A few months ago a team of modders released a project that was no less than three years in the making. It is a project that seemed beyond impossible. Many said it could not be done. Others were more optimistic. In any event, that team overcame seemingly all odds when they released The Great War 5.0, a complete and massive overhaul modification that brings the First World War to Napoleon: Total War. 5.0 includes an inordinate amount of new units, new models, new textures, and all new gameplay. It brings tanks, machine guns, and other revolutionary units to the battlefield. It offers a completely overhauled campaign that offers a degree of immersion like no other. Quite simply, it is a groundbreaking achievement. We at the Eagle Standard had an opportunity to talk to some of the modders who helped transform their ambition into something far greater. We hope that what they have to say offers a behind the scenes look into how The Great War 5.1 was created. Enjoy!
Aanker - Textures, General Modding
You are the primary creator of textures for The Great War. What exactly does texturing entail and why was it so important for 5.0?
Texturing is what we do when we want to put a "skin" on a model: when a model is made, it is basically just a 3D structure without any form of detailed surface. Of course, in any mod where you want to publish a more or less finished "product", you want to give your players properly textured models, or the greyish untextured models would stick out and ruin the game. So, for 5.0, that translated into a lot of texturing.
5.0 includes many, many textures. How detailed and historically accurate are the hundreds of textures found on infantrymen, artillery, tanks, and other various weapons and equipment?
Some textures are based on vanilla uniform models and are thus what I like to call "historical compromises". I texture them in such a way that they look and "feel" similar to the real uniforms (which I find in an illustrated book), but there may be incorrect details such as the shape of the cuffs and especially the collars. Artillery is generally quite historically textured - camouflage came in a great number of shades and patterns, however - but some of them might still need a bit of a refinement.
In your opinion, what is the most Earth-shattering aspect of 5.0 and how did the team go about creating such a feature?
What I like about 5.0 isn't so much one special feature or one exact thing we did: I like it because it feels - to me - as if it truly is a different game from vanilla N:TW.
King Sama - DB Editing, General Modding
Much of your work for 5.0 included database editing. Can you briefly describe what that entailed and why creating 5.0 was unique in that regard?
The database (db) tables are, as the name implies, a large group of data storages that the game reads and uses to construct the game. This ranges from creating units and editing their stats, to defining the size of in-battle cities, to assigning new models to their appropriate destinations. Since the DB plays this central role in communicating between the game engine and our custom content, the 5.0 DB relates to many areas of modding, with much of the team contributing at some point or another. It's also important to note the time spent designing and researching various implementations in the DB, as well as the supporting content such as text, icons, and of course, models.
What I imagine makes the 5.0 DB unique - in terms of warscape modding - is the sheer magnitude of the changes. Not many mods for Empire, Napoleon, or even Shogun 2 have come close. For example, all of the (many) units in 5.0 are completely from scratch, and so is the technology tree and the building chains. Aiming for the total conversion of Napoleon to a World War I game, this really is a requirement, in the same way that new models and maps have completely changed the look and feel of in-game combat.
What would you claim to be the most difficult obstacle you faced when creating 5.0?
There wasn't exactly one major obstacle, but the two major categories were random irritating bugs and periodic lack of motivation. The DB is especially prone to the former, although fortunately my team mates The Hedge Knight and Aanker have been extremely helpful in tracking down and solving these errors. One of our most recent ones involved a script that spawned starting units, which somehow interfered with the early field gun projectile, and crashed only in certain cases of use. Another (which causes MP crashes) is due to a mod pack inexplicably failing to activate for a minority of users. Such bugs are frustrating and momentum-breaking, but unfortunately they are a fact of life in modding, and presumably game development.
Can we expect more major updates in the future? If so, what new features might those include?
Yes, you can, although I won't give too much away. Let's just say our next planned update involves France, a lot of unimplemented models, and a better representation of colonialism. Right now, our main priority is to fix any remaining bugs and finish anything still unfinished, but stay tuned in our forum for future announcements.
The Hedge Knight - General Modding
What kind of role did you play in developing 5.0?
I never really had a defined role in the development of 5.0 so I ended up doing a lot of little things here and there in an attempt to bring the mod to life. I'm most proud of the time I spent entirely retexturing the frontend of the mod as well as removing defunct menu options in order to bring the main menu in line with the rest of the mod. I also spent a lot of time reworking particle effects to represent the modern weapons featured in 5.0. For example, machineguns use an effect I made which gives them the appearance of firing much faster than they actually do while shell explosions use fully 3D particle effects rather than the rather flat looking animated 2D effects used in vanilla.
