Aldandil
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Posts posted by Aldandil
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All creatures do have the ability to be evil, quite true -- and evil in Arda Marred is always a matter of corrupting what once was pure. Everything was created by Eru, who created no evil. Even Morgoth didn't start out evil.
As for conflict within factions... I don't think you have to look far to find it. The hobbits fought each other (with Saruman's prompting), Numenoreans fought Dunelendings, Rohirrim fought Dunelendings, Gondorim fought Druedain, Numenoreans fought each other, Easterlings fought each other, Noldor fought Teleri, Sindar fought Petty-Dwarves, Easterlings fought the Edain and Noldor, etc. Orcs fight each other all the time, without a tyrannical Umaia or Dark Lord to keep them in line.
I don't think we should worry about thread necromancy -- at this point, every thread can be considered "dead."
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I tried, but it's hard to keep the forum alive all by myself.
Personally, I'm 100x more interested in Last Alliance, but 0 A.D. looks cool as well. I'm sad that even the work on the planning, ideas, and concept art for Last Alliance has stopped. Isn't the engine far enough along that the developers can start deciding what units, heroes, and buildings each faction should have, and stuff like that?Anyway, the sooner 0 A.D. gets to an alpha release, the sooner the Last Alliance work can begin, and the less chance of a fatal loss of developer interest.
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Neither is my machine. I have 2 GB of RAM and 2.93 GHz CPU, but my graphics card is a 64 MB integrated Intel 82845G Graphics Controller, and my page file is probably still set to "728MB used, 499MB available." I don't know how that compares to a GeForce 3 graphics card.
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I think he means that if a citizen-soldier performed one type of task more often than the others, they'd level up into a different kind of unit, such as a more-efficient farmer who isn't any better at battle or building. I don't know whether such a unit would really be useful, but I think it's what he means.
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I wouldn't trust Wikipedia's word for anything. If you see something interesting or potentially useful on Wikipedia, it's better to go to its sources listed at the bottom of the page. Or just ask the 0 A.D. research people about war elephants; one of them surely knows all about them, who had them, and when.
Likewise, if the throwing-axeman is Celtic, why do you say that he is "more fitting" for the Norse? If the Norse didn't historically have such soldiers, or at least have myths of such soldiers, then I don't think their faction should have them.
I'm also confused why the Theban Sacred Band is given to the Semites instead of the Greeks. It works with people who were allies of the Hittites or Trojans, or who supposedly lived in Asia Minor (although I think Thracian peltasts also fought for the Greeks, as well) but when did the Thebans serve the Phoenicians or Syrians?
Basically, you have a lot of good ideas, most of which I'm not knowledgeable enough to comment on. But in my opinion if something departs from accuracy, I prefer a systematic reason (ie, necessary for game balance) that still makes sense in the context. If this mod were made accurately, it would kick much butt and I would want to try it. But if it was inaccurate, I would find it much less appealing. I think that making it as accurate as possible, in addition to (eventually) adding more factions, is what could really set this apart from AoM.
Edit: Leiomano and stingray-spear: isn't the sharktooth club more of a sword-type weapon? How long were they, what was their reach? Did the stingray spears retain their venom after the animal died? The two weapons might just work differently (but I don't know).
EDIT 2: So far, according to the journals I'm finding in JSTOR, the word vimāna has several uses (the first I list is the relevant one for the myth units):
1. A flying chariot or "aerial vehicle" used by a god or a gandharva (Classical Sanskrit)(the myth unit)
2. a shrine or tower in a temple (Classical Sanskrit)(seems to be the most common meaning)
3. the palace of a human emperor (Classical Sanskrit)
4. the palace of a god living in the celestial/heavenly realm (Pali, Jaina Prakrit)
So far I haven't gotten any descriptions of the flying vehicles, so I can only say that some of them are chariots, presumably wheeled and pulled by (flying) animals. Supposedly, one is mentioned in the Skanda Purana.
