1st, I hope that this is in the correct forum. 2nd, obviously, as far as unit graphics go, it will have to wait until the SDK comes out. But, i have ideas on how space/planets/solar systems should function. I made a scenario for CivII, along these lines, for my own use. The balance, graphics, and all that sucked, but my planetary system "worked"( i was also about 16 at the time, and that may have had something to do with the quality of my work). So here are my questions:
1. If such a thing was done properly, would you be interested in playing?
2. Would you prefer a scenario set in the Episode I-VI period, or more in the KOTOR era? Of course, once the map is done, it would be a relatively straightforward thing to create one scenario from the other.
3. Would this be a violation of copyright laws, to make this scenario? I wouldn't think that it would be, since there is no $$$ involved on my end. On the other hand, i refuse to underestimate the malevolance of any person evil enough to create Jar-Jar and then put him in a movie that the world waited over a decade for.:wallbash:

I appreciate any comments and replies.

1. I don't see why not. Define "properly", though.
2. A lot of scenarios have been done for the movie era, so a KOTOR one would be interesting.
Still, just having a good scenario to play through would be fine.
3. Legal issues don't seem to bother the countless other people making Star Wars mods for Civ2 and Civ3.
If it's a free scenario, there should be no problem. If not...well...:mischief:

I've had a Star Wars scenario for Civ 4 in mind for a while...

1) Definately yes.
2) I would like both scenarios ;) Episode IV-VI would be still better in my opinion.
3) There shouldn't be a problem...

I would define "properly" as having excellent graphics, good balance(bearing in mind that we are probably talking about Alliance vs Empire, which is a less than fair fight, what with one side getting to build a Death Star), a functioning tech tree, and so on.
I plan on updating the thread on a regular basis. Here goes:

I'm working on the map(planet placement, not editing terrain graphics quite yet) and researching other stuff now. I'm leaning to a KOTOR setting right now, since this will provide a fairer fight. Episodes I-VI, provide a greater diversity of ready-to-go units with a clear upgrade path, so this era is also appealing. My decision is not set in stone, but right now I'm proceeding on the basis of it being KOTOR era. Between the Republic, Mandalorians, Sith, and maybe some 4th Power(Hutts? Some form of Proto-Trade Federation? suggestions welcome). In any event, the map will be the same. The map is based off the largest available size of Inland Sea map. I made this decision to prevent Ice caps and circumnavigation. The edge of the map will be considered the edge of the oft-mentioned Outer Rim. I have a book that contains a hyperspace planetary map, so I will be working from that for right now. I plan on filling out the lesser planets with Barbarian Cities named after the Planet,(ex: Dagobah, Mon Calamari, Hoth). I've got what i think is a lovely idea on how to simulate hyperspace, but i'm not sure if it will work. Plan B on Hyperspace is to just give certain Spaceships extra movement points, but i dont think it will come to that, and I hope it doesn't since I want orbital movement to be rather slow compared to Hyperspace, with the exception of starfighters and starbombers(for lack of a better term). Well, i'd better be getting back to that map.

Hmmm... episodes 4, 5 and 6 definately have an advantage that it's a clear cut fight (Rebels vs Empire). You could also probably stretch this one a bit further than episode 6 - up to the taking of Coruscant, for example.

Anybody ever played Star Wars: Supremacy (or Star Wars: Rebellion in the US)?

I liked 'Rebellion' a lot, even though it had some annoying flaws. ;)

Civ4 is having a bit of a Billy Joel day(keeps crashing for those of you who aren't into Behind the Music), so most of my work for the day may well go into research for my mod, which is fine. However, i did get some work done before the WorldBuilder got cranky.
Update:
It appears that my plan for Hyperspace routes will work. Unfortunately, these routes would also be easy to block, especially if they are a mere 1 square wide. So I will be widening them. For the record, i am planning on 4 kinds of "Space" tiles. Space will of course be what we would normally recognize as ocean.
1. Coast = Orbital Space. All space vessels will be able to move thru orbital space. Spacestations and planetary defense ships will be limited entirely to orbital space.
2. Ocean = Hyperspace. Hyperspace will be available to all capital ships, as well as larger transport vessels, and Hyperspace capable small craft.
3. Mountain = Deep Space. Mountains are Impassable, and so is deep space. No craft whatsoever will be able to operate here. Technically, fighter/bomber craft will be able to fly over Deep Space, but planetary systems will be placed far enough apart to prevent any exploiting. This also means that fighter/bomber craft will have relatively short range, but I plan on planets being relatively small. Hyperspace routes will be lines of ocean running thru the mountains, with the coastal waters around the mountains edited out in the Worldbuilder. Right now, I have to go back and widen the Hyperspace routes, this means less/smaller planets. The Core worlds will probably just sit in a lake of Hyperspace, for lack of a better image.
4. Ice Pack = smugglers routes. This terrain will function in the same way as Hyperspace, except it will only be available to smuggling craft and certain other vehicles, probably some Hyperspace capable fighters(think Jedi Starfighter).
Obviously, all these terrains will have their graphics altered to make them appear as some kind of outer space.
A note on smuggling, im planning on the possession of certain buildings generating what is in effect a Great Merchant type unit that will function as a cargo of spice, stims, rare liquor, ewok jerky, etc every few turns. This unit will be there in order to perform the Trade Mission function, thus delivering a nice pile of $$$ to whoever can perform the "Kessel Run" or its equivalent.

