Welcome to the next Edition of the Eagle Standard! This issue it seems I've lost MorganH for the month since some other Section Editors have stolen him *shakes fist*. But nevertheless I have managed to get crossjon to help me out this month so please welcome him to the ETW/NTW Team as we bring the Total War news right to your keyboard. So pop on your glasses, grab a cold beverage and let's get stuck into the news.
On the Shelves
The latest and greatest! The newest and bluest! The... Well, you get the idea.
"Sighting to the starboard bow, sir! It's some excellent NTW/ETW Mods heading right this way on a ship called the Eagle Standard!" Well, there's my tacky intro this month. Hope it wasn't too terrible.
(NTW) Blood and Iron
Blood and Iron is a new mod that aims at providing the player with the utmost realistic experience from Napoleon Total War during Europe's major conflicts of the mid-19th century. With Blood and Iron, lead your nation to glorious victory during the Austro-Prussian War, the fight for the Italian peninsula,control of Central Europe, and the Franco-Prussian War. With an improved economic system, improved BAI, and a more agressive CAI, Blood and Iron shall immerse you in the culture and military tactics of the day. Expect new units, new uniforms, and historically accurate leaders and generals of the time.You shall only achieve victory through blood and iron!
Recently, I got acess to the most recent alpha version of blood and iron (don't ask how. ) and it's a very interesting mod, as these screenshots of my first time playing the mod demonstrate:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
And here's some awsome screenshots by Luckylewis:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
As these clearly show, this mod has very high quality units, with period accuate uniforms. Additionaly, the stats that i've got to play with, are very historically accuate for each nation, depending on the equipment used and other factors.
So far there isn't much to show, but this mod has been great fun so far and has some great ideas for NTW modding. The mod is currently in an alpha stage, and the team are trying for a custom battle release in late january.
The Rights of Man 2 is a much anticipated mod for NTW. Many changes have been made to the NTW campaign and the game is now a lot different to it's vanilla brother. This mod makes the game much more challenging and gives Total War veterans and newbies alike a challenge in the game. A lot of changes to field and naval battle mechanics have been made to make the experience a lot more realistic with changes to cannon range, movement speed and so much more. And yes, this mod also adds a whole lot more units to the game (I didn't forget you guys), over 160 more units in fact! There are way too many features to explain in one article. You should definitely go check out this mod.
L'aigle brings us some more excellent modifications - namely, The Impérial Eagle Mod.
L'Aigle, despite being a one man team (with pvtgunny's help), has given us a mod with over one hundred skins and units for France. Everything has been completely reworked and no stone was left unturned - from unit cards to unit names to the equipment each man carries! Without further ado, some screenshots of the mod in action from Pdguru:
The Lordz Modding Collective has come out with some excellent pieces of work over the years of the Total War series. And this is certainly no exception. Napoleonic Total War III is a mod for NTW that enhances every aspect of the game and really improves it in many ways. The Lordz have learnt many things from creating the older Napoleonic Total War mods for the Medieval and Rome games. There are now 18 playable factions in the game. And those factions have been majorly reworked to enhance the historical accuracy of the game with many changes been made to make the factions more alike to their historical counterparts. Unit sizes have also been changed to make them more akin to an actual military unit. Morale and fatigue have also been revamped to make you conserve your units to get the most out of them. Fog of War has also been introduced so you have no idea of what your opponent has until he is right on top of you. All together this is looking like a very promising mod and is well worth a look.
Napoleon: Art of War is an up-and-coming mod for NTW that looks very promising. The aim of this mod is to make the game more realistic but keep it fun to play, after all, it is a game. The team is currently working on adding a lot of new factions, making the current ones more realistic and more fun to play and of course a whole lot of other stuff. Here is a list of what they aim to achieve in this mod:
-Complete unit statistics overhall
-Remade the unit regiment sizes, with each nation having their unique sizes
-Changed unit ranges and accuracy
-Completely redone the barracks recruitment system
-Added an 'Area of Recruitment' system (which I created and ChuckNorris007 thought of)
- Added battle and campaign flags
-Added campaign map, battle and main menu music
-Adding a heap of units for all nations (major and minor, unlike other mods)
-Added square formation to all elite, line, light and most millita
-All skirmisher units can hide anywere (including buildings) and move without been seen
-All elite units now inspire nearby soldiers
-The best elite units now freighten nearby enemies
-All line infantry now have 2-rank fire
-Dragoons can now shoot from horseback
-We are trying to re render the game so that pistols are available to some units of cavalry, this is a work in progress
-We are historially changing uniforms to their correct likeness
-Muskets have their correct fire and reload rate and the accuracy of the musket has decreased significantly
-Rifles are slightly more accurate then the musket at certain ranges but still taking into account the process of loading times
-Changed the names for many units to there proper names
-Changed the names of the Nations to there proper names
-Added realistic battle sound effects
-Added blood and smoke effects
-Put a recruitment limit on all units except the basics
-You will now see that all major inferior characters have a new apperance example drummer, fifers, sergeants, staff, standard beareres. This distinguishing them in combat
-Deleted all wooden stakes from skirmishers
-Increased missile lethality
-Changing building time of ships and units
-Changing naval statistics for more realism
-Changing artillery statistics for more realism
-Added smarter CAI (campaign artifical intelligence)
-Added smarter BAI (battle artifical intelligence)
-Added morale changes, so now units are more affected under fire and taking casualties
-Changed the amount of bullets each man has
-Changing the campaign armies on the map
-Increased the armour value for armored horsemen, especially the French
-All militia and dragoons now have a policing bonus
-Modified preset armies (even though I was told it is impossible)
-Changing ownership of some regions
-Changing the campaign to an 1806 time period
-Deleted fire-and-advance from all units
-Enabled fire by rank for all Line, Elite and Grenadier units.
expect more changes to be added
The list of changes this mod aims to have is staggering and it is well worth a good look and bookmarking the thread on your browser because it should be a very good mod when it is released. And remember folks, WIP mods can use any help so maybe go over there and lend a hand. But good luck to the team.
