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Topic:   Introducing the Medieval Pack II Format for Better Printing
TheBirdMan
King
Denmark
Sep 1999
posted November 30, 2000 02:23   Click Here to See the Profile for TheBirdManClick Here to Email TheBirdMan  send a private message to TheBirdManSend a Message to UIN: 92691093
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Nearly can't wait to get my fingers on the game...

Wes, when you write, that slavers/abolitionist/clerics can be sued - then I think we are missing a form for an "old" lawyer to do the job?! Just as we have "old" spies and so.

The idea sueing these units are very good indeed.

WesW
apolyton.net/wes
Huntsville, Al., USA
b.02-15-99
posted November 30, 2000 08:12   Click Here to See the Profile for WesWClick Here to Email WesW  send a private message to WesWSend a Message to UIN: 84799350 Visit WesW's Homepage!
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I was going to let the early spy be used for all the sueing until the other units came along.

A few notes:
1)How are the pollution settings? About right, too low?
2)Does anyone want to re-insert the Subneural Ad? I never used it, preferring to build offensive units at that stage of the game, but some people have called for it in other threads.
3)Is the Nanite Factory unbalancing?

In looking through the DiffDB, I noticed some new flags; max ahead, min ahead and max behind and min behind. They appear to be aimed at working like Gedrin's Disseminate triggers that I put into the Med mod I. I am glad to see them in there. They should help keep the AIs from getting either too far ahead or behind the human.

In the units text, there are a couple of new flags; IsMounted and Explodes. I don't know what the IsMounted does, but the Explodes gives the unit's bombard attack what was called 'splatter damage' in Warcraft. I thought that I had seen evidence of this playing the game, and finding this flag proves it. Another improvement, as far as I'm concerned.

Finally, here is a paste of the new unit build lists. I feel pretty good about this arrangement.

# 13

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SPECIAL {
Unit UNIT_DIPLOMAT
Unit UNIT_SLAVER
Unit UNIT_ABOLITIONIST
Unit UNIT_CLERIC
Unit UNIT_SPY
Unit UNIT_LAWYER
Unit UNIT_CORPORATE_BRANCH
Unit UNIT_TELEVANGELIST
Unit UNIT_EMPATHIC_DIPLOMAT
Unit UNIT_NUKE
Unit UNIT_CYBER_NINJA
Unit UNIT_INFECTOR
Unit UNIT_ECO_TERRORIST
Unit UNIT_ECO_RANGER
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SPECIAL_PEACEFUL {
Unit UNIT_DIPLOMAT
Unit UNIT_ABOLITIONIST
Unit UNIT_CLERIC
Unit UNIT_NUKE
Unit UNIT_LAWYER
Unit UNIT_CORPORATE_BRANCH
Unit UNIT_TELEVANGELIST
Unit UNIT_EMPATHIC_DIPLOMAT
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SPECIAL_MILITARIST {
Unit UNIT_SLAVER
Unit UNIT_SPY
Unit UNIT_LAWYER
Unit UNIT_CORPORATE_BRANCH
Unit UNIT_CYBER_NINJA
Unit UNIT_NUKE
Unit UNIT_INFECTOR
Unit UNIT_ECO_TERRORIST
Unit UNIT_ECO_RANGER
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SPECIAL_NUCLEAR {
Unit UNIT_NUKE
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_LAND_SETTLER {
Unit UNIT_SETTLER
Unit UNIT_URBAN_PLANNER
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SEA_SETTLER {
Unit UNIT_SEA_ENGINEER
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SCOUT {
Unit UNIT_SPY_PLANE
Unit UNIT_SCOUT_SUB
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_DEFENSE {
Unit UNIT_SPEARMAN
Unit UNIT_HOPLITE
Unit UNIT_PIKEMEN
Unit UNIT_MUSKETEER
Unit UNIT_INFANTRYMAN
Unit UNIT_MACHINE_GUNNER
Unit UNIT_PLASMATICA
Unit UNIT_LEVIATHON
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_OFFENSE {
Unit UNIT_WARRIOR
Unit UNIT_SWORDSMAN
Unit UNIT_MAN_AT_ARMS
Unit UNIT_SAMURAI
Unit UNIT_MUSKETEER
Unit UNIT_INFANTRYMAN
Unit UNIT_FASCIST
Unit UNIT_HOVER_INFANTRY
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_RANGED {
Unit UNIT_SLINGER
Unit UNIT_ARCHER
Unit UNIT_CATAPULT
Unit UNIT_CULVERIN
Unit UNIT_CANNON
Unit UNIT_ARTILLERY
Unit UNIT_FUSION_TANK
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_MOUNTED_RANGED {
Unit UNIT_JAVELINEER
Unit UNIT_MOUNTED_ARCHER
Unit UNIT_HORSE_ARCHER
Unit UNIT_SELF_PROP_GUN
Unit UNIT_WAR_WALKER
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_MOUNTED_FLANKER {
Unit UNIT_LIGHT_CAVALRY
Unit UNIT_HEAVY_CAVALRY
Unit UNIT_KNIGHT
Unit UNIT_DRAGOON
Unit UNIT_CAVALRY
Unit UNIT_TANK
Unit UNIT_HOVERTANK

}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_MARINE {
Unit UNIT_MARINE
Unit UNIT_STORM_MARINE
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_PARATROOPER {
Unit UNIT_PARATROOPER
Unit UNIT_SWARM
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_ANTI_AIR {
Unit UNIT_MOBILE_SAM

}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SEA_TRANSPORT {
Unit UNIT_CATAMARAN
Unit UNIT_GALLEON
Unit UNIT_TROOP_SHIP
Unit UNIT_CRAWLER
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_NAVAL_ATTACK {
Unit UNIT_FIRE_TRIREME
Unit UNIT_CARRACK
Unit UNIT_SHIP_OF_THE_LINE
Unit UNIT_IRONCLAD
Unit UNIT_DESTROYER
Unit UNIT_BATTLESHIP
Unit UNIT_PLASMA_DESTROYER
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_NAVAL_DEFENSE {
Unit UNIT_LONGSHIP
Unit UNIT_MONITOR
Unit UNIT_PT_BOAT
Unit UNIT_FRIGATE
Unit UNIT_MISSILE_CRUISER
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SUBMARINES {
Unit UNIT_SUBMARINE
Unit UNIT_NUCLEAR_SUBMARINE
Unit UNIT_MOREY_STRIKER
Unit UNIT_KRAKEN
Unit UNIT_DREADNAUGHT
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_AIR_ATTACK {
Unit UNIT_DIVE_BOMBER
Unit UNIT_ATTACK_HELICOPTER
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_AIR_DEFENSE {
Unit UNIT_FIGHTER
Unit UNIT_INTERCEPTOR
Unit UNIT_STEALTH_FIGHTER
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_BOMBER {
Unit UNIT_BOMBER
Unit UNIT_JET_BOMBER
Unit UNIT_STEALTH_BOMBER
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_AIR_TRANSPORT {
Unit UNIT_CARGO_HELICOPTER
Unit UNIT_AIRCRAFT_CARRIER
Unit UNIT_SPACE_PLANE
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_FREIGHT {
Unit UNIT_CARAVAN
Unit UNIT_Z_FREIGHT_TRANSPORT
}

ajbera
Chieftain

Apr 99
posted November 30, 2000 12:45   Click Here to See the Profile for ajberaClick Here to Email ajbera  send a private message to ajbera
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I assume, then, that one unit bombarding a stack would (pre-explodes) just hurt a single unit, but with 'splash damage' has the potential to hurt others in the bombarded stack? If so, this is an improvement.

