• The Silver Shield 2nd Edition


    The Silver Shield Issue II
    (Originally published July 21, 2009)


    A note from Gen. Chris and Content Staff

    Hello everyone!

    A long time ago a group of local moderators on this site decided to make their own mark on the Content branch. Known as the Silver Shield, the publication was one of Content's most popular publications until it was cancelled over four years ago. Hidden from the public eye of the site, it has been mostly forgotten by the the membership of Total War Center, save for some old veterans who used to read it fondly.

    We in Content have decided that it is time to make them available once again. Every once in a while we will publish one of these archived articles for the site to read once more. This will take some time to accomplish as there are many issues, but one day they will all be available for you to read once more.

    From those who work in Content, we hope that you enjoy reading these voices of the past so that their excellent work can always be remembered and never forgotten.

    For now, please enjoy the second issue.

    Gen. Chris

    *Note: I am aware pictures may be missing. I have no way to retrieve them as far as I know. I apologize for that.


    A Letter From the Editor


    Hello Total War Center!


    Two months ago to the day I was very excited with the opportunity and privilege to introduce to you the 1st edition of the Silver Shield and give a history of the Silver Auxilia. Today I am extremely happy to announce our break into TWC media was not only a pleasant surprise for the team, but an overwhelming success for the Auxilia. In fact Silver Shield gained far more than I had originally expected or thought possible being a newspaper made in part by as well as somewhat tailored for 'non-citizens'. Not only were we awarded a development subforum, but several hard working individuals have joined the team; some of which you'll meet today. With such a great group and helpful content staff, I have no doubt the Silver Shield will continue to bring you highlights from the local communities for quite some time.

    So on behalf of the team as well as myself, I would like to thank all of you who have shown us support and encouragement. Your feedback is always welcome as we truly appreciate your comments and compliments.

    Additionally I'd like to give a big shout out to [USER]Empress Meg[/USER] and [USER]Aradan[/USER] who are two of nicest people to work with for certain! And although we are sad to see her go, we do wish the Empress well in all her future endeavors be they in cyberspace or "real life".

    Yet all is not lost at the head of TWC Media (a.k.a. "Content Staff") with the promotion of the honorable and friendly [USER]jimkatalanos[/USER] as Content Manager with whom we look forward to working with.

    Now then on to our current issue! From the top, Rebel6666 gets a run down on 'God Save the King' role-playing game for those of you who still haven't heard. I must say GSTK sounds enticing afterall who wouldn't want to fight Satan on occasion? Plus we learn of an interesting little detail about GSTK from Glen Quagmire (for you TW campaign players). Next there's all you ever wanted to know about 'Caesar Clivus', followed by an interview with Wild Bill Kelso and his recently created Spartan League Fitness Forum. After that we've got a great conversation with Lebre on the exotic and ever so elusive Africa Total War. And finally we wrap things up with Nazgul Killer's review of a very interesting Stainless Steel AAR and the10thlegion sounds off on dead mods.

    But now I sense your desire to "get on with it!" as I know many of you are in the middle of firing up the grill or checking your laptops from the beach -- right?

    Without further a due I would like to present to the community, the 2nd installment of the Silver Shield. We hope you will enjoy the read!




    'A Review of the Local Communities'



    Armatus
    The Editor


    2nd Edition Staff

    Editor/Group Moderator [USER]Armatus[/USER]
    Designer/Group Moderator [USER]y2day[/USER]
    Reporter [USER]Caesar Julianus Morelli[/USER]
    Reporter [USER]Rebel6666[/USER]
    Reporter [USER]Mythre[/USER]
    Reporter/Writer [USER]The10thLegion[/USER]
    Reporter/Writer [USER]Nazgûl Killer[/USER]

    Contents



    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 







    By [USER]Rebel6666[/USER]
    (Local Moderator of the
    Kingmaker fora
    )




    So here is my first report for the Silver Shield, my assignment was to have a look at the RPG game called God Save the King (GSTK). I won’t elaborate too much because I made 3 interviews and within these the players will explain a lot of the game and rules.


    You can find the game here: GSTK


    Now here are the rules to play this Medieval RPG.


    The game uses the hundred years war Mod that you can find Here.


    To register and become an active player please click Here.


