The Silver Shield - 9th Edition

y2day · May 8, 2010

A Letter From the Editor
Hello TWC, and welcome to another edition of the Silver Shield! It is my honor to present another edition full of great work done by even greater guys. Summer is upon us, but before you go out and enjoy that beautiful weather please take the time to read over this edition. We have a great line up featuring some new faces and some of the guys that have made the Silver Shield the success it is today. The new guys Capt. Fozdike and Nole4694 have put together interviews that you will not want to miss. ultimation wraps up the series Interview with an Editor, and Subuatai de Bodemloze is back with The Gods of Modding and A Graphic State of Affairs. Now to start of this edition I present to you the final piece done by your friend and mine Nazgûl Killer. The Scriptorium by Nazgûl Killer will be his last contribution to the Content Branch of TWC. (atleast for now) We do hope he returns one day. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you Nazgûl Killer publicly for you contributions to the Silver Shield and the rest of TWC. Nazgûl Killer will be leaving TWC to serve his country. Remember us my friend because we will sure remember you and pray that you return to us one day. Also it is my sad duty to report that Rebel6666 and Mythre will also be leaving the Silver Shield. All of you will be missed, but not forgotten. If you ever find the time please don't hesitate to return to us. Armatus would like to say a few words to our departing brothers.

Armatus
Naz,

My friend, we won't forget, for I really have no choice you made an imprint on all you encountered here in the forums of TWC. We will think of you in your time of service, and look forward to seeing your return at some point, or if not perhaps a letter or two, to those of us who may have brought a smile to your fugly grin!

Gotcha!

No seriously good luck to you man. We appreciate your contributions to The Shield of the Silver Auxilia.

May you farewell where ever you fare...

And to Rebel6666 - damn that's a lot of sixes!

- you've become one of our most valued reporters, always reliable and persistent, you too will leave a cosiderable hole for us to fill at the Shield.

Good luck my friends.

Armatus

TWC please enjoy this edition and don't forget to spread the love around to our great content writers.

y2day
Editor

9th Edition Staff
Editor in Chief / Group Moderator y2day
Deputy Editor / Group Moderator Armatus
Art Director Tzar
Artist / Reporter Subuatai de Bodemloze
Reporter Nazgûl Killer
Reporter Nole4694
Reporter Capt. Fozdike
Reporter ultimation

9th Edition

The Scriptorium by Nazgul Killer

The Scriptorium Oh, the Scriptorium. Total War Center's private library, storing the works and arts of members from all time periods and the home of the Librarians... The Scriptorium, with no doubt, has been one of the most important, if not the most important, and prominent spots for me in my stay at these forums. Taking me in during early May 2009, grooming me and allowing me to develop, Pontifex and Legio have helped me become the member I am today. The Scriptorium, despite what people may think, is not a step up toward Citizenship, because it is just as important as that. A closed and inner society of Librarians, allowing only the best and the promising to enter... The Scriptorium is like no other place. But, enough of this sentimentality. The Scriptorium has been around Total War Center since quite the earliest of days, storing articles from now-TWC-Titans like Jim, Garb and B. Ward - And has been the home of other titans, such as Jim, Pontifex, Astaroth and many others. The storage of articles in the Scriptorium may rival every encyclopedia world-wide, 37 pages filled with articles ranging from After Actions Reports and Game Guides, to Modding Guides and Artistic Tools, it is, without a doubt, every TWC member's fantastic repository for everything that is Total War. Before entering the Scriptorium, every article is viewed and reviewed by the Librarian team and voted upon, the piece is reviewed in aspects of plagiarism, originality, factual information and creativity in different aspects, and the talented team which inspects it then votes upon whether to store it or not in the Scriptorium. The dedicated staff of the Scriptorium hold several annual writing competitions (One of which approaching its voting stages in the end of April) and handing out awards with that, awards which are proudly displayed by the winners. The staff is also quite warm and welcoming, willing to answer any question and willing to enter any debate regarding a piece of work by a member. Members who have their piece entering the Scriptorium may now rest easy and know that their work shall be forever immortalized within the walls of this fantastic library, and that their works shall be kept safe and maintained for as long as this site remains. Fondly referred to as "The Script", the Scriptorium appears to have a life of its own, with revolutions sparking inside it, moderation aspirates growing from it and content staff blossoming within its walls, it is, with no doubt, forever in the member's heart after leaving it. And so, we come to the second point of this article. This will be my last article in the Silver Shield and my last act for the Scriptorium, as I am leaving both these places with great remorse. My days at TWC are numbered due to my conscription in 90~ days from now, and as such I must drop all my TWC obligations before it is too late. I bid the Silver Shield and the Scriptorium a very fond farewell now with a thank you on my tongue as well, a thank you for grooming me into the writer I am, a thank you for improving me and making me a better debater and a thank you for making me a respected member of this site, and now... I continue on...

