• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
I found out about this project from a steam workshop page, and I have just one question. Are you getting rid of the blatantly unhistorical and incredibly poorly thought-out Magna Graecia province? I'd also love to see Sardinia and Corsica be its own province, but that's a secondary concern.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
I found out about this project from a steam workshop page, and I have just one question. Are you getting rid of the blatantly unhistorical and incredibly poorly thought-out Magna Graecia province? I'd also love to see Sardinia and Corsica be its own province, but that's a secondary concern.
Maybe, we are focussing on other things right now.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
Hello there , Discord helps more to respond to any questions quicker and its also easier to organise our server in a way that provides easier coordination between the devs without giving more bread to the fans than we should for the time being ;)

We check the forums as well and if you'd prefer to respond here, that's totally fine! Discord is better for back-and-forth prolonged discussions, but post wherever you're most comfortable. (DD's also come out as Reddit posts on r/Imperator).
Thank you both for your answers! Indeed it is just me probably being new to discord. I have started seeing how it might be easier to have the continues discussion you mentioned in a quicker way though.
I was positively surprised at the people that are in Imperator Invictus discord!!! A lot more activity than here. In any case I really appreciate your extra effort to post here, in reddit and discord! :)
 
  • 3Like
Reactions:
DD4: Galatian invasion+ release date
DD4: Galatian invasion+ release date
Salvete, readers!
Perhaps some of you visited an oracle last week or perhaps our teasers are quite a bit revealing, but many of you have guessed what we can now confirm: Invictus will feature the long-awaited Galatian invasion! Today, @jphiloponus and @Palando will be describing the grand event sequence and Celtic setup required to pull this feat off, with some added flavour comments from our localization aide, Stephan.

(For those too lazy to read the entire DD, the Release Date announcement is at the bottom)


The Galatian Setup:
When we think about Celts, we often only think about Gaul and Britain. There was, however, a major Celtic population located in Pannonia and Transylvania, which gave us one of the most famous quotes about Celts, “Vae victis!” meaning ‘Woe to the vanquished!’, as well as one of the most famous military campaigns against the Mediterranean world, a fact that the lucky 0.1% of Imperator players know who have gotten this achievement:
pd7KV77KiDO06k5J8CleiZq-CViYzyH0xMHTqq4lLyZT5kjotrJCgWAmq1uR5nPimA7HPDmpg1INNDnJER1KuPK-nr4RcRnnvdQlqZQo82cmkye-6-Gf0ppmci2fwz_Z1mWPx4Fj

nku3UWp7YtnnWrTPcTmLociYCnIYpF3AGw6LzIsotdNQdQKwZccpkYbjYZIN03HJWiSYbR6cavglhTDBvkSsGYeioIRuzk3J4TIyIv-3gFzQRgePgOMRNVMs9ug_A4VXVW2JqU7R


The first written mention of the Celts in the Balkans dates to 335 BC and describes an episode between Alexander the Great and a Celtic envoy:
The king received them kindly and asked them, when drinking, what it was that they most feared, thinking that they would say himself, but they replied they feared nothing except that the sky might fall on them, although indeed, they added, they put above everything else the friendship of such a man as he (Strabon, Geog.7.3.8).

Another Celtic envoy reached Alexander the Great in 324 BC in Babylon. It's quite likely the Celtic envoys were able to gather information about Anatolia and its riches during this journey. These encounters with the wealth of the Hellenic world sparked the Celts’ interest, and it’s no wonder they would seek to claim it for themselves. The first attempt in 298 BC wasn’t successful, but around two decades later an invasion was launched that would stop the Hellenic world in its tracks and which is the feature of our event sequence

In order to recreate the conditions for this massive Celtic invasion to take place, a change of the setup was needed, as most of the Celtic players were absent in the base game. First off, the three Galatian tribes, Trocmia, Tectosagia and Tolistobogia, together with their historical leaders were added to Pannonia. Players who have undertaken a Gaul campaign will note that Tectosagia already exists in the game. Indeed, these two separate nations in the game originated from the same tribe. Another Scordiscian tribe, Celegeria, was added, so that there are three major Scordiscian tribes which each will try invading a target (more on that below).

4Z8s5SHl-HXGjWTMqB0Hdcms1unt9Yj1ZMOKyj3RHWfJUN56MtnTai7T-pCGyC3AKtjQvsm3zvfj_i5yE-mMWYgnBcQjLPyjo6W6MTe0vt3Xah6WrSXsJ8JFRaDKDbNcpbqcWZ_O


Another quite unique challenging start for the player to pick in this area are the Transylvanian Celts, depicted by Anartia, as they start with most of their pops being Dacian, while their ruling class is Celtic.

