Well, after years of plodding around, learning XML, and debating game balance on these forums, I'm finally ready to release the first beta verson of the AMM: Antilogic's Minimal Mod.

This mod is designed for guys like me: guys who don't like huge mod or tons of additional features, so much that you get lost immediately. The objective was to rebalance the gameplay and add one or two features I wanted in the game, to make the game I wanted to play. Although I have adjusted the traits, some UUs, and UBs for balance, the primary function or benefit of each trait, UU, and UB has stayed the same (with one possible exception on the Mongolian and Byzantine UUs, which have their positions switched in the tech tree). So, I advertise this as the mod you already know how to play: most of your strategies will work in mostly the same way. It's just a little...different.

So, this idea has dictated the design philosophy for the mod: I consider each new idea, and wonder whether or not it will be "minimal" enough to make it into the mod. That's the primary reason why the new Civics idea I have is probably not going to make the cut, but some new events for variety will make it in.


Well, thanks for reading through that, if you did. Now, here's the part you probably want:


This is the Beta 2 version at the moment, largely because I haven't programmed in all the new event ideas that I have recorded. Here is the current readme file with a list of everything I have altered:

ANTILOGIC'S MINIMAL MOD
Current Version: Beta

This readme file contains a complete log of everything I have changed in the Minimal Mod, issues, wants, etc. as well as the installation instructions.
If you have questions or feedback, please read and post in this thread: . Thank you and enjoy!


TO INSTALL:
Unzip this folder, "AMM", into your Beyond the Sword\MODS folder.
NOTE: This mod was designed around Civ4: BtS, v3.13: support for vanilla Civ4 and Warlords is not available. Additionally, some of the content was only updated in the English language.
Load the "Antilogic's Minimal Mod" from the main menu in the game, under the "Advanced" menu.


CREDITS:
Before I go on and list the issues, work list, and all the features, I need to take the time to thank some people on Civfanatics that have contributed to the success of this mod:

Solver: Your guide has been my textbook on creating the new events for this mod. Without this, a large portion of this mod (okay, the entire events part) would have been impossible.

jkp1187: Although I have messed around with the numbers, there are a handful of events in the AMM that originated in jkp1187's mod. You can see the originals (and try his events mod out) here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?p=6176956#post6176956. His events, although modified, are marked with a ^ below.

And finally, the rest of the Civfanatics community: I have debated for well over a year with you guys, and although I haven't always agreed, I have borrowed more ideas than I can count from fellow posters.



KNOWN ISSUES:
No icons for the new resources in the city screen.
Event "Levittown" still doesn't work--just destroys the cottage or hamlet; can this be done in Python instead of XML?
Event "Bhopal" still doesn't work--the game crashes whenever the event is triggered.



CURRENT WORK LIST FOR NEXT VERSION:

Cosmetics:
Create or fix an ArtDefines_Bonus.xml file for the new resource graphics in cities
Change Civilopedia entry for Amplitheatre, Keshik, Cataphract, Legion, Asabari, US Marine Corps, Men-at-Arms to correct the name and features (check all Civilopedia entries--many more may have errors)
Create a custom title screen (maybe from the original globe, but with Civ4: BtS alternate logo and "Antilogic's Minimal Mod" beneath it) with Baba Yetu playing

Features:
Rework the city lists for Prussia and Austria
Program in the new events
Work List: Novelist, Cotton Gin, Aggressive (or Paranoid) Senator, Man of the Shadows, Joint Stock Company, World Expo, Satirist, Royal Family Death, Citizen's Labors
Increase tech costs by 5% or so late in the game (maybe late Industrial to Modern) to account for the new ways to produce commerce?
Add the "Values" civics category?
Add the Public School as a new building? Would need graphics for it...
Add more resources?
Change the American UU to the Minuteman?
Delete those new stupid-looking roads that appear in the Industrial Age (or make them less obvious-looking, or move to Modern Era)
Adjust Imperialistic by removing the Monuments production bonus and giving it to Industrious?
Tone down some of the uprated traits?
Remove airship's bombardment capabilities--recon unit only?
knock the initial health bonus at the beginning of the game down one, and then provide +1 health with some technology?
switch back Augustus's traits, or change them to something else?



