Tonitrus said:
But I imagine this tweak might take code changing vs. just adding dialog to a prisoner-Lord in the dungeon
More like engine changing if a classic party member exchange menu is to be used.
But actually it can be done through a new dialogue. In theory.
The problem is, like you said, it will likely be imbalanced and heavily exploited...
Tonitrus said:
Well, I am no programmer, I can add a dialogue here, a couple of operations there, but that's it. Nothing game-changing, so...
1) Nah, redoing the entire game is not my level.
2) Possible for sure, but for this there is Morgh's Editor.
3-4) Morgh's Editor for size/prices, as for economy... ugh, it's kinda complicated: what villagers of specific villages produce, how they sell it in towns, how it affects prices, prosperity, further production and so on. It's a huge thing to change if the changes are to be balanced. Not an idea for a simple tweak for sure.
5) Autocalc can only be changed simply and effectively by PoP developers. They have a quite brilliant unique system here, but the only ways to make it more brilliant lie in changing a huge number of variables. And it can only be done to balance troops in general. Issues that are based on troops' specific equipment such as 50 berserkers defeating 50 noldors cannot be normally fixed since they are handled by the engine which sees battling armies as nothing but 2 strength numbers on each side (like 5758 against 9839). The only way to "fix" it is abandoning primary engine autocalc operation inflict_casualties_to_party_group and creating a solely script-based autocalc mechanism, which I am not sure is even possible. And it's definitely a task for a genius, to think through every step and every nuance.
6) Not my level (both complexity wise and amount-of-work wise), not something that can be added as a tweak. I can only adjust some simple AI patterns such as creating that tweak that forbids weak lords to raid villages.