Furthermore, we also changed the setup of the neighbouring Illyrians as well as Noricum to fix some happy accidents from Imperator’s release version and make it on par with other reworked parts of the world like Anatolia. One final, but important change to the setup was reverting the split off the Pannonian Celts from the Gallic ones, because the migrants intruded into Pannonia starting from the 4th century BC and continued to do so until well into the game’s timeframe, i.e. it didn’t make sense to represent them as a separate branch.
For instance, the Taurisci are now located in modern day Slovenia; together with Boihaemia they’d later on control much of Pannonia. Noricum was formerly divided into four equal zones, which as you can see has a completely different setup now.

sPDwPJBFl0rl6NwETZg1lqYV9hVZCR8ZzimJOctN5UEOd5yFQ8xW4uYBY3wvcj_RUfvdkWLDrkkmXMScLu2FIMp1G-MZtC3sm8BERGgXWvXmykT3PVcQMkuQaeQVmzWHIVukvAv5


For comparison the old Norican setup:
RAfqYTF-beYOSds8Zopg0X4DHV2O3tcgYj4ysDGUP5oBKdB1OSJSnq77Ap_7tx9IWLlAMYYXdY_qDL-MOHEW6DUop2P1tYDDehJbPRdDg14RP0B7704br_PQ2cyUsdWf74w1CM6j



The Invasion:
Hi, I’m Jphiloponus or @GloryGloryByzantium here on the forums. I’ve worked on a variety of mods in the past and have my hands in a few exciting projects here for Invictus. I’ve always been a bit troubled that one of the premier events for Anatolia in antiquity, the Galatian invasion, was not included. One can even see the event as the closing chapter on the Diadochi era, as it occurred not long after the passing of Ptolemy, Lysimachos, and Seleukos (all within two years’ time) and wreaked havoc on the Hellenic world. After this event, much of historiography of the Hellenistic period for the next century is lost to us.

With that grand context in mind, an event sequence has been crafted to help the AI simulate these events in a dynamic and flexible way. Players have always had the option of picking up a migratory tribe and forming Galatia via decision (more on player interactions later), but the AI never seems to make such an attempt. Indeed, there are technical barriers related to AI migration, but we’ve found a way to work around them via event sequence. Just as every player in the eastern Mediterranean enjoys seeing the aftermath of the 4th war event, so we hope that you scan the map over Greece and Anatolia and smile when you see civilized barbarians farming their new pastures.

As mentioned above, historically the invasions occurred around 281 BC. More important than the date was the chaotic situation the Epigoni inherited. The Antigonids and an exiled son of Ptolemy who ruled Thrace were vying for the Macedonian throne, while Antiochos was busy consolidating his rule over Anatolia after he inherited a massive realm. As such, the event sequence is triggered dynamically.
If Pella is not owned by Macedon or the Seleucids own land in the Phrygian region, the event will begin.
(the keen observer may safely disregard the date and map setup in the screenshots below; this context was only used for testing purposes).
While the invasions were part of a confederation of various tribes which split off in different directions, for gameplay reasons the invasions will be wars of conquest by multiple Gallic nations residing in the upper Balkans. The first begins with Dindaria attacking Pella. As modders do not have access to directly trigger migration, the invaders will spawn a large army right on the doorstep of their intended target. The lack of time to prepare should emulate the shock factor these invasions gave to the Greeks seeking to defend their cities.
-d71nA3Zl8szP_Glg9o6HAAturzZTRQtz2HAblp_caIscJe4N4o7jkvYPCKUX8qc0uZZAZvJlDafH8g4M5n7_m85iLz0AYMOH4gNnEZHVBnEwQ7SrmQ46n5BNUxgpDXBykBznMAO


Next, Scordiscia attacks Delphi and spawns north of the pass of Thermopylae, where they were historically defeated by a coalition of Greeks. To simulate this defense, all Greek states in central Greek get a summons to war within a few days, an option which the AI will always take.
dyg-eUV8_Mekf6UGdnwncCfCr0IJgo_wPMq7aOESy_gkYXXuYZZw68-HEHp1s7oM9Blonv2euelNMXHKj0sFdiDhqkHalKKK8IbTzx7a6UAUESwIiHueLV9aIKv3RkzZhoGwkOOy


