i don't log in that frequently, but i visit these forums a few times a year. i came here this time in search of a westeros map and stumbled across this thread. i haven't tried playing the scenario or the mod (i generally play regular ol' bts on noble with the buffy mod and that's it), but i think i can offer a suggestion on the stated hang-up with this mod project. keep in mind, i'm just spit-balling a bit here.
i think the big thing that this mod gets stuck on is that so many, including the modmakers themselves, get hung up on what happens in the books verses what doesn't happen in the books. if someone wanted to play 'a game of ice and fire' then there are platforms that would serve such an approach much more sufficiently. the awesomeness of the civ iv engine is that you can rewrite the history of the saga within the world itself with every game.
with that in mind, my approach would be this: create each faction as the 5 kingdoms or the like. create the remaining houses and bannerman as neutral cities, regardless of the relations as stated in the books or local geography. instead of researching techs, you would use the same mechanic to amass influence. factions would pursue "techs" that directly afforded various bonuses plausibly afforded through those alliances - movement allowance (marry a son to a frey daughter and gain passage across the trident), safe passage rights (aid slavers/smugglers and don’t get ambushed traversing the narrow sea), resource sharing (this could actually be the primary mechanic for obtaining resources. who says houses can’t be trade partners with warring factions?), unit conscription (call of the bannerman), ability to see enemy factions’ movement (you’ve got wargs!), production, etc, etc, so on, and so forth.
“techs” on the tree could be universally accessible, or there could be a few that are unique to each faction. maybe there would just be a faction-specific branch. or maybe “techs” can be assigned a type and/or region and then factions can be given bonus beakers-per-turn to a type/region that makes it easier for that bonus to be attained.
i have a few different ideas on how it could function, but i’ll refrain from going too far down that rabbit-hole as i don’t even know if what i propose makes any sense or is feasible. i have limited programming knowledge (similar to what adrienier has, maybe slightly more), so if i got into a project like this it would be under the understanding that there would be a significant learning curve on my end. but i’d be willing to put in the time, if for no other reason than for the experience and something to focus on. i do have plenty of time, after all.
at the very least, i’m up for continuing the discussion. i’m for sure going to check out the mod for myself now.
oh, i should add that i have not read asoiaf. i am about halfway through agot, but it takes me a long time to read fiction books for some reason. i am an avid viewer of the show, however, and i spend an inordinate amount of time on asoiaf wiki, so i can usually hold fairly advanced conversations about the show, and can hold my own in intermediate discussions about the plot lines as depicted in the books.
) to add the night's watch at one point, as a unique civ with a unique gameplay and a unique victory condition (but I don't know what exactly he had in mind at the end, the brainstorming period was not over), so the North would have to be redone. You're right, the current form of the "wildling invasion" isn't great, nor is the WW invasion.
