The Egyptians

[SMST]

I would have went with a more common Egyptian symbol like the Ankh, the Scarabaeus or the Horus-Eye, but this ist interesting. What does it stand for?

[Mythos_Ruler]

A Horus Eye would be my preference, but it's not my mod.

[Zeta1127]

A Horus Eye would be my preference, but it's not my mod.

I am thinking the same thing, but it's not my mod either.

[Aldandil]

The Sema`-Ta`wy is the symbol of the Two Lands of Egypt, (Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt), united as one nation, and also indicates that the pharaoh rules over the whole nation. There's a version which is heraldically supported by the Horus and Set. Horus was always an important god of kingship, and Set was the patron of several pharaohs in the New Kingdom.

Edited October 15, 2011 by Aldandil

[Mythos_Ruler]

A bunch of great references here. I'm not kidding--they're awesome.

Preview:

[Enrique]

This thread seems dead since some time... but it's the best thread to post this.

Anyone interested in making/sharing some egyptian paintings/murals/symbols/artwork in general, under CC BY-SA 3.0?

I made some time ago three egyptian buildings for fun, but some textures used are not compatible with that license to add them to 0AD. If someone is interested I can tweak the existing textures with the CC BY-SA community-created artwork so this buildings can be used in a mod or custom scenario.

Here's a screenshot of the buildings (+some assets already in the game)

[Zeta1127]

Looks like a great starting point for an Egyptian building set.

[dvangennip]

Looks good!

I have recently been thinking of doing a mod of the Kingdom of Kush. The Kushites lived further south of the Nile and were around during the timeframe of this game (±1500 BCE until ±350 AD). Their buildings, culture and customs have much in common with the Egyptians, as (for example) the 25th dynasty of Egyptians were Kushite rulers (things went back and forth for some time around 800-600 BCE). I figured that would be nice civilisation as it had contact with some of the in-game civs, plus it would a nice way to sneak in Egyptian style structures while staying historically accurate I had not yet seen this mod (which appears quiet), so I could take a thing or two from the things here

I will post a new discussion in a few days, when I have taken the time to sift through reference images and a rough design document.

[idanwin]

Do any people have some concept art for an egyptian barracks?

Enrique, what are the buildings you made for the egyptians?

I've made two simple house models (the props don't seem to work though, see here) and I'm currently trying out a concept I had for an egyptian market.

[idanwin]

So this is what the market looks like at the moment (until someone can explain to me how to add props!)

Edited August 20, 2012 by idanwin

[idanwin]

I finally figured out how props work :-)

As promised:

[theShadow]

If egyptians are added (or something similar) they would be my favorite faction

[idanwin]

Me too ^^ that's why I want to help to add them so badly.

[Spahbod]

It would be very good if we can add Ptolemies after the Mauryans.

idanwin: the texture for Egyptian house us too bland. maybe you can add some noise to it?

[historic_bruno]

idanwin: the texture for Egyptian house us too bland. maybe you can add some noise to it?

I agree with this.

The brief research I've done mentions that mud bricks would have been used as the primary construction material, but the modeled texture and perhaps architecture don't look like brick. The wealthy would have had quarried stone homes but the modeled houses are not opulent or large enough for that. They should be more squarish in shape. Windows would have been more like narrow slits higher up in the wall, the purpose of the walls being mostly to keep the sun out. Another thing is that the roof was apparently very important as a living space and for sleeping on at night, so I doubt it would have looked so bare. In fact I would be surprised if it was entirely open and uncovered for that reason. Another thing is that wood was a precious resource and so having a wooden ladder and fence would be a waste, I think a brick wall (if necessary) and steps or a ramp would be more appropriate.

The Egyptians were a great civilization, I almost think the houses could be slightly fancier, without overdoing it.

Hopefully this qualifies as constructive criticism, but I'm no artist

[idanwin]

I did some research:

Poorer families did have ladders instead of stone steps (wood may have been expensive, but a ladder doesn't take that much wood). The walls would have been made of mud brick, but to protect the mud bricks from the bare sun these would've been smeared with another substance (I did not research what the result looked like though) Btw, on some places you can see the mud bricks on my texture, but I'll make it a bit clearer! The wood fence is unlikely, admitted. I tried making a brick one first, but failed. I'll try again. (Fences were quite important as many people kept animals) I'll also make the windows a bit higher to let less sun in. What should I put on the roof? A cloth attached to four poles for some shadow? Some pots in-the-make and a few plants maybe?