Interview with Major Darling by Nole4694

Interview Hello my fellow TWC goers and SS readers! I am Nole4694 the new guy to the Silver Shield team and today I bring to you all an interview with a fine member of our community: Major Darling! He, among other things, is one of the Local Moderators of the TW-Based Community RPG's forum and I hope you find something interesting both about him and his position(s) here today. But enough with introductions, let us begin.

So Major, I'll start with a couple questions about you. Tell us a little about you and your background.

Well, I've been on TWC almost 1 year now. In real life I'm a recent university grad and currently volunteering for the Conservative Party here in the UK. I recent became a citizen an am also a forum wide local mod for all the community RPGs.

Are there any hobbies you like and what are your interests outside of TWC?

Well, I've always liked photography and it's something I still keep up into today. I also have to fly a lot due to family reasons and this gives me a lot of time to read. I enjoy books such as Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, Bernard Cornwell's books and also classic novels such as F Scott Fitzgerald's works. I'm also a keen shot and will go to friends grouse moors twice a year or so.

What first brought you to TWC and what made you join the site as an actual member?

Ever since RTW, I'd been an on and off lurked grabbing the odd mod here and there, same with MTW2. But it was the launch of Empire that brought me to the forums, and not in a positive way, I wanted to ask about an error and in the end registered! The first mod I downloaded for it was ToonTotalWar's American Revolution mod.

Well, down to business. As a moderator for the whole RPG forum what are some of your responsibilities?

As a forum wide mod, it's a bit different from concentrating all your time on one small subforum. RPGs, before they become games have to go through an application and development stage. This revolves around an idea thread which slowly grows and rulesets created, when enough people are willing to play, I approve it or if it's rules etc aren't developed enough I tell them. I then send off a request to Hex to make the forums. Like all Local Moderators I have to deal with the bane of any moderator, spam and off topic chat... The RPGs are a cesspit of the latter, it is actually inconceivable how much off topic chat there is.. This is soft deleted and sometimes reported.

Do you think there are any problems or pluses that are unique to moderating the RPG forum?

Problems: Off Topic chat, new players who end threads in one post, dice rolls (There not as straightforward as you think), oh and off topic chat Pluses: Great set of guys, good local mods to share my burden, fun times all around, really funny threads and roleplays that happen (Geoffrey Chaucer riding an elephant for one) and the ability of making your own history.

Besides being an Local Mod are there any other titles, honors, or positions you hold(or held) on TWC? And if so could you explain them?

Well, first and foremost I'm a content writer, I've been writing about 8 months now for the Eagle Standard and maybe 5 for the Helios. I write about mods in the ES and interview mod leaders, I also do my monthly RPG report. In the Helios I write on a wide range of non twc topics. I am also a civitate since the beginning of March and have a few bills already. I am also a member of TWC's living history staff, we are responsible for selecting important threads to TWC's history and storing them.

Do you feel that these other obligations interfere with your moderating or vice versa? How do you manage all your responsibilities so that they even out?

When I log onto TWC, I work my way down the forum. Start with announcements and then check out a few mods and then get to the RPGs, I look if there's any issues, make a few posts in a roleplay and then head down to Living History to see if there's any news and then go to the Curia. I then vote or post in a prothalmos thread. When I'm done there, I check out the admin forums like the Q&S, the Content forum and the staff forum. This way, I feel I can manage all my obligations. But then of course, I have great LMs like you Nole to help me out!

And finally is there any special news on the RPG forum or advice or any thoughts of yours that you want to tell our readers?

Well, not really news but an achievement happened last night. Nearly 100 dead forums were removed from the RPG forum, all dead games. This will save TWC money and bandwidth. We also have a newish RPG called Terranova based in a Roman Style world and a new RPG which has just been approved based in Japan and on Samurais. And on a non-RPG note I have a podcast with Legio coming out soon!

Oh! I nearly forgot the most important question of all: Blondes or Brunettes?

Does my LM profile not answer that? Blondes..

I would like to thank Major Darling for his time and patience answering my questions, and you readers for, well, reading it . So farewell until next time! Nole

Interview with LDKsoldier by Capt. Fozdike

Interview This month I present to you LDKsoldier! This, ladies and gentlemen, is the user that I pondered for hours about what the ‘LDK’ in his username stands for. I came up with some quite good ones too hehehe. Anyway, here are the questions. Enjoy!

When and why did you join TWC?

I joined TWC 4 years before, because I was searching a mod about Lithuania for RTW. In 2006 on TWC there was a big Lithuanian community, so I was only posting in Foreign Discussions thread, talking with other Lithuanians. Later I joined to Lithuania Mod for MTW2 and finally I was enjoying TWC with all its community, not only with the Lithuanian one.

