0 A.D. Unit Art

[SMST]

Since the complete (as far as I can tell) unit art for 0 A.D. has been included in one of the latest public SVN releases, I took my time and tinkered a bit with the art assets. Particulary interesting are the factions that haven't been released yet - the Persians and the Romans. Their unit textures and prop meshes (weapons, helmets etc.) are all in the latest SVN version, and it was only a matter of stitching these files together in order to create the unit actors. Keep in mind, though, that these are just a arrangement of mine using the art assets - the official unit actors have not yet been in the public SVN and thus, the official units might look quite different from my arrangement.

This being said, here are some units of yet-to-come-factions.

PERSIAN UNITS:

These seem to be the "Mada Sparabara" or Median Spearmen from various official screenshots. The basic spear unit of the Persian faction. There are only three variations of tower shields, however.

Persian Javelinmen, or "Sparda Takabara", according to the Design Document.

These are Sogidan Archers, which look especially cool, IMHO, although the armor on some of the elites might be a bit heavy?

Cavalry Swordsmen (or Axemen - I gave them battle axes, as these were more common amongst Persians than swords), using the textures with filenames "pers_csw_x". From their looks and my limited knowledge of Persian military history, I'd say those are Median Horsemen, though I am surprised to see them as Swordsmen and not as Javelineers, as they are spec'd in the Design Document.

Cavalry Spearmen, probably cataphracts. As you may notice, I made the Persian Champion Cavalry that was included in the Fortuna release the elite rank of the Cavalry Spearmen. This is due to the fact that the texture had the abbreviation for Cavalry Spearman (csp) in it, and also because moving the Cataphract from Champion Cavalry to Elite Citizen Soldier Spearman makes room for the Indian War Elephant as Champion Cavalry.

Cavalry Javelinists, occupying the slot where the Median Horsemen should be. I honestly have no idea what they are, but maybe a WFG member can enlighten me.

The one and only Cavalry Archer of 0 A.D., in form of a chariot. I used the Celtic chariot because there are no accurate chariot meshes for the Persians yet. The official chariots will probably be scythed, as were the historical Achaemenid chariots.

ROMAN UNITS:

Infantry Swordsmen, representing the Polybian Legions of the Roman Republic. Roman texture names are a relatively big mess right now, so I arranged them pretty much according to my own guesses. These units can represent both Hastati and Principes, though I don't know how WFG handles the three ranks of the Polybian Legion (Hastati/Principes/Triarii). I've seen several concepts for this made by the devs, but it seems most sensible to me to do what I did here andjust make Hastati and Principes one unit, as they weren't really that much different. Unless we can have TWO infantry swordsmen for the Romans. (which would be pretty cool)

Roman Infantry Spearmen, the Triarii. Pretty straightforward.

Roman Javelinists, Velites. It's not really clear to me whether they are intended to be in the game or not, as I find no fitting textures for them at all, not to mention their distinctive wolf helmets. (as seen here) However, this is my version of them, using a generic tunic texture and some roman shields and helmets. I hope that some developer can say something about them being in the game or not. (and what the alternative for the Roman javelinist is - I really hope they scrapped the concept of Principes being the Roman javelinists)

Equites, Roman Cavalry. I like them a lot personally.

Again, these units are NOT official ones, but something I created out of existing art assets. I guess, however, that the final units will be similar.

[Almin]

Awesome, awesome, awesome!!! Great Stuff!!11!!

I know, that these are not official (yet), but I just think that the signs (? not sure whether thats correct in english), which the "Mada Sparabara" or Median Spearmen in the first picture are wearing, seem a little bit flat to me (flat as in flat-screen). Will this be overworked or is this ok this way?

Edited August 15, 2011 by Almin

[Mythos_Ruler]

Good sleuthing, SMST. This is exactly why I threw those textures into the Public SVN, to see what a motivated sleuth would come up with! I do have to say you are pretty close on some of these. A lot of the textures and actors for these units will be modified heavily before they will be released.

