Requires Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword patch 3.17

Downloads

Mod: Planetfall v6 (http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=7712)
Patch: Patch "c" (http://files.filefront.com/Planetfall+v6cexe/;12502259;/fileinfo.html)

***

Planetfall is a mod for Sid Meier's Civilization 4 that uses the storyline and characters from Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, combined with gameplay that takes the best from SMAC, Civilization, and the modding community.

Planetfall will not be a clone of SMAC using the Civ4 engine, but rather will incorporate the Factions, general storyline and Characters combined with the newest gameplay modifications to allow for more strategic gameplay.

***

Q: Help! I can't see any fungus on land!

A: Your computer probably has an older graphics card. Fortunately there's a solution to make all features visible. It won't look as pretty, but at least you'll be able to see where there's fungus.

The solution is like this. In Planetfall\Assets\XML\Art there's a file called CIV4ArtDefines_FeatureLoGfx.xml - rename it to CIV4ArtDefines_Feature.xml, overwriting the file currently named like that, and problem solved. :)


Q: Is it possible to hear the original SMAC voice quotes in Planetfall?

A: Yes it is, or at least some of the tech quotes are used. This will be expanded further into the future.

To enable the tech quotes, you should copy the SMAC fx and voices folder into the Planetfall Sounds folder, as indicated on the screenshot. If you do not do this, you'll just hear a 'ping' upon researching a technology.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/Planetfall/PlF_Install.jpg

***

I guess some screenshots would be in order now.
(Note for the last screenshot: I play with low resolution textures, so the screenie is not representative for most of you.)

The following posts detail what you can do to help Planetfall if you want to.

Quick links:

Bug List
Gameplay Task List
Graphics Task List
Documentation
Discussion List

Bug and Gameplay Task List mostly outdated by now, but if can help with SDK in general, do tell!

Bug List


Crashes to Desktop

* When creating a new unit design, saving the game, restarting your computer and reloading the save => crash. Unit designs don't seem to be saved. Obsoleteness of unit designs isn't saved either.
* Doing a recon mission with an aircraft causes the game to crash. Likewise when doing an airstrike with Quick Combat turned off.

* Specialist interface malfunction

The number between brackets is always (0), while I assume the intention is for it to state the maximum number of possible specialists.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/Planetfall/Specialist0.jpg

* Feature unhealthiness reduction sometimes/most of the time doesn't work

While the text in the screenie correctly states 50% unhealth from features, I still get -4 health instead of the -2 I should expect. This is the case in most games. Though not always. Sometimes it *does* work as it should. :confused:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/Planetfall/BioLabBug.jpg

* Incorrect base's Planet value

The base Planet value often gets a +1 from Buildings, according to the mouseover tip. However the base has no building with such a bonus. So I have no idea where that +1 Planet is coming from.
Getting a false +1 from Civics also often occurs.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/Planetfall/GhostPlanetBuildingCut.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/Planetfall/PlanetCivics.jpg

* iCityPlanetPercent in CIV4ImprovementInfos.xml doesn't work

No effect whatsoever on the base's Planet value.

* <iPsiAttack> in Civ4PromotionInfos doesn't work

A wild guess from a non-SDKer: would the problem be solved by changing
m_iExtraPsiAttackPercent += m_iExtraPsiAttackPercent;
to
m_iExtraPsiAttackPercent += iChange;
similar to how the ExtraPsiDefensePercent code looks?

int CvUnit::getExtraPsiAttackPercent() const
{
return m_iExtraPsiAttackPercent;
}

void CvUnit::changeExtraPsiAttackPercent(int iChange)
{
if (iChange != 0)
{
m_iExtraPsiAttackPercent += m_iExtraPsiAttackPercent;

setInfoBarDirty(true);
}
}

int CvUnit::getExtraPsiDefensePercent() const
{
return m_iExtraPsiDefensePercent;
}

void CvUnit::changeExtraPsiDefensePercent(int iChange)
{
if (iChange != 0)
{
m_iExtraPsiDefensePercent += iChange;

setInfoBarDirty(true);
}
}

* Can't switch production without losing all accumulated minerals

Minerals already accumulated for an item in mid-construction are not saved when switching to something else.

To clarify, I was building a colony pod with 55/120 accumulated. Then two mind worms showed up nearby so I thought I'd build a gun infantry first, and switched to it. Next turn the 55 minerals of the colony pod were lost.

*"Walk with Planet" promotion gives double movement over ALL features

Instead of what's intended in XML: double movement over fungus and hybrid forest. When I remove the promotion with Worldbuilder, the unit still has double movement in everything but fungus/hybrid forest.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=169557&d=1203298831

* Collateral damage interface text

Collateral damage is working, but the interface text for it always says 0. Exception are Forts, for whom the interface text is correct. :confused:

Edit: the problem is more than just the interface. Units which give collerateral damage can't get pick the Barrage promotions. The code which decides what promotions a unit can get doesn't seem to recognize when a unit deals collateral damage.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/Planetfall/CollateralInterface.jpg

* <TerrainPassableTechs> tag doesn't work

Example: the Aquaformer. Instead of Ocean and Trench becoming passable with the Ocean Colonization tech, as stated in XML, the interface says these terrains become passable with Affinity Gene. This is simply the first tech mentioned in TechInfos.

* Assert - cvunitai.cpp, line 16364, revision 623

Due to the immobile fungal towers??

Assert Failed

File: g:\games\sid meier's civilization 4\beyond the sword\mods\_pf bts\tmp\sdk_bts\cvgamecoredll\cvunitai.cpp
Line: 16364
Expression: false
Message:

Save:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=6696620&postcount=164

* Assert - cvgametextmgr.cpp, line 12588, revision 623

I got this one when setting production in The Hive to a colony pod.

File: g:\games\sid meier's civilization 4\beyond the sword\mods\_pf bts\tmp\sdk_bts\cvgamecoredll\cvgametextmgr.cpp
Line: 12588
Expression: iModProduction == city.getCurrentProductionDifference(false, !bIsProcess)
Message: Modified Production does not match actual value

Save:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=6696636&postcount=165

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/Planetfall/CPProd.jpg

* Assert when choosing a promotion which gives -1 moves

In the up to date SDK files it's on line 10570.
In any case, this assert seems to be given needlessly. It's probably just that the game designers never expected someone to create a promotion which gives -1 movement points (the missile launcher in this case). However this promotion works just fine, and is causing no problems to the game.

Assert Failed

File: g:\games\sid meier's civilization 4\beyond the sword\mods\_pf bts\tmp\sdk_bts\cvgamecoredll\cvunit.cpp
Line: 10539
Expression: getExtraMoves() >= 0
Message:

* Assert Failed - CvUnitAI.cpp, line 7119

Assert Failed

File: g:\games\sid meier's civilization 4\beyond the sword\mods\_pf bts\tmp\sdk_bts\cvgamecoredll\cvunitai.cpp
Line: 7119
Expression: canDefend()
Message:

* Assert - cvunitai.cpp, line 7121

Assert Failed

File: g:\games\sid meier's civilization 4\beyond the sword\mods\_pf bts\tmp\sdk_bts\cvgamecoredll\cvunitai.cpp
Line: 7121
Expression: getDomainType() == DOMAIN_LAND
Message:

Ellestar says: related to an Isle of the Deep somehow getting UNITAI_ATTACK.

Save:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=6508439&postcount=275

* Assert Failed - CvUnitAI.cpp, line 16915

Probably supply crawler-related

Assert Failed

File: g:\games\sid meier's civilization 4\beyond the sword\mods\_pf bts\tmp\sdk_bts\cvgamecoredll\cvunitai.cpp
Line: 16915
Expression: false
Message:

* Assert Failed - cvcity.cpp, line 7974/7977

Assert Failed

File: g:\games\sid meier's civilization 4\beyond the sword\mods\_pf bts\tmp\sdk_bts\cvgamecoredll\cvcity.cpp
Line: 7974
Expression: ((iNewValue * 100) / 100) >= 0
Message: ((iNewValue * 100) / 100) expected to be >= 0


Assert Failed

File: g:\games\sid meier's civilization 4\beyond the sword\mods\_pf bts\tmp\sdk_bts\cvgamecoredll\cvcity.cpp
Line: 7977
Expression: getYieldRate(eIndex) >= 0
Message:

* Assert Failed - CvSelectionGroupAI.cpp, line 168

Related to Spore Launcher? -- Ellestar IIRC
Edit: This one is not Planetfall-specific, but occurs in unmodded BtS as well.

Assert Failed

File: g:\games\sid meier's civilization 4\beyond the sword\mods\planetfall bts\tmp\sdk_bts\cvgamecoredll\cvselectiongroupai.c pp
Line: 168
Expression: false
Message:

The attached save (link) is causing two of the "line 168" assert. Declare war on Morgan and click to end turn. I'm not sure, but it seems to be causing by Morgan capturing & razing one of my bases.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=6611899&postcount=161

SDK/Python/Gameplay Task List


* New XML tags for Promotions

<iCombatStrength> - increases a unit's strength with an integer (eg from 2 to 3) instead of a percentage (eg +10%). Necessary for weapon promotions.

<bFreePromotion> - a unit with a promotion with this tag set to 1, gets to pick a free promotion. After a promotion is picked, the bFreePromotion promotion disappears. This tag would be given to the Spec Ab Slot promotions, so that the XP system wouldn't have to be used for Spec Abs. Fall from Heaven has something like that, though I don't know how it works codewise.

<bRemovedByCombat> - so that the Spec Ab Slot provided free promotions could only be used for picking Spec Abs. (The normal XP promotions can only be picked after winning a combat)

And then, to allow some important special abilities, some copies of ComponentInfos tags:

<iDropRange>
<Invisible>
<SeeInvisible>
<bCanstrike>

* Code for Genejack Factory

Is it possible to give the Genejack Factory the following effects?:
1. Every drone/unhappy citizen in the base with this base facility provides two minerals. (FfH has some code for this if inspiration is needed.)
2. The Labourer specialist in the base with this base facility produces two extra minerals.

There needs to be a way to turn nutrients into minerals if we want to make early horizontal expansion less powerful compared to early vertical expansion. In default Civ4 this is slavery, but except for Yang throwing dissidents into the recycling tanks, I don't think pop rushing really fits for Planetfall. I figured that moving the Genejack Factory with these effects to Retroviral Engineering might form a neat alternative. And one that requires less micromanagement than pop-rushing too!

* <ImprovementFreeSpecialists> should only give free specialist for worked improvements

Is it possible so that this tag in BuildingInfos only gives a free specialist for every WORKED improvement listed? Needed for crawler implementation.

* SDK - bNormalize resources

It seems that only the first <bNormalize> resource listed in BonusInfos is used. Only Energy, not Nutrients or Minerals. I'm wondering, would it be possible that all three resource bNormalize resources are used evenly/randomly for normalization?

* SDK/XML - Native life spawning

1) As used to be the case with animal spawning, only let native life spawn on the terrains and features mentioned under <TerrainNatives/> and <FeatureNatives/>, or at least FeatureNatives. This to let native life spawn on xenofungus, sea fungus & hybrid forest.