COMPLETE LIST OF CHANGED AND ADDITIONAL FEATURES, SEE CIVILOPEDIA FOR DETAILS:

LEADER TRAITS:
Aggressive receives double production on Stables, not Drydocks
Creative receives +3 culture in all cities, no double production on Amplitheatres
Expansive receives double production on Aqueducts, not Harbors
Expansive receives original +50% production on Workers
Financial receives double production on Customs Houses
Organized receives double production on Harbors, not Lighthouses
Imperialistic receives +100% production on Settlers
Imperialistic receives double production on Monuments
Protective receives double production on Security Bureaus, not Castles
Spiritual receives double production on Cathedrals

CIVILIZATION AND LEADER CHANGES:
Renamed the HRE "Austria"
Renamed Charlemagne "Charles V"
Renamed the Native Americans "Sioux"
Renamed Germany "Prussia"
Changed Gandhi's favored civic to Pacifism
Changed Roosevelt's favored civic to Universal Suffrage
Changed Frederick's favored civic to Free Speech
Changed Catherine's favored civic to Serfdom

RESOURCES:
Railroads now improve wineries and plantations, providing them +1 commerce
Oil Wells provide +4 production and +2 commerce
Oil Wells receive +2 commerce with the Plastics technology
Oil Rigs provide +4 production and +4 commerce
Wheat receives +1 food
Uranium receives +1 commerce
Added Cotton and Tea as new epic-game resources, require plantations--see Civilopedia for details

BUILDING CHANGES:
Research Institute receives +1 free scientist and +1 free spy
Trading Post receives +1 commerce
Pavilion receives +1 happiness from Silk
Rathaus receives -70% city maintenance, not -75% (may nerf further based on new trait system)
Cothon costs the same as Harbor
Ikhanda receives -25% war weariness instead of reduced maintenance
Colosseum renamed "Amplitheatre"
Markets provide +1 happiness with Cotton
Grocers provide +1 health with Tea

UNIT CHANGES:
Roman Praetorian renamed "Legion"
Persian Immortal renamed "Asabari"
American Navy SEAL renamed "US Marine Corps"
Macemen renamed "Men-At-Arms"
Airship range reduced from 8 to 6
Modern Armor and Mechanized Infantry get 3 movement points
Legion completely changed: receives +1 strength, +10% attack and defense in cities, can build roads and forts half as fast as Workers
Panzers receive free March promotion
Oromo Warriors no longer receive an additional first strike, just the Drill I and II promotions
Keshiks now replace knights, receive a first strike, ignores terrain movement costs, receives terrain defense bonuses, no iron resource required
Cataphract now replaces horse archers, receives +2 strength, not immune to first strikes, requires copper or iron in addition to horses
Dutch East Indiamen may not explore rival's territory like Caravels

MISCELLANEOUS:
Great Generals may start Golden Ages
Great Generals, when attached to units, provide 25 XP instead of 20 XP
Free Religion receives +15% science, not +10%
Added 6 new names for Great People, mostly scientists
Impeachment event corrected; no longer gives 6 unhappiness

NEW EVENTS:
There are 11 brand new events added to this mod. Teasers are given below to give you an idea of what has been added:
(ones that do not currently work are marked with a -; jkp1187's events are marked with a ^)

1. Famous Doctor (50/100): a world-reknown doctor is retiring in a randomly selected city, and he is donating his money to further his fellow citizens' health
2. Hardy Crops (80/45): biologists develop a particularly resilient crop of some food resource, ideally suited for a plot of land, that increases food output
3. Prime Timber (75/90): trees in a local region grow particularly tall and strong, and thus provide extra production
4. Magna Carta (60/300): local nobles have grown restless with the monarchy, and have presented a bill of rights; the monarch has the choice to sign or not to sign
5. -Levittown (80/100): innovative homebuilders construct masses of cheap suburban housing, upgrading a cottage or hamlet into a village instantly
6. ^Fiat Money (50/250): if your nation is poor, your bank can start printing money...the upside is you have extra gold to spend, but the downside is the inflation
7. ^More Fiat Money (100/300): if you've already printed some cash but ran out, what's a little more? don't listen to those whiny economists!
8. ^Cure for Cancer (90/200): if you aren't running an oppressive religious regime, have built a lab and the Red Cross, and know of Genetics...curing cancer might be within your reach
9. -Bhopal (50/150): sometimes Industrial Parks cause industrial accidents, but building a new government agency may help the safety of the surrounding residents
10. Resort Town (80/75): one of your towns can become a tourist trap, bringing in extra commerce
11. Local Mills (80/75): locals outside on of your cities construct small mills, increasing production


Get the most recent version here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=7916.

