The Americas in 1492: Total War [UPDATE: Base Map + Heights Complete!]

[StupidAlarmClockGuy]

So it gets thrown around a lot and gets abandoned, but I really think this is a concept that deserves some kind of mod. The Americas campaign is fun but VERY much lacking. I see that we have a mod in development that provides precise attention to the Mayas, so it's obvious, to me at least, that there is definitely some potential interest. This mod, should it be completed, will focus on the very south of what is the United States and the edge of the Andes, but primarily the Greater Antilles and Bahamas, Mesoamerica and the Isthmo-Colombian regions.

This mod takes place at the very beginning of the Spanish conquest of the Americas. I'm considering starting it in 1496 rather than 1492, so that Spain is more historically accurate in being playable at the start of the game. Christopher Colombus is finally staking his claims, and the systematic destruction of the culture of the peoples in the Greater Antilles has just begun. Meanwhile, the land that would later be known as Mexico is bustling with activity. The center of the land is dominated by the "Aztec" Triple Alliance whose aggressive hegemony is causing disarray among the other nations. Semi-nomadic "Chichimecs" push intermittently from the north (or are pushed on). Maya city-states squabble for control of the Yucatan and neighboring territories; as do similarly the Apachean tribes in the far north. Numerous peoples can be found along the Isthmus of Panama, in between Mayan and Inca territory. The Incas themselves are divided in the Andes Mountains; to the north of whom live spread-out peoples such as the highland Taironas and their neighbors, the Muiscas. The map below is for a general indication of the spread of each group:

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These are just rough faction suggestions. The chosen factions are generally for availability of historical information, context provided by the Kingdoms: Americas campaign (i.e. units, buildings, cultural overlays, etc.).

One of the primary issues would be religion. I think the easiest answer would be instituting a "Culture" rather than "Religion" system, i.e. "Maya," "Nahua," "Chichimeca," "Apache," "Caribbean," "Spanish," etc. That way, the Aztecs would have an easy time holding Tlaxcallan lands should they take the eponymous city. On the other hand, if they were to invade Yucatan, they would be presented with resistance from a people who are even more culturally-distinct. Further ideas will be added here.

UPDATE: November 24, 2012: Map Heights Added!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Baja California

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Northwestern Mexico

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Central Mexico

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Central America

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Southern Central America

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Colombia

Please note that I am not a coder. I have only minor experience editing files, and this is more a shout to other people who have greater experience. Nonetheless, if this gets off the ground, I'll contribute to the conceptual information in the game; that is, I'm not going to have the raw numbers, but as far as units and their stats are concerned for example, I would definitely have no difficulty with those.

Anyone have any feedback? Ideas? Feel free to contribute!

[Pazu the Kitsune]

Note that there has NEVER been a mod completed for a Total War game that covers the Inca, at least with historically accurate units, so this is definitely a frontier kindof thing

[StupidAlarmClockGuy]

Interesting. I think that adding Incas is kind of obligatory since it adds a lot of variety to the realms of culture and military. If you don't have them, then you get a bunch of civilizations that while distinct in real life, end up looking kind of copy-paste when compared with each other since they don't have a massive variety of units. I think in the cases of the nations with less formalized militaries, such as if the Muiscas or Arawaks were incorporated, you kind of have to take liberties in the realm of historical accuracy. Claiming knowledge of such groups with very few sources is a massive historical faux-pas, or at least that's what I was taught.

That's why, in the case of northern South America, I included the Muiscas and the Taironas. Were they rivals? I cannot say. But they do seem to be dominant peoples from that area, and including both (rather than only one) allows for an in-game "rivalry." If you want to expand your borders as one group, you're going to come into contact with the other. That didn't happen IRL, at least not as far as I'm aware, but that's why the two factions exist, to kind of prevent one from growing too strong, too quickly. And then you've got the Incas, who if they expand, are definitely going to be expanding to the north and to the east, so there's definitely going to be some contact there.

And of course you have Spain and the Arawaks. The Spanish MUST take Arawak territory in some capacity to get their Conquest under way, otherwise the resources simply won't be there. The Arawaks would be unfortunate enough that they must take the brunt of the Spanish bloodlust, but that could also mean that if they somehow manage to defeat their invaders, or hold off against them in some capacity, their military could make substantial technological gains. In reality the Arawaks were at the mercy of the Spanish, but then, so was the Khwarezmian Empire against the Mongols and they seem to do alright in Stainless Steel.

All in all, it's about trying to make an experience that's fun and provides historical context. Making something 100 percent realistic just isn't possible in this time period, since the sources aren't there. But we can reconstruct what the region may have been like, and modify it somewhat for the sake of an entertaining experience.

[UchihaMadara21]

Hi dude. That's an really nice idea, all the good mods are only about Europe, Europe, Europe, a bit of Mid-East and more Europe, it's time for a change...mods that will not die at the middle of the process. I'm currently working on two other mods, but i could help (a lot) with Mesoamerica and South America (Incas)...if this project continues, contact me.

[StupidAlarmClockGuy]

Well the first thing before it can start, of course, is generating interest. As long as other people are willing to jump on board, I am happy to provide research (I actually have access to some quality resources) and gameplay mechanics.

[StupidAlarmClockGuy]

Will be working on mapping tomorrow. I hope that I'll have a map up then that can provide a rough visual of the game world.

