A Look Back: E3 2001

Today's beta post is longer than usual. There has been a lot of media shown of Age Of Mythology at E3. In this post, I hope to show all of the discovered E3 material.
Part I:
The first part of the post is the gameplay showcase which ES used to show off the new engine features such as lighting. It was also used to show abilities of myth units. The frost giant was also shown here who used to wield a hammer. Another interesting thing is the menu which originally had a moving background(See video).
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12

Part II: Campaign
ES also took a scenario from their original campaign. The scenario's main character was Mineus, who would eventually become Arkantos as development progresses. Your enemy was a cyclops who you fight after you gather your army. After that, you must traverse a path with enemies using your god powers to defeat them.
01
02
03
04
05
06
07

Part III: Other
There were also images taken of the booth and other places in E3 with AoM, you can see them down below.
01
02
03
04
05

Update: Ancient Age Mod

In AoE III news, The Ancient Age mod has released a new cavalry unit. The Eques is a Roman lancer from ancient times. It has been made to look as historically accurate as possible. The mod has only barely started and only the Roman units have been started, though you can expect to see updates in the coming weeks.

The Announcement Thread: Link

Anoncement: One Big City

NicholasFlamel has also announced a new scenario which takes place in a large city. There will be two parts to the town, a rich region and a slum-like region. There are a couple of places already made shown like the market(Which looks suspiciously like my old one from Olfsurk.) or the tenants. Once again, details are scant at the moment though once the creator gets settled with his plan he'll probably release more information.

The Announcement Thread: Link

Announcement: Gladiator Arena

Another new announcement, Caribdus is planning his newest RPG which has you fighting in the arena. Though details remain scarce, for the most part you will fight in the arena though other places to go to may also be possible. From what's seen, the arena looks well designed and hopefully the rest may also be like this.

Announcement Thread: link

Desert Conflict RELEASED!

After much work and dedication, Yeebaagoon and Mephileshave finally completed and released their boss fight scenario. The scenario features five boss fights with good eyecandy and great effects not seen before. The map is made for the Titans only so sadly, I can't play it. The scenario should be out on the DL section soon, you can find more information in the thread:

Announcement Thread: Link

100th Post!

Yes, it is our 100th post! It's amazing it's survived this long. You can try to celebrate it to! submit a screenshot using any of the Age games and it'll get posted here. So get going with those screenshots, it's celebration time! You can submit a screenshot by either emailing me or posting it in thread on the forums.

Announcement: The Dogs Of War

In AoK news, Night Conqueror has released a new scenario for testing. The story is about a war which has lasted for 8 months and is finally coming to an end in the village of Maldon. This scenario has you defending areas from incoming invasions except with "major additions". There are also special engineers who will repair buildings and bridges for you. There are also random events which can happen at any time. The scenario is up for playtesting at the blacksmith if you want to see it in action

The Announcement Thread: Link

CSC Winners

The winner of the CSC for this week's "This Wasn't The Plan theme" is TBK145 with his "How do you mean, this isn't Troy?" shot. The runner-ups are Me with my "this isn't what we agreed on!" entry and "Who jumps out of the horse" by Elrich. Finally, HailToTheOboe came last place with his "H0ld my Beer" Screen. The next theme is yet to be announced.

The Competition Thread: Proceed....

New Weekly Screenshot: Fight In The Basin

Because Of PPE's absence, the RLE hasn't had a new WS in a while, so I posted the previously planned screen. The image itself is pretty dated but it still shows a good example of what a large fight using the Romans will look like. You can expect some more updates soon PPE returns.

The Announcement Thread: Link-o-tronic 5000

Greek Improvement Mod RELEASED!

Tarion_31 and EmjeR have finally ccompleted their mod which improves Greek units. The mod improves not only the textures, but the animations of the units as well plus it also gives them a blood effect when they die. And the best part is: you can still use it online. There are actually two mods released, one that is this mod and one which includes the heads so you can use them if you are making any mods yourself. Tarion has also mentioned he might make similar mods for the Norse and Egyptians so you never know what might be in store for the future. The link to the mod is below.

