Zulu Mod!!!

[Sundjata Keita]

Zulu Total War

The Zulu mod is already in production

http://img23.exs.cx/img23/4568/zulucharge7bq.png



It will go from the rise of Shaka at the start of the 1800's to the zulu's downfall about 1870. The exact dates are still undecided.

The map will be of South Africa and Zululand but the historical battles will probably be in other areas of Africa as well.

The team so far is me doing the modelling and Dclare doing the campaign map. Any help of course is always welcome and we will probably be co-operating with the africa colonization mod with some things.

Here is the first unit, the main zulu warrior infantry (impis)


http://img218.exs.cx/img218/337/zulu2fc.png
http://img189.exs.cx/img189/5422/zulu26ap.png


The factions will include as many of the native tribes as possible as well as the Boers and British. The Zulus will be the senate and the tribes they encompassed will be the roman factions. The tech trees will be altered massively so that the zulus have an advantage in number of men but not in skill. The mod will be as realistic to the time as possible without making the game boring. Later on the Zulus will get riflemen as they did in real life by stealing the weapons of dead British soldiers.

Post here if you want to join the team, make a contibution or give any historical information or pm me.

[stichmaster1]

im pretty sure my mod is officially dead since im the only person doing work on it, so i guess i can join i know how to edit texts and im trying to learn about how to make a map. we also might be ableto alter the old forums for my mod to be used for this one.

[dark_shadow89]

1800's to 1870's...bit of a short time span don't you think?

[Sundjata Keita]

Thats a shame about the colonization as it would of been a really great mod. If you could get the forums for this one that would be great as there are a lot of things that need discussing including game balance, the map, buildings, dates, historical battles, traits, the family trees etc.

~:cheers:

It's good that you can edit texts as that is one of my weakpoints. I think Dclare is handling the map but I'm sure help would be much appreciated. One of the things we are getting sorted now is where the various tribes will go. Here is a quick map I did a while ago. It is very rough and I know who went in some of the question mark regions now.


http://img11.exs.cx/img11/6062/southafricacolonizationcopy8zg.png


@dark_shadow89

Turns will probably be months - I think some other mods are doing this aren't they - any news on the scripting problems people were having before of making turns into months

[stichmaster1]

the forums are completely editable and after i talk to sir ireland i will change them, he is a historian and would like to learn how to skin so he might be able to help.

[Sundjata Keita]

Excellent!

Some screenshots of the warwickshire regiment on foot coming soon.

[Myrddraal]

I've been waiting for this. Good stuff ~:)

[Epistolary Richard]

Definitely looks original and exciting , best of luck with it. It's certainly a period of history that's very interesting when you read up on it and the meteoric rise of Shaka and the Zulu fits in quite well with the RTW game concept of going out there and conquering everyone!

Just one small question: I was wondering why the impis are armed with blades? Did they not fight with stabbing spears?

[Duke Malcolm]

Can't wait, this and the Napoleonic Mod shall be the best (my favourite time periods).
Time to re-enact the Defense of Rorke's Drift, and to win Isandhlwana (as the mighty Empire, of course)

[Sundjata Keita]

Just one small question: I was wondering why the impis are armed with blades? Did they not fight with stabbing spears?

The blades are assegai, I think I will redo the model for them as it does not make it obvious enough. You are thinking of Iklwas the spear that they used before Shaka invented the assegai.

This is what the assegai should look like

http://www.eknifeworks.com/ProdImagesLarge/CS95F.jpg

It is kind of like a spear ended knife - looking back at the model it looks way too much like a sword.

Anyway thanks for all the support everyone ~:cheers:

[stichmaster1]

my chemistry teacher went to south africa last summer and took a picture of one of the tribal flags, i created a flag that looks as accurate as i can get it at the moment

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/stichmaster1/zuluflag.jpg

[Sundjata Keita]

Nice flag. Do you know what tribe it is from?

[Epistolary Richard]

The blades are assegai, I think I will redo the model for them as it does not make it obvious enough. You are thinking of Iklwas the spear that they used before Shaka invented the assegai.


Ah yes, the iklwa, the wonderful weapon that was named after the noise it makes when you pull it from the gut of an enemy.

re: turns as months
A couple of other people were working on the scripting, there's a thread around the modding forums someplace that goes into it. I think Myrddraal might be your person.

Something else you'll have to address is firearms, again other mods are planning to use them but I don't know how far they've got with them.

[Sundjata Keita]

Firearms:

I have done some modelling for the WASP mod and pike and musket and so have already got a musket model. As for the animations they will be done at a later stage I think but I know it is possible. This was the only thing holding me back from making this mod a little time ago. Now Napoleonic total war 2 have shown it is possible.

Turns as months:

I have read the posts about turns as months and the last I heard is Myrddraal was having problems loading saved games.

[stichmaster1]

i will ask my teacher for the tribes name, and then i will post it here. we allready have a redcoat model, courtesy of one of the ex africa colonization team. will send it to you when i get home.

[dclare4]

Technically the area being covered will be kwaZulu Natal, parts of Mozambique, Orange-Free State, the Transvaal but focusing mainly on that particular area and chronicling the rise of the Zulu empire under Dingiswayo and then Shaka and the latter's successors. The period will run from 1800 to somewhere circa 1890 (when was gold discovered around the Transvaal again?) but it will definitely not include the great Anglo-Boer War. I've been conceptualizing this project for some time now, it was originally meant to run with the old CHINA map from MTW. The game will balance out as follows:

african tribal groups - javelin type weapons, skirmish tactics, development into melee tactics with iklwa type weapons. potentially superior in close fighting. Basic unit is a hunter-gatherer hunting group.

european colonials - firearm type weapons (musket and rifle), close and then open order tactics, firepower range advantage, poor in close fighting. Basic unit is the colonial farmer armed with a miscellany of old muskets.

Thus the balance is struck by the europeans being able to kill at vastly longer range and hopefully demoralize their foes before they come in close while the african tribes strive to get within close range and to improve their melee tactics.

Comte de Clare

[stichmaster1]

the forums are alive and need to be populated! anybody who is a team member post about yourself in the "current members" sub-forum.

http://s9.invisionfree.com/Zulu__Total_War/index.php

sundjata keita: beware this is a completely new forum due to the porblems we were having with the old forums.

[Sundjata Keita]

great work stitchmaster1. I urge lots of people to sign up even if you don't want to be in the team. Also could people post links to the forums on other popular totalwar sites. ~:cheers:

Also the models for the wawrickshire regiment are done but the vertex weights are messed up and so the models fly upside down. ~D Might post some screenshots to show you.

[stichmaster1]

www.stratcommandcenter.com

www.twcenter.com

those are the only other rtw sites that i know of

[Myrddraal]

You forget the official site:

www.totalwar.com

[Sundjata Keita]

Have posted links at all three other sites and just for the record its twcenter.net

Hopefully this will mean more support which is always good news.

[Sundjata Keita]

Does anyone know if the vertex weights in the vertex weights table can be saved or transfered to a different file? I have fixed the problem with the wawrickshire regiment infantry but it was quite time consuming and there is probably a quicker way to do it. Just got to do the textures for the backback and solve a few other glitches and it is finished. Screenshots coming soon.

[Sundjata Keita]

Here is a working shot of the wawrickshire regiment infantry

http://img229.exs.cx/img229/8687/wawrickshire7jb.png

Another little question out to any modellers - I know that in game if the textures mess up it is because of in the uv map more than one map assigned to each vertex but does anybody know how to find out which vertexes are causing the problem? I have tried breaking all the vertexes in the uv map but this seams to do nothing.

[dclare4]

Wow that was quick!! Looks really nice - all they need now are the Martini-Henrys!

A comment though, perhaps the packs can be a little bit smaller, more rounded (less box like) - though keep that boxy look for another chap we'll be doing - the rear echelon troops (blue dress uniformed dudes)!! Also could you add a 3D model of the white ammunition pouch for the Slade-Wallace equipment and the blackened leather valise on the right (those pouches visible in your screenshot) and maybe make the neck area a bit more visible so we can detail that as well. Those are the key points of detail in a British infantryman I think - the facings on the cuffs, the shoulder-straps and the neck stock cuz thats where they usually have distinguishing buttons/pins and stuff.

Great work on the impi infantry. As we go along I hope we can do differentiations like for married and unmarried regiments, the regiments that used the bigger (almost man sized) shields and the ones that used the smaller new-type ones. All African troops would start off with basic throwing assegais and have the knobkerrie perhaps as close-in weapon but only after development (Marian reforms sort of thing) would they get to develop the short stabbing iklwa.

Will post here and in our own forum my ideas for ZTW.

Best regards,
Comte de Clare

[dclare4]

This is how I planned the ZTW (originally for MTW) mod. It's in list form and actually if anyone has information, comments or ideas about the various topics feel free to speak up. Various technological advances listed including military tactics, economics, medicine, religion, etc. will be represented by constructable buildings.

Zulu Total War

TRIBES
Mthethwa - south near Tugela River
abakwaZulu
eLangeni
Matabele - built on core of Khumalo tribe

Ndwandwe - Nongoma, north near Pongola River
Hlube - north
Ngwane - north in Swaziland, periodically at war with Ndwandwe, later became the Swazi
Qwabe - near coast
Buthelezi - west of Mthethwa
abaQulusi
Mfengu - central region?
Xhosa - south Cape area
Tswana - Botswana?
Tsonga - central Mozambique
Shona - Rhodesia
Sotho - Basotho "Basuto land" or "Lesotho"
Pedi - Sekhukhuneland area bounded by the Limpopo, Vaal and Komati rivers

NGUNI FACTIONS
Zulu amaBandla (Tribal Council) - Senate Faction - Senzangakhona
Mthethwa - Dingiswayo
Buthelezi
Ndwandwe - Zwide
Gqosa
uSuthu
Mandhlakazi
Swazi (Swaziland)
Xhosa
Mfengu
Basotho (Basotholand - Butha Buthe/Thaba Bosiu)
Nyawos
Ndebele (Rhodesia/Transvaal)

NGUNI MEDICINE
Herbalist (iNyanga)
Medicines (umuThi)
Royal Herbalist (Royal iziNyanga)
Witch Doctor (isAngoma)
Throwing of Bones (Amathambo)
Spirit Powers (Imimoya Nayambibi)
Diviner (isAnusi)
Animal Charmer - enables the troop type 'Simba pride'

NGUNI ECONOMICS
Cattle Herding
Mixed Pastoralism
Mixed Crop Cultivation
Corn Cultivation
Slave Traders

NGUNI SMITHING TECHNIQUES
Primitive Smithing Techniques
Contemporary Smithing Techniques
Ancient Smithing Techniques
Modern Smithing Techniques

NGUNI TRADING
Portuguese Trading Post
European Trading Post
Missionary Visitors
Mission Station
Mission School
European Residency

NGUNI POLITICS
Tribal Elders
Chieftainship (Induna)
Clan Alliances
Tribal King
High Council (Ibandhla)

NGUNI CIVICS
Tribal Homesteads (Izimizi)
Minor Kraal
Military Kraal (Ikhanda)
Economic Kraal
Royal Garrison Barracks (Amakhanda)

NGUNI MILITARY
Warrior Age Groups (iNtanga)
Regiment (Ibutho)
Regimental Organization (Amabutho)

NGUNI MILITARY INNOVATIONS
Hunting and Dancing
Primitive Drill
Barefoot Marching - increased speed but lower morale
Military Drill
Close-In Assegai Fighting
Uniformity of Dress
Shield Storage Huts
Auxilliary Porters (uDibi)

NGUNI DISCIPLINE AND MORALE
Rites of Passage (Circumcision)
Passage into Manhood (isiCoco)
Washing the Assegai
Immediate Reward and Punishment at Royal Reviews
Cleansing Ceremonies
Tests of Courage
Periodic Cleansing of the Weak
Banning Circumcision
Female Regiments
Close Discipline
Horns of the Buffalo (Impondo Zankomo)
Hit-and-Run Tactics
Royal Feasts
Mounted Warriors

NGUNI WEAPONRY
Nguni Warclub (Knobkerrie)
Nguni Throwing Spear (Umkhonto)
Nguni Stabbing Spear (Iklwa)
Nguni Warshield (isiHlangu)
Nguni Regimental Shields (isiHlangu)
Nguni Small Warshield (umBumbuluzo)

NGUNI UNIT SIZES
Age Group of Warriors (iNtanga) - 25 (50)
Warrior Company (iViyo) - 50 (100)

Veteran Warriors (Umpakati)
Young Warriors (Izimpohlo)

NGUNI REGIMENTAL NAMES
inGobamakhosi
iNluyengwe
uMbonambi
uThulwana


EUROPEAN FACTIONS
English Settlers - English Militia - Natal Constabulary - Imperial Yeomanry
Burgher Voortrekkers - Boer Militia - Boer Mounted Police - Boer Commando
Native Scouts - European Explorers - European Hunting Party - Great White Hunters

Khoi-Khoi Mounted Scouts (Dutch Boer)
Native Levies - Natal Native Contingent (English Colonist)

EUROPEAN STRUCTURES
English Missionaries - English Mission Station - Anglican Church - Anglican Cathedral
European Traders - European Observers - European Intervention

BRITISH REGIMENTS
King's Dragoon Guards
Duke of Cambridge Lancers
Buffs
Warwickshires
Kings Royal Rifle Corps
British Regulars
British Volunteers
Highland Light Infantry (trews)
Gordon Highlanders (kilted)
Troop of South African Mounted Rifles
Natal Native Horse
Natal Native Contingent
Royal Marine Light Infantry
Naval Brigade
Naval Brigade Gatling
Royal Artillery Field Battery
Royal Artillery Rocket Battery
Royal Artillery Heavy Battery

[Sundjata Keita]

Exellent! Well done on getting all that info ~:cheers:

A few points

The zulus had an autocratic goverment and so them have a council seems wrong. Instead I suggest we have the senate as the upper class which were the lords or cheifs of the different areas (called amaKhosi).

To clear up the zulu regimenting system. The zulu warsystem consisted of 14 regiments each divided into wings. The wings would be decided by age,whether the person was married and strength. The numbers of the regiments differed greatly and when one wing was depleted there would be a general levy in which young boys of age 15 would be given one year probation and training and then a new regiment would be formed. Then over time the young men in the new regiment would be drafted up to other regiments which were depleted of men. The wings were also divided into companies which often were given a kraal of there own. The leaders of each regiment were called Induna-Yesibaya and were about the same age as the regiment. Second in command were the Induna-Yohlangoti who looked after the regiment.

One idea I thought of was having the wardogs as cattle herders beacuse the zulus often brought cattle with them into battle. They would not be able to attack if that is possible.

