I thought I'd finally catalogue all the ideas for a new mod I'm making (well, at this point, just
conceptualizing
) that I have written on a napkin.... Really, what I need community help on is creating
some convincing lore, and to help make up people, places, famous battles, lords and ladies, mercenaries and brigands, bards and ballads.......and quite a bit more. I suck at making up **** like that. So, this thread
is to develop my rather rough concept for a mod, and forge it into a solid idea I can start to do some real
work on. While at the moment this is just a concept, it is a mod I have the skills to materialize (mostly)
and plan on doing. At the very least, it will generate a fairly polished idea someone could adopt, if for
some reason I never finish it. I would like to ask that comments be a little more meaningful than just 'cool
idea, bro'. You are also welcome to hate the idea too...however, I won't give a damn. Also, this is mod is
going to be really off and on, due to RL 'issues'....
And without futher ado, I present
The Brief Lowdown: Roughly 71 years after the start date in vanilla warband, the Swadians are nearly
broken beyond repair. Think a little Hundred Years War, mixed in with a bit of war for freedom, with a touch
of Battle of Thermopolyae. Now, you make history. Will you be the savation of the Swadians? Or will you crush
them?
Goals for the Mod:
-A gritty and believable starting scenario
-New, detailed and focused map
-New, but familiar Locations
-New, but familiar Troops
-New Lords
-New models(my modding specialty)
Mod Currently Needs: Creative People to build game lore....
Check out the 'Open Dev Forum' at TWC, located here
The Factions:
Kingdom of Swadia
Kingdom of the Nords
Khergit Horde (or Khanate)
County of Uxkhal
Duchy of Dhirm
Kingdom of Rhodoks
The Map:
Here is a little mock up of the playable area of the map. The current plan is to have a map of this area, but
about the size of the vanilla map.
This is the approximate distribution of the lands at the start of the game. As you'll notice, several new
towns and castles will have to be created to help fill in 'blank space', as well as create more balance. The
areas not shown controlled will probably end up being extremely bandit infested.
I'd say that pretty much does it for the concept I have developed so far. (someone should count the number of
times I said 'I'd like') I need some help developing NPC's and their stories, that sort of thing. If
anyone wants to put together some reference/concept pics of troops, locations, overall setting, go right
ahead. At the moment, I need creative people to help me build a believable Calradia in 1328 or so. I want
this mod to be something a vast majority of players who enjoy the Single Player Campaign to want to play.
conceptualizing
) that I have written on a napkin.... Really, what I need community help on is creating some convincing lore, and to help make up people, places, famous battles, lords and ladies, mercenaries and brigands, bards and ballads.......and quite a bit more. I suck at making up **** like that. So, this thread
is to develop my rather rough concept for a mod, and forge it into a solid idea I can start to do some real
work on. While at the moment this is just a concept, it is a mod I have the skills to materialize (mostly)
and plan on doing. At the very least, it will generate a fairly polished idea someone could adopt, if for
some reason I never finish it. I would like to ask that comments be a little more meaningful than just 'cool
idea, bro'. You are also welcome to hate the idea too...however, I won't give a damn. Also, this is mod is
going to be really off and on, due to RL 'issues'....
And without futher ado, I present
Project Lion
The Lowdown: This is a mod set roughly 71 years after the start date in vanilla Warband, on a world
map focusing on the lands of the Swadians. Swadia is a shadow of her former self, having been eaten away by
the constant wars with neigboring factions. Despite the loss of valuable lands, the lords of Swadia remain
petty, more concerned with feasting than the protection of the kingdom. The city of Uxkhal has broken away
from the Swadians, forming a new city-state and allying with the Rhodoks. Dhirm has only recently managed to
declare open rebellion from the Khergit Horde, and now faces the wrath of the horsemen of the steppe. The
Nords have methodically marched slowly southward, conquering the border castles of Swadia. The Rhodoks have
come down from the highlands and taken the fight to their former overlords, and have carved out a significant
portion of the west of Swadia proper.
map focusing on the lands of the Swadians. Swadia is a shadow of her former self, having been eaten away by
the constant wars with neigboring factions. Despite the loss of valuable lands, the lords of Swadia remain
petty, more concerned with feasting than the protection of the kingdom. The city of Uxkhal has broken away
from the Swadians, forming a new city-state and allying with the Rhodoks. Dhirm has only recently managed to
declare open rebellion from the Khergit Horde, and now faces the wrath of the horsemen of the steppe. The
Nords have methodically marched slowly southward, conquering the border castles of Swadia. The Rhodoks have
come down from the highlands and taken the fight to their former overlords, and have carved out a significant
portion of the west of Swadia proper.
