An Epiphany (or Stupidity?)

[Kikimora]

Roughly a month ago, my friend (non member, sadly) and I were playing around with some mods, and we liked most of them. But some, mostly the fantasy ones, left us feeling that we could do better. Now, I've dubbed around with scripts before, usually just to include the Saxons (I don't know why, I just like them for some reason) and the English on the Americas Campaign. He hasn't, seeing as he only just got MII:TW that day, but he's a genius when it comes to modding things. I've seen his work on other games, usually petty mods for first person shooters, but it's good, and he has a whole computer dedicated for making 3D things and the like, and we've even been able to add a graphic into the game (I don't know how, but then again, I'm only a petty scripter). So, without further ado, I present to you our consept:

Vespatia: Total War

Catchy title, eh?
Well, basically, it's a mixture of fantasy and reality. I liked mods like Fourth Age for R: TW, and I liked the Holy Roman Empire dealy for MII: TW, and so did my friend, and we wanted to combine them... sort of.
Basically, it's based on a fictional island chain called the "Vespatian Archipelago", which we place somewhere off the coast of France and Spain in the Atlantic (due to it's climate), near the cruck after the Pyrenees, but far enough away so that you can't see the mainland from the archipelago. There are five major islands, Plupzervosovot (the largest and central island), Cherleto Island (the southern most, kind of looks like the letter "J" on it's side, or possibly Prince Edward Island), Sadrabia Island (most western island, shaped like a pear), Zuag Island (most northern, shaped like the letter "v") and Bobaran Island (the most eastern, it's long and streaches the length of Plupzervosovot, something like a large Öland).
The inhabitance of these islands are mostly European, though the "natives" of Plupzervosovot are more like the Indians of North America (also an inside joke between my friends [who plan on working on the mod] is that the "Freshman" [our pet name for the natives, because that was the most savage thing we could think of] are more advanced than the European colonizers). The Europeans have been in the archipelago since the Dark Ages, and have evolved into their own cultures... sort of. Since they have been cut off from the mainland, some things are purely Vespatian (the collective name of the European factions), like the use of throwing fish at enemies to demoralize them (but not as an offensive weapon) and shoulder strapped balistae. But over the years, things from the mainland did float over from either things dropped at ports or shipwrecks, mostly magazines like National Geographic and even before that. After seeing things like the Taj Hahal, Kyoto, and Chinese Imperial palaces, the Vespatians started to build in those styles to an extent, though some have proclaimed this against tradition. Even though the mod will start most likely in the late 1800's, the Vespatians don't exactly have modern weapons (e.g. guns and cannons). The factions are: The Kingdom of Zuagland (think Germany... 10 B.C.), The Kingdom of Soothron (a German/South U.S.ish faction with Indian [from India] buildings), the Republic of Yamanaka (a former Soothron mandate, but it's more like a German/South U.S./Mediterraneanish faction with Japanese buildings), the Republic of Kapital (an English-ish faction with Chinese buildings), the Kitalian Union (ermmm, think Hyperboria from R: TW, with Western European buildings), the Republic of Hurdonia (a Canadianish [yep...] faction with, well, Canadian buildings), the Allémanian Empire (as the name kind of suggests, it's a Germanish faction, and is somewhat like Soothron in nature), and the Republic of Punnicherri (a former Zuagland mandate, but it's more like a Barbarian/Japaneseish faction). Soothron, Zuagland, Yamanaka, and Kapital are the four major factions, while Kitali, Allémania, Hurdonia, and Punnicherri are minor, but playable. The full history would be long (yet humorous, because Vespatia: Total War is a semi serious mod, more geared at having a fun time than realism), but the condensed version is that various Europeans land on the archipelago due to shipwrecks, they make their own cultures, they fight and defeat the 'Freshmen', they create large empires (Zuagland, Soothron, the Orient [for-runner of Yamanaka and Punnicherri], and Kapital), in the early 1500's, a ship of Swabians destined for the New World hits Vespatia and instead colonize Vespatia (Allémania). A huge war ensues, and Allémania comes out as victor, with the help of the Orient. Then riots start in the losing nations, and eventually destroys all the factions. After a few of anarchy, the nations are restored (well, only near their capitals), and a few new nations pop up (Yamanaka, Punnicherri, Hurdonia, and Kitali). Here's a proposed concept drawing of the map:

Red: Zuagland, Green: Kapital, Light Blue: Soothron, Light Gray: Yamanaka, Brown: Hurdonia, Yellow: Allémania, Pink: Kitali, and Dark Gray: Punnicherri
Note: Some of the territory names are homages to books we had to read in various classes.
Now it's up to you, the player, to take control of one of these nations, and lead them to greatness.

Now, some of the finer things need to be pounded out (like the history and more game information), but I present it to you, the public, to see if it is worth our time to proceed and make this mod, because with out some interest, the only people who would be playing it would be my friends and I. If y'all have a question, just ask.

[Paul d]

lol tralfamador(e) nice one that bok was awesome (slaughterhouse 5) aka Schlachthof Funf


could use more geographic diversity. by that i mean fjords, bays ,mountains, rivers, lakes, etc.

id say alot more isles, that isn't quite an archipelago, perhaps many more small islands?


also, you realise, the new architectural ideas need to be implemented. i've heard that adding new architecture and culture types is a pretty tough challenge.

[Kikimora]

True, there are going to be more small islands, mostly to the west near Sadrabia. There's a lake in Gangliania, and a few rivers here and there. The North has alot of mountains, the middle is like southern France, the south is like the southern U.S. (aka swampy), the east is full of forests, and the west is rather flat and dry (aka a desert). The architecture will be set on the back burner, and might not be messed around with, in which case we will just use Arab buildings.

[alpaca]

I think I will remain sceptical as long as you have province names like "Mish", "Mash" and "Kapital"

The map looks a bit ungeological, too

[Kikimora]

Some places were named by my friends (such as the ones you mentioned), and I let them in, albeit grudgingly. Kapital (or Kapïtal as originally spelled) is where the old native capital of Plupzervosovot was, and so it stuck. Mish and Mash are actually corruptions of the German towns Mischütz and Machern, which are both in Saxony where some of my ancestors came from. A lot of the names on the "map" are corruptions of real places. "Cherleto" is a corruption of "Charlotte Town", the capital of P.E.I., "Makvarsonia" is a corruption of "Macphearson", which is one of my friend's last name, "Savanoburg" is a corruption of Savannah, to show that it's like the southern U.S., and "Sadrabia" is a corruption of "Saudi Arabia", to show that the culture is rather eastern. Even Harlem, which is a real place, is a corruption of the name "Harley", which is the girlfriend of one of my friends (again, I only named a few of them). So there's a reason for the names, in most cases, except for Kooo, which we chose because we were bored.