SOD V5 Zerrikanian civilization overview with NEW screenshots

CREDITS
First thing first, give credit where credit is due.  While I spent uncounted hours creating the troops, modifying the .brf files, modifying textures, editing and rotating items, testing the units, testing the items, etc., none of this would be possible without the following individuals allowing me to use their models as a starting point:

One who deserves particular gratitude is the creator of the Rise of Khergits, <Knight>.  If you have never played ROK, I highly suggest it.  The play style is completely different than SOD.  This mod is fast paced action with fast horses, long lances, and piercing bows.  I really enjoy horse archer characters so I had a blast in this mod.  <knight> has given me permission to use some of his models.  D'sparil has given permission to Temujin to use some of the Eagle and Radiant Cross models (also an excellent mod). 

In order to get permission for these models, I promised the guys who worked so hard on them that they would be mentioned in the credits.  Considering the long list already and the fact that some of them are already there (Maw is awesome), I hope this is not a problem (otherwise I will have an interesting Mod that I unfortunately cannot share).  So whoever made the starting credit screen, please add these individuals (in no particular order and the mod name is there for reference on this thread, not necessarily on credit screen). 

Rise of Khergits (RoK) developers:

• <knight>
• Tatari_Okan
• Artizan

Eagle and Radiant Cross developer:

• D'sparil

OSP Indo-Persian Armor Pack developer

• dariel

OSP Armor Pack, OSP Horse Pack

• maw

OSP Helmets

• Luigi
• Njiekovic
• Ursca
• Ubberdorc
• Mirathei
• Raz
• The Pope
• TRC

Forgotten shields mod

• Oblivion

OSP Weapon Pack

• RR_Raptor65
• The Pope
• James
• Luigi

OSP Steam Punk and Costumes

• -IYI-O-R-T-

And don’t forget the organizer and inspirer…

• Cyclohexane
• Temujin

If you’re wondering why I am thanking so many people, it is because since the final release of version 4.1 SOD (707 items), I have added 165 new quality items!  The Zerrikanian’s do not need this many items, I have been adding files to the .brf and textures for future Mercenary Guild units and to make some faith units not look like clones. 


WHY I DID THIS
The first time I played SOD I choose the Zerrikanian’s because I liked the name.  I knew nothing about each civilization because I never took the time to read anything.  I was downloading mods left and right and playing through them to see which one was going to keep me up late at night the most.  I loved the new kingdom management features in SOD and here I am.  At first I was a little disappointed because the Zerrikanian’s were not what I expected.  Below is my vision of the Zerrikanian’s initially inspired by Temujin in this thread: zerkanian troop overhaul .  Eventually we decided to make them a cross between Russian, Asian, and Muslim culture.  If anyone is upset about that, keep in mind Calradia is a fantasy location and there are 4 other new civilizations to play. 



BACKGROUND
Zerrikanian’s use color to distinguish units and have been giving orders on the battlefield without speech before smoke signals.  With one turn of the Boyar’s feathered helmet, archers will not only know to fire, but where to fire at.  For that reason, their uniforms are colorful and the men know who to follow.  Another thing that distinguishes them is the masks their elite soldiers wear to battle.  Within ranks, there are subdivisions and the helmets they wear into battle signify this position. 

Zerrikanian’s believe capturing one soldier in battle is more impressive than killing two.  Slavery is intermingled into Zerrikanian society and it is even possible for slaves to achieve high ranking positions through battle.  I think you will find that the Zerrikanian’s are unique and offer a balanced play style without the ability to spam one unit type for instant destruction. 

All of these new units can be a bit confusing at first so here is the new troop tree.  We will definitely need some new signatures, because these guys look nothing like previous versions. 

