P.T.O. (mod)

[thenewteddy]

I'm going to create a mod for RTW2 that I will call "P.T.O." or "Pacific Theatre of Operations". Based on the P.T.O. series of games by KOEI.

It will be loosely based on this map I've created:
drive.google.com/open?id=1y9yDAGYmLv6Fw6nYLdgPaUNI7mp5hJ2y&usp=sharing


loosely! Don't get over-excited, there won't be 175 bases
Additionally, I will need to add a LOT of additional neural bases compared to this map. Expect to see them in areas of lesser control, such as parts of China, or areas that were claimed by a nation but not yet colonized by it.

Current plans are as follows.

(Note: I only have RTW 1 to compare things to, so, all of the below is written as though this is a RTW1 mod, but it will be a RTW2 mod; I may make it also a RTW1 mod pending on how hard it is to convert, and the demand) 


nation changes

USA = USA
Japan = Japan
UK = UK
Germany = Germany
Russia = Russia
France = France
Austria = Holland (Netherlands)
Italy = China

All except china are "big 7" and appear as your 6 enemies on all games. China games will lack Germany balance regions. 

Custom Nations

Spain = Spain
Spain2 = Spain, but with Mexico
CSA = Mexico
CSA2 = Mexico, but with Spain

Note that I'm not guaranteeing the above customs, only that if RTW2 is released with pre-set custom nations, I will do my best to match them in my mod with appropriate replacements. Additional custom nations that I probably will want or need are as follows:

Neutral China = Option for all 7 majors that turns all Chinese ports into neutrals instead of being held by the non-warrable China. 
Siam = A real challenge, germany and russia will not be opponents for balance regions when playing as Thailand.
Independent Hawaii = Assumes you've annexed or formed a federation with Tonga and Samoa; this is your true hardcore option. I even have a flag ready! 


More to come as I do further research and start construction on the mod itself. Feedback is welcome. I'm also willing to work with other modmakers to ensure my mod is compatible with other mods. 

[chainsawjoe911]

this looks pretty cool, you've got someone interested right here

[thenewteddy]

update



I'm gonna see what I can do in terms of making a map like this work in RTW1 as I suspect making it into a RTW2 mod will be very similar.

[thenewteddy]

clarifying whats on the map

seven major nations (US, Japan, UK, France, Russia, Germany, Holland) plus China. Bonus nations: Spain, Mexico, and Thailand.
each nation gets at least 1 home port. China gets two, one in each region. Siam gets two. Mexico gets 3. Japan and the US get 5.
each country gets 5 colony ports, except for the UK which gets 13, and Thailand which gets 0.
In the event a country is disabled, or not played, its home base in India (but not any outside India) is removed from the map, and its colonies are turned into neutral ports.
Oil areas will be Okhotsk, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Burma, Palembang, Sandarkan, Sorong, and Acapulco. (1 more than RTW1)
There are 99 bases (3 more)
There are 13 sea zones (1 more)
Lastly, the Indian home bases are just to ensure that each nation has a home base that's far from the action - save for Japan and the United States. France and the UK have real bases as their homes. The Dutch use a "Dutch East India Company" base. Germany uses a base from the Danish Indian colonies. Spain use a Portuguese base.

The budgets/resources will look something like this:

USA 40 // ENG 32 // JAP 28 // HOL 24 // FRA 24 // GER 18 // RUS 14 // MEX 10 // SPA 10 // CHI 08 // SIA 04 // HAW 02
USA 40 // ENG 36 // JAP 34 // HOL 32 // FRA 30 // GER 28 // RUS 24 // MEX 20 // SPA 18 // CHI 16 // SIA 12 // HAW 10

Friends
HAW -> JAP
SIA -> JAP
CHI -> JAP
SPA -> FRA
MEX -> FRA
RUS -> GER
GER -> HOL
FRA -> USA
HOL -> USA
JAP -> ENG
ENG -> FRA
USA -> FRA

Foes
HAW -> USA
SIA -> FRA
CHI -> ENG
SPA -> USA
MEX -> USA
RUS -> CHI
GER -> FRA
FRA -> GER
HOL -> ENG
JAP -> USA
ENG -> CHI
USA -> JAP

note that all of this is still a work in progress and subject to change

[garrisonchisholm]

Without saying anything I can't, I think you'll have to really rein in the number of bases you're thinking of, or it will be a game about land-based air that happens to feature some ships.

