- Myth (computer game) 3rd Party Projects and Personalities -
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==Notable Third-party projects for Myth II==
====Partial and total conversions====
''Projects with several completely new units are considered to be '''partial conversions'''. Even maps with completely new unitsets usually used recycled models, scenery, textures, and sounds; only a few "true" total conversions were ever made. Due to the difficulty of importing new unit graphics into ''Myth'', only a small portion of the thousands of releases featured them.''
*'''Chimera''': The official Myth II expansion pack; its aim was to be a challenge to people who had mastered the main Myth II game.
*'''The Seventh God''': The largest and most expansive project in terms of its long solo campaign and its new graphics, sound and music.
*'''Homeland''': One of the earlier breakthrough single-player projects.
*'''Jinn''': A true total conversion, set in a futuristic [[post-apocalyptic]] alien world.
*'''Bushido''': A total conversion based upon feudal Japan.
*'''Leggo My Myth''': A humorous plugin that replaced Myth units with [[Lego]] equivalents.
*'''Civil War''' and '''1861: Civil War''': Two separate total conversions based on the [[American Civil War]]. A third plugin, [
http://projectmagma.net/bg.shtml '''Blue and Grey'''], was later released with new units and gameplay.
*'''WW2: Recon''': World War II inspired maps featuring modern military units and weapons were, in their day, arguably the most popular Myth maps played online, particularly in ranked play.
*'''WW2: Titans''': Inspired by WW2: Recon, this map-pack was not played a lot, but the unit tagset was used in all future WW2 maps.
*'''The Wild West''': A total conversion set in the [[19th century]] [[United States|American]] [[Wild West|West]].
*'''Discovery''': Multiplayer map that added some new [[medieval]]-themed units to play with.
*'''Sisters of the Blade''': Myth meets [[Xena]].
*'''The Legend of Gor-Ash''': Single-player project exploring the enmity between two warring races of ''Myth''.
*'''Green Berets''': A true Total Conversion released commercially by Take Two. Set during the [[Vietnam War]].
*'''MythChess''': An adaptation of the game of chess to the Myth II engine.
====Outstanding non-conversions====
''The ''Myth'' engine allowed for plenty of creativity apart from unit graphics. The following projects were all notable for their beauty, coherence, creativity, innovation, large scale, game scripting, humor, popularity, enjoyability, or some combination of these.''
*'''Mazzarin's Demise''': A cooperative map series with a plot set in the shadowy past of Myth. Released for both Myth and Myth II.
*'''Dorfball''': A comical sports-oriented map with gameplay resembling [[dodgeball]].
*'''Fetchball''': A comical sports-oriented map with gameplay resembling [[soccer]] or [[hockey]].
*'''Axis vs. Allies''': A modern warfare TC based on WW2 units.
*'''Coming of the Dark''': A series of levels themed as fan-fiction prequels to the events of ''Myth''.
*'''Under Myrkridian Standards''': Award-winning solo campaign.
*'''Throne of the Lich King''': Puzzle-based solo map.
*Several plugins were released allowing one to play through the Myth campaign from the point of view of the Dark forces) including: "Myth II: Broken Cycle" and the minimalistically named "Solo Campaign")
*'''The Northlands''': A simple 'defend the fort' map with units from many total conversions.
*'''Ghol Rugby''': A Myth: The Fallen Lords map-pack, which simulated Rugby.
*'''Bolo''': Myth 2 unitset and maps that convert Myth 2 into a version of the 2D Macintosh computer tank warfare game "[[Bolo (computer game)|Bolo]]".
*'''Giant Fighting Grounds''': Multiplayer map featuring nothing but Giant Myrkridia. Highly addictive due to its style of play, consisting of throwing bombs at opposing Giants' feet (and dodging them), as well as risking one-vs-one lusts.
====Tournament maps====
''Several multiplayer maps were so popular that they were frequently used in [[Myth (computer game)#Myth World Cup|Myth World Cup]] and other tournaments.''