2) Add an XML tag to CIV4NatureSpawnInfos.xml - <iMinCounter> or something - which causes a unit only to start spawning when the Flowering Counter is above a certain minimum level.

3) Immobile units (in concreto this means the Fungal Tower) should be able to spawn on land as well as water.

* SDK/XML - <TerrainTypeYieldChanges> in CIV4CivicInfos.xml

Include the <TerrainTypeYieldChanges> XML tag as in CIV4ImprovementInfos in CivicInfos, to make possible the Enclosed Biosphere civic mentioned elsewhere, which would annul the inherent nutrient production of moist & rainy. Or an alternative: increase nutrient production of arid and polar terrain by +1 (and let greenhouse only give 1 food). Probably better. Would require same tag.

* SDK/XML - <FeatureTypeYieldChanges> in CIV4CivicInfos.xml

Similar to TerrainTypeYieldChanges, except it affects feature yields.
Useful for increasing Mineral production of fungus by +1 under a Hybrid Ecology civic, and reducing Jungle Nutrient production by -1 under Enclosed Biosphere ecology.

* Flowering Counter should affect upgrade speed of Farms

Suggestion for a possible implementation:

int CvPlayer::getImprovementUpgradeRate() const
{
int iRate;

iRate = 1; // XXX

iRate *= std::max(0, (getImprovementUpgradeRateModifier() + 100));
iRate /= 100;

return iRate;
}

Change it to:

iRate is (100 + improvementupgraderatemodifier - 2*Flowering Counter)/100, with of course an assurance the rate is minimum zero.

Since the Terraformed Ecology civic gives +100 ImprovementUpgradeRateModifier, this would mean Farms don't upgrade at all for them at Flowering Counter level 100, and that it would be beneficial for Terraformers to get the Counter as low as possible.

* Barbarian units should only be able to move into factional borders when they have a certain promotion X

This is a possible solution to a much wider issue.

I'd like it to be impossible for randomly spawned native life to move into factional borders before the Flowering Counter has crossed a certain number. That way native life spawn rates could be increased without making for instance building sea terrain improvements in the early game too difficult.

There are two addendums:

1) Even if the Flowering Counter later drops back under that certain number, alien lifeforms should still be able to enter factional borders.

2) Native life spawned through fungal blooms should always be able to move inside borders.

I figured a possible method which requires minimal SDK modding could go like this:

First we recycle a Population Feat for a different use. The Feat is set to true when the Flowering Counter crosses a certain number. Can be done in python.

If the Feat returns true, every barbarian native life unit created starts with a certain promotion X. Native life from fungal blooms always starts with this promotion. Can still all be done in python.

A new Global Define PROMOTION_NATURE_CAN_ENTER_BORDERS (or whatever) is added which defines what this promotion X is.

Then the only SDK coding required: barbarian units require the promotion defined under PROMOTION_NATURE_CAN_ENTER_BORDERS to be able to enter borders.

Does this sound like a good method? Or does someone have a better implementation?

* Buttons for chassis components

How can chassis components be given buttons in the unit workshop? Giving them a button in ComponentInfos doesn't have an effect.

Graphics Task List


* GameFont.tga - New culture and gold icon needed

The culture icon in GameFont.tga and GameFont_75.tga should be switched to the one from Final Frontier. Likewise for credits/gold I'd suggest using the credit icon of Final Frontier (rather boring, but it gets the idea across I guess) unless someone has another idea.

* Gamefont.tga - New "partly eaten bread leaf" icon needed

A replacement for the "partly eaten bread leaf" which represents food consumption would be neat. Possibility could be the apple with a red minus in the upper left corner of the picture below.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/Planetfall/EatenApple.jpg

* GameFont.tga - Planet icon

Two new icons should be added to GameFont.tga and GameFont_75.tga, representing positive Planet and negative Planet.

Positive Planet = green heart (think of the Centauri Empathy tech icon)
Negative Planet = red heart

I believe they should be added to the right of the Power icon in the lower right corner.

* Gamefont.tga - Flowering Counter icon

Suggestion for icon to use: this recoloured in Cult-pink/purple and (a shrunked version of course) to be put somewhere* in Gamefont.tga.
I believe they should be added to the right of the Power icon in the lower right corner. Or if there's no place there anymore because of the Planet icons, under the happy face?

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/Planetfall/Counter1.png

* Buttons - Nutrient/Mineral/Energy boni

Make a version of the current buttons for the Nutrient/Mineral/Energy boni, but without the pluses in the upper left corner.

* Buttons - Specialists

Buttons needed for: Empath, Engineer (+ Great Specialist), Merchant (+...), Chaplain, Librarian

For the normal specialists the background should be either transparent, or the same as in SMAC (eg see the Empath). For Great Specialists the usual star should be added to the left upper corner.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/105110/newicons.png

Empath - same as in SMAC
Engineer - as the Engineer in snipperrabbitt!!'s (sn!'s) "new set of specialists", but without the yellow/golden-striped background. Transparent background needed instead.
Merchant - no preference here; many suggestions have been made already, but none gave me a "That's it!" feeling
Chaplain - as the Chaplain in snipperrabbitt!!'s (sn!'s) "new set of specialists", but without the yellow/golden-striped background.
Librarian - as the Librarian in snipperrabbitt!!'s (sn!'s) "new set of specialists", but without the yellow/golden-striped background.

Unfortunately these buttons as displayed on the pics below were AFAIK never made available for download.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/Planetfall/newset.png

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/Planetfall/PfallPopHeads.png

* Cybernetic Consciousness button and gamefont.tga icon

As the title says, what would be needed is:
1) a button
2) put in gamefont.tga as an icon replacing the Judaism religion

I hope this is a good enough source material picture:
http://apolyton.net/smac/X/Images/i.shtml?logo_cyborgs800.jpg

* Voice of Planet button and gamefont.tga icon

As the title says, what would be needed is:
1) a button
2) put in gamefont.tga as an icon replacing the Hinduism religion

I hope this is a good enough source material picture:
http://apolyton.net/smac/X/Images/i.shtml?logo_cult800.jpg

* Feature graphics - modification for a low graphics installation

I'm not sure how it looks on high graphics, but using the low graphics XML file, xenofungus, forest and jungle extends in high density over the whole plot. Check out the screenies in this post (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=6467591&postcount=125) for instance. This has as consequence it's rather hard to see rivers and the "hill" border signifier between highlands and lowlands. Therefore I was wondering if it's possible to modify the xxx15_01.nifs for xenofungus, forest and jungle, so that the feature wouldn't cover the edges of the plot or so. Is this possible without causing problems for high graphics file users?

* Base graphics - Gaian, Spartan and Morganic city sets

Add these city sets to the game.


The following are with a question mark behind them. Depends on what Rubin has/had in mind.


* Terrain graphics - Polar terrains

Are these ok, or do they need new graphics as well to fit with current rainy/moist/arid terrain?

* Terrain graphics - Hill signifier

Rubin mentioned he didn't like the current highland signifier. Is a new one planned? It should definitely be easily noticable though for the game to play well with non-shader graphics.

* Main screen - make it more like default Civ4

With sunrise and -fall, clouds etc. IIRC Rubin had something like that in mind.

Documentation

What do you guys want Documentation about? ;)

* Terrain

polar:
Cannot build Farm, Condenser, Forest and Solar Collector here

arid:
Cannot build Farm and Forest here
+1 energy for Solar Collector

moist:

rainy:
produces one food

***

flat:
Cannot build Mine here

rolling:
+50% improvement build time
+1 energy for Windmill

rocky:
+100% improvement build time
+50% defense
2 movement points to pass through
Cannot build Farm, Condenser and Greenhouse here
+1 hammer for Mine
+2 energy for Windmill

***

lowlands:
Boreholes can only be built here

midlands:
+1 energy for Windmill and Solar Collector

highlands:
+2 energy for Windmill and Solar Collector

Attacking from a higher/lower elevation should probably result in a combat bonus/penalty. 25% per difference in elevation level, or something? Penalties to the attacker neutered by missile weapons?

***

Farm:
Cannot build Farm on Polar, Arid and Rocky terrain

Condenser:
Cannot build Condenser on Polar and Rocky terrain
One condenser on or in neighbouring tiles transforms arid to moist, moist to rainy. Two nearby condensers transforms arid to rainy. Redesertification when condensers disappear.

Greenhouse:
Cannot build Greenhouse on Rocky terrain

Mine:
+1 hammer on rocky terrain
Cannot build Mine on Flat terrain

Thermal Borehole:
Can only be built on Lowlands
More productive with a Mag Tube on it

Windmill:
+1 energy on rolling and midlands terrain
+2 energy on rocky and highlands terrain
+1 energy on coastal terrain

Solar Collector:
+1 energy on midlands terrain
+2 energy on highlands terrain
+1 energy on arid terrain
Cannot build Solar Collector on Polar terrain

Forest:
Cannot plant Forest on Polar and Arid terrain
Tree Farm can be built here

Fungus and Hybrid Forest:
Where that can be planted should probably vary according to the Flowering Counter: with a certain height of the Counter, fungus can spread on arid and highlands terrain
Centauri Preserve can be built on Fungus
Tree Farm and Centauri Preserve can be built on Hybrid Forest

Discussion List

* How should the Flowering Counter icon look like?

Current use is for here:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/FloweringIcon.jpg


* How should the main screen look like?

* Should Alien Artifacts feature in Planetfall, obtainable from Unity Pods?

* Terrain Improvement buttons

What should the Terrain Improvement buttons look like?

* Gold hurrying with Nanites

How does gold hurrying being enabled, instead of by some civics, by the Nanites technology sound? (Would require a new XML tag though)
Alternatively it could be enabled by a Nanoreplicator building enabled by the Nanites tech, but then I think enabling gold hurrying should only be a secondary effect of that building - so an idea for its most important effect would be needed.

* Gold hurrying with Nanites

How does gold hurrying being enabled, instead of by some civics, by the Nanites technology sound? (Would require a new XML tag though)
Alternatively it could be enabled by a Nanoreplicator building enabled by the Nanites tech, but then I think enabling gold hurrying should only be a secondary effect of that building - so an idea for its most important effect would be needed.

Well, IF certain buildings are required to construct certain stuff, a Nanoreplicator could abandon this approach and make the base be able to produce everything without the need of specific manufacturing facilities.
If this is not the case, an idea is that a Nanoreplicator disbands all previous mineral-enhancing facilities, or at least their negative effects (like for instance the extra drone from the GeneJack facility in SMAC.
A third option is that Nanites (which the Nanoreplicator provides so to speak) act as a sort of production decreaser like marble, stone and gold do for wonders in CIV.

Or a combination of the above of course. ;)

* Gold hurrying with Nanites

How does gold hurrying being enabled, instead of by some civics, by the Nanites technology sound? (Would require a new XML tag though)
Alternatively it could be enabled by a Nanoreplicator building enabled by the Nanites tech, but then I think enabling gold hurrying should only be a secondary effect of that building - so an idea for its most important effect would be needed.

How about allowing a new economy civic with Nanotechnology, 'Nanoindustrial Economics' or some such?

