Please help

[tone]

Guys, I'm really struggling here. DVK has been out of action for about a month due to real life circumstances (staying at his daughter's to help out with childcare, virtually no meaningful internet access or time and only an old laptop with no subversion capability). I'm becoming increasingly stressed by finding that frequently I'm the only one on the developers' fora and that very little progress is being made. I'm aware that a few people are still making some contributions, but it seems that most of our dev team have gone awol.

To be honest, I'm nearly ready to chuck it all in. I cannot finish what remains to be done with the amount of support I'm currently getting.

I know this might sound like an "I, I, I" rant, but to tell the truth, I'm exhausted, but painfully aware of what still needs to be done.

[Tzar]

I noticed that too.
I'm still in. When I finished building icons I can help out with building pictures too.


Come on guys, let’s make that final push and finish this piece of art.

[tone]

Thanks Tzar, you're one of the few who seems active at the moment.

I'm just finding it frustrating that at the point where we should be on the final drive to finish this mod and get it finallly released, it seems that most of the team have abandoned ship.

[Theoroshia]

I've been really focused on the Pergamon preview (even made a few trips to the public library, which I haven't done in awhile), plus my real life job is a real killer when it comes to long hours at the office. I'll try and help out more over the next week.

[Tzar]

I think we should leave previews on the side for now. Making a preview is really time consuming thing. We should focus on unfinished stuff.

[tone]

I think it'd be good to get this Pergamon one finished as it's pretty much done, but leave all the others for the moment. Rome can be done just before release.

[Theoroshia]

Aye, it's pretty much done. Just need to add a few bits saying how great Pergamon is () and how we're allied with the Ptolemiacs.

[apple]

I'm just exhausted with work and all that for the moment (good I hate Sweden this time of the year, already below 0 degree this morning).

Don't be afraid to send me a pm if there is some job I could do though.

[swhunter]

Tone i agree,
I been agreeing with this for months.
With all these new ideas like the swap factions, and scripts i figured it would take more time.
Its very hard when your balancing a job, business, and other R.L.
I feel and still do the mod is ready, for game play.
I,m not sure if balanced is complete with other factions.
But since i don't have no downloads from what you gents had finished, I,m sure you have things more progressed since two months ago.

I feel if we set our mind on game play on the battlefield
Correct the second weapon problems on units.
And have a decent balance for campaigns then it should be released.

Then the other things like icons, on buildings, descriptions, ect ect could come later as a building beta.
Look at some mods which have an open beta, they change things all of the time.
One of them are MTW, Invasion Barbarian.
Its working mod, but they are adding things to it monthly, or every other month.
Remember Brother Tone the changes were at first in the direction towards units. Then after that is was landscapes, map work ect ect ect ect.
I my self enjoy what i have so far, i know you guys have updated the terrain, and what i have from before these last updates are very enjoyable.
I would suggest that we release this mod, ASP.
Then improve it as we go.
Because of the teams AWOL.

What is truly left which would hinder the release?

NOW I shot myself in the foot for not learning before how to make copies of RTW,
Or i could be testing your new updates.
But I,m testing the mod for other things and i arrived at the date of 585, not much but the game play is very challenging already for Sparta!

Did we bite off more than we could chew?
Tone i think this would be the best thing, and work on the other later, to help you take this load off.
This should be fun not a drag, or mistakes will happen, and hard feelings will develop.

BTW i need your mailing address for your copy of my book which is coming in Jan.
Thank you for your review,

[swhunter]

Oh yes lets just drop the previews and leave them for a gift to wonder at when it comes out.
If that helps.

[Theoroshia]

Speaking of the Pergamon preview, is there a way to open a .CAS file in Photoshop? I'd like one Royal Hypaspist in this picture I'm doing for the intro, and I can't seem to open .CAS files in Photoshop (yet I can open .3DS files :/).

[tone]

.cas files are the format that just Total War games use.

Let me know what you want

[S u l l a]

hey tone, and the rest of you guys,

tone invited me to join and I am honored.

tone helped me out recently at a critical stage for my modding project and in return I offered him whatever he wanted, within my power and knowledge of modding.

Will need a bit of time to catch up but from what I see now your work is amazing!

Cheers

S u l l a

[swhunter]

hey tone, and the rest of you guys,

tone invited me to join and I am honored.

tone helped me out recently at a critical stage for my modding project and in return I offered him whatever he wanted, within my power and knowledge of modding.

Will need a bit of time to catch up but from what I see now your work is amazing!

Cheers

S u l l a

Your most welcomed!

[Theoroshia]

The Pergamon Royal Hypaspist and the Thorakitai something-or-other (they're the cool looking guys in silver). Thanks mate.

[gennosuke43]

Tone, how can I be of service?

[tone]

Thanks for offering....

What would be great would be some shrubs and rocks for most of the climates, more for the arid ones.

I'm thinking to have the full 4 slots for small shrubs and rocks (maybe two of each) for semi-arid, subarctic and rocky desert

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Rocky desert would look great with some dead branches on the ground and some scrubby bushes...maybe go with two rocks, one dead branch and one scrubby bush for the scrub....the "forest" would be palms.






For many of the Northern climates (highland, temperate fertile grassland) gorse would be good:












we'd need a winter version of this too

For semi-arid, two rocks, two shrubs....maybe these?:




I'm just working on a hawthorn bush for the temperate open forest (together with the young beech, small silver / downy birch and a rock).

You could even make some small groups of items (can't go too far from the scene_root though in case the ground is sloping a lot, unless you have a lot below the ground level that would be revealed with a big slope)

[Mulattothrasher]

Well I wish I was a modder so I could help out with all this. As a historian, most of us have little to do I imagine in this stage of the development process, but if there is something let me know

[tone]

helping finish unit descriptions would be great if you could
testing "barbarian" factions as well

[Keravnos]

Back and ready to help on my tasks and wherever else.