Some Nguni crafts are

Metalwork (basic weaponary)
Basketry
Beadwork
Fabrics (making robes)

The Xhosa were part of the southern Nguni people

The abaQulusi were defeated pretty quickly and should not get a tribe of their own

The Matabele were people who escaped Shakas rule and are basically Nguni people and therefore should have a good tech-tree

The Mfengu were situated in the East Cape province but were allied with the British and so were mostly situated around wherever the conquests of the British went. Then they formed levies and khoi-khoi.

Levy

http://www.geocities.com/cdferree/xhosa/levy.jpg

You forgot the San or Bushmen, I know they originated more in the region of the Kalahari desert but they did spread across Southern Africa so I think they should be included.

Also I think the tribes should be oriantated more towards a religious and mystic life. Zulu religion includes belief in a creator god (Nkulunkulu), who is above interacting in day-to-day human affairs. It is possible to appeal to the spirit world only by invoking the ancestors (AmaDlozi) through divination processes. As such, the diviner, who is almost always a woman, plays an important part in the daily lives of the Zulu. It is believed that all bad things, including death, are the result of evil sorcery or offended spirits. No misfortune is ever seen as the result of natural causes. Another important aspect of Zulu religion is cleanliness. Separate utensils and plates were used for different foods, and bathing often occurred up to three times a day.

For medicine I think you have got everything right. There needs to be the inclusion of some powerful drugs though for healing (intelezi)

Some ceremonies which could happen at a building with a changable option (such as an ampiatheatre) could include religious ceremonies like ukubonga ukuthetha

Think thats about it, don't know if you've got the European stuff right but if it's as good as the Zulu stuff that's great! ~D

[Myrddraal]

Are you going to do historical battles..

You must

[Sundjata Keita]

Yes of course historical battles are a must. A preliminary list of battles

Isandlwana
Rorkes Drift
Qokli Hill
Battle of Umbrella River
Khambula
Zulu Mountain
Hlobane

If anyone can think of anymore or has any suggestions please post here.

[Baiae]

Yes of course historical battles are a must. A preliminary list of battles

Isandlwana
Rorkes Drift
Qokli Hill
Battle of Umbrella River
Khambula
Zulu Mountain
Hlobane

If anyone can think of anymore or has any suggestions please post here.

What about Blood River, betweem the Voortrekkers and Zulu in 1838. Or is this too early?

[Sundjata Keita]

Not at all is this too early and how could I forget the battle of blood river, wasn't there a film called Blood River? Didn't really look into the battles that the Boers fought. Good point though

[Sundjata Keita]

Ok have some solid info now I think

Zulu regiments (they are important because these will be where the names of the zulu units come from) :

uMbonambi
uNokhenke
inGobamakhosi
uThulwana - kings royal regiment (dress is all white)
uMcijo - special forces (dress is all black)
izinsizwa
iNdluyengwe - unmarried
iNloko
iNdakawombe
imiVa - reserves
uFasimba
uThalwana
iziNyozi
unDloko
inDwali
uBheuwula
uHtwayi
uFalza
uDududu
imVuemnyama
uKhandempenvu
iShlangu
iMgombamakhosi
uPoke
inKonya Ebenmvu
uGibabanye
iziPeze
iNdlondlo
umKhuze
uNomgamulana
umZwangwenya
umSikala
isiBabule
iNkonkoni
uShisizwe
imiDwaimba
iNdlu-yengwe

And here are pictures of most regiment's sheilds

http://img102.exs.cx/img102/2266/z11ua.jpg
http://img190.exs.cx/img190/664/z25xy.jpg
http://img127.exs.cx/img127/3006/z30oq.jpg
http://img218.exs.cx/img218/1871/z46yj.png

If anyone has info on what the other regiments are then please say.

[QwertyMIDX]

Are the Boers going to a faction as well? The 'Great Trek' happened in the 1830's and 1840's and subsequent founding of the Transvaal and Orange Free State are MAJOR events in South African history.

[Sundjata Keita]

Yes the Boers will be a faction but the the mod will not cover the Anglo-Boer wars in the 1890's.

[Myrddraal]

The images aren't appearing. I just get
"Images hosted by Tripod"

[Sundjata Keita]

Has that fixed the problem?

[Epistolary Richard]

Yep.

[stichmaster1]

those are amazing!, post them in our forums

[Sundjata Keita]

It's as good as done.

Just a little update on the plan for what I am going to do next. The next unit I am modelling is the Gordon highlanders which Dclare has kindly done the texture for. After I have done that I am going to start churning Zulu units out, providing some kind of unit list has been made by this point. After that I am going to tackle some of the issues we are going to encounter, one of which I have been discussing at twcenter, which is low sandbag/biscuit tin walls. Anyone got any ideas on how to do that? So far I have got the idea of modding the battering ram to be like a stationary wall that then certain units can go onto. The only problem with this is that the Zulu's should be able to fight and jump over these walls.

Also some research needs to be done that I don't have time to do at the moment. Basically all someone needs to do is go through the list of Zulu regiments and type them into a search engine and try to find out what each of them did. (like what I have done for the uThulwana and uMcijo). There is no rush but it does need doing at some point.

[Sundjata Keita]

Here are some pics of the Gordon Highlanders, they are still not finished as they need to have their boots done, the vertex weights redone and a uv map made for the martini-henri

http://img91.exs.cx/img91/1320/gordon6ky.png
http://img230.exs.cx/img230/294/gordon21vs.png

[Myrddraal]

They are looking seriously good. You realise how good you could make Rawks Drift using scripting.

You could literally make the Zulu's walk up to the barricades and start chanting, just like in the film ~:)
Then you would have to conserve your amunition as the brits, without letting too many zulus escape to later join the attack.

About the models, you should make the pouch stick out, it wouldn't be too many extra polys and it would make it look much better.

[Sundjata Keita]

Thnx Myrddraal. The historical battles I think will be one of the highlights of this mod especially with scripting. The pouch will look better once the chest has been flattened and I am not too worried about polys to be honest so if it makes the model look better and I have some time I will do it.

[stichmaster1]

i can get started on changing the shields to the ones above if you send me the zulu skin.

i like the highlanders, but they seem to have a little yellow stripe in their arm pit, dont know if that is supposed to be there... but they look great!

[Sundjata Keita]

No it's not supposed to be there and it is because the skin is stretched out over the chest. Just have to edit the uv map slightly.

Right what format do you want the skin in?

[dclare4]

Hi Sundjata and all friends here,

First off, I'm quite flattered, coming from you Sundjata, compliments as above are like winning the Nobel prize. I'm an utter novice in most aspects actually and thats why I focus more on the African factions/info cuz comparatively the European side will be easy to do (I think) though there are a few 'tricks' I want to try with them ;-)

I actually didn't include the individual regiments for fear of using up the available units and for fear of repeating myself but if you're so inclined, it would be great! I actually planned on representing the veterans like uThulwana but having generic troops for the others but it would be nice to command the actual troops, differentiated by age and skill :-D

The Boers I think (and some colonial type militia) will use the Greek Archer model (the guy with the round hat). Since most wore homespun I'm a bit at a loss as to how to make them less 'uniform' ;-P

The Gordons are lovely! It looks though like this particular Gordon is armed with a musket? Thats okay but later we should have Martini-Henrys for the line troops.

http://www.martinihenry.com/

Like the idea of the 'war-dogs' as cattle herders - I wish there were some way that we could make 'rear-line troops' somehow necessary with each army. The Zulu and African troops would have cattle herders, the British would have ammunition mules and other blue coated pork-pie hatted fellows, the Boers probably would have younger boys to run ammo belts for them or something...

What do you think of my 'ghost and the darkness' idea though. I guess it's not historical at all but I thought it might be an interesting thing to try. I was watching Ghost and the Darkness and Brotherhood of the Wolf when I thought of that (if that explains things). Actually I want the wildlife to have a part in things as part of the 'rebel' faction or maybe even have a 'wildlife' faction of sorts, I don't know.

I rely on you to double-check my work so to speak ;-)

Cheers,
Clare

[Sundjata Keita]

Ammunition mules! What a great idea. We can have lots of different types of non fighting units that are just there for ammo etc. Instead of making them necessary though maybee we could just give an army a big bonus if they have them. Like better stamina or something. Is this possible?

For the Martini-Henrys I was thiking of keeping the same basic model and scaling it so it looks like a Martini-Henry rifle. The musket was just to make the picture look better ~;)

Anyway I have some more info on the Zulu regiments thanks to Baiae who has done some research for us ~:cheers:

The names in italics are those that weren't on the original list. The ones in brackets after the name are variations in names and the name in brackets after the info is the name of the authour who wrote the book the info was got from. :dizzy2:

1. uMbonambi

The uMbonambi regiment carried shields of white pattern on black. Their headdress was composed of an ostrich feather and also red feathers of the crested lourie bird.
Fought as left ‘horn’ of army at Isandlwana (also reported in ‘chest’)
Fought at Ulundi
Shields black and white (circumstantial)

2. uNokhenke

Fought as right ‘horn’ of army at Isandlwana
Fought as left ‘horn’ of army at Ulundi
Fought as ‘chest’ at Isandlwana

3. inGobamakhosi

The inGobamakhosi regiment's headdress was composed of leopard and monkey skin, cow tails and bunches of widow bird feathers, whilst their chest, back, and legs were adorned with cow tails. They numbered about six thousand men at the Battle of Isandhlwana (circumstantial)
Fought as left ‘horn’ of army at Isandlwana
Fought at Ulundi

4. uThulwana - kings royal regiment (dress is all white)

Reserve at Isandhlwana
Made up of older, married men
White shields and ostrich plumes (Lloyd)
Very high status regiment, King Cetewayo was a former member

5. uMcijo - special forces (dress is all black)

Fought as ‘chest’ at Isandlwana

6. izinsizwa

Appears to be a generic name for unmarried men

7. iNdluyengwe – unmarried

Unmarried
Reserve at Isandhlwana

8. iNloko

9. iNdakawombe

10. imiVa – reserves

Appears to be generic name for reserves
Singular (reserve) = umuVa

11. uFasimba

12. uThalwana

repeat of uThulwana?

13. iziNyozi


14. unDloko (uDloko)

Fought at Rorke’s Drift
Reserve at Isandlwana
Fought at Ulundi
Red shields with white spots (Lloyd)

15. inDwali

16. uBheuwula

Black and white shields

17. uHtwayi

18. uFalza

19. uDududu

Right horn at Isandlwana

20. imVuemnyama

Brown and black shields

21. uKhandempenvu

22. iShlangu (iSangqu)

White and brown shields
Right ‘horn’ at Isandlwana (also reported in ‘chest’)
Fought at Ulundi

23. iMgombamakhosi

24. uPoke

25. inKonya Ebenmvu

26. uGibabanye

27. iziPeze

28. iNdlondlo

Reserve at Isandlwana
Fought at Ulundi
Unmarried
Red and white shields
Fought at Rorke’s Drift
Wore ostrich feathers and cow tails

29. umKhuze

30. uNomgamulana

31. umZwangwenya

32. umSikala

33. isiBabule

34. iNkonkoni

Name means blue wildebeest

35. uShisizwe

White and red/brown shield
Raised in 1867?

36. imiDwaimba

37. iNdlu-yengwe (iNdluyengwe)

Reserve at Isandhlwana
Fought at Ulundi
Unmarried
Brown and white shields (also reported as black and white by Lloyd)
Fought at Rorke’s Drift
Cowtail necklaces

38. iMbube

Name means ‘Lion’
Fought at Ulundi
Fought in right ‘horn’ at Isandlwana

39. uMxhapho

Fought at Ulundi
Fought in ‘chest’ at Isandlwana

40. uVe

Young regiment at time of Anglo-Zulu wars (Lloyd)
Fought at Ulundi
Fought in left ‘horn’ at Isandlwana

41. iNsukamngeni,

Fought at Ulundi

42. iQwa

Fought at Ulundi

43. uYengandlovu

Pre-Shakan regiment – Mtetwa tribe (Bryant)

44. imQula

Pre-Shakan regiment – Qwabe tribe (Bryant)

45. amaPela

Pre-Shakan regiment – Ndwandwe tribe (Bryant)

[Sundjata Keita]

How about this as a sheild for the iNdlondlo?

http://img221.exs.cx/img221/7209/indlondlo8vy.png

The odd shading is beacuse of lighting in 3dsmax so ignore that. I have made the weapon a bit more like an assegai but I am still not wholly happy with it.

[stichmaster1]

i can take it in anything but .cas form, i dont have 3dsmax yet on my new computer. so preferably a 16 color .bmp or a .tga file either will work

[Sundjata Keita]

Great! I will need your email adress. You can pm it to me if you want

[stichmaster1]

sent^

is the shield in a "half" uv or is the full uv map for the shield on the skin you will be sending me, if i have a choice, the full one would be best.

~:cheers:

[Sundjata Keita]

Full uv map. This is because I knew it would be easier to make cowhide sheilds. I'm so clever ~;)
Sent it to you now

[dclare4]

Hi there Everyone,

Pardon my long silences, I'm starting a new job and I don't get to get online much (at work at least). Yeah Sundjata, that sounds like a great idea for the musket/Martinis. Yeah it makes it clearer that he's carrying a firearm. Go for it!

Thanks Baiae for the research. We'll need lots of help like that to really get those lovely little details into the mod.

What would Isandhlwana be without those apocryphal ammo boxes ;-D I wish that we could make them really function like ammo carriers but I think the best we can do is use them to 'encourage the others' like, I think, Generals and Screaming Women in the vanila RTW game. I don't know why almost NO modern game takes supply and logistics seriously!! Even the simple presence of 'ammunition wagons' like in the old board games - heck, the so-called Real Time Strategy games like Red Alert or Command and Conquer have basic supply and gather rules!

You know what the rear line troops for the Brits look like, right? The guys in blue coats with sun helmet (officers only maybe) and those pillbox caps that make them look like bellboys at a hotel?

Some links:

http://wmhocker.com/zulu.htm

Some bad news too - I've been trying to do a Gatling gun but I fear that the game still has a prohibition on repeating weapons (ie weapons with very quick loading time) - anyone have any ideas to go around this (short bursts as a single shot perhaps but darned if I know how to do that...)

Cheers,
Clare

[Sundjata Keita]

I think I have come up with a way to do an illusion of a rapid fire weapon. You could make the model for one bullet several bullets and put the damage of the bullets to a higher amount to make it seem as if more were hitting. Don't know how random that would appear though. Are we going to be able to see the bullets?

I think I know what the rear line troops looked like. Of course I will always need a picture to do an accurate model so thanks for the link.

[stichmaster1]

have downloaded the skin and will start work tomorrow. if im not here for a while im slaving over the new skin or out with the gf.

