Europe 270 bc - Provincial Campaign

[webbird]

Hello folks!

Welcome to Europe 270 BC, a provincial campaign map for Rtw.
I used Ice torque`s very big Warmap to create my version of an good basic campaign map.

My goal was to make the landscape authentical, i used elevation data maps etc. and changed the map in many places, where ever your battles takes place, you will find allways a unique realistic landscape.
There are still traces of Ice`s early work and there are still places to make it even better.
If you like, do it!

Most of the old provinces have changed, new ones are added, ireland is made completly new, the caspian sea, many mountain ranges and rivers..........realy a lot features and places for you to explore.
The great distances between settlements make that map difficult because you have to do something against the rebelling citizens.
I included my export-buildings.txt for you, here you can see where i used law and happyness and that way solved the problem even for bigger cities.

Enjoy! *** http://www.twcenter.net/downloads/db/?mod=848 ***



Usable for RTW 1.3 and 1.5.

on this very bright pic you see what treasures the height map holds:



some landscape previews:

[Flogger]

Looks very nice, have you changed the faction starting provinces at all?

[webbird]

Mostly the strat file is similiar to a vanilla like setup, with some changes and additions after my first layout of " Tir Londubh"

[GiantMonkeyMan]

is it just me or does scotland look a little wrong :wink:
but apart from that it's looking great webbird, keep it up

[wilddog]

Webbird
We've been working on somthing similar by creating a map based on digital. We don't go quite as far to the east as you though. Mostly in line with original RTW map just slightly extended northwards. The only issue I can see is if you have as much hight differential as you seem to be showing (i.e. amount of grey heights) then you have a danger that some of the battles will take place in areas with such a hight differential that you get a situation where anything holding the top of a valley becomes super ranged and indestructable?

Or did you find a way to overcome that?

[webbird]

GiantMonkeyMan you are right, the upper part of britain is wrong, remains of the original design which still must be changed.

Wilddog, the above height map is several times edited with maximum contrast and brightness to let you see how much detail i have added to ice torque`s warmap, The original is much finer and i hope all places which i have edited have acceptable heights. Some places which i allready have seen look very good. I am not sure if you will meet strange landscape situations, let me know or maybe correct the map in that place.

my favorite site right now is google`s sattelite data map:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl...,0.021629&om=1

Its very helpful to make a more realistic map maybe, here you can see our world in correct proportions, i found my home-city Düsseldorf and zoomed into the map until i could count every tree in the street where i am living right now. Amazing!!!!

[Shaggy1973]

Hey webbird nice work. A pointer to help you refine your map with regards playability. there is a great thread over at the org...

http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=63614

just looking through your files i can see in the regions that some of them could be placed differently for better gameplay eg. in north africa to prevent a carthage/egypt war, and around sicily etc to help carthage be more agressive and invade using the seas. see what you thing

[webbird]

The high map looks very good wilddog, i am curious how your province setup will be. How much of the campaign mod is finished?

Thank you Shaggy! I will have a look at the link, I am not very expierienced with good strat setup, it`s realy a kind of art.
If you have good ideas which help to see history happen in the campaign, feel free to tell me how.

[Shaggy1973]

well it is all in the thread, but small tricks like using the 50 tile gaps between two bordered city means the ai will never attack in that direction. so you can effectively prevent egypt and carthage from attacking each other. once carthage has is either solidly allied to numidia (or you could use the superfaction in the strat file if you use a unified rome faction). placing the ports adjacent to areas you want the ai to invade seems to work in allowing the ai to see possible seabourne invasion targets (eg carthage, sicilia poeni and messane and croton). there is also some theories concerning ai pathfinding on the strat map - but ironing out those problems will take a great deal of effort... perhaps only needed for areas you actually want the ai to target agressively).

seabourne invasions are very possible given the right conditions, as is guiding the ai. experiment with faction creator variable in the strat file and the regions file, you can guide the early game alot of the time.

[repman]

@webbird
I have used a modified version of your tirlonub map in my mod. So i will look into your new one to include it in my next patch with your permission

edit: just tested it with my mod and it works fine. Excellent work.