Question, Wes: why maintain the Samurai instead of changing over to the Legion? Or at least why not add the Legion to the new units? I'm not criticizing; I'm just curious. My personal preference is for the Legion, so I'll probably rename it and swap sprites when I get the game.

Another question: can two (or more) people using the same mods play multiplayer together? Or will these changes only be valid for single-player games? Given the anticipated improvements in the AI, single-player won't be bad, but I'm sure many will wish to play the modified version with other humans.

Keep up the great work, Wes.

skorpion59
CTP Maps Webmaster
Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, (GMT -6)
May 99
posted November 30, 2000 13:05   Click Here to See the Profile for skorpion59Click Here to Email skorpion59  send a private message to skorpion59Send a Message to UIN: 92173697 Visit skorpion59's Homepage!
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Wes,

Looking good so far but playtesting will be the ultimate test. (Fondly remembering the many MONTHS spent playtesting all the mods). Of course, since I still have no copy at all of CtP2, I am going to have to sit this one out for a while. (Maybe Mr. Ogre can go down on his lunch hour and put the copies in the mail). Just seems a little ironic that none of the CtP1 mod/CtP2 beta people, who are in the best position to answer questions and stiple all this insane negativity/problems, have no copies.

One question though, what if you replaced some of the special units in the 'Special Lists' with offensive units? I for one, would rather have more offensive units than special units? From your experience, do you think this would give more offensive punch to the AI or just mess up the game balance.

Paulypav
Chieftain
Rocky Point, NY, USA
Oct 2000
posted November 30, 2000 13:58   Click Here to See the Profile for PaulypavClick Here to Email Paulypav  send a private message to Paulypav
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Wes,

I've noticed in one of the other threads that there seems to be a problem building fusion plants due to the Nanite Defuser. The Nanite Defuser destroys all nukes including nuclear plants, however the nuclear plant is a prerequisite for building the fusion plant. Therefore, once the Nanite Defuser has been built Fusion Plants are unable to be built.

First, and anyone can answer this. Would this be a glitch or is the Fusion Plant a quasi-nuclear energy source that would not be buildable with the Nanite Defuser.

Second, if this is a glitch, is it possible to modify the code so that the Fusion Plant is not dependant upon building the Nuclear Plant

------------------
“The American people have now spoken, but it’s going to take a little while to determine exactly what
they said.” — President Clinton

Metamorph
Warlord
Commack, NY, USA
Mar 99
posted November 30, 2000 14:01   Click Here to See the Profile for MetamorphClick Here to Email Metamorph  send a private message to Metamorph
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It's Deja Vu all over again...

Are you interested in hearing some suggestions and ideas for altering the economic model to one which is, uh, better? Less conducive to cheese, more challenging in higher difficulties and harsh terrain, and so forth?

My, how this all sounds familiar, just like old times... Sigh...

- Metamorph

WesW
apolyton.net/wes
Huntsville, Al., USA
b.02-15-99
posted November 30, 2000 20:54   Click Here to See the Profile for WesWClick Here to Email WesW  send a private message to WesWSend a Message to UIN: 84799350 Visit WesW's Homepage!
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To answer Adam's question about bombardment: yes, that is exactly what I mean.

As for the Legion, I plan to use that as a special wonder-enabled unit. I have a list of these units on page one of this thread.

For multiplayer, all players have to be using the exact same files, but if they are, they can play together. From what I hear, the Med mod 4 is quite popular with multiplayers. I even had one guy write in to complain that he liked to play with the original settings, but that it was hard to find partners who didn't use the Med mod.

Hi, Don. Nice to see you back on the boards.
I forgot to insert the Noble and Spy into the special unit lists. I haven't really looked at them yet.
In Ctp2, you set the unit-types built as a percentage of the total number. It is not city-based like Ctp1. Thus, you can set special units as, say, 2% of the total, or whatever you want.

As far as play-testing, I hope that between our Ctp1 experience and the refinement of Ctp2 over Ctp1, that play-testing will be measured in a few weeks rather than months, at least for the basic version of the game. Then we can play with all the slic stuff I am sure the gee..., ah, guys here will come up with.

Metamorph, I read you thread with interest. If you have some specific proposals, I would be very interested in hearing them. You could post them here, or in your own thread, since that one seems to be concentrating on the topic of terrain and pop.

If I might suggest something: How about changing the settings for radius 1 so that each pop only collects one tile's worth of resources, rather than 8/6 th's, as it is currently? This would slow down early growth, and help address any ICS concerns people have.
It may be that this would be all that is needed, so that we wouldn't have to get into changing terrain values and improvement effects and all that.

Btw, can someone explain to me why improvements' costs increase at a much faster rate than their benefits as you move from basic to advanced improvement types?
For example, farms cost 200 for a benefit of 10 food, while hydro farms cost 1,400 for a benefit of 30.

colorme
Warlord

Nov 2000
posted November 30, 2000 21:13   Click Here to See the Profile for colorme   send a private message to colorme
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Wes,

Regarding the farms, this is probably better, because you don't want a slightly advanced player to run away with the game (which is what a proportional increase with advancements would do).

Dragonfly
Settler
San Francisco, CA, USA
Nov 2000
posted December 01, 2000 08:22   Click Here to See the Profile for DragonflyClick Here to Email Dragonfly  send a private message to Dragonfly
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I have only been playing the game for a week now, but I noticed a lot of things that were out of whack, and I look forward to the new med mod with great anticipation.

My $0.02 - It take too long to get to Monarchy. Maybe an intermediate government type ?

Love the idea of the refugee trigger - can anything be done about re-apportioning slaves. Seems my front line cities get huge, but my capitol gets none.

Really liked the idea of Railroad increasing food through re-apportionment. Could something be done with creating a "hidden" building (say "Depot"), giving it a +10% food, and give all cities the building upon the Civ's reaching Railroad tech? Just a thought.

Go, go, go !

WesW
apolyton.net/wes
Huntsville, Al., USA
b.02-15-99
posted December 01, 2000 12:35   Click Here to See the Profile for WesWClick Here to Email WesW  send a private message to WesWSend a Message to UIN: 84799350 Visit WesW's Homepage!
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Slaves will only be sent to a city if there are troops enough there to suppress them. Therefore, you could move troops out of cities that you didn't want slaves sent to right before you attacked.

