Okay, this unit was requested way back in January as an Assyrian Siege Archer (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=73794). Although, I've always wanted to make the unit, I was never sure that I could actually do it. First, I wasn't sure about using two figures in an animation. Second I had never done an archer unit before, so I didn't know if I could pull that off.

Well, I finally gave it a shot, and was pretty happy with what I ended up with. I'm a lot happier with what Aluminium turned my unit into. Thank you Aluminium. In his own . . .

"Here are the changes I made:
- fixed some colors of the palette
- made shadows lighter
- changed the speed (if necessary)
- new Victory FLC"


http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/SALarge.gif

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/SA_Animated.gif



Louis XXIV, you can now download the Siege Archer (http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/SiegeArcher.zip).

1st reply!

Excellent! Very nice. :goodjob:

Looks very good, very smooth animations :)
Only thing is that perhaps it would have looked better if the archer shot upwards, but that's just nitpicking ;)

I love it! :D thank you :)

Wow! Now I just need stats :)

Ah! I was wondering when you were going to finish this up! Looks really nice... I guess Babylon has a new unit now :D

Way cool. This would be a good repalcement for the babylonian Bowman, It would have the same sats (2.2.1 right?)

I'd like to see a Qin Dynasty Siege archer, like in Hero, the attack on the Caligraphy school Scene...

I'd like to address two small points. I think that, since this is a siege archer, the archer should fire at a higher elevation. Secondly, in the death animation, I think the bodies and the shield should "bounce" a little bit when they hit the ground. There's no shock value when they hit the ground currently. But those are minor. It's still a really great unit. :goodjob:

I love your units. Nice work. Especially if this is your first Archer.

Nice Flavour Unit Replacement, I feel this has to be squeezed in somewhere...I may add it as a Siege Unit available with Mathematics, Maybe a 2(3)-2-1 - Cost 30 or 40

Nice work

I've always found archers to be harder to do... working out the arrow pull and drawing the bow... But this is great :D

The skin tone might be a bit too yellow... Minor quible

Finally! Louis XXIV will be estatic. It looks superb.

Looks like they have hepatitis, might want to make the skin less yellow, and it would be much better if they shot upwards but straight is still fine. More bounce is needed in the death too.

Finally we got an Assyrian UU. Make it available with Mathematics and make it 2.2.1 with possible bombardment of 1-3. Now we need a better Tiglath-Pileser leaderhead and Assyrian is done. :goodjob:

It's great.

However, I think you can improve on it.
1) Give the deaths more "bounce" to the falling shields and people.
2) The archer should fire a bit more up.
3) Try making the attack readiness a bit slower, about the part when they crouch down.
4) In fact, I think that the whole thing needs to slow down its pace :(

It's still great, though. Just wanted to add some constructive criticism.

Yayyy!!!!! Thank you, utah!!! :bounce:

Although, I've always wanted to make the unit, I was never sure that I could actually do it. First, I wasn't sure about using two figures in an animation. Second I had never done an archer unit before, so I didn't know if I could pull that off.

Well you did good :goodjob:

Yes ! [dance]

Very nice addition ! :goodjob:

great job utah )

Very cool!

The skin doesn't look too yellow to me, but I haven't compared him to other units.

BTW, that would be a cool Archer to have solo! :)

BTW, that would be a cool Archer to have solo! :)

I was hoping that no one would say that. :)

But, now I have good reasons not to do it. Afterall, his dead body won't jump off the ground, he won't shoot high enough in the air, and he won't be cured of hepatitis which is causing his skin to be yellow. Poor guy. :(

I was hoping that no one would say that. :)

But, now I have good reasons not to do it. Afterall, his dead body won't jump off the ground, he won't shoot high enough in the air, and he won't be cured of hepatitis which is causing his skin to be yellow. Poor guy. :(

Actually, if you were to just make an Assyrian archer without the shield carrier, then it wouldn't be a "siege archer" and so you could just have him firing at the angle he's at now... :)

Btw, I hope you're not offended by the criticism... I meant it to be constructive..... :undecide:

No, I wouldn't say that I'm offended by it. I just think it's funny how picky people are. For example, the "death bump" makes up maybe two or three frames of an animation that lasts one second. That's anywhere from 2/15ths to 1/5th of one second. Plus, the animation is non-repeating, so you don't have to watch it over and over. The shield carrier hits the ground and everything disappears.

