SMST

Gah. There's nothing wrong with ambitious projects. Which three factions would've been there? China, Japan, Korea?

I saw that coming since I've found the Chinese Spearman texture in the 0 A.D. texture folder and saw the Chinese ships on Michael's photo gallery. However, I didn't see it coming THAT fast. Looks great, and I am certainly interested in a Chinese faction. One question: Since the mod's title is "Rise of the East" and not "Rise of the Middle Kingdom" (or something), can we expect more eastern factions of the Ancient Period? (Yamato Japanese, Three Kingdom Koreans, even Xiongnu or Yuezhi perhaps?) Keep it up!

http://www.wildfiregames.com/forum/uploads...-1290932285.png God.Like.

Diana is Roman. If you're going for Greek dieties with D, have a go on Demeter, Dionysos, some Dryades or Deimos.

I havn't played BfME. In RoN it is done that way that you click on "Create Archer" and three Archers appear, to put it bluntly.

Well, I don't know Hittite, but since the Troian legend is based off Greek literature, Greek terms would work for both, I guess. GREEK NAMES Militis -> Aichmetes (means: Spearman, Spear-warrior) Hasta iaculis -> Gymnetes (means: light warrior, naked warrior - Greek skirmishers used to be naked at that time) Gladiatores -> Heros (means: warrior, hero) TROIAN NAMES: Hastatus -> Doryphoros (means: Spearman, Spear-bearer) Sagittarius -> Toxeutes (means: archer ; archaic version of the more modern "Toxotes", which is used in 0 A.D.) Miles -> Machetes (means: warrior) More later, when I'll grab out my Homer-specific list of words. There should be enough military terms. So ... you create units in batches, similar to Rise of Nations? Yeah, Shumate is a genius.

tbh, I think that the unit names should be Greek rather than Latin. If you want, I will translate the terms into Epic Greek, the language used by Homer in his epics. I would also represent chariots as uber-units, given that they were restrained to nobles in that age. They could make the second Greek fortress unit, along with the elite infantry. (I think that the Myrmidons would fit there quite well.) If you want to be absolutely correct, then you would leave out horsemen as well, but if you want to keep them for style, I won't complain. They should be light and weak though, heavy cavalry action (charging) should be left for chariots. This is a cool artwork that might be a good possible look for Aiax as a Greek hero: http://community.imaginefx.com/fxpose/john...ture209538.aspx

Oh. Well, you are right about consistency. Japan and Korea are still culturally different from China. Because of the nature of the Far East (natural barriers etc.) there was not that much of a cultural exchange between the different countries as we have them today. (save Japan and Korea) Still, it might be worth having them in. The main reason why I wanted to focus on China alone was that they would be perfect for a classic "mass over materials" faction, which doesn't really apply to the other two. It has to do with gameplay (which is different for each faction, similar to 0 A.D. Also, I'd like to have the Barbarians seperated from the Romans/Greeks (so that they can fight them, of course) Same goes with Feudal Europe and the Byzantine Empire. The Steppe and India (South Asia) are very, very different both culture and playing style. The Steppe faction will focus around light, but powerful cavalry (horse archers) plus some quite heavy cavalry (Mongol lancers), but little to no infantry. They are good for a rush/raid strategy. India, on the other side, is primarily defensive. Strong ranged units (Indian longbow), strong architecture, powerful religious units and, of course, war elephants will give them a good edge if they are attacked. I'm still not sure about the Mediterranean issue. 1. Let the player choose at the end of the Byzantine empire if he wants to continue the game as either Westerner or Mideasterner. (which would kinda ruin the idea of differentiated factions) or 2. Evolve into a seperate european nation - which? Russia springs into my mind, but the playing style would, again, be very different, since Russia was not really known for his heavy infantry, which is what the Mediterraneans are primarily famous for. Any help?

Since most scholars today agree that the historical Troia was connected to the Hittite Empire in Anatolia, you may be best off researching about the Hittites to get an inspiration for Troia. Also, remember that the Greeks in the Troian war wouldn't be like the Hellenes of 0 A.D., but belong to a earlier period of Greek history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hittites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenaean_Greece A typical helmet of the Greek Bronze Age, as described in the Ilias and found in numerous excavations. A Hittite relief showing a warrior An artist's interpretation of a Hittite warrior. The walls in the BG may give you an idea for the walls of Troy. http://www.larp.com/hoplite/bronze.html A reenanctment page for the Bronze age. The respective armies on a miniatures page (which has lots of different ancient and medieval armies, so it might be worth a look) Hittites/Troians Mycenaeans/Achaeans Cheers.

The very reason I didn't do this was because it is hard to find paralells, culturally and militaristic, between India, China and Japan that would justify to have them in the same faction. Especially India is way off, Japan and Korea are related to each other, but there is no real link between all four.

