Battle of Hastings

[Flintlock1415]

Battle of Hastings 1.0
Download
Link to the Warlords Version

This is the Battle of Hastings mod, a depiction of the Norman Invasion of England. Play as William the Conqueror and invade England with your mighty Norman forces, or defend your great Kingdom as Harold Godwinson, King of England.

I have released my mod for Beyond the Sword! It now is based on the BUG mod (huge thanks to them especially EmperorFool for helping me set it up) and also has a new UI/HUD (thanks to AsioAsioAsio for his Coal UI.)

This mod is 100% Mac compatible and is Windows compatible. There are instances where I can break something for Windows users and not know (due to me not having that version), so I need to know about any bugs. (Even those that can occur on Macs.)



Quick Mod Overview
-This mod is (loosely) historically based, and includes a single scenario with a map covering most of Northern Europe.
-It includes ten Civilizations: Normandy, England, Scandinavia, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, Brittany, Flanders, and the Holy Roman Empire.
-Lots of art including new units, buildings, leaderheads, and more has been added from me and various other great artists here at CFC.
-New Python scripts have been created by me to add to the historical accuracy of the mod. This area will be greatly expanded in the future.
-Much more than stated here!

To-Do List
-Balance, balance, balance!!
-Update the unit lines and technology tree
-Add Python events/modcomps
-Add more art

Please tell me if you have any ideas on how to improve this mod!

Credits

Spoiler :

The BUG team
AsioAsioAsio
iggymnrr
VeBear
Bakuel
C.Roland
CoffeeJunkie
mechaerik
Civ_Gold Team
Danrell
seZereth
Refar
Zerver
Rabbit, White
Chuggi
Chamaedrys
General Matt
Gagonite
JustATourist
Duke Van Frost
HROCHland
The Capo
Garrett Sidzaka
Esnaz
Bernie14
Walter Hawkwood
WarKirby
0d4n3ooBroad

Thanks again to the BUG team for their work and AsioAsioAsio for his UI!
Huge credit to iggymnrr for saving the Warlords mod for the Windows users! (and motivating me to continue!)
I'd like to also give a special thanks to AlanH over at the Mac forum, without his help this wouldn't be here. Also to Sedna17, for compiling Nifskope on his Mac; it has helped me immensely.
Thanks to anyone else who helped me out and if I forgot your name, please let me know and I will add you in!

Changelogs

Spoiler :

Version 1.0

Spoiler :

* Updated mod to BtS--> now based on BUG, with a custom UI/HUD. Numerous other tweaks were made in the update (too many to keep track of!)

 

[Flintlock1415]

Main Mod Overview

Civilizations

Spoiler :

Duchy of Normandy- Leader: Duke William the Bastard UU(s): Norman Crossbow(Crossbowman)/ Norman Knight(Knight) UB: Exchequer(Bureau)
Duke William has been promised the English Throne, even having Harold Godwinsson swear allegiance to him. Now that Harold has taken the throne, Duke William has taken the Papal Banner into England to enact his revenge and become King.

English Empire- Leader: Harold Godwinsson UU(s): Fyrd(Warrior)/ Housecarl(Axeman)/ Retinue(Maceman) UB: Burh(Town Hall)
Soon after Harold took the throne, he quickly had to defend against two new contenders: William of Normandy and Harald Hardrada of Norway. The Norse invaders were decisively defeated at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, leaving Harald to die of his wounds. As William invades to the south, Harold must march his weary army to meet Harold in a battle that could decide the fate of England.

Norse Empire- Leader: Olaf III UU(s): Knarr(War Galley)/ Viking Warrior(Axeman)/ Berserker(Maceman) UB: Kaupang(Market)
With the defeat of his father, Harald Hardrada, Olaf takes the throne of Norway alongside his brother Magnus. Magnus dies soon in 1069, leaving Olaf as the sole ruler. As the Viking Age comes to an end, Magnus must now find new ways to glory for his Kingdom.

Welsh States- Leader: Bleddyn UU(s): Saethwyr(Longbowman)/ Longspear(Spearman) UB: Bowyer(Carpenter)

Kingdom of Scotland- Leader: Malcolm III UU(s): Gallowglas(Maceman)/ Highlander(Swordsman)/ Celtic Warrior(Warrior) UB: Clan(Barracks)

Irish Kingdoms-

French Empire-

Duchy of Brittany-

County of Flanders-

Holy Roman Empire-

Images

Spoiler :

Coming Soon!