Superb, will test this weekend, I hope.

Manic,
When i try to DL Planetfall and patch, I get a message on Rapidshare stating that the file has been deleted by the uploader. This certainly looks like a mod that could bring back the glory and fun of the Alpha Centauri series. I would be happy to test this for you as it progresses through production.
Cheers

Very Exciting! I'll try it out and pass on my thoughts!

Here's to the team that got it this far! :beer:

Hmm - I'm getting a "file deleted by uploader" error when I try to download.
Anyone else having that problem?
EDIT: looks like it's at least TDGeorge and me!

Hmm - I'm getting a "file deleted by uploader" error when I try to download.
Anyone else having that problem?
EDIT: looks like it's at least TDGeorge and me!

Me too. keen to try .

WTF? :confused: Err, I'll hopefully have them reuploaded in a half hour or so. I guess I might have accidentally clicked the delete link while copy&pasting it into a file to remember the link.

Edit: does it work now? :scared:

It worked! :thumbsup:

Took about 10 steps - and it's a slow download... but it works! :)

Any special instructions to install this mod?
And I assume I install the mod, and then patch it?

You'll have to excuse me, I mostly do PBEM – so this is the first Civ4 mod I'll have ever installed!

Thanks! :hatsoff:

spoke a bit too soon - still getting the error on the patch file.

"Deleted by uploader"

But I DO have the Mod file :D

A third option is that Nanites (which the Nanoreplicator provides so to speak) act as a sort of production decreaser like marble, stone and gold do for wonders in CIV.
Gut-reaction: Nanites could be a kind of "mineral replacement" - an universal resource allowing you to produce everything.

I one goes the "nanite as hurrying building" route, the main advantage could be repairing units faster - that would be very in line with the nano factory from the original game.
WTF? :confused: Err, I'll hopefully have them reuploaded in a half hour or so. I guess I might have accidentally clicked the delete link while copy&pasting it into a file to remember the link.

Edit: does it work now? :scared:
The reason was: The link for the patch in the first post included the delete code:
"http://rapidshare.com/files/72185546/Planetfall.exe?killcode=3003176066359522957"
Thus the first person who clicked that link has accidentally deleted the file - just to let you know what happened. I cannot wait to try this out!

Note: I haven't ever really touched the files of Civ4, so I know almost nothing about modding. But: If you could need a German translator... let me know. I own the original game in German, so I also have access to a genuine translation, helping me to keep the feel for newly introduced concepts/buildings/stuff.

Cheers, LT.

spoke a bit too soon - still getting the error on the patch file.

"Deleted by uploader"

But I DO have the Mod file :D

Same here. I was Finally able to DL the main file but not the patch:( .

TDG

Any special instructions to install this mod?

Just double-click the exe file and click Install, unless you want to install to a different folder.

And I assume I install the mod, and then patch it?

Woops forgot to tell. :scared: I made use of the occasion of reuploading the main mod to include the patch changes in the main file. So no patch needed for the moment.

Huzzah! im going to try this out, it looks very promising :p

( ive made some giant mushroom resource modles in 3DSMax, but havent .made them workable in civ yet. would giant toadstools work for your fungus forests, or do you need something more alien?)

Heres a pic of my mushrooms:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/71834/new_resources.jpg

Nice...if you could only use the soundbytes for techs from AC but I figure that breaks some copyright law.

I guess for starters, I'd like to say that I am quite thrilled to see this mod finally available for the public. And crash-free, etc. Thanks! :D

Of course, I can't help but look where the mod might use some improvements anyway. Right now, my main concern has been how the xenofungus tends to bloom haphazardly, even in the very early game. Considering the fungus seems to provide negative health, and tends to spread to cities that have low health, such spread tends to spiral out of control. I decided to try to stop this by modding the health effect of fungus from -0.5 to +0.3, but for some reason the fungus continues to lower health and spread haphazardly. Would it be possible for something to be done here so it won't be necessary to spend much of the game playing whack-a-mole with this terrain feature? If this is being looked into, thanks. ^^

Awesome! Will try it out today!
Thanks Maniac.:hatsoff:

Well, IF certain buildings are required to construct certain stuff, a Nanoreplicator could abandon this approach and make the base be able to produce everything without the need of specific manufacturing facilities.
If this is not the case, an idea is that a Nanoreplicator disbands all previous mineral-enhancing facilities, or at least their negative effects (like for instance the extra drone from the GeneJack facility in SMAC.
A third option is that Nanites (which the Nanoreplicator provides so to speak) act as a sort of production decreaser like marble, stone and gold do for wonders in CIV.

Or a combination of the above of course. ;)

Cool ideas. Eg perhaps a Nanoreplicator could act like the Recycling Center in default civ4, removing the unhealth effects from buildings?

Note: I haven't ever really touched the files of Civ4, so I know almost nothing about modding. But: If you could need a German translator... let me know. I own the original game in German, so I also have access to a genuine translation, helping me to keep the feel for newly introduced concepts/buildings/stuff.

If you want, just check out the text files, translate some stuff and attach them here. Though it's probably still early-stage to do this.

Huzzah! im going to try this out, it looks very promising :p

( ive made some giant mushroom resource modles in 3DSMax, but havent .made them workable in civ yet. would giant toadstools work for your fungus forests, or do you need something more alien?)

Heres a pic of my mushrooms:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/71834/new_resources.jpg

Those graphics look awesome, but err, not really what SMAC fungal forests look like. :mischief:

Of course, I can't help but look where the mod might use some improvements anyway.

Telling how much Planetfall sucks is encouraged, in fact the reason this is posted public.

Right now, my main concern has been how the xenofungus tends to bloom haphazardly, even in the very early game. Considering the fungus seems to provide negative health, and tends to spread to cities that have low health, such spread tends to spiral out of control. I decided to try to stop this by modding the health effect of fungus from -0.5 to +0.3, but for some reason the fungus continues to lower health and spread haphazardly. Would it be possible for something to be done here so it won't be necessary to spend much of the game playing whack-a-mole with this terrain feature? If this is being looked into, thanks. ^^

I assume you mean fungal blooms and not natural fungus growth? The frequency of fungal blooms depends on the positive and negative Planet modifiers available. Should fungus give a higher positive Planet? Or the biology lab? Should population have a lower effect? Getting the frequency of fungal blooms right will require lots of playtesting!

i wait till this game get patched up and get rid of the bugs and asset errors before I play this again, this remind me of this roanoake mod that died. This game is great and It's better then that game, however the major bugs and also the lack of a working settler recommended settle spot circles made me wnat to just play something else.

get rid of the bugs and asset and add some more things that make the game better, I will come back after a couple of patches. I also recommand a soundtrack and a new intro screen for your mod.

Telling how much Planetfall sucks is encouraged, in fact the reason this is posted public.That sounds promising. ^^I assume you mean fungal blooms and not natural fungus growth? The frequency of fungal blooms depends on the positive and negative Planet modifiers available. Should fungus give a higher positive Planet? Or the biology lab? Should population have a lower effect? Getting the frequency of fungal blooms right will require lots of playtesting!Yes, the fungal blooms. I think they're showing up too much.

Two years ago when I played my first and only successful Transcend-level game (map too large for other factions to reach me), I was able to run free market and place a borehole in every four squares. And yet I didn't see a fungal pop until I was maybe 40% through the tech tree, while those that did show up were almost instantly wiped out and reversed by my horde of terraformers.

In the original game, fungal pops would raise with both industry and environmentally disruptive terrain features. Perhaps these should be the main causes of fungal blooms, and only when used past a certain significant threshold (which may be affected by other things). It would also help if the countermeasures to fungal blooms be adequate.

As a final suggestion, perhaps fungal blooms shouldn't come with mind worms readily available. If the advancement of mind worms toward ecologically disruptive factions needs to still exist, I think I'd prefer they enter from just outside my borders instead of form inside them. I generally prefer my terraformers have enough time to run away if an enemy approaches.

Those graphics look awesome, but err, not really what SMAC fungal forests look like.


Lol, i didnt think they would fit.

Ok, i just had a short game of the mod.

First impressions are that it looks like it could be a great mod, but i realise there is still a tonne of work that needs to go into it.

It took me quite a while to understand what the new terrains and everything did, and it took me even longer to realise i could move over 'highlands' :p.

The promotions 'beam', 'missile' and 'Kinetic' dont mean anything to me, whats the difference between them?

The Xenofungus is really tedious. I would manage to get my 'formers' to clear the fungus, but then as soon as they did this a new spot of xenofungus would pop up, and with it a mindworm! is that intentional? because i really dont think its fair having mindworms pop up in your boarders and kill all your formers :(

you obviously already know this, but, there are a lot of buttons and graphics missing. i could offer my help wiht making buttons, particularly for improvements, terrains, and resources (because those are the things i think need buttons the most)

also, a lot of the city arts are missing, like Gaia's Stepdaughters, and i know that somone made some excelent art for them :(


Now i dont mean to sound like i dont like this mod, i actually really enjoyed it, untill the xenofungus got too much for me :p
I agree with Anon Zytose, the fungal blooms are showing up WAY too frequently, and those accompanying mind worms... :p

anyway, thats my 2c :) great work Maniac

dl'd. Let's see how this puppy smells... ;)

Some remarks:

Texture wise, some graphics look rather plain. For instance the rover, rainy graphics on flatland and such.
Is anything done on the speed settings yet? I started a game on Quick, but it nevertheless took ages (like anything between 20-40 turns) for the first research/construction and stuff to be finished.
When I founded my second base, it started to have culture growth until 4/5th of the slider. Then it stopped. I did had a sort of assertion failure around that time, but don't remember if it was related.
There's no clear distinction on when seaformers can go through seafungus inside cultural borders and when outside. I feel it is better to have this unit or be able to go through seafungus inside AND outside cultural borders at the same time, or not. All or nothing so to speak. Also, the (mosttimes) lack of visible seafungus on the map is quite annoying.

Nanoreplicator sounds like a bad name for a Recycling Center though. Shouldnt it you know....replicate things so more of a Forge effect for it's name would do.

What about the Unit Designer? Is it unworkable in Civ4s engine?

The unit designer is something we're waiting to implement. There's been quite a bit of discussion and some preliminary work. Frankly though it's an "added value" feature and is not critical to the gameplay.

Wodan

One other thing that got my attention was the layout of the tech tree.

Like I had planned to, I took a look at the tech tree and I can't help but think that someone going through it would lose much sense of direction, or may skip ahead to stuff near the very end. As many of you may recall, I have a program with which I can take a tech tree and take the average number of choices available after each number of tech advances researched. Games like SMAC and Civ4 produced results that averaged in the range of four to five and a half. For the tech tree I proposed in July (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=5739431&postcount=333), I tried to keep the average kinda close to six.

For the current version of Planetfall, ignoring once the number of options drops to zero, I got a geometric mean of about 13 and a median of about 16.
http://alumni.imsa.edu/~rider/images/planetfall1choices.png

Perhaps the largest issue is that a vast majority of the tech advances each have two OR-advances, while the number of advances in one level would climb to maybe nine or ten in some places. As a means of ensuring each advance is worth getting, even if not directly, I suggest as many as possible each be absolutely necessary for at least one other tech advance. And perhaps in at least a third of the cases, two others.

