The Hotseat Mod

[emotion_name]

Ok, so i would like to mod for M2TW with the aim being to create a Campaign that is completely balanced to Hotseat Gaming.

A few people from the Hotseat Community have agreed to help me, basically its going to be a labour of love as our modding knowledge isnt very great (Especially mine )

The original thread i started, at the Hotseat Sub forum can be viewed Here

There will be one Main Campaign with a lot of Factions on it, and then also will be some smaller Campaigns more focused on different areas, sort of like Kingdoms. All Campaigns will be designed with the idea of every faction being human controlled, so if there isnt enough people to take every Faction in the main Campaign they can play one of the smaller ones instead.

So, before any work can actually start we need to decide on what base we are going to use, what regions to add/remove, what factions to add/remove, what resources to balance out, movement points for agents and fleets, how to nerf Crusades/Jihads, Faction starting strengths, what smaller areas for other Campaigns (Eastern, South Europe, Iberia etc) and a whole load more as well!

After speaking to the guys in power, i been told all we can do for now is use this thread, and if enough people join to help and work progresses far enough we can then apply for our own sub forum, so for now its going to be a case of making do with all our ideas etc jumbled in here, and i will keep the first posts updated with whats agreed, what needs deciding, who is doing what etc.

So, for any of you reading this, who have any skills in any area of modding, and who have the time to help us, even if its just with suggestions ideas, then please fell free to "chip in"

[emotion_name]

What is to be used as a "Base" for this Mod?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Because of the lack of skills we suffer from, using the very helpful Bare Geomod i feel is a must. Therefore we need to find what we are going to add to this before we start mapping etc!

One suggestion has been to use Retrofit + XAI 4.0 + Bloods, Broads and Bastards all combined. To use these we would need to figure out how to "combine" them with Bare Geomod!

Bloods, Broads and Bastards is here

What Factions will be added/removed and where to?

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

So, this area i think will take the most debating. I myself think for the Main Campaign, everyone should start with one city and one castle, but then we would need to balance out placement of remaining Rebel regions.

In the UK i think we should add Ireland and across the channel we should add Flanders, or someone else inbetween HRE and France.

Iberia is a tricky one, i think Aragon should be added there, and is there any Faction that can be added to North Africa to trim the Moors and end the cycle of always aiming at Iberia?

Jerusalem or Crusader States should be added to the Holy Land, and maybe Novgorod or Lithuania added in also!

What regions to add/remove (including resources etc within region)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Will be covered in due course

Other Random Ideas (things im too lazy to categorise properly right now )

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Crusades and Jihads need to be nerfed slightly to stop them being so OP. Some good suggestions so far have been to increase the upkeep quite a bit and to lower the movement points that crusading/jihading armies get.

Also, changing the system for calling Crusades/Jihads so more piety is required whilst being harder to earn i think is something that should be included. Maybe also increasing the time between another Crusade/Jihad being called.

I think also the Hordes idea from Soul Firez sub mod for KGCM should be added, as it really does add another element to the game.

Movement points for agents/fleets should be doubled, but spies abilities to infiltrate and to open gates of a settlement should be adjusted to make both very hard to achieve.

There is a way of changing ownership of the units, so that if you bribe an army instead of disbanding it actually joins you forces as useable units. I think this should be researched and if possible included, as the ability to offer your units for sale/trade adds another element to diplomacy.

[Visorslash]

Well, we're using Bare Geomod right?

I would like to see more islands. (Visby, Castle Town, Palma, Malta, etc) and make Islands worth getting.

Maybe you could edit your post and post suggestions in there?

[emotion_name]

Yeah, i will do!

The reserved slot is for ideas that need working on and for ideas that have been agreed upon, i just havnt had time yet to anything to it!

My boss is on the prowl for now!

[Swarbs]

For me, the really big thing that would help out a lot would be for someone to write a script that would run the character_reset command on all armies at the start of each person's turn. That would avoid the frozen army problem and make hotseats much simpler to play.

Also, some way to stop crusade / jihad armies getting free upkeep. Crusades and jihads should only get around a 50% increase in movement, and the ability to recruit the special mercs.

[Visorslash]

For me, the really big thing that would help out a lot would be for someone to write a script that would run the character_reset command on all armies at the start of each person's turn. That would avoid the frozen army problem and make hotseats much simpler to play.

I asked Paradigm, but he says he doesn't know. Maybe you could utilise the show-me-how script thing to reset all character movement? I'll ask in Mod Workshop.

[emotion_name]

Yeah, that would be a great addition!

On original thread at HS Forum Vasilefs has posted some ideas about a base - Retrofit (as it balances units in autoresolve), Bloods, Broads + Bastards (adds new traits and ancillaries) and XAI 4.0 all combined!

I thought Bare Geomod came with Retrofit features, but i cant find anything to support that, so we may have to use a combination of Bare Geomod, Retrofit, Bloods and XAI as our base, mainly because without Bare Geomod a lot of us wont be able to do anything!

If it balances out autoresolve though, i think Retrofit should definately be included!