As for the food, I would like for you to be able to build food caravans, which I thought were supposed to be included in Ctp2. There may be a problem with getting the AIs to use this, though.

I finished the unit build queues in the strategies.txt today, and this is what the default setting looks like.

// Number of special units that should be built
SettlerUnitsCount 1
SeaTransportUnitsCount 1
AirTransportUnitsCount 1
SpecialUnitsCount 1
ScoutUnitsCount 2

// Types of special units that should be built
SettlerUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_LAND_SETTLER
SeaTransportUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SEA_TRANSPORT
AirTransportUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_AIR_TRANSPORT
SpecialUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SPECIAL
FreightUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_FREIGHT
ScoutUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SCOUT

// maximum percent of conventional units to build before building
// special units of specified type
BuildTransportProductionLevel 0.25
BuildSettlerProductionLevel 0.25
BuildScoutProductionLevel 0.15

// Unit Percents must total to 1 (100%)
DefensiveUnitsPercent 0.10
OffensiveUnitsPercent 0.10
RangedUnitsPercent 0.15
MtdRangedUnitsPercent 0.10
MtdFlankUnitsPercent 0.10
MarineUnitsPercent 0.02
ParatroopUnitsPercent 0.01
AntiAirUnitsPercent 0.10
NavalAttUnitsPercent 0.07
NavalDefUnitsPercent 0.07
SubmarineUnitsPercent 0.06
AirAttackUnitsPercent 0.02
AirDefUnitsPercent 0.07
BomberUnitsPercent 0.03

// Types of standard units that should be built
DefensiveUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_DEFENSE
OffensiveUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_OFFENSE
RangedUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_RANGED
MtdRangedUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_MOUNTED_RANGED
MtdFlankUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_MOUNTED_FLANKER
MarineeUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_MARINE
ParatroopUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_PARATROOPER
AntiAirUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_ANTI_AIR
NavalAttUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_NAVAL_ATTACK
NavalDefUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_NAVAL_DEFENSE
SubmarineUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SUBMARINES
AirAttackUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_AIR_ATTACK
AirDefenseUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_AIR_DEFENSE
BomberUnitList UNIT_BUILD_LIST_BOMBER

This stuff always looks so nice and neat when you are posting it. Anyway, you need to review the previous post listing the specific units in the build queues for this to make complete sense. The defense units are set low because I assume the militia triggers will be active in the mod. Also, I assume that when the tech isn't available to activate some of the lists, like airattack, that the AIs divide up the unit percentages among those queues that are active.

Dragonfly
Settler
San Francisco, CA, USA
Nov 2000
posted December 01, 2000 20:12   Click Here to See the Profile for DragonflyClick Here to Email Dragonfly  send a private message to Dragonfly
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Thanks for the tip on how to get slaves to go where you want. I had forgotten about this. It was in CtpI I believe, and I have used it. Just forgot the strategy. Thanx again, and now I'm off to enslave the americans.
Matte979
Chieftain
Sweden
Nov 2000
posted December 01, 2000 21:10   Click Here to See the Profile for Matte979Click Here to Email Matte979  send a private message to Matte979
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One commect about the numbers for special units.

If you put these at 1 the AI will only build max 1?

Wont that be to few? 1 transport.

Played around with the goal and strategy files myself to see if i could get the AI to attack more. I had som limited success. Seems there are a few factors that needs to be tweaked. First the priority of the attacking GOALs Then how many to consider i beafed these up to alot then tweaking max executed aswell.

Also I beleive the factors how to judge if attack strength is enough in strategy.txt need to be lowered somewhat i lowered all of them to only need 10% of the army attaked strength, seems now the computer players attacks everything . Its better than before but probly just should lower them a little bit. Just to get the swarm attack.

Going to implement some of your stuff tomorrow and try to tweak the AI just by changing strategy and goals to see what the affect will be on AI behaviour.

colorme
Warlord

Nov 2000
posted December 01, 2000 22:16   Click Here to See the Profile for colorme   send a private message to colorme
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Matte,

If you keep those attack ratios so low, won't the AI NOT attack in force then (because basically any unit it has will be enough to attack)?

Matte979
Chieftain
Sweden
Nov 2000
posted December 02, 2000 04:58   Click Here to See the Profile for Matte979Click Here to Email Matte979  send a private message to Matte979
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Yes exactly. That was what happened. The main problem i seem to have is that the grouping of units to armies don't seemt to work that well. Not sure why. because sometimes they group armies. Maybe some of the units get other goals so they can't group i am not sure. Going to mess around with it this weekend and report what i find.

There also seem to be a number issue here. Alot of units mean more armies so the theory above might be right.

/Mathias

colorme
Warlord

Nov 2000
posted December 02, 2000 13:02   Click Here to See the Profile for colorme   send a private message to colorme
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Matte,

One thing I plan to do is to use SLIC to group units and see if that helps. If you look at the various scenario files, you'll see some commands that can be used, such as
getarmyfromunit() and grouporder().

Unfortunately, since the SLIC documentation is not out yet, it's unclear what parameters some of the useful commands may need, such as moveorder().

So, theoretically, one could select good units for the AI (using SLIC), get them to move to a particular location, group them into armies, and make them attack opponent's city.

One problem I see with this approach is that the dumb AI might decide to over-ride some of these commands you program. If it doesn't, then you could see massive attacks taking place, due to above program!!

Similarly, the empty transport problem could be solved
using SLIC. Get the AI to board units into the transport, protect the transport with warships and move them to the right unloading location.

Bottom-line: Let's wait for the SLIC documentation, and we might see some good mods.

WesW
apolyton.net/wes
Huntsville, Al., USA
b.02-15-99
posted December 02, 2000 16:28   Click Here to See the Profile for WesWClick Here to Email WesW  send a private message to WesWSend a Message to UIN: 84799350 Visit WesW's Homepage!
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Well, my copy of the game arrived yesterday, so I have been able to actually try and see if the Med mod II will load. I have gotten re-aquainted with how frustrating mod-making can be sometimes. For those of you planning on playing with the strategies.txt: don't use the new unit categories; they don't work. See my Help needed! thread for details. This really needs to be addressed, as it will hamstring any efforts to get the AIs to build effective armies if we can't increase the number of categories from the current 5.
Also, all that time I spent re-arranging the const.txt was wasted. The flags in it are hard-coded into their respective lines, and the game crashes if they are moved.
Anyway, here is a listing on my speific changes to the const.txt:

Empire sliders work correctly now.