Now, if your goal is for the player to be able to skip most of the tech tree until there's nothing else to research (even eventually) , while having the average number of tech choices rise past 19 in the early/mid game... I believe that has been accomplished. However, I personally wouldn't prioritize having 86% of the tech advances be potential dead ends.

I imagine the advances in the tree could use some switching around as well. There should probably be more. (I'd like to see a return of teleportation, sociometrics, quantum machinery, etc.) And I'd figure a number of those in place should be rearranged. For example, I wouldn't think to put Gene Splicing so late in the game. And if Terraforming is one of the last few advancements, then what are the Formers available from the start doing?

TimeTraveler!!!

Very interesting analysis! Your findings suggest to me that the technology tree is actually 4 or 5 different technology trees in one (technology tree "paths"), and once you've researched the first few technologies you basically know which technology tree "path" you are on and you disregard all the remaining technology tree "paths".

If each technology tree "path" is equally attractive, but radically different in terms of strategic approach, wouldn't this indicate simply a different approach to the standard "Civilization Technology Tree" rather than a technology tree with 80% dead ends?

So... downloaded it, played around with it, played the first 100ish turns of two games (just to test).

So... some comments, using GeoModder's post as starting point:
Some remarks:

Texture wise, some graphics look rather plain. For instance the rover, rainy graphics on flatland and such.
Is anything done on the speed settings yet? I started a game on Quick, but it nevertheless took ages (like anything between 20-40 turns) for the first research/construction and stuff to be finished.
When I founded my second base, it started to have culture growth until 4/5th of the slider. Then it stopped. I did had a sort of assertion failure around that time, but don't remember if it was related.
There's no clear distinction on when seaformers can go through seafungus inside cultural borders and when outside. I feel it is better to have this unit or be able to go through seafungus inside AND outside cultural borders at the same time, or not. All or nothing so to speak. Also, the (mosttimes) lack of visible seafungus on the map is quite annoying.

On GeoModder's points:
1) I actually like the terrain graphics, they are very SMAC-ish. Gives me nostalgia, but I feel the ocean is far to bright... I think it should be darker...
2) The speed is really a bit bothering, as the techs are too slow or give not enough buildings. I have to spam units, as I have no production sink (as convert to something).
3) Haven't encountered this yet...
4) The seafungus invisibility is *really* annoying, as you cannot see what you're doing. I also think the normal fungus is a bit overdone... It should less obtrusive.

Okay, further things:
- The unhealthy due to jungle bothers me a lot, frankly. I cannot understand it:
1) In SMAC, you were happy to find the monsoon jungle, as it was a great boon.
2) If people can live in a closed, air-tight habitat (because you cannot breath on Chiron), I fail to see how the proximity of a jungle causes a decrease of health.

- Yeah... the tech tree... it's a bit wonky... but Anon Zytose was much better at explaining it - I agree with his observations.
The unit designer is something we're waiting to implement. There's been quite a bit of discussion and some preliminary work. Frankly though it's an "added value" feature and is not critical to the gameplay.

Wodan
Please keep that a low priority thing. Getting pre-made units with a well-working mod is much better than sinking to much time into it... But you guys know that too. :)

i wait till this game get patched up and get rid of the bugs and asset errors before I play this again, this remind me of this roanoake mod that died. This game is great and It's better then that game, however the major bugs and also the lack of a working settler recommended settle spot circles made me wnat to just play something else.

get rid of the bugs and asset and add some more things that make the game better, I will come back after a couple of patches. I also recommand a soundtrack and a new intro screen for your mod.

Do you mean assert errors instead of asset errors?
Anyway, if you were expecting a fully playable game you'd probably be disappointed. I don't know - Perhaps I should add a "disclaimer" in the OP that at this stage the mod will only interest people who want to help develop it or playtest it?

fungal blooms

On a general note, I don't think the level of Planet hostility in SMAC should be taken as the benchmark for Planetfall. In SMAC you could rape Planet with ease. I'd prefer Planet to have teeth in Planetfall. ;) That being said, a quickfix for now so that fungal blooms don't occur too early could be to let each base start with say 2 or 3 Planet, so it takes a while before you start having negative Planet? (For each net negative Planet there is 1% chance each turn you'll get a fungal bloom.) Also if fungal blooms become whack-a-mole, the frequency of fungal blooms could be reduced, but the severity of each fungal bloom increased. Though we'll probably have to wait until we have some psi combat implementation to test that.

Btw, could you and other who experience too many fungal blooms perhaps please post a screenie showing the game year, flowering counter (that number added at the top) and some cities (and their sizes)? A screenshot of a base screen showing the causes of negative Planet would also be handy.

The promotions 'beam', 'missile' and 'Kinetic' dont mean anything to me, whats the difference between them?

Weapons are currently divided in three categories, each giving a different effect. I haven't bothered to actually implement that difference though, as the current unit system is more or less a placeholder.

This is something along the lines we were thinking about:

Kinetic:
no counterpromotion,
Air units: bonus to bomb mission -> I was thinking of not making this inherent to kinetic weapons, but rather make it a "Kinetic Harpoons" promotion/special ability which can be put on kinetic needlejets and gravships with Orbital Engineering

Beam:
interception chance against air units and ranged bombardment (eg artillery)
later weapons: collateral damage

Missiles
Terrain defense bonus negation
Sea & Air units: +1 or 2 air range (since ships start with 0 air range, this would de facto give ships a ranged bombardment ability

you obviously already know this, but, there are a lot of buttons and graphics missing. i could offer my help wiht making buttons, particularly for improvements, terrains, and resources (because those are the things i think need buttons the most)

W00t that would be awesome! Terrains may change in the near future, so perhaps better to wait a little with that, but terrain improvements and resources would be very useful. Btw, please check out the Graphics task list if you have skills in that area! :D

Texture wise, some graphics look rather plain. For instance the rover, rainy graphics on flatland and such.
...
Also, the (mosttimes) lack of visible seafungus on the map is quite annoying.

Let's hope going public will attract extra graphical guys to address these issues. :)

Is anything done on the speed settings yet? I started a game on Quick, but it nevertheless took ages (like anything between 20-40 turns) for the first research/construction and stuff to be finished.

Yeah I'm assuming the current costs will change a lot as the mod develops. Any suggestions with how much to decrease research & construction costs at the moment?

When I founded my second base, it started to have culture growth until 4/5th of the slider. Then it stopped. I did had a sort of assertion failure around that time, but don't remember if it was related.

As a way to reward positive Planet besides not having fungal blooms, you get +1 culture for each positive Planet. Though if each base starts with some positive Planet, the moment extra culture kicks in should probably be somewhat delayed.

You probably experienced the "culture bar assert". (see buglist)

There's no clear distinction on when seaformers can go through seafungus inside cultural borders and when outside. I feel it is better to have this unit or be able to go through seafungus inside AND outside cultural borders at the same time, or not. All or nothing so to speak.

Reason for that rather messy situation is that if I just give aquaformer impassability for ocean tiles, they can still move on sea fungus even if it's on ocean tiles and possibly cross to another continent. And while some limited exploration with them seems ok, I don't want aquaformers to be able to explore the whole world that early in the game. ;) I don't know - perhaps an alternative solution could be to make them unable to enter unexplored territory (like spies), but always able to enter fungus.

I imagine the advances in the tree could use some switching around as well. There should probably be more. (I'd like to see a return of teleportation, sociometrics, quantum machinery, etc.)

Before adding new techs and expanding the tree, we should first have enough ideas to fill the current tree! :D The last half of the tree looks rather empty at the moment. Suggestions very welcome!

Btw, Eudaimonia, Terraforming and Stable Neutronium are all repeatedly researchable "Future Techs".

And I'd figure a number of those in place should be rearranged. For example, I wouldn't think to put Gene Splicing so late in the game. And if Terraforming is one of the last few advancements, then what are the Formers available from the start doing?

Those are minor naming issues IMO. Just think of Gene Splicing as Genetics V and Terraforming as "Advanced Terraforming" or "being able to completely eliminate Planet Terraforming". ;)

TimeTraveler!!!

Very interesting analysis! Your findings suggest to me that the technology tree is actually 4 or 5 different technology trees in one (technology tree "paths"), and once you've researched the first few technologies you basically know which technology tree "path" you are on and you disregard all the remaining technology tree "paths".

If each technology tree "path" is equally attractive, but radically different in terms of strategic approach, wouldn't this indicate simply a different approach to the standard "Civilization Technology Tree" rather than a technology tree with 80% dead ends?

Yep I see no problem with many of the techs staying unresearched in one particular game, as long as they are all more or less equally attractive and a completely different research path may be followed in another game. Though I hope that once the first few techs are discovered, you don't always know what you're gonna do or have to do the rest of the game. There are plenty of opportunities to change course in the middle of the game.

Of course there's a potential issue that 20 research choices may overwhelm novice players. (Personally I do not find this problematic as I plan my research using the F6 screen, which gives a better overall picture) An issue of added gameplay value versus interface constraints

I also think the normal fungus is a bit overdone... It should less obtrusive.

I agree! Let's hope someone notices this. :mischief:

Okay, further things:
- The unhealthy due to jungle bothers me a lot, frankly. I cannot understand it:
1) In SMAC, you were happy to find the monsoon jungle, as it was a great boon.
2) If people can live in a closed, air-tight habitat (because you cannot breath on Chiron), I fail to see how the proximity of a jungle causes a decrease of health.

The idea is that monsoon jungle is beneficial, but that you have to make some efforts to reap the fruits. I suggest researching Biogenetics as your first tech. The Biology Lab is intended to half unhealthiness from features, but that isn't working at the moment. :mischief: Will hopefully be fixed soon.

Regarding 2)

Although Planet's native life is based, like Earth's, on right-handed
DNA, and codes for all the same amino acids, the inevitable chemical
and structural differences from a billion years of evolution in an
alien environment render the native plant life highly poisonous
to humans. Juicy, ripe grenade fruits may look appealing, but a
mouthful of organonitrates will certainly change your mind in a hurry.
^
^ -- Lady Deirdre Skye,
^ "A Comparative Biology of Planet"

So you could assume that the Monsoon Jungle has some potentially very useful flora and/or fauna, but that it requires some medical research to negate the unheathy side effects.

Weapons are currently divided in three categories, each giving a different effect. I haven't bothered to actually implement that difference though, as the current unit system is more or less a placeholder.

This is something along the lines we were thinking about:

Kinetic:
no counterpromotion,
Air units: bonus to bomb mission -> I was thinking of not making this inherent to kinetic weapons, but rather make it a "Kinetic Harpoons" promotion/special ability which can be put on kinetic needlejets and gravships with Orbital Engineering

Beam:
interception chance against air units and ranged bombardment (eg artillery)
later weapons: collateral damage

Missiles
Terrain defense bonus negation
Sea & Air units: +1 or 2 air range (since ships start with 0 air range, this would de facto give ships a ranged bombardment ability


Ah, ok, thanks for the clarification :)

W00t that would be awesome! Terrains may change in the near future, so perhaps better to wait a little with that, but terrain improvements and resources would be very useful. Btw, please check out the Graphics task list if you have skills in that area!