On the gameplay side I added many small details such as WWI specific traits for characters in the campaign and over 200 historical characters like Haig and Luddendorf who appear in general pools for the player and the AI over the course of any campaign. I really love seeing things like the general Brusilov leading an army into Germany or seeing that I am fighting the Battle of Verdun. The inclusion of historic characters and places is a very unique aspect of 5.0. On the DB side both before and after the release I have done quite a lot of patching of minor details. For example, I have made sure rebels use WWI units and that every unit doesn't scream "Revolutionary Guards!" when selected in battle. It's very hard to say everything you have done in 2.5 years but I think that sums up most of it!
You have been a part of this project for a very long time now, dating back to around The Great War's inception. What aspect of the modification has come the farthest? What are you most impressed with in 5.0 having played so many different versions of the modification?
This version of The Great War obviously has a huge and very diverse array of very beautifully modelled and textured units. It's undeniable that 5.0 has taken great visual leaps compared to previous versions. The amount of detail put into the mod by B-Dizl, Aanker, Don Durandal and others is simply stunning. For me, though, the most important aspect of 5.0 is the balance and diversity of units. Though some players may point out that there are fewer unique units, there are more roles for units in this version than any other. We now have SMG's, shotguns, dedicated grenadiers and many more new unit types which all have a unique role to play on the battlefield. Though the mod is vastly improved in almost every way conceivable, for me it is the wonderful job King Sama has done to bring balance between the units that makes me want to play the mod over and over again.
B-DizL - Modeller
You are the primary creator of models for The Great War. How many models have you created for 5.0 and which were the most difficult to implement?
For 5.0 specifically, I have created 131 models. This includes all of the different LODs (levels of detail) required to make sure that the mod will run as smoothly as possible. Simply counting specific units like the Vickers machine gun, Lee Enfield rifle, and so on there are 45 models. Some models like the helmets and hats have 4 LODs while other models like the artillery only have 2 LODs. However, counting additional models that are either about to be in game or maybe somewhere down the road, there are many more.
Models play a major role in making the 5.0 experience so unique. Can you briefly explain to me the process by which you imported the various models into the game and what obstacles you faced in doing so?
Getting the models in game was actually the easy part, relatively speaking. The most difficult part was actually making them behave as they should in game and all the credit for this goes to Aanker, that guy is amazing. I must also give some credit to Panzerschreck for getting me in touch with Kungfuserge, whom I consider to be the master of modding. At first when I had know idea what I was doing I had asked Kungfuserge for help and, not knowing me and being very busy, he said he may not have time to help. Panzerschreck went out of his way to get me connected with Kungfuserge who was the first to get any of my models in game. Later on I received a lot of help from Primergy as well.
The process I go through to make the models and get them in game goes like this: first, I do a ton of research online and gather as much reference material as I can, like blueprints and pictures of the object from many different angles. I then load the blueprints or other reference pictures in Maya, which is a modeling program. After I get the model finished and UV mapped I export it as a .obj file which I load into Milkshape. In Milkeshape, I attach it to the bones of the model I want it to replace. Then, I load that into UU3D to assign the textures and save in the game's format. Finally, I put that into a .pack file and send it off to Aanker. Getting over the initial difficulties of figuring out how to get the model in game in the first place was the a very big obstacle, which as I mentioned I had a lot of help from my friends. But the biggest obstacle is actually finding the time to do the models in the first place, which can be very time consuming.
panzerschreck - Custom Maps
How many custom maps have you created for 5.0? What kind of unique features do your maps include?
I have created 24 custom maps for 5.0 with 86 new models including sandbags, trains, and barbed wire. All of them really help give 5.0 a World War I feeling. Some of my maps are generic, like an undetermined World War I landscape, while others are more historical, like the location of a precise battle. For those I worked with photos and maps of the real battlefield.
How difficult was it to implement trenches into your maps?
The challenge was to change enough of the landscape to turn it into a World War I battlefield. I had to learn modeling to create enough items, destroyed houses, and vehicles that reflected the World War I era. Creating the trenches and forts of the First World War were the most challenging due to all of the difficulties from the game itself. I had to work several weeks to find appropriate ways and tricks to make them work in the game.
For the future, I have plenty of ideas. My work will also go to the Middle East, Africa, and the Caucasus Some others models will follow too, including new vehicles, new destroyed buildings, and many more.
Written by: Audacia.
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