Proposal for new mod: Total War: Empires and Colonies

[espadana]

Peace

This mod has officially changed its name from "Total War: Empires & Colonies" to "Total War: the King of Kings
The text below is the first ever post, which is the "mod proposal". Much has been edited during the last week but quite a stable conclusion has been reached and we are hoping that we can create a fanbase in an official forum. Also, we are still recruiting and expanding in every area. This mod is young and ambitious, but it has a lot of potential, vigour, interest and power - hopefully we'll make it to the top - with your help, the King of Kings will be the Mod of Mods.



FIRST POST - MOD PROPSAL

Peace

This mod is set in the time frame: 1500 – 1700. The early Renaissance era.

Please consider the following:

INTRO:

A new age has dawned on the world. An age when mighty empires span the East and powerful nations quarrel over far-off lands in the West.

It is an age of dominance, power, wealth and culture. Where no nation is greater than the other - where all nations have come to survive the Total War.

Play as an empire, a colonialist or a rebellious khanate, in this major campaign to stand out as the Supreme Master of the world.

FACTIONS:

There are essentially 3 types of factions:

1) Empires

2) Colonies

3) Khanates

The Empires are the major nations that rule the world. They may include colonies (like Portugal) or they may not (like Mughal).

The Colonies are protectorate factions that are commanded about by their Overlord empires but have some autonomy. They have a chance to expand their frontiers in favour of the overlords, or they can be treacherous and rebel. (Independence)

Also, colonies can be created which will have some benefit for the mother empire as well as disadvantages. The advantage being that there will be NO "culture penalty" and "distance from capital" will not be a factor. Also, trade will boom. The disadvantage would be that the colony can at some point rebel - or it might not be managed as efficiently as perhaps you would have.

The Khanates are tribes that act like Hordes within the empire's dominion. They start out as neutral. But the ambition is to take over the ruling faction and start a whole new empire of their own. (This can be like the Sikh Warriors who lived around the punjab and fought the Mughal Emperor)

FACTIONS:

Empires: - Ottoman Turkey (Sunni)

- Hapsburg Empire (Christian)

- Safavid Persia (Shia)

- Mughal India (Sunni)

- Sultanate of Egypt (Mamlukes) (Sunni)

- Republic of Venice (Christian)

- Kingdoms of Kartli (Christian)

- Kingdom of Kakheti (Christian)

- East Georgia Kingdom (Christian)

- Kingdom of Hungary (Christian)

- Tudor England (Christian)
- Habsburg Empire (Spain) (Christian)
- Portuguese Empire (Christian)
- Oman Imamate (Sunni) [this is despite the fact that they are Ibadhis]
- Hafsid Kingdom
- Kingdom of Morocco
- Kingdom of Fez
- Kingdom of Napoli
- Songhai Empire

Colonies: - Portuguese (in India, Hormuzgan and the Hormuz island of the Persian Gulf - also in Africa, near Gibraltar)

- Principality of Transylvania (under Ottoman rule)

- Principality of Wallachia (under Ottoman rule)

[This needs to be expanded]

Khanates: - Armenian Kingdom (Caucasus)

- Crimean Khanate (Crimea)
- Astrakhan Khanate (East Crimea)

- Uzbek hordes (Central Asia)

- Sikh Warriors (India)

- Greek rebels (Greece)

- Shia rebels (Anatolia)

CAMPAIGN MAP:

It should extend from India to Portugal. The islands need to be there, especially Cyprus, Malta and Qeshm and a few others. The Northernmost part most probably seems to be the Austrian and Georgian Kingdoms (and the Uzbek Khanate) and the Southernmost part would be Sri Lanka, Arabia and Upper Egypt.

GOALS:

For Safavids to take over Anatolia and Mesopotamia

For Ottomans to take over Italy and Persia

For Mughals to take over Persia and Central Asia

For Republic of Venice to take over Anatolia

For the Mamlukes to take over Arabia and Mesopotamia

[LEFT]Thanks -

[PurpleScotch]

I like the idea. Good luck to who ever will take up this idea and form it to a mod. I would surely download it.

[Babur]

It's a good idea

I have a lot of research on the Mughals,so I could help you out if you want.

[TiTiTimmy]

The period is called the renaissance.

[espadana]

Peace -
it will focus on the Ottoman Empire as the Superpower of the era.