Definitely going to be needing people for skins, coding, additional mapping, and 2D visuals. The basic aim of this mod is as a partial conversion, rather than a total conversion, so it'll be using the Americas campaign as its base. Definitely would not be starting from scratch here, as far as that goes. Doing that would be brutally complicated for the sake of putting a new modification out there. I'm a novice as far as mapping goes but with the ease of access that I have to quality historical texts, along with the free time that I have for analyzing mechanics, doing playtesting, defining units, writing cards, and checking for any bugs within the gameplay would be relatively simple for me.

[StupidAlarmClockGuy]

Updated!

[Hresvelgr]

If have pretty good sources of information on the Maya, and I think it'd be possible to split them into maybe four factions at least, representing the real power players of the region. That is, the Xiu and the Cocom factions in the northern Yucatan, the Itza in the Peten region of Guatemala, and the K'iche Kingdom in the Guatemalan highlands.

[StupidAlarmClockGuy]

Interesting. My knowledge and most numerous sources are mostly focused on the metropolitan peoples of Central Mexico, esp. Mexica and Purepecha, so my knowledge of the different Mayan groups in the Post-Classic period is somewhat limited. I know you're part of the crew working on the Maya mod, and any kind of cooperation would of course be greatly appreciated. Yucatan was, after all, a region with a great many settlements, not just a few big ones, so having numerous factions would of course be more advantageous, both for historical accuracy and for the sake of balance (Maya without multiple divisions would be too easy just like the Americas Campaign Maya were).

[Hresvelgr]

Fortunately for this mod compared to the other one, detailed accounts about history are far more common since the scribes during the Spanish Conquest that survived seem to have transcribed many of their histories and other writings into the Roman alphabet and thus we have the Books of Chilam Balam, the Popol Vuh, and other sources that offer a good view into Postclassic society.

[saxdude]

There was another mod around this period that seemed to have stopped releasing news a couple of pages back, it appeared and dissapeared quickly sadly. Good luck with the mod, anyway.

[StupidAlarmClockGuy]

From the looks of that mod, it certainly looks intriguing, but the person working on it seems to have disappeared without working with the community. Though my mod concept is a little bit more sweeping, I want to make sure that I work with people present in the community. I've been on this board off and on and loved the stuff that people are working on. I know there's a lot of talent between all the different modding groups, and I hope that some people join up on a big mod for the West. If it can't be "my" mod, I don't care. I just want to see a quality Americas mod come along at some point, to which even if my mod ever goes under I'll gladly leave my files on tap for someone else to use, should they put together a good enough team.

That mod does give me a good idea though, about putting something to the east of the Apaches on the map. The only thing near their latitude to the east would be the Arawaks and the Spanish. The Spanish are too far out and the Arawaks would be fighting tooth and nail not to be absorbed by Spain, so yeah.

[StupidAlarmClockGuy]

A request: Anyone good at mapping terrain heights? I can do climates and terrain types just fine, but I'm really not experienced with changing the height of terrains.

[StupidAlarmClockGuy]

Found some research about the military structures of some of the different major factions. It would seem as though these groups don't play out in such a vanilla way as some might expect.

The atlatl was a skirmishing weapon used to disrupt enemy formations, used mainly with the Aztecs and less commonly with the Tlaxcalla, and even less commonly with other factions who relied more stringently on the bow; that is, non-Aztec armies were more militia-oriented.
Military for Mixtecs and Zapotecs:
· Boast a very similar military structure in terms of how war was carried out, and not heavily united in the sense that the Aztecs or Tarascans were
· Heavily reliant on the bow over the javelin as a form of ranged warfare
· Also used slings as ranged weapon
· Broadswords, clubs and spears; some fire-hardened with others actually using obsidian
· Elites are well-equipped but commoners wear only loincloths and their weapons; elites are generally the ones who went to war
· Mixes and Chontales based in Oaxaca said to fight with lances; recruitable as spear mercenaries?
Military for Tlaxcalla:
· As a Nahua people, fight the same way that the Aztecs do in terms of weapons used (atlatls, spears, clubs, slings, swords)
· Have the same system of little-clothed commoners and elite warriors in elaborate cotton armor suits
· Relied on bows, slings and javelins more than the Aztecs did with a higher proportion of commoners to elite "knights"

Military for Tarascans:
· Veteran troops and nobles were only ones who wore substantial armor and used swords, clubs and spears as their main weapons
· Commoners not particularly well-trained as warriors
· Heavy reliance on archers as the frontline combatants
· Primarily better as defenders than as attackers

From Ross Hassig’s War and Society in Ancient Mesoamerica, 149-55.

[StupidAlarmClockGuy]

Updated! First time doing map heights. Hopefully the last time.

[saxdude]

Well I will have you know, I support your mod, and hope much luck for you, I will try to help in any way I can, and will be following it with fervent almost dogmatic loyalty.

[StupidAlarmClockGuy]

Thanks! That's great to know. Any kind of collaboration, any kind of assistance, is absolutely welcome.

[StupidAlarmClockGuy]

By the way--this mod is definitely not on inactive just because I stopped posting. Been busy the past few weeks but I have a massive chunk of free time coming up, and I can get to work on more of the mapping and whatnot.

[saxdude]

I would hope so, i'd like to see this live.

[Andrew1994]

Looking forward for a release like this.An america mod with SS content and AI.AWESOME!!!