Great General Amped Mod
By: TheLopez

Last update: 11/08/06

Version: v0.9
Patch Compatibility: v1.61
MP Compatible: ?
Download Mod v0.9 (http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=48&act=down)

Version: v0.7.1
Patch Compatibility: v1.52
MP Compatible: ?
Download Mod v0.7.1 (http://www.aracnet.com/~opus/Civiv/GreatGeneralAmpedv0.7.1.zip)


Description:

This mod takes Snaitf's Great General Mod to the next level making Great Generals a
more useful unit in the field of combat.


Installation Instructions:

1) Unzip this into the "civ4_install_folder\Mods\" folder.
2) Open the CivilizationIV.ini configuration file
3) Change the Mod line to read: Mod = Mods\Great General Amped
4) Load the game.
5) Then play as normal.

-----Game Play-----

- Great Generals that join cities give +2 to production, +2 to gold

- Citizens specialized as soldiers give +1 to production, +1 to gold and
+3 to great person points

- Great generals now inspire troops, they will get Morale I when a Great
General is two spaces away, Morale II when a Great General is one space
away and Morale III to units in the same plot as the Great General.

- If configured, Great Generals that have joined a city (settled) will continue
to inspire troops.


-----Buildings/Improvements-----

- Palaces, walls, bunkers, bomb shelters and United Nations no longer allow
citizens to be specialized as soldiers (In Snaitf's Great General Mod you are
able to)

- The following buildings now provide points towards generating a great
general:
[TAB]- Heroic Epic (1)
[TAB]- National Epic (1)
[TAB]- West Point (1)
[TAB]- Mt. Rushmore (1)
[TAB]- Scotland Yard (1)
[TAB]- Pentagon (2)

- The following buildings now allow the citizens to be specialized as
soldiers:
[TAB]- West Point(3)
[TAB]- Castle (1)
[TAB]- Dry Dock (1)
[TAB]- Jail (1)
[TAB]- Pentagon (1)
[TAB]


-----Promotions/Traits-----

- Morale I:
[TAB]- +1 First strike chance
[TAB]- +5% to strength

- Morale II:
[TAB]- +1 first strike
[TAB]- +1 First strike chance
[TAB]- +5% to strength

- Morale III:
[TAB]- Immune to first strikes
[TAB]- +1 first strike
[TAB]- +10% to strength


-----Notes to Modmakers-----

If you want to use the Great General Amped Mod in your mod I have tried to
make things as easy as possible for you. In the XML files modified sections
are enclosed by:
<!-- -->
<!-- Great General Amped Start -->
<!-- -->
and
<!-- -->
<!-- Great General Amped End -->
<!-- -->

In the Python files I have added #<Great General Start> and #<Great General
End> in all of the places that I have made changes to the original files. I
have also included the Specialist Stacker Mod v0.6.2. There is also a custom
event manager and the GeneralMoraleUtils.py file.

All I ask is that you give me credit.


-----Version Information-----

-----v0.9------

- Updated the Specialist Stacker Mod to v0.8


-----v0.8.x------

- Fixed the missing TXT_KEY_SPECIALIST_GREAT_GENERAL tag reported by Jeckle.

- Updated all python code and XML to be compatible with the v1.61 patch.

- Merged all of the game text XML data into one file.

- Fixed the promotion civilopedia python file causing an exception


-----v0.7.1------

- The only file changed in this version is the CIV4BuildingInfos.xml file.

- Updated the buildings that give out great person points, free specialists and
allow citizen specialization using OzzyKP's recommendation as a guide.

- Added option allowing players to configure if Great Generals should exude
their morale bonus or not.


-----v0.7------

- Integrated Dr Elmer Jiggle's event manager and INI parsing code.

- Integrated Specialist Stacker Mod v0.6.2

- Fixed the issue where morale promotions did not get removed when the Great
General was killed or lost. Reported by Springsteen84.

- Fully documented the Great General Amped code

- Generalized some of the methods and moved them to TheLopezUtils.py file.

- Added check to only give morale promotions to land units.

- Added option to allow players to configure if Great Generals that join city
should still give their morale bonus or not.


-----v0.6------

- Integrated the Specialist Stacker Mod v0.4 code to the Great General Amped
Mod

- Fixed a critical bug causing game to crash when great general provides moral
boost to other units.

