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Sundiata

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Posts posted by Sundiata

  3. War Elephants

    in Art Development

    Posted

    On 5/22/2020 at 5:05 PM, Nescio said:

    All ancient depictions of African elephants I've seen resemble small African bush elephants (S-shaped back, curved, forward-pointing tusks),

    An interesting argument, that I've not really seen before. 

    One point is that indeed, forest elephants often have more level backs, some of them do actually have more S-shaped backs, and likewise some bush elephants have level backs. There's a relatively large degree of physical diversity even within the subspecies. It's a also true that the forest elephants usually have narrower, downward pointing tusks, but not all. Some have tusks just like bush elephants. Hybridization might indeed explain these discrepancies. 

     

    On 5/22/2020 at 5:05 PM, Nescio said:

    Furthermore, forest elephants live in the equatorial forests of Africa, to the south of the Sudanian Savanna, where bush elephants are native; North Africa is much closer in distance, climate, and vegetation to the areas where bush elephants live; anyone arguing ancient war elephants were forest elephants ought to have an explanation how those ended up in North Africa.

    Actually the argument isn't that they are forest elephants. The argument is that they belong to a third, now extinct subspecies, known as North African elephant (Loxodonta africana pharaohensis). It's often compared to forest elephants because its reported small stature. They may have branched off from forest elephants or bush elephants, the point is that they weren't  comparable in size to most modern African bush elephants. 

    Also, as already mentioned the African humid period was part of a cyclical event that turned the Sahara green, many times over in the past hundreds of thousands of years, providing ample opportunities for dispersal and subsequent differentiation of species and subspecies. 

     

    On 5/23/2020 at 10:12 PM, Genava55 said:

    Maybe these elephants are simply smaller because of insular dwarfism.

    On 5/24/2020 at 8:19 AM, Nescio said:

    Exactly! When populations are isolated, they tend to diverge, there is nothing unusual about that. It's the simplest and least problematic explanation for the small African war elephants.

    Very possible... 

     

  6. Ideas for New Civilizations [Core Game]

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    11 hours ago, Tinour said:

    I just arrived and started playing, so my opinion might not matter that much, but regarding Voodoo/Hoodoo, it would be a complete anachronism. Voodoo rituals are a particular syncretism of African religions and Christian faith, and its development is rather recent (certainly not from the time period used IG anyway).

    Correct, the original traditional African religion from Benin, Togo, Nigeria and Ghana would be called Vodun and is quite different from New World Voodoo, although the latter definitely takes inspiration from the former, Voodoo also takes inspiration from Christianity, as stated by Tinour (Welcome to the forum, by the way). 

  7. ===[TASK]=== African minifaction buildings

    in Official tasks

    Posted

    Just now, Ultimate Aurelian said:

    So something like medieval Swahili architecture but without the middle eastern influences ?

    Yeah, something like that. Swahili, but without the fancy domes. For the record though, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea already indicates a relationship between the Swahili Coast (named "Azania" in classical sources, and Southern Arabia, as early as the 1st century AD. Of course, it would have been very different from the later muslim Arabia and classical Swahili culture, but still worth a note. 

    • Like 2

  8. ===[TASK]=== African minifaction buildings

    in Official tasks

    Posted

    On 5/8/2020 at 7:39 PM, Ultimate Aurelian said:

    For the new southern Africa map, it might be interesting to feature Rhapta as a neutral city (Using Kushite architecture as a placeholder) you can trade with and potentially capture.

    I believe it was built from coral stone, and would have looked like some proto-Swahili type architecture. 

     

    On 5/8/2020 at 7:39 PM, Ultimate Aurelian said:

    Also was Madagascar inhabited by that time ?

    Some sources say it was settled in 200 b.c but i am not sure if it that information is accurate

    Possibly just some hunter gatherers, but nothing conclusive. Madagascar was first populated by Indonesians from Borneo, possibly indeed as early as 200 BC, practicing slash and burn agriculture. Later yet they started mixing with Arabs and Bantu-speakers in the medieval period. 

  9. Old Iberian market, or "new" Iberian market *Poll

    in Art Development

    Posted

    I made this poll because I’ve always thought that the current market for the Iberian faction lacks a certain recognisability, and even after all these years, I still sometimes struggle to quickly find my allies’ Iberian market in a competitive match. In my opinion it’s a little too small, and looks more like a single market stall, than an actual market.

