Over the past weeks I have been doing a lot of thinking. I have had many mod ideas, only one has actually made progress in HRTW. However there is still something missing for me when it comes to this great game. Ever since I came into the modding world I have seen many mods. I like many of the features and concepts that they offer, but as a whole I never really fell in love with any. Instead I would rather play a vanilla campaign. I also see unit packs, and believe me they are great, but in my mind it makes the factions unbalanced. So here is my proposition, and I'm willing to commit and stick to it if I can possibly get some aid from you guys here at Exilian: (P.S. I have many personal preferences that may make me seem picky, but I have trouble settling for things I don't like) (P.S.S. I'm horrible with tutorials, I need somebody hands on that can help as i get to frustrated easily with tutorials)
MAPThis is of moderate difficulty for myself.
One of the major criticisms of vanilla RTW was the fact that the map was cut off at certain areas. Because of this, the Seleucid Empire and Parthia were misrepresented in their starting locations. Also Scotland, Scandinavia and Arabia were not represented very well.
So I would like to use the Mundus Magnus Map for this mod. However, I want my own version of the map, I have already received a Mundus Magnus map that contains the city of Rome alone. I'm wanting to add cities that are historically relevant to the time period and of each faction to make the mod unique and interesting. How hard is it to add cities? If someone could show me it would be greatly appreciated.
Senate/Roman FactionsThis is fairly easy for me.
Another issue with RTW was the fact that there were four Roman factions instead of just one. I have never liked that about the game. I do like the Senate missions and offices though. The problem is, if you want the Brutii and Scipii to be different factions such as a greek or barbarian faction, they will still receive senate missions etc. So I will be implementing makanyanes' 'Neutralised Senate' mod. This internally renames the senate faction to 'slavs' and permanently deletes the Senate tab, and the Senate offices scroll. Simply put, it de-bugs the Senate faction and makes them like any other faction.
so I will be keeping one Roman faction (Julii) and the other three can be used for new factions. What those factions will be? I'm not sure yet.
Units/RecruitmentEasy for me to implement units, impossible to make the units
One thing that frustrates me about vanilla RTW, is the fact that some factions have a good selection of units while others have a poor selection. The Romans, Egyptians, and Seleucids have a great amount of units to choose from and make their armies diverse, but Thrace, Scythia, and Numidia have a basic, generalized selection that ultimately makes them weaker factions. Not only do I want to expand and edit each factions' unit roster but I want an AOR system. This AOR system will not be complicated at all. Take "Illyrian Skirmishers" for example. The unit will be available to each faction but only if the faction owns the right regions. So with Illyrian Skirmishers, the faction would have to own a region that was historically of Illyrian origin. This makes it simple as there will not have to be an addition of a new building but just some simple editing with the unit. I will need some basic help with this, as I don't necessarily know what to do in the text files and what text files I need to edit. I hear there is a limit of sixty-four for AOR regions? Is this true, or are there possible ways around it?
When it comes to the actual units, some modelling will be necessary. This, I have no way of doing. First I do not have 3ds max or anything of the sort, second I do not have time to learn the program and make units as it is. So I am hoping someone can volunteer to make a unit, or Unit Cards every now and then.
There will be a lot of reskinning. Vanilla units for the most part are staying, and in past projects I have had most of them reskinned. However, I will probably be porting many units, not only from BI and ALX but also from the many mods that feature vanilla type units.
Here is a more defined list:
Extended Greek Mod
Extended Cultures
Diadochi Total War
310 B.C.
The Hellenic States
Persian Invasion
Amazon Total War
Rise of Empire
Macedon Expansion
Other Mini-Mods/Unit Packs
Now just because i will be porting units from these mods does not mean that they will be exactly how they were in those mods. More than likely I will be needing them reskinned for the factions they will be a part of. Here is an example:
This mod will keep the vanilla feature of units being different colors, such as Romans being red/balck, Egypt Gold/Black, and Gaul Green Red. Also mercenaries are green and rebels grey. AOR units will be grey as well, same as the rebel units. So one unit that will have to be edited is a unit from Extended Greek Mod, "Georgian Swordsmen". They have a texture that doesn't fit any specific faction colors. That unit will need to have rebel colors. Now, the problem is that I have virtually no clue on how to "efficiently" reskin and texture units. I have GIMP and it really confuses me. If someone could walk me through how to retexture a unit with GIMP (this means everything from tools to use, to how to save it correctly and everything in between) I like how comrade_general does his units, I don't know how, but his units look like they were in the original Rome: Total War game. THAT'S what I need these units to look like.
FactionsFactions will not be changed too much. Creative Assembly did a good job in their faction selection (apart from the Roman factions) so the only thing here is editing each faction to make it so they are more unique and different from each other, and choosing three factions that will replace the old roman ones. Some examples are faction symbols, family trees, temples and other miscellaneous stuff. Also I believe that each faction should have their name represented better. Instead of "Carthage" it should be "The Republic of Carthage". "Macedon" should be "The Antigonid Kingdom". Also factions named Spain, Egypt, or Scythia are misrepresented.
Combining Historical Accuracy with GameplayThis subject is the source of many debates. Many people are history fanatics and want EVERY DETAIL of the mod to be historically accurate, while others want fun gameplay. These two views for a mod conflict, but it is possible to combine them. For example, Britons did not have access to Archers, so adding Archer Warband to Britons would not be historically accurate. However, having extreme government, economic, and recruitment systems may be accurate but make it insanely boring for the people who just want to play. In this mod I am going to keep it simple and vanilla.
There will be certain gameplay mods that I will include. Certain Animation mods, will be included along with the wooden walls featured in Diadochi Total War. I would like to also get the campaign textures that Diadochi Total War used. However I will not be implementin RS2 environments. It's not vanilla at all and slows down the game. The vanilla environments in my mind are not that bad. Also I will include the better AI mod and formations mod. There are many mini mods as well that I will look to include.
The Game will start in 280 BC, because I just feel like that is the perfect date. Also, a four turn per year script would be nice.
If I come up with any other ideas I will post them here. Like I said before, I fully intend to complete this mod unlike the others I have proposed. There are some questions that will come up, for example Thrace, whether they should be a hellenic kingdom or barbarian people.
I do not want a large team, but would love if two-three people could help me.
I need someone who can create models and UI's, and I need someone who does well with art and textures.
I would like to learn 2d art on my own but I feel as if that is not my cup of tea. I rather get better with text editing.
If anyone would like to join the cause or help out with expanding Rome Total War, let me know right away and we can get started. I am wanting to go one faction at a time, starting with The Roman Republic.
There are three faction slots open. Here are the factions that could use the slots.
The Kingdom of Epirus - can easily be made with comrade_general's THS mod
Illyrians - tougher to make but can be done
The Bosporan Kingdom - pretty much complete from an old version of HRTW
Bactria - can be ported from Extended Greek Mod, Extended Cultures and Diadochi Total War
Mauryan Empire - ALX's Indian faction would be used
Lysimachean Empire - Would definitely spice up the situation in Macedon in 280 BC (ask me for details)
Galatians - same as above
Bithynia - very interesting faction, too hard to make?
Celt-Iberians - also very interesting faction
Cappadocia - too little info
Atropatene - same as above
Pergamum - same as Bithynia but easier to make
Aetolian League/Achaean League - don't believe they should be in this mod
Sparta - would be a good choice and fun to play as, but worth it?
That's all for now. I hope I have explained myself as best as I can. If anyone wants to be a part of it let me know.