Rounding up the European theater of invasions, Celegeria moves east to take on the owner of Mesembria in their attempt to establish the short-lived kingdom of Tylis:
lsfRC4M2vIfJR2yUcF_sXOHAqe48r_oxCQK1v0rRiuO6B-JLArjM98Rk7KwJxyTWRMVHWd6AbEP_CvbPhgQlos3e1vC4PXSanajeWKli804iSsrl2kK8qmzrRuJZBEWswzV1n6_Q


Finally, we come to the most famous and successful of these invasions. With the modified setup by Palando, we can now send the three Volcae nations on their historic journey. Tolistobogia, Testosagia, and Trocmeri combine to attack a wide region of Anatolia. Each nation will declare their own separate war, which may lead to different war defenders depending on who owns the land in question.
rLttDuJku3UMkNvCiWgFOMJjyrUCL1dlvJuDHgMh5bRoIzmXnhK19zaxbRhA8WcPXzRDBfqKs2TS9KiWk5ZDVTJbB-RnSVvzBuD_TXCTo45IsMtFZJc5IQ4VmBY9ysV9QamEajVl

Historically, Antiochos defeated the Gauls in the ‘Battle of the Elephants’ but gave them land in exchange for their subject status. To simulate this occurrence, a scripted peace offer is sent to each defender after a certain amount of time in war. While any defender who is a player has the option to fight on, the AI will always take the peace deal. We may explore a more dynamic resolution in the future, but the contingencies of the war made this approach the most feasible for now. The full land distribution given out by the peace deal roughly corresponds to the historical borders of the three tribes which would form Galatia.
WRzEHXLuNOfAKJRefGc3ryV_xdiXrAXeN9cR8gqxcL0v8leqawS_VtUZiRapxAKCBcQyGG63k3ksiqjoc3UE5p-SoG9gT38UFIlG8v7XMWxnPARBFBfqHxs0HQt9lUIyqRaMY2EI

s0oLxq4HT5BECF0gCkHrzdfzsSpgA70idko2_eaCRRf147geMkR8HYt4Qga0WBcdZu2bO7NNz4KJhmJpb-xBbOf4p-ILUZQtaAYH2G1rJlmwSFUeJfSTKYxTkNvDLJ4hU-J6SapQ


Next comes the settlement. Ideally, after the war the migration units turn their swords into plowshares and settle in. But as mentioned above, migration features are not directly moddable and we have had to use a few tricks to simulate the effects.
An event will trigger which moves all Gallic pops from the Balkan provinces over to their new Anatolian home. As we see below, the new Gallic pops reside in a sea of locals from Anatolia, making cultural integration a significant challenge. Finally, the military units spawned by the initial event are still shown here. These may be removed (settled?) (as they would for a settled migratory unit) or may be utilized for other purposes to be disclosed at a later date...
7Q7A9cne1ugnAfphLrJ2GGon6RJuTAomjsltcGPvq-uTFQ_sW8rhxhSqCdJu5qWCgUue6w_1owyddlG7YXI9PioFF3nuiVR4fd3S7Q0ozkF-RUC42y4w9FHt1kVVakW-eMI1RbmH


There’s also an event for the disparate Gallic culture pops to merge into a single Galatian culture, which constitutes a separate branch in the Celtic cultures, indicating their divergence over time from practices in the Celtic homelands.
TsMennZspcXp3uN1Mk7Zr2oACFE_WPeV8kpKmV1sE1ynNGD0TLNrIxyZPnF5ZXe_cKDso-3z2ahIKdfEhAOdMJEvg08D9l94lQKC2J19f7cOfVMZNTBDqwd_VEIPLrAYaXBE5f9m

Speaking of shifting cultures, it would be insufficient to place these Celts in their new home and not let them change their flag to the most beautifully hideous emblem in the game. Because the decision to form Galatia requires even more real estate which the AI may not seek out and which we also did not want to give away freely via the above event (for historical reasons), the new nation will form via event after a certain amount of time. Any existing Gallic nation with land in the Phrygia region will be absorbed into the new country with the various buffs given from the decision (keeping in mind that these tribes lose their homeland in Pannonia after the migration).
kZYMOn-YRsvOGfOI3pSPpLIsLgxFMW-5iTYkAzF8bSDWcalwj_cosMhszKiTe62O05JiR2GK9qNVjynno3gzSSDoQv5i23O82EeSlqZzhnrJ1frZKNx2oZZmW_ncmV7GI-1-74nO