Ill check out that list now :p

As a side note: what kind of Leader traits and what not are planned? im really interested to see what each leader's characteristics are.

TimeTraveler!!!

Very interesting analysis! Your findings suggest to me that the technology tree is actually 4 or 5 different technology trees in one (technology tree "paths"), and once you've researched the first few technologies you basically know which technology tree "path" you are on and you disregard all the remaining technology tree "paths".

If each technology tree "path" is equally attractive, but radically different in terms of strategic approach, wouldn't this indicate simply a different approach to the standard "Civilization Technology Tree" rather than a technology tree with 80% dead ends?Rubin!

This makes me think of the technology layouts of GalCiv2 and Master of Orion. They had what I suppose would be paths. With Civ and games very similar to it, however, I don't see separate paths, unless you count very short paths from one tech advance directly to another. What I instead see is a huge mesh. where everything is interwoven. And I like that. ^^ This is more loose in some tech charts than others. And with the current chart, one could basically choose which tech advances are needed most while fashioning the most desirable layout on how to get there. And there will be many choices.

Below the single mesh of the tech tree as a whole, I look at each tech advance individually. At this level, almost every tech advance could be skipped if it isn't the destination tech advance. Although it sounds like that's what a lot of people here want.

On a general note, I don't think the level of Planet hostility in SMAC should be taken as the benchmark for Planetfall. In SMAC you could rape Planet with ease. I'd prefer Planet to have teeth in Planetfall. ;) That being said, a quickfix for now so that fungal blooms don't occur too early could be to let each base start with say 2 or 3 Planet, so it takes a while before you start having negative Planet? (For each net negative Planet there is 1% chance each turn you'll get a fungal bloom.) Also if fungal blooms become whack-a-mole, the frequency of fungal blooms could be reduced, but the severity of each fungal bloom increased. Though we'll probably have to wait until we have some psi combat implementation to test that.Should Planet's fungal blooms really have so much teeth that the players tend to lose when trying to fight back? And if they continue to take so much effort, any tech prerequisites (Industrial Base, Xenobiology) would be grabbed first by every player almost every time. Unless formers and the ability to remove fungus have no prerequisites. (Formers probably shouldn't require any tech anyway.)Btw, could you and other who experience too many fungal blooms perhaps please post a screenie showing the game year, flowering counter (that number added at the top) and some cities (and their sizes)? A screenshot of a base screen showing the causes of negative Planet would also be handy.I suppose I can try when I get around to it.Before adding new techs and expanding the tree, we should first have enough ideas to fill the current tree! :D The last half of the tree looks rather empty at the moment. Suggestions very welcome!Well, there's stuff in here. And yes, it is that same list I posted over four months ago. ^^;0 - Biogenetics - none
1 - Doctrine: Mobility - none
2 - Fission Power - none
3 - Industrial Base - none
4 - Information Networks - none
5 - Social Psych - none
6 - Centauri Ecology - Biogenetics or Doctrine Mobility
7 - Power Economics - Fission Power or Industrial Base
8 - Doctrine: Flexibility - Doctrine: Mobility
9 - Ethical Calculus - Social Psych
10 - Planetary Networks - Information Networks
11 - Polymorphic Software - Information Networks and (Doctrine: Mobility or Industrial Base)
12 - Lasers - Fission Power and Industrial Base
13 - Neurology - Biogenetics and Social Psych
14 - Gene Splicing - Biogenetics and (Ethical Calculus or Planetary Networks)
15 - Chaos Theory - Fission and (Planetary Networks or Polymorphic Software)
16 - Field Modulation - Biogenetics and Doctrine: Flexibility
17 - Plasma Chemistry - Lasers and Information Networks
18 - Automation - Planetary Networks and Industrial Base
19 - Doctrine: Loyalty - Ethical Calculus and Doctrine: Mobility
20 - Adaptive Economics - Power Economics and (Centauri Ecology or Doctrine: Flexibility)
21 - Centauri Empathy - Neurology and Centauri Ecology
22 - Applied Rocketry - Lasers and Polymorphic Software
23 - Game Theory - Polymorphic Software and (Chaos Theory or Adaptive Economics)
24 - Intellectual Integrity - Doctrine: Loyalty and Doctrine: Flexibility
25 - Xenobiology - Centauri Empathy and Gene Splicing
26 - Ecological Engineering - Gene Splicing and Centauri Ecology
27 - Zero Point Energy - Chaos Theory and Power Economics
28 - Composites - Plasma Chemistry and Doctrine: Flexibility
29 - Neural Grafting - Automation and Neurology
30 - Machine Resonance - Field Modulation and Applied Rocketry
31 - Nano-Fibers - Automation and Plasma Chemistry
32 - Optical Computers - Lasers and (Game Theory or Zero-Point Energy)
33 - Superconductors - Composites or Nano-Fibers
34 - Bio-Engineering - Gene Splicing and (Neural Grafting or Xenobiology)
35 - Cyberethics - Intellectual Integrity and Planetary Networks
36 - Doctrine: Initiative - Machine Resonance and (Intellectual Integrity or Composites)
37 - Bioadaptive Resonance - Xenobiology and Field Modulation
38 - Environmental Economics - Ecological Engineering and Adaptive Economics
39 - Doctrine: Air Power - Composites and Applied Rocketry
40 - Monopole Magnets - Nano-Fibers and Composites
41 - Centauri Meditation - Centauri Empathy and (Bioadaptive Resonance or Environmental Economics)
42 - Superstring Theory - Machine Resonance and (Cyberethics or Monopole Magnets)
43 - Mutagens - Bio-Engineering and Doctrine: Loyalty
44 - Mental Harmonics - Bioadaptive Resonance and Intellectual Integrity
45 - Planetary Economics - Environmental Economics and Game Theory
46 - Force Fields - Monopole Magnets and Zero Point Energy
47 - Fusion Power - Superconductors and Optical Computers
48 - Pre-Sentient Algorithms - Cyberethics and Optical Computers
49 - Nanominiaturization - Monopole Magnets and Superconductors
50 - Quantum Relativity - Game Theory and (Superstring Theory or Force Fields)
51 - Mind/Machine Interface - Pre-Sentient Algorithms and Neural Grafting
52 - Centauri Genetics - Centauri Meditation and Bio-Engineering
53 - Biomachinery - Mutagens and Doctrine: Initiative
54 - N-Space Compression - Force Fields and Bioadaptive Resonance
55 - Satellites - Fusion Power and Doctrine: Air Power
56 - Nanometallurgy - Nanominiaturization and Doctrine: Initiative
57 - Probability Mechanics - Pre-Sentient Algorithms and Force Fields
58 - Super Terraforming - Planetary Economics and (Centauri Genetics or Biomachinery)
59 - Smart Materials - Superstring Theory and (Nanometallurgy or Probability Mechanics)
60 - Quantum Computers - Quantum Relativity and Pre-Sentient Algorithms
61 - Centauri Psi - Centauri Genetics and Mental Harmonics
62 - Industrial Nanorobotics - Nanometallurgy and Fusion Power
63 - Cybernetics - Mind/Machine Interface and (Nanometallurgy or Biomachinery)
64 - Advanced Spaceflight - Satellites and (Mind/Machine Interface or N-Space Compression
65 - Unified Field Theory - Probability Mechanics and Quantum Relativity
66 - Nanotech Biology - Industrial Nanorobotics and Biomachinery
67 - Graviton Theory - Unified Field Theory and Satellites
68 - Quantum Power - Smart Materials and (Quantum Computers or Unified Field Theory)
69 - Antimatter - Advanced Spaceflight and (Smart Materials or Industrial Nanorobotics)
70 - Secrets of Alpha Centauri - Centauri Psi and Super Terraforming
71 - Matter Compression - Industrial Nanorobotics and Smart Materials
72 - Digital Sentience - Cybernetics and Quantum Computers
73 - The Will to Power - Cybernetics and Centauri Psi
74 - Sentient Resonance - Digital Sentience and N-Space Compression
75 - Matter Editation - Nanotech Biology and Quantum computers
76 - Interplanetary Flight - Graviton theory and Advanced Spaceflight
77 - Sociometrics - Digital Sentience and Super Terraforming
78 - Secrets of Creation - The Will to Power and Unified Field Theory
79 - Super Tensile Solids - Matter Compression and (Quantum Power or Antimatter)
80 - Quantum Machinery - Quantum Power and Antimatter
81 - Self Aware Machines - Digital Sentience and Nanotech Biology
82 - Mental Dynamics - The Will to Power and Secrets of Alpha Centauri
83 - Gravetomagnetism - Self-aware Machines and Graviton Theory
84 - Secrets of the Manifolds - Sentient Resonance and Secrets of Alpha Centauri
85 - Teleportation - Matter Editation and (Self Aware Machines or Mental Dynamics)
86 - Femtotechnology - Quantum Machinery and Super Tensile Solids
87 - Eudaimonia - Mental Dynamics and Sociometrics
88 - Singularity Mechanics - Gravetomagnetism and Interplanetary Flight
89 - Temporal Mechanics - Teleportaion and Secrets of Creation
90 - String Resonance - Femtotechnology and Secrets of the Manifolds
91 - Threshold of Transcendence - Temporal Mechanics and Eudaimonia
92 - Controlled Singularity - String Resonance and Singularity Mechanics
93 - Transcendent Thought - Controlled Singularity and Threshold of TranscendenceBtw, Eudaimonia, Terraforming and Stable Neutronium are all repeatedly researchable "Future Techs".I guess that changes bits of my graph near the end.Of course there's a potential issue that 20 research choices may overwhelm novice players. (Personally I do not find this problematic as I plan my research using the F6 screen, which gives a better overall picture) An issue of added gameplay value versus interface constraintsThat could be why those other games tend to have far fewer choices in general at each time of selecting another tech advance.

Quick comment:

Well, there's stuff in here. And yes, it is that same list I posted over four months ago. ^^;

I meant we need more ideas for tech contents (buildings, civics, etc) for the current techs before adding more techs.

Quick comment:



I meant we need more ideas for tech contents (buildings, civics, etc) for the current techs before adding more techs.I guess I'll need to look in the mod again to see what's already there, then.

In the mean time, I could mention that I had this crazy idea in... maybe 2000... of a place with lots of gravity generators that could provide both industrial and recreational purposes. (Think roller coaster/factory hybrids.) I called it the Graviton Park. Looking back, I don't know how realistic such a facility would be, but I do think it would be fun for there to be one that directly increased both industry and happiness.

I meant we need more ideas for tech contents (buildings, civics, etc) for the current techs before adding more techs.

Maybe instead you could trim out all of the exraneous technologies and consolidate the exsisting content into other stuff. 20 possible techs doesn't do anything to expand a player's choices if most of them have no worthwhile content.

Reason for that rather messy situation is that if I just give aquaformer impassability for ocean tiles, they can still move on sea fungus even if it's on ocean tiles and possibly cross to another continent. And while some limited exploration with them seems ok, I don't want aquaformers to be able to explore the whole world that early in the game. I don't know - perhaps an alternative solution could be to make them unable to enter unexplored territory (like spies), but always able to enter fungus.

