Greetings all and welcome to the Scriptorium's Editorial for January 2014! We have a lot of exciting news this time around including information on the 2014 Winter Writing Competition, general staff news as well as some great article reviews and a list of the latest articles added to the Scriptorium.


Top News

Winter 2014 Writing Competition
The Scriptorium is proud to announce the 2014 Winter Writing Competition! Be on the look out for the official announcement thread in the Questions and Suggestions forum soon. For now though we can tell you this competition will have themed and non-themed categories and will officially start at the beginning of February. If you're unfamiliar with our writing competitions have a look at A Guide to the Scriptorium Writing Competitions, which contains lots of useful info on the competitions. Now, we're also ready to announce the theme:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Winter!



That's right! This competition's theme is Winter. It's no longer coming; it's arrived! Consult the old gods and the new, or perhaps just your trusty thesaurus and get to work writing so you can enter the competition and obtain eternal GLORY!






Other News

New Chief!
With the publication of this editorial, StealthFox is retiring from the day to day activities of the Scriptorium. Taking the reins is Princess Luna who will undoubtedly lead in a glorious fashion! Please welcome him in his new role!

Open Positions
There may be a need for one or two more staff members. If you are interested you may apply via PM to the chief librarian, Princess Luna.

The Utmost Contributors
Catalog Six listing those members with the most articles in the Scriptorium has recently been updated by the great owl Sir Adrian. Take a stroll along this great hall of TWC legends of the quill and marvel at the many masterpieces. You too can have your name here among the great. Unfurl the scrolls and ink the quills! Post up your best work on TWC and then submit it to any Librarian for consideration of being saved in the Scriptorium.

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Article Reviews

Crossroads at Antietam: an Exploratory Narrative by Legio_Italica - Review by Lord William

Author: Legio_Italica
Original Thread: Crossroads at Antietam: an Exploratory Narrative
Scriptorium Thread Crossroads at Antietam: an Exploratory Narrative

Crossroads at Antietam
Crossroads at Antietam: an Exploratory Narrative

Lets take a look at Crossroads at Antietam: an Exploratory Narrative by Legio_Italica. It begins by discussing the event leading to the battle of Antietam, and for those who are unaware, the Battle of Antietam took place during the Civil War in 1862. The article describes the movements of both sides and the thoughts of their leaders before and during the battle. The flow of the article stays on track and the author uses pictures perfectly to assist him with his descriptions. I must admit that even though I do enjoy history, the American Civil War usually isn’t on my favorites list, but I can say that with all honesty I truly enjoyed this article. I found the article to be simple to read, highly informative, and it also had great maps to help the reader better understand the situation visually. Overall I give this article my seal of approval, and I hope all of you will take the opportunity to read it for yourselves.

10/10

- LW


Nobunaga's Ambition - Review by Sir Adrian

Author: Lord Oda Nobunaga
Original Thread: Nobunaga's Ambition, how far did it go?
Scriptorium Thread Nobunaga's Ambition, how far did it go

Nobunanga's Ambition
If you mention the name Oda Nobunaga you will find that there aren’t many TWC members who have not heard of the great shogun and his military exploits. But what of the man himself? what were his political ambitions, what were his plans, and most importantly what was his relation to the emperor and the traditional powers in Japan?
This short but interesting article seeks to answer just that, and maybe a little more, and to reveal to the common person Nobunaga’s great skill as a politician (an aspect which, sadly, is rarely talked about) by succinctly presenting the various steps he took to cement his power and legacy as wellas what he did to hold onto it.

The writing style is simple and to the point and stuffed with interesting tidbits of information presented in a fairly direct manner, which makes it very easy to read even by the layman. The article itself is well structured, but there is no actual connection between the various chapters, which gave me the feeling that I was reading a series of shorter articles than a single article, and the lack of images makes it dryer than it has to be.

Nonetheless, despite these minor shortcomings, and the lack of a bibliography at the end (which makes future research on this topic slightly difficult – nothing the Vestugia Vetustatis can’t solve though), I found this article to be a very interesting and refreshing foray into the subtler side of what may be one of the least understood great generals in history and I warmly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about this period of Japanese history (who wouldn’t) or just wants something to give their next Oda campaign that extra bit of flavor.

