since i'm not good at photoshop, i need a volunteer to make the actual grapical map, i'll do most work the gameplay and the xml tho.
i send out a few pms to persons i think might be interested and able to help me, but even if i didn't pm you and you think you're able to do it (and want to do it) please post in this forum or pm me about it.
for those who don't now what the silk road is, it's an ancient trade route between china and europe, and everything that lies in between.
ok, here's the concept i have so far:
the map will be a map of the region, and it will be divided in territories, roads, and trading posts. some territories will have resources, for example gold and silk.
now, everyone starts out on a random trading post, and you should collect a bonus by trading, this is done by holding a route (either a sea route or a land route) between two trading posts, and a resource near a trading post.
the catch is, however, that the more distance in between the trading posts, the more bonus troops you will get. and you won't get a stacked bonus if you have like 2 silk and trae silk between two trading posts, because it doesn't make sence to trade silk for silk, now does it? however, if you have a monopoly over a resource and can actually trade the monopoly with anything else, you will get a better price for that in the form of more troops.
