My proposal for a submod

[Kaidonni]

Deus Lo Vult for Medieval II: Total War has a lot of potential for being one of the best mods. In particular, Taiji's Battlefield Balance mod has pushed empire micro-management and roleplaying to extremes, much improving the player's immersion in the game. On top of gameplay changes, there are also submods that add artwork to enhance the display of events and option scrolls, and to the loading screens. Other submods, some compatible and some requiring extensive merging work, add to the sounds, units, factions, etc. But for me this is not enough - the game has been pushed this far, and it can be pushed much further.

BB 2.8 is a prime example of a submod to build upon. It is an attempt, and a very successful one, to improve both battles and the main campaign. The AI in vanilla M2TW is sorely lacking in battle tactics, so Taiji decided to remedy that. DLV, being a roleplaying mod, now also features many scripts to enchance immersion over the course of a campaign. From having to pay maintenance on armies and agents out in the field and on settlements, to limits on recruitment based on population and economic policy, the player now has to make more carefully considered decisions about his actions or face ruination.

One thing that does annoy me, and I am very fussy when it comes to games, is the lack of work in other areas of gameplay. I have a short fuse . DLV has not had any serious work put into the unit roster side for quite a while, not beyond a few submods anyway (most of which are already incorporated into BB 2.8 and DLV 6.2/6.3). Whenever I have looked at the factions in custom battles to check out the units they offer, there are missing textures or reskinned rebels, and even units that are a mishmash of units from multiple factions. Some units do not even make sense, as they belong to other specific factions (Javelinmen for Ireland? No, not just Javelimen, but ones that are specifically for Spain and Portugal, even with the same description?!). I understand that Taiji is more concerned with improving the AI in battles and the immersion in the campaign game, so it falls to someone else to work out the unit roster issues (since as I am the fussy one, I should be the one to 'fix' what I think is 'broken,' it isn't his job to please everyone).
I am planning to overhaul the unit rosters. In particular, Ireland, Armenia and Georgia need work doing to theirs. It's the aforementioned story of silver surfers (missing textures), reskinned rebels, and mishmash units. AlphaDelta has allowed the units he created for Broken Crescent to be used in other mods, and just my luck, he worked on Armenia and Georgia! Maybe a few units he didn't work on, but some is better than none at all, and it is quite possible I can make up the shortfall with units already in DLV (replacing the entire roster of any concerned faction isn't really an option, as there are units in there that don't have any problems with them). In the end, the rosters of all factions will be looked at and made as unique as possible.
Another issue I want to address is the campaign map itself. It really could do with being replaced by a more physically appealing one. I'll keep the textures, but throw out the blocky, geographically inaccurate terrain. This is a significant change, and it means that my mod will have to be separate from BB (what's a mod without lots of merging work? Thought Stalker was the only game that gave people headaches over that!). I do not expect Taiji, or Repman, to incorporate my changes into their mods, so I will have to incorporate their changes into mine. For a start, the Americas can go - it'll free up provinces and space on the map, and without the Aztecs we have an extra faction slot. I will employ new methods of mapping via the various tools available so that the map can be as accurate as possible, and so that the coasts can be smooth and rounded out like in Stainless Steel 6.3.
The mapping issue brings me to the factions. The Aztecs can go, and so can the Desert Tribes. *Especially* the Desert Tribes. Who are they, anyway? They seem like one large 'playable rebel faction.' What of Novgorod and Kiev? They are very similar, so maybe one of them can go. We almost have three slots instantly, two confirmed. I wish to keep Ireland in, it adds to campaign in that part of the world. Maybe add in Wales, it's a popular faction (and why some people are itching to play DLV Europa). The Mongols can go back to being emergent. What new factions aside from Wales? Aragon, that adds something between Northern Europe and Iberia, and another opponent for France. I'll think about Novgorod and Kiev another time, they are nice touches to be honest, and add a little extra to the Eastern European/Baltic region (without Novgorod, we'd just have Lithuania and the Teutonic Order, and whichever faction decides to expand in that direction).

This is just a little of what I have on my mind. I have delusions of grandeur whenever it comes to games I like. I see things that can be improved, and have the overwhelming urge to do exactly that.

EDIT: Had an unusual idea, not sure if anyone has attempted it before. Most (all, in fact, save those meant for fantasy mods) maps for M2TW are made geographically correct in one form or another. But has anyone ever tried making one based on what the people in Medieval times thought Europe and the rest of the world looked like? As in, shaped like the landmasses on antique maps? Sort of a historically-correct interpretation of the world, rather than what we know to be true today? I'm also considering leaving the Americas in. They sort of add a nice touch, and even when removing the Aztecs, it doesn't exactly stop anyone from adding in plenty of rebels and scripted events to spice up any invasion of the New World...

EDIT 2: Well, took Photoshop for a spin on a map I found. Definitely interesting. Would require a lot of work, but it might work in the end. It even has the locations of settlements on it, with icons to symbolise them. Some aren't very easy to discern by name, and there aren't any borders, but it's a start. Tested it in DLV very quickly, just recreated Ireland and gave ownership to another province to keep things simple.