Here is my plan for planets: Most "normal" production for Cities will come from the City Square itself and the buildings within the cities. Bonus/Luxury/Strategic Resources will be huge, to allow for greater production from smaller areas. This will allow planets to be fairly small, thus allowing more planets(i'm planning on lots of planets, lots). Some minor planets will be as small as 2 squares(dagobah and such), and some moons, only 1 square. I'm planning on the largest planets being about 28-30 squares and having 2 cities, 1 on each side of the Planet. This is my plan for Coruscant. Anyway, lots of planets, most of which you will recognize from the movies and games, some others i will just pick off the map i have found. In the movies, invasions tend to succeed or fail fairly quickly, so there's not a whole lot of need for land, except to provide for cities, and somewhere for the invaders to land. Most of the Higher quality infantry will have the marine upgrade, which I will rename to something suitable. Its been my experience that 90% of Civ Combat happens at cities anyways. I think the important combat will mostly happen in space, as in the movies.

Update:
Further testing indicates that my space movement plan does work, still working on the map.

UPDATE:I have the map about half done, ive got the north and east part of the galaxy done now. Since so much of Star Wars relies on the concept of hyperspace, i've placed planets and systems in relation to the major Hyperspace routes and not in strict accordance with their locations on the galaxy map i have. This goes all the way from Endor in the Far NW, to Kessel in the Far SE. After further consideration, I've decided to base all planets on the "fat cross" that a city can work(each "city" will represent a planet"). No planet will actually take up an entire fat cross, however, as each city square needs space(sea) access. I've figured out a method for having moons, which are essentially just 1 or 2 square islands within the fat cross. Some planets have no moons, some have as many as 5 or 6. I've tried to keep all planets more or less symmetrical, but this hasn't always been possible. As far as naming planets, whenever there is a number involved I'm going with the Roman Numeral for the sake of consistency. The complete list of planets on the map so far is:
Endor, Xal III, Mobus, Csilla, Khomm, Drooturoo, Coruscant, Iridonia, Byss, Ebaq, Dantooine, Ord Mantell, Telos, Ammuud, Bonadan, Etti IV, Korriban, Yavin, Nespiss VIII, Ossus, Quermia, Vaynai, Mon Calamari, Honoghr, Kessel.* Praise Sid for the landmark feature in the worldbuilder.
*Core Worlds are in Blue, Corporate Sector Worlds are in Lime

make ren var from battlefront

Where is Ren Var? I didn't see it on my galactic map. I have just been labeling planets with the landmark feature for now. Anyway, I'll gladly put it in if people want it. Any information on the planet would be helpful. I'll hit starwars.com to see what I can find.

Hey AngryPants, ive been browsing the forums for a while but seeing this thread yesterday made me register. It sounds like a great idea and id love to play a SW Scenario for Civ IV. Your planet and hyperspace routes sound like a great idea. You asked for some suggestions for Eras, and such, so I have some. MrUnderhill suggested KOTOR era as lots of mods focus on the movies, but I think a movie is the way to go. KOTOR 1 was a really one sided war, with the Star Forge, and the only hope the Old Republic had was your character. I think that wouldnt be such a good idea as the Republic would be pretty much hopeless until the Jedi hero entered the Star Forge and killed Malak, etc. I think the best era would be the Confederate Uprising, in the final years of the Old Republic. This war was much more interesting because a lot of it was about the alleigance of factions, and which worlds and companies were loyal to the Republic or Confederacy. For example most of the core world were Republic and the outer rim tended to be more Confederate, but they still had a lot of power. There was also the corruption of the senate, which possibly could be a point in the scenario when the Republic faction splits in two (not halves though), the Jedi and the Galactic Empire, and you possibly can pick which side you are on. Depending on how long the scenario could be, the Jedi could help start the Rebel Alliance.
I think also that Dagobah should be left out, as I *think* it was just a backwater planet with no significance whatsoever (Except to Jedi). Id personally leave out Naboo to stop any risks of Gungans (And Jar Jar) aswell. What are your ideas on factions? Will there be the two main antagonists and a 'barbarian' faction for planets which you have get on your side (through diplomacy or conquest?).
Right, there are some of my ideas. Id love to be able to help out with some ideas and SW knowledge as I know a bit about it. Sorry if im being rambling or anything. :D

