[Interest Check] Diplomacy/Civilization/4X Game - Start date?

[Emperor Walter]

EDIT: SIGN UP HERE: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/forum-game-rise-and-fall-960-ad.1003118/


I've been working on creating a 4X style game with pretty easy to follow rules so that the main focus is on the decisions of the player, and player to player interaction (kind of similar to diplomacy). I have the rules and a world map setup, but I'm not really sure when the start date for the game should be.

I considered at 400 AD, right at the end of the Roman Empire, but the problem with that is the massive potential for the game to go completely off the rails thanks to it being such a pivotal point in history. I considered 500 AD also, but I'm not too sure about that either. Or 200 AD at the start of Rome's decline, but still.

I also considered starting it at the beginning of civilization, but I'm worried people would get bored by that since there would be a lot less going on at first.

So for anyone who's interested, do you have any suggestions for when the start date should be?

EDIT: Here is a pic, it's a model scenario for 1570 AD. Provinces remain the same throughout all iterations of the game, though political boundaries obviously shift via scenario. The economic rating of each province is also fixed, although tribal and non-colonized land is only worth a single point; it needs to be improved first for it to yield the full value.

 

[Ottovski]

If you the game has a good system and restrictions on what you can and cannot do and we don't just make stuff up, I'll gladly join. I don't really care which start date you pick.

 

[Emperor Walter]

If you the game has a good system and restrictions on what you can and cannot do and we don't just make stuff up, I'll gladly join. I don't really care which start date you pick.

The system is basically Calculate Happiness and Stability->Apply modifiers to economic yields based on government type and other factors->Produce based on economic value of provinces->Invest that into army, improving or maintaining Stability, or colonization, or religious conversion, or ethnic conversion->Fight Wars, Colonize, etc->Repeat. Turns will be 10 years long, most of the interaction is that of diplomacy between players. There is a tech system but it's strongly based on Time+Government type, basically if you have an acceptable government type at the time the new tech level arrives you will get it, tech level offering new government types, obsoleting old ones, and improving your combat vs inferior tech states. You also cannot generally change your government, it needs to get overthrown for that to happen (ie, low happiness). You also need to focus on not losing stability because if it falls too low it damages your economy, and then below that your state fractures and you need to basically start over again. I am of course though going to rely on history for introducing some factions, like the Huns will not be present in 1000 BC for example.

Economic values for provinces are also based off real life statistics so they should be fairly realistic; I put a bit of work into that.

 

[Janha]

I hope noobies are welcome: I have never taken part in games like these, but I am interested to try.
How much time does it require to participate? I will join if I possibly can.
The start date doesn't matter that much to me.

 

[Emperor Walter]

I hope noobies are welcome: I have never taken part in games like these, but I am interested to try.
How much time does it require to participate? I will join if I possibly can.
The start date doesn't matter that much to me.

Probably not much. It's mostly submitting an order per day and interacting with the other players.

 

[Kaisersohaib]

Interested.

 

[DragonOfAtlantis]

Interested

 

[Olligarchy]

Looks intriguing. I think fall of Rome would be fun start, but understandably pretty hard to do...

 

[Emperor Walter]

Looks intriguing. I think fall of Rome would be fun start, but understandably pretty hard to do...

I settled on 960. The problem with 400 was not so much that it was hard to do so much as it'd be really easy to go totally off the rails (indeed 400 is somewhat easier to plan since ithas fewer states). I'd prefer to start at a relatively calmer time, and I think 960 is a good choice since it's just at the start of the HRE and the end of the Hungarian raids on Europe.

 

[Olligarchy]

I settled on 960. The problem with 400 was not so much that it was hard to do so much as it'd be really easy to go totally off the rails (indeed 400 is somewhat easier to plan since ithas fewer states). I'd prefer to start at a relatively calmer time, and I think 960 is a good choice since it's just at the start of the HRE and the end of the Hungarian raids on Europe.

Makes sense. How many players you looking for then, and will HRE&France be divided into duchies or single nation kingdom?

 

[Emperor Walter]

Makes sense. How many players you looking for then, and will HRE&France be divided into duchies or single nation kingdom?

Any number of players is fine, as many as possible. In 960 the British isles alone have five different states.

States will be based on defacto independence, so France in 960 is divided into different states. The HRE will not be divided before 1648 though since while the state was weak after 1250, it was still basically a ingle state - after 1250 though it falls under the "anarchy" penalty, ie, it has the next to lowest stability where if the stability drops below that then the state shatters (like the post 1648 HRE). It also requires effort to raise stability, so. But some states will be independent depending on time period since they were defacto independent, like Switzerland post-1300s, Italy post 1100s, Burgundy post-1380s, etc.

 

[Emperor Walter]

Sign ups open: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/forum-game-rise-and-fall-960-ad.1003118/

 

[Tristen91]

Interested

 

[DragonOfAtlantis]

Interested

The game is here

 

[Tristen91]

The game is here

Thank you. I posted my interest in being the Ottomans there already just waiting approval