A note on installation: since many *.zip file extractors will create a folder of the same name as the compressed file, I simply placed all the files into the compressed folder without making an additional file inbetween. Just extract the files inside your MODS folder, and there shouldn't be a problem. Also, make sure to overwrite any previous versions with the new files in the download.


This post will be edited with more information as time progresses and new versions become available. Of course, I welcome feedback on the mod and further suggestions, although I may not incorporate all of them.

Reserved for Future Use

:thumbsup: Sounds interesting, will check it out! (One historical note though if I may: although I welcome the Keshik upgrade - the Mongol horde was famed for defeating knights armies - Mongolia also had iron mines, long before Ghenghis Khan appeared; they were an important feature of their arms production.);)

Does Legion building AI really work?

I'm so tired of gigantics mods unplayable by 50/100 ;)

Here, i will understand all instantanetly....

What about a specific world map for your mod ?

Could you make Earth Map with all the civs of your mod on standard map ?
With accurately placed ressources ? Because balancing is ridiculous, History has never been balanced :goodjob:

Because i'm so tired of these big maps which gives maf because too bigs !!!

Keep working man !

hi!

this mod and its philosophy sound very promising indeed!

are you familiar with "new balance" http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=179346?
it followed a similar principle, but unfortunately seems to be abandoned.

anyway, it's author had a nice (imho) idea that you might like to consider: jungles can only be removed
with the biology tech, which makes the later stages of the game more interesting.

so, off to try your mod!

Sounds interesting; I always love minimalistic modding. Some of these changes don't make any sense, though, and you could have gone further on a lot of things.

1. Germany -> Prussia? Prussia was an independent country for a very short period of time. German civilization dates over milennia.
2. Why didn't you rework the leader traits? Most are unbalanced against each other, and some make little sense. I'll send you my traits XML for some good ideas. The building speed changes are great, though.

I like the idea of changing HRE to Austria, though, and the Great Doctor idea sounds great.

The correct name for the Persian Immortal is "Zhayedan", not asabari which means "stick bearer" :)

Does Legion building AI really work?

I haven't tested the AI Rome yet, so I'm not sure. My guess is no...right now, only the human will realize there is a button that lets you build roads and stuff. I can confirm that if you have a stack of legions, though, you can build roads and forts.

I think if I add a UNIT_AI tag with the worker AI under the attack AI, the AI will generally use the unit for offense and use it as a worker for a "secondary" priority. However, I don't want the AI, thinking its a worker, to have them hide in cities and not attack. That's something I still have to figure out.


I'm so tired of gigantics mods unplayable by 50/100 ;)

Here, i will understand all instantanetly....

What about a specific world map for your mod ?

Could you make Earth Map with all the civs of your mod on standard map ?
With accurately placed ressources ? Because balancing is ridiculous, History has never been balanced :goodjob:

Because i'm so tired of these big maps which gives maf because too bigs !!!

Keep working man !

At the moment, I don't have an Earth map or any specific scenario that works with the new game features. All I've done is what is in the readme, and I'm starting to work on new events now and learning python as the next "phase" of the mod. We'll see where it goes from there.


hi!

this mod and its philosophy sound very promising indeed!

are you familiar with "new balance" http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=179346?
it followed a similar principle, but unfortunately seems to be abandoned.

anyway, it's author had a nice (imho) idea that you might like to consider: jungles can only be removed
with the biology tech, which makes the later stages of the game more interesting.

so, off to try your mod!

I actually haven't played "New Balance", but I'll have a look at his readme file as well. On the jungles...I'm not sure. I hadn't considered making that change because on more than one occasion, I have been stuck in the jungle in the early game myself, and without the ability to clear it at Iron Working I would probably have quit those games. If I could mess around with the map scripts, though, that might not be as much of a problem.

The basic idea is to not screw any single player horribly...that's one of the reasons why I took the steps I did rebalancing the traits: you should just select traits to match your preference, whether you like to fight or like great people, etc., not have to pick a "weak" combo and then offset with a good UU/UB, or something like that. Adding a feature that might cripple any civilization that starts with a large amount of nearby jungle might compromise that basic tenet.

What can I say though...I'll fool around with it and playtest it. If it works, then I'll add it in.

