GABRILDURO said:Ciao Michelle!!!
Thank you very much for your nice words, to all of us, the Gabrilduro's Bunch, as I like to call all the people that are helping so much in all my projects and Mods (Team mates, Helpers and best Supporters!!).
My best compliments on your history knoledge and your precision and nice way to explain things....and after reading your profile, well...let me tell you that you are kind of a dream coming true: a girl that has these historical and videogame Skills...is not something that happens very often, on this "tough Warriors Males Forum" !!!
We all would be pleased to have your kind presence on the Forum more often and, even more, to actively work with us as a Helper and part of the Gabrilduro's Bunch!!
Unfortunately my time is very short at this moment, but I will exchange comments with you and the Bunch tomorrow....and see how we can handle things better and all together, huh?
Forgive my english, since not perfect (I am Italian, hehehe )
Best regards
Gabby
PS ...some of your points are already in the Mod but not developed yet.
Some other are in my mind, but I cannot do them yet.
PSbis I am in contact with the creator of L'Aigle, as well (Auld, is one of the things that keep me busy and forget to answer to your messages) but he is very busy, of course...
Heya
You don't have to apologize for your English. It is quite fine. I know some German if that's any easier for you.
My University degree was in History. Military History is a big thing for me, but I know a great breadth of history from all across the world. My boyfriend and I are always interested in martial arts from all over the world, from firearms to German Two-Handed Sword Fighting to Kendo to Judo. Many men seem impressed that I'm interested in video games and history, as even here in the US it's kind of a rare combination. I'm unique.
I played through some more and came up with a few more suggestions. I have a ton of free time, so coding or putting any of these ideas into the mod is something I could work on for you and your team.
1. The names of officers and generals need to be redone. Many still retain their 1755 names. It looks a bit odd to see Colonel Washington leading soldiers into battle against me.
2. The faces of the soldiers need to be randomized some. I don't mind manually doing this if you want.
3. I was thinking that you could find a way to make black soldiers by creating an upgrade tree via the regular recruits or add them in as a separate recruitment. Black soldiers in the Civil War served entirely as Union Soldiers and comprised, at most, one tenth of the army by the end of the war. There is a great article on Wikipedia about the USCT (United States Colored Troops). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Colored_Troops It gives you some idea of what you could do with them in the mod. I could work on an upgrade tree for them. In order to be accurate, historically, I could help design them, as I know a lot about them.
4. Zouave Units fought on the North and South. They were not numerous, but they were in significant battles. A troop tree for them should be made.
5. I noticed you were putting Maximillian's army into the game. I did a 25 page article about Napoleon III and his attempts to install Max into Mexico. Most of the troops involved in that fiasco were French Foreign Legion and French National soldiers. I would suggest making the troops entirely French in nature, and they landed in Southern Mexico, at Veracruz, to be exact. Juarez's army should be placed in the northern parts of Mexico, as that is where he and General Alvarez drew most of their support following the French victory by 1862. This is fleshed out in some detail here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_intervention_in_Mexico . The Mexican troops could use numerous models, such as the Rurales first commissioned by Juarez. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rurales There's a photograph of them during Diaz's era, but you get some idea of what they would look like and use. Spanish, French, English, and American firearms, some locally produced. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Churubusco2.jpg This is a painting done for the Mexican-American war and gives you some idea of their uniforms and firearms. They were patterned on earlier Napoleonic styles, though a bit less embellished. http://wotta.com.br/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=418 This offers some decent background on the Mexican side. Women were also known for their role in several battles on the Mexican side. Something to think about. You could make a Mexican Peasant woman troop tree with no real uniform and a decent rifle.
6. The balladeer still offers up poems and songs which are Warband. I could find some poems, songs, or similar things to help contextualize the period more, like a Walt Whitman poem or lyrics to Dixie (the Southern version and Northern version, which were different).
