The Evolving Society Mod

[stars2heaven]

I hope none of these ideas have already been brought up, I will read through later an remind myself of whats been presented, I just wanted to throw out some more ideas while I have them on my mind. With these ideas Im trying to keep in mind that everything should impact the evolution of the island in some way.

1. Natives: friends or foes? Ive already mentioned this earlier, so no details here.

 

2. You have to spend money to make money: the island needs some sort of investors either in the form of pilgrims willing to do their own work, people willing to be paid to do it, or old fashioned investors who lend you money to accomplish certain things on the island (like building homes, digging wells, supplying beasts of burden, tools, etc.) who expect a return on their investment.

 

A combination of these things could be cool. If you have too many lendors you may end up with a booming economy that pays the lendors well but doesnt make much for the farmers. If you have too many pilgrims then you have no money to buy essential goods and so the progress is slow. A "putting you eggs in seperate baskets" approach could be available for the smart island planner.

 

3. Now that weve made some money, lets make some more! After a while, once the island has picked up a bit and can easily support itself, it should have surplus goods. That means export. So docks will need to be set up and boats bought or crafted. (here is a place where previous decisions can effect you by making you able to only do one or the other, or both!) Also, certain ships can be of better quality. (faster, bigger and therefore able to carry a greater load, etc.)

 

We'll also need mini quests that deal with finding dealers to sell to. Different merchants in different cities have different demands and so offer different prices for different things. Example: furs have a greater demand in the cooler parts of tamriel, ore can fetch a greater price in swampy or simply less mountainous regions, grains and veggies can be transported to areas where farming is difficult. Trade deals could also be made between these areas if they have something our island needs. (Im guessing on an island where lumber is in great demand but could also be limited that places like Chorrol might have what we need...for the right price)

 

4. Like stealing candy from a baby With our island now quite well off with a number of trade routes it becomes a target for banditry. Pirates and bandits should become a problem at some point. That means we need someone to protect them, as well as all that goes along with that responsibility. Equiping boats with weapons, building barracks for troops (or forcing the natives to provide housing), etc. Of course, not just the typical bandits are interested in a good economy. Corrupt officials may try to take advantage of the situation somehow also.

 

This is another spot where alot of variability could be possible based on the decisions you have made and the ones you make. You could hire mercenaries to protect your traders, start up a malitia, or find a way for the imperial guard to get involved. Each of those decisions could have an impact on the island. Hiring mercenaries is expensive, but you dont have to supply gear, and they are only in it for the money. So what happens if someone buys them off in order to get at one of your shipments? You wil lneed to supply housing though except for those on ships. Getting the imperial guard involved might be very tricky and expensive, or both. Starting up your own malitia would be cheapest, but you would have to supply gear somehow as well as training. (which may not end up being cheap at all if your previous decisions now prevent you from supplying these things for yourself.) Previous decisions could effect the outcome of your malitia greatly if thats what you choose to do. (do you have a good blacksmith, did you anger the old war veteran or help him out? etc.)

 

Heres a few more. They are kinda general but its your mod so I hope that that will allow you to make use of them in the ways that you want to. if you choose any of this, of course.

[stars2heaven]

5. Can I get in on the action? Different organizations may see this as an opportunity. Fighters guild may find more members here. (as well as a bolster to the local forces) the mages guild or one of your own creation (which may make things more interesting) could begin to offer their magical services for whatever reason. Perhaps there are two competing groups looking to become part of your society...but theres only room for one.

 

Theres alot of potential fun that could come out of something like that.

 

6. Who's gona run all this Are you the supreme ruler or someones lackey? Does the town rule itself through its own count or does it democratically elect a mayor? All these things could be variables available that take shape based on decisions the player has made.

 

Also, what kind of law runs this society? Does it become socialist, communist, capitalist? Is the ruler kind and generous or evil and oppressive? Is there no one leader or representative? More variables available for the player to decide....

[QQuix]

Hi, again, stars2heaven.

 

As usual, I will comment on the concepts;

 

Economics: for the first version, I was planning on a local economy based more on processing local materials than on currency. Not sure I will be able to go too much beyond that, but I will keep the 'Investors' concept in the nice-to-have list. It may come handy to give some form of leverage to the island development.

 

Import-Export-Trading System: these suggestions of yours could easily be a mod by themselves. Again, I was planning on a basic imp/exp capability, mostly to do something with the inevitable surplus toward the end of the development phase.

 

Security: Pirates/bandits raids are most likely in, as well as a growing security force. Detailing how they would be implemented, as you did, is always welcome and certainly helps.

 

Guilds and factions: No comments. I have not given this much thought yet. Still pretty much a blank page in my mind.

