Org Gah-zette: Issue 1

[Ianofsmeg16]

Hello orgahs! Sorry for the delay, but i had no time to write the article, so now, on a cold, windy Manx Saturday night, Me and the Org Gah-zette Team bring you the...




This week's Headline story is:

An Interview with Frogbeastegg
Ian: First Question, when were you made a moderator, and how has your experience been so far?
Froggy: :blinks and tries to remember: Er … :runs off to check the dates of certain topics:

I made my debut as the AM of the brand new Mead Hall on the 26/08/03, working with Shadeswolf. There was a public election; my name was put forward and I won the vote. Incidentally, I was one of the first two AMs, along with Demon of Light, and the Mead Hall and its partner, the Throne Room, were the forums the position was created for.

All in all I suppose it has been a quiet career. Partly by preference; each mod has their own style, and I’ve always preferred not to have to break out the hairpins and play Frog. I’m far more interested in doing things and being useful than in cracking people on the head and telling them to behave nicely. Nowadays I seem to have faded into the background a lot; most of my work is in the background where few people see me doing it, rather than the more obvious guides, starting forums, and whathaveyou. I don’t mind that.

Ian: What forums have you moderated, and what has been your most memorable experience there?

Froggy: Carrying on from the first part of my answer above:

I was promoted to full mod and moved to the (then so new it was still unnamed) Arena on the 16/02/04. I had to let the Mead Hall go at this point.

I was asked by Cheetah to be co-mod for the original guides forum a few days before 07/04/04. I don’t remember when, but eventually I moved on up to being the senior mod for that forum because Cheetah had been eaten by Real Life™.

The RTW Guides forum was another I helped build from scratch, starting on 28/09/04.

Memorable experiences … most of those have had little to nothing to do with the mod job. Things like finding my first attempt at a guide went down very well, winning Hall of Fame awards for my writing, or the ‘frogbeastegg appreciation’ threads which sprung up from nowhere and shocked me more than you could believe.

Hmmm …

Well, winning the AM vote qualifies. I didn’t think I stood a chance.

Leaving the Mead Hall was one big wrench. I had been so connected to that forum – it was my home on the net. I had been there, as one of the small group of writers who attracted readers, and sparked other writers, and so made the idea of a dedicated story forum rise up and be asked for. I was one of those who supported it. I helped find threads to move over. I followed everything as the potential forum was discussed and shaped. Even the name – if I remember correctly I was the one to put ‘Mead Hall’ in to the pool of potential names for patrons to vote on. Certainly it was my favourite, if nothing else. Then I was nominated for the AM vote. I won. The connection only grew. I wrote, and wrote, even when I didn’t particularly want to or felt my efforts were rubbish, because I believed the Mead Hall deserved an AM who participated. I read everything, commented on everything. I expanded the forum past its original mandate, first letting in all creations of any type regardless of setting and basis, then letting in discussion of books and literature. I helped in the original screenshot competition. I watched the place grow, and thrive. Then I left.

Then there are the PMs and posts, the ones which say “Thank you for doing a good job.” Those are always memorable.

Ian: Now, we've all at least read some of your long running online novel "The Machiavellian Adventures of Princess Eleanor" How did this story get started? what gave you the inspiration?

Froggy: Well, you have to understand this was a long time ago, relatively speaking, back in the very tail end of 2003. You also have to understand I have a tendency to go on and on to boring length (bet you haven’t noticed …), and that this is not precisely the easiest of things to explain.

I was teaching myself to write, and I mean that in the most basic sense. I had just been identified as dyslexic at the ripe old age of twenty, and I was determined that no longer would I struggle to write my university essays and exams. I would learn to spell, I would teach myself the grammar my schooling had completely neglected, and I would keep on hammering away until I could finally put my thoughts down on paper. Er, I don't think I really expected any decent results. I ended up trying my hand at fiction because a few people reported that they liked a little comedy I had posted in a thread about how people had discovered the Total War series of games. Let's just agree that those early stories were complete crap, in every way

I started to wonder what to write for my next story. It needed to be themed to Medieval: Total War, to fit the forum and because I could not imagine doing anything so daring as trying something entirely my own creation. I wondered what might happen if the princess unit had the abilities of the geisha unit from Shogun: Total War, making it an assassin. The idea appealed, and I started to plan, beginning with outlining my heroine.

I would like to take this opportunity to say, "It's not my fault!".

You see, I sketched out only a few details, a few characters, hardly anything of a plot. The rest ... handled itself. That had never happened to me before, even if it is now the way I get all my ideas and characters. I decided Eleanor should be called that by the complex method of closing my eyes and stabbing my finger at a very big list. She would not be yet another beautiful princess. She should fit her role, i.e. not faint at the sight of blood and all that nonsense. A sidekick was needed, a man who could fight, and because Fulk was a rare name in historical fiction I dubbed him that. Categorically, under no circumstances, never ever would there be even a hint of attraction between them! Ever. Too cliché, and entirely too predictable.

That was all my input. So you see, it really is not my fault things turned out as they did.