Mini-Mods
The small things that make all the difference.
(NTW) WWII Sub-Mod
World War II Submod
The World War ll submod for The Great War Mod is a mod attempting to do what some would consider impossible: make an accurate WWll experience for Napoleon Total War. Currently, the changelog is rather small, but the team has very big plans (including a campaign involving the North Africa theatre of WWll). Here's a short description of the new gameplay:
Platoon/Squad Tactics: Your largest unit, the standard rifle platoon will be under 50 men. Most special units will be squad sized (8-12 men) or even smaller. This of course is a big change from the massive armies of TGW, and while battles will not be as large, it does offer possibilities of more tactical approaches to battle that hopefully will reflect the big changes in warfare between ww1 and ww2.
Infantry will be the main component of your army. Small enough to avoid artillery, longer ranges, and better rifles will make these units, while smaller, much more deadly. Special units such as snipers or assault infantry will fill very specific roles, but will be equally vulnerable to attack. However, most infantry units fit a large variety of roles, experimentation is key.
Cavalry was outdated in ww1, and it was definitely outdated in ww2. These units should never be used in a direct confrontation with infantry, as they will be destroyed. They can be used to go outside of the enemy's range, and then attack isolated infantry or artillery from the flanks, or be used as a dragoon role.
Artillery, while no longer the dominating field force as in TGW, still very powerful. No longer can you simply let them shoot wherever, fewer pieces, smaller units, and higher accuracy, will mean more focused targeting. Machine guns however, remain strong as ever. Tanks will also be included hopefully, but this is limited by TGW progress in this area.
[FIELDSET2=Hawkins' Greatcoats Mod] Maj.Gen. John E. Hawkins has provided the modding community with a rather spiffy looking add on.
Russian and Prussian soldiers now have greatcoats to protect them against the cold. I have to admit that they look very cool in their new jackets - not to mention how jealous Napoleon and his boys will be when they see this!
Welcome to my new section! Bite Size is a section designed to bring you some of the smaller news in the NTW/ETW Modding Community in an easy-to-read format that makes it easy to keep up to date with the news.
T.C. has synthesized this excellent resource for all modders of Napoleon: Total War, updating some of alpaca's older work and making it easy to read and understand for even the newest modder. The thread covers scripts, scripts, and more scripts - detailing what they are, what they do, what format they are, and basic advice on modding the scripts themselves. Do check it out over here!
Last edited by Legio; January 25, 2011 at 06:15 AM.
Welcome to the Total War Eras section, where reporters General Brittanicus and myself have tried to shed some light on a range of mod previews and releases. I've also come up with some nice and handy tools and tutorials, and to round this months edition off, there are some great ingame screenshots for you to enjoy as well!
So stop loitering and let's get started! Enjoy this months ride!
MorganH.
RS Environments Released
Rome Total War>Barbarian Invasion>Alexander>Roma Surrectum 2> RS II environment released.
The team behind the fantastic mod Roma Surrectum have given the rest of the community a unique gift this new year with the release of their overhauled environments, which were originally implemented into Roma Surrectum 2.
Almost every aspect of vanilla Rome Total War's environment has been changed thanks to the hard work of the RS team and now every other mod out there will be able to benefit from these amazing improvements. This release includes not only the new vegetation, trees and grass created by Tone, but also a new descr_geography database, which will allow vegetation and trees in every single one of the RTW climates. Even the rocks, the rivers and the appearance of the skies have all been picked apart and re-assembled to create glorious new landscapes.
Every concievable type of battlefield has been thought of and implemented, from the scorching deserts of the East to the dark and dangerous forests of the North; no more will you be plagued by the flat featureless plains of RTW, no more will your eyes have to suffer the sight of the bland vanilla trees and vegetation, no more will you wonder why some climates have absolutely no trees or vegetation. You will instead be able to feast your eyes on all the beautiful work done by Tone and the RS team on all the battlefields of your campaign.
RS Environments
It isn't just the battle map that has been improved either, this release also includes a number of improvements that can be used to enhance your campaign map; these improvements come in the form of new strat map city textures, new ground textures and new water textures.
Vanilla with New Environments
Tone has even included a climate map for vanilla, which will allow the correct usage of the many improvements with your vanilla game, without this you could end up with snow in Egypt, which although being visually pleasing may be somewhat confusing for any soldiers you have stationed there. The RS team didn't stop there either, as Dvk901 has also written a short guide for all the players of the Fall of Rome mod explaining how you can implement the new environments to enhance your game.
It has been hinted that it may (with a bit of work) be possible to include these fantastic environments in m2tw, so if you want to include this glorious work in your mod, vanilla or possibly m2tw you can find the release thread here!
-Brittanicus
Rise of Persia Preview
Rome Total War > Rise of Persia
A small preview of the upcoming updates to the mod Rise of Persia has been released; This includes a first look at the new changes to the map and has an added bonus a brief glimpse at the new models for the infamous Persian "Ten Thousand".
The Rise of Persia mod focuses on (as the title suggests) the rise of the Persian Empire and starts in the year 559 BC - the year that Cyrus the Great was crowned as king of the small Persian state in south east Iran.
After the collapse of the Assyrian Empire a number of powerful kingdoms rose in it's place such as the Medians, the Babylonians, the Lydians and the Egyptians, but at the game start Persia is not included as one of these superpowers. The odds are stacked against the Persians and they are surrounded on all sides by powerful enemies ranging from the four powerful kingdoms in the west, the horse peoples of the steppes to the North and even the mysterious Indian states to the East. The new king of Persia however has ambitious plans for his nation and the year 559 BC marks the start of the Persian rise to dominance.
