Aww screw you mate, I loved Oblivion. It introduced me to the series. I`m not a nostalgic prick like the lot of you when it comes down to Morrowind vs Oblivion.
So I broke my rule and added two more people, mostly 'cause I really wanted at least one power in Hammerfell. But that's it, I swear, no more openings now!
Quick update - 4 CC's done so far, 19 more to go! Unfortunately, the start of the game will definitely be the 22nd instead of the 15th, since my friends and I are going golfing after the wedding.
And while I'm at it, here is the geography map and a quick overview of how the economy will work.
Each province has a base score for the following statistics: fertility, infrastructure, resources, population, and defense. These scores are then modified by geography, racial, and development bonuses.
Defense includes a provinces' natural and man made fortifications. Essentially, it allows you to assign population to act as a provinces' garrison. Defense is vital if you want to withstand a siege. For example, if your standing army in a province is defeated, they will be forced to retreat to an adjacent province. If no population was assigned to this statistic, then the province will be immediately annexed. But, if units were allocated to defense, the attacking army is forced to siege the province. This can be costly, as an attacking army is likely to take disproportionate losses unless they attempt to starve out the defenders. Notably, the length of time that your defenders can survive is determined by the proportion of your allotted and maximum defense. A province with 10 defense and 10 defenders will take heavy losses in attrition, such that the units will begin to starve after 1 turn and die after 2 turns. But, a province with 10 defense and 2 defenders will begin to starve after 5 turns and die after 6 turns.
Fertility represents how much food your province can produce. Food is required for unit upkeep (and maybe population upkeep, I need to do more testing towards that end). The amount of food generated varies from turn to turn based on a random dice roll. This represents the fickle nature of the harvest. Some years may be bountiful, such that you will likely be able to store or export your surplus food. Other years may be harsh, and you may find yourself forced to import food to keep your people happy and healthy. If a unit goes without food for one turn, they will begin to starve. This will reduce their combat effectiveness. If they go without food for two turns, they die. Additionally, certain raw materials (e.g. chitin, leather, wood) are also generated according to your fertility score.
Infrastructure refers to your provinces ability to conduct trade. It represents your provinces' roads and ports, as well as the caravans and trading vessels that use them. Infrastructure generates trade, and each faction has a maximum trade statistic that caps the amount of food or resources you can trade each turn. Notably, factions are able to conduct trade for others, such that smaller or more rural nations can hire another nation to trade for them. Trade is a private enterprise. Because of this, you will not be required to assign your own navy to conduct trade. Additionally, the more trade you conduct, the more income your province generates, as the generated wealth can be taxed.
Resources represents the natural and mineral wealth of a province. A provinces' resources score allows you to generate various ores which can in turn be used to manufacture weapons and armors. Ores, from most common to least common, include iron, corundum, quicksilver, orichalcum, malachite, mithril, adamantium, and ebony. Some ores can be generated every turn (e.g. iron). But, rare ores (malachite, mithril, adamantium, and ebony) generate randomly, representing the discovery of a rare vein. Besides ore, your resources also generate natural goods (e.g. bone, chitin, leather, resin, wood). Additionally, certain provinces generate luxury goods. These goods can be traded for an income bonus.
Population is used to allocate civilians to certain tasks. To demonstrate, let's look at a quick example...
Province X has a population of 30. They have a defense score of 10, a fertility score of 20, an infrastructure score of 10, and a resources score of 10. Let's say that Province X is currently at peace with province Y, and they want to conduct some trade this turn. Province X might decide to allocate the maximum amount of units to infrastructure, so that he can trade more with province Y.
But oh no! There was a drought, and now Province X is starving. Fortunately, next turn he can allocate more units to fertility and hopefully he will have a good harvest.
Fortunately, they had a good harvest, and no one starved to death. But all of a sudden, Province Z declares war! They invade, but they are beaten back by Province X's army. Not wanting to fall to a subsequent attack, his next turn might look a little something like this.
As you can see, the numbers in parentheses represent your allocated province statistic for a given turn, while the numbers outside of the parentheses represent the theoretical maximum. You will do this for each province in your CC in this format. Don't worry, I will provide you with a nice template that let's me know where things are, but also hopefully gives you some room to be creative. More info on that later.
Anyway, each combat unit costs 1 population (magic and stealth units don't reduce your population). And, population will generally increase over time. But, like food, fertility, and infrastructure, population can also be considered as a commodity. Some provinces will have more population than they need. Others will have less. This means that population moves from province to province. This can be natural, or it can be directed. When it occurs naturally, it usually occurs because of world events. For example, people might start fleeing your country if you enter into a devastating war. Or, people might flock to your country because you just built a new mine (increasing your resources score) and they want a change of scenery. But, you can also force population to move. This can be useful, as some countries which need more population are likely willing to pay top dollar for immigrant workers. On the other hand, it can also cause extreme unrest, as people don't always like being taken away from their homes, especially if the people in question are of a different religion or culture. Importantly, the amount of population that you can forcibly move per turn is limited by a provinces infrastructure.
Oh yeah, Solstheim is now divided into two provinces (Felsaad and Hirstaang) for balancing purposes. Bloody Skaal.