*'''Phoenix Rising''' is the most notable of tournament maps perhaps (at least for its origins) because it was created/commissioned by Bungie for the final round of the ''[[Myth II: Soulblighter Tournaments#Seven_Phoenix_Rising_.28March_1999.29|Seven Phoenix Rising]]'' tournament. The six Heron Guards on this map are named after the six finalists from the tournament.
*'''Creep on the Borderlands''' and '''Keep across the River''' - These two maps were popular maps from the first game that for some reason did not make the cut into Myth 2. They were quickly ported by third parties and are staple tournament maps.
*'''Lichen Unto Death''' - A large map that uniquely included a healing temple - basically a fountain on top of a temple that heals surrounding units periodically. Also included a General with a unique power (initially confusion, in a later version was changed to a small deflection field). The map didn't seem to lose balance with these features, and it's appeared in nearly every team tournament ever held for Myth 2.
*'''Smells Like Blood in Here''' - An indoor maze of a map with surprisingly balanced and interesting gameplay, this map provides a great alternative to the standard maps, and has been a favorite pick for tournaments for as long as Lichen has. One of the very few maps where warlocks have the confusion power instead of the ring of fire.
*'''Shuffle off this Mortal Coil''' - A large map that, like Creep on the Borderlands, divides the map into 4 quadrants, with a river running across one way, and a wall across the other, each with 3 openings/fords. Its dark mesh was made popular after Rolling Rock picked it for his National Myth League tournament, and it became one of the favorites of many later tournament operators, due to its excellent strategic and tactical balance, and interesting mix of units.
*'''The Great Divide''' - A map with several good variations, this one includes huge cliffs, mountain passes, and rocky outcroppings. Trow, soulless, spiders, and mortar dwarves typically reign supreme. The terrain cannot be ignored here and becomes an integral part of the strategy. This makes it a great map to play when both teams are experienced and well-practiced.
*'''The Barrens''' - This map was finished by Rohan just in time for Myth World Cup 2001. Its most notable mesh is the Venice x2 mesh, which makes the gameplay very similar to an allied game on the built in map ''Venice'', with different (wide open) terrain. It is well balanced, as is Venice.
*'''Caer Cadarn'''
*'''Calm Before the Storm'''
====Vaporware====
''Myth'' has its share of [[vaporware]]. The most notable, perhaps, was an early commercial project called ''Daimyo'', an ambitious total conversion set in feudal Japan, that was killed off by its publisher (widely believed to be Bungie). Some parts of the project ended up released in other forms, including "Assassin"; a solo map based on one of the Daimyo projects and ''Seinaru Tochi'' a multiplayer map designed for use with the Bushido units which re-used some of the Daimyo elements from ''Assassin''. The frequency with which projects were announced and disappeared led to the vaporware spoof TRON Total Conversion. TRON generated some controversy as to whether or not it was a serious project, but the intentional sloppiness of its website [
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Keep/6463/] and the outlandish claims in its press release (such as that the entire game engine was being ported to BeOS) made it clear that the project was nothing but an elaborate joke.
====''WW2'' takes over Ranked====
Shortly after its release, ''WW2: Recon'' began dominating the game lists in the ranked rooms of bungie.net. Its sequel enjoyed similar success. While it is undoubtedly true that many were drawn to the unique gameplay of the mod, another large factor in its popularity was that, due to the way the ranking system was set up, a player who played only ''WW2'' could level much faster than a player who played only games of normal ''Myth''. This caused some resentment, and some players switched to the unranked rooms out of frustration. Many players have switched to playing only ''WW2''.
===Map-making teams and Individuals===
==== Former teams and individuals ====
===== Badlands Games=====
This group contained Bungie employees and is credited with work on Myth II: Chimera, the official expansion. Known for creating some of the first and also some of the most beautiful multiplayer maps in Myth's history. Members of Badlands were also contracted to create Myth II's multiplayer levels. Additional highlights include Phoenix Rising, Lichen Unto Death, Dorfball, Smells Like Death in Here, Caer Cadarn and The Great Divide. Bungie employees included Plague (Christopher Barrett), Ferrex (Tyson Green) and Ruiner (Paul Bertone, Jr.).
