Potentior

"Potentior" was written and directed by Nicholas Werner, a Stanford student in film & media studies. He is also part of the How They Got Game group at the Stanford Humanities Laboratory.

This ambitious movie traces the events of the final major battle in the Gallic Wars, the epic struggle between Julius Caesar and Vercingetorix focused on the siege of the fortified town of Alesia. At over 40 minutes in length, the movie can afford to dwell on many details and stratetic aspects of the battle, as well as covering all the major events of the siege.

Even more remarkable, it makes use of the Rome: Total War game engine, and thus serves as one of the few examples of an ambitious machinima project that makes use of a real-time strategy game. As this game is geared largely towards display of large-scale battles, Werner utilized a number of techniques and tricks to bring the focus down to the level of the main characters. At the same time, the strategic focus of the game allowed for scenes involving a "cast of thousands." -- Henry Lowood

"Set during the last major battle of the Gallic Wars, Potentior follows the opposing generals Julius Caesar and Vercingetorix as one tries to subdue Gaul entirely, and the other fights to get it back. Roughly 40 minutes long, the film is a both a full recreation of the battle and an examination of the nature of war and conquest as understood by the people closest to it. Made entirely with the "Rome: Total War" graphics engine, Potentior marks one of the first entries of RTS gaming into the world of machinima, and is one of the longest single pieces to yet exist in the medium."--http://werner.stanford.edu
Credits
TITLE: Potentior
CREATOR: Werner, Nicholas
GAME: Rome: Total War
GAME DEVELOPER: Creative Assembly
GAME PUBLISHER: t
GAME ENGINE/MACHINIMA TOOL: Rome: Total War
RUN TIME: 40:36
DATE: 2006
PERFORMERS: Foley, Jason; Davis, Galen; Jewell, Cameron; Meisel, Joshua; Vermilion, Kevin; Teitelbaum, Yoni; Hurlbutt, Tom; Lin, Zihan; Tamm, Dharna; Cornute, Christopher