Official Version updated to 0.9.6b 13 Aug 2009

Changelog:
General 0.9.6:

Updated RevDCM core to 2.51

Fixes many minor bugs such as broken events and Text issues
Fixes ranged bombardment for naval units

Released LoR and LoR light versions. LoR light has had all non essential parts removed, such as ethnic unit art, shrine movies, and scenarios. This is to acomodate those with low end computers and to reduce the download size for those needing it. LoR and LoR light are save game compatible, so you may swap saves for succession games or change versions with no issue.
Rebuilt ArtDefines XML files from scratch
Switched out less known or "deserving" leaders like Lech Walesa (who the hell is that guy?) with Ataturk, Xerxes, and El Cid
Exposed Civic Revolution Effects when revolutions are active
Cloned Civic Revolution XML tags into TraitInfos, added some RevTrait functionality, exposed to player when revolutions are active in the game
Added Maximum Start Era to UnitInfos, Legends now have a maximum Start Era like Wonders
Added Emancipation Requirement to 54th Infantry
Minor Tweaks to Units, Crossbow now 60 hammers, and no longer targets mounted last, nerfed Hungarian Cannon, Mohawk Sentry given +100% defense against warriors
Tweak to Serfdom, Farms +1 Commerce, -2 Health, Hight Upkeep, +100% Revolution Distance Penalty, still produces units with food
Added back default techs in BtS to Barbarians. This makes all barbarian effects much harder.
Fixed all scenarios, and added a scenario. Only scenarios that are compatible with LoR will now be possible to load
Nerfed Enlightened to +5% research
Improved intro screen for better aesthetics across resolution settings



0.9.6 is not previous version save game compatible. Obviously, look at the list of changes. However for those using the 0.9.6 earlier test builds, the current version 0.9.6b is save game compatible with 0.9.6 and 0.9.6a.

anybody else got a corrputed/ incomplete file? firefox dl seemed complete and the file size apparently checks out correctly. it may be a glitch on my side, I try again. if just the site wouldn't reject my download manager.

edit: nevermind. must have been on my side. 2nd dl works fine.

I was wondering what inspired you to nerf enlightened a little further to a 5% science bonus? Were there complaints about it being too powerful or did you notice something yourself? Not too long ago, someone even posted that nerfing it from 15% to 10% wasn't needed so opinions seem to vary (which is very logical in such a complicated game as civ).

In my opinion, a +5% bonus will be barely noticeable. I'm in favour of trait bonuses which are really noticeable, so I prefer traits with a few strong bonuses over traits with lots of tiny bonuses. I think it leads to more varied gameplay, a more noticeable difference between civs.

Oh... ouch... 5%? I guess we'll have to see how that works out... but I am not sure 5% is even all that worth it. I mean, 10% is basically just like having a Monastery in all of your cities, right? That's not too big of a deal. I'm just glad I decided to switch away from Meiji after it dropped down to 10% (plus the Shale Plant seems meh to me). Mehmed II is where it's at!

Also, just a brief mention on your release notes: You said "replaced leaders like Lech Walesa for more deserving leaders like Ataturk, El Cid, and Xerxes". Just a note, Ataturk was already in there, so I think you meant Abu Bakr? Who, by the way, I always laugh at me when he tries to adjust his imaginary tie (since he uses Lincoln's animations).

I look forward to playing 0.9.6b!

Darn straight science boosting traits always seem to be problems. May be its time to revisit my "+5%:science: early, +10% middle, +15% late:science:(maybe even +20%)" idea.:groucho: I only see a problem with it in the ancient/classical period, where most things are decided.

People kept complaining about the +10% research bonus, and also no one focuses on the Culture and Revolution religious abilities of the trait. So I nerfed it, I still think it's a strong trait. It can go back to +10%, but this was basically a user demanded nerf. No one sure as hell defended Enlightened's +10% research bonus when it was complained about, in fact everyone kept reiterating how powerful it was, hence the nerf.

People kept complaining about the +10% research bonus, and also no one focuses on the Culture and Revolution religious abilities of the trait. So I nerfed it, I still think it's a strong trait. It can go back to +10%, but this was basically a user demanded nerf. No one sure as hell defended Enlightened's +10% research bonus when it was complained about, in fact everyone kept reiterating how powerful it was, hence the nerf.

I missed that discussion. Where was that?

I missed that discussion. Where was that?

I think maybe this was part of it. Starting at second post.

Darn straight science boosting traits always seem to be problems. May be its time to revisit my "+5%:science: early, +10% middle, +15% late:science:(maybe even +20%)" idea.:groucho: I only see a problem with it in the ancient/classical period, where most things are decided.

I do like this idea, but I don't know how easy that would be able to code in.

I do like this idea, but I don't know how easy that would be able to code in.