- Added unique graphics for the soldiers and great generals


-----v0.5------

- Integrated the Specialist Stacker Mod v0.5 code to the Great General Amped
Mod


-----v0.4------

- Updated the great general images to use marine in later eras instead of the
praetorian images.

- Tweaked the bonuses that buildings provide for great generals and soldiers,
several of these tweaks are to be in line with Exavier's composite mod's
inclusion of Snaitf's Great General Mod
[TAB]- Castles now only provide 1 free soldier and allow 1 citizens to be
[TAB] specialized as soldiers
[TAB]- Barracks now only allow 1 citizen to be specialized as a soldier
[TAB]- Pentagon now only provides 1 free soldier instead of 2

- Military Academy production modifier reduced to 25%

-----v0.3------

- Great generals now inspire troops, they will get Morale I when a Great
General is two spaces away, Morale II when a Great General is one space
away and Morale III to units in the same plot as the Great General.


-----v0.2------

- Added three new promotions Morale I, Morale II and Morale III that are given
and taken away by Great Generals. Morale III is given to units in the same
stack as the Great General. Morale II is given to units one space away or
less from the Great General. Morale I is given to units two spaces away or
less from the Great General.

-----v0.1------

- Setup Great General Amped Mod infrastructure
- Double checked everything in the original Snaitf's Great General and fixed
naming issues.
- Palaces, bunkers, bomb shelters and United Nations no longer allow citizens
to be specialized as soldiers
- Added more Great General names of note
- Fixed the Great General and soldier to match descriptions and civilopedia
entries that align to the original specialist descriptions and civilopedia


-----To Do-----

- Generalize some of the methods found in the GeneralMoraleUtils.py file and them
to a modular Utils.py file

- Add the configurable option allowing for players to set if the morale promotion
should be given to teammates or not.


-----===Credits & Thanks===-----

- Exavier
[TAB]Composite Mod - readme.txt format


- Snaitf
[TAB]Snaitf's Great General Mod - For redeveloping the CvMainInterface.py
[TAB]class and making it really easy to add new great persons.


- Zuul
[TAB]Fort I promotion button graphic.
[TAB]

-Stone-D
[TAB]SD Toolkit

[TAB]
- Dr Elmer Jiggle
[TAB]For providing the INI file parser code allowing for players to
[TAB]customize this mod without having to touch the python code!!!
[TAB]
- OzzyKP
[TAB]For providing suggestions to balance out the Great General Amped mod.
[TAB][TAB][TAB]

I did the Fort button graphics, not him :p.

1) Will the AI know how to use the general in field? I doubt it. :(

2) Dont you think givin Barracks a free soldier is greatly overpowered?
Instead of 4 XP to each unit they now give: 4 XP, 1 to production, +1 to gold, +3 to great person points, -2 food (free specialists cost food dont they?) and allow an additional soldier specialist.
Allowing that specialist should be enought. So you should cancel this free soldier.

1) Will the AI know how to use the general in field? I doubt it. :(

2) Dont you think givin Barracks a free soldier is greatly overpowered?
Instead of 4 XP to each unit they now give: 4 XP, 1 to production, +1 to gold, +3 to great person points, -2 food (free specialists cost food dont they?) and allow an additional soldier specialist.
Allowing that specialist should be enought. So you should cancel this free soldier.

Chalid,

I think I saw the AI using the the general in the field. But I'm not 100% sure.

I looked at the XML file and they don't give the free soldier, they just allow you to specialize a citizen as a soldier, the readme file didn't get updated ... done.

I did the Fort button graphics, not him :p.

Noted and updated.

The AI *might* use the General in the field if it had the right UNITAI set, however, it would probably not use it in cities.

You could bodge together some AI overrides in python to give the General the ability to do all these things.

The AI *might* use the General in the field if it had the right UNITAI set, however, it would probably not use it in cities.

You could bodge together some AI overrides in python to give the General the ability to do all these things.

TGA,

Thats an interesting idea. I think I'll look into it after I get the next version of my Great Statesman mod out that includes more "diplomatic" missions.

Hey TheLopez :). First up great work with all your mods, I only wish I had a fraction of your modding ability! Second, as far as Soldier Specialists goes, have you considered using python to make the specialists lower the build time for units? I am pretty certain that, even if it can be done, it would only allow it for the first such specialist of this type-but I figure that this is better than nothing. What do you reckon, is it worth trying?