[SMST]

I am primarily interested in two things right now:

1. Is the Persian Cavalry lineup final as it is, or is there any chance of getting the elephant back into the picture by moving the Cataphract to the CS Cavalry Spearman slot? What will the Cavalry Spearman be, if not a Cataphract? And lastly, what are those Cavalry Javelinists exactly? Hycranian Cavalry?

2. What are the current plans regarding the Roman infantry? Will Hastati and Principes be seperate units, or will both fall into the same category? (CS Infantry Swordsman) Are Velites to be included?

[Mythos_Ruler]

I am primarily interested in two things right now:

1. Is the Persian Cavalry lineup final as it is, or is there any chance of getting the elephant back into the picture by moving the Cataphract to the CS Cavalry Spearman slot? What will the Cavalry Spearman be, if not a Cataphract? And lastly, what are those Cavalry Javelinists exactly? Hycranian Cavalry?

The Persian cav lineup is pretty much decided. The Cavalry Spearman will be Cappadocian Cavalry. The Champion Cav will be the Bactrian Lancer--less heavily armoured than they currently appear in the game, but still formidable. At the very least the War Elephant will stay in the game as an editor unit for custom scenarios. Who knows, we might try to wriggle it into the civ lineup somehow, but I'm not really concerned with that right now.

As an aside, I can tell you though that the Elite Median Spearman looks different than what you have there.

2. What are the current plans regarding the Roman infantry? Will Hastati and Principes be seperate units, or will both fall into the same category? (CS Infantry Swordsman) Are Velites to be included?

After a few months of internal discussions with the main historian, Shogun, we've decided to make the Principes a promoted version of the Hastatus (Infantry Swordsman), that is given the ability to throw an initial volley of pila before closing with the enemy. This opened the infantry skirmisher slot for us to include the Veles, which allows for those cool wolf helmets and suchness.

This has already been regularized in the Roman civ profile in the DD:

http://trac.wildfire...A_Romans_PreImp

[SMST]

The Persian cav lineup is pretty much decided. The Cavalry Spearman will be Cappadocian Cavalry. The Champion Cav will be the Bactrian Lancer--less heavily armoured than they currently appear in the game, but still formidable. At the very least the War Elephant will stay in the game as an editor unit for custom scenarios. Who knows, we might try to wriggle it into the civ lineup somehow, but I'm not really concerned with that right now.

Seeing as you already gave the Ptolemies three Champion Units in your DD for "The Successors", is something like this possible for the Persians as well?

And I'd really like to know who the CavJavs are.

As an aside, I can tell you though that the Elite Median Spearman looks different than what you have there.

I believe I saw one with a Phrygian cap and scale armor on one recent screenshot. I like this one here better, though.

After a few months of internal discussions with the main historian, Shogun, we've decided to make the Principes a promoted version of the Hastatus (Infantry Swordsman), that is given the ability to throw an initial volley of pila before closing with the enemy. This opened the infantry skirmisher slot for us to include the Veles, which allows for those cool wolf helmets and suchness.

This has already been regularized in the Roman civ profile in the DD:

http://trac.wildfire...A_Romans_PreImp

That's a relief. I know the DD for the Romans, but Unit portraits and the textures indicated that the Princeps (which is the singular of Principes) should be the Infantry Javelinist. Which would be kind of weird.

[Mythos_Ruler]

Don't worry. It's all in good hands.

Persian CavJav is Median Cavalry. The CavSword (cavalry with a hatchet) is Hyrcanian Cavalry.

[LusitanCenturion]

Amasing work!!!

[Mythos_Ruler]

I started some preliminary work on the Roman unit textures, SMST.

Triarii

I've also been thinking of a concept for Roman ranks. Thinking maybe the Romans could have two ranks instead of 3, Recruit and Veteran. Recruits are analogous to "Advanced" while Veterans are "Elite." Roman units would take a few seconds longer to train and they'd require a little bit more XP to promote.

[SMST]

Trarii are great.

I agree that your proposed concept would solve quite a few issues regarding similarities between Roman ranks. I personally think, though, that this should only apply to infantry.

It seems that the Romans gave WFG the most trouble throughout th wohle development.