Division notes:
- Varangia: Russia, Sweden, Kipchakistan [(3 + 4 + 6) x ?] = 13?
- North Asia: Steppe nations and Mongolia, Korea, China, Japan, Siberia, Yakutst and Kamchatka [(5 + 5 + 3 + 3 + 3) x ?] = 19?
- South Asia: Afghanistan, Shiraz (capital to Turks), Zagros*, Trebizond, Fars, India, and Southeast Asia [(1 + 4 + 3 + 4) x ?] = 12?
- Middle East: Greece and the rest [(9 + 8) x ?] = 17?
- Africa: 10?
- Northern Europe: 12?
- Iberia: 16?
- Italia: [(4 + 2 + 7) x ?] = 13?
- Franconia: France, Denmark and Germany [(6 + 7+ 2) x ?] = 15?
- Central Europe: Poland, Hungary and Bohemia [(4 + 4 + 2) x ?] = 10?

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 01-17-2011 @ 07:41 PM).]

Seeing that we now want to ensure that you can get a round value of 2,000 tribute from conquering the map, I have decided that we need a perfect multiplier for bonuses derived from conquering the map.

So we now have 10 regions to unify, completing each one produces a bonus which accumulates with others to 2,000 tribute.

13? + 19? + 12? + 17? + 10? +12? +16? + 13? + 15? + 10?
 =[32 + 29 + 22 +29 + 25]?
 =[157]?

Ergo, ? = 2,000/157 ; ~ 13

So, the bonuses calculated for all relgions is the following (rounded down, of course):

- North Asia: 19 provinces; 240 tribute
- Middle East: 17 provinces; 220 tribute
- Iberia: 16 provinces; 200 tribute
- Franconia: 15 provinces; 190 tribute
- Italia: 13 provinces; 160 tribute
- Varangia: 13 provinces; 160 tribute
- Northern Europe: 12 provinces; 150 tribute
- South Asia: 12 provinces; 150 tribute
- Africa: 10 provinces; 130 tribute
- Central Europe: 10 provinces; 130 tribute...

...all for a rounded-down grand total of 1, 730 tribute.

Resource distributions:

Manchuria - salmon
Kyushu - supply
Himalayas - diamonds
Greater Yue - bananas
Hokkaido - whale
Scilla -supply
Bakjae - copper
Goguryeo - iron
Xinjiang - silk
Sichuan - supply, tea
Zhujiang delta - citrus
Siberia - supply
Kamchatka - whale
Gobi - relics

Cham - supply, spices
Deccan - spices
Zagros - obsidian
Turkmenistan - supply
Uzbekistan - coal
Kazakhstan - bison
Afghanistan - supply, horses
Chola - Sugar

Armenia - supply
Kartvelia - wine
Astrakhan - wool
Kiev - maize
Urals - granite
Norway - supply, salmon
Karelia - beaver
Muscovy - iron
Belarus - supply

Peloponnese - supply
Iraq - relics
Palestine - citrus
Kurdistan - supply, falcons
Saba - incence
Hejaz - supply
Galatia - horses
Crete - fish, supply

Atlas - supply, falcons
Tunis - glass,
Tripoli - supply
Sudan - supply, coffee
Upper Egypt - cotton
Maghreb - dye
Sahel - gold

Toledo - supply
Seville - citrus
Denia - supply
Navarre - fish
Catalonia - supply
León - cattle
Galicia - supply
Douro - wine

Iceland - whales
Ireland - gold, supply
Powys - coal
Deheubarth - fish
Kernow - wool, supply
Highlands - supply
Clyde Valley - Granite
Mercia

Provence - olive oil
Flanders - supply
Normandy - wine
Lorraine - supply
Brittany - salt
Austria - supply, dye (dye should be either Saxony or Bavaria but I cannot be sure which)
Swabia - silver, supply
Tyrols - copper
Prussia - supply
Frisian coast - cattle

Liguria - supply
Apulia - supply, sulphur
Campania - citrus
Tuscany - marble, supply
Romagna, relics
Lombardy - supply, glass
Corsica - supply

Pomerania - salt
Wallachia - beaver
Carpathia - gems
Central Plains - wine
Moravia - supply, silver
Lithuania - amber, supply
Istria - supply
Balkans - supply

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 01-24-2011 @ 01:51 AM).]

1,000 Blank Cards

Normal cards we'd be using

Great thinker
Warpath
Missionaries
Population boom
Boom: Food, Wood, Metal, Wealth
Eureka: War, Civics, Science, Economy
Spy school
Intelligence Network
Marque
Sabotage
Treachery
Political dissidents
Partisans
Logistic supply
Wonder of the World (out of 10 "continents", only Italia, South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East will have this card)
Continental blockade
Naval blockade
Banditry
Mercenaries
Elephant brigade (this one generates Indian mahouts as opposed to Asian gun mahouts)


Additional effects we crafted:

-Teutonic Order (gives access to one Christian NC unit, and one Christian unique unit)
-Hospitallers (same as above)
-Siege Towers (disables an enemy's castles; he may not build castles during the battle)
-Mercenary vassals (allows you to start a conquest scenario when played on a non-belligerent territory. That territory becomes yours, but the enemy will still remain at peace with you. This actually allows you to start war without actually being at war. News notice: "$Provincename$ has seceded from $Factionname$ to join in personal union with $Leadername$." ie "Palestine has seceded from FRENCH to join in personal union with Saladdin".)
-Holy War (allows you to start a battle to conquer an area that borders a distant ally, or yourself included.)
-Ciompi (enemy villagers will randomly change into your own militia. Rather nasty, if a Muslim opponent played this.)
-Flowering of Culture (start a game with a temple and a Nobles' Court already built, regardless of your era. Units in a Nobles' Court are dependent on religion as opposed to age for recruitment.)
-Stonesmiths (increases territory power by 3. If played during a scenario, it allows you to begin the battle with one castle.
-Chevauchée (when played on a neighbouring enemy territory, starts a Scarce Rations scenario that does not count as a turn. If you are successful, you may receive the bonus card that was based in that territory)
-Covert Operations (starts a hashishin scenario - you have one hashishin and must take over enough units to capture a city. If successful, does not count as a turn but you will acquire the territory you played the card against)
-Armada (allows you to capture one coastal area, without having an army present. However, this is a sea battle, so you must be wary of what happens. If used in a game, it ensures that each dock you build spawns 1 siege vessel when completed)
-Conurbation (when played in a battle, you will build large cities straight away instead of having to build small cities and then having to add 5 different buildings to the city's environs)
-Rise of Christianity (start a battle with 3 Inquisitors added)
-Rise of Islam (start a battle with 9 Rizico buccaneers added)

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 01-17-2011 @ 09:42 PM).]

PvE scenarios:

LAW AND ORDER
Your ally, a local tribe, is being harassed by bandit cavalrymen and infantrymen. He only has a number of castles with markets attached to them, and never-ending spawns of caravans. Protect your ally's caravans - the more caravans are lost to the enemy, the more foes you will have to fight. Use your ally's castles to protect your injured units. You will win once you have destroyed a number of enemy units.
This scenario often plays out in mountainous regions such as the Alps or the Pamirs.

CHUKCHISTAN (Siberia, Ural and Kamchatka)
You have an army but no villagers. Destroy ALL units and structures - the Chukchi are a Slavic tribe stuck in the Dark Ages, but their holdings are extensive. And there are walls blocking your path.
(if playing as a Mongol or Turk, you have the opportunity to buy 1 city for some tribute, changing the scenario to a different one.)

Working name "Switzerland"
You face off against 3 enemies who have banded together.
As mountains abound, this will be a serious business, as it will impede how armies move in or out of the field.

FINISTERRE (Europeans in India, Africa, and Middle East only)
Map is veiled and you cannot see anything - only your scouts may reveal parts of the map.

CITY STATES

You have entered a region rich with warring city states who cannot create new cities which are quite prosperous and have the ability to field good sized armies.
You start with a large army but no buildings or citizens and your aim is to conquer the region.
This battle is also partly based around diplomacy as all the states will make and break alliances throughout the battle. There are 7 other players who will provide you with bonuses if you ally with them. City-states have large fortified cities and the city states usually just try and destroy the enemy army and raid their city. Despite the fact that there is a limit to one alliance per player nations at peace will gang up on others - especially on the player.
Additionally, they will often ask you for assistance in certain tasks such as destroying an enemy city state or starting a trade route if you are allies and completing these tasks will give you an improved relationship with the state and a small resource bonus.
When a city is conquered, the player has three choices - to annex the city, raze it to the ground or make it a puppet state.
Annexing a city makes it yours but when you do the enemy nation spawns a last stand army nearby that could retake the city if you are not careful.
Razing the city means that no enemies will spawn but obviously you can't have the city either.
Making that city a puppet state means the state will not be defeated but will automatically create an alliance with you which doesn't count towards the limit which means they also will give you their alliance bonus which usually spawns soldiers for you or gives you a trickle of a resource and unlike a normal ally the puppet state will not demand anything or break the alliance.
Puppet states share the diplomatic relations you have with the other states.

