Share your Screenshots!

[Gusington]

You're an interesting feller, al.

What is going on with your desktop wallpaper?

[al_infierno]

The background is an old Vietnamese painting portraying rats pledging allegiance to a cat god by giving offerings of birds and fish:

https://twitter.com/archaeologyart/status/1392925135242506241

[Gusington]

^Thanks. As usual the gold is in the comments on The Twitter: 'Pham Nau invented Garfield' hahaha!

A quick search turned up a ton of beautiful works by Pham Nau, if anyone is interested as I was, beautiful work: http://www.artnet.com/artists/pham-hau/

[Gusington]

A Plague Tale is one of the most beautiful and immersive games I have played in a long time.

[Gusington]

Started a campaign in the 1212AD mod for Attila: Total War and after a bumpy start as the Duchy of Brabant (parts of the modern Netherlands/Belgium/Frisia) this mod is incredible and really is the closest thing we have to Medieval 3. Shot of first played-out battle here.

[Sir Slash]

Nice!  O0

[Gusington]

A Plague Tale is quickly becoming one of my favorite games. Easily one of the most poignant and beautiful games I've ever played. This shot here is at the beginning of a sequence that features...rats. You've probably read about these scenes if you have any interest in the game or time period. Really well done.

[Gusington]

More 1212AD for Attila TW.

Fear my...early era Brabantian knighthood.

Most of them were taken down a few minutes later by Danish troops in Jutland  >:(

[al_infierno]

Oof that screenshot gives me some serious M2:TW nostalgia.  How is the campaign in that mod?

Also what's the deal with A Plague Tale anyways?  Is it mostly just a story game with some puzzles, or does it have any sort of combat or RPG like mechanics or what have you?

[W8taminute]

Nice screenshot Gus. I just picked up Atilla over the winter sale but haven't played it yet.  I'm going to try it with one of the medieval mods. 

But for now The Great War 6.0 is sucking up all of my Total War time these days.

[Gusington]

^

Tell me more about The Great War...I will be starting it soon(ish).

I love A Plague Tale. It has some light combat but is very much on rails. It is visually stunning and very atmospheric, and can be difficult at times with some of the puzzles but nothing show-stopping. I got it on a deep discount (9.99 IIRC) and even though I am just 25% through it so far, it is more than worth it. If you enjoy medieval history you will love A Plague Tale.

The campaign in 1212AD is absolutely epic. I am loving it as well. It is made up of many parts but it is well worth the time and is also constantly updated. To say it is Medieval 3 is not an exaggeration. And I say all that playing as a minor faction (Brabant) for the last few days. A more robust faction will be totally insane (in a good way.)

[W8taminute]

^There is a lot to tell you about The Great War but I'll summarize a few of the points that really tickle my fancy about this mod:

1. AI stack pathing.  The strategic map AI is clever in trying to maneuver it's armies around your defenses.  Much smarter than the vanilla AI.  For example, I've got three stacks hovering in the area of east prussia and no matter how I arrange them together for mutual support the AI does a good job in trying to outflank me.  Sometimes I'm forced to counter with only 2 of the 3 stacks I have on hand because I just can't get that 3rd stack to swing over fast enough to catch up with the AI.  Now multiply this by two or more fronts and you'll really be challenged to juggle your forces around. 

2. Unit variety and 3D models.  They did a lot with updating the unit cards, 3D unit models, and unit descriptions to immerse you into this era.  Very pleased.

3. Sound effects.  The battle sound effects are great.  Sniper rifles actually sound different from stock rifles.  (yes there are snipers in this mod).  And the thunderous sounds that a group of heavy artillery pieces make put the sense of dread into me.  I can just imagine what it must have felt like.  Great sound immersion. 

4. Tactical battles: I'm a real big fan of auto resolving tactical battles in most Total War games because I just can't be bothered managing units on a real time battlefield.  However in this mod I'd much rather play  out the battles then let the AI resolve them.  Partly because you can't trust the AI some of the time but partly because I genuinely enjoy fighting on a WW1 battlefield and don't mind handling things myself.  This for me is the biggest reason why I can't stop playing!  Just remember, in The Great War mod artillery truly is the god of war.  Even a tiny light mortar (if used properly) can mean the difference between losing or winning a battle. 

[W8taminute]

Oh and one more thing. 

There are times when you have to send some of your men to their certain deaths in one area of the battlefield in order to succeed in another area.  I haven't run into this in other Total War games or mods. 

Maybe I'm reading too deep into this mod but I find that sickening feeling of knowingly sending men to their deaths to be entertaining.  It's just a game after all.  However what must it felt like in real life?

[Gusington]

^I don't want to know.

That said, the rest of the above really sounds extraordinary!

The 1212AD mod team must have done a ton of AI work as well because I find enemy armies trying to outflank me (on the campaign map, anyway) as well.

[Gusington]

When I saw the first screen (1212AD mod again) I said to myself 'hmm slightly stereotypical...'

...and then when I saw the second screen I laughed my arse off.

Well done.