AoE-style historical info

[Galadh]

Hey guys,

How do you feel about adding to every village/castle/town's info page (where you get the garrison, the associated villages and so on) a short description of the town, for those who don't know that particular aera of Europe ?

That was one of the features I liked in AoE/AoM, because it's an easy way to learn some basic things about the world we're playing in, and since E1200 is (among other things) about historical accuracy, I guess it wouldnt hurt to give the player some knowledge. Basically, the main idea would be to get the player to be able to guess why that particular town was added in E1200, and not the castle 10kms away. And I think I'm not the only one who asked himself that question, especially for the parts of Europe I don't know.

In a similar fashion, a dialog option could be added to regular troops, such as "Tell me about your unit" or something like that, and the soldier would explain a few things such as "Hi, I'm an English Longbowman, we kick ass with bows 2 meters wide imported from Wales". Or a more anachronic description could be added, to give a wider overview of the history of that particular unit.


I'm aware that it would add quite a lot of work, but on the other hand it wouldnt require any particular skill other than good documentation, and could therefore be done by extra members of your team, with a couple of examples to follow.

Anyway, sorry for any possible English mistakes, and even more sorry if the idea has already been submitted.

Gal.

 

[Aenima]

That's...actually a pretty good idea. I think it'd be great including this, would be good to take a break from mass murdering to actually learn something.

 

[Revan Shan]

I like it. I loved that feature from AoE and the Total War series.

 

[Cruger]

Good as the idea is, I don't intend to spend countless ours on making a description of each settlement, especially with the new size of things, and I doubt Cèsar will either.

So unless some of you are up to the task (not that I think so, we havn't had a productive writer yet), it'll stay as an idea.

 

[NikeBG]

It's a great idea, indeed, but in its current proposal it would require a massive ammount of work (eventhough not technically-specialised, as coding, modelling, skinning etc). I've been thinking about having maybe only some faction descriptions (I've already done mine, just in case) or eventually some unit dialogues for some of the special units (RusXIII style). And if the units use native names (not sure about that), the dialogues could also have that "anachronistic" page which explains what they mean, what their upgrades mean etc. But descriptions for every single settlement, considering the settlement maps we've seen for Iberia and North-Western Europe, would be an absolutely crazy work and would require a whole team of dedicated researchers/writers.
Though, in terms of a dream-world, I also do hope that at some point, the mod will reach a level where at least most towns and castles are individually modelled to represent their historical locations and the mod would be fully loaded with a whole historical encyclopedia etc. But for now, the team has to stay on the ground and do what's doable and most important, IMO.

 

[Cèsar de Quart]

It's a great idea, indeed, but in its current proposal it would require a massive ammount of work (eventhough not technically-specialised, as coding, modelling, skinning etc). I've been thinking about having maybe only some faction descriptions (I've already done mine, just in case) or eventually some unit dialogues for some of the special units (RusXIII style). And if the units use native names (not sure about that), the dialogues could also have that "anachronistic" page which explains what they mean, what their upgrades mean etc. But descriptions for every single settlement, considering the settlement maps we've seen for Iberia and North-Western Europe, would be an absolutely crazy work and would require a whole team of dedicated researchers/writers.
Though, in terms of a dream-world, I also do hope that at some point, the mod will reach a level where at least most towns and castles are individually modelled to represent their historical locations and the mod would be fully loaded with a whole historical encyclopedia etc. But for now, the team has to stay on the ground and do what's doable and most important, IMO.

Other mods that have 5, 6 or 10 members have not done any of that. We're only three here...

I would like to have time and skills to make a scene for every castle and town, but it's impossible so far.

 

[Galadh]

As NikeBG put it, this is work that could be done by "technically unskilled" people, and I'm pretty sure that many people would like to contribute. And again, something much shorter than the page-long infos of AoE would still be awesome

 

[NikeBG]

You should note, however, that I specifically added "technically" in order to emphasize that they'd need to be skilled nevertheless (as researchers/writers).
Still, if someone wants to contribute, I think it's safe to say this: Write the respective text and post it in some specially made thread here. Then the others can review it too, edit/correct/improve etc. it if it's needed or get inspired to write something of their own (which can then be posted, reviewed, improved etc). If a sufficient ammount (f.e. descriptions/history for all factions, or all towns, or all units etc) of good enough texts gets gathered, we might have a chance of them being included (if the team likes them and thinks it's manageable). Currently, without any texts out in the open, the incentive to do it is rather small.

 

[Revan Shan]

Doing this with each location would be an awesome task. I suggest the mod gets started with units.

 

[Cèsar de Quart]

Doing this with each location would be an awesome task. I suggest the mod gets started with units.

But all units? I mean, what are we gonna make a serf say?

"Hi, captain. I'm a serf, a miserable victim of the Feudal system. I have almost no rights, my lord practically owns me as if I was a slave, I cannot leave the land I work on, I have to work of my father's job by law, I pay almost all I collect to my lord, and I have to pay if I want to go fishing to the river, or hunting in the forest, or gathering seeds in the badlands; and whenever my lord requires it, I must gather my scarce battle gear, which is nothing but a linen tunic, a spear and a knife, and fight for free for a period of 60 days, more or less. My life sucks balls".

And, yes, maybe that's interesting to have, but "spearman"? And then "veteran spearman"? "Hi, captain. I'm the same as a spearman, but you know, better. I guess I have more time to train and more money to spend on gear".

Not that I dislike the idea, I really like it, but it's gonna be a lot of work, and I'd prefer to focus on the companion's dialogues. As you can see, more than 40 companions is a lot of dialogue.

Take care!