7. I love the music you have in the game, but I wanted to suggest adding in Mountain music (a genre of pre-country music in the US, localized to the Appalachian Mountains region and heavily influenced by old Irish and Scottish music), Slave Songs/hymns and blue grass music, as it is about the closest we have today in terms of period music. I could also record some stuff on my acoustic, since it would be free and I've been a musician for 17 years.
8. The flags need to be redone, as they still have the 1755 era logos. I could find you photographs of the flags used by various units, or I could simply make them for you. I've made my own flags for M&B before. I could find a way to change the textures on some of the ingame "weapon" flags to be regimental.
9. Elite Mercenaries still wear Warband outfits, which seem out of place.
10. The Canadian Union should be largely British outfitted and named. Though by the 1860's, Canada was undergoing internal reforms to attempt to gain Dominion status. Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were the four main areas by this period. There was a big push to make the French much more included. I don't know the local military make-up of the period, but some history digging could probably come up with the names, flags, and soldiers of the period. This might be useful.
http://www.cmhg.gc.ca/cmh/image-434-eng.asp?page_id=499 It's an image of a Canadian Zouave from the period who served the British and Papal Armies. http://blackhistorycanada.ca/theme.php?id=3 This is a black regiment from Canada in the 1860's. This is a perfect example of a typical Canadian/British Soldier of the period. http://www.cmhg.gc.ca/cmh/image-422-eng.asp?page_id=485
11. There needs to be more cities. The cities, towns, and forts you have from the 1755 period need to be expanded. Many newer cities and areas out west were centers of immense importance and should be expanded, like Vicksburg, Fredericksburg. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederate_States_of_America This actually has all the flags, cities, and lots more on the period of the CSA. Some northern towns, like Chicago, were huge industry centers for beef. Many northern cities were textile mills, using southern cotton. I can find a series of great maps of the period outlining some towns, forts, and cities, if you'd like.
12. Money is still listed as "shillings." There's no real way to deal with the division of CSA and USA money production, so I would say change it to "greenbacks," "dollars," or "funds."
13. Trade could be localized more. For instance, in the regular Warband, Spice was almost entirely found exclusively in Tulga and Ichamur. One should put beef as a huge industry in Florida, as it contributed TONS of it to the war effort. Rum, sugar, coffee, and rice might be localized to Caribbean towns or cities. Corn should be localized to the Mid-Western towns.
14. I'm not sure how to use the formations system as of yet. I need to play with that some more, but units charge at the start of battle, which is hard to deal with when you desperately need terrain on your side in these battles. One can be easily massacred by a poor choice of setting up.
15. The Caribbean Islands should be fleshed out more. Haiti was a free nation by this period. Cuba was still a Spanish colony "La Siempre Fidelísima Isla" or "Always the most faithful island." It didn't start independence wars til 1868. They should be set up as a Spanish colony, selling primarily sugar and coffee (coffee was grown in the highlands, sugar in the plains). The soldiers should be a localized force of Spanish 1860's style army and friendly with the CSA. For the sake of the Pirates, I would make the Lesser Antilles and the Leeward islands into "Pirate" states, though they were more owned by Spain, France, Britain, and the Dutch in this period. I think setting them up as pirates would be pretty cool.
16. Echoing the previous statements about L'Aigle, yeah I was interested in their quality of uniforms, formations, and animations. Quite awesome
. 17. The melee weapons should be changed. There were several types of cavalry and infantry sabres, knives, and swords in this period. I could give you all you'd need to know on that.
18. I'm still thinking on ways to improve or alter the Natives. I really love the Plains Natives as roaming bands. There were a few types of Natives out there and one of my friends is a Native American historian. Many of them used firearms and I think the top-tier units should have firearms. The balance of making them fast, somewhat armored and using fast, close-in knives seems quite well done thus far.
Anyway, if I can help with any of that or if that is like, information overload, it's cool
. Being a historian, this period is sorta one of my favorites. I know a lot about it.Michelle
