Suggestion Box

[Taranaich]

I've had a couple of offers from people regarding content for the mod and suggestions, so I thought rather than have the ideas lost in other threads anyone could post their thoughts and ideas here!

These can include units, buildings, characters, traits, ancillaries, events and anything which would make gameplay richer and more interesting. I already have a good number of interesting characters and ancillaries who I'll put in a thread when I have their pictures done, but any input is most welcome for consideration.

[GrimFinger]

Rather than calling the Picts "The Pictish Confederacy," which makes them sound too civilized, rather than as a bunch of tribes that war upon one another, why not call them simply "The Picts," or "The Savage Picts," or "The Pictish Wilderness?"

Outsiders might well lump all Picts together, but the individual Pictish tribes would be distinguishable to other Picts, even if outsiders couldn't tell them apart in all instances. For that matter, why not have some Pictish tribes that look very, very similar to one another, even identical, yet have different stats? This could help to account for why outsiders often lump different tribes of Picts into one generic category.

At least part of the mystique about the endless Pictish Wilderness is that the Picts are only part of what collectively contributes to the mystique and danger of the area. Having not played the base game, before, but as one who may buy the game just to play your mod, I don't have familiarity with how the core game and battle sequences work. Would it be possible to have wild animals that also fight side by side with the Picts? Or which might attack both sides, Picts and outsiders, in a given battle - particularly in a forested area?

I think that the Pictish Wilderness should be an area shrouded in mystery - many mysteries. To enter it, there should be a sense of great trepidation. It is a land of great superstition, and creatures of most any type could be found there, as it should be largely unexplored by outsiders.

If you base the Picts off of North American or South American Indian tribes, then let it be the tribes with their myths come to life, to a large degree. Bring the land, itself, alive, if possible. Perhaps have areas of quicksand. It shouldn't be immediately visible or detectable, and yet cost some troops attacking in Pictish territory. The Picts could be immune to such, since they know the land.

If you include Pictish attacks on other players' holdings/areas, then the Picts should seem countless in number, ceaseless in attacking. No rest from the Picts, especially if they try to reclaim Pictish lands.

Maybe some of the Pictish tribes live in tepees and others live in caves. Having some totems or totem poles for variety's sake could help to set the atmosphere.

[christof139]

In the books and Howard's other writings, the Picts did eventually unite into a large Confederacy, but during Conan's time this was only attempted by an Evil Pictish Shaman type of fellow I do believe, forget the name though.

I think Howard states or implies that sometimes a couple or few tribes of Picts would unite to raid Aquilonia or other Pictish tribes.

The great Confederacy of the Picts came after Conan's time supposedly I do believe.

Chris

[Taranaich]

Rather than calling the Picts "The Pictish Confederacy," which makes them sound too civilized, rather than as a bunch of tribes that war upon one another, why not call them simply "The Picts," or "The Savage Picts," or "The Pictish Wilderness?"

I've thought long and hard about it, and ultimately I think the The Pictish Confederacy is probably the one I'm going with. In addition to Howard calling large groups of Picts confederacy (he says the Wolf Picts were a Confederacy of smaller tribes, for instance), I think calling them something like "The Picts" or "The Pictish Wilderness" makes the Picts look kind of a united front. Calling them the Pictish Confederacy just says that they're a collection of allied tribes of Picts, and allows for independent settlements to be considered "Picts" too.

This is not final, though: I'm planning on doing something similar for the Cimmerians, Aesir and Vanir, but I don't know what the best naming convention would be for them as yet. I might eventually just go back with the simple "The Picts" if I can't get anything worked out for the other nations.

Outsiders might well lump all Picts together, but the individual Pictish tribes would be distinguishable to other Picts, even if outsiders couldn't tell them apart in all instances. For that matter, why not have some Pictish tribes that look very, very similar to one another, even identical, yet have different stats? This could help to account for why outsiders often lump different tribes of Picts into one generic category.

Very much my intention. Each Pictish region has it's own tribe of Picts, who are largely similar, but will have different patterns which would be just a chaotic mess to outsiders, but easily distinguishable to other Picts. Thus we'll have Wolf Picts, Eagle Picts, Hawk Picts etc, in addition to their chosen Braves.