There are some other ideas I've liked and not implemented, yet, though. Like that Arctic/Desert Combat promotion...may have to incorporate that in at some point. :)

Sounds interesting; I always love minimalistic modding. Some of these changes don't make any sense, though, and you could have gone further on a lot of things.

1. Germany -> Prussia? Prussia was an independent country for a very short period of time. German civilization dates over milennia.
2. Why didn't you rework the leader traits? Most are unbalanced against each other, and some make little sense. I'll send you my traits XML for some good ideas. The building speed changes are great, though.

I like the idea of changing HRE to Austria, though, and the Great Doctor idea sounds great.

I did rework the leader traits...there's a section dedicated above to that. Of course, I kept the main "Firaxian" idea for each trait the same, just so new players wouldn't be confused.

I named Germany "Prussia" because the modern concept of a German state has only existed since 1871. German Unification occured because of Prussia, and both leaders in the game are Prussians. That was my reasoning, at least.

It's also still a beta version...I'm just trying to get some feedback on the changes I've already made. There will be more to come in the upcoming weeks.


The correct name for the Persian Immortal is "Zhayedan", not asabari which means "stick bearer" :)

Really? I asked over in the history forum, and they gave me the name "asabari"...is the actual name of the Persian cavalry "Zhayedan"?

I haven't tested the AI Rome yet, so I'm not sure. My guess is no...right now, only the human will realize there is a button that lets you build roads and stuff. I can confirm that if you have a stack of legions, though, you can build roads and forts.
Giving a combat unit 'UNITAI_WORKER' works and breaks the AI at the same time :)

It'll work in the sense that they'll use their new ability, and they'll even continue to fight since they'll still have their propper UNITAI's. However, they'll be counted as workers when the AI decides what to build (or in this case if they need more workers) and the AI will treat them as workers more often than not.

To get combat units that build things to work properly you either have to force it, which you can do in python or the DLL, or you have to add a new UNITAI to the dll and code in the support for it. Adding a new UNITAI is probably the best method to get it to function right most of the time but it's a bit of work. You can cheat in python and do things like check the current plot for any legion stacks and if the plot looks like a good spot, build a fort. And, if a legion has a fort within range try to connect it to the nearest city. Doing that in python may slow the game down if there are a bunch of legions on the map, if so that should be easy code to drop in the DLL.

This is, unfortunately, one of those things the AI just wasn't intended to handle. It's very possible to get it to work but it'll take some effort :)

I did rework the leader traits...there's a section dedicated above to that. Of course, I kept the main "Firaxian" idea for each trait the same, just so new players wouldn't be confused.

Whoops, I see it now. Damn my reading comprehension at 12am :lol:

Cataphract now replaces horse archers, receives +2 strength, not immune to first strikes, requires copper or iron in addition to horses
Why on God's green Earth would you regress the Cataphract several hundred years?

Byzantine Cataphracts were medieval units that were contemporaries of Knights. In game-terms, basing them on the Str-6 Horse Archers is a simple travesty...

Cataphracts were the strongest units of their time... heck, Byantium didn't even really exist till the fall of the Roman Empire and thrived during the dark ages, so why one would make them the equivelant of Ancient cavalry, I can't fathom.

That's not making it more realistic, that's making it less-so.

@Seven05: That's sounding like a good plan, adding a new UNITAI_LEGION so the AI knows how to use it properly...and that's going completely over my skill set for modding Civ, at the moment. I'll put on the docket, though. :)

Why on God's green Earth would you regress the Cataphract several hundred years?

Byzantine Cataphracts were medieval units that were contemporaries of Knights. In game-terms, basing them on the Str-6 Horse Archers is a simple travesty...

Cataphracts were the strongest units of their time... heck, Byantium didn't even really exist till the fall of the Roman Empire and thrived during the dark ages, so why one would make them the equivelant of Ancient cavalry, I can't fathom.

That's not making it more realistic, that's making it less-so.