As far as the firing angle goes, the problem is the way that the CivIII units attack each other. Even though the name of this unit is "Siege Archer," the animations will be utilized exactly like the Archer, Bowman, and Longbowman. So, if he's firing up into the air, the arrow would not even be close to hitting the in-game opponent.

For example, what happens if he's fighting against an enemy unit that does not have the ranged attack animation flagged? The Spearman, let's say, is standing right next to the Siege Archer, but the Siege Archer is firing over his head. I think it would look wierd. It might work for a bombard animation, but as far as I know the bombard action uses the AttackA animation.

Plus, look at the Longbowman's attack animation; the arrow is almost hitting the ground two frames or so after it's fired. I would think that in real life a longbowman would shoot his arrow higher to get more distance, but the Longbowman unit doesn't because it wouldn't work right in-game. Well, that's my opinion anyway.

The skin color issue I can understand. The problem there is that I'm using a mac to make the units, and the colors look lighter on the screen I'm looking at than they do on the Windows machine that I use to finalize the units from the rendered images. Anyway, I'll try to prevent this in the future. Perhaps you could just supply me with the RGB color values that you use for skin, and we can eliminate that problem.

Personally, I think it's one of your best units, and I like them all. Don't worry about making a single figure. I can't download him anyway. I don't have internet access at home. Still, I plan to get this guy when I do!

I like his skin tone, it reminds me of my old Lego men -- and I love Lego! :D

This guy looks Medivalish, maybe he could be a Longbowman replacement for the Hittites, Sumerians and Babylonian Civs?

utah, I'd think that most of the criticism isn't "This is wrong, please redo this unit" but rather "This could be done better, maybe you can think about it next time". As I see things, at least. :)
The unit looks good, except...
;)


BTW, SoG, your sig is ten lines long, it's not supposed to be longer than five lines.

Well, if this unit is used like a regular archer, then it does make sense to have it fire straight... or at least, it's not really an issue. But given that it is a "siege archer" I was envisioning using this more as a catapult replacement of sorts... or maybe just have it be able to bombard or something and also be able to attack like a regular archer... I was just trying to bring it to your attention, but if it was a conscious decision, I respect it. It has reason.

As for the "bump", it's just that I've been criticized on that before, so I thought I'd just point it out... every time I post a new unit, I brace myself for the all but inevitable criticism I will receive... there is one person in particular I especially dread ;) ... When I posted those eight units at once a while back, I got a five paragraph criticism from said person... which I took and digested and appreciated a lot of their points... I want my units to look as professional as possible. That quality is important to me. Do I always succeed? No, of course not. But that is my intent.

Anyway, the unit is good. It's damn good, and your archer actions look very nice, especially for a first try. I will definitely be using it.

Hmm, I must say I don't understand the most of the criticism. This unit works perfect in the game. Just like a Firaxis unit. Maybe that's the problem. ;)

If someone doesn't know this, everybody can adjust the speed with one of the editors for CIV3-FLCs. :p

For the death. People fall like sacks of flour. There isn't more bounce. Believe me, I've seen that with my own eyes. :D

The skin is too yello, I agree. But it isn't so apparent in the game. I could fix it. Give me 10 minutes.

Here it is:

Download (http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/SiegeArcher1.zip)

Your pretty good with this animation stuff Aluminum! Maybe you should take that Janissary off of DPII's hands and animate it yourself?

He doesn't do the Poser stuff... just the editing... at least I think so.

Your pretty good with this animation stuff Aluminum! Maybe you should take that Janissary off of DPII's hands and animate it yourself?
Utah made this unit. Not I. ;)

But if you want bald men in suite... :mischief:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Alu_Fun_Default.gif
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Alu_Fun_Attack.gif

I'm sorry that you are so bored, my friend... :(

Looks like one of the Turks from Final Fantasy 7 doing a Russian Dance..... :goodjob: You could make that for Hiro....He'd be pretty happy... :goodjob:

Wow, I am glad this unit was made, but I'm a tad suprised because I had no idea you'd be making it.