The Improvement mod: Fix The Mess ES Made Here!

Email!

I'm going to do something new now. If you need help with eyecandy, email me with what you need help on and I'll answer your question with a short guide here with screenshots weekly. I'm currently doing only AoM, but once I get AoK and AoE III up and running you can also ask me about that as I also skilled in that as well. So remember to email me at rudifilimonov@gmail.com for your eye candy needs!

A Look Back: Norse Woods

Here is another screenshot released by ES. You can see how old pine tress looked and another rarity: the norse hero. There are also parts of the original game plan to be found here such as the norse bowmen, storehouse, and stable(All civs were planned to have them but ES wanted diversity among civs so they changed things like the norse granary and storehouse were taken out in favor of the ox cart.). Another interesting thing is that units can go into buildings(As you've seen before with the greek stable.). This feature was apparently taken out very early in development. However there are some things that have survived to this day like the runestone, mountain giant, and snow rocks(Top left).

Update: Greek Improvement Mod

The hetarois and crossbowmen are finally completed as well. However the helmet is not yet completed. If you are still in the dark about this new mod, Tarion_31(Who I recently interviewed), has teamed up with emjeR to create a new mod which changes the look of the units of the Greeks and changes their animations also. The mod seems it stills some work, though it is nearly finished.

The Announcement Thread: Cleek

Interview: Tarion_31

Tarion has caused quite a stir recently with his comeback with his updated amazon modpack and his work-in-progress Greek improvement mod. He decided to take a break from saving the world with his super texturing abilities to answer some questions. Read on.

1. So, you make mods for AoM, is that correct?
A: Yes, i make mods for Aom. I enjoy more making a mod than playing AoM itself.

2. How long have you been here? What did you do when you were new?
A: My first mod was uploaded in 2005. It was an Amazon warrior capable of ranged and melee combat, it wasnt anything great but i think some ppl liked it
at 2006 i stoped playing this game but now i decided to get back to it and back to modding of course.


3. With all of these mods you're making, what is your biggest/favorite?
A: My favorite and most famous mod is probably the keeper of the groove (is a warcraft3 hero) wich features a night elvish centaur with buck antlers and long pointy ears and magic arrows btw i released it like a fun mod, now it have almost 1400 downloads so far but i like alot my new project too.

4. What's your current project?
A: My current project is a re-texture and anims mod to make the greek human units, boats and siege engines look better and maybe more historical than the defalut versions wich for my very personal opinion look ugly jejeje, what im doing for this mod is use some parts of cinematic armor textures, some hand painted textures and some very cool shield patterns i found around the internet.
Im not working alone on this, a guy named Emjer is doing some nice head models for this too.


5. Do you play any other type of game outside of AoM?
A: Yes, of course my favorite type of game are the FPS and RTS but....i need to buy a new pc so i have to keep playing games like this until i can support more actual games. Other games im playing this year are BFME2, World of Warcraft and CS 1.6 btw..i've played all the "age of" saga since the very first AOE wich was the first pc game i ever played.


6. Thanks for answering these questions, do have anything else to say?
A: Well i feel proud that you decided to make this interview because you like some of my work that make all the effort put on this worth it. Also....make sure to download "improved greeks look" mod when its released.

Announcement: Orpheus

Another announcement by Valor Studios, a new addition to the Greek line of mythical heroes has been added, Orpheus. You might know him from the ancient myths of how he became famous through his musical skills. Orpheus sports a brand new model and animations. In AoM, he can heal allies by playing his lyre. He can also hurt his enemies with his lyre by playing songs of a sadder manner. Where would a new unit be without a history file and icon? Those are also planned to be included. The mod will also come with a bonus scenario which tells the story of his life.

The Announcement Thread: Come on, Let's see that thread!