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

Hey TheLopez :). First up great work with all your mods, I only wish I had a fraction of your modding ability!
Really, I'm not as good as you make me out to be. I just don't sleep much, maybe 1-3 hours a day :D.


Second, as far as Soldier Specialists goes, have you considered using python to make the specialists lower the build time for units? I am pretty certain that, even if it can be done, it would only allow it for the first such specialist of this type-but I figure that this is better than nothing. What do you reckon, is it worth trying?

That is a great idea, I think I know where to make the change. But I want to get the first release of the mercenaries mod out. Which is getting there but I have been really picky with it so I am making sure everything is tested and documented.

Anyways, thanks for the idea.

I am pretty sure I know how it could be done too.

Basically, if you get the program to look in every city within range(i), and check for presence of Soldier Specialist. If true, then setUnitProductionRate (A), else: setUnitProductionRate (B).

Something along those lines!

Oh, and that sleep thing explains a lot. I am an 8 hour a day sleep-type person.

Yours,
Aussie_Lurker.

Oh, and that sleep thing explains a lot. I am an 8 hour a day sleep-type person.

You lazy sloth :p, you sleep 8 hours a day? Thats like 1/3 of the day.

Just give me some coffee and I'm :eek:

hi thelopez. about to down load all your mods. btw i sleep about 10 hours so I cannot find time to mod :lol:

Hi TheLopez,

I downloaded your mod, but I'm experiencing some problems.
If have you some units in our or around your city and you get a great general in that city, all units are promoted accordingly. And you move the closer or further away from the great general their getting the promotion being lowered or highered. That's working fine, but as soon as you use your Great General joining the city, build the Military Academy, discover a Technology or just delete the GG. All the units keep their latest promotion.

Do you or somebody also experiencing the same problem and knows how to fix it.

Thanks for your help

That's working fine, but as soon as you use your Great General joining the city, build the Military Academy, discover a Technology or just delete the GG. All the units keep their latest promotion.

Springsteen84, Thanks for letting me know that is definately a bug (or feature) anyways, I will put out a fix once I get my Mercenaries Mod completed. For the time being, enjoy the bonus your units are getting ...

Actually, I just got an interesting idea, if you move your units away from the city that the Great general joined does their morale bonus go away? If it does then maybe it isn't really an issue, there isn't any reason why they shouldn't get that bonus if the great general is in the city. It is an issue if the great greneral founded an academy or discovered a technology though.

Great mod TheLopez :goodjob: Few things/bugs though.

- I was able to build Military Academy without Barracks in the city. I just used WorldBuilder to put a bunch of wonders in there and waited for the general to spawn, then used its build military academy ability and it worked. I also checked that the city actually had the building and it did.

- You should probably only add the moral promotions to land-based military units. I.e. exclude all air/naval units, as well as settlers, workers and other great people.

- This is kind of a suggestion for consideration. I use the promotions & perks mod, and I find my units having a lot of promotion icons, and it's getting messy :). Since the moral promotions are temporary and not "standard" perhaps you would consider implementing them in a slightly different way. Instead of stacking the three promotions, change them so that each one is "stacked" by itself (i.e. moral 2 for example, would by itself also include the effects of moral 1) and applied by itself as well. So units on the same plot as GG will only get the moral 3 promotion but it will have the effects of the current moral 2 and moral 1 promotions. Units on a neighbouring square will only get moral 2 promotion (which will also have effects of moral 1), and units 2 squares away will get the usual stuff.

Great mod TheLopez :goodjob: Few things/bugs though.

- I was able to build Military Academy without Barracks in the city. I just used WorldBuilder to put a bunch of wonders in there and waited for the general to spawn, then used its build military academy ability and it worked. I also checked that the city actually had the building and it did.

- You should probably only add the moral promotions to land-based military units. I.e. exclude all air/naval units, as well as settlers, workers and other great people.

