Hi there, as you saw in the title, i’m working on a modpack to add the civilization Mesopotamians to the game.
First i must disappoint you that i haven’t figured out (re)modelling of buildings and units in Age of Mythology yet. I do plan to learn to expand the modpack.
For now i’ve created a pantheon of three major gods, and on paper i also have a fourth ready. Besides that i have reorganised some of the human units. I’m offering you a new civilization with a new pantheon as a new experience, a new flavor to the game.
There will be three major gods Dumuzid, Nintur and Marduk. With each we pass through different times in Mesopotamia.
In general the Mesopotamian civilization is setup as followed: in the towncenter you have access to a regular villager (inbetween an egyptian and greek one) and a Mes Gala which is a lamenting priest to support your units and gather relics.
When you reach the classical age you gain access to the Kisri Barracks, here you train military from your serf caste that are conscripted or forced to fight your battles. The mainline of the Mesopotamians is archers. In the Kisri Barrack you will find the Kisri Spearman, Kisri Light Archer and the Shaknu Hero. The Shaknu is the kisri (serf) captain. The Mesopotamian archers have longer range but are weaker. Only the Shaknu is more durable and specialises in myth units, he is limited available and his limit increases by 1 per age to a max of 4 to support your archer squads.
After the archaic age with each age you unlock a hero in the towncenter. Each major god has a different serie of 3 major heroes to offer. Each is a unique king from Mesopotamian history where each major god focusses on their era. Some have utilities, some have strength or durability. They will add to the strength of your army.
In the heroic age you gain access to three new buildings. The Royal Barracks which offers you counter units. The Duuru Stronghold that offers you siege units. And the Charioteer Workshop that gives you access to ofcourse chariots.
In the Royal Barracks you will find the Kisjr Sarruti, that is a medium infantry unit mostly focused on tanking pierce damage and countering archers and light foot units. To help your perspective, the Mesopotamian armies rarely fought field battles, they mostly went for fullfledge sieges to their capabilities. In their time siege weapons were fought through rams and handweapons. To counter siege the Royal Barracks gives you Pethallu, a medium cavalry that counters siege and horsearchers/chariots. Thus the Royal Barracks is also very usable against Mesopotamian enemies.
From there on we go to the Duuru Stronghold. The Mesopotamian siege offers portable rams and… flamethrowers. As in throwing projectiles, not byzantine flameblowers. These flamethrowers throw ignitable projectiles that do a lot of damage to buildings. They are your weak but mobile ranged siege unit.
Also available in the heroic age are the Armoured Archers, you can find them in the Kisri Barracks. Basically they are your heavy archers. As i was telling you earlier about Mesopotamian siege. The Mesopotamians had their own ways to fight a siege battle, they found out long shields with a roof or arched sideways were very usable in a siege to protect yourself from enemy projectiles. Therefor you will find the Mesopotamians have a very ranged and heavy pierce armor focused foot military. Especially the Armoured Archers because they counter archers and do damage against buildings. Combine them with the Kisjr Sarruti and you have a fine raiding army to force your enemy into a checkmate.
I hear you thinking, there is a third building that you unlock in the heroic age, right? Yes the workshop to mobility, the Charioteers Workshop. Here you have access to a Light War Chariot and the Light Chariot Archer. Through upgrades in the mythic age you can make them heavy and champion. But initially they are early chariots, great for mobility if your foot army can’t keep up because the Pethallu can’t deal with heavy infantry.
Now you know the military and the variable 3-heroes system. Besides that the economy is organised like the egyptians and greeks, a building for every resource. For favor gathering we build a Statue of Worship where your villagers can pray at. And each age grants you another statue. From here on we can go into the Pantheon.
The first major god is Dumuzid, he stands for the cradle that is Sumeria. Dumuzid is the farmer god, he provides you with sheep, grains and utility-heroes. With a strong economy and the handy heroes you can gain the upperhand.
To introduce you further to the pantheon, every Mesopotamian major god has 6 unique major gods to further specialise or broaden the gameplay throughout the ages. Each minor god is a next step in the story or myth of the major god that you are playing. Yes as you just read, there are no overlapping minor gods in the pantheon of this modpack.
Dumuzids minor gods:
In the Classical age Dumuzid picks between Ishtar-Inanna the goddess of divine law and Ningeshtinanna the scribe of the underworld. Ishtar and her lion aid your heroes. While Ningeshtinanna gives you an economic bonusses, aids your archers and grants you a creature of the underworld.
