a new laptop Primary scripting.

    Q6 Who are the other team members and what are their roles ?

    Hannibalcaesar and Freelancer Tex are both Scripters, Char does 2D, Lu Bu does 3D, and we have contributions from others, particularly Pompeius Magnus, Joar, Rio and Julianus Heraclius, along with Attila Reloaded and Fraoliva. We also have about 10 or so on research.

    Q7 Is the RTW IB team the same team that does the Medieval II Mods ?

    Depends on who you're talking about - the vast majority of any of the teams have nothing to do with it, except Riothamus, to some extent Julianus Heraclius, Char, and then former 3Dmodeller Remlap and I have both had minor contributions.

    Q8 What makes you like the late Roman era so much?

    The fact that the reason it fell is still unsolved. That and an unhealthy obsession

    Q9 Where did the team get its historical research from?

    Mainly books, some websites, some primary source documents I and others have or have found

    Q10 Besides IBUR, what other Mods are there being developed by the team(if any), and what other mods would you personally very much like to see(As an IB team project)?

    Hannibalcaesar is doing 2 other mods for RTW, Tex and Lu Bu are also helping with other mods, Char is helping with IBII, and then others I may or may not be aware of. In IB I'd still like to see the upcoming Restituror Orbis mod and how it turns out. IB has really covered everything, although one about the Gallic and Palmyran empires of the 270s would be nice.

    Q11 Will there be new historical factions or units in the Mod? And will the campaign map be redone much?

    There will be a big overhaul of most Roman and Sassanid units, and some barbarian units. New factions will be featured such as the Suebes and Bosporan Kingdom. Most of the campaign map will be refined, particularly the cities.

    Q12 Will IBUR make use of the RS II environments?

    I've heard and recieved a few PMs about it and it is likely, although the conversion to Alex could be problematic.

    Q13 Will IBUR work much with Scripted events? Will the AI be looked at?

    The AI, as far as I know, is pretty much expanded to the best of it's tactical ability in IB already. Some scripted events will take place, like Aetius' assassination, and Attila's Cerosis of the liver killing him.

    Q14 Are there any other Mods besides the team-BI ones, that you, or team members are working on as well?

    As I mentioned before there is Napoleon Total War I and II for RTW by Hannibalcaesar, he is also doing Augustus total war. I think Lu Bu works with Roma Surrectum or something, not quite sure but I know Remlap made models for them before he retired.

    Q15 Would you like to add anything, anything at all, to this interview?

    I was glad to be a part of it, and I'd like to say thanks to all that have supported and contributed to IBUR and to the Eagle Standard members who publish this interview and the Eagle Standard itself.

    I would like to thank you very much for your time, and the best of luck with the IBUR Mod. My congratulations on winning a 2010 TWC Modding Award in the category [Rome] Rising Star !

    I am thanking you !

    For more information,and feedback on the Invasio Barbarorum:Ultimus Romanorum Mod, view here ! . Check out the small IBUR preview article in this ES edition.

    MorganH.



    IBUR preview article.


    Besides the interview with the head developer of the upcoming IBUR Mod,the Eras section of the Eagle Standard would also like to bring you a small update on another IBUR preview.
    New details on the Roman units have been released,and there finally is an official confirmation that all Roman units will be retextured.

    Besides detailed information on the units,as you can see from the hand made drawing above,a sneak peek on the new family portraits was revealed;
    Young Old
    Dead

    For more IBUR preview information and feedback,you can go right here and read all about it.
    MorganH.


    RTR VII Mod interview.


    As promised, I've lined up a second interview for you,this time with one of the head developers and co-leader of RTRVII, the forthcoming full conversion mod of the evergreen Rome: Total War, Tony83!

    RTR VII:what is this Mod all about ?
    Rome Total Realism VII is the Grand Campaign to which TIC and FOE were the predecessors to. This next installment uses almost all the faction slots, unit slots, building slots, you name it. We have quite literally maxed out the RTW engine with this project. With a map that extends from Atlantic coast to Asia Minor this is certainly not a miniature mod. In every sense of the phrase, RTR VII is a full conversion of RTW. With RTR VII, we hope to achieve what we have been aiming towards since the launch of TIC, and that is to truly represent the situation in the Western Mediterranean starting in 280 BC. If you enjoyed TIC, and were impressed by FOE, then RTR VII shall not disappoint.

    Rome Total Realism VII begins in 280 BC. In the west, Carthage, the mighty trading nations seeks to expand the borders of its empire. In Italy, Phyrros of Epeiros has launched an invasion to suppress the power of the rising Roman Republic. To the east the Greek nations continue to descend in turmoil, no man or people great enough to re-unite the mighty Greeks as Alexander once did. To the north lays the threat of the mighty barbarians, whom all civilized men fear. With no land safe, and no people willing to be tamed, the world is on the brink of total war, and only one people will survive.



    Q1 Tell us a bit about yourself: where you come from, what you do in real life, your education, your historical interests today and in the past, and other hobbies etc.
    I guess this is where I own up to living in an idyllic rural cottage with my two cats, Vodka and Tonic - hehe. Well the rural bit is right at least: I'm 27 and live in a small Welsh village (in the UK) within shouting distance of our two main cities in the south, Swansea and Cardiff and, apart from a couple of years in London, I've lived in the area all my life. I pay the bills by working for local government, covering IT in the training section. It doesn't make me an IT expert (I only know what I need to know!) but the knowledge has uses when your trying to download and install the latest mods for Rome or Med II etc. In my wild youth I also used to work as a dancer at a club, on weekends, but I'm getting too long in the tooth for that now.
    As for hobbies, I like to keep in shape, so I'm a regular visitor to the gym and pool and also run most days. A group of us at the gym also meet up a couple of times a month for wrestling bouts (something we've carried on from our school days) so, all in all, I keep pretty fit. It's not all rough and tumble though. I've had a passion for history since my early teens and I devoured just about every book I could find, especially if it covered military campaigns and battles(I must confess that social history was never one of my strong points). Oh yeah, we actually do have a cat, who goes by the name of Whiskey!
    Q2 Before CA games provided the world of military history lovers with their TW series, how did you express your desire(if any) to replay history and/or its set piece military battles? Did you play with, for example, tabletop miniatures?
    Life before CA! Was there such a thing? Between the ages of twelve and twenty, or so, I was a keen Napoleonic wargamer, managing to build up several corps of 1805 Austrians and 1812 Russians, and smaller divisions of Peninsular British and 1806 Prussians, using 15 mm metal figurines. Overall I had over one hundred infantry battalions, twenty five, or thereabouts cavalry regiments, and over a hundred guns. My mates had similar armies, and when we combined for one of our infrequent battles, between us, we could field over four thousand miniatures, all lovingly and painstakingly painted by hand. Eat your heart out CA, no AI problems for us, and twenty units per side was considered a mere skirmish - lol.