At least part of the mystique about the endless Pictish Wilderness is that the Picts are only part of what collectively contributes to the mystique and danger of the area. Having not played the base game, before, but as one who may buy the game just to play your mod, I don't have familiarity with how the core game and battle sequences work. Would it be possible to have wild animals that also fight side by side with the Picts? Or which might attack both sides, Picts and outsiders, in a given battle - particularly in a forested area?

The Pictish Wilderness will be a dangerous place to be sure: most non-barbarian nations who stray in will suffer casualties from disease, wild animals, poison and natural dangers like quicksand, swamps and gulleys. This will be represented by attrition: every turn an army stands in a Pictish region, their numbers will start to fall as their soldiers are lost to the dangers of the Wilderness. The Picts will obviously not lose soldiers since they know the land: barbarians such as the Cimmerians will lose the occassional warrior, but not to the extent of a civilized nation such as Aquilonia. The only safe places for civilized folk will be forts and settlements, so they must establish or conquer them so they don't lose all their men. Of course, forts are only a temporary measure against the Picts, and as soon as you take a Pictish settlement, you're likely to be crowded with hordes of savages.

Animals will fight with the Picts, either as trained creatures like war wolves and bull apes, or as summoned by powerful shamans like the Ghost Snake and Sabretooth.

[Senta]

great idea for a mod Taranaich! i just only read about it on conan.com

couple of suggestions:

Aquilonian unit: western provinces rangers (as seen in Beyond the black River)

Aquilonian unit: Black Dragons, King's bodyguard.

Pictish unit: bloodcrazed painted berserker type unit?

variety is a key ;) i am not a texturer, but if you need concept art, let me know. especially for Black Dragons.

[Taranaich]

Aquilonia will indeed have rangers, as well as borderers. The Black Dragons will serve as the Aquilonian general's retinue, although more squadrons can be recruited (though at considerable cost to the taxpayer).

The Picts will have some pretty tough units, but the most terrifying of the lot will be the Shark Braves. Shark Picts are generally fanatical and bloodthristy, but certain Shark Picts embark on a rite of passage which requires them to kill a shark: such a warrior would be deadly and formidable indeed!

[Senta]

good stuff, can't wait for it. like i said, if you need any concept art, let me know.

[Galapagos]

I just look forward to this mod,it sounds so wonderful.If you need some help from a noob,you know where to find me...

[Dimeola]

what about legends......the myths of Hyboria.......writeups about the economy, politics, religion.....paint the world in rich hues, immerse us in the splendor. Even and esp the military traditions, strategy and tactics of the kingdoms.

[Taranaich]

what about legends......the myths of Hyboria.......writeups about the economy, politics, religion.....paint the world in rich hues, immerse us in the splendor. Even and esp the military traditions, strategy and tactics of the kingdoms.

Wouldn't you know, I've taken a short break from the skinning to do exactly that!

I'm planning on giving the mod some strong RPG overtones, in that you feel like you're "playing the role" of the faction leader, to help immerse in the world. How you play the game is up to you, naturally, but I think it would be fun to give the generals and captains more character, so you feel more connected to them. There will be a lot of interesting and fun traits, like "enjoys the poetry of Rinaldo (is liked by the people but is a terrible administrator)", "dabbles with the Lotus (reduces certain traits that require concentration) and "prefers buxom women (meaning princesses with the "buxom" trait will be more likely to manipulate him)"

I've been working on biographies and organizing traits/ancillaries for the faction leaders, so that you can either "role-play" as the leader, or even take the role of Mitra, Set, Crom or any other deity to "influence" events if you like. Obviously some characters like Conan and Tarascus are well-established, but some characters will require a little more imagination to realise. I'll be posting a few more previews regarding the faction leaders, religion, mercenaries and special buildings within the month.

[GrnEyedDvl]

Atlantis:

Conan is supposed to be a descendant of King Kull of Atlantis. I dont know if you have read King Kull by Howard or not but its in much the same style. One idea might be to include Atlantis and use the World is Round event.

[Taranaich]

I don't think it would be possible to include Atlantis or the rest of the Thurian Age into the mod, considering the Great Cataclysm changed the entire geography of the world, with Atlantis sinking beneath the waves and the Pictish Isles becoming the Rockies, to say nothing of the Thurian/Hyborian mainland. If everything goes well, I might make a mini "Thurian Age" provincial map with some of the nations renamed (Cimmerians = Atlanteans, Aquilonians = Valusians, Lemurians = Hyrkanians etc) and some new provinces, just as an interesting extra.

