Caledonia Total War mod

[Dirk]

Dclare4,

I've sent a personal mail to King Malcolm a little while back stating that I would love to be involved in this mod as I'm a Scotland and history addict. Let me know when you need battle maps (I'm addicted to creating them).
In the past I've offered my services to different other mods as well but for one reason or another that has all sizzled away.
For battle maps I could be an asset. Please....involve me !

Dirk

[Duke Malcolm]

I think that we have decided to wait for Rome, since that will come out in a few months (hopefully), and shall have a better diplomatic system (hopefully).

[dclare4]

Hi KM and Dirk,

Glad to for your enthusiasm Dirk. I don't think this is one that will die out :) You're certainly welcome!

One thing I was wondering though is have you guys tried out the RTW demo? I've heard good things and quite a number of bad things about RTW so I'm not abandoning the thought of working with MTW entirely. One problem with RTW though I think (at least I hope) they will make it an option is there are obviously no fire-arm units in that period and if they disable the use of arquebusier/musket types... I don't know.

Hopefully they changed the diplomacy rules and gave more options and more variety. If worse comes to worse I was thinking of a map by 'demense' meaning map areas are named for certain 'lordships'/'chieftainships' such as Cluny, Fraserburgh, Strathbogie, etc. and 'conquering' them gives you not just the title but primarily the allegiance of the chief or laird such as 'conquering' Cluny will give you the 'title' 'Chief MacPherson of Cluny' or 'conquering' Erracht will give you the 'title' 'Chief Cameron of Erracht' - that way it's not really your one clan/faction but your clan/faction assimilating the other clans/factions. Even the major 'titles' should have their family owners still attached (ie. Lord Murray, Marquess of Tullibardine, Lord Campbell, Duke of Argyll) so essentially the guy you assign the title to becomes the 'power behind the throne' so to speak and the historic person attached to the title (Lord Campbell, Duke of Argyll) for example is little more than a puppet on the string. That's the best workaround for the horrible diplomatic system that's currently in place that I can think of. What do you chaps think?

regards,
Clare

[Dirk]

Yes,
I've tried the demo but due to poor specs (my machine used to be top of the line 3 yrs ago !) I couldn't handle the demo very well.

Dirk

[dclare4]

Yikes! I hate to think where that will put my machine. Top of the line... err... five years ago? ;)

well we'll do the best with what we've got :)

best regards,
Clare

[dclare4]

Hi Dirk and KM,

Just out of total curiosity... do you have Shogun Total War, Warlords Edition?

Regards,
Clare

[Duke Malcolm]

Yes, I do.

[Dirk]

No, I don't. After MTW and the Hellenic and WTR mods I don't really think there is much to interest me in a Japanese version.
Now......a Scottish mod......THAT would be fantastic !

[dclare4]

It's the second (better?) enhansed version of the very first Total War game. Moddability next to nill - that being said I was playing around with it for a while and if it can be modded I think, atmosphere-wise, it may be the best vehicle for at least a testbed of a Scotland/Jacobite Total War. I also, quite frankly, consider it the best of the series, at least the purest. I can still play it now and be utterly immersed in the period with the feeling like you're a daimyo and not just playing a game moving pieces around the table.

The map of Japan seems close enough in fact when I heard Barocca was doing Shogun for MTW I thought of using his Japan as a testbed for Scotland. The southern island (Kyushu) can be Ross/Caithness/Sutherland (the far north highlands), the small island south can stand in for the Western Isles and that big area to the north of Honshu can be thought to extend southwards down the British isles into England.

I guess it's all the 'bad press' I'm hearing about RTW, I don't know, and also my brother has my MTW so I was unable to reinstall it :)

The hardcoding of next to everything's really a pain but if we work within the limits of the game I don't think it'll be to hard. At least it gives you the throne room and if a way can be found to mod the BOF files (maybe we could ask Barocca et al) they can be converted to your loyal adviser and maybe the geisha into a piper sitting by the wall. It also has months instead of years (RTW looks like it'll have years again) and movie clips and (very important) mutual exclusivity w/c I think is NOT possible in MTW - what I mean is the dutch and portuguese traders w/c is what I've been wanting and trying to do with MTW but you're always able (at least I've not found the work-around) to build both muslim & christian buildings if you remove the religious requirement. The thing is, I don't want to make each leader set as muslim or christian at the start but rather to have a choice w/c path he will take. (muslim/christian by the way will be modded into Jacobite/Whig) but the only time something becomes exclusive is if the factions are set from the start and there's no way (apparently) to 'convert' mid-stream. As opposed to STW the Dutch and Portuguese traders arrive and one gives the religious requirement as a requisite and after that build a church and you've pretty much chosen your path. Thus the Portuguese can be 'English Officers' while the Dutch can be 'French envoys' who supply weapons without caring much for your affiliation (enabling you to remain Buddhist - or as modded, Jacobite). The Church - Cathedral becomes the 'Customs House - Barracks' and priests become English Excisemen or English Officers or something. The Geisha become, I'm thinking, Lifeguards or Bodyguards, your personal henchmen of sorts for nasty strong-arm tactics.