Announcement: Crenellation

Another new project by Valor Studios, another mod scenario, this one focuses on you fending off enemies whilst defending your king and manor. There are also sub objectives such as defending the stores and micromanaging your forces to find a way to block your gate and keep the enemies from reaching the archers up on the walls. There are also ranking up opportunities, culture bonuses and an engineer who can salvage relics and power up siege weapons. This scenario is 3/4 finished, but there is more information and hopefully images coming in the future.

The Announcement Thread: Linksamanina!

Medieval: Mage and Shadow Giant

Valor Studios' ongoing total conversion "Medieval is going along fine, so fine they've decided two release an addition to the "shadow wolf" unit made available recently, the Shadow Mage and the Shadow Giant! These are only demos of the actual thing which will include all these and more. There aren't any new features since they are retextured new units, but the textures make up for it as they magnificent to look at and use in-game. Expect even more unit demos to come up in the future from Valor studios.

Update: Greek Improvement Mod

Tarion_31 has updated his AoM mod once agai with images of the new militia, myrmidon, and hoplite. With the mod nearing completion, expect seeing the crossbowmen and hetaroi showcases soon.

The Announcement Thread: L I N K

Interview: Colosseum

Colloseum is a well-known member of AoKH's community for a while now, he's my first ever non-AoM member to be interview:
1. So what do you mostly do with Age Of Kings? How did you find AoKH in the first place?

Mostly, I design scenarios. A lot of my time spent in-game is taken up by map editing. It's hands-down the best part of AoC, and by far one of the only reasons the game is still around. However, I also enjoy multiplayer games; some friends and I often play standard games via LAN and occasionally I can talk them into playing a few custom blood scenarios with me.

I found AoKH back in 2003, after a short tenure at Stronghold Heaven. I had lurked around the AoKH forum for a while, but never joined. I think a lot can be said about its quality because after five years, I'm still an active member (when time permits).

2. What would you say was the best example of your skills?

I can't really say for sure. I've actually never uploaded a single file to the Blacksmith in my entire time at HeavenGames. For a while, I would start a project, work on it a bit, and then lose interest and go somewhere else for a while. I think that can be said about a lot of the designers on AoKH. However, anyone who has ever reviewed a scenario for me has commented on its quality. I hate to say things like that. :p


3. So any current projects?

I've been working on the same project since 2004. It's called "The Manuscripts", and it centers on a British Royal Navy captain in the Caribbean in 1730. It's by far the longest I've ever worked on a project (4 years now?), and I really hope to finish it sometime soon. Lord knows if it will ever get done, but I sure am doing my best to work on it around my relatively busy schedule.

4. With a couple of new AoK designers coming in, what would be any tips you have for them?

Read the sticky threads. Be polite. Ask questions only if you can't find them in the stickies. Don't start a design team unless you really know what you're doing (and, being a new designer, you most likely don't). Understand that developing a good scenario takes a lot more than a few days or a week. But most of all, while you may get discouraged and stuff like that, the most important part of designing is to just not give up. Working with AoC is challenging because the editor doesn't exactly have some of the functions you would expect (like an Undo function, you can't even imagine how helpful something like that would be). What's really important is that you managed to overcome the difficulties associated with designing for Age of Empires II and made a good campaign or scenario.

5. Besides the Age Of Empires II games, what else do you do whenever you have spare time?

Along with watchwood, a former HG employee, I developed a browser-based naval combat game called Sea Powers. You can find it at www.seapowers.com. I'm also an avid web designer, graphic designer, and I also spend time drawing profiles (line drawings) of modern day and second World War naval vessels; I figure I'll try and see how much I can get done before I get a life. Just proves that AoC isn't all you have to dedicate yourself to. ;-)


6. Thanks for answering this interview, anything else to say?

Thanks for choosing me to interview. :-)

A Look Back: The Battle

This early screenshot shows what a regular battle back then was like. There would be more blood as you can see with the myrmidons, though it was lessened so the game wouldn't get an "M" rating meaning it can be available to more people. This shot also shows that mummies were originally human-sized before. If you look at the top-right, you can see what appears to be the norse gatherers, though they are Greek, they may have been another villager type.