    Q3 How and when were you introduced to the TWC?What made you stay?

    As our schoolboy wargaming team started drifting apart, l found myself gravitating to PC games for my "fix". I tried a number of games: Risk!; Lords of the Realm; Caesar; Pharaoh; Emperor etc., before chancing across a copy of Shogun in a charity shop, going for two pounds. It took me a while to get into it but eventually figured it out and managed to complete a campaign. Shogun's Risk! style campaign map didn't bowl me over but but the real time battles piqued my interest enough to use the Internet to find out a bit more about the makers of the game. It was the summer of 2004 and I discovered that not only was there another game in the series available, Medieval, but that a brand new game, Rome was due to be released that very weekend, 22 September. Intrigued, I popped along to the PC shop in the nearby town that Saturday and saw and bought both of them.
    Deciding that Rome was likely to be the more advanced of the two games, I installed it and felt my jaw almost thud to the floor when I first saw the new 3D campaign map, and Victoria introducing herself and offering to guide me. By the time Maximus was talking me through my first battle against the barbarians I was hooked; it was love at first sight and have remained passionate about the game ever since. CA have come out with some good stuff since but nothing has equalled the shock and awe of that first encounter - it changed my PC gaming for ever (well, so far at least!). Not knowing anything of mods or modding communities, RTW kept me happy for the next few months and it must have been early in 2005 that I was curious to see if there any like minded souls out there playing this amazing game. Imagine my surprise when I came across the thriving communities of The Org and here, TWC.

    Needless to say that I joined both and soon found that I was gravitating more towards TWC due largely, I think, to the additional wide range of non-game related topics discussions being held therein. TWC was a lot less "politically correct" (refreshingly so, some would say) and soon found myself joining in the rough and tumble and enjoying some "robust" debates. Somehow, I managed to get noticed (maybe it was my free and frank debating style, or the dodgy photos I was posting in Say Cheese - stuff that I wouldn't get away with today! , and within six months of joining I was invited to apply for Citizenship, by Garbasardar, who offered to be my patron. The rest, as they say, is "History".
    Q4 How did you start with RTR?
    Having registered with TWC and The Org in 2005 it took me about six months to realise what a mod was and how to install them (not being all that knowledgeable with PC's etc.). However, once the plunge was taken, there was no going back. RTW modding, indeed TW modding, was still in its infancy and there was that heady feeling of being involved, even if only as a player, in something revolutionary and new. Some of the great names of TW modding, such as Darth Vader and Lusted (to name but two) were trailblazing insights into our wonderful game. Once bitten with the mod bug I was ravenous, I tried them all: Darth Mod; SPQR; Terrae Expugnandae; and ,of course, Rome Total Realism. RTR 5.4.1 was the current marque at the time; I don't recall an awful lot of exact detail, only that it was a lot more challenging than vanilla, even if it did look and operate a little rough around the edges. I do remember Rome being one faction instead of the three families, and the Senate being protected by a couple of stacks of uber Praetorians. The mod, which I still have the files for, came in at 73 MB's (tiny compared with most of today's mods), which was the norm in those days, so changes tended to be limited to units and maybe a few splash screens. Generally, the join between the vanilla and a mod was anything but seamless but, while making the game a lot more enjoyable, mods back then didn't have that professional look and polish that we expect today. RTR6 changed all of that!
    The build up to the launch of RTR6, 2006, was incredible. The anticipation was electric, something akin to that of Empire's release (only RTR6 didn't disappoint so many people). It is estimated that there were over 80,000 downloads on the first day! Firing it up for the first time you knew that you were experiencing something new and special - the first ever full conversion of a Total War game. While the game still had the same premise as the original, everything was new, from the map, units and gameplay down to the last splash screen, there was nothing to remind you directly of vanilla; it seemed like a completely new game. I, along with thousands of others, was completely caught up with its power to immerse. RTR6 raised the bar of modding and became the benchmark by which others were measured. It proved that gameplay and historical accuracy weren't mutually exclusive. RTR6 was quickly followed by 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, and ,finally, 6 Gold.

    6 Gold, and later The Platinum Edition (6 gold ported to work on the Barbarian Invasion expansion) became my game of choice, and it has stood the test of time, as its legacy is still alive and its heirs are still being played and developed. In particular, I'm thinking of RTR Extended Realism (ExRM), which is based on Platinum and is still being actively developed, by Quinn Inuit and his team (I believe that version 4 is close to release).

    So, as you can see, my involvement, as a player at least, started back in 2005, but it wasn't until the summer of 2007 that I got actively involved with the team. Of course I had been following the team's progress; it's near collapse and it's rebirth under the leadership of MCM (MarcusCorneliusMarcellus) but, not knowing the first thing about modding, I didn't feel that I had much to offer. However, I plucked up my courage and applied to be a beta tester for TIC (The Iberian Conflict), then just beginning its serious testing stage. To my surprise I was accepted and started one of the most interesting and enjoyable journeys of my life. I find it incredible that after only three short years (and some typically Romanesque bribery, corruption and judicious assassination - lol) that I find myself with the incredible honour of being, alongside PatricianS, one of the team's co-leaders.
    Q5 For those of us who have never heard about the RTR Mod series (highly unlikely) and RTR VII in particular, can you tell us about the RTR Mod series, RTR VII, and what is so unique about it?
    While the Rome Total Realism team has been around for a long time, I am sure that there must be quite a number of recent TWC members, brought in by Empire and Napoleon Total War who probably have never played RTW, let alone heard of us (shocking as that may sound ). As I mentioned above, with RTR6, the original members of the RTR team brought the first full conversion of Rome : Total War to the modding community. Not only that but it introduced a level of historical accuracy that was lacking in the original game (something CA can't get away with these days) and RTRVII builds on that legacy. Preceded by the mini-campaigns RTR: The Iberian Conflict (TIC) and RTR: Fate of Empires, RTRVII will be the third and final instalment in project that has its genesis in RTR7 (RTR7 morphed into RTRVII when its original concept was found to be unworkable, due to RTW engine limitations, and had to be redesigned, almost completely), which started almost as soon as the final version of RTR6 was released, so it's been a long time in development.
    With all the experience that we have gained by working on the mini-campaigns, we have been able to fine tune our ideas and we believe that RTRVII takes the RTW experience on to a new level. Almost every aspect of the game has been changed and improved on since 2006. Our Major and Minor Region concept, and radically new Economic system, are just two examples of unique and unprecedented gameplay elements that will be present in our new campaign.
    Q6 The RTR Mod development team is a very large team. Can you tell us about your role in that team, and how the team interacts with each other?
    Modding teams tend to be in a continual state of flux, and RTR is no different. While we may have over fifty "team members", with access to our Development and Beta Testing forums, we usually only have about a dozen developers and testers active at any one time. Most of us multi-task, and a high proportion of our beta testers go on to become valued members of the Development Team. We are a world wide extended family who meet up, from time to time, in different groupings, but what we all share is the RTR vision and a passion for the game.

