Road to Hajj Concept
The ritual of muslim pilgramage also known as "Hajj" played a significant role in influencing the cultural and poltical process in the near east for many centuries. mainly because of the infinite flow of caravans travelling to Mecca all year round from every possible direction carrying pilgrams, the news that they bring and the wealth they carry. thus turning the empty desert roads to Hajj into a busy frontline of desert camps scouting for threat against the flow of baggage trains traveling towards Mecca.
Apllying the Concept in SSHIP:
"Securing the Road to Hajj" can resemble a interesting goal for middle eastern factions as they have to conquer specfic regions where the Road to Hajj passes through and build a specific building to activate the bonus from the flow of Pilgrames travelling to Mecca and passing through the region you conquered. in addition their could be outcomes to claiming to secure the Road to Hajj. for example their can be "Ghazw\Bedouin Raids\Rebel Armies Spawn" in regions where you generate bonus from securing the road to hajj. in addition, a character trait can be given to the ruler of a city setting on the Road to Hajj, something like "Protector of Road to Hajj" or "Securing the Road to Hajj". the same could be given to a faction leader who successfully conquered the entire road leading to Mecca.
Road to Hajj on the Campaign Map:
in SSHIP campaign map. 3 routes to Hajj can be resembled:
1. Levantine Hajj Road: Antioch > Damascus > Jerusalem > Aqaba > Tayma > Mecca
2. African Hajj Road: Tunis > Mahdiya > Tripoli > Alexandria > Cairo > Aqaba > Tayma > Mecca
3. Asian Hajj Road: Shiraz > Basra > Al Ahsa > Mecca
the above mentioned regions on the campaign map can be the playground for the Road to Hajj concept where Hajj related buildings\events could exist thus influencing the factions experience and performance to the better or worse depending on the players reaction to the challenge.
I understand how general this concept may sound, yet I believe it provies a wide range of development directions for muslim factions in future releases, especially for it's requirement of buildings-chain\character traits as bonuses, and rebel armies spawning as an outcome the bonus (maybe tweak the AI to see more value in conquering "Route to Hajj" cities for muslim factions??????) these are my shallow yet sweet thoughts regarding applying such concept. your opinion will be appreciated gentlemen.
Reply With Quote