There's also something in a play about a yogeshvara "magician" using a "contemplation" vimana (conjured by meditation??) to magically summon a girl from another city by some sort of teleportation. I don't have a clue what that's supposed to mean.
Evidently the 11th-century Sanscrit text Samarāńgana Sūtradhāra is the one that describes flying vehicles (called vyomacāri-vihańga yantra, ākāśagāmīdārumaya vimāna yantram and vāyu yantra) and other machines in ch. 31 -- which has inspired pseudoscientific nonsense about "mercury vortex engines" and "charged sheath vortex tornado fusion drives" (they sound like something from a bad anime!) and prehistoric airplanes. I'm going to try to find a good translation of this work.
EDIT 3: The only Samarāńgana Sūtradhāra translation book I've found in a quick search of pretty much all nearby public libraries (we have an awesome local interlibrary loan system) is from 1966. That's probably more recent than anything professional that would have been posted online, but not as recent as I'd prefer. The advantage of this book is that it also discusses architecture and ships, which could be useful for buildings and historical units. Its usefulness in those regards will depend on the time period you want for the Indian faction.
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Well there's lots of Makara art, not just descriptions. If you really want an ambulocetid, instead of mixing the Makara with Maiacetus, how about giving it to the "Cro-Magnon" faction, since you're already giving them even older fossils such as marine reptiles? You said the Cro-Magnons need more naval myths, and then you can give Makaras and Jalebhas to the Indians.
I searched for Makara images (be warned if you search, there's some internet porn under that name too
) and here are some good references:http://www.chiangmai1.com/chiang_mai/sub/n...nd_makara.shtml (horned Naga emerging from mouth of Makara)
http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01219/Chnsmyth.html (several pictures, including a leopard-footed, crocodile-like full-body image)
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/features/10-07/features811.htm (2 or 3 Makaras (one might just be a fish) near bottom of page)
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/sri-lanka/polonnaruwa.htm (Makara carvings, with "water" coming from their mouths)
http://sites.google.com/site/kalyan97/_/rs...phs/makara8.jpg (full-body)
http://www.call-of-the-sea.com/myths/images/makara_01.jpg (full-body fish-Makara)
http://www.call-of-the-sea.com/myths/images/makara_02.gif (full-body Jalebha)
http://www.ancientindia.co.uk/buddha/explore/pilo2_b5b.html (full-body)
http://www.himalayan-imports.com/faq/carving.htm (full-body at bottom of page)
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/AK-MAK-247? (head only)
http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Rossi_Ross..._Himalayas.html (head only)
http://www.nhb.gov.sg/www/top15.html (head only, Southeast Asian)
http://nga.gov.au/CrescentMoon/details/makara.cfm (head only, Southeast Asian)
http://www.ackland.org/art/collection/asian/87.50.html (head only, Thai)
http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz140/s...llau/makara.jpg (head only, Javan)
Also, random discovery, winged lions/leogryphs are called Singha Bersayap in some south or southeast Asian language -- I don't know which one.
With elephants, I see what you mean -- if every other faction has them, they aren't so special anymore. It shouldn't be too hard to avoid overusing them if you stick with only giving them to cultures that historically used them (maybe plus the Cro-Magnons). I'm not an expert on military elephants (but somebody on the 0 A.D. team may be). I think only the Carthaginians, Persians, Indians, and some peoples of Southeast Asia (such as Thai and Cambodians) used elephants in war. Mechanically, the biggest differences between them could be size (Persians had the largest elephants, Indians had the smallest specimens), how they were used by their respective factions, and what sort of soldiers were put on top (spears or ranged weapons?). As far as I know the Egyptians and Semitic peoples (other than Carthaginians) did not use them. I don't know of any Semitic elephant god, but I'm no expert on their pantheon(s).
I'll try to find information about Vimanas. I hadn't thought about balance, but since they're completely imaginary, hopefully there'd be some leeway for you to adjust their abilities. They would definitely have to belong to the last game phase, though.
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Ants going up cliffs... if it's possible to program, why not?