There are a handful of reasons why this move was made:


Eastern heavy cavalry, the cataphracts, were the predecessors of the medieval heavy cavalry we call knights. I interpret the knights as being the 12th century onwards heavy European cavalry, and the cataphracts as the 6th century to 11th century or so Byzantine heavy cavalry (although technically the Byzantines referred to cavalry units as cataphracts until their fall in 1453 CE).
The Byzantines did not invent the cataphract (or heavy cavalry); it was used by Eastern peoples (Persians, Parthians, adopted by Greeks such as the Seleucids) since BCE times, and thus is considerably older than the European knights.
The Byzantines had their heydey before the advent of European knights, and thus the unit should precede the Guilds tech. The game doesn't offer many options here...an additional ancient heavy cavalry unit between horse archers and knights would be nice but unfortunately is lacking.
The Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos remodeled his heavy cavalry based on European knights in the 12th century; which implies his cataphract units were inferior to the new European heavy cavalry units. By moving the cataphract to a horse archer UU, this is represented, somewhat, in the game.
In terms of gameplay, it preserves the "horse archer UU rush" tactic for players by balancing out the Keshik; since the Keshik is moved forwards to their historical era, the Cataphract was moved back to balance.


I see the cataphract as more of a Dark Age unit than a Medieval Age unit with regards to Western history, if that makes any sense. Unfortunately, there is not a "Dark Age" inbetween the Classical and Medieval Eras, so we have to make due. In any case, that's the reasoning I used for determining the cataphract's place in the tech tree.

Good one - which I didn't address previously - changing the Pretorian back to the Legion. But why would they build roads; building roads - or authorizing this - was the Senate's privilege as far as the republican era goes. Forts (or nightcamps) were built by practically every legion or army on the move.

The roads and forts idea is a throwback from Civ3...if I'm not mistaken, I remember legions being able to construct roads and forts in that version of the game, or there was a mod I used that allowed the same benefit. It struck me as nifty and different, so I incorporated it into this mod as well. If it's too anachronistic (or doesn't make sense at all, like that Persian cavalry), then I'll take it back out.

Right now, I'm looking for some feedback from other players. I've fooled around with this sucker for months on and off now, and I'm not sure if I've broken something or not.

Keep it in! I love it! (I only object to the roadbuilding; building forts is perfect for Legions; do'nt know about the Persian cavalry...)

Keep it in! I love it! (I only object to the roadbuilding; building forts is perfect for Legions; do'nt know about the Persian cavalry...)

I was thinking of leaving both in, but if the roads don't fit, then I'll take that part out. I was concerned, though, that only having a fort-building ability would not be enough. I figured roads and forts would seem like more of a compensation to the "nerf" the Praetorians received (at least from the typical Civ4 player's perspective--I feel the Legion is more than good enough for a UU as is).

The only thing I have changed for the Persian UU is its name: the Immortals were not a cavalry unit, and instead of creating a new UU, I'm just using the same UU, but giving it a more accurate name. I asked over in the world history forum, and they told me something different from what I have here...so I'm confused, to say the least. That's on the docket to fix for the next phase. :)

Good job Antilogic, been looking forward to this :thumbsup:

Though, initial thoughts...

Fin, 2x production speed of Custom Houses. I seriously don't think that's balanced.

Nice with the Imp Idea ;) Monuments, that is.

Aww, you nerfed Ikhanda :sad: :p

Agg, 2x on Stables? Genghis, imbaness, anyone?

Good with the 25 xp gg :)

Good with the Austria rename :) I'll have to adapt to Prussia, but I'll get over it probably.

Exp/Org harbor/aqueduct fix... Can you change the Expansive Aqueduct to Lighthouse then? Or will it be too overpowered with the Granary coalition?

Oh, and if it's possible, I'll misuse your MOD and add 2-3 Civs and 6 LHs in a couple of months, creating an XPack.

When the next update will be realized ? A good work, playing with Byzantines is very nice...

I was thinking of leaving both in, but if the roads don't fit, then I'll take that part out. I was concerned, though, that only having a fort-building ability would not be enough. I figured roads and forts would seem like more of a compensation to the "nerf" the Praetorians received (at least from the typical Civ4 player's perspective--I feel the Legion is more than good enough for a UU as is).

The only thing I have changed for the Persian UU is its name: the Immortals were not a cavalry unit, and instead of creating a new UU, I'm just using the same UU, but giving it a more accurate name. I asked over in the world history forum, and they told me something different from what I have here...so I'm confused, to say the least. That's on the docket to fix for the next phase. :)

Early to mid-Republic legions wouldn't have built roads, they were made up of propetied citizens who took their slaves with them on campaign and provided their own gear. In the Late Republic Gaius Marius began recruiting legions from the head count (or proletariat) and since they were equipped by and paid for by the Roman state he and later generals used them to build roads or for other public works when not fighting.