What are your responsibilities and commitments on the site and what areas are you an LM for?

My responsibilities commitments are to organize our mod's forum, delete off-topic posts, stick important threads and make that the forum so clean and organized as possible.

What do you like about being an LM?

Two things: See deleted posts in all TWC and the possibility to have custom title.

What attracts you to modding on the site?

I like modding in TWC, because is the best forum for modders of Total War games. It has very good organization, the administrators are very helpful, there are a lot of tutorials to improve your modding skills and of course, the TWC community is great.

Have you produced or helped with any other mods?

Yes. I have made some strategic map models for Shadow of Ishtar modification and several items and buildings models for a Mount & Blade modification made in TWC, Imperium Graecorum.

So what does Baltic Crusades focus on changing in the game?

Baltic Crusades adds a lot of new units for Teutonic Order, Lithuania and Poland, made by MADTAO. The units for Novgorod and Mongols are from Rusichi mod. These units, made by MADTAO, aren't simply new units. In my opinion, they are the most beautiful and realistic units ever created for MTW2. These units are being used by other major mods, like Stainless Steel.

And what is your role on the mod team?

I started modding for Baltic Crusades mod when it was finished, so I only made one mini patch balancing all the units. Now we are working in the second version of our mod, called Baltic :Total War. In this new mod my role in the team is with coding. I am reworking battle_models file: First I deleted all the units, then I started to adding new units with a shorter code. In this way it will be easier to find an unit in battle_models file and our modelers and skinners will be able to modify them easier. And of course, now we will no have more bugs with this file. I also have a second smaller role in the team: Create new strategic map settlements for all the factions.

When did you start modding TW games?

I started modding TW games in 2006, then I learned mapping and a bit of codding with RTW. I stopped modding at the end of 2007 because of personal reasons, but in November of 2009 I returned to this world. Since November of 2009 I learned a lot more things, like 3D modding, improved my coding skills and improved my patience.

What would be some advice you would give to the young modders of TWC?

Do not modify when you are drunk, because then you will make weird things with your modification! You will have CTD's!

What are the areas of the site you enjoy most and why?

Kingdoms: Hosted modifications, because I can see a lot of great mods, to see how other modders work and to learn from them. Circus Maximus/Mount & Blade, because I like this game. I enjoy I lot playing multiplayer battles with Warband expansion.

What would be your favorite area of history?

I have some favorites areas of history: In Ancient history I like to learn about the northern barbarians, to know how they were living, to know more about their pagan religions and to know how they were making the war. In Medieval, I like the history of Lithuania and other Baltic tribes. I'm also reading a lot about their pagan religions.

What is your favorite Total War game?

MTW2/Kingdoms. I really love its mini campaigns. I enjoyed a lot playing Teutonic, British and American campaigns, but the main reason why I like Kingdoms is because we can install a lot of mods without overwriting the game.

What is your favorite mod for a TW game?

I have not played a lot of major mods. I only tried SPQR mod for RTW, Third Age for Kingdoms and of course, our Baltic Crusades mod, for Kingdoms too. I am not a big fan of Lord of The Rings, but Third Age mod is really good: wonderful units, very detailed map and the most important, no bugs! Well there we are readers of the Secret Society, erm... I mean Silly Scandinavians. No? Um, Silver Shield! Hope you enjoyed the interview. Please give LDK some rep for giving his time. Thank you, LDKsoldier for taking part in this interview and may your time on TWC be a successful one!

The Gods of Modding - Interview with alpaca by Subuatai de Bodemloze

Introduction to this months columnHello and welcome back fearless readers. I am happy to present to you on behalf of the Silver Shield; the second column in this series that is dedicated solely to the giants of TWC's modding community. Our mission as you may know is to bring you some of the back story on the fellows who have made the giant steps in modding be it technically, artistically, or shear scope of involvement in a project. These modder's have all been awarded the Optifex badge for their gallantry and cunning on the battlefields of there desktops. So without further adieu lets get on to the interview.

Interview with alpaca

Profile

alpaca is a hard person to get information on. He lives and goes to school in Germany and was responsible for many essential tools and tutorials for both RTW and M2TW modding. A few examples of his work include:

Adding a new religion - tutorial for Barbarian Invasion (BI).
TGA-HGT Converter - which made map editing possible for the duration of the BI 1.4 and RTW 1.3 patches.
.texture to .dds and .dds to .texture converter - allows opening and saving of the M2TW texture format.
.sd converter, plus tutorial on adding new faction symbol, which makes it possible to add icons for more than 21 factions in M2TW.
How to Add Multiple Campaigns to M2TW - allows the introduction of provincial campaigns ala RTW.

