Project Announcement: Barbarossa - The campaign

Topic Subject: Project Announcement: Barbarossa - The campaign

Paul_TD
Squire

posted 08-04-15 06:52 AM CT (US)

Paul the Deacon proudly presents:

An Age of Chivalry: Hegemony campaign
Made in Switzerland

About

This is my first big project. Once completed it will feature three fixed-force scenarios, an introductory cinematic and a non playable map as a bonus.

I assume that everyone here is familiar with the historical figure of Frederick I Hohenstaufen, Holy Roman emperor, mostly because of the original ES campaign. In this campaign I will not try to retell the whole life of the emperor but to depict (staying as true to history as the game allows me to) a few selected episodes of his almost 30 years long strife against the comuni of Northern Italy and the Lombard League.

Sotto lo 'mperio del buon Barbarossa
di cui dolente ancor Milan ragiona.
[Under the rule of good Barbarossa,
whose memory still pains Milan]

(Dante, Purgatorio, XVIII,119-120)

Features

The emperor in Italy : Completed. A very brief cut scene introducing us to the setting and protagonists of the campaign.

The siege of Crema : Completed. The first true challenge for the emperor. The town of Crema is small but heavily fortified. Will you choose to openly assault its walls or will you try to subdue it through thirst and starvation? In either case watch out for enemy sallies!

In obsidione Mediolani : Map design 80%, triggers 50%, script 90%. Yet another siege scenario that will pit you against the powerful Milanesi.This time it will look more like attrition warfare than a classic medieval siege.

The battle of Legnano : Map design 50% triggers 0%, script 100%. The ultimate battle of Barbarossa's italian campaigns, featuring my personal take on Marco Crnigoj's much celebrated morale system.

Bonus scenario: Como : A bonus, non playable map, depicting the town of Como in the XII century.

Screenshots

The mighty walls of Milan
Even mightier walls of Milan
Crossing the Alps
Defending the Carroccio
The ruins of Rome
Messenger through the forest

Credits and a Note
Thanks to Kor and everyone else involved for creating the awesome Age of chivalry mod.

My main source for historical information here will be Paolo Grillo's Le guerre del Barbarossa, Laterza 2014.

Please note that this one is very likely to go on hiatus for a long time. In a few weeks I will be moving abroad and, then starting classes and I don't know when I will again have enough free time to complete the campaign. I started this thread mostly to motivate myself when I'll pick it up again. Anyways thanks in advance for the support.

Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus

[This message has been edited by Paul_TD (edited 08-24-2015 @ 02:15 PM).]

Author

Replies:

Possidon
Slayer

posted 08-04-15 07:03 AM CT (US) 1 / 16

Looks greast, looking forward to playing this one

THE DYSTONIAN CHRONICLES

Wrath of the Traibs | Alba gu Brath | Across the Sea | Possidon's Eye-Candy Expansion
MY BLACKSMITH LIBRARY

Mash
Huskarl
(id: Mashek)

posted 08-04-15 07:16 AM CT (US) 2 / 16

Looks nice, I'll be looking forward to playing it.

I thought about making a Barbarossa campaign myself beginning with the reunification of the German duchies, much like the ES scenario. But it was too much work.

Heart of the Dragon | Aethelflaed ~ The Lady of the Mercians
Wind of the North | Defence at Lorgan's Watch | Blood of the Bear
StormWind Studios

Kor
Busschof Happertesch
(id: Derfel Cadarn)

posted 08-04-15 07:32 AM CT (US) 3 / 16

Looks really cool! Barbarossa's Italian campaigns are hugely interesting and I don't think ES did them justice in their campaign. Umberto Eco's Baudolino is one of my favourite historical novels, and that does a good job depicting some of these events in an interesting way also (and also features a great description of the siege of Alessandria). Looking forward to seeing your work!

Kor | The Age of Chivalry is upon us!
Wellent ich gugk, so hindert mich / k�stlicher ziere sinder,
Der ich e pflag, da f�r ich sich / Neur kelber, gaiss, b�ck, rinder,
Und knospot leut, swarz, h�sseleich, / Vast r�ssig gen dem winder;
Die geben m�t als sackwein vich. / Vor angst slach ich mein kinder
Offt hin hinder.

HockeySam18
D�nadan

posted 08-04-15 09:12 AM CT (US) 4 / 16

Good stuff, Paul! Glad to see a campaign coming up in Chivalry as well

~ Forgotten Empires ~

Storm on the Steppe | Galderton Hill RP | Proud member of Stormwind Studios

"Deyr f�, deyja fr�ndr, deyr sj�lfr it sama; ek veit einn at aldri deyr, d�mr um dau�an hvern." - H�vam�l 77.

BF_Tanks
Squire

posted 08-04-15 12:11 PM CT (US) 5 / 16

I keep reading "Barbossa" and thinking of Pirates.

This definitely sounds quite interesting, though. I always liked the Barbarossa campaign, and seeing a new, more accurate take on it would be really nice. I do hope you get the time to complete it, or after you come back from your hiatus that you are still just as inspired to work on it.

I also think it's fantastic you're using a mod!