Yeah, I would only endorse the idea if it doesnt take a month of programming to make it a reality.

Double post

I think maybe this was part of it. Starting at second post.

That was about strengthening enlightened back to +15% and I already referred to that discussion in my original post in this thread (although without an actual link).

5% isn't even worth listing on the tooltip.

Since I made the initial comment regarding the 15-10% change I should pipe up.

My first comment was not made based on any observance of problems with balance issues, just wondering about the logic since it highlighted a play method that I don't generally use (I consider specialists a nuisance :-P).

However in my current game I decided to try to play to the strength, by running mercantilism and representation (also had the statue of liberty). I am dominating this game (4-5 techs ahead of the competition, and I had many cities without libraries until the modern era).

It's too early to tell whether this is due to the political climate in the game (lots of wars between different camps limiting spread somewhat) or an actual balance issue. I'll play a few more and see how it factors in.

Let's just hope we didn't scare phungus off!

What version of BBAI is included in this? Checking on the history of my game there was no increase in $ output around the industrial era that normally happens. It may also be that tech diffusion wasn't working but it's hard to say since I wasn't down any techs.

The maya had their own continent, and although they were involved in war they didn't have anything happening on their continent. I would expect them to put up a bit of a fight, but when I won (domination) I was four techs from Future tech and no one else had researched fission yet.

I'll put some more time in, but something was really wrong with the difficulty of the game and I'm not sure whether it was a balance change, playstyle change of mine, or the map/political scene.

What version of BBAI is included in this? Checking on the history of my game there was no increase in $ output around the industrial era that normally happens.

What exactly do you mean by increase in $ that normally happens? Not sure what in the industrial age you could be talking about.

In my experience it seems that once you get to Printing Press, Free Markets, Universal Suffrage, and Free Speech the financial output really starts to take off.

Anyway, I'm mostly just throwing the comment out there for awareness; you can't make balance decisions on a single game. I'm out of town this week but expect to be playing again next week and see whether I run into the same issues.

OK, so with 0.9.6c Enlightened was put back to +10% :science: do to popular request

Nothing else has changed that I can think of in 0.9.6c from 0.9.6b, just art bug fixes, and art optimizations.

Thank you Phungus. :goodjob:

Strategy Informer is having problems, says file not found, and ModDB hasn't aproved the file yet. But 0.9.6c+ is uploaded now. This fixes a critical art bug in the LSystem files and updated Lean's pre placed earth map, that's it. No gameplay changes to note. I can't really updated the OP yet until the files are in place and aproved, but they are uploaded.

For those who have already downloaded 0.9.6c and want to update so they don't experience the critical art bug in 0.9.6c (it'll make it so you can't load a saved game in the late renesaince if there is a far east civ in the game), you can update far more quickly using a patch. The patch is about 1/2 a megabyte, whereas doing a full reinstall is 376MB. Here is a link to the patch:

Legends of Revolution 0.9.6c+ patch:

Filefront Download Mirror (http://www.filefront.com/14486827/Legends-of-Revolution-v0.9.6c-Patch.exe/)
Atomic Gamer Download Mirror (http://www.atomicgamer.com/file.php?id=80859)


Legends of Revolution 0.9.6c+ patch, Exp. Graphics Version

FileFront Download Mirror (http://www.filefront.com/14486831/Legends-of-Revolution-v0.9.6c-EG-Patch.exe/)
Atomic Gamer Download Mirror (http://www.atomicgamer.com/file.php?id=80860)



Use the Expanded Graphics patch, only if you have installed expanded graphics, otherwise it will cause crashes. If you download and install the regular full patch and installed expanded graphics, it wol't crash, but you'll loose alot of the expanded graphics from the add on, as the PlotLSystem wol't load much of the extra art. Also do not use these patches for the Light Version, LoR 0.9.6c (light) is fine, and doesn't need an update.

Also I'm pretty sure you could use the patch to update LoR 0.9.6b to 0.9.6c+

[:sad:]Another day, another critical bug found, but at least this one is now squashed.[/:sad:]

Here is the patch. Please ensure that you install the correct patch; basically only install the Exp Graphics version if you selected the enhanced graphics optional add one when installing LoR 0.9.6c, installing the EG patch over a regular full install of LoR will break it. Also do not install one of these patches over LoR light, it'll break it, LoR light is fine, and doesn't need patching. Finally the current full version of LoR available for download has been updated to 0.9.6c*, so you don't need to patch that version, but 0.9.6c, and c+ both have critical bugs in them, so they need to be patched (or you can just redownload and reinstall the new full version).

