This is the preview thread for my upcoming NES, BombNES IV: A New Hope.
Overview:
The overall idea of this NES was to create an interesting situation. To me, this meant getting rid of a few of the most common tropes that we see in NESes while still remaining familiar enough in our setting so that players can immerse themselves without too much trouble. In this NES you will see that numerous common great powers have been either erased from the map or crippled so severely as to reduce their potential. In their place we have a new set of Great Powers for this NES, and while a few of them are familiar, even most of these do not fit the form you are probably used to seeing them in.
As of 1900 (our starting year), our Great Powers are: The Kingdom of France (France), the Empire of the Great Britain (Great Britain),the Roman Republic (Rome), the Polish-Hungarian Commonwealth (Poland-Hungary), the Empire of Mexico (Mexico), the Kingdom of Burgundy (Burgundy), the Imperial State of the Demir Qoyunlu (Demir Qoyunlu/Turkestan) and the Great Nan-Song Empire (China). In addition to these eight powers, the United Dominions (U.D.) is also worth mentioning, as despite the fact it is within the British Empire, it has a high degree of autonomy and has the potential to be quite powerful on its own.
In addition to these Great Powers, there are numerous other countries of varying power, including a few that are only a notch below Great Power status themselves.
As stated earlier, the overall goal was to come up with an interesting situation, and thus our timeline has largely been written to meet our own needs. However, this does not mean that we are going in blind. Most of these countries have extensive background information and the few that do not have this are in the process of being drawn up. That said, our timeline roughly diverges in the 11th century with two "concepts of divergence" rather than the standard "points of divergence". The first of these is a later Turkish Migration from Central Asia, and the second is an earlier centralization of France, under Norman rule. Though some areas of the past are not perfectly consistent and are even of dubious historical possibility, this should nor be too much of issue, especially since the last 200 years of our history have been detailed quite heavily by a combination of myself and numerous other NESers on #nes (the nes chat that can be reached via mibbet or an IRC client). Feel free to ask about any country you are curious about for a explanation of its history, culture, economy, demographics or anything else. As of right now, I do not have equal information on every country, but I'm more than happy to show what I do have.
I will be posting full country profiles throughout the week.
Playing:
Being quite aware of the recent controversy concerning joining an NES, I am first and foremost going to say this. If you are not an experienced NESer, please, please, please do not attempt to claim a Great Power. It is my firm belief that every single country in this NES is not only fully playable, but interesting enough that anyone with sufficient commitment should be able to have fun. For what it's worth, if I could play in this NES myself, I would likely choose Courland, which one of the smallest countries on the map.
That said, I recognize there will inevitably be some conflicting claims, so I ask anyone making a reservation to list 3-5 countries they are willing to play as. With that in mind, for reasons of balance and fairness, I reserve the right to move anyone to any position I choose, regardless of their other claims. I will try my absolute best to make sure everyone is happy with their spot, but some players have contributed to the history of this NES, some players are more experienced, and sometimes even with all that in mind, I simply think a player will prove more useful to the game somewhere else on the map. All I can say is if you don't like where you end up, that's tough. I'll be happy to reconsider moving you to another open position or allowing you to trade with somebody else, but regardless, when it comes to where you are in the NES, my say is final. Everyone is welcome in my NES, but who goes where is ultimately up to me.
Other Matters
-I'll likely change a few things here or there before the NES launches. A few countries are already lined up for some minor name changes. Ask if you are curious, but I think I'll make anything too major known before launch.
-I absolutely welcome all contributions to the backgrounds and histories for this NES. However, please consider that I've now been working on this project for several months and I feel quite strongly about everything within it. If I disagree with your interpretation of something, you can try to convince me, but remember my view is final. Please be an adult about this.
-I have not decided on an official launch date as of yet. How this thread proceeds will largely determine that.
-Here is a blank version of the map just in case you feel you need it for some reason:
-This thread is open. Feel free to post whenever you want.
Countries written in bold are Great Powers. Countries written in italics are not fully independent but are nonetheless playable. Reservations written in blue indicate it is someone's first choice. Red indicates second choice, green indicates third choice, pink indicates fourth choice and orange indicates fifth choice. Brown means the player has expressed interest but currently has no commitments.