    Here are some cool things players added to their signature:

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    GSTK: A Medieval RPG
    Name: Eamon Pendragon
    Age: 20
    Heritage: Irish
    Rank: Freedman


    Character in God Save the King
    Duke Edmund Blackadder of Winchester age 39

    GSTK Member - JOIN IT TODAY!
    Name: Marcus Polo III, King of Wales


    Here are some sticky threads where you can find some very nice stories and such:

    Kingdom of England Here the Homes, castles and estates of the English people can be found


    City of London This is where tournaments, festivals, celebrations, speeches, and stories are held


    House of Parliament Where the House of Lords and the House of Commons meet to discuss problems in England


    Now to help you learn more about this game I would like to present you 3 members that I've interviewed and are having a blast with this game. I can’t thank them enough for the time they took to answer my questions, which some they needed to elaborate quite a bit. Some questions may be the same for each interview but this was done on purpose to let you see different answers from 3 members/players and their different perspectives on this game.


    Interview with Glen Quagmire

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Q- What is your role within this game??

    A- My role within the game? That's a good question, I am a Local Moderator for God Save The King, keeping threads clean and so on. But in the actual game itself I find my self playing characters that generally cause more trouble and upset for the Ruling classes that would ever be tolerated in real life. I am i guess a Medieval Anarchist\Humanitarian.

    Q- Could you describe me the game a bit, in a couple of lines, like what's the point/objectives, some of it's specialties? Describe it like if you were explaining it to a newbie, or like if you would want to sell me your idea/game.

    A- God Save The King is a Medieval Role playing game set in England and at this time it is the year 1345 the Hundred Years war has begun England is at war with France. The Objective really in the game is to rise through the ranks from a freedman to a Knight; from there you can be a Baron, then a Baron to an Earl and eventually a Duke or Even the King. This sounds a daunting task but is easily achievable through deeds of Valor or being a loyal subject or even by killing off a potential rival by assassination, which you can do your self or hire someone to do the job for you. You get an income each week starting at a measly 10 Florins per week up to a nice 500 Florins if you are King. You can buy Armour and Weapons from the shop and then off you go visiting people in their homes or inviting them to your home which you create at the start of your game. Again you have a basic hovel to begin with but as you progress Castles, Citadels and Palaces could be yours. That is the game in a nut shell really.

    Q- What do you like and don't like from this game?

    A- The thing I like most about the game is that we do not stipulate players be historically accurate or indeed be accurate in situations full stop.

    Where else could you sometimes meet an immortal warrior or fight Satan himself who pops up now and again in England with his bunch of followers that’s the type of game this is, it’s about imagination and having a good time. I think of God Save The King as an England in an alternative reality similar to what we know but not quite the same, anything can and will happen if you play long enough. I have no real dislikes about the game at all its fun and friendly well alright spam posts don’t get me started on spam posts they are a pain in the neck but that’s why I moderate so cant complain really

    Q- How many players are there in this game and how long has this game been going on?

    A- We have a user base of perhaps 10 or 11 players it may not sound much but we have hit the 40,000 posts mark in the forum it feels like 110 sometimes, everyone contributes creates and throw themselves into it almost full time, it is not uncommon to have some users playing up to and beyond sixteen hours someday, I know I have done this myself.


    Q- What are the basic rules for players who would like to start playing this game, is there opened spots for new players??

    A- Our rules are simple come in sign up and join in, if you are friendly and want some good company this is the place to be, we always have openings for players there are no limits to how many members we take on. Some players last a week some a month but the hardcore guys like myself have been playing this game for nearly a Year or more now, in July this year we will be a year old.

    Q- Something else you would like to add?

    A- This game now has its own mod in development I am creating it on my own at the moment but it is moving along nicely it will be presented to the Mod threads Work in progress Forums on TWC sometime in the next two weeks by then I will have some screenshots of the mod for others to see. I think you will find England has never seemed so surreal and strange in Total War.


    Thank you for interviewing me it’s been a pleasure talking about this little game of ours.

    Thanks to you for giving me a bit of time for this interview.




    Now for my second interview with Carl Van Döbeln

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Q - What is your role with this game??

    A- I am 'chief moderator' of the game. My job is mainly to keep the game active, fun and to organise everything. Of course i don't work alone, i have an exellent moderation team that helps me.

    Q- How would you describe this game in a couple of lines Good and Bad??

    A- Hmm. It's a game that allows your imagination to really come alive. It's an awesome game. At the moment its very active and fun. I don't think there's anything bad with it.

    Q- What are the objectives of this game??