In terms of the new map the main improvement is that the mod team have managed to achieve something that not many science fiction authors can - a sense of scale; The map now has much larger distances between the different cities and so helps to make it feel more of a world conquest as your armies march from India in the East to Greece in the West.
New Map
Persia Old
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
New
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Greece Old
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
New
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
As an added teaser a look at a few of the fantastic units created by the RoP team member Rez has also been included. The "Ten Thousand" (also known as the "Immortals") have been created after alot of hard work by the team and the work included in the preview is simply brilliant.
The new version of the Rise of Persia mod will include many changes and improvements with the aim to create a more polished final version; This includes new music, a new interface, new unit rosters and improved unit rosters for a number of factions and of course the improved map, so if you want to check out this preview or even to play a previous version of this fantastic mod you can find the Rise of Persia forum here!
-Brittanicus
Ran no Jidai released
Rome TW Barbarian Invasion> Ran no Jidai> Version 1 released
Ran no Jidai is a total conversion mod for RTW BI focusing on the same Sengoku period (or "Warring States" period) as the original Shogun: TW and the upcoming TW: Shogun 2.
The Sengoku Period started around the middle of the fifteenth century and was one of the most turbulent periods in the history of Japan; It was a time of almost un-ending conflict between the many clans at that time - all of whom were fighting to become the all powerful Shogun and ruler of Japan.
The Ran no Jidai mod aims to change every aspect of the original RTW game and this includes a glorious new map of the islands of Japan, beautiful new buildings for the battle map cities and extremely well researched authentic units, as well as many more changes. All the major clans of the period are also included with this release and by the end of your campaign you will certainly be well aware of how difficult it was for these clans to unite Japan and claim the shogunate.
Clans
The Campaign Map
Menu's and 2D improvements
New Portraits
All the traditional units of the armies in Japan in this period are represented in this mod; From the poorly armed peasant conscripts to the secretive orders of warrior monks and of course the fearsome samurai. Every clan has a full range of these units and in combination with the back banners that most units carry the battles in Ran no Jidai become truly spectacular.
The amount of work that has gone into the buildings on the battle map is breathtaking, the cities have undergone extensive re-modelling and now recognisably belong to feudal Japan instead of classical Rome. The cities are one of the highlights of this fantastic mod and they provide for some stunning battles as your colourful Ashigaru attempt to storm the walls and break the will of the defenders.
New Cities
If you think you have what it takes to lead one of the many clans to total dominance and the strength to claim the shogunate then you can find this brilliant mod here!
-Brittanicus, images by MorganH
RUINA ROMAE
For Rome TW Barbarian Invasion>Invasio Barbarorum>Invasio Barbarorum:RUINA ROMAE >A New Preview has been released!
From the acclaimed creators of the Invasio Barbarorum IBFD mod a new preview has been released for their upcoming RTW BI Mod:RUINA ROMAE; a mod that will be a totally new and overhauling modification of the original Invasio Barbarorum.
The RR Mod will be set in 410 AD,with the Goths approaching the outskirts of ancient Rome,the Vandals claiming parts of Spain,Gaul being ruled by the usurper Constantine III,and the vicious Huns rampaging through Eastern Europe.
And after 3 previous previews,the RR team now brings you a fourth exclusive preview on the Mauri tribe of Western North Africa,and on the Lakhmidsof Hira, located in today's southern Iraq.
Both factions will be playable and are sharing a totally new developed culture design.
This will reflect in a unique new set of buildings,especially designed to fit the culture and rough desert climate of these tough and persistent factions:
The events cards(below) have also been remade to represent both parties in a realistic manner:
And besides an also newly designed user Interface and high quality portraits like these;
There are, of course, the new units that are recruitable for the respective nations.
A range of unique and realistic new units have been developed by the RR team; from ferocious camel riders to brutal tribal infantry warriors, from cutthroat desert archers to tribal horse raiders who will take on any enemy with their murderous 'hit and run' tactics. These RUINA ROMAE factions have got them all and much more!
A release date for this great mod is not known yet, but do not hesitate to check out the latest preview and links to the main IB and RR forums and all former previews here !
MorganH.
Ages of Darkness II
Rome Total War>Barbarian Invasion>Ages of Darkness 2:Renovation Imperii>a New Preview has been released!:
AoD2 is a total overhaul Mod for RTW BI,and is the successor of the original AoD.
After the events of 476 AD,when the German foederati under the leadership of Oadacer revolted and disposed of the last Western Roman emperor Romulus Augustus, the surviving Eastern Roman Empire was brought to an ambitious renovati emperii,or restoration of the empire plan of reconquest by the newly proclaimed emperor Justinian in 527 AD.
Justinian sought to revive the Empire's greatness,and reconquer the lost Western half of the classical Roman Empire.
The highly anticipated AoD 2 Mod will offer a range of new factions,a very authentic unit roster,totally redone building constructions,new strat maps,historic events,loading screens,an awesome new soundtrack and much more.
FACTIONS
Regnvm Tvringorvm Imperivm Romanvm Persarmenia Regnvm Hirae Britanni Regnvm Francorvm Hvnni Regnvm Gepidorvm Rex Regvm Saxones Regnvm Vandalorvm et Alanorvm Regnvm Visigothorvm Scoti Regnvm Italiae et Gothorvm Avari Langobardi Regnvm Mavrorvm et Romanorvm Regnvm Bvrgvndionvm Regnvm Sveborvm
AoD2 is one of the few mods that will present a total change of existing RTW buildings, especially all churches and other religious buildings - like this brilliant reconstruction of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
Building Menu
The newly modified units are of very high quality:
More Units
So far this small new preview on this highly promising Grand Mod;and if your appetite has been raised, you are very lucky to be only one click away from the indepth previews and the main forum of Ages of Darkness 2 here !
MorganH.
Hic Est Lacedaemon
Rome Total War>Barbarian Invasion>Alexander>Hic Est Lacedaemon.