The new Zerrikanian Troop Tree

The total number and the level (XP) of the troops is the same.  I altered the troop tree to remove one of the heavy cavalry units (make it harder to get elite cavalry due to higher amount of levels involved before dying) and gave them a mid tiered cavalry archer instead.  I also removed the elite archers and gave them a mid tier infantry unit to help in sieges.  To summarize their abilities:

• Great melee cavalry but specialize in blunt weapons.  This means less damage and not as heavily armored.  The prisoners they collect will become a constant source of income for the persuasive Zerrikanian commander or make great “recruits”. 
• They have a mid tiered cavalry archer unit to help against other civilizations who focus on melee cavalry.  More strategy and less spamming of one unit to win every battle.  Similar to Khergit horse archers but will fail against veteran horse archers. 
• Their archers are not bad but fail miserably in melee.  The Dvor archer has nice light armor, war bows, bodkin arrows, but no shield and only a saber in melee. 
• Their infantry is not heavily armored, but has a high damage output with high athletics. 
• Their nobles are on par with all the other civilizations (heavy shock cavalry). 

Each unit has a couple different helmets and sometimes a few different armors to choose from.  The diversity created is more than just taking other peoples work.  I spent many late nights awake when I should have been sleeping teaching myself the .brf editor and “The Gimp”. 

The Gimp is not some guy in a rubber suit keep inside a chest.  Rather it is awesome OSP freeware with many similarities to Photoshop.  If you’re like me and do not believe in pirated software but do not want to shell out $600 bucks, then the Gimp is for you.  I am familiar with Photoshop so I took to this very easily.  Not hard to use and I may continue making more OSP items in the future. 



UNIT DESCRIPTIONS

Your Starting Gear
Nothing elite and unbalanced (same armor values and yes that is a new mace), but it makes you feel like a Zerrikanian right off the bat.  The noble outfit came from darie’s OSP Indo-Persian Armor Pack.  I liked it so much, I re-textured the spiked helm from D'sparil’s Eagle and Radiant Cross and the charger from <knight’s> Rise of Khergits.  If you ever played Diablo II, think of this as an item set without any bonuses. 

Militia
The standard Zerrikanian foot troop issued light leather and a shield.  Some are peasants from the homeland while others were born (or taken) into slavery but promised freedom and citizenship upon completion of one decade of service.  Many carry axes into battle while others carry clubs.  This is due to their potential to specialize as a shock troop or their desire to capture the enemy on horseback.  Deserters are not tolerated and the army is literally whipped into discipline. 

Cossack
Cossacks are the backbone of the Zerrikanian cavalry and speed is their most critical atrribute.  As such they wear light armor and wield straw shields.  They spend most of their time on horseback and are accustomed to patrolling large areas of land protecting nobles fiefs, roads, and towns.  Many come to battle equipped with bow and arrow while others carry maces and clubs training for their desired promotion path, the Kalmuck (horse archer) or Bashkir (heavy cavalry). 

Bashkir
Zerrikanian cavalry specialize in capturing troops and selling them into slavery or ransoming for profit.  It is easy to kill a man in battle, turning it into a profit is much more difficult.  One look at their gear and it is obvious that war is good business.  While not heavily armored, Bashkir’s are useful in a siege being skilled in shield and mace.  Notice the new decorated throwing hammers on the Bashkir and Oprichnik

Oprichnik
The elite Zerrikanian heavy cavalry.  The profit from many battles shows in this units armor, dress, and societal standing.  Oprichnik’s in the home land work directly for the Tsar’s special “police force” having submitted countless number of men in armed and unarmed combat.  In rare instances, slaves have become equal to nobles and allowed to own land in Zerrikanian society through this path.

I gave the Oprichnik’s many different helms.  I am proud of my work on the mask helm.  I retextured the helm of Eagle and Radiant Cross mask to make it match the Rise of Khergit armor. 

Kalmuck
Lightly armored, fast, and maneuverable.  While they are not the most skilled archers in the land, a combination of Kalmuck and melee cavalry is a force to be reckoned with.  When dismounted, a Kalmuck can hold his own with their large shields and sabers. 