I think Anancus are different enough from elephants that using them is still about as reasonable as a fictional "myth" unit gets. Unless you just don't want to have that many proboscidian cavalry units, period.
I have heard of Vimana, but what I found about them on the internet is from pseudoscientific conspiracy types who claim that Vimana are evidence of UFOs, or of prehistoric airplanes armed with atomic bombs, or claim the ancient Egyptians had helicopters (and use photoshopped hieroglyphs to "prove" it). I don't trust the translations and interpretations of the original texts produced by such folks.
I haven't seen anything trustworthy about them from a scholarly source interested in a faithful translation, so I don't know whether they're actually separate from the flying chariots employed by Hindu, Greek, Norse, Slavic, Baltic, etc. gods to get to and from Earth. I just haven't done the research.
I can try to see if there's anything about them on JSTOR, and tell you if I find anything. But I'd stay away from teh internets about this topic... *shudder*
EDIT: Since it seems you are set on it, may I ask why you want to avoid using the mythological Makara as a myth unit, and would rather use Ambulocetus instead?
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Making the gold-digging ant a combined economic/military unit is a good and interesting idea. I'm trying to find an Indian myth or artwork about it.
I raised the orangutan issue just to point out that the Jungle Book movie can't be trusted. I know you didn't mention adding orangs.
Vyali or Yala is an animal depicted in sculptures in India. The similar-looking Tukka-Tor and Kochasri are depicted in some Thai art. According to this website: http://www.khandro.net/mysterious_vyali_mukha.htm they can have the head of some other animal such as a horse or human. I don't have a clue how accurate this website is, though. I just found it while searching for Yala.
The multi-headed Naga could still be used as a myth unit, and in fact, since Vritra was always an enemy of the gods, having him granted by the gods as an ally makes less sense then having them grant Nagas. The Naga can differ mechanically from the Hydra by not being so poisonous, and by being fully amphibious. I don't really think a serpent is less unique than a dragon, since I'm sure you're using other dragon myths. Nagas are also depicted with human torsos, and according to that website Varuna is their king (it also says that the word Naga is used for dragons as well, which surprises me): http://www.khandro.net/mysterious_naga.htm
The crocodile and early whales do look similar, due to convergent evolution. The early whales evolved to fill a similar niche to the crocodile: living in shallow water, lying mostly submerged and ambushing prey that came to drink. Authentic/genuine Makara imagery combines the crocodile with other animals, for example they can have a fishtail, or a short trunk/proboscis on their nose, or horns, or a snake-like body with or without legs. That website also has Makara info, with some elephant-headed makara images: http://www.khandro.net/mysterious_makaras1.htm
I suppose that if they have the rear end of a snake or crocodile, they can go on land (unlike the Jalebha).
I don't think it's possible to use the Indus Valley civilization as a basis for anything remotely accurate, since their writing is undeciphered and the only things we know about their myths are a few hard-to-interpret pieces of art. They're like the Minoans: fertile ground for fiction and speculation, but very little definite information. The classical Hindus provide you with far more material to work with, and the gods you are using are already Hindu, as are most of your myth units.
EDIT: Ants. I searched for info about the ants, and fortunately there was an Indian source for the Greek myth! Herodotus says that they are larger than foxes but smaller than dogs, and they are fast and dangerous. His story was apparently inspired by a phrase in the Mahabharata. The word pipilika ("ant-gold") is a metaphor for gold dust. In a 19th century translation of Book 2 I found a mention of gold that had been excavated by ants. There was no mention of the size of the ants, nor of their killing people or camels: http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m02/m02051.htm I think it's reasonable for them to be combat units in swarms, but I think their economic abilities should be much greater than their military prowess.
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I still think Cushna is a better myth unit than dholes. How many firebreathing dogs do you already have, that you're worried about them being unique? They can still be a siege-type unit... they'll burn down the wooden buildings! How much does the dhole really differ in flavor from dire wolves or cwn annwn or Celtic war hounds? Is the Cushna any less unique than the dhole?