    Q7 How is the historical research being done? Does, or did, the team get any help from 3rd parties like universities or other educational institutes?
    RTR's History Department has fluctuated in strength over the years but we have always been lucky in the high quality of people we have attracted. Not only keen and knowledgeable amateur historians but full blown professionals from the academic world. Indeed, our current head of department, HamilcarBarca, lectures on history in an Australian university. You only have to read his historical essays in our RTR VII previews to appreciate the depth of his knowledge, spanning from Carthage to the Balkans: we are very lucky to have him.

    Q8 What is the current status of the RTR VII mod, and how is it progressing? Will there be a public beta?
    While it's never been RTR policy to release a beta, we did consider it for RTR VII, however, we decided against it because we didn't like the idea of knowingly releasing something that was knowingly unfinished or had flaws that would detract from the immersion and enjoyment of playing. Besides, the fans will usually find the things we miss anyway - lol). Player feedback on the final release is important to us, as it is an essential ingredient in helping us fine tuning VII's campaign. I am sure that you will appreciate that it is impossible for us to test every permutation of every faction. RTR VII is in the final stages of development: all the major elements are in place and the current beta not only looks good and plays well, but it's also incredibly stable. What's left are a myriad of little things, including: some unit and building descriptions, lots of little graphics that never seem to get done etc. For example, we are currently looking at replacing our "spindly" spears with shafts of a realistic thickness, and also of implementing naturally veined wood colours, instead of the usual plain black or dark brown that we have been using. However, we are chipping away, relentlessly, at what's left.

    Q9 What can we expect from RTR VII in regard to new units, new factions, maps, or AI improvements? Will you implement the RS II environments?
    As FOE built on TIC, so does RTR VII expand on FOE. VII's map is amazing. Designed and implemented by our ex-leader, Muizer, It extends from Iberia in the west, to Asia Minor in the east. While the map covers less geographic area than the traditional RTW Grand Campaign it's scale is huge; it's physical size almost reaches the limits of the RTW engine. This means that we are able populate it in remarkable detail and actually use up all 199 regional slots. FOE had five playable factions, VII has seventeen, as well as three unplayable and the rebels. The Greeks are well represented by six playable factions and one unplayable so, as you can imagine, mainland Greece becomes a maelstrom of conflict, as each competes for dominance. At the last count we were using just under 200 DMB entries, fed by an EDU with over 350 unique units items - and we are still creating and implementing new units, all of which use textures that are twice the size of vanilla's (512 pixels instead of 256). Innovative gameplay elements, such as the already mentioned Major and Minor regional and Economic systems, introduced in FOE, have been refined and improved. Furthermore, we are also working on producing a series of video tutorials explaining how all these new elements work and tie in with each other. And lastly, the map. This is going to be a feast for the eyes, as it combines elements of both RSII's and Limes' (a very talented modder) environmental systems. It's certainly the best map we have produced so far.

    Q10 Speaking of RS II, how is the interaction with other major Rome Mod teams and how does that translate?
    The RSII team are a great bunch of guys and we enjoy a very close collaborative relationship. A number of us are members of both teams and we are always helping each other out with ideas and material. For example, we are using part of their superb environment, a number of their units, and elements of their units (such as the Spartiate cuirass), while we have helped them out with scripting (the launcher) and shared our SVN resources with them. In fact there are just too many instances to cite and I sometimes feel that we are just one big team. If our future plans come to fruition, this might almost become a reality. I can't give you more details at the moment - but watch this space!

    Q11 Are there any other present or upcoming TW Mods you or other team members are participating in?
    I'm currently concentrating exclusively on RTR, although I have done a few odd jobs for a couple of people. I know some of the team are working on some personal projects, and others freelance here and there but I prefer to concentrate on one main task, it's just the way that I find I work best.

    Q12 Besides your current work on RTR VII, what other historical mods would you like to do on the RTW engine?
    One thing I would really like to see, whether it be on the RTW or Medieval 2 engines, is a really comprehensive Classical Greek mod, covering such exciting times as the Peloponnese Wars. I find it hard to fathom how, after all this time, that this gap has yet to be filled.

    Q13 With Shogun2 released and the direction Modding is heading after the Empire and Napoleon TW games, how do you feel about the future of modding TW ?
    As with all new TW games since RTW, I have Shogun 2 on pre-order (yeah - I've gone for the bamboo box with the figurine ). However, I can't say that I am feeling my usual sense of anticipation at the prospect of a new TW game. I think part of the problem is my sense of disappointment that CA have failed to provide the tools that would open up Empire and Napoleon to full conversion modding. I know that Darth Vader (with Empire), and a lot of other very talented modders, are doing great work with the limited tools available, but we still appear to be unable to make any changes to the maps and, as far as I know, insert new models. In such a situation a RTW to RTR 6 type project would be impossible to achieve. However, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel. I do recall reading that CA were making noises about doing something to remedy this and open up their games again to easier modding. Whether this would only apply to their future game releases, or be applicable to Empire and Napoleon, I guess only time will tell. I do hope that something comes of this, as I'd hate to think of Medieval2 becoming the end of the line, as far as full conversion projects are concerned.

    Q14 Is there anything you would like to add to this interview?
    I'd just like to thank you for this opportunity of speaking to you and for being able to pass on information about ourselves and our work to the Eagle Standard readership. We are very excited about RTR VII and what it offers, and I would like to invite anyone who has not tried RTW, or one of its many mods, to give us a try. RTW may be an old game, and maybe it cannot compete with the latest bells and whistle graphics but, personally, I think that it is still a game reckoned with; it can still surprise; it still delivers the goods!
    I'd like to thank you very much for this interview and I wish you all the best of course with the eventual and final release of RTR VII!

