** ANCIENT CONQUEST v1.0 **Introduction:
(No Real-time Battles)
"Ancient Conquest" is a 'Medieval II Total War' modification, which is set in the Classical Antiquity, in 395 BC, an era in which Greeks and Persians, Phoenicians and Egyptians, Barbarians and Etruscans, all struggle and clash in brutal wars that shake the very foundations of the Ancient World.
The Map spans from the mighty Alps to the vast Arabian Dunes, supporting 16 unique factions and 117 regions. The mod is a complete overhaul, which means that it has new units, new buildings, new models, and pretty much everything has been changed to fit the Ancient time-frame. Despite all the changes however, it still stays faithful to the Vanilla, with only minor changes in scripts and mechanics. This makes the mod almost completely bug-free, which is vital for a smooth Hotseat experience. If someone has grown tired of the Medieval II' map and factions, and wants to play the same game but in another time-frame, then this is the mod for them.
This mod is designed solely for Campaign playing, with a lot of attention given to the map, the models and the ui. It does NOT support real-time battles, which means that you can ONLY auto-resolve your battles. It does however support Hotseat Campaigns, and that’s where the mod truly comes to its full potential. Tested by experienced Hotseat players, bug-free and balanced, this mod guarantees an epic Hotseat experience.
Historical Setting:
Ancient Conquest is set in 395 BC, in the dawning of the so-called Corinthian War in which Athens, all but subdued after the brutal Peloponnesian War, rebels against mighty Sparta with the help of Thebes, Corinth and Persia. A rebellion orchestrated by the cunning Satrap of Lydia, Tissaphernes, who, unable to halt the Spartan King and his mighty host in Ionia, chooses a smarter course of action. In the meantime the Kingdom of Macedonia, only 30 years before the arrival of Phillip the II, tries to find its feet but buckles under the repeated raids of Thracians and Illyrians, who, under the rule of charismatic leaders, have created mighty kingdoms from which they descend upon the south.
So war ravages the Greek world. But this maelstrom of war knows no boundaries. In the east, the Persian Empire, battered after a bloody power struggle between the two sons of Darius, finds again its footing. With blood and vengeance on his mind, the new Great King, Artaxerxes, is now ready to punish the traitors and destroy the rebels. But these ‘rebels’ will not go down easily, for Egypt, after centuries of servitude, is once again free of Persian rule, with Pharaohs ruling once again the blessed lands of the Nile.
Even the distant shores of the West however, cannot escape the chaos. The mythic island of Sicily, trembles under yet another brutal war between the city of Syracuse and mighty Carthage, while at the same time, Rome makes its first tiny steps towards world domination by capturing its great enemy, the city of Veii. The Etruscans, now in a course of steady decline, have to face the warlike Gauls who cross the Alps by the thousands and descend upon the civilized south, and all this while a new danger arises in the distant Saharan desert.
Total War, in a nutshell.
Playable Factions: Sparta, Athens, Syracuse, Macedonia, Rome, Illyria, Thrace, Carthage, Sarmatians, Berbers, Satrapy of Lydia, Carthage, Egypt, Etruscans, Gaul, Satrapy of Cilicia, Satrapy of Syria.
Not-playable: Persia, Thebes, Rhodes, Tarantas
Screenshots:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Download Links:
DepositFiles: http://dfiles.eu/files/j67t1mpeh?redirect
MEGA: https://mega.nz/#!XNZnQJaD!UdWMhQ7_W...4Z3wxIH2vsieJI (Thanks to Vipman)
The setup's size is around 250mb. The size of the mod around 950mb.
‘Designer’s’ Note:
This mod started off as a personal, fun-made project, its only goal being to entertain my friends and allow us to host a Hotseat game in a different setting. However as time passed and I put more and more effort in this mod, I figured that other people might enjoy it as well, so I decided to ‘release it’ officially.
However, I was completely inexperienced and alone, and so in order to finish this project I needed to borrow from the work of other mods and artists. To support real-time battles was out of the question, as it would take many more years to achieve it, and quite frankly I was always more into the campaign map. The campaign map of Medieval II is still interesting after all these years, while the battles, meh, you might as well go and play Rome II .
Here, I should say that both the inspiration for this mod and the constant support and testing was provided by my beloved Hawtseat team. This is a team of around 20 people, all dear friends, with whom I’ve been playing massive Hotseat games for almost 3 years. We’ve played Hotseats in Retrofit, in Westeros and in custom mods; we’ve tested AC and are currently playing a new grand Hotseat in the public version of the mod.
Here are some videos that we’ve created for some of these campaigns (more to come):
17 Players Campaign (Retrofit): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Gkr4IYSRc
12 Players Campaign (Retrofit) – older: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6g7yH9nEgE
Credits:
As I’ve previously stated, none of this could’ve been possible in the first place, if it hadn’t been for the generous support of some of the greatest modders and artists on these forums. This mod also owes its existence to the amazing Total War Center forums and its members, who stood by me in every step of the modding process. So here are the credits:
Mods that I used content from:
De Bello Mundi: many 3d strat models.
Diadochi Total War (RedFox, Maraxus, unDa): Unit cards.
Peninsula Italica: Unit cards, few UI tgas and some 3d models.
Extended Cultures: Unit cards.
Europa Barbarorum: Unit cards.
Artists whose models I used:
Riczu74
Davide.Cool
Permissions:
All the content that is created by me (Samar) is free to use in any way. Credits are always welcome. The content from De Bello Mundi is also free to use (amazing mod, go over there and see for yourselves), as is the work of Davide.Cool and Riczu74. (Give them credit where it’s due.)
If you want to use any content that belongs to the other mods (Peninsula Italica, Diadochi, EB, Extended Cultures) you should ask directly permission from their creators. If you want to use any of the unit cards (both unit_info and #unit) you should pm me first, because there is a good chance that it belongs to one of the above mods.
Note: It’s very hard to keep track of everything when you’re working alone, which means there might be some mistakes in the credits. Please pm me here and I’ll edit it immediately.