The Brief Lowdown: Roughly 71 years after the start date in vanilla warband, the Swadians are nearly
broken beyond repair. Think a little Hundred Years War, mixed in with a bit of war for freedom, with a touch
of Battle of Thermopolyae. Now, you make history. Will you be the savation of the Swadians? Or will you crush
them?
Goals for the Mod:
-A gritty and believable starting scenario
-New, detailed and focused map
-New, but familiar Locations
-New, but familiar Troops
-New Lords
-New models(my modding specialty)
Mod Currently Needs: Creative People to build game lore....
Check out the 'Open Dev Forum' at TWC, located here
The Factions:
Kingdom of Swadia
Kingdom of the Nords
Khergit Horde (or Khanate)
County of Uxkhal
Duchy of Dhirm
Kingdom of Rhodoks
The Map:
Here is a little mock up of the playable area of the map. The current plan is to have a map of this area, but
about the size of the vanilla map.
This is the approximate distribution of the lands at the start of the game. As you'll notice, several new
towns and castles will have to be created to help fill in 'blank space', as well as create more balance. The
areas not shown controlled will probably end up being extremely bandit infested.
Troops:
Troop: Companions
Since this is set 71 years after vanilla, the vanilla companions are all dead by this time. I need some help
reinventing them. The goal is for then to be completely new. I want the player to feel like playing M&B for
the first time, and meeting these new people.
Also, I'd like to make some 'faction specific companions'. Basically, charcaters that you can convince to
join your party, but only availble after you are a member of their faction. Probably'll have them spawned in
either castles or towns.
Feature: Scenes
I plan on creating at least a few new scene props, mostly new fortifications. I'd like castles to be a lot of
fun to siege and explore. I'd like dungeons to be more expansive, as well as arena's. I'd like to make towns
have a trade section, as well as a citadel section, in addition to the actual inside of the castle. Ideally,
I'd like to have new village scenes too, but that is a low prioity for now. Living horses in scenes would
also be nice.
Feature: Sieges
I'd like to allow greater player choice on how to assault the castle/town. For starters, it would be nice to
choose whether to attack with ladders or a siege tower. Maybe even a battering ram. For towns, I'd really
like to make each stage of the fight about the same. Instead of a harrd fight at the walls, then just a
measly fight in the streets and castle, I'd like a hard fight at the walls, then a point where defender's
casualties cause them to fall back to the city, where the second stage of the assualt begins. I'm thinking at
least a defendable choke point(such as an open gateway) would be a nice battle. Finally, I think a castle
hall with the door broken down and the center's last 30 troops or so would be a nice finale. At no point
would the attacker only be taking a handful of elite troops like it currently is in vanilla.
Location: Dungeons
I'd like to make new dungeons, which are larger, and that feature an additional guard to fight in the actual
dungeon scene. To balance this, I'd like to make prison break quests start on the walls (you used a rope to
climb up), with the guards not all charging you at once. (they'd have to see or hear you fighting the prison
guard to become hostile) I'd like the prison break quest to still be challenging, but not so ridiculous. The
emhasis should be on the fight out.
New Location: University
This will be a new place, where you can buy books, and train your companions(for a price, and a lot of time).
I'd like to include some new quests associated with this location. Rewards could be in discounted books, or
even actual books themselves. Hell, maybe this could be an institution established by Jeremus....
Location: Taverns
The taverns in vanilla are a bit bland. I'd like to make new tavern scences, with a little more 'life'. I'm
definately looking at the Witcher PC game as an inspiration and goal in this area.
Feature: Water Travel
This is really just a feature that'd be nice for the world map tactical considerations, and overall just
'cool'. Fortunately, Ruthven came up with a suave way of doing it, so we'll see.
