A Giant Passes Into the Night

DarthVader is no more. The tremendously popular DarthMod modification for the Total War series, having now been present in Medieval II, Empire, Napoleon and Shogun 2 will not be returning for future iterations. A tremendous figure in the modding community, he has once again gone into retirement, this time seemingly for good.

I appreciate DarthMod like ballet and opera. I didn't always get it, or even enjoy it for that matter but I was glad it existed. It felt like it added something to the world, and others took immense pleasure from it. He was doing something nobody else seemingly could - complex AI scripting, unit rebalancing, and campaign AI that was not built from bricks and dog droppings.

Now, after a not so subtle slight from a Creative Assembly official he is calling it quits again.

"There are some mods out there that claim to do things that are impossible to do within the limitations that exist at the moment, for example."

Not exactly subtle. But I've long been under the impression that Darth is a one man band - likely this is why he was passed over during a previous interview for a programming position within the company.

But I can't help but feel Darth's passing also marks the end of an era in TotalWar games. Empire began the trend of DLC over mod support and Shogun 2 has again shown the company's intentions of continuing to downplay the community's role in the development of the games. I can only surmise Rome 2  will follow this trend, insisting on the purchase of company made content over player creativity. One need only to look at the success of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to see how a lively and energetic community can add value to existing works and attract new audiencs.


Source:
http://www.pcgamesn.com/totalwar/total-war-mod-darthmod-empire-v80-platinum-released-developer-retires-total-war-modding

And for popular press release:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/09/21/darthmod-creator-retires/

Roman Pools were Better than Yours

They just don't make them like they used to. This is the deluxe edition obviously, found in present day Turkey. Apparently a farmer was tilling along and hit this with his plow. A whole pool. With nearly perfect intact intricately laid tile work.

The Romans were the masters of a number of things, the most important being engineering. Just look at all the present day highways laid over existing Roman roads - some cities even still get their water via ancient aqueducts.

When I was looking to post this article, I actually came across a reference to it on History.com. Which apparently is owned by the History Channel. Imagine my surprise to find actual history there - and not ancient aliens who build pools on the ice while trading in the pawned logs.

Source:
http://www.history.com/news/giant-roman-mosaic-unearthed-in-turkey

Rome Rising

     Some games are immortal. It doesn't matter how old they are, how much age the graphics bear out - they are still fun the moment they are picked up again. The first is Ocarina of Time the second is Medieval 2: Total War by the Creative Assembly.
     Two months ago Total War: Rome 2 was announced. Forget the name change, the producers are just trying to create a Call of Duty like consistency for easy brand recognition, after all they are following up one of their most successful games to date. The important part is that the sequel has finally been announced - just look at the above screenshot to raise your heartrate. In fact, the announcement of this game is what inspired me to start this blog. Y'see the writing has been on the wall for the last year as they.
     It was the naval battles introduced in Empire: Total War  and refined in Total War: Shogun 2  that gave it away. A decided improvement over the auto calculated triumphs (or more often failures in my case) of the original sea conflicts. Giant lumbering triremes cresting the waves to slam into each other broadside amid the sound of creaking oars and crashing waves. It's an easy image to sell. And it's one that has been specifically built into the new game, which no longer divides sea and land battles - so amphibious assaults happen in real time. Combine this with the additional RPG and story based elements in Shogun 2 and we have a real potential winner here.
    Some ink is already being spread on the lack of diversity represented in screens and press releases, a problem which led to the creation of the Europa Barbarorum  mod for the first Rome: Total War. But I am willing to trust the company here - they have earned it after all. The mod itself ran into problems after all - you can actually be too accurate and exacting at the expense of fun. Because at the end of the day this is a game simulating warfare which depends upon your interest and entertainment to fuel purchases. As wonderful as 30 clone factions re-textured for combat is, you lose the depth and detail behind the the world itself. You don't see its moments of wonder and innovations that are tied to the growth of specific empires. I have always been a fan of fewer more detailed factions over a plethora of clones.
     I eagerly await the upcoming release, and look forward to see the next logical step in the series afterwards - Total War: Medieval 3.

A Bog Army Rediscovered

    The title of the blog does say gaming and history, and this is where the history comes in. Announced today was the discovery of a large number of bodies in the Alken Enge bog of Denmark. The bodies themselves show evidence of fractured skulls and thighbones which have been cut through. Coupled with scattered finds of iron spearheads and even a wooden shield in a similar earth layer there is only one conclusion to draw, this was an army. And every member was sacrificed during the Late Iron Age around 0AD.