UNIFICATION (Wales, China, England, Andalus, Japan, Mongolia, Russia)

Like above, there are several other players, each one with a different bonus provided if you ally with them. Ally with one of them and slay all the others but watch out for betrayals!
Each nation begins with quite a few cities, some of them barely defended and you start in exactly the same position as them with no extra soldiers or anything like that. These warring groups will happily conquer enemies and slaughter their foes. A nation is only defeated if all their cities are taken or destroyed.
Like above, you have a choice of annexing or razing conquered cities - and like the above, annexed cities will generate rebels until the city is either taken back, destroyed or its faction is fully subdued.
If you take a city that was once one other nation's but was taken by another nation you also have the choice to liberate the city. This means the nation that originally owned the city will get it back and may ally with you. Their alliance won't affect your ally limit, meaning you are still able to ally with another nation.

CASTLE SIEGE
Destroy the barbarian forts and castles.

OPPRESSION
Quell a rebellion started by an opposing barbarian faction: your villagers will randomly become enemy militia.

HOSTAGE CRISIS
Barbarians are holding some of your allied generals hostage. Similar to your Cold War scenario - find the generals and bring them back to your castle.

COVERT OPERATIONS
You will be given 5 hashishin (regardless of religion) and you must wage a one-man army by luring sufficient enemy troops, then capture a city to continue the battle.
AS the enemy has power of Nomadism, it is safe to say that he will not pose a threat with attrition.

VIKINGS (available only in maritime areas)
You are being assailed by enemies who will randomly land troops, and must protect your cities until the end of the timer.
If fighting in Europe, you face off random spawns of Vikings.
If fighting in Asia, you face wako who are samurai and nanbans.
If in Africa or Arabia, you fight against corsairs, which spawn all jundi units and galleys.
The leaders of these fights are Vikings; Corsairs and Wako. Wako attacks occur east of India; Viking attacks occur in all northern Europe and Spanish Bay of Biscay. This means that the Portuguese might encounter this sort of scenario frequently.

LIBERATION (China, Byzantium)

2 barbarian states threaten your ally, the Rebels. Crush both of them in order to bring the area under your doman, but protect your ally - should your ally fail, you will also be defeated too.

COMMERCE CAP SCENARIOS

WOOD RUSH (all nations, except Russia and Asian factions in Siberia, Yakut and Kamchatka)

Make sure that you have the highest wood gathering rate before the timer is over!

FOOD RUSH (all in Iceland and Greenland)

Same as above.

GOLD RUSH (West Africa for all)

Same as above for wealth.

METAL RUSH (Muslims only)

A metal rush scenario is started whenever a Muslim faction invades an Asian territory under either the Kipchak or the Persians

GANGES

All factions who start off this scenario have no villagers or cities. If playing as an Asian faction, you are given a scenario where different states are fighting one another. Be careful with whom you ally because your ally may break an alliance. You cannot create new units, except by clicking on your ally's buildings.

If playing as a European or Arab faction, you cannot build anything and must destroy all Indian units and structures.

CHOLA

Invading Chola creates a conquest scenario where the Persians, renamed as Indians, are resisting. Attacking during the Castle Age instead allows you to face off against 2 factions: the Cholas and the Pandyans. In the Imperial Age, only the Pandyans are left around.

BAGAN (Mongols and Turks only) and CHAM (China only)

The map is crisscrossed with rivers and forests, like the Oregon scenario from the New World CtW. Your task is to destroy all enemy units and structures. While attrition has been turned off, however, the enemy has a massive attrition field.

GREATER YUE

Same as above, except in this case, ships and naval forces are more important. Your ability to conduct naval battles are now more important than ever.

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 01-20-2011 @ 01:43 AM).]

EPIC SCENARIOS (in all of these, allies will forgo attacking: they will just give 50 tribute instead)

SCOTLAND, GRANADA, POLAND, ENGLAND
Speed is crucial here - you are currently facing 7 petty kings for the crown of the land. As you are without villagers again, you must capture one and destroy the others. Beware however as your villagers will revolt against you.

HANSE (Only if anyone other than Germany invades HRE-held Pomerania)

There are 5 city-states, each one modelled after Germany, Burgundy, Sweden, Denmark, Poland. The league is mainly based in Northern Germany while the other nations are based where their country is in the Baltic region. The map has plenty of rare resources and cities. The Hanseatic league has no caravan limit (if possible) and have tons of resources, enough to sack enemy capitals with ease (the league did this to Copenhagen once!). I would like this to be an epic scenario despite it being just for unclaimed territory. In this scenario you won't just be attacking cities since you will be easily defeated by the league's access to large armies. You will instead have to raid them with small skirmish attacks. To win you have to take Lubeck. Also over time the league will buy cities of the nations friendly to them. Nations will have different opinions of you when you attack the league's cities (you are playing as one of these nations but it doesn't matter which nation you are, you start at war with the league). Remember you can also declare war on the nations friendly with you if you want to expand your territory and your ability to overthrow the league. Diplomacy is enabled so throughout the game different nations will declare war or make alliances with eachother.

Plunder is greatly increased for this scenario but caravans are well guarded by the league. There should be a couple of tasks like destroying a certain amount of league caravans that give you rewards to help defeat the league.

MONGOLIA
It will be impossible to win this scenario. Food and wood are scarce - you will have to ensure you have the right bonus cards in order to win. Hint: the Mongol cities are far apart. Raid their caravans to receive extra resources.

ASTURIAS (Muslims only)
It will not be easy. Not only are the Spanish putting up a tough fight, the Portuguese and the English have come in on their side. You must prevent them from uniting or else your battle will be lost.

VENICE
The Venetians have built their kingdom in a lagoon of 6 islands. Destroy their holdings in mainland Italy first, otherwise the battle is lost.
If you chose to attack from either the Istrian or Adriatic, you may be in deep trouble.

GERMANY (non-Burgundian scenario)
Your invasion has started a rebellion in the capital.
Bribe the Burgundians to join you and destroy the quarrelling petty kings.

GREAT WALL (Yellow River basin only)
This scenario is for when a player other than China attacks independent Xinjiang, Gobi or Manchuria. The map is divided by a long line of forts, towers, military buildings and walls. The attacker begins like in a conquest game with a small city with a few buildings and an army and is positioned on the upper half of the map. The defenders (Merkit in Xinjiang, Tangut in Gobi, Jin in Manchuria) have a few small cities on the bottom half of the map and start off with an army too. The attacker has to break through the strong defenses of the wall and capture the enemy capital to win. Throughout the game enemy soldiers spawn on the attacker’s half of the map, trying to stop the player from getting through the walls and will even launch sneak attacks on the player’s cities forcing the attacker to withdraw their troops from the wall.

TALAS (Muslims only in Himalayas)
There are 4 factions: your faction, the Tibetans, the Sogdians (based on the Persians) and the Chinese. Defeat the Sogdians and the Chinese force protecting them to win the game, but beware: the Chinese will reinforce their positions with heavy cavalry on a frequent basis, so get your jundi units and your own forces of lancers to counter them.

The Tibetans will willingly help you, only at a certain threshold: the Sogdians are the strongest faction on the map.

CONSTANTINOPLE
This scenario is for when a player attacks the Byzantine-held Bosporus.
There are three nations in this scenario – the defenders (the Byzantines), the attackers (the player), and the neutral Pera (Venetians).
Constantinople is heavily fortified with many towers and castles ringing the city and includes many military and economic buildings as well as a large amount of soldiers and ships.
Pera (across the harbour) has some fortifications and a few of the Venetian unique galleys. The attacker begins with a large army in the form of transports and boats in the sea nearby but has no citizens. This gives the attackers two main choices – either they can try to take Pera so they can create an economy and build a larger force, they can form an alliance with Pera against the Byzantines and attack the city with their help (this is an option they give to you in a pop up message but it requires some tribute) or they can attack Constantinople without any support (in this case it is highly unlikely to win).

Attacking Pera is less difficult once you land but by then most of your army can be destroyed by Pera’s navy (the Byzantium navy sticks to the harbour for most of the time) and then while you rebuild your forces Byzantium can even further enlarge their army. If you can take Pera with few casualties it can be useful to have a base if your attack on Constantinople itself fails since you can rebuild. Getting Pera’s support means that their heavy ships will start attacking the Byzantine navy and harassing the shore defenses. However if you fail your attack in this situation you lose the game.

