New NESes, ideas, development, etc

[talonschild]

That - Governors, Generals, and Consuls also being Senators - was exactly what I was suggesting. I don't think that's quite the epitome of realism, but I think it would make the game more interesting.

 

[Grandkhan]

I should have put out KhaNESII: SPQR earlier. Now everybody is doing it.

On that note, it will be up soonish, probably before Christmas. I know I said it would be up shortly a while ago, but I've got a lot of stuff going on at the moment. I haven't forgotten it though.

 

[Starlife]

EDIT: It feels like we are going through a RP/FamilyNES phrase atm.

That was so last summer.

 

[Terrance888]

Well, last autumn/early winter we were going through a Freshie phrase, with mine, abaddon's, MjM's, SK;s (medieval) and a couple others. Mine is the only one that survived. .

 

[germanicus12]

Looks quite good - I would like that (however illogical), all the various players be considered Senators (though obviously they couldn't vote unless they were in Rome). Also, their various positions would be outside of Rome, but they could leave a lieutenant in charge. This would make players balance the freedom of action they get outside Rome with the power they get from being in Rome and being able to vote.

I wonder. If a person is a Senator AND a Consul/General/Governer, does he still get a Senate vote?

I guess that could be the price of rising from the ranks of normal Senator, at least until some form of Tribune gets instituted. (pretty sure a Tribune can be multiple things)


Also, I like the fact that something as simple of reinforcements need to go through multiple hands. Maybe you should mandate that someone post at every step if a player is responsible, so certain Senators can get reputations of being lazy or prompt in their reaction to ongoing events. Meanwhile, if someone delays without declaring a temporary replacement (human goes AWOL, character gets sick without replacement) they can get a bad reputation.


EDIT: It feels like we are going through a RP/FamilyNES phrase atm.

Yes... forgot to add that bit, you can post a Junior (usually a son of age) to speak on your behalf in the Senate. But I will want to ensure that time frames are being followed, such as it will take time for news to get from Rome to Britannia and back, and will disallow votes that appear instantaneous unless the Junior is acting on his own behalf. Later on should the Senate authorize the use, Tribunes can replace Juniors and speak on your behalf, these will add the extra benefit of being more flexible and will not require a flurry of messengers running back and forth.

Yes, I plan to have following happen in a step by step procedure; A Consul request reinforcements, I will say he is in Greece fighting in the southern tip, the messenger will take several days to ride around the Hellespont and then down into Rome, so I will allow 2-3 real time days to pass before the Senate is forced to act upon the dispatch. If a Senator fails to bring up the matter within 5 days I will have an NPC bring it up, if after 24 hours of nothing the bill will fail and no reinforcements will be forthcoming. Should the Senate pass the bill and the message is forwarded to the Governor of Macedonia to raise 2 Legions, again I will allow 1-2 days for the dispatch rider to ride before I expect the Governor to respond that he has received the dispatch and has begun sending out recruiters. Should the Governor fail to do anything for 4 days, the matter reverts back to Senate and it will either be sent to another Governor or the Senate will replace the Governor with one more capable.

And that is a good idea, I will add a traits section to the stats and will keep it updated with traits such as Lazy or Prompt, Courageous or Cowardly.

 

[Terrance888]

So you will handle the flow of information? So if a General posts X, you will post when it becomes "Valid" for the Senate to find out?

Also, this sound somewhat like a realtime game. How much do you intend for this to be "realtime" and how much "updatetime"?

 

[talonschild]

I imagine that, unless we're planning for a relatively low time commitment, it will not be realtime. Too much waiting. That said, realtime would work splendidly for those wanting a low commitment game.

 

[Terrance888]

Won't it be hilarious if the General sends a messanger for reinforcements, but YOU NEVER POSTED THE MESSANGER ARRIVING.

Is the messanger lost? Did he get killed? Did he get trapped on an island with weird lotus leaves? And the Senate has to stay IC about being oblivious about the General's plight!

 

[Popcornlord]

I will likely join both Roman games. What's the role of Generals, though? Do they just plan strategy and troop movement, or do you think they could expand into managing smaller territories?

Also, I'm stealing the idea to put dates of birth rather than ages. So simple. So ingenious.

 

[talonschild]

Good point. A game like this might almost be better done entirely via PMs. Except, perhaps, debates in the Senate.

