Interview: Baske

Every week or so, I will interview AOMH's most known members, the first is baske who is working on a cinematic about the greek hero AJax. Baske has also provided us with a photo of himself here
My first project worth mentioning is 'Town Militia' which is available at the Downloads Section of aom.heavengames.com. It's a mythodea game (for those of you unfamiliar with mythodea: a game where you 'train' units by moving your old man to a certain point, a very action orientated game style).
In my opinion still one the most original mythodeas out there as it has a storyline in it. At the end the game refers to a sequal, but that never came.
The game still has some flaws that I didn't bother fixing, but I still think it's great fun to play on the occasion (I don't like building an economy that much).

2. How did you learn to use AOM's editor?

I still haven't learned every trigger in the editor, I'm still struggling with QVs. I learned using the editor by extensive use and the occasional question in the Question Thread at AoMH.

3. do you have any advice for new designers?

Use your own imagination, and create your own piece of work. Like I answered in question 1 my first real project was a mythodea game, with a twist. That twist made it MY work, that twist gave me the feeling that I really made something new and worth showing to the public.

4. What is the current status of your Ajax cinematic?

It's around 80% finished, but it's been that way for ages. I lost interest in getting it finished, it will be finished, but very likely that it won't be finished on the short-run.

5. After you finish it, what are your next plans or ideas for a project?

No real plans yet, I'm 'working' on a huge project with someone else (we all know him at AoMH S&D, but he'll remain anonymous until further notice). The reason why I put the 's around working is because we're currently passively working on it. In other words: every now and then. When it's finished (which won't be any time soon) I promiss you'll be blown off your seat.

6. Have you ever done any modding?

No. Nor do I have interest in it. Respect to those capable of pulling it, but you'll probably never see me opening a thread at the Modding Section announcing my first modpack...

7. Besides AOM, what other games do you like to play?

I absolutely love playing Medieval 2 Total War, both the main game and its expansion 'Kingdoms'. I'm also active at RTWH. The third game, which I recently started playing is the rip-off version of Battlefield, namely War Rock. Which is a free game available for download on the net.

8. Any final words to our readers?

This blog of yours is very promising, and I enjoy reading through the articles. I check through them nearly on a daily basis, keep up the good work!
There you have it! Words from the master himself. Stay tuned for more interview. If you are a member and would like an interview, you can always contact me at my email, just see my use profile.

A look back: Norse Sunset

-OVERVIEW-
Today's screenshot shows that boats were originally large. This shot also shows what myth units looked like before.
-MYTH UNITS-
-Mountain Giant: Like the colossus, the mountain giant originally had no club and fought with his hands instead. Later on this was changed so you don't see the clubless mountain giant too much.

-Battle boar: The boar was not shown much, this is actually the only shot with it in the stage, the boar originally had a different snout, if you bought the collector's edition of AOM, you can find a concept drawing of the original boar inisde the CD case for the game.

-sphinx: The sphinx back then looks much like the one now, though it's headpiece was originally striped, this was changed later on for an unknown reason.

-HUMAN UNITS-
Norse Archer: This unit was axed when the original plan was changed. The archer for norse looks like the current throwing axeman, since the norse lack bow-and-arrow units we can safely say the throwing axeman is most likely the replacement for him.

Unknown swordsmen(Next to mountain giant): I am unsure at the moment what it is. They look like the fanatics from the expansion though. I believe they might be an early version of the einherjar.

Norse swordsmen: These are the norse equivalent to the egyptian swordsmen you saw in the sphinx discovery entry. They appear to be using roughly the same model as well.

Norse hero: This norse hero doesn't have a flag, either there was no plan to in the original versions or heroes can leave their flags in places. His sword is noticeably bigger than later versions(see previous ALB post).

Egyptian Hero: Like the norse hero, he lacks a flag. The heroes are taller than human units, this was changed later on.

Egyptian slinger: In the original plan, all civs had one human unit unique to their culture(speculation), this might explain those units behind the norse hero, the slinger does not have equivalents of it in other cultures, so this might be true.

Egyptian bowman: Much more detailed than the other one we saw, the bowman has a completely different model than it's norse counterpart. The bowman was kept this same way until the end of stage one where he was changed completely.