A small new unit preview has been released for another highly anticipated RTW Mod;Hic Est Lacedaemon.
Hic Est Lacedaemon is based on another great RTW Mod; XGM (Extended Greek Mod) but aims for an even more extended development of the Hellenistic factions and providing the Sparta faction with its own unique culture. H.E.L focuses on the problems of unity that the Hellenistic factions were exposed to in the Hellenistic world of 272 BC,namely their relationship with mighty Macedonia,the expanding and controlling Romans,the Achaean and Aetolian leagues,and last but not least,the always war hungry Spartans.
Many changes have been implemented for this Mod: from unique new Spartan units to new government types such as Democracy,Oligarchy, Monarchy, Tyranny and Tribal: new banners, new strat maps, redesigned settlements including specific ones like Corinth, Ephesus, Messene and Olympia: included scripts, revolutions, turns per year options, new portraits, true Spartan names and quotes and much, much more.
Faction list
Rome, Epirus, Athens, Aetolian League, Sparta, Macedon, Seleucids, Ptolemies, Achaean League, Pergamum, Geto-Thracians, Illyrians, Samartians, Celtic Tribes, Carthage, Parthia, Armenia, Pontus, Independant Greek States, emergent Northern tribes (inc Dacians, Germans, Bastarnae) and other independent city states and peoples.
Sparta
Corinth
Delphi
Spartan portraits
Athenian hoplites
The latest preview for Hic Est Lacedaemon will show the quality,diversity and high levels of realism of the modified new units,as you can clearly witness on these new preview examples below:
Cretan,Egyptian and Roman merc archers.
Argos hoplites.
Rhodes slinger and officer.
Various Greek archers.
If you love the Hellenistic world situated around the 3rd century BC,and want to learn more about this Mod,head over to the latest preview thread and main H.E.L forum right here !
MorganH.
RTR VII
Rome Total War>Barbarian Invasion>Rome Total Realism VII preview VI
One of the most successful and powerful Rome Total War mods has always been the Rome Total Realism Mod series (or RTR for short).
Generally known for the indepth enhancements and its striving for complete realism without losing a sharp eye on excellent gameplay, the TWC community was given a treat with the first official announcement of a RTR VII in early 2010 .
RTR VII, starting in 280 BC, will be the Grand Campaign to which TIC(the Iberian Campaign) and FoE(Fate of Empires) mods were the predecessors to.
As the RTR series is one of the most extensive mod series,the RTR Mod has its own official website as well - where the fans can see all former versions of the Mod in a glance.
This introduction aside, we will be looking at the latest RTR VII preview now:
The Reforms.
As players and fans of Rome TW and its Mods,we are all acquainted with the so called Marian Reforms for the Rome faction.
But with RTR VII, not only Rome will have its own Reforms, but Carthage, Sparta, the Antigonids, Aecids, Atallids, and the Getai will have their own military reforms.
Generally one of the above factions will have to gain or keep control of designated provinces and cities, but also in some cases be at War with particular factions, or even be defeated in battle by certain enemies.
For Sparta for example,the trigger conditions for a so called ''Cleomenean Reform'', consist of a set date of 230 BC,
-Be at war with Sparta against either the Aeacids, Antigonids or Attalids.
-Being defeated in battle by Antigonids or Aeacids.
-And Sparta must have lost the cities of Messene, Argos or Megalopolis to the enemy.
Spartan reform unit Perioikoi Pezoi:
These unique Reform-triggers will most certainly add a lot of depth and immersion to the players campaigns and ensure an array of unprecedented twists and turns in ones gameplay.
For everyone interested in the upcoming RTR VII Mod and its latest preview, click here and learn more. Enjoy !
MorganH.
Tools,Tutorials and Gallery
Rome Total War>Tool>EDB organizer
A small but very handy Tool by PatricianS for RTW that fixes the syntax of a file for the EDB (export_descr_buildings)txt.
This Tool will fix the EDB when needed,and it will also create a back up!
For more details,download link and discussions,view here!
Rome Total War>Tutorial>'How to be able to choose your Heir yourself when your faction Leader dies
Normally,in RTW,whenever your faction leader dies,the game automatically appoints a new Heir by itself.
This tutorial will show the player how to choose a new heir yourself,besides the normal option of disinheriting the appointed Heir when your not content with the automatic choice of the game.
2 new traits will need to be added to the character_traits_texts,so you will now have the option to keep switching the Heir title as often as the player pleases.
Does this sound like fun and a very welcome addition to your RTW game or Rome Mod ? Then click here and read all about the character traits modifications yourself.
Gallery
First look:RTR VII beta shots.
Ran No Jidai.
Age of Darkness II
All screens,except AOD II's,taken by MorganH.
(partially) Identical gallery;all ''large''screens resized to smaller;pick your size
Last edited by Legio; January 25, 2011 at 06:13 AM.
Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen of TWC to the fourth edition of LW Corner, this month we are going to spice things up by have not 1 but 2 interviewees. Both interviewees are here from the Secession Civil War mod, I would ask that we all give a warm welcome for our featured guests as they come into the studio. First to enter is the mod leader Raph_VR, following his right hand man Nirnaeth Arnoediad, welcome gentlemen.
1. To kick start this interview, tell us a little about yourselves.
NA: Hi! I'm caulaincourt, alias Nirnaeth Arnoediad on TWC. I discovered TW with Rome, and since the medieval II release, I've been actively involved in the French TW community (MundusBellicus.fr). But in real life I'm a French student.
Raph: Hi! I'm Raphaël alias Raph_VR on TWC. I first had begun to play Rome, then MTW2 its most famous mods. In 2005 I created a forum to develop and play multiplayer campaigns for RTW and since this time I tried to offer good TW games to the French community. In the real life, I'm physics professor.
2. Can you tell us a little about your modding experience? What is your expertise and what other projects have you worked on in the past?