Spoiler :
Overview:
The overall idea of this NES was to create an interesting situation. To me, this meant getting rid of a few of the most common tropes that we see in NESes while still remaining familiar enough in our setting so that players can immerse themselves without too much trouble. In this NES you will see that numerous common great powers have been either erased from the map or crippled so severely as to reduce their potential. In their place we have a new set of Great Powers for this NES, and while a few of them are familiar, even most of these do not fit the form you are probably used to seeing them in.
As of 1900 (our starting year), our Great Powers are: The Kingdom of France (France), the Empire of the Great Britain (Great Britain),the Roman Republic (Rome), the Polish-Hungarian Commonwealth (Poland-Hungary), the Empire of Mexico (Mexico), the Kingdom of Burgundy (Burgundy), the Imperial State of the Demir Qoyunlu (Demir Qoyunlu/Turkestan) and the Great Nan-Song Empire (China). In addition to these eight powers, the United Dominions (U.D.) is also worth mentioning, as despite the fact it is within the British Empire, it has a high degree of autonomy and has the potential to be quite powerful on its own.
In addition to these Great Powers, there are numerous other countries of varying power, including a few that are only a notch below Great Power status themselves.
As stated earlier, the overall goal was to come up with an interesting situation, and thus our timeline has largely been written to meet our own needs. However, this does not mean that we are going in blind. Most of these countries have extensive background information and the few that do not have this are in the process of being drawn up. That said, our timeline roughly diverges in the 11th century with two "concepts of divergence" rather than the standard "points of divergence". The first of these is a later Turkish Migration from Central Asia, and the second is an earlier centralization of France, under Norman rule. Though some areas of the past are not perfectly consistent and are even of dubious historical possibility, this should nor be too much of issue, especially since the last 200 years of our history have been detailed quite heavily by a combination of myself and numerous other NESers on #nes (the nes chat that can be reached via mibbet or an IRC client). Feel free to ask about any country you are curious about for a explanation of its history, culture, economy, demographics or anything else. As of right now, I do not have equal information on every country, but I'm more than happy to show what I do have.
I will be posting full country profiles throughout the week.
Playing:
Being quite aware of the recent controversy concerning joining an NES, I am first and foremost going to say this. If you are not an experienced NESer, please, please, please do not attempt to claim a Great Power. It is my firm belief that every single country in this NES is not only fully playable, but interesting enough that anyone with sufficient commitment should be able to have fun. For what it's worth, if I could play in this NES myself, I would likely choose Courland, which one of the smallest countries on the map.
That said, I recognize there will inevitably be some conflicting claims, so I ask anyone making a reservation to list 3-5 countries they are willing to play as. With that in mind, for reasons of balance and fairness, I reserve the right to move anyone to any position I choose, regardless of their other claims. I will try my absolute best to make sure everyone is happy with their spot, but some players have contributed to the history of this NES, some players are more experienced, and sometimes even with all that in mind, I simply think a player will prove more useful to the game somewhere else on the map. All I can say is if you don't like where you end up, that's tough. I'll be happy to reconsider moving you to another open position or allowing you to trade with somebody else, but regardless, when it comes to where you are in the NES, my say is final. Everyone is welcome in my NES, but who goes where is ultimately up to me.
Other Matters
-I'll likely change a few things here or there before the NES launches. A few countries are already lined up for some minor name changes. Ask if you are curious, but I think I'll make anything too major known before launch.
-I absolutely welcome all contributions to the backgrounds and histories for this NES. However, please consider that I've now been working on this project for several months and I feel quite strongly about everything within it. If I disagree with your interpretation of something, you can try to convince me, but remember my view is final. Please be an adult about this.
-I have not decided on an official launch date as of yet. How this thread proceeds will largely determine that.
-Here is a blank version of the map just in case you feel you need it for some reason:
Spoiler :
-This thread is open. Feel free to post whenever you want.
Country List and Current Reservations:
Countries written in bold are Great Powers. Countries written in italics are not fully independent but are nonetheless playable. Reservations written in blue indicate it is someone's first choice. Red indicates second choice, green indicates third choice, pink indicates fourth choice and orange indicates fifth choice. Brown means the player has expressed interest but currently has no commitments.
Spoiler :