Milestones:

September 06, 2005, alpaca joins TWC.
November 15, 2008: awarded the Opifex badge for exceptional modding, Chivalry TW.
February 02, 2009: 2007 Modding Award Winner.
May 2009: Joins up with l33tl4m3r to develop APE:TI
February 19, 2010: 2009 Modding Award Winner.

Interview

Guten Tag herrAlpaca How are you? Would you please introduce yourself to the members that are less familiar with your body of work?

Hi everyone. I don't like introductions so I'll get this over with quickly. My (nick) name is alpaca, with a lower-case "a"

I've been modding TW games to some extent since RTW. Lately, my largest contribution was to A Proper Empire: Terra Incognita for ETW, which I co-led with l33tl4m3r for quite a while and where I mainly worked on all things campaign-related. Especially for Medieval 2, I was also actively writing tutorials and developing tools to help others mod, but with ETW and NTW I've not really felt like teaching people due to the complexity of the things I've been doing (mostly scripting) which don't really lend themselves to easily teach other people.

I understand in real life your a physics student. What area of physics do you plan to pursue post graduation?

I don't have any plans yet. I'm currently working in the field of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, conducting some basic quantum mechanics experiments and developing our methods, but I'll take the future as it comes.

Quantum mechanics cool, from my point of view that is pretty interesting field of study. I love physics (theory anyways, the math hurts my head) I assume your well versed in Plank and Heisenberg etc.. How did you get into physics?

Actually physics theory involves quite a lot of mathematics :laughter:

I got into it by not being able to decide what I want to study since I'm not really interested in anything, and physics (and mathematics which I also studied for three years but lost interest after seeing that you mostly do very abstract stuff) didn't involve a lot of tedious and despicable learning by heart as I'd seen in school. Also, three of my best friends wanted to study physics, which surely influenced my decision.

You have created quite a few tools for the community starting back with BI correct?

Yes, mostly small-scale stuff like converters for certain file formats, etc. I was often one of the first to release something that worked in order to solve a certain problem and I'm fairly good at reverse-engineering file formats, but I was never interested in releasing polished software and was happy to leave that to other people.

How many mods have you been involved with? (just realized the TWC wiki has pretty crappy info on you lol) Am I correct in assuming you started modding with RTW?

Yes, as I said in my introduction, I started modding with RTW and Chivalry as a project. I've been part of a few mods but those I've been more involved with are Chivalry, APE:TI and a mod for M2TW which was never released called Italia Invicta. My main influence on the modding community was a result of tutorials, tool development and answering modding questions, since I tend to quickly develop a good understanding of the engines and what you can do with it.
What happened to Italia Invicta?

As so often happens, I lost interest. I wasn't able to find more than one companion, Solo, who did marvelous work on interface graphics and the map, and felt overwhelmed by the amount of work and put off working on it again and again until I finally decided to cancel the project. I was feeling sorry for the work Solo had put in but I've recently met him again on an EU3 forum where he now does interface modding for MEIOU and he luckily doesn't seem to have any hard feelings about it.
What was the main impetus for you starting to mod? Was there something specific that you wanted to change?

That was so long ago that I don't really remember it very well. I think it was partly that I was impressed by the work modders could do, partly that I was underwhelmed by TW vanilla game design but intrigued by the concept and partly that I was still in school and had lots of time on my hands. Unfortunately, it became a habit. My main interest has always been scripting and that is what I've mostly been doing. I'm sure a few people remember my script-o-rama for M2TW which amassed hundreds of posts of scripting questions and examples.
APE is undoubtedly my favorite mod to date. Well the most played mod for sure. How did that partnership with l33tl4m3r start?

Well it was mostly brought about by l33tl4m3r. I had released a first version of Terra Incognita as a separate mod but I was mostly working on campaign level things and not interested in unit rosters and battle things very much. I think I helped him out with something and he had a look at TI after wards and liked it. I started posting a bit in the APE forum, he started posting in my mod thread and after a while we exchanged MSN addresses. The rest, as they say, is history. After a bit of cajoling from his side I finally gave in. In fact, modding cooperations like this often come about like real world relationships.
What are you thoughts about the future of modding? Particularly the TW franchise.

It all depends on the developers. I'm pretty happy about what Paradox is doing lately by contracting mod teams, giving them access to their engines, and publishing their games when they are finished. DLC is also a great way to offer mods as either free or paid for third-party content for developers. I think that modding and traditional game development will continue to converge in the next years - I'm actually waiting for the first game that will offer a base engine at a beta stage and then call out for modders to provide the content. As for TW modding, this depends even more on the company. I'm skeptical that we'll see any significant improvements and I believe that, if CA's next game is again as mod-unfriendly as ETW or NTW, that there won't be many talented TW modders left to mod it.
Do you have any advice for the new batch of modders out there?