PhilN, the more i think about it, the more I lean to a scenario set in the time period of the movies, just because of the abundant selection of units. If I could figure out a way to actually make the Republic split, that would lend itself to an Episode IV-VI scenario. The other thing that is appealing to me is a sort of "Rise of the Republic" scenario, that perhaps climaxes with the Sith Wars. Leave out Naboo and deny Imperial Players the opportunity to destroy Jar-Jar with the Death Star ... I think not. Seriously tho, there won't be any Gungans. Also, there are plenty of backwater planets already in my map, and since Xagobah went in I need something to rhyme with it. Also, I'd like for Jedi to enter the game as sort of random units that pop up on backwater planets, but I don't know if this is doable. Plan B on Jedi, is making the Light Side of the Force a religion that enables the building of Jedi as national units(limited to maybe 1 master, 2 Jedi, 3 Padawans, 1 Jedi Starfighter, etc). The Empire/Sith would then get a Dark Side Religion(allowing the Building of a Sith Master and a Sith Apprentice, etc). Back to planets, I'm actually almost done with the map, at least concerning the placement of planets. Right now, all planets are just pure ice, and until I figure out what I want from the individual Cities as far as population, production, and so on, the terrain will remain "blank"(if its Ice and not Hoth, that reminds me I haven't finished the planet).
As far as factions, it will depend on when I set the scenario:
The Republic/Alliance
Sith/Empire
Hutts
Trade Federation
Techno-Union
Mandalorians

AngryPants, this is an absolutely brilliant idea!

I like Star Wars and enjoyed the movies, and I would love to be a part of this project! Please let me know if you could use my help (XML coding).

Some non Star Wars info you may find helpful...

You can create new terrain tiles, features and bonuses you aren't restricted to using old ones. This means you can add in multiple types with different effects if desired. For example, you could make one type of basic space (orbital space for you) and a second "deep space" that uses a lot of extra movement to travel through, like a forrest does for example. Then you can have a promotion that allows you to move double speed over that feature (e.g. Woodsman II). Now, add in a second feature (a.k.a. jungles) and a second promotion and you have your illegal routes. Anyway, you don't have to use the ocean tiles since you can create entirely new terrain types. If you wanted to you could even use the current land tiles and just change which terrain is impassible to which units. Doing that would alleviate any concerns with the amphibious combat penalty which would be redundant with normal city attack/defense modifiers in a map with nothing but open "water" and "cities."

You really do have a lot of control over the game now, it isn't at all like modifying older civ games where you were limited in making something that worked entirely within the confines of the original rules. There will be some obvious restrictions but aside from fundamentally being Civ4 it doesn't have to play anything like the original.

Seven05, that is extremely helpful information. If I can create new terrain, that really opens up what I can do with the different planets. I want space combat and planetary combat to stay separate, so I think I will stay with space=ocean. I wanted some areas of space to be completely impassable(this allowed me more freedom when placing planets, thus 2 planets could be 10 squares apart yet 1/2 the map apart in terms of movement), and since mountains are already impassable, i'm just going with them. On that note I have finished placing the planets, and I'll give a full planet list in a second post. I'm excited about your idea for promotions affecting movement, i hadn't thought about this. Now spaceships can have the same amount of orbital(coastal) movement but different Hyperspace movement with such promotions.

Update: Full Planet List
Endor, Xal III, Mobus, Csilla, Khomm, Drooturoo, Coruscant, Iridonia, Byss, Ebaq, Dantooine, Ord Mantell, Telos, Ammuud, Bonadan, Etti IV, Korriban, Yavin, Nespiss VIII, Ossus, Quermia, Vaynai, Mon Calamari, Honoghr, Kessel,Bimmisaari, Da Soocha V, Gamorr, Nar Shadaa, Nal Hutta, Toydaria, Fwillsving, Kashyyyk, Trandosha, Alderaan, Kuuat, Naboo, Corellia, Duro, Lok, Tatooine, Geonosis, Ryloth, Rothana, Kamino, Clakdorr VII, Xagobah, Dagobah, Kal'Shebbol, Exocron, Abgregado-Rae, Sullust, Eriadu, Voronat, Bespin, Hoth, Elshandruu Picu, Alzac III, Pzob, Moonus Mandel, Bothawui*

