The Age of Mankind: Total War

Dave00 - ~:) .

The Structure of the Website
The main page will be a map of the globe with each of the faction icons positioned on that faction's capital city. Each icon will be a link to a page with that faction's history, information on how they play, a run-down of their units and a timeline (all of which will be provided to you).

Also on the world map, the different regions will be seperated by border lines and clicking on each will bring up a general description of it and a short guide to fertility of soil, terrain and climate.

Here are the region descriptions:

South America – The mighty Andes Mountains run north-south along the east Coast of this continent. This is where the Inca make their home, constructing roads and bridges through the treacherous height of the mountains and cutting massive terraces in which to grow maize, the region’s staple. In the west, the Amazon Jungle covers the vast expanse beyond the mountains, the Amazon River flows through this dense jungle, bringing forth a plethora of flora and fauna found nowhere else.

Climate - Varies between extreme cold in the alpine regions, to humid heat in the low-lands, particularly near the Amazon River. Alpine regions can be made cultivable, but considerable labour is required. Forestation of the central and eastern lowlands makes advanced agriculture difficult.

Terrain - Very mountainous in the west, lowlands are almost entirely forested.

Mesoamerica – Mesoamerica joins the northern and southern Americas. Here in the humid rainforests the Maya, and many other tribes, have settled and prospered, drawing on the region’s fertility and abundant natural resources to sustain themselves.

Climate - Hot and humid, generally wet. Agriculture is relatively easy.

Terrain - Yucatan Peninsula is flat and heavily forested.

North America – North America is a remarkably varied landmass, from rolling plains to towering mountains and lush forests, it is a land of diversity. In the south-west, desert dominates and in the near-constantly frozen north pine-forests spring up. In the east are the Iroquois, to the north the Crow and in the south are the Apache.

Climate - Variable. Ideally suited to agriculture in many areas, others are too cold or dry.

Terrain - Variable. Mountainous in the west, flat in the mid-west. Forested in the east and north.

Europe – Europe’s fertile soil and agreeable climate have made it a hub of social development throughout history, particularly around the Mediterranean coast. Europe is a small area geographically, but is still highly varied: the heat of Italy and Greece is in stark contrast to the bitter cold of northern Europe and Britain. The Western Roman Empire and the Hellenistic world both began and live on here, while the barbarian tribes – Britons, Franks, Spaniards, Germans and Hungarians – hold back waiting for a time to strike.
Several of Europe’s landforms are ideal defensively: Italy is defended to the north by the Alps, Britannia by the Channel and the Black Sea by the Hellespont.

Climate - Generally cool and wet in the north, hot and dry in the Mediterranean Summer, wet in the Winter. Both areas are ideally suited to growing different crops. Black Sea is one of the 'Granaries of the Ancient World'.

Terrain - Variable. Mountainous in Spain, northern Italy and Greece.

Asia – The continent of Asia technically begins in Turkey, making it a truly massive area, comprising India, China, Mongolia and the islands of the south-east and Japan. Here the Gupta and Champa Empires are rising, the former in the hot, wet centre of India and the latter in the jungles of what will become Vietnam and Cambodia. China’s rich pastures and vast resources are divided between two warring kingdoms, the Wei and the Qi. China has been a centre of learning and technology for many centuries past, presumably due to its large population and rich supplies of natural resources. The islands of Japan are almost entirely mountainous, making agricultural land scarce. Earthquakes are also common, making building on sloping ground perilous. The western half of Japan has recently been united by the Yamato clan, while the rest is controlled by rebel warlords. The Mongols make their impermanent dwellings on the steppe of Central Asia, and live a life of subsistence entirely dependant on their horses, this has, of course, made them excellent horsemen.

Climate - Generally wet and hot in summer in the east and south. Cold in the north. Generally ideal climates for growing rice exist throughout the region in wet lowlands. Jungle in parts of India and the south-east.

Terrain - Variable. Himalayas seperate India from the rest of Asia. Hindu Kush seperates India from the Near East. Japan: mountainous. China and Mongolia, largely flat, some exceptions.

The Near East – the Tigris-Euphrates river system is the life blood of this region, which has always produced grain of the highest quality. Many civilisations have risen and fallen along the Twin Rivers and on the coast of the Caspian Sea to the north. Now the Sassanid Empire stakes its claim to this area, and to the deserts of Arabia and the Marshes of the gulf. To the north, forming a barrier between the Caspian and Black Seas are the Zagros Mountains, a useful defence against any who would threaten the northern border of the Empire.

