Frontera
How does a nation to expand, populate, and govern their frontier? What influences them to take on this imperial project? Frontera introduces new systems and mechanical tweaks providing authentic, meaningful choices surrounding the settlement and the incorporation of new lands.
Throughout the 19th century, the United States government would routinely transform a designated area of "unorganized" land claims into an "organized" territory through an act of Congress. This de facto state had its own elected legislature and governor, and acted as a halfway point between occupied land and a legitimate state in the union. Organized territories often contained multiple regions that have since been granted statehood. As the century continued, these organized territories crept west—New states followed in their wake.
I drew inspiration from the aforementioned historic trend to develop a new government type: the Organized Territory. Mechanically, it acts as a demographic incubator with extra migration pull. Organized Territories can be created from unincorporated states adjacent to one of your incorporated states, or via a subject interaction upon some unfortunate victim of your ruthless stream of map-painting conquest. The United States begins with two Organized Territories, the free-state Michigan Territory and the pro-slavery Florida Territory. Mexico begins with territories in Alta California and New Mexico.
A former colony of Spain, Alta California declared allegiance to a newly independent Mexico in 1821. Mexican authorities have attempted to integrate the vast territory, but tensions with colonists and local Californio leaders are reaching their boiling point. As a territory of Mexico, Alta California is caught in a fierce tug-of-war between the Federalista and Centralista political movements, as well as the ambitions of an expansionist USA. California is a minor nation through which most of the mod’s content can be experienced. However, any foreign invasion (and settlement?) of the American west may also result in an interesting game with Frontera‘s additions.
- Frontier Government Type, The Organized Territory
- System to create Organized Territories from unincorporated states
- Pipeline for subjects to become Organized Territories
- Tweaks for synergy with the USA’s Manifest Destiny event chains
- A properly drawn Adams–Onís Treaty line in North America
- New characters, such as John Sutter, Pío Pico, and Levi Strauss
- History-inspired territorial minors, present at game start
- Emergent Event chains for Sutters Fort, the Gadsden Purchase, and the Sunset Railway
- Centralist and Federalist movements in Mexico and her territories
- Helpful tooltips that should reduce the learning curve for territorial mechanics
- Language localization for all languages supported in vanilla Victoria III
Frontera is a conversion mini-mod, interacting with many of the game’s systems. It is not recommended to combine this with other mods that change the game’s map and history files.
VS Code – Tool used for scripting
Adobe Photoshop – Create/tweak graphics
Libre Office[www.libreoffice.org] – Word processor for design documents and outlining localization
Figma[www.figma.com] – Tool for organizing design plans and event chain flowcharts
Nano Banana Image Generator[nanobananaimg.com] – Graphic/icons
PDX DeepL Localization Tool[github.com] – For language localization
Revisions:
Old revisions of this mod are available below. Click the link to download.