That's 61 by my count
*Core Worlds in Blue, Corporate Sector in Lime, Hutt Space in Dark Orange, Bothan Space in Green

Update: Graphics
I have replaced the gold coins in the city menu with Republic Credits. I couldn't find a picture of a republic credit anywhere on the web, despite much googling. So each credit is essentially a playing card with the Republic Symbol toward its top. They are blue and white, the logo is black. The money Bag(5 gold symbol) i have replaced with a much larger Republic Credit. The 5 Credit "card" is green and white with a black logo, and the letters G R in the bottom left corner. The G and R are in the Aurabesh alphabet/language and stand for Galactic Republic. The letters are also in black. I have also designed the images for the 2 religions in my mod so far, the Dark Side(of the Force), and the Light Side(of the Force).
I am currently working on Flags for the Republic, Trade Federation, and Hutts. I will replace the hammers and food icons with something more Star Wars once i figure out what i want(suggestions welcome, im leaning toward a bowl of noodles for the food and I have no idea on the hammers). I am also going to replace all the specialist heads in the city screens. I'm working on a Bith Musician for the Artist. I'm set on what's going in for the Merchant as well. I'm leaning toward a droid for the Engineer, but that isn't set in stone. I don't have solid plans yet for the priest(who i'm thinking of changing to something else, maybe a diplomat or noble who might function as a kind of agricultural specialist), scientist, citizen, or angry person. I want to use aliens for these, and again I welcome suggestions. I have some ideas on how i want Jedi to work(specifically upgrading), but i'm letting them percolate for now. Also, I'd love suggestions on what other religions/philosophies should go in. I'm considering a neutral side of the Force, besides that I have nothing.

3 . Most definately if you know George Lucas LOL .

Update: Graphics
I have created new icons for food and production. Unfortunately in the game they just show up as hideous black boxes. Everything is in the appropriate mod folders and the cache has been cleared, so its not that. If anyone knows how to fix this, I would appreciate it.

Update: Graphics
I have completed the graphics for all the city specialists, excluding the priest and great priest. I still haven't decided what to replace priests with, so graphics will have to wait on that decision. The graphics work in the game; the only issue is the backgrounds are white instead of transparent. If any1 knows how to make transparency in a .dds file, I'd be grateful if that knowledge was shared. I have been using gimp, saving as a .jpg, then converting to .dds using a .dds converter. I still haven't gotten the production graphics working, they are still black rectangles.:(

what dds converter are you using?
if you use dtxBMP you need to create the 'transparent' part IN THE ALPHA MASK black, the rest (pic) white. the in the normal pic, you place you picture. i'm not sure if this is completely right, but it has to do with this.

haarbal

I am using "DDS Converter 2" and GIMP. I'm going to mess around with some of the files later tonight, hopefully I can get something to work.

Does anyone know if it's possible to make units jump from square to square a la paratroopers from previous Civ games?

It would be useful for space-type scenarios if it were...

I am using "DDS Converter 2" and GIMP. I'm going to mess around with some of the files later tonight, hopefully I can get something to work.

you should try DXTbmp, there is a link to it in a create civ tutorial (i think it was charcoal's tutorial). it allows you to create an alfa mask, which tells the program which parts it needs to cut out and fill up with the background. ATM the game is clueless what to do with your dds file, because there is no alpha mask, so it fills everything black. buttons and leaderheads are no problem they can be created with the DDS file your DDS converter uses (dds 1, no alpha), but for flags, units and more stuff (like the production icon), it needs dds 3.

haarbal

who else is excited about the upcoming Empire at War game? You can already get the demo on gamespy http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/empireatwar/

Back on topic, I am really excited about anything star wars, especially strategy games and mods. I don't have too much experience in programming or anything but maps and stuff I could be able to help out with a little.

who else is excited about the upcoming Empire at War game? You can already get the demo on gamespy http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/empireatwar/

Back on topic, I am really excited about anything star wars, especially strategy games and mods. I don't have too much experience in programming or anything but maps and stuff I could be able to help out with a little.
Actually I downloaded the demo for SW:EaW, and it does about 95% of what I wanted my Mod to do. It looks incredible, you can even slaughter Jawas, and presumably GunGuns too in the full game. Therefore, I have put my Star Wars Mod on indefinite hold. I've decided to wait for the SDK before I put any more work into mods. I'd like to do a Civil War mod, or maybe a WWI mod, but I'll just wait and see at this point.