New Unit: Eastern Horse Archer

[Kryten]

This is a new unit for Exsanqination's Alexander the Great mod, but is also suitable for Scythians, Medes, Persians, Parthians, Sassanids, Huns, Avars, Maygars, Arabs, Seljuk Turks, Saracens, Mamelukes, and all the various horse archer tribes of the Asian steppes and Mongolian plains (in the future I want to make a Mongol horseman UU as well).

This unit can also be used to give non-european nations an alternative to Knights, because in reality the only people who used west european medieval Knights were....er....the west european medieval nations! It just don't look right having the medieval Muslim nations like Egypt, Babylon and Persia (and the Zulus, Aztecs, Iroquois for that matter) building feudal Christian Knights.

Here is the first of the of the TWO zip files:-
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WHATS NEW

The two zip files have been updated and now contain Civilopeadia pictures and text (my thanks to nonnob3 for these). Plus, there is an alternative "standing-still-shooting-forwards" attack .flc as well as the original "galloping-on-the-spot-shooting-sideways" one, with very simple instructions so that people can customize the unit and use the animation that they prefer.

 

[Kryten]

Don't forget that you need both the zip file above AND the zip file below in order to make this animation work. And all you have to do is the following:-

1) download both zip files to a temporary place on your PC,

2) use Windows Explorer to open the CivilizationIII/Art/units folder on your PC and right click the units_32 file so that you can rename it (otherwise it will be overwriten, and so you may want to keep a copy).

3) now just use the unzip browser to unzip both HorseArcher.zip files into CivilizationIII/Art/units. This will create a new folder called Horse Archer which contains all the FLICs and files.

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....er....I did have a picture here, but I seem to have deleted it!
Please look down this thread for an animated preview.

 

[Kryten]

Here is the 2nd zip file. As I said before, you'll need both.

Once unzipped, you will find a readme.txt file which contains full details of how to add this unit to civ3 by using the Civ3Editor, as well as some suggested stats for this unit and some very simple customization instructions.

 

[DarkEvent]

realy nice

I have include it to my private mod to the Egypt, Greece, Babylon, Persia, Aztecs, Zuzlands and Iroquois with 8-2-2

 

[Scipio Africanu]

This animation is excellent. Great work Kryten, quality work as expected :enlighten:

 

[Black Fluffy Lion]

very nice. Has to be one of the better animations I have seen recently

 

[sealman]

cheers!

Looks great!

 

[Madeira]

Excelent!

 

[sgrig]

Great!

 

[Ed O'War]

Looks very nice.

 

[Exsanguination]

Looks awesome, but I can't get it to work. I followed all your directions, but everytime I try to build the unit, the game gets a civilization3.exe error.

Just a thought, but might it be because there are no sound files? Or am I just a complete idiot (more likely)?

Ah, another conjecture: I am using v1.16f... are there any incompatibility issues with the old patch?

 

[Kryten]

....hmmm....I'll try downloading it myself and following my own instructions (has anyone else out there got the same problem?).

I too am using v1.16f (I've not had time to download v1.17f yet).

Question: in order to keep the zip files as small as possible, I didn't include any sound files, but just used links to the exsisting civ3 Mounted Warrior and Cossack folders. If the name of these has been changed then could this be the problem?

(Again, could anyone else confirm that they got this unit to work?)

 

[Kryten]

I think I've sussed it!

The zip files I've posted create a folder in CivIII/Art/units called "HorseArcher"....it should be called "Horse Archer" (with a SPACE between the words-----don't you just love computers!)

So, quick fix, rename the folder.
Long fix, I'll repost the zip files.

.........sorry............

(Please see the top of this thread for the updated zip files)

 

[Kryten]

Remember that there is a new "standing-still-shooting-forwards" attack animation (unfortunately, I can't update this preview!) :-

 

[Kryten]

Here is another one:-

 

[elfstorm]

Cool!!!!!

I've been wishing on stars for a horse archer.

And this one is really good!

 

[Exsanguination]

awesome job Kryten! I love it!!!

One question though - why does he always run when he attacks???

 

[Kryten]

He dosen't run....he gallops!

The idea was to try and give the effect of horse archers shooting while on the move. In reality the Parthians were well known for shooting backwards while evading an enemy charge (this is where we today get the phrase "Parthian or Parting Shot"). After all, who would sit stationary on a horse while any enemy runs hundred's of yards/meters towards them? With a bow and a horse you can keep the enemy at a distance while still inflicting casulties; that's what made horse archers so good for so long; they can kill you but you can't even reach them.

However, I do admit it takes a little getting used to (have you tried two horse archer units fighting each other yet?) If you like, I can easily make a new less dynamic conventional civ3 "standing-still-shooting-forwards" FLIC instead of the "galloping-on-the-spot-shooting-sideways" one. It's no problem, and should only take a week. Let me know and I'll get started.

 

[Exsanguination]

thats what I thought . Its a good idea, but it just looks sorta odd cause he gallops on the spot, and always attacks in the same direction. It doesnt bother me, but I wouldn't mind having a stand-still attack anim. Don't stress yourself over it though, it is still an awesome unit!!!


One other question - does the Horse Archer work for all civs color-wise? Or is it only for the civs you mentioned? If it doesn't, thats no problem at all. I'm just curious.

Can't wait for more of your units, Kryten! Keep up the good work.

 

[Kal-el]

Kryten, what is your next project? Those AoE units would go great with the Alexander Mod.

Hope to see an Elephant Archer soon.