Yes. Try to not let yourselves be frustrated by the difficulty associated with modding these games. Modding is largely self-taught so just stick your head in, use those tutorials we have, and play around with anything you can find. Don't try to start a large project all by yourself - if you really want to mod, you have to learn it by trial and error first. If you like you can join an existing team where you can profit from the "older guys" expertise.
Are there any features/tools that you are exceptionally proud of, and why?

I'm very fond of the TI scripting. Unlocking region traits was a pretty difficult task that required a lot of out-of-the-box thinking, and I'm happy that I got them to work, even though the solutions are often much less than optimal. I'm actually even more proud of a more advanced generation of these scripts that I'm currently working on and which I will release to the modding community as a framework when they are done, together with a tutorial about how to use them.

What was your role within the Chivalry: TW mod?

I was mod leader for Chivalry after Adherbal left. I put together a working version but it didn't actually have a lot of content from my feather and later left to let DaVinci take over.

What are you opinions on N:TW? Are there specific things you like dislike?

NTW is quite a bit better than ETW, but ETW was pretty much a disaster, at least on launch. I think NTW is a good game but nothing really special from my point of view. I like that CA took some ideas from modders, or came up with very similar looking concepts themselves, like non-financial building bonuses.

Finally do you have anything you would like to leave our readers with?

As for the readers: Have fun playing mods and try a new one from time to time. If you never played a mod, now is the time to start. Many mods change the game quite a bit, some even improve it, so you're likely to get good value out of the time you spend looking for one you like

Links of Interest

alpaca's Profile - Link APE: TI main forum - Link alpaca's script-o-rama thread - Link

Interview with an Editor - Astaroth by ultimation

Now that you've read all the other [DEL]rubbish[/DEL] writing up there you have finally arrived here, at what is your favorite destination. Yes, it's that time again, another Interview with an Editor. And also the last interview with an editor. But fear not, this one will be packed full of something. Now those of you out there who are actually following this may be able to figure out who we have left to question. But for those who don't spend 28 hours a day (yes, I did say 18) on these forums I will tell you. This week we are interviewing all-star Astaroth. Well, if we can find him under all his medals. Astaroth is Editor in Chief of the Helios, a whatchamacallit that tries to compete with us here at the SS (no, that is not the German SS, see the 'Relevant Information' section for details on that. As editor in chief he does all the stuff that he does (in between putting up with numerous messages and pokes from yours truly). But in addition to that it would seem that he is on the CdeC, is a Moderator (fear his banhammer, love his social skills), competes (or competed) in the PotW tournament (if you don't know what that means, you aren't worthy) and contributes to the wiki. In addition to this, there are also rumors that he, along with several other senior staff members, are planning to throw off the shackles of the curia and take over the site. But shhh. Don't tell anyone. But, with more ado and a lot of show may we bring on the Astaroth.

The Questions

What would you consider you main duties as editor of the Helios? My main duties are hiring new writers, discussing possible subjects with the Helios team and compiling the actual issue every month. What was your journey to become an editor? Originally, I joined Content Staff around October 2008 as a guide writer. I wrote a couple of guides for RTW, M2TW and ETW and also became a Librarian a few weeks later. After I had served as a Content Writer and Librarian for roughly a year, I was offered the Helios editor job in Autumn of 2009. That's pretty much it. What is the best/worst part of being an editor? The best part is having happy readers and writers. It's also very satisfying to finally publish a new Helios issue after hours of editing and preparing it. The worst part? Probably making sure that every article is handed in in time. There's only so much you can expect from volunteers but without articles the Helios cannot be published. What is your favorite thing to write about? I enjoy writing about TWC but I am also interested in some political subjects - such as the war in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, I didn't get to write many articles lately. Who would you Kill, Marry and Date out of the following: Paris Hilton, Susan Boyle and Shakira? I'd neither marry nor kill one of them. I'm a peaceful person and also don't feel like marrying yet. As for dating - probably Shakira. What do you consider to be the most important thing on the Total War Center? The most important thing are definitely the members. What would TWC be without its great and active membership? And finally, the most important question, Blondes or Brunettes? Very difficult question right there. Both can be great but I think I'm leaning toward the latter right now. That might change in the future, though...

Now, sharpen those pitchforks and light the torches to force some longer answers out of Astaroth, please do make sure you don't leave any lasting scars. And take some hair dye too, color his hair blonde. I'll give you his address if you want. Here it is: www.twcenter.net/forums. That's right, he can be found here. And now, unfortunately, it is time to say goodbye to you for another month, and to say goodbye to this segment. So I bed thee farewell, and make sure you check out some of the other articles on here. Specially Nazgul's.

A Graphic State of Affairs by Subuatai de Bodemloze

Subuatai's say soJeez I never thought I would get this done.. Y2day your such a slave driver! LOL. Well boys and girls here we go again! Nothing special to say other than life can slow down anytime! Or maybe I should cut back on some things.. hmm. Well once again we have arrived at our final destination.. I think. Please put up your tray tables and set your seats to their upright position.

