SP Antiquity [WB] Rome Theft Something-Something - Licentia

[Blobmania]

Current News: The mod needs a name!

隐藏: Current News

The name "Licentia" is only a working title - the project needs a proper name. I'd like to include a reference to "Anarchy City" if possible to indicate the inspiration I've drawn from games like GTA, but I'll accept any and all suggestions. I prefer tongue-in-cheek humorous names if possible, and I am VERY anti-latin names (I find them rather snobbish). Feel free to make any suggestions in this thread.

'Sup forumites.

Just a quick introductory post for the mod I'm currently working on in my free time. Before I even begin to give you a description, I'd like to make it clear that this mod may or may not be finished - mostly dependent on whether or not I get bored with it before it's done. I'm well aware of my own shortcomings as far as personal motivation goes, and at present I'm making the mod strictly for the pleasure of doing so - if my enjoyment of the project wanes, then you can expect to see it die. Until that does happen though I plan on continuing as if I were going to take it all the way, hence the forum post - just don't get overly excited just yet.

Technical description of the mod:

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The most accurate description of the mod I can really give would be to describe it as a sort of GTA-Meets-Rome HBO TV Series, built in the Warband engine. The mod is entirely in-scene - the player shouldn't find themselves on the main Warband campaign map at any point in the game (and if they do, it means I've screwed something up in the coding). The majority of the game will be spent in the town of Licentia, though for optimisation's sake within the city itself most of the interiors will be instanced rather than accessible directly from the street. There will also be opportunities to travel away from the city through a variety of countryside scenes as the main storyline develops, and I'm planning to include a Property ownership system similar to GTA 4 (That is, the player gains/loses properties based upon the progression of the main storyline). In the far future I'm also hoping to include other storylines including options to join the Town Watch, Army, a variety of religious cults, or a Gladiator school, Climb the Social ladder, and take part in City Politics (among other things) - many of which will be touched upon in the main storyline and will be expanded further as features in their own right once the main storyline is complete.

Glossy Description

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You play a foreigner newly arrived in the city of Licentia (literally translated to "Liberty" or "Anarchy" in latin, according to Google Translate). Upon entering the city you manage to get yourself lost and end up in some back-alley, where some cheeky sod has a go at mugging you. As a travel-worn traveller (with a rather large stick, to boot) you easily bash open the skull of said footpad, and are soon found by a passing stranger who invites you back to his house to recover.

Upon arrival at his house the stranger introduces himself as Valenas Taurus, head of Familia Taurus - one of the 8 criminal families living within the city. He provides you with food and a warm bed, with the promise of work in the morning should you wish it.

Familiæ Licentia (Families of Licentia)

Familia Taurus

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Patronage Status: Patron of the Herba family
Diplomatic Status: Enemies of the Vipera family
Location: Riverside District
Source of Income: Protection Racket, Extortion

Familia Vipera

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Patronage Status: Patron of the Sententia family
Diplomatic Status: Enemies of the Taurus family
Location: Arena District
Source of Income: Moneylending, Gambling

Familia Herba

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Patronage Status: Client of the Taurus family
Diplomatic Status: Enemies of the Vipera family
Location: Riverside District
Source of Income: Sales of Recreational "Herbs"

Familia Sententius

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Patronage Status: Client of the Vipera family
Diplomatic Status: Enemies of the Taurus family
Location: Arena District
Source of Income: Election Rigging, Vote Tampering

Familia Navale

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Patronage Status: Indipendent
Diplomatic Status: Indipendent
Location: Market District
Source of Income: Smuggling

Familia Vilicus

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Patronage Status: Indipendent
Diplomatic Status: Indipendent
Location: Market District
Source of Income: Prostitution (Pimps)

Familia Toculio

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Patronage Status: Indipendent
Diplomatic Status: Indipendent
Location: Ostian District
Source of Income: Slavery

Familia Crassatus

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Patronage Status: Indipendent
Diplomatic Status: Indipendent
Location: Riverside District
Source of Income: Thievery, Burglary

Follow & Play this mod at your own risk. As a necessity of the setting the mod contains some more adult themes - while I plan on being as tasteful as I can in the delivery, be aware that you will need a sense of humour when reading about & playing the mod. I am hoping to blend the darker and more serious themes of the main quest lines with more tongue-in-cheek and humorous elements in the general ambient missions you can undertake, and in the characters you will meet. Nothing in this mod is intended to offend any individual or group, and any stereotypes portrayed within the project are there for comedic or realism purposes only.

