Many of you have no doubt heard about the Dominion of the Sword total conversion modification for Medieval II: Total War – Kingdoms. Our «special envoy» Chosen One managed to lure one of the mod leaders, Hross, away from working on the mod long enough for him to answer our questions. Read on to find out what he had to say, and be sure to check out the MR exclusive screenshots he provided.

MR: To start this off, tell us about yourself.

DotS: I am 31, originally from Salford in downtown Manchester, UK. I live in Europe now and work as a writer. I am currently considering re-joining the Royal Marine Commandoes next year (no more modding).

Early era Bohemian Knights (MR Exclusive)

MR: Give us all a basic description of what Dominion is all about.

DotS: A total overhaul for Kingdoms, I suppose a ‘medieval rulership simulator’ would be a good description. Total immersion. We felt that the lack of historical accuracy was only part of the problem with the original game. We wanted to use the potential of the engine to really allow the player to ‘escape’ into the Middle Ages and make that as believable as possible.

MR: Tell us your secret… How are you creating such an amazing mod? Magic? Or… are you CA is disguise?

DotS: Lol, no magic here, just a few dedicated guys keeping a vision alive despite a massive turnover of staff. We have been a rolling stone gathering in fact quite a lot of moss in the form of a few great modders along the way, and these have really made the project a reality. When we started out we had pretty much only the vision. Now the team is more like a small company than a hobby group and the project itself is more like an entirely new game than a mod. Of course its still clearly a Total War game, but no one -not even CA has done anything near as intense as this. For instance, every building bonus has a historical reasoning behind it- in many cases months of research and discussion. Historically accurate titles are often triggered by the creation of new buildings so they enhance your characters. Also, many buildings have negative as well as positive effects- so you have to really RPG the whole experience.

Early era Bohemian Knights advancing on foot (MR Exclusive)

MR: Dominion of the Sword. Why did you choose the name? Any reason, or do you just like the adrenaline pumping sound of it?

DotS: Yeah it sounds great doesn’t it. It comes from a folk-song written during the English Civil War, just after the mod period, so even our mod name is authentic and hundreds of years old! The lyrics are very critical of power-politics and how religion, education and war is/was used to suppress the masses. I was really inspired by the socialist sentiment in the lyrics but also thought it had a great, brutally honest perspective on Medieval life.

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MR: ‘Hegemony 268 B.C.’ is a highly anticipated modification for ‘Mount & Blade’ aiming to bring the Greco-Roman world of the Hellenistic period to life. The main driving force behind the development of Hegemony, Ealabor, joined us for a chat about the mod and what we can expect to see once it is released.

Welcome Ealabor! Glad you could find the time to answer our questions!

Heg.: Thanks, my pleasure.

MR: So, Hegemony 268 B.C. What’s it all about?

Heg.: Basically it’s the tale of powerstruggle with 24 different factions, based in or around the Mediterranean. Factions vary from Republican Rome, to Carthage, to Alexander’s Successors, and inclusive of 3 different Celtic factions. It also features factions not widely celebrated or known compared to other mods that share the timeframe, such as Nabataea, Cyrenaica, and Massalia.

Spartan Officer

MR: Is the mod a “one-man show” (with contributors), or do you have a development team working on it?

Heg.: For most of developement it’s been “one-man” with contributors, although recently in the past few months that has changed. With the addition of AlphaDelta from TWC, and the return of Stelious, the gears of an industrialized assembly line have started to turn.

MR: Why did you decide to take up modding, and not something a little less time consuming, like, I don’t know, a second full time job? Have you modded any games prior to Mount & Blade?

Heg.: I guess in order to take up a second full time job, i’d need a first one . I reckon modding has really turned into a hobby for me, where I often enjoy that experience, over playing the actual game. I remember when I first played Mount and Blade, I couldn’t get enough. Of course the honeymoon wears off, then the questions start to set in.. “what if the game was done in this fashion”. That “fashion” just happened to be an image I had, of a robust Europe and surrounding Mediterranean, filled with various cultures, not set in a time dominated by Romans.

Alexandria

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We’ve been able to grab hold of DVK and Tone from the ‘Roma Surrectum II’ modification for ‘Rome: Total War’ to ask them some questions about Life, the Universe and Everything. Or, as some modders like to put it: Life, the Mod and Modding. They’ve also been kind enough to provide us with a host of exclusive, never before seen screenshots from the mod, so read on.

MR: Hello DVK! Thanks for agreeing to talk to us. Could you, as an intro to this interview, tell us a little bit about yourself, and then give us a quick overview of what Roma Surrectum II is all about?

RS2: I’m a 58 year old unemployed computer technician at the moment. I have five children, one of whom still lives with me (a 19 yr. old son, Matthew). I’m a Roman Catholic, and in my twenties began a lifelong study of theology, the early Church, and Roman history as a hobby. I’ve always been interested in archeology as well, and I’m a voracious reader of books on just about all subjects. I don’t have a college education, as I grew up during the tumultuous Vietnam years and was required to serve in the U.S. Navy, but I have a pretty broad education simply because I read on a lot of subjects. My expertise in the area of computers is ’self-taught’ as well. I was never much of a ‘gamer’ until a few years ago when my son urged me to give RTW a try. I found it confusing and frustrating at first…and initially gave up on it. But after leaving it shelved for a few months I gave it another try…this time, determined to figure it out. I feel in love with the game after that for a number of reasons. My love of anything ‘Roman’, and simply the play style of RTW. I’ve been hooked ever since.

Macedonian Hiera Ile (General's Bodyguard)

MR: What’s your expertise when it comes to modding? Which areas would you say that you are especially proficient in?

RS2: Although I’ve dabbled in just about all aspects of modding except creating models, I’d have to say the area I am most proficient in is the coding of the game….the things that make it ‘tick’……figuring things out, making things work the way I want them to, tweaking and adjusting, and drawing out of the RTW engine it’s fullest potential.

MR: And related to the above question: what do you personally get out of modding?

RS2: A sense of accomplishment, I suppose. But I think more than anything, since I first started doing this, I have enjoyed working with people from all over the world on a common interest and helping to ‘make things happen’ there. RS2 turned into a very big project…much bigger than I ever imagined it would. But it has been fueled by the ideas and work of dozens and dozens of people who’ve contributed in big and small ways.

Achaian Phalangites (Free Greeks)

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