The Winners circle

GC #67 (WWI)

Marcel Ruled the skies with this entry. Good one mate!

GC #66 (The Future)

Abbew's won this one with some sunshine and rainbows. It is a very nice and happy entry.

GC #65 (The Roman Empire)

Giovi won this one as well... 2 wins back to back.

GC #64 (Games)

Giovi won this competition in a tie breaker vote by one vote. Good show G.

Runner up was LuckyNinja

GC#63 (T-shirt Design)

The winner for this one was Legless Lannes. A nice simple Darwinian T. Simple but effective. That win made it his 3rd! Enjoy your shiny new medal mate.

Runner up was Marcel

Question Period with Lolgast

Question Period

Please allow me to introduce myself I am a man of fortune and fame... Can you finish the next couple of lines?

I am a man of fortune and fame and fun .I'm a 15 year old highschool "student" from the city of Breda in Holland. I'm just a really regular guy enjoying sports (baseball, squash, fitness), girls, gaming, hanging out with my friend and of course partying. I just got one strange hobby witch is graphical art. It's something I tried and man I loved it! OK not as much as baseball though, damn I even get freakin' depressed if I don't play for 2 weeks. :tongue:

If you will please introduce yourself to the members of TWC that don't hang out in our turf.

Well I spend most of my time the GW forums where I got my own workshop[/URL]. I'm a member of the Gimper minority groups there. (if I just got money to pay for photoshop

)I'm also a member of the Roma Surrectum II team(great mod check it out. *shamelessly advertising* :tongue:

) and from time to time you might see me around in other places.

Do you remember how you got started with photoshop / Gimp? Could you tell us?

Well I first came here asking for help on installing Roma Surrectum. Then about a half year later I came back and I took a look at the screenshot thread I think I saw some awesome edited screen by Giovi. And then I decided to pay a visit to the PoTW forum and became a regular there for quite some time. In that time Giovi invited me to the GW, first I thought like lame that can't ever be as much fun as editing screens. Until I got the hang of it and now I'm totally hooked.

Are you artistic offline? What I mean is can and do you draw, paint etc.. If so how long have you been doing so? Do you have any styles that you prefer?

Nah not really. I got some decent drawing skills but I only make like 3 drawings a year and only when I'm really, really bored. When I draw something I think like, dude I can make something 10x more awesome in Gimp.

You guys produce some pretty cool art. Do you have a personal favorite?

Mmm, that's really hard I got no real favorite artwork but maybe one of these 2. One is a Iron Man signature (doh) and the other one is a Photo manipulation I worked on for about 2-3 hours.

Are you involved with any mods on TWC or other sites? Which ones? Are you on the team in a artistic capacity?

Well as I said earlier on I'm a member on the Roma Surrectum 2 team. I've done building pictures and I'm now busy with promotional signatures for the release of TWC's most anticipated mod! *shamelessly advertising*

Can you finish these lyrics? "Son," she said, "have I got a little story for you What you thought was your daddy was nothin' but While you were sitting home alone at age thirteen Your real daddy was dyin', sorry you didn't See him but I'm glad we talked"

Huh what's happening, where am I, Damn just a dream, so don't be depressed an have some fun, Enjoy your life and stop worrying, It won't do any good.

So lolgast you have recently been granted citizenship. Does that change how you feel about or treat TWC?

Yes well now I'm part of the elite group and anyone who isn't a citizen is less, should bow for me and send me money. :surprise:

Just kiddin' of course, except for the money that's always welcome. :tongue:

But seriously for me it isn't really different at all. I'm glad I got it as recognition for my work on the site but the only thing that has changed is that I go to the Curia now and vote for proposals. So I got that little bit of input about what happens around here. Ow and I shouldn't forget the awesome custom user title and name in red. :tongue:

Are there folks here on TWC that you look up to artistically?

There sure are I can only dream about making signatures like Wildrek. I wish I knew as much about design and typography as apple and then you got Tzar's logo's. And of course guys who are great all round like Maяcel, Giovi and Abbews.

Can you give the folks a outline of your achievement here on TWC?

Well I've won the Bronze medal at the Graphics Workshop, I recall that I've got 2 wins at the PoTW. I've been a RSII beta-tester and at the moment 2-d artist. I've also taught the Gimp Advanced course at the University next to you; Subu. And as said earlier I've got my citizenship. I think that wraps things up. :smile:

Are there any artists in real life past or present that inspire you?

No not really a couple of specific artists. But there are some artist on DeviantArt witch works do inspire me at times. They also show how much we GW'ers here on TWC have to learn. And now and then a song inspires me mostly from one of my favorite artists like Gym Class Heroes, Outkast or B.o.B.