Climate - Generally hot and dry throughout the year. Hot and humid at the mouth of the river system. Cold in the mountains. Twin Rivers are ideally suited to growing wheat. Arabia and much of the Near East is desert.

Terrain - Variable. Hindu Kush seperates the Near East from India. Northern mountains seperate Near East from the Steppe.

On the main page there will also be a link at the bottom centre of the screen to a page about the team, which RichyG13 has already begun, and is now up-to-date I believe. And a second link to a progress report, which Richy has already compiled.

There should also be a link to a page on Religion somewhere.

Just ask me for any information you need and I'll rustle it up, though the faction histories may be a little slow to get to you (there are 20 of them and each is about 500 words).

What do people think about having varying prices for technologies between factions? For example, for the Chinese to get gunpowder, it would be very cheap, but it would be extremely expensive for the Mesoamericans and Inca.
This is just a possible way to limit the advances of factions, particularly for the AI, to a somewhat historical level.

Here is a concept for some Mesoamerican muskets (thanks Bishop Six!):
http://moddb.com/images/cache/mods/5...ater_32486.jpg
I rather like the middle and bottom ones, there's something about the circular butt I quite like.

I'd also like to inform everyone that we now have private forums (at http://s14.invisionfree.com/Age_of_M...ex.php?act=idx ), though this thread will also be maintained (I believe any Invision login will work at the private thread), and a new web-site, the address of which will be revealed publicly when it is completed.

I think having the price vary between cultures makes sense historically, but how will it affect the play balance? Will the cultures who pay more for gunpowder have an advantage in other areas? Or will they just get totally dominated? But the mesoamericans probably won't be fighting the chinese that much... or will they?

I agree with your choice of muskets, Lonely Soldier. I think the circular butt helps to unify the design with other mesoamerican weapons(the obsidian edged clubs).

Bishop Six - The Mesoamericans will have an advantage in unit sizes I would suggest, they will also have cheaper unit training costs - this will reflect their expansionist policies.

Richy's already made a musket unit, though it isn't animated, so I'll get him to rustle up some of those muskets for us.

By the way, If everyone in the team could please join the new forums we'll be able to have private discussions and also publish our work more coherently.

Yeh i was trying to come up with some of my own designs for meso-american muskets and weirdly i came up with the same short musket style. I started to draw the way the unit would hold the gun and a design for the infantryman's hat.

I'll get some additional work done soon when i can get my head round things.

richyg13 - I'd like to see those hats! I'm going to be focussing on descriptions and stuff for a little while now, just to flesh out what we've got already. In the mean time Richy, I was wondering if you could make some little icons for the different religions, to replace or add to the ones in BI which appear on the loyalty, law/order information scrolls; the small crosses and things.

These would be:

Judaism - Star of David

Christianity - Cross

Buddhism - Lotus Flower

Hinduism - not really sure... any ideas?

Taoism - Yin-Yang

Islam - Crescent Moon

Animism - I need to check precisely what this is; I can't remember whether it's the stuff about animal spirits, or about all things having a spirit (like trees and rocks and things)

Mesoamerican Religion - Temple Pyramid (simplified - just the step shapes or something? Silhouette?)

Inca Religion - worshipped the sun, moon and stars, so perhaps a combined symbol of all three?

I've just done the faction history for Japan, here it is:
The Japanese
In the year 4,000BCE the first known Japanese civilisation was flourishing, these people were the Jomon. The Jomon used simple tools and left behind them a legacy of agriculture and pottery. For three and a half thousand years the Jomon maintained their culture but in 500BCE the Yayoi rose to prominence with their metal tools and advanced society, although still based on agriculture. In the following centuries, often called the ‘Tomb Period’, clans sprang up and the most powerful of these was the Yamato Clan.

By 400CE the Yamato had conquered the western half of Honshu as well as Shikoku and Kyushu, and by the time of the introduction of Buddhism (in 522CE) they were undisputed rulers of much of Japan. Buddhism was not the only thing to come from the Asian mainland, with it came writing and political structures and legal theories from China.

Between 710 and 784, the Yamato founded their first capital at Nara, near what would become Kyoto, this began the Japanese Classical Period. The Heian era followed and brought with it the Japanese sensitivity to aesthetics. It also brought the world its first novel, the Tale of Genji, written by Lady Murasaki at the court of the new capital Heian-Kyo (which would become Kyoto).