Except she did not tell me everything. That princess who appeared and started bothering me was keeping things back. Parts of her tale made no sense at all, and great gaps were evident in many places. Some bits even sounded as if she were making it up on the spot, and not doing a very good job of it. Fulk was keeping his mouth firmly shut, probably out of fear. The few other characters I could ‘see’ in the same way were much less substantial, little more than ghost-like wraiths and unable to speak directly to me. I did not pursue it too hard; I struggled enough with what she did tell me, my abilities were so lacking.

With the very incomplete bits I had I started to write, in my crude and fumbling way. The episode I wrote was long by my then-standards, a whole four pages! (For those who haven’t read ‘Eleanor’, I’m now in the habit of turning out episodes in excess of fifteen pages. I call seven short.) By the end Nell and Fulk were sending off those predictable romantic sparks. I was not a pleased amphibian. This is where the second thing about my writing established itself. I told them to leave each other alone. They ignored me, and went their own sweet way. This was the first - and very far from the last - time I got trampled by my own work. It has become a familiar feeling, and these days I don’t even resist. Most of the time.

I kept on going, managing I think it was five episodes total. Then a new game caught my attention, Crusader Kings. My game as Ulster in that was sending me an advanced version of what happened with Eleanor - it was setting itself up into a story without any real effort on my part, and pestering me. I had to write it. Eleanor got put to one side. She was not too happy about it.

By the time Blood Red Hand was meeting its fate Eleanor was prodding away at my mind, demanding attention in that delightful way she has. I'd matured as a writer over the months, and she was finally willing to talk. The facade was dropped, no longer did she seem so hyperactive or childish, and when she started to tell me I understood, understood why she seemed so different, and why she had been reluctant to share her story. Fulk also let his act go, the other characters gradually came forward and spoke for themselves.

I started to write again.

Ian: And of course, what has been your favourite part of the story?

Froggy: Argh! How can I hope to answer that!?

What do I love about this story? I love the gentle humour, the mad humour, the touching parts, the sad parts, the tragic parts, the mushy parts, the parts soaked in blood, the parts which reveal something new about one of the many characters, the parts which place a new interpretation on older happenings, the parts where I lay my clues and the parts where I reveal the answers, the talk-heavy parts, the action parts, the simple parts, the complicated parts. I love the characters themselves; none of them are me, and none of this is any reflection of anything in my own life, and yet because of the way the characters and story have come to me I know them very intimately. Heck, I can even talk to them in my mind, if I wish to. Now I sound like I’m insane …

Everything, I love everything.

That is not to say I don’t see flaws. It needs editing, heavily. Bits need removing, trimming, redoing, and other bits need adding. The writing needs smoothing, and working on so it is consistent; I have learned a lot and improved a lot since the first post. There are some characters and events in this edition of the tale which I term ‘placeholder’, because I couldn’t go into the depth I wanted to for various reasons. I want to turn the story into a true novel, instead of a serial posted on a forum over the course of a year and a bit.

Ian: Having written a story as long as Princess Eleanor's, do you have any experience of writing in 'real life'?

Lady Frog: No. That always seems to amaze people, but then it amazes me that I get mistaken for a professional. I am entirely self-taught; I have never even read a book on how to write fiction. I work completely on instinct and what I call the ‘feel’. It is all rather like breathing now; I do not need to think about what I am doing, except in very rare and specific cases where extra control is required. I don’t even use plot outlines., character sheets, or any of the aids many writes seem to – I keep it all in my froggy little head. That also amazes people, because of the sheer number of characters, detail and amount of things happening in Eleanor now.

I’ve only been writing for a few years now. All of my work, from the very beginning(go to post number 3; for some reason the direct link isn’t working.) (Ok, so this is not the original post. That is lost, deleted during the database problems we had shortly before we moved from Iconboard to the vBulletin software. I think. This is an exact copy, made shortly afterwards) to my most recent work can be found here, scattered about the org..

Ian: And finally, what do you enjoy most about these forums? Who do you get on well with and what do you consider most 'fun' about the org?


Froggy: I’m only a frog, and I stay out of the backroom, so I would hope I get on with everybody. Leastways, I haven’t been the subject of one of those watchtower topics which calls for a mod’s head on a spike …

Which would be one of the things I like most about these forums – the atmosphere is far friendlier. That is what is fun, as well. I like a peaceful life, and I like to be able to say what I wish to say without being sucked into a fight I’m not interested in and don’t want.

