SteamPunk: Total War

[kirrix]

Not that I know much (read anything) about modding, but this era demands a Steampunk mod. Don't you want to see a group of Her Majesty's Air Ships demolishing the rebels over in the Colonies? Or what about clockwork armies of Napoleon Bonapart invading Russia? And what about the epic steam-powered tanks used as the two great German empires attempt to annex one another?

The new real-time naval battles, I think, could probably be easily adapted to Zepplin battles. And a more competent modder than I could probably figure out how to get them involved in land battles as well. Just a thought

[Gobmech]

Dunno, the water texture could probably be replaced with a sky and a few clouds. Certainly sounds interesting. Though, it should probably take place in a fictional world.

[kirrix]

Are you kidding? My favorite Steampunk is set in Jolly Old England. The best Steampunk has always been based in our history with just a variation in the technologies. Haven't you ever seen Steamboy?

[Tanaquil]

yes yes, clockwork spiders, airships, bicycle dragoons, golems or giant ogre/ troll type fantasy species, hallucinogenic gas weapons, all and each have their role to play!

as for the setting this is indeed moot. There is the world of Bas-Lag for example. However using our own world does at least mean no-one has to make an entirely new map, and attention can then be focused on new units, technologies buildings and balancing.

[Ketzerfreund]

Good luck trying that. When I had made the proposition of a steampunk mod, the thread unfortunately died due to lack of interest.

The name I thought up for it was cool, though. At least I think so (): "Verne's World - Total War".


-Der Ketzerfreund.

[DeJongenJavanese]

Well I would be interested in Steampunk mod. Currently, there's lack of Steampunk-ish game now.

[Respenus]

Don't get me wrong, yet I'd jump strait into a Steampunk Empire based game than the Empire period (which I also like).

I'd be willing to help, yet unfortunately I have absolutely zero skills in any parts of modding. All I can offer is moral support. I do wish this gets of the ground and is transformed into a fully fledged mod. I wonder if the guys from Victorian mod would be willing to cooperate, seeing how Steampunk is usually set in the Victorian era.

[xzyx]

I'm a major supporter of steampunk stuff. Know nothing about modding, but I can give some ideas eventually... (If this mod does not work, that "Polluted: Total War" seems to have some small steampunk ideas... like soldiers in gas masks and such...)

Anyway, I do hope this works out (people keep posting here to make this mod alive!!! more posts=more modders checking what is the thread about)

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=192671 - Ketzerfreund's idea for mod.

[kirrix]

@DeJongenJavanese: Rise of Legends had a pretty good Steampunk nation, the Vinci. They had airships, clockwork soldiers, and a cork-screw helicopter a la Leonardo da Vinci.

@Everyone: I've been working on figuring out how to put the factions and what not together so as to make a great mod, when I realized that I won't be able to make a good suggestion until Empire actually comes out. Still, no reason we can't get started. Assuming that ETW will function a lot like M2TW, my current suggestions are as follows:

Same map and Factions:
This is how most, and much of the best, Steampunk is formed. As such, let's not tamper with what works. I would say that we should try and keep it compatible with the mods making a map of the whole world, or adapt one for the mod after it comes out. Since our goal would be to just make a variation of the factions already present, mods for the map only should be compatable. The descriptions of the factions already present would be the best basis for our own moldes.

Guilds:
I've been coming up with a list of guilds I would like to see in a Steampunk mod. A couple are based on some inside jokes my friends and I have. I'll give the list in a later post.

Airships:
Ships will be replaced with airships. That's obvious. Airships do have a certain advantage over ships that will need to be addressed. Airships fly. Because of that, they can't be limited to water. In otherwords, every region would become a "coast" region. Additionally, an airship could drop troops into a settlement to take control of it, which is something that should be included. I'm not sure how, but I'm open to ideas.

Unit Types:
I'm just going to list here what I'm thinking; Infantry, Clockwork Soldiers, Steam Engines, Artillery, Specialists, and Megamachines.
Most of those are relatively self explaining, though Artillery will include twenty guys with a set of gatlling guns. Specialists are meant to be akin to the Battlefield Assassins of Hungary in M2TW. Megamachines are like the Leviathan in Rise of Legends. They are giant Clockwork Steam Engines that are expensive to build and maintain, but provides a huge advantage in a battle.

[xzyx]

Hmm more suggestions from me:

A) General portraits with thinks like clockword eyes and such.
(like this http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007...rt-update.html )

B) Maybe some artillery that works like a tesla coil? like an anti-infantry artillery.

c)General unit from rise o legends: A robot from when you're playing the vinci campaign, and just took your first territory you could choose (after taking Pirata). There's an animation of the main character, Giacomo, looking to his brother's watch and lenora arriving in her airplane behind. The robot they're on would make a SWEET general unit. (It's something like a big spider with an open deck, and some controls).

D) Some human soldiers would have steam-robot arms and legs (like to replace those they lost).

