Design Principles for Aberration
If you wish to contribute an event file for Aberration, then there are a number of things that you should consider prior to undertaking the project. The Aberration project has three broad themes which need restating and some elaboration.
Theme 1 No Major Powers
Aberrated was established by the Archduke deliberately as a mod which did not have the traditional European majors, such as France Spain and Leichtenstein. While the mod will certainly see a lot of solo play, it was intended to be a superior vehicle for multiplayer, with a broader array of balanced nations from which to include. Any event cycle, country, leader set or monarch line that you contribute needs to maintain this core principle.
Theme 2 Alternative History
The Aberration project could easily have been titled Alternate History as well. In creating a different playing environment, the concept was not merely to develop some well-drafted fantasia, but a version of Europe where almost everything turned out differently. The degree to which countries and events have diverged differs from area to area, with some alternate histories reaching back 500 years or more to find a key turning point in events. For others – for example Burgundy - the key historical divergence is yet to come, as Burgundy survives rather than dissolves (well, probably …). Accordingly, the events you craft need to have some historical grounding, however tenuous. But the more tenuous, the more comprehensible needs to be the alternate history you have conceived.
Theme 3 Reduced Determinism
One aspect of the vanilla EU2 that is often disliked by long-time players is the determinism of the events. By this I mean that the scripted events force situations that may have actually occurred, but which make little sense in the context of the game you are playing. The classic and most potent examples are the Spanish bankruptcy events, which trigger regardless of whether or not the player has been financially responsible and which plummet Spain into a shambles of poverty. Other events force a country down a specific path to success, each and every time, because to not follow the historical route would see your country denied core beneficial events, such as free manufactories or a COT. The event files for Aberration seek to avoid determinism as much as possible, through triggering mechanisms or by have multiple paths and variants for events to reflect different possibilities. Most significantly, though, there are to be no built-in powerful growth or malaise events.
If we stick to these three themes, we will have a great mod that is fun and intriguing and which possesses the internal logic and consistency that great gaming experiences require. But it is not an easy task, and it requires from contributors the ability to be flexible and to accept the modifications urged by the community. Unlike the historical version (and especially the hyper-historical version, the AGCEEP) the inclusion of good material requires more than turning to authoritative historical texts for our ideas, and having enough professors to back us up. Ideas have to comes from our creative selves, but have to also make sense, have balance and be compatible with the current canon of the mod.
So, what does a great Aberration nation file set look like?
There are a number of countries in Aberration whose file sets are excellent. Not beyond tweaking or addition, but already well structured, clever and full of role-playing potential. If you want to make a really worthy contribution, then first read and understand the files for Byzantium or Granada. Others are strong as well, such as Hansa, Golden Horde and the Caliphate, but they are not yet as balanced and rich as the first two. There are several features that stand out with these two file sets.
1. They are branched, not linear.
Granada has three main paths it can pursue, each very different from the other, each full of possibility and the kinds of juicy decision-making that makes gaming so much fun. Byzantium has two main paths, but then a multitude of sub paths within each main branch that dip and weave around the main lines, and peppered with events that are generic to both main branches. Am I suggesting that the events and monarchs for all nations in Aberrated are so complex? Actually, one day I hope it to be the case. One day, Grenada and Byzantium will be the norm, not the exception. But we are talking years of modding and re-modding. At this stage, we shouldn’t expect anyone to spend that much creative energy in building a long and complex file for, say, Franconia, which has a very good chance of not surviving the first 50 years. However, if you are redrafting the events, monarchs and leaders for Franconia then your file (and everyone’s gaming experience) will be that much better if you adhere to the same precept, which is to offer Franconia possibilities, not just linear sequencing. Offer options with different paths to different results, so that players can role-play and devise a strategy that may be better for the actual position they find themselves in.
2. Major events have escape routes.
The Granada and Byzantium files sometimes err here (IMO) but in general the major events that are ‘bad’ can be avoided by good management, and the events which are ‘good’ for you can be missed if you chose a different path or fail to achieve certain requisites. Byzantium is particularly well written in many respects, as two of its revolutions/civil wars can be either avoided entirely or swiftly ended with the right choices and planning (although there are other costs involved). Players simply don’t like events that are harsh and unavoidable, and don’t deserve events that are brilliant but trigger for no reason other than the date stamp.
3. Everything has a cost.
There is a principle that nothing good was ever made quickly. As much as it may be difficult for us in our real lives, we humans really do derive greater satisfaction from delayed pleasure and rewards that have been hard won. This should be a feature of good event scripting, and it is a feature of both Granada’s and Byzantium’s event files. The good events are typically preceded by challenges and times of difficulty. I am currently writing event files for the New World, and one of the features I am trying to build in is a sense of cultural planning. By taking some tougher decisions early on, there are certain benefits that can accrue later. Alternatively, the player could chose a less challenging path earlier on, and hope to use the early advantages as a means gain momentum, but which will eventually mean stiffer challenges lie ahead. I realize this is a reverse of the ‘delayed pleasure’ concept, but it still acknowledges that everything has a cost and the rewards do not come without effort.
These same ideas can work not only for the entire event cycles of nations, but for random events, epochal-type events or event minor cycles within a large event structure. Please comment on these ideas, and together we can refine this guide to reflect the kind of event writing we want to see throughout the Aberration domain.