Fear not though, Kull and Atlantis will be referenced in the mod in some fashion. The "World is Round" event might be useful for the nameless continents and islands across the sea Conan goes to late in his life, which would be populated by mysterious and eldritch civilizations as yet unknown...

[Helgi]

Just an idea for everyone interested in this mod and hope that Taranaich my like the idea , If you have a copy of the first Conan Book, around page 21; there should be a chapter called "The Hyborian Age, Part 1". Check it out and Taranaich, see if (you Choose or like) you can incorporate that into the mod?

[DaCrAzYmOfO]

Like someone mentioned earlier, the event of losing troops in pictish areas could be portrayed as natural disasters which affect only the unit, and add the plague, furthermore you could also add it to the traits like in europa barbarorum, but you would have to ask them about that

[Taranaich]

Just an idea for everyone interested in this mod and hope that Taranaich my like the idea , If you have a copy of the first Conan Book, around page 21; there should be a chapter called "The Hyborian Age, Part 1". Check it out and Taranaich, see if (you Choose or like) you can incorporate that into the mod?

Oh yes. I'm basing the entire mod on The Hyborian Age essay, treating it as a factual document by the "noted scholar of the Hyborian Age" Robert E. Howard.

Like someone mentioned earlier, the event of losing troops in pictish areas could be portrayed as natural disasters which affect only the unit, and add the plague, furthermore you could also add it to the traits like in europa barbarorum, but you would have to ask them about that

Excellent idea. Since this is my first mod and I'm new, I should probably be more open to borrowing stuff from other mods (with their permission, naturally), but I'd like to try and implement it on my own before asking others. Hopefully I can get it put in myself.

[Spartan198]

I'm an avid Conan fan,so I figured I'd add a few suggestions/corrections -
(1) This might seem a little far-fetched,but since the Hyborian Age took place during the last Ice Age,you might consider replacing elephants with mammoths?
(2) Corinthia,Brythunia,the Border Kingdom,and Hyrkania weren't unified kingdoms,but loose confederations of city-states. How that would play into a Total War faction,I don't really know at the moment (maybe a higher chance of settlements rebelling than in a unified kingdom?).
(3) Personally,Aquilonia always felt more Greco-Roman to me,so maybe compliment its medieval culture with some Greco-Roman elements such as Legionary infantry?
(4) If you want to remain as Howardian as possible,cut Acheron from you list of possible factions. The Acheronean Empire fell some 3 millenia before Conan's time.

If you want a near tell-all of Conan and his world,get a book called "Conan: the Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Savage Barbarian". It'll tell you just about everything REH wrote on everything Hyborian

[Ged]

If you need any ideas for some maps, I found a site which has a fair few maps of the Hyborian World.
http://hyboria.xoth.net/maps/index.htm

[Taranaich]

Greetings SpartanGlory, good to see another fan of big C!

(1) This might seem a little far-fetched,but since the Hyborian Age took place during the last Ice Age,you might consider replacing elephants with mammoths?

I intend to include both. Howard refers to elephants a few times, implying that they're common in the lands of the Hyrkanians, which would mean anywhere west of Turan. Vendhya, Kosala, Iranistan, Turan, Hyrkania and Khitai will all be able to train elephants (Vendhya getting some particularly cool variations). However, Conan has also apparently seen a mastodon as according to Red Nails. Combined with the fact that the Hyborian Age has all manner of prehistoric beasties and it seems reasonable for mammoths to be around. Mammoths will be found in the northern reaches around the Vilayet, available to the Hyrkanians and Hyperboreans. Mastodons are more likely to be found in the Black Kingdoms and Pictish Wilderness.

Corinthia,Brythunia,the Border Kingdom,and Hyrkania weren't unified kingdoms,but loose confederations of city-states. How that would play into a Total War faction,I don't really know at the moment (maybe a higher chance of settlements rebelling than in a unified kingdom?).

There's extremely little information on the politics of these nations. The idea of them being confederacies of city-states is one created by the pastiches and comics, but because Howard explicitly refers to them as kingdoms I'm inclined to think of them as that. I think the idea of Corinthia being composed of city-states is because of a misunderstanding from Rogues in the House: the city Conan is in is referred to as "one of the city-states west of Zamora". On Howard's own map, immediately west of Zamora is Corinthia. While it would seem logical for the city state to then be in Corinthia, why didn't Howard just say so? Therefore, the implication is that the city-state of RitH is between Zamora and Corinthia, but too small or insignificant to be seen on the map.