PERCENT_RIVER 15 # percent of land with a river on it ( was 5 )
RIVER_CELL_WIDTH 4 # Size of cells to be searched for river starts ( was 5 )
PARADROP_DISTANCE 10 # how far away can paratroopers drop? ( was 20 )
PARADROP_SUCCESS_PERCENT 75 # a miss results in a drop to a neighboring square (was 100)
ASSAULT_DESTROY_BUILDING_CHANCE 1.0 # chance of an assault on a city destroying a building ( was .1 )
BOMBARD_DESTROY_BUILDING_CHANCE 0.4 # chance of a bombardment on a city destroying a building ( was .1 )
COMBAT_VETERAN_CHANCE 0.25 ( was .1 )
MAX_REQUESTS_PER_PLAYER_PER_TURN 4 ( was 3 )
SLAVES_PER_MILITARY_UNIT 2 ( was 3 )
FLOOD_CHANGES_COAST_TO_WATER_CHANCE 0.1 ( was .5 )

AI_GOAL_TIME_SLICE 125 # time in milliseconds for an AI frame
AI_MAX_TIME_SLICE 1250 # (in milliseconds)if the ai exceeds this time its turn is ended
AI_TOTAL_TIME_SLICE 15000 # (in milliseconds) if the total time in time in the ai player exceeds this its turn is ended
(These settings were increased by a factor of 5.)

I also tried to correct the Television improvement, which is unbalancing with its current settings. I changed it to give 3 gold per size, and to have 45 upkeep. This means that a city has to be size 15 before Television can turn a profit, and from then on it gives three gold per size.

I was contacted by Harlan last night about his graphics mod, so hopefully he will have that straightened out and back to me soon. When he does, I think I will post the first alpha (everything is too rudimentary to even be a beta at this point). I am able to get the scenario to load and work, as long as you don't choose a civ which uses one of Harlan's new city types. All the new units will come up, the only problem being having no pics for the Ctp1 units I am using.
Next I will work on the unit abilities and availabilites, to try and get them somewhere reasonable within the current tech chart.
[This message has been edited by WesW (edited December 02, 2000).]

lev
Chieftain
Beaverton, OR, USA
May 99
posted December 02, 2000 19:43   Click Here to See the Profile for levClick Here to Email lev  send a private message to lev Visit lev's Homepage!
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Hey Wes -

Do you have a renaissance-era special-forces unit?

Considering the importance of mercenaries in renaissance Italy, I think a "Condottieri" unit would be a great idea. You could use the old Pikeman sprite (or the new one, and use the old one for Pikemen).

I would make Pikemen a primarily defensive unit, and give the Condottieri similar stats but better offense.

Depp
Prince
Luleå, Sweden
b.02-15-99
posted December 03, 2000 08:07   Click Here to See the Profile for DeppClick Here to Email Depp  send a private message to DeppSend a Message to UIN: 1131079 Visit Depp's Homepage!
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Wes, make farms worth while. Drop the food production in most squares so farm become important. Now any city that has a few sea squares (even if the rest is glacier) can reach max size, which is totally wrong. Those kind of conditions can´s sutain that population until the modern days (hence the best farms)
Locutus
Prince
Apolyton Borg Hengelo/Enschede, The Netherlands
Nov 1999
posted December 04, 2000 07:39   Click Here to See the Profile for LocutusClick Here to Email Locutus  send a private message to LocutusSend a Message to UIN: 52912776 Visit Locutus's Homepage!
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Wes,
I almost finished testing the militia code and wonder-enabling units code, I think both work properly now, so just email me the info I need to finish things up and I will (what units & advances & size sizes for the militia, what wonders & units for the wonder code).

So one of these days I'll start working on the 4th event: the unit repair thing. Before I do that however, I'd like to know if you (or anyone else for that matter) knows if there's any kind of code on this in the text files anywhere: how fast units 'regenerate' in the field, a swith to turn off the instant-healing in cities, anything else related. Having such info would make things sooo much easier for me.

colorme
Warlord

Nov 2000
posted December 04, 2000 15:47   Click Here to See the Profile for colorme   send a private message to colorme
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Hee Hee, one can even have a medical unit that increases the rate of healing in the field
Will be useful for large stacks.
hexagonian
Prince
the artist formerly known as...
Jun 99
posted December 04, 2000 15:53   Click Here to See the Profile for hexagonian   send a private message to hexagonian
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Wes,

I do not think this will be a problem, but am asking anyhow.

Will it be possible to load maps that have been recently been created in the default CTP2 game (minus the goods) into MedMod2?

The main reason is that I am hoping to be able to use the goods Nordicus implemented and the adjusted terrain settings that you created. If these different terrain settings cause game crashes, then I will probably be holding off on map creation until your mod is released.

Matte979
Chieftain
Sweden
Nov 2000
posted December 04, 2000 17:25   Click Here to See the Profile for Matte979Click Here to Email Matte979  send a private message to Matte979
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These two are in the const file.


CITY_HEAL_RATE 1.0
NORMAL_HEAL_RATE 0.1

WesW
apolyton.net/wes
Huntsville, Al., USA
b.02-15-99
posted December 04, 2000 21:19   Click Here to See the Profile for WesWClick Here to Email WesW  send a private message to WesWSend a Message to UIN: 84799350 Visit WesW's Homepage!
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Here is the bulk of an email I sent to Locutus, Gedrin, and some other interested people this evening. This was obviously before I read Wouter's post above. The mod just keeps looking better. The only thing that concerns me is the unit categories limitation I mentioned earlier.

I think that you both know that I want to use the militia and refugee triggers in the Med mod II. I also want to try out a partisan trigger in the mod as well. I want it to share characteristics of both of the aforementioned triggers.
I want the number of Partisans created to be based upon city size, like the refugee trigger. I think 1 Partisan per 6 pop would be about right. I also want the units created to be based upon the technology of the civ., like the militia trigger. To represent the fact that these Partisans would be less powerful than regular army troops, I want them to be the defensive unit of the age prior to the one the civ is currently in. This way, we will not have to create new units and/or sprites for this trigger. The trigger will only activate when the civ either has a certain tech, or is under certain govt.'s, I haven't decided on that yet. Also, the trigger will only activate if the conquest distress in the city is zero. This way, if you re-take a city you just lost, you will not have to fight your own citizens.

I would like for you two to work together on this, if possible, since you both have experience with different aspects of the components of the trigger. Darryl may have done some work on such a trigger already, so I am going to send a copy of this to him as well. I think he will be active in slic work on Ctp2 as well, so I might as well try and get you guys talking regularly. If anyone else wants to comment or get involved, well that's why I am sending you copies as well.

On another topic, Wouter, have you done any work on the trigger to make it cost production to heal units in cities? (The production would come from the public works stockpile.) Having spent the weekend playing the Alexander scenario, which is awesome btw, I really realize how this trigger would revolutionize warfare campaigns in the game. I think this trigger would be a bigger boost to the game than the militia trigger. I mean, this would really separate Ctp from the Sid games in an important way, a way as significant as the public works concept and stacked combat, imo. Right now, I think 75% of the original cost per percent seems about right. I am also going to increase the chance of becoming a veteran to about 30%. This would make Ctp a lot like the Panzer General series in this regard, an aspect of reality in which I think that game did an excellent job emulating.

Btw, Gedrin, did you see my post in the Med mod II thread where there are flags in the DiffDB designed to do what your disseminate trigger does?