This seems totally arbitrary to me. Work boats, foil formers, and unity foils could all explore early. Why can't the player do it with aqua formers? I mean, if he or she chooses to do that it will probably get eaten by an Isle of the Deep anyway.

1) I actually like the terrain graphics, they are very SMAC-ish. Gives me nostalgia, but I feel the ocean is far to bright... I think it should be darker...

Don't get me wrong! I like the overall look of them too, it's just that rainy flatlands look drab compared to midland/highland graphics. The latter I find interesting.

congrats on the release guys. I will try it out in the new year when I return.

Great job..

(personally i find the terrain a bit too bright and cartoonish, but its really no big deal :p)

(personally i find the terrain a bit too bright and cartoonish, but its really no big deal :p)

That's kind of how SMAC was. I actually had an old VGA monitor once that only had purple color left for about a week before I could get a new one. I still played SMAC, but it was hard on the eyes!

That's kind of how SMAC was. I actually had an old VGA monitor once that only had purple color left for about a week before I could get a new one. I still played SMAC, but it was hard on the eyes!


fair enough :p ive never played SMAC before so i wouldnt know :) it would be nice if someone came up with more Civexque terrain though ;)

As a huge fan of SMAC still nowadays playing it I'm really excited about this project. Can't cheer the whole initiative enough!

I'll definitely stick around and see if I can offer my help with one thing or another :)

(personally i find the terrain a bit too bright and cartoonish, but its really no big deal :p)

Yeah, I think it is a bit glaring as well. Even the original graphics I thought were pretty opaque and these don't mesh all that well with the color palette of Civ.

I really can't say much, as I probably couldn't do better myself, but the fungus is a bit rough. I'd change it to be a bit more uniform. Capelli d'angelo Pasta style instead of the Red Bean Casserole approach, if you get what I mean...

This is looking fricking great! I've been so keen for a SMAC mod, and it's great to see it in the flesh like this! I'm really excited about the future of this one!

Just a suggestion: there's a lot of new stuff from BtS that would make either a really good basis or at least just placeholders for units/buildings, particularly from NextWar and Final Frontier.

The Final Frontier fighters would make good needlejets, the colony ship sunk into the ground a bit would make a good colony pod, the stealth ship would make a good bomber-type needlejet, the construction ship combined with a tank chassis or just hovering as-is would make a good former, and a lot of the ships would make good boats. There's also some improvements (capital shipyard, extraction facility) that would make good buildings or terrain improvements.

The NextWar antitank infantry would make a good rocket infantry, and I'm sure you could get some use out of the cyborg, automaton and clone worker. There's also some building graphics that are begging to be used.

I can't really do models and stuff, but I'd be happy to do some unit/building retextures for you guys if you like.

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/71834/Planetfall_Buttons.jpg

here are the buttons i made of terrain and improvements

LINK (http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/71834/Planetfall_Buttons.zip)

Wow thanks!!!

no worries :)

http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/71834/Planetfall_Buttons.jpg

here are the buttons i made of terrain and improvements

LINK (http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/71834/Planetfall_Buttons.zip)

Bloody good work mate! Also I assume cottages are going to be cut out?

Okay. My chart on average tech variability has been changed to accommodate for the knowledge of Eudaimonia, Terraforming, and Stable Neutronium being repeating techs.http://alumni.imsa.edu/~rider/images/planetfall1choices.png
As for stuff to go into the Planetfall mod, I personally suggest placing in great deals of what existed in SMAC/X and has yet to make it here. Why don't I see facilities like the Children's Creche, Nanohospital, Quantum Converter, and Tachyon Field in the current list? I think most of the ones taken away could be re-added...Children's Creche: Stores more growth, less city maintenance, possibly +1 free unit per few of these.
Hab Complex and Habitation Dome: Increased health and happiness each.
Nanohospital: much like the Research Hospital.
Nanoreplicator: depends on what's to be replicated. Buildings? Equipment? Food? People? Usage may depend on civics.
Paradise Garden: increased happiness, possibly increased wealth.
Quantum Converter: increased production, increased energy.
Skunkworks: units build faster, slightly increased research.
Stockpile Energy: turns minerals to energy.
Tachyon Field: increased city defense.
Temple of Planet: low chances of fungal blooms, more experience for native life units.As an addition, I think it'd be interesting to see a few other additions.Energy Grid: increased energy and decreased maintenance.
Data core: increased research. Requires a Network Node.
Transit System: Increased health, two cities with the Transit System and few movement points can see population and/or food sources slowly migrating from cities with less happiness/health to cities with more happiness/health.
Neural Amplifier: Increases Psi Defense in that base.
Graviton Park: Usage of gravity to emulate roller-coaster-style recreation and industry at same time. Or at least some late-game comic relief. Increased happiness and industry.Another bizarre idea: What if the research effect of Network Nodes increased with the establishment of more Network Nodes?

Now what about secret projects? Which ones would be one per faction and which would be one per game? Here are my personal ideas.Merchant Exchange: One per game. And stronger than it is in normal SMAC.
Command Nexus, Maritime Control Center, Cyborg Factory, Cloudbase Academy: Not sure. Would one per game be too game-breaking? And what if these were mixed? Should probably each require their smaller, one-base counterparts in thebase where built.
Empath Guild: One per faction, and avoid infiltration, as it means factions can too easily see their rivals' progress on planetary projects.
Planetary Datalinks: One per game. After all, it is planetary. Should require a Network Node be built inthe base.
Supercollider: One per faction.
Xenoempathy Dome: One per game. It can be where Planet responds to the first one first.
Hunter Algorithm System: One per game. Or one per faction and greatly weakened.
Universal Translator: One per game. Can act much like the Oracle of Civ4.
Dream Twister: One per faction or one per base. Increased Happiness, units built here start with Empath Song.
Network Backbone: One per game, maybe. Perhaps requires a Data Core or something.
Space Elevator: One per faction. Necessary for sky farms.
Nenthack Terminus: One per faction, maybe.
Telepathic Matrix: One per planet. Either weakened at home or providing weak benefits to other factions.
Bulk Matter Transmitter: One per faction, maybe. Much increased industry on one city.
Manifold Harmonics: One per planet, maybe.
Singularity Inductor: One per faction or one per planet while aiding everyone to an extent.
Voice of Planet: One per planet, allows everyone to start work on transcendence.

Note, I left out things like the Theory of Everything, Longevity Vaccine, the Citizens' Defense Force, and Ascetic Virtues. The first two are more like discoveries than anything, and would pore likely come as direct benefits with whatever their prerequisites would be. (+research with Unified Physics, +health and happiness with Bio-Engineering.) Meanwhile, the Citizens' Defense Force and Ascetic Virtues sound more like social programs, or perhaps even civics, than anything provided through industrial construction.I have also thought up some other possible projects.Planetary Council Headquarters. Requires contact with all other factions on planet. No tech prerequisite. Allows council meetings. Provides contact with any two factions that have yet to meet. Grants builder with extra votes in the council.
Orbital Defense. One per team. Acts like SDI.
I've had some thoughts toward units, as well, but they're in less detail.
If going with the workshop, I suggest adding practically everything from regular SMAC/X and then some. Also, distinctions should be made between physical equipment and experience-based promotions. If going with pre-made units, there should be provided a good number of them to represent everything. Either way, we must try to set up similarly advanced units aginst each other like a complicated game of rock, paper, scissors.

Okay. So I was wondering about how the Nessus Mining Stations would work, assuming they'd show up in the game at all. I soon came up with a somewhat wild idea: What if we somehow got Nessus to have its own map? Along with maybe even maps of other worlds like Eurytion? For graphics, they can start with purely arid terrain. In any case, after building your space elevator or something, you can start building spacesrafts that will send a (rather expensive) colony to whatever world is reachable with current technology. Then maybe once you're there, you can start mining and stuff all you want because it won't provoke fungal blooms unless the place gets terraformed enough to support them and someone introduces them. Of course, another challenge may be to get the minerals back down to Chiron, which may require another space elevator. (I suppose one question to ask is, can this all be reasonably done?)

Maybe with Gravitonics or Super Tensile Solids, it should be possible to build the space elevator farther away from the equator than 30 degrees latitude. Just in case a faction gets confined to relatively polar regions.

The Sky Hydroponics Labs and Orbital Power Transmitters are even wilder, but they may be a bit easier to model.
The sky farms can get vitrually unlimited sunlight, but they would need lots of soil and other material resources to aid the plants. The delivery system might also be an issue unless the people live there.
The Orbital Power Transmitters may have even fewer limits, although too much light beaming down may start to incinerate the atmosphere or damage equipment meant to recieve the large amounts of energy. Perhaps if eachbase built one that would increase the energy gain by 1 for every two solar collectors controlled by the base. Maybe sky farms can be the same way, but with increasing food, and responding to practically everything with more than enough soil to spare plenty.

The above are merely suggestions. I have no idea what everyone else here thinks about it all. o.o

Some note in advance: I'd prefer base facilities to have as much as possible:
1) original effects, ie eg no multiple buildings all giving a hammer production bonus
2) two effects, eg Clinic 1) +health, and 2) +1 doctor slot, or Virtual World 1) +1 happiness and 2) +2 XP, to create some interesting combinations/synergies. This also helps keep each building original (goal 1) even if one of the effects might occur in several buildings (eg a health bonus).

Many of the buildings currently in Planetfall don't meet these conditions, so ideas for the effects of those are also very welcome.

As for stuff to go into the Planetfall mod, I personally suggest placing in great deals of what existed in SMAC/X and has yet to make it here. Why don't I see facilities like the Children's Creche, Nanohospital, Quantum Converter, and Tachyon Field in the current list? I think most of the ones taken away could be re-added...

Tachyon Field - I guess I'll add it to Temporal Mechanics. Though as you may guess I'd prefer to have it some other effects besides just giving a defense bonus.

Children's Creche - this is more or less in as the Hatchery. That name is inspired from Brave New World, and IMO it kinda fits in the dark & gritty "film noir" sci fi story that SMAC mostly is. Though many people don't seem to like it. :p I guess I might rename the building back to Creche, except perhaps for the Hive.

Nanohospital - as far as I'm concerned out unless some different effects than for the Research Hospital can be thought of.

Quantum Converter - out for same reason: already enough ideas for buildings that can increase hammer production

Hab Complex and Habitation Dome: Increased health and happiness each.

I could add an Arcology building to Contained Ecosystems which gives extra health (and preferably some other effect). Not sure where Hab Complex or Habitation Dome could fit though.

Nanohospital: much like the Research Hospital.

Which is exactly the problem. :D

Paradise Garden: increased happiness, possibly increased wealth.
Skunkworks: units build faster, slightly increased research.
Data core: increased research. Requires a Network Node.

What techs would enable this?

Temple of Planet: low chances of fungal blooms, more experience for native life units.

Haven't added this one yet, as I'm not sure yet what tech should enable it. I guess I'll just add it to some random centauri tech now, and see later. ;)

Energy Grid: increased energy and decreased maintenance.