However, I did like the idea of Corinthia & Brythunia being disunited, so in the mod those two nations will basically be composed of two "allied cities", with two independent cities in their territories. Uniting their territories will trigger an event which will boost the country's military and economy, but of course make them bigger targets for their bigger neighbours, and they're pretty likely to rebel when the going gets tough.

The Border Kingdom is basically a kingdom in name only, as most of the country is populated by outlaws and brigands, although it's no slouch militarily.

Hyrkania will be treated rather like Turan, except the cities will be on the far east, with nomadic tribes in the middle.

Personally,Aquilonia always felt more Greco-Roman to me,so maybe compliment its medieval culture with some Greco-Roman elements such as Legionary infantry?

Aquilonia will indeed have a few Greco-Roman elements, mostly on the campaign map: many buildings, officials and ancillaries will have a rather Romanesque feel. The military seems stolidly medieval, but a few remnants of Acheronian influence can be seen. I'm of the opinion that the Black Dragons and Black Legion are the modern evolution of Acheronian troops, as their version of the Praetorian Guard and Urban Cohorts respectively. Aquilonia will later have legions in the Hyborian Age, so they'll be available when a city and barracks becomes suitably advanced.

If you want to remain as Howardian as possible,cut Acheron from you list of possible factions. The Acheronean Empire fell some 3 millenia before Conan's time.

Indeed it did. The reason Acheron was in the "possible factions" list was because I was toying with the idea of an Acheronian sorcerer like Xaltotun being raised from the dead. Acheronians are apparently still around in not small numbers in the hills and dark places of Nemedia and Aquilonia, so it seemed possible for a resurgence of Acheronian patriotism in the wake of the Aquilonian-Nemedian war. However, I nixed that in favour of the Border Kingdom, I thought it would be better dealing in the "here and now" of the Hyborian Age.

If you want a near tell-all of Conan and his world,get a book called "Conan: the Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Savage Barbarian". It'll tell you just about everything REH wrote on everything Hyborian

I do have that book, it's a very good guide to the character and age, and Roy Thomas does a great job distinguishing the Howard from the pastiches.

[Spartan198]

I don't really have any modding experience or expertise,but I did start putting together a limited unit list for a possible "Hyboria: Total War" mod as kind of a sand box project. If you're interested,maybe I can convey some of my favorites here and you can look them over for ideas?
Also,I have excellent knowledge on military weaponry and equipment used by various cultures around the Mediterranean. If you have any questions,feel free to ask. I'd be happy to share any research with you.
And lastly,Wikipedia has an excellent article on the Hyborian Age that gives a detailed list of various cultures that the Hyborian kingdoms are patterned after. That might be of some use.

P.S. - Be sure to leave the south-eastern kingdom of Meru of your game map,as it was created by L. Sprague de Camp & Lin Carter,not REH.

[Taranaich]

I don't really have any modding experience or expertise,but I did start putting together a limited unit list for a possible "Hyboria: Total War" mod as kind of a sand box project. If you're interested,maybe I can convey some of my favorites here and you can look them over for ideas?

Sure thing, ideas are always good. I've already got a (sort of) unit list done, but I'd certainly be interested in seeing your ideas.

Also,I have excellent knowledge on military weaponry and equipment used by various cultures around the Mediterranean. If you have any questions,feel free to ask. I'd be happy to share any research with you.

Will do.

And lastly,Wikipedia has an excellent article on the Hyborian Age that gives a detailed list of various cultures that the Hyborian kingdoms are patterned after. That might be of some use.

Yup, I have that on the hard drive. It's a good reference.

P.S. - Be sure to leave the south-eastern kingdom of Meru of your game map,as it was created by L. Sprague de Camp & Lin Carter,not REH.

Meru will indeed not be appearing as a faction, neither will Uttara Kuru, Kambuja, Pathenia or anything like that. I *might* include some as regions or settlements to conquer, as even though Howard didn't invent them Uttara Kuru and Kambuja are vaguely Howardian, at least in name.