This sequence will hopefully allow the player to look over at Anatolia a few decades into the game and smirk when see an impish shade of cyan they’re not used to seeing (or perhaps Pergamon and Mithridatic players may let out a groan at the new enemy on their doorstep).
As for playing through the event as an invader, Palando has designed a mission tree to guide each potential tribe to their new home:
lG3KvtU7itaTv1LE97DtFh5dZt0t_xVqzyxBNPQkOVA-dClZBthGlydrmT5hNcXdE8vur2IdiovPytJTKOePw6NP43vb54R1_ZaLLsuUZU3Uo32N9-WzzHUnlOHrXkOONmRAmQyX

Together with @GloryGloryByzantium, these tasks will be integrated with the above invasion event to allow the player to feel they are part of a multinational grand migration. We hope this gives an improved immersion experience for those wanting to form Galatia or its corresponding European counterpart in an alt-history run.


Release date announcement:
And now last but not least, we have a release date for you. The oracle has spoken and on the 30th of June the mod will be uploaded to the Steam Workshop and the Paradox mod store. Just in time for the summer holidays so everyone can enjoy the mod in full.
Assuming everything goes to plan, everything we have leaked will be in the mod from day one and there will also be some content we won’t have leaked. But for that you’ll have to wait just a little bit more.
 
Last edited:
  • 46Like
  • 26Love
  • 2
  • 1
Reactions:
Do you modders know how to spawn barbarian hordes? I am trying to make a mod and include some horde attacks.
 
the annoying game barbarians. AMAZING Mod BTW.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
Do you mean ‘barbarians’ per the game, as in the annoying pillagers who take the civ value of your city?
Or do you mean armies of tribal nations like above?
Barbarian hordes also give free tribal pops, which depending on how civilized you are is a boost, either be rid of them or use them for passive pop generation.

Anyway, I would like to thank the Invictus team for working on Imperator!
 
  • 2Like
Reactions:
So very cool! I like scripted events like these since it adds some planning to a campaign. I hope Arheo and the other devs play this mod!
 
  • 2Like
Reactions:
Now I've had the chance to go through all of this, and it looks incredible. Unfortunately my modding skills really are mostly limited to provinces and territories and historical knowledge, which you seem to have covered. But I'm rooting for you!
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
Not sure if this part of the game is accessible to modders, but a few days ago a bug with pops of integrated cultures restricted to Citizen rights promoting to Nobles anyway was confirmed by multiple users (discussion with a link to the bug thread in the 1st post can be found here: https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/foru...-status-by-civil-rights-due-to-a-bug.1477351/ ). If this is fixable by modding, I think it is something which either Imperator Invictus or the incorporated unofficial patch could adress.
 
Last edited:
  • 1
Reactions:
The Galatian invasion stuff is great. I commend Paradox for trying to emulate migrations but they didn't get it quite right.
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
I suppouse you focus on different things for now, but when you finish all major goals you have now - is there a chance that you extend the timeline and add christianity sometime in the future?
 
the annoying game barbarians
I’ll look into how they spawn and if it’s moddable. Would you rather see barbarians rather than armies of foreign nations?
If you have the answer I am also interested in doing the Slavic migrations
Same question as above regarding barbarians or adding content for Slavic migratories?
 
  • 1
Reactions:
I suppouse you focus on different things for now, but when you finish all major goals you have now - is there a chance that you extend the timeline and add christianity sometime in the future?
No active current plans for it with Invictus, but you’re not the first person I’ve seen interested in it so perhaps it’s something we can be open to (and something it’s I’d personally want to see).
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
No active current plans for it with Invictus, but you’re not the first person I’ve seen interested in it so perhaps it’s something we can be open to (and something it’s I’d personally want to see).
I suppouse you focus on different things for now, but when you finish all major goals you have now - is there a chance that you extend the timeline and add christianity sometime in the future?
I'll expand on this a bit, we delayed the enddate to the 30th of December 1BC for no particular reason so you do get an extra 27years in the game.
Christianity is a contentious issue in history, so any extension further than 1BC of the enddate would most likely see only minimal Christian content.
 
  • 2
Reactions:
I’ll look into how they spawn and if it’s moddable. Would you rather see barbarians rather than armies of foreign nations?

Same question as above regarding barbarians or adding content for Slavic migratories?
NO, I think the slavic migration event is amazing. I think a barbarian horde thing more like the Huns.