Ther you have it!, our first interview of the Gah-zette and an insight into The Lady Frog's life around the org. Check out Princess Eleanor's wonderful adventure here: https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=34044
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For the Next section, here's a list of New members circa 17/03/06 curtesy of Kukrikhan:
890719k
aevionknight
All Friend Anskar
Aonar
Asean
axons amok
Boiler Bro Joe
CalvinandThomasHobbes
crossroad
Euphranor
firehawk12
Gaius Julius Caesar
Ganger rolf
GeneralHankerchief
Grover
Hesus
lastroman
lawrenceray
lobotomy071
Magister Militum
Maloncanth
marc 0k01
marechalDELESPERUT
Marschall Viktor
Micaelis
mmadmaxx
Novenus Julius
Rascal
RoP-Rez
Sina
Surfer Joe
The Fwapper
toxicseagull
ULTOR
Zysygy
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Welcome all of you to a wonderful forum, I hope you enjoy your stay as much as I have
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Arcade:
Two PM's from ZainDustin have given me some insight into the Arcade and it's tournaments.
First, and possibly the biggest news of the Arcade, is ZainDustin is the new Arcade Moderator.
Beirut will be posting a thread for me to use in the Frontroom, so anyone who wants to suggest anything, or just wants to see what's going on in the Arcade, can report there. It will be stuck on top, so it's easy to find.
Second, quoted from Zain's PM...
I (ZainDustin) the Arcade Moderator is going to start up 5 tournaments. These tournaments are for the games Tetris, Snake, Asteroids, Typing Test, and Arkanoid. If someone would like to participate in any of these, have then PM me and tell me what they would like to participate in. Or, check for Frontroom, and look for the thread called Official Arcade Thread. There, you can sign up for a tournament as well. As soon as I get 8 people to participate, the tournament will start, and I will PM all the participants, that it's about to start.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
PBeM
Welcome to Dutch_Guy's little part of the Gah-zette, the PBeM News!

A dark line appeared on the horizon. Mounted men. Many of them. Oppius glanced to his rear. The line was there too. East, west, they were completely encircled. There were hundreds of them, and they were approaching fast. Very fast.
“Form a wedge!” His men responded without a word. “On my signal, we charge directly ahead. We will break their line and continue north. Do not slow for anything. Anyone who falls behind will be left for dead!”
- The West Roman Empire PBM

Greeting all, glad your taking the time to read this and the other articles !
I’m going to explain a little something about the Play By Mail campaigns PBMs, which I have knowticed aren’t that well know around here.
No Problem, after reading this article I’m sure you’ll understand what it is, and how to play one.

What is this PBM thingy ?

PBM is the abbrevation of Play By (e)Mail, a PBM is a campaign played with multiple players, a PBM is the closest thing you get to a MP Campaign without using any mods.
Now why would one want to play by mail if one can just as easily access Multiplayer and fight battles right away – without even having to keep an eye on the strat. Map !
To understand that a little better I need to explain some of the basics of a PBM.
A PBM can be divided in to two parts:

1. The actual playing ( + taking Screen shots !!! )
2. The after action reports, also called Write-ups and sometimes After Action Reports

The actual playing consists of playing an X amount of years, then letting the other player next in line play an X amount of years, after your reign ( your “turn”” ) you post your write ups / after action reports ( now know as AAR ) in a thread dedicated to those AARs.
The actual playing is exactly the same as a regular Single player campaign.

One of the things that make a PBM so much fun is the fact that every player has his or her own playing style, meaning one player might love to turtle ( Tech-up ) while the player next in line loves to rush. It’s great seeing how your predecessors did in his or her play time ( from now on called a Reign ) and figuring out a way how to best handle the situation they put you in.

How does one PBM ?

PBMing is great because it’s easy as well as a lot of fun, especially if you play with a large dedicated group of players, players who won’t let the game sit there and subsequently be forgotten and thus killing the PBM...
As said one of the things that make the whole concept of PBMing so enjoyable is the fact that it’s so easy to do.
Well now I’ve come to the point where I really should explain how this PBMing is done;
The first thing you need to do is inquire if there are enough people who might want to play.
If so, you’ll need to make sure that everyone is playing the same version of the game, the same mods and so on, crashes due to different versions are needless to say very irritating and could possibly kill the entire PBM.
Once you’ve done that you’ll need to make some choices, what faction would you all like to play, what should the difficulty level be ( both on the campaign as on the strat.Map. ), how long should each player play, battle timer on or off, peasants trainable yes or no, and so on.
This is how a PBM might look like:

Faction : Rome ( julii )
Difficulty : Vh/m ( strat. Map / battles )
Version : 1.5, no Mods used.
Battle timer : yes.
Time each player plays ( Reign ) : 10 in game years.
Unit size : Large.
Rules* : no training of peasants, no exterminating of cities, no selling of map information to the AI.

*This option does certainly not have to be there to make the PBM work, it’s your game, your rules.
Of course the above can be altered to the players preferences, one should discuss that with all the players of that particular PBM.
If you’ve decided on the above then you’re ready to play !

Campaign and battle wise a PBM is exactly the same as a regular campaign, except you won’t be the one making the foundations for the rest of the game, you’ll be building on the foundations of those players who played before you...you never will know what your going to get youself into – and that is one of the things that make such a game so much fun to play !

