An Update. Nobody's died (yet).

[Squeaks]

Hi all.

I thought I'd post a quickie to explain what's going on here. We haven't exactly poured stuff out on the public forums, so your patience will be rewarded (in theory - could be punished for some ).

Despite the lack of sweeping wads of material here, we have been busy little bunnies elsewhere. I would imagine that this post should go some way to telling you, but we are planning a big update just before Christmas....I LOVE xmas, and it wouldn't be fair to not give a present this year, like we did before. Last year it was the battle between Lindiri and the Kingdom of the Salient Sun. This year it's a little less exciting, but still quite cool.

The update will show the large amount of Workington that's gone on since we first started this. Some may remember that we didn't want to begin this if we didn't think it was possible, so the initial preview showed every faction with one or more units and other stuff, as it meant we'd already done a load in a very short space of time. That meant we could just go on doing that in theory. We've done that.

So, we'll be showing an updated account of what's happened in the time since. It'll include a lot of map stuff, work on small aspects, like ancilliaries and traits for some factions, a reupload of the first two battles, as there will be many changes in the units there. The majority of the Lindiri faction has been redone, so they will feature new units in their battle, with better unit pics for the first battle and some graphical overhauls. Tons more too....not a vast amount of text, as I doubt anyone will read it. It might well help if people said what factions they really would like to read about...I'll post a votey-thing on that.

As well as that, there has been major work on factions and their units are a very obvious look into what that means, so there will be many units...lots.

Factions that have had larger changes (by which I mean 5-20 units done or redone, not just one or two), or are pretty much done/are done are:

Selediri (Sun Elves)
Lindiri (Wild/Earth Elves)
Ildiri (Water/Air or 'High' Elves) - for example, these guys have over 20 units done)
Sun Kingdom (Salient SUn)
Western Empire, Kadasandra and East Empire have changes aplenty. The Heartland Legions are done for the West, for instance - Imperial Guard Legions too, and more)
Wolfborn
Khezdruli (Dwarves)
Principality of STeel (The Pawn Saints)
Federal Council of Nine
Badabaska
Iryn Thaan
The Ward of Descati/Ghaurchlai (they have about 8 units, but you won't see any but Descati's own troops them til release)
Rhysthari (Lizard dudes)
The Naugiri (Orcs, or Dulivians) (potentially actually 7 or 8 by the preview)

The least changed are (many of these have had their entirety changed...even ones with very few or even one unit probably no longer use the same model):

Cho Tetsu (2 models only)
The Bandit Kings (5 models)
Lian Elune (The Lake Folk of the Lake Kingdom) *NEW FACTION* (1 model)
The Church of the Only God (nasty guys attempting to wipe out Lian Elune) (2 models)
The Fennweyr (The Northern third of the Principality) *NEW FACTION* (1 model)

Cthonae/Blasphemy of the AByss (you won't see til release)
Haladin/Cimrai/The Bloodfed (won't see til release)

(We added the new factions, as we weren't initially going to make them like that, but they're too interesting to leave out or alone)

There will be some big changes by xmas too.

SO, to provide some examples of unseen changes to existing units....we'll show some Lindiri, as I'm doing them atm. They have several NEW units (ones that were always meant to be there), such as the Oaken Brood and The Wild Hunt, and their artillery is happening now). I want to make changes to the Taurcenian Guard (minotaurs) and the Diarnae (Centaurs), but here's a couple of the 'done' ones:

They're all Elven units rather than Animists (beasties that were awakened to a level of sentience)

THE FAEDWEYR STAG KNIGHTS in 3d software...will be shown ingame for xmas)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Swords not textured in these shots

Before anyone asks about the amount of polys this took....the ONLY things that were of any density were the wooden spikes, and they're being reduced anyhow. The majority of units that ARE highly detailed like that are going to be tiny in number, but lethal; that's why they need or deserve such detail. They also have VERY tidy textures, so don't use excessive memory leaking there either.

KELUSINDRAI PIKES (there is a Ley-bow variety of these)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

FAEDWEYR NOBLE LEYBOWS

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Bear in mind that this is absolutely nothing compared to what's done.

I may leak a few more each week...MAY. Depends on the level of response to this I guess We will also highlight religion and show religious units...you'll get to choose a main cult in each settlement, and have their monastic units available there. This IS based on race or faction/culture, however. The Bandit Kingdom will have about 10 temples or even more, as they're a funny little faction.