BURGUNDIANS
The enemy holds several key mountain passes, all protected by fortresses. You start off with 3 armies, and some mortars. Destroy all the fortresses to win the game.

SIEGE OF PARIS (Seine)
The enemy has been holed up on an island in the middle of a lake. Find a way across to destroy the island before overwhelming reinforcements arrive to finish you off.

JAPAN
You have arrived in the middle of a feud. Destroy both factions, but beware of sudden ambushes by citizens in the countryside.

FALL OF RUSSIA
Like the city-states scenario, only far harder: the Russians have banded together, and competing with you are the Kipchak and the Poles. Destroy all enemy units and structures before the timer is over to win the game.

FALL OF ISLAM (each time you attack Hedjaz (independent), Granada, Shiraz or Syria)
The Muslims are completely dug in, and they will often send bands of ghazi volunteers. Far worse is the reputed appearance of the hashishin....
For this battle, mercenaries are disabled as they refuse to travel with you in the heat of the desert.

FALL OF ROME (Latium)
You start off with a small detachment, escorted by 5 Tuscan condottieri. Your task is to occupy a village, and then build up your economy and destroy the Pope once and for all.

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 03-02-2011 @ 10:12 PM).]

Since interior regions can look a bit drab, leave the coastal regions open to Viking attacks, and let the interior regions have more special scenarios than the coast.

Brilliant ideas for scenarios! Is there combat with the resource gathering scenarios?

I was thinking of making Hanse a bit more epic where you try and destroy the Hanseatic League's trade monopoly over the Baltic.

HANSE (Germany, Burgundy, Sweden, Denmark, Poland)

There are 6 nations: Germany, Burgundy, Sweden, Denmark, Poland (one of these nations is the player) and the Hanseatic league. The league is mainly based in Northern Germany while the other nations are based where their country is in the Baltic region. The map has plenty of rare resources and cities. The Hanseatic league has no caravan limit (if possible) and have tons of resources, enough to sack enemy capitals with ease (the league did this to Copenhagen once!). I would like this to be an epic scenario despite it being just for unclaimed territory. In this scenario you won't just be attacking cities since you will be easily defeated by the league's access to large armies. You will instead have to raid them with small skirmish attacks. To win you have to take Lubeck. Also over time the league will buy cities of the nations friendly to them. Nations will have different opinions of you when you attack the league's cities (you are playing as one of these nations but it doesn't matter which nation you are, you start at war with the league). Remember you can also declare war on the nations friendly with you if you want to expand your territory and your ability to overthrow the league. Diplomacy is enabled so throughout the game different nations will declare war or make alliances with eachother.

Plunder is greatly increased for this scenario but caravans are well guarded by the league. There should be a couple of tasks like destroying a certain amount of league caravans that give you rewards to help defeat the league.

[This message has been edited by super7700 (edited 01-18-2011 @ 06:05 PM).]

Hi,

Resourced-based scenarios may either be peaceful, or contain combat (in the sense that you can get out galleasses, but this is not advisable). In many cases, Muslim factions have access to peaceful resource-based scenarios in the Middle East where you cannot declare war.

Of course, one method to avoid this nonsense is to send 2 armies at the area, which will result in immediate annexation of the area.

I got a request for the Hanse: let there be 5 city-states: each one being based on the HRE, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, HRE and Burgundy. That will help you avoid the problems of explaining how, if you destroyed one faction or another, that they still exist. Like the "Macedonians" in RoN Alexander CtW.

Also for the Hedjaz scenario, the independent protecting Mecca is a Saracen faction. I still need to figure out what name to put there for them.

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 01-18-2011 @ 10:17 PM).]

MARITIME BORDERS

Thames valley has sea routes to Brittany, Flanders and Normandy
East Anglia has sea routes to Flanders, Frisian Coast, Norway and Jutland
Kernow has sea routes to Brittany and Ireland.
Ireland: to Brittany, Galicia, Gwynedd, and Highlands
Highlands: Highlands has sea routes to Norway
Iceland has sea routes to Highlands, Greenland, and Norway
Greenland has sea routes to Iceland


Lebanon has sea routes to Cyprus
Cyprus has sea routes to Galatia (bordering Bosporus), Crete, Lebanon and Palestine.
Crete has sea routes to Cyprus, Tripoli, Lower Egypt and Pelopennese
Pelopennese has sea routes to Bosporus and Malta
Thessaly has sea routes to Sicily and Apulia
Palestine has sea routes to Cyprus


Galicia has sea routes to Ireland and Brittany
Seville has sea routes to Maghreb
Granada has sea routes to Maghreb and Atlas
Zaragoza has sea routes to Denia and Aquitane
Malaga has sea routes to Tunis and Aures
Denia has sea routes to Corsica, Aquitane, and Sardinia


Apulia has sea routes to Thessaly and Sicily
Malta has sea routes to Aures, Pelopennese, Sicily, Tripoli
Sicily has sea routes to Thessaly, Sardinia, Apulia, Malta
Corsica has sea routes to Denia, Liguria, Sardinia and Provence
Venice has sea routes to Istria and Albania
Liguria has sea routes to Corsica
Campania has sea routes to Sardinia
Sardinia has sea routes to Denia, Corsica, Campania, Tunis, Aures, Sicily, Malta

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 01-20-2011 @ 01:42 AM).]

Boss, I got other ideas.

In addition to voice acting, customised rollover and introductory messages, what about a plotline such as this:

Muslims:
Controlling Mecca results in tribute equal to the level of Mecca (8 tribute max) and more favourable relations with any of the "Muslim nations": the Turks, the Saracens, the Sicilians and/or the Moors. So in other words, if you are Sicily and you control Mecca, you can expect 8 tribute per turn, and the possibility of allying with the Muslims until the Imperial Age. Once the Imperial Age is over, your allies may break relations with you.

• If a non-Muslim (including Sicily) attacks Mecca, they are confronted with the "Siege of Mecca" scenario where Mecca is protected by fanatical ghuzat and hashishin - they will be confronting the Banu Shaibah who are Saracens.

• If the Turks, Saracens and the Moors attack Mecca, the special naval invasion scenario posed to them instead is called the "Hajj". In it, you are allied with the Banu Shaibah who are Saracens under the rule of the Sheriff of Mecca. Your task is to protect Mecca from raids by Barbary pirates until the end of the timer, and only have a small force of cavalry. Clicking any one of the Banu Shaibah's villagers immediately converts it into a murafiq under your control. Be careful, as if Mecca or too many villagers die, you will lose the game.
Fortunately for you, you can also use the murafiq to repair buildings, and can also use tribute to buy camel raiders. Beware, however, as the tribute costs of camel raiders are costly.

• The conquest of the Byzantine Exarchate of Palestine will bring Palestine into your hands, and also produces tribute in the same manner as Mecca would. Beware, however, as once you do so, you may trigger an alliance between the survivng Christian factions who will then declare war on non-Christian players and commence an invasion. To make matters worse, AI players may launch a holy war against you!

• There is one way to destroy the Christians. During an AI game, nobody will touch the Papal States as long as the Byzantine empire is still intact. Once the Bosporus is conquered and Constantinople falls, however, the many states of Europe will attack the Papal States.

For Christians, it is different. Once Jerusalem falls into Muslim hands (ie it is captured by Turks, Saracens or Moors), the Papal States and the Byzantine empire will ally together, and demand an alliance and cash from you. Doing so gives access to 2 holy war cards, but refusing this alliance may hurt your relations with your Christian neighbours. Holding on to Jerusalem grants benefits similar to that of Muslim control over Mecca.

• An exception is for the Byzantine empire. Once you lose Jerusalem, the Papal States will ask for an alliance, with the similar process repeated above. Once a Christian faction gains control of Jerusalem, the other states (save for Russia) will break their alliance and then attack you. So as a Byzantine player, you must try to hold on to Jerusalem at all costs. Once Jerusalem goes under, there is no turning back even if you reclaim it.

• Russia will receive resources from Jerusalem, but there is no guaranteeing that the Catholics will not attack.

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 01-19-2011 @ 10:09 AM).]

Hello,

CLIMATE CLASSIFICATIONS

If I remember correctly, apart from tundra, desert and grass, there are also steppe, maple and permafrost.