Then in the Heroic age you get to choose between An the god of the earth and kingship and Ninazu the warriorgod of the netherworld. Here An and his bull aid your economy. Instead Ninazu gives you a dragon and aids your archers and heroes. At that point you can go for numbers through economy or scary archers.
After that the Mythic age will feel like a choice of endgames. Between Enbilulu the god of civil engineering and Shamash the allseeing sungod. Do you pick Enbilulu who offers you the guardians Lahmu and defensive and eco bonusses. Or do you choose for Shamash who grants you the scary Humbaba Ogres and shows you how to build stronger chariots, and also offers you a defesive bonus.
Nintur the mothergoddess, she goes by many names as do many other Mesopotamian gods. Because people, tribes and civilizations came and went. And each did bring their own language and customs. Nintur is the mother because she advised humanity to choose to settle down and become civilized. And thus (mesopotamian) humanity did. Besides that her worshippers and her minor god pantheon portray Akkadia and the influences of Elam and the nomadic Gutians that ruled Mesopotamia.
Nintur gives you economic bonusses and faster Pethallu. With her bonusses it may be easier to focus on expansion. Her minor gods will give you the means how, over land or water. Each age she offers one minor god on land and one for water. For you to choose which child or supporter you pick as minor god to worship.
In the classical age with Nintur you get to choose between Enki the god of water and Enlil the god of storms. Enki gives you naval bonusses and lets you gather favor faster. While Enlil offers you better archers, faster gold gathering and a strong myth unit.
The heroic age offers you Sin-Nanna the god of the moon, or Ningal the goddess of the swamp. The god of the moon aids your heroes and navy. While the goddess of the swamp boosts your archers and gives you a variety of bonusses and a flying myth unit.
In the Mythic Age Nintur should be feared, she can choose Tishpak the god of pouring water who helped her create the great flood. He grants you a demonking, aids your spearmen and heroes with his waterbarriers to protect them. And on the opposite we have Nergal the chthonic god of war. Who offers you literally all kinds of weapons for your military and your archers will be visibly scary on the battlefield. And he grants you access to his lethal chameleon from the underworld.
The third and for now last major god is one that most of us are familiar with, enter Marduk of Babylonia.
In the 17th century (BC) we have Hammurabi of Babylon. In his times Enlil and Shamash were mostly worshipped. In the late times of Babylon in the 5th century (BC) just after the fall of Assyria’s Ashurbanipal, we have Nebuchadnezzar (the second) a son of the Chaldean usurpers in Babylon. The Chaldeans assimilated and became one with the culture of Babylon, and with Nebuchadnezzar’s gain of power he said Marduk aided him in his path. Thus he declared the minor god Marduk as of than the allpowerfull god of Babylon and made him the new major god in town.
Marduk’s focus lays in myth units and caravans. And he makes your chariots stronger. In the mythic age he grants you an extra technology, the Babylonian Walls.
In the classical age Marduk offers you the choice between Nabu the god of literacy and lady Zarpanitu the goddess of fertility. Nabu aids your archers and myth units. Instead lady Zarpanitu gives you economic bonusses.
You may enter the heroic age through Ninsar goddess of food or Ninkurra the divine sculptor. Ninsar the butcher offers you non-farming foodupgrades and better weapons for your infantry. Meanwhile Ninkurra who worships minerals she thus offers you strong economic bonusses, from faster building to faster favor gathering and faster gold gathering.
In the Mythic age we see the final of the story of Marduk, where he shows a more dark side through the goddess Uttu of weaving and spiders and the goddess Ninti the goddess of life and medicine who experienced a dark path. Uttu makes your Armoured Archers more tanky and aids your villagers, but she also delivers a scary myth unit that steals life. Meanwhile Ninti offers you her healing powers but also drops off a demonking by delivery and aids your chariots.
I’ve tried to put a lot of story in the Pantheon according to the myths. And to keep the minor gods very diverse to make the civilization more unique, and to let them play into their military build or to let you choose economic upgrades. This post is just to showcase that this mod is far in the works. Internally it is far done, i’m working on bugfixes which might take a while. Do mind again, as disclaimer i’m not a model-modder (yet) who can make new buildings or completely new units. i will do my best to add more in the future to this mod.
And as last a wink, i will also add a fourth major god called Assur.. which all of you probably know as Assyria. That will be a major god solely focused on expansion and military. Bringing military revolutions like siege towers, sebucherans halberdiers and scythian mercenary horse archers. With a favorsystem based on towncenters.
Don’t forget to tune in to the old Age of Empires 1 soundtracks. https://youtu.be/Cmq-ZWGlvko?si=6WinLlfvpreLeppZ
Greets from Stelphy (JuryMusic777863)