Winter is Coming

Winter is Coming

This is a map based off of a Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. The plot, in short, is that the king is dead, and war has begun (takes place roughly near the end of the first book if you've read them-if you haven't read this far in the series, there might be spoilers ahead).

You take control of one major House of the continent (with the exception of the Mountain Clans, who aren't technically a house), and try to destroy your enemies, though I'm not sure what the ultimate victory condition will be. Each faction will hopefully have its own gameplay-some Houses are much more powerful than others, however, the weaker ones are going to have some other advantages to make it possible for them to succeed. And, like in the books, straight up power won't be the only way to win. You can ally or declare war with anyone (with only a few exceptions), so for weaker Houses especially, backstabbing will be a good way to get power. Two thirds of the factions start out at war, and the other third neutral.

There will also be some special events/findables, but not too many that it interferes too much with gameplay.

Factions:
House Stark-House Stark starts out with the most heroes, demis, and cities, but controls the largest area of land (meaning that it's the hardest to defend. Although their "deathtrap" at Moat Cailin defends from landbased attacks, House Stark is vulnerable to attack from the water. The Starks' northern castles and cities provide some of the best cavalry and melee infantry. House Stark starts out allied with House Tully and at war with House Lannister and King Joffrey.
House Frey-One of the weaker factions, House Frey controls a main river crossing connecting the north to the riverlands. House Frey also controls a decent amount of wealth, and a sizable army for it's small territorial holdings. Their best chance lies in the fact that their position makes them a useful ally both to the Starks and Tullys, or enemies of the Starks and Tullys.
House Tully-The main House of the riverlands, this faction is one of the major Houses, although they are weaker than the nearby Lannisters. They start out allied to House Stark, and at war with the Lannisters and King Joffrey.
King Joffrey of the Seven Kingdoms-Technically the king, Joffrey's reign is plagued by rebellion. King's Landing is one of the largest cities on the continent, and the master of coin, Petyr Baelish, ensures that the King will have plenty of gold to spend on crushing his enemies. The King is allied with House Lannister, and at war with Houses Tully, Stark, Tyrell, and Baratheon (both brothers) at the start.
House Lannister-One of the strongest Houses, the Lannisters control the westerlands. The Lannisters are the only faction at the start that can field longbowman, which are the most powerful (and one of the best) archers. The Lannisters are also the richest House with the most starting gold income. They start out in position to attack the riverlands, which they are at war with. The Lannisters also start out allied with King Joffrey, and at war with Houses Stark, Tyrell, and Baratheon as well as House Tully.
House Martell-House Martell controls Dorne at the southern end of the continent. Although their army is small compared to that of most major Houses, they have excellent cavalry and excell at ambushes. At the start, they are one of the major balancing factors in the game as they stand ready to attack House Tyrell or Renly Baratheon if those two immediately attack the Lannisters and King.
House Tyrell-House Tyrell controls the reach and has the largest army of any House. They are also one of the richest, but the Greyjoys and Martells are poised to attack if their borders are left unguarded. House Tyrell starts out at war with House Lannister, King Joffrey, and Mountain Clans, and is allied with Renly Baratheon.
Renly Baratheon-Renly Baratheon conrols the stormlands, which can field a moderate army. Renly starts out allied with House Tyrell, and at war with the Lannisters, King Joffrey, and Mountain Clans.
House Greyjoy-The resident pirate faction, the Greyjoys homeland is the Iron Islands, off the coast of the Westerlands. They also have the strongest navy, and excell at attacking coasts and pillaging, although alone they cannot stand up to most houses in a full scale battle.
House Arryn-House Arryn controls the Vale of Arryn, and has several excellent defensive positions and strong cavalry. They are one of the most powerful neutral factions at the start, and could easily decide starting conflicts. They start out at war with the Mountain Clans.
Stannis Baratheon-Stannis Baratheon controls Dragonstone and several nearby islands. His army is relatively small and his navy only decent. However, the hero Melisandre has several nasty powers. Stannis starts out at war with the Lannisters, King Joffrey, and Mountain Clans.
Mountain Clans-The mountain clans in the Mountains of the Moon have been the enemies of House Arryn for ages, and only survive by hiding and avoiding open conflict. However, as scavengers, they excell at pillaging and their units will improve the more that they kill. With their allegiance bought with promises of weapons, the clans have agreed to follow Tyrion Lannister and aid his family in their struggles. The Mountain Clans start out allied with the Lannisters and King Joffrey and at war with House Arryn and all the other enemies of the Lannisters and Joffrey.