Finally, I had a moment of inspiration myself today. (Either that, or I finally saw something that has been staring me in the face for a year now.) I have been wanting for some Improvements' upkeep cost to be based upon city size. Well, the necessary flag has been there all along; the Television's gold-per-citizen flag. I inserted that flag into the Improvements that I wanted- gold, science, production and food, and gave it a negative value (I eliminated the set upkeep cost for these improvements). This is another thing that is going to have a significant effect on the game, and make it much more realistic. (New York City's library system costs the same as that of a small town under the current system, but obviously gives a much greater benefit.) Since the value has to be an integer, I may have to increase the effect of gold improvements to compensate, but I think this new way of figuring costs is going to be a real improvement to the game.

skorpion59
CTP Maps Webmaster
Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, (GMT -6)
May 99
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Hex,

Yes, you can add any map to the Med Mod provided it only uses default (or Med Mod) items.

Locutus
Prince
Apolyton Borg Hengelo/Enschede, The Netherlands
Nov 1999
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Thanks Matte979 (though a little late since Wes already emailed me all the info I need ).

(BTW, for those who don't know it yet, I'm Wouter )

------------------
"The most likely way for the world to be destroyed, most experts agree, is by accident. That's where we come in; we're computer professionals. We cause accidents." - Nathaniel Borenstein

Martock
Warlord
Greenville, SC USA
Apr 99
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Wes, would it be difficult to incorporate the fusion tank from CTP into this game as an early version of the fusion tank. i really did like that sprite and though i like the new fusion tank sprites too, it'd be nice to have them both in there. maybe even adding the old war walker as the genetic ages SAM unit of choice. lastly, i'd like to see the old space marine unit brought back in as a heavier version of the hover infantry (which i like too). i don't know much about modifying the files to do this on my own so i'm hoping you might do just that.

thanks!

wheathin
Prince
Charming
Apr 99
posted December 05, 2000 11:07   Click Here to See the Profile for wheathinClick Here to Email wheathin  send a private message to wheathin
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Wes, couple of things:

1. Great idea with the negative values. By combining them with a static upkeep value (positive or negative) you can get an even greater range of maintenance costs. Example: power plants have a high fixed cost - the plant itself, and then a low per-user cost. SoO maybe a 50 gold fixed maint cost, plus 1 gold per citizen?

2. Negative values can be useful in other aspects of the game as well: negative science for slaves (I don't know if CtP2 uses a Pop.txt file like CtP did) to mimic the real-world effects of slavery. Negative food values for glacier/polar/tundra terrains might be a way to have those areas provide less fertile ground for coastal cities, offsetting the productivity of the ubiquitous beach tiles. (Weighted such that a city founded on or near a glacier tile would have to have beach or other productive terrain in 6, 7, or 8 surrounding tiles in order to grow? - I'm talkin' large penalties here...)

3. Have the militia units have increasing vision ranges. In CtP I adjusted the vision range of the Musketeer and later militia units to have 3 or 4 square vision ranges, effectively increasing the visibility radius around my cities as time progressed.

4. Finally, I would be worried about the effect of repair costs on the AI. If it is too high, the AI might end up bleeding production and not realize it. There would certainly be no way for the AI to decide *NOT* to repair a unit because it is running low on production. More than anything, this would necessitate large roduction bonuses for the AI.

5. Related: make sure units are only repaired to the current readiness setting for the unit.

WesW
apolyton.net/wes
Huntsville, Al., USA
b.02-15-99
posted December 05, 2000 23:53   Click Here to See the Profile for WesWClick Here to Email WesW  send a private message to WesWSend a Message to UIN: 84799350 Visit WesW's Homepage!
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Martock, you will be happy to know that I have replaced the Ctp2 Fusion Tank with the Ctp1 version. I am going to use the Ctp2 version as the Diamond age Mounted Artillery (Ranged) unit. I plan to use the Ctp1 Space Marines as the Diamond Age Marine unit, called Storm Marines.The Ctp1 War Walker will be in the mod as well.

Wheathin, there are settings in the files pretaining to AI public works and so-forth. I feel confident that we can get the AIs adjusted to handle the new trigger properly. This is going to be such a big change to the game, it will be worth whatever effort it takes to implement it. Seriously, if we get this going, it would be worthy of some press in the strategy gaming community, though that stuff doesn't happen with fan-created mods as far as I know. I mean, if this feature was part of the standard game, I think that Activision could, or should, have promoted it as one of the most significant innovations in the game.
With the game as it is now, once you get a tech advantage and start taking cities with your units barely surviving, you can wait one turn, and it's like you suffered no casualties at all. This is completely unrealistic, as we all know.
If you start having to choose between healing hurt units and building other things, or simply not having enough production to immediately heal your units after a large battle, it is going to cause major changes in how the game is played. Think about how this trigger would affect something like the Alexander scenario, or notice how it would affect you the next time you go into conquest mode.

I am in the middle of semester exams this week, so I will have to slow down on the mod for a few days. However, I am through with school next Tuesday, so I hope to really get things going then. I plan to keep tinkering with things, and throw out some polls and such on the forums, to try and get specific ideas on new terrain values and a couple of other things. If someone wanted to throw some things out on their own, that would be great too.

One thing: I wish someone would take some time to look at the diplomacy files which contain the AI replies, and see if they could be altered to fit the situation. Right now, all you get is "offer accepted" and "offer rejected". If someone could customize the messages to reflect why the AI decided as it did, it would address one of the main gripes people are having with the game.
I may start a thread about this on the general forum to see if it can be done, hoping to get one of the Actigrammers to respond. (If someone else wants to start the thread instead, be my guest.)

Martock
Warlord
Greenville, SC USA
Apr 99
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GREAT!!!! i'm really glad to hear that Wes. one thing though, can we leave in the hovering factor for the CTP2 fusion tanks...that way we don't have to seperate our forces for over shallow water invasions.
TheBirdMan
King
Denmark
Sep 1999
posted December 06, 2000 14:40   Click Here to See the Profile for TheBirdManClick Here to Email TheBirdMan  send a private message to TheBirdManSend a Message to UIN: 92691093
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The fusion tanks and shallow waters: Hooverunits should be able to pass shallow waters (I think) - but if not - this can be altered easily in the txt files by the players if wanted.


About help for diplomatic strings:

For the ancient and up to the modern age, try ask St Jon, The Deleted (Sophix), Mobius, Lung and The True Demos(can remember rest of the name) to supply you with sentences/proposals for the text. Just to mention some. They are doing a lot of this stuff in their PBEM games. I simply enjoy reading their comments (and be part of their games).