MattyG
If you wish to contribute an event file for Aberration, then there are a number of things that you should consider prior to undertaking the project. The Aberration project has three broad themes which need restating and some elaboration.
Theme 1 No Major Powers
Aberrated was established by the Archduke deliberately as a mod which did not have the traditional European majors, such as France Spain and Leichtenstein. While the mod will certainly see a lot of solo play, it was intended to be a superior vehicle for multiplayer, with a broader array of balanced nations from which to include. Any event cycle, country, leader set or monarch line that you contribute needs to maintain this core principle.
Theme 2 Alternative History
The Aberration project could easily have been titled Alternate History as well. In creating a different playing environment, the concept was not merely to develop some well-drafted fantasia, but a version of Europe where almost everything turned out differently. The degree to which countries and events have diverged differs from area to area, with some alternate histories reaching back 500 years or more to find a key turning point in events. For others – for example Burgundy - the key historical divergence is yet to come, as Burgundy survives rather than dissolves (well, probably …). Accordingly, the events you craft need to have some historical grounding, however tenuous. But the more tenuous, the more comprehensible needs to be the alternate history you have conceived.
Theme 3 Reduced Determinism
One aspect of the vanilla EU2 that is often disliked by long-time players is the determinism of the events. By this I mean that the scripted events force situations that may have actually occurred, but which make little sense in the context of the game you are playing. The classic and most potent examples are the Spanish bankruptcy events, which trigger regardless of whether or not the player has been financially responsible and which plummet Spain into a shambles of poverty. Other events force a country down a specific path to success, each and every time, because to not follow the historical route would see your country denied core beneficial events, such as free manufactories or a COT. The event files for Aberration seek to avoid determinism as much as possible, through triggering mechanisms or by have multiple paths and variants for events to reflect different possibilities. Most significantly, though, there are to be no built-in powerful growth or malaise events.
If we stick to these three themes, we will have a great mod that is fun and intriguing and which possesses the internal logic and consistency that great gaming experiences require. But it is not an easy task, and it requires from contributors the ability to be flexible and to accept the modifications urged by the community. Unlike the historical version (and especially the hyper-historical version, the AGCEEP) the inclusion of good material requires more than turning to authoritative historical texts for our ideas, and having enough professors to back us up. Ideas have to comes from our creative selves, but have to also make sense, have balance and be compatible with the current canon of the mod.
So, what does a great Aberration nation file set look like?
There are a number of countries in Aberration whose file sets are excellent. Not beyond tweaking or addition, but already well structured, clever and full of role-playing potential. If you want to make a really worthy contribution, then first read and understand the files for Byzantium or Granada. Others are strong as well, such as Hansa, Golden Horde and the Caliphate, but they are not yet as balanced and rich as the first two. There are several features that stand out with these two file sets.
1. They are branched, not linear.
Granada has three main paths it can pursue, each very different from the other, each full of possibility and the kinds of juicy decision-making that makes gaming so much fun. Byzantium has two main paths, but then a multitude of sub paths within each main branch that dip and weave around the main lines, and peppered with events that are generic to both main branches. Am I suggesting that the events and monarchs for all nations in Aberrated are so complex? Actually, one day I hope it to be the case. One day, Grenada and Byzantium will be the norm, not the exception. But we are talking years of modding and re-modding. At this stage, we shouldn’t expect anyone to spend that much creative energy in building a long and complex file for, say, Franconia, which has a very good chance of not surviving the first 50 years. However, if you are redrafting the events, monarchs and leaders for Franconia then your file (and everyone’s gaming experience) will be that much better if you adhere to the same precept, which is to offer Franconia possibilities, not just linear sequencing. Offer options with different paths to different results, so that players can role-play and devise a strategy that may be better for the actual position they find themselves in.
2. Major events have escape routes.
The Granada and Byzantium files sometimes err here (IMO) but in general the major events that are ‘bad’ can be avoided by good management, and the events which are ‘good’ for you can be missed if you chose a different path or fail to achieve certain requisites. Byzantium is particularly well written in many respects, as two of its revolutions/civil wars can be either avoided entirely or swiftly ended with the right choices and planning (although there are other costs involved). Players simply don’t like events that are harsh and unavoidable, and don’t deserve events that are brilliant but trigger for no reason other than the date stamp.
3. Everything has a cost.
There is a principle that nothing good was ever made quickly. As much as it may be difficult for us in our real lives, we humans really do derive greater satisfaction from delayed pleasure and rewards that have been hard won. This should be a feature of good event scripting, and it is a feature of both Granada’s and Byzantium’s event files. The good events are typically preceded by challenges and times of difficulty. I am currently writing event files for the New World, and one of the features I am trying to build in is a sense of cultural planning. By taking some tougher decisions early on, there are certain benefits that can accrue later. Alternatively, the player could chose a less challenging path earlier on, and hope to use the early advantages as a means gain momentum, but which will eventually mean stiffer challenges lie ahead. I realize this is a reverse of the ‘delayed pleasure’ concept, but it still acknowledges that everything has a cost and the rewards do not come without effort.
These same ideas can work not only for the entire event cycles of nations, but for random events, epochal-type events or event minor cycles within a large event structure. Please comment on these ideas, and together we can refine this guide to reflect the kind of event writing we want to see throughout the Aberration domain.
MattyG