The Ottomans will occupy the centre of the Campaign map and although they are large and quite strong, they have enemies all round:
The Shia Safavids have religious problems with them since the Ottoman Caliph regards them as heretics.
The Mamlukes in Egypt are the only muslim empire apart from the Anatolians claiming to be the Caliphate.
The Republic of Venice and the Kingdom of Hungary is trying to cut the Ottomans off from Europe.
The Georgian kingdoms are trying to fend off the Ottomans for their own survival.
The Oman Imamate is trying to expand into the Arabian peninsula and attempt at grabbing the 2 mystical cities of Mecca and Medina.
There are other factions too: like the Mughal Indians and the Greek rebels and the Uzbek Khanate, all trying to ground their mark into the dust.

If any skinners and modders interested out there, let's start - the mod will also include colonies who can continue to enrich their overlords or they can gain independence and form their own separate faction.

[Icefrisco]

I like the idea but it would take at least 1 year.

[espadana]

I agree - it will be long - but there are several reasons why it should be done.
Firstly, Empire will not cover this era (1500-1700).
Secondly, no other mod out there covers this era and this theme.
Thirdly, the research for most of these is either complete or near-complete, so it won't take long to put it all together.
Fourthly, all factions are interesting and have almost an equal share in success.
Fifthly, and most importantly, this mod is the story of one mighty superpower with many enemies and almost no allies. Will it survive? And if not, who will take its place as the sole superpower? Or will a Medieval "cold war" take place?

If you want to help with this idea (I have other details I would like to add - and you too as well) please comment and join. Modders needed badly!!!

[espadana]

If we improve the AI - the diplomats could ask weakened factions to become "Colonies" instead of the normal -Protectorate- used in the vanillas.
eg.

Be Colony or we will attack... in that way, the faction will exist but will be taxed and will be in an alliance with the overlord and will obey every command like the Senate in Rome Total War (until it rebels). The colonies are like cities: if you apply too much pressure on them in terms of taxes and manpower, they rebel against you.

How is that?

And if we are the Colony factions, we can decide to rebel - the only reason being a colony is good is that (with the improved AI) the Coloniser will defend you in some way or another.
Another idea I have (and I like it) is that although being a colony means you will always be a shadow and taxed and stuff, you will never be destroyed until your Coloniser faction is destroyed. So even if your colony-provinces are taken from you, you will still be given one of the many provinces the Coloniser faction occupies.
And because we want to spice the game up, here's the hitch. If you play as a Colony, to win, you have to get a certain amount of provinces as an independent faction. That means, sooner or later, they would have to break off from the Colonisers. This will make them into enemies and the game would be more interesting after that.

[Hunter Makoy]

from the looks of it it will be very similar to Brocken Crescent but at a later time period. i think ur biggest challenge from a developement stand point will be the differences between the faction types. it could be very streight forward, but if u r looking to make a noticable difference, it will take some good planning.

[Babur]

Map of Mughal Empire 1526-1707:



This map should help you with the regions map of India:













I hope these maps are of great help

[espadana]

Thanks a lot Chaghatai - great maps -
do you also have relevant information on the units of Mughal India in these periods? (eg. Uniforms, types of units, strengths and weaknesses, etc.)

[Babur]

I don't know about strengths and weaknesses but these pics should be of great use for the Mughal roster:

Copyrighted material removed. Such images are not allowed to be posted at TWC ~Harry Lime

Jai Hind!

I also have a book about life in Mughal India,I wonder if it could be of use.

[YankeePhan123]

Im interested what do you need done?

[Babur]

Espadana what other info on the Mughals do you need?

[espadana]

Thanks for all the info up till now Chaghatai Khan.

Right now, I am working on a sketch of what the campaign map should cover and the position of each faction. (I have also added a few European factions)

I have studied your maps and one of them shows the Mughal Empire as it was in 1530 or so. Since this will be their approximate size of their empire at the beginning of the mod, I was wondering if you could help me on the following accounts:

- Since the Mughals expanded, what other factions existed around them?
- Regions of that area

Thank you very much. I will apply these as soon as I get them to the map.
Thanks

[Babur]

Thanks for all the info up till now Chaghatai Khan.