[dclare4]

Hi Sundjata,

I think the models are needed for the projectiles to work - they need to be physically there. But I think there might be something to that idea - a single shot that looks like many shots. Maybe you could make it like naval 'chain shot' - model a number of bullets in maybe a DNA helix pattern (to represent MG fire spread) attach together by invisible stalks and fire the entire pattern as a single bullet while linking their firing sound with a continuous MG burst firing sound (are new sounds possible?).

I tried using the repeating scorpion as the basis but the thing kept firing too darn slowly still. Would want to have a 'crewed' weapon really, particularly for the Naval Brigade heavy Gatlings on cannon wheels, two to three man Maxims (is this right for the time period or were these available only later?) or Hotchkiss guns for the Boers and maybe Portuguese, plus the usual artillery guns (is it possible to have different loading styles for breach/muzzle loaders?)

Cheers chaps,
Clare

[Sundjata Keita]

I will use my initiative to work out which takes priority. ~;)

But once you have finsihed one of the skins can you email it me back so I can add some more stuff. I am going to create a list of extra bits that some zulu regiments need, headbands, feathers etc.

[Sundjata Keita]

Only just noticed your post Dclare. Guns aren't really my forte so I'm not sure about whether those fit into the time period. About implementing them, what's the quickest you can get it to fire? It would need to be fairly fast for the model idea to work.

Here is the list of extras I can think that could be put on Zulu units

Ankle feathers
Elbow feathers
Neck feathers
Head feathers
Wrist bands
Neck bands
Head bands
Knee bands
Animal skin sash
Animal skin waistdress
Skin paints

Are there any other? I don't think there are but I might have forgotten one. These can be put onto some of the units to show their importance ie. the more important the more stuff. Got to be carefull with the paints though because they did not put vast amounts on.

[Sundjata Keita]

Here are the Zulu iShlangu regiment. They started off as iNdlondlo warriors but ended up as the iShlangu regiment.

http://img224.exs.cx/img224/6382/indlondlo4nj.png
http://img233.exs.cx/img233/8837/indlondlo26kz.png

Looks like I forgot to save the fix I did of the assegai so they will be stuck with a sword for now.

[Sundjata Keita]

I have done some different textures that can go on different regiments once the sheilds are done. If I am correct stitchmaster is doing the sheild textures?

I have done this one

http://img139.exs.cx/img139/9356/regiment3ge.png
http://img41.exs.cx/img41/1925/regiment27tm.png

and I have done this one with a smaller shield. Can't remember what the shield is called now but it does have a name if anyone knows it.

http://img139.exs.cx/img139/2659/newregiment2ca.png
http://img238.exs.cx/img238/6149/newregiment29zq.png

I have now fixed the assegai and saved it this time. Just waiting for the sheild textures now.

[Myrddraal]

Looking great!

[Sundjata Keita]

Thanks Myrrdraal. Ok some good news, I have fixed some of the uv map problems I was having and so now I can get some more in-game screens. Also Dark_Shadow89 is going to start doing unit descriptions. Right now I am going to begin trying to implement the mealie bag walls. Wish me luck

[Myrddraal]

Can I ask how you intend to do this? Are you going to use a similar method to the one suggested in the WWII thread? like very short walls...

If you are, then how are the zulus going to get over them?

[Sundjata Keita]

I didn't know that the WWII mod was going to have short walls. Well we have been discussing it on our forums and have come to the conclusion that we will modify the ballistas so that they are small sandbag walls and instead of the cranking animation a men firing animation will be used and the single big bullet turned into lots of tiny bullets. some problems are will the bullets look as if they have hit lots of Zulus? Will Zulus be able to climb over the wall? How many men can we get on one wall?
At the moment we are hoping that if the wall is destroyed that units will be able to pass through it. Here is the wall so far. I quickly did a frame of animation so I could add some gordon highlanders behind the wall

http://img140.exs.cx/img140/4110/wall16xg.png
http://img233.exs.cx/img233/5123/wall26ig.png http://img177.exs.cx/img177/5465/wall32mw.png
http://img177.exs.cx/img177/9013/wall43th.png

I have got the wall in game and all that needs doing really is the animations for the people behind the wall. I am sure there are going to be more problems yet though.

[Myrddraal]

Here is an idea, maybe you could make the model of the sandbags as a model which can be placed in the battle editor, then for each city, make a custom map and put it on the campaign. The zulus wouldn't be able to climb over them, so you could make holes in the wall every so often which they can pour through...

Maybe?

[stichmaster1]

we could just make a new animation that has the zulu jumping over the wall, and then we wont have to deal with the slaugtering at a flood point.

[dclare4]

Hi Sundjata,

I know there are specific names for the small shield that Cetshwayo instituted and the older large shields that the veteran regiments used. Will look it up. BTW have you checked out the South African Military History Society? I've done a lot of my research there online.

I like that pic of the Highlander at the Mealie bag walls. I think, for practical purposes we could just have them transport them like a war engine but very slowly rather than the probably impractical method of having them build it up bag by bag. Alternately you could make them 'buildable' like you build siege weapons and at the start of the battle they could be placed anywhere you want but not moveable (but probably destroyable? Could there be an animation of the thing falling apart like the way the trebuchets or scorpions fell apart in MTW?). Imagine if you build a bunch of battering rams but use them as missile shields rather than to batter down gates. BTW - not just mealie bag shields but how about Wagon Laagers? For the Boers particularly, is there a way probably to make this? Probably as a permanent structure in battle, similar to my above suggestion for the battering rams except the model would be unmanned wagons with their horses dismounted. Probably would have to have a specific auxilliary unit to make them buildable though I don't know if you can connect the two.

Oh yeah, a problem too might be these are only available in offensive siege. Is there a way to make them available for every siege battle you think?

Cheers,
Clare

[Sundjata Keita]

Ok lots of good ideas here.

@Myrddraal
This will be a good idea for historical battles and maybee others, especially Rorkes Drift. Unfortunatley the problem is they would get bunched but this would be a problem with the way my walls are going now.

@Stichmaster1
Is just making them jump over it going to work? Does the collision checking work like that? I'm not sure. Anyone know?

@Dclare4
All alomg they were going to be seige weapons and destroyable but even when destroyed the bags are still impassible. Yes the wagons would be good too and we can have them filled with hay or something and then it can all collapse everywhere when it's destroyed or set alight. The Ballistas I have done the wall on are available in all battles.

My conclusion is that when you put ballistas into battle you get two side by side. I am going to build up the wall sideways until only a small gap is left in the middle. Then Zulus will be able to pass through but only very slowly or they will have to move round the sides. It seems silly having them just being able to move round the side but this counteracts their horn manouver quite well.


PS About the names of Zulu war stuff here is a good page

http://africanhistory.about.com/library/bl/blZuluWarVocab.htm

It contains some really interesting stuff that I did not know about.

[Sundjata Keita]

Here is a little battle for you that I did for someone at twcenter who wanted more ingame screens (sorry for lack of updates today but I have had no time to do anything today)

The Zulu impi line up on the nearest hill and prepare for battle. They chant a bit to try and scare the enemy.

http://img175.exs.cx/img175/9013/zulu3ol.png

They have few numbers so they do not create uPondo (horns/wings) but instead send the isiFubachant (chest) forward to charge the enemy. They begin to march down the hill as the British now start to fire upon them.

http://img87.exs.cx/img87/3861/zulu27vr.png

As they see the enemy they begin to charge. About a quarter of the iButho (regiment) are killed from the fire from the bullets. Eventually the Zulus become so close that without proper cover the British must use their bayonets to cut down the enemy (the martini-henry rifle has not been implemented into this model yet so you just have to imagine)

http://img87.exs.cx/img87/6097/zulu36ev.png

The Zulus with their iklwas start to stab at the enemy but due to sustained injuries while charging their numbers are too few and eventually the Zulus flee.

http://img180.exs.cx/img180/6582/zulu49wb.png

[stichmaster1]

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/stichmaster1/yellowshield.bmp

well there it is, the uPoke shield. i know its not of the best quality, but im getting better.

[Sundjata Keita]

That's fine, just make the little things on the sheild more brown but I can do that if you want. Will put the shield onto one of my textures and post some screens of the unit ingame soon.

[stichmaster1]

i can do it but you will have to wait till 6 pm est

[stichmaster1]

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/stichmaster1/07220421.bmp

there is the new one, tell me if you want anything else

[Sundjata Keita]

Good work stichmaster1

Here are some ingame screens of the new Zulu skins

uPoke regiment

http://img223.exs.cx/img223/207/upole9el.png

Another regiment

http://img64.exs.cx/img64/6537/ishangu9oe.png

A shot of them both hopefully distinguishing the yellow shield

http://img216.exs.cx/img216/1959/difference5xb.png

[stichmaster1]

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v650/stichmaster1/greyshield.bmp
uKhandempemvu shield

there is my next skin, hope you like it, send sundjata the file so some screenies are coming soon

[dclare4]

Well they can't make an indefinite number of mealie barricades so maybe if they could be 'scalable' then their use would primarily be to protect against fire or projectiles. Wagons would be of course better protection and impassible but it would likewise be impossible to build a large number of them for 'all around protection'.

Cheers,
Clare

[Sundjata Keita]

Well we can make the mealie bag walls quite expensive so that they can't build loads of them. I think the walls will still be a good defensive structure that can stop flanking as well as a barricade against spears and enemy fire when the Zulus got guns.

Thanks for the next shield stichmaster1 I am going to dirty the grey up a bit if you don't mind to make it more prominent ingame

[Sundjata Keita]

Ok I have implemented stichmaster1's new shield texture into the skin I have made to make the uKhandempemvu regiment.

http://img207.exs.cx/img207/9382/newshield2rm.png
http://img111.exs.cx/img111/5489/newshield28xl.png
http://img180.exs.cx/img180/3139/bam1bt.png

I'm going to start modelling the head peices (all the different feather patterns) soon to make the models really realistic.

[stichmaster1]

i like how you dirtied it up, but get rid of the extreme pairs of button type things, cant remember what they are called, on the grey shield, they dont fit on it right

[Sundjata Keita]

Yeah I just did a quick bit with the burn tool and then I blurred it and then sharpened the edges to create a better shading style. Finally I just dirtied it up with some grunge brushes. Hadn't really noticed the top and bottom bits on the shield were wrong, good spot I will change that now

[Sundjata Keita]

Ok are these shields better

Cut some of the things off this one

http://img42.exs.cx/img42/8118/shielduk2tp.png

Made the yellow dimmer and more obvious

http://img146.exs.cx/img146/4295/yellow4wo.png

[stichmaster1]

i love it, but i wont be able to get very much done in the coming week, end of quarter and my comp is down ~:confused: so i will try and get one every other day or so, thank god i made a backup on my flash drive

[dclare4]

There's pretty!! Lovely work guys!

Clare

[dclare4]

I was thinking, maybe wagons shouldn't be buildable - could we have like a 'wagon unit' that forms a 'cantabrian circle' or maybe attach them to a certain unit type (the Boer auxilliaries)? Mealie bags should be expensive but perhaps not really prohibitively so - impossible to move yes. There's a lot of ground to cover anyways so probably about as expensive as catapults or battering rams maybe?

Clare

[Lonely Soldier]

Hi!
I know I haven't commented before but this mod is looking GREAT!

Have you had any success with your "portable" walls - sandbags.

I have recently started a mod
( https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?p=717588#post717588 ) with the aim of considerably expanding and authenticating the cities in the original campaign and can see no reason why our mod could not be incorporated into many others - if your team is willing.

The mod itself is in question at the moment - mostly technical issues to iron out - but I can see alot of potential for it in conjuntion with other mods.

Please don't mind me if you are not interested!

Yours'
Lonely Soldier

[Sundjata Keita]

Hi Lonley Soldier,

So far I have got the mealie bag wall (sandbag wall) in game but have yet to sort out the animation. When I get a bit more free time. Hopefully this weekend I am going to swap a few animations round to have archers stood behind the walls. Eventually these will be replaced with riflemen but by swapping them round I know it is possible.

I don't know if we need more realistic towns seen as ours is on a completely different map and in a different time period but if we make sure that they can work on the same comp... I don't know.

About moving them - I think they should be stationary like sap points in battlefield view but you can place them at the start of the battle.

A wagon unit would be interesting. Maybee they could replace elephants and we could have people sitting atop the wagon. Like the wagon in this picture

http://www.thediehards.co.uk/images/boer5.jpg

Would they be able to attack or would they be just for supplies or something.

[Lonely Soldier]

I should have been clearer.

I think that once we have the mod's "system" in place, it should just be a matter of switching the original building models with your own.

[Sundjata Keita]

Oh so you are implementing a whole new siege system? That would be good and we would happily incorporate it with our mod if it fits in.

[Lonely Soldier]

Glad to here that!

Our main concern will be the battle map appearence of settlements - but the settlements will be able to have much more variety of appearance on both maps. In terms of sieges - yes we will be implementing a modified system, but the "system" referred to in my earlier post was more regarding the ability to make towns cover more than one tile of the campaign map. Also if anyone has other comments please go to my mod's thread. Its getting difficult to jump between them! Sorry for any inconvenience!

Thanks again!

[dclare4]

Hi there Lonely Soldier,

Actually I'm interested in your efforts more for my 'other mod' the WASP mod (War of Austrian Succession Period) but I think for ZTW we will need to model accurately places like Ladysmith so we'll be glad for any support or info you could share!

Cheers,
Clare (Harlechman)

[Lonely Soldier]

Thanks for the interest!

It would be good if this support could somehow go both ways...
At present the mod has not got a single team member of any useful skill (in technical terms). Currently, I think I am the only member of the "team" :embarassed: and my skills lie more in the research, development and design fields.

So any help anyone couold render would be much appreciated!

Anyways we should probably move this discussion off the Zulu Mod thread (sorry guys!!!) and onto mine: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?p=717652

Once again my sincerest apologies to the Zulu Mod team.

I WILL NOT BE RESPONDING TO ANY MORE QUERIES OR POSTS ON THIS THREAD!!! GO TO MY THREAD: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?p=717652 !!!

Sorry about this whole mess Zulu Mod!

[Sundjata Keita]

It's not really a mess and I like your subtle use of advertising, any further questions will now go into your thread so don't worry. ~:cheers:

[stichmaster1]

we have a new forum in the "major mod" section of the TWC, a link will be posted in this post later.

stichmaster1

[Sundjata Keita]

Yeah I will update my sig in a sec. Here is the link

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/index.php?showforum=71

[stichmaster1]

always a step ahead sundjata ;-) i will resume creating shields in the coming week and have not been able to produce any due to my computer being in the shop, just incase you were wondering.