Proud Member of Black Forest Studios
Co-creator of Silent Evil - Voted Best Multiplayer Scenario of 2009
and The Seas of Egressa - Voted Best Multiplayer Scenario of 2010

Paul_TD
Squire

posted 08-04-15 02:04 PM CT (US) 6 / 16

Thanks a lot to all of you.

Quoted from Mashek:
I thought about making a Barbarossa campaign myself beginning with the reunification of the German duchies, much like the ES scenario. But it was too much work.

That's precisely the reason why I'm focusing on just a handful of moments. The scope of the campign is still quite big, but, for example, I don't have to research information about things I'm unfamiliar with but stick to things I already know. Moreover the scenarios are not very long and having three of them allows for a bit more variety in the gameplay without cramming a single map with lots and lots of triggers.

Quoted from Kor:
Looks really cool! Barbarossa's Italian campaigns are hugely interesting and I don't think ES did them justice in their campaign. Umberto Eco's Baudolino is one of my favourite historical novels, and that does a good job depicting some of these events in an interesting way also (and also features a great description of the siege of Alessandria). Looking forward to seeing your work!

My first project included the siege of Alessandria in the campaign, but I was out of ideas to render siege gameplay interesting and besides, I decided that I would allow the player to "change history" only in the last scenario. Since Alessandria was a setback for Barbarossa I opted for the victorious siege of Crema. I have never read Baudolino but I'll consider trying it out. If you look at my sig you may guess there's another novel by Eco that I like.

Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus

Mash
Huskarl
(id: Mashek)

posted 08-04-15 04:56 PM CT (US) 7 / 16

That makes sense, and at least the Italian campaigns is very interesting and doable from a designing point of view.

Heart of the Dragon | Aethelflaed ~ The Lady of the Mercians
Wind of the North | Defence at Lorgan's Watch | Blood of the Bear
StormWind Studios

Paul_TD
Squire

posted 08-08-15 04:17 AM CT (US) 8 / 16

Worked on the fourth scenario, but not much. Next week I should be able to do much more.

Adding a new screenie though (I quite like this one, it's from a cut-scene).

Messenger through the forest

Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus

HockeySam18
D�nadan

posted 08-08-15 09:22 AM CT (US) 9 / 16

Indeed, that looks really nice!

DJeronimo
Banned

posted 08-08-15 10:01 AM CT (US) 10 / 16

new buildings, new units! goood!

Paul_TD
Squire

posted 08-24-15 02:26 PM CT (US) 11 / 16

Hi guys, bumping with some news.
As you can see I have put in some work on scenario 3 & 4.
I am halfway through with map design with scenario 4 and I have completed the history, objective and suggestions sections. They are going to be quite detailed.

Scenario 3 is a much bigger problem. I realized that the best way to make it work is to use a customized AI for the computer
player. I have no experience at all in creating one of those so I am slowing down quite a bit, reading articles and making experiments to master the very basics.

Nevertheless I'm loving working on this. I am bit worried for the imminent move and everything, but this one makes my free time really relaxing.

I may post a couple of new screenie next week, then I will probably see if I can release the cut- scene as a teaser, before I am shipped off to Dublin.

EDIT: DJeronimo: the units are not "new" and most importantly I did not make them myself. I want this to be absolutely clear. You can get them by downloading the latest version of Chivalry. A strong secondary motivation behind the making of this campaign is to showcase a bit of the awesome new graphic that Kor created

Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus

[This message has been edited by Paul_TD (edited 08-24-2015 @ 02:30 PM).]

HockeySam18
D�nadan

posted 08-24-15 03:43 PM CT (US) 12 / 16

Let me know if you run into any trouble with AI scripting. I've never scripted an AI for Chivalry, but I could probably still give you a few tips if you needed them!

Paul_TD
Squire

posted 09-04-15 02:57 PM CT (US) 13 / 16

Thanks for the offer Sam I'll let you know if I need something.

The thing is... I no longer have much spare time to work on this. This week I am moving to Dublin and it will take some time before I will be able to settle down and adjust to the new routine.

It's a pity since I really wanted to finally show something I have been working on almost full time since the latest version of AoCh came out. Obviously I knew that I was going to have a hard time completing the project before the start of the academic year so I started this thread to motivate my efforts.

Anyways, in my experience,when I was studying in Italy, the workload for university used to change dramatically depending on many factors. I hope that this should prove the case for Irish universties too, so that I will be able to throw in a bit of work on this one even there. I let you know guys, bye for now!

Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus

[This message has been edited by Paul_TD (edited 09-04-2015 @ 02:58 PM).]

HockeySam18
D�nadan

posted 09-04-15 05:28 PM CT (US) 14 / 16

No worries, Paul! I know the feeling - in a couple days I go back to university as well and won't be able to spend much time on AoE2 before the winter holidays. Real life takes time as well and should always be a priority

GranCalabaza
Squire

posted 09-19-15 09:30 AM CT (US) 15 / 16

How did you made those buildings and units? Are you using a mod?

Aristeides
Squire

posted 10-28-15 12:35 PM CT (US) 16 / 16

He's using the Age of Chivalry: Hegemony mod.

You can find it in this site's Blacksmith or you can search for it on ModDB.

Quality is not an act, it is a habit.

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