Axe_man
The upgraded militia infantry unit.  Many battles have allowed upgraded gear and specialized skills.  They are lightly armored but spend hours each day increasing their athletic and defensive shield ability.  Armed with axe and shield, they work in tandem with Berdiche Axemen to block blows to allow the heavy infantry to get in close. 

Berdiche Axemen
Berdiche Axemen had their own 2 handed double sided battle axe named after them after a great war long ago with the Andians where their heavy cavalry was stopped in place and subsequently chopped to pieces.  While they do not come from noble blood, their skill with the axe is unmatched and their rank in the Zerrikanian army is well respected.  They act as the Zerrikanians shock troop for sieges leading the charge but their weakness is ranged fire and they depend on Axe men for cover. 
Once again, I retextured the helm of Eagle and Radiant Cross mask to make it match the Rise of Khergit armor.  Notice the detail of the armor texture (not just the green scales but the fabric on the back matches the armor). 

Strelet
A simple archer accustomed to using their bow for hunting.  Some are slaves promised freedom after service while others have volunteered to gain a better life.  Armed with a small bow and dagger, life at the bottom of society is not easy.  They fall victim to heavy cavalry and only slightly effective as archers.  However, they are cheap and easily replaced. 

Dvor Archer
The Zerrikanian’s elite archers.  Dvor archers do not come from nobility, rather they reach their rank from the amount of kills on the battle field.  They are highly sought after by Zerrikanian nobility as personal guards for their family and property.  The Dvor archer is only moderately effective when compared to other civilizations elite archers. 

Boyar Son's
Boyar Son's are often the second or third son of Zerrikanian nobility or the son of a poor noble.  While the first born is granted lands and wealth, these individuals must fight to increase their societal standing.  Many are motivated by greed but some are eager to pick up the sword and prove their worth and the battle field for honor, religion, or just the love of battle.  The many different styles of decorative shields they carry are a banner and honor to their family.  Boyar’s function as light cavalry on the battle field armed with spear, bastard sword, shield, and often javelins. 

Boyar
A wealthy and powerful noble forged from battle.  While the typical Zerrikanian Boyar will never back down from a fight, oftentimes, he must leave your command to take up business in his own lands.  However, just as slaves are often freed and granted citizenship in return for loyalty, Zerrikanian policy requires a life for a life.  A Boyar will never leave his Tsar empty handed, he will send his son, or even his personal bodyguard, the Dvor to stand in his place.  Boyar’s function as heavy cavalry on the battle field armed with spear, bastard sword, shield, and often javelins. 

Dvor
While their rank is respected among Zerrikanian society, Dvors are not nobility, rather they are the personal body guards of Boyars and their family.  The majority have earned this rank from killing or capturing countless number of men in battle and showing exceptional bravery.  The Dvors are paid well and train constantly.  Unlike typical Zerrikanian cavalry that will try to capture you and sell you at a profit, the Dvor is armed with laminar armor, a heavy plate mask, and a giant two handed cimitar that has been modified for 1 or 2 handed combat.  The Dvor is paid to end the battle quickly.  And they are paid well. 



RELIGION
The religion of the Zerrikanians varies from castle to castle due to the fact that an overwhelming high percentage of the population are, or once were, slaves.  Religion is mostly a tool used by nobles for controlling the population.  For this reason, many different religions are tolerated and practiced.  There has never been a unifying religion of the Zerrikanians due to the fact that a living enemy is more profitable than a dead one.  However, after the advance by the Legion crushing their homelands and forcing many of noble blood from their lands, that is due to change…

One other thing, I never noticed how much cavalry moves around until your trying to take a screenshot of two of them with different armors on.  The models look much better in game as well.  I shrunk the screenshots into compressed small sizes to load in quickly. 

Very very nice, what a visual pleasure to see all these thought-through outfits, many thanks for contributing as well for the items originators, definitely will try to start out as new 'reborn' Zerrikanians

1 down, 4 to go!

My god those Dvor look sexy

Thanks for crediting me even tough I did absolutely nothing significant :p

Fantastic work! 