Planned Python Additions

Spoiler :

Timeline Events

I've been try to research major events of the Norman Conquest, but its difficult to find a lot of info on what happened after the English Conquest. I'll list what I've found, but I plan to add a lot more.

* The Defeat of Harold (Oct 14, 1066)- An event needs to be triggered when Harold is killed, but I'm not so sure as to what. I think this will depend on what I come up with for mechanic changes. The one thing I can say is that defeating Harold will be a key to conquering England.

* Revenge at Romney [Done] (Oct, 1066)- If one of William's men pillages to cottage at Romney, they receive a Morale promotion.

* William's Coronation (Christmas Day, 1066)- This will be another requirement to make conquest of England possible, and it will require William to control London. Again its not clear as to what exactly will happen.

* Welsh Conflict (1067)- The Welsh enter the war, provoking the Normans into a gradual invasion. This is a secondary war to England, and will be more of an annoyance than a full fledged war.

* The Harrying of the North (1068-1070)- The North will revolt, wanting to stay English. To keep your control as a ruler, you have to pillage and destroy the rebellion. (The conquering of England will go quickly if done right, but you must hold on to those cities and control your new subjects through cultural assimilation.

* Hereward the Wake's Rebellion (1070-1071)- Similar to the Harrying of the North, but Hereward is in Eastern England, and you must kill him to end the rebellion (and prevent it from spreading.)

* Scottish Conflict (1071)- Malcolm attacks in Northern England, and as a result William reacts and sets out to defeat the Scots. William must force Scotland into Vassalage to maintain control.

* Bayeux Tapestry (1077)- Adds a bonus to culture and influence to the Normans.

* Investiture Controversy (1081-1085)- A conflict between Henry IV (the Holy Roman Emperor) and Pope Gregory VII resulting in the Pope's capture and need of being rescued by Normans from Southern Italy. A troop of Norman units will appear in Southern HRE to represent this.

* Domesday Book (1086)- Increase to gold production and is the final step in assimilation of the Anglo-Saxon people.

Mechanics Changes

* Papal Favor System- This is interesting, since I thought of this idea before playing the Charlemagne scenario, I was able to get a good comparison. I like the idea of using a sort of tally system, but in Charlemagne it was too easy to gain and keep favor, and the only benefit was receiving a unit every so often.
What I want to do is give every action that affects your status with the Pope a reward (or penalty). How large or what kind of bonus you get will depend on your status with the Pope and what you do. A few Examples:

Approved Actions- Spreading Catholicism, building Christian buildings, attacking non christian nations, and paying tithes to the church.

Rewards- Gold bonuses, cultural bonuses, boosts to Christian Buildings (produce more gold, culture, happiness), additional units.

Disapproved Actions- Attacking other Christian Nations (aside from England), changing Religions, denying the Pope's requests.

Penalties- Knights to enemies, stronger demands, Excommunication (no longer Catholic, massive revolts), unhappiness in cities.

* Recruitment System- This will be very similar to a mercenary system, but rather than purchasing units from an advisor screen or through diplomacy, units must be purchased through the city screen. The type of units and promotions you can purchase in a city will depend on the culture of the city. (Ex. Welsh cities will provide Archery units and Scottish cities will allow Guerilla promotions.) I also would like to add a sort of 'recruiter' unit, who can recruit units from foreign cities that you have an open borders agreement with. This component is not really central to the mod, but it has potential to be very interesting with some thought put to it.

* Feudal System/Local Culture- This mechanic to me is a key to this mod, but is the most ambiguous and difficult to implement. Anglo-Saxon England relied on local government systems, so as the Normans move through England, certain areas of England accepted him, while others revolted. William must gain influence in cities or take them through brute force. Under the feudal system, everyone was direct subjects of the King, not just of their lords.

How this will work is still unclear to me, so I would like a lot of discussion on how to work this out. One thought I had is to make a sort of 'Influence Counter' based on Cultural Influence, military strength, and completing certain timeline events.

 

[nutnut]

You may want to add in to the first post that it's compatible with both Macs and PCs.