* [
http://www.badlandsgames.com Badlands Games]
* [
http://www.badlandsgames.com/chimera/ Myth II: Chimera] - the official Myth II solo/co-op expansion
=====Creation Games=====
A large and prolific organization responsible for several total conversions. Major projects included [
http://www.mything.org/maps/readmes/sev ... anual.html ''The Seventh God''], [
http://www.mything.org/maps/readmes/bushido_units/ ''Bushido: Way of the Warrior''], ''Homeland'', and the ''Coming of the Dark'' series. Members included Clem, Ares, and Cydonian along with many others.
=====Men of Rohan=====
Creators of such classics as the very humorous ''Leggo'' conversions, MWC-standard ''The Barrens'' and ''MythWarrior'' - an early conversion. Also well known as skilled Myth II players.
=====Renaissance=====
Members of this group created maps for all 3 of the Myth games; including ''A Broken Arrow'',''Dol Baran (TFL)'',''Throne of the Lich King'',''Traitor of Darkness''.
=====Smiths of Muirthemne=====
An early mapmaking group that released several solo plugins for Myth II. Members of this group later joined Renaissance and then Project Magma.
*[
http://geocities.com/TimesSquare/Dragon/2486 Smiths of Muirthemne]
=====They Might be Mapmakers=====
Lesser known than some of the other mapmaking groups, TMBM created a few multiplayer maps, some solo maps (Stinkies Graveyard) the ambitious Dreamseedz total conversion, and finished/polished up Strangelet's ''Alien Dark Tide'' total conversion (based on the [[Alien (film)|Alien]] series of movies). The group was primarily known for their humor both in maps and online.
=====The Vista Cartel=====
Vista was a Myth II order dedicated to mapmaking, though they are arguably known more for the mapmaking tools and tutorials they created than for their own creations. In mapmaking terms they are probably best known for ''Fetchball'' and their [[magnum opus]], [
http://www.mything.org/maps/readmes/jinn/index.htm ''Jinn'']. Their legacy was revived in 2005 when a fan (Phex) created an update to Jinn for Myth II v1.4+
=====Santa's Head=====
The man who created WWII: Recon, WWII: Titans and WWII: Units, among others. He was also on the Myth III: The Wolf Age development team, and gave some support on creating ''Green Berets''.
=====Clem=====
Colormap expert, and a driving force behind Creation Games, The Mill (see below), MythDev, and FlyingFlip. Also involved in Myth III: The Wolf Age development of map-making tools until recently. Despite his great wealth of talent, Clem is known for his overbearing, condescending, and generally less-than-personable working style.
=====Frigidman=====
Creator of The Mill, which was the largest and most popular Myth mapmaking website/community hub. Also created The Wild West Myth II total conversion.
=====Cydonian=====
Widely considered to be among the best unit-makers, Cydonian was also by far the most prolific, creating the all-new models and graphics for the units in ''Bushido'', ''The Seventh God'', ''1861: Civil War''(later incorporated into ''Blue & Grey''), ''Homeland'', "Pirates of the Caribbean", and many other conversions.
==== Current teams and individuals ====
=====Project Magma=====
The most active current mapmaking team for Myth II (and the only one in this list still producing things for Myth). This group is known for the [
http://projectmagma.net/mazz4.shtml Mazzarin's Demise] map series, and for porting all of the Myth II multiplayer maps to Myth: The Fallen Lords and vice versa. Released ''Special Forces'' and [
http://projectmagma.net/bg.shtml ''Blue & Grey'']( a civil war based conversion). The group is also responsible for maintaining and updating the Myth series of games. Notable members include: Ironduke, ChrisP, Myrd, CIK, Infininight, Doobie, and Jagman. It's members also help with the running of the uDogs Hotline Server - hl.udogs.net - the largest repository of Myth data (many members of Magma are uDogs too).
