I've been working on a kind of "Fanmade map pack" for myself anyways, so I'll be happy to upload it once it's done. Just going around seeing which maps work properly and which ones don't (made a couple changes here and there, but I'll give full credit to the original uploaders).

EDIT:
I finished it and uploaded it unto ModDB, it's now awaiting aproval.

EDIT2:
And here it is!
http://www.moddb.com/downloads/fanmade-map-pack

[This message has been edited by Devilloc (edited 11-12-2013 @ 11:33 AM).]

Just some random questions and ideas off the top of my mind for any interested in answering or discussing:

- Can you add more players into the game menu selection, such as more than 8?

- Can you add more player color choices in the menu? In Age of Mythology this is possible by playing around with some files, I wonder if this can be done for Rol also. I think I also saw a color mod for Rise of Nations also.

- Can the screen resolution or camera be adjusted by editing some file? Even 1920x1080 still is zoomed in too much, pressing the C key will give you 2 options but it would be nice to zoom out some more. On the WSGF (Widescreen Gaming forum) for some games the .ini file is edited for screen and camera changes but I couldn't find such a file. In the scenario editor you can zoom out very far and adjust camera views and positions but not in the game.

- Can bridges be enabled to be destroyed? If so is it just the Vinci metal bridges or all of them? Also the Vinci metal bridges look like they can function as drawbridges - can they be enabled to be retracted up and down?

Check this beta screenshot for an exploding bridge - maybe this was originally in the beta but not final game.

The only time in the game this happens is in the Vinci campaign's Ranconi mission - the demolition trucks blow up the bridge and you lose the mission. Other rts games have a forced-fire option when you press Shift and attack, so you can attack your own units and inanimate objects but in ROL you can't do that. I'm thinking of the Command and Conquer series of games, in which bridges are also destroyable but repairable with an engineer. Maybe this was planned for Rol or could be modded in?

- Has anyone tried importing custom textures or anything else into the scenario editor for use and had success?

- Is it possible to create prefabs and import them into the game? What graphics program(s) would be best for the job?

- Is it possible to edit the existing wildlife and create new ones (how?) and import them?

- Is it possible to change the speed of a unit? Some people said the game and it's units are too slow and while you can set the game speed higher that speeds up the whole game besides units. Also can units be given a "Run" spell or ability? This could be permanent and turned on or off at will, or a temporary "sprinting" spell using mana. A related idea is can some units be given a "Jump" ability or spell? Either automatic or selectable...

- Can a hero or unit be given the ability to pick up and hold or store items? In Age of Empires it's monks and in Age of Mythology heroes who can pick up relics and deposit them in temples. I guess you would have to the edit the rules for the objects to be picked up as well as giving the unit an ability for holding or storing (like the Diablo 2 inventory stash).

This ties into an idea I had for the Vinci Ammo Depot buildings - these could produce Supply, Ammo and Demolition Trucks that would be needed to periodically replenish gun and cannon units/buildings - Giacomo's walker, gun soldiers, Doge Rocket Launchers and Steam Cannons, Tanks, and the Doomcannon/Doge's Hammer. This might change the game a lot though - it would be cool to see unit animations restocking their shells, poisons, spell powers, etc and would create some interesting new battle dynamics. If the heroes/units weren't restocked they could still use their melee stomping/trampling/punching powers. So Giacomo's walker, tanks, steam cannons could still run over units.

(This same concept could be done for Rise of Nations to make the cannons more realistic instead of constantly firing cannonballs without a source for them.) Don't know how this same option would apply to the Alin with Mana and Cuotl with Energy - maybe unused units/buildings could be used or Caravans could also automatically deliver the goods when needed for all 3 nations. Ramping costs could also be put in to limit the amount of gun/magic/laser siege units and what not on the battlefield - again this would be a new fundamental game mechanic that would change the game significantly and would be a good experiment for a mod.

- Can you create/mod other resources into the game or change the color of timonium?

- Since Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends were made by the same team, would certain features, files, etc from Ron be compatible inside Rol if you could import them into the editor/mod them into the game?