 

[Ekolite]

Sounds like a really interesting concept (right up my street in fact), would definitely be interested.

 

[Eltain]

Spoiler explanation of Stats :

Player The name of the PC controlling the nation. Seems redundant, but helps me. A list of who plays what will be on the front page.
Nation The name of the nation you are playing.
Government - leader(s) In a word, your government form, and the person you are roleplaying as.
Factions: S/C/P - 1-9At a glance lets you know what's up with the factions below. Size, Confidence, Power.
Faction example 1 - size/confidence/power Factions are political, religious, social, ethnic, racial or other factions within your nation. They all want something from eachother, and they all want something from you. Their size reflects how populous they are compared with other factions in your country. Their confidence reflects their confidence in their own ability to govern themselves, as opposed to blindly following. If this is counter-intuitive, I will simply flip its meaning and flip the numbers accordingly. Their power reflects their collective wealth or ability to hire soldiers or cause trouble for you.

Income: Income is all the money you can spend. You subtract your expenses from this yourself. Money can be invested into all sorts of things: Soldiers, industry, agriculture, grand statues or palaces to your awesomeness, new zoning laws, you name it.

-Tax Rate: Tax rates go none>low>high>cruel. The higher the tax rate, the more money and more strife you have. The reverse is true as well.
Taxation: This is the $ amount of money your nation earns from taxing trade, industry, the common farmers, et cetera. Note that it is not always paid in 'gold' per se, but that should not affect gameplay too greatly.

-Expenses: This is the sum of Military and National expenses. Subtract this from your 'income', easy peasy.

-National: This is the sum of Administrative and Infrastructure expenses.

Administrative: This is paid to officials governing smaller settlements throughout your nation. Obviously this will vary widely depending on your government type.

Infrastructure: This is paid to maintain everything from roads, to bridges, to stables, barracks and shipyards, government buildings and temples. The larger the empire, the greater the costs of keeping it in running order.

-Military: This is the sum of Maintenance and Wages.

Maintenance: This is paid to maintain fortifications and any other large military expenditure that is not directly going into soldiers' hands.

Wages: This is paid to any military you happen to be employing at the moment.

--

Armies: Following will be listed any military units and their organization.

Army Name: Leader As it says, the name of the army, and the name of the soldier leading it.

Experience: Any experience the army has accrued. Example: Raids, Night Raids, Sieges, etc. Use the army for a certain task enough times and it will become so adept at it it will be considered 'experienced' at that task. Certain Experience skills rise and fall with Leaders, not Armies.

Units within: Every military unit that is in the army. Examples are Infantry, Archer, and Siege, which can all be altered by...

Resource modifiers: Any resources attached to a certain army. Example: Metals, Pitch, Horses, etc. Attach metal to infantry? Metal weapons or armor. Pitch to archers? Flaming arrows. Use your imagination, and you might well be rewarded.

Wages: Soldiers need to be paid, fed, kept well supplied, or they won't be soldiers anymore. This is the amount that the army needs/expects to be paid, every turn. If they don't get it, well, pray that they are faithful to your leadership regardless of food and gold.


Navies: Much the same as Armies.

Fleet Name: Leader
Experience:
Units within:
Resource modifiers:
Wages:

Spoiler Example :

Player
Nation
Government: Leader
Factions:

Income:

Expenses:
-National:
--Administative:
--Infrastructure:
-Military
--Maintenance:
--Wages:

Spoiler MILITARY :

Armies:

Army Name: Leader
Experience:
Units within:
Resource modifiers:
Wages:

Navies:

Fleet Name: Leader
Experience:
Units within:
Resource modifiers:
Wages:

Spoiler Units :

Initially, there will be 3 purchasable land units:

Infantry,
Archers,
and Siege.

Infantry that you purchase will vary with your fation. If you play Spaniards, you get Spanish infantry. If you play Germans, you get German infantry. If you're Greek and occupy Egyptian cities, you get Greek infantry and Egyptian militias or greater depending on what settlements you have occupied. Mercenaries can oft be bought of any type of infantry, but they're expensive, and less than loyal. Descriptions of each type of infantry can be found with the appropriate world entry on the front page.

Archers and Siege are standardized for the time being. Simple short bows, rams and catapults, etc are very common.

