Project:Realpolitik: Difference between revisions

Line 168:

:*Crabbers

:*Western Hive

;It's key to understand that the moment Realpolitik's overrides kick in is when we enter a state of organically branching reality. What the mod strives to do above all else is place appropriate guardrails on the mod's ability to proceed through the state network. Due to how busy the juggler can become at times and the wide variety of results within a rich network of possibilities the simple principle emerged:

*'''PLAY BACKWARDS!'''

;Everything can be predicted when the outcomes are predetermined, no matter how cumbersome the in-between seems the answer set at both ends is known. Which leads to a question...

*How does The War in Bast conclude, since it must?

#A Holy Nation Defeat

#A United Cities Defeat

#A "Defeat" of Both, see below

#A Cannibal Victory

#A Rebel "Victory" (Not to be confused with...)

#A Bandit "Victory"

#Inconclusive Retreat (Read as Neutral "Victory")

#United Cities Total Victory

#Holy Nation Total "Victory"

;The Holy Nation outcome is the most conditional because it offers a good moment to bring up...

*The Canon Route

;The Holy Nation have a special role to play in the mod's overarching narrative. One of these points is dominated by the following fact:

*The Holy Nation will '''never''' fully occupy the desert.

*Likewise, much of the Holy Nation's borders are either preset, subject to future loss or in a state of temporary access. This is kept in check by the procession of events and crises which occur throughout the mod's main storyline. Many things may occur in cases of Holy Nation victories - though for each expansion is an expected contraction. Let's talk about the aftermath of a United Cities Defeat and Holy Nation Total Victory scenario given this leads to...

*The Treaty of Irdun

;In the event the world (or player) decides to press for the HN running the table at Bast the UC will be encouraged to sue for peace. This will leads to a series of unique events throughout the desert as the Scarlet Crusade (and its ecstatic loyalists) begin to enforce the new peace upon the desert fringes. This is new ground for the Holy men and a much needed page turn to a long overstayed affair with the imperial military. The Okranite presence becomes more of a happenstance to the (perceived and real) failure of imperial defenses. Morale begins to waver in earnest and the Empire (at least the desert wing) is forced to accept its peculiar armistice status with their now nearer rival. The counterbalancing aspect of this is found in the chaos this induces to the regions neighboring Bast and the behaviors of the factions found within. In isolation a Holy Nation victory is ground gained for them and lost for the UC. Remember to consider for all the other parties at the aforementioned tables.

:*What of the Cannibals?

:*What of the factions related to or reliant upon the northern corridor being "accessible"?

:*What of Flotsam? Are the Western Cannibals still in check?

:*What of the Rebels? Are the Eastern Cannibals still in check?

:*What of Deadcat? Oh, that's right!

;This is where a necessary guardrail is checked for. The Holy Nation just did something they haven't done in seeming decades - gained ground.

:*If the north is stable and ripe for proceeding with events... then it does. As like how the War in Bast is amplified to escalate until its conclusion so too are other regions and event chains activated based off reaching an unlocking (unlatching) event. This can occur through other concurrently available means (like the listed checks combining into their own "key"). However, the '''canon route''', if followed, enforces this chain of events to occur one after another. This journey takes the player across the whole of the map... concluding where you might expect.

:*While there is an implied urgency to all this one of the driving factors is ensuring the "late game" (which is what the crisis chain is entirely a part of) does not unlatch and unleash ''too soon''. Which is the ultimate point of the keyring system. All content is available but is carefully locked behind necessary barriers to maintain early and middle game experiences until a player has signaled to the world they're fully prepared to partake. The dial moves slowly. When thousands of states are in play it can feel glacial. The best panacea for fears of runaway momentum is to ADD MORE CONTENT! It is that easy, really. The difference between 3 states to turn over Bast and 33 (conclusively, in one way) is a palpable increase in time to reach that end (even if the player abstains).