E)instead of muskets, they should have some sort of steam rifle (duhh obvious... machine guns would probably not be possible or too overpowered).

F)Zeppelins! for trade routes... instead of the usual boats and caravans. Maybe some sort of ironclad for naval trading.

G) We could use Ketzerfreund's name. Verne's world sounds way better than simply Steampunk.

H) Another idea from Ketzerfreund: Maybe some easter egg with a "pirate" Nautilus ship around on the sea, preying traders? He would be extremely strong to compensate the fact we can't reproduce his "camouflage" (the hability dive) to on ETW (I think).

The factions would be more-or-less the real factions on the world I guess, with some modifications.

By the way, we could get some ideas from Red Alert game series. They aren't steampunk, but they got some ideas that are adaptable (like the tesla coils I mentioned...some sort of steampunk cyborg bear for russia would also feel funny).

[Gorrrrrn]

Some reading for steampunk tw:

Michael Moorcock's seminal trilogy "The Nomad of the Time streams" comprising:
Warlord of the Air
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Warlord_of_the_Air
the Land leviathan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Land_Leviathan
The Steel Tsar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Steel_Tsar

[kirrix]

@xzyx:

A: I should think that would be an obvious implication. Of course the character portraits should be Steampunk.

B: I don't know about artillery. Maybe with a really expensive Steam Engine, and could definitely be worked into the defenses of a city or fort.

C: Why in Cthulu's name didn't I think of this? The generals should definitely have some incredibly cool steam-powered robotic armor thing. We should think about possible variations for different generals with different Ancillaries.

D:I'm going to go ahead and call them Automail, just cause FMA is incredible. Don't forget this trait for our generals. Instead of James the Scarred, it'll be James the Machine.

E: Epic sounding, but potential problems. How about steam-rifles early on, gunpowder being developed later?

F: That was what I was implying by saying every territory would be "coastal." Still, land and sea based trading could still be included for some extra coin, ports could become home to large construction projects too heavy for air and thus must go by sea, and trains replace roads on land. (Our armies need faster travel from somewhere) We'll have to thin about this further.

G: No, I'm going to have to insist on SteamPunk: Total War. One, SteamPunk is epic sounding on its own. Two, SteamPunk is rather universally recognized, Verne isn't. Three, I like my name better.

H: Easter Eggs I'm all for, though I don't think we should lift anything from someone else's mod idea just yet, even if it is mod acting along the same vein. Still, Ketzerfreund and I should probably start a dialogue about merging our mod ideas, with the most important discussion being whose name we'll keep.

@Rozanov:

Thanks for the recommendations. If I didn't already have a bunch of books I'm reading already, I would go take a look.

@everyone:

I was going to put my guild list up, but I lost the notebook I had written it all down in. Trying to recreate it now, but could use some help with ideas anyways.

[Ketzerfreund]

Since my mod proposal was one for a general steampunk mod, too, merging would be no problem. It's just that Jules Verne is pretty much one of the major contributors to the genre, if not even the inventor of it, and a great source of inspiration.
As I've just written to kirrix already, basically(!), the steampunk genre is science fiction from an early point of view, so to say.

One question that I can't really see answered in this thread, yet, is which real-world-era to take as a basis... In my opinion, beginning the campaign in the early 19th century would fit best to this scenario.

Some random sources of inspiration (as mentioned in my old thread already):
- Jules Verne's work and others of that kind (obviously )
- "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"
- The "Thief" computer game series
- "Wild, Wild West"
- The "Read Or Die" mangas/animes

Note that "Thief" and "Read Or Die" are based upon other eras (medieval for "Thief", modern day for "Read Or Die"), but those cases are mainly a good reference for style.

About the name of the mod: Personally, I think "Steampunk: Total War" is just not very imaginative.

-Der Ketzerfreund.

[Godless Pickle]

Ive always wanted a pure fictional TW mod and put in everyones thoughts into the mod instead of following some type of story tine or plain old history...

[Ketzerfreund]

...instead of following some type of story tine...

Have you seen that mentioned anywhere? :hmmm:

And you do know that "inspiration" does not equal "recreation", right?
And that "based on" does not equal "same as"? Right?

Right?


-Der Ketzerfreund.

[kirrix]

In my opinion, beginning the campaign in the early 19th century would fit best to this scenario.

Not necessarily. When dealing with steampunk or with anything else sufficiently SciFi, you can pretty much screw with the time periods as much as you want. I think we should have the campaign start in early 18th, like the real game, but have it continue until the late 19th. Then, anything we find entertaining enough we throw in. The crusading orders had all but died out at this point in history. Doesn't stop me from saying "Let's make the guild The Hospital of Saint Jeff of the Mechanical Knights," or "How about a Niccolo Machiavelli ancillary?" Steampunk can be as closely or as loosely based on our world as we want.