Now comes an important part of the PBM, the changing of hands – of players if you will.
What you need to do is make sure the other player get’s the game at the exact point where you ended – after your reign is completed.
Well how do you do that ?
It’s quite simple really, just make sure you save the game when your reign is over, and make sure you give the save file an obvious name as to not confuse the player next in line.
How does that player get your save file ?
That too is very easy, you can either send it by Mail, by adding the save file in your post as an attachment. Or you can all decide to use an uploader, which we have here at the .Org. Meaning you’ll need to locate the save file in your Rome total War directory, make a .rar file or.zip file ( so the file won’t be to big to upload ) and then add the “link”to the file when that is asked.
This is where you can find your saves in Rome total war :
à C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\saves
The player next in line is able to download the file you just uploaded, the only thing he’ll need to do is unpack the save file, then transfer the unpacked save to a Folder named Saves in your Rome total War directory :
à C:\Program Files\Activision\Rome - Total War\saves

Now that player is able to play his reign and then give his save to the person next in line !

If a player is done it is custum to write a little something about your campaign in a thread made solely for these so called write-ups / AAR. This is maybe the most important part of a PBM, people who haven’t played the PBM will judge how much fun it was by reading these Write-ups, adding screen shots is a great way of improving your AARs.
Now don’t worry, you don’t need to be an excellent writer to write these AARs, and it certainly shouldn’t be the reason you decide not to play a PBM campaign !

If you’d like to play a PBM just visit the Throne Room right here at the .Org, there are a couple of PBM’s running at the moment and players can always join up even if a game is well on the way !

See you around !
Current PBMs

I’d like to give you some links to the current PBM Hot spots :

Where it all takes place :
Throne Room

The newest PBM in the Throne Room, an epic Carthaginian adventure will follow:

The Next PBeM is…..Carthage!

Current massive PBM, like a challenge ? Join in.
Re-unification – an epic, themed WRE PBM

Never played a PBM but want to ? Join in
PBeM For PBeM Noobs

Now two PBMs which were finished not to long ago, including write up threads:


Eastern Roman Empire Campaign :
PBM Campaign BI

Like a good long read ? Read how the Eastern Roman Empire comes to power :

Write-up PBM BI

Alemanni Campaign :
Alemanni PBM

In need of some good Drama ? Read how the Alemanni struggle to survive :

The Rise of the Alemanni - PBM write-ups thread

Also :


A nice ( Free ! ) tool for taking screenshots, an absolute must for a PBMer :


Fraps

Wish to upload your screenshots ? You can do so here :

Photobucket

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Thank you Dutch Guy for an In-depth view and introduction to the world of PBeM's
Now, onto Tavern News, presented to you by AlexanderofMacedon...

Welcome all to the Tavern thread review portion of the Org Gah-zette. Because we’re all a little new at this let me briefly explain what this section is about. I, your very own Alexanderofmacedon, will read threads in the frontroom and backroom. I’ll give you a link three threads in the frontroom as well as three from the backroom, but more importantly, what the threads are about as well as what is currently taking place in the thread. As well as reviewing the threads, I’ll review a certain member of the week. This is known as the “Tavern Personality of the Week” and will be awarded to one member a week. Now, let’s get started shall we?

Frontroom

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=62334
First off, we have the IQ Test thread. Here ZainDustin gives us a link to an online IQ test. Well I took the test and I have come to the conclusion the results are downright absurd. It’s a fun little test to get the brain juices moving, but the results are biased by the fact that they are trying to sell you a product. They wouldn’t make you feel stupid before asking you to buy something now would they? Overall, I’d recommend to not waste you time doing this test as it took me a good 15-20 minutes.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=61304
Next, we have the Movie Review Thread. Have you ever rented a movie or gone to the theater looking to have a good time watching a movie, only to be disappointed with money down the drain? Well, in this thread I attempted to remedy this problem. Members of the .Org review movies they have seen in order to help you save time, money and effort. It may be small and slow moving, but I myself have watched a couple movies reviewed there and have enjoyed them very much.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=46824
An other great thread for some of our Spanish, Dutch, German, etc. members is this Talk in Your Own Language thread. To bring together his Dutch speaking comrades, The Stranger has made a thread for people to speak in other languages, than the commonly used English. Personally, I can’t understand any, but I’m sure there are some bi-lingual speaking members who would love to hear about this thread.

Backroom

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=62354
First off in the backroom is The Creation of the Universe thread. It offers a chance to tell how you think the universe was created, whether it be that god created it, the big bang theory, or even both. I have participated in the later pages of this thread to find that it has moved on to instead question the existence of god. Even with the change of topic, it has showed to be a great thread.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=62233
A person favorite of mine, the “Make Your Movie” thread, is next on my list. Lemur found a link of various clips of telugu movies, with places to put subtitles to make the scene whatever you want. I thought it was quite amusing to see some of the movies he and Divinus Arma, as well as a few others, came up with.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=62318
Finally, we have the Theoretical Draft thread, where ghost908 has asks the members of the .Org, what our reaction would be. Would it be to ‘serve my country without hesitation’, or ‘serve my country only after peacefully petitioning my goverment to get out of the draft’. Perhaps to ‘draft dodge. If I get caught, I'll serve my jail time.’ or even ‘do anything possible to avoid the draft. Anything.’ At the beginning of the thread, it started off as an argument between a couple well-known members, but it soon cooled off to discussion about the topic.

