The primary focus of the mod is to improve historical realism. Current Version: 0.5,2; Last Update: June, 2008. The end of the Great War brought with it the. A great many of my battles end with a hemispherical (against a corner/terrain) or circular firing squad pouring lead into enemy units who can neither reform themselves nor retreat. For all of the Total War series's faults, this particular absurdity does not occur in CA's works.

It doesn’t matter how hardcore you think you are, somewhere inside of you is a big soft centre. We all have one, even death metal fans, most of whom might well deny owning a Carpenters album, but were you look through their music collection you’d likely find one or two furtively catalogued between Cannibal Corpse and Cathedral. Likewise for every hundred hours logged with Command: Modern Air / Naval Ops, a wargamer will have seen hundreds more lost over the years to Command & Conquer and its derided ilk. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.

It’s ok, I’m not going to tell anyone about your past or present guilty gaming pleasures. No-one need know that at weekends you like nothing better than to wash your floor-length locks, put on a flowery shirt and lead the GDI to world domination while humming along to Please Mister Postman..

Thankfully there’s now a way you can extricate yourself from ridicule should your dirty little secret ever become public knowledge - by a process we call “pre-emptive augmentation”: taking all of your chart-topping RTS confections like Company of Heroes and Sudden Strike and applying them with realism modifications; fan-made files that range from simple stat tweaks to full-blown total conversions that aim to transform a previously light and frivolous gaming experience into something altogether heavier and more realistic.

Realism mods have been around for as long as fans have wanted more authentic experiences from their games. Consequently there are plenty of them around - more than could be reasonably covered in one sitting. This article then constitutes the first part in what will hopefully be a series, exploring some of the more essential and current third-party add-ons for those that want to take their RTS and light wargames to levels of verisimilitude far beyond what was originally intended.

So without further ado, let’s get this redemption party started...

Deterrence (DEFCON)

Many would argue that DEFCON, Introversion Software’s chillingly minimalist game of mutually assured destruction (which was released more than 10 years ago, would you believe), is realistic enough as it is without the need to add more ways to destroy our fragile Earth. The creator of Deterrence thought otherwise as he attempted to “emulate the psychology, mood, and dynamics of first-strike decapitation, mutually assured destruction, no first use policy, credible second-strike capability and “dead hand” retaliatory strikes.” It’s fair to say that he’s been largely successful in his efforts, having added in ballistic nuclear submarines with long-range SLBMs, cluster-nuke MIRVs, air bases equipped with anti-ship weapons, reconnaissance satellites (with optional EMP) and a doomsday device. Essentially what the mod does is go over with a highlighter the tagline of the original release: Everybody Dies.

Camillo Realism (Cossacks: Back to War)

Despite the appearance of a 2016 sequel some ten years since the release of the last game in the series, not a great has fundamentally changed from Cossacks to Cossacks. It’s still essentially a clone of Age of Empires, only with gunpowder, bright tunics and an impressive number of units allowed on screen. Back to War, the second standalone expansion to the original game (released in 2002), represents in many respects the high point of the series - though perhaps not in terms of realism, which is why Camillo Realism is such a worthwhile addition to seek out.

Unless you’ve played Back to War to excess and tired of its arbitrary balances you might not appreciate the effort that has gone into Camillo Realism, but it offers a vast array of tweaks to resource and unit values and creation timers, not so much to totally distort the game away from its RTS foundations, but enough to move it more in line with then-stablemate Sudden Strike (which, incidentally, is also due a sequel). There’s less of a distinction between the militaries in the game, but range and damage are enhanced, making positioning much more tactical.

Spearhead (Company of Heroes 2)

Company of Heroes is a curious series: supremely tactical to a degree unlike any RTS before it, but one that in terms of realism is barely any more evolved than Command & Conquer. Company of Heroes 2 especially, with its emphasis on esports and arena gameplay, often has the feel of a frenetic boardgame rather than a wargame - great fun, of course, but lacking in the weighty consequence that many of us enjoy the better episodes of the old Blitzkrieg titles.

Spearhead, very much in the spirit of the old Blitzkrieg mod for the original Company of Heroes (not to be confused with the aforementioned Blitzkrieg games), essentially makes factions a little more rounded with many building restrictions lifted and combat actions made potentially more devastating. Weapon ranges are increased, ordinance is likely to impart high damage and armoured units have more of the characteristics of their real world counterparts, making German tanks something to be feared rather than tackled head on.