@lord_joakim:
There is a method to the madness that I hath wrought on the leader traits, if I may be allowed to defend myself.

On the Financial trait...I felt that adding double production on Customs Houses wasn't too unbalancing, because the building is somewhat situational: certain map types negate it completely (such as pangaea), and it is a relatively late arrival in the game...plus not every city will be able to build one (in-land cities). I know the counter to this is "what if I only play archipelago?" About the only response I can muster is an uneasy shrug. But that's part of the reason why I'm posting it here--play a game with the altered traits, and let me know how it works out.

On the Ikhanda, I noticed no UBs affect war weariness, but there are already a couple that affect city maintenance. I wanted to give a UB the war weariness reduction benefit, but I couldn't think of an existing "redundant" UB to change that would seem to fit (i. e. one UB that just granted extra happiness or health...I think that is a little overused). So, I changed the Zulu UB to reduced war weariness, and I'm going to change another UB to reduced maintenance. The net effect is reducing the number of UBs that grant +2 happiness/+2 health by one and adding in a UB that reduces war weariness. Also, I think the AI Zulu, who don't seem to sign peace and will fight to -15 war weariness (I've seen that in a couple of my games) would argue this is an improvement.

I intentionally beefed up the Mongolians in this version: the double production on Stables, intentional. The super-Keshik that replaces knights? Intentional as well. The goal of this modification was to enable the Mongolians to act kind of like the Romans, but in the medieval era: conquer as much as they please, but with fearsome cavalry instead of legions. If its too hot...then I might tone down the Keshik a little.

I was considering giving Expansive double production on lighthouses instead of aqueducts, but chose aqueducts because I though it fit the "health" theme of the trait better. However, that's subject to change, especially if many report its imbalancing or just think its incongruous. I'm not attached to the idea of Expansive giving double production on aqueducts over lighthouses in any way.

I don't mind anyone using the modifications I have made, so long as you give me credit where credit is due. I was planning, after AMM is completed, to create an Expanded Mod that included a new Civics idea I had, so I too will be "misusing" this mod as a base for a new one eventually. ;)


@Lachlan:

I'm working on the events now, but I have run into a bug where an event (Levittown) will not activate at all, despite the fact I have it active in 100% of the games and weighted at 9,000,000 with all the preconditions met for the trigger...

To give you an idea of what I have done so far, here's a teaser of some of the already-coded events:


Famous Doctor (50/100): a world-reknown doctor is retiring in a randomly selected city, and he is donating his money to further his fellow citizens' health (this one gives you a research hospital annex or gives you a free hospital in a city)
Hardy Crops (80/45): biologists develop a particularly resilient crop of some food resource, ideally suited for a particular region, that increases food output
Prime Timber (75/90): trees in a local region grow particularly tall and strong, and thus provide extra production
Magna Carta (60/300): local nobles have grown restless with the monarchy, and have presented a bill of rights; the monarch has the choice to sign or not to sign
Levittown (80/100): innovative homebuilders construct masses of cheap suburban housing, upgrading a cottage or hamlet into a village instantly


Some of my other, uncoded, ideas at the moment involve a town on the map becoming a famous tourist resort, an event loosely based on Voltaire's poems during the Seven Years War, a World Expo, Joint Stock Companies, and more. I also want to incorporate a few other events from other peoples' mods that I have seen on this forum, and I'm awaiting responses from them. I figure it will take me a few more days to program these all in and get them working, so I might be able to release a new version of the mod at the beginning of next week.


@AmazonQueen:
I remembered reading something like that before, but didn't have a time period for reference. For the sake of representing both Republican and post-Marian Roman legions, I'll leave the road-building feature in.

Not to nitpick, but I thought the head count was called the capite censi, at least according to Anthony Everitt. The proletariat was a Marxist term.

@lord_joakim:

Not to nitpick, but I thought the head count was called the capite censi, at least according to Anthony Everitt. The proletariat was a Marxist term.

Capite censei is the translation of head count, those too numerous to count.
However proletariat was also a Roman word, proles meant offspring, proletarians were those who had nothing to offer the state except their children.

However the main thing is that up to the 2nd Punic War Roman soldiers were recruited from propetied farmers mainly (except in dire emergencies like after the battle of Cannae), they didn't build roads, but from the Late Republic onwards they were recruited from the poorest of Roman society and were professional soldiers.

