Age of Darkness mod for Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots

Age of Darkness is a mod set in the historical period spanning the two world wars of the 20th century. Unlike most WW2 mods, it is meant to place great emphasis on the following:

• The role of oil in the first half ot the 20th century (modern weapons such as tanks and battleships consume a fair deal of oil. Oil-producing regions produce additional armies on CtW)
• The struggle for supremacy between liberalism, fascism and communism
• Psychological warfare and propaganda (score points may determine the performance of your civ - low scores may result in successful infiltration and riots by enemies in your cities)
• Mechanisation vs "horse & bayonet" armies- rifle infantry and cavalry will still be around, but their position, secure in the early game, will be increasingly challenged as the game goes by.
• Better atmosphere - buildings and units designed are to lend an atmosphere more appropriate for the period, spanning over twenty factions based in every continent of the modern world.

What Age of Darkness is not:

• A glorification of militarism or war - All wars are, regardless of who wins, evil. The only thing that can be found good in war is the individual will to survive and excel and to improve oneself, but Age of Darkness will involve a much edgier experience: tanks will appear battle-scarred, human soldiers will look exhausted and grubby, and the technologies all revolve around repression and treachery.
• A feel-good Americanocentric game - the fact still stands that it was not a simplistic contest of "good versus evil", but the result of several political blunders and outright naked imperial ambition of those who fought on the winning side. In the fight to defeat Nazi Germany, the Western Alliance had to make many decisions whose side effects are still being felt today, such as the annexation of Iraq and Iran during the war, or the muzzling and internment of ethnic minorities deemed a threat.
• Another generic WW2 mod for Rise of Nations - less emphasis is being placed on the Western campaign of the Second World War - or the weapons used (we are not Age of Tanks and never will be), and more into exploring how it all came about - from the humiliation of Germany to competition between European and Asian nations in the aftermath of the First World War, resulting in the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, the winter War  and the Spanish Civil War, which definitely set the stage for a greater and more escalated international conflict. A CtW detailing events such as the Gran Chaco War and American occupation of Latin America is also being envisioned.

PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
Age of Darkness 1.0 - covers the British, French, and German factions of WW1 - simple units, consisting of rifle infantry, cavalry and artillery as well as the conflict's signature armoured units added. Buildings to be introduced are the armour plant and the arsenal, and the very first wonder, the SIGINT centre [1].

(18/2/13) This year's Chinese New Year has left me in a thoroughly existentialist mood. I might go forward and finish off the German LK model which I created 3 months ago. I might even create some mockups, but do not expect anything so soon.
On the other hand, Rise of Kings continues to grow from strength to strength. One of our rejected units is being recast as part of the cavalry for Age of Darkness. Hopefully that is a good sign.
(1/2/13) Went through some vids online by players of Men of War. Makes me feel that tanks and artillery will be having their range increased, but their rate of fire nerfed.
Meanwhile, we have started compiling a Bahasa Malaysia version of Age of Darkness Wiki, which is to aid us in developing a Malay version soon.
(25/1/13) Despite having failed to create a model from scratch to service Rise of Kings and Kings & Conquerors, I feel confident that I have discovered a means of creating cavalry units without a distorted texture. It remains to be seen, though if the new models we have envisioned for Age of Darkness can really fall through, as one of the largest problems we face is deciding what units to be added, since up till the end of the Second World War, a wide range of weapons from pistols and carbines all the way to lances and swords were used from horseback.
(10/1/13) Much to our delight, we have managed to create not only a working cart, but one with movable wheels as well. For more information, see Moddb.com
(28/12/12) 6 "Ages" are being inserted - they are not ages, but are now technologies - the Spring community hates Age of Empires, so we have to do away with ages. Instead, players now begin with Industrialisation, and have to work their way out towards Mass Manufacturing, Mechanisation, Electronics, Synthetics, and finally, Nuclear Power.
(27/12/12) German units and some artillery units are now fully modelled but not skinned yet. All that's left is a horse-drawn supply cart but until Rise of Kings progresses we might not be able to provide anything yet.
(22/12/12) We are currently developing some tank units for Germany to round out Age of Darkness 1.0, but it might be some time before it can be released.

• AXP1: Blood Red Dawn - USA, Poland added, along with Soviet Union: only simple no-mech units [1]
• AXP2: Isonzo - Italian and Austrian troops featured, covering all pre-Fascist units. Politics changed. [1]
• XAP2b: White Terror - covers Finland, Nazi Germany and Russia. Spain and Portugal introduced [2-4]
• AXP3: Apres Moi ...  - German and British air units added, this covers most "mainstream" units.
• AXP4: Blitzkrieg! - Germany and several other Western factions, this should include France, the Oslo Group and the Netherlands, as well as armoured units of this conflict [2-3]
• AXP5: Northern Expeditions - China and Japan added. Technologies should be complete by now.
• AXP6: Days of Infamy - Japan, USA expanded, consisting mostly of infantry and armour.
• AXP7: Powder Kegs - Introduce Turks, Iranians and Iraqis.
• AXP8: Pax Versalica - Complete any and all WW1 units for all existing factions. We officially declare Age of Darkness to the world.
• AXP9: When Cobras Smoke - Brazil is added to the game. American armour added.
• AXP10: Black Dragons - Japan and China introduced. Japanese armour added.
• AXP11: Alamein - Italian armour added to the game. German and British armour further added.
• AXP12: Triumvirs - effects of politics expanded. Some wonders. Argentina, USA and Spain added and expanded.
• AXP13: Red Christmas - Soviet units expanded, and Germany is further expanded. Another wonder. Perhaps we need to introduce a wonder one step at a time.
• AXP14: Marte - Italian army, pre-1943. Greece enters the game. Possibly either Bulgaria or Romania make an appearance.
• AXP15: Battle of the Atlantic - naval forces are revamped in full. Introduce the E-boat and Argentina
• AXP16: Overlord - further expansion of USA and Britain. British faction should be fully skinned and ready.
• AXP17: Rise of Quisling - expand Oslo Group, Romania, Bulgaria, Austria and Argentina. Introduce the Nahuel.
• AXP18: ... Le Deluge - rebalance and finish off any other loose ends.
• AXP19: Atomic Age - introduce the Domination CtW. Age of Darkness is finished.