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=61937
Tavern Personality of the Week:
This week goes to The Stranger. He recently has announced he is leaving of the .Org here, which has devastated members of the community. Pay your respects to a great member, I knew personally to be a great person. Good luck wherever life takes you, old friend.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - --- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
And here's some RTW MP News courtesy of Tibilicus...
Org MP News



Burning debate of chat



Perhaps one the most debated issues of recent times in the RTW MP community was the ban on chat. Many saw this as a bad idea and that it would damage the MP community. However with the ban now lifted many ask, is it really a good thing?

For a start chat was banned in the first place due to the abuse and immaturity that went on in the chat lobby. It is a known fact that whilst chat was disabled no one could spam and the lobby whilst quiet was a much more pleasant place to be. Place to be. The community still objected to the idea of a chat ban though and many people signed a petition against the ban. A few months after the ban was put in it was eventually lifted by Creative Assembly.

Soon after this happened however the behaviour shown before by the more immature players returned and it wasn’t long before spam and slander returned to the lobby. Although some would say it was much less worse than previously before the ban. This really addresses a situation that not only CA needs to look at but the whole MP community. CA should look at seeking for a way to Ban these persistent offenders who misuse chat but also people should think about what they say whilst in the lobby. There would be nothing worse and more damaging for the MP community if something like this was to happen again.



Tournament news



TWPl heats up

One of the Rome Total War community’s biggest competitions Total War Premier League is now in its 8th weak and competition is still as fierce as ever. Although Devotio have now established a 6 point lead but many pursuing clan are still battling fiercely for the title. I will keep readers updated weakly about this competition and the out come of many of the important games. Once again Thanks to Ektoras who continues to run this tournament. It is very much appreciated by all involved.

In other Tourney news clan Leo Honorius tourney has now reached the semi finales with Wishazu facing Arcani’s Kronos and Foxx facing Madhroes. Undoubtedly each player will be steeling for nothing less than first place.
Arcani clan to have also announced the start to there Epics of the Arcane for RTW 1.5. The tourney is set to kick of in the next couple of days.


Why not play RTW online?

Although Rome Total War and its expansion Barbarian Invasion is played by a massive number of people a small percentage of those people actually play online.

There are many reasons ranging from, “I have heard TW games are rubbish online” to “I have heard the community is a bad place to be and most of the people in it are immature”. Whilst this could well be the case like many other games if you play with randomers if you find a good group to play with the online community really is a great place to be. Many MTW members also left the MP community after finding the original RTW to be a disappointment. I would however like tot tell people how good a game BI and RTW now are with the patches. I would invite people not to knock RTW or BI before they have played it and invite those who have never tried RTW or BI online to try it. Who knows, you might actually like it...


As a first issue I have decided to keep it short and sweet but I’m always open to new suggestion. Any thing you want in the next issue? Any comments? Just PM Tibilicus and he will be happy to answer any questions.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - -

That's almost it Folks, I'm going to post Waki's Mod report in a seperate post, as I havnt recieved it yet I really hope you enjoyed this issue and I hope even more that you'd love to see it carry on

Just to show your allegiance to the Gah-zette, here's a couple of sigs made by Quietus..



and



and of course!



The Team;
Ianofsmeg16: Editor
Tiberius: reporter (general)
ZainDustin: Reporter (Arcade)
Craterus: Reporter (General)
Ace_Genral: Reporter (New Members)
Dutch_Guy: Reporter (PBM)
Wakizashi: Reporter (Modifications)
Tibilicus: Reporter (MP)
Alexanderofmacedon: Reporter (Tavern)
With a very special Thank you to Quietus for his awesome banner!

[Samurai Waki]

arrrgggghhhh I sent it to you 2 weeks ago

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Glad to see it out!

Let's hope to a great start!

[Gregoshi]

Excellent first issue! Thank you to all the contributors for your fine work. Keep at it, you've got a good thing going. One of the things I like about it is the information about happenings in the forums I don't visit regularly. I don't have the time to visit every one of the forums, so it is neat to read what is going on in them.

Keep up the good work! I'm already looking forward to the next issue.

[KukriKhan]

Let me add my grateful kudo's as well.

Well done, lads.

[Zalmoxis]

WHEW! Good job guys.

[Samurai Waki]

Just wait until Ian posts my Report...its about as long as the entire first issue

[Ianofsmeg16]

Wakizashi's Mod Report! (he wasn't lying about the Length )

The Mod Report
Article One: Wakizashi-San

It is a great pleasure to be a part of the first official .Org Newsletter, and my interest in the Total War genre has lead me to meet some very interesting people, have a few laughs, but most important, talk about the games themselves. I am currently twenty-one years old, living in what one could call squalor, in my apartment between Santa Barbara and North West LA, and am attending College at UCLA (majoring in Business & Economics and Minoring in Corporate Law), whilst also holding a full time job as an assistant manager...in training, at a local bank. While these two things keep me rather busy, often times, during a slow evening or in between paper work, I find myself browsing Totalwar.org.