Frodo Can't wait to see these in the game alongside the new manhunters!
amazing work

Temujin said:

Thanks for crediting me even tough I did absolutely nothing significant :p

Click to expand...

You got permission to use the masks which I re-textured into many different forms and helped out with the naming of the troops.  If more people did this, we could have each civilization completely unique.  To all those wanting to play an actual Russia civilization, well, the only historical accuracies are the spelling of the troop names. 

In Caldaria though, this is how history really laid itself out...

I updated the Bashkir and Oprichnik to give them decorated throwing hammers.  A suggestion was made on the manhunter thread to give manhunt throwing hammers and I thought this would be a sweet idea for the elite cavalry that focuses on blunt damage as well.  I had to add a new texture because the other throwing hammers was very plain looking and would not fit into the look of these units. 

The stack size is small so it will not be ground breaking unbalancing but definitely fun to watch!  They only have a chance at spawning, it is not guaranteed they will always have them. 

Those retextures are beautiful. Especially the green retextures of the vaegir-mask-helmet from TEARC are exceedingly well done!

Very nice work. Keep it up.

Cyclohexane said:

Temujin said:

Thanks for crediting me even tough I did absolutely nothing significant :p

Click to expand...

You got permission to use the masks which I re-textured into many different forms and helped out with the naming of the troops.  If more people did this, we could have each civilization completely unique.   To all those wanting to play an actual Russia civilization, well, the only historical accuracies are the spelling of the troop names. 

In Caldaria though, this is how history really laid itself out...

Click to expand...

I missed that the first time but I already redid the Adenians & Villianese including script and menuwork. PM me if you are interested in those files, or in overall help.

Looks great!  The leather armours are especially well done.  Two things I do not
like too much:

1. Some of the colours are too vibrant.  Not only could they not be obtained
without modern chemistry, they also seem to be way too reflective.

2. Strelet is not a singular of Strelets.  Strelets (shooter) is the singular - the final
sound is something you do not get in English, it's sometimes spelled as 'tz'.  The
plural would be Streltzee.

But the mix of troops, and the Tatar flavour is very much to my liking. 

Tuidjy said:

Looks great!  The leather armours are especially well done.  Two things I do not
like too much:

1. Some of the colours are too vibrant.  Not only could they not be obtained
without modern chemistry, they also seem to be way too reflective.

2. Strelet is not a singular of Strelets.  Strelets (shooter) is the singular - the final
sound is something you do not get in English, it's sometimes spelled as 'tz'.  The
plural would be Streltzee.

But the mix of troops, and the Tatar flavour is very much to my liking.

Click to expand...

1.)  I do not think it is to far fetched.  Take a look at some American Indian (especially South), Japanese, etc.  They were very colorful.  But I'm not here to argue about it, I've worked too hard and the colors are in.  It is really something to see a group of Oprichniks charging in the battlefield and it is because of the unique colors.  I wanted to create a civilization that is completely new to SOD and make you feel like you’re playing a different game just by changing civilizations.  While this is not Orc, Elf, magic item fantasy, Caldrdia is a fantasy location so some leeway is warranted.  I gave them a little history to describe why they used the colors (battle field commands they way ancient Rome used their –colorful- helmets) and the slave trade allows them to afford it (who can argue that makes you rich).  I even gave many of the units blunt weapons to give it an RPG feel.  They are a civilization deep into the slave trade sucking up every civilizations improvements.  One that they conquered recently invented a new dye technique

As far as the reflections, I think you are referring to the (one of the three) Bashkir helmets, I figured out how to fix that and have not posted new screens (very similar just less reflective).  It had to do with how M&B handles transparencies in the .dds files.  When transparent (alpha channel), they lose the shiny effect.  I had to figure out how to remove the transparency in order to edit it (can't retexture if can’t see), then add the transparency back in.  It is actually quite simple but took a lot of research to do it the first time. 