[emotion_name]

updated 2nd post, your opinions on things i put there woudl be great guys!

I will pretty it up a bit, add soem colour and such like as we decide on things, just right now i dont have time!

[emotion_name]

I've had a little read of what that Blood, Broads and Bastards is about, and it seems pretty good! It sounds like they tried adding a lot more RPGishness to things, and some great sounding Traits and a reworked Family Tree!

The Link is added to the 2nd post, check it out and see what you think!

[[Celtíbero]Mencey]

What do you think about all factions having the same unit rooster?

[emotion_name]

Im not sure i like the sound of it tbh! It will make it to similar, and strip away the variation!

In regards to units, i think it would be a good idea to use the idea Swarbs suggested for the KGCM HS Patch, which is from start of the game every Faction has one or two of its Unique/Top tier units, sort of an early elite force, nothing to big but enough to swing some pretty important battles your way, and they would need to be important for you to risk losing them, as there would be nowhere to retrain them!

[Visorslash]

Agreed.

Maybe there could be an Africa Moors faction and an Iberian Moors faction?

Or Flanders and Burgundy?

Or Saxons hopefully? (I like the Saxons...)

[emotion_name]

African and Iberian Moors sounds good, a split in the Empire so to speak!

I was thinking also of removing Aztecs, make Americas rebel owned but with one hell of a garrison script so they near impossible to take!

No one plays as the Aztecs in hotseats anyway, so might as well free up a Faction slot!

So, Ireland added to UK, Flanders added to North Europe, Moors split into 2 (African and Iberian Factions), Jerusalem added to Holy Land, Novgorod added to the East! What about Norway being added into Scandinavia?

Send some pm to people as well guys, get them to voice there opinions here! Its supposed to be a Hotseat Mod, made by the HS community for the HS community, so everyones opinions on what would balance it out etc are welcome!

[goro]

If someone hasnt said i believe one of the most important would be a system of voting for crusade targets although i think its difficult to make it work ingame

[Metatron33]

I have about 0% of modding knowledge,but i have been trying to learn the basics of scripting.
Okay that had nothing to do with what i'm about to ask,but is it possible to use Bare Geomod with another mod?
Because,in my opinion,a fun HS would be one that give players the ability to give rise to their own Kingdoms/Emipires/ect. with starting with about 2-3 settlements.There are a few mods out there like CCM and THERA that have what i'm talking about,but i recently found the German Version of "RECONQUISTA MOD" and i find it really fun and balances most factions.So maybe,if there's a way,Bare Geomod could be use to make it HS material?

[IZob]

is it possible to use Bare Geomod with another mod?

Yes it is possible to combine Bare Geomods materials (files) with another mod. You only need to configure (edit) bare Geomods files to be compatible with the other mod (or vis versa).

GL with the mod. First thing I would do is consider:

• Is it fantasy?
• Is it realistic/historical? Or is the game bent towards another purpose (game play for example).
• What factions are in/not in?
• What areas will they cover?
• How much overall power do you give each faction?
• What area will the campaign map cover?
• How big will the map be?
• How many settlements?
• What will the campaign script do for the campaign? (Just historical event notices or player and AI involved scenarios).
• Then ... units, buildings, characters, agents, models .... a combination of text editing a creative works.

Another to add to the list:

A deadline?
Team members?

[emotion_name]

Yes it is possible to combine Bare Geomods materials (files) with another mod. You only need to configure (edit) bare Geomods files to be compatible with the other mod (or vis versa).

GL with the mod. First thing I would do is consider:

• Is it fantasy? aww hell no!
• Is it realistic/historical? Or is the game bent towards another purpose (game play for example). Gameplay is aimed at completely balanced hotseats
• What factions are in/not in? Still under debate, so far Ireland, Norway, Lithuania/Novgorod, Jerusalem/Antioch will be added, and maybe Aragon and splitting Moors in two also.
• What areas will they cover? Hmmm, not quite sure what you mean here.
• How much overall power do you give each faction? I put forwards the idea that every Faction starts with one town and one castle, so at start "region"wise everyone is equal
• What area will the campaign map cover? Main campaign will be same as vanilla map, with smaller more focused maps added, similar to CCM
• How big will the map be? See above!
• How many settlements? Under debate, but a few will be added.
• What will the campaign script do for the campaign? (Just historical event notices or player and AI involved scenarios). I have no idea, im useless with scripting. Swarbs suggested a script that reset movement points each turn, to stop the inevitable "this army cant be moved" and "can i move this army" debates. Everything else is still open to suggestion where scripting is concerned.
• Then ... units, buildings, characters, agents, models .... a combination of text editing a creative works. Hmmmm, well Factions that are added from Kingdoms will have there roster (Ireland/Norway) ported over as well as agents etc, those not from Kingdoms that we create...well..... a mish mash of units already in the game.

Another to add to the list:

A deadline? Before i die! Seriously, my knowledge of modding is so low this will take ages
Team members? Good question!

