Drow theme
 

First, I would like to say how much I enjoy the current themes.
Those are the ones I recognized. hope I haven't made too many mistakes there http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
Pythium -> Rome
Marignon -> spain/france inquisition
Ulm -> dwarves
R'lyeh -> Illithids (forgotten realms)
Atlantis -> Atlantis
Jotun -> Norse myth
Man -> Avalon myth
Arco -> Asirian ?
Pan -> elves ?
Van -> Norse myth

They are all great. I really love history, mythology and fantasy so DOM blends all of them wonderfully.
I would really like to see a Drow theme implemented. Drow as in R.A.Salvatore books.
They had one in MOM and it really rocked.
Also, can you consider implementing Egyptian and/or ancient hebrew themes?

BTW, can any of you comlete/fix the current theme list?

Re: Drow theme
 

Ulm is based on Germany. Ulmians are tall, not short, and they don't have beards. There is actualy a place called Ulm in Germany.

R'lyeh is based on Ctulhu mythos.

Pan is based on certain parts from greek mythology.

C'tis is based on Babylonian(I think it was Babylonian mythos) with Egyptian elements mixed in.

Arco has elements from Assyrians, Babylonians and Greeks.

And no offence, but i absolutely hate drows.
And i realy hate when someone tries to get drows to Dominions...

But you'll have the mod tools. Do whatever you want...

Egyptian/Hebrew themes: I would like to see them too, and i think C'tis has a "Desert Tombs" theme.

[ October 14, 2003, 18:13: Message edited by: Nerfix ]

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Strange, I didn't know that the germans were dwarves (Ulm is not supposed to be dwarves).

R'lyeh is mostly based on Chtuhlu.

Pangaea is based on greek myth.

Arco on hellenistic/persian empires

Pythium is based on Byzantium/Rome

[ October 14, 2003, 18:15: Message edited by: Kristoffer O ]

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Indeed. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Wtf? Is this a joke? Ulm with those various heavy infantry is based on Germany?
Pardon me, but what are we talking about?
German tribes had some dumbass barbarians in the early ages, they were owned bigtime by the various other barbarians like the Huns. .
I doubt that germany ever had heavy infantry in the medieval ages at all. [Holy Roman Empire was not Germany at all..]

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Ulm has a Kruppstahl thing going on.

Re: Drow theme
 

Germany hardly existed before the unification. Ulm is not based on early tribes. Think teutonic knights etc.

Besides, all nations are fantasy creations. None are meant to be replicas of existing nations. Byzans rarely fielded Arch Teurgs in battles.

Re: Drow theme
 

Adding elves would make it too similar to other fantasy games. I'd like to see more nations with historical themes, like what we have at the moment.

Re: Drow theme
 

Kristoffer O said- <font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I mistook ULM for D&D dwarves http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
what is Chtuhlu?
Is there a theme for african tribes in DOM-II?
What about the Arab nations at 700-1400? they were very powerfull. they can make a very interesting theme.

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">what is Chtuhlu?</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">You don't know!?
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I mistook ULM for D&D dwarves http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif
what is Chtuhlu?
Is there a theme for african tribes in DOM-II?
What about the Arab nations at 700-1400? they were very powerfull. they can make a very interesting theme.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Cthulhu is a godlike alien sleeping in the sunken city of R'lyeh from the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, a noted horror writer active in the nineteen twenties and thirties. He is hugely influential and there are Lovecraft references spread out in various movies and computer games. If you havent read anything I suggest you try one, his language is a bit convulted and his characters are two dimensional but many of thee stories are enjoyable reads anyway. My favourites by him are: "The rats in the walls" and "The mountains of madness". The illithids in dominions are an amalgamation of the AD&D mindflayers and Lovecrafts mythology, the Lovecraftian flavour of Rlyeh will be more pronounced in dom 2.

The new nation Machacka is pseudo African.

Re: Drow theme
 

Mainly each nation is based (roughly) on the culture/mythology of where it's placed on the old world map I think. With some exceptions...mainly the aquatics, ermor, and caelum. Also I'm not certain of where abysia comes from either. I think caelum was just because adding flying races is fun for the variety. Nothing quite like extreme mobility but weak fighting power.

Although dom 1 caelum mages were abusive enough to fight for their armies...

But drow as such would seem out of place in dominions...maybe somebody will make an d&d mod or something...machaka would make a good drow base for that because they already have the spider thing down. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Drow theme
 

Also, the nation of Man is not based on "Avalon" myth. The term "Avalon" comes from the Arthurian myth cycle(s) and is a bastardization of a Gaelic term for "Isle of the Apples."