AoE Final Verdict

Well it's decided, Age Of Mythology Insider is now Age Of Empires Insider. Now it covers new information on mods and scenario for all of the Age games and news related to the series. Of course if you don't see something or want me add your scenario be sure and email me and I'll post it here. Expect seeing more news posts and interviews with members here very soon.

Announcement: Zombie Wars

A worthy decision, Protestuir has started development on a tactical Multiplayer map. However this is a TT scenario because of triggers, There is a possibility it could be remade for Vanilla. Basically in this scenario, every team gets a zombie to control. There is much eyecandy and it is only half-finished(A bit of playtesting is still needed.). He plans to release this on June the First which is only twelve days away. With what is planned here, it seems you'll be in for a compllicated, but fun experience.

The Announcement Thread: This Link will self-Destruct in 10 seconds

Summary: Zombies, enough said.

CSC Winners

The winner of the CSC for this week's Movie theme is LegendBladeX with his "The Arrival Of The Trojan Horse" shot. The runner-ups are HailToTheOboe with his "As Time Goes By" entry and "The Death Of Maximus" by Baske. The next theme is "This Wasn't The Plan".

Screenshot Thread: sretteL esehT kcilC

Announcement: Greek Improvement Mod

Tarion_31 has teamed up with Emjer to bring you this mod which drastically changes the look of the Greek infantry units. They are now more historically accurate than before. Tarion has recently posted images of improved siege weapons and boats which are basically just darkened textures. No plans to release it just yet however.

The Announcement Thread: Take Me There!

Announcement: Rise Of The World Power

That_Guy_You_Know has been working on sequel to the "A New Atlantis" campaign. This project consists of 8(Nine if you count the prologue) pretty big scenarios. The basic story is told by Corimi Stout, it is about the events that took place after A group of enemy nations invade Atlantis and destroy it. The campaign is a tad silly though it features a spell system and in-game music taken from the Zelda games and others. Expect to see this on The DL section when TGUK gets around to finishing it.

Epic Studios Announced

A new group of eager new designers have gathered together and have created Epic Studios, the team has only just been created and already has multiple projects going on. A spartan mod, a napoleonic mod and their biggest project, a star wars mod to name a few. They are accepting anyone to join the team, so if you want to work on a design team, try Epic. You can also visit to see their latest progress, their team discussion is visible to the public.

The Forum: Jump in

Summary: Newbies create yet another Design team.

Interview: Master Foozle

I've recently interviewed a new modder from AoMH he just created the Roman units mod and is also working on a Star Wars mod, as well. Read to see what he says.

1. So, How long have you been at AoMH?
I've only been at AoMH a few months, maybe 3 or so. I'm a fairly new member. I found the place because I wanted to find out how to change the camera views in the wierd directions that they moved in in the cinematics. So I searched on google and found this, which answered all my questions. Once I found out how to mod, I loved it.

2. What are your current/past projects?
Well, my current projects are that Star Wars Mod, and a Napoleonic mod. You should know what the Star Wars mod is, so I'll write a quick review of the Napoleonic mod. It is made by Epic Studios (You probably don't know about it, it's new) adding a LOT of military units from the Napoleonic era to AoM. The Musketeer for example, would be made. My past projects are that Roman mod, which I am planning to update when I'm done the Napoleonic mod.

3. Now, that you finished it, what do you have to say about your Roman Modpack?
Well, I think it worked out pretty well, but I do have a few minor regrets. At the beginning, I saw a really perfect real picture of a legionaire, so I put it on the unit. I thought it looked pretty good, so I got more real pictures onto the units. I still thought it was ok. But then, I couldn't find any pictures for one unit, so I decided to make the textures myself. When I saw that compared to the others, it was very good. I'd already made so many units that I'd go WAY over my deadline if I made all the textures myself. So I didn't and probably didn't get the best review because of it.