WesW
apolyton.net/wes
Huntsville, Al., USA
b.02-15-99
posted December 06, 2000 14:54   Click Here to See the Profile for WesWClick Here to Email WesW  send a private message to WesWSend a Message to UIN: 84799350 Visit WesW's Homepage!
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Yes, I plan to leave the hovering ability in.
I have spent today thinking about units: unit names, abilities, wonder units and so-forth. What I have come up with is really exciting. Below I have pasted a version of the unit build list text which I am using to try and keep track of everything.
Notes: TD- Tom Davies' unit, HT- Harlan Thompson unit, Wonder unit- enabled by building a wonder, Advance unit- enabled by being the first to get an advance, wonder militia unit- second type of militia unit created in all your cities, Alexander & Mag. Samurai- unit is from one of those scenarios.
Special Abilities:
Mongol Horsemen will have both ranged attack and flanking attack.
Ctp1 War Walker will be an all-around offensive and anti-air unit.
AT-Artillery stands for All-Terrain Artillery, and uses the Ctp2 War Walker sprite. This unit will be able to move on any terrain, including Mountains and Undersea, as will Storm Marines. This way, you can have combined-arms assaults on undersea cities.
Hover Infantry will be able to cross shallow water.
I am still thinking up stuff, so feel free to make suggestions, though please write a short passage on why your idea is an improvement over the current setup.

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_DEFENSE {
Unit UNIT_SPEARMAN
Unit UNIT_PHALANX
Unit UNIT_LEGION (WONDER UNIT)
Unit UNIT_PIKEMEN
Unit UNIT_ARQUEBUSIER (TD, WONDER UNIT)
Unit UNIT_MUSKETEER (CTP1 UNIT)
Unit UNIT_INFANTRYMAN
Unit UNIT_MACHINE_GUNNER
Unit UNIT_PLASMATICA (CTP1 UNIT)
Unit UNIT_LEVIATHON
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_OFFENSE {
Unit UNIT_WARRIOR (CTP1 UNIT)
Unit UNIT_SWORDSMAN (TD)
Unit UNIT_HOPLITE (CTP1, WONDER UNIT)
Unit UNIT_HEAVY_SWORDSMAN (ALEXANDER PHALANX)
Unit UNIT_BERSERKER (TD HUSCARL, WONDER UNIT)
Unit UNIT_MAN_AT_ARMS (CTP2 WARRIOR)
Unit UNIT_SAMURAI (WONDER UNIT)
Unit UNIT_MUSKETEER (CTP1 UNIT)
Unit UNIT_INFANTRYMAN
Unit UNIT_FASCIST
Unit UNIT_HOVER_INFANTRY
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_RANGED {
Unit UNIT_SLINGER (TD)
Unit UNIT_ARCHER
Unit UNIT_LONGBOWMEN (ALEX, WONDER UNIT)
Unit UNIT_CATAPULT
Unit UNIT_BOMBARD (TD, WONDER MILITIA UNIT)
Unit UNIT_CULVERIN (CTP2 CANNON)
Unit UNIT_CANNON (CTP1 CANNON)
Unit UNIT_ARTILLERY (CTP1 ARTILLERY)
Unit UNIT_AT_ARTILLERY (CTP2 WAR WALKER)
}

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_MOUNTED_RANGED {
Unit UNIT_JAVELINEER (EB ZULU ARCHER)
Unit UNIT_MOUNTED_ARCHER
Unit UNIT_BANDIT_HORSEMEN (ALEX, WONDER UNIT)
Unit UNIT_HORSE ARCHER (HT)
Unit UNIT_SELF_PROP_GUN (CTP2 ARTILLERY)
Unit UNIT_FUSION_TANK (CTP2 UNIT, RE-NAMED "PLASMA CANNON")

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_MOUNTED_FLANKER {
Unit UNIT_ZULU_WARRIOR (EB, WONDER UNIT)
Unit UNIT_LIGHT_CAVALRY (TD JAVELIN CAV.)
Unit UNIT_ELEPHANT (ALEXANDER, WONDER UNIT)
Unit UNIT_HEAVY_CAVALRY (TD NOBLE CAV.)
Unit UNIT_KNIGHT
Unit UNIT_DRAGOON (CTP1 CAVALRY)
Unit UNIT_CAVALRY
Unit UNIT_TANK
Unit UNIT_WAR_WALKER (WONDER UNIT)
Unit UNIT_HOVERTANK (CTP1 FUSION TANK)

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_MARINE {
Unit UNIT_MARINE
Unit UNIT_STORM_MARINE (CTP1 SPACE MARINES)

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_PARATROOPER {
Unit UNIT_PARATROOPER
Unit UNIT_SWARM (CTP1 UNIT)

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_ANTI_AIR {
Unit UNIT_MOBILE_SAM

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_NAVAL_ATTACK {
Unit UNIT_TRIREME (CTP1 UNIT)
Unit UNIT_FIRE_TRIREME (WONDER UNIT)
Unit UNIT_CARRACK
Unit UNIT_PRIVATEER (HT GALLEON, WONDER UNIT)
Unit UNIT_SHIP_OF_THE_LINE
Unit UNIT_IRONCLAD
Unit UNIT_DESTROYER
Unit UNIT_BATTLESHIP
Unit UNIT_PLASMA_DESTROYER

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_NAVAL_DEFENSE {
Unit UNIT_LONGSHIP (ADVANCE UNIT)
Unit UNIT_MONITOR (TD IRONCLAD, ADVANCE UNIT)
Unit UNIT_PT_BOAT (ADVANCE UNIT)
Unit UNIT_FRIGATE (HT WWII PACK)
Unit UNIT_MISSILE_CRUISER (APOLYTON PACK)

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SUBMARINES {
Unit UNIT_SUBMARINE
Unit UNIT_NUCLEAR_SUBMARINE
Unit UNIT_MOREY_STRIKER
Unit UNIT_KRAKEN
Unit UNIT_DREADNAUGHT

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_SEA_TRANSPORT {
Unit UNIT_CATAMARAN
Unit UNIT_COG (TD)
Unit UNIT_TROOP_SHIP
Unit UNIT_CRAWLER

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_AIR_TRANSPORT {
Unit UNIT_CARGO_HELICOPTER
Unit UNIT_AIRCRAFT_CARRIER
Unit UNIT_SPACE_PLANE

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_AIR_ATTACK {
Unit UNIT_DIVE_BOMBER (HT WWII STUKA)
Unit UNIT_ATTACK_HELICOPTER (APOLYTON PACK)

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_AIR_DEFENSE {
Unit UNIT_FIGHTER
Unit UNIT_INTERCEPTOR
Unit UNIT_STEALTH_FIGHTER

UNIT_BUILD_LIST_BOMBER {
Unit UNIT_BOMBER (HT WWII B17)
Unit UNIT_JET_BOMBER
Unit UNIT_STEALTH_BOMBER
[This message has been edited by WesW (edited December 06, 2000).]
[This message has been edited by WesW (edited December 08, 2000).]