    A- As a player? It's very individual. My objective is just to have fun with my character. Other players often wants a lot of power, that's why we have never ending power struggles in God Save The King But that is really the objective, to gain more and more power and eventually reach the ultimate rank; King/Archbishop.

    Q- How did the idea to create this game come up??

    A- actually have no idea. I wasnt around when the original game was created. I think it was RVFVS together with some older members ( they arent active anylonger) that came up with the idea. At first it was called something like " Medieval democracy game" and the faction they used was the Holy Roman Empire. The game then had some inactivty problems so the local moderators had to do something, so after some weeks it became " God Save the King" and the new faction was England. And from that day the game has been up and running for almost a year, all because of the great local moderators and all the enthusiastic players!

    Q- Are you playing it?? What do you enjoy the most??

    A- Of course i play it!

    I enjoy to create a unique personal story to each of my characters. I've had like 15 characters and they have all been very different from each other. I'll show you an example;

    Here is Godfrey Goodfellow


    A local bard and storyteller. A character i had a lot of fun with, but not really a guy that can become king eh?

    This is Rafael Hohenstaufen


    A guy that is a legend in the game. Was a freedomfighter and a humanist, epic character. I used him for some months before he died.

    And this is Roger Wild


    Crazy maniac madman criminal bastard lunatic.....he was a very fun character. He killed a lot of guys, burned down churches, killed innocent animals....

    So i like individuality heh heh.

    Q- Try to convince me to try out this game in a couple of lines?

    A- If ya wanna have fun, fight bloody battles, order ruthless political assassinations, become a corrupt knight or perhaps a chivalrous one, JOIN GSTK!

    Promotional work for GSTK:
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



















































    Thank you CVD for giving us some very nice answers about God Save the King!





    And here is my final interview a bit shorter but he didn’t have the time to answer them all.

    Last Interview with Double A

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

    Q- What is your role within this game??

    A- Well right now I'm the (rebelling) Duke of Wales, Marcus Polo III

    Q- Could you describe me the game a bit, in a couple of lines, like what are the point/objectives, some of its specialties. Describe it like if you were explaining it to a newbie, or like if you would want to sell me your idea/game.

    A- Oh that's going to be hard but I'll try, and if it doesn't make sense ask dune.

    GSTK is a role-playing game set in Medieval England using the Hundred Years War mod for conquering mess. Our higher-up-in-the-feudal system players play the mod with their settlement, like if you are the Duke of York, you control what to make in York and a few other towns in the building and recruitment tabs. At the same time, you can role-play in the threads, where you can gain rank by doing favors for the king, fighting for the king in wars/rebellions, and just being an overall brown-nosier. Of course he doesn't have to give you a higher rank but it's worth a shot. Then there's the clergy. They have protection from the king (but not assassins ) and in theory they are controlled by the Pope and Cardinals. However, since no one's ever been the Pope and we've only had one Cardinal, in practice it's controlled by the Archbishop. Don't mess with the church and you're fine.


    Q- Final comments?

    This is the point where I have to go, unless my mom will kill me.

    Lol good one Double A, thanks for the answers guy’s


    Now thanks to all who will take the time to read about this RPG which just might peak your interest to play….

    Regards
    Rebel6666


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 








    By [user]y2day[/user]
    (Local Moderator of the East of Rome (EOR), Falcom Total War, Road to Jerusalem, The Graphics Workshop, The Silver Shield fora)


    y2day
    Tell us a little bit about yourself and your history here at TWC.

    Caesar Clivus
    I'm 30 and Australian. I'm a trained archaeologist but I'm currently not working in that field. I've always had a great interest in history and computer games, so it was pretty guaranteed that I'd get hooked on Total War games.

    I first joined TWC when the Rome:Total Realism forums crashed and the RTR team pretty much moved here. That was under another username though. After I got M2TW I came back here to check out the mods and discovered Stainless Steel. I was pretty much just a lurker in the beginning. After I while I started going to the Mod Workshop to find out how to change some things....and the rest is history.



    y2day
    So how did you get the responsibility of moderating the Stainless Steel forum?

    Caesar Clivus
    I first started posting in the SS forum around the time that SS4.0 was released. Since then I've been a pretty constant presence there. I always enjoyed helping people with any questions/problems they had. I guess that was why I was asked to be a moderator. It's an...interesting job . I do really enjoy it but like any job it can have it's ups and downs. But as online forums go, it's a pretty good community. That really helps my job

    y2day

    Could you give us a look into the “then and now” of the SS forum? I know it wasn’t rare in the past to have 40 or 50 members posting or lurking and that was between releases.

