A mod for slow empire building?

[Rosacrux]

As you might've guessed, I am kinda into empire building... alot. I would love a MOD where every faction has only one (number:1) province and struggles to claim the "rebels" all around it. And then, only then, can this faction establish relations with the rival factions, thus beginning the "real" game.

Of course, besides leaving every faction with one single province, this MOD would require some fine-tuning of the units, fiddling with the borders, and other minor or not adjustments. And a broader time scale, for it would be quite hard to take on the map in normal time limits given by the original settings.

My question is this: Is there a MOD like this around, or is anyone willing to make such a MOD? I have been messing around myself, but I don't think I am well into MODing...

[Botis]

Dude

It's not quite what you were looking for because there are starting empires roughly correct provinces, but... I grabbed dClare's "Massive Attack" mod which increases unit size for peasants & possibly raises their cost??. I then edited each province to have revolt level of at least 1. This slows down your expansion, and computer AI (Tried it with 2 & most AI players couldn't cope.) Also edited out movement between Flanders & Old Blighty to slow the French Juggernaught. Also integrated someone elses mod with Burgundy in there (sorry can't remember whos it was...). I also changed Almohad AI to muslim expansionist... which I recommend as it makes playing Spain much more interesting.

Moved the start date back to 800 to buy some time! (which had the effect of giving me a (216) -that's negative 226- yr old princess as Spain.... long lived spy...cool.

I'm now playing a game where factions last longer, seem to reappear more often & building an empire is MUCH more challenging. It's not a 1 province start but .... it's more like the game I want to play.


FYI, I would love to be able to also do the following. And am trying to where possible:

-add new events especially random events

-by default have much lower loyalty for generals. ie so if they don't get to do the wild thing with your daughter or get a title, they probably will revolt.

-have new factions that will appear at later stage in the game (eg make a game starting in 700 & have French available after say 900 as a revolter...) maybe custom events would allow that.

-be able to raise armies quicker then make them much more expensive to maintain. - to simluate a feudal levy that was generally raised for 1 campaigning season & disbanded(maybe you'd then just keep hold of elite units & high valour ones).

-I was also toying with the idea of changing barbarian raiders - giving them free, or low cost soldiers from a home province until it is sacked & some improvement is destroyed, after which they are civilised & have to build-up as usual.

-Lower trade income, but lower boat cost. The level of income generated by trade is unbalanced and ahistoric IMO.

Anyway, before I bore you further.

[dclare4]

Hi there...

Unfortunately the scale of the game doesn't really allow for much slowing down. I too would have liked intervening seasons to just grow crops and build up my strength but the lands are just too closely spaced due to the national size land regions and all.

However, I've been playing now with the 'early' period by making all provinces (except ROME!!) have at least 1= rebellion but adding 100-200 to most European provinces. The Elmoheads are really too strong still though and manage to trounce the Spaniards every game. Gotta fix this...

Anyways, the main thing is now I've taken away most of the provinces from HRE, France, England and Italy according to the period. Most of these 'national' sized territories were almost independent nations in themselves owing only nominal fealty to their kings and the Italian city states should only have perhaps one or two cities. Basically (what I rememeber at least), Aquitaine, Brittany, Flanders, Champagne, Lorraine, Provence, Toulouse, most of the middle provinces of the HRE (including Bavaria and Bohemia and Saxony) and Northumbria (w/c has just been ravaged by William the Conqueror and is recovering and smarting from the 'harrying') are now 'rebel' provinces - most of the French provinces have requisite 'rebel' forces - local lords with large private armies. It is now possible to expand your 'influence' either on the Continent or Britain (as England) but not both (w/c I think makes it nice and historical!) while 'bribing' your 'rebel' neighbors approximates in an abstract way expanding your influence over these now unclaimed territories. Northumbria and Aquitaine are now more rebellious than normal.

Also, Burgundy is an active major faction.

Gilbert de Clare

[Botis]

As I recall, the French Kings of the time had only nominal control of their kingdom. So most in rebel hands is accurate.

