The aim of this submod is to add more detail, immersion and challange to the Empire factions. I wish to add a new, more unique feeling to every faction, also making the gameplay more "realistic".
Direct purposes:
1 - Revising the existing trait & ancillary system:
I found it too easy to make superhuman generals, so I'll change this. Positive traits will be harder to get, and will give small bonuses only. Also there won't be magic items and artifacts in every bush. They will be very rare but add great bonuses. (about the magic items see a later point)
2 - Adding new traits and ancillaries:
I will add many of these, most of them will be faction specific, causing every faction to be more unique, forcing the player to use different strategy and tactics.
3 - Reworking portraits (later):
Reworking portraits to better fit the spirit of Warhammer
4 - Adding units (later)
I'm also planning to add some new units (based on existing models and skins), mostly mercenaries. Reworking the navy is also planned.
Plans and ideas:
1 - Ancillary system:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
A - Titles:
a - faction specific: these titles are unique for each faction (mostly connected with the uniqe regiments), and only one general can have them. It's up to the player to choose this general, because these ancs will be granted to the faction leader and will be trasferable. So if you wish to grant a title to one of your general, you can do it.
example: for Stirland, the 'Captain of the Stir River Patrol' and the 'Captain of the Scarlet Guard' will be added.
b - Honours:
Like the above. These will be the same (or nearly the same) for each faction. Simple things, like "Master of horse" or "Champion of the Elector Count" etc.
c - Imperial titles and honours:
Only one man will have them in the entire Empire. Like "Emperor's chosen", "Champion of Sigmar" etc.
B - Standard ancillaries:
Persons like priest, warriors, cooks, etc. and items like books, beer etc.
C - Magic items:
a - artifact: only one exists in the whole world. Mostly they will be granted to the dedicated heroes of the Empire by the Emperor or the Grand Theogonist. Huge bonuses, command, hp, etc
b - rare: some small items, unlimited but still rare. Healing potions, amulettes, etc.
c - standard magic items: given to emerging generals to honor them. For example after a few victory, a general may get an enchanted sword or something from the count (or emperor or theogonist). Small bonus, mostly loyalty boost.
C - specialist ancs:
Like after defeating orcs, the general will get an orc trophy, addig bonuses against orc. so specialised generals will emerge.
2 - Trait system
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Generals won't become halfgods after a few battles. They will struggle to survive and get higher like their men do. After years of bloody war they may go crazy, get tired of life, drink, die from an old wound, or they will stand and become a hero of the Empire.
Also, generals will be more specialised. Maybe he can lead an army of infatry, but leading a group of cavalry is different... he can crush any foe in the field, but in a siege he gets his men massacred. He faces armies of orcs ten times bigger then his, but he gets terrified and panics when facing the undead... I think you get the point.
And small prewiev:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Faction-specific traits added to all factions
example:
Averland:
Man of Averland
Mountainguard veteran
Tilean influence
Wealthy merchant
Master rider
Stirland:
Man of Stirland
Scarlet Guard veteran
River Patrol veteran
Don't fear Death
Wissenland:
Man of Wissenland
Imperial Gunnery school lessons
Knows the mountains
Talabecland:
Man of Talabecland
Swordmaster
Knows the forest
Prays to Taal
etc.
Person ancillary prewiev [July 10]:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
These persons will be available for all empire factions, in unlimited numbers; of course some of them will be rather rare (like the wizards), also some will have special requirements (for example, fighting against dark elves will cause elves join, fighting orcs will cause dwarves join, etc...)
Bretonnian knight: bonus commanding cavalry, +chivalry
Border princes outlaw: +movement, +ambush
Dwarven engineer: bonus commanding gunpowder units, +siege
shadow warrior: +ambush, bonus figthing agains dark elves
kislev outlaw: bonus commanding cavalry
Imperial barber: +hp, healing bonus
Imperial blacksmith: +hp, +build points
Imperial tollkeeper: +taxcollection, -happiness
Imperial librarian:+taxcollection, +trading, +piety, -command
Imperial storyteller: +morale, -law
Imperial observer: +loyalty, -morale, -command
Imperial executor: +law
Imperial guard: +security
Imperial emissary: +trade, +taxcollection, -command
+ wizards from all Colleges of Magic, with different bonuses.
