Ancient Battlefield Mod for SC3 WIE - Ready to download

[welk]

The mod is released

Please, consult readme file (Pdf) before any use of the mod

VERSION 1.0 - 12/01.2026

Link to download mod :This mod is now private. If someone want to use it, contact me (MP) and I will give download link

Actually : one unic generic (not historical) battle may be played, that does use all units of the mod
Depending critics/observations of eventual users, I will modify/adjust some parameters


Views of generic battle 1 : 2 larges armies face to face

BATTLE.png (1.39 MiB) Viewed 506 times

GENERIC_BATTLE1.png (1.33 MiB) Viewed 512 times

main_screen.png (3.84 MiB) Viewed 614 times

Old posts and images below are no more effectives : the last version is on the above link

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[welk]

I am also testing some alternate graphs for ancient armies

Counters are interresting, but "view on top" graphs give perhaps a better immersive sensation of ancient battle
I founded a tip to erase front line, borders and to avoid problems of "supply" : player has now a more "ancient battle sensation". I have to test more the colors (with the 2 possible ground maps : desert and Europe)

Using a little tip in the editor (configuration of units), the mod-campaign will take in mind 3 kind of attacks (needed for ancien battles) : front, flank and rear (attacks on flank and rear attacks will be more deathly)

Unfortunatly, units will never change their orientation. This function does exist in vanilla game, but I noticed that it gives oft strange aspects in this mod, so I have given to all units the same orientation

BATTLE.png (1.45 MiB) Viewed 2306 times

BATTLE2.png (2.07 MiB) Viewed 2301 times

GAME.png (1.35 MiB) Viewed 1652 times

[welk]

Image of the main screen (changed for the purpose of the mod)

Images of roman soldiers have been made with images of this site (an excellent Ancient wargame, for those who love ancien battles in classic wargaming )
https://cryhavocfan.org/indexeng.htm
https://cryhavocfan.org/eng/extensio/lorica/lorica.htm
https://cryhavocfan.org/eng/extensio/op ... ppidum.htm

This wargame (Oppidum) is a real "must" to have, there is also an extension named : Lorica Segmentata
If you practice ancien wargame on "table" (classic wargame), you may buy it without any hesitation, it's a very high quality game)

The large image comes from another site (I do not remember exactly the origin, I have downloaded it some years ago)

MAIN SCREEN.jpg (663.62 KiB) Viewed 2262 times

[welk]

View of out zoomed map : here, player will have a global view of battlefield

Blue hex are sea because the actual test map is 30x30, but system will work on maps 30x30 to 50x50 and map will be extensible (not needed to have larger maps for this kind of battle)

AI does play really fast his turn (approx1 minute), and makes intelligent actions. System will be also playable in multiplayer

ZOOM MAP.png (1.97 MiB) Viewed 2242 times

[welk]

List of units for each side (28 different types)

These units come from a very old mod made some years ago by a steelpanther player for US civil war
I modified and adapted them to create Napoleonic units

And starting from these napoleonic units, I created the ancient units that are usedin the ancient battle mod

If I have time, I will perhaps do one day a napoleonic battle mod on the same model, I have all needed stuff, graphs, sounds etc

UNITS.png (1.03 MiB) Viewed 2230 times

[welk]

Not exactly ancient battle counters, but I did not resist to do some little napoleonic tests with a old (very very old^^) collection of graphs I collected some years ago...

Seems I will not resist a long time before to do a napoleonic mod, in addition of my current work on ancient battles and roman empire. System is identical, it will be easy to do.

Concerning counters of ancien battle, I will give to them a little relief, they will have a more better look than, without

The terrain you see in the image (rails, roads and cities) is the fraud way I use to persuade AI of Hubert to give lot of supply to units during the battle (supply has now no any importance in the mod, and same for battlefront line and national grounds). Seems that AI love a lot this situation, this way of game battle is very funny and AI makes an excellent opponent on 50 x 50 or 30 x 30 maps (I have made the both).

Napoleonic_test.png (1.19 MiB) Viewed 2169 times

[welk]

In addition of the unzoom map, player may also follow the battle on the ultra outzoom little map (warmap in the vanilla game)

ZOOM.png (2.09 MiB) Viewed 2148 times

[welk]

Better look with shadows for units

Hubertus Caterus imperator developpus programmaii caïus pixelus is really a good dev for ancient battles

The goal is to probe that the SC engine of Hubert is so good that it is perfectly adaptable to this kind of battles : Hubert would just have to allow flank and rear attacks + réorientation of units + management of some "formations". With his engine, he could plane lot of adaptation projetcs (ancient battles, napoleonic battles, civil war battles, independence war battles, or battles of times 1840-1880 like the old and excellent "Age of rifles) : an infinite source of very interresting projects.

Hubert : go to work !

shadows.jpg (639.07 KiB) Viewed 2133 times

[welk]

A little test battle : AI makes heavy attack with elefants in center, and it seems it prepear something on mon left flank ; at the right wing, calm before turmoil...

I will implement also shadows for little "bloks" blue and red, and give them more explicite symbols.

TEST-BATTLE.jpg (867.45 KiB) Viewed 2119 times

[BillRunacre]

Hubertus Caterus imperator developpus programmaii caïus pixelus is really a good dev for ancient battles

How are you factoring in the reduction in supply the further units are from supply sources?