*In Progress*

 

[Blobmania]

Screenshots & Stuff
Be aware that these may be out of date, I'm too lazy to spend time updating them with the more recent versions. Any outdated uploads will be commented as below with their flaws and corrections in recent versions.

street1 (View in 3D) - Texture out of date


Roads (View in 3D) - Mirroring removed for indev version




Mod Progress:

"Licentia" scene - Partially complete
Intro questline - Complete
Taurus family tree & character generation - Complete
Herba family tree & character generation - Complete
Main Chapter 1 Story mapping - Complete
Herba Family side-story mapping - In the pipeline
4-Stage Day/Night Cycle - Mostly Complete

4-Stage Day/Night Cycle - Explanation

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In this project I am implementing a turn-based day/night cycle that allows the player to advance time by 6 hours by sleeping in an available bed (6 hours per use, available beds meaning beds within a house friendly to the player, or a rented room within a tavern). Time may also advance as a result of other events, for instance if the player were to be knocked unconscious he would wake up 6 hours later at the Hospital.

This cycle will have a major effect on how you play the game. During the daytime there are more townsfolk about (therefore giving less privacy for unlawful activities), but at night you may see a rise in the number of criminals active on the streets - including members of rival gangs. Similarly you will only find merchant's stalls occupied during daylight hours, so may have difficulty finding food and other necessary items during your more shadowy ventures.

Some missions will also only be available during certain times of the day, or only after a certain time has passed.

 

[Something unusual]

I always wanted to see a mod like this! Good luck! Maybe add some more into the features list though. I don't think anyone has done this kind of mod so I'll be watching this 

 

[Blobmania]

A lot of the features are still pipe dreams. I'd rather create a proper features list as I add things than make promises I may never keep.

I'm all about low expectations.

 

[GoldEagleMNE]

I like the idea and the mod sounds great. Good luck with this.

 

[doctorwarband]

YES!
Epic!
Good luck!

 

[gokiller]

Ohhh Blobby is modding again!

Looking good Blobby!

 

[McEwanMaster77]

Heey, nice idea! First time I've seen a mod of this style be put into the public (as far as I know).

About your name block, "Furtum Romanum" is the obvious first choice, meaning "Roman theft." Very simple, but if you want to add a little color to it, I would suggest placing "Pro Bono" in the name as well, as it means "for the good of the people." A little irony, just to spice it up.

Hope this at least gives you some ideas.

EDIT: A few names in English that might be more to your taste are,

Roma - Of Feuds and Fraud
    "    - Cash Conquers All (parody of Latin saying "amor vincit omnia" - "love conquers all")

(Cheesey, maybe, but who cares? )

 

[IL_Scippio]

Niko with Roman legionaire armor.

Good luck. :3

 

[Mad Vader]

Interesting ideas, pity that Warband is not GTA-gameplay-friendly. I loved HBO's Rome - the Roman criminal scene is quite interesting and original subject.

 

[doctorwarband]

Grand Theft Carriage - Rome's Empire.

 

[doctorwarband]

Sounds great, best of luck, I will of course be following, if you're up to I can send you a  list of OSPs in a PM, which I already found in my earlier modding work, and there's hell lot of Roman stuff.

I will be loving some political machinations in people's assembly, or even Senate, if you were up to that (Roman bureaucracy was lovably complicated).

Indeed that could be great.

 

[Blobmania]

Interesting ideas, pity that Warband is not GTA-gameplay-friendly.

To be honest I'm not finding it too bad. The dialogue and quest management system is a bit of a pain (especially in a dialogue-heavy project like this), and of course there are performance limitations (especially in large scenes), but overall I'm quite enjoying it. The only slight concern I have is the number of global variables I have to make to keep track of things like story progression, especially with so many different planned storylines overcrossing.

There are definitely some redeeming features, though. I'm planning on using the pre-existing inventory setup as a storage chest system in player-friendly houses, and the range of native ambient props already available means I don't have to spend time making benches and tables to make the city look pretty rather than working on something more vital. For the most part I'm able to build on top of what's already there rather than rebuilding the game from the ground up like PW or MM/NW have done, which is a huge time saver for me.

@Radetzky & David Stark - I'm planning some form of senate-esque political system, though obviously on a much smaller scale. However, I'm afraid that probably won't even be started in full until I've completed the main storyline.

 

[BetaKnight]

Blobsky modding? Haven't heard that sentence in a long time around the talesworld forums. Good lucK, ill keep an eye, as always.

 

[Blu3W@ffle]

Call it Rome: Jizz in a sock II

 

[madmaximillian]

That's an excellent idea for a mod, best of luck.  Grand Theft Chariot"or "Plebs, Pillage, and Politics", thats all I got. 

 

[Scuba Steve]

Interesting idea. Good luck with the project. 

 

[Neville]

Hope it will turn out as fun as your previous roman mod, best of luck Blob.

 

[Furrnox]

Good luck Blob.

 

[PhilRuZ]

Sir you had my curiosity, now you have my attention.