This is to help in guiding what areas have what sort of climate, especially if they are "exotic areas". Without further ado:


Steppes (coniferous brownlands):

Kazakhstan
Mongolia
Uyghurstan
Turkmenistan
Atlas (northern Algeria is actually a beautiful, grassy place)
Jerusalem
All Spanish provinces, save: Galicia, Aragon, Catalonia (for Malaga and Denía see below)
Crete
Corsica
Apulia
Zagros
Sicily
Sardinia
Lebanon


Maple forests:

Carpathians
Hokkaido
Manchuria
Goguryeo
Bavaria
Clyde Valley
Lithuania
Kirghistan
Highlands
Muscovy
Carpathians
Urals
Powys


Permafrost:

Norway
Novgorod
Uppsala
Siberia
Iceland
Tyrol
Burgundy
Trebizond


Permafrost steppe:
Mongolia
Uzbekistan
Afghanistan


Ice:

Himalayas
Siberia
Kamchatka
Yakutsk
Greenland
Lappmarch


Jungle:

Hainan
Greater Yue
Chola
Champa
Zhujiang Delta
Bagan
Gangetic Plain
Kyushu


Desert:

Malaga
Cyprus
Malta
Denía

The rest should be easy to figure out.

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 02-08-2011 @ 07:55 PM).]

Just thinking about territories - since Aachen is in Lotharangia rather than Saxony shoun't that be where the German capital is?

You're right, but it's difficult going. Another method would be to change the name of the German capital to Regensberg, Bavaria...this isn't solved by the fact that the HRE didn't have an official "capital", or otherwise....the area where Aachen itself today is now covered by a new area, "North Rhein–Westphalia" ....

EDIT: We can safely move the capital of the HRE to Magdeburg, Saxony. I figured out that would have been where we would normally have had the Emperors' residence.

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 09-28-2011 @ 09:22 PM).]

I would like to keep Aachen as the capital but maybe for the CTW we could have the capital as Frankfurt

NOTE: Aachen, although in Lotharingia, is located in an area that was once considered part of Saxony. You might want to keep this in mind when designating capitals later on.


CtW FACTIONS

Is it possible for us to have the following CtW factions?

- various Italian principalities (based on Burgundy)
- Brothers of the Sword (based on German HRE)
- Kingdom of Jerusalem (based on Sicily)
- Kingdom of Cham (based on China)
- Chinese successor-states (based on China)
- Kingdom of Bagan (based on Japan)
- various Russian principalities (based on Russia, duh)
- Duchy of Brittany (based on the Scots)
- various Arab and African emirates (based on Saracens)
- Kingdom of Maqurra (based on Saracens)
- rogue Byzantine exarchates (based on Byzantines)
- Knights of St James (based on Spanish)
- Knights Hospitallers (based on Papal States)
- various Indian sultanates and kingdoms (based on Persians)
- Kingdom of Bod (based on Mongols)
- Kingdom of Sogdiana (based on Persians)
- Kingdom of Cilicia (based on Byzantines)
- Kingdom of Kartvelia (based on Byzantines)


While most of them already have UUs, I would like to have some special CtW-based units that do not train anywhere else except from a wonder. For instance, if you are having galleons created (or enabled) by Sagres Point, you can let the Knights of St James and the Knights Hospitallers build galleons (which should be a cross between the lantern galley and the carrack), while the various Asian states can be permitted to train war elephants.


HOT on CLIMATE CHANGE

I have corrected the climate classification for regions above. Your CtW map render should be ready by the end of this month. Although I can't do any more artwork, I can still designate CtW scenarios and create campaigns, each one almost unique to each nation.

Generally speaking,

CtW and WONDERS
You need to find a means of allowing wonder-based units to be trained at your Nobles' Court during a CtW scenario like how Greek mercenaries were accessible in the Alexander campaign.


MUSLIM and SICILIAN CtW
Muslims have several tasks: take Jerusalem and Hijaz, and then convert as many areas on earth to Islam.

The control of either Jerusalem or Hijaz creates +5 tribute per turn, while controlling them both creates +20 tribute. Controlling Hijaz stops you from being attacked by other Muslim powers.

Control of Jerusalem allows for the creation of vassals if Sicily, Andalus, Turkey, the Abbasids or the Mongols are conquered, but will result in a declaration of war between you and ALL Christian factions (impossible to do anything but declare war), unless you are Sicily.

Common scenarios: "peaceful" economic competition, and putting down petty emirs and raiders, such as in the Mecca scenario. We might need a Kaaba building for this CtW.


CHRISTIAN CtW
Christians have several tasks: take Jerusalem and Latium, and then convert as many areas on earth to Christianity. Attacking a Muslim area in Asia or Africa does not start a conquest scenario as normal: instead, you are given a small army and must conquer a city before continuing the game.

The control of Jerusalem creates +10 tribute per turn (except for Sicily, see above), and allows you to ally more easily with other Christian states, while it will prevent all Muslim states from making alliances with you. Each time you ask them for something, they will always ask for Jerusalem if you as possessing it; otherwise they will refuse alliances flat out, unless you are Sicily.

Control of Hijaz by a non-Muslim faction (other than Sicily and/or Mongolia) will always ensure that the 3 Muslim factions of the game will eternally be hostile towards you - they will not even make peace or any alliances with you except unless you cede Hijaz to them. This applies to China and Japan as well. If you are in control of Hijaz, your territories will randomly secede to either Sicily, Mongolia, the Saracens, Turks or Andalus as long as you control Hijaz and any of these factions are still alive.

The region of Latium will not be attacked by other AI Christian powers (including Sicily) until the following happens:

- The Imperial Era is reached; and/or
- The Byzantines are defeated.

Common scenarios: defending your holdings from seaborne raiders (ie Vikings, corsairs and wako), defending Christian allies from pagans.

During the Castle Age, a Crusade will begin if Byzantium is at war with either the Saracens, Turks or Andalusians.

While many of the Christians have the same objectives, a different path of events and scenarios is being planned for Scotland, Portugal, Spain, Sicily, Byzantium and Russia.

If you are a Christian and attack a co-religionist faction during the Dark Ages or the Castle Ages, you will be given the choice of creating a vassal state out of the defeated faction. Destroying the state may cause a precedent whereby Christian states in western Europe will attack one another.


MONGOLIA
Mongols have 2 tasks: take China and Turkey. The capture of China grants 2 military Eureka cards, the capture of Turkey grants a Flowering of Culture bonus card.
Any control of Afghanistan by Mongolia or Turkey allows the appearance of war elephants (NOT gun mahouts) during a CtW game once you have sufficient military technologies, independent of Bamiyan. Only 5 elephants can be derived in this manner.

Control of Hejaz ensure that Muslims will not attack you.

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 02-09-2011 @ 10:43 PM).]

Are these nations that are encountered in certain unclaimed territories so for example Teutonic Order will be in Prussia? Well from what I know we can only change the leader name for a nation for a scenario so you might fight the Kingdom of Jerusalem but the faction name would stay as the Sicilians (I would rather have them based on the Byzantines though) Also we would have to make a special scenario for every one of these factions when invading the territories with these factions.

With CTW units are you saying that if a nation uses a wonder card on a territory, if the wonder placed trains units, the nation can train this unit at the Noble's Court in all future battles? Because that would be good. Also perhaps when you take a territory with one of the extra "factions", you get a special unit for the Noble's Court (however there will not be as many as you have listed)!

Here are the factions I think we should have:

Knights Hospitaller: based on Papal States
Kingdom of Jerusalem: based on Papal States
Teutonics Knights: based on Germany
County of Flanders: based on French
Lombard League: based on Venice
Swiss Confederacy: based on Burgundy
Normans: based on French
Koreans: Based on China
Indian sultanates: based on Turkish

We may have some other Asian factions too

There will also be other scenarios with factions bbut don't provide special units so in Russian city states scenarios there will Russian cities and in Italy there will be Italian states and so on.

Hello,

You might want to look at the Panama canal scenario from the Cold War to figure out how to add extra factions sharing the same power to the game. Of course, we do not expect all factions to appear simultaneously - we only expect them to appear depending on which faction you are playing.

So far, we have the current barbarians running around:

Chukchi - Varangian
Prussians - Varangian
Kipchak - Byzantine
Celts - French
Persians - Arab
Berbers - Sicilian
Götürk - Asian

Some of these players do not have RUUS. The Göktürk prefer to assault you using mounted archers, and may not train any infantry other than heavy infantry and crossbowmen.

As mentioned before, these players can't build Nobles' Courts or recruit mercenaries or siege weapons. Their usual method of attack is to send ranged cavalry, keeping heavy cavalry, foot archers and heavy infantry back to finish you off.