Egyptian axeman: This axeman's texture can be found in the AOM folder among others. The first axeman had a different axe which can be seen in other screenshots yet to come. The axeman is possibly the most widely showcased egyptian unit in stage one.

-SEA UNITS-
Kebenit: The model and sail icon are still the same today, thought the boat thexture was much more detailed then. Originally boats from stage one were very large and took up a lot of population. When units boarded the ship you can see them on the ship. Having certain units like catapults and archers on the ship changes it's attack. This was ultimately too hard to program to work properly and eventually ships were made smaller due in part of the limitations of large ships(cannot cross through small rivers and sea battles were small).

Longboat: The longboat then was changed completely. The shields were remade, the deck was remade, even the sails were minorly changed. The longboat was the original equivalent of the egyptian kebenit and greek trireme. It still is, if you look closely you can find other parts of AOM's original plan still in use.

Neerah's Journal RELEASED!

After many weeks of 20 designers slaving away on a screenshot fan fiction, it has finally come together into a great work of art. The file can now be downloaded in the HG downloads section now. For those who don't know, the screenshot story thread is a forum game where users can create fan fiction through screenshots. It's better than it sounds actually. There is a second story being made, if space is available, you can put yourself on the waiting list to make a screenshot and make on the next screenshot collection!

Launch Thread: Right here

Announcement: Xanth

Alyssea is working on yes, another RPG just like almost everyone else. However, this one looks interesting. Not only is it made in Vanilla, which is a plus for mac users, but it is her first foray into the AOM scenario designing world, but it looks remarkable for the first try. The story has you travelling through the mystic world of Xanth, though there's not much story explained, one of your first destinations is castle Roonda. Upgrades and mercenaries for your character will be buyable as well as a clever portal system i the works. I look forward to being able to play this in due time.

A look back: Norse Shores

For your convenience(And mine), I have revamped the way ALB posts will look from now on.
-OVERVIEW-
This is one of the shots included in the E3 2001 press kit. This is the only shot where the wild horse can be seen. The terrain in this screenshot have been kept ever since.
-GAIA-
-Horse: Like in the original Age of Empires, ES planned to include wild horses in the game. Just like in the first game, it was eventually taken out. This screenshot show only two types, though there may have been more, the brown and yellow colors. Whether the horses were merely a source of food and decoration or something bigger, we'll never know.

-Fish: The original fish(herring and sardine, though there may have been more, were very small, if you look hard enough, you can find them swimming in the shallows. For a while this was kept until they were made bigger and more noticeable.

-Pine Trees: Their whole texture and model was changed, the snow texture on some of the trees was changed because it wasn't realistic enough.

-HUMAN UNITS-
-Norse Hero: A possible premature version of the huskarl, the hero was actually kept till stage three, but was only seen in one shot during that stage(ES does tries to hide units they aren't 100% sure on.). The hero for the norse has a small sword and carries a flag like the other two heroes. This is what inspired the flagbearer from the campaign.

-MISC.-
Runestones and rock symbols: Amazingly, these two survived to final version, so they don't need explanation. The runestone's texture looks a bit different for some reason.

Blood Mod RELEASED!

Sprocket is sure good at making mods quick, just one day after announcement, he has finished and uploaded his mod to the HG download section. For those new to the mod, the blood mod(You guessed it) make animals, humans, and specific myth units bleed when killed(Example would be the mountain giant.). The anim files have also been edited so dead bodies will stay much longer on the ground. The blood has almost 400 frames of animation and slowly grows after a unit is killed. After 10 seconds it begins sinking into the ground. Another cool feature is that blood will sometimes stain the dead unit's clothes making it even more realistic! The mod is two files, but it is very much worth the download. With projects like the blood and burning mods, I cannot wait what grandiose project Sprocket has in store for us later on!

Let it Burn Mod RELEASED

Sprocket's mod to improve building deaths has been released already. For those who do not know instead of just a smoke explosion when buildings are destroyed, they will burst into flames and parts of the building will fly off. Installation is easy, just check out his launch thread for details.

The launch thread: In this general Direction

New Terrains

Found Missing has made a sample of a large terrain mod he will make in due time. The sample contains well over forty new terrains. All the terrains have even been put in their own categories. New cliff types are also a part of the mod. And as another bonus, Found Missing has crafted some new splash screens which will skip the intro movie. The terrains themselves are very good, as I have tried them myself. I look forward to seeing what else Found Missing has in store for us in the future.