NA: I begun modding like many other modders, I started with little personal projects from where I learned more and more, mapping, simple coding, texturing, medium coding, translations (the french community produces excellent translations of TW mods) and finally scripting.
Acquiring all the knowledge I began to mod publicly in the sub-mod the Lord of the Rings for TATW (sadly, I've hadn't had the time to allow compatibility with the last TATW version, but it will be done one day).
Then I created a little danish submod which was excellent for Napoleonic 2 TW of the Lordz. Finally, after having worked in the EB II team (I'm afraid not enough until now), I've been volunteer to help my friend Raphaël, who worked so many months on a Medieval II mod about the American Civil War.
Raph : SCW is my first real modding experience. I've also learnt to create 3D models and textures for this project, a true brand new start.
3. Who are the other members of the team? What are their roles?
Our team is rather small, in the beginning it was only Raphaël, and he created the base of the mod (units). Then I joined him, trying to do the part of modding he didn't know (menus, UI, marketing on TWC ).
We are not experienced and very skilled modders, so we improve the mod step by step, trying to do our best, because we are not a real professionnal team as SS, CoW or TATW 'ones.
Our french team has also been helped by various people (from both french and international communities), especially by Germanicu5, who began to create our battle AI just before his disappearance from TWC.
At present we have 2 new members : Alexandre Dumas (videos and battle maps) and Britabroad (excellent history searcher).
4. What is the mod all about?
It focuses on the american civil war, and other European country which were dragged in "secession war". This terrible conflict lasted from 1861 to 1865, killing about 617 000 men and women. It is consider as the first modern war by many historians.
Until now, we have only created battles, and we try to improve their quality before modding the great campaign.
5. What led to you create a Civil War mod?
Raph : I was disappointed to never see a TW mod about the USA civil war. As I really wanted to play this kind of mod, I've decided to do it by myself. So I learnt modding, step by step, adding features and trying to improve the quality of SCW. Only future knows how many times this project will last.
6. What other factions might appear in the future?
We have already forseen to implement in the battles, then in the campaign, the following factions, as regional powers : Great-Britain, France, Mexico, Indian nations.
7. What are the unique features of the mod?
Our actual 1.0 version is not so different from the classic gameplay of medieval II ; an enormous work has still to be done. But the use of artillery, line infantry and snipers is fun at my eyes. I particularly enjoy the line fire, this time when all the soldiers fire one by one.
8. What is being done for the battle and campaign maps?
Concerning the battles, we try to create a lot of generic battle maps, with large plains, a rather low relief, to allow a good deployment for both AI and players. Of course we will add more maps, especially "special" maps, as plantations, mississipi river, and of course famous battles place, like Gettysburg, Shiloh, Frederickston, etc...
The recent discoveries in the modding of the battle maps (Wildog, KingKong and Argentino) are very impressive, and we would like to use their work, but we are far from having their skills.
9. What special units do we have to look out for in the mod?
Units during this war were after all generic. Most of the armies were militias and volunteers units, with some expericenced regular troops. So, with a low number of different units, we have finally chosen to vary their recruitment area ; similar units will not be available in the same regions (particularly for the Confederates with many militias).
But creating more specific units is still at study. We try to adapt Medieval II to use better animations (ie. for the gatling).
10. While working on this mod, what were some of the major breakthroughs and what were some of the setbacks throughout the process?
For us we put a lot of time and effort into our work treating all our minor achievements breakthroughs, even if it only a small new button. As for our setbacks, Germanicu5 is missing in action, we are hoping the he is well but he was working on our AI and now it is left unfinished.
11. How is the mod progressing?
There is still a lot of work to make! And for the moment, we are a small team with not enough available time. The future is unknown.
12. When is the next release?
Our next release will occur in some weeks, bringing a new pack of battle maps, some fixes, new texts, maybe new units, and a total revision of sounds & musics. But we are still in the codding phase.
13. Do you have any closing remarks?
We greet the magnificent work of the team of Hinkel for the mod "ETW the Blues and the Grey". It is a pity that our two teams began this work at the same time on two different TW. I hope that our work will be complementary of theirs.
I guess that brings an end to the show - and I would like to thank my wonderful interviewees for taking the time to come on down to the studio. I would also like to thank the readers for their continuous support. LW signing out.
Advance to Contact (ETW)
Hello,this is Morgan reporting for the Eagle Standard.
Hi guys,great you were able to participate in this interview and its very nice to meet you both and learn more about yourselfs and your brilliant and unique Mod.
Lets get started;
Question:Can you guys tell us a bit about yourselfs,where you come from,your historical interests,your time here at the TWC,and how you got introduced to the site?
Darkhorse : I live in Kent, South East England and I study for a BA degree in military history, with wild modules in mythology, and international relations and alliances at the University of Kent, in Canterbury. My love for history stems from my parents. I was brought up on good books, war movies, documentaries and classics. The Custom Campaign Mod first bought me to TWC, some time later I signed up to TWC to provide research for the NAW ETW mod and the Falklands project, all this before ETW was even out!
Falconpilot:Well my name is Falconpilot (or Falcon for friends), I live in Belgium, I'm 20 years old and I'm currently studying at a uni.
My history with TWC,well thats a long story,i registered on this site 2 years ago or something when i bought Medieval2:Total War Kingdoms.
I was tired with it and was looking for some nice Mods,especially Third age TW kept me going for months.
Question:For those of us who dont know anything about the AtC Mod,can you tell us what it is about exactly,what parts of Empire you modified,and the stage the Mod is in at the moment?
Darkhorse: AtC, or advance to contact is a mod team who plan to create a series of mods portraying some of the lesser known wars of the 20th and 21st century. Our first mod, Project Millennium is in the public beta stage. The mod is a custom battle mod focusing on the ongoing war in Afghanistan. After extensive research, lots of work on editing projectiles, unit abilities and stats and the creation of completely and uniquely new units we had a beta. Additionally we have our own map custom maps, some made from real British Army maps. A new UI, our own loading screens and quotes, and our own music. We have 3 factions, we expect to release a 4th, the US, in the new year and then work on the next 4. We aim to represent every ISAF combatant in some way or another, whether through a separate faction, double faction, or through an AUPP (Additional Unit Project Patch). We also aim to perfect and introduce our existing weapons models, create new models and skins for soldier and his kit, introduce off map air and artillery support, and ultimately introduce vehicles.