[welk]

Hi Bill

Hé hé... They never go far from the supply sources, they are always on the supply source : like all modders, I am a AI fraudster ;

All my "clear" hex are in fact major invisible cities and have invisible rail+road the both.
I place cities and rail/road on map in editor with vanilla files, and after that, I use in game special "invisible" files I made (It consists to erase the content of these file with a simple paint logiciel)

Then, for AI, all units of the 2 sides are always on a major city and connected by road and rail to their supply source

I also renamed "supply" in "orders" in localization file : then, unit eventually trapped by ennemy will have no more "orders" (no more supply in fact)

For AI, the fact to have all his units in major cities with full supply seems give it an incrdible energy to fight and to win, the game in this way is really excellent and highly funny : I have an exciting ancient battle with a good opponent


I also erased the front line and now, the 2 side hex have exactly the same aspect : player see no any difference

I found this day some nice 3D graphs for civil war and I will do the same system for civil war and independance war battles, to allow players to create their own battle for these american wars.

In my opinion, you and Hubert should explore this way in the future (projects), because the SC engine is also perfect for this kind of battle and there are no limits : all battles of history between ancient times and 19th century. You would have work for a century

[BillRunacre]

Excellent, I was wondering if you had done something like this, good to see you've been thinking of all the angles!

[welk]

Yes, editor has great potential possibility. I work just a little slow because I have at the same time :
- to play a little the game to learn
- to read all SC WIE forums threads
- to study in details scripts system
- to study campaigns editor
- to read manuel, in english (I will probably sometimes ask for things that are already in manuel, because at this time I have not the time to read all)
- to get graphs for these projects (not easy to extract files from old games)
- to prepear these projects

Lot of work but the engine is really powerfull, probably the most detailled editor I have played. I had returned to SC1 some years ago because I did not like the too long AI turns in SC WIE (I play only vs AI*). But now, after some years, the engine AI has been heavy improved in this aspect and turns length is ok.

*except for my "battles" project : when released and completly tested vs AI, I will probably ask for an opponent because in battles, no any AI is soo vicious than a human player

Concerning 1870, I plane in the future to adapt my battle system to battles of this war. When it will be completly released and tested for ancien battles; it wil be easy to adapt it for Seven years war, Independance war, napoleonic war, civil war and 1870 war (and perhaps first fightings of August 1914). The goal is to recreate a kind of "Age of rifles" (the old DOS king game for 18/19th century battles) with the SC engine.

[SIPRES]

Hi Welk,
In case you look for counters GFX, just google "CIV2 Fairline" or "CIV2 Tanelorn"
These are not top/down, but very descent graphics with a lot of periods covered (from ancient,Napoleonics till WW2)
You will need to supress the civ2 purple background
Here is an example file for ancients

Fairline_RCW.png (178.21 KiB) Viewed 1953 times

[SIPRES]

Avec le temps, j'ai accumulé une collection importante de fichiers CiV2
Si tu es interréssé, envoie moi un PM

[welk]

Very interrested, MP sent

[welk]

In addition of african elefants (spears) and african elefants (bows), asian elefants have been added in the game.
I will also perhaps add balist arty on elefants (this kind of weapons were used in some battles of ancient times)

The editor has some (very) irritating and frustrating aspects (for sounds system in particular), but I have to say it's also a really powerfull tool, one of the most flexible, detailled and efficient I have never seen (the only soo good I know is the tool that allows to edit Age of empire units)

The ancien battle mod works fine with AI (with adapted parameters : horse afraid by elefants, elefants afraid by fire, etc) and will probably be finished soon (middle october, I think)

On the image,asian elefants have a bad effect with, I will rectify that. All shadows of red side have been provisary erased for purpose of tests (to calibrate placement of graphs), I will restablish shadows at end of work.

BATTLE.jpg (965.26 KiB) Viewed 1708 times

[welk]

2 other new units :
- Tower balist elefants (war balist tower tracted by 2 elefants). In some ancientbattle, balists on elefants were used, but I could not simply create a "balist on elefant": the used unit is armored train and the move sound of this unit is a "chariot sound" made in place of the vanilla "rail gun"move sound (same sound than fire catapults, that uses rail gun move sound)

- Asian elefants (bows), used unit is here anti-tanks, in addition of asian elefants (spears)

Now, all vanilla units are "vampirized" with adapted sounds (except one or two, with "approximative" sound (due to the rigidity of the SC WIE sound system)
I had to add (on graph image) foot bowmen near the asian elefant (bow) to justify the move sound of this unit : inf sound

Hubert is a brilliant programmer, but it seems that when it comes to the sound system, he has been a bit lazy : he shouldhave given to crazy modders the possibility to affect any sound to any unit

new units.jpg (924.87 KiB) Viewed 1671 times

[welk]

In addition of the actual graphs (that replace nato graphs sprites), 3D units view sprites have now this aspect (player may choice like in vanilla game, but here between 2 perspectives : viw on top or false 3D)

I insist on the fact that Glory of Fields has no any relation with Fields of glory 1

Graphs are sprites from Age of empire after I reworked them a little bit to have a "mass effect" in game

3D units.png (1.3 MiB) Viewed 1635 times

[BillRunacre]

Looking good!