DarthMod (Empire: Total War)

Empire may not be foremost among the Total War games, but it was nonetheless a watermark evolution of the series that laid the foundations for the likes of Shogun 2 and Warhammer. Best of all was that its campaign and AI shortcomings inspired the development of DarthMod, which for years offered a stunning renovation of the original game that is nothing less than essential. Not only does the mod offer a challenging AI opponent, add new units, offer realistic unit movement speeds and firing ranges, increase army sizes to realistic levels and improve unit textures, everything is handled via a neat launcher that allows you to select the components that matter to you.

Darth went on to create “supermods” for Napoleon and Shogun 2, but neither were as extensive or as fundamental to the playability of the base game. If you have a copy of Empire, fire it up and remind yourself of its limitations, then install DarthMod and admire the wealth of improvements.

That's all for today - if you'd like to see more, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Introduction

Originally announced back in the beginning of October, the modding team Frontline 1918 is currently in the process of creating a total conversion mod, entitled Battlefield 1918/2 for the popular first person shooter, Battlefield 2. The Wargamer was lucky enough to snag an interview with lead modder and project coordinator of this comprehensive mod to get a more detailed look at Battefield 1918/2.

The Interview

The Wargamer (WG): Andreas, could you describe your role with the Frontline 1918 team (FL 1918)? How did you become involved with this project? What?s your background?

Andreas Koch: I am known as Andreas ?Gamma? Koch. I am 33 years old, married, and have a little boy. At the moment, I am the leader of Frontline 18, responsible for coordination of the project and public relations. I am working for the whole project, especially for the further development for BF1918/2.

WG: What can you tell us about the previous projects the Frontline 1918 team has worked on? I understand that first person shooting isn?t the only modding your team has been doing.

AK: We started BF1918 in summer 2003, as a mod for BF1942. As the name suggests, the central topic was the Great War. Quite quickly, we developed our historical database, which now has more than 400 articles. In late summer 2004, Leonidas? mod ?The Great Trench War? for Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour was incorporated into the team. After seeing how impressive Battlefield 2 was, we agreed to start work on a mod called BF1918/2. Also, we are currently working on ideas for a mod for the upcoming Civilization IV. So we are currently working on six projects: BF1918, the History Database, The Great Trench War, BF1918/2, the Frontline 18 Website itself and the Civilization IV mod.

WG: Can you give us an overview of your current project, Battlefield 1918/2? How will the Battlefield 2 version of Battlefield 1918 compare to its original: What will we recognize from the Battlefield 1942 version, what will be changed?

AK: In September 2005, we released a proof of concept version of BF1918/2. This version marks the starting point for all further developments of the mod on BF2. The so-called ?Airshow? was the first ?real? (ie including custom content) mod for BF2. With more than 50,000 downloads and 1500 players (in the first month alone) we are the number one mod for BF2.

Based on the already released proof of concept, we will make more and more content and gradually move to a total conversion. While we work towards this goal, we will release several more versions of the mod to keep the public up to date. The early versions of the mod will be similar to the original BF1918 on BF1942, but we have some big plans for the future. The central topic for the upcoming versions will be the bitter trench warfare of the Great War. We will try and retain the good features of BF2 and BF1918, but at the same time add our own fresh ideas, like the recently announced flare guns.

WG: Could you describe how the game compares historically to Frontline 1918s other projects? How does it compare to other historical shooters in terms of accuracy, realism, etc.?

AK: Within the limits of making the game gun, we are trying to keep the mod as historically correct as we can. Fun and teamwork have always been central considerations in our concept. All weapons, vehicles and planes will be historically correct, but we will not forget that we are making a game. Battlefield was and is a tactical arcade shooter, and it will not loose this touch.

WG: Will Battlefield 1918/2 include the same emphasis on teamwork as Battlefield 2 has? Can we expect the same style of game play as Battlefield 2 but with World War I weapons/technology?

AK: As I said above, teamwork has always been an important consideration in BF1918. Many of our maps can be played in different ways, but the easiest way to win is to use teamwork. Canon clear the way, tanks attack with air cover, and infantry take and hold positions. Rambos will enjoy themselves, but overall victory can only be achieved with teamwork. Personally, I like the squad system of BF2. We will have something similar, later on. Also, a modified commander mode will be a part of BF1918/2.

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