I was thinking of an Energy Nexus building with Superconductor which decreased distance maintenance. Or just make the effect automatic with having the Superconductor tech.

Graviton Park: Usage of gravity to emulate roller-coaster-style recreation and industry at same time. Or at least some late-game comic relief. Increased happiness and industry.

Sounds like a possibility, but there already are plenty of effects that can be thought of for the Gravitonics tech. Though of course these effects could later be split into two gravitonics-related techs, so it's something to keep in mind. :)

We've moved a thread on buildings (http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=278) in the public forum btw.

Okay. So I was wondering about how the Nessus Mining Stations would work, assuming they'd show up in the game at all. I soon came up with a somewhat wild idea: What if we somehow got Nessus to have its own map?
...
(I suppose one question to ask is, can this all be reasonably done?)

No. :D

Anyway, I was thinking about perhaps the following:

Sky Hydroponics: +1 free specialist, but -1 happiness and perhaps -1 health

Mining Station: some extra minerals but the maximum bonus is limited to the number of Forts/Bunkers/Military Complexes/whatever name in your base radius. These acts as air bases in BtS, so the idea would be that those represent Aerospace Complexes and its infrastructure necessary to transport the minerals to Chiron. The Aerospace Complex and Space Elevator could affect the maximum bonus.

Cloudscoop: provides Helium locally

Solar Power Transmiiter: boosts energy production of solar collectors in the base radius

Re Nessus/Asteroid/whatever Mining Station effects being tied to terrain improvements, advantage is these facilities are then tied more to other parts of the game such as your terraforming strategy and combat tactics (pillage your enemy's air bases!).

Some note in advance: I'd prefer base facilities to have as much as possible:
1) original effects, ie eg no multiple buildings all giving a hammer production bonus
2) two effects, eg Clinic 1) +health, and 2) +1 doctor slot, or Virtual World 1) +1 happiness and 2) +2 XP, to create some interesting combinations/synergies. This also helps keep each building original (goal 1) even if one of the effects might occur in several buildings (eg a health bonus).

Many of the buildings currently in Planetfall don't meet these conditions, so ideas for the effects of those are also very welcome.Hmm... Well, I suppose things that can be affected are research, wealth, maintenance, espionage, culture, specialists, happiness, health, population growth, planet rating, terrain types, production, experience points of units, city defense, unit repair, instant movement... Anything I'm missing here? Kinda looks like there's potential for up to 120 different facilities. Not that I'd argue trying to find one for each combination a necessity.Tachyon Field - I guess I'll add it to Temporal Mechanics. Though as you may guess I'd prefer to have it some other effects besides just giving a defense bonus.Hmm... What if the tachyon field also acted as a giant screen on which things can be displayed? Would that possibly constitute a culture bonus?Children's Creche - this is more or less in as the Hatchery. That name is inspired from Brave New World, and IMO it kinda fits in the dark & gritty "film noir" sci fi story that SMAC mostly is. Though many people don't seem to like it. :p I guess I might rename the building back to Creche, except perhaps for the Hive.Ah. Yeah... I probably should have paid more attention to the new facilities... Whoops. >.>;Nanohospital - as far as I'm concerned out unless some different effects than for the Research Hospital can be thought of.Well, there's happiness, health, and maybe the rate at which units in this building get repaired. Maybe if it involved any two of those?Quantum Converter - out for same reason: already enough ideas for buildings that can increase hammer productionFactory, Genejack Factory, Assembly Hall, Nanoreplicator, Subsea Trunkline, Nessus Mining Station... Aw, man. D:I could add an Arcology building to Contained Ecosystems which gives extra health (and preferably some other effect). Not sure where Hab Complex or Habitation Dome could fit though.To me, an Arcology sounds a whole lot like a Hab Complex or Hab Dome. Or maybe even a combination of both. Maybe there Complex could involve some increases in wealth or whatnot.Which is exactly the problem. :DWell, somewhat like I said, I suppose it could replace research with health and/or unit healing or something.What techs would enable this?Mainly ones that would have to be re-added to the game. Like Sociometrics or Econometrics for the Paradise Garden and Quantum Computers or Quantum Mechanics for the Data Core. Maybe something along the lines of Chaos Theory or Field Modulation or whatnot for the Skunkworks?Haven't added this one yet, as I'm not sure yet what tech should enable it. I guess I'll just add it to some random centauri tech now, and see later. ;) Perhaps something in the late game, like where Centauri Psi or Secrets of Alpha Centauri were in SMAC/X.I was thinking of an Energy Nexus building with Superconductor which decreased distance maintenance. Or just make the effect automatic with having the Superconductor tech.The Energy Nexus sounds pretty cool. :D Sounds like a possibility, but there already are plenty of effects that can be thought of for the Gravitonics tech. Though of course these effects could later be split into two gravitonics-related techs, so it's something to keep in mind. :) Okay. ^^We've moved a thread on buildings (http://forums.civfanatics.com/forumdisplay.php?f=278) in the public forum btw.Cool, thanks! :D No. :D Aw. But yeah, I can see how making extra maps per game is a bit much to ask for.Anyway, I was thinking about perhaps the following:

Sky Hydroponics: +1 free specialist, but -1 unhappiness and perhaps -1 health

Mining Station: some extra minerals but the maximum bonus is limited to the number of Forts/Bunkers/Military Complexes/whatever name in your base radius. These acts as air bases in BtS, so the idea would be that those represent Aerospace Complexes and its infrastructure necessary to transport the minerals to Chiron. The Aerospace Complex and Space Elevator could affect the maximum bonus.

Cloudscoop: provides Helium locally

Solar Power Transmiiter: boosts energy production of solar collectors in the base radius

Re Nessus/Asteroid/whatever Mining Station effects being tied to terrain improvements, advantage is these facilities are then tied more to other parts of the game such as your terraforming strategy and combat tactics (pillage your enemy's air bases!).Sounds like it'll work. :3

Perhaps you could add the iTradeYields tag from civics to buildings? Then nessus could grant hammers from trade routes, sky hydroponics food from trade, etc etc. This would give them a completely unique effect, one not shared by any vanilla building.

I just thought of an interesting way to fold the religion aspect of Civ into Planetfall while reading some of the Alpha Centauri tech blurbs.

Have Planetarianism (or whatever name) be founded after a given Planet tech is researched. Then, as PTSM spreads, you gain a speed boost on building the Voice of Planet. Hell, maybe getting your entire faction into PTSM could replace the secret project!

Looks good :D

How come you cannot build camps or mines?

How come you cannot build camps or mines?

For building mines, you need to research a technology. I forgot which one out of my head. Ecology something?

No patch yet?

I downloaded the mod today, and I gotta say it's set in motion a veritable avalanche of SMAC nostalgia in me. :D

Like several people before me, I think the colour range as it is right now is not easy on the eye. Nevertheless, the red-purple landscape is obviously a must to recapture that SMAC feel. ;) I don't claim to have the end-all be-all solution, but perhaps the forests and jungles could be toned down to darker greens or browns that are less at odds with the fungal landscape. As things stand right now, Planet is entirely too green. :p

There seemed to be a distinct lack of hammers in the test game I played earlier -- constructing anything took me aeons, as only the base itself provided one measly hammer. Perhaps I just touched down on Planet in a particularly unlucky spot, though, and that skewed my perspective.

With the Beam/Kinetic/Missile promotions -- are you aiming for a Rock/Paper/Scissors model? I don't remember if that is how things were in SMAC (too, too long ago, and can't get it to run on the new machine, alas), but it seems a rather obvious choice and would open interesting tactical possibilities.

Rubin has made new terrain graphics, so planet will look different in the next version!

any sneak peaks?:D

any sneak peaks?:D

No, only highlands. ;)

any sneak peaks?:D

New terrain graphics sneaking into Planetfall:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/uploads/73453/Planetfall_new_terrain_graphics.jpg

HOLY SMOKES

That's really awesome.

Thank you!!! Merry Christmas to all of us!

wow! thats so much better!

cant wait!

EDIT:
No, only highlands. ;)

Lol
i just got this

There are many good aspects to this mod, but I'd like to concentrate on several issues I have:

1) I really don't like the influence of other games being included. Mainly GalCiv2. If I wanted to play a GalCiv2 mod, I'd download one. I don't, yet it seems as though I have.
2) Who cares if every building isn't unique? Many of the buildings in SMAC were anything but unique. If you're going to ignore such major improvements as the Quantum Converter, simply on the grounds that it's too much like the other forge/factory buildings, maybe you should consider whether you really want to make a SMAC mod or whether you want to make your own original mod, without going to all the effort of replicating amazingly difficult SMAC features, such as the Unit Workshop, Random Research, 'fair' fungal blooms, teaching the AI how to use all the SMAC features, etc. I ask this in all seriousness, without malice: why are you making a SMAC mod? Is this what you truly desire?
3) Graphics are a decent start. Maybe a bit bright. Don't worry too much about the graphics, until the game is playable, though.
4) It's a children's creche, not a hatchery. This goes back to 2). Is this a SMAC mod or not? It sounds like you're "inspired by" SMAC, rather than making a faithful port to the Civ4 engine. That's fine. That's a good idea for a mod. It's just not the mod I would want to play. Yes, yes, I know: everyone will tell me to go play SMAC if I want a faithful port, but that's not the point. The point is that I'd like to play a SMAC mod. I still play the original, but Transcend is way too easy. It's like Noble or Prince in BtS. Besides, the original doesn't work so well on my modern computer. I'd like to take advantage of the better graphics, interfaces, and AI of Civ IV, but keep the majority of the game elements the same. Also, the AI in SMAC has no clue how to win the game. It's a joke playing against anyone but humans.

Maybe I can get over these issues and enjoy the mod, but -- as it stands now, as a first impression -- I feel that there's too much original content for me to enjoy this as a SMAC tribute.

Good luck with your mod, and I hope that it becomes popular. It might not be my cup of tea (yet?), but you can't please everyone, right?

Just wanted to stop by and show my support for this mod. If CIV4 came out with a good future expansion pack, I would purchase it in a second! ;) Keep up the good work because I will be back to check on you guys!

First of all I really want to thank you for doing this mod - since I played Civ4 the first tome, i had the thought that it wouldbe the perfect base for a SMAC comeback.
I gave this early version a try and really...despite all the graphic and gameplay placeholders it already captures the old SMAC feeling quite good. Beside what others have already mentioned, i have found two small issues:

- the unity supply unit you get in the beginning has to two "upgrade to former"-choices, which seem to be completly identical (I'm not reffring to the aqua-former-upgrade, which is present as well)
- highland tiles seem to be still impassable (likely a relict from the used terrain type from stock Civ4 Rules)

Regarding the issue Powerslave rised of "how close should this mod to SMAC (or SMAX, which I hope will come into as well)?"...my answer would be : "As close as technical possible and as SMAC/SMAX was balanced/fun" So I would try to stay as close as possible to SMAC for a moment and abstain from adding infuence from other games.Only if something isn't possible technically (or at least not without too big effort - I fear a true unit workshop will fall in this category) or imbalanced in SMAC, another solution should be found and likely other similar games will be a great ressource. Everything else should be taken from the original - this solves a lot of problems "like what should do tech X and building y" naturally.If something reveals as imbalanced in the Civ4 engine, it might be still changed in the future.As for things like "buildings doing the same", I'm with Powerslave - I prefer to have multiple production boosters instead of new affects which weren't in SMAC.Beside my desire to play something as close to SMAC as possible, I also think that it will confuse many old SMAc veterans to have unexpectet building effects.Of course, an exception should be made if the buildings proof to be overpowered this way in Civ4s world - but even then I would rather limit there effects instead of completely changing them.