Thank You
Thank You
Thank You

Now I guess I actually have to get around to finishing my Assyria scenario.

I think that actually looks like the guy from Hitman.

very nice unit.

I've been looking for something for a bow phalanx like the persians and babylonians used. This will be perfect.

Fantastic Work! Well done!!

We need a Ashurbanipal leaderhead for the Babylonians, However, city names will be hard to do, because having sumeria, babylon and Assyria will cause a shortage of names. I don't know what I would give Assyria in terms of national traits, but maybe militaristic and scientific, Ashurbanipal is famous for a having an extensive library in his capitol of Nineveh. They may have the siege archer and Assyrian Chariot as their UUs. Back to the topic, great unit overall, I think people are just nitpicking, and the color change just is icing on the cake. Nice job.

Utah made this unit. Not I. ;)

But if you want bald men in suite... :mischief:

http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Alu_Fun_Default.gif
http://www.civfanatics.net/uploads8/Alu_Fun_Attack.gif

It's Dr. Phil! :D

It's Dr. Phil! :D
Hahahah, that's the funniest thing I've read today. It's really Dr. Phil!

Great looking siegist, UJ7 :)

There's something very wrong in Dr. Phil's knee...

Aah, thank you, aaglo. :D

There's something very wrong in Dr. Phil's knee...
In his youth he was an acrobat in the chinese state circus. ;)

Nice repalcement for babylonian bowman. :)

This is magic! I'm just downloading your later stuff and saw this. Really cool.

It's so good in fact, have you thought about using it as a base for a "Pavisse Crossbowman"? They were big in the 14thC, and were often used against the English longbow... they needed a bloke with a huge shield to protect them as the logbowmen got at least 6 to 8 arrows off in the time it took the crossbowmen (using a crank by that time) to reload. The Genoese had the best (maybe a "Genoese Mercenary" unit?) - they wore green & red checked or striped surcoats (jupons) which were the colours of Genoa. All the Continental European armies employed them as mercenaries. The French actually rode theirs down after they ran from the English longbowmen at Crecy... then the French Knights rode up the hill to their deaths too! Your "Pietone" guy would make the right kind of armour (I think), and the Pavisse (the name of the actual shield) was often made of thick willow, so the one you have here would be great with a slightly more honey colour.

Just a thought for a good "100 Years War" or medievel Europe scenario :)

It is so awesome. I may have a use for this...

Skittles to you!!

BTW,

@Sargon - ShiroKobbure did a LH of him, you can find it here (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=112951).

Nice unit, Utahjazz!

I humbly second Boewulf's request. If it strikes your fancy, the unit would surely be appreciated.

Either way, thanks, and great job :D

This Unit is going in my Simpsons MOD immediately! :D

It is one defancive unit than normal arher
i suggest it 4.6.1 stats

It is one defancive unit than normal arher
i suggest it 4.6.1 stats

Probably deserves to be, mate! Although that sounds more like the Pavisse Crossbowman. In reality, the English archer was an offensive unit, and was hopeless at defence without being inside some walls (or a wall of men-at-arms!)... maybe "tactical defense" would be a better description. This has always seemed a bit a a problem with Civ Stats as far as the Longbow is concerned. I've never been sure he was even on the right "evolutionary path" in the game... he should probably be an off-shoot, not a follow-on from the archer. He's his own man, as it were. :) As history goes, the crossbow is the evolution of the bow, not the longbow.

I agree with Goldflash, nice unit+let's see a Qin dynasty archer like the ones in Hero.

Lovely! An archer used for seiges, maybe we could use attack as bombard? A lovely attack/bombard unit!

First of all, great work. I don't normally like "conjoined" units, but this seems to work.

As for suggestions on how to improve it ...

1. Get rid of the cross-piece that appears when the Archer reaches back and selects another arrow. Either remove some so it looks more like the feathers it's meant to imitate, or get rid of it entirely.

2. The shield seems to "grow" when it's laid down. Get rid of that part, since it doesn't appear either at first, or during the death animation.

Great!

I had just modded the Hittites to be Assyrians, converting their 3manchariot, but now perhaps I shall use this instead (could be quite equal to the bowmen)

Can it work for Vanilla?

Yes. All the units in this forum can be used in any version of Civ3.