    Iron Age sacrifices are not uncommon, but I am unaware of any on this scale. The information is still coming in, but the logical conclusion would be that after a battle this was the losing party - and they were sacrificed by the victors. After all, Alken Enge is a known location for human sacrifice. A custom practiced throughout Europe in the period. The bog itself is important because of the anaerobic environment it provides, which helps to preserve the skeletons and artifacts. It is possible that the custom was much more widespread, but the only evidence which remains can be found in today's remaining marshlands. Regardless, it puts a new light on the risks of warfare during the era. Truly win or die.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120814100302.htm

"A 0.0 Dive"

     It has been a subject of much debate in my household this week of what exactly it would take to get a 0.0 on in the diving routine of the Olympics. The front-runner theory holds that one must "trip while exiting the diving board to then land upon the sidewalk surrounding the pool." This is based of course on the idea that one must botch the initial jump and then not land in the water, otherwise some points would have to be awarded right? Because it is technically a dive at that point.

Boy were we wrong. Last night, a German diver named Stephen Feck decided to brave the high board even though he has been suffering from the flu for the past several days. What ensued can be described simultaneously as both awe-inspiring and cringeworthy.

A triple somersault with an over-rotation that ends in a back flop. A feat that I can only accomplish in my dreams and it gets a score of 0 out of 100 possible points. It helps put into perspective just how out of the ordinary the abilities of these athletes are. Also, it points out that the Olympic committee's idea of failure is grossly misaligned. Or that my imagination needs reworking.

Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2184761/Diver-Stephan-Feck-falls-flat-attempt-forward-somersault.html#ixzz22s6ccM1K

The Future is Awesome

As a gamer, the Oculus Rift represents everything that is awesome about the future and its possibilities. The GameBoy VR sucked -- hard. But it doesn't mean that a head controlled Virtual Reality Machine wasn't a good idea. I remember going to a Six Flags theme park when I was in my early teens and seeing a VR adventure there. It used the same idea of goggles that allow you to look around in a 3D rendered environment - all while in the comfort of your own chair. I couldn't help but wonder why this wasn't being brought into the home. Now it is.

The project managed to fun itself on Kickstarter in only 24 hours. Asking for $250,000 to get the project started. As of the writing date of this article, it has generated $1,374,00 in pledges. Clearly I'm not the only one who thinks this is cool. And with support from the big names like Notch and Gabe Newell the project is shaping up to really bring something new onto the stage of video gaming.

Source:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1523379957/oculus-rift-step-into-the-game

"The Hobbit" Is A Trilogy Now

Forbes put it best on this one, "the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy weighs in at 1,347 pages not including appendixes. The Hobbit is a mere 285 pages long." And now they both have three films dedicated to them.

I have been following "The Hobbit" since pre-production, and I will readily admit to being very excited about the upcoming film. But then it became two films. Now let's be honest here, The Hobbit is a fun, light, and relatively quick read. I know an unabridged audio copy only runs for 8 hours. So stretching it to two separate three hour films was already pushing it. But Peter Jackson has always been  a bit long-winded in his films so I hoped for the best.

Then the unthinkable happened at Comic-Con during the summer. Peter Jackson said this:
"There's so much good stuff in the appendices that we haven't been able to squeeze into these movies."

And that's when I knew there would be a problem.

Ya see, extended edition DVD's of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy are fine - and this also would have worked great for The Hobbit. You aren't forced to watch the extra content. There is a reason information is put in an appendix. It's too jarring to interrupt the narrative to put it in - and the detrimental effects don't outweigh its value to the story. Tolkien saw this when he wrote the stories.
Jackson does not.

If you want to see what happens when Peter Jackson stretches too little material over too long a time, watch King Kong again. The man needs a more forceful editor, someone to trim the fat off his otherwise very fit and handsome bodies of work. And with the current climate in Hollywood and the amount of power Jackson holds nobody is gonna tell him to back it down.

At the end of the day, it comes down to money for the studios. Warner Brothers is banking on this franchise continuing to make big money, and even at three films I see no indication that this would be otherwise. The cost to extend the production to cover the extra material does not outweigh the potential profits. So now you have three films. Period. It's a disturbing trend you should expect more of, just look at Breaking Dawn parts 1 and 2, and the Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End and Dead Man's Chest. 

Regardless, I will still be there opening night crammed in an overfull theater with everyone else. Let's just hope Jackson surprises us with that old magic we've come to expect.