@shaggy
thanks for the hints to enhance the AI expansion

repman

[wilddog]

Webbird
We have done most of the map. Adding in the resources now and I still need to add further forrest areas in the north part of the map. Regions are done but still need to tweak the climates map to reduce the repeat pattern effect. We aren't playing with all the factions as we reduced down to one roman faction and took out the Parthians and Armenians. Instead we introduced a second Spanish, Gaul, Numidian, German and another barbarian faction. Its down to style of play but we did this as we are running with the 1.6 engine and wanted to make sure we had hording abilities and we are setting up around a Carthage v Rome Scenario. Still debating whether Sicily should be linked to Italy via a land bridge to help the AI.

[Shaggy1973]

Although a map is a work of art and we all like historical accuracy - i prefer accuracy in the way the ai acts than where the cities are exactly placed. I would prefer carthage and rome locked in a deadly struggle for 70 years than not moving a city 4 pixels to the left

the problem is the ai will not invaded overseas until it cannot expand on land anymore, so some rules have to be bent a little for a better game.

predefined alliances can be good but it takes a careful balance on the map to make the ai keep them. provide each ai with another enemy to fight - otherwise they always turn on each other.

[webbird]

Wilddog i loaded your heights map in photoshop to have a closer look, very clean work!! Great !

Shaggy i studied the link and was surprised how difficult the ai works. It seems a very big detailed map needs a lot of expierience
to get it realy good working, a lot more then i have in that field of work...:O(

[Shaggy1973]

Six months ago i bet you couldnt make a map either and now you have made a great looking map

[webbird]

Shaggy what can i say other then, thank you and you tell the truth, i never believed in doing it ones myself!

I had included some files to use it all as inperial campaign replacement,
right know i change all the custom battle and historical battle coordinates, thereafter i post the txt files and then you can use all historical battles on my new map.

[webbird]

For the weekend i will replace the file with the updated version.

Updates:
Italien mountain ranges changed - still not satisfied -
Ätna and Vesuv changed - still not satisfied -
Alesia hill changed - still not perfect - but the view from there is amazing now!!!! -
More detailed and realistic Auvergne Area (Vulcan-chain, wooded big hills)

Trade-junction Genava-Avruticum-Aventicum fixed:
Seems the transalpine and gallic trade will work now. I have seen trade and roads:
Genava-Avruticum-Aventicum
Aventicum-Lugdunum-Mediolanum
Lugdunum-Aventicum-Gergovia-Alesia-Narbo
Gergovia-Lugdunum-Massilia
Also roads connecting Genava-Treverorum and Mogontiacum and from there to Novaesium etc.

One more bridge over Rhine (near Konstanz)
One more bridge, better connecting Alesia and Samarobriva
Gaul much more forrest now!
Some small lakes made impassable water to get the senseless rebel ships fixed.

..............Any good idea.............let me know!.............

For next update:.....maybe....:
1.
Gergovia and Lugdunum moving to historical place and filling the old place with two more
small, tribe-provinces and settlements in that area.
2.
Creating the province Osroene with settlement carrae in northern mesopotamia! (So much unused space there! )
3.
One more smal germanic province, directly at the right Rhine side, with one more Rhine-settlement at second new bridge.

..........................who uses my mod right now, any suggestions???..................................

[Dejan77]

what can i say
the best map ever ..
i make it imperial campaign replacement
only one suggestion to make one province betwen sparta and corint
i only know that part of the world becouse im from there(macedonia)

[AlCord]

I would suggest to split the province of macedonia into 2. Pella is a must have, isn't it?

[webbird]

AlCord and Dejan thank you, your ideas are very welcome. My knowledge about Macedonia of that time is small and every help and advise would be great. If you can aid me with input about Province borders and shape, Provinces and settlements names etc. that would be great! Also any topographic detailed maps and information about major resources of provinces are helpful too!

Can someone with expierience have a look at the province setup please ??
(culture tag-rebel group-faction creator-relations)
Those which are under slave control at game start seem to work error free but i hope those provinces which maybe rebel later in the game are well done too, because i am human and not perfect ;O)

[Dejan77]

Im not so good in geography(english too)
i think u know how balkan look like that days byt any way here is a little map with all biger town of that days
i was thinking of adding Ellis(or Patra), and phillipi
u may add Pella (capital of Macedonia)
Thessalonica is near see!
there where u put nowThessalonica betwen that 4 mountains is mine town Veles know like Vila zora (or Stobi) in that days
and about topographic i think is good