-Firefax

Announcment: Let It Burn

Sprocket is also working in a mod that makes buildings burst into flames and have parts of it fly off when it is destroyed. The mod will come sooner or later, hopefully Sprocket can mange two projects at one time without losing interest.

The Announcement Thread: Mchere

A look back: Egyptian and Greek Clash

This screenshot is near the end of stage one, there are many differences here not yet explained. By now, the palm tree problem(see my sphinx post) has been fixed and as you can see only certain types of trees are shown now. The rocks in the top part of the shot are one of the few things to still be in the game. The cliff color was changed probably because into the current Egyptian one which is now a reddish color. Now onto buildings. The greek temple looks nothing like it does now. The entrance was located vertically and it's model was thinner with more columns. Both the texture and model can be found in Aom's files. In the back of the shot, you'll notice the archery range. It looks a lot like it does now except then it had a slightly different model and a completely different texture. The Egyptian buildings have stayed the same mostly till the end. Even the barracks still looks the same now. Same for the lion statues which have gone unchanged. For the temple though, the obelisk was eventually taken off and it's model was modified. Now onto the bulk of the shot: the units. On the greek side we see hoplites. They had the same models ever since but the texture is once again different. Their plumes are horizontal which is new since hoplites before had vertical plumes. The archers have different models here. The greek archers are sharing their model and have almost the same features except the chest area which is unique to the civilization. The last greek human unit, the hippikon is also mostly the same since then today. The only exceptions being the helmet changed and his cape shortened. Myth units are not as different either. The colossus doesn't have a sword, the minotaur is in it's final version, and the Pegasus isn't different either. Odysseus in the center doesn't have a hero glow, this was changed so heroes would be more noticeable. On the egyptian side, the archers are barely different from the greek ones as I've said before. The spearmen are using the same model as the ones now and their texture looks like the one now apart from their chest having different armor. I've already mentioned the camelry before, so there's no need to say the same things again. As with greek myth units, the egyptian ones are almost completely finished as well. Thought the anubite is finished, the scorpion men have remained unchanged since their first shots. Now, their legs have been changed and their stingers have been darkened to show player colors better. About the human units, another part of the original plan was that every civilization would have spearmen, swordsmen, and archers as human units. They would also have at least one or two cavalry units(Egyptians, the camelry and the Greeks, the hippikon.).

Blood Mod

Following the success of his last mod(Fishing villagers), Sprocket is creating a blood mod which modifies unit deaths so when they are dead, they will have a pool of blood which has almost 200 animation frames. Sprocket plans to have this completed tonight or sometime tomorrow as he is already 90% done.

The Announcement thread: click here

A look back: Minotaur Cliffs

Today's screenshot won't have much new material, so don't expect a long read. The minotaur on the cliff is possibly the most widely known myth unit in age of mythology and has gone trough lots of changes throughout the game's production. The version you see here is the second or third one. It's texture is almost just like the one now but the model was changed so it looked tougher. The trees you see were planned to be in almost every random map and campaign scenario. Then ES decided not to use them. You can still find the trees in the editor. Finally, boats. Those large boats were the original triremes and a placeholder ship for the egyptians when they didn't ships designed yet. Then, somewhere along the way in stage two after it was resized, it was cut. The ship didn't go completely to waste. An edited version of that very ship became "the Argo".

Announcement: The Spartans

The makers of O AD have announced a new mod. This mod changes the hypaspist to the spartiate and the myrmidon to the agyrespides. The hetaroi will also have upgraded stats. If possible, they plan to do a multiplayer-compatible mod. This version will have new textures for some greek units. If possible, they will also remove the cape from the hypaspist. The volunteer modder is Leto II who is currently making the ancient warriors mod as well.

The Announcement Thread: Click here

Fishing mod RELEASED!

Yes, it's finished, the mod which allows villagers to fish from the shore has been changed so instead fishing lines, there will be spears! It's great to see there's actually a completed project in the modding section!

Announcement: ORPG

Gamericci who created the Guild wars scenario a while back, is now making the first-ever multimapped RPG for AOM(offline of course). The story focuses on a person who must go to sparta to train and become a spartan warrior. As you can well see in this shot, Gamericci has just begun this project but with what we're seeing in this shot I think it will be worth a download.