[Sundjata Keita]

No problem, I have been working on the mealie bag walls. I can get them in game and I have replaced the animations but there must be something I am missing because they still have the firing animation (ballista crew pulling lever down) instead of the archer animation. Just got to find that one and make some other adjustments

[Myrddraal]

Keep us posted... ~;) (screenshots hint hing...)

[Sundjata Keita]

I am going to post some screens of the walls once I manage to get archers firing behind them. I have replaced the animation but now they just stand there.

[Sundjata Keita]

Here are some line infantry in game. It's a a bit of a naf screenshot because I did it quickly but the unit is good.

http://img118.exs.cx/img118/43/lineinfantry4hh.png

[Myrddraal]

I don't know about png format, but you might want to post as a jpg for us modem users...

I still think you should make the pouch 3d ~;)

[Sundjata Keita]

Probably should have mentioned that these pictures are meant to be demonstrating the new helmet and that the textures for the line infantrys' body are not done yet. Later I will dim the textures down a bit and post some more screens. Maybee I'll even make the puch 3D ~;)

[dclare4]

Hey! Nice model there Sundjata! I'll fix it up with the brass spike and front ornament ;-) I'm looking around for pics to fix up a 17th Lancer and 1st Kings Dragoon Guards model - both are generally the same but one has a sword (sabre) the other a lance - but in Hand to Hand it should shift to the sabre as well... (though it's going to be weird when they 'magically' get back all their lances after the battle I guess!)

Harlechman (Clare)

[Sundjata Keita]

It doesn't matter if it looks odd because swapping from primary to secondary weapon always looks odd.

BTW That is your 516th post dclare4, how ironic (go to our forums if you don't understand)

[Sundjata Keita]

OK here is the 1860's British Auxilliaries Sergeant. It's a work in progress.

http://img107.exs.cx/img107/7263/auxillariessarge7kx.png

-The textures for the boots needs to be done
-A new face will be made hopefully (or at least copied and pasted)
-Texture for the bag will be done
-Small adjustments to collar and sleeves etc.

[Sundjata Keita]

Here is the 1860's British Auxilliaries Officer. Again it is a work in progress but I would still like to hear people's opinions.

http://img125.exs.cx/img125/5903/auxillaryofficer1cw.png

[The_Ferret]

Nice... I like it. How do you plan to get the gun working though? When you do our mod may need the information or files neccesary if you were willing to lend a little hand...

Also, the officer would historically carry a rapier and a pistol.

[Sundjata Keita]

Godspetmonkey has already got rifles/muskets working and we will use this as the basis to our own weapons. Currently we are still researching this.

As I said the models are still works in progress and smaller details such as the pistols will be done later if it does not mean there will be too many polygons.

Here is the British 1860's Regimental Sergeant Major.

http://img205.exs.cx/img205/9238/regimentalmajor9uz.png

[dclare4]

Man oh man!! Sundjata those are a treat. Don't worry about the faces and stuff ;-) I'll try working those so they are nice and varied. I've got lots of textures and stuff so I'll polish off the model textures. One comment though, could the RSM (Regt Sergeant Major) be a bit more - muscular? Really macho broadshouldered and intimidating hehehe scare the wits out of the new 'cruitys.

What can I say... it's... beauty beyond words!

Cheers,
Clare (Harlechman)

P.S.
Haha! Wow my 516th post! Yeah I know ;-)

[Sundjata Keita]

Thanks, I will send you the models and textures if you want, then you can do the collars, sleeves and stuff. My textures are just copys and pastes from your textures. Anyway if I carry on at this rate (3 a day) this mod will be completed pretty quickly.

[The_Mark]

Sundjata, how does the Bull horn work?

[Sundjata Keita]

I can't seem to get it to work at the moment, all I get is the line formation, I put it just after the first formation in the text file. Does it need to be the first formation in the list? I had all the units you said I would need. I will have another go now and see

[The_Mark]

No it doesn't need to be the first one. Are you sure you had all the units? The unit types are the same as seen in battle map, when you hover your mouse above a unit.

I checked the required units, you should use these: 2-4 light(/heavy) inf and 2 heavy inf for the main body, (plus 2 missile units, not necessary), 2 heavy inf + 2 light(/heavy) inf per horn, that is 4 heavy + 4 light(/heavy) inf for both horns.
That is 8 light + 6 heavy.. I said 12/4 (all inf/min heavy inf) didn't I? Sorry, I seem to have miscounted them.. My bad. Use 14/6. Disregard what I said above.

[Sundjata Keita]

I played around with the text file and now it crashes. Oops. I have got a backup copy though so some pics of the formation coming soon. Thanks for all your help The_Mark

[Sundjata Keita]

Still can't get it to work properly, unless this is what it's meant to be

http://img116.exs.cx/img116/439/horns0yw.jpg

Does it work on yours? If so can you post some screens of it please.

[The_Mark]

No, it shouldn't be like that.

This is what it should look like:
http://koti.mbnet.fi/makealho/rtw_screenies/bull_horn.jpg
With 6 heavy inf and 8 light inf.

/EDIT actually, it shouldn't be like that; there should be one more heavy inf in the other horn.. General's unit should be assigned as the rest of the inf..

[Sundjata Keita]

OK can you make the chest area more into a column, ie. go longer back. Otherwise this is great.

[The_Mark]

Unit sizes cause some distortation in formations, that is on large settings, on smaller sizes they will be more "columnised" (all of them), and on larger settings more streched out. That is, without setting the maximum width in the formation file ~;)

Is this better?
http://koti.mbnet.fi/makealho/rtw_screenies/horn2.JPG
This is on large, on huge the center will be twice as deep and the horns twice as wide, although I can fix their width also.

[Sundjata Keita]

That is exellent! A few minor adjustments need to be made to the horns. They need to be a tad further forward away from the chest so that when the computer uses it and mobilises all its troops at once like it does then the horns will stay infront of the main body of troops.

Once again, thanks for your time and help. I am going to post these pictures in our forums now.

[Sundjata Keita]

Here is the Dragoon Guard Sergeant. Eventually he will have a bag like the British Auxilliaries and a pouch on his belt. Also he will get boots, collar and a different face like most of the other units are waiting to get

http://img175.exs.cx/img175/544/dgs0zv.png

[The_Ferret]

I dont like these few years of history, but I LOVE the idea of this mod. It'll be good. I'd chip in myself but I'm tied up in WWI:TW. But when its out, I'll give this a DL.

[Sundjata Keita]

Thanks The_ferret, the more support the better.
Here are the British 1860's Auxilliary soldiers, they are the last out of the 1860's british lot. Look Myrddraal I even made the puch 3D ~;)

http://img202.exs.cx/img202/3808/auxilliaries0sm.png

[The_Mark]

http://koti.mbnet.fi/makealho/rtw_screenies/horn3.JPG
Horns a tad forward, I also set limits to the width of the horns, they won't widen from that, even on huge. I sent the new code to your PM.

[Sundjata Keita]

Excellent work! I will put your name in the credits of the mod. ~:cheers:

[The_Mark]

Thank you. Just send me PM if you need it tweaked.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

Hey guys
I post in the SCC thread you have.
I'm learning to model myself, but I suck.
When I get done ill make you a cannon or somthing.

[Sundjata Keita]

Cool that would be a great help, do you think you could model a gatling gun? If you want some good 3dsmax tutorials about modelling try http://www.pixel2life.com.

[dclare4]

Blunderbuss - musket-type, cut-off/shortened with a wide trumpet-like bore for spread of shot.
Short-ranged but with deadly shotgun effect at close range.
Horse Pistol - also called a 'dragoon pistol', a large primitive flintlock-type pistol.
Very Poor accuracy and probably its only virtue is causing fear in its target.
Thrown Stones - not even slung, these are stones or small rocks picked up and thrown.
Poor damage but virtually inexhaustible.
Militia Flintlock Musket - general issue musket, one generation ago that is. Lower accuracy due to age.
Deadlier than most other fire weapons, especially en-masse. Poor training may offset this.
Percussion Pistol - much more reliable and accurate pistol, this is the next generation handgun.
Still very short ranged but more accurate than the old horse pistol.
Repeating Rifle - a single-shot weapon with extremely fast reload time.
Of passable accuracy which is somewhat made up for by the speed of its reloading.


Axe - long-handled woodcutter's axe for general household use.
Adequate close-quarters weapon.
Frying Pan - typical iron kitchen utensil for cooking food and personal defense.
Can probably stun an enemy and in a tight spot it's better than nothing.
Pitchfork - sharp double-bladed farming impliment on a long pole for making hay bales.
Deadly in the hands of a desperate defender.
Scythe - another farming impliment, a long curved blade on a pole for cutting hay or wheat.
Deadly in the hands of a desperate defender.
Hoe - another farming impliment, a flat iron plate on a pole for cultivating the land.
Not much good as a weapon as its not sharp like the others, but its better than nothing.
Old Sword - a heavy straight bladed weapon reminiscent of a heavy rapier in use during the 1700's.
Rusty and trusty it has seen better days but a sword is still a sword.
Knife - a short stabbing weapon easily concealed for close-in action.
Not very long-ranged but can wound and kill with enough ferocity.
Stick - an ordinary thick wooden club-like stick. Doubles as a walking stick.
Not very effective at all this is your typical last-resort weapon.
Clubbed Musket - this is basically the musket, turned around so the butt-stock is used as a club.
Unwieldy but better than nothing and with enough strength can smash a man's skull.
Sabre - Your basic cavalry weapon, well balanced and heavy enough to cleave a man's skull from his body.
Somewhat unwieldy it is a hacking weapon, particularly effective for close-in fighting.
Machete - A large, heavy wide but short hunting knife similar to a falchion in shape and size.
Brutally effective in the African bush for cutting thru anything from thick grass to a foe's body.


Old Bearded Colonist
- officer
- dressed in dilapidated farmers' clothes with a straw hat and worn out shoes
- Fire: Blunderbuss
- Melee: Stick

Matronly Woman Colonist
- officer
- dressed in long skirt and typical colonial style frontier clothes with worn out shoes
- Fire: Horse Pistol
- Melee: Frying Pan

Young Female Colonist
- officer
- dressed in long skirt and typical colonial style frontier clothes probably with a bonnet
- Fire: Horse Pistol
- Melee: Pitchfork

Women Colonists
- soldier
- dressed in long skirt and typical colonial style frontier clothes with maybe a straw hat
- Fire: Thrown Stones
- Melee: Pitchfork

Farmer Colonists
- soldier
- dressed in dilapidated farmers' clothes with a straw hat and worn out shoes
- Fire: Blunderbuss
- Melee: Scythe

Retired Officer Colonist
- Officer
- a veteran of the wars, he wears a dilapidated uniform coat over basic farmer's dress and a straw hat.
- Fire: Horse Pistol
- Melee: Old Sword

Farmer Militia Drummer Boy
- Officer/Musician
- a musically inclined young boy assigned to beat the drum and keep up the men's spirits.
- Musical Instrument: Drum
- Melee: Knife

Farmer Militia Musketeer
- Soldier
- The local boys assembled and drilled into something of a military unit. Wears farmers clothing.
- Fire: Militia Flintlock Musket
- Melee: Clubbed Musket

Native Laborer
- Soldier
- Slaves or native farm hands hastily assembled to defend their master's property.
May have some dilapidated cast off clothes like shirts or pants.
- Fire: Thrown Stones
- Melee: Hoe

Trader Militia
- Soldier
- Small-time traders fighting to defend their livelihood. Wears better quality clothes and shoes.
- Fire: Militia Flintlock Musket
- Melee: Axe

Early Colonial Official
- Officer
- Wearing a stylish round hat and a coat of European fashion this glorified clerk fights best at a distance.
- Fire: Percussion Pistol
- Melee: Sabre

Late Colonial Official
- Officer
- Wearing a stylish round hat and a coat of European fashion this glorified clerk fights best at a distance.
- Fire: Repeating Rifle
- Melee: Sabre

Colonial Priest
- Officer/Musician
- Wearing a long black cassock and carrying a Bible this man of peace will only fight as a last resort.
- Musical Instrument: Singing Voice
- Melee: Stick

Missionary
- Officer/Musician
- Wearing a straw hat/pith helmet and a sort of Dr.Livingston outfit, this man of peace will only fight as a last resort.
- Fire: Repeating Rifle
- Melee: Stick

Town Militia
- Soldier
- Recruited and paid by the municipality, their equipment, uniform and weaponry are better than Farmers or Traders.
- Fire: Militia Flintlock Musket
- Melee: Clubbed Musket

Great White Hunter
- Officer
- An adventurer, explorer and living-legend, the kind they write stories about, dressed like Alan Quartermain or something.
- Fire: Repeating Rifle
- Melee: Machete

[dclare4]

Hi there Sundjata,

Wow! Looks like you're on a roll there! ;-) Great looking models!

Was wondering though, if you could do another Dragoon Guard Sgt model with higher (probably just below the knee) riding boots - but keep this one you already have too! I love the nice wrapped around scarf on his pith helmet!

Yeah, please do, I'll do some retexture modding with the ones that are already done!

Cheers,
Harlechman (Clare)

[Sundjata Keita]

Will the Dragoon Guard Sgt with riding boots be riding a horse then? If so that's another model done pretty easily.

I think now I'm going to finish off all the 1860's models and then maybee we can get a historical battle set up. It's still a long way off but if we all work hard I think we can do it in the next few weeks.

[stichmaster1]

got my computer back and photoshop 7 installed, so some shields are coming soon! ~:cheers:

[Sundjata Keita]

Sounds good. If you need any help with the shields just say

[Epistolary Richard]

I'm just answering your post from the ZOR mod thread.


Now we can have a unit set for the natives, the british, the zulus, the portuguese and the boers and that will be about it. This basically cancels out the hardcoded culture types apart from the limitations and allows us to set specific regional units.

For recruitment, I got all my information from How to...add hidden resources and use them (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=43747) and from Complex conditionals for recruiting and building (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=39925) which you should have a look through if you haven't already but don't get too sucked into the second one or you'll never come out again!

As for culture, the ownership culture tags in edu and edb are just shorthand, you can get around them by specifying the particular factions.

I don't know if you've thought of this, but the bigger impact of culture will be in cultural unrest in occupied settlements. As the culture of the factions is hard-coded you'll have to give some thought as to how you're going to divide up your factions.

On a similar note, you're able to input a 'base unrest' in your provinces to represent particularly truculent areas, which will affect every faction apart from the one who is originally assigned it. It's listed as 'chance of rebellion' in descr_rebel_factions and you can find out more about half way down this thread (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=40421) on Ludus Magna.

[Sundjata Keita]

Thanks for your help Epistolary Richard. We are going to get the basic campaign map done before we start making all these adjustments because we have some new and quite original ideas (thanks to dclare) about tech trees and cities. Dclare, are you doing the campaign map? I posted a link to a collection of maps in the links thread on our own forums.