I, too, am in firm agreement with Powerslave. I long to play a faithful remake of SMAC, seeing how none of my computers will run the real thing, and I think the closer it is to the original, the better.

That said, I hope you people will fare better than the last group that tried this. Cheers!

Hmm, this issue was destined to come up. ;)

Personally I consider Planetfall a true SMAC mod. However it's rather obvious many people disagree with me :D so I should clarify what I mean with that.

I find the essence of SMAC its story. Of course that's once again vague, so a further clarification: the essence of SMAC are seven factions with their own particular ideology landing on an alien world. That world turns out to have a native life species and fungus connected in a Planetmind which is gradually moving towards consciousness, involving psionics, Transcendence etc. That's the core, the theme to which I'm rather conservative.

The specifics may differ though IMO. Whether or not there's a building called Quantum Converter or Children's Creche I find completely irrelevant. Is SMAC no longer SMAC because it doesn't have a Quantum Converter? :confused: And regarding the Hatchery, personally I imagine that as fitting image for Yang's society for instance. It fits in the film noir feeling of SMAC. (Though for the record I plan to rename the Hatchery back to Children's Creche.)

Other example: the Planetfall tech tree preserves the same themes the SMAC tech tree had: genetics, cybernetics, AI, psionics, resonance, nanonics, centauri techs, ecology, space, you name it. The big picture in other words. The specifics are all different of course. Eg personally I don't give a damn if Gene Splicing is a level 3 or 5 tech. Also those tech themes I named, and in fact all stuff included in SMAC itself, is not unique to SMAC. They are common themes present in all science fiction. So for example resemblances to GalCiv2 or other stuff is inevitable, purely accidental or in the eye of the beholder. All depends on your perspective. I never played GalCiv2 for instance.

While I'm conservative concerning the core story, I'd be willing to change everything regarding the gameplay. In imagining the current contents of Planetfall, I have not thought like this: "SMAC has these technologies and base facilities. Now let's make a civ4 mod making sure those specific objects are all represented in the mod!" Rather my idea was like this: SMAC has this story and these general themes. Now let's try to make some good gameplay according to these general themes and story. If a specific SMAC name fits for a gameplay concept/object useful for Planetfall, definitely use it!! If not, invent something yourself. Shortness of names is also an issue though. So if a long SMAC name is available, but a short and simple one is also available, the short one might be preferable. I'm thinking here of calling a tech Nanites instead of Industrial Nanorobotics, or a base facility Assembly Hall instead of Robotic Assembly Plant (name too long to fit in the interface).

Anyway, summary: I feel I'm 'faithful' and 'true' to SMAC. It's just that I seem to have a broader picture of what being true to SMAC is than most. It's all in the eye of the beholder. I'm not forcing anyone else to view this mod as a SMAC mod. It's called Planetfall instead for a reason. If you would enjoy this mod better by seeing it as a completely new and independent game, well by all means do so! Enjoy it for what it is; don't look at it for what it is not and will never be (at least, according to you individually).

- the unity supply unit you get in the beginning has to two "upgrade to former"-choices, which seem to be completly identical (I'm not reffring to the aqua-former-upgrade, which is present as well)
- highland tiles seem to be still impassable (likely a relict from the used terrain type from stock Civ4 Rules)

Reason for the two former upgrades is because I'd prefer the Unity Supplies to be able to upgrade to a former without you having Industrial Base. Thus I had to add a new former unit identical to the former, except it didn't require any tech.

Highland tiles being impassable seems weird. :confused: Perhaps you're thinking of the Peak terrain? Anyway, a non-issue. The rolling terrains and the peak plottype as passable terrain will disappear in the next version (so only two elevation levels besides impassable peaks). This was suggested by Rubin who also would prefer a mod closer to SMAC btw. ;)



Regarding several people saying research is too slow, or production speed is too high or too low (both have been said). Are you taking into account whether you're first researching mines, farms or windmills? Have you considered other sources of minerals like eg specialists? Anyway, I just slapped some random costs on buildings and techs, so they're of course likely to change. Any suggestions by how much a percentage to decrease tech costs?

While I'm conservative concerning the core story, I'd be willing to change everything regarding the gameplay. In imagining the current contents of Planetfall, I have not thought like this: "SMAC has these technologies and base facilities. Now let's make a civ4 mod making sure those specific objects are all represented in the mod!" Rather my idea was like this: SMAC has this story and these general themes. Now let's try to make some good gameplay according to these general themes and story.

I think this is the point of contention for people like Powerslave and Pfeffersack though. Alpha Centauri is what it is because of it's gameplay and its story. By saying you have no intent to preserve the gamelplay you're throwing out half the reason to play SMAC. No one can tell you what to do with your mod, but I think most SMAC fans are not going to be on board with the idea of game that just has thematic similarities with Alpha Centauri.

I think this is the point of contention for people like Powerslave and Pfeffersack though. Alpha Centauri is what it is because of it's gameplay and its story. By saying you have no intent to preserve the gamelplay you're throwing out half the reason to play SMAC. No one can tell you what to do with your mod, but I think most SMAC fans are not going to be on board with the idea of game that just has thematic similarities with Alpha Centauri.
Yes, i agree with others too. Since this mod doesn't have any playable gameplay itself (and as Maniac said, he doesn't know how to make it playable), i don't understand why not to make it as close to SMAC/SMAX as possible as a first step. It makes sense to make something on our own only when we have a core gameplay. Without it, there is no game and mod is unplayable.

Maybe SMAC gameplay is too linear with known best tech paths etc., but it's better than nothing at all.

Reason for the two former upgrades is because I'd prefer the Unity Supplies to be able to upgrade to a former without you having Industrial Base. Thus I had to add a new former unit identical to the former, except it didn't require any tech.

Ah, ok that makes sense.


Highland tiles being impassable seems weird. :confused: Perhaps you're thinking of the Peak terrain? Anyway, a non-issue. The rolling terrains and the peak plottype as passable terrain will disappear in the next version (so only two elevation levels besides impassable peaks). This was suggested by Rubin who also would prefer a mod closer to SMAC btw. ;)

I'm referring to the impassable peaks of Civ4 - tiles with those graphics are currently impassable in Planetfall. I was confused, since IIRC there was no completly impassable terrain in SMAC. Also, I don't understand why a model with two elevation levels and peaks is closer to SMAC - SMAC had elevation measured in meters from 0-3000+, so there were indeed 4 elevation levels in 1000m increments (relevant for solar collector output).



For the overall discussion of closeness to SMAC - it is probably just different expectations. IMO, original SMAC/SMAX biggest weaknesses are the AI and some great imbalancies (e.g. certain units like chopters are to cheap, some cheap tricks with ecology, tech or base traiding etc.) - so my ideal sequel or mod would mainly deal with those problems, while not changing too much about the gamplay.Plus the close it is to SMAC the stronger is the feeling to play SMAC (which is in fact what I would like to do again, but the issues I mentioned above spoil my fun, there more I have fallen in love with Civ4 great AI). Surely, other influences can improve and enrich the game in some areas (e.g. I could imagine to have Great People in a SMAC mod, despite they were not part of original SMAC), but I think that should be handled rather restrictive and probably the last part to do (so it would be perhaps even possible to offer two versions of the mod...a conversion as close as possible and something called "+", which adds all the things which fit nicely in the theme). But of course it is your mod...so it is just my wish and two cents on this :)

I'm not great with models or anything, but I'm going to have a shot at making some icons.


The specifics may differ though IMO. Whether or not there's a building called Quantum Converter or Children's Creche I find completely irrelevant. Is SMAC no longer SMAC because it doesn't have a Quantum Converter? :confused: And regarding the Hatchery, personally I imagine that as fitting image for Yang's society for instance. It fits in the film noir feeling of SMAC. (Though for the record I plan to rename the Hatchery back to Children's Creche.)

With the UB code, maybe you could make Yang's Children's Creche a Hatchery, boost the growth bonus but halve the morale bonus? It seems like Yang would do that.

I hope there'll be UBs eventually. No biggie if there isn't. Maybe buildings which have bonuses only active under certain civics?

Or have the 'Hatchery' for the Uni, Yang, Morgan and maybe Gaia, and the Creche for the other 3? They could have the exact same gameplay.

Would it be possible to have more ways to raise planet health early? I seem to hit the limit very quickly. Also it does not appear that the strength raising promotions (that are automatically added when you research the tech) work- they alter the cost of units appropriately, but they don't show up in combat calculations. Otherwise great mod! Amazing for not being final.

OK, here's an attempt at a former icon:

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/6013/former2zp6.jpg

Change the style or more like this?

More like this :goodjob:

Looks like it is impossible to download, I think the dl limit on Rapidshare has been reached.

Hmm, I succesfully tried to download it just now. :confused:

The_Reckoning and others, will reply to you in a later post!

maybe you are a paying member, it says the free download limit has been reached...

edit: ok I tried again now and it works, maybe there's a limit for each day ?

This mod should be a sticky. Once you get all the bugs ironed out, I think this will be the best mod ever created for BtS.

SMAC reborn...


... hell yeah.

Would it be possible to have more ways to raise planet health early? I seem to hit the limit very quickly.

Currently three early ways to raise Planet IIRC:
1) have xenofungus within your base radius (so just don't remove it if it isn't causing too much health problems)
2) build a biology lab
3) connect a monolith resource

I hope to let bases start with some initial Planet in the future (just like you have a starting health and happiness value) so fungal blooms will occur somewhat later.
Other ideas/plans:
1) Add a civic which gives extra Planet in your bases
2) Biggest cause of raising the Planet value currently is population size. So perhaps each pop could give less than -1 Planet. That would break the simple system of each population point "requiring" 1 happiness, 1 health and 1 planet.
So 3) alternative could be the recycling tanks for instance halving the negative planet caused by population

OK, here's an attempt at a former icon:

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/6013/former2zp6.jpg

Change the style or more like this?

We like it. :D It should confirm to certain requirements though to be useable in civ4.

It should be a 64x64 resolution dds file using I believe DXT3.

There is also some requirement regarding the mipmaps. Eg the buttons posted by psychic_lamas look like this when using the "low resolution textures" graphic option:

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a183/TehManiac/Planetfall/blurrygreenhouse.jpg

This blurriness problem also existed before in FfH, so I asked Kael how he solved it. His reply:

Ahh yes, that was forever ago. If I remember correctly the problem was that I was saving the buttons with the "generate mipmap" options that I used with skin textures.

Mipmaps are the picture scaled to different resolutions and th