Age of Warlords - Total War

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

I am pleased to now fully reveal my new project, Age of Warlords - Total War. It will feature a brand new map, recreated lovingly in the style of Medieval, and including for the first time in a Medieval - Total War mod Greenland and parts of North America!



There will be two periods. They will be:

Angevin Ascendancy (starts 1153)

Algonquin Tribes
Dorset Eskimo
Norwegians
Danish
Kingdom of the Isles
Scots
English
Kingdom of Gwynedd
Kingdom of Deheubarth
Kingdom of Ulster (Northern Ui Neills)
Kingdom of Connaught
French
Brittany
County of Hainaut
HRE
Genoese
Papacy
Pisans
Castilian-Leonese
Aragonese

Trial by Battle and Fire (starts 1337)

English
French
Kingdom of the Isles
Skraeling Tribes
Norwegians
Danish
Scots
Kingdom of Ulster
Earldom of Desmond
Brittany
Flemish
Navarresse
Aragonese
Castilian-Leonese
Genoese
Papacy
HRE
Swiss
Burgundians
Milanese

Expect many new things, including:

* A host of new units, a good deal from the Super Mod plus a hell of a lot more besides
* New unit graphics, including new BIFs from the Skraeling units
* New graphics for factions, flags and shields and such
* New portraits, including Indian ones
* Possibly new agents and boats
* New campaign map pieces
* New names
* New battlemaps
* New heroes

Again, I'm sorry but GA mode is not possible.

Expect a release in September.

Here's some pics to whet the appetite:





As you can clearly see, this is still a work in progress. Everything is far from final at this stage.

[Duke Dick]

looking good BKB, i'm actually really surpised that no-one has posted yet, as this looks like breaking the M:TW mod mold.

[Iustinus]

Hey BKB,
can you post a screenshot of the Skraelings when you get the chance?
Looks like an AWESOME mod. Let me know if you still need me to do maps. Is there a way to make specific maps for specific provinces? I think the HTW team had trouble with that- I'm pretty sure the campaign just uses random land maps that go with the description in the startpos file.
Thanks!
Justin

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Yes Iustinius you are indeed integral to my plans so I'd appreciate your help. I'm pretty sure you can do specific castle maps for some reason, though don't quote me on that. If we get rid of desert textures we may be able to get them for American only using the region attributes section though no?

I'll send you a PM with more info. Your work on the Arthur mod was amazing BTW, love those new sounds.

[Crusader4thepeople]

This mod is awesome, BKB this is one of a kind, as rather then a changed map if MTW or a "close up" map (like in VI) but a completely new map created in the style of MTW. The new factions sound great, especially the Eskimos, cant wait to see those

[Iustinus]

Thanks BKB!
There is one problem with using the desert graphics- weather is hardcoded (from my experience) so you get sandstorms, the men tire more quickly, there is no snow, rain, or fog and somehow even if you make a map thickly forested, most of the trees don't show.
This really sucks because most mods don't need the desert maps and you get two landscapes that would be great to change, but they can't be changed fully!
And unfortunately, Lush and Temperate use the same backdrops and ground textures, just different trees, so if you mod one you are modding the other. This only leaves Arid as an option for modding landscapes, unless you have a Mediterranean based mod (and the only Mediterranean parts of this mod that I can see on the map are for the most part not Arid.) I think I know what you are talking about with the castle maps.
If you want to do seperate bird sounds for North American maps, I've got that set, you only need to choose the landscape we can turn North american.
Thanks!
Justin

[barocca]

Is there a way to make specific maps for specific provinces? I think the HTW team had trouble with that- I'm pretty sure the campaign just uses random land maps that go with the description in the startpos file.

now you are going to have to bear with me on this, it has been 2 years since i researched this stuff, so i am running on faded memory cells,
edit - checked and missed SIX type ones!! - i have never used the types, so this should be EASY now!!!


this is the gist of how the map system works

there are terrain types that can be declared as borders,

these can be put into four terrain categories,
and castles (a special case - more on castles later)

terrain categories

==type one==
PLAINS, FLAT, HILLY, MOUNTAIN, FLT2HLL, HLL2FLT, HLL2MNT ,MNT2HLL, FLT2MNT, MNT2FLT

FLT2PLN, PLN2FLT, HLL2PLN, PLN2HLL, PLN2MTN, MTN2PLN

==type two==
Inland, Coastal

==type three==
River

==type four==
DESERT, Steppes

type one - 160 variants
type two are modifiers, a map must be of type one, and must be either Inland or Coastal UNLESS it is desert or steppe
(HAVE NOT tested what happens if a map is NEITHER coastal or hilly - may be more options IF excluding coastal/hilly WORKS)
type three is an additional option
type four are an old design - no longer can be activated in startpos scripts

