I'm curious, how that translates into a story for a PAE scenario. When I worked with Boggy on the Peloponnesian scenario, I got a little more sense, for what's possible in terms of one event triggering another – and there's quiet a lot doable, which I had regarded difficult or impossible before. So what would be, of all your remembered scenarios from Civ's past and from your own ideas, top of the list for a new, super heavily scripted PAE scenario theme?
I cannot pretend to know your mod, I'm still learning the basics. And I certainly don't want to suggest something specific. I'm just talking possibilites and get information from you by doing so.
But if you ask me like this, I could imagine a couple of stories. 2 suggestions.
Let's talk arminius-style. You have a small village and a couple of units. YOu are vassal to Rome. By event you get quests, like destroying some farm, conqering a fortress or killing some units and you get slowly stronger. The questgivers are neighbours, your elders, the romans, personal choice... You get money, experience, normal and personal units (heroes with names), technologies and so on. Along the way you forge alliances and get enemies by event, the landscape slowly changes, you get more important and at some point even larger factions recognize you as someone they can talk to. Then the old king of your tribe dies and all tribe-factions vote a new one. If that's you, you get a load of allies and kick some roman butts.
After everything I read I assume it would be possible to do that. Don't know if's possible to tell some roman legions to head towards some coordinates. Then you could actually really doing the historic Arminius-Story. Personally, I think that would be boring. I go for fictious events. I'd have my fun to see Arminus tearing apart the limes piece by piece
A fictious egyptian tribeleader becoming pharaoh would be fun aswell. The game would be the same, just a different setting.
The focus in those cases would be very small. Even litereally. A square of terrain could be just a couple of miles, even less maybe and every specialist is a huge thing for you, because you don't have a lot.
Bigger focus could be Caesar/Octavian. Depending on how you set that up, divided in four parts.
Caesar and his conquerings, till he gets murdered. His faction is just his conquerings in Spain and France. Rome is just another player, that demands things and gives other things in return. You win a war, you get some units. You send some slaves, you get some money. You conquer a city, you get some cheers. You conquer another city, you get some weird looks. You conquer another city, your friends get scared. The chapter ends with you returning home. WHile playing you get a zillion texts about the political situation in Rome and how much people hate you in the end. Of course there is a lot of war-stuff. Alliances and Betrayal within the ranks of the gauls, the battles with vercingetorix, decisions what to do with certain tribes. I mean... you play Rome. Even if you are just a couple of units and a few cities, ACTUALLY a whole empire stand behind you. And you decide the fate of tribes.
You inherit a good part of the empire now. You are the big boss. Lots of executions? What a fun! You reorganize your empire, fight the rebels, some great battles, some heroic death, people commit suicide, you can be mean or gratious. You go to egypt, fall in love with cleo and so on. That is great, because in the first part you play only in a small area, now its the whole of the empire. The focus grows. You do things with your relatives, you marry them off or place them as gouvernors. Carefully, since you cannot ignore the other families, who could still decide to fight you. Then you get murdered. Ceasar has the advantage in this scenario but struggles with the political stability of the empire. He can still loose a lot, because provinces could decide to switch sides. We simulate that by families that like you more or less depending on your actions. Are counters possible? Family x has a feel-good value of 20, family y of -55. That would be nice. But even if not, it should be possible to make it worthwile.
You take over as Caesar's heirs. Some of those units you already had before that. Like Ceasars general Marc Anthony. Now you get Octavius as well. Again a war against a part of the empire, mainly africa and greece. A pity, it seems to be very similar to Act 2. Different story, but somehow same gameplay. You organize the whole of your empire again, you fight a war. Hmm...
In act 4 half your empire disappears, because Marc Anthony takes over the east and Lepidus gets africa. So you build up your army again, you should know that by now, and then the last war. This is more storydriven and very short. It's mainly a big battle and maybe it's just the end of act 3 instead of one act on its own.
Could be incredibly historic, epic and still personal. While writing this Im getting really invested....
How realistic is that?