Just one more unit done today. Here is the British 1880's Auxilliary Officer. Same applies to this guy as the others, needs new face and collar doing. He does have pockets but you can't see them very well so they will be redone on the texture.

http://img211.exs.cx/img211/8475/auxilliaryofficer18807uj.png

[Myrddraal]

Another quality model. Someone probably already posted this but have you decided on how to do the walls?

[Sundjata Keita]

Yes, the walls are just repeating ballistas. There are two ballistas in game so that means two walls, if we extend them to the right length then we make a choke point in the middle for Zulus to come through. The animations of the crew cranking the ballista and firing it etc. will be replaced with rifle animations and every time the ballista fires there will be a smoke effect, rifle sound effect and an invisible bolt will come out. The damage for this will be made higher so it seems as if people are getting shot.

Progress with walls

-completed getting walls in game with choke point
-uncompleted getting animations in game (having problems with this)
-uncomplaeted getting smoke
-uncomplaeted getting high damage invisible bolt

[Sundjata Keita]

Preliminary unit list, all suggestions welcome

Zulu Units

uMbonambi
uNokhenke
inGobamakhosi
uThulwana
uMcijo
izinsizwa
iNdluyengwe - unmarried
iNloko
iNdakawombe
imiVa - reserves
uFasimba
uThalwana
iziNyozi
inDwali
uBheuwula
uHtwayi
uFalza
uDududu
imVuemnyama
iShlangu
iMgombamakhosi
uPoke
inKonya Ebenmvu
uGibabanye
iziPeze
iNdlondlo
umKhuze
uNomgamulana
umZwangwenya
umSikala
isiBabule
iNkonkoni
uShisizwe
imiDwaimba
iNdlu-yengwe
abaQulusi riflemen
izinDibi - support troops
cattle herd


British Units

East Kent Regiment (The Buffs)
Somerset Light Infantry
Warwickshire Regiment
King’s Rifles
Connaught Rangers
Argyllshire Highlanders (Highland Light Infantry)
Duke of Edinburgh's Regiment
Natal Native Contingent
Volunteer and Frontier Cavalry (British Volunteers)
Lancers
Dragoons Guards (King's Dragoon Guards)
Mounted Infantry
Auxilliaries
Naval Brigade Gatling
Royal Artillery Field Battery
Duke of Cambridge Lancers
Light Infantry Regiment

Portuguese Units

companhias indígenas de caçadores - light rifle company
companhia de artilharia - artillery company
Prazeros - trader-adventurers (although these could be mercenaries, they were of Portuguese origin but were out of the control of Portugal's crown)
Dragão - Dragoons
Mosqueteiros - Musketeers
Atiradores
Cacadores - light infantry
Ordananza - militia

Swazi Units

Dlamini warriors
Sobhuza's guards
isAnusi - witchdoctors
abaQulusi riflemen
umtsakatsi - wizards
Missionary
Great white hunter
Tinkanyenti
umbutfo

Boers

Cape Coloureds/Native Laborer
Old Bearded Colonist
Farmer Colonists
Scouts
Transvaal rangers
Retired Officer Colonist
Farmer Militia Musketeer
Colonial Priest
Town Militia
Cape colony volunteers
Trader Militia

Ndwandwe

Ndwandwe warriors
Nomahlanjana
Northern Khumalos
Central Khumalos
Southern Khumalos
Mavuso
Nkosi
Mbandzeni
Seneleleni
Shongwe
Lomawa
Nukwase
Mswati

Basotho/sotho

Mathombeni
Magodongo
Xobongo
Manala
Mdungwa
Phaswana
Dzele
Mxabule
Magodongo
Musi
Mafana
Sipho
Sindeni

[Duke Malcolm]

perhaps you could lose the battalion numbers of the british regiments, since what is being trained is, mor or less, a battalion

[Sundjata Keita]

Yeah I don't think you can have numbers in the unit names anyway

[stichmaster1]

i was going to suggest the same thing on our other forum

[IrishMike]

I don't think that the numbers would work very good. While they would provide a very deep sense of reality, they would be practical to train to of the same units of the same number.

[Sundjata Keita]

Done!

[dclare4]

Hi guys,

Looks like ZTW is picking up steam and gaining interested future players! I'm just really happy and I'm sure you guys are too.

Well basically (about sticking spears or pitchforks in the ground) I don't want these objects to magically disappear and appear - well okay if pitchforks or hoes and other farm impliments are too impractical let's let it go - but I think it would be nice if we can have the troops 'sling' their firearms (blunderbusses or muskets) or holster pistols if engaging or engaged in hand to hand combat.

As for numbers I agree with what's been said. It will look a bit weird and cumbersome to name specific units. Potentially ANY unit in the British army might have been sent to Africa (remember the mod covers not just the famous Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 but the entire period - hopefully - from about 1800 to 1880) and I think it would be just a waste to clone large groups of similar units just so every regiment is represented. I would however like to keep the nicknames as our identification for units, to wit...

East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) - The Buffs (considered an Elite unit so they're separate)
Somerset Light Infantry - The Light Infantry
Warwickshire Regiment - The Warwickshires (of course they have to have their own)
King’s Rifles - The KRRC OR The Rifles (from what I read they didn't do too well in this war)
Royal Scots Fusilliers - The RSF or Royal Scots Fusilliers (they fought in another African campaign in the area IIRC)
Connaught Rangers - The Connaught Rangers
Argyllshire Highlanders (Highland Light Infantry) - The Highland Light Infantry
Duke of Edinburgh's Regiment - can be grouped in with generic line infantry I think OR we can have another unit type 'British Volunteers' representing recently raised line regiments which didn't really have as much esprit de corps as the veterans like the Buffs.
Natal Native Contingent - The NNC
Volunteer and Frontier Cavalry - local volunteer units
Lancers - The Lancers (these already will include the 17th Duke of Cambridge Lancers)
Dragoons Guards (King's Dragoon Guards) - The KDG
Mounted Infantry - these are a generic unit type
Auxilliaries - these will include Constabulary and other locally raised not too famous units
Naval Brigade Gatling
Naval Brigade Company
Royal Artillery Field Battery - we should differentiate between heavier and lighter batteries and have a separate Rocket battery type.

What do you think guys?

Cheers,
Harlechman516 (Clare)

[Myrddraal]

I agree, it would get way too confusing if you repeated the same units. You've got a good list there. Its plenty.

[dclare4]

By the way, I don't think I ever expressed my appreciation to The Mark for his sterling contribution for the Buffalo formation. Thanks very much!!

Formation-wise there's not really very much we can do I think besides the buffalo, horde, regimental line, regimental column and regimental square formations. I think most fighting (skirmishes and minor battles at least with the Euros) will be between irregulars which would be spread thin on ground and taking advantage of cover.

Cheers,
Harlechman (Clare)

[Sundjata Keita]

There was the Zulu crescent formation and the other native tribes used the skirmisher line formation (I think it was just two lines). One other thing we must include is being able to hide in long grass, when two native tribes fought together it was mainly different regiments that would go off and approach the enemy in different ways, some might hide others might charge etc. It was very disorganised and I think it will suit the AI in RTW perfectly ~;)

[dclare4]

" I think it will suit the AI in RTW perfectly "

HAHA! I love the bitter irony behind that line ;)

I think the ability to hide depends on what kind of unit it is and what animation it has? I see some RTW troops crouching. But actually I wonder if it's possible for us to have a special ability "crawl" for the African factions?

For the Euros I'm thinking the special ability would be normal fire and (instead of flaming arrows) short range rapid fire equivalent to "Independent! Fire at Will" (will try to get old Maurice Micklewhite to say this for us) - maybe 1000-500 yards distance rapid loading and firing at cost to accuracy.

Here's what I was wondering though, guys. What exactly DO the screaming women or general types do? What I want to do (if possible) is to make 'auxilliaries' invaluable to an army's ability to fight on the field. For the Africans these would be required:

Herd of Cattle - like Sundjata's idea these would be like the 'war dogs' except they're not really meant to fight.

Tribal Women - these would actually be the women and children of the tribe that would accompany an army out to fight. Fighting between tribes of the time usually involved more intimdation than actual killing. These were inconclusive affairs marked by showers of thrown spears. When Shaka's innovative and aggressive use of the iklwa changed tribal warfare their presence on the battlefield proved tragic. When the army they were 'rooting for' broke and ran they were slaughtered!

For the Europeans... We have the following fellows:

Supply Wagon Train - These actually should function like the mobile battering rams but are for providing protection like a wagon laager. They would hold the supplies of the army. If this is not possible they could be represented by service personnel (also so we could make good use of those cool auxilliary figures that Sundjata created).

Coralled Horses - These would be similar to the 'Herd of Cattle' for the tribes. These would be the armies mounts and carriage horses (for artillery, wagons, etc.) They would be under the watch of 'horse holders' and such.

I don't know how exactly but armies should be given some sort of a penalty if they're not present. The question is, how to make them present for battle? The only unit present for every battle is the 'general' unit but I'd rather give the general a command staff type unit. But if we have to work within the game and there's no choice...

What do you think guys?
Harlechman

[Myrddraal]

Hm I don't think you'll be able to make a crawl animation where they stay hidden...
You get revealed when you move in RTW

[Sundjata Keita]

Shame about the crawling it would have been very good, I wonder what the WW1 mod is going to do then. What about if the crawl was a special ability and that it reduced the chance of them getting hit by spears/bullets to zero. The ai would know they were there but would have to attack them with a melee attack.

The normal fire ability sounds good to me and so do the auxilliaries. I will get to work on the cattle model now, it looks difficult.

BTW did I mention to everyone that we will be releasing the historical battle Gqokli Hill in the next couple of weeks. There will be 4 different types of Zulu regiments on show and a cattle herd for the auxilliaries (in the real battle these played quite an important role). There will be 4 different types of Ndwandwe regiment on show and if I get round to it some tribal women (who came to celebrate the Ndwandwe victory before the battle begun).

Remember the Zulu proverb - don't begin the meal before the water is boiling

[Epistolary Richard]

I think the ability to hide depends on what kind of unit it is and what animation it has? I see some RTW troops crouching. But actually I wonder if it's possible for us to have a special ability "crawl" for the African factions?

The hide ability depends on the unit attributes set in export_descr_unit (hide_forest, hide_anywhere etc.) but as Myrddraal says moving reveals the unit. But perhaps instead of being concealed they can have a higher protection against being shot, similar to the testudo.


What exactly DO the screaming women or general types do?

You can find some investigation of unit attributes and general in the below threads:
Effect of unit attributes
What do command stars do?

Basically though, units with command, druid or screeching women are all about giving morale boosts to nearby friendly units or morale nerfs to enemies. General (apparently) adds to attack ratings as well.

I've tried to work in some 'invaluable' units (eg, mercenary captains) to one of my mods but with little success. The unit attributes are very limited in scope and while their area of effect hasn't been measured I can't believe it's that far. Recruitment can't be made dependent on the presence of units, movement will always be limited by the slowest, unit attrition (like the defenders during a siege) isn't open in the text files AFAIK. Perhaps something can be done with scripting but that's out of league at the moment.

My only promising avenue of development appears to be general's traits and ancillaries. It would be straightforward to invent new ones to govern movement speed, morale factors, battlefield healing etc. etc.

Of course RTW was going to have a whole supply line thing as well but they ditched it. RTR mentions supply lines re: recruitment for v6.0 so perhaps one of that team can explain further.

[Sundjata Keita]

Looks like I beat you to the crawling fix idea by about a minute ~;)

Is there no way to make it so that units have bonusses attatched to them, don't siege weapons improve morale amongst your troops? We don't need to make auxilliaries neccesary, just advantageous.

Also is there a priority setting for the killing of certain units? The enemy always seems to go for my general and I want it so that the ai goes for the cattle so they can be used as a distraction.

[Myrddraal]

Sorry ER, It seems I deleted your double post just as you edited it, but I had a feeling that would happen, so I copied your text before I did it. I've now edited you post to contain the original message.

[Epistolary Richard]

Looks like I beat you to the crawling fix idea by about a minute ~;)

Darn modem connection, if I'd been on my broadband I'd have got you! ~;)

But I think the kudos will go to the person who actually creates the crawling animation!


Is there no way to make it so that units have bonusses attatched to them

Well, as I said, command and druid attributes both give morale bonuses to nearby friendlies. But that's about it for one unit being able to influence another.


don't siege weapons improve morale amongst your troops?

Not as far as I'm aware.


We don't need to make auxilliaries neccesary, just advantageous.

I got the impression from dclare4 that she wanted them as virtual necessities to make an army viable. But I imagine that they've end up being 'merely' advantageous as you'll run into the limits of the game.


Also is there a priority setting for the killing of certain units? The enemy always seems to go for my general and I want it so that the ai goes for the cattle so they can be used as a distraction.

The AI prioritisation is probably based either on stats or on cost (should be easy to test, I'd do it myself if I was near my copy of RTW). However you probably don't want cattle with huge attack stats so try artificially inflating their defence or their cost and see if that makes a difference.


remember the mod covers not just the famous Anglo-Zulu War of 1879

Did I miss something? I thought the mod specifically wasn't going to go that far?

[Sundjata Keita]

No the mod is going to cover the rise of Shaka and his changes to tribal warfare, the Anglo-Boer war and the first boer-war however it will not cover the SECOND boer war.

[dclare4]

"Shame about the crawling it would have been very good, I wonder what the WW1 mod is going to do then. What about if the crawl was a special ability and that it reduced the chance of them getting hit by spears/bullets to zero. The ai would know they were there but would have to attack them with a melee attack."

- sounds great! that would be the Nguni impi special ability I think :-) though I think that reducing the hit chance to absolute 0 is kinda pushing it. Maybe 70% reduction? (30% chance of hit)

"The normal fire ability sounds good to me and so do the auxilliaries. I will get to work on the cattle model now, it looks difficult."

- Hmmm would it be possible to use the horses as the basis? Fatten them up, shorten their legs and add horses?

"...There will be 4 different types of Ndwandwe regiment on show and if I get round to it some tribal women (who came to celebrate the Ndwandwe victory before the battle begun)."

- and who got slaughtered before the battle was over I think!

Cheers,
Harlechman

[Sundjata Keita]

sounds great! that would be the Nguni impi special ability I think :-) though I think that reducing the hit chance to absolute 0 is kinda pushing it. Maybe 70% reduction? (30% chance of hit)

Yeah this figure can be changed through play testing


Hmmm would it be possible to use the horses as the basis? Fatten them up, shorten their legs and add horses

Well I was going to use the basis for the horse model anyway but it may mean changing the skeleton and I am not so sure on how to do that


and who got slaughtered before the battle was over I think

Yup, your right there. It was the first battle where the winners came and slaughtered all the surviving enemy, including women. Thats why it's such an important battle in the history of tribal warfare.