Right now, I am working on a sketch of what the campaign map should cover and the position of each faction. (I have also added a few European factions)

I have studied your maps and one of them shows the Mughal Empire as it was in 1530 or so. Since this will be their approximate size of their empire at the beginning of the mod, I was wondering if you could help me on the following accounts:
- Since the Mughals expanded, what other factions existed around them?
- Regions of that area

Thank you very much. I will apply these as soon as I get them to the map.
Thanks

You had the Rajput kingdoms of the Mewars which occupied this area roughly:



this is larger view of Rajasthan within India today.I have been to Rajasthan three times




examples of their roster:













Raja Pratap Singh(I have met his descendant on several occasions )







If you fit in North-East India in your map,then there you can include the Ahoms who had a kingdom in what is now Assam in North-East India:

more info about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahom_kingdom

Also in 1531 you ought to have Sher Shah Suri as an emerging faction,who was a very competent ruler who managed to expel the Mughal Emperor Humayun from India.

Also in South India there was the Deccan Sultanate:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deccan_sultanates




and Vijayanagar Empire,which was also in Southern India:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayanagara_empire

these weapons look like they are from the South:







[IMG]










some additional info on the Mughals:
Mughal Empire


[FONT=Times Roman][SIZE=4] I.) 1526-1556 : The founder of the Mughal Empire, Timurid Babur, ruler of Kabul, for much of his life failed in his repeated attempts to take control of Samarkand. In 1526 he lead an invading army into the plains of northern India, defeated the Lodi Sultan of Delhi in the Battle of Panipat and established the Mughal Dynasty. His rule extended over Uttar Pradesh, the Punjab and adjacent regions in Central Asia. Babur died in 1530 and was, in Hindustan, succeeded by his son Humayun. Brothers of Humayun established independent holdings in the Punjab, Kabul.
The Lodi Dynasty had not been overthrown, just expelled from Delhi. In the 1530es, from their base in modern Bihar, the Lodi took the offensive against the Mughals, and Humayun was expelled from Delhi in 1540. He was to spend the following years in Persian exile. In 1555, with an army provided by the Safavid ruler of Persia, he retook Delhi; in 1556 he died.

II.) 1556-1605 : The Rule of Akbar (which translates to "the Great"). Akbar transformed the Mughal Empire from a Mongol-type Muslim Khanate ruling over conquered people into an Indian Empire practising religious tolerance, integrating Shiite Persian nobles and Hindu Rajput princes to limit the influence of the Uzbek nobility. Akbar's attempt to introduce a synchretistic religion, Kitab ul-Illah or Din-i-Illahi, was only of temporary success.
During the rule of Akbar, Malwa, Gujarat, Bengal were conquered.

III.) 1605-1658 : The successors of Akbar (Jahangir 1605-1627, Shah Jehan 1628-1658) were less formidable figures. On the occasion of the death of a Mughal Emperor, succession struggles were normal, as the rulers practised polygamy and succession was not regulated.
Jahangir and Shah Jehan maintained the policy of religious toleration. The policy of expansion by conquest was continued (Ahmednagar 1638); however, Jahangir is most known for having moved the capital to Agra, Shah Jehan for having constructed the Taj Mahal in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.

IV.) 1658-1707 : Aurangzeb. He abolished religious toleration, was a fervent Muslim. While Akbar (temporarily) conquered southern India, his harsh treatment of other religions (reimposition of the per-capita-tax on non-Muslims; execution of Sikh gurus) caused armed resistance. Upon Aurangzeb's death, both the Sikh Confederation and the Marathas fought the Mughal Empire.
In contemporary Europe, Aurangzeb's Mughal Empire enjoyed great reputation, as a wealthy country ruled by a powerful monarch.

V.) 1707-1858 : The successors of Aurangzeb were puppets in the hands of powerful figures more interested in establishing their influence over part of the Empire than in maintaining the Mughal Empire itself. Several Mughal Emperors were killed, often after only briefly occupying the throne. The rise of the Maratha Federation is to be seen as being part of a complex power struggle within the Mughal Empire rather than as a war of conquest against it.
The Marathas, as well as powerful officials ruling 'Mughal provinces', in theory, recognized Mughal sovereignty, as expressed in Maratha coinjage. In all practicality, the Maratha rulers, the Nizam of Hyderabad, the Nawab of Bengal, the Kingdom of Awadh (Oudh) were independent.
In 1803 Mughal Emperor Shah Alam placed himself under British (E.I.C.) protection. In 1858, following the Sepoy Rebellion, the British blamed the last Mughal, Bahadur Shah, for having participated, and deposed him. The Mughal Empire formally was abolished, annexed by British India.