SUBFACTIONS
Apart from the usual barbarians, we also have the following sub-factions, which appear ONLY in some scenarios.
For instance,

Scenario 1: Muslims invade Christian Jerusalem

If you are a Turk, and invading HRE-held Jerusalem, and there is a Venetian garrison on Cyprus, you can expect to be facing the HRE and the Venetians, as well as reinforcements in the form of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, swollen by Norman recruits from Sicily (see below). The Kingdom of Jerusalem might have two towns, Jerusalem, a large city and Belvoir a village with a fort, while the HRE might possess another city located elsewhere, perhaps Acre for example and the Venetians might be wandering throughout Palestine for a place to build a new city. Your task would be to defeat all 3 factions.

Alternatively,

Scenario 2: Christians invade Mongol-occupied Sudan

If you are playing as Spain, and you happen upon a Mongol-held Sudan for instance, you will have an ally in the form of the Kingdom of Maqurra, whose 5 villages are scattered all over the map while the Mongols hold about 3 or 4 other towns connected to one another, complete with an army. Your task would be to contact the Kingdom of Maqurra for assistance. The Kingdom of Maqurra has no wood, so it is up to you to find wood and supply it to them.

Or even,

Scenario 3: Southern Italy

If you are playing the HRE and attack Southern Italy using your forces in, say, the HRE-annexed Papal States, you may find that apart from the occupier, there are also 4 Norman princelings in the region. Your task is to buy them out or quell their rebellion, otherwise, the occupier will just accumulate a large army, and then let the Normans finish you off with guerilla assaults.

Here's one more example - this is a historic battle.

Scenario 4: Talas

If you are a Muslim and you invade Chinese-held Himalayas, your task is to destroy the Sogdians. The Chinese garrison has only one big city and lots of cavalry; the Sogdians have 3 cities.

You only have a small force consisting of a single army (4 swords, 2 spears and 2 archers, followed by your supply, light and ranged cavalry) with a general and a catapult. However, there is good news - the Kingdom of Bod is at war with the Chinese. If you can convert them over to your side you can destroy the Sogdians and convince the Chinese to cede the Himalayas to you.

I have split all subfactions down to form the following regions:

REGIONS

- rogue Byzantine exarchates (based on Byzantines; they appear all over the Middle East and parts of Europe, - Byzantine players might encounter them)

- various Arab and African emirates (based on Saracens; they cover the whole Middle East. The most prominent ones are the Banu Shaibah of Hejaz, who guard the Kaaba, and the local Imamates of Southern Arabia. Different clans and emirates will appear in different scenarios.)

- Knights Hospitallers (based on Papal States; they defend Italia's islands, and can also be prominent in battles fought by Muslims for them.)

- Normans (based on French; they can be found by the English, the French, Scots and Welsh in Northern Europe. In many scenarios played during the Dark Ages, the French, English, Scots and Welsh may discover Normans feuding with the local Celts.

Italians will be dismayed to discover that Normans occupy the region between Latium and the Straits of Messina, and have also settled down in the Pelopennese and Cyprus!)

- Vikings (based on Norse; they only appear in coastal assault scenarios in Northern Europe and Iberia. For instance, a Portuguese faction assaulting Galicia may find that it must protect its city from Vikings. They never build units or structures; they only continuously appear as land-based Scandinavian armies and longboats at sea)

- wako (based on Japan; they only appear in coastal assault secenarios throughout Asia and East India. For instance, a Chinese player landing forces in the Pearl River delta may find that it must restore order. They never build units or structures; they only continuously appear as land-based samurai armies and swoopers at sea)

- Barbary pirates (based on Andalus; they only appear in coastal assault scenarios throughout the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. For instance, a Byzantine player attacking barbarian Crete will be faced with protecting his cities from them. They never build units or structures; they only continuously appear as land-based Saracen armies and corsairs at sea)


AFRICA

- Tuareg (based on Berbers)
- Kingdom of Maqurra (based on Saracens)


NORTH ASIA

- Chinese successor-states (based on China)
- Koreans (Based on China)


ITALIA

- various Italian principalities (based on Burgundy)
- Lombard League (not necessary. It can be a host of Italian cities, including the Venetians as the ringmaster)


VARANGIA

- various Russian principalities (based on Russia, duh)
- Brothers of the Sword (based on German HRE)
- Kingdom of Cilicia (based on Byzantines)
- Kingdom of Kartvelia (based on Byzantines)


MIDDLE EAST

- various Arab and African emirates (based on Saracens)
- Kingdom of Jerusalem (based on Sicily - although you are right that it should be Papal States, I felt these guys would be more accurate. True, they are Sicilians. However, their UUs would not make them look out of place! furthermore, the first Crusaders were Norman nobles, among which many called Southern Italy home )


SOUTH ASIA

- Kingdom of Sogdiana (based on Persians)
- Kingdom of Cham (based on China)
- Kingdom of Bagan (based on Japan)
- Kingdom of Bod (based on Mongols)
- Khmer kingdom


FRANCONIA

- Duchy of Brittany (based on the Scots)
- various Indian sultanates and kingdoms (based on Persians)
- County of Flanders (based on French)
- Swiss Confederacy (based on Burgundy)


IBERIA

- Knights of St James (based on Papal States)

Apart from the Knightly orders, I don't really think the Europeans need extra units. However, I have an idea of what some non-European units can be:

Tuareg, Zamindari cavalry, Kipchak cavalry (perhaps these are accessible from the Kremlin), war elephants (trainable from Bamiyan complex), Korean hwarang...
(add whatever units you find appealing from AoC:H here).

You need to script both Champa and Bagan to train only conscripts and war elephants.

Okay, let me work out the Andalus campaign:


ANDALUS CtW
The highpoints of the Andalus campaigns:

- holding on to Mecca (creates this Hajj scenario where I mentioned you will be helping Banu Shaibah keep bandits from attacking Mecca)
- Destroying the Christians of Iberia (attacking Alentejo or Asturias results in you facing not ONE but THREE armies, consisting of the Portuguese, the Spanish and the English);
- Seizing Jerusalem from a Christian faction;
- conquering Africa;
- conquering Aquitane and Provence;
- destroying the Papal States and the Byzantines;
- capturing Egypt.
- winning the battle of Talas against the Chinese.


Important policy decisions:

- Capture Jerusalem, or cede it to the Sicilians?
- Ally with the Spanish, or make war on all the Christians?
- Keep Egypt for yourself, or cede it to the Saracens in exchange for tribute and help from the Saracens in the form of camelry? or do we cede it to the Turks in exchange for BETTER tribute and help from the Turks in the form of gunpowder?


Important events:

- Castle Age - Crusades. The Papal States will declare war, and Jerusalem will immediately be occupied by the Holy See. Having captured Jerusalem, they will start sending armies towards Hejaz if they can help it. Furthermore, England, France, the HRE and Venice will immediately form an alliance with the Byzantines and the Papal States simultaneously, and will begin attacking you in all earnest. Your task is to hold on to Hejaz and survive until the Imperial Age, or until Byzantium is destroyed.

- Imperial Era - Sicily annexed. The Sicilians, if they have not been destroyed, will be annexed to the Spanish or the French, threatening your hold on Africa.

- Imperial Era - Ottoman Empire. The Saracens, if they have not been destroyed, will be annexed to the Ottoman Empire, threatening your hold on Asia.

MONGOLIA CtW
The highpoints:
- Defeating the Chinese will give you a choice - you may annex them for 2 extra military tech cards. Destroying them will cause Japan to become aggressive, and the Muslim world to not attack you.
- Defeating the Russians will give you a choice - you may annex them to receive 2 Flowering of Culture tech cards. Destroying them will cause the Muslims and Sicily to become aggressive, but it will be easier for you to ally with the Japanese and Chinese, if you had not done so.

Important events:
- Attacking a Muslim-held Egypt and losing the battle (this is a tough battle) will cause annexed states to break away.

- Imperial era - Christianisation: the Christians will approach you to evangelise you. Accepting their gift allows you to ally better, but will cause non-Christians to attack.

- Imperial era - Islamisation: the Muslims will approach you to convert you. Accepting their offer gives you 3 rise of Islam cards and extra military help, but will cause Christians to attack you.

- Attacking any Christian nation other than Sicily, Byzantium, Russia or Venice will result in Christians declaring a crusade against you, regardless of whether you win or not. Everyone will declare war against you and start attacking.

SPAIN and PORTUGAL
Important highlights:

- Crusades
- Discovering the New World
- Reconquista: destroy the Andalusian stronghold of Malaga.
- Defeating the Muslims

Important policies:

- Castle Age - Crusades. The Papal States will declare war, and Jerusalem will immediately be occupied by the Holy See. Having captured Jerusalem, they will start sending armies towards Hejaz if they can help it. Furthermore, England, France, the HRE and Venice will immediately form an alliance with the Byzantines and the Papal States simultaneously, and will ask you for a small contribution of tribute. Simultaneously, the existing Muslim nations will form an alliance with one another, and you come under attack from Andalus.