A look Back: Lightning Strike

Today's screenshot contains the Egyptian hero once again, one of the god powers he can cast is the lightning storm. One thing which is fascinating about the lightning here is that unlike today's lightning god power, the lightning would flash twice every second unlike today's version where there's on every two seconds. The hero units were cut mainly because they seemed overpowered with such abilities. The terrain, units, ad buildings seen here have been talked about in previous posts. Since mostly everything is new here, we can see a couple of new buildings. The building with the shrine-type structure in the center actually was the original town center. This one wasn't kept very long and was thrown out shortly after this shot. The market is also something new, the greek market wasn't worked o that much, but this version was kept all the way till stage three. The market is actually an edited half of the Greek military academy(above) with market stalls attached to it. There wasn't much to say about this shot so that's it for today.

A look Back: Egyptian Village

I'm back with Egyptians. Here we see the Egyptians who are in their 3rd and final age(Back then, there were only three ages planned), there is a barracks i the shot which doesn't looks too much like it does now. One exception being that there are no props on it like weapons or the training dummy. Behind the barracks lies the storehouse. In the original plan for all Civs to be mostly the same, each culture had storehouses. This storehouse is almost a complete clone of the Greek one save for a different building texture. Another building down below is the granary. Same story as the storehouse, except it has a different model as well. Units here are minimal but they haven't been talked about yet. There are the villagers, once again male only, they don't look very much different from the final version except that they had the common Egyptian hat and a different "skirt" type. There is an anubite as well which is already in it's final texture and model. Our final unit: Camelry. Their texture was kept but not used, you can find it in your AOM textures folder. Since then, The camelry unit has changed a lot. In future screenshots you can see it closer. The axeman near the barracks is too far away to explain in true detail. Like the camelry, it will be seen better and explained more in future posts. Finally, we have the Hero unit. In the original civilization plan, every culture had it's own hero who carried a flag. You didn't get god powers from the gods, instead your hero unit casted them. The idea was later dropped. Only the egyptians still have such a unit and he can only do so much now. The hero concept is also what inspired the flagbearer for the campaign. In other screenshots you will see the other two heroes.

Support From Readers

Because of one of my previous posts asking for help, many of you have written in and gave me links and images for the beta. Expect to see some interesting content in future posts. Of course if you have some tidbits of information or images you think I might have missed, feel free to contact me and I'll be sure it gets mentioned.

Annoouncement: Fishing Villagers

It's been a while since I've made an actual news post. This latest mod announcement can keep us waiting till the fishing raft mod comes up. Sprocket has been working in a mod that lets villagers fish from the shore. Villagers will even carry a large fish to the dropoff point. Since most of the things needed to create this mod are already in the game's folders, expect to see this mod come out very soon.

The Announcement: Here

A look back: Sphinx Discovery

This latest screenshot is around the same area as the previous image. The units however do not have team colors yet or either white was a chooseable team color back then. In this game image there are many nature units. In the bottom center there is some type of mix between water reed and bush. Water reeds(then called cattails) were remade into the one we have now. And finally, papyrus which, like many plants was much greener and unrealistic. It was longer and it's stems were thinner. The palm trees were the most varied, this was not always a good thing so ES recreated it so they all look mostly the same. I can't say much for animals because they generally look the same except their textures were darkened and stretched out more. With the swordsmen, it is the Egyptian equivalent of the Greek and Norse ones. Don't understand? I'll explain it in later posts. The swordsman's model looks suspiciously like the Spearman's in the final version. Since The Egyptian never had a swordsman unit, it was probably replaced by the spearman. The last item is the sphinx statue. This statue was later made smaller and retextured to be one of the monuments in later stages. This sphinx model was made as Isis' Wonder.

Aom Insider needs your help!

Aom insider is looking for scans or images of CGW's May 2001 Age Of Mythology Preview, if you own the issue, know a place where I can find images, please email, comment, whatever you can do to contact me. If I succeed in finding it, it could clear up many mysteries and give more information on Age Of Mythology. Or if you have a screenshot or piece of information you think I should put in the look back entries, always remember to let me know.

