the ability of changing the capital

[Mithridates II the Great]

Hi friends .

I've been thinking about the ability of changing your capital in Rome II . It might has happened for you that your capital was in danger , close to the borders , far from your main army ( for the ones recruit elite units in capital ) or not located in center of your territory and any other stuff that makes you to be concerned about your capital . In this case if player has the ability of changing his capital it will be useful .


As an example , Look at Parthia's starting location :



Nisa might be ok at the beginning of campaign but as the game goes further and you advance ( specially in the western borders ) you'll need to change your capital to a city in center of Iran like what parthians did in reality ( Ctesiphon ) .




Do you agree with this idea ? at least for parthia ?

And if you agree , Do you have any better idea for this issue ?

[kambiz]

This is a feature missed in later Total war games I hope to see this feature to return to the game again. because when a faction that start small turns into a massive empire , the changing capital place is felt. However ,it was too easy to change the capital in first Rome which was unrealistic. It should not be penaltyless so players have to think twice before doing this

[Argon Viper]

I do miss this feature, and something like you've pointed out with historical basis would be a good place to start.

[Kenios]

It depends on what kind of gameplay mechanic is involved with regard to a faction capital. If border regions suffer from higher administrative costs and more public unrest due to the distance from the capital, then it seems rather cheesy to move your capital every few turns to take advantage of lower costs and less public disorder. Or if you had not been paying attention and an enemy faction landed an invasion fleet next to your defenseless capital, again it seems cheesy to move your capital. Your capital should mean something. Defending it should mean something. It shouldn't be some kind of mix/max mechanic to get the most game benefit.

[total relism]

I always liked that you could change capital so i hope its in rome 2.

[Razor]

I'm not really too fond of it of how it worked in RTW and M2TW. Do we really want to see an AI-controlled Roman empire have its capital at Lugdunum in Gaul or Syracuse instead of Rome or an AI-controlled and massively expanded Macedonian empire have its capital at some dark and unknown village somewhere in central Anatolia because that happens to be the center of the empire?

I would like the feature but only under certain conditions. There should be much more to it than just a city being the center of an empire topographically.

[Jepekula]

Well, for the Roman Empire, the capital was pretty much where the court was. This changed from Augusta Treverorum to Ravenna and Mediolanum and what else.
So, why not.

[Sebastos Abdes Pantera]

I hope the ability to change your heir is also in the game, another feature that was cut out of Total War until Shogun 2.

[Evalation]

I believe the ancient/classical era was renowned for so many people changing their capitals in order to consolidate their empire. I mean if you reconquer Alexanders empire as Macedon, in reality you wouldnt leave your captial at Pella because it would be way to far away from your eastern provinces, though if you then try to conqure the roman empire in the west and form a super empire, I suppose leaving the captial at Pella would be quite reasonable scince it would be situated kinda in the center of your massive empire.

[Razor]

Well, for the Roman Empire, the capital was pretty much where the court was. This changed from Augusta Treverorum to Ravenna and Mediolanum and what else.
So, why not.

Yet this was done to be close to hot spots and later on to break the power of the old senatorial class in Rome. Not because some spot is the center of the empire.
I can tell you that if you'd have the Parthian empire with its historical borders, Ctesiphon would never be the capital in RTW or M2TW.
I'm not against it per se, but in RTW and M2TW the AI really makes a mess out of it and breaks the immersion for the human player. So IMO there has to be more to it than that so that the AI can be directed to keeping important cities like Rome the capital and not replace it with minor towns like Lugdunum or Bibracte because they've become the center of the empire, only because the Roman empire has conquered Gaul.

[Haincz]

The ability of changing the capital - for me this is logic option and strategic manoeuvre. In danger situation every leader should have option like that.

[Ballacraine]

OK, but there has to be some control over it, or else it would become too gamey.

How about this for a suggestion.

If you move your capital, it will take a year ( currently one turn ) during which no capital based transactions or functions can be made.

Only allow the capital to be moved once in any campaign.

Balla

[Sun Tsu]

The ability of changing the capital - for me this is logic option and strategic manoeuvre. In danger situation every leader should have option like that.

Indeed, well said ! :-)

[AngryTitusPullo]

It depends on what kind of gameplay mechanic is involved with regard to a faction capital. If border regions suffer from higher administrative costs and more public unrest due to the distance from the capital, then it seems rather cheesy to move your capital every few turns to take advantage of lower costs and less public disorder. Or if you had not been paying attention and an enemy faction landed an invasion fleet next to your defenseless capital, again it seems cheesy to move your capital. Your capital should mean something. Defending it should mean something. It shouldn't be some kind of mix/max mechanic to get the most game benefit.

Agree with this. Changing the capital should not be done so that players can abuse it at will. There can be options like if for example your capital has been overrun or conquered you can have the options the choose where your new capital will be.

Another one is coming through dilemma after a certain point if your original capital if being too far away there will be an options for you to move your capital away, and bear the consequences of your choices.

[Mithridates II the Great]

I think it would be cool if only player can change it not AI .

[Sun Tsu]

IT should only be made available like a 'dilemma' when you conquer a much bigger and wealthier city, like Parthia = Persepolis, Babylon, it would be stupid to keep the capital at Nisa....

[Jepekula]

Yet this was done to be close to hot spots and later on to break the power of the old senatorial class in Rome. Not because some spot is the center of the empire.
I can tell you that if you'd have the Parthian empire with its historical borders, Ctesiphon would never be the capital in RTW or M2TW.
I'm not against it per se, but in RTW and M2TW the AI really makes a mess out of it and breaks the immersion for the human player. So IMO there has to be more to it than that so that the AI can be directed to keeping important cities like Rome the capital and not replace it with minor towns like Lugdunum or Bibracte because they've become the center of the empire, only because the Roman empire has conquered Gaul.

Well, the Imperial Court moving from Rome to other places was actually because of the senatorial class becoming obsolete, actually, and not about making it obsolete.
Or I am just being an idiot right now, and completely misunderstood what I read.
But well, I never said that they moved their courts because those other places were in the center of the empire or anything.

[Toho]

the player should be able to do this while the AI is either never or under some really strict conditions.

[Charsi]

In Shogun 2 your capital always has one added recruitment capacity. I've often thought it would be nice to move your capital to a province better suited to the mass production of troops, one with a blacksmith or an artisan or something - or at the very least, get away from Meagre soil. I often engineer the deliberate loss of my starting province so that my capital moves to a more lucrative location.

In short I'd love to be able to move my capital, if it does continue to provide added recruitment capacity.

[Razor]

Well, the Imperial Court moving from Rome to other places was actually because of the senatorial class becoming obsolete, actually, and not about making it obsolete.
Or I am just being an idiot right now, and completely misunderstood what I read.
But well, I never said that they moved their courts because those other places were in the center of the empire or anything.

Although other cities functioned as new imperial residences during the Tetrarchy, this was besides practical reasons also to break with old Roman traditions and institutions.
The senators in Rome may have had little say in how the empire was governed, they did possess lots of wealth and traditional privileges. When Galerius tried to tax the value of property in Italy and basically downgrade Italy to just another Roman province with no special privileges whatsoever and tried to abolish the Praetorian Guard, they rebelled and elected Maxentius as emperor and "protector of Rome" and its traditions. But all of this is not relevant for the period of R2TW and even the early and high imperial period.

It also depends on the nature and structure of your government. For the Roman Republic Rome was the absolute heart of it all an all other provinces were basically in service of Rome.

And I was talking about the AI in RTW and M2TW that would automatically change its capital to the most central city in its realm.