Illiac Bay: Total War

[Attrebus]

This is the thread for Betony Total War, a mod set during the late 3rd and early 4th Eras of Nirn in the section of Tamriel, its main contient, between 399 3E (when the Usurper Jagar Tharn is deposed) till 15 4E (When the Imperial Aide find the true Heir to the Dragon Throne after the assassination of the emperor and his three heirs apparent).

Tamriel is a land of nine provinces in the early years of the waning time of the Third Era. The Empire has just recoverred from a coup by the Imperial battlemage. While things are slowly getting back on track, there
Theres a few questions one may ask.

First: Why this "Betony" area?
I originally hoped for a Nirn Total War mod for RTW, yet due to both the fact that I knew one would be unable to even HOPE to come close to showing its true nature, that of an empire of almost a dozen races, nine provinces, two autonomous regions, and three other continents, and their inhabitants. Thus, I figured that the setting of The Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall, would be the best setting, that of the kingdoms of both High Rock and Hammerfall as they fought to control not so much the region as the Anumidium, a massive robot used by the first Emperor when he succeeded in bringing order to the continent and forming the Empire. There are seven factions playable, Sentinel, Orsinium, Alik'R, Daggerfall, Wayrest, the forces of Mannimarco (the Lich King of Worms), and the kingdom of Anteclaire; and ten non-playable factions, Normooth, Phrygias, Kairou, Dak'Fron, amongst other smaller principalities of the regions.

Two: What makes this one so different from any of the other mods based on ahistorical or fantasy realms?
Here, I plan on using religion to represent the three main races of the region, the Bretons, Osimer (Orcs) and Redguard. Each religion would be representative of the people there, including their government and customs. To fully exploit a province, one needs the proper governing type there. For instance, the Redguards (hailing from Alik'R and Sentinel) will be unable to train the Ansei (Sword-Singers) in places where their customs and government have not taken hold.
Also, because I hope to use Barbarian Invasion, there will also be ample room for historical wars as found in the Elder Scrolls series, including the War of Bend'r M'hak from 401-406 3E when forces from Skyrim and High Rock clashed against each other for some time. Here, I hope to use the Nords as a mini, non-playable faction which invade at the appropriate time and work similar to the Golden Horde did in Medieval: Total War, destabilizing the region should a faction get too powerful.
In addition, events in other provincse, such as the War of the Blue Divide, and the border wars between Valenwood and Elsywer shall be made known to those in Betony.

In addition to that, while not official lore, the events as put down in unofficial Lore from Hearthfire, 431 thru Sun's Dusk, 433 3E shall be touched upon in such notes as well, including:
The appearance of Azura and Sheogorath at Lord Darius Practus' estate in Cyrodiil
The destruction of Snowhawk
The Morning Star Parade
The Blue Dawn
The House Rebellion and Morrowind Civil War
Amongst others

Three: Will there be a type of senate in some form?
I hope to somehow implement such, using the Cyrodiilic Empire as the Senate faction if possible, and including EVERY faction in the game as part of it, except for the Lich King's (Mannimarco') and those of King Gortwog of the Orsimer, seeing as how the Lich King is openly hostile to the Empire and Gortwog is not officially recognized.

Four: How many turns will the campaign be approximately?
588 turns is the number I hope to get from it, with one turn equalling a month.

Five: About how many units will there be?
I hope to have approximately 30 units per race, and three or four unique units per faction for the playable ones, so I'll estimate about 105 or so unique units, with each faction having its own skin. Also, I hope that maybe 15-20 mercenary types ranging from Bosmer rangers, to Altmer controlled Goblin hordes, and including Nordic Reavers and even the Imperial Legions.

Six: Assuming things to as planned, how long do you expect this to take?
At LEAST nine months till a possible beta release maybe, and maybe a full year or so till a non-beta release.

Seven: Are there plans for a banner?
Yes, there are, and the map below me is what I hope to use as the banner in some form.


Editted: Reworded entire post, added some questions/answers.

[Attrebus]

Is there noone else interested?

[HalfThere]

Don't expect a quick reply. This isn't a very quickly moving board. Also, you should read the 'starting a mod' sticky. It contains a lot of useful information. For instance, beyond the new map what sort of worthwhile features will your mod have? We should want to play it, even if we don't know a thing about the Elder Scrolls world. Also, change the topic title to be more specific.

[Attrebus]

Ah, alright then, thank you, I forgot to read the stickies, and didnt realize the title could be changed.

[Justiciar]

I'm interested. I haven't got any of those skills needed for a new mod, however, but would be willing to help in any way possible.

[Attrebus]

Great, I got another from another site. I'll try to set up a page with stuff ASAP, and get everyone together there.

[edyzmedieval]

Wow, nice idea. Good luck!

[Samurai Waki]

Well I'm horrible at Modelling, so I'll leave that to the professionals, but I could do scripting.

[Attrebus]

Alright, slight update, it seems I cant find a way to edit the campaign map at the least as of yet, so unless I can do so, its at a standstill.

Besides the TiME v.5 campaign editor (which doesnt work for me) are there other utilities that make campaign making easier?

[Samurai Waki]

I think you should gather your resources and modders and wait for MTW2.

[Attrebus]

That might be best.

Guess we got plenty of time for concept and such then.

And I just realized something....would it be possible to have a female ruler in a kingdom (and have it work properly on the family tree/battlefield?)

[Justiciar]

I hope so.. but in all honesty, I doubt it. I suppose you could have a trait for faction leaders along the lines of "Lord Consort" suggesting that it's his wife that holds all the power, and he's just her kamikaze walking spermbank or something. Waiting for M:TW 2 would be a good plan, aye.

[snevets]

and he's just her kamikaze walking spermbank

Whoa.

[Samurai Waki]

I don't know what kind of scripting features MTW2 would allow, given the history of CA I would say that it isn't likely you'll be able to mod in women as rulers. However, it may be possible to use a trigger that allows for a female ruler, I'm not quite sure yet, as MTW2 hasn't come out, and we can only speculate. Given the amount of time you have to get information, you might want to make 2 different scenarios just in case you can't mod in women as rulers.

[Seasoned Alcoholic]

Alright, slight update, it seems I cant find a way to edit the campaign map at the least as of yet, so unless I can do so, its at a standstill.

Besides the TiME v.5 campaign editor (which doesnt work for me) are there other utilities that make campaign making easier?

Try these topics in the Scriptorium if you haven't already for campaign maps:

In progress: Editing the campaign map by Duke John, various

Making a new campaign map by Myrddraal

How I make my maps~ by BDH

[Attrebus]

Thanks Seasoned Alcoholic. I'll look through those links shortly.

[Myrddraal]

If you want the thread title changed, give me a PM Good luck

[kburkert]

I dont mind helping, i dont know anything about skinning but im a good historian and i could design the units for the skiners to use. I also know someone who said he was good at modding the campain map. If you want my help email me at kburkert@hotmail.co.uk