Do you have any advice to give to people starting out with gimp?

Well I'd say run through Astaroth's Gimp Basics course at the university to get the basic hang of it. Open up a workshop at th GW forums for other members to comment and give their criticisms. Also follow some tutorials and practice. Another important thing is that you shouldn't be afraid to experiment that's the way to get better. And then the most important thing of all "Have Fun!"

Do you have any final words for the readers?

Well first and foremost thanks for reading! Go pay a visit at the Graphics Workshop and look what it has to offer. Also check out Roma Surrectum 2 when it's released. (you can never advertise enough )

The Silver Shield Classifieds

MEDIEVAL II KINGDOMS

De Bello Gallico

Mod Overview

De Bello Gallico is a Roman Era modification, covering Caesars' Gallic Wars. We wish to bring this exciting series of wars to the M2K engine. The main campaign will follow Caesar as he brings the whole of Gaul to its knees, and eventually his march to Rome, and the end of the Roman Republic.

Mod Information Platform: M2TW Kingdoms Main Forum: Link Developers Profile: Link

Positions Available Jobs available: 1. Modellers 2. Historians/Researchers 3. Mappers These are the main positions we are recruiting on, but we are also looking for people on all other fronts. Modellers: Requirements: Knowledge of lowpoly and or highpoly modeling. The job: creation of new equipment, and or creation of strat map models Historians: Requirements: interest in history of the gallic wars. The job: reading, making summaries for the team, thinking about implementation of ideas, finding material for new units Mappers: Requirements: Ability to create a campaign map The job: Adding regions to our current campaign map, as well as adding different landscape features such as mountains, rivers, and ground types.

BROKEN CRESENT 3.0

Mod Overview

Broken Crescent a mod legendary in name has begun development on it's next version. The limits of map, factions, and units will be reached as BC will be ported to MEII Kingdoms. A new team has been assembled, but more talented modders are needed. 569 years have passed since the Hijra. The world of Islam is divided. The crescent is broken. From the shores of the Bahr al-Rum to the Hindustan, from the Bilar al-Saqaliba to the Bilad al-Barbar – there is perpetual war raging. The war for fame. The war for land and riches. The war for souls. Muslim steel drinks Muslim blood with just the same willingness as it drinks blood of Kuffar. This cannot be! Will you bring an end to this chaos, my Sultan? Will you bring peace to this realm of human misery? Will you succeed, my Lord? Inshallah! But sleep light, oh Mighty one! For there is an envious dagger lurking in the darkness of Your court! The Broken Crescent 3.0 team would like to present to you the first new preview after the BC 2.0 release! It is rather a pre-preview, a foretaste of what we want to include in next major version of the mod, but we hope that what we present now is satisfying enough to support our efforts. We all are very happy that we can further improve Broken Crescent – which is already one of the greatest modifications of Medieval 2 Total War! We would like to underline the fact that we are continuing the work of other great modders, who did very much to give us this exceptional piece of work called Broken Crescent. Many thanks to them! However, there are lots of wonderful things to be included in a mod, and Broken Crescent lacks many of them. Looking at our plans one could think that we intend to make a completely new mod. Indeed, the list of things to implement is quite long and our plans are bold. One would ask: what is the scope of further development? Roughly speaking it is: 1. New, bigger and more detailed map. 2. New factions.

Mod Information Broken Cresent 3.0 will be available for Medieval 2 kingdoms LINK TO MAIN FORUM LINK TO MOD LEADER(s) wudang_clown Y2day OpiumGhost79

Positions currently available Jobs available: 1. Coders [vacancy] 2. Modellers [vacant!] 3. Texturers [vacant!] 4. Historians/Researchers [vacant!]

Coding: Requirements: knowledge about coding syntax, relation between various text files and knowledge about game factors influenced by changes in text files... The job: creation of traits&ancillaries system, faction specific campaigns, events, changes in recruitment system, buildings-effects system, economic system, military supply system, etc. in collaboration with researchers. Modellers: Requirements: experienced modeler. The job: creation of new units or/and strat map models. Texturers: Requirements: experienced texturer, good 2d art skills. The job: creation of textures for new units or/and strat map models, elements of UI. Historians: Requirements: interest in history of India, Central Asia, Middle East, North-Western Africa, Anatolia, interest in medieval Asian warfare + up to 10 hours of spare time a week. The job: reading, making summaries for the team, thinking about implementation of ideas, finding material for new units

ROAD TO JERUSALEM 4.0

Mod Overview

Road to Jerusalem: A mod for Kingdoms focusing on the Crusades. Featuring completely new units, factions and much more, in three seperate campaigns. A mod legendary in name and the first big mod for Medieval 2 began development on version 4.0 nearly year ago. The Mod based on Rammstein's vision as all previous version were done by him. We have assembled a new team and are finished near 70% of mod to date. But more talented modders are needed to help finish. Become a part of a legend. Road to Jerusalem 4.0 needs you!