 

[Lord Rust]

It's a great idea, indeed, but in its current proposal it would require a massive ammount of work (eventhough not technically-specialised, as coding, modelling, skinning etc). I've been thinking about having maybe only some faction descriptions (I've already done mine, just in case) or eventually some unit dialogues for some of the special units (RusXIII style). And if the units use native names (not sure about that), the dialogues could also have that "anachronistic" page which explains what they mean, what their upgrades mean etc. But descriptions for every single settlement, considering the settlement maps we've seen for Iberia and North-Western Europe, would be an absolutely crazy work and would require a whole team of dedicated researchers/writers.
Though, in terms of a dream-world, I also do hope that at some point, the mod will reach a level where at least most towns and castles are individually modelled to represent their historical locations and the mod would be fully loaded with a whole historical encyclopedia etc. But for now, the team has to stay on the ground and do what's doable and most important, IMO.

Hegemony is doing this, which in my opinion is why it's still not out.

Frankly, i'd rather have hegemony with less unique stuff than still be waiting, but that's me So let's be glad EU1200 isn't stuck perpetually in "soon TM" due to insane ambitions, they're crazy enough as it is if you ask me.

 

[Cruger]

(I've already done mine, just in case)

If you want to, you can just send it to me and I'll implent it, making a new info page takes like 10 seconds, it's the writing I'm not happy about.

 

[NikeBG]

(I've already done mine, just in case)

If you want to, you can just send it to me and I'll implent it, making a new info page takes like 10 seconds, it's the writing I'm not happy about.

I meant the faction brief and detailed history. It's part of my research that I've sent you.

 

[Aenima]

I have a habit of offering my services for writing only to find I can't do all that's required of me, but I think I could offer some advice on the write ups, if not do a few myself.

With regards to locations, perhaps major cities could have a few paragraphs written about their history that can be read either in the tavern or one of the city menu buttons. That way it's kept simple to access and means that it can be brief, informative and means that not every location on the map has background work done.

As for units, it's a good point that asking the unit isn't the best way of doing it, at least not in my opinion. Instead, when talking to the unit I think there should just be an option of *Read unit description* and voila, there it is. Something similar to Total War unit write ups, that'd give an informative, but again, brief description of the unit's abilities and history. Shouldn't be longer than a paragraph, maybe two, and could be done quite easily, faction by faction.

As for people worrying about the time delay this would cause to actual mod work, I have a solution to that as well. Make a 'militia' team of dedicated fans who carry out research and between themselves select the writers who they feel have a flair for writing and can make the information interesting. This means that whilst the actual mod team slave away in the dungeons are hard at work the written stuff is covered and won't give them freedom from their work interrupt them. Actual releases of E1200 can go ahead without the written files, since these can be released as an add on in a stand alone patch, or as part of an upcoming one.

Opinions?

 

[Revan Shan]

Doing this with each location would be an awesome task. I suggest the mod gets started with units.

But all units? I mean, what are we gonna make a serf say?

"Hi, captain. I'm a serf, a miserable victim of the Feudal system. I have almost no rights, my lord practically owns me as if I was a slave, I cannot leave the land I work on, I have to work of my father's job by law, I pay almost all I collect to my lord, and I have to pay if I want to go fishing to the river, or hunting in the forest, or gathering seeds in the badlands; and whenever my lord requires it, I must gather my scarce battle gear, which is nothing but a linen tunic, a spear and a knife, and fight for free for a period of 60 days, more or less. My life sucks balls".

And, yes, maybe that's interesting to have, but "spearman"? And then "veteran spearman"? "Hi, captain. I'm the same as a spearman, but you know, better. I guess I have more time to train and more money to spend on gear".

Not that I dislike the idea, I really like it, but it's gonna be a lot of work, and I'd prefer to focus on the companion's dialogues. As you can see, more than 40 companions is a lot of dialogue.

Take care!

Well. I had in mind teutonic knights and welsh longbowmen, nos serfs and sergeants.

mmmm Maybe the game could have some sort of enciclopedia book you can read as one of the options on camping. There it could tell you the important things of each kingdom and their special units and stuff. The thing about the cities could work in another way, so that both didn't got mixed.

 

[Galadh]

Should this be implemented, I think the info should be accessed through the unit/town itself, rather than through a huge encyclopedia - or maybe both ways. As for towns, I think the current info page is quite perfect for hosting that kind of description.

The basic thought was to have some info, so that you don't just take another anonymous town. That's - for me - perhaps what I like most in E1200 : the feeling that I'm playing in a world that I know. And when I'm, let's say, in Hungary, I don't know most of the places, and I'm way too lazy to look up every one of them on Wikipedia (or elsewhere). But if I could have an in-game short description, it would be less anonymous - and I'd end up more knowledgeable !

 

[Darth Ellutador]

I would like to have time and skills to make a scene for every castle and town, but it's impossible so far.

So true

 

[Revan Shan]

DOn't worry Caesar. I'll get into one of our SWC's clone chambers and get 30 Revan Shans to make all the scene building.

 

[Cèsar de Quart]

DOn't worry Caesar. I'll get into one of our SWC's clone chambers and get 30 Revan Shans to make all the scene building.

That would be great.

 

[Aliksander]

If people in the community wrote the dialog, would it be very difficult for the team to simply put it as a separate 'talking option' for the affected units/towns/people.  For example, I wouldn't mind getting a bit of historical info together on Southern Italy/Sicily and if I were to make a small background text of Palermo, the team copies it, couldn't you just make a dialog option for the guild master that says "tell me about this city" and when you click it that text I wrote pops up?  Or is there a lot more coding in adding that text than I realize?  I honestly feel if that could be done with relative ease I would be very satisfied.