Foothold in India - Special News Issue
Hello everyone! This is a Foothold in India special news issue. The article is not related to current gameplay mechanics that much, and is rather an essay on the polls result, current state of affairs and ideas on further development.
Preliminary polls results and statatistics
The player base of the mod is currently not large, and in my understanding, should constitute around 300 monthly downloaders and probably around 50-100 actual monthly players, taking into account the mod has been downloaded around 1000 times since April 2023, when the initial small "Foothold in India startpos" was remade into a real light overhaul with new units and readjusted mechanics. This is a relatively modest result. However, for a niche old game and a niche mod with its specific philosophy, I do consider it to be a satisfactory result for the time being.
7 days ago I launched several simple polls in order to understand how exactly I should distribute the mod. Not a lot of people had a chance to participate yet. However, I believe, the results are going to remain relatively similar.
The first question is "How often do you use modular features".
As we can see here, the modularity feature rocks, and people do value the ability to choose, which features are included in their gameplay. I am very delighted to see, that my democratic approach is a success - it was and will remain one of the main principles of the project.
I address all the fellow modders - take this into account!
The second question is "Do you play Complete or Light version".
As you can see, 6 in 7 people answered that they play Complete edition, which includes Orientalist Loading Screens, new flags, maps, Ultima Ratio graphics etc. This is a good result, meaning that most of the players seem to have the ability to have all the best media.
However, some do still play Light edition, and in order to understand this, I created a third poll.
The third question is "If you play Light edition [rather than Complete], what is the reason?".
When I was launching the mod, I was initially concerned that some of the players may have various problems with downloading and/or running huge and technically demanding mods. Having a light edition is crucial to allow more people to play, and, in my opinion, is especially crucial for the ones who have bad, expensive or irregular internet connection/access.
However, the poll results show, that the internet is usually not the reason. The main reason for downloading the light edition is weak hardware.
I address all the players, who are using light edition: apart from graphics and graphical effects, the complete edition includes Orientalist Loading Screens, new sounds, music, bronze cannon barrels, Durango's historical portraits, fancy campaign maps and some other small enhancements. Most of these packages are not resource demanding. If your internet connection allows this, I advise you to download the complete edition and simply disable tgg_media_ultima_graphics and tgg_media_ultima_effects. This will greatly improve your playing experience - especially the new flags and sounds.
Plans and ideas
I started modding Empire Total War around 1 year ago, in the summer of 2022. Foothold in India in it's current state exists since April, and during that time it developed from a simple modded startpos file into a mature project. I do not claim the mod to be bigger than what it actually is - a light overhaul, trying to stay true to it's own minimalist philosophy and to vanilla Empire standards. However, I'm quite happy with the current state of the mod and consider that the initial goals of the mod are mostly reached. There is always a place to balance it further - readjust unit stats and prices, introduce, remove or replace certain units, readjust the startpos files, diplomacy and AI in order to make the game more balanced and dynamic. Also, I still plan to complete the overhaul of Maghreb, Caucasus and Ottoman rosters [to some limited extent] and the factions in India [to an even smaller extent]. Although, I still need some historical research and consulting.
If anyone knows a person who has good knowledge of the Eastern warfare of the period - please contact me.
But are there any global changes that still can be done?
The Eastern Mob
This is an extreme game-mod idea I have, which can be implemented as an optional pack. The essence is to greatly increase the sizes of Eastern units, especially in India and North Africa, while simultaneously greatly reducing their training and stats. Historically, the state of Eastern armies has always been different. Rulers came and went, introducing bold ideas and radical reforms. Periods of greatness were followed by periods of decline and total disgrace - and so on. I always point out, that the mod is oriented towards gameplay rather than historical accuracy. And I do believe, that as an optional gameplay feature, this could provide the player a unique and fun experience, whichever side of the conflict he chooses. The main challenge in the implementation of such a pack is keeping it balanced.
More AI and battle mechanics options
Unfortunately, I still have limited knowledge of how to mod ETW battle mechanics. Therefore I currently use the one, taken from Minor Factions Revenge with almost no changes. As for the AI, my knowledge is more profound, and I was able to create AI packs in the style of MFR and Succession. However, I still can't say I understand all the records used. As you can see there is room for improvement.
A good idea would be to add more optional battle mechanics packs. One of the ideas I've been playing around here is trying to adapt the system from Empire Realism. In my opinion, it is not ideal, and I would like to tweak some of its features. However, I do consider it interesting. If you didn't yet play Empire Realism, I advise you to try it out - this is a very interesting experience, to say the least.