When Ian announced the possibility of a newsletter for the .Org, I was rather ecstatic and realized this would be one of the few opportunites I would get to not only contribute something to the .Org, but also to let the greater community of Orgites realize the largest reason for why I keep on playing CA's venerable Strategic Games. This reason, of course, is mods, and although there were few in the way of Shogun: Total War, when Medieval was released they came in greater numbers, and some of those mods I still play to this day such as Viking's: Total War XL and Blind King of Bohemia's: Super Mod.

With the advent of Rome: Total War, the modding community has literally flourished, even with little support from CA itself. What some thought impossible, others have proven wrong, The Europa Barbarorum Team, Zang Guo Mod, and Napoleonic 2 Mod are but a few that have changed the game in everything, but it's engine.

This brings me to my next section, which I am proud to contribute, both as a way of supporting the many hardworking modders that have made an impact on the community, and to give the community an awareness to the many mods available. The mod I am now about to present is one that has been around since almost the beginning of the Rome: Total War back in October/November 2004, and although it is only a mini-mod, has had a great impact on a very large amount of mods either released or currently in development. I am proud to announce...

Wakizashi's Mod of the Week



Darth_Mod 7.0

To my knowledge, after the defeat of the Empire in the Galactic Civil War, Darth Vader revealed that Luke Skywalker was his son, and died, then his body was burnt to a crisp after the mighty Death Star was destroyed in a fiery explosion.

What the movies didn't reveal, was that Darth Vader in fact lived; and thereon, the story continues...just a tad more boringly. He landed in Athens, Greece and began the menial task of modding a game known as Rome: Total War.

What makes Darth_Mod special in my view, is that it did something that changed the complexity of Rome: Total War entirely, it gave the game new formations, and while this may sound insignificant, it in fact changed the way battles should be fought. After first playing Darth_Mod gone were the days of generals charging into a line a Triarii while his host was still half a battle map away, no longer could I round up a group of hastati and blindly throw them into a Phalanx formation and expect to win every single time. The mod gives battles something they should have had all along, and that is a challenge, to use one's head, far be it for me to say that CA had the right idea in making all generals akin to Rambo and Eulysses S. Grant, but I'd rather be fighting generals that had at least some sense in their heads, and Darth's Formations do that, and more.

However, Darth_Vader has not only released a standalone version, but a total conversion mod as well that adds A TON of new stuff to the game!

Here are is a pretty good some up of what Darth has added to the game in his own words:

-New Darth_Map (Modification of existing Vanilla map)
Re-distribution of all starting faction provinces to provide historical and gameplay correction of challenge. AI campaign has been balanced to provide the best gameplay possible. The vanilla map is a good map if triggered correctly.
Also new vegetation settings for more thick forests and more opportunities for AI ambushes. Barbarian lands will now be very difficult to invade.

-Created variable winning AI conditions through heavy modding of diplomacy settings and AI winning conditions. Not done before in such extent and this has created a tremendous pressing and clever AI campaign faction thinking.

-Created scripts for Gaul and Parthia to re-emerge if they are won in start of game and when rebellions occur in their prior lands.(Have to beta test this how it works in very late turns but generally no CTDs occurred

-Created forced naval invasions for many factions that create an unbelievable campaign challenge. Watch greeks really unite with Macedonians and have an obsession to conquer Sicely and even throw away Romans from the island. Carthage to be competitive and maintain her lands while Scipii have to win several fronts to survive. Generally each faction gets powerful enough to create powerful balanced armies for the human player to challenge with the new Darth Settings of Battle gameplay .

-Inserted pictures for the Darth custom battle maps (Thanks RTR team for creating them!)

-Created compatibility for the mod to be used for any music mod without erasing events.dat file.(Also provide certain optional setting for those who use Lite Music mod and it is copied in the root directory of the game to be used freely when needed ONLY if you use lite music mod)

-Inserted images for the new map settings for each faction

-New Darth_Total_formations_12.0. The formations seen in 6.8 are nothing compared to what you will witness now. Managed to find ways to play with hard coded CA hidden commands. Now you will see new AI tactics and style of play for each historic formation. The Hellenic formations will use phalanxes with cohesion and discipline and not phalanx/unphalanx all the time. Romans will use maneuverability in an unparalleled way (maniples will stretch, combine, flank according to circumstances), Barbarians will storm with ferocious charges, Asian armies will use with efficiency horse archery and Carthage will cunningly flank and deceive any human army.
But not only this. Darthmod 7.0 uses new settings and replaces loose formation for units to be called “protective formation”. Units with high shielding will use this by default (such as Romans) and other will swap between modes. Of course the lightly armed units will use the normal loose formations. This works for human to have in mind that protection will be better according to units strengths and weaknesses. This will be valid only with internal Darth_Total_Formations_12 . The Stand alone version that will be released will not use this option for combatibility with other mods. So you must use only the internal formations for best effects.
Also bridge and siege tactics are now much different and now AI bridge defense is a real challenge.

-Modded the Day phasing and also the light and weather effects for the best and most realistic visuals. Nights will be realistic. Many battles will start with fog to clear out in the middle or rain may come in the midst of battle. Also long battles will cause the day to darken as to reflect the actual length of battle.

