Friday Updates

peugeot407 wrote:Well, that's not very difficult, as K&B is currently the only total conversion mod that's still alive.

I thought NE was still alive, or do you not consider that a total conversion mod?

Well, I suppose it is to an extent, but it keeps the same civs and largely the same timeline, so I don't really consider it to be a total conversion mod. AoC was, but that's merged with K&B, and TAA was as well, but that's currently dormant.


peugeot407

I was really liking TAA, it seems to be the only ancient themed AOEIII mod around, but now it's pretty much dead. I am considering to learn AOEIII modding so I can make a mod for the classical era (or continue with TAA), but then I'm currently working on a wildly ambitious project for Rise of Nations (covering the ancient and medieval periods). While RON is easier to mod, and making models for it appears to be easier too, there are annoying unit, tech, building and nation limits that really get in the way, and AOEIII has more capability when it comes to features.

EDIT: I think I should properly say a bit more to make up for lost time. I am really blown away by the work that has gone on here. Amazing textures (Pepp can texture?!!), the ideas are very innovative and more and more I am seeing a greater focus on the little things and gimmicks that make the civs unique and fun. I have to say, it's good to be back, I've missed you guys.

I can, I can. I can do what every noobs can't do, but is far lesser than even just Peugeot. :lol:
No, I am not mastering coding, btw. But I can scripting.

TAA was as well, but that's currently dormant.

I am sure TAA dead. Tilanus somewhat said it.

And no discussion about these things anymore here. Back to topic, guys.

It's past midnight, so I say it's Friday... This week we haven't got a lot of text for you to read, but much more to see. To start in a rather underwhelming manner, here's a screenshot that I took this week, hoping to create some more to make this Friday Update. It's a screenshot from a game with the Crusaders on one of the random maps we inherited from AoC; Armenia. The main things visible are some regular buildings from the Middle Eastern buildingset, two Pilgrims gathering from a berry bush and of course the Chapter House.


Middle Eastern buildingset? Yes. We could have given the Crusaders the Southern European buildingset, but decided this would be better, to make sure that they don't feel like a European civ, but actually like a multicultural civilisation with mixed European and Middle Eastern roots. Consequently, the Crusader units will look European, but their buildings will look Middle Eastern.

I recently got a new microphone though, and was rather aching to try it out, so I did. Instead of more screenshots, I shot another commented gameplay video. It's not as long as the last one, and considerably less interesting for the strategically minded, as this is not a whole battle or even a summary of one, but merely me highlighting some of the things you should know about the Crusaders. Please do bear in mind that this is footage of the first ever inteam alpha (v0.06.1) in which the Crusaders are included, so there are still quite some things missing, mostly in terms of portraits and icons.


As you might expect from a team that has an iliander in it, we're always busy with balance. Here's new team member Synecdoche commenting on the ever-tricky Italians, a civ we're really struggling to keep on the right side of OPness...

Synecdoche wrote:Yeah, the lack of coin and RG anticav should probably keep them under control. Hopefully. That eco is just so good.

K&B salutes... arcalion. After a very good Fransesca des Sales article, he's decided to come back to modding, and bring us all some more delightful Arcanese language.
K&B refutes... Silvio Berlusconi. Apparently he wants to be president of Italy again, presumably ushering in another decade of corruption and boonga boonga...


peugeot407

I think that's the first time I've ever seen an update on Friday! (because of my timezone)

Great update - it is amazing how much you can learn from three minutes of video.

Well it is still Thursday here in Brazil, but nice update!

One thing I noticed is that the pause between when the pilgrims throw their axes is quite awkward. Would it be possible to increase the rate of attack but then lower their attack to balance it out?

Everything is possible... It's not something we noticed before, but it does indeed look a bit odd.


peugeot407

That pilgrim is beast, but I definitely agree with super7700, it looks very awkward that the pilgrims are just standing there for a long time while a fox is attempting to have his dinner.

It only looks weird in melee.

I like the idea of Pilgrims throwing axes, but it seems a bit odd. Very creative but in reality it doesn't fit. I don't know, could just be me. Anyway, the Crusaders look very cool I must say.

Without that easy news, Arcalion won't back. :lol:

Emm, very nice the video, and what you mean pepp?

Two weeks ago Synecdoche told you about our Town Square building, what it does and what civs have it. Back then I said there might be a second Friday Update about the Town Square, and here it is. This one will not be about the gameplay mechanics of the Town Square, or its strategic importance. No, this one will be about its artwork.


The Town Square may not look very special at all, but it rather is. Most of you will probably have noticed that this model didn't come with Age of Empires III, and some of you might have guessed that it isn't from another game either. Both assumptions are right, as this is a brand new model, made to measure for K&B specifically. Once again though, that is not very special. Creating new models from scratch may not be very commonplace in AoE3 modding yet, but this isn't the first time it's been done either. No, the special thing is, and please bear in mind that this is a modding first, that this is a building with more than one model. If WotTA uses a new model or one from another game, they just have a model for an intact building, NE the same. This doesn't look too bad on screenshots, but when actually playing the mod, it makes for some proper graphic horror. If a building gets attacked, it doesn't change shape at all. Even when it's destroyed, it just stays as it is, and then slowly fades away. Not so in K&B. We like to put time and effort in to make the process of destruction look just that bit better, with all the means we have. I say that, because obviously nobody has figured out how to make Havok (the AoE3 physics engine) work its tricks on new models yet, so our models won't have the smooth animation feel of standard AoE3 models, but we like to think that we've come close. We can't do destruction anims, but we can do destruction models. So we have...