Diodorus Sicilus
Warlord
Steilacoom, WA, USA
May 99
posted December 06, 2000 23:51   Click Here to See the Profile for Diodorus SicilusClick Here to Email Diodorus Sicilus  send a private message to Diodorus Sicilus
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Wes, this is looking better and better! I've been concentrating on rebuilding the Tech Tree advances for Ancient-Renaissance eras, but these unit lists are very close to my own notes: Great minds, etc.
Just a few observations/questions...
What is your intended difference between Phalanx and Hoplite in characteristics or strengths? The Hoplite, or heavily-armored spearman, was the historical progression from the simple (shield only) spearman of the ancient Middle East, while the 'pike phalanx' of Alexander and his Successors was the progression from Hoplite. Trouble is, Hoplites originated in Lydia and spread to Greece and the pike phalanx became the 'standard' infantry for almost every civilized state around the Mediterranean except Rome. If you need a Wonder Unit, how about the Legion instead? Trigger it with a Tactics, Training, or similar Wonder or Feat, because the Legion's combination of long training (expensive), heavy armor, and combined arms was never copied successfully by non-Romans.
Instead of a Wonder trigger, how about triggering the Elephant unit by the Elephant 'trade good'? I've broached this idea before, 'way back in the CivIII suggestions over a year ago: now it looks like it can be included in a civ game! Make the Elephant a rare good (Type 2 or 3?) and Elephant unit is obtained only if you have the good in a city radius or as a Trade Good from another civ (Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Syria both traded for war elephants from Africa and India). This should be combined with a specific Advance, such as Dometication or Riding: without a source of elephants you get normal cavalry, with the elephants you get either cavalry or War Elephants - which should also have a pretty high maintenance cost.
Rename the 'Fascist' as a Storm Trooper or some other 'non political' title, and fergawdsakedon't make it unique to any government, but the 'standard' Modern (automatic weapons) infantry attack unit.
The Bombard and the Culverin represent very similar artillery weapons, both in effect and historical time. How about the difference being that the Bombard has an effect only on City Walls, which it negates? This would echo the historical First Effect of large gunpowder artillery, which was to make all existing fortifications obsolete. The Culverin, by contrast, would represent the first 'battlefield' artillery, with a regular Ranged effect.
Matte979
Chieftain
Sweden
Nov 2000
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One comment for your list.

I made some modifcations in the same direction.

One thing i did was make the musketter of CTP-1 a pre unit for the infantry unit.

And the Ctp-1 Cavalry a pre unit to Ctp-2 cavalry..

Looks nice. The old ctp-1 musketter unit looks older than the ctp-2 infantryman unit.

you put the ctp-1 cavalry after the ctp-2 cavalry.. Me thinks the ctp-1 cavalry looks older than the ctp-2 cavalry. Just a comment.

Great work with the others. Now we just add all these lists to the strategies? Can be decide how many of a certain unit or % atleast? Just to use the priority number seems abit to crude.

By the way increasing the time slices and the slider and the terrain affect changes the game to be alot better. Less money less food, cities alot more diffrent.

One comment about the terrain. I realised that you don't get enough bonus in production from Mountains and Hills. This cities don't seem to produce that much more than cities without hills/mountains. May i suggest my correction. I removed so you can't build mines on grassland and plains. Changed alot of things in the terrain file. Specieally where you can build things and made alot more diffrent bonuses for diffrent locations.

Thats what i love about this game if i don't like it i change it..

I made the base production for hills and mountains a little higher not much 5-10 generaly and removed commerce. Then the mines improvement i doubled. Now i get the feel that these cities are producing faster than those that don't have production.

/Mathias

Martock
Warlord
Greenville, SC USA
Apr 99
posted December 07, 2000 11:55   Click Here to See the Profile for MartockClick Here to Email Martock  send a private message to Martock
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out of curiousity, when creating these new mods is it possible to put in some of the older sound affects? i do miss hearing my spies saying "they nearly caught me now" and such...

just a thought...

Harlan
ctpmaps.apolyton/harlan
Berkeley, CA, USA
b.02-15-99
posted December 07, 2000 16:26   Click Here to See the Profile for HarlanClick Here to Email Harlan  send a private message to Harlan
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About the unit list.

How much are you planning to extend the current timeline? Cos I really hate having new unit types come and go before I can even build them and move them to some battle. With such an extended list, you should be careful about that. For that reason, I would suggest cutting it down. You seem to have added every unit you have a good graphic for, and some you don't have a good graphic for. I think less is more (though of course still more than what CTP2 comes with). For instance, why both an Ironclad and a Monitor, except that you can cos you have graphics for both?

Also, with so many units to pick from, I don't see why you should settle for anything less than fully animated units. This includes the units I've made: I'd rather you don't use them (except as a hole plug for a must have spot) since they aren't fully animated.

There is one unit I wish was on your list that isn't though: Chariot. Historically absolutely vital, but I guess not on your list simply cos there isn't a graphic that's even close to it. Could someone make one?

lev
Chieftain
Beaverton, OR, USA
May 99
posted December 07, 2000 20:37   Click Here to See the Profile for levClick Here to Email lev  send a private message to lev Visit lev's Homepage!
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quote:

Originally posted by Martock on 12-07-2000 11:55 AM
out of curiousity, when creating these new mods is it possible to put in some of the older sound affects? i do miss hearing my spies saying "they nearly caught me now" and such...

just a thought...

Yes, those old .wav files are in the CtP1 gamedate/english/sound/sound.zfs - which can be decompressed. I miss some of the old sounds too; the CtP2 warrior sounds far too civilized.

TheBirdMan
King
Denmark
Sep 1999
posted December 08, 2000 02:05   Click Here to See the Profile for TheBirdManClick Here to Email TheBirdMan  send a private message to TheBirdManSend a Message to UIN: 92691093
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Hey Wes.

Take a look at this tread: Increasing bombard range

Can this be used for something in your mod?

I hope so, at least if an "variant" for PBEM or Online games are made.

------------------
Woodstock was here!

WesW
apolyton.net/wes
Huntsville, Al., USA
b.02-15-99
posted December 08, 2000 13:33   Click Here to See the Profile for WesWClick Here to Email WesW  send a private message to WesWSend a Message to UIN: 84799350 Visit WesW's Homepage!
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Well, there is a lot to respond to today.

Lev, or anyone else, if you would decompress the sounds zfs and send me the sounds from the Ctp1 units I am using, I would really appreciate it. Here is a list, which includes a couple of additions to the list above:
Warrior, Trireme, Phalanx, Legion, Cannon, Cavalry, Musketeer, Artillery, Plasmatica, Space Marines, Hovertank, Swarm, and War Walker.

If you would also lift the lines from the sounds.txt needed to use the files, and put them together so that I can cut-n-paste them into the Ctp2 sounds.txt, that would save me some time as well.
I am going to have to start farming some of this stuff out, there is so much of it.

Rebel Rick showed me how to change the slider bar numbers that are seen in the game, so I have corrected them, and set the food settings back to their original settings in the const.txt.

I am of the opinion right now that we should adjust those settings (food per pop), and perhaps the number of tiles worked per population in the initial radius, to address the growth problems in the game, rather than trying to adjust all the terrain settings. I feel that the terrains are pretty well balanced in relation to one another right now, and that making a couple changes to pop hunger is better than re-working all the terrains.

