Hi forum,
Please allow me to introduce my WIP for an ahistorical mod set in the Americas. Ever since I began playing M2TW back in 2009 I've had desires to create a mod, and for the past year or so that desire has evolved past simply dreaming and researching, into actual creation. With help from the numerous tutorials available here and elsewhere, I've been gradually teaching myself how to mod, mostly with mapping.
Like every budding modder I initially set out with grand designs in mind, only to eventually be confronted by the cold truth of reality, that
modding is hard. Ergo, this has led to me all but
abandoning a totally different WIP I started here back in 2010 for an historically accurate, Europe-wide Dark Ages mod. I know now that, unfortunately, anything like that is simply beyond me, a part-time hobbyist modder. There's just too much to do, what with all the completely new units, factions, etc., etc.
The same cold truth applied to my earliest mod dream from which this new one has evolved. Initially, I wanted to create a trans-Atlantic mod featuring a good chunk of Europe (and Africa) and a good chunk of the New World. A way of doing justice to both the Vanilla Grand Campaign and the Americas expansion, I suppose.
I changed tact. Forget the Old World, I want to play in the New World, I thought to myself... But wait, do I
really want to play in the New World? Do I really enjoy slaughtering thousands of natives with vastly superior technology? Maybe a little, but it gets old pretty quickly. The best battles are always the foot battles, in my opinion. Calvary and archers are great, too, and gunpowder still has its merits.
I reconsidered things again. The problem with the Americas has always been the timescale. The major native factions were conquered by the Spanish before any of the other later colonial powers were even on the scene. So I'm left with two options: I can have my natives pitted against the Spanish, with guys like the French and the English turning up a little later as emerging factions, or; I can set the date back a bit, which would mean the English, the French, everybody can start as playable, but they have very few natives left to fight, and must wrestle an omnipotent Spain.
Both options suck. The first is literally the Americas campaign produced by CA, which was nice enough to inspire myself and no doubt dozens of others, but unfortunately lacks the replayability that makes Total War games famous. It was only an expansion, after all. The second option is pretty much Empire: Total War, and we all know that went down like a lead balloon, not so much because of the content, but more so the implementation. Spain would dominate everything, and the idea of the European factions battling it out may as well be played out in, well, Europe. Still, maybe it's just me, but post-15th century warfare is a bit bland.
By now the answer might be staring you in the face, the same way it was for me after all this pondering, all this research into my dream mod. As a keen student of history, it was hard to admit, but I just don't think it can be done with historical accuracy in mind. Maybe, and I say this with the utmost respect, maybe that is why other New World mods have failed. It's just a bridge too far, with so much new content to create on top of all the research, trying to do justice to all factions and creating a game that is playable, historical and beautiful, all at the same time.
My solution is to blur the lines of history, or rather, to bend, snap, rip and shred history, but only where it suits me. I doubt it's a unique idea, or a particularly brilliant idea, but it's one I think might just provide an intriguing and fun mod.
So, here's what I have so far:
Working title: Colonies and Empires (just a working title for now as I haven't settled on anything I really like)
Map: I recently cut the map down by about 30%. I had too much wasted space in the eastern portion of South America, and the Atlantic to the north of it. Unfortunately, this means Brazil has been completely removed, as well as Newfoundland, but I think the mod will be MUCH better off without them. The eastern border of the map is now marked by Nova Scotia and Barbados. The only faction really adversely affected by this is Portugal, but I will more than likely still include them somewhere else on the map. I also took a tiny bit off the south of the map - Lake Titicaca was looking like a major pain (since high elevation lakes aren't possible), so I got rid of it entirely. I also slightly cropped the north and the west.
This is an approximation of the map's original dimensions, with its current dimensions being within in the red square:
Progress: I'm currently mapping, and map_heights.tga is done, including smooth coastlines (minus some touch-ups). map_ground_types.tga is my current focus, and I'm making good progress in South America. I'm hoping to have map_ground_types.tga done by the end of
September November, after which I'll be working on map_regions.tga.
Date: Late 15th or early 16th century (TBC). Obviously, the start date isn't particularly relevant since history is being sacrificed in favour of gameplay. The end date is also undecided.
Turns per year: Undecided. I'm considering 4tpy or maybe even 12tpy. I'm interested to hear what you think about those options, as I've only ever played 2tpy mods.
Factions: Currently I'm a one-man band, and my knowledge does not extend far beyond just the basics yet. Therefore, as I alluded to earlier, I'm realistic about my goals. For starters, I will be taking advantage of Vanilla content, as I imagine it will be difficult for me to create new factions out of the blue and do them justice. Still, that's quite a way off. I want my map finish before I put too much more thought into factions. By that time I may be recruiting a team who can help me create factions like the Incas, who are exceptionally important to this mod.
Below is a list of
potential factions, not set in stone. It may change greatly if I have team members with different ideas, and I have a few surprises I'll keep under wraps for now.
- Europeans:
- The Viceroyalty of New Spain
- The Viceroyalty of Peru
- Spain's dominance in the 16th and 17th century cannot be disputed, so they were always going to feature as very strong in the game. I had the idea to split them up into two factions, so that they’re not ridiculously powerful, or ridiculously vulnerable. It also gives the player some variety, and I have some ideas on just how I'll create each faction, make them unique from one another, and so on, which I think will be pretty cool.
- English America
- New France
- The Governate-General of
Brazil
- Brazil is gone, but Portugal will likely remain as a faction.
- The Netherlands
- Sweden
- Scotland
- Russians
- Ottoman Empire
- Denmark
- Courland
- Hospitallars
- Pirates!
- and more... These are all just ideas for now.
- Native Americans:
- Aztecs
- Mayans
- Apache
- Tlaxcallans
- Tarascans
- Chichimecs
- Incans*
- Muiscans*
- Cherokee*
- Welsh (yes, Welsh)
- Other undetermined North American factions*
- *Obviously, these don't exist in Vanilla, so they I will need to make them.
Gameplay: I want to create a very challenging campaign, both for the player and for the AI. I haven't put much consideration into unit rosters yet. Guns will be present, of course, but I won't be placing an over-emphasis on them, like I believe the Americas campaign and Vanilla do.
Other details: In regards to assembling a mod team, I won't consider it until I've progressed a fair bit farther (at the very least I'd want the map all but done). This is mostly because I work at my own pace. This is a hobby of mine and with real world commitments I may be forced to drop it for months at a time. I'll do my best to avoid that, and I can assure you I have every intention of seeing my mod come to fruition, but I am a realist. I wouldn't dream of burdening a team at this early stage of the game.
I'm also hopeful that, when the time comes, I might be able to include what I can from other mods and modders. God knows that there is a lot brilliant work done by the modding community that I can't hope to best. It would be especially helpful if anyone has any existing custom New World content such as Native American (North, South or Central) factions, units and the like. I intend to try my hand at making my own, but my one fear is that some areas of the map will be under represented. I do have some ideas to remedy that if need be, but still, you never know unless you ask. That's a mile away, though. There's plenty to do before then.
I've come to realise that it's best to start simple. I'm aiming for a Beta release by the end of the year. Something very basic that doesn't give me too much grief, before maybe trying to recruit a team and take the mod to the next level.
What's next? Comment on this thread! Please, I'll be happy to answer any questions you have, or any comments you can give. It will encourage me to keep working. I've been eager to make this thread to share some of my plans and get some feedback to spur me on further. I'll be sure to keep you up to date in the meantime, and post a few screens when I have something decent to show off.
Thanks for reading!
Cheers, Frunk.