 

[lymond]

Harold looks a bit better

Fishguard is now happy and thriving

I meant to mention last time that I suggest finding a good tune for your intro screen. Some overall music would be nice too, but realize that can be difficult. The CIV default medieval music is really good though

I like the look of the Saethwyr, but I believe they should have a uni. It's cold up in them thar hills.

here's a pick and link from the Medieval 2: TW pic of their Saethwyr for inspiration:

http://m2tw.warlore.org/units/Saethwyr?campaign=britannia



another cool pic:





I want this unit to rock!

 

[nutnut]

For opening music try something out of Carmina Burana (I believe that it's all in the public domain). Some of the stuff in it was written in the 11/12th Centuries.

 

[lymond]

For opening music try something out of Carmina Burana (I believe that it's all in the public domain). Some of the stuff in it was written in the 11/12th Centuries.

Yeah...that would be cool if you can find a unique piece from it. Of course, there is one piece that tends to be overused, regardless of how great it is indeed.

 

[Flintlock1415]

You may want to add in to the first post that it's compatible with both Macs and PCs.

Done.

Harold looks a bit better

Fishguard is now happy and thriving

I meant to mention last time that I suggest finding a good tune for your intro screen. Some overall music would be nice too, but realize that can be difficult. The CIV default medieval music is really good though

I like the look of the Saethwyr, but I believe they should have a uni. It's cold up in them thar hills.

here's a pick and link from the Medieval 2: TW pic of their Saethwyr for inspiration:

Could you post a screenshot of Harold? I want to see what you do. In the leaderhead tutorial, it said that you have to use the ingame shot to get it right, but I'm not the one with problems.

About the music, I think I'll add in some music that Ajidica gave me; I think its front M2TW, but I'm not sure. (You can check out the old thread to find it.) I probably won't add a soundtrack to the mod since that can be a huge space hog and I don't care to work on that. If someone else wants to make a soundtrack pack, I'll add it to the OP to be downloaded separately, but thats about it.

I'm sure I can easily reskin the Saethwyr, thanks for the tip.

For the next release, I want to focus on updating/adding to the unit lines, and balancing out the tech tree. Suggestions for this are very helpful!

 

[lymond]

Here's a few of the leaderheads that may need some work. The others look good, especially William and Malcom (trying to figure out who he's based on). I do think the olive branches should be removed from Turlough though. (I uploaded the Jpegs as a zip file below)

The screen captures may not do full justice in all cases since it's frozen in time.

Harold (big improvement but still a bit unnatural - you shoulda seen it before...ha)



Bleddyn (I think this one looks great but the lighting is a bit strong on the face - maybe tone it down just a notch. This is one where the screenshot doesn't tell the whole story)



Magnus (Seems quite dark for the Scandanavian sort. Really cool leaderhead though)



Hoel (Ha...this one is clearly Hannibal. The skin seems a little unnatural. May be hard to tell from this shot though)

 

[lymond]

As for music, there was a mod I played a while ago that had a great soundtrack you could download for it. It was quite large, but then the music varied by era so I'm sure it could be tailored for the game. I'm still trying to recall which mod it is and it's possible I uninstalled it a while back. I'll try to find it. Not sure if there's anything special you need to do with it but I could at least try to get the music together. Music at this time was pretty primitive I imagine, but some chant stuff would be cool or even any kind of Celtic type music.

Edit: The British Isles (Britania) mod has a good soundtrack that I think was borrowed from someone else. It's broken into eras and the medieval stuff is pretty good and only around 90mbs. I think the stuff in the Classical folder is good too with Loreena Mckennitt and Cheiftains.

 

[Manifold]

I have two questions:
1. Why is it that the viking ships cannot move to ocean?
2. Was the Norman invasion such a suicide mission? There are no ships to procure supplies.

However very cool. Thank you for this fine mod.

 

[Flintlock1415]

@ lymond
Yea, I've got a bit of redoing of leaderheads to do. I have Hoel (of course), Balwin V (at least the shader on his chainmail), and Turlough. I suppose I could redo Harold in the future, and the Magnus and Bleddyn lhs should be easy fixes.

I've already stated my stance on new music... if you want to post some for me go ahead, I'm only doing new main menu music.

@Manifold
1) Thanks, that was a bit of an oversight--> it'll be fixed in the next release.
2) I'm confused, I'm pretty sure the Normans have ships...