    Caesar Clivus
    It's true the SS forums are a lot quieter these days than what they used to be. Leading up to a new release the forum went nuts! Endless spam threads, more trolls than you can poke a sword at. I'm glad I wasn't a moderator back then ! And as you said, even between releases there was always a decent number of people on the forum at any one time. It was probably one of the most active boards on TWC and it was a very good community. I think the decision by KingKong to allow people to design and release submods for SS only increased SS's popularity as it allowed people to customise their game how they liked.

    Now though, the release of Empire:TW as well as some very highly anticipated submods (Third Age:TW and BC just to name a couple) have eroded the number of people playing SS. While there are a lot less people on the SS forum, there is still a trickle of people who are downloading and trying SS for the first time. And there is still a good solid core of veterans like myself who are still active on the forum.

    y2day
    What do you see as the future for SS and its forum? Will we see a new SS and a resurge of traffic?

    Caesar Clivus
    KingKong has said that there will be a SS7.0 once he gets some time away from Third Age:TW. But even if SS7 never eventuates, SS keeps evolving thanks to the active submodding community. And the 6.2 patch (being developed by Gracul with KK's blessing) is fixing the issues in 6.1 as well as adding in a lot of features and new game play (Mongol invasions that will actually scare you for one ). However, I think that only with the release of SS7.0 would there be any significant resurgence in traffic

    y2day
    You have contributed great work to several modding projects including Battle of the Baltic and Cbur. With a new version of Battle of the Baltic in the work would you like to let us in on some of the new features?

    Caesar Clivus
    There are three main features in the next version of Battle for the Baltic. The first is the inclusion of all new rosters for Novgorod, Kievan Rus and the Mongols. I have been very fortunate to be given permission to use the models and skins from the Rusichi:Total War mod for these rosters. Whenever I see their work, I feel a mixture of amazement and jealousy .

    The second new feature is the inclusion of Sweden as a faction. The Swedes will be getting an all new unit roster with a healthy dose of unique units and will (hopefully) be an interesting faction to play.

    Finally, BftB2 will feature an all new campaign focused on the Baltic sea. Using a completely new map designed by EarendilElenthol, the campaign starts in 1253AD, a time when the Baltic was awash with almost constant warfare. When people think of crusades, they automatically think of Jerusalem and the middle-east. But the Baltic crusades were just as bloody and just as interesting.

    y2day
    I would agree that sub mods such as Battle of the Baltic will keep Stainless Steel going for a long time. I know I look forward to crusading across the Baltic. Thank you for your time and service to the SS community Ceasar Clivus, it is always a pleasure. Anything else you would like to add?

    Caesar Clivus
    I'd just like to say thanks to the Silver Shield for this opportunity. And thank you to the TWC community for their support and help along the way

    Now a few pics from Caesar Clivus's Stainless Steel Submod Battle of the Baltic v2.0
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 



    Lendrmenn


    For more info on Caesar Clivus's Battle of the Baltic v2.0 for Stainless Steel click: Here
    [/FONT]


    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 







    By [user]Caesar Julianus Morelli[/user]
    (Local Moderator for
    Carthage, Pontic Campaign fora)



    CJM-Hey Nakharar, Thank you for taking some time from the East for the SS.

    CJM-I would like to start off by asking, how long has EOR been under development?

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    Nak-Well the idea of EoR came last year about May time. However development started in about June time. Though progress then was minor and very small compare to the amount of progress that takes place now.

    CJM-Now, many modders out there focus mostly on the western part of europe, was this one of the reason you and your team chose this area?

    Nak-To be truthful, I just wanted to make a dark age mod but I thought that the West was quite similar. Also I was aware of the upcoming IBII mod and they told me before they got a forum, also the events of the east were much more appealing to me, the Sassano-Romano wars, the Lazic war the Sassano- Hephthalite wars and many more, also the warfare style of the West was very similar the East however had the fast moving Hunnic horse archers, the strong infantry of the Romans, the mighty armored cavalry of the Sassanids, the superior archers of the Caucasian Nations, the mighty and ferocious infantry of the barbarians like the Lombards and Gepids and of course the lancers of the Goths.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    CJM-Nakharar, I would love to know the team behind what seems to be a very promising mod.

