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EMPRESS - Age of Kings Total Conversion
|:Contents:|
[1] Overview of Mod
[2] Required Graphics
[3] Required Technical Features
[4] Progress
[1] |OVERVIEW OF MOD|
Leaf Cutter Ants
Masters of plant harvesting and underground farming
Weaver Ants
Reigning champions of the tree canopy living in homes crafted from leaves
Amazon Ants
Slave-Making tyrants with exceptional speed
Argentine Ants
Hailing from a cutthroat environment, these ants learned the hard way how to monopolize any and all resources
Marauder Ants
Experts in maintaining roads and brilliant swarm strategists
Driver Ants
Dominant army ants that swarm in hordes while slaughtering anything in their path
Age Advancement
The age advancement follows the queen as the central figure.
1 She must begin a nest.
2 Then she lays eggs and enters into motherhood.
3 Eventually, she produces daughters who can also reproduce with a male in nuptial flights.
4 When the colony flourishes, it is all due to her; she is the Empress of the colony.
A reference highlighting details from the image above:
[2] |REQUIRED GRAPHICS|
+ UNITS
- A unique Queen for each civilization[6]
- Anywhere from 1 to 5 worker ants for each civilization[approx. 20]
- At least 1 additional ant unit for each civilization (mercenary-like units)[approx. 8]
- Eggs (for population)
- Various insects (worms, spiders, etc.)
+ OBJECTS
- Anthill
- Nursery
- Leaf Tent
- Carton
- Acorn
- Leaf Cache
- Various other structures
- Soil for digging through and collecting for building
- Plants for climbing (garrisoning)/ harvesting (grass blades, flowers, etc.)
- Plants for eye candy
+ TERRAIN
- Multiple dirt terrains
- Moss
- Stone
- Underground Dirt Background
- Others
[3] |REQUIRED TECHNICAL FEATURES|
(I am only listing features that seem complicated.If these truly are impossible, I want to see if anyone can come up with alternatives that accomplish a similar purpose.)
BUILDINGS/OBJECTS
Leaf House - A home for ants built from leaves folded together by applying a silky adhesive. The required technical feature is that it should be built on top of an object such as a leaf or a plant; similar to how a gate is allowed to be constructed on top of an existing wall. An additional thought is that when it is destroyed, the dead unit slowly decays into another leaf/plant again.
Covered Trail - (May be impossible) A trail for ants to travel on with a "ceiling" of dirt. It can also be used to to hide food from competition. The required technical feature is that it should allow travel in it, but also hide what is traveling within it. The outlines of your units should still be visible. (I have seen topics about bridges/tunnels that seem impossible to make. But I still want to put this out there.)
Antgate - Allows access to the underground tunnel from above ground. Essentially a gate made of dirt. The required technical feature is for it to only be lockable when it is "garrisoned" with an ant to actually plug the hole. If the ant is killed, it is automatically unlocked.
Piece of Fungus - In order for a new queen to start a new colony, she brings small chunk of fungus from her former home. The fungus needs to be used as the foundation of her colony's new fungus gardens. The required technical feature is to figure out a way to make the fungus piece act as a requirement for the fungus gardens, but then to "disappear" as it essentially becomes a normal piece of the fungus farms. Also, when Leaf Cutter ants grow young queens who spread to new areas, a fungus piece needs to be available for her to carry to initiate her own fungus gardens.
Acorn - Some types of enslaving ants are called 'Acorn Ants' because they have small colonies within the hollow of a small nut, such as an acorn. When scouts from one colony spot a different colony, they may return to their 'home nut' and lead a raiding party to take over the other colony's brood and property. The required technical feature is similar to a leaf house in that it should be build-able over a neutral acorn. The hope is to make it have an outer rim, with an "open" top for you to manage a small colony inside of it.
UNITS
Queen - The reproductive center of the colony. The required technical feature is for her to alternate between a freely mobile function (possibly winged and above ground), and an almost entirely immobile function, but with the ability to produce eggs.
Most units - Most ants will be warriors and workers. Most will have ability to garrison. It may be tricky to determine who has the ability to build what structures. Formations may be difficult (if being a villager class has anything to do with it).
OTHER
Trees - This is my #1 concern. Trees are a major part of Weaver and Leaf Cutter ant colony life. Weavers live in trees and Leaf Cutters mainly use tree leaves to grow their fungus gardens. And all other types of ants can climb trees and find food on them. The required technical feature is for a tree to be walked on and built upon.
Underground - A section of the map will be devoted to the underground. This will be represented with a dark background terrain and dirt, rocks, clay, etc. that is harvested within. The aim is to make it convincing as an underground layer of the map even though the map is isometric.
[4] |PROGRESS|
The concept is... oh, I'd say 85% finished. Not that a concept impresses anybody, so moving on:
I have made multiple units, but I still need to finish their 3D animations.
Leaf Cutter Media:
-4 Queens
-4 regular ants
-1 brood unit
-1 worm
(as of December 2014)
I have made a few terrains.
Up close and personal Sand:
http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/plummnugget/SandGrainHD.png
Bark:
http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t637/plummnugget/BarkwithNoSeams.jpg
Any help with the modding process is welcome.
When this mod reaches the stage when data editing is needed, a friend and I plan on doing all of it.
END
Photo credits:
http://www.alexanderwild.com/Ants
Information:
Adventures Among Ants by Mark W Moffett
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|
Masters of plant harvesting and underground farming
Reigning champions of the tree canopy living in homes crafted from leaves
Slave-Making tyrants with exceptional speed
Hailing from a cutthroat environment, these ants learned the hard way how to monopolize any and all resources
Experts in maintaining roads and brilliant swarm strategists
Dominant army ants that swarm in hordes while slaughtering anything in their path
The age advancement follows the queen as the central figure.
+ UNITS
- A unique Queen for each civilization
- Anywhere from 1 to 5 worker ants for each civilization
- At least 1 additional ant unit for each civilization (mercenary-like units)
- Eggs (for population)
- Various insects (worms, spiders, etc.)
+ OBJECTS
- Anthill
- Nursery
- Leaf Tent
- Carton
- Acorn
- Leaf Cache
- Various other structures
- Soil for digging through and collecting for building
- Plants for climbing (garrisoning)/ harvesting (grass blades, flowers, etc.)
- Plants for eye candy
+ TERRAIN
- Multiple dirt terrains
- Moss
- Stone
- Underground Dirt Background
- Others
(I am only listing features that seem complicated.
The concept is... oh, I'd say 85% finished. Not that a concept impresses anybody, so moving on:
I have made multiple units, but I still need to finish their 3D animations.
Leaf Cutter Media:
-4 Queens
-4 regular ants
-1 brood unit
-1 worm
(as of December 2014)
I have made a few terrains.
Up close and personal Sand:
Bark:
Any help with the modding process is welcome.
When this mod reaches the stage when data editing is needed, a friend and I plan on doing all of it.
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[This message has been edited by plummnugget (edited 12-08-2014 @ 02:24 PM).]