751 - The Wild Steppes

[Kilij of the East]

Greetings, I am Kilij, a somewhat experienced modder(can mod any text file, do basic mapping and scripting, and has a lot of trial/error experiences on my belt) with an unpublicized half-done semi-fantasy mod with a pretty sweet and well-done multi-faction Empire. Alas, that mini-project is not the discussion I am presenting now, I've had for a while a really awesome idea for a historical mod that I would love to see an official release for and am willing to work with a couple specialists on.

It is A.D. 751, at the onset of one of the most important battles in history that will decide the future of Central Asia, The steppes, and control of the Silk Road trade. At Talas, great Empire are ready to clash. The Abbasid Caliphate and their current ally, the Tibetan Empire will fight the Tang Dynasty of China, with the nearby Nomadic Karluks ready to decide between Sinic or Islamic ways. As the battle that will shape Central Asia forever is about to break out, the Khazars are the major power in the Steppe, while other nearby nomads such as the Alans, Cumans, Pechenegs, and Turks are still too weak to challenge them, the Khazars are receiving holy men of many different organized religions. Meanwhile the Bulgarian Khanate is severely harassing the Byzantine Empire, will Constantinople fall? Or will Byzantine military reforms lead these heirs of Rome to victory and restoration of their former glory? North of all of this, several Pagan peoples are consolidating and seeming ready to form nations, however, will this be at the expense of their traditions? And lastly, the Uyghurs are dominating the Steppes of Mongolia, will they charge through the Great Wall to conquer China? Or will their Khitan and Mongol subjects have that honour? Currently, Strategists, Shamans, and Seers alike, are unsure who will dominate the Steppes? Who will be the Greatest Ruler the world will ever know?

Planned Features
- Three types of Governments: Nomadic, Tribal, and Developed.
- New building trees to reflect each kind of government(Castles will be changed to represent Tribal and Nomadic Settlements)
- Factions will be able to switch to a developed government
- Factions will be able to adopt new Religions(perhaps even may choose to keep their old Temples more Rome Barbarian Invasion style)
- Unique style of Gameplay and Recruitment for each Government type.
- Map Extending from Thrace to Xian China, and from Persia to Volga Bulgaria.
- Silk Road trade will play a heavy role and will bring great wealth to its holders.

Planned Factions

Nomadic-
Khazars
Turks
Alans
Cumans
Pechenegs
Bolghars/Bulgarians
Avars
Magyars
Karluks
Uighurs
Khitan
Mongols

Tribal/Semi-Developed-
Polish
Russians
Finno-Ugrics?
Yugoslavs
Afghans

Developed-
Tang Empire
Abbasid Caliphate
Bavandids
Byzantine Empire
Tibetan Empire
Punjab(Karkota)

Planned Religions-
Christianity
Islam
Judaism
Paganism
Buddhism(with additional Bon and Taoist temples for Tibet and China respectively)
Manichaean
Hindu(inclusive of Afghan Surya/Zun worship)
Occultism(Heresy)
Zoroastrianism

Currently just looking for a mapper and others that are just really interested in this history and part of the world.

[vladimirt]

hello. I want contact with you in yahoo or facbook. How to me can speak with you. I want speak about mod

[Kilij of the East]

Alright! I got a very basic and functional map now. So if there is any really dedicated mapper who wants to work on this mod, well, now there's something for said mapper to work from. Also, Cheers! Now the map is no longer just an idea, but a work in progress. Now I can start working on implementing all the above ideas! Much Excitement!

Also, when I named the modfolder, I ended up calling it, East-West_Road. I am considering making the mod's official title be: " 751- The East-West Road ". Sounds nice doesn't it? Not only do I think it sounds better, but I think it describes the mod better. The mod isn't JUST about the Steppes, but also about the interaction of the Eastern and Western worlds. Lastly, I just remembered, the religion limit is abit bigger than 8, perhaps it's only 9, but either way, Zoroastrianism will fit! Still wish I can get Taoism implemented via religion mechanics, but we'll see...

[Kirila the Kitten]

I support you in your venture.

[Kilij of the East]

Thank you very much!

Here's alittle update for all of you following this mod,



I got all the planned religions in, borrowed some pips from other mods so you all can see(I won't release the with them, not without permission anyway). The Buddhist pip didn't load in anyway! anyhow, Catholicism out, and renamed to Manichaean. Orthodox renamed to Christian, so now there's no Church Schism. That's all for now folks! I'll be making temples for all these new faiths next,

[Frunk]

This looks great, Mana! I was working on an 8th century mod of my own, but I haven't got past the planning stage and it's currently on the backburner in favour of an Americas mod I'm working on (getting close to finishing my map).

