Will it be limited to 3 nations? What kind of art subsets are we looking at here?

Not limited to only 3 nations, if you check out Motter's New Nations mod here you can see there are up to 16 total nations selectable from the game menu.

1 is random and 3 are the regular original Vinci, Alin & Cuotl.
The rest of the 12 can be any custom nations you make, which should cover a lot of Rise of Nations civilizations.

You can view a list of all ROL files here.

In terms of art, 3D models and skin graphics for most units, buildings, spells, etc are retrievable, viewable and moddable. You can see some images of what was found here - maybe the 4th Kahan nation can be added in totally or partially, with the imaginations of the modders and BHG concept art as a guide to make up the rest.

Since the number of people with 3DSMax is small (I don't have it), we'll have to wait for them to test 3D models and post some results.

But I was able myself to view and edit skins/graphics using Gimp and Irfanview and xml using a variety of text editors.

You'll need some patience to look through the files as there is a lot, but it's there

I have 3DsMax and Photoshop both. My days of using GIMP to reskin are long gone, but I haven't done much game modding since RoN, and RoL was so inaccessible. I'm kind of excited to see some new prospects though.

First glance is pretty daunting though. We're looking at complete cultural reskins/remodel/reanimations for 15 nations, including scripting new heroes/powers and etc. It's not like RoN where the difference was a UU and you just reskinned the rest of the faction.

I wish more people were familiar with Warmachine/Hordes tabletop game. I think it'd port over to this format extremely well but the same issues exist.

Yeah modding is no easy task it seems no matter which game you use.
Age of Empires 2 has been around longer and is more well known so that's why those games have more mod support.

I think in this situation it is best to start simple, don't overwhelm yourself with a huge 15 nation mod but go for the easiest fastest thing to do first and try to figure out any shortcuts to save time, and then build upon that experience and your discoveries.
There are some similarities between some RON and ROL units though so complete reskin/remodels may not be necessary. For example the Vinci have dragoons on horses, knights with swords and a variety of musketeers which may only need slight modification.
If you have the time to try importing some ROL files into 3DSMax it would help, let me know if you don't have the game so I can send you some files via email.

Myself I will eventually be making simple landscape maps to see what's possible and then maybe people can use those for skirmish maps, scenarios and campaigns.

I looked up the Warmachine/Hordes game, reminds me of Warhammer which got a great looking rts game Warhammer: Mark of Chaos in 2006, but it also went quiet due to lack of modding options, though you can use Quick BMS and a script here to unpack some files. Seems like Warmachine would maybe fit better in that game or Starcraft 2 as some people have done some Warcraft total conversion mods for SC2.

ROL does have a certain charm to it though, it looks more "immersive" and "atmospheric" than SC2, if you have played around with lighting and terrain in the scenario editor.

[This message has been edited by alincarpetman (edited 05-29-2016 @ 07:23 PM).]

Hey Alincarpetman. Great to see you still keeping this game alive! I played it some years ago with a friend and I loved it especially the fantasy feeling and the numerous of various creature models. But unfortunately I don't own the game so I can't play nor mod the game.
I have some modeling experience in 3ds max, only animating is a pain in the ass for me
I mod the game Age of Mythology since 2014/2015, I put some highly detailed models of World of Warcraft into this game and with some data editing I gave them great attack actions and SFX attachments. You can find those mods here:
http://aom.heavengames.com/downloads/lister.php?search=wolliewoltaz

I also convert those models to the steamcommunity, and I would love to convert them to the ROL community. And maybe help out with the conversion mod, but i'm not that experiencing so it could take a while for me to understand the data's behind it. But let me know what you think!
If you wanna contact me via e-mail....
m-woltzy(at)hotmail(dot)nl

Kind Regards,

WollieWoltaz,

Wollie - I remember seeing those Wow units a while ago, they look super detailed - how did you make them so detailed? Is there a thread at AOMH describing the process?

The detail reminds me of Warhammer Mark of Chaos which you'll probably need to have or try the demo here at max settings to see how detailed the units are zoomed up.
WHMOC was yet another game that didn't get full mod support but some of the content may be exported/reused if you use Quick BMS and a script here to unpack some files.

AOM 2002 has "less detailed graphics" than games released after it so it's little strange to see such quality in an older game.
Rise of Legends 2006 generally has more detail for most things than AOM, you can try the demo here at max settings.

No there is not a thread about it on AomH.
If I download the demo version, will I get or can I extract all the required model/texture files? So I can use the RoL Big Archiver and import the models into 3ds max? Or even get my detailed mods into RoL
And what is the different between the demo version and a cd version?

Last question... what do you mean excactly by max settings?

Thanks for your reply,

I don't know if the ROL BIG Archiver will work with the demo version, we have only tried the CD and DVD versions of the game. I may get around to testing it soon or you could try if you'd like.

The demo contains a few maps for single and multiplayer (human and pc ai) skirmish games and a few missions from the second chapter of the single player campaign, set in the Alin desert lands.

The CD or DVD version contains the full game of 3 chapters for the single player campaign, dozens of maps for skirmish games, and a scenario editor.

The ROL BIG Archiver allows the .BIG files to be extracted to use more game content such as building, unit, spell, etc skin graphics, 3D models, xml data, etc.

"Max settings" means maximum graphics settings, you can choose to show less or more graphics and other features in the options menus.
If your computer is good the game looks better when all the graphics are set on high/maximum.
Also check your email for another reply.

[This message has been edited by alincarpetman (edited 06-01-2016 @ 06:49 PM).]

Can you try it out, if the Archiver works on the demo version? because it takes a lot of space on my laptob if I install the demo.

Replied to you mail btw

Alincarpetman, did you try the ROL Archiver on the demo version?

I couldn't install the demo version because it would mess with my full copy files.
If anyone else can install the demo and test the BIG Archiver that would help.