-Corrected projectile trajectories for more realistic effects and actually more effective AI use of missiles

-Removed boiling oil to help the AI in sieges (Found that in the totalwar.org but never managed to find again who wrote it to give credits….thanks anyway. A real puzzle to me how to do it till now.

-Used settings for realistic vegetations of OrrieBoi. Thanks a real help to me.(Did not use the grass settings because it caused lag) http://forums.rometotalrealism.org//...ic=11764&st=0#

-Made available the Vassal_beta_4. For those who do not know it is an optional way of playing RTW by creating superfactions with vassals that honour alliances and thus create powerful AI armies for human player to defeat. In this version I have corrected the early internal roman conflict(And the senate obsession against Scipii). The alliances will be powerful and the only thing that may be a problem is that the superfactions will rarely expand but will use their vassals to wage their wars. But this creates stable powers that human player will have great difficulty to defeat.
There is an extra folder that will be copied to root directory of RTW called “Vassal_beta_4”. If you open it and copy the content inside DATA folder you will replace data\world\maps\campaign\imperial_campaign\ descr_strat and data\sm_factions (back it up if you do not want to lose default darthmod settings).

-Many gameplay new settings for example Roman units are set to reflect their true historical way of fighting based on good shielding protection and infliction of critical hits that made them able to beat even stronger opponents. They are set in a very delicate unique way but are not overpowered. Their superiority is shown in the battlefield though. The unit stats are different in a way that the Roman superior weapons and training are reflected. (They push and disupt any formation with combinations of pila, withstand with cohesion the attacks and inflict critical hits)
Greeks are fighting with discipline and impenetrable spear walls….no more to say….the DarthMod battlefield gameplay is something that is unique and the best to witness for a RTW player.

-Mass settings are creating real effects of charge penetrations, cavalry swarms, dead horse bodies are falling to disrupt infantry formations, Elephants are keeping infantry at a distance in a way that the battlefield feels alive and violent.

-Also night battles are enabled thanks to excellent tutorial of DimeBagHo
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=41936

The real perk to enjoying Darth_Mod 7.0 is that it includes Formations unique only to the total conversion.


See how Pretty these Formations Look!


I would not like to charge my Cavalry into that...

Unfortunately for this issue, no interview took place, however, in the future you can expect some pretty hard questions to be asked, and see what the Mods have to answer!

So Gentleman, now that you've seen the mod... now you should play it! Darth has been so kind to release both a standalone version, and a total conversion. which you can download here!

http://rapidshare.de/files/13556890/...d_6.8.zip.html (Standalone version...)
http://files.filefront.com/Quick_Dar.../fileinfo.html (6.8-6.9 Patch)

and of course the highlight-

http://files.filefront.com/DarthMod_.../fileinfo.html (Darth Mod 7.0)

Also you can check out progress and updates on the mod, which thankfully Darth_Vader works tirelessly on here:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=61418
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/forum...9801b7 5&f=71

Also, to check out other mods in progress, or that have been released check out the Forge
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=76

The Mod Discussion-
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=119

and for you MTW Fans
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=40

And remember, when you see a modder give him a firm handshake (or hug) for making your day just a little less cold and cloudy.

Have a good week Gentleman!
- - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Thank you Wakizashi-san for a great article on an awesome mod.
Hope you enjoyed it ladies and gentlemen, once again I apologise for the wait

[The_Doctor]

Great work team.

[Monarch]

Very nice. As much as I'd like to rip into your multiplayer section Tib...I have to admit you did a great job on it :D Though as you asked for a suggestion or two (guess I could xfire you this...but since i'm typing :P) I think some links would be cool to these tournaments :) Oh and perhaps give a mention to Vandal Horde's Vandalism tournament :D

Very nice other areas too Ian :)

[Ianofsmeg16]

Something curtesy of Quietus (can't thank the guy enough) for all you hardcore fans...

[Dutch_guy]

Yeah, kudo's to Quietus !

Sig. pics are very nice, very nice indeed !

[edyzmedieval]

Excellent work guys!!! :thumbup:

You really put some effort in it.

[Ser Clegane]

Great job!!

[Samurai Waki]

*slaps forehead* I forgot to add in the Darth_Mod Title Screen when I re-edited the article.

[Zain]

Lol, my part was the shortest. Oh well, I'll get more in depth next issue. Ian, are these things weekly?

Join a tournament, PM me!

-ZainDustin

[Taurus]

Cool, good job guys. Look forward to the next issue.

[Samurai Waki]

A Short Interview from Darth_Vader, you wanted some hard questions, you get some long answers. (I recieved it this morning )

Q.We all know you can't mod the AI, but your formations have done some justice for the game, how did you do this?