I don't know if I have any skills I can offer you, but I might be able to assist with some mapping related things (smooth coasts, etc.), or any research (I did a fair amount on my eastern Europe factions). Take a read through that old thread of mine too, if you like. I received a lot of useful ideas and feedback that you're more than welcome to share.

In the meantime, good luck! +rep for you, and I've subscribed to your thread.

[Kilij of the East]

Thank you! Much Appreciated!

Glad to meet a fan of the earlier periods. I don't think I can take you on for mapping, since I'm looking for someone who take the flat, barren, featureless(, jagged coast) map I have and give it not just those things, but life, beauty, and art. However, I could definitely use researchers, although research will be more needed when we get to working on the building trees and units, but I'm still glad to have them on hand and begin researching now. It's still really early in development and haven't even started any factions yet, but I am doing the religions and their temples, and etc. first since I've studied such things recently in college(had a Religion in Medieval world class as well as a class on Hinduism/Buddhism/Taoism) and every faction will benefit from this work. Then I'm going to have to start coding in all the factions needed.

[Kilij of the East]

Another mini-update from me!

All but one of the religions now has a temple, I'll probably need to consult on whether Hinduism should have just one temple for all Hindus, or if separate temples for Hinduism's major branches would be more appropriate in this era. To make up for that though, I got some extra work done on Slavic Paganism, there are Temples for three deities: Jarilo(spring/fertility God), Perun(cause of storms, warriors' & nobles' patron, and God of the force of 'good'), and Veles(God of the Spiritworld, but also music, poetry, the arts, magic, etc.)



So far they are basically renamed Lithuanian temples from Teutonic campaign, but I definitely plan to give pagans and all religions for that matter, loving attention in this mod. I might add more deities later on in the mod. Also, I coded in one faction, so besides the rebel faction, there are now 24 faction slots in use, 23 from vanilla, plus the new one I added(Alans), which if you add up all the "planned factions" is the same, 24. So no more faction coding! Whew, well, at least until we get a release and when I may want to add more factions, but for now, we're good.

Also, while I am still looking for a mapper, I'm not far from getting to a point where other skillsets will be very important. I'm going to try to salvage as many vanilla that I can away with keeping in a beta release(like Alan Light Cavalry, Cuman Horse Archers, etc.), but I am certainly going to need people to research and people to make units soon, esp for the Indians, Tibetans, and post-Sassanid, early/pre-Islamic Iranian militaries. But really, any researchers for any respective faction/culture would be welcome to make themselves known here. I myself am getting invested in Tang Dynasty Military. But yeah, I'll start taking names and putting them in the post, feel free to research as many factions/cultures/'government types' as you can handle.

[vladimirt]

Another mini-update from me!

All but one of the religions now has a temple, I'll probably need to consult on whether Hinduism should have just one temple for all Hindus, or if separate temples for Hinduism's major branches would be more appropriate in this era. To make up for that though, I got some extra work done on Slavic Paganism, there are Temples for three deities: Jarilo(spring/fertility God), Perun(cause of storms, warriors' & nobles' patron, and God of the force of 'good'), and Veles(God of the Spiritworld, but also music, poetry, the arts, magic, etc.)



hello. I want contact with you in my facbook

So far they are basically renamed Lithuanian temples from Teutonic campaign, but I definitely plan to give pagans and all religions for that matter, loving attention in this mod. I might add more deities later on in the mod. Also, I coded in one faction, so besides the rebel faction, there are now 24 faction slots in use, 23 from vanilla, plus the new one I added(Alans), which if you add up all the "planned factions" is the same, 24. So no more faction coding! Whew, well, at least until we get a release and when I may want to add more factions, but for now, we're good.

Also, while I am still looking for a mapper, I'm not far from getting to a point where other skillsets will be very important. I'm going to try to salvage as many vanilla that I can away with keeping in a beta release(like Alan Light Cavalry, Cuman Horse Archers, etc.), but I am certainly going to need people to research and people to make units soon, esp for the Indians, Tibetans, and post-Sassanid, early/pre-Islamic Iranian militaries. But really, any researchers for any respective faction/culture would be welcome to make themselves known here. I myself am getting invested in Tang Dynasty Military. But yeah, I'll start taking names and putting them in the post, feel free to research as many factions/cultures/'government types' as you can handle.