• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

Tinto Maps #20 - 27th of September 2024 - The Steppes

Hello, and welcome one more week to the weekly encounter for map lovers! This week it’s also directed at horse lovers because we will be looking at the Eurasian Steppes, plus the Urals! So let’s start with the maps without further ado.

Countries:
Countries.jpg

Colored Wastelands.jpg

A glorious, Golden Horde! It is at its power peak, under the reign of Uzbeg Khan, so it's a much more menacing presence for its neighbors. However, it has its some internal issues that need to be managed, as you’ll notice in some of the maps, and in the future when we talk about the content for Hordes. The Golden Horde also heads its own IO, the Tatar Yoke, as shown in a previous Tinto Maps:

Tatar Yoke.jpg

We have already corrected the Ruthenian countries that are under the Horde’s Yoke, although we still have to correct the Russian principalities, which will be done in the corresponding Tinto Maps review. We’re also aware that we need to improve a bit the coloring of the IO, to mark not only the Golden Horde as the overlord of these countries, but also that Muscovy holds the title of the Grand Principality of Vladimir, which makes it the ‘enforcer’ of the Yoke. These fixes are also planned to be done in a few weeks.

Societies of Pops:
Societies of Pops.jpg

Societies of Pops 2.jpg .jpg

A bit up to the north, we have some Societies of Pops! This means that the territory of Western Siberia won’t be empty land, but will be populated by these people, which can be interacted with.

BTW, I’m not showing this week a dynasty map because, well, only the Borgijin dynasty rules over the lands of the Golden Horde, of course!


Locations:
Locations.jpg

Locations Western Siberia.jpg

Locations 3.jpg

Locations 4.jpg

Locations 5.jpg

Tons of locations today… You might notice that the density location is in a progression from west to east, from the most densely settled areas to the less settled ones. You may also notice that we’ve followed a design of ‘settler corridors’ in Western Siberia, setting those parts of the land that were habitable, usually on river valleys.

Provinces:
Provinces.jpg

Provinces 2.jpg


Areas:
Areas.jpg


Terrain:
Climate.jpg

Topography.jpg

Vegetation.jpg

The terrain is interesting here, as there are two main ecological areas. The first is the Steppes, Flatlands with Sparse and Grasslands vegetation, with either Cold Arid or Continental climates. And then we have the Siberian Arctics Forests, which are completely different, of course. On a note, the Urals were set as Hills, as they’re a quite settleable area, but we’ll probably make a review with your feedback, and add some mountains there.

Development:
Development.jpg

The whole region is not very developed, you might notice the difference with India, from last week’s Tinto Maps.

Harbors:
Harbors.jpg

There are some harbors in the Steppe region… In the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, of course! As usual, we’re open to feedback on this matter.

Cultures:
Cultures.jpg

Plenty of cultures! One note: Although we planned to work on the religious and cultural minorities of the region during the summer, we ended up not having enough time to add them. So what we’ll be doing today is showing the rough outline of ‘cultural spheres’, and then we’ll add the minorities during the review of the region. In that sense, feedback is very well received.

With that said the only note that needs to be made in terms of the cultural design is that we divided the Tatar cultural group into some differentiated regional cultures, being Crimean, Mishary, Kazani, and Astrakhani. We’re also aware that some of the cultures, as Mari and Chuvash, might be a bit displaced, as noted in the Russian Tinto Maps, so we’ll review and correct that with your feedback.


Religions:
Religions.jpg

Regarding Religions, the matter is a bit worse, as the big Sunni blob is just because the main religion of the Golden Horde is Islam, after the conversion of Uzbeg Khan, but that’s obviously incorrect. Also, as we have been able to forecast development time on how Pagan divisions will be during this autumn, we will make a comprehensive review of the region as well, to get a good distribution of ‘Shamanist’ Paganism, Tengrism, and Sunni Islam.

Raw Materials:
Raw Materials.jpg

Raw Materials 2.jpg

Raw Materials 3.jpg

Regarding the raw materials, the Steppes have plenty of Livestock and Horses, quite logically, although there are regions with some other goods. And up to the north, the main materials are Lumber and Fur. Apart from that, I want to mention the mineral hub in the Ural Mountains, with plenty of Copper, Iron, Gold, Lead, and Coal. That makes it a very mid and late-game interesting spot, and playing as Muscovy/Russia, I’ll tell you that you definitely want to expand into that region, as it will fulfill some of your material needs by that time.