    A few years ago Stan` made a new Iberian market, but was not committed. I rather like that market, and decided to ask the community their opinion on the matter.

    The current Ibrian Market ("Old"):

    Iber Market 0AD.jpg

     

     

    The "New" Iberian market by Stan`:

    stanislas-dolcini-iber-market02-png-0cf2acc52b6747108676b3bb96fa61bb.jpg

     

    https://skfb.ly/6Qvv9 

     

     

     

    • Like 7

  12. The Kingdom of Kush: A proper introduction [Illustrated]

    in Official tasks

    Posted

    12 minutes ago, Nescio said:

    I'm assuming the raised commas represent the voiced pharyngeal fricative /ʕ/ and glottal stop /ʔ/ and should thus be written as ʿ (ayin/ayn) and ʾ (aleph/hamza), not with single quotation marks ‘ and ’.

    yes, probably...

     

    12 minutes ago, Nescio said:

    However, is that 1840648406_.png.a4ebc3184ff436b80d4f7af4a2e1f259.pnga ʒ (ezh), a 3 (three), or something else?

    It's some kind of e

     

    @Djedptahiuefankh did some good work here: 

    But then he disappeared from the forum... :( 

     

    Although he wrote the 1840648406_.png.a4ebc3184ff436b80d4f7af4a2e1f259.png as an "o", so I don't know... :S

  13. The Kingdom of Kush: A proper introduction [Illustrated]

    in Official tasks

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, Nescio said:

    So shouldn't Arakamani have “Irk-k-Imn Hnm-ib-R” and Harsiotef have “Hr-sʒ-it.f sʒ-mri-Imn” (plus proper diacritics) as their respective specific name? And Nastasen?

    Yeah, it's up to you. The transliteration is probably more readable than the diacritics for most people though, (I honestly can't read or write proper diacritics myself..)

    For Nastasen:

    Screen Shot 2020-02-07 at 17.09.40.png

  14. The Kingdom of Kush: A proper introduction [Illustrated]

    in Official tasks

    Posted

       51 minutes ago,  Nescio said: 

    Arakamani has <SpecificName>‘Irk.‘Imn</SpecificName>.

    For Arakamani (aka Arkamaniqo, aka Ergamenes I), see:

    Screen Shot 2020-02-07 at 16.13.00.png

    So that would be "Arakamani Khnem-ib-Re"  

    Arakamani heralded the beginning of the Meroitic period (supposedly slaughtering the priests of Amun), by moving the royal burial grounds of the Kings to Meroë. He probably committed some sort of coup d'état, beginning a new Dynasty. 

    He took the same throne name as the late 26th Dynasty Egyptian pharaoh Amasis II, aka Ahmose II, a commoner who also took the throne in some sort of coup d'état, apparently inspiring Arakamani 300 years later. 

     

       51 minutes ago,  Nescio said: 

    Amanirenas has <SpecificName>Amnirense qore li kdwe li</SpecificName>

    That's because she's a Meroitic Period ruler and her Stela is written in the Meroitic language which is significantly different from the Late Egyptian used in the Nastasen and Harsiotef stelae. Not much to be done about that. I suspect she would have had an Egyptian style name as well, like her successors Amanitore and Natakamani, who used both Meroitic and Egyptian, but we don't have any inscriptions to show for it...

  20. I am old, but not quite old

    in Introductions & Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    1 hour ago, blinkakawize1 said:

    I was a kid when Mount and Blade, 0 AD, and Roma Victor were in development. I don't even know how in 2008 (was it 2008?) I heard about this game at the time. I think it was from mount and blade, someone in the forums shared it. It is nice to come back some 12 years later (i'm 30 now) to see it's still in development.

    Welcome back!

    I can confidently assure you that you are not old in this community...

    Our fanbase on facebook counts nearly 12.000 people, and out of this group, exactly 50% of the people are between 25 and 34 years old... 16% is between 35 and 44 years old. 6% between 45 and 54 years old. 2% between 55 and 64 years old and 2% is 65+. Only 19% are between 18 and 25. Less than 1% are minors less than 18 years old! 

    We literally have more than 3 times as many seniors as we do minors in this community :) 

    • Like 3

  21. The Kingdom of Kush: A proper introduction [Illustrated]

    in Official tasks

    Posted

    4 minutes ago, Stan` said:

    As for amanirenas using a chariot that's a balancing change so....