Clans (if I can remember the way I'm entering them into the loc files)

CAMPBELL (Takeda) - government cavalry available
MACDONALD (Oda) - cheap foot soldiers (Yari Ashigaru)
DRUMMOND (Mori) - most loyal to the house of Stuart (as Mori is the most fanatically Buddhist)
FRASER (Imagawa) - most likely to use underhanded means.
MURRAY (Hojo) - cheap castles (debating whether THIS should be Campbell and just give Murray the Gordon cavalry as Takeda)
MACKENZIE (Shimazu) - cheap swordsmen (Nodachi modded to Wild Macraes)
GRAHAM (Uesugi) - hmmm forgot his speciality...
SASSENACH (Mongol units)

Been testing and it easily accepts the year 1714 - was thinking since there are so few unit slots and limited moddabilty we can concentrate on the first rising and end just prior to the second (or if things go well with the mod, why need end it?)

Then once the mod generates enough support (ie 3D graphic designers and strategic map makers hehehe) we can push through with either ROME or MEDIEVAL with as grand a sweep of history as we could want.

What do you guys think?
Clare

[dclare4]

It's not that we're giving up on the Caledonia TW mod but I think it would inspire us to actually have something playable immediately and may help us think through the latter mod. STW is relatively easy to mod in that there's not much you CAN mod so it reduces you to the bare essential choices.

KM where can I email you the files I've worked on so far. I've got a simple campaign up and running in STW WEMI. Lets work on the Loc files first then the graphics.

best regards,
Clare

[Duke Malcolm]

at malcolm@ghales.co.uk, although it only holds 1 megabyte.

[dclare4]

So did you get it? Good news is I got back my copy of MTW VI and I'll re-install as soon as I'm done with my projects this week. There seems to be some indication that pagan/Viking factions can 'convert' to Christianity so I've got to see what's up with that.

Clare

[dclare4]

Hi Dirk,

Your speciality is map making right? Well lets go with that, I'll send you maps/references for Scottish battles so you can try modding the maps for them. Just let me know where I can email you.

best regards,
Clare

[Dirk]

Dclare4

Please, check your personal inbox for my reply

[Duke Malcolm]

I have Rome, and am starting the mod for that. It will only be clans at first, until we can make new models, and guns. I am using existing models until then. I shall announce it in the Rome bit, feel free to help if you wish, I have started on the campaign map, and have made a test highlander.

[dclare4]

Hi there KM

Well it shouldn't be very long till I get RTW. How is it compared to MTW? Does it have months? (hoping, hoping). Did it retain the virtues and vices and traits? how about the titles and offices? I have to check it out ASAP.

One thing I thought of also was to mod the 'jihad' (as the Jacobite clans will be modded from the muslim religion, whigs from the catholic, scots nationalist/neutral from the orthodox) into a RISING, w/c gives you rising specific units (like the Crusade/Jihad would give you specific units like Futuwwa or Knightly Orders), allows you to overstack beyond the normal number of units and, importantly, loses strength per turn w/c nicely simulates the high desertion rates suffered during the risings as the highlanders returned home with their plunder.

As for the campaign map, I was thinking we can even use one as simple as the VI Britain map but with jump maps. Like in the old boardgames w/c would have holding boxes for stacking brigades or off map areas, jump maps would be linked only to the main map, implying you have to control the main map area to get to the jump maps. You could have a region called FIRTH OF FORTH or something then have jump maps that go to Dunbar, Musselburgh, Edinburgh or ATHOLL and have a jump map that goes to BLAIR ATHOLL. I think this would also be a way to simulate the difficulty of conquering the country and allow freer movement of units/stacks as the jumped to areas would represent clan strongholds, castles, garrisons, etc. and would be well fortified while the main map would have a low fortification rating making it easier to capture - this could simulate Wade's roads.