Playing the game a few times through might better inform your imagination as well- who knows, you might like it As Is!

[seawolf]

With regards to the regions I think it would fit much better to have one around the phillipines, one around indonesia, and one for singapore/malaysia rather than two fairly arbitrary regions

[thenewteddy]

Apr 18, 2019 15:59:09 GMT -6 garrisonchisholm said:

Without saying anything I can't, I think you'll have to really rein in the number of bases you're thinking of, or it will be a game about land-based air that happens to feature some ships.

Playing the game a few times through might better inform your imagination as well- who knows, you might like it As Is!

I'm actually fine with bases attacking other bases, as thats part of the game PTO, but I will, of course, have to test all this out to ensure it works as intended. 

Regardless, thank you for the feedback; I'm glad to see the mod is getting some attention! 

(I slightly updated the map earlier in the thread, but no bases changed)

[pirateradar]

The obstacle others have run into with these theater-focused mod ideas is that while adding more bases and possessions is apparently straightforward enough, editing the sea zones themselves is fairly involved and threatens to break a lot of other parts of the game. I don't know if anyone so far has successfully solved all the issues that editing sea zones causes, let alone changing the strategic map entirely.

[thenewteddy]

Apr 18, 2019 20:02:24 GMT -6 pirateradar said:

The obstacle others have run into with these theater-focused mod ideas is that while adding more bases and possessions is apparently straightforward enough, editing the sea zones themselves is fairly involved and threatens to break a lot of other parts of the game. I don't know if anyone so far has successfully solved all the issues that editing sea zones causes, let alone changing the strategic map entirely.

what are some of these challenges in editing the sea zones?

[pirateradar]

Apr 18, 2019 21:32:06 GMT -6 thenewteddy said:

Apr 18, 2019 20:02:24 GMT -6 pirateradar said:

The obstacle others have run into with these theater-focused mod ideas is that while adding more bases and possessions is apparently straightforward enough, editing the sea zones themselves is fairly involved and threatens to break a lot of other parts of the game. I don't know if anyone so far has successfully solved all the issues that editing sea zones causes, let alone changing the strategic map entirely.

what are some of these challenges in editing the sea zones?

You can find some discussion in this thread: nws-online.proboards.com/thread/658/post-custom-nations and you’d want to look to those posters and their mods for how they approached such problems with RtW in the past. Possibly, RtW2 has been redesigned in a way that makes this kind of thing easier, but I don’t know if that’s been a priority for the team.

[oldpop2000]

www.naval-history.net/Map00Index.htm - These maps might be useful in some way.


westpoint.edu/academics/academic-departments/history/world-war-two-asia

[thenewteddy]

Apr 18, 2019 21:44:20 GMT -6 pirateradar said:

Apr 18, 2019 21:32:06 GMT -6 thenewteddy said:

what are some of these challenges in editing the sea zones?

You can find some discussion in this thread: nws-online.proboards.com/thread/658/post-custom-nations and you’d want to look to those posters and their mods for how they approached such problems with RtW in the past. Possibly, RtW2 has been redesigned in a way that makes this kind of thing easier, but I don’t know if that’s been a priority for the team.

looking back over this it seems there are two challenges faced in particular by the south america mod; one being the simple work required to code the new sea zones, and the other being gameplay balance with regard to home zones and warfare.

for the first this is not an issue as I have far too much free time.

for the second, I may make some radical changes to the map to disinclude india altogether.

[thenewteddy]

After considering the above over the past day - as well as heavy edits to the map - I've made the decision to suspend the mod until I can see the RTW2 map and how it plays. I will work on a Netherlands country mod in the interim that will fill in a lot of the gaps in pacific warfare.

[dorn]

Apr 20, 2019 15:31:41 GMT -6 thenewteddy said:

After considering the above over the past day - as well as heavy edits to the map - I've made the decision to suspend the mod until I can see the RTW2 map and how it plays. I will work on a Netherlands country mod in the interim that will fill in a lot of the gaps in pacific warfare.

Good decision. I think it is needed firstly to know the game.

Neverthless I am looking forward to it.