I also took all of these screenshots in direct sunlight (moved troops out of shade) so they are easier to see.  That may be what you are referring to.  The compressed screenshots really do not do it justice, you need to see them in game. 

2.)  That is an easy fix and I will implement it when compiling. 

Thanks for the comments and if you have anything specific in mind (not so general), I may be able to work on it. 

Cyclohexane said:

Tuidjy said:

Looks great!  The leather armours are especially well done.  Two things I do not
like too much:

1. Some of the colours are too vibrant.  Not only could they not be obtained
without modern chemistry, they also seem to be way too reflective.

2. Strelet is not a singular of Strelets.  Strelets (shooter) is the singular - the final
sound is something you do not get in English, it's sometimes spelled as 'tz'.  The
plural would be Streltzee.

But the mix of troops, and the Tatar flavour is very much to my liking.

Click to expand...

1.)  I do not think it is to far fetched.  Take a look at some American Indian (especially South), Japanese, etc.  They were very colorful.  But I'm not here to argue about it, I've worked too hard and the colors are in.  It is really something to see a group of Oprichniks charging in the battlefield and it is because of the unique colors.  I wanted to create a civilization that is completely new to SOD and make you feel like you’re playing a different game just by changing civilizations.  While this is not Orc, Elf, magic item fantasy, Caldrdia is a fantasy location so some leeway is warranted.  I gave them a little history to describe why they used the colors (battle field commands they way ancient Rome used their –colorful- helmets) and the slave trade allows them to afford it (who can argue that makes you rich).  I even gave many of the units blunt weapons to give it an RPG feel.  They are a civilization deep into the slave trade sucking up every civilizations improvements.  One that they conquered recently invented a new dye technique

As far as the reflections, I think you are referring to the (one of the three) Bashkir helmets, I figured out how to fix that and have not posted new screens (very similar just less reflective).  It had to do with how M&B handles transparencies in the .dds files.  When transparent (alpha channel), they lose the shiny effect.  I had to figure out how to remove the transparency in order to edit it (can't retexture if can’t see), then add the transparency back in.  It is actually quite simple but took a lot of research to do it the first time. 

I also took all of these screenshots in direct sunlight (moved troops out of shade) so they are easier to see.  That may be what you are referring to.  The compressed screenshots really do not do it justice, you need to see them in game. 

2.)  That is an easy fix and I will implement it when compiling. 

Thanks for the comments and if you have anything specific in mind (not so general), I may be able to work on it. 

Click to expand...

Perhaps for the low lvls retextured nomad robes+matching shahi/rabati.

Great job.

Its obviously that its is different than the other civilizations.

You made them more colourfull, more "vibrant", more cheerfull. It must reflect how the civilization is written to be. How they see war.
War is like a carnival for them. Each class is very well defined. It must reflect a sense of proud and belonging. Who make all those garments? Its their woman? Where do they get all those materials?
This does really fit whatever their purpose is by going to battle wearing what they wear?

While its nice, it brings a lot of questions. From the moment the player starts playing a Zerrikanian, it must be clear to him what the Zerrikanians are all about. So you have to fill those cultural gaps questioned by their aesthetics effects.

You make them all look elite, all look rich. Like every Zerrikanian is taught since childhood how important the colors are, or how important the vision sense is, or how important to look good is.

"One day, when you grow up, you will become like your dad and be able to wear the (insert random symbolic name of whatever colourfull armor he uses) like a true Zerrikanian".

Also, it has to reflect their history, their ancient predecessors and how everything evolved so that now they look like that for battles.

I wish the names were created out of nowhere, its cool to make them inspired on certain classes from russian/muslim/asians, but not ok to name them as such... Archers and Knights are generic, Cossacks are not, Cossacks identify a very specific class from the russian army, so in my opinion, it should be renamed to something totally new, its yours creation. You can brand them in our imaginary from 0 if you do, if not it lose part os its appeal.