    You're very welcome matey.

    For more information on everything regarding RTR VII and RTR in general,please go here !

    MorganH.


    Additional graphical Mods released: City walls.


    Two additional graphical Mods for the RTW engine,featuring new Wall textures,were released by davide.cool .
    Originally developed and released a long time ago,the creator davide.cool has spent many more hours of hard work on these projects to establish an even more realistic result for the community to enjoy.

    First davide improved the Servian Walls of Rome to an extent that they almost look like the real walls as they were when Servius Tullius constructed them in the 4th century BC.

    Secondly,davide.cool,focused his attention and graphical skills on Greek walls,to establish a more realistic city wall pattern for the Greek settlements in RTW.

    Not for nothing,davide.cool is a proud winner of a TWC Opifex Award for exceptional modding
    contributions.
    For anyone interested in downloading and adding these formidable realistic Wall textures to their RTW game,please go here for the Servian Walls,and here for the Greek ones.
    MorganH.


    Tutorial and resources.


    Tutorial

    Creating weapons in 3dsmax :

    A very interesting and handy tutorial on how to make your own weapons for the RTW game has been published by Valkar

    In this tutorial,the basic steps of making your own weapons,are explained in a very clear and easy to comprehend manner,based on screenshots and subsequent instructions.
    Are you interested in creating your own battle axes, spears and swords for your RTW game? Then do not wait any longer and immediately head over to this tutorial here!
    MorganH.


    Resource

    Base 3d model:

    Killerbee presents the RTW modding community with a 3D model,that anyone can use for their own purpose.
    You can clothe it, put hair on it, add a helmet and so on.


    Want to fool around with a real 3D model? read all about it here!

    MorganH.







    Gallery.


    IBUR ships(by davide.cool)


    RTR VII beta screens










    MorganH.

    Chivalry TW








    -Brittanicus



    Kyrenia Merchant Ship Released!

    Rome Total War/Medieval 2 Total War> Kyrenia Merchant ship released!

    The modder davide.cool has once again released on of his fantastic creations to the public, this time in the form of the Kyrenia merchant ship; The release can be implemented in both RTW and M2TW and will replace the vanilla trading ship on the strat map.




    The Kyrenia ship was originally in use during the period of Alexander the Great and his successors around the time of the 4th century BC and would have been found sailing around the Mediterranean until it was sunk (possible by pirates). This ship is the only one that has been preserved from the classical Greek period and so is the only example of what a trading ship from this time would have looked like; The fact that this model is based on the only preserved example means the work done by davide.cool is extremely accurate and would be an excellent addition to any mod, whether it is based in the classical era or not.

    3D model of the merchant ship


    The ship is very easy to install for both RTW and M2TW, so if you want to bring the Kyrenia back to life to sail the seas and include this fantastic model in your mod then you can find the release thread here!

    -Brittanicus


    Hic Est Lacedaemon

    Rome Total War>Barbarian Invasion>Alexander>Hic Est Lacedaemon.

    The upcoming, highly promising mod Hic Est Lacedaemon have in the past few weeks released a couple of new previews of their fantastic work; The previews cover a few new Carthaginian units as well as a small number of new buildings that will be implemented into the game.



    Hic Est Lacedaemon has started with a strong base in the form of the Extended Greek mod by DimeBagHo; The team aims to expand on this terrific piece of work and to extend and improve upon the Hellenistic culture represented in the game, as well as to introduce a new seperate culture for the mighty Spartans. Although the mod's main focus is the Hellenistic world and it's struggle's against foreign powers, the other nations have not been neglected as shown by the fantastic work portrayed in the previews.



    The first of the previews focuses on the mighty African kingdom of Carthage with several stunning new units being presented. This includes the invincible Sacred Band, as well as some of the other formidable units that will form the backbone of the Carthaginian line in battle.

    New Carthaginian Units.






    A tantalising glimpse of some of the new buildings that will feature in the mod has also been provided; The building in this particular preview is the new Eastern Palace, which has been crafted with the upmost detail based on real Persian architecture, from the vivid artwork on the walls to the awe-inspiring statues and delicate coulmns nothing has been omitted in the creation of this spectacular building.

    New Eastern Palace.





    If you want to see this fantastic work for yourself or to learn more about Hic Est Lacedaemon then you can find the preview for the mighty soldiers of Carthage here and the preview for the imposing Eastern Palace here!

    -Brittanicus


    Chivalry - Total War : Fall of the Cross & Rise of the Crescent Released!

    Rome Total War>Barbarian Invasion>Chivalry - Total War : Fall of the Cross of the Cross & Rise of the Crescent Released!



    Chivalry - Total War : Fall of the Cross & Rise of the Crescent is a new standalone mod based on the highly successful Chivalry Total War with the difference being that FCRC will focus on the high medieval period from 1191 to 1315 AD. In 1191 the third crusade is in full flow with the armies of Richard the Lionheart battling against those of the feared Salah ad Din in the unending struggle for control of the Holy Land; In the West another holy war rages on as Castille and Aragon attempt to finally push the Muslim armies out of the Iberian Peninsula once and for all. These fanatical holy wars wars however are not the biggest problem facing the nations around the Mediterranean, as news of a growing threat to the East grows; The Mongols have swept aside every other nation in their path and now many fear that they will begin to turn their eyes towards the rich kingdoms of the West and march relentlessly in an unstoppable tide all the way to Paris.



    FCRC adds and changes a number of the factions to represent the later starting date; Amongst these new factions are the most serene Republic of Venice who are rapidly becoming one of the dominant powers in Italy and the Meditterranean and threaten even the ancient Roman Empire in Greece. The indomitable Teutonic Order have also been added and they face the extremely difficult task of attempting to subdue the Pagan heretics in Lithuania whilst trying to keep freindly relations with the many powerful Christian kingdoms that surround it's small starting lands. The unstoppable Mongol horde's are another addition and whilst they will not be playable initially it has been stated that you will be able to unlock them if you manage to survive their implacable assault and win your campaign.


    Factions









    A new background script has also been included and adds a number of fantastic features to the mod, this is coupled with a wide number of historical events ranging from the Third Crusade to the German invasion of Sicily. These two factors combine to create a wonderful campaign full of difficult challenges and interesting events, which help to provide unique situations for each of the playable factions.

    The Third Crusade






    A number of new and re-done units such as the late feudal knights are another great change the FCRC team have made and when seen against the RS 1.6 environments (which are also included in the mod) they create some truly magnificent medieval battles.