[Spartan198]

Most of my H:TW units are ripped right out of R:TW,but the following is a list of some of my favorite originals with a short description:

Aquilonia -
Bossonian archers - Lightly armored archers from the Aquilonian province of Bossonia. A number of the Conan stories mentioned the Bossonians as having quasi-legendary archers. They could be recruitable only in Bossonia,like how you could only recruit Rhodian slingers in the areas around Rhodes in R:TW.
Black Legion - Could be used as a field elite,opposite the Black Dragons as King's/General's Bodyguard,with both heavy infantry and cavalry regiments, like the Sacred Band of Carthage in R:TW.
Corinthia --
Levy,Phalanx,& Royal Halberbiers - An alternative to pikemen,using instead halberds over sarissas.
Armored Peltasts - Much like the Heavy Peltasts from R:TW,except they wear light chain or scale mail armor.
Picts --
Pictish Blood Maidens - The Picts are savage,and their women shouldn't be any different. Inspired mainly by Keara Knightly's appearence in the battle at the end of King Arthur.
Pictish Mercenaries - These could be recruitable by any faction (except Cimmeria) sharing a border with the Pictish Wilderness. Think of them like the gladiator units in R:TW. High fighting capacity,but low survivability and no armor.
Turan --
Turanian Light Spearmen - Lightly-armored defensive spearmen along the lines of Town Watch units,but also effective against cavalry with their spears and/or maybe the schiltrom formation.
Turanian Heavy Spearmen - Exact opposite of above. Clad in heavy mail or solid armor,armed with long pikes but limited in defense by the small size of their shields. Perhaps they could have "learned" the pike phalanx from neighboring Roman age countries?

Let me know what you think and I'll try to come up with some more.

[Taranaich]

Good ideas there SG!

Bossonian archers - Lightly armored archers from the Aquilonian province of Bossonia. A number of the Conan stories mentioned the Bossonians as having quasi-legendary archers. They could be recruitable only in Bossonia,like how you could only recruit Rhodian slingers in the areas around Rhodes in R:TW.

Bossonian archers will be in, definitely, and will only be available in the Bossonian Marches either as ZOR or mercenaries, like the Rhodian slingers. They will have pretty decent armour though, this was apparently instrumental in battles against the Shemites: they had longer range, but the Bossonian's better armour and morale turned the battle.

Black Legion - Could be used as a field elite,opposite the Black Dragons as King's/General's Bodyguard,with both heavy infantry and cavalry regiments, like the Sacred Band of Carthage in R:TW.

The Black Legion is split into infantry, cavalry and archer divisions, and can only be recruited in Tarantia, drawing from the cream of Gunderland, Poitain and the Bossonian Marches respectively to fight in the king's personal army. Black Dragons will be the general's bodyguard.

Levy,Phalanx,& Royal Halberbiers - An alternative to pikemen,using instead halberds over sarissas.

I have a halberd unit for the Corinthians called the Sacred Guard, and they'll also have access to regular Halberdiers/Halberd Militia.

Armored Peltasts - Much like the Heavy Peltasts from R:TW,except they wear light chain or scale mail armor.

Interesting idea.

Pictish Blood Maidens - The Picts are savage,and their women shouldn't be any different. Inspired mainly by Keara Knightly's appearence in the battle at the end of King Arthur.

I hadn't planned for a female unit among the Picts, since there isn't really much reference to them in a fighting situation. The AEsir, Vanir and Cimmerians do have a few references to women fighting, so it seems reasonable for the Picts to have women fighting too.

Pictish Mercenaries - These could be recruitable by any faction (except Cimmeria) sharing a border with the Pictish Wilderness. Think of them like the gladiator units in R:TW. High fighting capacity,but low survivability and no armor.

Since the Picts did find their way into mercenary armies in the later Hyborian Age I think this would be quite feasible. I'm not sure exactly how to make them recruitable by anyone except Cimmerians, but it's probably something to do with religion (some mercenaries are religion based like the Pilgrims and Ghazis) so that could be done.

Turanian Light Spearmen - Lightly-armored defensive spearmen along the lines of Town Watch units,but also effective against cavalry with their spears and/or maybe the schiltrom formation.

Turanian Heavy Spearmen - Exact opposite of above. Clad in heavy mail or solid armor,armed with long pikes but limited in defense by the small size of their shields. Perhaps they could have "learned" the pike phalanx from neighboring Roman age countries?

Both are in. The Heavy Spearmen don't have very long pikes, but to be frank with the nightmarishly powerful army I've given Turan I'd have to give them some weaknesses to give the other nations a chance!