Man is based on Celtic, primarily Irish, mythology with a side-shot of Arthurian influence. That is very different from pure Arthurian for, although Arthurian legend was extremely influenced by the Celtic matter, the Christian and Norman French influences mutated it into something wholly its own. Both are worthy of respect as individual mythos, despite their simularities, and while I think it is fine to fuse them in the nation of Man, I also think it is important to know the differences between the two.

Did I mention I'm alarmingly prone to start talking about Celtic myth? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Now all we need is Chuchulainn as a national hero! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Drow theme
 

Ermor's your regular "living dead" nightmare nation, probably heavily influenced by AD&D which in turn drew from a variety pack. Mummies were popularized from Egyptian-themed horror, banshees stem from the Celtic 'ban sidhe', ghosts and walking dead probably are multicultural.

Abysia seems to be a "hell"-themed demon-worshipping setup. The winged, pitchforked demon's associated most with Christian fire-and-brimstone imagery; blood sacrifice would be a common theme among accusations relating to demon-worship.

Oh, and Cthulhu -- might also want to read the "Call of Cthulhu" story, 'natch. And I wonder if we'll get shoggoths, hmm. Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li! *shudder*

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Middle Eastern nations, Steppe nomads, and Indian nations are the most obvious analogies missing IMHO. Arcoscephale seems to be modeled on the post Alexander Succesor States, which is close, but it would be cool to have something Persian, Gupta, Timurid, Hun, or Mongol.

Then again, most of these guys relied on tactics which just don't work in Dom 1...

Re: Drow theme
 

BTW, Atlantis is based on Ctulhu mythos also:
We have a Dagon pretender and atlantians resemble a mix of human, frog and fish.

We have a "Barbarian Kings" theme for T'ien C'hi, so we already have Mongols, but i would like to see Midle Eastern and Arab Nations.

Re: Drow theme
 

Middle-eastern nations can have very strong religion, prefer hot climate. Their cavalry are camel riders, use genies, rocs (giant bird) etc
elements from middle myth and folklore.

There was also a very interesting colture in Israel about 3500 years ago. A nation that worshiped "Beal Zebub" (master of flies in hebrew) and "Ashtoret" (they sacrificed children to this godess). They were called "Phlishtim". If I recall correctly they are even mentioned in the bible.

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">you cant even spell Maelstrom correctly, so it is no wonder you are so void of knowledge.

Teutonic Knight
Member of a German Christian military order, the Knights of the Teutonic Order, founded in 1190 by Hermann of Salza in Palestine. They crusaded against the pagan Prussians and Lithuanians from 1228 and controlled Prussia until the 16th century. Their capital was Marienburg (now Malbork, Poland).
The Teutonic Knights were originally members of the German aristocracy who founded an order of hospitallers in Acre 1190 and became a military order in 1198. They wore white robes with black crosses. They were based in Palestine until 1268 when they were expelled by the Mamelukes (rulers of Egypt), after which they concentrated on taking Roman Catholicism into Eastern Europe under the control of the pope. They were prevented from expanding into Russia by Alexander Nevski at the battle of Lake Peipus in 1243, but they ruthlessly colonized Prussia in 122683. By the 15th century, pressure from neighbouring powers and the decline of the crusader ideal led to their containment within eastern Prussia. Their influence ended in 1525 when their grand master Albert of Brandenburg was converted to Lutheranism and declared Prussia to be a secular duchy.

As for the supposed weakness of germanic tribes, just type Arausio or Teutobourg in a search engine. You will understand why Germania Magna was never occupied by Rome.

edit : just in case... Arausio is in France, but the defeat was inflicted by german people.

[ October 15, 2003, 08:14: Message edited by: Pocus ]

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Hey, nothing personal, just a little history lesson. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I must confess that I'm not that interested in pre-teen stuff for playstation II (I suspect that your reference derive from this).

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">you asked for reference (in 'colorful' language I would say) about Germanic heavy infantry. You got some with the Teutonic knights. period.

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">So what? It is not as if only the germans were crushed by the Huns. Can I remind you that it asked for a coalition of rome and barbarians forces to stop them? It does prove nothing about the supposed weakness of german tribes (I'm in no way affiliated with German people btw, so I'm not biased). The point remains that Germanic tribes held in check Rome. Also I urge you to see who migrated and where before the Great Invasions, and you will see that many people were germans. So, yes I stand my point that germanic tribes were amongst the most ferocious so called barbarians in ancient time.

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">If the point was "does Ulm = Germany?", I'd say the closest thing to Ulmish steel plate in history was the Maximilian-style (ie, "German") full plate of the early XVIth century. And I'd like to think of my Ulmish infantry as landsknechts.