    So if you want to take back your rightful lands as the Roman Empire or conquer the Holy Land for the cross or claim it for the crescent then you can find the release thread and download for this excellent mod here!

    -Brittanicus


    Fourth Age dev diary released!




    The highly talented team behind the Fourth Age mod have this month released their second dev diary (narrated by MAsterOfNone) to showcase some of the amazing progress they have made with this project. The diary mentions a number of the innovative new concepts that the team have put together such as an alliance system based around the senate feature from vanilla, which may finally give the RTW game a working diplomacy system. The video also goes into detail about the aspects that make each campaign unique as well as the vast amounts of research that the team have gone into to ensure the upmost quality in their vision for Middle-earth. The Fourth Age team have in addition provided answers for some of the numerous questions posed by their loyal fans and will do their best to answer as many future questions as they can (your question may even be included in a future dev diary), so if you want to find out more you can find the release thread for the dev diary here!

    -Brittanicus

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    Default Re: April WIP





    Message from the Editor Hello Ladies and Gentlemen! It is with great pleasure that I am once again able to print the usual Captain Cabin interviews. For the month of April this section has produced 4 articles about mods, modders, and community RPGs! There is a new writer on the team - the esteemed Obi Wan Asterix! We hope you enjoy it!

    Interviews
    Victoria Mod


    1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

    Well, I've been a member here at TWC for quite some time, though I went on a two-year hiatus, and have recently come back to voice a few opinions in some forums, and of course, help the Victoria: Total War team.

    2. How did you get into modding - how did you learn?

    I personally don't mod myself. I don't really have the know how, or technological capabilities, but my hat goes off to those that do. I'm a lowly PR guy, that helps spread the word about the mod. I'm sort of like the team's leech.

    3. Who is on your team and what do they do?

    Well, let's see here.

    Fortes is our mod leader, and has done a lot of scripting, some mapping, things of that nature.
    Okmin is in the same boat, he has done quite a bit of scripting, and has made some beautiful flags for the nations.
    MatrixStorm is a 2d artist and a researcher.
    ♔Tango12345♔ is also a researcher, and has written the faction descriptions
    Xwhyzed is our modeler and also helps skin the units
    Geronimo2006 is also one of our modelers and skinners.


    4. How long have your team been working on this mod?

    As far as I know, a few months, since about January.

    5. How important is historical accuracy in game? How has it been implemented?

    Historical accuracy is very important to our mod, and it's our hopes that we make a game as historically accurate as we possibly can, given the restrictions Empire has. Reconstruction, after the American Civil War, is being represented along with the system of vassal-ships and alliances, giving each faction a real starting political situation. Units and technology are also being researched, and we plan on making everything as accurate as we possibly can in that regard also.

    Of course, with that said, their are a few simple things we can't do in the modification, due to Empire's restrictions. An example of this is the names of factions. The Austrian-Hungarian Empire wasn't officially proclaimed until 2 years after our modifications starts. Due to our inability to correctly represent simple things like name changes such as that (Austria going to Austria-Hungary) we've been forced to make a few decisions regarding how to handle details such as that, which of course have been difficult, but are usually ultimately decided in favor of making the game more playable, or interesting.


    6. How many factions will the game have? What are they?

    Well, we have included a lot of factions. Here is the list now, though, make not that it is subject to change.

    NORMAL FACTIONS
    Great Britain
    France
    The North German Confederacy
    Belgium
    The Netherlands
    Spain
    Portugal
    Bavaria
    Saxony
    Wurttemburg
    Austria-Hungary
    Russia
    The Ottoman Empire
    Greece
    Italy
    The Papal States
    Norway
    Denmark
    Sweden
    Morocco
    Egypt
    Persia
    Afghanistan
    The United States of America
    Guatemala
    Haiti
    Venezuela
    Columbia
    The Sioux Indians

    PROTECTORATE NATIONS
    Finland
    Mexico
    Venice
    The Indian Princely States

    EMERGENT NATIONS
    Poland
    Bulgaria
    Romania
    Serbia
    The Dominican Republic
    Canada
    Ireland
    Cuba
    India

    Even with all of those nations, that still leaves us with a few extra faction slots, that we are still debating on how to use.

    7. What nations will be playable?

    Well, all of them save for the Emergents and the Protectorates. However, some simple sub-mods should do the trick, should you find yourself really wanting to play as one of those nations.

    8. What are some of the unit types that we will see in the mod?

    A whole lot, that's for sure! Most factions will have a very unique faction roster, with us wanting to avoid the 'clone' units that plagued Vanilla total war. German Regulars, British Regulars, Russian Regulars, and even French and American regulars will be very different then each other, giving each faction it's own 'feel'. Minor nations in the game, be it Persia, Columbia or Serbia will have their own units, and their own style of fighting, to keep each war different, and interesting.

    For example, some of the American nations, such as Columbia, Venezuela and Cuba will lack the highly standardized regular infantry units that the more industrial powers would have, at least at the beginning of the game. Instead, they will rely on highly skilled irregular forces, and militia. Each technology one researches in the military branch should bring these nations a more solid and uniform military, while industrial nations, such as the United States will simply receive improved infantry, with different uniforms.

    9. What were some of the major successes or major setbacks while working on the mod?

    So far, the modification has been successful. The hype is certainly there, and the team is always getting something done. The biggest setback, or issue we've been experiencing, at least from what I've seen has been the sheer amount of units that we need to successfully pull this thing off. A lot of mod teams, or sole modders have been very generous, and donated units to our effort, for which we are thankful, but a lot still needs to be finished. Past that, things slightly out of our control, such as the lack of map modding abilities (which Fortes has been duly working on) and the inability to really add effective new ships into the game has closed down a few possible doors for the mod to take, at least for now.

    But, as I said, the modification as a whole is right on track, and making great timing. Large portions of the scripting is done, so far as I understand it, along with more 'minor' things, such as flags, battle and naval flags, general aesthetics, and the like.

    10. When do you think will your next release willbe? What fixes/adds might it include?

    Honestly, I really couldn't tell you. Victoria: Total War is making great timing as is, but I don't want to promise anything in terms of when we will be done exactly. Just let it be known that we are working, and going full steam ahead with the mod, and more progress is being made everyday.

    11.Do you have any advice for our TWC fans?

    Keep your eye out for Victoria!