A look back: Greek Farming City

Here we are again. This time we take a step backward into the time when boats were still large(That trireme is the same one from my previous entry except bigger.). What catches your attention most in this shot is probably the walled water. That was either made with some special tool not available anymore, but most likely it's made by elevated terrain. It appears the editor was supposed to have the size changer(Varied size in walls), but it was then put in the X-pack instead. Terrain-wise we're seeing an early grass type and the red-and-white tile was the Atlantis tile of it's time. Moving on to buildings. The two buildings on the right are granaries which have the appearance of the ones from Age Of Empires. In their final version, you can see it was almost completely redesigned. The military academy here not only has those trees, but the recurring flag design. This flag would be found on almost every original greek building. Though now the flags look different, that same icon can be found on the news as well. The tower, once again has the previously mentioned flag and shares it's model with the norse watch tower. ES made a new model exclusively for the Greek variation later on. Farms, like the markets have also had many versions. Here we see a sort of corn crop type farm which was emulated by modsmith a while ago. The only nature units here are the pine trees which seem more realistic than the ones we have now. Rather than the current type, these trees shared mostly the same shape and were variated in colors. That was changed so now the trees had variated models and the same colors which is basically the opposite. Finally we have the human units and goats. Goats stayed the same except for bigger, possibly "longer" models. The prodomos was already seen before, but the hippikon is a new unit. The last unit is the ballista. The ballista's model has been the same even till today but it's texture was different and appears more detailed than now. Like always, make sure to come back for more later.

A look Back: Egyptian Beach

Today's screenshot is much later in production. You could almost say this was stage two in AOM's production. By this time, most of Stage one's main features were gone or replaced. You can start to see features from the final version here and there(Like the pharaoh,the palm trees, or the terrain). There are things here that didn't make it. The market was one of them. The market was one of the most worked on buildings in Age Of Mythology. All in all there have five known market variations(one is available in the Btb modpack but never seen in screenshots). This version is just another axed idea. The town center is looked much like the one we have now, except it's buildings are shaped differently. The TC was supposed to have odd green bushes(possibly still from the beginnings of Stage One). The bushes were taken out when the building was revised for the main reason: realism. Notice the two statues on the bottom right? These statues were the original monuments. The sitting pharaoh statue was completely gone, but the other one had it's base changed and retextured to what is now known as the monument to warriors. Our final observation comes to the sea turtle and the boats. The sea turtle was planned to be a giant myth unit much like the boats. However it was scaled down for the same reason as other sea units. The boats shown here are placeholder triremes. They were used due to the fact ES has not designed suitable boats for The Egyptian Civilization. Originally sea units were to be as big as in real life. This would cause problems if the player wanted large ocean battles and it would give the player a hard time to navigate across narrow rivers. Come back here daily for a new entry, as I will be posting them all week.

Japanese Merchandise!

While looking around, I found these interesting items from a japanese site. It's a good thing they don't have such things here!
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z88/lemm435/ms03.jpg
This can contains pins, but I am bothered by the fact that the logo is backwards.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z88/lemm435/ms04.jpg
Another item, this time it's a cell phone charm or something along the lines of that.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z88/lemm435/ms05.jpg
A calendar. For those who don't know, Japan makes calendars for almost everything they can get their hands on.
I'll try to find more, but hopefully this can be enough for now.

CSC Winner

The winner of the CSC for this week's Ides Of March theme is Baske with his "Please Hold inland" shot. The runner-ups are Annodominus with his "Beware The Ides Of March" entry and "The Deed Is Done" by Alex. The next theme is "Women".

A look back: Seaside Stronghold

Short one today, this screenshot doesn't have much. Cliff terrain here is lighter and "blurrier" than now. The grass texture was kept even to today, except it was edited lightly. The trees you are seeing in this shot are oaks. again, they are dark green. In the back there are variations of it. The tiles hold an interesting story behind them. Originally, the tiles were meant to be placed in early campaigns and for eyecandy. They were taken out possibly because they were unecessary or they looked bad on differently elevated lands. Only two things have remained virtually unchanged even till today's AOM, they are the water lily and wave units. Soon I will post the next entry, so make sure to check back.

EDIT: This is the same screenshot except in AOM's originally planned lighting type.