    Nak-Our team list is quite big and always growing though the active team is quite small the contributors who I thank hugely are also very helpful. Instead of saying the team this picture says it all but though the list is missing a few people

    CJM-If you would, could you tell us how the team was put together?

    Nak- It started with me of course , I got support from the Bulgaria Total War Team as they were also seeking to make a dark age Bulgar roster and this was an excellent opportunity for it. Y2day soon joined as did Icedie, though the team started weak (they weren’t as good modders as they are now), as soon as we got a forum many more people joined including Dewy, Giorgos, Flieger, Konny, Gigantus, Konny, Mythic Commodore, Rev. and Haedar. We are the main core of the team who post at least once a week and are modding actively.
    Also active is a bug finder Absinithia who is an excellent bug finder and helps my job hugely. We also thank Master Zuma who set up the mod folder and who gave us a foot to start on.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    CJM-What has the experience been like, working with these individuals?

    Nak-An excellent experience, I haven’t been much like a team leader to them I think, more like a delegator. They’ve become my friends and some good friends were via MSN and other places I communicate to them as friends and we talk about life and other stuff apart from modding. Also I’ve learnt hugely over time about modding tips as well as me becoming a good judge of character of who is trustworthy and not. Through this experience the team built up I can always trust to do a favour or help EoR to the best of their abilities.


    CJM-This may be a tough one but, could you give us all an estimate on how much longer before your magnanimus team releases a Beta?

    Nak- Well we’ve had a turn of the tables, 2 months ago our modeling department was weak but now its our coding, with the addition of Konny to the team he guided us through our trait idea development and scripts and told us what’s possible and not and the team has opened up to give excellent suggestions, so many that the traits and buildings and scripts might be the longer part of the mod to do. Though I generally over exaggerate progress as I think process at a time(if 1 faction is in development I always think there done and go with that) I would say maybe a internal beta in December. We were planning on internal beta testing as we have such a huge degree of testing traits, AI and battle stats to do.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    CJM-In a sentence, could you describe the mod.

    Nak-A unique dark age mod, that aims to recreate the situation of the 6th century, recreating the historical accuracy, the atmosphere and the systems of how the nation was run to the best of our ability via the odds and ends of the modding engine.

    CJM-For all of us out there who would like to know a bit about you, would you mind giving us a little background on you and your history with TWC?

    Nak- Well it started off me researching some Armenian stuff and guess what Broken Crescent turns up, i got involved in that and was amazed that Armenia was in a mod, i signed up and got involved from there i became a Armenia researcher for a few mods. Since some of those mods were dying i made it priority for me to learn at least a bit of modding so I started very basic coding. From there i released tutorials. I then confident in my abilities started up EoR, the team grew and grew until we reached here and of course somewhere along the way I got artifex

    CJM-Are there any special features that we should expect from your mod?

    Nak-Yes many special features, lately me and Konny just finished thinking of a way to represent feudal Armenia to the best possible. Flieger and Konny are still discussing how to represent the Ostrogoths. We planned on making huge empires a real burden in many ways, first of all the loss of a capital city, Capital Cities will be hugely important and loosing them might end up with you loosing your game. Also we wanted to mod the distance to capital penalty, this will force the player to increase his garrisons in far away provinces and to not do unrealistic attacks that took place in other mods where a faction could conquer a settlement on the other side of the map easily.

    Also in recruitment stage we all agreed that many mods were annoying in the fact that the best units and nobles were only recruit able after about 50 turns or so. We plan to remedy this by allowing a player of even the smallest factions like Crimean Goths be able to produce the best of the Crimean Goth roster, though the player will only be able to recruit this unit about once every 5 turns the player will still have the possibility to do it.

    Also because our big factions start with Huge Cities they should be able to produce pretty strong units early on from their capitals and other cities. Though some may think starting with a huge city means revolt at turn 50, this isn’t the case we plan to implement migration buildings that act as population control. So once a certain point is reached the played can build this building and have his population go down by 5%, representing that the Empire is migrating them to other places and once the player has had the population go down enough the building is destroyed.

    Also the AI can handle this as when the city gets to a Huge city stage with quite a lot of people we script the building into that city until the city get to a certain population where it is destroyed. For now that’s all I can say.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


    CJM- And lastly, are there any last words you have for the fans awaiting this mod?

