Cytat:
Balance
As to the issue of balancing, I think it surely is required because this is a Total War game and as a result it will never be able to completely accurately portray the politics and balance of power in Faerun. The game mechanics and AI behaviour patters make it necessary to put some checks and balances in place, to ensure a more or less 'balanced' campaign. This doesn't mean that certain factions must be made significantly weaker or stronger, but rather that their rapid development (or going wild as Flinn says) should be in check.
It should be obvious that if a faction is included as playable, its not there only be wiped out within a few turns as that would make it a complete waste of time and effort to work on such a faction in the first place. At this point the work on the mod is not focusing on the balancing, but there will be certain scripts and other means to keep all factions development within specific boundaries. That doesn't mean that a player wont be able to expand their factions. At the same time numerous 'tools' can be implemented to make any rapid conquest more of a challenge - like for example scripted rebellions if a faction commits too much of its armed forces to conquest instead of keeping their regions content.
Unther - Mulhorand
Even Unther, despite its difficult situation, can survive for quite a while, as its allied with the Thay - mortal enemy of Mulhorand, and it could be enough for them to survive the first 25 turns (see below) to keep going. The forces of Thay will be more than a match for Mulhorand, so for Mulhorand to declare war on Unther and wipe it out, will be dangerous because they will face a conflict with the Thay - who may even be able to conquer parts of Mulhorand.
Spellplague
Furthermore, while discussing balancing and politics, its important to remember that not very long after the start of the campaign, there will be a major global disaster called the Spellplague. It will shake the foundations of many factions, create numerous natural disasters (since magical disasters are not possible in a TW game) and may even bring the strong factions to its knees. According to the Faerun timeline and 'history', Mulhorand was pretty much destroyed during that event and their pantheon disappeared. I dont want the exactly same effect in the mod because making a faction disappear after 25 turns is no good at all, but Mulhorand will be broken after the Spellplague hits, making it much less of a threat. Unther was obliterated aswell but for a different reason, which cannot be really implemented as that would require a change of the campaign map during the course of the gameplay which is ofc impossible. However, other means such as natural disasters and spawning large rebel armies can bring enough destruction. After a number of turns different effects of the spellplague will be expiring, leaving Faerun reshaped, many factions will have to recover and expansion will be difficult for most of them.
Independent/rebel cities and rebellions or rebel raids
Although there are many cities which will be controlled by the independent (rebel) factions at the start of the campaign, not all of them will be easy targets. The multitude of permanent forts - all of which will have some armies to defend them - will affect how quickly the AI can expand, because many of these forts are placed along the roads from one city to another, being obvious obstacles for any invaders. The armies sitting in those forts (or cities) can be made immobile, so that they will not leave their posts, until destroyed. That some of those forts will be easier to conquer than others, will not change the fact that even the smallest and least defended of them will be able to slow down invading armies advance. On top of that, for certain cities or castles, additional 'reinforcements' scripts will be prepared, to ensure that they are well defended in case of any sieges. Another way to keep the factions busy are two global regions which will never be conquered by any faction and will always remain under control of the rebel forces, aimed to spawn rebel armies during the course of the entire campaign.
How will it all turn out is another story, Im just giving you my ideas or plans based on features which were already tested in other mods and proven successful. Ofcourse to see how anything will actually work, things will have to be tested. I just wanted to explain that Im aware of different difficulties which may arise, and have some plans and means to counter them.
