Archanea World-Building Toolbox

[mark_asphodel]

Right.  This whole "Seventh Platoon" thing?  Pushes the "frame of reference" into the seventeenth-century, as the usage of peloton for small squad of cavalry or armor dates to France in that time.  Seriously, we've gone from skirts-and-sandals Ancient Greece to the Thirty Years War here-- the age of the cannon and the musketeer.

Which is fine.  FE11!Archanea already felt late medieval/early Renaissance in places, in the same sense that Magvel conveys a sense of being High or even post-Renaissance.  In between all the disparate elements-- long trousers, monocles, post-medieval weaponry-- it's a nightmare to try and peg any FE game into a Real World analogue of time and place.  But, since we 'fic, we're bound to do just that.  And FE12!Archanea isn't really fitting the Medieval Times vibe.

Example #1: The Altean army.  "Platoon" concept aside, you're dealing with a meritocratic organization wherein farmboys can progress to knighthood in the space of a few months.  Not just famous mercenary status in the manner of the great warriors of Renaissance Italy-- knighthood.  I've seen this argument come up in discussions of FE 'fic before-- that knights would have to be from a fairly respectable background, minor gentry or whatever.  Not in this place-- not anymore.

Example #2: Architectural cues (thanks to shimizu_hitomi 's walkthrough posts for the screencaps).  

Ye Olde Random Village: Looks like half-timbered houses, meaning anywhere from 12th to 19th century in our world.  Since we are in a village instead of a grand metropolis, the styles could be archaic even for seventh-century Archanea.  This particular convo is set in Grust but we see the same village backdrop in Macedon and elsewhere.  One World Culture when it comes to small towns, I guess.

Altea Castle: Almost looks like the sort of thing people built in the 19th century when they were trying for a "medieval" look but wanted it grander and nicer and ever more special.  The sort of thing George IV of England and Ludwig II of Bavaria would come up with.  The existence of a wall around the village, though, does indicate medieval times... or that the Altean population hasn't increased much since Anri's day.

Pales: Oh, most definitely evocative of "the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome."  These buildings might well date back six centuries or more, though.  

Random Fortress: Medieval.  Squat, functional, with small windows suggestive of the Norman/Romanesque era.

The Verdict: Inconclusive.  You can probably make up setting details up to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and get away with it.

Comments

[wolfraven80.livejournal.com]

it's a nightmare to try and peg any FE game into a Real World analogue of time and place.

Ah this is so so true. And I definitely agree that Magvel has a Renaissance feel what with Carcino appearing to be a merchant state and the architecture of some of the castles appearing more decorative than defensive. On the other hand there's a lack of firearms or explosives which signified a huge shift in military technology at end of the Middle Ages. I've always jad the 15century in mind – a transition period.

There's nothing as varied as in the screen you posted, though. The screen from Pales... wow. It's either Greece... or Washington. ;)

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

On the other hand there's a lack of firearms or explosives which signified a huge shift in military technology at end of the Middle Ages.

I keep running up against that myself mentally, but in a sense I think the whole firearms issue is made null by the existence of anima magic. Would a civilization possessing actual ranged fire-power (and ice-power, thunder-power, and so on) even bother to develop mechanical combustion-based weapons? They wouldn't even need to develop gunpowder for recreational purposes (as in fireworks). Someone might come up with it on their own, for fun or for research purposes, but I don't know that they'd even consider exploiting the potential.

By the same token, FE societies already have aerial combat, "centuries" earlier than it was achieved in the Real World. So that's a whole weird thing to handle; I'm writing an AU story modeled off the US Civil War, and I'm not entirely sure what to do with the wyverns and pegasi. Mages I can almost work with, but not the aerial units.

I've always jad the 15century in mind – a transition period.

That works well enough for Archanea and Magvel, yes.

I think the real hurdle, developmentally speaking, would be the transition from an agrarian and artisanal society to an urban, mass-production society. I don't know how any FE world is going to handle that one.

[wolfraven80.livejournal.com]

You'd think someone would want to work on a way to batter down castle walls, though. As far as we can tell, mages don't have enough power to do any damage to stone fortifications.

Your AU fic sounds quite intriguing. AU fics can be a lot of fun -- they let you explore things in new ways. I guess the big difference with FE's version of aerial combat is that it's still very much a kind of hand to hand fighting, again, due to the lack of firearms. When we think of planes we generally think of dogfights with a lot of dodging and machine gun fire or of bombers. But wyverns and pegasus either grapple with each other in the air at close quarters, or they'd perform hit and run attacks against ground units. So really I think they would serve a very different function than an air force. They're more like scouts or guerilla untis.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

You'd think someone would want to work on a way to batter down castle walls, though. As far as we can tell, mages don't have enough power to do any damage to stone fortifications.

This is why I'm very sorry that the original conception of the ballista as found in FE1/11 was abandoned. Mobile siege engines capable of hurling fire, thunder magic, and big rocks = awesome.

So really I think they would serve a very different function than an air force. They're more like scouts or guerilla untis.

Good point. I'm still not certain how to factor them into an AU that does posit firearms. Mages I think would work decently as an analogue to engineers and artillerists, but wyverns? Argh!

[shimizu-hitomi.livejournal.com]

Pales gets even more confusing when you play Akaneia Senki -- I should get a screen of it at some point but it looks like freakin' Versailles. I give up. XD

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

That's the vibe I got from the manga, funnily enough. It seemed VERY 17th-18th century France in places. Though the portrait of Nyna's father (?) done up like Louis XIV contributed to that impression.

It could have been built up over the centuries, though.

[samuraiter.livejournal.com]

JRPGs, the ultimate melange of disparate influences, LOL. Add in a lost culture with curiously futuristic technology, and you should have the whole standard gamut.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Add in a lost culture with curiously futuristic technology

Divine Dragons of Archanea at your service. Such a pity we never learn in the games as to what that technology consisted of.

[sailorvfan10.livejournal.com]

See, what I did was I took probably the closest century I could get (around the 15th century) and then pinned all the things before that (i.e. the medieval stuff) as an emulation of a specific style from a different time period. Kinda like how some stuff, like churches, are done in a gothic style of architecture, even though we're in a modern age. Or some buildings are done up like the Romans or Greeks or what have you. It's stylistic emulation to me.

Also in the screenshot of Altea Castle... why does it look like the castle takes up practically the whole freakin' island? Granted the island really isn't that big to begin with, but do they really need a huge castle? What are they housing inside it?

idk, that's just my two cents on the matter and how I interpret it.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

The late 15th century made perfect sense to me based on Shadow Dragon by itself. FE12 is starting to feel pushed even further ahead in some ways, though.

[sailorvfan10.livejournal.com]

I haven't really done much with FE12 yet, but when I do I'll have to look at everything and see what I think. Just based off of what you said, though, it does look like something 17th century-ish. You could probably get away with late 17th- early 18th-century-ish even.