The Heian Period ended in 1185, and its collapse saw the rise of the Shogun and of their warrior lords: the Samurai. These new rulers had their capital south of Tokyo at Kamakura, while the court of the Emperor remained in Kyoto, the emperor himself; a puppet of the warlords in Kamakura. After two centuries of inter-clan warfare and unrest, the Ashikaga Shogunate gained control of Japan and this warlord dynasty saw a renaissance of art and culture, strongly influenced by Samurai culture and Zen Buddhism.

In the year 1530, after the Onin War, Japan fell into a period of struggle which later came to be known as the Sengoku Jidai, the Age of the Country at War. For seventy years the Daimyo, lords of various clans, vied for superiority, and unification eventually came in the form of the general Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Tokugawa rule brought an end to Japan’s civil strife for two hundred and fifty years more, and during this time, Edo (Tokyo) became the capital of the Shogunate. This stability spurred a time of refinement of the Japanese culture, and a vibrant middle-class society was formed.

Stability was not to last while the world wanted Japan’s rich trade, and after pressure was applied by the American Admiral Perry, Japan’s seclusion ended. By 1868 Japan was once again under the rule of an Emperor, and rapid modernisation followed.

In the late 19th and the 20th Century Japan made many attempts at expanding its Empire; first into the north-west, against Russia, and then into China, where Japan’s warlike Emperor carried out brutal crimes of genocide of the Chinese people. The United States of America again presented a turning point in Japan’s history, halting their expansion into the Pacific and eventually using their new weapon, the atomic bomb, to crush Japanese resistance to invasion.

The next fifty years saw Japan’s final modernisation and westernisation. Its economy boomed and is strong to this day. Under a banner of passivism and unity Japan rivals even the wealthiest nations.

AoM Team
If anyone has new work they are posting, please put it here and on the private forum. There are now threads open for modelling, concepts and references in the Age of Mankind Modding section.
Thanks.

I've rustled up a very rough layout for the homepage, the address of which will be revealed when the time comes... The colours are not final, though the division of the regions is relatively accurate, and the regions will be divided by two-colour borders anyway. The ModDb logo won't be on the final page ;). The faction icons are represented by four-pointed stars and the religion icons by lightning bolts :) :


http://moddb.com/images/cache/mods/5...ater_32593.gif

"The Team" button will lead to a page detailing the team members, much like the one we have already.

For the Hindu religion you could have the Ohm symbol. Sorry I havent been participating, I've recently been in Kenya. didnt see to many tribes people (Masai) but saw enough of them to sketch some weapons (spear throwing and spear melee). They also didnt seem to have too much armour
Il see if i can upload the pics for you

CplTony - we've ended up going with that, and Richy has made up some religion icons for the information scrolls:
http://moddb.com/images/cache/mods/5...ater_32966.gif

Oh rite i see now
Lonely Soldier - I see you've got a religion in Africa which i presume is Animism. You basically right in how you describe it. Animism comes from the latin anima meaning breath or soul and is the belief that everything has a spirit or soul, some have interpreted it in the form of a shadow or vapour and it passes from object to object some deep stuff there:bow: . This is what gives humans and animals life and that when something dies, its soul leaves it and goes somewhere else (this is how primitive man explained decomposition and withering of plants). However it was only labeled animism by Edward Taylor in 1871 so mabe we can find somewhere on the internet what the tribes in Africa called it.

Also I noticed that you have a religion in Africa but no faction. Is this deliberate or a mistake as it would seem pointless to have a religion for a place where you dont have a faction.

I would suggest, if the logistics allow it, to pick a well know tribe like the Zulu's, Anansi or Maasai and make them a faction or have something like the 'African Conglomerate States' or something

I found this website,Gateway Africa which has loads of tribes and some of them have history and almost all of the ones with links have Poilitical systems, economy, and more importantly religion. There are also some pictures for the surviving tribes but for more pictures you might want to have a look at this site :African Tribes Photographed

Hope this helps

Tony

no egyptians?

Yin & Yang!~D

CplTony - Putting that religion in Africa was a mistake. Animism is going to be in North America and Japan (in Japan its Shintoism by the way).