Hey, that was directed at you!

Perhaps it is just because I always see that term used in the context of the 19th century I assumed it belonged there. All right, on to bigger and better things...


EDIT: I feel like an idiot, because I can't seem to find the other World Expo event posted in the forums, and I only see it as added to various modpacks. I think I'll just stick with my idea for the event...which will have a similar name but probably a different effect.

I agree that there should be a 2x construction speed for a building with financial, but then I think you have to nerf the plot thing (1 more :commerce: for 3 on plot, instead of 2)

@lord_joakim: That's something I want to play around with...I've only gotten to play one round of this mod so far, and not as a financial Civ. The goal was to give Financial something with trade routes but not too strong, something not as broken as double production on banks, and overall, I think the Customs Houses work out as a nice middle ground. After I play a few more games we'll see if that opinion holds.


My update is going to have a few more events than I originally predicted (the goal is 12 that work, although two are still giving me problems). It will be delayed after the Christmas holiday because I am, for some inexplicable reason, expected to spend time with my family. :) All right, I'm being sarcastic, but still, I won't be able to get much modding done in the next couple days.

Sorry to everyone that was looking forward to the new events, but I can promise they will be out following the Christmas holiday.

Well, I'm still running into problems with two events, but it is because I think I am doing too much in the XML when I should be looking at Python for the events. I'm learning it, but it's taking me awhile.

I have, however, uploaded my current testbed with 11 new events, although only 9 are functioning properly. Bhopal will crash the game if triggered, and Levittown does not upgrade a cottage or hamlet, but rather destroys it entirely. So, instead of frustrating anyone, I simply have the active and weight ratios for both set to zero.

Also, I fixed a bug in this mod of the Impeachment event, which (inadvertently) caused 6 unhappiness for one of the effects. This wasn't present in Solver's original events, so I removed it.

So, Happy New Years! And I'll be back soon with more new events. ;)

What version of Civ4 is this for?

BtS, 3.13 patch

What version of Civ4 is this for?

I've designed it using BtS v3.13, as well as the unofficial patch online. I don't think the unofficial patch is required though, it just fixes a few minor annoyances.

Sorry...I had a previous version I was working on with the Warlords expansion, but I scrapped it and switched over to BtS once it was released. Plus, the extra events have provided what I consider the second bulwark of the minimal mod, since new events don't add much complexity (you just pick whatever option you want) but it adds a lot of flavor (because with more events, you won't get the same set every game).

Bhopal will crash the game if triggered, and Levittown does not upgrade a cottage or hamlet, but rather destroys it entirely. So, instead of frustrating anyone, I simply have the active and weight ratios for both set to zero.

What does this mean? The events are there, but they don't do anything?

:newyear:

This seems like a great mod. You made a lot of good changes. I like the changing of preferred civics. However, as an ex Navy officer, I have some problems with changing the name of the SEALs to the Marine Corps. I love the Marines, we need those meat shields, but they are not the SEALs.

What does this mean? The events are there, but they don't do anything?

:newyear:

Umm...that means that although I am advertising 11 events, I think, only 9 work at the moment until I fix two annoying bugs. Those events, however, are "turned off", so they won't arbitrarily crash your game or destroy your cottages. They just won't trigger. However, the other 9 events work just fine, and they will trigger and perform as expected. I particularly like Magna Carta, but the prerequisites are kind of specific: you need to be running Hereditary Rule and Vassalage when you discover Constitution to be eligible for the event. And, once I fix these small bugs, there will be even more fun to go around.

I have incorporated more of jkp1187's events in since my update, and am working on those bugs as well as some events that are dependent on the number of specialists you are running in a city: so running a city with at least three merchants will make you eligible for a different random event thanrunning a city with some spies. I also have an event in the works that may occur if you have a citizen (unassigned specialist).



This seems like a great mod. You made a lot of good changes. I like the changing of preferred civics. However, as an ex Navy officer, I have some problems with changing the name of the SEALs to the Marine Corps. I love the Marines, we need those meat shields, but they are not the SEALs.

I know the unit doesn't look right, but Navy SEALs just are not frontline combat units like the game makes them out to be (I don't believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, there has ever been an operation where thousands of SEALs storm some beach and take a city over, or something like that). Navy SEALs, as special forces, operate more like spies than the marine unit that replaces it, so I changed the name to represent an actual combat unit. At least, that is my rationale at the moment.