I originally had the intention to make two types of homes:

-The poorer ones (little squarish mud-brick buildings with a fence and a few little items)

-The richer ones (with a pool, a high fence and gate, stone steps to a roof with coaches)

If other people find nice pictures of ancient egyptian houses: post!!!

Thank you for the criticism! That's the kind I needed, now I know what to do. I'll start over completely ;-)

I've got some pretty neat concepts lined up. Maybe I'll post some sketches later on so that you can say which ones are good!

[zoot]

Btw, on some places you can see the mud bricks on my texture, but I'll make it a bit clearer!

Sorry for sounding like a broken record, but - normal maps! It's designed to enhance that kind of features.

[historic_bruno]

The walls would have been made of mud brick, but to protect the mud bricks from the bare sun these would've been smeared with another substance (I did not research what the result looked like though)

I read several mentions of "whitewashing" which is basically ground up minerals (lime/chalk) turned into a sort of paint, with the obvious advantage of reflecting more of the sun's light. I don't know if this was accessible to everyone but it would have been desired.

What should I put on the roof? A cloth attached to four poles for some shadow? Some pots in-the-make and a few plants maybe?

Not sure about the utility of plants on a roof, at least for the average home, but I agree with a few pots, possibly mats for sleeping or something rolled up like a headrest, some cloth for shade - whatever gives it a subtle "lived on" appearance without being cluttered.

[idanwin]

Unfortunately my free time per day has decreased too much over the past days so I've not spend much time modelling (I also have to prepare a concert and clean up the house, 0ad egypt has descended somewhat on the priority list). But over the past few days I've spend a little bit of time every day and I've made a new basic model for a house:

I'll add props when I have time.

Edited August 25, 2012 by idanwin

[idanwin]

A list of documentaries about egypt (may be interesting for references?)

-Secrets of Archaeology: Egypt according to Cleopatra

BBC:

-Egypt's Lost Cities

Discovery:

-Egypt Unwrapped: The Pyramid Code

-Scandals of the Ancient World: Egypt

-Atlas: Egypt Revealed

-Why Anciet Egypt Fell

-Seven Wonders of Ancient Egypt

-Egypt Uncovered (5 parts)

Ch4:

-The Ancient Worlds: Engineering Ancient Egypt

-Ancient Egyptians (4 parts + extras like "Egyptian Fashion"!!!)

SBS:

-Planet Egypt (4 parts)

Also found a list of movies that have some link with ancient egypt:

http://www.ancientnile.co.uk/films.php

Edited August 25, 2012 by idanwin

[historic_bruno]

Unfortunately my free time per day has decreased too much over the past days so I've not spend much time modelling (I also have to prepare a concert and clean up the house, 0ad egypt has descended somewhat on the priority list). But over the past few days I've spend a little bit of time every day and I've made a new basic model for a house:

I'll add props when I have time.

I personally think that looks very cool for the start of a house model, and it's about on the same level as e.g. our Persian houses Though the texture looks more like concrete blocks than mud bricks (maybe less even sized and shaped?), I assume there is still some work to be done on texturing, adding windows, a door, etc.

[idanwin]

Working on the door and the windows now. The textures were temporary (I just used the ones I used before for the market), I already replaced with better ones (although not perfect).

[Enrique]

Working on the door and the windows now. The textures were temporary (I just used the ones I used before for the market), I already replaced with better ones (although not perfect).

I'm a little busy now with greek buildings but I plan to edit some textures I had from the three egyptian buildings I made (+ some public domain paintings I found recently on wikipedia) that you can use for your houses/buildings if you want.

[idanwin]

That would be wonderful!

[Christian]

Hey I thought it would be nice to inform our german visitors on my site about this nice project, so i put a short news on my site with the image of the nice house. If you got more screenshots like one day, it would be great if you would share them with us, thank you