Factions: Western Mediterranean Middle Eastern China India Steppe Ages: 1. Stone Age (5000 - 2000 BC) 2. Bronze Age (2000 - 1200 BC) 3. Iron Age (1200 - 500 BC) 4. Classical Age (500 - 300 BC) 5. "Hellenistic" Age (300 BC - 400 AD) 6. Dark Age (400 - 1000 AD) 7. Medieval Age (1000 - 1400 AD) 8. Renaissance Age (1400 - 1600 AD) 9. Colonial Age (1600 - 1750 AD) 10. Enlightenment Age (1750 - 1820 AD) 11. Industrial Age (1820 - 1920 AD) 12. Atomic Age (1920 - 1950 AD) 13. Information Age (1950 - 2000 AD) 14. Global Age (2000 - 2050 AD) For a comprehensive overview. (I did post the ages one page ago, though)

Yeah, but not in the first version. At the moment, six factions seem enough.

No specific sketches, though I have shitloads of artwork of all periods from the net on my PC. Also, I found someone to make some textures. I just need to lay down my final concept. I've also combined the North African faction with the Middle Eastern one. That means there will be no visually distinct African people, but since the Middle East and North Africa were and are strongly culturally linked, it makes sense to treat them as one. For the sixth faction that is now left, I thought of taking India, which would be very interesting (war elephants, religious system etc.) If anyone comes up with an idea how to evolve the Mediterranean faction into the future, I'd be glad.

Celts are no Germanics, although their cultures mixed quite a bit. (like here in Bavaria) Donar would be good for 0 A.D. II, which has Germanic people.

Well, I associate "Damocles" with some kind of pending doom. So, idk whether this is really fitting as a release name.

That sounds rather good. I don't know anything about the Iberians despite the fact that they inhabited Iberia and some stuff I read in the very history pages of the 0 A.D. webpage, so I cannot contribute any ideas this time, I'm afraid.

Well, 2 factions are a bit meager. I think I could start off with just Western, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and North Africa for now and see if I'll add Far Eastern and Steppe People later. However, 6 factions are not too much, I think. (I had 20 in the beginning, see.)

I wonder whom you are adressing with "you guys". It's really just me for now, plus some helpful advice from some other forumers. As for your question, yep, I am at least trying to make it. I am well aware of the fact that it is much work and I'll be probably failing, but at least I'll have fun planning and trying.^^ It's not that I would be starting from scratch, either. Most of the core gameplay mechanics will come from 0 A.D. Vanilla. What this is really about, is art and scripting for all the factions (for which I have someone in the future, at least for textures) and some programming for things like flying units (aircraft). I'll also make it step by step. Which means: The lower ages, up to the fifth age, are really just about making new artwork and XML-Files, because of the flexibility of 0 A.D. All animation for spearmen, swordsmen etc. are already there and can be used. There will be a needeventually for new animations and models and finally for new programming, but I hope to make enough cool stuff to attract people who can do said things with the assets of 0 A.D.

I was quite happy with the aura thing, because it would fit my ideas for ARCHÉ better, where I wanted to introduce "Mine" and "Oil Derrick" buildings, which would have given the player access to the respective ressources in the area around the buildings. It's kinda hard to justify citizens gathering oil via shuttling.^^ I played AoK online with some friends once or twice. That put aside, I am also a singleplayer person.

It is where you can see the new Legionnaire units in action.

The new menus are gorgeous yet functional, though they don't have a consistent art style yet. I agree with you about the ships (and look out for siege engines, there are actors included that give a glimpse of what we might expect in the future!) The ressource shuttling is nice, but that also means that the team abandoned the game concept of gathering auras - or if not so, please correct me. The garrisoning is probably the greatest new feature in my opinion, because it adds more strategical depth to the game. Now the tower buildings serve a purpose at last. Ships are now useful too, in that they both attack and transport units over water. So ... with Cebereus I may try 0 A.D. Multiplayer, eventually. Anyone who likes to have a little match with a total noob in regards of online matches?

Hydrogen bombs, you mean? Yeah, though they would be around in the Information Age already.

The Global Age will be modern age military, maybe spiced up with some "futuristic" technology that is still prototype in 2010 A.D., but in development and technically possible. There will be no lasers, floating tanks or killer robots, no sci-fi, so to speak. I don't know if "cool cloaking devices" are currently in development for tanks, but I'd appreciate sources. If they are possible and realistic, they might be in.

I could also just number the ages, like EE2 did. (though I didn't like that solution) If I use set archaeological/historical periods, it would perhaps be too limiting. This would be a rough guess, though: 1. Stone Age (5000 - 2000 BC) 2. Bronze Age (2000 - 1200 BC) 3. Iron Age (1200 - 500 BC) 4. Classical Age (500 - 300 BC) 5. "Hellenistic" Age (300 BC - 400 AD) 6. Dark Age (400 - 1000 AD) 7. Medieval Age (1000 - 1400 AD) 8. Renaissance Age (1400 - 1600 AD) 9. Colonial Age (1600 - 1750 AD) 10. Enlightenment Age (1750 - 1820 AD) 11. Industrial Age (1820 - 1920 AD) 12. Atomic Age (1920 - 1950 AD) 13. Information Age (1950 - 2000 AD) 14. Global Age (2000 - 2050 AD) I used round numbers here simply because it looks better. I think it is quite clear which date stands for what period.

Yay! I've been mentioned! And you are looking for a Iberian-related word for the next release? I think I can see whence the wind blows ...