Ancillaries prewiev [july 12]:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
1: standard ancs, available for all empire factions, available in unrestricted numbers:
dwarven ale: +morale, -security
command tent: +security, +command, -movement,
map table: +movementpoints
trumpet: +morale
imperial medal, eagle: +loyalty
sigmarite prayer book: +piety
relic of morr: +piety
ritual candles: +piety
sword: +loyalty
shield: +loyalty
hochland gun: +loyalty
etc.
2: gift weapons: available to all empire factions, available in unrestricted numbers, special requirements:
dwarven axe: awarded for figthing greenskins
elven sword: awarded for fighting dar elves
staff of fire: awarded for fighting undead
theogonist hammer: awarded for fighting chaos
3: unique weapons, available to all empire factions:
empire's champion sword: only one available in the entire empire; sent by the emperor to his chosen warrior
theogonist champion hammer: only one available in the entire empire; sent by the theogonist to his chosen warrior
electors champion sword: only one/faction
4: faction-specific ancs, titles:
every faction will have:
a county's banner (one available)
a title of the leader of the county's unique company (one available)
keys of the elector count's armory (one available)
member of a unique company (unrestricted)
etc.
example:
Averland:
Banner of Averland: +morale +loyalty
Leader of the Mountainguard: bonus commanding infantry, bonus fighting against greenskins
Keys to the armory: +loyalty
Bergsjaeger: +ambush, +movement points
stirland:
Banner of Stirland: +morale +loyalty
Leader of the River Patrol: +law, +command
Keys to the armory:+loyalty
Scarlet guard veteran: +morale, bonus fighting against undead
etc.
A few screenshots [July 25.]
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
HELP NEEDED:
I'm plannig to add new portraits, but I simply can't find enough artwork for it in the same style. So, the only one solution that I can think of, is using portraits from Mark of Chaos. But I don't have the game, so I have to ask for help.
So if anyone have Mark Of Chaos, and wish to help this project, to make good, fitting portraits, here's what I need:
Use the Unit Customization option; that's it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MOC-Editor.png
1: Make as many combination of faces, helmets, bodies, and shields as possible, also play with the colours.
2: take screenshot of every one (with FRAPS, it's really easy, you only need to use one hotkey!)
3: upload or send them to me
Then I'll edit and implement them into game, so Empire factions will have portraits, with fitting and same style, with same background!
So if you want the Empire portraits reworked, please help!
Last edited by Blind88; July 25, 2011 at 08:31 AM.
Good idea.
I've thought about reworking some of the traits myself but never had time for this
The most disappointing traits IMO is chivalry/dread metter because it's absolutely don't fit to brutal warhammer universe.
I think that empire generals should take no prisoners when they fighting against orks, chaos etc. and shouldn't get any negative traits when after battle they execute such enemy.
Realease some of the survivng demons, because it make me more chivalric! It's a nonsense
Thanks for the support!
Well, traits seem to be suprisingly easy to add...
A quick teaser, to know what's to come. I've added these traits:
Averland:
Man of Averland
Veteran of the Mountain Guard
Don't fear the greenskins
Master rider
Wealthy merchant
Tilean influence
Stirland:
Man of Stirland
Veteran of the Scarlet Guard
Don't fear Death
Veteran of The River Patrol
So, it seems each faction will get 4-5 (or later more maybe) unique trait... If you have any ideas like these that you wish to have implemented, please let me know, and I'll see what can I do.
You have great ideas here, totally agree with 3 first ones.
Those new traits sound already great addition. Also I agree it's way easy to get full command generals It might be Warhammer, but it would be nice to have a option as sub.mod which would balance this out, this would add new level of challenge in the game.
But as stated, this is great idea, looking forward what you come up with
And Welcome to modding! +rep once I can, have been spreading it a bit too much..
Last edited by Kahvipannu; July 08, 2011 at 04:48 PM.
You have great ideas here, totally agree with 3 first ones.
Those new traits sound already great addition. Also I agree it's way easy to get full command generals It might be Warhammer, but it would be nice to have a option as sub.mod which would balance this out, this would add new level of challenge in the game. About empire-portraits, I have some here from artwork, I tryed to do same thing once, but at time I couldn't really find enough material (same thing you suspected ), I hope you succeed in it, since the idea is great. http://www.twcenter.net/forums/attac...4&d=1266610642
But as stated, this is great idea, looking forward what you come up with
And Welcome to modding! +rep once I can, have been spreading it a bit too much..