Another good idea is to simply put more effort into researching the AI and battle systems and continue tweaking the existing packs or even creating new ones completely from scratch.
Bigger cities and new regions
If you ever played Minor Factions Revenge or Imperial Destroyer, you should have probably noticed how MFR introduced 5-slot cities in Genoa and Naples, while Imperial Destroyer introduced whole new regions! What Imperial Destroyer did - is a kind of messy and complicated technical solution, and I wouldn't really like to replicate it. However, the idea itself is certainly worth the effort to try and implement.
I currently don't know how to add new regions [and, if possible, would like to do it without using hybrid startpos, because I try to keep everything in source control]. If you know how to do this, please contact me.
Meanwhile, adding new slots to cities is a pretty straightforward process [although a bit labour intensive]. I'll probably do that sooner or later and make Genoa and Kabul proper 5-slot cities.
Overhauling America
This is probably not one of the foremost priorities. However, America is another theatre that is mostly quite passive and inert. The main challenge is increasing the dynamics of faction relationships in the theatre. Another is, probably, reimplementing Warpath mechanics for Native Americans.
Adding more factions in India
The title technically speaks for itself. However, this is a technically challenging task, especially if I wish to do it without using hybrid startpos. These factions may be some Indian kingdoms. Or probably the English and French territories could be re-designed as semi-independent protectorates of Great Britain and France, such as Thirteen Provinces and Louisiana - this would increase their activity on the sub-continent.
Victoria: The Great Game Campaign
This is probably the most ambitious idea I currently have, and the most challenging to implement. In order to create another campaign set in mid-to-late 19th century, I'd have to take 1783 campaign as the basis and change virtually every aspect of the game: troops, fighting styles, tech trees, territories, armies, diplomacy... of every faction. It could be an interesting concept, allowing you to experience events such as Franco-Prussian, Crimean, First and Second Anglo-Afghan wars. However, my skills still require improvement, and my time nowadays is quite limited, so I can not tell, whether it could be done anytime soon.
And, I believe, that's it for today. As always, comment, review and share, take part in the polls - and have fun!
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It would be great if you add new cities to the game. In particular, I think there should be a central Asian Turkish state that stays above the Safavids. And certainly America should not be empty, unclaimed lands. There must be cities in those empty places, even if they are small or poor. I get scared when you say you want to change the combat mechanics. because one of the reasons why I prefer this mode is that it looks like native, it's like an upper version of it. In some mods they increase the range of line infantry to 100. they make the aim skill 35 and the reload skill 15. I think this is really bad. I think the stats that the game gives to the units should be preserved, for example, a normal european line infantry Range: 70 Accuracy: 40, Reloading skill: 25, Ammunition: 15, Melee attack: 6 Charge bonus: 9, Defense: 13, Morale: 7. I find these stats very balanced and I think it's true. cavalry just seems useless to me. if a normal cavalry unit is 45 (when the line infantry is 120) maybe 50 can be made because 45 really is too few and most cavalry units can't even destroy half of the line infantry even if produced for the same cost. so they will fight straight in 1 v 1 without tactics. Apart from this, it is very boring for me to go beyond the patterns determined by the game in battle mechanics. or changing the construction cost of buildings, making the soldiers' prices and salaries different from what the game determines seems bad to me.
note: maybe the line infantry reload event can be slightly increased as well, waiting for the line infantry to fire in the early game is a cruelty.
one more note: all of what I just wrote is my personal opinion, of course I may be wrong about it :).
Well, first of all, the special news issue is a very general discussion on what could have been done... It doesn't mean I'll do it. Making new cities/states is a very complicated endeavour. I have to learn a lot of stuff before that can happen. And it is also incredibly labour intensive, at least in my understanding. So don't count on seeing the new territories soon. However, maybe later I'll get to this. Adding new states in Central Asia is surely something I'd love to do when I have the proper skills, time and mood to do this.
Second, I'm not planning to permanently change anything. The mod remains modular. You see? I already use MFR (not vanilla) battle mechanics in tgg_battle_mechanics. And you can turn them off, if you wish! I'm planning to simply add more optional packs, such as tgg_battle_mechanics_napoleon, tgg_battle_mechanics_darth, tgg_battle_mechanics_orientalist, etc. So have no fear. You can tune the mod to be almost whatever you like.
The mod itself is great and hits the sweet spot between vanilla and moded empire so cotninue please. I do play complete version and must say was enjoying so far. Maybe bring new unit cars for ships if you can in next update and oportunity to choose from empire vanilla music and classics as a soundtrack for campaign.