Updates, Previews, and Announcements Compilation

[Aquila]

I recently accepted an invitation from ahowl11 to be in charge of the preview, announcement, and release threads as a sort of promoter/public relations person for Total War Center.

For the sake of organization, I have created this thread where we can put any images or information on our progress that would be useful to put in announcement thread(s) for Total War Center all in one place.  Right now I won't be too picky on what to put here, so feel free to post screenshots, updates, milestones, UIs, or any other mod progress updates with the mod here.

[Bercor]

I've created this thread in TWC, you might aswell use it:
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?644477-RTR-Project-Previews-(W-I-P)

[Bercor]

[Aquila]

I will take it that is a nomad city strat map model.

Thank you Bercor.  Keep up the good work, gentlemen!

[Aquila]

Maybe we can set up a Roman Preview after the Roman roster is finished? We need more attention at TWC.

Going off this, I am thinking an all-Roman preview might be a nice way we can start our publicity on Total War Center.  We could use parts of the U.I. and Unit Making Threads and some other Rome-related stuff.  What that stuff may be I have little idea.  Do we have new banners, buildings, or things related to the campaign map?

[ahowl11]

Yes an all Roman Preview would be a nice kickstart. We can use the faction symbol and banners as well as the new units. I alsohope to use the Roman UI from AEE.

Here are some Pine Trees from AEE, don't they look great? Make sure to cut out the interface parts of the screens so players can't look at the map etc. I'm still waiting for the other trees to arrive and I'll take better screens.

[Aquila]

Those are pretty good trees.  I cropped them like this:

Spoiler

I think it was a decent crop.

I had some difficulty distinguishing which were Roman soldiers in the UI topic.    I guess I need to call up my optometrist.  Should we compile the UIs here, or the AEE ones?

[ahowl11]

I say compile everything here haha. We can wait on the above right now here is what we will be previewing now that Jack is on the team..

We will be previewing the factions since they are all set up. Now this will be a brief preview but Jack will be doing a video segment on the faction selection screen briefly discussing the factions and what fans should expect to see from them with units, starting position, characters and some history.

Mausolos, if you could write a brief historical description of each faction, we can also put that in the preview.

Then Aquila, if you could get the symbols and banners of each faction together we can use those in the preview, maybe putting it next to the text or something.

Go ahead and work on that, Mausolos the descriptions don't have to be very long, just something to build the faction up for the players. Post the rough draft here and then Aquila can work on formatting the symbols and banners in. In the mean time I will PM Jack the script for him to read for his video. He will also post his video here. Then Aquila can put it all together on TWC for our first official preview

[Mausolos of Caria]

How about if I write the introduction from a 280 BC point of view? Pretending not to know what happened after? And should I start with Rome then?

[Bercor]

Good idea!

[ahowl11]

Yes great Idea Mausolos, and sure! A few paragraphs is all you need

[Mausolos of Caria]

Thanks There you go, tell me if it's good and long enough:

Spoiler

The history of Rome began with a she-wolf. She brought up the twin boys Romulus and Remus, of whom the first went on to found the city of Rome in 753 BC and kill his brother. These were the early seeds of violence in the story of a city that was allegedly populated by the descendants of Troy. In it's early days, Rome fell under the influence of the Etruscan League and developed into a royal society. However, at some point before the halfway point of the first millenium BC, the people of Rome decided that enough was enough and expelled their last king, Tarquinius Superbus.

The fifth century saw the first period of military expansion, including successfull wars against their Latin neighbours, who also laid the earliest foundation for the famous system of Roman allies in Italy. Those years also witnessed the rise of the adjacent town of Veii as Rome's most fabulous foe. It took the Romans decades of war and frustration to finally win a decisive victory over Veii in 396 BC, which resulted in the Roman occupation of the town. But Fortuna was not all that gracious nine years later, when ferocious tribes from the lands of the Celts entered Central Italy and met the Romans in battle. At this meeting on the river Allia, the Roman army was emphatically crushed and the survivors had to run to the safe haven of Veii. Following on to that remarkable defeat, according to legend, a little group of heroes safed the besieged capital after most people had fled the town. But the Romans had learned from their mistakes and erected the impressive Servian Walls, which still form the main defense of the city now in 280 BC.

With Rome fortified and the Celts retreating back into the Nothern plains, the Republic underwent crucial changes both internal and external. The common plebs, which already held the positions of the tribunes, also got their first consul in 366 and gained exclusive access for the election of the censors in 339 BC. At the same time, Rome finally conquered all of Latium and went on to challenge the Samnites, a people from the mountainous terrain of Central Italy eastwards from Rome. The armies of Rome advanced steadily over these years, but their cunning foes eventually lured them into a deadly trap. But against all expectations, the Romans, encircled and defeated,  were set free by the Samnite victors. While the Samnites hoped this would end the hostilities, the Romans felt it was an unbelievable act of humiliation. From that point on, both sides fough until the bitter end. In the third and final war (298-290 BC) it was Rome who won the dominance over Central Italy. Just three years later, the Plebs also won a victory to formally end the struggle of the orders.

It is now, in the year 475 ab urbe condita, that we look back on these events. Rome now holds the supremacy over all the surrounding areas, has established a formidable system of allies and still keeps on expanding that influence successfully. But rumour has it, that an army from Greece has arrived at the shores of Apulia. Eastern merchants are spreading the tales of a new Alexander. Meanwhile, in the North, the Celtic tribes are still at large and every Roman can tell horror stories about these wild and brutal people. But Roman weapons have proved their worth time and again, and slowly new reforms are starting to improve the citizen legions' lethal effectivity even more. Once again, Rome's fate lies on the shoulders of the common men...