10 katanas out of 10

- Sir Adrian



How to change faction emblems (Photoshop CSS with Noif) by Noif de Bodemloze - Review by Lord William

Author: Noif-de-Bodemloze
Original Thread: How to change faction emblems (Photoshop CSS with Noif)
Scriptorium Thread How to change faction emblems (Photoshop CSS with Noif)

How to change faction emblems (Photoshop CSS with Noif)
Are you tired of playing Rome 2 Total War and just playing with the same old faction emblems? Have you sat and thought to yourself that it would be nice to create your own faction emblems? Well now you can with Noif de Bodemloze’s tutorial on how to change faction emblems (Photoshop CSS with Noif). This tutorial goes step by step through the process of making your emblem through Photoshop and the process of applying the emblem to your mod. It is a great tutorial for beginners as it is simple to understand and the author uses visual aids to help even the most novices Modder to understand how to create faction emblems. Members who have a Photoshop background will find it helpful but it is not a requirement to make faction emblems. I have not personally created any emblems as of yet but having read this tutorial I feel confident that should I ever want to create my own emblem I now could. This tutorial has my full support and I recommend all those who are interested in creating their own faction emblems to take a glance on this tutorial you may find it useful.

10/10

- LW


How to become a Modding God by LestaT - Review by Princess Luna

Author: LestaT
Original thread: 1 and 2
Scriptorium thread: [Modding] Rome 2: How to Become a Modding God - Messing With Time, The World Is Not Enough

How to become a Modding God
As some of you might have noticed, CA came out with a new game called "Total war Rome II" this year. And as it is still quite new, it has not had time to develop the variation of mods other titles have had yet. In addition, some of you might not be happy with all aspects of the game but can not find a fitting mod to fix it. Or maybe you just want to help make some for the community? In any case, LestaT has written a excellent guide of how to change the number of turns per year and unlock factions for all of you who would like to get into some light modding. The guide(s) start easily by explaining what you need, before talking you step by step through what needs to be done to do the changes. The included pictures are really useful as a visual aid, and perfect to explain when instructions by plain words might be hard to follow. I would easily recommend this to anyone not familiar with modifying the game, but wanting to get into it, or someone wanting to do these changes to the game themselves.

Go read and follow it!

- Princess Luna


Weapons in 3DSmax - Review by Gen. Chris

Author: Valkar
Original thread: Weapons in 3dsmax
Scriptorium thread: [Modding] Weapons in 3dsmax

Weapons in 3dsmax

Have you ever wanted to try your hand at modding, specifically in an attempt to create new models? Well I have, and if I had access to 3dsmax, I certainly would try, and likely fail. But I know for a fact that there are a plethora of good tutorials available for newbs when it comes to modeling, one of which is written quite well by Valkar.

In a fantastically written and easy to understand tutorial, Valkar explains how to get started with modeling weapons in 3dsmax. While perhaps not an advanced tutorial for modeling more complex things, Valkar explains it in such a way that even the most technically challenged person could model a weapon such as an axe or sword. Through a step-by-step process, Valkar is able to convey how relatively simple it is to model. Valkar also explains how to then use the model that has been created and how to add it to which ever unit you wish to add it to.

Again, this is not an advanced tutorial, but as a method of getting your foot into the door of 3D modeling, Valkar's guide is simply one of the best written ones out there.

- Gen. Chris


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Recent Articles

Below is a list of all articles added to the Scriptorium catalogs since the time of our last editorial in September 2013.

Recently Added Articles

October 2013
[Tutorial] Learn-by-Example Modelling 04: Multi-layered Normal Maps
Added 08.10.13
[Tutorial] Warscape Modding Primer Added 21.10.13
[Tutorial] Rome 2 Basic Mods, Mod Compilations and Save Game Editing Added 25.10.13
[Modding] How to make a custom unit with PFM Added 29.10.13
[Modding] How to save your DDS files in correct format Added 29.10.13

November 2013
[Tutorial] How to add completely new Armies to the Campaign Map Added 01.11.13
[Tutorial] How to change starting units in startpos.esf Added 01.11.13
[History] Crossroads at Antietam: an Exploratory Narrative Added 06.11.13
[Tutorial] How to change faction emblems (Photoshop CSS) Adeed 14.11.13
[Tutorial] Modeling & DB. Milkshape & UU3D. How wangrin and I use them. Added 14.11.13
[Tutorial] Naval modding Added 23.11.13

December 2013
[Modding] Rome 2: How to Become a Modding God - Messing With Time, The World Is Not Enough Added 09.12.2013
[History] Nobunaga's ambition, how far did it go? Added 22.12.13
[Modding] Rome 2: VariantMeshDefinitions Files Added 22.12.13
[Modding] Rome 2: Comprehensive Overview of the Building System Added 28.12.13


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Closing Remarks

Thanks for reading the editorial this month. We hope to see your submissions in the upcoming writing competition! Good Luck!

Also, we're always on the watch for new additions to our collections. If you have something you think is worthy of being saved here please PM any librarian.

Valete!


The Scriptorium Team

Gen. Chris - Writer & Librarian
knight of meh - Writer & Librarian
Lord William - Writer & Librarian
Sir Adrian - Writer & Librarian
Riverknight - Writer & Librarian
Princess Luna - Chief Librarian & Editor





As you can see we have a fine array of news sources focusing on various aspects and individuals of the Total War Center. Check out our other publications and news sources!




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