If Syria is destroyed by a Christian faction, all Saracen territories will fall under the sway of the Turks, or the Andalusians.

- During the beginning of the Castle Age, you will be asked to fund exploration for a new colony to reach the Far East. The cost is high, but if you complete it, you will have a new colony that generates 50 tribute per turn at the onset of the Imperial Era, and 2 Transport Requisition cards, as well as an extra bonus card. For Spain, the colony is called Hispaniola and comes with a Wealth boom card. For Portugal, the colony is called Madeira, and comes with an Espionage Network card.

Important events:

- Reconquista - destroying the Andalusians bonds whoever else is in the Iberian peninsula (Spain or Portugal) to your cause as a vassal power.

The Byzantines will also offer you a base in the Levant (possibly Cyprus or Crete) for a fee.

Equally, the HRE will offer an alliance with you against Burgundy. Accepting this however will result with you being attacked by France, but being able to enter into alliance with Sicily and the HRE.

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 02-09-2011 @ 09:28 PM).]

In the Panama scenario the nation you are talking about actually replaces an existing faction - something we can't do from what I know. Also all barbarians can be faced by all nations. We would have to make a scenario for each sub faction battle so having around thirty sub-factions is pretty much impossible. Only factions that are rather important.

Are you suggesting multiple campaigns? Well I don't know. I am hoping that policy decisions and events can be done based on which nation the player is using. However there should be no nations automatically annexing others. Remember since all nations have the AI enabled for conquest they will attack places anyway, and we don't want everything to repeat every time someone plays this CTW. Also CTWs aren't about repeating exactly what happened in history, it is about creating an alternate empire. However events like the Crusades, Reconquista, diplomacy through events and other decisions and goals will stay.

With the New World event, once you have funded enough tribute, you are given the ability to perform colonization, which replaces the informer ability. It costs a lot of tribute but it is worth it! Pretty much with this there are some different types of scenarios where you try and colonize the region, whether through exploration, conquest, alliance or betrayal, for the Europeans and Arabs scenarios are based in Asia (with Chinese and Japanese factions) and the Americas (with the Aztecs and Incan sub-factions) and for the Asians, scenarios are just based in the Americas.

There is an amount of territories that can be colonized around the place and it quite random when it comes to which territory a nation has to colonize in a scenario. Usually each colonization scenario is unique to one colony so the scenario with you attacking Tenochtitlan is unique to the colony of Mexico. In the Americas, the natives are Aztec, Mayan or Incan and they have the light infantry UUs they have in the vanilla game for the first three ages (which would save me from giving them their own swordsmen skins) and they would have ancient era styled African buildings (since the gunpowder age American tileset now has Byzantine building textures and the age 4 citizens have sombreros).

I can imagine a really fun scenario for Central American colonization scenarios where you have a tiny amount of soldiers, mainly arquebusiers and mounted arquebusiers (special late CTW units, or even normal mod units, built at the castle, which use normal dragoon skins except for the European one which uses the vanilla conquistador skin). You face hordes of Meso American warriors (pretty much all they have are heavy archers and light infantry UUs) and your goal is to conquer the capital of the enemy nation. They will have a massive capital city, and will have cities all around the place too that are lightly defended but still have a lot of soldiers around them. Your task is to blast your way into their capital and destroy it pretty much. The colony given to you after this scenario will give you much more resources and tribute than a normal colonization scenario (see some examples of normal ones below)

Other scenarios may be exploration ones where you start off with scouts, galleons and a few soldiers as you try and find a certain rare resource. However native soldiers are there and will constantly ambush your units. Scouts are very useful in this scenario so don't lose them. These scenarios vary in terrain so for one scenario it might be fully land and in another it might be a chain of islands

Also there will be a scenario where you start off with virtually no army and just a few citizens. You have to found a city, build it up and then defeat the tribe controlling the area.

[This message has been edited by super7700 (edited 02-09-2011 @ 03:14 AM).]

I also remember I have a big issue with Greenland.

GREENLAND SCENARIO

Clearly, the lazy man's way out is to have a Viking scenario play out if you settle in Greenland. However, what if you are Norse or Dane? would it be better if we allowed for a "skraelings" scenario where you simply have to destroy all skraelings on Greenland?

NEW WORLD: COLONY SYSTEM vs SCENARIO SYSTEM

Since the New World didn't really play a great deal in our mod well until the 1530, maybe we should keep the colonisation scenarios to a minimum. It's just too much work maybe we can look at it once we finish this mod, Uthum's and even the Covenant mod - and commence work on Rise of the Moderns! anyway, the colonisation of the New World already occurs during the Imperial era: as Spain and England, you'd already have access to the Native American atl-atl.

I already have a good script out:

"Your explorers have brought news of the existence of new lands from across the western ocean. These lands are sparsely populated, and need only small expeditionary forces to be conquered, as opposed to armies. However, they will need supplies and victuals to accomplish the task of creating colonies, the cost thereof being X tribute.

"Do you wish to purchase supplies for the expeditionary force?"

Meanwhile,

Overall this is how the game operates:

During the Dark Ages, all nations will be attacking one another, except for the Papal States. Nobody will attack the Papal States until the Imperial Era, or the Byzantine Empire is destroyed.

During the Castle Age, all Christian nations (save for Byzantium and Russia) will stop attacking one another. The Pope will create an alliance with France, the HRE, Venice and England - and will be allied with the Byzantines too, and the existing Muslim powers will form an alliance, and start raiding ONLY Christian territory (this means they will not touch areas occupied by Mongolia, China or Japan).
For Muslims and Christians, controlled possession of Jerusalem allows for the creation of vassal states. For the Muslims (and Sicily and Mongolia too), control of Hijaz ensures that you will not be attacked by other Muslim nations.

During the Imperial Era, all nation-states will be back to a free-for-all. The New World will be discovered, with France, Spain and Portugal being the main beneficiaries. A colony can be traded, however, to any Christian faction - the non-Christians however will reject your offer of the new colonies by stating below:

"We are not interested in these filthy and impoverished scraps of yours which barely deign attention. Thank you."

ENGLAND CtW

High points:
- Nation-building
- Defeating the French
- Taking Jerusalem
- Defeating the Byzantines
- Assimilating Wales
- alliance with Russia

Important policies:
- Russian alliance - if you are currently at war with Sweden in the Imperial Era, Russia will ask for an alliance, but will demand tribute.

- French alliance - an alliance with France requires that you do not attack Scotland (ie that you do not attack Scottish territory); doing so will result in a fight with France.

- Once Gwynedd is defeated, you have a choice of either creating a vassal state or destroying it completely for its culture card and all its tribute. Doing the latter however will result in European powers attacking you.

- Hundred Years' War - Burgundy and the HRE will ally with one another, and offer you an alliance in exchange for war with France. Not doing so makes you open to attack by these 2 factions.

- Alliances - Spain and Portugal will offer an alliance in exchange for either Galicia or Jerusalem, once you have taken Kernow, Northumbria, East Anglia and Mercia.

- Crusader policies - The Pope will declare war and an alliance will be offered to you by several powers, for a small fee. Not accepting this makes you more likely to be attacked by Christian factions. Accepting this however grants access to a Holy War card.

During the Castle Age Crusade, the Byzantines will offer an alliance, in exchange for the return of Cyprus and some tribute. Destroying the Byzantines will result in the Crusader alliance of Europe being destroyed and the Papal States liable of attack by other AI players.

Important events:

- Castle Age rebellions: if France is alive and you have holdings in Western Europe, they will start seceding to France due to unrest, unless you have upgraded them to at least level 4 regions.

- Reconquista - an absorption of Portugal and Andalus by Spain will result in an alliance between you and Spain being broken.

- Viking invasions - Denmark may attack you during the Dark Ages once it obtains Frisia, but can be allied with if you offer sufficient tribute.

- Hundred Years' War - see above.

- Crusades - See previous postings. If you are in control of Jerusalem by the Imperial era, the Pope will offer you 2 Rise of Christianity cards in exchange for Jerusalem. Failure to do so will cause the Papal States to excommunicate you, making you unable to make treaties with other Christian factions.


FRANCE CtW

High points:

- Taking Jerusalem
- Destroying the Holy Roman Empire,
- Defeating Burgundy
- Defeating the Papal States
- Defeating the Byzantines
- Destroying Spain
- Franco-Scottish alliance

Important events:

- If either Spain, Andalus or Portugal reunites Iberia, the winner of the conflict will declare war upon you, regardless the age.

- If the Papal States are still alive and independent out by the Imperial Era and are still independent, they will immediately be converted into a vassal of the HRE. The new enlarged HRE will then create an alliance with Burgundy and England against you.