A look back: Village of the greeks

Now I'm starting "stage one" as It is know by me. This is the stage after Stage zero and the one shown during E3 2001. this screenshot features some interesting material. We can start with terrains. Terrains here are different than what was seen before. The cliff terrain is much like one we have in-game, except ES has edited it to be lighter and the sandy parts aren't as noticeable . It is the other way around for the stone tile. At first glance, you won't see any differences, but if you look closely you will find it is lighter than the final product. Now onto nature units. The trees here are much like in stage zero. Trees were originally planned to have a much greener leaf color. ES changed that for realism. The long trees seen here were supposed to be part of every greek building and RM, sadly, they were just too small to be in an RM. As for the buildings, the trees were lessened, but you can still see the remainder on temples and military academies. Concerning buildings, you can see that the greek buildings were going to be much whiter, once again it was changed for realism. It is apparent that villagers can actually go inside the stable and interact with the horse, possibly when training a unit. Markets(bottom center), were in that shape until stage three. They even kept the stalls and texture that same way till then. The fortress is(was) that big building in the left and was kept(but retextured) until stage three. Though it looked great, it was changed because it looked the same as the hill fort, so it was changed for variety. I suspect they did the same to the Egyptian's Midgol stronghold, though we never got to see it. Finally, we have units. ES has kept the same models and animations even till today. It appears the look of the villager was copied from Age Of Kings, but there is only a male version here. In this screenshot, we can see three greek military units. They have all been kept till this day. The one near the fortress is the hypaspist, the two near the left are hetaroi(their cape image is the same one as seen on the Argo.), and the one on the right is the prodomos. Lastly, the team colors on the units here are a lighter blue than the one now. I am not sure why he did that, though. There is much more material on this stage to come, so return often!

EDIT: This screenshot is the village In the originally planned lighting type.

Update: Siege On Karatus

My scenario's map design has been finished, if you are willing to help out in voice acting, cinematics, or triggering, email me and I can send you the files necessary. With this finished, I can get other things done quiker, like my olfsurk map.

Update: Dragonlance RPG

Newb27 has posted more screenshots of his upcoming RPG, so we can finally see how this RPG is shaping up to be. He has also posted a list of characters for his scenario. Great job, Newb, keep up the good work!

The Announcement thread: http://aom.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=ct&f=13,26560,0,10

A look Back 3

It seems there is another screenshot from "stage zero" as I like to call it. This one features the same sand and the same trees but it appears satyrs were originally planned to be a myth unit for the greeks! Unlike the other one from this phase in production, this screen is not of gameplay, but more of a showcase screenshot. Also, this image shows the earliest signs of team colors. At the time only the greeks were made an ES was still planning the other civilizations. Join me next time when I delve later into production and try to explain the wonders of Age Of Mythology's first production stage.

Announcement: Olfsurk

Recently, I have announced a new eyecandy map in th work to make up for the cancellation of King Of Food. Olfsurk is a town where overpopulation, crime, and pollution dominate it's grimy streets. It reflects our modern world and I hope to show it in this map. I must say this is my best work yet and when finished, it might possibly rival the vandhaal, or at least Parsifal. Because of certain issues, my progress on this map might stop or continue at any moment, so don't expect it to come out anytime soon.

Update: Roman Legion Expansion

The Roman Legion mod was very close to dying, but luckily we have saved it from the black void of cancellation. To all PDS members, we could use a hand right now so if you have the time, help us bring this dream to life. We will have a new showcase very soon and it deatures an important figure in Roman history(No, it's not Caesar). Expect to see some more activity on this project possibly during spring break, but definitely during Summer vacation where education won't impede our progress.

Announcement: Dragonlance

Newb27 is attempting to create another RPG to the best of his ability. He has sacrificed his other RPG to create this one, hopefully this one won't die. Nothing has been sai on the storyline, but he promises us it will be good. Newb has submitted a cinematic demo to the AOMH download section to show off what he has in store for us. He is currently looking for people to assist him in the making of the scenario and If you think you can help, add him to your MSN as ampdvolume101@hotmail.com

Announcement thread: http://aom.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=ct&f=13,26560,0,10

Update: Ancient Warriors Modpack

Leto II has showcase us a new unit, the Hun mounted Archer! Yes, for the first time we can finally see a mounted archer in Age Of Mythology. Like standard, this unit will have five texture variations and edited models to help the mounted archer be more realistic. For those who are unaware, the Huns used mounted archers in many of their raids and now they are a new feature to Leto II's new modpack. He still has some planning to do on the chinese swordsman and Roman Legionary, however I can safely say we will not be disappointed