- The scenario editor has 2 water textures - maybe there was a plan to have water in Rol but it was cancelled. For those who would know, can water be enabled or modded into the game? Or would that require a patch or expansion... Ron had some simple water and the BHG team worked on the Asian Dynasties expansion for Age of Empires 3 which had water also.

- Has anyone else gotten errors and crashes when loading certain prefabs in the scenario editor? I have a list of which regular and timonium prefabs crash my game when I try to place them to view them.

- From reading Motter's posts, my guess is that some of the above is possible, but since there was no Modpack released that can extract all the necessary bigs, graphics, files etc then we can't edit or mod that much and do things like create your own hero, unit, building, spell, tech, etc and are limited to enabling and working with some stuff that can be done within limits. It would be helpful to know in general what can or can't be done at the moment with the game so we can narrow down the possibilities and try to work within limitations.

[This message has been edited by alincarpetman (edited 12-07-2013 @ 06:53 PM).]

I replied to you through MODDB but it did not work, so I'll re post it here:

"I submitted my mods here and they rejected it saying I didn't put up the picture gallery or some nonsense when I followed everything they told me to do. I went back and forth with them for a few E-mails and finally just gave up, I told them they have the files, they can post them or not, but I was done jumping through the hoops. If you want to upload them here on your account that's fine but I'm done with these guys.

As for the nations mod I could be done with it by now but I've slowed down a bit, am only getting a few things done every couple of days, Zeke really burned me out (I did get him working tho finally), as to all of your questions about what can and can't be done pretty much anything CAN be done, it's just always going to be a matter of who wants to do it, like I say for me to put the time and effort into figuring out how to make something happen it really has to be something I'm interested in, that's why unfortunately I don't think I'll ever be able to help you out with the graphics issues as I've just never been very interested in modding graphics.

Depending on work and real life commitments (I think I've put on 8pds since I started this mod, no joke there) I should have the nations mod finished up by the end of this week but can't promise, plus if you post your suggestions maybe they'll give me some ideas I never thought of before. Thanks for all your hard work."

Hey Motter,

Yeah Moddb has certain requirements but I have no problem making some screenshots and text for your mods - just give me a couple days and I'll come up with something.

The hero mod might need some updating as I explained in my review, which has yet to be approved here at HG so it might take some time to show up in the download thread. When that's done I'll post them on Moddb if you still can't/don't want to.

I posted my subnations ideas here. About life it's good to take breaks and try to maintain a balance between hobbies and the real world to stay healthy. I don't have a problem if you take your time with the modding, there's no rush - this game has never been as active as others and it's probably not going to change anytime soon.

I recently looked into the latest popular direction rts games seem to be going in - the moba subgenre such as League of Legends which apparently is the most popular. These games don't have any base building and are more faster and combat focused "action-rts" on smaller arena-style maps. Defense of the Ancients 1 and 2 were mods for Warcraft 3 so it got me thinking if anyone ever made a moba-style mod for Rol it might increase it's popularity, but that would be a lot of work even if there was full modding.

[This message has been edited by alincarpetman (edited 12-10-2013 @ 08:01 PM).]

Can't wait to see how the subnations mod turns out.

Well guys, just a little update. As you've probably noticed, there's very few fan made maps for the game. I tried searching around the internet but I couldn't find a single one that's not already in my mappack. I was able to get in contact with a user from the GameReplays forum that used to play ROL years ago and might still have a couple maps that we don't. He did reply saying he would see if he still has them, but he hasn't gotten back to me in almost a month, so that's probably a dead end. So if any of you has any map that's not already in the mappack, even if they're unfinished maps, hit me up. I don't mind doing the finishing touches on a half-finished map, I just can't really create one from scratch.

Thanks Devilloc for doing that - the fan maps was on my list of things to do but it all takes a lot of time so it's cool to see others doing something too. It takes many hours of searching depending on how thorough you want to be.

I haven't found any other maps but I have some map ideas but it might be a while before I work on any - maybe someday though.