Making the Papal States a vassal will ensure better relations with Venice and Burgundy, but destroying it may cause these 2 players to enter into an alliance against you. This can happen at any time you defeat the Papal States.


Important policies:

- Crusader policies - The Pope will declare war and an alliance will be offered to you by several powers, for a small fee. Not accepting this makes you more likely to be attacked by Christian factions. Accepting this however gives you some Holy War cards.

If you are in control of Jerusalem by the Imperial era, the HRE will offer you 2 Rise of Christianity cards in exchange for Jerusalem. This is basically a scripted event, even if you are at war with the Papal States or the HRE.

During the Castle Age Crusade, the Byzantines will offer an alliance, in exchange for the return of Cyprus and some tribute. Destroying the Byzantines will result in the Crusader alliance of Europe being destroyed and the Papal States liable of attack by other AI players.

- During the Imperial Era, you may be asked to found a new colony in America, for a considerable amount of tribute. This new land is called Nouvelle-France, and offers the use of fish and wine as a colony. Once this Colony is founded, you may be faced with an offer to buy it by Sweden, Denmark and England.

- If Scotland is attacked during the game, it will ask for tribute and offer an alliance. This alliance will allow for gallowglass to appear in some battles. Accepting this offer however will break any alliances you previously had with other nations, and will make negotiations with England difficult - the English will have a greater bargaining price than normal.


HRE

High points:

- French expansion
- English alliance
- War with Denmark, Sweden, Poland, and Russia
- Crusades
- Alliance with the Saracens
- Italian empire
- Defeat of the Byzantines

Important events:

- You start off as an ally of the Papal States. As long as you are an ally, Bohemia, Hungary and Russia will be annexed to the Papal States if you defeat them (ie, you occupy Novgorod, Bohemia, and Danubia). However, this also means you need not fear an attack by Venice, Burgundy or Sicily.

- Crusader policies - The Pope will declare war and an alliance will be offered to you by several powers, for a small fee. Not accepting this makes you more likely to be attacked by Christian factions. Accepting this however grants access to a Holy War card.

Unlike England, France, or Venice, the Byzantines will declare war on you the moment you have control of Jerusalem.

- France will be continuously at war with you for the Dark and Imperial eras. If France is not defeated by the Castle Age, it will create alliances with an enlarged Sweden against you.

- During the Imperial era, Poland and Denmark will be annexed to Sweden.

Important policies:

- Crusades - See previous postings. If you are in control of Jerusalem by the Imperial era, the Pope will offer you 2 Rise of Christianity cards in exchange for Jerusalem. Failure to do so will cause the Papal States to excommunicate you, making you unable to make treaties with other Christian factions.

Accepting this creates an alliance between you, France, Venice, England and the Papal States. Of these, only England will remain your friend throughout the game. France will declare war on you and the Papal States will break their alliance.

- During the Imperial Era, the Saracens will ask for an alliance against the Turks. This immediately puts you at war with the Turks and Venice if they are still alive and you still have Jerusalem once you rebuff the Papal States' offer.

- As long as the Papal States is not an ally or a vassal state, your possessions in Italia will continuously riot and secede to either France, Spain, the Byzantines or Sicily throughout the Castle Age, as long as these factions are still alive, unless you upgrade them to at least level 2.

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 02-09-2011 @ 09:23 PM).]

BURGUNDY CtW
Important highlights:

- Crusades
- Alliances

Important events:

- Castle Age - Crusades. The Papal States will declare war, and Jerusalem will immediately be occupied by the Holy See. Having captured Jerusalem, they will start sending armies towards Hejaz if they can help it. Furthermore, England, France, the HRE and Venice will immediately form an alliance with the Byzantines and the Papal States simultaneously, and they EACH will ask you for a small contribution of tribute. Simultaneously, the existing Muslim nations will form an alliance with one another.

As normal, your acquisition of Jerusalem allows for the ability of choosing to create vassal states from defeated Christian neighbours (except from Byzantium or Russia), and also gives a stream of tribute, and the destruction of Byzantium opens the Papal States up to attack by other Christian factions.

If Syria is destroyed by a Christian faction, all Saracen territories will fall under the sway of the Turks, or the Andalusians.

Important policies:

During the Dark Ages, you will be asked to ally yourself with: Denmark, Spain, England, France, the HRE, and the Papal States. Allying with one keeps that player as a lifelong ally of that faction, but will cause the others to declare war on you. The benefit of such an alliance means that you have the ability of training their Dark Age UUs from your temple.

You will be unable to negotiate with these states until the Imperial Era.

RUSSIA CtW

High points:

- Conquest of Byzantium
- Conquest of Jerusalem
- War with Poland
- War with Sweden
- War with the HRE
- India

Important policies:

- The Byzantines when attacked by Saracens or Turks will offer an alliance with you, in exchange for tribute. They will give you 2 Holy War cards.
Conquering Byzantium however will allow you access to the Mediterranean. Venice will be quick to ask for an alliance, in exchange for Byzantium itself and your card. This is an event independent of diplomacy.

Important events:

- Your worst enemy will be the Turks and the Mongols; you will start the game off at war with them. During the Castle Age, China will be annexed to the Mongols, and the Mongols will start attacking everyone else. However, the Mongols will always ask for tribute first before attacking you.

- The Turks will continuously send armies up north to crush you, and will stop at nothing until you are dead. Crushing the Turks in Iran however will cause China to rebel from the Mongols (if it still exists), and the Saracens and China to form an alliance against you, if they are still alive.

- Castle Age - Crusades. The Papal States will declare war, and Jerusalem will immediately be occupied by the Holy See. Having captured Jerusalem, they will however start invading Central Europe and the Asian part of Varangia. Logically, this should be the Holy See and the HRE against you.

Furthermore, England, France, the HRE and Venice will immediately form an alliance with the Byzantines and the Papal States simultaneously.

Simultaneously, the existing Muslim nations will form an alliance with one another.

As normal, your acquisition of Jerusalem allows for the ability of choosing to create vassal states from defeated Christian neighbours (except from Byzantium or Russia), and also gives a stream of tribute, and the destruction of Byzantium opens the Papal States up to attack by other Christian factions.

If Syria is destroyed by a Christian faction, all Saracen territories will fall under the sway of the Turks, or the Andalusians.

- Poland. Any power that controls the territory of Poland will always be at war with you. You can only keep them off with payments of tribute. Sweden will ally with Poland in the Imperial Era if Poland is still alive and will begin hammering you from both ends.

- Conquering parts of India will see you getting many offers by the Chinese, Turks, Mongols and Saracens. Accepting them creates alliances between you and them, and the following cards:

Saracens: Rise of Christianity
China: Flowering of culture
Mongols: Bandits.

You will lose the territories you occupy in India: Chola to the Saracens; Himalayas to China; Deccan and Afghanistan to the Mongols.

If the Mongols are already in alliance with you will receive tribute from them for the second part of India passed to them.


SICILY CtW

High points:
- War with Byzantium
- War with Andalus
- War with Saracens
- War with HRE
- Alliance with Spain
- Alliance with France
- Crusades

Important events:

- You will always start the game off at war with both the Saracens and Byzantium, and in alliance with Andalus.

- You are the only power able to control both Hejaz and Jerusalem without being attacked by either Christians or Muslims. However, the Byzantines will be implacable.

- Crusades: see above. If Turkey attacks the Holy See, the Holy See will ask for an alliance with you. This results in you becoming an ally and Turkey declaring war on you.

Venice & the HRE will also declare war and cause the alliance to break apart if you acccept this offer, but Spain and France will come to your aid. This means that at this point, you will be facing the HRE, Byzantium, Venice and the Turks while you will have Spain and France as your allies, alongside with the Papal States.

Accepting help from Spain and France however has a cost: any parts of Italia you control in the Tyrrhenian will be ceded to Spain; while any parts of mainland Italia will be ceded to France. This means that you must conquer Greece and Africa to survive:

"The Spanish have decided to come to our aid; however they ask that any and all parts of our domain in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Corsica, Sardinia, Malta) be given over to them. Will you accept this alliance?"

"The King of France has offered his help against the barbarians and the Greeks, but asks that we cede to him our territories in Italy (this includes the Tyrols and all areas in Italy) as bases for his troops. Shall we accept his offer?"

Note however that while they are your allies, Spain and France will declare war on one another. If either one defeats the other, the survivor will then declare war on you.

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 02-09-2011 @ 10:12 PM).]

CHINA CtW

High points:

- Mongol invasion
- Portuguese invasion

Important policies:

- China has no given path, other than to rebuild the old Chinese empire by conquering the following parts:

Goguryeo, Manchuria, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Zhujiang delta, Greater Yue.