- This is kind of a suggestion for consideration. I use the promotions & perks mod, and I find my units having a lot of promotion icons, and it's getting messy :). Since the moral promotions are temporary and not "standard" perhaps you would consider implementing them in a slightly different way. Instead of stacking the three promotions, change them so that each one is "stacked" by itself (i.e. moral 2 for example, would by itself also include the effects of moral 1) and applied by itself as well. So units on the same plot as GG will only get the moral 3 promotion but it will have the effects of the current moral 2 and moral 1 promotions. Units on a neighbouring square will only get moral 2 promotion (which will also have effects of moral 1), and units 2 squares away will get the usual stuff.

Thanks for letting me know I am planning to do a new version of the Great General Amped after I put out the Mercenaries Mod, which is getting really close to being completed and ready for release :D

Just wanted to let you know that I made a bunch of portraits of some of these generals here (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=160576), so if you use the great people mod you'll have proper pop ups for these guys as well.

I have updated the Great General Amped mod, it is now v0.7

Its me again. :)

Is it possible for a specialist or a building to adjust unit upkeep costs? That would be a useful and realistic way of implementing great generals. Better military leadership allows for larger armies, and more efficient armies.

Also, as I said in the Great Doctor thread, I don't generally like the idea of adding new promotions... but I dunno.... it definitely seems appropriate for a Great General. I suppose if morale is a promotion that no unit can get on its own, and is only provided by the Great General unit, then it'd be balanced and ok. The actual benefits of the promotion seem appropriate as well. Although... do the bonuses stack?

So if you are on the GG's square do you benefit from morale I, II, and III resulting in 2 first strikes, 2 first strike chances, immunity to first strikes and a +20% to strength? That seems to be a bit much.

And I always have something to say about how GP are generated, so my thoughts:

- Palaces, walls, bunkers, bomb shelters and United Nations no longer allow
citizens to be specialized as soldiers (In Snaitf's Great General Mod you are
able to)

Below you still list walls as allowing soldier specialists.

- The following buildings now provide points towards generating a great
general:
- Heroic Epic (1)
- National Epic (1)
- West Point (3)
- Mt. Rushmore (1)
- Kremlin (2)
- Scotland Yard (1)
- Pentagon (3)

If the Kremlin is giving great statesmen points in your other mod, should the GG points for the kremlin be taken off in this one? Besides that, it looks good.

- The following buildings now allow the citizens to be specialized as
soldiers:
- Wall (1)
- Castle (1)
- Barracks (1)
- Dry Dock (1)
- Jail (1)
- West Point(2)
- Pentagon (2)

I'd disagree with doing one at barracks, just since barracks are available so early in the game and since they are fairly cheap and most people build them. I think the rest is appropriate.

- The following buildings now provide free soldiers:
- Castle (1)
- West Point (2)
- Pentagon (1)


Again I don't like the idea of providing free specialists. Only the Great Library does this in the vanilla game. I suggest all these free specialists be taken out.

Its me again. :)

:rolleyes: ... just joking.


Is it possible for a specialist or a building to adjust unit upkeep costs? That would be a useful and realistic way of implementing great generals. Better military leadership allows for larger armies, and more efficient armies. That's a good question... I don't think that it is possible through the XML but programatically you can. I'll see what I can do about this one.

Also, as I said in the Great Doctor thread, I don't generally like the idea of adding new promotions... but I dunno.... it definitely seems appropriate for a Great General. I suppose if morale is a promotion that no unit can get on its own, and is only provided by the Great General unit, then it'd be balanced and ok. The actual benefits of the promotion seem appropriate as well. Although... do the bonuses stack?

So if you are on the GG's square do you benefit from morale I, II, and III resulting in 2 first strikes, 2 first strike chances, immunity to first strikes and a +20% to strength? That seems to be a bit much.Why? Wouldn't you expect that soldiers in very close proximity to a great general do more to protect their general? There are very many documented cases where this has happened.


Below you still list walls as allowing soldier specialists. The description and release notes are wrong. In game walls do not allow soldier specialists.


If the Kremlin is giving great statesmen points in your other mod, should the GG points for the kremlin be taken off in this one? Besides that, it looks good. If someone wants to merge the two mods that will be their decision to make.


I'd disagree with doing one at barracks, just since barracks are available so early in the game and since they are fairly cheap and most people build them. I think the rest is appropriate. True, people can build barracks early in the game, and that's why barracks don't automatically give a free specialist soldier. If players decide that they want to specialize one of their population then they are making a sacrifice some where else, especially early in the game.