[xzyx]

Not necessarily. When dealing with steampunk or with anything else sufficiently SciFi, you can pretty much screw with the time periods as much as you want. I think we should have the campaign start in early 18th, like the real game, but have it continue until the late 19th. Then, anything we find entertaining enough we throw in. The crusading orders had all but died out at this point in history. Doesn't stop me from saying "Let's make the guild The Hospital of Saint Jeff of the Mechanical Knights," or "How about a Niccolo Machiavelli ancillary?" Steampunk can be as closely or as loosely based on our world as we want.

Mechanical Knights...with clockwork spiders! some sort of spider-like unit should be included somewhere...they would look neat.

Anyway, I vote for this 18-19 time frame. Keep your name man...it's not THE most criative thing I've ever seen but it ain't bad.

We could take some ideas from the League of Extraodinary Gentlemen... I mean they got steampunk'd china people, steampunk'd indians (working with Nemo), steampunk'd eropean dudes, and probably more (haven't finished it yet).

What about sorting out easter eggs throught the game? Like an assassin that's actaully the Invisible Man...an acillary "Hyde's Potion" to give extra hit-points...another Sherlock Holmes gives +order in town...


By the way, what I mean with steam rifles is just a different model musket...if possible firing something shiny, if not, it's ok.

By the way, for this to work it's gonna need a King Kong-level modder.

If zeppelins are a problem, make land trade through them (and later, through stylish trains) and sea trade through ironclads. OR just make the'm both with the same models (so it looks like the airships can fly everywhere.)

Any ideas for faction list? I mean, besides the standard stuff...duhh strange idea, maybe a clockwork-people faction? Like those in "Matrix", but steampunk style.

Some ideas for your guild list:

What about a Templar Guild? Since it's literally alternative history, we could pretty much say they weren't destroyed. They would increase trade (they worked as banks you know...) and recruiting some special units.

The Mechanical Knights of St. Jeff sounded funny and interesting for me...

Of course, a Mechanics Guild (mechanics in like people who repair stuff)

The Pirata League! Something like a pirating guild, where you could recruit Privateers and increase trade.

Some religious guild. Preferably with a funny-sounding name. OR maybe just the standard name if no one thinks on anything special.

The Technologician's Guild (like the place where the geniuses who design their technology gather up to... ahn... design new things). they would increase a lot of things in the city, have a cahnce of giving some interesting trait/acnillary to the general every turn and recruit some powerfull megabot. Preferably with lasers. Or plasma bullets.

Ahnn all I could think for now.

Also, what about making jokes in the unit and building descriptions? RTW had that...I sort of missed it on MIITW... the descriptions were so boring. It won't be really dificult to think on those...just need to make a thread in the mod forum asking people to post funny descriptions for the units as the previews are released (yeah I'm going a bit too foward, but it's just an idea)


(yeah I'm posting because I couldn't download the demo...)

[FiletOfBaby]

I would be willing to help out with this as much as possible. I've wanted to teach myself how to do modeling for Total War games for a while now. Also, I have an obsession for Steampunk and I would be willing to go to the end of the earth to see a mod completed.

I got laid off from my job so I should have plenty of time to learn how to create units for Total War, experimenting with Medieval II; in between job searches of course.

I'm also handy with a pen and paper and can create all sorts of fictional chicanery, whether we move forward with using our world or a fantasy one. (Although my vote is our's, my favorite part of Steampunk is the "what-if" of a jump in technology using steam)

And my girlfriend is an illustrator-in-training so I can try and prod her into doing concept art for the project.

And as mentioned earlier, for something on this scale to succeed we would have to have a King Kong modder, someone who really knows what they're doing.

EDIT: Oh, yeah, and has anyone ever played a fallout-style game called Arcanum? It took place in a fantasy world mixed with steampunk, it was epic and could be an interesting source of ideas. (Like plate-armored knights who wielded pistols, or maybe some factions who directly oppose, and refuse to use, the new technology?)

[kirrix]

@xzyx:
I actually had an idea for a guild that was a sort of mercenary/privateer blend called "Zepplin Force Bravo." (It's based on a joke between myself and some friends) I was actually thinking of adding another faction (non-playable) like the East Indies Trading Company, or something to that effect, with the potential for a revolution that would create a pirate confederation. St. Jeff is a nod to Eddie Izzard (for those who didn't catch it). And the name "Hospital of St. Jeff of the Mechanical Knights" is inteded to imply "religious order." That was the way the formal names for the various crusading orders were put together. Instead of a mechanics guild (though we could still include that) I was thinking of having a Mechanist Guild, which would be required for making a Megamachine. It would improve any clockword units created or retrained in a city with a Mechanist Guild. Like the ideas for the ancillaries. Keep in mind, expecially with ancillaries and traits, we are probably going to cast a broader net than with suggestions for new factions or units.

@FiletOfBaby:
1> I really hope your handle isn't intended to be a dead baby joke. (because of those I can no longer eat Doritos)
2> Glad to have whatever help we can, considering the amount I know about modding.

[Ondaderthad]

I am too much of a newbie to TW to be able to mod anything but I certainly like the Steampunk idea.
I did play Arcanum back then.