It's been a long time since a mod has been featured here. Time to change that.
The past few years have seen the rise of many talented modders in our community, as well as the start of many interesting and ambitious mod projects, most of them inspired by the outstanding
Since its upload to the blacksmith in late 2010, the author has constantly perfected it, based on feedback from downloaders. Right now, we can say that as far as creating a "horror genre" atmosphere in AOK scenarios, Age of Vampires is the designer's way to go. Not only that, but the mod also offers the possibility of playing random map games as (or against) one of the vampire clans: Dracul, Bathory and Vrkolak, all based on Eastern European history and mythology, or as their "natural" opponents, the vampire hunters of Van Helsing and the inhabitants of Transylvania.
The mod provides a lot of cool new units, buildings, technologies... and lately, new spookier terrains, all of which add up to the atmosphere. It also comes with a custom installer, which makes it very easy to play without having to move data files around. A custom campaign is also in the cards for updates to come!
As a special bonus, I offer you an interview with the man behind Age of Vampires, very friendly forummer Khan Ivayl, aka Ivo.
To sum it up, if you’ve had enough of the Robert Pattinson kind of vampires floating in the mainstream lately and you want to see the real deal, at the same time learning about the origins of vampire myths, I recommend that you download Age of Vampires and start feeding on the blood of your innocent victimsHow did you start designing/modding for AOK? Ivo : I saw the word "modding" in a review of my first campaign and became curious. When I started to understand what the word means I decided that I wanted to learn modding. After all, who has not dreamt of making their own video-game, and modding is the closest many of us will get.How on earth did you come up with the very original concept of Age of Vampires? Ivo : For one, since childhood, I always had a thing for spooky atmospheres. More recent inspirations were the game "Age of Mythology" and the Movie "Underworld" (although I did not like everything about that movie, but the idea of vampires having empires is kind of expressed there as well). Once I discovered vampire stories are rooted in Eastern European history and mythology, I felt some pride and wanted to make a project that pays tribute to the geographical origin of vampires. Therefore Age of Vampires, like Age of Mythology, also has a cultural element and the history files provide information on that traditional mythology that got modern vampire stories started.You are known as a modder that is constantly striving to improve his work, and your numerous updates to Age of Vampires testify to that. Also, there is talk of a sequel to Age of Vampires. Can you shed light on this? Is it going to be an update, or a stand-alone sequel? Ivo : Yes, Age of Vampires has been developed in quite a stop-and-go fashion. This was mainly because in the beginning I was rather modest about how much I would be able to set in action, so I always tried to come closer to what the original idea looked like. Right now the artwork is very close to the pictures I had in my head, so the current version will only be improved in terms of AI and maybe adding a campaign.
I am also planning a stand-alone sequel that is set in the Celtic mythological world, closer to home for the western audiences, but also bringing new fresh colors to the project. Age of Vampires II will come with new clans, more supernatural units than part I and own gameplay properties.Do you have any AOK project planned that does not involve vampires and creatures of the sort? Ivo : Yes, I mainly have modding ideas, most of which are historical. It is mere coincidence that I debuted with fantasy projects because I am actually a history freak. There is the idea of making a mod about the Great Movement of the Tribes Period, which will be called "A fight for Rome" and even an idea of making a Mod set in the last days of the Ottoman Empire, which will be called "Haiducks - Balkan Wars" (inspired by Cossacks - European Wars). The latter is less likely to be realized, because it might be controversial to some people.
Finally, tell us what are your favorite works from the Blacksmith (mods, scenarios or anything else).Ivo : Concerning fellow modders, Agamemnon is one of the first to impress me and some of his work was substantial for Age of Vampires, I particularly loved his Russian Mod and in the first versions of Age of Vampires I used modified, blood-decorated versions of his Russian buildings. Then Age of Chivalry and the upcomming Age of Voivods are also great and inspiring projects. Their artwork is breathtaking. Also the work of Taichi San. Concerning scenarios and campaigns I had a lot of fun with the great Emperor's Dracula campaign and The Successor.
______The Successor: Act One (4.8) - voted Best Story of 2011______
______The Successor: Act Two (4.9) - voted Release of the Year 2013______
______The Successor: Act Three - Retribution ... In progress!______
______non-AOK work______