[dclare4]

This is looking better everyday :charge: I will leave the models in your capable hands :duel: Looking forward to texturing them!

Cheers,
Harlechman (Clare)

P.S.
By the way, Clare (yeah I guess it's androgynous) is in honor of Daniel O'Brien, Earl of Clare, a leader of the Irish 'Wild Geese' exiles. Just so we know ~;)

[dclare4]

Hi there guys,

Here's some info for the British Naval Brigades!

http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Uniform/1877_Uniform_Regs.html

http://www.pbenyon1.plus.com/Uniform/Phot/Landing_order.html

The popular image is the white 'sailor suit' with the straw round hats that came to be called 'Sennet Hats' (maybe because of Mack Sennett, the Hollywood producer/director of the Keystone Cops who gave Charlie Chaplin his start in the USA and who used it for his 'beauties')

http://www.pbenyon1.plus.com/Uniform/Phot/Lookout.html

http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/RN/Seamens_Sennet_goes.html

There's a nice little diorama with a naval officer (Blue uniform) and his squaddies (white uniform) operating a Gatling during this era, unfortunately its in a modelling magazine not online.

Cheers,
Harlechman (Clare)

[Sundjata Keita]

Good links, sorry for the lack of screenshots but I have done a couple of Zulu chief models (they will be generals) and now they need texturing. I will send you the stuff soon Dclare so you can texture them, should be an easy job.

P.S. Sundjata Keita means lion prince ~:)

[The_Ferret]

Oddly enough, this is a 'rival' mod, yet I really want it to work. Well not neccasarily work just, go well. I dont know why, but I really want this to work for you guys. Just remember that Section Sea died out and that may have been nearly as big as EB at one point.

If you want any help from any of the team at WWI just ask (like if your workload goes way too far) or if you'd like to team up on getting a firing animation. (if you dont already have it)

[Sundjata Keita]

Thanks fo the support, I really want this mod to work and I'm sure more people will be interested once the first historical battle is released. I think I made a firing animation a while back but I haven't got it in game yet, it will eventually replace the archers firing animations. Have yet to even attempt smoke properly and will probably ask for some help from someone who knows what they are doing.

[dclare4]

Thanks for the kind words Ferret. I was just thinking, perhaps instead of making it cover the whole of WW1 perhaps you could go for certain parts or campaigns, like just the western front or just Verdun or the Somme or something so you can go in depth into the subject. World War 1 is actually one of those subjects I'm really interested in... who knows if there's enough interest perhaps someone would care to do a German East Africa or Congo and Kamerun mod hehe!

Sure thing Sundjata (cool name by the way - could we include it as one of the possible names in the mod?) send 'em along. Gqokli Hill here we come!

I was wondering if it's possible at all to mod the sounds, speeches and troop responses at all. I found some interesting sound clips from some movies that I think are usable.

Cheers,
Harlechman (Clare)

[Sundjata Keita]

Yeah, I don't know how we are going to get the native unit speeches but any reactions or sounds need to be replaced. Stuff from movies sounds good to me (well the idea of it).

Just a word on release dates, I think we should aim to release the full mod in the Autumn, around September/October. As the order of things I think after Gqokli Hill we should finish off the British models, then do the Boers and then the Portuguese. The rest of the natives other than the Zulus are all pretty similar model wise so then we will all have to texture for a while. Then we can move on to the campaign map and balancing issues. If you can think of a different way to do it that's fine.

[Myrddraal]

Any more unit screenies? :smile:

[The_Ferret]

Theres an org at TWC who specialise in re-making and mixing sounds or speeches.

[dclare4]

Sounds good to me Sundjata ~;)

Thanks Ferret, I'll check it out!
Harlechman (Clare)

[Sundjata Keita]

Any more unit screenies?

Soon, be patient ~;) We will have I think it is about 8 new units to show off, although they are all Zulu or Ndwandwe so they are quite similar.

P.S. I like the new scary avatar Myrddraal

[dclare4]

Will be downloading the files today. Need to burn them to a CD at a net cafe as I don't have internet at my home. Thanks very much Sundjata!

Cheers,
Harlechman

[stichmaster1]

this is getting along really far guys!

i will have the skins for the natives at gqkoli hill done by tomorrow night hopefully, and then to start on the console skins if there is nothing else that needs quick tending too.

stichmaster1

[Sundjata Keita]

Great, anyone have any ideas what they want for console skins? In the mean time I am touching up some of the Native models and then it's back to the British 1860's models. Keep it rolling guys ~:cheers:

Sundjata Keita

[stichmaster1]

i posted a few of my ideas in the thread about it at the TWC

[dclare4]

How's everyone doing?

:charge:
Harlechman

[Abokasee]

I think the british should be able to train hindu soldiers and at the year 1853 all hindu units should rebel because the british (and hindu) soldiers were given guns wicth had pig / cow fat and hindu religion says cows are holy and the hindu's had something against pigs (probaly because they were real dirty) plus as an advantage ALL!,european conley faction should fire their guns faster.
Other advice instead 1 year going past every to turns it should be 1 season every turn that means the campaign last 280 turns!!!

[dclare4]

Hmmm... I'm not sure if the HEIC (Honourable East India Company) sent troops to fight in Africa, neither did the Indian Army after the mutiny, save probably for a unit of stretcher bearers under a certain Atty. Mohandas K. Gandhi. The 'mutiny' as it was called by the British, though now I think it's proper to call it the 'Rising', was caused by a mix of nationalistic (and what's wrong with that?) and religious elements - what you describe is actually a mix of the two principal faith's reactions to the supposedly pig-fat greased cartridges of the new Enfield Rifled Musket. The MUSLIM soldiers would have been polluted by biting into a cartridge of an unclean animal like the pig, while the HINDU soldiers would have considered it morally offensive because they consider the cow a sacred animal.

Yes, the Europeans will have guns, lots of guns (as they say in the Matrix), but this is balanced off by less than splendid hand to hand stats and slower movement.

An Indian Rising mod isn't inconceivable in the future ~;) but for now, it's the great continent of Africa!

Sincerely,
Harlechman

[Baiae]

Actually not a lot of people know this but Gandhi was born in South Africa (I think anyway, he certainly was living there at the time of the Boer War) of Indian descent. There were in fact a lot of people of Indian extraction living in South Africa, not quite sure why.

[Duke Malcolm]

We imported them for the greater good of the Empire, I think...

[dclare4]

Actually Gandhi was born in India in 1869 and after he became a lawyer he went to South Africa just before the 2nd Boer War broke out. Aside from colonization though I don't think there were any actual ARMY units of either the HEIC or the IA deployed to South Africa, much less Natal. There's lots of local colour though, never fear from gaudily outfitted militia and commandos to housewives wielding kitchen utencils!

Cheers,
Harlechman

[Abokasee]

hay my idea with hindu sodeirs was a good idea! was it?

please answer yes or no if it was a good idea

please answer yes or no if we should put hindu soldeirs into the game

PLEASE NOTE I AM 100% NOT HINDU (OR PERHAPS 99.999% BECAUSE ONE OF ANCESTORS MIGHT BEEN A HINDU PROPALY NOT,ANYWAY THAT DOSN'T REALY MATTER)

[dclare4]

Hi there Abokasee,

Tell you what, if you can find a verifiable referenced source that says that a full Honourable East India Company Indian Regiment or battalion sized detachment or Indian Army Regiment or battalion sized detachment was sent to South Africa to the specific Natal/Durban/Zululand/Transvaal region during the time frame 1800-1885 then we will consider the unit for inclusion. Otherwise I'm afraid it will have to wait till someone decides to do an Indian Rising 1856 mod.

Best I can do,
Harlechman

P.S.
Well I guess it's your area of interest. Same with me and the Zulu or Lace Wars. I'm not actually Welsh either ~;)

[Abokasee]

british used indian soldiers (so they were probally in afriaca at the time) but indian soldiers were given enfleid rifle's indian soldier were not happy about this so they rebeled were ever they were.

[Sundjata Keita]

While it is probable that there were Indian men in the British army in South Africa no actual company was formed until the Natal Indian Ambulance Corps during the SECOND Boer war. The mod will not cover the second boer war and therefore will have no specific Indian regiment. Hope that has cleared things up ~:cheers:

Sundjata Keita

[dclare4]

I thought as much. I'm afraid what you're thinking of is the Indian Rising that took place in India circa 1856-57. Which is very much outside the scope of this mod. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see an Indian Rising (or Mutiny) mod or even a 'conquest of India' mod - there was a game, Sword of the Raj, a long time ago that I think would do great as a Total War mod with the Moghuls, Mahrattas, Hyderabad and Scindes, Sikh's, Gurkhas and Afghans competing with the British, French and Dutch East India companies for the subcontinent. If you want to get a team together I'd support you and maybe help with research but I'm afraid that Indian or HEIC units are not going to appear in this mod.

Sincerely sorry,
Harlechman

[Sundjata Keita]

Well due to the mass of new threads in this forum and the relaxing of the pace of this mod this thread nearly reached page 2. So to stop that happening here is a small update.

Models

I have been working on the early Zulu regiments and trying to get the correct feather arrangements. I have also been playing around with the vertex weights of British units and trying to get the animations smooth. Here is a screen of the induna model. The render does not take into account alpha so that is why the feathers have black around them.

http://img212.echo.cx/img212/9171/induna3ih.png

Here is one of the 1930s British irregulars although it is still a work in progress and still needs to be textured properly.

http://img212.echo.cx/img212/2970/irregular0pt.png

More updates coming soon...

Sundjata Keita

[dclare4]

Wow! Like that running man ~;) I'll resend those blasted textures this week (my diskette died on me last sunday) and that Thin Red Line site had details on British army accoutrements for the campaign w/c will certainly make our mod one of the most detailed photo-realistic ones I hope! I'm thinking, If I could do the textures (lets say for the Warwickshires) could you place them on the model? I'd like to (if possible) include all those nice little details - since the photo will be the one providing the detail the actual model could just have flat or minimally detailed areas for these detail areas. What do you think?

Cheers!
Harlechman

[Duke Malcolm]

Lookin good. I'll be earning those eleven VCs in no time

[Myrddraal]

Love the Zulu

[pyradyn]

Hey if u need any help at all my yahoo is pyradyn. I lived in South Africa for a year and have many Zulu friends but Zulu wasnt the only tribal power the Xhosa (pronounced Kosa) and the Boars (the dutch) were a major part of the fighting. The dutch settled the shores of SA and lived peacfuly with the Xhosa and the Zulu who were inland and waring constantly with each other. When the british came they forced the Boars inland and thus causeing strife with the tribes. The Boars were defeated and put into british POW camps to live. The Zulu and Xhosa allied to fight there comman enemy the British. The British only called them Zulu because that is the only tribe they met. Xhosa painted their faces white for battle and Zulu left it plain. The Zulu worriors carried black sheilds with white spots. Only royalty had white sheilds with black spots to signify their nobility. Just a reminder the Zulu thrived long before even troy fell.

[dclare4]

Hi there Pyradyn, we'd be more than glad for any support or insights you can give. I myself am an enthusiast who's long on research but short on actual experience - never been to South Africa or England and Wales for that matter. We'll try to make it as good as we can and we'd be glad for any insights you can share.

Most grateful,
Harlechman

[Sundjata Keita]

It's great that we get support from people in South Africa (I think two others have posted) and any information you give us would be great. We have been researching very hard for the mod and so we have quite a lot of info at the moment (including all the shield patterns and colours for the different regiments) but really it all just needs sorting out so thanks for the support and we may need you in about 6 months when we finally release a BETA ~;)

Sundjata Keita

[dclare4]

Hi there Sundjata,

Thesiger and the Old Deaths comin' your way!

What we could really use now though is a bit more info on the Portuguese army. The way this balances out (as I see it) is:

British - potentially the best units but also the most expensive to recruit. They are a Colonial Power so their regulars are limited to Port Durban.

Portuguese - average units but cheaper and probably better native levies (this is a debatable point, I'm just guessing here). They are a Colonial Power so their regulars are limited to Port Lourenco Marquez.

Boer - superb all locally recruited units, highest value militia units for the Euros but precious little support from home (what home? South Africa is our home!) Boer commando however should be expensive to keep on permanent establishment.

Zulu and "Zulu style" (Ndebele, Swazi, etc) tribal groups - potentially the best melee fighters (after Shaka reforms discovered), locally recruited and able to maintain a long service standing army due to low costs. Minimal firearms units and the best ranged weapons (till enough firearms come along) will be thrown assegais.

African Tribal groups - while I'd like the other groups to be able to develop alternative but effective methods of fighting (they were historically unable to keep up with the Zulu) I think this needs to be discussed further (along with the Portuguese) to make sure they're not a 'pushover'. Technically they would have stuck to thrown assegai and warrior-vs-warrior combat (as opposed to ikhlwa melee fighting by regiment/impi) so I'm wondering if this can be improved on.

Cheers,
Harlechman

[Sundjata Keita]

Well I am hoping that playing as the tribal groups will prove a real challenge and will be for the more hardcore gamer, however we really want to open this experience for the casual gamer and so I think at least on easy difficulty we can give some of the factions bonusses on stats etc. to balance it out. It's like at current in the vanilla RTW you would not think the barbarian factions would ever beat the Romans for skill and so they do so by numbers, this is the same as tribal groups, they massively outnumber the British allowing the player hopefully to develop a stratergy using this advantage to beat the European powers.

Well in the mean time we better get some more models done, here are the 17ths. With lovely texture from dclare.

http://img269.echo.cx/img269/6132/17thstand3in.png

Regards,

Sundjata Keita

[dclare4]

It occurred to me (well... hopefully we're not too late.) we should back up the threads in TWCenter.

Harlechman

[Sundjata Keita]

Good idea, they contain quite a bit of info, I have most of the pictures and maps stored already but a lot of the text is useful. It was restoring a backup yesterday I think but before that I posted Zulu technology tree and a list of Zulu weapons, I have a backup of the tech but not of the weapons. I will backup our threads as soon as they come back online.

Regards,

Sundjata Keita

[dclare4]

By the way Sundjata, that was a great idea, compiling the tech tree. I'll check it out in a bit. I just saw that they're back online again.

Also, did you get that 'Scottie' I sent you last weekend ;-) I separated the shoulder straps (they're in the same position for the 17th Lancer and should go over the crossbelts - if the crossbelts are the same, we might actually just do them as part of the texture rather than having a separate object for them. My worry is figures like the British infantry where one crossbelt supports the haversack and the other supports the canteen) and for the infantry there's a bunch of other paraphernalia including canteen, haversack, bayonet scabbard and frog and some straps.

