Q: Why did this take so long?
Rome wasn’t built in a day, great work takes time, I’ve got a bunch of parables and proverbs I could use to justify the time this took; but honestly, it was a lot of work to make sure everything was as accurate as possible, and I’m just one person. To say we “slightly modified the Umbra Spherae map” would be a colossal understatement. If anything, this is the first real custom-tailored map Lux Invicta has ever had.
Q: Why do some bodies of water look shaded out while others have the water gloss?
In order to properly display at water, that part of the map must be at a certain level in the topology map. If we do this in areas of the map where there is high terrain, the effect looks like a massive sinkhole in the middle of the mountains. I tried smoothing it out as much as I could, but the only way to get it to look normal is to leave it be. I believe Camara ran into this same problem, because there were a bunch of shaded out lakes in Umbra Spherae as well.
Q: What about these new major rivers you mentioned before?
Indeed, the Indus, Ganges, and Nile Rivers are all navigable in this map. Did not take the idea from Paradox, it was an idea I had not too long before they announced theirs. The Indus and Ganges are very similar to the ones in the vanilla map, with the lack of the Brahmaputra. The Nile has been extended slightly beyond its actual navigability, all the way to Lake Nyanza (Lake Victoria). It splits off into the White and Blue Niles as well.
Q: Why so much work when only the Norse can navigate rivers?
This too will be changing. Upon research, it seems that there are other potential candidates for river navigation, including some Native American peoples and the Ancient Egyptians. The scope will be expanded, so if you’ve ever wanted to travel the rivers without pillaging for Odin, now you will have a chance.
Q: Is Africa going to be circumnavigable?
No. In antiquity, the idea of being able to provide for regular shipping voyages around the Cape is nearly impossible. Also, we don’t currently have provinces extending down the west coast. Rather, to connect the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, a Canalis Sinaticus has been added around the area that the Suez Canal is today, based on an ancient attempt to connect the two bodies of water that was
actually successful for a number of years.
Q: What’s up with the generic de jure layout? And those basic-ass dynasty names? This isn’t even close to being done!
No, it’s not. Sadly, this project was much bigger than I imagined. In order to speed things along and provide a playable release for the new map, I’ve gone over the realms and de jure layouts in a basic manner for the time being: general concepts, famous dynasties, and pretty much all religion/culture layouts will for all intents and purposes be done, but things like de jure layout, names, dynasties, etc. will be brief and generic… for now. The next part of the finalization process is much slower, requires more attention, but will matter in the long run, and I’m almost positive it will help us distinguish ourselves as a total overhaul mod. Each province will be examined, and baronies will be reestablished to better fit the setting of the mod. Names will be chosen to better reflect the cultural diversity and ancient settlements of the world. Simultaneously, each province will be slotted into a de jure structure that is much more fitting for the ancient world, and not full of duchies, kingdoms, and even empires that make absolutely no sense in the universe wherein this mod resides.
For the purposes of a good example, I’ve already gone over the provincial names and selected much more appropriate alternatives. For a better example of what the world will look like when everything is finished, please reference Great Britain and Greenland and Iceland, as these have already been done to a larger extent.
Q: How do you plan on incorporating new Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain mechanics into their Lux Invicta counterparts?
As far as I can tell, the only thing they’ve done for Buddhism is the selection of different sects within the faith. This is Paradox’s way of showing the diversity of scholastic thought within the Buddhist religion. In Lux, Buddhism – much like Christianity – underwent a significant degree of factional splintering and cultural infusion, and many of these sects that Paradox uses are actually independent religions (in some cases, heresies) within the Buddhist religion group. In other words, I think we should do away with this system in Buddhism. While it really is basically the same system represented for the three different Indian religions, its application in Hinduism as a favorite deity could really be applied to many polytheistic religions in Lux, and I think that such action should definitely be considered for the various polytheistic pantheons of the Invictiverse. In Jainism, the break into the Digambara and Svetambara schools makes sense. I wonder if there are other religious we can apply the same concept to… As for other mechanics, if they make sense in game, we can find a way to apply them to something.