Wowaweewa! What you have looks absolutly fantastic! I might suggest to you Blind, using artwork that is simply Medieval artwork or portraits may really help fill in this gaps. It looks like Kahvs is all Warhammer stuff, and it does look incredible, but to really fill it in, I think just pulling from pictures like these would fit just fine
quick question:
does anyone know, that if I delete a trait, but leave the trigger for it, will it cause a crash, or simply does nothing? the same for the ancillaries.
because it will be easier to simply delete the traits I don't want, and I don't have to look for the triggers for it. There are a lot of triggers... I mean, a LOT.
(and I guess a trait or ancillary without a trigger cause no problem to the game, right? simply nobody will get it, that's all)
By the way, ninja51, the problem is to find enough pictures of the same style. I don't really want to use warhammer-boxarts mixed with renessaince paintings... but this issue is far in the future I think. But thanks for the advice, it's always welcomed!
I understand that, I absolutly dont want to see any anime style stuff in there, but even the official Warhammer artwork doesnt have a universal artstyle, just looking at the loading screens in game you'll come across different levels of realism in the way that they're drawn. Different artist unavoidably leads to different styles, the only consistancy warhammer artwork has is it all tries to at least look realistic, they all have their own unique artistic flares though. Pictures that would look right fit in with the Warhammer stuff really only required a medieval or renessaince style, and pretty much just a lack of anime influences.
As to your trait question, it probably would work, I doubt it would cause a crash, probably just nothing would happen. Its a simple test to see though, remove a trait, save the file, and start the game. If it doesnt crash there, it wont in game.
quick question:
does anyone know, that if I delete a trait, but leave the trigger for it, will it cause a crash, or simply does nothing? the same for the ancillaries.
because it will be easier to simply delete the traits I don't want, and I don't have to look for the triggers for it. There are a lot of triggers... I mean, a LOT.
(and I guess a trait or ancillary without a trigger cause no problem to the game, right? simply nobody will get it, that's all)
Only thing I can say is that traits and ancs can cause a lot of CTD's Usually if there is problems in the trait/anc files, the game won't even start, if the game works, that's a good sign. If your going to delete old trait, I suggest you to check if any spawning heroes/mercenary captains, or generals have them, that might might be one problem which might cause problems, when doing so...
well, tahnks I'll give it a try. But first I'm going to do all the new traits and ancs. I only started to get things together for the ancillaries, and it's more than 40 that I wish to add (thats for every empire faction), and that's without any weapon and magic items and titles, and faction specific ancs... Just common things and persons etc. so, it's gonna take a while. It seems most of the needed pictures are easy to get and add (I've finished with more than 30 pics now, resizing, converting, etc...). So far everything I've planned seems possible, the only thing needed is time
and a question:
ancillaries use the same effects as traits? for example is it possible to add a "+1 command when fighting against XYZ" with the same 'Combat_V_Faction_X' line? i think I saw this kind of trait somewhere, but maybe I'm wrong... and i'm almost entirely sure that COW doesn't have this kind of ancillary.
By the way, to be clear, i wish to add a "trophy" for each faction. example, after a battle against a greenskin faction is won, the general may aquire an ancillary "Greenskin trophy" that gives him a command bonus against greenskins in the future... and this kind of bonus would be useful for many ancillaries too.
MEGAHUGE! trust me. and not because of errors, just because of MTW 2 engine
when i worked on my DE enhanced mod, i worked on your anc/trait database, and believe me i ve corrected (at least) 30 major error of your coders, there are plenty of mods like DLV or other mod which actually are 2500 times more complex than COW looking at traits and ancillary and are VERY STABLE.
it is all about coding skill, and i guess you don't even know "traits and ancillaries validator" program because in that case there would not have such numerous errors in the coding lines believe me.
"With Hate, all things are possible."Malus Darkblade
Have you planned adding "factionwide effects" Blind88? Exclusive to faction leader, like he is covard, this would lead to lower loyalty to all generals, he's religious, more piety for all generals, or other way.. I'm not sure if there is many of these in CoW (?), Rusichi and some other mods had these effects, and it's pretty cool when it really matters who and what your leader is.