Question:How is the popularity of the AtC Mod ? Do you have many Beta players and good feedback?
Falconpilot:People are interested in modern warfare so the popularity is ok for now, offcourse we're only in a small beta so there are not many people who want to test it yet but the feedback is all very positive for now. The main reason why we released this beta was to let people see the 2 custom maps and to test if the gameplay was correct or not, all feedback for now states that the gameplay and the maps are epic.
Further we still need to do some more tweaking like more variation in the unit weapons, uniforms etc.
Question: Did you try to modify the AI,and if so,how did that work out ?
Darkhorse: We haven't as yet, we were so eager to get our beta out there that it hasn't been a priority. At present it is up to the player to use light infantry doctrine, etc, to provide the best gameplay experience for now. A BAI is something we will look into. The present AI, when playing as the Taliban, will walk towards you instead of run. It will not ruin its hide anywhere advantage, probably a bit of luck how it turned out but thats the case.
Question:The Advance to Contact Mod is quite an ambitious and large project and has a large developers team,so how does it all work in the ATC team,and what are your guys roles in that team?
Darkhorse:Well,Originally,leadership was split, but with the absence of my co leader, I'm pretty much leading on my own now. Work on the mod is very relaxed, deadlines are very flexible, we have full time and part time team members, we train team members who we've taken on wanting to do, say mapping, but who don't have the ability at first.
Falconpilot:This is a tricky question, I'm officially the mapper, I made 5 full maps for ATC now and I have 2 more who are almost ready. However I seem to do a bit of everything, we have people making models and sound but no one was able to get it ingame (when I joined the team) so I decided to look into everything. I'm now also making new units, trying to get custom weapons ingame, etc. I'm also responsible to getting all files in 1 pack and making it work.
Question:Can you guys explain how you joined up with the ATC team ?
Darkhorse:I joined AtC a very long time ago when the mod was known as Nations at War. Unfortunately that team fell apart and much of the team went inactive. After about a year of doing research on my own, I was able to take over the mod and gather some of the old team members as well as plenty of new. We had to rebrand, change the goals, and effectively start from stratch, but we did it. In September 2010 AtC relaunched, and our first beta released in mid December, with a second beta release expected in the first quarter of 2011.
Falconpilot:Well it was Darkhorse who contacted me when I was doing some things for the TGW mod. I was posting some experiments on their forums (but wasn't a team member) and Darkhorse contacted me, if I wanted to join his team. I had 0 modding experience so I wasn't fully sure in the beginning, he eventually convinced me to do mapping and I haven't regretted it so far.
Question:Whats your relation to modern day military operations ? So why choose this Modern setting?
Darkhorse:The Afghanistan mod was following on from NAW really, it is a current, ongoing conflict which is extremely interesting when you look into, it is like no other conflict we have seen before, a war where our state of the art vehicles and first rate technology is hampered severely, it is a gritty, bloody, dangerous war which I think does make good game material, there are plenty of countries involved to represent, and so little is known about the enemy we have to improvise on 90% of their roster and equipment! It's a real challenge.
Falconpilot:Nothing special, I just allways found modern war machines interesting, I have a high passion for air warfare but unfortunately Empire doesn't allow air units.
Question: Did or does the ATC team receive any external help for this Mod,like from the Creative Assembly or other parties like the Military?
Darkhorse:Some,we received some great help from a couple of members of the TGW team, and some of the research came from my university's open lectures on Afghanistan, where British soldiers told us what was going down, what their kit was like, some information on theatres, operations, allies and enemies, and their experiences. All the funny things they had picked up from the locals. Lastly, TWC's own modders service proved very useful indeed.
Question:Are there any other present or future plans for the ATC team in regard to modding TW games?
Falconpilot:Well actually calling us the ATC team is abit wrong, we are actually project millennium team and we are working on our first mod ATC. The plan is to do a lot of extra mods like the Falklands war later on, the idea is to have a serious of modern combat mods under the project Millennium name.
Its also not sure yet,but there is a 90% chace we are staying with Empire and Napoleon for a while,close combat style like Shogun wouldnt fit our modern combat Mods.
Question:Are there any similar Mods or Games out at the moment that resemble the ATC Mod ?
Darkhorse:As far as I know, no other TW mods are similar. Although we will probably share some similarities with TGW Mod and the upcoming WW2 submod for TGW.
Question;Are there any other different Mods that you guys are working on as well,besides the Millenium project?
Falconpilot: Yes,for what I know Darkhorse is helping out the TGW WW2 sub-mod with research. I am also in this mod as "helping out where needed", I am also currently a mapper for the Roma Victrix mod.
Darkhorse:Yes,im also working on the abovementioned upcomming WW2 Mod.
Question;Is there anything else you guys may want to add to this interview ?
Darkhorse & Falconpilot:We would just like to wish you all a very good new year,and lets hope that 2011 will be a good modding year!
Morgan: Thanks a lot for your time and this interview,and i wish you both a very happy new year as well of course,and the very best with the AtC Mod and all your future plans in 2011 !
Darkhorse:Thanking you,been a pleasure !
Falconpilot:Thanks for the interview !
Last edited by Legio; January 22, 2011 at 07:45 AM.
Today we have a special interviewee - SpaceWolves. He was one of the lucky few to be able to meet CA staff in person at a special Shogun 2 event.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I'm a lovely unknown 19-year-old individual from a lovely city by the bay. I love biking, archery, drawing, amateur computer modeling, and history. My political stance is Republican and my ethnicity is Asian. Currently pursing my major in criminal justice, I got to make dad proud!