On another note... has anyone noticed anything wierd with the Housecarl unit? (i.e. its helmet is gone and its axe is between its legs in the Civilopedia?) I remembered to make a quick fix before I released the mod so the shaders aren't messed up (somehow the DirectX rendering is different from the Mac's OpenGL that breaks units that will work on Macs.) I've never had this problem before, so I'll probably open a thread about it, but I want to see if others are experiencing this as well.

 

[Pascal Renard]

I use the window's version. Strange ! but I can't see the Interface of the game and when I enter a city, I can't go out from it. I can't try your mod ! (but it seems to be really good).

 

[Flintlock1415]

Hmm, well first of all make sure the folder name is the same (Battle of Hastings) and is in
C:\Program Files\Firaxis Games\Civilization IV\Beyond The Sword\Mods.

If you have done this, then could you post your PythonErr.log file? It should just be in Beyond The Sword/Logs.

 

[The_J]

And after that, the question is, if you're running BUG as standard.

 

[Flintlock1415]

Well, this mod is built on top of BUG, but yea anything installed in CustomAssets could be causing a problem.

Anyway, I *think* I've fixed the Housecarl (at least on my end) so could someone test out the unit? Just place it in Assets/Art/Units (replace the other folder.)

 

[veBear]

I've got two suggestions for soundtrack here. I personally like number two best, but it's your choice thought:
Na Laetha Geal M'Óige
Braveheart Theme
Number one is by Enya and the second by a composer i can't remember the name of.

PS
This Kingdom of Heaven soundtrack might be useful too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mDmpd5Vxww&feature=related

 

[veBear]

I just came to think about what happened in those years and started to do some research. For instance, the Holy Roman Empire were banned until 1077, so declearing war on them while under ban could gain you favor with the pope. Also, this ban made some of the German dukes decleared their own, second king, Rudolf of Swabia. Henry IV could not end this conflict before he defeated Rudolf in 1080. So i think that the Holy Roman empire should suffer from a rebbelion not unlike the one you mentioned in east england. Also i think that the unrest in the country could be simulated by some barbarian unit spawns every now and then (It would have been even cooler with stability not unlike the one seen in RFC, but with unit spawns as result). These spawns could end at 1080, where the Holy Roman Emperor finally regained his control. I also think that you could by making the commercail buildings produce more gold also make the starting treasuries a bit more realistic.

 

[veBear]

And just one final thing i thought about. What about adding National wonder who required 6 guilds together, the Master Guild. This guild could, if you built it, provide you with missions which would grant you something good. But then, if you do not listen to 3-5 of these missions in a row the Masters Guild could be compleatly removed from the city you built it. Some missions could be:

Spoiler :

- Aquire that city by X turns
- - Could be of economic advantage and give gold bonus
- - Could be of strategic advantage and give units or promotions
- Make that city Cristian/Celtic-Christian/Æsir (or Aesir) by Y turns
- - Could give favor from the pope (if catholic
- - Could give culture bonus
- Get open borders agreements with that civilization in Z turns
- - Economic or relationship bonus
- Aid construction (may occur if another civilization is constructing a Masters Guild)
- - Speeds up the construction time on the guild you aid and give a good relationship-bonus to the Civ you aid.

There can of course be more missions, and these could be wery similar to the Quest's you get in a normal Civ game. Might be some really hard work thought.

 

[Flintlock1415]

Thanks for the comments.

I do have plans to simulate the conflicts between the Holy Roman Empire and the Pope, but those are some interesting points. I will look into them further when I get to that point.

About the Guilds, that does seem interesting. Another bonus that could occur is the acquisition of more resources, maybe with an economic or population boost (influx of new workers.) I will think about this some more...

Also, if your playing the mod could you please test my Housecarl unit? Just dl the file in post 15 and replace the old unit folder with it.

 

[unfairlane]

I have two questions:
1. Why is it that the viking ships cannot move to ocean?
2. Was the Norman invasion such a suicide mission? There are no ships to procure supplies.

However very cool. Thank you for this fine mod.

Yep, folks should realise that the old vikings were seafaring way before..

For some reason, when I try to start a new game, there are no English. That kinds of ruins the whole plot, anyone who knows why?