Well something that i wanted to see in a mod is the Sovereign or Henchmen or other hero units to be able to join units giving them specific bonuses. I find it more realistic to join units than standing alone in the battlefield attacking large enemy formations. Dont know if thats possible though   

Thats what i meant and yes i know its  hard to do if not impossible, just a thought.    

Cant think of something right now but i like your thoughs for the mod especially those that make seasons to weeks. Keep it up!

Historically cities could have tens of thousands of people living in (or very near) it. Capital cities could have up to 100 000 people. So in that sense, a larger scale is much appreciated from a historian's perspective.

If the purpose is to make an immersive mod, then I would consider the following: cities were essentially a net loss in population. Even through the early industrialization cities only continued to exist because more people emigrated to the cities than died in them. There weren't nearly enough people being born in the cities to compensate for the loss from deaths. I'd love to see this reflected in a mod, so that you have "world resources" function as population producers, whereas the actual city would constantly run a negative growth. Although there could be huge AI issues for gameplay there. Still, the point is, cities existed only because they traded goods for food and labour constantly emigrated to them. This is why you'll find cities like Paris and Madrid nearly in the exact center of their countries - surrounded by a huge stock of food and population.

The big exception is cities located near rivers or oceans (think Venice). Those cities were able to survive because they traded and fished instead, which is equally important. Difficult to simulate in FE though.

Already have it in mind that pioneers and units will reduce population. You are wrong on your perspective of "cities". Cities were never 200 people, even in the dark ages. Especially not major cities. You have to realize that in FE you are only building a handful of cities, so these are going to be considered your "capitol" and "major cities". A capitol always has a large population since it is the center of government. Also, there are always going to be a few major cities in each country with large populations, also consider this. I am not talking about 100's of thousands of people. For the first couple of years in game time, population is going to be small in your city, probably under or around 1,000 which is not a lot. As time goes by and your city develops more and has more luxuries and food and such the population will grow. Eventually it will reach 10,000 or more but it wont ever reach like 15.000 or more probably. By the tenth in game year, you probably wont have more than 10-20 thousand in your empire, although I might increase pop even more. I am still considering it.

Or you could just have world resources give prestige in the connected city. Even small numbers (0.2, 0.3) would emphasize that it is the surroundings of a city that determines how well it is able to support inhabitants.

True, but it would have to be a larger number than that or else population would never grow heh. With just small cities of 100 or 200 that might be okay but when you want cities to grow to a couple thousand or more that isn't much. I am thinking maybe capitol cities should get a huge bonus to food and prestige since they are your capitol and will naturally attract migrants. Villages and such would of course increase this amount. Maybe get rid of global prestige and just have certain buildings and such be what gives prestige. A long with taking villages and such.

Ok I came up with some great ideas here, tell me what you think.

I want Capitol cities to be really meaningful, as they should be. So Capitol cities will get a different path then the normal city (as in cities that upgrade to Towns, conclaves and fortresses)

First, Heaven do you know of a way to make something require a Capitol? Is there a "Variable" for capitol? If not I can tie it all to the Tower of dominion.

Capitol cities should be able to build everything that a conclave, fortress and town builds in my opinion. So Capitol cities will be able to build mostly everything. I am thinking of maybe changing how food is gotten though. There may be "some" buildings that ever kind of city can build to grow food but Towns are going to be the real agricultural centers. Capitols won't have many buildings for food either. You will have to have towns to really grow food. The food buildings will give global benefits rather than city specific I think. Also, I am considering whether wonders and major buildings (ones that can only be built in one city) only be capable of being built in a capitol city.

Capitol cities on reaching level 2 and choosing capitol city will gain extra grain, materials and maybe 1 extra essence. These will be very important cities. Capitol cities will also get the most growth. Prestige will not be global and will be tied to certain buildings like the tower of dominion, Inn, theatre, things like that. Maybe some buildings will give global prestige like certain wonders or something. Sovereign will also give some prestige. This means that the Capitol city will grow a lot but other cities wont grow as much, depending on what kind of city it is. Towns will grow decently but conclaves and fortresses wont grow as quickly but will still grow of course. Food will be global as in towns will produce food for the empire. Also there will be no techs providing food or prestige. Getting to lvl 2 will be easy but growing to 3, 4, and 5 will be more difficult but still definitely possible. Your capitol city will grow quickly though. I will also increase the amount of food that grain provides so that cities can definitely grow to at least 3 depending on how much grain. With Towns, your cities will grow more of course.

Also, will add world resource of maybe "farming village" and maybe a town, which could give different prestige benefits (locally).

I will come up with more ideas too. There will be more differences then just this but I think its pretty good. What do you guys think?

On unit sizes:

Wildland bosses are large and take up several squares on the tactical map so why can't you use that to your advantage? Make a unit take up multiple squares and have each square graphically hold ten little men. So a company of spearmen would take up ten tactical map squares with ten men on each square. On the strategic map have a graphic of a single spearman with a company flag represent the whole company just to minimize clutter. Make it so that if ten men die the unit size shrinks by one square.

This could make formations possible and meaningful. A spearmen company having a formation of five squares across and two deep could become a blocking force with depth on the tactical map especially if you have to other spearmen companies doing the same thing on either side of the first one. With a river anchoring one flank and a company mounted knights holding the other flank you could hold the enemy melee units at bay while your archers fill them full of arrows.

Then again this may not be technically possible to mod. If that is the case then ignore my ramblings. If it is though...

As to city sizes:

Lore wise the game takes place years after the war that tore elemental apart so a new generation of young men and women should be coming to age about this time... I can easily see a city founded by a sov that offers protection attracting literally thousands of people in just a couple of years. Other cities would grow much slower then the capital though thus I could see your capital growing larger then all your other cities by end game but your other cities only grow moderately large. For example by end game your capital might have a population of around 25 to 50 thousand while your other cities might have population varying from 5 to 20 thousand. Thus your capital is your most important city period.

Just my two cents...

You can actually make capital cities their own type of cityhub through the raceconfigs. It isn't used in FE but I used it in E:wom mods.

       <NewCityHubType>CityHub1</NewCityHubType>
        <CapitalHubType>CityHub1</CapitalHubType>

Don't know about custom factions.

Actually the xml I posted is just used to make your first city special. It is only your capital city as long as you hold it.

I tried to edit the coreraceconfig to this:

<NewCityHubType>CityHub1</NewCityHubType>
<CapitalHubType>CityHub11</CapitalHubType>

cityhub11 being a different hub. It still built his first city as cityhub1 and not cityhub11, so how do I get it to follow the cityhub11 path instead? If this is confusing, let me know.

CoreAbilities.xml