The ant just isn't authentic, and I wouldn't assume that the Jungle Book material is an authentic representation of the myths either. I mean, orangutans in India?
Unless you can find a genuine Indian or Pakistani myth that you're sure the Greeks based their myth on, you just shouldn't use giant ants.I see what you mean about Re', though. If you're using Sakhmet or Bastet or Pakhet as a minor deity, she could have Eye of Re' instead. As for Re', I'm out of ideas at the moment.
Meteors... I don't really know. You should research and find a deity that dealt with meteors. The Greeks seem to have considered them the same as lightning bolts, but actual lightning makes more sense for Zeus.
The major way that Gandharvas differ from centaurs in appearance is that they only have two legs. You can give them bird legs or horse legs or human legs, but they only have two regardless of what they look like. Also, I'd switch them to Sarasvati and give the Python thingy to Parvati... although considering there are other snake and dragon myth units already, what about giving Parvati the Yala/Vyali? They're quite unique-looking.
The Naga differ from dragons in appearance by having no legs and no wings, besides their multiple heads. The main Indian Dragon, Vritra, wasn't a Naga. For one thing, Nagas are benevolent and Vritra wasn't. Nagas are dragon-like, but they aren't the same as dragons.
In my opinion, the Jalebha is quite the unique beast. It's a mer-elephant! As long as you don't make the Makara look too elephant-like, nothing is going to resemble it. And the Makara can further differ from it by having four legs and being amphibious.
Anansi is Ashanti, not Soninke nor Malinke/Maninke or even Fula. Actually, it may be hard to find imperial Ghana deities, I don't know if they adopted writing before Islam. There may not be any records remaining about the pre-Muslim religion there, I don't know.
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Yeah, I know about Allah and YHWH being the same Supreme Being.
Having Muhammed as a "god" is really weird, though, and doesn't really make sense, since Islam is very explicit that unlike Jesus, he's not considered divine at all.
Rain? For Re'? That makes no sense. First off, it doesn't rain in Egypt... His power should be the Eye of Re, a fire spitting lioness-headed or cobra-headed goddess that destroys one or a few enemy unit(s) and then goes back to heaven. Anyway, you said you were giving rain to Indra, not Re', which makes far more sense.
I like the Hindu pantheon so far, but I'd make a few myth unit changes:
Agni: I'd use Cushna, a rabid, fire-breathing red dog. I don't know that the giant ants are even genuine Indian myth, I think the Greeks just *thought* they lived in India.
Kali: Dholes are a real animal, and kind of boring for a myth unit for that reason. I'd give her the Rakshasas instead.
Hanuman: He's just got to have actual Vanaras. Humanoid monkeys with weapons FTW! You can even make them ambidextrous and let them use their tail as a third hand.
Parvati: Gandharvas don't really look like centaurs as far as I know, but they're fine as a myth unit.
Rama and Varuna: Makara are more like mer-crocodiles, mer-antelope, and elephant-nosed crocodiles. They are a mount of Vishnu so I'd consider giving them to Rama instead of the Garuda. Another huge sea monster Varuna can have instead is the Timingila.
Vishnu: I think he should have the Garuda instead of Rama. If you want it in multiples, I'd call it Suparna instead. Another option is to give Rama a Suparna, and make it basically a smaller and weaker version of Garuda (and with no arms, just feet and wings). Or, let Rama keep Garuda and give the Makara to Vishnu.
Shiva: Nagas are not so much dragons as multi-headed river snakes.
Other myth units you might consider, esp. for Krishna, Vishnu, and Rama:
Leogryph (Harappan griffin with the head of a lion and the horns of a wild goat. Later Indian versions had no horns, but I like the horns personally. Persians can have this unit instead.)
Horned Tiger (possibly a second myth unit for Durga?)
Jalebha (a mer-elephant, probably a variety of Makara, could work for Varuna)
One-Horned Bull (the Malaysians call it Sz, I don't think the Harappan name is known)
Yali/Vyala/Sardula/Gaja Simha (lion with two or three goat horns, and the trunk or entire head of an elephant)
Jala-Turaga (a hippocamp, if you aren't using it for the Greeks)
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Chinampas are a great idea! Do you know if it would theoretically be possible to program it so that, instead of having to touch land, it can be anywhere in the lake but has to be fresh water and can't be a river?