Markets:
Markets.jpg

Markets! Big region, with lots of markets, although you may noticed that we changed the coloring of the locations that have 0% market access, which is the case in several areas. In any case, the market centers are Kaffa, Astrakhan, Saray-Jük, Kunya Urgench, Samarkand, Almaty, and Chimgi Tura. BTW, these names are much easier to notice in the game’s UI, as they’re beside the market centers:

Markets 2.jpg


Population:
Population.jpg

This week we’re showing only the country population mapmode, as there are some location numbers here and there which are failing, due to the already known issue with our pop editor (and which are on the way to be fixed). In any case, the whole population of the region is around 6.5-7M, of which around 6.3M are part of the Golden Horde. As I said, it’s a menacing country…

And that’s all for today! This is going to be my last Tinto Maps in a while, as I’ll be on vacation for 3 weeks during October (you might have noticed that I didn’t have any during summer), so one of the Content Designers in the team, @Roger Corominas , will step in and be in charge of the next 4 Tinto Maps. It’s in good hands, as Roger is an Experienced CD, who has been working and focused on Project Caesar for more than 3 years, at this point (this is why you might not know him from EU4, as other CDs in our team). In any case, he will be starting with the regions of Xinjiang, mostly ruled by the Chagatai Khanate, and Tibet.

I’ll keep reading and answering you during next week, and then I’ll be back in a month from now. See you!
 
  • 145Like
  • 48Love
  • 4
  • 3
  • 1Haha
Reactions:
Probably until 1341 (before Uzbek's death) Bulgaria, Serbia, Blaquia (Wallachia), and Byzantium were in the tributary system of the Golden Horde. The North Caucasian countries definitely paid tribute all the time. The third option is the most suitable. But the translation fails, I don't quite understand what exactly you're representing. I presented your words like this:
1) There is a tribute zone, the countries in it pay a fixed tribute directly to the Golden Horde (until they win back their freedom). And if they don't pay, then the Golden Horde gets the casus belli "plunder", in which they have to get their money and at the same time take a lot of the population into slavery or ignore it and thereby lose the tribute zone.
2) Those tributary countries that have tributaries in this zone fall into the international organization - this is the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal. But maybe not only that. I have not yet studied the question of whether the Slomen principality was formally similar from 1334 to 1340 (see the history of the Bryansk Principality); and we certainly will not have direct sources about the Magyar Ugra, but some indirect evidence (few excavations) suggests that it was significantly richer than its neighbors until it was definitively destroyed sometime after the 1370s or even later. Countries that have fallen into such a tribute no longer pay the Golden Horde on the first point.
3) The international organization also includes principalities that are half (or completely) part of the Golden Horde. For example, the most famous location is Tula, which was simultaneously part of the Golden Horde and the Pereyaslavl-Ryazan Principality. The member countries of the organization and the Golden Horde will have special interactions that have not yet been developed.
4) The successor states (or the union of uluses, if they have not completed the reforms to unite into a single Horde) receive their tributaries (if they have access to the location that supplies tribute) based on the results of a peace treaty in the war of independence from the center (while remaining in the Golden Horde system, allowing them to restore the Golden Horde if they absorb/they will subjugate other successor countries, as Tokhtamysh did by the end of the 14th century). For example, in 1312, the successor countries could be Kok-Horde Right Wing; Ak-Horde Right Wing; Ak-Horde Left Wing; Kok-Horde Left Wing. In later years, the issue of the receiving countries became more complex and ambiguous.
Do I understand you correctly? Or is it wrong? But let's say we have these wonderful uluses with wonderful rulers (work in progress). But as you may notice, a couple of them occupy a significant territory formally belonging to the Principality of Galicia. Alexa Moldaowicz is a vassal of the Principality of Galicia and at the same time a tributary of the Golden Horde. And there is also an independent Hungary with vassals paying tribute to the Golden Horde. How will these three specific cases be presented in the game?
Правители Молдавский Улус.png

In this case, I am most interested in the question concerning the Galician lands that are part of the uluses of the Golden Horde. How exactly should they look and work?