[Mausolos of Caria]

Have we found a solution on Macedon yet? It will be hard to write an introduction if I don't know if the player holds Pella at the start or not

THE SELEUCID EMPIRE

Spoiler

''Fortune favours the bold''

Roughly two decades before the battle of Chaironeia, a noblewoman called Laodike gave birth to her son in the small town Oropos in Macedonia. These days, one can hear the stories that Apollo himself, the god of music and god of the sun, was the true father of this child. But officially it was the son of Antiochos, a man of the army who hailed from the mountain area of Orestis. That boy was named Seleukos, and with his parents holding close relations to the royal court, he enjoyed a formidable education. Once Seleukos became a teenager, he served as a squire to king Philip II, and upon becoming a man, joined the new royal battle guard, the Hypaspists.
After the battle of Chaironeia and the murder of Philip, the Hypaspists accompanied the demigod Alexander on his brave and magnificent adventures in the East. The red-haired hero brought down the empire of Persia, and the Hypaspists followed him through the endless deserts into India. Seleukos emerged not only as an impressive soldiers, but also proved his abilities to command and organise. Thus it was no surprise when the godly Alexander elected him for his Elite companions, the Hetairoi. At the battle on the river called Hydaspes in the mythical land of India, Seleukos commanded part of the right wing of the army and defeated the enemy's monstrous elephants.

Upon their return to Susa, Seleukos married Apame, a woman whose beauty grandly excelled that of her native Sogdia, a rocky badland in the wild North East. Apame gave birth to Antiochos, the first and most beloved son of Seleukos. But at the same time, the gods on Olympus felt that Alexander had done enough in the world of the mortals and he died in the palace of Babylon. A most ambitious and very Greek competition between his generals emerged, and Seleukos took part in the early Diadoch wars on the side of the royal regent Perdikkas, but later found an esteemed friend in Ptolemaios, who had become the pharaoh of Egypt. Together they put up a fierce resistance against the mighty Antigonos Monophtalmos, who only had one eye, but the ambition to rule the whole world. They defeated his young son Demetrios at Gaza in 312 BC and Ptolemaios sent his friend eastwards, to reclaim his rule over Babylon. Accompanied by only a small contingent of elite soldiers, Seleukos was joyfully welcomed in that ancient city, and it was then whe he laid the foundation for his own empire.

When Antigonos heard of these events, he was furious and started a war against Babylon the following year. But the courageous Seleukos refused to give in and repelled the attacks of the One-Eyed time and again. After his victory, Seleukos advanced eastwards and was acclaimed as the new ruler of these Eastern people, also signing a worthy treaty with Sandrokottos (whom his own people call Chandragupta), the lord of the Indians. The brilliant Seleukos gave him deserts in return for 500 terrible war elephants. With those, he strengthened his army and then returned to the West, where he joined Ptolemaios and Lysimachos at the battle of Ipsos in 302 BC. In this heroic engagement, his elephants held off Demetrios Poliorketes' famed cavalry and Antigonos was finally killed. While Demetrios became a refugee and Seleukos was able to annex wide parts of Asia Minor and northern Phoenicia into his dominion, sadly a quarrel emerged between him and his friend, the Pharao. Both men, with only the best intentions, laid claim on the strategically important land of Koile Syria. For now, they settled their conflict peacefully, but that did not solve the problem in the long term.

In 286 BC he captured Demetrios and turned on Lysimachos, his last remaining foe, who ruled over his own little empire in Thrace. While Seleukos assembled his troops, rather cheerless news arrived from Alexandria, where the great Ptolemaois had died. His son Ptolemaios II. succeeded him as Pharao, but his elder son Ptolemaios Keraunos was expelled. Upon arriving in Asia Minor, Seleukos decided to take Keraunos with him, thereby establishing a rather disturbed relationship with Ptolemaios II. The Seleucid Army met Lysimachos in battle at Kurupedion in 281 BC, and both kings, who had made the campaigns from Macedon to India and back, and then fought endless further wars over the decades, rode into battle as old men. Seleukos won a decisive victory and Lysimachos paid with his life, which ended after 80 exhausting years. Seleukos now only possessed a single dream: To return to his native Macedon and hopefully unite it with his empire in the East. But when Keraunos realized what the price was, he betrayed him. The murder of Seleukos, who died, 77 years of age, after having done and achieved more in his life than most men could ever dream of, sent shockwaves through the Hellenistic world.

Now his son Antiochos has been crowned king, and he faces a great challenge to keep the empire together and to proof himself as a worthy son. In Macedon, Keraunos has seized the throne, but Antiochos is a cautious man and considers to make peace with him. However, merchants from the West report, that Antigonos Gonatas, the son of the restless Demetrios, still aims to replicate his father, and rumours are spreading about a horde of blonde, terrifiying Celtic warriors, who are streaming into Northern Greece. In the South, Ptolemaios II. is a doubtful neighbour and the conflict over Koile Syria is still very much alive. But Antiochos possesses the greatest kingdom in the known world, and an army made up of the finest Macedonian and Greek soldiers, including the Hetairoi and Hypaspists, but also a vast reserve of native warriors and- of course!- the big flock of elephants inherited by his famous father. Antiochos has been presented the corps of his father by the satrap Philetairos of Pergamon and entombed him at a magnificent Mausoleion at Seleukeia Pieria. So, will he prove his worth? The future of the Seleucid Empire lies in Antiochos' hands...

I used Greek spelling, you can correct that if you want.

[Bercor]

Moar! I want moar, Mausolos!

[ahowl11]

Amazing! Well with RedFox with us we could probably simulate the chaos in macedon