    Nak-Yeah I do in fact, we have many fans but you’re very quiet and people only start speaking about the mod after a preview where a small discussion takes place. We urge you to speak up, discuss in our forums historical issues, or how we are going to represent them or how we are modding certain features. Any historical information is useful.

    Nak, thank you for the great mod, we wish you and the team the best.

    For more information on Nakharar and East of Rome visit here....http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=755



    Africa Total War Preview and Interview With Lebre
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 





    By [USER]Nazgûl Killer[/USER]
    (Local Moderator of the Scriptorium)


    Africa Total War
    Is exactly what is sounds like, a modification circled around the Africa wars.
    It circles around the years of 1480 and 1700, with a lot of emergent factions looking to grab them a piece of land in the rich land called Africa, around a dozen tribes defending their lands from the European invaders, mighty Middle Eastern empires such as the Mamluks, Oman and Yemen and strong northern African forces like the Moroccans.

    With recent previews being introduced and a rather big number of factions introduced, most of them with previews, along with a very big map, this mod will be anything but boring, it looks incredibly promising and has quite a lot of work to it.

    I must say, I have found this mod interesting from the start due to the fact not many mods (If any) have been made about Africa, and seeing one about is quite refreshing from all the fiction and European/American mods out there.

    Whilst most of you may look back and think of the "Americas" campaign of Medieval 2 Total War: Kingdoms, I am pretty sure this will be quite different, as you have the mighty Egyptians and other Middle Eastern powers to fight, in addition, you have about seven to eight more European forces to challenge, including the Netherlands and England!

    Do not let the desert sands and the natives fool you, you are up for one hell of a fight, either you are a European faction, Middle Eastern or one of the vast hordes of the African tribes, you will fight for your life and for your piece of land in Africa.

    As every faction searches for a good piece of land in this rich and hot land, the battles are sure to be fierce and the campaign amazing.

    Sadly, however, this mod seemed to gather little enthusiasm from the crowd, this creating little enthusiasm in the team, this is a real shame as this mod seems to be the underrated mod of the year, and will probably be one of the best out there.

    The main reason for this lack of publicity, I believe, is the fact that this is made about a continent hardly anyone has thought of creating a modification for any game about, but instead of seeing this as a bad thing, congratulate
    Lebre for finding such inspiration where others could not.

    Lebre, the leader of this mod, is a hard worker and a dedicated modification leader, supporting him, our fellow Silver member, should bring great fruit to your plates.


    [/B]





    Interview with Lebre:

    Having had previous connections with
    Lebre and knowing him forehand, I knew he would be more than cooperative, and I was right.
    He cleared time for me in his extremely busy schedule to answer my few questions with my request, showing how cooperative he really is. This interview enlightened many things I wanted to know about Africa Total War and I hope it would do the same to our public of readers.
    I must ask, What inspired you to create Africa Total War?

    The inspiration comes basically from the fact that the African continent is always neglected when it comes to games, and there are very few games that portrait it, although never deeply or in a historically accurate manner.
    Africa is a continent with it's own exotic cultures and empires, a fascinating history and many different ways to wage war on it.


    Are you recruiting?

    Of course, we are always looking for people wanting to help this project come to life

    Who's the team?

    The team can be checked here.


    Be honest - How well does it look?

    At this moment it doesn't look like much, and to give an idea it's like having the ingredients and the water boiling ready for the stew


    Are you happy with the way this mod is going?

    Well I am because it's taking the course I set for it.


    The public seemed to have lost its interest in Africa Total War for the moment, do you think this affected you, will affect you or have affected you in any way? (By you, I mean the entire team also)

    Actually I think it's all the way around, I have been noticing there are more people wishing for it and giving their support to us.
    As for affecting me, it hasn't, when I started this project I set my records straight on what I wanted to do, so it wont affect me in the future (I'm more concerned about RL issues)
    I guess the same happens with ATW's team.


    The time line you set, 1480 to 1700, is a time line of epic changes, from the finding of Gunpowder to the creation of gigantic battleships with the capability to incinerate many cities... How will you implement this?


    If you think of it there are a thousand events happening on that time, and what we intend to do is base them more on a African perspective then an European one. That means that as time progresses Africans empires will have access to new military technologies, the musket an example.

    Let's face it, the Africans were not modern or technologically advanced, so, how do you expect to give them a little edge they can push over the European countries in your modification, in order not to repeat the Kingdoms campaign, "Americas"?