4. And the Star Wars mod?
Well, it's actually going pretty well. We have a bunch of god powers done, all of which are completely dynamic (especially the thought bomb :D). I've got a bunch of tasks on the go and I'm trying to work through them as best I can but It's pretty hard because they all have to have good quality. We have so few members all of us have alot of work. Please join us! Our mod is completely different from AoSW. Right now though, we're still pretty much working on the outline.

5. What do you plan in the future?
Well, I'm planning a HUGE campaign with at least 50 scenarios, but for that I need alot of practice. It's called "Reign of Theris". It's pretty much a prologue to the ES campaign, except way better =D. Don't worry though, if you like histories to be left unknown, there are plenty of them here!

6. So, have you had experience with scenario design/eyecandy?
Well, I've made I cinematic and one scenario, both of which are pretty good. The scenario's eyecady is pretty good, as I have no practice. The cinematic was about a volcano erupting and destroying Knossos, and the eyecandy there is REALLY good! All the buildings are packed into each other so when the volcano debris hits them, they'll make big noises :D!

7. What modder's style do you admire if you've seen it?
I like mods with new models and really good textures. I like the historical mods with accurate historical detail all the way down to the shoe colour. I'm learning to model right now, and texture, so I admire my own modding style!

8. Now onto something not related to AoM, what other games do you enjoy playing in your spare time?
Well, I like playing Cossacks 2, Age of Sail, and Age of Empires 1,2 and 3. Pretty much the historical ones. I also like Soccer (football), Baseball, basketball, and the game "Whip turds at your brother". Which is where, after your lawn has been aerated, you throw those little dirt chunks at your brother.

9. I guess we're done, anything to leave our readers with?
Sorry I'm not feeling very imaginative right now.

Update: Ancient Warriors Modpack

Leto II has showcased us a new unit, the Roman Legionary! Though there is nothing new or too revolutionary about this one, Leto II has said that the legionary is made from an edited model and has historical tactics, the Romans used legionaries in many of their campaigns and now they are a addition to Leto II's new modpack. He still only has the Chinese blade master left and then we can finally experience this modpack, though Leto II might have to tweak some features.

The Announcement: Thread: Linkzorz

Should AOMI cover other AoE news as well?

I have been thinking of having the insider blog expand into other AoE news as well(ES development news, campaigns, mods, competition, etc), though this would much more work, there will be more news and it might lower the quality of and size of my posts though. If I did do this, this place would attract a lot more people and it help make it more known. Please leave comments here or at the thread in AOMH with your thoughts on this decision.

Roman Units Mod RELEASED!

Master_Foozle's humongous modpack is finally released! For those new to this, the Roman units mod is a modpack containing 43 units from Ancient Roman times. Foozle also planned a scenario to go along with this but he cancelled it, though there may be a possibility of it returning in future versions. If you are looking for the mod i the downloads section, It goes by the name "SPQR". Foozle has certainly shown progress on this and I definitely recommend trying it.

The Announcement Thread: This Goes There

Announcement: Cataphract

Tarion_31 from AoMH is working on a new cataphract unit mod. This will add two versions of it to your game which are both more historically accurate than the current one. Instead of a sword the new cataphract battles with a lance and even sports a shield. You can download the units now, though Tarion has stated plans to improve the unit with a wooden lance and a variable so some cataphracts have a shield and others don't. It looks like a great mod at it's current state so far from what I've seen.

The Announcement Thread: These Letters are actually one big link

Announcement: Adventure 3 RPG

Oscar has created a stunning scenario as the final entry for his "Adventures" series. I don't know too much about this one since he hasn't told much, but he has said that micromanagement and teamwork will be needed to succeed and some enemies are too tough to fight yourself. Certain god choices also affect your character like such as if Oranos is chosen, then you get a speed boost. The map is already available so make sure you give this one a try.

The Announcement Thread: Oscarnage

Summary: Get pwned in the darkest reaches of Hell.