However, at the start of the period, the German Kings maintained reasonably effective control of the Kingdom (in the early period effectively thru the clergy - but this control was broken in the 1100's in conflict over North Italy & control of bishops both of which the Papacy contested vigorously). Their problem was the Kingdom suffered from frequent revolts - much effort was spent keeping various Dukes & Counts in line. What would be good for Germany would be higher revolt risk & appearance of variuous Ducal factions over time...

I woul like to have a faction for each province & much higher risk of revolt for generals and scions of factions.

Remember the DOS game Medieval Lords? I think it can be downloaded at www.the-underdogs.org It was fantastic & I thoroughly recommend it for anyone who's interested in this period & wants an excellent model of the period.

[dclare4]

Okay, higher revolt risk in the German principalities - got it! I actually am redoing the files so that each faction get fewer start territories with the rest being ruled by local princes. Now France only gets Anjou and Ile de France (Burgundy is now a separate faction) while Brittany, Flanders, Lorraine, Champagne, Provence, Toulouse and Aquitaine are independent and powerfully garrisoned and fortified entities. Similarly Wales, Scotland and Ireland have more than double their defense strengths and Northumbria is not English at the start - the game starts just after William the Conqueror's infamous 'Harrying of the North' following a revolt by the Saxon lords in the North - it took Northern England decades to recover! Also Bohemia, Saxony and Bavaria are now independent kingdoms.

Gilbert de Clare

[Botis]

Does raising the revolt level for a province increase the likelyhood of spontaneous revolt, raise the minimum garrison or does it only apply if it is conquered?

Good call on French territories, although the Capetian King's authority extended only to Ile de France - Count of Anjou was an independent nominal vassal like Toulouse etc.

Germany had seen major revolt & Civil war centred around Swabia & Saxony in the decade prior to 1087. I don't know how far imperial authority extended back into those provinces at that point. From a balance POV makes sense tho.

As I recall,Bohemia became part of HRE later - so good move.

[spmetla]

Just wait till I realise my mod. All of the HRE is much less loyal. There's a lot more rebellions. All the factions start off much more developed and they are all making positive cash(unlike the orignal early denmark). And you start off with less cash.
And I've tweaked everything to a historically correct point but with a few shortcuts for gameplay purposes. I think Gameplay is much harder and that it comes out to be a much more satifising game when you win.

Still playtesting though, should be done at the end of the week.

------------------
"samishika wa nai shitte irukara saigo wa itsumo hitori to"

"I'm not lonely Because I know I'll be Alone at the end"

email me at: Luftwaffle@mad.scientist.com

[Botis]

...or you could always give me a pre-release version of your mod! It sounds GOOD!

[Grell]

I have been working on something very similar to what you have been discussing and have posted the result in the next thread. I set it in 1275 when the HRE had begun to crumble. I didnt like the way some nations started off with huge amounts of provinces and without much bother conquered eveything in sight.

I had a lot of fun with this "mod". Italy is quite hard (for a change), I managed to get Tuscany, Milan and Venice but abandoned Crete and Corsica to the neutral rebels. France was kicking arse, but after wiping out my ally, Burgandy was excommunicated, my crusade unit was one turn away from being made when the bloody pope died and made it moot. A few years later Burgundy re-emerged got Tolouse and the killed the last French heir in battle wiping out the French, who had gone from world leader to nothing in about 20 years, an English crusade had managed to re-take Aquitane. Nice under-dog comback for Burgundy who I had been trying to assist all along. Give it a try and tell me what you think.

Tom.

[Paladin]

Botis:

Quote Remember the DOS game Medieval Lords? I think it can be downloaded at www.the-underdogs.org It was fantastic & I thoroughly recommend it for anyone who's interested in this period & wants an excellent model of the period.[/QUOTE]

Oh, yes, the memories. That game kept me quite entertained but I got bored after a while because it was so easy to beat the computer. I remember starting off with one province and then ended up taking over the whole mpa without much problem.

I remember trying to get in touch with the "author" of the game but SSI had so many complaints with the functionality of the program that they quickly discontinued it.