currently the Aliens' only presence in the SotM mod is as the mysterious beings who left behind the artifacts in debris that serve as the equivalent of goody huts in the vanilla Civ 4 game. (Note: the Alien debris does not show up if a non Moon based map is used.)

proposed uses for Aliens -


1)
aliens also have major civs on the moon and can be selected during the game startup.

I do not favor this option since it vastly reduces the other possible uses of aliens in the mod. this would make the SotM mod too similar to other sf mods.

2)
aliens replace the barbs as minor civs in addition in any other game function they have.

this is a no-brainer under the current SotM mod.

however woodelf is proposing the initial era be much more difficult than is currently the case. I called his proposal Disaster World (DW) in the Tech Tree & game Era thread (post #8).

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=215026

if we do adopt a DW starting era it makes sense that neither barbs or aliens would claim tiles that are not visible to the major civs (unlike vanilla Civ 4) since the moon in that case would be too harsh a mistress.

3)
aliens providing the basis for religion in the mod.

I am very much in favor myself of aliens provide the basis for religion in the mod.

currently the mod does not use religion at all (although it is an integral part of vanilla Civ 4).

4)
an Alien Event (AE) is the background for the victory condition in the mod that replaces the vanilla spaceship victory. currently the SS victory IS enabled and only requires five SS casings to be built (concurrently).

I favor an AE era as the last era in the mod, but the development team has yet to decide the number and qualities of the various eras in the game.

I discussed one possible type of AE in the Victory Condition thread, post #2

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=214997

currently the three eras of the SotM mod flow as follows -

start -> isolation event -> standard Civ 4 victory conditions

Since this is a Sci-fi mod, I think that aliens should be an integral part of it. I am not sure how they could be represented, but I'll think of something.;)

If it can be done without be cliched or hokey then fine, but if not I'd like to see these guys hold off until era three at the earliest. Subtle references, artifacts, clues, ect are fine, but we need these guys to survive without worrying about Aliens at first. Maybe after they expand and start digging deeper into the core or trying to expand outward again Aliens can appear to *****slap them. :D

I like the great and powerful alien civilization that is now gone, but has left stuff behind... techs, machinery, equipment- on the surface, and below ground, well, as the colonies progress, they break into an alien moonbase (abandoned, but still with a functioning AI) that percieves them as a threat to its integrity/survival. this starts produciong barbs and catastrophes on the sruface.

A FFH2 armegedon counter system could be used for this.

This is all good t.b for advanced techs.

I like the Counter in sci-fi mods too.

Woodelf, your little green light is never on, but you always post just after i do. i never see you actually logged on. is this a Moderator privilege

I'm just invisible. I never knew the option existed until recently. Not a mod priviledge just a way to avoid PMs from people. :D

If it can be done without be cliched or hokey then fine, but if not I'd like to see these guys hold off until era three at the earliest. Subtle references, artifacts, clues, ect are fine, but we need these guys to survive without worrying about Aliens at first. Maybe after they expand and start digging deeper into the core or trying to expand outward again Aliens can appear to *****slap them. :D
I love the idea of a sort of "lost civilization." Maybe it could give you research and commerce bonii? Maybe a sort of "alien invasion" could be scripted to occur during one of the later eras randomly, so if your caught unprepared you're toast. They could be the aliens who destroyed the lost civilization that you discovered. Seems a bit convoluted though.

I love the idea of a sort of "lost civilization." Maybe it could give you research and commerce bonii? Maybe a sort of "alien invasion" could be scripted to occur during one of the later eras randomly, so if your caught unprepared you're toast. They could be the aliens who destroyed the lost civilization that you discovered. Seems a bit convoluted though.

Makes a lot of sense, and actually goes with what i wrote: the lunar base was created to hide a group of aliens from another. they eventaully grew old and died, or whatever. the other group had automated searchers that are still looking for signals even millenia after thier war. when the base is awoken by the colonists, the activity is ergistered by the searchers, who unload wave after wave of automated forces to destroy the colonists, who they take as being the descendants of the creators of the base.

How's tha for convoluted? ;)

Sincerely,
thomas

Hmm... That is a good idea, but I'd rather face biological aliens instead of automated stuff... Or maybe you could face both? Perhaps near the beginning of this "Mongol-like" invasion, you face automated stuff, who send signals to their home planet, which sends real troops, and all the divided factions on the moon would have to cooperate to fend them off and if they don't, they die. However, this creates a new problem, what will the aliens look like? Maybe we should analyze different possibilities. Perhaps it could be a random race?

Is that possible?

It would be very interesting... maybe the beginnings of a mod ofit's own;)

I like the great and powerful alien civilization that is now gone, but has left stuff behind... techs, machinery, equipment - on the surface, and below ground, well, as the colonies progress, they break into an alien moonbase (abandoned, but still with a functioning AI) that perceives them as a threat to its integrity/survival. this starts producing barbs and catastrophes on the surface.

this framework of yours would fit in with proposed uses of Aliens #3 & #4 I listed in post #1, namely Aliens could still provide religions via artifacts they left behind, and they could still be the basis of the victory condition at the end of the game.

From the current tech tree we have, it's based on the future. So Aliens should be in the game, just make sure it's not them green aliens or something from starcraft, we need customizable aliens made up.

These guys are still being pushed back at least beyond era 2 and more likely for the BtS version. I don't think they'd bother with the colonists just yet, until they start screwing with Selene.