Shattered Peace | Background Overview
Background:
In the year 1953, the echo of marching boots still presses upon Europe’s chest.
Dust and ruin have settled into a new order.
It is the age of victors—and of the sleepless.

The Second World War did not end in glory.
The German Reich failed to cross the Volga, yet forged its iron curtain across the West.
With the signing of the Stockholm Agreement, the Soviet Union withdrew beyond the Urals,
and the continent was recast in steel under the banner of Nazism.
There was no liberation, no reconstruction—only ruins repainted in the color of order.

In the East, China did not follow Chiang Kai-shek into dictatorship.
After the Xi’an Incident, Li Zongren formed a pragmatic and united government.
Under this new order, China maintained its military cooperation with Germany while pursuing economic ties with the United States—
a nation rebuilt not by ideology, but by reason itself.

In 1937, the gunfire at Lugou Bridge ignited the Asian front.
Facing Japan’s expansion, Li’s government approved Zhang Zhizhong’s Plan of Preemptive Strike.
That August, the Battle of Shanghai erupted—
Chinese divisions, guided by German advisers, launched one of the fiercest urban offensives of the modern era.
By winter, Japanese forces had withdrawn from Shanghai, their dream of a quick victory shattered.

The war dragged on across North China until 1941,
when Germany intervened as mediator.
In Qingdao, representatives from the three nations signed a ceasefire and economic cooperation accord—
later known as the Qingdao Agreement.
It affirmed Chinese sovereignty over the coast and the North,
Japan retreated to Manchuria, and Germany secured advisory rights within China.
The war in Asia was frozen—not ended.

Now, the world knows no good or evil, only calculation and reconstruction.
Berlin and Washington glare across the Atlantic;
Nanjing and Tokyo circle each other beneath a strained peace.
Humanity has entered a silent, cooling era—
a peace without smoke, yet filled with shadows.

This is the age of the sleepless victor,
a world rebuilt upon the ruins of triumph,
a world of Shattered Peace.



Gameplay Design & Philosophy

Shattered Peace is an interactive grand-strategy mod centered on regional competition and multi-path decision making.
The world is no longer defined solely by nation-states but by overlapping political nodes and spheres of influence.
Diplomacy, soft power, and limited wars carry the same weight as tanks and frontlines.
This project aims to construct a world that is logically coherent, dynamically reactive, and deeply modular—
where every diplomatic decision, loan, negotiation, or escalation creates ripples across regions and continents.

Core Systems

Regional Balance Framework (Node System)
The world is divided into key strategic nodes—zones where major powers collide through diplomacy, economy, and force.
Each node tracks its own variables: influence, infrastructure, local factions, and foreign interference.
A single shift in one region can reshape an entire theater:
China’s consolidation of Xinjiang alters Soviet posture in Central Asia,
while a German buildup in the Balkans forces a Mediterranean realignment.

Diplomatic Resolutions & Accords
Interactions between great powers are handled through high-impact diplomatic resolutions—
trade treaties, demilitarized zones, economic protectorates, and sphere agreements.
These can be permanent, temporary, or time-delayed,
re-emerging years later to redraw the global map.

Total War Mechanic
Players may choose to break the diplomatic equilibrium and launch Total War.
Such wars bring immense rewards but devastating political and economic costs.
China, for example, may pursue a limited reconquest or a full-scale war against Japan;
the first promises gradual growth, the latter risks foreign intervention and economic collapse.

Regional Rivalry & Great-Power Contest
Each node hosts continuous competition—diplomatic, economic, covert, and military.
A defining case is the Sino-Soviet struggle over Xinjiang,
where both powers deploy advisors, infrastructure projects, and local proxies to tilt the balance.

Dynamic AI & Multi-Actor Agency
AI nations act according to long-term goals and ideological logic.
They form alliances, betray partners, intervene, or exploit chaos—
not as scripted puppets, but as rational actors within a living strategic network.