    12. Any last words?

    I just want to thank first off the team, because without them, this amazing mod would not be in the process of being made, and I'd be out of a job. I also want to thank the overwhelming support we've gotten from our fans. I just want all of you guys to stay active on our forums, and feel free to voice ideas and opinions, we'd be happy to hear them! We've gotten a lot of help from the community in terms of research, or even help with making our units in general, so if anyone feels like they could lend a hand, please do so!

    Thanks a lot for the opportunity to discuss Victoria: Total War, Lord William!

    ------------------------------------------------------

    Six Bells
    Tell us a bit about yourself!
    Im Stildawn... Been on TWC for for just over 3 years now, mainly joined for some advice on M2TW but was eventually suckered in on a more permanent basis by the good guys at the APETI forums... Good times...

    I'm a pretty fun loving guy from New Zealand. Married to a lovely wife and have a six year old daughter... On TWC I guess Im most known for my "lol"... I tend to use that alot so much so that AA called me the Legislator of Lol haha.



    When did you first start role-playing? What made you continue?
    Major Darling who followed my short lived APETI AAR sent me a PM about GSTK... And then another one... And another lol... I eventually wondered over to the GSTK forum and had a look around, asked a few questions etc... Was a bit put off at the start you know "Role Playing on the internet" and the stigma that comes with such phrases... But I gave it a go... And boy after a few weeks was I hooked... I cant really explain the draw on Role Playing in games here... Theres just something special about interacting with other real people in a limitless world of your own and others imagination... It sounds geeky but who cares... Some of the greatest "gaming" fun Ive had in my life have been here in the TWC role playing forum... The awesome situations... The scandals... The suspence... Its insane lol.


    Why did you start this project?
    I certainly didnt start Six Bells though I was with the guys who started it I guess... I just enjoy RPing so much that I dont mind dedicating my time to helping others get the same enjoyment... Six Bells is unique in the fact that it is centred on one vessel in the British Navy in 1700... So is great for some epic naval action...

    What are the different kinds of ships that will be available to the player? Will it be possible to have bigger ships?
    In this latest restart we have decided to play it small, have one vessel in which we all RP... A Fourth Rate Ship of the Line... We start small but who knows in the future if demand requires it we can expand rapidly... The Royal Navy was quite large after all...

    How will the battles be fought?
    We are using Native Empire Total War for our larger naval battles, we have a Six Bells steam group and will simply organise online matches to determine the outcome of battles... Screenshots will be taken for use on forum to RP the battle...

    How many people play Six Bells?

    At the moment we have seven guys ready to play, though once we get started proper we hope to rapidly expand.

    What are the responsibilities of the local mod team?
    Cleaning up junk, delete/move threads general mod stuff... On top of that we discuss and guide the game as a whole... If any external things are required (like enemies attack x y z) then we research and play as the bad guys haha...

    What are some of the difficulties of running an RPG?
    Fairness... With different people of differing personalities all actively RPing and developing their characters... I find the main difficulty of running the RPG as a mod would be keeping everything fair and even for everyone... Next to that is just keeping it a fun and friendly environment

    Any advice to future Role-players?
    Join... Now... Lol... But really for new players I say just join in... Ask questions etc... It may seem odd at the start but trust me its fully awesome once you really get into it... Advice for playing a TWC RPG itself... I say just remember to be nice, to be kind, and to think of the other players whenever you post/rp in game...

    Do you have any closing remarks?
    If your looking for some awesome Age of Sail action... Fun in the Carribean? Pirates???? Then Six Bells is the place for you...


    Interrogation of subject T.C.
    Interrogation Subject alias: T.C.
    Rank: Toolmaker / modleader Europe in Conflict
    Gender: Male
    Birthday: May 14
    Agegroup: Over 30 but under 35 we suspect due to increasing middle section and first signs of a slouching posture

    "T.C. has seen things you wouldn't believe: attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion"

    During the interrogation please gaze into the lamp:



    1. Your first name!
      Specimen 1194523. Though some refer to me as Daniel.
    2. You identify yourself as a toolmaker, what would you describe this as?
      The elite few who see that Chuck Norris keeps the world turning.
    3. What does T.C. stand for?
    4. These tools? What are they suposed to achieve?
      Greater modability and a chance to improve the Artificial Idiot designed by CA.
    5. Can you not develop any tools to fix English cooking?
      Not even I can do that....
    6. The basics: How did you come to the Total Whore Center?
      I followed the cookie trail of CTD's Empire Total War 1.0 kindly deposited on my computer. All roads let here, where I learned the CTD's must be a design feature, as so many of us were enjoying this unadvertised feature.
    7. The basics: Was TWC your first contact with modding?
      There are others?
    8. Do you still play TW games or just mod? If so how would you proportionatly describe modding/playing time?
      I try to play. But then my head fills with crazy ideas about new features or tweaking small things. One thing leads to another and before I know it I haven't played the game(s) in months.
    9. What is your occupation in real life, or is TWC 100% of your existence?
      Before I found TWC I used to be a student. I'm not sure if that is the case anymore....
    10. Have you interracted with any members of TWC outside the www? If so whom?
      Unfortunately not.
    11. Where are you at in your modding of EiC? Give us links.
    12. Where are you at in your modding of EiC? Give us links.
      We've just finished designing a disease engine and I do believe we are the first mod for NTW/ETW that uses such a feature. Disease was intended to be included by CA (you can see from the files that it was dropped early in the Alpha stage) and, in my opinion should have been. It caused more deaths in Napoleon's Army on retreat from Russia than Russian soldiers. The full preview can be seen here. We've also got some very interesting other info here, detailing how we have revolutionised the diplomacy system of NTW.
      And seeing as the ES is my favourite publication, I've got some new screenshots just for you What you can see below are disease prevention methods, and a building in the Diplomacy chain.
      Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 






      What you can also see in the next screenshot is part of our plans for the Ottoman Empire.
      Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

      As NTW doesn't have Asia Minor/ North Africa on the map, we are taking steps to represent them in-game. If you are playing as the Ottomans and you start a war you will soon find reinforcing troops being sent from these Eastern provinces to your capital, Istanbul. These are unique troops that could not normally be recruited in game - and we've set up the script so the troops you get aren't the same each game. Of course there is a limit, this won't be something allowing you to steamroll the map, far from it infact.