Describe your TWC experience - what are your favorite aspects of TWC?
Splendid but addicting hence I try to keep myself away from TWC as much as possible nowadays since once you start posting you're pretty much signing your life here!
So, how did you get to the Shogun 2 event? Did you do anything special?
Ah, I posted on the Shogun II community day blog, and was luckily picked. Just a simple post, wait a couple days and behold I was in.
How did it feel to be one of the few people to get an inside peek into the future of TW gaming?
*Girly scream* like getting a ticket to Justin beibers next showing, being honoured to again preview play another total war game was just exhilarating to say the least. And it was worth it.
What were some of the things you saw on your tour of the studio?
A nice welcome area with chairs, followed by a Nintendo wii play station and lots of game advertisements being played on a loop on a bunch of TV's hooked up. Great way to slowly lose your eyesight I must say! Oh yes, a pretty but busy receptionist as well. And a lot of busy workers walking left and right, so yes CA is hard at work on shogun indeed.
Is there any exciting news from TW about the Shogun 2 project? Any plans for the next installment in the Total War series?
Just be ready for a wild ride. Better expanded and importance of regions. More personal development of your generals gives you the player the feel like you're actually living him. And the multiplayer? I've always been staunchly single player, but after play testing MP, and looking at its features? Well, just read the reviews from the shogun threads to find out, I can go on and on and on.... But basically, it’s made me craving for multiplayer. So many little features to list on MP! <3
What were some of the things you did while you were in the studio?
Played through a bunch of tutorials, the first land battle was basic, but seeing shogun 2 in all its eternal glory with lovely crisp and shadows had me more milling about the game paused then playing. After I finished drooling I stupidly ignored the tutorials advisers orders and found myself having my men killed despite no enemy in sight, Much to Kieran’s amusement who admittedly does the same things at time. Restarted and played through it, CORRECTLY, and after being given archers to play around with I have to admit they are pretty OP, and the flaming arrow effects are damn sexy. The fighting mechanics and the soldiers fighting was an eye candy to watch. And for a lot of people, yes arrows do stick in bodies.
We played a historical battle, the battle of nagashino which, while scripted was damn entertaining and hard. Just for some advice since I don't want to spoil this historical battle that much, lots and lots of horses.... sweet jeebus! As another word of caution, keeping in historical accuracy, the Japanese boom boom stick guys, reload time.... is as expected, slooow.
The Naval tutorial was quite interesting, doing away with traditional European styled warfare of broadsides to regular arrow and fire arrow spam, which while it sounds boring, is entertaining to watch to say the least. Arrows sticking on ships! The naval combat will take some getting used to, as with land battles, but were total war players, were flexible and adaptable so no biggy.
After this we played a very *short* round of multiplayer, classic match up for 3v3, lets just say, when I mean short, I don't mean either side was close to losing, more like 4 of the 6 computers overloaded a circuit, just a testament at how awesome shogun shall be
How was the AI?
I honestly can't say for sure in absolute honesty, we had no hand in playing any campaign or regular battle, as for the historical battles and tutorial; they are most likely scripted however, that doesn't mean this game will fail its expectations. Another plus is cavalry going around palisades set up by the Arquebusiers, so beware. That thin wall of protection won't stop them!
Do you feel that the finished product will require modding to enhance the game play and/or make it more realistic?
From my play perhaps not, I'll be honest my history in Japan isn't stellar, perhaps for those who are diehard history fanatics especially for this time span, you may squeal upon it but honestly, this is the closest you'll ever get to a historically accurate game coupled with spectacular game play all in one bundle, be happy! The game play is fine as is, and going from my short preview the game certainly will satisfy us to a great degree. A small gripe would be archers, I found them to be too powerful, but perhaps it was just me. Regardless of this issue the game was still fun.
Would you recommend this game?
Definitely. This game will bring us back to the roots of what made total war awesome, just with spiffier graphics and expanded game play improvements both in single and multiplayer. For people who love total war get it, for those who love Japanese history get it, for those who love playing multiplayer only, get it still!
Will you be buying Shogun 2 when it's released?
Of course
Do you have any closing remarks?
You know this games going to kick butt when your gaming computer at Sega shorts a fuse. Yes it did, clearly it’s an indication from the gods! In all seriousness however, the game is promising and it will be a nice change of direction going back to the roots of what made CA are shining star in the gaming world. Perhaps they’re maybe a few dissenters for various reasons, but once the reviews start popping in I do hope you give this game a chance. From the visuals to the voice acting, to the added RPG elements to greater MP customization this game will answer many of our wants from previous total war installments and much more. And this was from simply playing play testing it, a small slice of what we saw and played. There is much, much more.
That's all folks for today! And remember that Shogun 2 is coming out in March 2011!
I bow with great humility to my readers, for it is time for the next Shogun 2 article, and my only hope, faithful readers, is to make you wet yourselves with anticipation. A great display of fantastical treats is what i have in store for you today, the sort of treats that will make your heart leap from your chest (in a rather gory exhibit of love) and have you biting on your fingernails, my good fellows, the release of Shogun 2 is less than two months away! Featuring in the article are revelations of three factions, a rather interesting possibility for dying troops, a light touch on details on the collectors edition, and much more. If by the end of this article your thirst for news has not be sated then please, my good reader, exercise this one technique that always brings forward a lightness in my chest: Look into a mirror and say to yourself, “Shogun 2, 15th of March,” and I predict you’ll feel somewhat happier. So, without further ado, Shinja, let’s get this geek-fest going!
I’m going to start off by revealing something to you that I did not reveal in my opening paragraph, for it is truly something that most addicts of Total War or enthusiasts of Shogun will want to hear as soon as is feasibly possible. The specifications for Shogun 2 have been released.