Location: Ports
I'd like to make a new 'fief'--- the port. Essentially hybrid of a village and a town, on the water. From
these locations you'll be able to travel on the water(hopefully). I'd like to have them spawn trade ship
'caravans' which will be the main source of income(and fief taxes). Maybe have a goods merchant in the
settlement too. I really don't want there to be huge garrisons guarding the port(unless the port is also a
city), so I want to limit the number of troops a player can put in garrison at a port they own. One way would
be some sort of garrison cap, or not allowing the player to garrison a port, but instead have an auto
garrison type feature(which would limit player choice).
Troop: Companions
Since this is set 71 years after vanilla, the vanilla companions are all dead by this time. I need some help
reinventing them. The goal is for then to be completely new. I want the player to feel like playing M&B for
the first time, and meeting these new people.
Also, I'd like to make some 'faction specific companions'. Basically, charcaters that you can convince to
join your party, but only availble after you are a member of their faction. Probably'll have them spawned in
either castles or towns.
Feature: Scenes
I plan on creating at least a few new scene props, mostly new fortifications. I'd like castles to be a lot of
fun to siege and explore. I'd like dungeons to be more expansive, as well as arena's. I'd like to make towns
have a trade section, as well as a citadel section, in addition to the actual inside of the castle. Ideally,
I'd like to have new village scenes too, but that is a low prioity for now. Living horses in scenes would
also be nice.
Feature: Sieges
I'd like to allow greater player choice on how to assault the castle/town. For starters, it would be nice to
choose whether to attack with ladders or a siege tower. Maybe even a battering ram. For towns, I'd really
like to make each stage of the fight about the same. Instead of a harrd fight at the walls, then just a
measly fight in the streets and castle, I'd like a hard fight at the walls, then a point where defender's
casualties cause them to fall back to the city, where the second stage of the assualt begins. I'm thinking at
least a defendable choke point(such as an open gateway) would be a nice battle. Finally, I think a castle
hall with the door broken down and the center's last 30 troops or so would be a nice finale. At no point
would the attacker only be taking a handful of elite troops like it currently is in vanilla.
Location: Dungeons
I'd like to make new dungeons, which are larger, and that feature an additional guard to fight in the actual
dungeon scene. To balance this, I'd like to make prison break quests start on the walls (you used a rope to
climb up), with the guards not all charging you at once. (they'd have to see or hear you fighting the prison
guard to become hostile) I'd like the prison break quest to still be challenging, but not so ridiculous. The
emhasis should be on the fight out.
New Location: University
This will be a new place, where you can buy books, and train your companions(for a price, and a lot of time).
I'd like to include some new quests associated with this location. Rewards could be in discounted books, or
even actual books themselves. Hell, maybe this could be an institution established by Jeremus....
Location: Taverns
The taverns in vanilla are a bit bland. I'd like to make new tavern scences, with a little more 'life'. I'm
definately looking at the Witcher PC game as an inspiration and goal in this area.
Feature: Water Travel
This is really just a feature that'd be nice for the world map tactical considerations, and overall just
'cool'. Fortunately, Ruthven came up with a suave way of doing it, so we'll see.
Location: Ports
I'd like to make a new 'fief'--- the port. Essentially hybrid of a village and a town, on the water. From
these locations you'll be able to travel on the water(hopefully). I'd like to have them spawn trade ship
'caravans' which will be the main source of income(and fief taxes). Maybe have a goods merchant in the
settlement too. I really don't want there to be huge garrisons guarding the port(unless the port is also a
city), so I want to limit the number of troops a player can put in garrison at a port they own. One way would
be some sort of garrison cap, or not allowing the player to garrison a port, but instead have an auto
garrison type feature(which would limit player choice).
I'd say that pretty much does it for the concept I have developed so far. (someone should count the number of
times I said 'I'd like'
) I need some help developing NPC's and their stories, that sort of thing. If anyone wants to put together some reference/concept pics of troops, locations, overall setting, go right
ahead. At the moment, I need creative people to help me build a believable Calradia in 1328 or so. I want
this mod to be something a vast majority of players who enjoy the Single Player Campaign to want to play.