Event Network & Focus Integration
National focus trees remain a structural backbone, but are expanded by a dense, reversible, and interconnected event web.
Events respond dynamically to node states and diplomatic resolutions, forming a mutable narrative system.
History here is not a fixed path—it is a branching process shaped by the player’s choices.

Multiple Paths & Hidden Routes
Every major nation features multiple focus directions and unlockable hidden branches.
Certain routes require political or diplomatic preconditions—
collapse, reform, or external crises—to activate.
These secret lines add replayability and discovery;
each playthrough may reveal a different historical outcome.

Economy & Influence Tools
Loans, investments, joint ventures, and advisory missions are not cosmetic.
They are strategic levers that can alter local loyalties or create dependency and unrest.

Covert Operations & Local Proxies
Players can conduct special operations, fund militias, or manipulate local politics to reshape nodes indirectly—
a cheaper, riskier, but often decisive alternative to conventional warfare.

Immersion & Historical Detail
Shattered Peace places special emphasis on historical accuracy and logical consistency.
Each path features its own dedicated event chains and outcomes;
no branch contradicts another, and every development follows political or material logic.

The technology trees, military systems, and equipment rosters are era-appropriate—
from late-1940s jet aviation, early nuclear research, and missile prototypes
to the doctrines and organizational structures of 1950s militaries.
Armed forces are represented with greater realism:
divided by service branch, tactical doctrine, and logistical depth,
reflecting the pace and complexity of real Cold-War warfare.

Design Goals

Empower the player to shape the world through active decisions, not passive waiting;

Preserve historical plausibility and causal logic—every outcome has a cause;

Offer multiple strategic pathways and hidden routes for replayability and discovery;

Emphasize detail, realism, and technological authenticity—each era feels coherent and believable;

Create a globally reactive system where every region can shift the balance of power;

Ensure players feel immersed and responsible—not as observers, but as architects of a new
order.



Development Roadmap

Shattered Peace will advance through five major phases.
Each stage follows the principle of logical integrity before volume — every mechanic and storyline will be completed and internally consistent before further expansion.

Phase Focus Status
Phase I Worldbuilding and timeline foundation ✅ Completed
Phase II Core map framework and major nation structures (China, Germany, United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Soviet Union) 🔄 In Progress
Phase III Integration of focus trees and dynamic event systems (multi-path and hidden routes) 🕓 Planned
Phase IV Redesign of technology, military, and equipment systems; implementation of the diplomatic node framework 🕓 Planned
Phase V First Alpha release; community collaboration and localization process 🔜 Upcoming
Development Philosophy

Layered refinement, not content stacking
Each feature must function coherently before new layers are added.
Expansion halts whenever logic or narrative consistency is in doubt.

Parallel writing and system design
Every focus path is paired with a complete event chain to prevent “empty focuses” or disjointed progression.

Unified era design
UI, art, technologies, and military data all reflect the 1950s setting—
maintaining immersion between realism and alternate history.

Open collaboration and documentation
As development progresses, chronological records, national archives, and internal design documents will be gradually released to support community participation and modular contributions.

Current Objectives (2025)

Establish core event structures for major powers (China, Germany, USA, Japan, USSR, UK);

Implement the prototype framework for the Node Diplomacy & Regional Influence System;

Create the first draft of the world map, including custom geographic and resource layers;

Open community channels for writers, event designers, and artists to contribute.


Team & Recruitment

At present, Shattered Peace is a one-person concept and development project —
focused on worldbuilding, narrative design, and the structural foundation of gameplay systems.

The project is still in its early construction phase.
There is no formal team yet, but collaboration and feedback are open to anyone interested in alternate history, scripting, event writing, or art design.

If you wish to contribute — through writing, focus design, scripting, historical consultation, or artwork — you are welcome to comment, share ideas, or contact directly.
Every piece of input helps strengthen the world of Shattered Peace.

As the framework expands, detailed documentation and design references will be published for community contributors.
All work will remain credit-based and voluntary.

The world exists on paper for now — waiting for its architects.

Contact: Reddit — u/Unlucky_Basis_3145