Again I don't like the idea of providing free specialists. Only the Great Library does this in the vanilla game. I suggest all these free specialists be taken out. True, but this is an enhancement to the vanilla game. I do agree that maybe castles shouldn't provide free specialists but the other two I think should, especially since they are both wonders, one a world wonder and one a national wonder.


Again, thanks for taking the time and giving your feedback and constructive criticism. It is really appreciated.

What you call an enhancement I see as changes that overpower and eclipse the vanilla game. Why should a new class of specialist get more benefits and powers and advantages than the specialist classes we already have? Don't you think that has an unbalancing effect on the game?

I mean the Chuck Norris unit is a mod that people use simply to use that mod, but it doens't have any real applicability in a normal game because it is too powerful. I think adding these specialists is too good an idea to be just another unbalancing gimmick. I think people would get more out of it if it blended and balanced better with the vanilla game, which imho would mean making them directly comparable with the existing specialists.

What you call an enhancement I see as changes that overpower and eclipse the vanilla game. Why should a new class of specialist get more benefits and powers and advantages than the specialist classes we already have? Don't you think that has an unbalancing effect on the game? Unbalancing in what way? That they are too powerful? That the AI won't know how to use them?

I mean the Chuck Norris unit is a mod that people use simply to use that mod, but it doens't have any real applicability in a normal game because it is too powerful. I think adding these specialists is too good an idea to be just another unbalancing gimmick. I think people would get more out of it if it blended and balanced better with the vanilla game, which imho would mean making them directly comparable with the existing specialists. That is why I am considering your suggestions in the next releases of the mod components.

Unbalancing in what way? That they are too powerful? That the AI won't know how to use them?

I meant more about the generation of GPP. But see my lengthy comments in the combined specialist thread.

Last pre v1.61 patch update

Updated all code to be compatible with the v1.61 patch!

Lopez,I enjoy your mod. Currently playing a game,excellent work. Have you thought of adding any new units as in the lost units mod? Or making any yourself? Thanks

You mean adding new units to the great general amped mod? No, the great general amped mod is just a component, but I am working on a composite mod: the Great Options mod.

Hey TheLopez, I've been playing a hotseat game with a couple buds and we are useing the GP Trickle Plus Mod. We have all agreed that the GG is an awesome unit, but I noticed that when two players are on a team you don't get the Morale promotions from your team mates generals.

This isn't a big deal and we came out about even on arguements both for and against adding this, but I think it might make a nice option to have. Just thought I would mention it as I don't know how many people have used these mods in MP or if its been brought up before. :)

Hey TheLopez, I've been playing a hotseat game with a couple buds and we are useing the GP Trickle Plus Mod. We have all agreed that the GG is an awesome unit, but I noticed that when two players are on a team you don't get the Morale promotions from your team mates generals.

This isn't a big deal and we came out about even on arguements both for and against adding this, but I think it might make a nice option to have. Just thought I would mention it as I don't know how many people have used these mods in MP or if its been brought up before. :)

Ok, I have added this in my todo notes for the great general. I will make it a configurable option.

Got a question for ya Lopez. In my mod I am making a simple unit to be the 'king' of each civ and I am wanting it to give the Morale promotions like your GG. Good you please point me to the proper look in python and give me an idea of how to do this, I got the syntax and logic behind python down pretty well, so if you could give me the gist of it, I can take it from there. Thanx alot. :)

EDIT: Just to point it out, I thought of makeing them another GG useing XML, but I don't want them to join cities or do any of the other GG stuff, just the morale thing.

Got a question for ya Lopez. In my mod I am making a simple unit to be the 'king' of each civ and I am wanting it to give the Morale promotions like your GG. Good you please point me to the proper look in python and give me an idea of how to do this, I got the syntax and logic behind python down pretty well, so if you could give me the gist of it, I can take it from there. Thanx alot. :)

EDIT: Just to point it out, I thought of makeing them another GG useing XML, but I don't want them to join cities or do any of the other GG stuff, just the morale thing.

All of the morale code is in the GeneralMoralUtils.py and CvGreatGeneralEventManager.py files. BTW, I am planning on making a regicide mod ala the Civ3: Play The World expansion. Is this what you are trying to accomplish?