    That is a very popular mistake, the Africans were not more or less advanced as they had enormous empires, and there are various examples where African armies defeated European armies.
    But that 'edge' will be given in a very natural way, because as you know European countries never deployed armies in Africa until 18th or 19th century, they preferred to send expeditions compromising more or less 500 men.
    With that I mean that European units will have very few units, since it's historically correct


    How much research was involved in this mod, I mean, how historically accurate will it be, if at all?

    As historically accurate as it can be, so yea we have employed lots and lots of research.

    Why not make this modification on Empire Total War instead of Medieval 2 Total War? As much as I like M2TW, Empire Total War suits the time and age far better, does it not? Why not use it?

    Empire does not have the necessary tools to mod it the way we want, plus we have quite a lot of work done to let it go to waste.


    Are you going to use your own custom models, of your own developers, or are you going to borrow from other modifications and their leaders?

    We will use material from other modifications if we see that they fit ATW, if not we will make our own.


    How does it feel to be the leader of this modification?

    It doesn't, it hurts

    Well, since I could not really come up with a last question, do you have anything you want to say to our public of readers?


    Just keep supporting ATW and help us when you can



    As you can all tell, this man, with a great sense of humor I must add, is more than dedicated to this mod and that should supply us all with more than enough reason to just spark a little bit of interest, I wish him the best of luck in his upcoming modification and I have no doubt I will track it until its release!

    By
    Nazgûl Killer.



    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 





    By [USER]Mythre[/USER]
    (Local Moderator of the God Save the King! (A Medieval RPG))


    Mythre: What is the TWC Spartan League Fitness Forum?

    Kelso: The Spartan League Fitness Forum is a place where people can gather to discuss physical training exercises and gain motivation from other people who are trying to acheive some kind of physical goal.


    Mythre: What made you start the TWC Spartan League Fitness Forum?

    Kelso: In January I decided to start using my kettlebells much more and I thought a thread about my training experiances would be something that would keep me motivated. Eventually with the help of MCM many others joined up and we got a forum.


    Mythre: How long did it take the forum to get online? Were there any major challenges?

    Kelso: After we had enough members (I think we started bugging the staff for a forum area at around 20 members) it didn't take too long to get a forum.


    Mythre: What is the focus or mission of the Forum?

    Kelso: See this thread (http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=237269)


    Mythre: Do you have any personal experiences that have given you a unique perspective on fitness?

    Kelso: I was fortunate enough to have parents that made me participate in a variety of sports when I was younger. I really felt that these experiances have given me a healty outlook on many sports.


    Mythre: TWC has always added its own unique perspective on things. What would you say gives the Spartan League that special distinction?

    Kelso: I would say what is unique is that this is a game site. Most people don't equate game players to also be athletic or be interested in keeping in shape. We hope this area can prove those people wrong.


    Mythre: Now on the forum, I have seen the Hercules Challenge advertised. Would you like to briefly describe that for our readers?

    Kelso: The Hercules Challenge was the original thread which the forum spawned out of. Basically, it is a group motivation exercise where you set your own personal fitness goals, big or small. People can choose to update their progress if they wish.


    Mythre: Are there any stories of achievement that have been especially inspiring?

    Kelso: It is still early in the life of the forum. I have seen many members joining up and wanting to start exercising. I hope that the forum helped inspire them to do so.


    Mythre: Are there especially stunning photos of Feats of Athleticism you would like to share?

    Kelso: Lets see in a years time


    Mythre: What does the Future hold for Spartan Fitness League? Do you see any challenges or difficulties in the future?

    Kelso: The biggest challenge will be to keep our motivation up. I know my personal motivation has ebbed from its original vigor in January. I hope that I am in the minority of members.


    Mythre: Finally, what has been your most rewarding experience supervising the Fitness Forum?

    Kelso: The most rewarding experience is to see people motivated to improve themselves physically, however major or minor.




    Review of the 'The Kingdom' - A Stainless Steel AAR
    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 





    By [USER]Nazgûl Killer[/USER]
    (Local Moderator of the Scriptorium)

    AAR: The Kingdom
    Writer: Fergusmck

    The Kingdom is a very well written AAR by Fergusmck, lacking in pictures but not in text.
    The writer of this AAR is obviously gifted, given the gift of good story writing and persistence, sadly, however, because of the lack of pictures I believe that many AAR readers simply skip this one, and boy - What a shame.