There's a lot to show and say. I'll set a faction votey-thing for what faction(s) you'd LIKE to really read about. I'd rather not have 20 paragraphs of a faction that's not going to be read.

[deusvult6]

Models look awesome and unique! Great job to you and your team!

[Katoneo]

This is so extraordinary. The amount of work you've done is impressive to say the least. This is the mod I'm most eagearly anticipating and I hope that I will be able to immerse myself in the world of Dragonborn.

I have one question. What's the progress on campaign? This is the most important feature for me.

[Squeaks]

Models look awesome and unique! Great job to you and your team!

Yep...thanks. It's accompanied by a lot of whinging, but that's just me. Glad you like the units; I think they're variations on Marmite, as people seem to really like them or hate them. Marmite is a major theme throughout the mod though. Ask Danny. Iced gems too. It's always lovely to hear when people do like them though, as it matters SO much more than silence or a not-so-like response. Unique is especially good

This is so extraordinary. The amount of work you've done is impressive to say the least.

Well, we had no idea really until Aikanar suggested a catch-up second preview. I guess showing what we've done is good, as it shows us and everyone else what's been going on. Nice to have impressed someone!

This is the mod I'm most eagearly anticipating and I hope that I will be able to immerse myself in the world of Dragonborn.

Well, that in itself is a big thing. If it's appealed to people/anyone then it's very satisfying that an independent 'world thing' has worked somewhere along the line.Very nice thing to say

I have one question. What's the progress on campaign? This is the most important feature for me.

Well. We were held up hugely by map stuff. There's ALWAYS hold-ups all the time, but it's moving along. We're kind of waiting for xmas anyway, as that's when other areas really start. There's a LOT that's not done, but there's a lot that IS, so there's no easy answer. I think the last lot of mind-changing is done with, and the really unique features are less huge than they were, so , in a roundabout way of saying it, there's tons to do.

With a map and settlements in and factions etc, there's still plenty to do, but there were always people waiting for that exact moment, so, after xmas, it takes off a lot. Until then, can't really say. A full conversion takes an obscene amount of work from a lot of people. Luckily, we have some people to do all that.

Our issue is when to release a build. Ideally, we'd have custom cities to attack, strat map uniques, everything there is possible. There's quite a few groundbreaking things here, and they're luckily under control, so the experimenting to get the weird fantasy stuff is sorted. To have everything else done and still have the huge load of experimentation going on would be bad, so that's a BIG positive. We've abandoned strat-map magic stuff in theory, as it's much more effective on a battlefield instead. Replacing missiles and magic and stuff is a hell of a thing in itself...just that's a big victory and a lot of work.

I would imagine that the first release will be missing some aspects of full immersion, like custom attackable cities. We'll have something for certain, and may have a way of doing that really easily. Just the Imperial capital is five unique settlements if you're looking for perfection. Danny's onto battlefield settlements after xmas, so we'll see on that one. Him and Bandit and Auntie Makanyane should squirm their way through that. I'll give a decent answer post xmas I guess. See what we show, then I'll tell you. Sound reasonable?

[deusvult6]

Hmm, The Hobbit and a new Dragonborn TW release(possibly a partial campaign)? Sounds like a December well done to me!

[Squeaks]

Ah, no partial campaign or anything THAT exciting...a battle set updated and a load of stuffing. Should be very cool, but not a release of any major sense...sorry if I gave that across

HOWEVER, I am very excited by this fella. I haven't shown anything yet really for ages, but I finished this Lindiri unit properly, as I've been meaning to for about a year and a half.

THE WILD HUNT on armoured STags...



The WIld Hunt in modelling software:



VERY excited by it all!!! Actually, they don't have their shield or sword yet, but that's not a biggie and not unusual at first for any unit....

[HTVfanatic]

This will be an exciting Christmas present, can't wait to learn more!

[Squeaks]

Nuts. Showed 'em already...heh. I am daft.

The present will be something amazing I think....there are several people being worked to death to get it ready. Ready means a LOT of work has gone into it...just gathering stuff and placing it is going to kill Willow, Neko and Cheeser, let alone Danny and his map, which will blow you away.