NOW
when i made Shog Mod beta 5 i found several "type mixes" that the dev's had ALLOWED for in hardcode, but had NOT ACTUALLY used when making MTW.
SO it may be possible to mix and match the combo's a lot more than (thus far) seems to be the case.

SO how many maps??
not sure BUT
using the SIXTEEN type one declarations, plus giving each it's coatal or inland gives us 34 maps right away
then ANOTHER 34 if we give each a river
so thats 64 distinct maps before we look any further

at this time it looks like that may be it,
i am looking at wether we can use more modifyers,
but thus far no joy


SO WHAT ABOUT "PlainsInlandRiver01, PlainsInlandRiver02 etc etc???
they are just mapgroups, so you dont fight the same map for the same province,

CA's original plan was to be able to set the map subdirectory,
but it looks like that was not implimented,

CA also planned for a "mapgroup", but that does not appear to have been implemented

NOW I AM FAIRLY CERTAIN MTW DOES NOT CARE if borders dont "match" backwards and forwards

just because province one to province two if hilly to flat, that does not mean province two to province one needs to be flat to hilly!!!


so if we make all the borders ENTERING a province the same and make ONLY ONE map of that type, then we will always fight battle ENTERING that province on the same map
BUT
rebellions dont use border maps,
that means we cannot make ALL battles in a province on the same map, but all engagements between enemies, sure, we can do that.




castlemaps

these are something special, and so many mods DONT understand them,
SOME you can predfine, by giving names in startpos - so you can fight specific castles,
but wether you use terrain or name
they are ALL LINKED to the tech tree!!!
the number at the end are VERY important

three main types,
CASTLEFLAT, CASTLEPLAINS, CASTLEHILLY
(((have not tested coastal/inland/desert/steppe/mountain)))

2 of the 3 numbers at the end are linked to the tech tree

TECH TREE HAS CASTLE NUMBER AND UPGRADE LIMITS
maximum the Tech Tree/Map will accept is 7 and 1, being 7 castles and 1 upgrade,
but you can exchange less castle for more upgrades
(IE: you can have 5 castles, with three upgrades,)
MAYBE you can have more upgrades, but IF i remember rightly the total of Castles Plus Upgrades must be eight OR LESSl
---this requires testing, my memory IS vague on upgrades, but maximum castles is DEFINATLEY seven---

CASTLEFLAT05_1_0
First number is randomiser (can have 01,02, ad infinitum)
([i]First number can also be "set" in SetCastleNumGroups::,
the plan was for the game to limit itself to the "set" number and ignore the rest, i cannot recall if that actually works or not)

Second number is Tech Level
Third number is Upgrade Level

second and third number must match tech tree possibilities, else you will get the default "lumpy map"


you will ALSO get the default "lumpy map" if you use a terrain border crossing that the devs did not make a map for!


so we can definately make 64 unique province maps FOR "MEETING BATTLES",
but not for rebellions,

how many province you have BKB??

cheers,
B.

[SkyElf]

Look's like it will be an interesting Mod to try out. Looking forward to it's finish.

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Just a quick update - things are coming along nicely. The Tuscans have been replaced by the Pisans, complete with new shield graphics.

[Paul Peru]

I'm looking forward to trying you new mod, BKB!
And there's a new MedMod happening as well
The old warhorse called MTW still stirs when properly flogged.

[The Blind King of Bohemia]

Work's progressing nicely. All the necessary buildings and units from the Super Mod are in and I'm working on new ones. Some, like the Indians, are being saved for the time being. Here's a sneak peak at some so far, hope you enjoy them:

Maine Spearmen:



Breton Cavalry (sorry about the flag - only temporary!)



Melee featuring Norman Archers and Norman Light Cavalry. Breton Militia return from the Super Mod:



Of course this is all unfinished....the Almohad flag has already gone and the unit battle icons will be made. Its just a taster of many of the new units to come.

[Radier]

Looks really good!