Weekend Updates: A look Back 2

Last week I promised you some links with beta information. While searching the internet, I uncovered some links with great content which shows what Aom was like in it's beta stage:
http://aom.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=3114
The Back To Beta Mod which brings some units from the beta.
http://www.vandhaal.gamingextremes.us/forum/viewtopic.php?p=13083#13083
This thread has some textures of the old version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSnCiUj5T2U
This is what The campaign looked like in 2001. I say it's better
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrAl0PZSBbU
An E3 2001 game showcase
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7UfbFbJOtk
Minotaurs fight some axemen. Gory!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9QVlI62OsA
lightning God Power
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAJbUBEOU_s
Another E3 showcase
http://aom.heavengames.com/articles/lookback/lookback
Contains a small summary of things ES took out
http://aom.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=ct&f=19,12793,2800,all
beta terrain thread
http://z11.invisionfree.com/Modsmith_Studios/index.php?showtopic=89
More Beta Information
http://ageofempires3.filefront.com/file/Beta_Textures;15645
Extra Beta textures
Tomorrow I will post another shot recently discovered from the first stage.

Age Of Guild Wars Scenario

Gamerrici has planned to release his Age Of Guild Wars RPG soon. The map design as you can see in this screenshot features a lot of variety like dungeons, arenas, and mountains and looks much like the actual guild wars. Players will be able to choose between 6 classes(knight, mesmer, elementalist, monk, ranger, or necromancer) and god powers will be used a magic for the classes. What's new about this one is that you respawn after you die. After Gamerrici releases this, he has informed me that he is working on a similar RPG set in the world of Warcraft. He's keeping his plans for this project a secret for now, however, his map is planned to be 4000x4000.

Scenario Announcement: King Of The Food

Due to popular feedback, my next scenario will be king of food, where you run and manage a restraunt while competing against the spicy sphinx(pictured), your dark arch enemy who is taking all your customers causing your business to be in danger of being closed down. The scenario will generally have you performing quests and exploring the islands while finding time to manage your restraunt. What I mean by the "islands" is where villagers and military go to when they are not doing anything. The scenario will have a complex quest system where future events and quests are determined by how well and how fast you perform tasks. Because of school and other things, you won't be seeing this scenario being released anytime soon.

Announcement Thread: Click Here

Weekend Updates: Ancient Units Add-on

A while ago, Cerebus13 showed off a bit of his work on a modpack he was working on. The mod features a slurry of new units and buildings from ancient times such as the Parthian Cataphract or my personal favorite, the Scythian Archer(Pictured). The mod is planned to have well over 40 new units. However Cerebus13 has not made any recent updates or posts here so don't expect this mod to be out any time soon.

The Announcement Thread: Click Here

Weekend Updates: A look back

One of the main reasons I started this was so I could also show what Age Of Mythology looked back then. The earliest stage of AOM was shown in the credits. there is little information, but I'll try to dissect it as much as possible. Age of Mythology was ES's first plunge into the 3-d game production, so they were only grasping it. Notice the early water and terrain designs. In the image a poseidon unit(notice the unfinished trident) is shown what is now the living Poseidon Statue. The interface and icons are still the same one from the original age of empires game. Production of this stage was most likely done late 2000 or early 2001 before the game was officially announced. Age Of mythology still has a long way to go before it reaches the final production stage. To this day, the only things still left from this stage are the temple and siege works icons. Another is that the human units are very hard to make but they appear to be the only ones with any team colors. Since this stage was only practice, ES didn't bother to make these trees realistic. Same goes for their shadows. That's it for this entry, join me next week when I post more information after this stage and some interesting links.

Weekend Updates: CSC Winner

When I update on weekends, There's going to be lots of stuff to read.
First off, the winner of the CSC for this week's Hawaii theme is Lazy_Warhero with his "Hawaiian inland" shot. The runner-ups are
SwordOfValor with his "Ocean Avenue" entry and "Tropical Coast" by EyecandyOfDoom. The next theme is "luck" which I won't enter because I don't have any with this theme. But for the rest of you, Get to making those screens!

The Contest Thread: McHere