Re: Drow theme
 

The name Ulm (it is a place in Germany) and all the German names on commanders also speak for the "Ulm=Germany". I realised that Ulm=Germany the first time i played the game...

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Hey, nothing personal, just a little history lesson. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Look it's the tone. I consider anything as "getting personal" when people decide to slam someone when making a point. I have seen that done several times recently, and there's no reason why adults should do that when discussin issues with other adults.

Re: Drow theme
 

Hey I dont think that the Germans were ferocious barbarians. I always tought that the most dreaded barbarians were the Huns, Vikings and Mongols..
The most cruel barbarians were the Huns, that is for sure, I read some insane stuff about them! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/shock.gif

.

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">If the point was "does Ulm = Germany?", I'd say the closest thing to Ulmish steel plate in history was the Maximilian-style (ie, "German") full plate of the early XVIth century. And I'd like to think of my Ulmish infantry as landsknechts.</font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">I agree too on that, Ulm infantry is very close to the Lansquenets (ok landsknechts) regiments. They were mainly mercenaries german though (except before 1500), and I have yet too see a merc company of Guardians (that would be cool!), but their weapons (long pikes 15' to 18', or big, very big two handed sword sometime) and armor fit very well into the Ulm theme.

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">it is somehow a judgment call anyway (your, mine, and some others best not named) so we can keep our opinions. Still, Varus would disagree with you. He lost 3 legions in the black forest against Germans. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif
Also ask yourself why Rome maintained along the Rhine a strong defence (lime) hundred of kilometers long. See also where were stationed the legions (mainly along the rhine and danube). Germans were perhaps not the *ferociest* (if ferocity can be measured!) people in the world, but still it posed a threat to Rome during several centuries, and at the peak of his power. To dismiss them like a band of puppies would be unfair http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
C.A.G.T.F.W *

* :
Commitee for the aknowledgment of germans tribe as ferocious warriors.

Re: Drow theme
 

Germanic tribes were warlike barbarians, just like many other minor/major tribes in those times, like the Huns, Scythians, Vandals etc.

Germans had a nice military power in the middle ages, so I do not know, that what are we talking about at all.

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Methinks you give very short shrift to Arabian equestrians with this suggestion...

E. Albright

Re: Drow theme
 

I dunno nuttin about silly barbarian hoards, but I do know that the Tiger II was the greatest tank of its time... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

[ducks for cover, hoping to rehijack this hijacked thread] http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

PS. The Challenger is a lump of @#$#@$ http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

PPS. Tanks r001z0r5!!!!

PPPS. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Re: Drow theme
 

licker --

They're called "Iron Dragons." Requires... Construction 8 or somewhere around there, and some earth magic. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">yup but they used much gems for travels, and were prone to fail their MR. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Drow theme
 

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">Haha, poor fella you have no idea, that what 'Maelstorm' is, right? You shouldn't post crap, when you know nothing. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/rolleyes.gif

<font size="2" face="sans-serif, arial, verdana">The teutonic knights...Eh lol, their 'empire' was weak compared to the other European powers, also their military was weak as well.

As for the germanic tribes....

"..During the third and fourth centuries, there were large migrations of land-hungry Germans southward and westward onto the Rhine-Danube Frontier..

..Attila, King and the mighty warlord of the Huns. Succeeding in 433 to the kingship of Scythian hordes disorganized and enfeebled by internal discords, Attila soon made of his subjects a compact and formidable people, the terror of Europe and Asia. An unsuccessful campaign in Persia was followed in 441 by an invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire, the success of which emboldened Attila to invade the West. He passed unhindered through Austria and Germany, across the Rhine into Gaul, plundering and devastating all in his path with a ferocity unparalleled in the records of barbarian invasions and compelling those he overcame to augment his mighty army..."

If you know history, you should know, that all germanic tribes were the slaves of the Huns, just for example. The Huns didnt massacred them all, because they were using the germans as slave soldiers in their armies.
Is this a glorious past you say? Ehehe...
{Many Germans fled to the west}

"..The Huns not only slaughtered their enemies, but forced the ones allowed to live to serve in their armies. As a result after pillaging the European domains of the Eastern Empire and extracting an increased subsidy, Attila turned west, in p;art because of the powerful defensive walls of Constantinople.."

[ October 15, 2003, 12:59: Message edited by: Maelstorm ]

Re: Drow theme
 

Okay guys keep it on the subject, don't make this personal.

I have seen a few personal shots recently by a few posters, please refrain from attacking each other personally. I wouldn't want to have to pull out my big moderation stick http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif .

Thanks.