@@ Line 168: / Line 168: @@
 :*Crabbers
 :*Western Hive
+;It's key to understand that the moment Realpolitik's overrides kick in is when we enter a state of organically branching reality. What the mod strives to do above all else is place appropriate guardrails on the mod's ability to proceed through the state network. Due to how busy the juggler can become at times and the wide variety of results within a rich network of possibilities the simple principle emerged:
+*'''PLAY BACKWARDS!'''
+;Everything can be predicted when the outcomes are predetermined, no matter how cumbersome the in-between seems the answer set at both ends is known. Which leads to a question...
+*How does The War in Bast conclude, since it must?
+#A Holy Nation Defeat
+#A United Cities Defeat
+#A "Defeat" of Both, see below
+#A Cannibal Victory
+#A Rebel "Victory" (Not to be confused with...)
+#A Bandit "Victory"
+#Inconclusive Retreat (Read as Neutral "Victory")
+#United Cities Total Victory
+#Holy Nation Total "Victory"
+;The Holy Nation outcome is the most conditional because it offers a good moment to bring up...
+*The Canon Route
+;The Holy Nation have a special role to play in the mod's overarching narrative. One of these points is dominated by the following fact:
+*The Holy Nation will '''never''' fully occupy the desert.
+*Likewise, much of the Holy Nation's borders are either preset, subject to future loss or in a state of temporary access. This is kept in check by the procession of events and crises which occur throughout the mod's main storyline. Many things may occur in cases of Holy Nation victories - though for each expansion is an expected contraction. Let's talk about the aftermath of a United Cities Defeat and Holy Nation Total Victory scenario given this leads to...
+*The Treaty of Irdun
+;In the event the world (or player) decides to press for the HN running the table at Bast the UC will be encouraged to sue for peace. This will leads to a series of unique events throughout the desert as the Scarlet Crusade (and its ecstatic loyalists) begin to enforce the new peace upon the desert fringes. This is new ground for the Holy men and a much needed page turn to a long overstayed affair with the imperial military. The Okranite presence becomes more of a happenstance to the (perceived and real) failure of imperial defenses. Morale begins to waver in earnest and the Empire (at least the desert wing) is forced to accept its peculiar armistice status with their now nearer rival. The counterbalancing aspect of this is found in the chaos this induces to the regions neighboring Bast and the behaviors of the factions found within. In isolation a Holy Nation victory is ground gained for them and lost for the UC. Remember to consider for all the other parties at the aforementioned tables.
+:*What of the Cannibals?
+:*What of the factions related to or reliant upon the northern corridor being "accessible"?
+:*What of Flotsam? Are the Western Cannibals still in check?
+:*What of the Rebels? Are the Eastern Cannibals still in check?
+:*What of Deadcat? Oh, that's right!
+;This is where a necessary guardrail is checked for. The Holy Nation just did something they haven't done in seeming decades - gained ground.
+:*If the north is stable and ripe for proceeding with events... then it does. As like how the War in Bast is amplified to escalate until its conclusion so too are other regions and event chains activated based off reaching an unlocking (unlatching) event. This can occur through other concurrently available means (like the listed checks combining into their own "key"). However, the '''canon route''', if followed, enforces this chain of events to occur one after another. This journey takes the player across the whole of the map... concluding where you might expect.
+:*While there is an implied urgency to all this one of the driving factors is ensuring the "late game" (which is what the crisis chain is entirely a part of) does not unlatch and unleash ''too soon''. Which is the ultimate point of the keyring system. All content is available but is carefully locked behind necessary barriers to maintain early and middle game experiences until a player has signaled to the world they're fully prepared to partake. The dial moves slowly. When thousands of states are in play it can feel glacial. The best panacea for fears of runaway momentum is to ADD MORE CONTENT! It is that easy, really. The difference between 3 states to turn over Bast and 33 (conclusively, in one way) is a palpable increase in time to reach that end (even if the player abstains).