In the opinion of this reporter, “Oh no, I don’t think my computer can handle it,” is going to be a very real and widespread sentence uttered by most of the gaming community. However, with this huge specification requirement comes an assurance – what you are buying will no doubt be stunningly effective at making you drool. With such high specifications there is the assurance of phenomenal graphics, perhaps Easter Eggs, in-depth dynamics to the game itself and layers upon layers of gaming enjoyment. Sure, the specifications massive, and one may have to wait a year or so to be able to buy a computer that can run this game comfortably, but take this into consideration: as soon as you have in your ownership a computer that can run this game on the highest settings, there is no doubt that it is going to be fantastically beautiful to play.
Faithful Shinja, we have, in this article, three factions that have been officially revealed. One faction has been known for a little while now, but what enjoyment is there in displaying one faction when I can give you three to compare. There are also two more factions that have been shown in videos, the Takeda and the Hojo, but nothing has been revealed about these clans and so only speculation and intelligent guesses are applicable. The three that have been revealed are:
The Chosokabe
With the Chosokabe’s we see the emergence of an underdog clan make viable bids for the power of the shogunate, relying on their bonus income via the hard work of their peasants, and the mix of cheap archers and superb archers at their disposal for any battle that may occur. Players of the Chosokabe will, no doubt, vary between raining iron death onto the heads of their foes, or aiming precisely where they mean to with their archers. A dangerous clan indeed if kept at long range.
The Date
However, the Date clan have the gift of close-combat fighting, with a charging bonus with which to smash their enemy to pieces, and, if it becomes apparent that their enemy will stand and fight against them, the superior no-dachi units will soon lay waste to the units, scattering them to every corner of the field which they foolishly attempted to defend. Keep on the attack, however, for the lumbering weight of a no-dachi sword leave these units open to swift, deadly attacks which a no-dachi will be hard pressed to defend.
The Uesugi
Such an attack can be easily carried out by a warrior monk – a lightly armed priest of Buddha with such a fanaticism for his faith and a skill in the arts of death nigh on unrivalled, such troops flock to the Uesugi under a friendly banner. The Uesugi have the ability to recruit these men cheaply and build them to a greater skill than any in Japan have seen before. The sight of a screaming monk of death does certainly keep me awake at night.
Do any of these clans interest you? Are you a player who prefers to decimate an army before the main clash? Are you the type to use your heavy infantry to their best effect? Or, are you more likely to use your light infantry to implement a screeching death into the flanks of your greatest nemesis? Faithful Shinja, we now have one-third of the official factions, and with less than two months until release, it is only a matter of time until the last two-thirds are known to us all.
I do believe I mentioned something about an interesting possibility for dying troops. What could I mean? Well, have any of you noticed that in previous titles, such as Shogun, Medieval and Rome, that when a unit was killed they dropped dead to the floor instantly (creepily in the same position as the rest of his comrades) and that progress was made to put a death animation in Medieval 2, Empire and Napoleon? Well, how would you like for there to be a wounded animation in Shogun 2? It wasn’t technically revealed in an interview with Kieran, but during said interview a clip of video was shown whilst the conversation continued in the background. It required a keen eye to notice that under the feet of a group of samurai were twisting, turning, crying, injured units. Personally, it makes the battle scenarios of this game somewhat grimmer, especially if the battle one is fighting is in the middle of a bright sunny day and the army is trampling underfoot an arrow covered mass grave with clutching, gasping moaning samurai amongst the dead. Creepy eh?
Kieran Brigdan certainly does a lot of interviews because, surprise surprise, this article feature another one of his interviews.
Some things to take away from this which personally make me itch with anticipation. The manipulation of General traits has now been revealed unto our very eyes. It is no longer just talked about in articles and interviews, for we can actually see it happening. It seems to look like something similar to the Civilization tech tree, but what interests me the most is that Generals seem to be able to professionalise in one of two ways – a master of Bushido or a Sage of Chi. Knowing that “Bushido” means “The Way of the Warrior,” and that “Chi” can be translated as “Energy” and is the central aspect of Shintoism and Buddhism (two of the main religions in Japan at the time) one can only speculate as to what these tech tree type experience levels will yield to your ultimate power on the field. What is also revealed is something that I personally feel will add immensely to the multiplayer experience – rankings. The ranks, as far as I’m aware will show both the clan with the most victories and the player with the most victories, although, it may perhaps show the player with the highest victory to loss ratio. “Who knows,” for now, but it is certainly fun finding out about these little treats.
I shall conclude this instalment with a little video to get you all hyped for the game. Enjoy.
So, what can we take from this article, Shinja? Firstly, Shogun 2 will be awesome, and secondly, the depth that the designers are going into with this game is not only phenomenal, but deserving of a credit that will be hard to amass. We have three confirmed and detailed factions, leaving us with six to begin speculating on. Wounded soldier animations will no doubt bring a harsher reality to the battlefield, and will, I predict, add to greater depth in any AARs that emerge from Shogun, and we now all know whether our current computer can run this game comfortably. Faithful Shinja, I only hope this article has made you dribble with eagerness. Sayonara!
Re: The Eagle Standard - Spacewolves Shogun Insider and the Latest TW News
I really liked the reading but i'm a bit dissapointed by the Empire and Napoleon Section, which could have been called also Napoleon Section, since there is nothing about Empire included.
I wouldn't mind this if i knew that nothing interesting happend there, but there were definitly releases of major mods, tutorials, smaller mods, previews of sub-mods and so.
Re: The Eagle Standard - Spacewolves Shogun Insider and the Latest TW News
Originally Posted by Primergy
I really liked the reading but i'm a bit dissapointed by the Empire and Napoleon Section, which could have been called also Napoleon Section, since there is nothing about Empire included.
I wouldn't mind this if i knew that nothing interesting happend there, but there were definitly releases of major mods, tutorials, smaller mods, previews of sub-mods and so.
Theres an interview on the AtC mod for Empire though!