So, if you can answer all those questions regarding their history, culture, style, resources, system of values and still manage to make it coherent to what you make them look like in the Sword of Damocles universe, its ok.
If not, then its out of place.

Interesting said:

Great job.

Its obviously that its is different than the other civilizations.

You made them more colourfull, more "vibrant", more cheerfull. It must reflect how the civilization is written to be. How they see war.
War is like a carnival for them. Each class is very well defined. It must reflect a sense of proud and belonging. Who make all those garments? Its their woman? Where do they get all those materials?
This does really fit whatever their purpose is by going to battle wearing what they wear?

While its nice, it brings a lot of questions. From the moment the player starts playing a Zerrikanian, it must be clear to him what the Zerrikanians are all about. So you have to fill those cultural gaps questioned by their aesthetics effects.

You make them all look elite, all look rich. Like every Zerrikanian is taught since childhood how important the colors are, or how important the vision sense is, or how important to look good is.

"One day, when you grow up, you will become like your dad and be able to wear the (insert random symbolic name of whatever colourfull armor he uses) like a true Zerrikanian".

Also, it has to reflect their history, their ancient predecessors and how everything evolved so that now they look like that for battles.

I wish the names were created out of nowhere, its cool to make them inspired on certain classes from russian/muslim/asians, but not ok to name them as such... Archers and Knights are generic, Cossacks are not, Cossacks identify a very specific class from the russian army, so in my opinion, it should be renamed to something totally new, its yours creation. You can brand them in our imaginary from 0 if you do, if not it lose part os its appeal.

So, if you can answer all those questions regarding their history, culture, style, resources, system of values and still manage to make it coherent to what you make them look like in the Sword of Damocles universe, its ok.
If not, then its out of place.

Click to expand...

I do not think you read the entire post because some of your questions have already been answered (read the description under each unit).  However, you bring up some good points and I agree this will add value to the mod, I do not agree that this is a requirement.  None of the civilizations, including Native have any information on culture, resources, values, etc. (except some obscure info from heros occassionally triggered).  Because of that, I am not sure why you would say out of place except the use of the unit names (which I happen to like).  As far as the unit names go, that is an easy change but will require a lot of work when I am also adding completely new mercenary guild units.  I've been to busy working on adding new content to worry about names (especially when most everything in the game is named something simple).  I'll think about it and perhaps I will change the names but not likely at this point. 

Thanks for the comments. 

What would folks think about adjusting the combat terrain spawning engine to create tamer maps for the Khergit regions?

I know for myself and my friends that we generally avoid taking on the Kehrgits just because its a major PIA to deal with the stupid annoying terrain... not to mention that the mountains seem an odd place indeed for a culture dominated by their love or horses (wild horses don't naturally dwell in mountainous regions).

Maybe that's a bit off-topic, but looking at these fantastic Zerks makes me want to play in that oft neglected region, but the combats would make me want to throw the game out the window... 

Mordachai said:

What would folks think about adjusting the combat terrain spawning engine to create tamer maps for the Khergit regions?

I know for myself and my friends that we generally avoid taking on the Kehrgits just because its a major PIA to deal with the stupid annoying terrain... not to mention that the mountains seem an odd place indeed for a culture dominated by their love or horses (wild horses don't naturally dwell in mountainous regions).

Maybe that's a bit off-topic, but looking at these fantastic Zerks makes me want to play in that oft neglected region, but the combats would make me want to throw the game out the window... 

Click to expand...

i just pound on the nords until i have a big enough army that the kerghits dont want to challenge me in the open field, then i just siege all their towns and castles, and by the time i've taken them all, they are sufficiently weak that the other factions they are at war with, and my own vassals, can easily deal with them.

I'm hardly saying that they're particularly hard to take out.  I'm just saying I don't enjoy battles on such broken ground.  A few hills, the *occasional* steep cliff, but not battle after battle of crazy slops that horses would sooner avoid or risk breaking their legs and tossing their riders than to go down or up.  They're less fun, is my point.