Keep the ideas coming!

[Majestic7]

If you wish to include Acheron as a playable faction in the game, I think it is pretty far-stretched considering that it was destroyed thousands of years ago. However, how about making possible for Aquilonia or perhaps Nemedia to turn in to a reborn Acheron through building choices and scripts firing from them? That is what Xaltotun tried in the Hour of the Dragon, after all.

Do you plan to include special sites unique to certain provinces in the mod? How about artefacts such as the Serpent Ring of Set or the Heart of Ahriman?

[Taranaich]

If you wish to include Acheron as a playable faction in the game, I think it is pretty far-stretched considering that it was destroyed thousands of years ago. However, how about making possible for Aquilonia or perhaps Nemedia to turn in to a reborn Acheron through building choices and scripts firing from them? That is what Xaltotun tried in the Hour of the Dragon, after all.

Definitely a possibility. I might do the same for the lands controlled by the Khari and the mysterious Builders of the Green Cities.

Do you plan to include special sites unique to certain provinces in the mod? How about artefacts such as the Serpent Ring of Set or the Heart of Ahriman?

There will be special buildings and sites such as the Iron Tower & Traitor's Common for Aquilonia, the Black Pyramids for Stygia, the Scarlet Citadel for Koth and many more. Some will offer bonuses, others units, some a combination.

Artifacts will be ancillaries. The Heart of Ahriman will offer significant bonuses when fighting ancient cultures (Stygia, Kosala, Khitai, basically any that would have magic or monsters), as well as offer protection from magical attackers. The way this works is I'm replacing Inquisitors with Black Fiends, and piety will now be "magical power". Though Conan is naturally not a powerful sorcerer, when he rides to battle with the Heart he can counter pretty much any spell sent his way. Normally Hadrathus keeps the heart, but if the situation dictates it you can swap it over to Conan to maximise his magic-busting. I'll try to introduce a script so that if the carrier of an important object dies, it'll resurface the next turn, either to someone else in a faction in case of natural death, or to the person who killed the carrier.

The Serpent Ring of Set will will offer discounts to the cost of summoning monsters, protection from assassins and probably a whole bunch of other things. When I've gone through all the traits and goodies possible in the ancillary system I'll put up a proper "Traits & Ancillaries" thread.

[Majestic7]

There will be special buildings and sites such as the Iron Tower & Traitor's Common for Aquilonia, the Black Pyramids for Stygia, the Scarlet Citadel for Koth and many more. Some will offer bonuses, others units, some a combination.

There are certainly many mysterious locales that might be useful or dangerous for the factions possessing them... Island of the Black Ones, Dagoth Hill, Xapur the Fortified, Kutchemes, City of the Winged One, Vale of Lost Women and the island with the iron statues come to mind in an instant, but there are surely many, many more.

Artifacts will be ancillaries. The Heart of Ahriman will offer significant bonuses when fighting ancient cultures (Stygia, Kosala, Khitai, basically any that would have magic or monsters), as well as offer protection from magical attackers. The way this works is I'm replacing Inquisitors with Black Fiends, and piety will now be "magical power". Though Conan is naturally not a powerful sorcerer, when he rides to battle with the Heart he can counter pretty much any spell sent his way. Normally Hadrathus keeps the heart, but if the situation dictates it you can swap it over to Conan to maximise his magic-busting. I'll try to introduce a script so that if the carrier of an important object dies, it'll resurface the next turn, either to someone else in a faction in case of natural death, or to the person who killed the carrier.

Heh, how about making one of the goals of Stygia (or any sorcerous nation?) to get the Heart of Ahriman somehow and move the character having it to the Black Pyramids? It is implied that no living man knows all secrets of the fabled gem, but its power could bring back alive ancient sorcerers resting inside the pyramids, perhaps unlocking some sweet power (and horrible things Man Was Not Meant To Know, of course). Zamorra might want to do the same with Shadizar and the tombs of ancient Zhemri there.

[Taranaich]

There are certainly many mysterious locales that might be useful or dangerous for the factions possessing them... Island of the Black Ones, Dagoth Hill, Xapur the Fortified, Kutchemes, City of the Winged One, Vale of Lost Women and the island with the iron statues come to mind in an instant, but there are surely many, many more.

Most assuredly.