UUs will be available given time and honing your military. Certain Experience skills will be required to first invent and then continue purchasing your UUs.

Prices

All units cost 1g for 1 unit. This may change as time goes on.

 

[germanicus12]

I have considered using PM's... Consuls and Generals could send messages to their favorite Senators in Rome, or their Juniors and ask them to send a recruitment request through Senate, then a Senator, perhaps one familiar with the Governor would then send a PM to the Governor outlining his budget and recruitment goals and when he expects the legion to be ready. If people would prefer doing it this way I am fine with it.

I am thinking of doing two threads, one will be a RP type story NES thread where players can post stories and the mod will post updates and progresses. The 2nd thread will be the Senate Chambers where debates could be held. I have since scrapped that idea, and decided to use only 1 thread and use the Social Group for the Senate Debates.

As for expanded General duties, I am only seeing them as tactical leaders of their Legions, the Consuls command the armies (several Legions), Generals command the Legions (single Legion). Consuls are also, at this point, the only commander that can wage campaign wars, such as a campaign to defeat Greece, or a Campaign to unite Italia. Generals will lead single Legions, or in special circumastances, 2 legions against things such as Revolts or command occupation forces, things Consuls do not wish to do or see as petty things that garner little honor.

 

[Grandkhan]

The pre-thread for KhaNES II is up here. Please do get involved. I know for sure I am excited to mod it.

 

[CivOasis]

Core reboot

 

[Tycho]

Germanicus, I have to say that that would be a very interesting design and idea for a NES. Would love to see it fleshed out more.

 

[Grandkhan]

Here's a question for you guys; when modding, do you guys prefer to calculate battle results by hand or by a computer program?

I ran KhaNESI by hand, and I'm currently in the process of writing a battle program for KhaNESII in C++ (which is coming out weird, casualties still aren't working.)

What do you guys do? I know Crezth has his CNES which is basically all automated, but I was wondering what other mods do.

 

[Terrance888]

MODERATOR FIAT FTW.

What I do is add up all the numbers, and add up all the powers. I make a direct comparison.
More Power is an advantage.
More Numbers is an advantage.
Mixture of troops in relation to terrain (chariots good on flat land, archers hills/defense ect)

Then I must see if one advantage overcomes another. If the Spartans were OVER NINE THOUSAND POWER but there were only 300 compared to the 7500 power Persians with OVER NINE THOUSAND MEN, and they have archers while Spartans have only infantry, advantage goes to Persia.


Then I look at their orders and make another comparison of any contradictions/predictions/strategies which might give a side an advantage.

Finally, if I still cannot determine it, I roll a set of 5 RNG for a series of campaigns and assign that as the long term victory.

For casualties, I generally give low amounts for inconclusive and short campaigns, huge amounts for attritionary/balanced forces with ruthless orders, and generally favoring the defender in other occasions, esp if the defender utilizes defenses/militia but is still overwhelmed.

 

[dominatr]

Most of my calculations are somewhat arbitrary by most standards. Just by looking at stats and technology, i can gauge how a war may go. Occasionally, geographical advantages, alliances or intangibles will be the deciding factor if the stats are even enough.

One thing i've considered delving into was using percentage based calculators. You could just use a random number generator in tandem with different statistics to produce a random result. You could say, for example if Nation X will have a 75% chance of winning, then put 75 in the RNG for numbers 1-100, and if the generated number is 75 or less, then Nation X wins. That's probably one of the simplest ways you could go about it.

 

[Grandkhan]

Most of my calculations are somewhat arbitrary by most standards. Just by looking at stats and technology, i can gauge how a war may go. Occasionally, geographical advantages, alliances or intangibles will be the deciding factor if the stats are even enough.

One thing i've considered delving into was using percentage based calculators. You could just use a random number generator in tandem with different statistics to produce a random result. You could say, for example if Nation X will have a 75% chance of winning, then put 75 in the RNG for numbers 1-100, and if the generated number is 75 or less, then Nation X wins. That's probably one of the simplest ways you could go about it.

Thats actually what I do. I also do casualties by RNG, whichever way I'm doing it. I mostly use Mod fiat for calculating the percentage itself.

I guess the advantage of Mod fiat is that you can add stuff for circumstances and technology and stuff like that, and I'm thinking of adding stuff as hidden stats for the computer program.