Income will depend on the amount of cities/castles/other special buildings controlled, and unit spawns will be customizable (you get to choose what you spawn at each city/castle you control).

A note on screenshots-I tend to do the castles/towns first, and then terrain the rest of the map. So if terrain outside of the bases looks bland, thats why.

Screenshots of the North:

Bear Island:


Torrhen's Square:


Moat Cailin:


Deepwood Motte:


Greywater Watch:


Last Hearth:


Winterfell:


The Dreadfort:

*bump* maybe someone will reply this time...

Screenshots of the Riverlands, Part 1 (more to come later if anyone shows interest)

The Twins:

What's the playstyle like? Is it about building troops using your own gold and controlling them? Normally, I would assume so, but you mentioned picking what types of units you spawn, and spawn is not a word I would usually associate with building units, but rather with just receiving them for free (like in footmen frenzy for example). It would be good if you could give a bit more information of that fashion.

I also think that the terrain could be improved, though I realize that it is in its early stages.

Good books, though.

The spawning system used in this map is pretty unique (I can only think of one other map that uses it). You have complete control (except for at the start) of what units you spawn. Each city has 2-4 units that it can spawn (exception-Mountain Clans, unless I think of more units for them). All cities/castles are capturable, although their max spawning is reduced with each change of ownership. Cities/Castles are also the source of food-the more cities you have, the larger your army can be. Gold Income also depends on how many cities you control, although there will be some alternative ways to get it.

For a better look at this I'll make an example using Winterfell. Winterfell is a strong castle and as such has a maximum spawn of 5 units the start of the game (indicated by 5 max mana). Its starting spawn is 1 swordsman and 1 spearman, so it's starting mana is 3/5. Say at the start I decide to train a Knight of Winterfell. It's added to the spawn, and the mana becomes 2/5. When Winterfell has 0 mana it can't add any more units to its spawn. Now say that the forces of the North are fighting in the riverlands, and House Greyjoy decides to invade. They attack Winterfell, and by reducing its health to 500 hit points, capture it. Winterfell's spawn is reset, and its mana restored. However, due to the nature of war Winterfell will no longer be able to field as many units, and the mana is reset to 4/5. From there it spawns and provides income to the Greyjoys, unless... The forces of the North return home and retake Winterfell. The max spawn would now be 3. As of now income does not get reduced with each change of ownership. Each time a city is captured its max spawn is reduced by one, until its max spawn becomes zero and it is destroyed. There are only a couple exceptions to this system (such as Moat Cailin). Also, like in Broken Alliances (King_Leopold's map), there will probably be an option to destroy cities for gold instead of just capturing them.

Ships will not be spawnable, but will be buildable at shipyards. Also, mercenaries will be hireable. Gold will be used for ships, mercenaries, and to add units to cities and castles spawns. Lumber will be used in buildings, ships, and siege weapons. As of now, lumber will be given at regular intervals like in most maps, and possibly acquirable through other means.

And about the terrain-I made an edit to the original post as well-I usually terrain the castles/towns first and rest of the map after, so if terrain outside of the castles looks bland, thats why. Though if you have any particular comments on terrain I'm open to suggestions.

Sounds interesting. It would have been helpful if that information had been in the first post.

You might, however, add an option to remove one of the spawns in order to replace it with a different one as alliances or whatever change.