    Kushites are an underpowered civ. I don't think anyone is going to complain about Amanirenas being a little bit swifter. Nobody even recruits her as is... 

    Why would it be an issue? Have you played them competitively before? Who would I need to talk to, to get this change through? 

     

    9 minutes ago, Stan` said:

    When committing the Kushites I kept harsiotef as a scenario unit in case we ever needed him :)

    Ah, so does the template matter? Or is it something the end user will never notice? 

  22. The Kingdom of Kush: A proper introduction [Illustrated]

    in Official tasks

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Nescio said:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Entity parent="template_unit_hero_cavalry_spearman"> <Auras datatype="tokens"> units/heroes/kush_hero_nastasen_1 units/heroes/kush_hero_nastasen_2 </Auras> <Identity> <Civ>kush</Civ> <GenericName>Nastasen</GenericName> <SpecificName>Nastasen Ankhkhare</SpecificName> <Icon>units/kush_hero_harsiotef.png</Icon> </Identity> <VisualActor> <Actor>units/kushites/hero_cavalry_spearman_harsiotef_m.xml</Actor> </VisualActor> </Entity>

    Yeah, that doesn't make sense to me either... Nastasen and Harsiotef are different people, but I don't know anything about templates, or why Harsiotef is there. :unsure: Back when the Kushite civ was being prepared for integration, I argued for Harsiotef as the main cavalry mounted hero, but didn't get a positive response and people stuck with Nastasen. Maybe there was some sort of a mixup. I'm now obviously committed to Nastasen, and the fact that they're excavating his tomb right now means that there is also more public interest in Nastasen. He's the more famous of the two, and had a more direct military conflict with Egypt making him more interesting than Harsiotef who focused more on regional campaigns. 

     

    1 hour ago, Nescio said:

    There are also two versions of Amanirenas present (infantry and chariot).

    @Stan`, from your screenshot I can see that Amanirenas is still on foot. Could you please change her to the chariot version. Queens wouldn't be walking on the battlefield if they have a perfectly usable chariot. Especially not if they're overweight :) 

    Thanks for pointing this out @Nescio

  23. The Kingdom of Kush: A proper introduction [Illustrated]

    in Official tasks

    Posted

    39 minutes ago, Nescio said:

    In that case the template has to be corrected. What would be the correct specific name?

    I'm sorry, I don't follow? Which template? What does the template currently say? 

    43 minutes ago, Nescio said:

    Harsiotef :

    The Kings have many names/titles, often quite similar to previous Kushite Kings and/or New Kingdom Pharaohs. For Harsiotef, just copy pasting from wikipedia:

    Quote

    Horus name: Kanakht Khaemnepet ("Mighty Bull appears in Napata")
    Nebty Name: Nednetjeru ("Who seeks the council of Gods") 
    Golden Horus Name: Uftikhesutnebut ("Subduer given all the Desert Lands") 
    Prenomen: Sameryamun ("Beloved son of Amun")  
    Nomen: Harsiotef ("Horus Son of his Father")

    But where is Harsiotef in the game? I thought there are only 3 heroes per faction and Nastasen was chosen over Harsiotef? 

  24. The Kingdom of Kush: A proper introduction [Illustrated]

    in Official tasks

    Posted

    25 minutes ago, Nescio said:

    Is Harsiotef the same person as Nastasen?

    No, Harsiotef is his predecessor, and possible father of Nastasen (there was probably at least one ruler between Harsiotef and Nastasen)

    The Harsiotef stela is quite similar both in style and execution, but distinct. Harsiotef was also a badass... Conquered in all directions, from Southernmost Egypt (Lower Nubian border with Ancient Egypt) to the desert lands and what is believed to be the borders of modern day Ethiopia: the stela mentions a successful campaign against "Habasa", believed to be one of the earliest mentions of "Hebesha" (a.k.a. Abyssinia, the original name of modern day Ethiopia). The term "Habesha" is still widely used by Ethiopians and Eritreans as the self-appellation for Afro-Semitic peoples like the Amhara, the Tigrayans and the Beta Israel. 

    Harsiotef Stela:

    Harsiotef stela.jpg 

    I don't know where the stela is located today so I can't find a picture :( The translations are also available in the Fontes Historiae Nubiorum though :) 

     

    42 minutes ago, Nescio said:

    Arakamani could also use a proper portrait.

    Absolutely. But painting Nastasen took me 5 days, so I can't tell when I'll be able to do Arakamani.

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