Cheers,
Harlechman

[dclare4]

Out of total morbid curiosity (kidding!) how do you get those cool avatars? Can I get one that has Michael Caine's pic from ZULU or something like that?

:help:
Harlechman

[Rifleman1848-98]

http://img177.exs.cx/img177/9013/wall43th.png

VERY GOOD WORK !!

:surrender: :surrender: :surrender:

:iloveyou: :iloveyou: :iloveyou: :iloveyou:
:smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten: :smitten:

[Epistolary Richard]

Out of total morbid curiosity (kidding!) how do you get those cool avatars? Can I get one that has Michael Caine's pic from ZULU or something like that?

:help:
Harlechman
You can pick your own avatar from a selection of those available by going to your UserCP in the top right and then clicking on Edit Avatar.

Custom avatars are being worked on. You can visit the Watchtower if you want to see the latest progress.

Keep up the good work, we're all looking forward to this one!

[Sundjata Keita]

Also, did you get that 'Scottie' I sent you last weekend ;-) I separated the shoulder straps (they're in the same position for the 17th Lancer and should go over the crossbelts - if the crossbelts are the same, we might actually just do them as part of the texture rather than having a separate object for them. My worry is figures like the British infantry where one crossbelt supports the haversack and the other supports the canteen) and for the infantry there's a bunch of other paraphernalia including canteen, haversack, bayonet scabbard and frog and some straps.

Cheers,
Harlechman

Yeah I got the scottie though I can't use it as a texture because I can't remove the writing and it has no alpha channel, could you send me it in dds format please. It looks really good though and I will begin work shortly on the model. As for shoulder straps I am going to make them seperate objects because they nicely cover the join of the crossbelts and mean I don't have to align them properly, just bung a shoulder strap on ~;)

You like my avatar? I changed it recently because I noticed as you post more you get more avatars available to you. Once I hit 500 posts there is another avatar I have seen that looks a little less stern and looks a bit like a Zulu. Then sometime in the future when I get poser and when custom avatars are allowed I will create my own Zulu 3D head. Well that's my plan anyway ~:)

@ Rifleman1848-98

Thanks for the compliment, that reminds me I still have to put in the animations for the mealie bag walls. I will do it when I put in the rifle animations. Good things to come I feel

Regards,

Sundjata Keita

[dclare4]

Sounds good re the shoulder strap... though I think I should redo the lancer dude with his crossbelts painted on as they're the same anyways. As for the Scottie, there should be two - the one you're referring to is my reference sheet w/c I included so you'll know which ones are which but there should be another one in DDS TGA format as usual which has the cape and plume areas over-written. Let me know though if you need me to resend.

By the way, TWCenter seems to be down again today! Scary...

Harlechman

[Sundjata Keita]

Yeah, TWCenter was down earlier but I thought it must of been my computer, I'm not sure how to back it up so I'm going to copy all the improtant information into text files.

Your right about the Scotties, the dds file was right under my nose and I didn't spot it, completely my fault, sorry for the confusion.

In other news this week:-

I have done a list of Zulu proverbs which I have also donated to www.isizulu.net for them to display. Hopefully we can get any help we need with translations and stuff there too. Skip this bit if you don't want to read them.

Zulu, English and meanings

Format:

Proverb in Zulu
Literal translation in English

Meaning of proverb

Imbilaph' ivun' isilonda.
The groin pains in sympathy with the sore

(similar) Isilonda sisola imbilapho
The wound blames the groin

(similar) Imbilapho isuswa yisilonda
The groin is brought forth by the wound

This Zulu proverb is said because the groin will be painful when one has a sore leg. This is regarded as an act of sympathy that brands the two as friends.

Esuka ’muva ikolwa izagila
The last partridge to rise gets the most sticks thrown at it

In hunting, the natives bring down birds by throwing sticks (izagila) at them. So in war, the last to run is most likely to be killed, etc. Intendele, a partridge, is understood. Kolwa means besides belief also, satisfaction, affliction, etc.

qina lipum’ embizeni
The buck has got out of the pot.

Literally, the buck has escaped the hunter just when he thought he had it.

Uhlakanipa nganhlanye njengomese
You are sharp on one side like a knife.

You are clever, but still not all that you would wish us to think you

Lomhlaba Unzima, Lohmhlaba
This world is a harsh place, this world

Iqil' elintethe zosiwa muva
He is the crafty one whose locusts are roasted last

Locusts were, and still are, eaten by some people, especially boys. When out herding, boys run after locusts, and when they catch them, they push a sharp stick through the thorax until there is a whole row of locusts. When they have collected enough, they make fire and roast them. A wily one will not allow his locusts to be roasted first. The practice is that everyone partakes of the locusts which have been collected by the others. It is possible, therefore, by careful manoeuvring, to save one's locusts until the very end, when it is probable that the others have had enough and do not want more.
Thus the cunning one has all his locusts to himself.
The proverb is used of a person who is keen to benefit from and by the efforts of others, but is reluctant to allow others to have anything from him. He behaves in the same way as the boy who wants the locusts of others but keeps his own for himself

Iqili lidliwa ngamany' amagili
A crafty person is consumed by other crafty people

The English say, "Set a thief to catch a thief." A crafty person employs cunning to outwit other people. Because he knows the tricks of the trade, he will be able to catch other tricksters.

Amaqili kalali ndlininye
Crafty people do not share the same bedroom

Crafty people live by outwitting others. They choose for their victims the unsuspecting who fall easy prey. A crafty person, however, will see through the cunning of another. The crafty, therefore, cannot feel happy in each other's company.

Isandla sigez' esinye
One hand washes the other

Help is reciprocal

Uphembel' emoyeni
He lights the fire in the wind

He is foolish

Isiphukuphuk' esadl' amahlul' amakhaza.
The fool who ate the clotted blood of a tick

Said of one who is extremely foolish

uKucele imphunzini
ask from the duiker

Equivalent of English proverb "fly like the wind"

Intandane enhle ekhothwa ngunina
A good orphan is one that is licked by the mother

By “good” here is meant “one that is in better circumstances”It is well
known that mothers are more tender and sympathetic towards their children. Fathers are, as a rule, more hard-hearted. A mother is capable of making great sacrifices for the welfare of her children, whereas a father may not care so much. Thus a child without a father is generally in better circumstances than a child without a mother.

Khulisa umntwana ngendlela elungileyo lapho esekhulile kayikuphambuka kuyo
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it

Teach children the path and they will follow it


Only English and meanings known

Format:

Literal Proverb
meaning in brackets


Every stream has its source
(What occurs now was caused by something in the past cause/effect)

Do not speak of a rhinoceros if there is no tree nearby
(Don’t say something unless you can back it up; some things are better left unsaid)

Travelling brings forth a male calf
(a rolling stone gathers no moss)

You begin with the meal before the water is boiling
(count chickens before they hatch)

The cow licks the one that licks her
(Kindness brings its own rewards)

Copying everyone else all the time, the monkey one day cut his throat
(If everyone jumped off a cliff would you?)

Almost is not eaten
(don't put the cart before the horse)

I cannot hear what you say for the thunder of what you are
(A person’s overbearing personality drowns out the message they want to convey)

This too shall pass
(time continues; all things must end)

The elephant has fallen and the tribes have gone to cut off pieces
(used when a strong person falters and others take advantage of his weaknesses)

There is no polecat that ever smelt its own smell
(a person seldom knows his own shortcomings)

The crocodile devours in the strong current
(a warning not to fall in bad company)

The leopard does not sleep with the goat
(used when people do not get along together)

The leopard devours its master
(used when a person gives back bad for good)

The seed waits for its garden or ground where it will be sown
(take your opportunities)


Only English known

Abundance does not spread; famine does

No stake ever grew old with the bark on

He who hates, hates himself

Old age does not announce itself

These will be used as prebattle quotes along with some Xhosa ones and the list of 60 or so Ndebele ones posted at TWC.

In other news I was wondering if the prebattle speeches are going to be in Zulu or not (presuming we can get someone to speak the Zulu) because there are several phrases that would be good such as

benza njengabantwana - they act like children
bakhala njengomfazi - they cry like women
sifanele phumelela - we must win
Bhekinkosi - look to the king
Bhekizifundiswa - watch and learn from the educated ones
Mpinkulu - great war
Musawenkosi - gods grace
Sinenhlanhla - we have luck
Sinethemba - we have hope

For those that don't know work has begun on the building pictures and we are speculating doing them in 3D because a lot of the pictures will be repeats for the native tribes. An example is the Zulu cattle kraal

http://img240.echo.cx/img240/3718/example6wc.png

I know it is not great quality because I didn't have much time to render (and I am not too good at texturing ~;) )

The final currency that will be in game will be the "amandla" meaning power in Zulu.

Also what do people think of us doing weekly updates but just all put in this thread? I could post more info but that's what our sub-forum at TWC is for so visit there if you want more info.

Regards,

Sundjata Keita

[dclare4]

Wow those are great quotations Sundjata! I hope we can find someone or a friend of someone who can speak Zulu. Those taunts would be really great if spoken 'in the original Zulu' (to paraphrase the Klingon quote) with subtitles. No prob about the Scottie, all's well that ends well.

We gotta be careful of our forum posts now as well, it seems that there are a lot of malicious codes and hackers going around. Netwar here we come!

I'm trying to remember a quote w/c I'm pretty sure is either Zulu specifically or South African, something that goes, 'if you can walk you can dance' or something like that. Our Zulus should be able to dance while taunting if possible, I think.

Cheers,
Harlechman

[dclare4]

Check this out for another superb reenacting group. They have some info for drill w/c might help with the animations ;)

http://hicketypip.tripod.com/default.htm

Harlechman

[Sundjata Keita]

Ha, those drills are the same ones we do today. I didn't read it all but I expect they still had all the classic rifle exercises "Present Arms!" (that still go on today) Good old British army ~;)

[Sundjata Keita]

Well it seems none of you really care about the weekly updates but I will keep doing regular updates so people here can check on the progress. Remember you can post any comments or questions on this thread if you want, I check it most days.

Anyway, this week :-

New Zulu model with monkey tails round waist (old texture)

http://img174.echo.cx/img174/6097/zulutailsstabcopy1ws.jpg

New shield model on this one (old texture)

http://img174.echo.cx/img174/1500/zulufig2copy3nn.jpg

British Argyllshires (plus showing off load, aim and fire animations)

http://img254.echo.cx/img254/4506/loadaimfire0jl.jpg

Also some research has been done on the faction symbols and we have some ideas for the african tribes (because they had few actual symbols) We would also like a volunteer, if possible, to do some designs but otherwise I think stich will do them with me once he's finished his finals (though some more help would be nice ~:))

Other than that it's been a pretty quiet week ~:handball:

Regards,

Sundjata Keita

[Stormy]

Wow! Marvelous.. I'm looking out for this one. ~:cheers:

[UpWithEvil]

Hey, I care about the updates! :)

Lookin' good, this mod could be a real sleeper.

[shifty157]

Can we see more pics of your rifle animations?

This mod looks pretty impressive. It could be very interesting.

[Sundjata Keita]

Well OK then I will try to do weekly updates as long as stuff has happened in that week, sometimes nothing happens. I will try to sort out the animations too, maybe I could do a render and make it into a gif file.

Sundjata

[Sundjata Keita]

Looks like it's been another week and so it's time for the progress report for this week.

First thing to mention is the great news that grudgebringer from SCC has offered to help us with the textures so hopefully this will mean not only a speeded up process but added realism in terms of looks. He is on holiday at the moment so it will be a few weeks before you get to see his work.

Only new unit this week is Lord Chelmsford himself, here commanding a couple of 17ths

http://img72.echo.cx/img72/4553/chelmsford8xh.jpg

He also has corrected boots to the WIP shots that I don't think got posted here but here's a screen of them anyway. Nice boots I'm sure you'll agree ;)

http://img72.echo.cx/img72/2111/boots3jk.png

Also this week we have been working on the music for the mod, we want a really in depth experience so I went looking for traditional Zulu music and south african drums and chanting. I have found about 10 30 second tracks which can be used and made loopable if neccessary to fill in winning the battle music etc.

Also I had a go at composing my own track which is just some drum beats done in reason with an african chant over the top. (not sure how to make it listenable but try this link)

My music track (http://www.soundclick.com/util/Streamm3u.m3u?ID=2554864&q=hi&key=3883A3FB-2)

In other news the unit names for other native south african tribes (excluding Zulus) will now be in Zulu after a poll was done at TWC on our sub-forum. The option to use Zulu names for native tribes units won by 50% and so I am compiling a list of units that will be given to each faction, then each will get its own unique ones. What I have got so far

Umlindi - watchman
Ichobanswani - advanced guard
Umpakati - veterans
Izimpohlo - younger soldiers
Insizwa - younger soldiers
Amabutu - lads who have not served in war
Ijoni - a soldier
Isosha - a soldier
Umholi - leader
Ujenele - military general

Once the list is compiled I can write a comprehensive unit list and not only can we start designing them but balancing them too. If anyone has any suggestions in Zulu or English then we would like to hear what you think we should have. If they are in english I will try to translate them into Zulu.

Just a small note - I will be going on a fornights break in 3 weeks so there will be no activity from me during those two weeks but mod progress should continue and then maybe I can make a big update at the end. Another update coming next week!

Regards,

Sundjata Keita

[Duke Malcolm]

Lord Chelmsford looks good, even though I don't know who he was, and the Argyll Highlanders look good also

[shenrougu]

for music, during battle for the british, can i recommend rule britania? or the british grenidiers, both would give a great atmosphere for a british player. And a slow version of god save the queen for the strategy map would be good, i have MP3's of them if you want them.

[Sundjata Keita]

We're just not sure yet on the music front shenrougu because there are so many great British tracks that will give atmosphere, I think rule Britania might go nicely on the campaign actually.

Anyway, on to this weeks update (now moved to the Monday). Well it's been a pretty quiet week but I have some more great news! Pyradyn has joined the team, he will be doing some voice acting for the Zulus hopefully and also wants to learn to mod, he's good with history too. The team list has been updated to account for the new arrivals

-Sundjata Keita - models, some textures and historian for the Zulus and other native tribes

-Stichmaster1 - shield textures, ideas and colaboration

-deLancey - main texturer and historian for the British and Boers

-Baiae - research and text editing

-Captain Quark - Official historian

-Forgotten - texturer (focusing on realism)

-Pyradyn - Boer war historian, Zulu culture historian and colaboration

In other news I finally got poser the human 3D modelling program and so did an example of what the portrait pictures will eventually turn out like (they will be of course smaller)

http://img291.echo.cx/img291/7553/face15ke.png

Opinions welcome on the style.