Mercenaries should have a different appearance (would player color be enough?) so they can't be confused with the units of the faction they relate to.
Fervor (Soninke: Iblis): i kinda cheated with the Soninke Muslim major gods; they are pretty much exactly the same as the christian ones. the evil god for them is also the devil, here under the name Iblis. anyway, the power of Fervor is activated from a temple or possibly from teh civic center and sends all of your soldiers into a fanatical frenzy, making them do more damage to soldiers from other civilizations. its kinda based on the whole jihad thing; i also have fervor as the bonus for another muslim faction in a different game
I don't like this, you're treading into inaccurate stereotype territory and somebody is bound to accuse you of being insensitive, prejudiced, offensive, or unfair, regardless of your intent. I'd just totally avoid this.
Luckily Iblis isn't quite the same as the Christian Lucifer, despite the similarities. For one thing, I think he's supposed to be a djinni instead of a fallen angel. But there should be lots of angels, hopefully enough for two factions... I dunno. You could go with the pre-Muslim Ghana Empire if it becomes a problem. When I suggested a West African faction the "pantheon" overlap with Christians didn't occur to me.
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Ah, my mistake.
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But Set is the god of chaos and desert storms... Surely, there's something more dramatic to give him for a god power, like a terrific chaos storm that mucks up your enemies but leaves your own units unscathed (since his powers were not harmful to Re'). I'm not sure what Apep could do, then, except having a larger, more chaotic, and more damaging chaos flood. Maybe Set could cause droughts that harm enemy agriculture instead.
Since all or nearly all ancient cultures used slavery, I prefer the idea of making slavery something that every civilization can use starting at the Town phase, but giving some of them special things they can do, like turn slaves into weak infantry (for Greeks and Persians) or using them in sacrifices (for Aztecs). There are probably some civilizations in which slaves frequently earned their freedom and became citizens, so some factions could have the ability for slaves to "level up" to citizen-soldiers with experience.
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I don't know a ton about the various empires in West Africa. I think the Ghana Empire was the first and the Mali Empire was the last. The Ghana Empire was pre-Muslim (I don't know if their religion had a name, although ancestor worship is probably a misnomer), while Mali was Muslim. Actually, combining Islam with the indigenous myths would provide a larger basis for myth units. As for the African cryptids, they come from all over Africa, so I wouldn't expect more than one or two to actually be from Ghana, Songhay, or Mali. I know that Batamzinga, Olitiau, Kongamato, Sasabonsam, and Kerit are not from those cultures.
The Polynesians are closely related cultures and, since they separated from each other only recently (historically speaking), are pretty similar in several ways, such as myth and religion (I don't know about military matters). It's more akin to lumping Britons and Gauls together, really. They had certain differences and didn't think of themselves as the same ethnic group, so if possible it would be nice to divide Polynesians into sub-factions like the Britons and Gauls in 0 A.D., but lumping them together isn't without some basis in reality.but what's your opinion about the polynesian faction lumping the hawaiians, maori, and easter islanders together?
That's a great idea. Hopefully there are enough super units to go around. You'll have more options if you allow super units to be mythological as well.i also came up with another idea earlier to further differentiate major gods within a faction from other ones.