      We've also done some other quite interesting things with the campaign map - for example, you now need access to the "horses" resource to recruit cavalry (the more eagle-eyed player will point out that there is less than 10 regions with horses in vanilla; we've increased this number) and you can now only build artillery buildings in larger cities, rather that the random system we had in 1.3.4. We've worked hard giving each province strategic depth and allowing the player to plan ahead.
      We are also contemplating a manpower system. APE:TI (ETW mod) had a manpower system, but it was only a "house rule" - it was not physically enforced. We have plans to design a system where it would be enforced (we know how to do it), but it is only at the brainstorming stage yet. This feature would obviously add even more strategic value to individual provinces, with the larger in-game regions being key to your ability to make war.
      It's important to remember that all of our scripted modifications work like giant plug-ins, so we are open to sharing elements of them with other mods

      Then of course you've got the battle side of things. Our naval battles are regarded as some of the best for NTW, even better than 1.3.4 with the biggest issue (captured ships exploding) solved. We are also hard at work improving the feel and aesthetics of land battles (including sieges!). Land battles really let us down in the past, we don't intend that to be the case in 2.0!
      From the screenshot below you can see the combination of smoke + more realistic naval battle speeds does an excellent job of recreating the utter chaos of a naval battle.
      Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


      We are also putting a lot of work into new factions. As you can see from the following screenshot, we are making a lot of new factions playable - these will all be fleshed out into fully immersive factions with tech trees, units, missions etc.

      Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    13. Where are you at with your modding plans?
      We still have a few more tricks up our sleeve for EiC 2.0. After that....
    14. What is your opinion on the modability of S2TW?
      I think the game has locked up a considerable amount since NTW, and people will no doubt claim this is CA deliberately hampering modders. IMO they are taking neccessary steps to improve performance (pre-compiling text-based files for example) and make better games. Whether or not they release info on file formats when they are finished with Warscape (no time soon I don't doubt) will show their true attitude towards modding.
    15. If you really could mod something in NTW that you have not managed to what would it be?
      North Africa and Asia Minor. If these were there the game would stand on it's own feet better, rather than as an limited expansion.
    16. What would be your utopian mod? Your utopian game?
      Empire:TW's scale + Shougun2:TW's features.
    17. What areas should CA take TW into next?
      Working on an expansion pack worthy of it's own DVD/CD, rather than cheap dlc "expansions".
    18. Describe the day to day work of modding NTW/S2TW/ETW to ICT iliterate dolts like myself?
      Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 
    19. If you could lynch one member of TWC who it would it be?
      My solicitors advise me saying Obi Wan Asterix is a bad idea
    20. If you could entrust total despotic power to one individual on TWC who would it be?
      I would never wish that eternal headache upon someone
    21. How would you summarize your TWC experiene in a single sentence?
      Where did the last three years go?
    22. Why do you mod? What motivates you?
      The amount of room for improvement in any vanilla game. my own personal taste - my mods start off as a few files uploaded for people with similar tastes. EiC happened to evolve into 12 months of work
    23. What do you hope your mod downloaders do with your mod? What do you hope they see?
      Play it and don't return to the forum reporting an issue Hopefully they will see what can be done with a little creative thinking and applied thought
    24. If you could be reborn in a different era anywhere?
      Too much choice there Probably Roman times, the world was a much bigger place then.
    25. If you could be reborn in today's era elsewhere?
      Just down the road. They have better internet.
    26. When you are reincarnated what will you return as?
    27. Does TWC exist?
      Do one legged ducks swim in circles?
    28. Future modding projects?
      Plenty. Watch this space. And many others.
    29. How is TWC damaging your life?
      I am at least semi-dependant at this stage.
    30. How is TWC benefiting your life?
      I really don't think it is
    31. Your friends/family/flatmates/neighbours/local police department how do they view your online activism? Do they know?
    32. Your nationality? General location?
      Irish
    33. Your languages? If you could speak a language which would it be?
      English and a "cśpla focal as Gaeilge" (few words in Irish )
    34. Little birdy told me that there has been contact between NTW3 and EiC, care to comment?
      A little birdy has it's information right - but that's about all I can say for now. Lets just say we are discussing ideas that may prove mutually beneficial to both teams in the long run
    35. When will EiC be a finnished product if ever?
      v2.0 will be pretty much everything we've wanted it to do up to now, as well as the new features we've designed. We were restricted with time before this and we never really got any one feature "finished", so to say. We always tried to get the historical balance/fun element mixed to the right degree and cater for a wide audience, but 1.3.4 got that wrong in many places. Since 1.1 we were patching onto features that were never right from the start and obviously this never gave us what we wanted. With 2.0 we've went back to the drawing board on a lot of things. Instead of splitting facts and fun down the middle, we've looked at the facts of Napoleonic warfare and times and applied this to the mod in such a way that it is fun to play, while not loosing out on accuracy. It doesn't have any "bad" features that we could defend simply by saying "oh well this is how it's done", or any fun features that completely ruin the historical immersion of the game. The time that we've been able to give it (in development since November!) is allowing us to make sure this balance is the best we can produce - we are not rushing any single feature.
      I've got a checklist of things to be completed for 2.0 and I'm glad to say that over the last few months the "completed" items have become more numerous than the "to-do" items. We know that 2.0 is a much different product than 1.3.4 - so much so that the 1.4 build was scrapped as a release build and simply used as another Beta build. We aren't going to release 2.0 with any (known) bugs or unfinished features. It will be at the stage that I could happily leave EiC down without the "what if I did this/that" thought in the back of head. But I don't intend to just leave it in the dust, there's always potential for more.
    36. Which footy team?
      The red side of Manchester (In case you have doubts, that would be the side that wins the league every now and again )
    37. Curling or Badmington?
      Neither
    38. Wembley or Wimbeldon?
      Most certainly Wembley
    39. Shakespeare or Shostakovich?
      Well there's only one Hamlet...
    40. The monarchy?
      Not my cup of tea
    41. What advice would you give to a young/green modder about to set forth on their first coding adventure?
      Start off small - if you learn to first make new units, you will soon learn about how buildings work, how projectiles work, how unit stats work, how basic campaign mechanics work (in warscape at least). once you get a hang of the basic db concepts you will find yourself branching out all sorts of directions. before you know it you'll know the ins and outs of the game you are modding. If you are feeling adventerous, move in to scripting - that is where the latest breakthroughs are being made, with resources like the script-o-rama which are designed to help you from the start to the finish. (link: http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=418658)
    42. What does this word mean to you: Music?
      "Music is the universal language of all mankind"
    43. If you wantede to make TWC suffer how would you make this happen?
      No comment.


    Interrogation of Yarkis de Bodemloze
    Interrogation Subject alias: Yarkis of the Bodemlozes
    Rank: Modleader The Rights of Man 1,2, and a 3 a.k.a TROM not to be confused with the movie TRON
    Gender: Male
    Birthday: September 1st
    Agegroup: About halfway through the tunnel of life as judging by the paternal pampering of TWC's imature masses.