* [
http://projectmagma.net Project Magma]
* [
http://hl.udogs.net uDogs Hotline Server]
=====The Idiot Mapmaking Collective=====
A group not nearly as well famed as the others on this list, but well known for creating a ''WWII: Recon'' port for ''Myth III: The Wolf Age'' and co-working on ''Sisters of the Blade'' with Creation Games. One of the few groups to have recently developed maps for Myth III, they are perhaps better known for their classic (and comical) holiday themed maps; ''A Very Idiot Halloween'', and ''A Very Idiot Christmas'', the latter complete with exploding reindeer and snowball throwing dwarves. Idiot projects are currently on hold and most of the group left Myth II for World of Warcraft but the group is technically still together with their last release being the Myth III map-pack in June 2005.
* [
http://www.idiotcollective.com/ The Idiot Map-Making Collective]
=====Flying Flip=====
A Myth III focused group that has been led by Blades and Clem. Currently in the middle of some long-term work after a period of inactivity, the team recently lost Clem. Historically Clem had run the map-making side of things and Blades ran the Myth III coding role. The group's future as map-makers are unknown.
=====Blades=====
Leader in development of Ballistic, a Myth III development tool for Myth III v1.3.x, creator of the now-defunct ''Myth Maps'' map/plugin archive site, and one of the primary people responsible for Playmyth's game server.
=====IronDuke=====
Sparked off and led Myth II Development at Project Magma, as well as providing major contribution to the map-making side of the organisation too.
=====GodzFire=====
Ported a number of units from Myth I to Myth II which were not included in the sequel. This allowed 3rd party map makers to include these units in their work without trying to extract what was needed from the Myth I tags.
=====Clan McCoolness=====
Two rather eccentric mapmakers from Perth, Australia, William Wallet and Da Cid have made two major campaigns (Freedom I and Freedom II), many random multiplayer maps and a few singleplayer scenarios. Currently they are working on a new project named "Rabican's Last Stand", although besides a few snippets of information, it has been rather secret. Recent comments from Will and Da Cid both indicate a possibility of the Project turning into VaporWare. They both frequent the Project Magma forums and Da Cid plays on PlayMyth.net occasionally.
====The Future of Myth Map-Making====
Myth's map-making has been in decline in recent years. The Idiots have been drawn away to other games, as has Clem leaving Myth III map-making dormant. Plans for a new Myth III patch will, hopefully, help to revive this.
Project Magma stated that after having completed Myth II v1.5.2 no major map-maker-oriented updates will be released and the group itself is slowly winding down. Several of Magma's projects (no pun intended) have been cancelled and the remaining ones are delayed. However, this is not the last gasp for Project Magma with more on the way in the form of Special Forces 2, The Siege of Or'Garnen, The Battle for Urbarahz, and Khellek's long awaited Laws of Evil.
=====The Onyx Warlords=====
A newer, unpublished until recently (other than a short three-level demo for TFV) Myth II mapmaking group working on a several large projects; The Fallens' Vengeance (TFV) and Carlinho's Greek Tagset, the former being a Myth II campaign advertised as being as epic in size as a "Myth 4", and the latter a Greek total conversion. In October 2006, the Onyx Warlords released two solo plugins: Grave Tidings, and The Nine vs. The Fallen Lords.
The Onyx Warlords are led by Horus (the groups creator, and author of TFV), Graydon (the lead designer), and A-Red. Other notable team members are Pyro, Souly, Plague, Zeph, Carlinho, Ar (aka The Helmet), oogabooga, and Jagman (oogabooga and Jagman are also members of Project Magma).
* [
http://www.onyxwarlords.com/ The Onyx Warlords]
====!DIE!====
The oldest myth 2 clan to date. With members such as Enigman, evilroot, eilnereus, nosferatu, spacebar and more. They made up the legendary unbeatable team at Raid. Only one of the members still plays the game to date. Also creaters of the ever popular GFG (Giant Fighting Grounds) by enigman.