Also this week I have got some new books which will help with research and concept art. One includes a map with city names on and so work on the campaign map will begin soon.

I haven't got any new units to show you this week (I didn't say at the start because I knew most of you would have stopped reading ~;) ) but I can tell you that work on implementing animations will begin this week and so I should be able to show you something by the end of this week but no promises. Once this is done the smoke effects will be added which will again take time.

Thanks for taking the time to read the progress report and another update will come in a week ~:cheers:

Regards,

Sundjata Keita

[Epistolary Richard]

I think this style of portraits is excellent, it'll look really original and it'll allow a consistency through the mod that trying to clip contemporary photos and drawings just won't allow.

[Sundjata Keita]

Good, I'm glad you like it, here are a couple of others. I decided to include the shoulders as well so that lots of necklaces and extra bits could be added on. What do you think of the results?

http://img267.echo.cx/img267/9546/face21hz.png
http://img36.echo.cx/img36/6251/face32wp.png

Regards,

Sundjata Keita

[Stormy]

Excellent headdress! I'm looking foward for this mod. ~:cheers:
Any map screenshots soon ? Thanks.

[Sundjata Keita]

Hopefully we will get some map screenshots soon (within the next month). We are still looking at the area to cover and the regions will be decided by the towns so our first job is to reconstruct a map of kwa-zulu natal and surrounding border areas with something like 200 towns, the regions will be decided as they were at the time by distinguishing features so up to this mountain range or up to this river etc. because there is no historical reference to Zulu regions, only local names. The good news is this means it won't take too long providing we find enough towns. Anyway, as usual an update coming on Monday

Regards

Sundjata Keita

[Sundjata Keita]

Monday is here again so it's update time. First let's get the pretty screenshots out the way. This week they come in the form of more portraits, 5 to be exact.

http://img282.exs.cx/img282/5379/face48gs.png
http://img282.exs.cx/img282/7159/face53mh.png
http://img282.exs.cx/img282/7209/face62ax.png
http://img59.exs.cx/img59/7104/face76it.png
http://img136.exs.cx/img136/5025/face95ww.png

Also we now have a new plan of approach to this mod which will allow us hopefully to get something (hopefully a BETA) out for christmas. We have decided to cut back on the amount of factions and therefore units to just the essential ones at the moment. Now we will have the three Zulu factions replacing the Roman ones plus the Zulu "senate", the British, Portuguese and Boers, the Mthethwa and the Ndwandwe. So that is only 9 factions and 4 culture types (excluding rebels). It is enough for now though and will provide the main base for playing the game so after BETA release we can add more factions.

On to my main job this week which was implementing the animations, things have gone pretty well but my RTW needs re-installing so I can redo all the important files again as they are a bit mixed up at the moment with tests and bits and pieces from other mods. The important thing is understanding how it works and I have worked it out now (with some help from Alin and Vercingetorix) so hopefully by next week I can be showing you some of the rifle animations in game providing everything goes smoothly.

Regards,

Sundjata Keita

[King Ragnar]

Great pics and great news on the progress, cant wait for the release. ~D

[Sundjata Keita]

Thanks for the kind words. ~:) Well I can't believe it's Monday again already, its been the end of term this week and so had a bit of a party, the I became ill, the list of excuses goes on ~;) Well work hasn't totally halted, I did find time to model a new Martini-Henry rifle

https://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5181/martinihenry9cd.png

And I have been continuing working on the script for Pyradyn, this week I have been learning how to form plural, and singular syllable imperatives in Zulu which has resulted in me getting the translation for some basic commands:

Bayeza - they are coming
Balekani - run away!
Manani - stop!
Hambani - walk (go)!
Ayihlasele - Attack!

I can't actually remember what commands need to be said, if anyone can think of any more that would be really helpful.
Sorry for not giving you any animations this week, I still need to re-install RTW. Well this will be the last update for a few weeks because I am going on holiday. If I get the animations in before I go on Saturaday I will do a mid-week update.

Regards,

Sundjata Keita

[Sundjata Keita]

Hello everyone, I'm back from holiday now so the weekly updates should start again from next monday, although don't expect too much to have been done ;)

[Sundjata Keita]

Well there has once again been delays I'm afraid due to a rethink on how we can incorporate the new features of BI. Work has begun again though and I've made some faction symbols, what do you think guys?

https://img364.imageshack.us/img364/3749/symbolteaser1hu.png

Also we are trying to spread our influence seen as we are relatively unknown at present so if you are without a signiture at the moment how about including our new banner or a link to our forums at TWcenter or even both!

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=41
https://img372.imageshack.us/img372/8799/sigcopy7gf.jpg

Thanks for your time fans; more updates coming soon,

Sundjata

[Sextus Caecillius]

Well this is one of the last places I know of. We could use some more modders. If any one looks at this post and is interested in helping with the Zulu Total War mod, we could use your help. Please report to the TWC forum if you are interested.
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=41
:help:

P.S. This is RemusII from the TWC forums

[dclare4]

By the way, for the Scots enthusiasts out there, watch this space. The Scots were greatly involved in the wars for the cape from the beginning when the 91st Argyllshires took the cape from the VOC and again in 1806 the Highland Brigade (93rd Sutherland, 71st Glasgow and 72nd Seaforth) reconquered the Cape which had been given back at the Peace of Amiens, all the way to Majuba Hill where the 92nd Gordons were the first British unit to fight in khaki in Africa. The Highland regiments will be well represented here and (here's hoping) we'll have a Pipe Band which will 'taunt' the enemy with the skirl of bagpipes.

Cheers all,
Harlechman

[al'Callaendor]

very nice~:)

[Sundjata Keita]

https://img304.imageshack.us/img304/5072/gloucestersfiring6eb.jpg

I'm in the process of making new animations...

[GiantMonkeyMan]

nice looking units Sundjata Keita.... and i love the faction symbols they are totally unique... keep it up ~:cheers:

[Stormy]

Wow... very nice.. I really like those symbols.

[Ilsamir Lord]

Lookin' fine I must say! Those portraits are particularly good! I like the way you've incorporated photos with them.

[Sundjata Keita]

Woah, haven't updated this thread for ages. Forget about the crappy firing animation shown above, I've made a good one now. You can see screenshots at the twcenter forum (just click on my sig) Here's another tasty screenshot of the gloucesters in shoulder arms position.

https://img513.imageshack.us/img513/8150/shoulderarms5em.png

Also just to let you know we are thinking of releasing an alpha version of the Zulu mod to a few people which will roughly include:

-6 new units, 3 british, 3 zulu (I know its not much but we've been working on other stuff)
-new animations including bayonet stabbing, firing and marching
-new sounds for the Zulus
-new faction symbols
-smoke for rifles
-maybe a square formation

It's not much but we're really just doing it to test the fundemental things and let some of our closest fans experience the work we've done so far.

Regards,

Sundjata

[lanky316]

Not visited for a while but it's good to see this mod is still going strongly. A lot of work's gone into this and it would've been a shame to have seen this one disapear!

[Sundjata Keita]

Graphical update of the Zulus thanks to new, more detailed textures:

https://img54.imageshack.us/img54/1217/zulutextureupdate0ux.png

[Sundjata Keita]

This one isn't quite finished but you get the general idea

https://img530.imageshack.us/img530/4391/zulubrit3ft.png

[Epistolary Richard]

Moving a TC mod to release in a month

About a week ago, I was approached to take a leading role in guiding ZTW to its first release - the battlepack - and over the next few weeks I will be working closely with the team to get a product into your hands.

First things first:

Material losses
I have received a selection of some of the material that has previously been previewed, but not all of it. Some has been lost due to a variety of computer difficulties different team members have experienced. If _anyone_ has any ZTW material sitting on their hard drives, or stuff that they were going to send in, then please let me know and send it to me.


Secondly:

The Battlepack

In order to allow you to play this mod just as soon as possible, our current focus is on the release of a battlepack. Important facts about this battlepack are:

1) It will be for v1.5
2) It will use the -mod: switch
3) It will include two factions (British & Zulu) with a selection of units from each
4) Due to the game's limitations in using rifle units properly, custom battles are servicable, but only really playing as the British
5) To accomodate this there will be a battle that allow you to take command of the Zulus against a scripted opponent. The same will also apply for the British.


Thirdly,

Moving to release

Since taking up the role, my first priority has been to complete the unit integration for the battlefield. After a crash course in how to pack animations, this has now been largely accomplished (though there are still job opportunities available, modellers & animators take note....)

One of the final touches was to add a smoke effect to the rifles as they fired, and it is of this that I thought I would show you a glimpse:

https://img170.imageshack.us/img170/9159/zulusmokeec9.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

And there we can see a small section firing for test purposes...

... of course you're not interested in playing this mod on small unit sizes so here's the effect on a grander scale.

https://img170.imageshack.us/img170/6017/zulusmoke1jq5.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

https://img245.imageshack.us/img245/4100/zulusmoke2ux2.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

https://img170.imageshack.us/img170/5286/zulusmoke3js4.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

[Epistolary Richard]

The next thing on the agenda after getting the battlefield functioning correctly was the graphical interface elements. It's a case especially with TC mods that there is an expectation of something different and I've been working away to provide a different spin on a few of the same old changes.

More on that later though... for now I thought I would be try to be comprehensive about what's going to be in the battlepack - so I'll start with the core units of either side: the British infantryman and the Zulu warrior as they will appear in the pack:

https://img125.imageshack.us/img125/3953/britishmainby9.gif (https://imageshack.us) https://img265.imageshack.us/img265/4038/zuluimpimi5.gif (https://imageshack.us)


Here's also a WIP shot of a scripted battle that will be included. As you can see, a British column is surprised by a Zulu force using their favoured 'horns' encirclement tactics.


https://img152.imageshack.us/img152/9027/battleul7.gif (https://imageshack.us)

[Epistolary Richard]

By request, I've tweaked a file that makes the units slightly darker. Here is a new screenshot showing slightly less bright British reds which will be used for the battlepack. People who like to tweak are welcome to do so.


https://img140.imageshack.us/img140/1263/newredbritsud4.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

A couple more units that you'll see in the battlepack.


https://img140.imageshack.us/img140/5761/mounteddragoondb0.gif (https://imageshack.us)https://img178.imageshack.us/img178/8936/juniorzulusp6.gif (https://imageshack.us)


First up, the Queens Own Mounted Dragoons - here seen mounted :) and for the zulus a warrior which, the thread tells me, is a member of a junior regiment denoted by the leopard skin umQhelehas and carries an umBhumbluzo shield. As well as being available to the Zulu faction, this unit will also be acting as a placeholder for other African tribesman units that appear in the scripted battles.

On that topic, here's another WIP of a second scripted battle involving the Zulus against another African tribe.


https://img140.imageshack.us/img140/205/zuluhillwq1.jpg (https://imageshack.us)

[Sundjata Keita]

Excellent! The units look much better without that plastic gloss they had before. Much more realistic and dirty.

Yesterday I cut down the number of polys on all of the Zulu models and they are all now below 1000, with most below 900. Units like the chief which has more detail are around the 950 mark but most of the others are about 850 and with no loss of detail :2thumbsup: (though that kind of shows how bad they were in the first place :sweatdrop: )

Today I'm going to have a look over the British models and see if I can get rid of a couple of issues such as the weird stretching you see on the main British infantry. Also I'll see about making the gun slightly larger and more in proportion.

Not sure when I will find the time to do any more animations but hopefully I will get a chance in the next couple of days and we can have some basic bayonet stabbing.

Until then here are a couple of pictures. One of the Zulu standard bearer who has a Bull's skull on a stick basically (possibly a tad unrealistic but it looks good) The other picture is of the Zulu chief though this is a picture from a while ago of the high poly version. It looks slightly different now (actually he looks better now)

https://img91.imageshack.us/img91/445/zuluskullbearerlf5.pnghttps://img171.imageshack.us/img171/3493/zuluchief2wl4.png

Regards,

Sundjata

[Epistolary Richard]

More units from the battlepack - this time charting the span of the eras covered in the mod. On the left - British line infantry from the early period of the mod. On the right, a Zulu warrior from the late period with a captured rifle and redcoat.


https://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9042/lineinfantryoe0.gif (https://imageshack.us) https://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4488/zuluriflesd3.gif (https://imageshack.us)



More work performed on the scripted battles. Here's in-game screenshots from the three that have so far been largely completed.

These are from the 2-sided battle - where players can fight as either the British or the Zulu
https://img164.imageshack.us/img164/174/battlebritishai4.th.jpg (https://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?image=battlebritishai4.jpg)

https://img55.imageshack.us/img55/5981/battlezulukw4.th.jpg (https://img55.imageshack.us/my.php?image=battlezulukw4.jpg)

As well as recognising a couple of familiar faces as the advisors - this is the first look at the Zulu user interface. The dark-brown, pared-down look evokes a particularly different air from the light stone vanilla UI. The bone-like decoration was included to stick to the design lain down in the ZTW mod logo.

Of particular note are the unit cards. In a different spin on the classic unit card we've 'inverted' the scheme - colouring the background with a combination of faction and unit colours and then presenting a silhouette of the unit which lights from black to white when the unit is activated (as you can see in the first example).

Other completed scripted battles are the Hill battle mentioned previously where you command the Zulus in the early days of their ascendancy facing a far larger force of warriors from other tribtes:

https://img222.imageshack.us/img222/7149/battlehillmr7.th.jpg (https://img222.imageshack.us/my.php?image=battlehillmr7.jpg)

And this one set around a wagoon laager.

https://img222.imageshack.us/img222/7433/battlelaagersb2.th.jpg (https://img222.imageshack.us/my.php?image=battlelaagersb2.jpg)

[Duke Malcolm]

Awesome.

[Myrddraal]

Great ZULU chief!

[MansaSakura]

Hi Sundjata. good to be back. I finally got some experience in modding. Just finished my first faction (turning egypt to kush). I wanted to bring something to your attention. I believe you have the Assegai/Iklwa story backwards. Assegai are all-purpose throwing spears. They're pretty long and suprisingly accurate. Iklwas were introduced by Shaka (or so the story goes) by simply breaking an assegai and expanding the blade (width was the size of a full adult hand). They are called ilkwas because of the sound they make when pulled from a body wound "ilkwa". Great work so far. i'll be in touch.

[Spartan Soldier]

When do you think it will be realesd?!?

[MansaSakura]

Here's a pic of a Zulu warrior from an elite impi (regiment). notice the white shield. it's the most detailed description of a zulu warrior I've ever seen. hope it helps.

https://img267.imageshack.us/img267/8198/zuluimpiih8.jpg
By scottfree (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/scottfree) at 2007-06-30

[Turk2]

Sorry,but this Mod died before a long time..:(