Being a /huge/ fan of Civ 3 regicide, I will look forward to that mod, but no, that is not really my goal. My Chief unit is just unitclass limited to 1 per player and my pals and I see how many times we can kill eachother's Chief in a game. We some times march them with are army stacks against each other for some more flavor to the game and I was just thinking if the Chief had the morale thing of the GG it will make their presense in the battles a little less iceing and a little more cake, if you get what I mean.

I've looked over those files and is seems to me I should changes the lines similar this

if(objGeneral.getUnitType() != gc.getInfoTypeForString("UNIT_GENERAL")):
return

to this
if(objGeneral.getUnitType() != gc.getInfoTypeForString("UNIT_GENERAL") or gc.getInfoTypeForString("UNIT_CHIEF")):
return

I would think this would then treat the Chief just like a general. Am I correct in thinking this? Is there anything else I'm not seeing

EDIT: The above code is wrong and doesn't work. Here is the correct python syntex
if(objGeneral.getUnitType() != gc.getInfoTypeForString("UNIT_GENERAL")) and (objGeneral.getUnitType() != gc.getInfoTypeForString("UNIT_CHIEF")):
return
I haven't acually tryed this code, but I give it a good chance of working. :)

I think that is correct.

Updated to use the new Specialist stacker code!

The following is a suggestion which alters the combat system about Great General in Civ 4. The current Great General battle system seems strange that after you have accumulated "some experience points" by different individual units, a Great General suddenly appears. Instead, I think perhaps realistically once a soldier achieves a certain level and promotions (let say level 10), he automatically becomes a Great General himself. This brings the point of altering the level system. Perhaps a unit creates in a city without a barrack is a private (level 1-2). But with a barrack, the unit is a private first-class. Subsequent levels will model the current military class system. (The following is just a broad picture of the current US military system. I got this from Wikipedia, titles: US Army enlisted rank insignia and United States Army officer rank insignia. I apologize here if I make a mistake in the following list.)

1. Private --- Private First Class (Barrack)
2. Corporal (Available to mounted units with Stable + Barrack)
3. Sergeant
4. Master Sergeant
5. Lieutenant
6. Captain
7. Major
8. Colonel
9. General
10. Great General
(Parallel system for Artillery, Naval, Air Units)

In addition, units are restricted to get only certain abilities in promotion. For example, privates cannot get pass combat 2 and must spend one promotion to become a corporal (which he may get some bonus for becoming a corporal). Sergeant cannot get pass combat 3 and so on for other military units.

This would be quite difficult to implement since the current promotion system requires 2 exp--> 3exp --> 5exp --> 7 exp --> (x+2) exp and so on (-25% for charismatic)

So, a private must have 101 exp in order to become a great general! (76 for Charismatic) All of which he can’t get any other promotions. In order for my proposed system to work, I have 2 proposed solutions.

The first one is that each promotion to the next ranking level requires only 3-5 exp (perhaps more for Great General). So a Great General can be achieved with merely 45 exp for both regular and Charismatic civilizations. Imperialistic civ needs 27 exp.
The second proposition is to alter the unit leveling up system. The first promotion requires 2 exp, second requires 3 exp, third promotion requires 5 exp as normal. However, subsequent promotion does not require more exp than 5 exp. So, a private that go straight for becoming Great General requires 40 exp, while Charismatic needs 30 exp.

Why bother with these ranking promotions?
Well, personally I think that this system is more realistic.  In addition, I would suggest that units beyond rank Major can “retire” into a city adding whatever bonus the current game system employs (and more). Each ranking promotion also gives the unit bonuses:

Private: None
Private First Class: Free Medic 1
Corporal: 1 Extra First Strike Chance
Sergeant: Free Sentry
Master Sergeant: Free Leadership
Lieutenant: Free Upgrade
Captain: 2 First Strike Chance
Major: Withdrawal Chance +15%
Colonel: Strength +15%
General: 1 Free Promotion (non ranking)
Great General: 3 Free Promotions

To prevent exploitation, you can only have 1 Great General at a time, 1 General in each troop category (melee, archery, mounted, etc.). Furthermore, unit must fight at least one battle before they can get a new rank.


Feel free to make any comment and point at the flaws of my suggestion.

Lopez I love all your great mods and modcomps I was just wondering if you were going to update these to warlords or bts? I would if I knew how