20 replies to this topic

[Mythos_Ruler]

Led by Spartans, the Hellenes fend off a violent attack by the Gaulic Celts.

This will be the last of our exclusively Greeks versus Celts screenshots. Next month, expect to see something with a little more of a "Latin" flair.

For the larger, high-resolution image, click here. Enjoy!

[Mythos_Ruler]

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[FirePowa8]

There's so much cool stuff in this screenshot. There's some great underbrush that I hadn't noticed in other shots, some excellent shadow work, and I love how those toxotes are looking too - also, are the guys with the gorgon shields ekdromoi? Keep it up - look forward to the Romans. ;)

[FirePowa8]

By the way, why is it that the ordinary hoplites don't have sandals but the Spartans do? I would think that the basic forms wouldn't have any footwear to show their rank in society, but the advanced ones have expensive helmets and armour and therefore there doesn't seem to be any reason to make them barefeet. It should be one or the other.

[RiderOfEternity]

Nice rocks

;)

[Leonidas I]

by the way, ingame will there be any dead bodys...they'll make great screenshots!

[FirePowa8]

Yes, I'd personally rather see the bodies slowly turn into skeletons, rather than just disappear from the face of the earth. That annoys me... it makes it seem as if nothing happened on the battle field after it's over.

[Historicity]

Looks awesome. Hopefully we get to see some of Jason's precious Celts laying on the fields as corpses soon. :-p Sorry buddy. ;-)

[Titus Ultor]

I don't believe we'll show rotting remains in a game where we won't put in blood. I do definitely wish that games would leave more remnants of battles. Like pieces of armor or weaponry that stay on the map for a long time, if not the whole game. The obvious problem would be memory usage and optimization, however.

And on the sandals. We had a big internal debate on it and, in the back of my head, I was thinking "no one's even going to notice". Apparently, I was wrong. I believe we chose it that way for distinguishment and status, if I remember correctly.

One of my favorite parts of the screenshot is that it shows how the Spartiates will switch from spear to sword if not in formation.

[FirePowa8]

Well, I always look at any reconstruction of a Greek soldier to check whether they have footwear or not - it's just kind of automatic for me. :) And I think Morgan said that you guys chose the sandals out of logic, that the Spartans wouldn't have been stupid enough to go barefoot in winter, on rocks and in battle. However much of Laconia is more fertile and soft than northern parts of Greece (or at least they were), and battles rarely occured in winter anyway. Plus they apparently went barefoot in the krypteia. Lastly, unlike the other Greeks, the Spartans did not believe in glorifying their soldiers with art and literature and instead for their deeds as soldiers - however all their paintings and statuettes show them barefoot (I do recall one mid 6th century Laconian cup of Bellerophon wearing winter footwear, though).

There was also mentioning that only so few soldiers went into battle without footwear, and that the Romans, a similarly heavy trained force, went into battle with sandals. Well, those were the Romans, not the Spartans. I don't understand why a single city-state that valours hardship can't use soldiers that went barefoot. It was essentially the way they were brought up for the first 20 years of their life, and giving them sandals then seems anti-climatic to their hardness and ability.

Anyway, that's just rambling.

[Morgan]

FirePowa8, on Aug 3 2006, 02:59 AM, said:

And I think Morgan said that you guys chose the sandals out of logic, that the Spartans wouldn't have been stupid enough to go barefoot in winter, on rocks and in battle.

... in addition to the other reasons why we choose things. When considering military matters, always consider logic before anything else.

[Fred187]

It's hard to tell from this picture, but do the archers have a supply of arrows on their backs? I never like to see archers pull arrows out of mid-air. On a similar note, will the seige engines have a crew? I find the common approach to having an "invisible crew" annoyingly unrealistic.

[Mythos_Ruler]

Hi Fred! Welcome to WFG. Archers will have quivers full of arrows and Siege Engines will have a crew (2 men, most likely). We too found it annoying in games like 'Age of Kings', 'Age of Mythology', etc. where Catapults would roll around maps, seemingly by 'majik'. Consequently, our siege engines will all pack (pulled by a horse) and unpack like Trebuchets from the game 'Age of Kings'.

[Mythos_Ruler]

Here is a great forum where the discussion of shoes erupted: http://www.romanarmy...opic.php?t=5854

[FirePowa8]

Read that, posted in it even.

I still don't agree with your decision, but whatever.

[Nibel]

So are there formations that actually have an effect on the battle, and they're not just for looks?

[thespartan]

die gallic scum

[SpartanGlory1983]

Will it be possible for units such as hoplites to assume multiple formations,like ducking down behind their shields to avoid arrow showers or shield wedges to break cavalry charges? Or will it just be phalanx or bust?

[HistGamer]

MMmm, yummy good shot , hope the Gaul; wins!!!

[Apomonomenos]

It doesn't look like the Gauls are going to win