Heh, how about making one of the goals of Stygia (or any sorcerous nation?) to get the Heart of Ahriman somehow and move the character having it to the Black Pyramids? It is implied that no living man knows all secrets of the fabled gem, but its power could bring back alive ancient sorcerers resting inside the pyramids, perhaps unlocking some sweet power (and horrible things Man Was Not Meant To Know, of course). Zamorra might want to do the same with Shadizar and the tombs of ancient Zhemri there.

If it can be done in the engine, then that would be a cool idea. At the moment Stygia's victory conditions are to reclaim the lands of the Old Stygian Empire, but something like gaining the Heart would add an extra layer of intrigue. I'm toying with adding a rather Lovecraftian goal too, that of summoning Set himself to rule over the earth as he did back in ancient times. Naturally, such a Cthulhian event would be somewhat unpleasant for all humans. A similar goal might be included for Zamora (the Spider God), Kosala (Yajur) and Khitai (Yun), though they won't be game-enders in the same way, rather they would create bonuses by the summoning of said deities.

This could be an either/or deal so it doesn't require too much stress from the player, so one can either rule a Neo-Stygian empire with an iron fist, or doom humanity to a chaotic and hideous life of servitude under Set.

[Cadwalader]

I'm toying with adding a rather Lovecraftian goal too, that of summoning Set himself to rule over the earth as he did back in ancient times. Naturally, such a Cthulhian event would be somewhat unpleasant for all humans.

I'm all for that idea.

[keravnos]

Robert E. Howard wrote 700+ poems. I haven't read more than 5 of them, I must admit.

How about using ONLY work from R.E.H. in the quotes of the mod, but not just from his Conan works but all his work, including his poetry, wherever that applies?

[Spartan198]

Firstly,I apologize,but I haven't been on this site for a couple of days. With that aside,let's get down to business.

I found a color-shaded culture map of the continent (but can't remember where,at the moment) and it gave me a thought: why not include the unification of like-cultures as a secondary or optional campaign goal,such as unifying all Hellenic factions like Corinthia and Koth beneath a single crown? Barbarian Invasion did that with the two Roman factions. It could provide additional depth to the story,especially if you impliment the option of playing as a specific faction's leader.

[Taranaich]

Robert E. Howard wrote 700+ poems. I haven't read more than 5 of them, I must admit.

How about using ONLY work from R.E.H. in the quotes of the mod, but not just from his Conan works but all his work, including his poetry, wherever that applies?

Do you mean for the opening screens? Definitely. Some might not be 100% suitable (The boxing stories for instance), but his historical tales have some damn fine lines in them that would be great to include.

The quotes I use in the unit descriptions are more a way of explaining and rationalizing a unit's inclusion, as a way to show which units are definitely Howard canon and which are extrapolated. Therefore units like the Bossonian Archers will have a big piece of accompanying text so people know this was a big part of the Hyborian Age. For something like the Kothian Cataphract, however, there will either be an obscure reference to Kothian heavy cavalry or no quote at all, to show that it's not a unit necessarily described by Howard.

Firstly,I apologize,but I haven't been on this site for a couple of days. With that aside,let's get down to business.

Heh, don't worry, sometimes I'm not on the internet for days either. I probably will actually be off in the next few days getting my Shemite preview ready

I found a color-shaded culture map of the continent (but can't remember where,at the moment) and it gave me a thought: why not include the unification of like-cultures as a secondary or optional campaign goal,such as unifying all Hellenic factions like Corinthia and Koth beneath a single crown? Barbarian Invasion did that with the two Roman factions. It could provide additional depth to the story,especially if you impliment the option of playing as a specific faction's leader.

That's an idea. The unifying of similar cultures would be very interesting, since a lot of similar cultures are at loggerheads: the Meadow and Desert Shemites for instance. It would probably not be a victory condition per se, but a trigger event that adds benefits to the culture like a stronger economy and military bonuses, so it's desirable but not essential. Most victory conditions are pretty straightforward from the Hyborian Age, though the extent may vary: defeating the AEsir would be a reasonable victory condition for the Vanir, but conquering Stygia would be another.

ATM I haven't clearly decided on Koth's victory conditions, although it'll probably include conquering a lot of nations. Corinthia and Ophir will probably on Koth's "hit list" though, and I might include a trigger event for that. Koth, Corinthia and Ophir are part of the first generation Hyborian kingdoms, which is why they have a few more Greco-Roman overtones than straight Medieval ones.