I have updated the unit list to reflect some recent changes, and the Legion unit, which I had forgotten to include.

Diodorus and I continue to think alike, in that I had already decided to make the Hoplite a wonder unit, and the Phalanx the standard defensive unit of the iron age. The Legion will be a wonder unit as well, so that we can give these two units the balance of abilities and costs that they had historically.
I plan to make Hoplites unable to attack on mountains, though they can move across them, and fortify on them.

If the slic guys can make a unit dependent upon a good being located near a city, then I would be happy to have this setup for the War Elephant.
I had already planned to make the Fascist a Stormtrooper-type standard unit, unrestricted by government, just like I did for the Med mod I.
The Bombard is going to be a militia unit, which those of you familiar with the Med mod I will remember cannot move. I like to keep two units garrisoned in my cities in the earlier time periods, one defensive and one ranged, for martial law effects as well as defense, and this will give you such a setup.
The Ironclad is the standard capital ship of its day, while the Monitor is going to be a cheap, slow coastal defender like in the Med mod I and certain Civ II mods. It was actually more of a harbor and river defender, so I might decide to make it a type of coastal militia unit, like the Bombard. (See how cool the possibilities are? ) Same thing with the PT boat, except that they weren't slow.
The only WWII pack units I used were for what I considered huge holes in the unit lists. I am not sure whether the Galleon needs to be a transport or a slic warship, but it does need to be in there, imo.
Btw, if someone wants to take these units and animate them, get in touch with Harlan and see if he will give permission to do so. Any new units that someone wants to create themselves I would be interested in hearing about.
I am looking for Renaissance-era and 19th-century cavalry units, as well as a Diamond age successor to the Attack Helicopter. A Chariot would be great as well.

Right now I have 7 stages of unit progression, the same number as in the Med mod 4, where I thought that they worked out very well. Since Ctp2 has more turns than Ctp1, you should turn out to have plenty of time with each age.

I read the thread TheBirdMan referred to, and I think I will leave that to scenarios for right now. If it turns out to be a good feature, we can see about adding it to the mod for multiplay versions or what-not.

Diodorus, I am glad to hear that you have been working on making tech changes to the game. Once you get a good idea of what you want to do, please make a thread so that I can see.
Paul made a Word tech-tree chart which mimics the one which came with the game. If you, or anyone else, would like a copy email Paul or I and we will send you one. (My old website is dead, btw, so I am having to temporarily do without one.)

One sore point, as I have stated in earlier posts: I found out that the AI is apparently limited to five unit_build lists at any one time. This is going to put a major cramp on my style as it were. I am going to have to get together with some slic programmers and work out how to arrange unit_list activation to produce a balanced AI force.

Btw, if anyone reading this is into slic programming, and would like to work on the Med mod, please contact me. I am working with Locutus and Gedrin, but this mod is going to be so slic-dependent that I am going to need about all the help I can get.

If we can get all the slic stuff to work, this mod is going to have a really different flavor than the Med mod I. The standard units, as you can tell from the list above, are now pretty generic, ie there are few culture-specific ones left. However, there are going to be enough slic units to enable everyone to have some, and it is those who are going to make the game really fun and a unique experience each time you play it. I think players are going to develop strategies of combining units and playing styles similar to what you would find in AOK or other rts games.
Once I get the first beta out, which will not have the wonder-enabled units available, and we get things play-balanced, then I will release a detailed list of the special settings and abilities of the slic units. I think people are really going to be blown away once they see it all laid out before them at one time. There are enough flags and settings in the game now that you can really create some interesting units once you know that the standard units are provided for.

skorpion59
CTP Maps Webmaster
Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, (GMT -6)
May 99
posted December 08, 2000 18:02   Click Here to See the Profile for skorpion59Click Here to Email skorpion59  send a private message to skorpion59Send a Message to UIN: 92173697 Visit skorpion59's Homepage!
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Wes,

I haven't done much with SLIC lately because I have too many other things in the fire. However, I do plan on picking it back up soon. What motiviated me was the Samuri scenario. In it, I can run 7 tiles away from the 'bad guys' but they still attack me. In essence, they have removed the '1 tile away only' for attacking. (They actually didn't but thats another story). Hopefully, I will be able to give you a hand.


After seeing your last post, I have to say the drool is running down my chin and into my lap. I think maybe you should forget about all those silly things like school, sleep, food, etc and get this baby done!!!!!

Harlan
ctpmaps.apolyton/harlan
Berkeley, CA, USA
b.02-15-99
posted December 08, 2000 23:24   Click Here to See the Profile for HarlanClick Here to Email Harlan  send a private message to Harlan
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Wes,

You didn't really answer my questions from my previous posting. First off, what percent longer will your mod be in turns than the regular CTP2 setup, and how does that compare with what percent of new units you'll have. I still worry about getting too many new units before I can really use them. Ways to automatically update old units to new (for a price or a Leonardo wonder or something) would help, certainly.

Second question. What do you think about my comment that "less is more" and one shouldn't simply add a new unit or wonder or other, just because the graphic is there? I'll again point to the Ironclad and Monitor as an example. As far as I know, there was no such thing as defensive and offensive Ironclads, there was just one type. The Monitor was but an early single boat, and as one of the first Ironclads ever built, largely without any offensive weapons. This was an oversight (based on a need to rush a weapon, any weapon to meet the Merrimack) that was soon rectified by all later Ironclads. I can see why for logical reasons its good to look for an offensive and defensive ship in each era, but the Monitor is not what you're looking for for that era, unless you want to fly in the face of history.

I would also call into question some of the other unit additions as being unnecessary, such as the Privateer, but if you could explain the wonders they'll be attached to, maybe they're look better. The Galleon I agree is an important unit, but I believe that is exactly what the Carrack is. They're nearly the same thing, but I'm sure the Activision guys named it Carrack simply so there would be one less unit they share with Civ2. For instance, I asked the lead designer why he wouldn't include Chariot, and the name was the reason: the legal team said they were skating on thin ice with having too many things the same as Civ2, and there was no other name to call Chariot.

Other ones I'd question: why a WW2 Frigate? Slinger? Horse Archer and Bandit Horseman (one or the other is fine)? Heavy Swordsman and Swordsman (again, one or the other)? The Zulus? These seem driven by a cos we have the graphics sentiment. Bombard, Culverin AND Cannon seems a bit iffy- 2 out of three is good, unless the mod will stretch time out a ton.

On the other hand, there are some holes that still need fixing. For instance, ICBM (I assume you forgot to mention Nukes), Seige Tower, Anti-Air Gun (pre-SAM).

On another note, what about a provision in your mod for reducing the PW cost of adding, say, a Mega Mine to where a Mine was, or a Railroad to where a Road was. For instance, pay 300 instead of 500 if the original cost 200.

I think it would be wonderful if someone made animations out of some of my units, but I also think it would be pretty near impossible, since they aren't based on 3D models.

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