EdwardL - Not in 400CE I'm afraid. Egypt was a part of the Roman empire between 32BCE and
300ish CE. After that it was a Byzantine province. For a few hundred years before the Roman annexation of Egypt it was controlled by successors of Alexander the Great's Empire; the Ptolemies. They were essentially Greeks and only when Cleopatra came to power were the Egyptian gods reinstated. The Egyptians shouldn't even be in Rome:TW as they are.

al'Callaendor - ~:)

Lonely Soldier - "In the year 1530, after the Onin War, Japan fell into a period of struggle which later came to be known as the Sengoku Jidai, the Age of the Country at War. For seventy years the Daimyo, lords of various clans, vied for superiority, and unification eventually came in the form of the general Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Tokugawa rule brought an end to Japan’s civil strife for two hundred and fifty years more, and during this time, Edo (Tokyo) became the capital of the Shogunate. This stability spurred a time of refinement of the Japanese culture, and a vibrant middle-class society was formed".
"The Seven-Year War was the conflict from 1592 to 1598 on the Korean peninsula, following two successive Japanese invasions of Korea. Japanese troops invaded Korea in 1592 with the professed aim of conquering China. And Japan reinvaded in 1597 during a truce. In both campaigns, Japanese invasions were defeated by the allied forces of Korea and China.
"It is also known in Korean as Imjin Waeran (임진 왜란) and Jeongyu Jaeran (정유재란), literally "Japanese Turmoil of the Year Imjin" and "Re-turmoil of the Year Jeongyu", and in Japanese as "Battles of Bunroku and Keicho"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven-Year_War
Just a little more information on the Japanese of that period.
~:grouphug:


.

Thanks for that Helgi!

Coming Soon...

THE AGE OF MANKIND: TOTAL WAR WEBSITE

The new site includes faction histories, play guides etc.

bit of a pointless post but fair enough what are you planning to do for the red indian cities because up until the invasion of british/spanish ect they mainly stayed in tee-pees (i kno spellings wrong) so how are you gonna differenciate between all the buildings?

Tony

CplTony - I don't think the post was pointless, I'm keeping people updated with the mod. Also, I believe tribes in the south of north America lived in adobe structures. Apart from that, I don't really see the problem with teepees anyway.

enough meso-american nations you should put at least two american nations... what about korea and egypt and muslims nation?

you should really delete some of the american ... it is really unnecessary

katsusand - we may end up getting rid of one of the north American factions (we are not removing the Mesoamerican Alliance!), but it would not be replaced by Egypt (because it's not historical). Many people have suggested the Arabs, and perhaps we should have them.

great......

but i have a question... you are saying that the game will include A modren age... how??... i mean the rome:total war engine do not support WW2 battle style... cause the soldiers in need to take cover and hide in bunkers... not charging through each other....

katsusand - well tanks would work much like elephants, but ranged combat would be stressed. There would probably be two kinds of infantry for each faction as well; Anti-tank and assault squads. These would be about 5-20 strong and use the peasant formation, though more sparsely. They would have the hide anywhere skill as well.

I posted a long time ago asking that exact question. There are alot of technical problems with this mod, especially the early modern stuff. In addition to that, you're going to need more than the limit for models 255 as of RTW, maybe more for BI, to complete all the unit types which span all time. So many its going to take years to get this done, unless you use generic units which would be slightly boring. Do you guys have a site or just concepts for one?

snevets - we're still working on the site, I have to do a little more on it and then I'll release it.

The unit limit is definitely a problem. We are still working around it by making only the most vital units first.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lonely Soldier

The unit limit is definitely a problem. We are still working around it by making only the most vital units first.

---

in that case you have to ways .....

1- delete some factions so you can have enough units slots

2- let the game ends at the gun powder age .........

Doing the mod in sections is always a possibility, too. You could have three or four campaigns like medieval did.

That's true, but doing ages is preferable. By the way, I hope your mod goes well.

We have another new modeller, Snevets. He's done quite a few new models for us already, so check out the images section of our forums (see sig) for more information.

Some unit pictures for everyone (sorry about the lack of posting recently but we are progressing):

All purpose Samurai Beta
https://img486.imageshack.us/img486/...e7qh9hc.th.jpg
Roman Auxilia
https://img486.imageshack.us/img486/...t7sz8sy.th.jpg
Medieval Italian Pikeman (may be for all European factions with reskins)
https://img486.imageshack.us/img486/...n3ji0im.th.jpg
And some Teutonic Knights (probably German province specific - we know that they look a little KKK'ish but they are historical)
https://img486.imageshack.us/img486/...s9bh4qp.th.jpg

I like how glossy the samurai are, but could they be a little redder perhaps? Also, the green for the Auxilia is nice.

well good job man ^^ .... but the samurai color is bad ...Alas!!

I dont think that samurai have pink armor... it should be dark red or dark blue ....