Slavery wasn't just common in ancient times, it was pretty much ubiquitous. I'd guess that even the Aztecs, who preferred to sacrifice people rather than enslaving them or killing them in battle, probably had some form of slavery (but I don't know). I think that only completely nomadic people would entirely lack slavery, so perhaps make it a "technology" of the Town phase -- that should allow you to avoid giving it to Cro-Magnons during their Paleolithic phase.EDIT: oh, another idea i had a long time ago was to make slavery in the game an option. during teh village phase only, you could research Slavery and from then on, there would be a 10% chance that a Slave unit would appear at your civic center every time you killed an enemy unit. alternatively, "Slavery" could be saved as a bonus for a particular major god, or there could be traits to certain units (like the aztecs) that allow them to take prisoners which could then be used for sacrifices. i know slavery is a very sensitive subject (for that very reason, im not including it for a more modern RTS), but it was widely practiced in the ancient world and would make a good bonus for a faction if nothing else can be devisedSlavery is perhaps a subject that could make players unhappy, but if the game already is about war and includes things like human sacrifice, at this point you're just being true to history. Morally, I find it difficult to consider war any "better" than slavery. After all, you don't have to glorify slavery. And if you prefer, you can engage in some historical inaccuracy and make it impossible (or just harder) to use slaves if you focus on the "good" Major God of your faction.
Slaves could be obtained from "killing" enemy units, including support units, but there should be some units that can't be enslaved. For example, animal units can't really be enslaved. You can capture them, and usually you make them obey you, but capturing them in battle when somebody is riding them is pretty impractical, and they don't do the same things as human slaves. Some myth units should probably also be impossible to enslave, if only because their abilities as slaves (and the graphics) would be totally different from human slaves and it would get quite complicated (and visually too confusing) to make separate slave versions of every other myth unit. I'm thinking centaurs and sea serpents, for example.
IMO slaves should be basic economic units for the most part: they can be used for labor, but not healing. Some civilizations (for example, the Spartans and Persians of 0 A.D.) used slaves for military units, but practically speaking they still need some training no matter where you got them, unless they were citizen-soldiers and you just want basic cannon fodder, so slaves shouldn't be instant-infantry or instant-Scythian archers. For one thing, I imagine it might be hard to balance that (but you know more about RTS games than I do!) It could possibly exist as a military advantage for a few individual factions (i.e. Persia, if you use them), while Aztecs might find it most efficient to sacrifice slaves to literally, directly increase their gods' powers.
Oh, and for added complexity, you could try to figure out how to make slave revolts a possibility if they outnumber free units.
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If you were going to add another faction, I'd far rather see the Mali Empire, the Ghana Empire, or the Songhay Empire. Africa needs more love. So do the Inca, too.
And I'm against lumping two or three separate, unrelated ethnic groups together. Again, it just makes the game look ignorant and possibly prejudiced, when you draw fine separations between, say, the Greeks and Romans, but lump non-Western cultures together. It makes it look like you consider them identical or interchangeable.
I don't like the names, either. "Barbarian" is basically a derogatory word that's often been code for "non-Western." "Mongoloid" is either used as an obsolete racial classification from the 19th century or so, or else it's used as a derogatory word for people with Down's Syndrome.
Mongols and Huns weren't Germanic either in culture or language, and you've already got the Norse covered.
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Yeah, I was thinking of a boat teleporting to the other side of the bridge, so that the watercourse is not "dammed."
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I think by humble Darthturtle meant "as old as the 0AD project," or perhaps "not expensive or state-of-the-art," not "small." A netbook is a fairly new computer, yes?
I mean, you guys started this years ago, so unless you've increased the system requirements as you went along, it should still work on somewhat older computers and graphics cards, right?
I'm going to be terribly sad if I never have a chance to play 0AD or Last Alliance because of my graphics card.
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No, not in your picture, in the design document that lists all the plant objects they want available at "release." Cacti are listed as though a European plant, but they're not and in the time periods being used, they wouldn't be growing in Europe, North Africa, or West Asia.
Although that huge pink elephant in your picture is kinda strange.
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Holy giant picture, Batman! It turns the page crazy! It is a pretty picture, though.
The ground textures you guys have made are excellent. I agree that fallen leaves, plus underbrush, would make it look more realistic, but it still looks very good the way it is now. And in densely settled areas that have been farmed for generations, I imagine a mixture of forests, fields, and tree clumps that would range from completely wild to completely cultivated.