VI.) Political-Administrative Culture : The Mughal Empire was a feudal state, centered on the imperial court. The Emperor based his authority on the number and strength of his vassalls, holders of fiefs the size of which could vary; under Akbar these vassalls included Muslims and Hindus. Akbar attempted to establish a synchretistic religion, Din-i-Illahi, in an attempt to establish an esprit-de-corps among the Mughal court nobility, a measure which ultimately failed.
The loyalty of vassalls, especially in the provinces far from the Mughal court, was a matter of political convenience, depending on the charisma of the individual ruler, the size of the army he could field etc. The conquest of the Deccan proves as an example; with the appearance of a large Mughal army, many feudatory lords of Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Golconda declared allegiance to the Mughal Emperor, rather than defending their country against the invading army. Once Aurangzeb had died, Mughal authority in much of the Deccan ended abruptly, by the desertion of numerous Mughal vassals.
Aurangzeb's decision to end the culture of religious tolerance at the Mughal court and revert to a strict implementation of Islam alienated both the Hindus and the Sikhs.

VII.) The Military : Babur invaded India with a Central Asian army, mainly relying on cavalry and using firearms as well as cannon. Her strength lay in mobility. Akbar transformed the Mughal military (Indianization); Hindu Rajputs rose to the rank of generals; the army would include war elephants, siege equipment, infantry and a large number of camp followers. Mughal armies now resembled a tent city, moving at a pace of perhaps 15 km a day and requiring a lot of food and money to be maintained.
In the 18th century, at a time when the Mughal Empire became battleground for competing provincial governors and vassalls, European officers and firearms became a factor of increasing importance in Indian warfare.

VIII.) The Economy : Relation with the Colonial Companies . The coastal regions of India were peripheral to the Mughal Empire; the ports of Surat and of Bengal were the most important from Mughal perspective. The competing colonial companies were no threat to the Empire of Akbar and Aurangzeb; the Mughals long were able to force trade be conducted on their terms. When the Danish East India Company entered the scene and committed what the Mughals regarded acts of piracy, trade with all European colonial companies was seized until this perceived piracy ended.
The Economy : Domestic Economy . India had a diverse economy, the main sector of which was agriculture. India's textile industry produced both for a domestic market and for export; a mining and metal industry produced tools and arms. Mughal masonry built the Taj Mahal, Mughal jewellers shaped the Peacock Throne and Koh-i-Noor, all of worldwide fame. The Mughal Empire was based on taxation, much of which ended up in the pockets of the feudatory nobility.
The Emperors did not pursue much of an active economic policy. For instance the irrigation canals dug by the British in the Punjab in the later 19th century, turning the province into the breadbasket of India, could have been dug by the Mughals; the technology would have been available; the vision was lacking.

IX.) Culture : The Mughal court maintained Persian as language of administration, a language foreign to the vast majority of the population. Hindi (Urdu) was the language spoken by the masses in the core provinces of what is today Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan.
The Mughals were great admirers of architecture, had the Forts of Agra and Lahore built, the Red Fort of Delhi remodelled, the Taj Mahal and a number of mosques and masjids built.

and a Mughal elephant:






I hope all this info was of help

[Emperor Taizu]

Once you get the new units ready, send them to me and I can help you create custom scenarios. Also feel free to use my King Baldwin's Map Pak v1.5. Just remember to give me credit. You can rename or make tweaks to the maps if you want. Maybe you would also find the custom maps produced by Broken Crescent useful. Here's the link to my map pak:

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/downl...o=file&id=1837

READ MY POST FOR FULL DETAILS. Enjoy!

[espadana]

I hope all this info was of help

It was - thanks a lot - I'm pleasantly surprised, you've been in touch with some really interesting people

I'm currently working on the map sketch to post later this week - I apologise for this delay - however, I am hoping we can get skinners to do the units...
Do you happen to know anyone for this?:hmmm: Please could you help find some people? Thanks a lot.

[Babur]

It was - thanks a lot - I'm pleasantly surprised, you've been in touch with some really interesting people

I'm currently working on the map sketch to post later this week - I apologise for this delay - however, I am hoping we can get skinners to do the units...
Do you happen to know anyone for this?:hmmm: Please could you help find some people? Thanks a lot.

I don't know anyone who could be free sorry,all the people I know are helping with my mod and they're busy most of the time .I will try and look around.

[juanguer]

espadana.... if you want I can make main menu... splasher... video... and other elements...