 

Rulling: I am leaning toward the player ruling the island as an 'owner' (whatever we may come up with: from a actual owner of a estate with hired employees to a noble with loyal subjects). Main reason is that, for an NPC to rule the island, I would need one or two more years to develop the necessary script programming. lol.

 

It is always good to read about new ideas or different elaborations of existing ones. Thanks

 

Hummm . . . it just occurred to me that there is enough material for a 2-chapter mod: Chapter one would deal with growing the isle from nothing to a fair economy and Chapter 2 would deal with the more complex aspects of keeping the economy healthy and up and running.

 

Or, another way to say almost the same thing, Chapter One would be inward centered and Chapter Two would integrate the island into the world.

 

Yeah . . . I kind of like this! . . . any thoughts or elaborations are welcome, of course.

[Elrodian]

when can i start helping when is d-day

[Kamoba]

If your still after idea's, here's a link to a thread which I started, not knowing this one was here;

 

http://thenexusforums.com/index.php?showtopic=151379

 

 

If you want to use these idea's please feel free too!

 

Also i'd be happy to help testing etc.

 

Kamoba.

[Kamoba]

If your still stuck for idea's on actually obtaining the island, here is a couple imaginative (and potentially lore based one) you might consider.

 

Chapter One.

The mythic dawn was left in near ruins, but the few surviving members swore to gaining revenge upon the "Champion of cyrodiil" so they decide, they will set him up.

 

They had a false set of Imperial Dragon Armor forged and then they forged a diary surposedly written by the Champion, in this diary was a specific entry...

"Today I will enact my plan, once Ocatto is out of the way, the rest of the high council will see that I am the only one worthy to be emporer."

 

With these two very incriminating and largely recogniseble peices of evidence, they enact their plan, and attempt to kill the High Chancolor, but the one chosen for the job "fails" and drops this diary in the flee.

 

Given the evidence and witnesses a batch of Imperial Legion guards are sent to find and arrest the Champion of Cyrodiil, his sentance to be Life in the imperial prisons, set by Ocatto himself.

 

Chapter Two.

Once arrested the guards throw the champion in a cell, and a few days later they realise, their prisons are over full of long serving criminals, thusly the council decides they will take all 10 of the long serving prisoners and ship them out onto an island, with the task of clearing the the island of beasts and begin a settlement for the benefits of the Empire.

 

The Champion is chosen to be the group "leader" in this expadition.

 

Cue rest of the mod.

 

 

 

 

Idea number 2:

(For if you do not want to have the mod as champion titled only.)

 

The "hero" of the game reads a copy of the black horse courier, the artical, "Empire wishes to expand, all those willing to help for the expadition to -insert island name here- are to register at the Imperial Commerce office.

 

*Note*

Possibly have the actual boat journey, and have the option to talk to all those on the ship.

if so then a small side quest at the beggining could be the player talking to all on the ship and befriending each so they title him as their leader.

*end note.*

 

During the boat journey the PC is elected as leader of the expadition.

 

Cue rest of mod.

 

 

 

 

Hope these idea's give you either fun time modding, or some usefull idea's of your own.

[QQuix]

@ starwarsfreak1235 - I don't have a deadline or target date. I don't expect any release this year.

 

@ Kamoba - Thanks for the link and for the offers (ideas and help)

As you may have read on previous posts, I don't comment on ideas, mostly because as I like them all and it is still too early to start selecting/filtering them. I also liked the advisor guy you mentioned in your thread, btw.

 

@ Both:

I am pretty much working on building blocks that will be put together at the end.

 

So far I already have: (off the top of my head):

- A general 'development' engine (that needs to be recoded)

- A building positioning engine

- A building selection engine (50% done)

- A moving ship engine

- I am working on a kind of AI for the NPC population. (33% done)

[RandomArt]

I really like this since I'm not doing the main quest and am just going about doing my own thing and I've really been looking for something that would give me a long-term objective.

 

On a side note, I really like the idea of training and outfitting your own militia, but of course, at some point they'd eventually become a private army.

 

Also, just to put in my two cents, I think it should be a type of settlement where you get settlers to come to populate your new settlement, but it's still run like an estate, just to keep things simple.

 

Can I recommend this for the early town stages? After you've progressed from farming to actual settlement.

[RandomArt]

Quick correction to my previous post, I read back through and saw that you were wanting to build a medieval city, and the resource I linked to is a colonial settlement resource.

[Kamoba]

I think the Advisor would proberbly be a very good option for something this complex, as you will not only have something to center most (or all) of the going's on, but it also means there is RP interation beyond notes/books/scrolls.

 

Also every count/countess/lord/lady seems to have their own advisor of some kind, it just seems a natural idea, i hope you find it usefull in the future.