    Aside from a few badly chosen words or some plot holes, this AAR proves more and more captivating as I keep on reading it, the plot develops, the writing style is very nice indeed and the wars rage.

    Sadly, this AAR was judged far too quickly, not all AARs without pictures are bad ones, and especially not this one, I would rather have nothing but text than have two lines of text and dozens of pictures, some may disagree, sadly, most AAR readers do.
    However - I am puzzled. Why has this AAR not attracted higher attention? It is extremely well written and very likeable, pleasure to read it and a good refuge from day to day life.

    The introduction of this AAR, in my eyes the most important part of the AAR is the introduction, is one of the best written I've seen, it flows quickly, tells you a tale in a nice little report and adds a few other elements that other AARs lack; plot.

    I am not sure if this AAR is historically correct, but it might as well be, it is written perfectly like a historic documentation, telling the story of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in a certain time line, about its dukes and many other characters in the court, and does not lack in action.

    This AAR mostly tells the story of the kingdom of Jerusalem in their wars against the Egyptians, yet, it does not describe the Egyptians (The Fatimid Caliphate) as only "Foes", but it gives them a much deeper meaning, departing from the stereotype of your enemies being not but enemies.

    Overall, this AAR is not an AAR to miss, and it is a shame it has been skipped by most AAR readers, this might as well be a book, and if it were, it would be a best-seller.

    By
    Nazgûl Killer.

    Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 





    By [USER]The10thLegion[/USER]
    (Local Moderator of the The First Triumvirate)


    Why do some mods die? What is that makes some good mods that have alot of potential to never get released, lose popularity, and eventually get moved into the cemetery? To explore this question, I found a good example of why this happens with a mod called Res Gestae Imperiales.


    It was a mod that would have featured a full modification of Medieval Total War II that put it back in a Roman timeframe, it had active members who would frequently contribute to the mod, and even had a good fanbase for a mod that hadn't had a release yet... but alas it was not to be. Around November of 2008 the mod was declared dead and in a month it would be shipped to the cemetary. Why did this happen?

    Quote Originally Posted by Agisilaos
    in a few words, most guys were not interested to really help, lack of skills and devotion, lack of 3d modelers.
    Quote Originally Posted by Macky
    Ahh Res Gestae Imperiales. It was quite a simple reason, and I imagine that it is a reason why many mods die. Quite simply RGI suffered from a lack of coherent and decisive leadership mingled with a team who had real life issues and other modding commitments. The mod leader is often the person who comes up with the concept of the mod and is really the mod in its anthropomorphic form. When a mod leader is absent without warning it causes chaos, especially in a team consisting of members with other commitments. For RGI our mod leader joined the Territorial Army and was never heard of again, making our mod leaderless and conceptless. The passion and drive for it simply died as many of us moved on to other mods (such as myself to Roma Surrectum 2 and Hegemonia), while other members such as Pontifex moved on to become senior figures in the running of the site. To conclude, it is perhaps reasonable to say that mods can easily die if they suddenly become leaderless without the leader sharing much of his/her vision with the other team members. RGI was a prime example of this reason.
    Quote Originally Posted by Pøntifex
    The leader didn't show up, its as simple as that.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ummagumma
    Real life.

    Personally I think that the reason definetly was the lack of commitment and a hardworking leader. Many times the leader would leave for months at a time and come back with a new idea or new orders. Eventually many developers got annoyed at this and commitment was lost. Who wants to work for a mod without a leader? You never know what the idea is if the person who came up with it isn't there to nudge you in the right direction. Obviously then people stopped coming to the forum as they can't do any work, and in the last few months of the mod's existence most of the posts were about should we end it. Sometimes it is hard to beleive that it died, after all this mod had all its historical research done and many team members ready to start up the modification.

    In conclusion I think this is a great example of how many mods die and I hope this helps any mods in development to show how NOT to run things.





    © The Silver Shield A publication of the TWC local moderators social group: The Silver Auxilia
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    Comments 2 Comments
    1. Gigantus's Avatar
      Gigantus -
      Great initiative!

      For a moment I really thought the Total War Africa mod had been revived - one of the first mods I worked\assisted with as mapper. Still have the map files.....

      Bittersweet memories indeed.
    1. TheDarkKnight's Avatar
      TheDarkKnight -
      Well there is nothing stopping you from trying it again
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