Uniting these 6 parts creates a Wonder of the World card that can be used by the Chinese.

Important events:

- During the Imperial Era, the Portuguese will overrun some parts of East Asia (one of which must have a supply centre) and will proceed to conquer the whole of Asia.

- The Turks will ask for an alliance with you against Russia and Mongolia.

- Mongolia will not attack you until it has captured Russia.

Advisor text when looking at European territories (except Imperial Era Portugal) as Turkey, China or Japan faction,

"Almost nothing is known about these people to us." [if powerful enough: "It would do well nevertheless to unite All Under Heaven and enlighten them of the benefits of our most august rule."]

or when looking at Asian territories as a European faction:

"Nothing much is known of Asia." [if you are powerful enough: "Nevertheless, the hour is nigh that we now spread our influence in these lands, before the Mohammedans do, for the greater glory of Christ."]

OTTOMAN CtW

High points:

- Conquest of India
- Defeat of the following: Saracens, Byzantines, Andalusians
- War with Mongolia, Russia, and Sicily
- Alliance with China
- Alliance with Venice
- Crusades
- Hold Jerusalem (allows for the ability to create vassal states out of Mongolia, Sicily, Saracens and Andalus - a vassal state allows an extra army but is subject to revolt)
- Hold Hejaz (this stops Sicily, Andalus and the Saracens from attacking)

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 02-09-2011 @ 10:39 PM).]

You do realise that you cannot make CTWs that complex with all that stuff happening. Even the vanilla RON campaigns have nowhere near as much stuff happening. Colonization scenarios, which still should replace the espionage scenarios so they cost a lot but if you win you get a territory, should be available to all nations to keep the game balanced. Also there are no automatic conquests or annexations. With the crusades, if you accept the Pope's offer you are given the crusade card so you can invade Jerusalem. The scenario for this siege will feature other major Christian factions as allies who will also attempt to break into the city or hold off Islamic reinforcements. Also with automatic alliances and that sort of diplomatic stuff, I don't like the idea of almost every Christian nation stopping battles with each other to send attacks against Arabs. This CTW should be balanced. Sure each nation's victory bonus requirements are all different and there will be events such as the crusades which affect different nations in different ways, some of your ideas are too unbalanced.

I'm aware of it. However, keeping the Mesoamericans in would be difficult. It would already be complex enough keeping them in - how many colonies do you want to have? and having them kept in, what buildset do you want them to have?
The best I can suggest to introduce Skraelings - these will basically be the Mesoamericans. Kill all the Skraelings, finish the scenario. So what this means is that the Greenland-type scenario can be offered to the French, Spanish and Portuguese. But that still leaves us how you want to introduce buildings for the skraelings to the game.

Also, high points are not victory points. They are a list of things that will involve a turning point during the game, so that it doesn't feel dull. I divided them into events and diplomatic policies, because there are so many factors to take into consideration. Maybe we should work on the Muslim factions first.

I would rather have them kept in as an afternote. Besides, as the CtW programme is still a WIP, I'm just giving some ideas.

CtW WORLD EVENTS

The best I can so far offer are the following 4 events:

- Mongol expansion;
- The Crusades;
- The Reconquista and discovery of the New World;
- The Imperial Era.

During the Crusades, mind you, those out of reach of the Muslims will still get to have a go at Russia. So in total, the Crusades actually involves 3 areas: Spain, the Middle East and Russia. So what this means is that during the Crusades, we have the following supra-factions:

- The Muslim nations ganging up on the Christians;
- The Holy Alliance of Catholic nations,
- Russia,
- Byzantium, and
- Sicily.

The Papal-led Alliance wants to destroy the Saracens, but only the Papal States will be allied with Byzantium. Smaller nations like Sweden, Poland and maybe Hungary however will be attacking the Turks and Russians, while the Iberians will be attacking the Moors.

The Sicilians are caught in the middle. Normally of course they could resolve the conflict by holding on to Jerusalem and Hijaz, but the Byzantiums don't want them in their back yard - the Byzantines are at war with the Sicilians.

In the midst of this comes the Mongols, who will basically try to invade Eastern Europe and the Middle East, even as they absorb China, Japan and the Turks.

So that means while you are playing Russia, your English friends would be debating the merits of whether to destroy the Byzantines to keep them in, while the Bohemians, Mongols and Poles might have no qualms about attacking you. The French might be doing their part in helping Spain expel the Moors.

Finally, during the Imperial era, all European nations will stop the Crusades and start attacking one another, while France, Spain and Portugal will receive a new colony each. Whether this should be scripted or otherwise is anybody's guess.

Another method is to create the more complex CtW paths for the least popular factions: Russia, China, Japan, Mongolia, Sicily, Byzantium and the 3 Muslim factions. Even the New World CtW was quite complicated.

If you are not happy with the idea of automatic vassalage, we could replace them with just sudden shifts in alliances. I still would like to see automatic vassalage with control over Jerusalem when playing a Christian or Muslim faction ^_^

JAPAN CtW
Japan has only one task: defeat China and capture Baekje, Scilla and Goryeo. Capturing China and Korea's 3 parts will allow for the ability to receive extra samurai during a battle.

Control of Hijaz will ensure that Japan will not be attacked by Muslim nations.

High points:

- Mongol invasion
- War with Portugal
- War with China

Rest of EUROPE

I won't be suggesting any more CtW scripts for say, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Bohemia or Poland. Maybe we could just give them an arbitrary policy choice during the Castle Age: ie,

- ally with Papal States: attract the ire of the HRE.
- ally with the HRE: the HRE will act as a "big brother", but other states will continue attacking you.

PAPAL STATES CtW

As for the Papal States, perhaps we could just have one scripted event: the Crusades. Cpaturing Jerusalem secures the backing of England, France, Venice and the HRE, but will trigger an alliance between all Muslim factions.

Also, you will be immune to attack from Christian factions until the Imperial Era, unless you attack them yourselves, except Byzantium, Sicily and Russia.

Again, as it's your CtW, I've given you suggestions what each CtW campaign could be.

Maybe some of the larger ones can be toned down - for instance, just keep the Iberian ones (Spain, Portugal and Andalus) as being:

IBERIAN CtW RULES, revised

(1) "If you unify Iberia at any given time, France will declare war with you, but England will offer an alliance". The usual rules for Crusades: Muslims vs Catholics vs Byzantines vs Russians can apply

(2) Or, for Spain and Portugal, "If you pay this much now, you will get a new valuable colony in the Imperial Era, and some extra cards."
You might want to turn off the ability of people to receive tribute, too, like in the Napoleon campaign.

These rules are in addition to the rules and scripts governing world events and relations between Muslims and Christians and their control over Hejaz and Jerusalem.


SIMPLE CRUSADES RULES

I can create another Crusades game in this manner:

(1) During the start of the Castle Ages, Muslim nations (except that square peg in a round hole, Sicily) will band together in a single alliance against everyone else.

(2) The Papal States will approach you for aid, forming an alliance between France, England, the HRE and Venice. You will then be given some Holy War cards, and will be asked to attack either Africa or the Middle East. Each area you attack will be annexed by the Papal States, except for Jerusalem, which you may keep to allow you to raise tribute and the choice to create vassals of defeated Christian factions so that you will get extra armies.

(3) Accepting the Pope's demands (which involve plenty of tribute) will shield you from attack by other Christian factions. Failure to do so will make it difficult for you to ally with others.

I'm still wondering, however, what to make of the 5 participants in the Crusades. There should be no victory requirements, other than having the only guys in the room being your own.


CONCLUSION

Seeing that I have now a variety of ideas (this is a brainstorming thread!) I can now pare it down to create a compact CtW - I don't intend to introduce that many new scenarios, other than what we have: barbarians, commonplace scenarios and epic scenarios (ie, a timed assault to take out France). What complexity I want to create the 24 sub-campaigns should come from coding.

Currently I am reworking all my suggestions, so that each nation will have no more than 4 events during the CtW (apart from the Crusades and the Reconquista happening). I've rewritten some of the events for the Muslims and Asians, I will be reviewing the Christians next with an eye towards the 5 parties involved in the Crusades first.

[This message has been edited by VelvetClaw (edited 02-10-2011 @ 00:30 AM).]

We just have to rename the Saracens to the Mesoamerican nation we want in a certain scenario and just give them access to only heavy archers and those light infantry UUs the Mesoamericans they have ancient era African/American buildings. Skraelings are fought by any nation that invades Greenland or Iceland and are just renamed Norse without the UUs.

With the colonies there probably would be about 10 or so available. Some colonies have the same scenario when trying to claim the colony too so it doesn't involve too many more scenarios.