On the subject - I'm thinking we should replace the concept of 'fortifications' here with 'resistance' so instead of building up fortifications in the medieval sense you strengthen a people's loyalty and abilty to hold the region for you and resist invasion so a siege becomes a period of 'pacification'. Naturally the historic fortified locations would have castles and fortifications but these would be equivalent to citadel level already and be difficult/impossible to build (as building them is not really your main objective in the game anyways)
The higher levels could include GARRISON, BARRACKS, CASTLE, FORTIFIED TOWN, CITADEL.

Also on the subject of the campaign map, I was able to photocopy a map of Scotland with placenames in Gaelic. Would make a nice touch, don't you think?

best regards,
Clare

[dclare4]

If we had a map with as many areas as lets say the Europe map we would be able to have clan specific areas. Each clan area you 'conquer' subjugates the clan and makes them your vassals and the chieftain becomes your puppet essentially so regions will have titles such as "MacLean of Duart" or "Robertson of Strowan" and if possible would have a buildable structure available only in that region that lets you 'raise' the clansmen. I'm trying to research w/c clans/titles should be hereditary to a faction (such as Tullibardine or Atholl for the Murray Faction or Argyll and Loudoun for the Campbell Faction) and which should be inheritable with conquest.

best regards,
Clare

[Templar Knight]

Hi there folks,

Will it Feature the Jabobite risings of 1689, 1715, 1719, 1745 and James Graham and MacColla's campaigns against the covenanters?

If you need any help feel free to drop me a line

[Duke Malcolm]

I thought it was 1714/15 onwards.
Do you have RTW, templar knight, or dclare4?
I haven't announced a mod yet, but I will sometime.

[Templar Knight]

The first rising was in 1689, and the Battle of Killiecrankie took place on July 27th, of that year. The Jacobites were lead by John Graham (James Graham was around the english civil war), Viscount Dundee, the redcoats were lead by General Hugh MacKay of Sourie.

Yea, I have RTW

[dclare4]

Yes I have it and darn it's bloody good. I'm reworking the map like crazy now actually. Working on an (unannounced) Lace-Wars period mod though right now the stupid 200 province limit has me reworking some-more (I had such a nice province set up for the British isles). Thinking of covering the period 1730-1770 with the 'roman factions' being replaced by HRE, Austria/Bohemia, Hannover and Bavaria with their arch-enemies including Prussia and France w/c overwrite Macedonia and Carthage respectively. Of course the Jacobites are there - they replace the Briton faction (the light blue stag is just too nice to forego) but they start out like the Julii in the prologue - landless in Latium but should have military access to France, Piedmont and the Independent States. Looking good so far.

Units are also ridiculously easy to reskin now - no more slaving over animation sprites like Walt Disney in the 1930s. Have a British redcoat that's just waiting for his hat to be turned into a tricorne and his bow into a musket.

Cheers,
Clare

[JR-]

so, is it dead for MTW?

regards

Peegee Tips

[dclare4]

Well realistically speaking I think a mod for MTW would require a 3D modeller with the skill of Duke John or one of the Lordz and I don't know if we'll be able to get that in the near future. There are several things that I prefer in MTW VI (religion, titles and offices, set names for captains, jihad/crusade) w/c aren't in RTW so I'm still hoping that we can still attract a skilled modeller sometime in the future. In the meantime maybe if we can raise the interest of people in the period more will want to work on this.

Cheers,
Clare

[JR-]

i hope you find that modeller, but sadly my 3D skillz are limited to UnrealED.

[dclare4]

I certainly hope so too... in the meantime none of us are getting any younger and the new game IS relatively easy-IER to mod (at least basic skin/map)... so...

Who knows we might get that skilled modder any day :)

cheers,
Clare

[deep diver ed]

what ever hapend to this mod??? i would love it

[dclare4]

Still here... got a pic ;)

[URL=http://img120.exs.cx/my.php?

or two!

[URL=http://img47.exs.cx/my.php?

Cheers,
Clare

[dclare4]

Oops sorry ;p





here are the pics (I hope!)
Clare

[Duke Malcolm]

My God! That's good. How long did that take you?
I made a highlander skin, and started on a Scotland campaign map, but had troubles, so they got wiped, which is why I never announced the mod for RTW. I can started again, but don't know how long it will take.

[Templar Knight]

wow

excellent! well done!