As for the rest of the design of the building, this is the Town Square for civs with the Southern European buildingset, which is the Italians, Byzantines and Spanish. The Spanish however, aside from not being in the Prologue, are part of the Crusading Civset, so they don't get the Town Square, which is reserved for the European civset. This building remains for the Italians and Byzantines then, which explains the horses. This may sound odd, but the copper horse statues on the Town Square are based on the Horses of St. Mark, who are most famous for adorning the facade of the Basilica di San Marco in Venice, but there is a bit more history behind them than meets the naked eye. They were originally created by a Roman sculptor in Greece, long before the Middle Ages. Some estimates even suggest that they were created in the 4th century BC. They were used in various locations throughout time, but at the start of K&B's timeline they would have stood on the Hippodrome in Constantinople. They would stay in the Byzantine capital until the 13th century, when the Fourth Crusade led Venetian Crusaders to conquer Constantinople, where Doge Enrico Dandolo (which also happens to be our AI personality for the Italians) ordered the horses to be removed and transported to Venice. There they would take their famous place in front of the Venice's most famous church and become a landmark of the city as a whole, even though the horses are considerably older than Venice itself. With such symbolism for both Byzantines and Italians, I hope you understand why we couldn't help but include some horse statues in our Southern European model for the Town Square.


For next week's Friday Update, we would like to know what you would like to see. We've got the following things ready:

1. An ingame view of Chapter House
   
2. The Crusader age-up system
   
3. The Qal'aat or Headquarters
   
4. Outlaw or Mercenary units made by Pepp
   
5. Barbarian settlements

You can vote for any of these things in the poll that I added to the thread.


Here's the ever historically based but equally appreciative Synecdoche on a feature that we haven't been much bothered to tell you about yet:

Synecdoche wrote:I don't know why Lithuania's cavalry is portrayed as so bad when it was a cavalry-based military as well, but the duality thing is cool enough that I'm not going to lodge a formal complaint.

K&B salutes... Fransesca des Sales. With the original Fransesca des Sales, the Daily Pepper and the Peppic Epic, Pepp will soon be a newspaper millionaire. Probably. Possibly. Perhaps...
K&B refutes... WotTA's Forums. Patacas are gone, oh noes!!!


peugeot407

One word: Great !

In case you didn't notice yet, a poll is added to vote for next week's Friday Update! Everyone (even team members) are allowed to vote.

I am very impressed by the effort that has been put in, great work

Oops, missed the poll, I'm glad though that the option I was going to vote for (Crusader age up) did actually win...

Alright lads and lasses, this week we're showing off the Crusader Officer Age-Up-System, which as the name suggests is unique to K&B's Crusader Culture which includes the Spanish, Germans, and the Crusaders. Much as the Asian civilizations in The Asian Dynasties, you don't age up from the Town Center, but the villager. (Well in K&B's case, the pilgrim)


As you can see Crusaders will have three available Officers to them the Constable, Chamberlain, and Chancellor. Each officer has a focus, the Constable has to do with military and mercenary units and upgrade, the Chamberlain is more to do with villager and building units and upgrades, and the Chancellor with religious and economic units and upgrades. Each Officer will send a shipment and an effect. Unlike, in The Asian Dynasties, you can choose the same Officer as many times as you like.

Now, when you've selected the Officer who you'd like to assist your city, all you need to do is place the flag, and voila!


You won't be getting the same bonuses every time you want to age up either, while you could essentially pick the same officer every City Phase, the bonuses are different, and as you'd expect, more powerful. As seen here:


We've been working on planning a new Game Type lately that we haven't announced yet, and don't plan to announce for some time. Here's Matti deciding one of the rules:

AOE_Fan wrote:Invasion will only be for team games, and that's it.

K&B salutes... You. The fans for being so awesome and supporting of our mod!
K&B refutes... James Eagan Holmes. For shooting 70 innocent people in a theater that was showing The Dark Knight Rises. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families.

Please Note: All artwork and bonuses are subject to change before release

Looks great, I like the idea of aging up by selecting a focus, creates better versatility. Also that tid bit about new game types, has me begging for more information. INVASIONS?!! What is that and how will it be implemented? What is this new game type? Argh, I want to know more

I think that's something to add to the list of future Friday Update subjects then...


peugeot407

The visuals of flags have indeed been changed, same thing will happen for politician portraits. As for Invasion, it will indeed be something interesting and new, but I guess we will tell more when the actual thing is coded.

GJ peeps

One word: GREAT!