Darth_Vader:The internal hard coded AI is something no one can change. But what it has been done with the formations is a really tricky and clever thing one can theorize. The formations files are telling what the hard coded AI should do in the battlefield. The AI thinking is shown in the battlefield effectively if the structure of AI army has a meaningful form. There is no reason to actually wait for AI cavalry to flank if we place it in the centre. There is no meaning to wait for spearmen to hold the centre if we tell them to be in loose formation and in wide form. These extreme examples help me strengthen my point that the AI can be effectively manipulated by modifying these files. It is like a soccer team that uses various tactics and systems to win a game. The separate players have their own thinking and routines to follow but they have to be placed correctly according to what they are strong at. The human player is pretty able to do this on demand. The AI needs a “human” helping hand…my hand helped it a lot it seems. The formation files are there for someone to use his imagination and creativity to actually guide the hard coded AI actions to any circumstances.
The hard coded AI is the mind and the formation files the hands and torso of the AI.(OK I forgot the feet).
I think with the above mentioned theory I have managed to clarify my position

Q.How many times have you expiremented with different formations and how the AI reacted to them?

DV:Cannot count them….too many…almost infinite. My methods are now more rapid due to my experience. I can now read a formation how it will be seen only by text.
So I can work really quickly and few mistakes happen in the process to compile.
But there are a lot of things that may create a defective formation. CTDs without any meaningful reason to be seen with the eye. It may work in the 99% of the cases and then CTD in a single type of battle. So everything must be changed all over again.
Also you may script effectively a formation to have a good eye candy form and the AI to behave poorly with it. These things and a lot more are realized only by experience and are too technical to explain here. But my point here is that if someone wants to work with these files has to be very careful and patient to actually produce something effective. It may seem to someone that these files are an easy process to modify but this is a shallow approach. Only if you think in depth you can actually create a good result in formations. The Greek alphabet has only 24 letters but its vocabulary and combinations of written text is infinite. Ok I am overreacting but you get my point.

Q.What is the formation you have worked the hardest on, and could you explain why it was so difficult?

DV: I could say that the most interesting and complex formation I have created is the roman maniple formation. As I use swapping methods for any formation and each is used by the AI with phases unique to it (I cannot understand why CA did not use this…they created the formation language). The roman formation is too manoeuvrable and you can see it stretch, combine, flank, react as no other formation. No other formation has so many attributes. It is not a straightforward formation for the AI to use and sometimes I the proportion of troops is not roman-like may not have good effect. But generally in order to achieve this uniqueness I used all my knowledge of formation modding. Other simplier formations have a good impact but this one had the weight to actually reflect the ancient Roman strategy. I think I have achieved it and at least when used with my mod, DarthMod_7.0 is a fearful and cunning formation.

Q.What is the proudest achievement you have made so far with Darth_Mod 7.0, aside from your fantastic formations?

DV: The next very important pioneer achievement was the Darth_mass settings. I was the first to see and understand the importance of mass in the game engine and modded it so that the battles feel more alive and real. Infantry charges can penetrate formations as well, Cavalry charges are fearsome, dead horses push and throw down the infantry defenders losing cohesion, Elephants keep infantry at a distance as they should do and generally the battle has a flavour of violence close to real thing.
Many mods that do not use these mass settings are really ridiculous in seeing, at least for me. They remind me of old cinemascope epic Hollywood movies that used mobs of amateur battle actors. These actors were standing in peace and quite while the woDVrld was changing around them. They died and fell before they were actually hit…really comical. Also here if you do not mod the mass, they stand like sitting rocks, do not interact, and everything is a single line. In DarthMod everything feels alive, for example try to attack a unit of peltasts, They are crashed by heavy cavalry or troops but they have also an important attribute of their light mass. They expand and stretch, trapping single heavy troops with their numbers while they try to catch them in melee.

Q:George Bush: Great President, or the Greatest President?

DV: Bush ***!Oh wait something came to my mind…
Planetary leader.=George Bush < GB < Great Britain =Planetary leader flatterer
Then if this is mathematically correct George Bush is smaller/weaker than a Planetary Flatterer .
Do you have headache?
Me: I'll Just Put you down for Great...

Also note that there is available a new DarthMod_7.0.3 open beta that uses new animations.
Check it here http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=46830
And mention it as well.

[econ21]

Very good issue - I enjoyed reading it!

If it takes off as a regular feature, I wonder if there is a way of highlighting it within the forum? For example, perhaps the latest issue could be a sticky and include links to older issues?

[Monarch]

Or start a new topic, pin it here in the entrance hall and call it an index of such. Keep updating with links ;)

[Aenarion]

Very interesting 'Org Gah-zette'! ;) It really provides alot of information regarding the Org. Well done guys! Keep it going! :)

Thanks,
Aenarion

[LeftEyeNine]

Wohooo, tough work, lads. Well done. I hope you keep it up.

[Vladimir]

Very good. Keep it up!

[Ianofsmeg16]

Thanks alot for all your kind words guys, we're doing this for you lot, and every piece of praise, criticism and advice that we recieve is much appreciated!

[Quietus]

Congrats Ian and the Gah-zette team for the roaring debut! :)

[Beirut]

Nicely done.

[edyzmedieval]

Can't wait to be part of the team in June.

Till then I have exams. But, I hope you will release more fine issues till then.

[Kagemusha]

Maybe in next Issue you guys could do a tribute for Now retired Tosainu.Maybe Tosa could give you guys a interwiew?

[Alexanderofmacedon]

Wait how can he "retire"?

[Kagemusha]

See for your self:https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...73#post1107973