THE LONG ROAD - INFO *WIP*
wiki Link https://wiki.twcenter.net/index.php?title=The_Long_Road
THE LONG ROAD
The Long Road is geared toward an epic style campaign with a total of 900 turns and a large map with many provinces. It targets a balance between realism and gameplay. Targets a challenging campaign that is not tediously difficult.
Main Features
Large custom Map (199 Regions)
900 Turns (2 turns/6 months per year)
M2 Factions plus Abbassid Caliphate, Syrian Caliphate, Khwarezmian Empire and Kievan Rus.
Role Playing Traits and Ancillaries.
Lord, Duke, Emir Titles with Coats of Arms.
Generals with titles, pay the king a knights fee.
Knightly Orders Titles. Generals and named Characters change model if member of a Knights Order.
Faction Councils and Government positions.
More realistic movement rates on campaign map.
Supply System, effects attrition and movement.
Characters can suffer diseases.
Improved Princesses, including Islamic Princesses. (with multiple models, depending on traits)
Ranked experience bonus for agents.
Era System for Units.
Dozens of Mercenary units available at Mercenary outpost built in settlements.
Cavalry charges are powerful, but beware of spearmen.
Greatly Improved Animations and Battlefield effects.
Powerful Cavalry charges.
Campaign :
The map is a highly customized map with 199 regions that span from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caspian Sea. It is much larger than the vanilla M2TW map, and improved textures for Deserts, Swamp areas and more, make it look and feel much more vibrant.
The new map has removed the Aztecs and Americas in favor of extending the map East and preserving map accuracy.
At game start, most settlements will have stone keep/wooden walls or smaller. Population/city level doesn't strictly control unit development any-more. A regular city can recruit pretty much any unit if it has the needed building and the corresponding Era has been reached.
Barracks give easier access to more units via an introduction system. For example, a town guard building will give you full access to 'Town Militia' units and limited access to 'Spear Militia' units. Limited access means low replenishment and only 1 max in reserve. Therefore you should see a much bigger diversity in units at the beginning of the game. But they will all be limited to the Era system. For example, at the start of the game you may see Billmen pretty soon because they initially have no armour and therefore fit into Era 0.
Lastly, both cities and castles will be able to recruit all units. Different experience levels and rates will differentiate the settlements. Militia will be differentiated by being cheaper to purchase, have free upkeep in both types of settlements, but be less effective than professional soldiers.
Castles are still differentiated by giving units additional experience which is extremely important in battle. Furthermore, the castle unit build tree is also shorter, providing improved units at a faster rate. Finally Castles provide excellent defence against invaders.
Another feature is the (AOR/ZOR) Area of Recruitment Mercenary Guild. Units within this build tree are more expensive than faction units but can provide the needed help in a pinch. The units are available based on the province you are in.
The economy is a central part of the challenge built into TLR. If you aren't able to improve your economic situation, expect to be destroyed promptly.
There are various strategies to deal with this. Most involve focusing on economic buildings early on. Remember the free upkeep on militia units. It can be a life saver. Crusades/Jihads can be very beneficial especially if you raid and sack enemy cities. Merchants, Trade Agreements, and Ports are very important for your economy. Losing a Trade Agreement can hurt.
Gain funds from your generals! You can gain addition funds from landed generals. To gain funds, make sure your generals have settlement ancillaries. ie Lord, Duke, Emir of. Titles can be gained by leaving a general in a settlement for a turn (provided no other character has the ancillary). Your King/Faction Leader will not pay, so pass out titles to others.
Knights fees can be seen in the finances screen.
Many variations in models for each faction/culture on the campaign map. Including Models from kingdoms, and many unused/leftover models from M2 vanilla.
Generals or Heir will change model if they are a knight/Grand Master of a holy order. For any of your Generals to be considered as the Grandmaster of a Knightly Order, the order must exist in your Kingdom by means of at least one minor chapter house.
Battle :
Improved formations for the Player to utilize
Improved formations that make a AI battles and sieges more realistic and difficult
Improve the realism of missile weapons.
Guns now require line of sight for attacks.
Improved pathfinding for units.
Improved animations : Much smoother, and faster animations. Less push and punch and much more stabby stabby !! All units will get more hits instead of the shield/right shoulder bash you see so often in vanilla. You will see the fatality moves much more.
Improve the realism of missile weapons Arrows/Javelins will stay in the ground and walls much longer. Improved fire textures (better than standard glow in vanilla) and denser smoke much more dynamic weather, and added skydomes.