In the future, I am considering a Minuteman UU for America, basically a cheaper grenadier with a first strike or withdrawal chance or something else small. However, that's on the backburner for the moment, due to my fascination with the random events system.



Of course, if anyone has playtested the mod, let me know what you think is too much, or what is completely imbalanced, or what you think of some of the new events. I'm planning about two dozen events, all working, for my next release, which means I need to figure out Bhopal and Levittown.

I think the ikhanda idea is great, fits in more with the war monger he is. Probably my favorite thing besides hooking up the keshik, I'm looking forward to the completed version!

I'm running into three vexing problems with some events, and it seems that every day, I just get another new event idea and those three are still not working. I have a list of about a dozen to two dozen ideas in addition to the ones that I have already put into the mod (I think the number is 23, between mine and the ones from jkp1187's mod).

My goal is to create a slew of new random events, and then turn down the "active" weights a little for all of them. That way, each and every game, you will have a different set of events, even more so than you do now. Also, with some events having a high % active in games but a low weight will give an event that is possible in every game, but will only happen rarely: if I have about a dozen or so of these, then there is always the chance you will see a couple of them throughout the game, but you likely will not see them all.

I apologize for not posting any updates recently, but I have had the flu, and have not been able to focus on this mod. Once I have real life back in order, I'll get back to fixing some of the new events. However, in the meantime, I'll have to put further changes on hold.

Sorry guys, but illness really throws a kink into your plans.

I like this idea a of a "small" mod. I'm thinking of trying to make my own Civ 4 mod sometime; I enjoyed tinkering with the Civ 3 editor, but the complexity of Civ 4 has daunted me. Your "mini mod" approach certainly seems a smarter tact to learning to mod this game for me as opposed to taking on the whole beast at once :crazyeye:

I like most of your changes, they appear well thought out.

I have an idea about the AI and getting your legions to behave as AI workers in addition to combat units. How about an instruction that acts as a switch: when at war the AI-Legions only behave as combat units; when at peace the AI-Legions can accept AI-worker commands like workers. Maybe this either/or treatment works around the risk of the AI doing weird things with a unit that can fight and build roads and forts. Wouldn't that fit in with Roman Legion peacetime activities? It doesn't allow an AI controlled Legion to build a road or fort for Rome during wartime, but that is a reasonable limitation I think; I like the idea of a diplomatic condition to the AI's processing of the Legion unit's priorities - afterall their primary role is conquest when the opportunity presents itself! :D

PS: get well sir! :)

Honestly, that sounds like a pretty good idea, although the XML, to my knowledge, does not allow for such specific coding. All I know how to do right now is set the basic AI_ACTIVITY style, where the AI will select this behavior and use it irrelevant of diplomatic situation.

That sounds like it would require some Python...and as events programming is showing me, I really don't have great Python skills. I have been trying to code some events based on the types of specialists you have in the city, so running a few merchants will make you eligible for a different event than running a few engineers. I also came up with an event that, believe it or not, gives you a benefit if you have an ordinary, "worthless" citizen. However, I can't get any of the suckers to trigger right, and I'm stumped right now.

When I have the time (I have to catch up on a lot of work right now), I am going to look through Python tutorials and try and see if I'm just making an obvious, stupid error.


But I will say, just playing the game and thinking about game balance gave me several ideas, and I've been tossing them around or testing them since Vanilla and Warlords. The XML was the easiest to learn, and after only a day or two of tinkering, I was able to figure out how most of it worked. I figure that if I dedicate a little more time to learning the Python, I'll be able to create the events that I have on paper right now...about 9 of them, I figure, require at least some Python coding.

Just got an idea for an implement... Those normal citizen specialists that produces 1 hammer and that noone ever uses...

Can't you make them produce 1 GP point aswell?

It would somehow make sense, and make them useable.

For the citizen specialist, I have a couple events that require you to run a citizen "specialist" for them to trigger. Right now, they don't work, because I don't have enough experience with Python.

Basically, they look just as useless, but they might end up giving you something for free. Kind of like the industrious villagers building a pasture, but inside your city building infrastructure. It's a cool event.


As an aside, does anybody like my adjustment of castles? No trade routes, but they obsolete at Rifling like Walls (I was also thinking of Steel or Military Science as alternatives). It gives them slightly longer life, and it makes the Spanish UB a little more useful. Just a thought.