But speaking of the flora in the design document, cacti are not native to the Old World, so there shouldn't be any cactus in there (except as editor-only eye candy). All but one cactus genus in the Old World* were introduced by humans. They've escaped into the wild, but they're introduced exotic species, not native. Before the Europeans invaded the Americas, they wouldn't be growing in Europe, North Africa, or West Asia.
*There's one genus, Rhipsalis, in tropical Africa and Sri Lanka that may have been introduced by birds instead of by humans, or may be native to the Old World, but it wouldn't be in the Mediterranean area anyway. Plus it's an epiphyte that grows in the branches of trees, not on the ground.
The cactus family by Edward F. Anderson, 2001 (see p. 39: "With the exception of Rhipsalis baccifera, cacti are strictly New World natives.")
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well i think it was supposed to be like the creature that killed the trojan man--i forget his name--who tried to warn priam that the trojan horse was a trick
Laocoon, I think. But it was sent by the Olympians, so the Hittites shouldn't have it. It's just a Ketos.
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Yes please, try to make the game work on even older graphics cards! Another game I was eagerly waiting for, which claimed to be free and to be designed for "low-end" computers, requires expensive new graphics cards that have to be bought separately. I was quite upset by that.
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You could perhaps also give them a lake serpent with somewhat different stats from the sea serpents in the game (to keep it unique). I don't really know what else to add. I guess I'm not very familiar with prehistoric marine mammals.
There is a Odobenocetops (dolphin with walrus-like tusks), and desmostylians. That's two animals, and more recent than Basilosaurus. However, Odobenocetops is only from South America, and desmostylians are only from the north Pacific.
Megalodon you mentioned, and since the Polynesians will have several naval units and have numerous types of Taniwha to use for naval myth units, I recommend giving the Megalodon to the Cro-Magnons. According to Wikipedia at least, they lived all over the world and survived at least somewhere until the Pliocene or maybe even the Pleistocene. If you still want the Polynesians to have a shark myth unit, you could give them weresharks: they wouldn't turn into such huge sharks, but they'd double as infantry units on land.
speaking of which, there was actually an idea for a hittite myth unit on another board called "Predammonite" which is essentially just a kracken with an ammonite shell, maybe something could be made of that.Did they base it on a myth? Because it just looks like predator + ammonite, and ammonite isn't a mythical creature at all. It was named by scientists.
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Yeah, I've "already voted in this poll" as well. My resolution has one vote on it now, but I doubt it's from me.
Well, since the previous votes were recorded, I guess it doesn't matter!
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http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Cwn_Annwn
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C5%B5n_Annwn
There ya go.
Dire wolves and ground sloths are both American animals, so like the Gazeka, they're out of the general range of Ice Age people. That's why I suggested Ancylotherium and early Pleistocene giant wild dogs.
If you do decide to include American animals, ground sloths had thin armor under their fur, and their claws were nasty.
I don't know if Anancus would work as a seige unit. For cavalry they'd be great, even if their faction don't have any metal sharp enough to tip their tusks. They might be able to attack wooden doors, I don't know how much force an elephant's tusks can take. But I can't imagine them being helpful against stone buildings, except as crude ladders.
I don't know what to do about naval myth units. I think you already gave krakens and sea serpents to other factions, right? I guess that since they have the Titans for gods, and the Ophitauros was involved in the Titanomakhia in some way, you could use it, but that's a stretch since it's Greek, and unlike the Neades it isn't prehistoric.
Dead Forum/Game
in General TLA Discussion
Posted · Edited by Aldandil
I suppose the genitive of Arda would be *Ardo, since it's Quenya.
I can't say Ykkrosh's post makes me happy.
By the way, Tolkien Enterprises does not own the First Age, the Second Age, or books such as The Silmarillion and War of the Jewels. Those are still the intellectual property of the Tolkien Estate (presumably the man's family), a completely separate group of people who are not on a mission to eliminate fan projects. Tolkien Enterprises only owns the Lord of the Rings, and probably the Hobbit. So there's no reason not to at least make First Age and Second Age Middle-Earth mods of 0 A.D.