[emotion_name]

Right, last night i attempted using Geomod to balance out Britain, allowing space for all Factions there (Scotland, England, Ireland) to have there 2 starting regions - one Castle and one Town - plus rebel regions to allow expansion.

As it was Geomod i used, this next part might not make any sense, but for those of you who have used it you can see what i built etc.

Ireland

The Faction

Dublin will be Irelands starting Town, it has a population of 1200 and it is 96% Catholic. It is village level and it has a Wooden Pallisade, Town Watch and a Small Church and there are the hidden resources of Explorers Guild and Atlantic. It is set to Irish Rebels, and Scots/Irish mercs are available. For now Dublins creator is Scotland and its owner is Rebels, but this will be changed once Ireland is added as a Faction.

Athenry will be Irelands starting Castle, it has a population of 550 and is 70% Catholic. It is village level and it has a Motte and Bailey, a Mustering Hall and a Small Chapel and there are the hidden resources of Woodsmen Guild, Explorers Guild and Atlantic. It is set to Irish Rebels and no Mercs are available. For now Athenrys' Creator is Scotland and it starts Rebel owned, but this will be changed once Ireland is added as a Faction.

The Country

Added Downpatrick to Eire and made it a Castle. It has a population of 1650 and is 77% Catholic. It is Town level and it has a Motte and Bailey, Garrison Quarters and Roads and it has the hidden resources of Explorers Guild and Atlantic. Scot/Irish mercs are available and the Creator is Scotland whilst it starts Rebel owned. When Ireland is added as a Faction, this will change to Ireland Creator but remain Rebels at start.

Added Derry to Eire and made it a Town. It has a population of 961 and it is 70% Catholic. It is Town level and it has a Wooden Pallisade and a Town Watch. No mercs are available here and it is Scotland created and Rebel owned at start. Once Ireland is added as a Faction this will change to Ireland creator but remain Rebels at start


Scotland

The Faction

Edinburgh is Scotlands starting Town. It has a population of 1200 and it is 90% Catholic. It is village level and it has a Wooden Pallisade, Town Watch, Small Church and hidden resources of Atlantic, Explorers Guild and Woodsmens Guild.

Added Glasgow to Scotland and it is there starting Castle. It has a population of 550 and is 89% Catholic. It is Village level and has a Motte and Bailey, Mustering Hall, Small Chapel and hidden resource of Atlantic. It is created by Scotland, has Scots Rebels and Scots/Irish mercs are available.

The Country

Added wick to Scotland and made it a Town with a population of 2800. It is 70% Catholic and its level is Large Town. It has a Wooden Wall, Town Guard, Port, Roads, Farms and hidden resources of Atlantic and Explorers Guild. Created by Scotland, with Scots Rebels it starts owned by Rebels. Mercenaries are available to hire from here.

England

The Faction

London is Englands starting Town and it has a population of 1200. It is 85% Catholic. It is village level and has a Wooden Pallisade, Town Watch, Small Church and hidden resources of Explorers Guild, Woodsmen Guild and Atlantic.

Added Launceston and it is Englands starting Castle with a population of 550. It is 81% Catholic and it is Village level. It has a Motte and Bailey, Mustering Hall, Small Chapel and hidden resource of Atlantic and Swordsmiths Guild. It is created by England and has English rebels. There are no mercs available from here.

The Country

Nottingham is now a settlement with a population of 3000. It is Large Town level and has a Wooden Wall, Stables, Roads, Port and hidden resource of Atlantic, Explorers Guild and Woodsmen Guild. It is English created but now starts as Rebel owned.


Wales

The Country

Added Pembroke and made it a Castle with a population of 1200. It is 88% Catholic and Town level. It has Wooden Castle and hidden resource of Atlantic. Its created by England and starts Rebel owned. Mercenaries are never available here.




There is a lot more to come, i just dont have the time right now. Hopefully over tonight and tomorrow i can detail everything i changed, and i will host my Bare Geomod files also for those who have it to load up and "see" the changes.

Feel free to offer comments/suggestions on what i have posted so far!

[Visorslash]

A problem I see, is that how are we all going to work on it?

[emotion_name]

Well, we discuss here what changes and things we would like, then we delegate different jobs to different people, and as Vasilefs is confident he can "merge" all the base mods we are using once we have finished working on our set tasks, we send the relevant files to him! He then merges them, and uploads the files back here for us all to check,test etc!

Im still working on the map changes a minute, im just sorting out France and adding regions for Flanders, soon as i have done that i will upload my Bare Geomod folder here and yuo can all use it, have a look, suggest any changes, make any changes (as long as you list what changes have been made) and then again upload your files here!

A bit of a mess around i know, but until we get a sub forum of our own where we can individual threads for individual pieces of the mod and there respective files, there not a lot else we can do!

So, about the changes so far, what do you think? Basically, for balance, everyone will start with a castle and a town, population and buildings will all be the same at start. I know it means there will be lots of rebel settlements, but it also means that each game you could get completely different results on expansion, and you get to level up some Generals making them beasts before you got to war with humans!