    "Yarkis de Bodemloze can't fight in here this is the Total War Room!"

    During the interrogation please gaze into the lamp:


    • Your first name!
      Nikolaus... you know that guy with the beard bringing mods to every house.
    • You identify yourself as a modmaker, what would you describe this as?
      A guy who has too much time, loves games and tinkered with toys as a child.
    • What does Yarkis stand for? De Bodemloze?
      Tell me what your name stands for? But I tell you that elsewhere my alias is Zarkis. And de Bodemloze is the family name here on TWC. So go ask the first of the de Bodemlozes.
    • What was your primary objective when setting out modding? When how did you start?
      Making the games to my likings. I forgot with what I started, but I spend quite some time moding Morrowind and Oblivion. Anybody here visited the Bank of Cyrodiil? It has more then 70 000 downloads on TES Nexus and is a Hall of Fame Mod on Planet Elder Scrolls. Later I did the bigger part (including an new AI) of 'Awakening of the Rebellion 2.5', a big mod for Star Wars Empire at War.
    • The basics: How did you come to the Total Whore Center?
      Hm, my memory fails me...for RTW mods perhaps?
    • Do you still play TW games or just mod? If so how would you proportionatly describe modding/playing time?
      I like and play my own mods otherwise I can't develop them. And I love Call of Warhammer (when the bugs are ironed out that is) and admire King Kongs work. I would guess the relation is 30%/70% (playing vs moding).
    • What is your occupation in real life, or is TWC 100% of your existence?
      That's classified. But TWC is certainly not the center (!) of my life.
    • Have you interracted with any members of TWC outside the www? If so whom?
      No.
    • Where are you at with your general modding plans?
      I have no general moding plan.
    • Your mod set a benchmark for S2TW along with Darthmod... what is your opinion on the modability of S2TW?
      Uh..don't let me get started. I make it short: factions locked by CA, custom ships not possible, many moded tables don't overwrite vanilla ones. Ask me how much hours I spend to make Teppo Ashigaru available earlier on the tech tree. An easy 5 minute thing in NTW, not so in S2.
    • If you really could mod something in S2TW that you have not managed to what would it be?
      AOR units. Add them to the list of impossible things in S2.
    • What would be your utopian mod? Your utopian game?
      Oblivion type RPG with more interaction of player and world and new content each year.
    • What areas should CA take TW into next?
      Well, all roads lead to...Rome. But I fear that TW games become more and more arcadish and less and less modabale. So S2 may be the last TW game I play and mod.
    • Describe the day to day work of modding NTW/S2TW/ETW to ICT iliterate dolts like myself?
      Stay an happy iliterate. It's too boring to describe.
    • If you could lynch one member of TWC who it would it be?
      I can't. And I won't.
    • If you could entrust total despotic power to one individual on TWC who would it be?
      Nobody of course.
    • How would you summarize your TWC experience in a single sentence?
      It's still fun.
    • Why do you mod? What motivates you?
      I can't play vanilla TW games. Really.
    • What do you hope your mod downloaders do with your mod? What do you hope they see?
      Enjoy the challenges and get a kick to learn something about history.
    • If you could be reborn in a different era anywhere?
      Another solar system.
    • If you could be reborn in today's era elsewhere?
      Where I live are no earthquakes, no volcanos, no blizzards and plenty of food (and beer). I stay where I am.
    • When you are reincarnated what will you return as?
      Jesus de Bodemloze
    • Does TWC exist?
      Only in your mind.
    • Future modding projects?
      Unified banking clans of Skyrim?
    • How is TWC damaging your life?
      It wastes my time.
    • How is TWC benefiting your life?
      I can waste time.
    • Your friends/family/flatmates/neighbours/local police department how do they view your online activism? Do they know?
      Not much. They are not interested in games anyway and I still have a busy restlife.
    • Your nationality? General location?
      In the beer and bretzel country.
    • Your languages? If you could speak a language which would it be?
      French would be nice.
    • If your age group would be a metaphor it would be....
      ...golden
    • When will the TROMs be a finnished product if ever?
      TROM (which I did not make btw) and TROM2 are finished.
    • Which footy team?
      None.
    • Curling or Badmington?
      Neither
    • Wembley or Wimbeldon?
      Wembley if I had to choose.
    • Shakespeare or Shostakovich?
      The latter.
    • Monarchies?
      Obsolete since 100 years.
    • What does this word mean to you: Music?
      Emotion
    • What does this word mean to you: Food?
      Too much...
    • If you wantede to make TWC suffer how would you make this happen?
      I would pay someone to flood it with pointless and buggy minimods.
    • What direction is TROM 3 heading? Can you give us a sneak preview? How will the mod develop? Any screenies/links?
      Hard to say. I developed TROM2 mainly alone. For TROM3 I already get much more input from the community and that's shaping the mod already. And here is a TROM3 world exclusive preview pic:


      Fire Rocket Ship in Action!

    • What is your favourite modding tool? Who has been the biggest help/support to your modding?
      The PFM (pack file manager) and the ESF editor of course. And there are numerous people who developed and still develop all these tools and never show up on the frontpages. I won't list names because I shurely would miss someone, but without them mods wouldn't exist.
    • What advice would you give to a young/green modder about to set forth on their first coding adventure?
      Moding is a trial and error experience. You need persistence for that.
    • Is there a chance that DLC will complicate mod development from what you have seen in the game structure? What do you predict DLC will be?
      CA locked the factions in the full game so moders can't make them playable. Therefore we will probably see a faction DLC. I am pretty shure you will be able to play the Ikko-Ikki. Btw I don't critisize CA for this policy as long as they unlock all factions after they sold their DLCs.
    • Anything you have noticed about the structure of the game that was unusual with S2TW?
      Yes, they added index variables to many tables. No idea what they are for.
    • What the flip is an index variable?
      A index variable is unique number fora data entry. For example all units in S2 have now a unique number in addition to their unique names.
    • Finally, a word to the wise of TWC?
      I have no advice to give this time.

    Last edited by Legio; April 23, 2011 at 10:53 AM.

  6. #6
    Legio's Avatar EMPRESS OF ALL THINGS
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    Default Re: April WIP




    The best Publication for Total War and Modding News!



    List of Contributors

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    Last edited by Belisarius; April 24, 2011 at 07:48 AM.

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    Default Re: The Eagle Standard, Volume X, Issue II

    Published.

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