Mod Information RTJ 4.0 will be available for Medieval 2 kingdoms LINK TO MAIN FORUM LINK TO MOD LEADER(s) master zuma sinople y2day

Positions currently available Jobs available: 1. Modellers [5 vacancy] 2. Texturers [5 vacancy!] 4. Historians/Researchers [vacant!]

Modellers: Requirements: experienced modeler. The job: creation of new units or/and strat map models. Texturers: Requirements: experienced texturer, good 2d art skills. The job: creation of textures for new units or/and strat map models, elements of UI.

DOMINION OF THE SWORD

Mod Overview

Dominion of the Sword is an ambitious project aimed at making a Super-mod, we have a large team made up of several contributing mods as well as our own dedicated staff. The mod aims to maximize the possibilities in the M2TW engine to make a game with realism, historical accuracy and playability. Most of all we are concentrating on an atmospheric and fully immersible experience of medieval warfare and rulership.

Mod Information Dominion will be available for Medieval 2 kingdoms LINK TO MAIN FORUM LINK TO MOD LEADER(s) Hross Alkidas Azim Copperknickers II Resurrection Subuatai de Bodemloze Sumskils

Positions available Jobs available: 1. Coders [1 vacancy] 2. Modellers [vacant!] 3. Texturers [vacant!] Examples

Coding: Requirements: knowledge about coding syntax, relation between various text files and knowledge about game factors influenced by changes in text files... The job: creation of traits&ancillaries system, faction specific campaigns, events, changes in recruitment system, buildings-effects system, economic system, military supply system, etc. in collaboration with researchers. Modellers: Requirements: experienced modeler. The job: creation of new units or/and strat map models. Texturers: Requirements: experienced texturer, good 2d art skills. The job: creation of textures for new units or/and strat map models, elements of UI.

TWCENTER.NET Publications

Silver Shield

(as posted in the Silver Auxilia) Local Moderators of TWC, We Want You! The Silver Shield News Publication is now seeking writers and reporters to join our team in highlighting the best of TWC's local communities. If you are a creative writer or aspiring journalist this is a great opportunity to hone your talent and get some exposure. The following requirements apply for consideration:

You must be a Local Moderator
Attention to detail
Good grammar
Strong work ethic
Enjoy what you do

Salary and benefits negotiable :whistling

So what are you waiting for? Send us your resume! Silver Shield

TWC Games

Mafia

ATTENTION! PLAYERS WANTED! If you have a bit of free time on your hands, then perhaps its worth trying a forum game, 'mafia' to be precised. Its hard for me to explain it here, but its a relatively easy game to play and all sorts of people are (or have previously played it) playing it. If your interested in learning more about the basic rules of the game click here! PM me if your interested in the concept of the game and I can tell you when the next available game opens up. Thank you to Armatus for directing me here, I hope some of you consider this, the game is very easy to understand although becoming great at it may require a few games. :thumbsup2

abbews · May 8, 2010

Great edition! :thumbsup2

Armatus · May 8, 2010

Beautiful work guys!

lolgast · May 8, 2010

Good job once again guys! :thumbsup2

:

cedric37 · May 8, 2010

Great work guys !
:thumbsup2

Nole4694 · May 8, 2010

Yeah great job people great job.

I especially liked my piece. Its just so.... so.... indescribably awesome. :surprise:

Armatus · May 8, 2010

Good job rookie

Capt. Fozdike · May 8, 2010

Very nice guys. It's good to be a part of the team

Nazgûl Killer · May 8, 2010

Thanks everyone, especially Y and Arma. The SS has been a blast.

Wildrek · May 9, 2010

Great work guys!!!

Horsa · May 9, 2010

Great work! And goodbye to those leaving!

We will miss the work you have been doing for the Silver Shield.

Subuatai de Bodemloze · May 10, 2010

Good work folks

Maяcel · May 11, 2010

as great as always :thumbsup2

Silent Assassin · May 13, 2010

Great work SS team, Thanks for the recognition

Finlander · May 13, 2010

Really good work!

EVYATAR · May 14, 2010

WOW relly great

Armatus · May 15, 2010

Thank You!

Kovas · May 17, 2010

Awesome

y2day · May 25, 2010

SILVER SHIELD!!! RULES!!!!

just thought it needed to be said.......officially.

y

Capt. Fozdike · May 25, 2010

ES is better

y2day · May 25, 2010

Capt. Fozdike said:
ES is better

Capt. Fozdike · May 25, 2010

Nesimî · Jun 24, 2010

I never thought Id see a big SS on a shield on this forum....

Armatus · Jun 24, 2010

Yeah we are going to change that.

The Silver Shield - 9th Edition

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