[Submod] Perso-Median Restoration Project, a Median reskin and general overhaul!

[Chrissant]

Hi! Hola! Salam!


I've posted all sorts of posts about making an Eastern rework.. what not.. but life's been really a turmoil lately and I had to sell my precious gaming/modding rig, leading to a protracted silence...


BUT! I recently discovered this excellent threat: https://www.twcenter.net/forums/show...00#post6591300 and with tensions rising in the real world between Iran and the US , I was constantly reminded of the dream of Persia.. And so I was inspired to start modding again, with a smaller and more realistic scope this time, just focusing on Media Atropatene, which in the context of DEI as I understand it, is in effect a surrogate for Persia with a slightly Hellenistic and Median touch as relevant homages and recognition of their cultural influences on military aesthetic and organization. Now the faction isn't the most popular nor frequently played. It's probably one of the least played factions for the following reasons:


1. Eastern factions in general have confusing rosters for those accustomed to factions in mainland Europe that are often guaranteed ready access to at least decent medium infantry.. as opposed to an almost total lack of it in the East, with M.A. being no exception.
2. From the early-mid game, with enough military traditions, general skills, wonders, and tech upgrades, the archery focused composition of M.A. simply becomes way too OP, rendering any AI army, even a stack of Roman Heavy Infantry, to dust before melee contact is even made. This leads to a rather repetitive strat I like to call the "Spamabara" initiative. The fact that ordinary Sparabara and its elite counterpart are both readily recruitable from settlement chains sort of confuses the player even further. It just feels.. offputtingly out of place, too weak in some places, yet too strong in others.
3. Most people just don't have a historical boner of appreciation for Persia or Iranian empires in general, and is busy getting wet in bed with Rome or Greece.


I believe putting together a DEI-approvable 70-90% historically accurate and immersive overhaul of the current Median roster into something with which one can truly simulate Persian warfare without an overt emphasis on arrows would be a great submod. I've heard rumors that some time from now (not soon, but in time) an early-Sassanid kind of late-game reform might be implemented, which I'm guessing would belong to M.A. since Parthia already has theirs, so I think now's as good a time as any to start this little project. So if anybody at all wants to help out with this in any way whatsoever, please let me know!! Better yet, join this Discord Channel so communication can be... communicated conveniently.
https://discord.gg/Z7dFGD
Atm, I've decided to call this the Perso-Median Restoration Project, or PMRP in short.


To clarify, the initial scope of this endeavor will be the following:
1. Gathering of relevant sources for the best estimation or direct imitation of a fundamentally Persian army model.
2. Rearranging, reinventing, and editing the existing roster's combat stats as well as a unit's aesthetic, if need be, of M.A. for aforementioned purposes. Perhaps also new unit descriptions and names.
3. Gathering of some volunteers for running test playthroughs for finding bugs, type-os, getting suggestions, checking for balance and whether the new roster is preferable over its forerunner, etc.
4. A coordinated release with some major update of DEI, or, ideally, with that potential early-Sassanid reform update, whenever it may arrive.


Furthermore, the priority of needed assistance are as follows:


1. Knowledge with implementing new unit cards as a part of a submod.
2. Access to or ability to create new variants for Persian units that surpass the quality or authenticity/variety of existing ones for M.A.
3. Relative expertise/experience with serious academic research on Persian culture insofar as the material presented is in some way relevant to its military, and perhaps its economy. (for future reference)
4. Anybody who can reach out to this enigmatic sage in monastic recluse for some reason.. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfil.../?id=482650447


Now there are other bigger issues that yet need addressing, at least in my humble opinion, such as the Eastern factions' economy and tech progression, as well as the allocation of buildings and units to specific factions. For example, Parthia has Zoroastrian fire temples and royal tombs.. instead of M.A. They also have elite persian archers, a medium-heavy archer-spearman unit that's ridiculously powerful with upgrades.. but M.A. doesn't. And since all the peripheral minor eastern satrapies' rosters excluding Dahae and Parthava are based on M.A.'s roster, none of them have access to that unit. There's just so much, but I think these are best reserved for another day.

[Jake Armitage]

As-salam aleykum

That's quite ambitious, hope you'll able to handle it.

Feel free to ask anything regarding modding, me and other people can be of help with some how-to-do infos, at least.

[Dresden]

This sounds like a good plan, especially considering a lot of factions over there end up using the MA roster as a default.

[Chrissant]

Indeed.

[Dresden]

Also we will have an announcement here shortly that could work well with your plans in the future!

[Jake Armitage]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdZk0HZ-gag