LoR 0.9.6c* Patches

Normal full version:

LoR 0.9.6c* patch Filefront Download Mirror (http://www.filefront.com/14491165/Legends-of-Revolution-v0.9.6c_-Patch.exe/)
LoR 0.9.6c* patch Atomic Gamer Download Mirror (http://www.atomicgamer.com/file.php?id=80871)

Exp. Graphics, only use if you installed the Enhanced Graphics add on when installing 0.9.6c

LoR 0.9.6c* EG Patch Filefront Download Mirror (http://www.filefront.com/14491159/Legends-of-Revolution-v0.9.6c_-EG-Patch.exe/)
LoR 0.9.6c* EG Patch Atomic Gamer Download Mirror (http://www.atomicgamer.com/file.php?id=80870)

Is it possible to switch back to Blue Marble without borking the ethnic improvements and things like that? Also, is it possible to swap the DLL out for BULL and/or Better AI 0.80?

What do you mean? If you want Blue Marble, select the enhanced graphics option when installing. If you did that, then use the Exp Graphics patch when patching, if you choose to patch; of course you can always just reinstall.

As far as merging mods, LoR uses a custom dll, it's a modified RevDCM core, so you can't use the dll from BetterAI or BULL, no. The RevDCM core already includes BBAI and BUG, but they are earlier versions currently, the next update of RevDCM will be updated to the most recent versions, and LoR will update to them at that time.

What do you mean? If you want Blue Marble, select the enhanced graphics option when installing. If you did that, then use the Exp Graphics patch when patching, if you choose to patch; of course you can always just reinstall
The latest version of LoR installs Improved Graphics if you choose the expanded graphics option, not BM.

I believe LoR renamed "Blue Marble" to "Improved Graphics" for the sake of being obvious about what it does.

The latest version of LoR installs Improved Graphics if you choose the expanded graphics option, not BM.

Theyre pretty much the same thing, the expanded graphics includeds some BM stuff and some IG stuff (although it wound up being about 1/6 BM stuff and the rest IG stuff). Are you wanting to switch back to BM because you dont like the new textures?

I believe LoR renamed "Blue Marble" to "Improved Graphics" for the sake of being obvious about what it does.

No, Improved graphics is a modcomp by Chuggi that is similar to BM but includes more stuff and has more detail. Some people dont like it because it is darker and less saturated than BM's textures. Im still trying to find a happy medium between the two. I have just seen a new set of graphics textures from Total Realism and will be experimenting with those as well.

IG's grassland and plains textures are what happens when someone discovers meth and Photoshop noise filters on the same day. If you're mixing textures, switching to BM for those would be a huge improvement. I don't mind the other parts of IG so much, and the trees are actually kinda nice.

IG's grassland and plains textures are what happens when someone discovers meth and Photoshop noise filters on the same day. If you're mixing textures, switching to BM for those would be a huge improvement. I don't mind the other parts of IG so much, and the trees are actually kinda nice.

The grassland is actually one of the ones that I kept from BM and the plains is from IG. Some of this stuff is just a matter of opinion, so its going to be hard to please everyone. Ive found some new textures from Total Realism that I will be incorporating (they look better than either BM or IG but need to be desaturated), so there will be even more changes.

What I think I will eventuall do is make several FPKs available as a seperate DL. One that is all BM, one that is all IG, and then maybe one that is TR. If anyone doesnt like the set up that will be in the main LoR expanded graphics, then they will be able to just overwrite that FPK with a new on.

The grassland in the latest download is definitely from IG. Just sayin'. Separate FPKs would be great!

The grassland in the latest download is definitely from IG. Just sayin'. Separate FPKs would be great!

Can you post a pic? Because in my version its showing BM grassland.

Can you post a pic? Because in my version its showing BM grassland.

This is with the full 0.9.6c download and expanded graphics selected.

This is with the full 0.9.6c download and expanded graphics selected.

That is grassland is actually half and half. You must be playing with High detail terrain on. Because what you are seeing is BM grassland blend and IG's grassland detail. When playing without that option on on normal settings, you will just see BM's grassland texture; ie: the color of the grassland which does have some of its own detail (this is what I have been refering to as the grassland texture because everyone atleast sees this regardless of whatsetting they use). With high detail terrain you will see the detail texture from IG, or the grassy noise, through the BM texture. Several other mods that make thier own custom graphics use IG's detail textures and then overlay thier own surface texture. I myself can not get the detail texture to show up in-game no matter what i do. Maybe I am missing something.

The expanded graphics is far from a finished product. There is a lot of experimentation.In a few days I will make one that has Total Realism's terrain. I will upload that so people can test drive that as well. And as I said before there will be seperate ones for BM. But LoR will include by default a mixture of whatever I think looks more realistic.

In the meantime I copied in some textures from BM, if only because the ones from IG were causing eyestrain. I edited the BM detail textures for grassland and plains so they don't seem bland next to the rest of the IG stuff. I'm also using the river and road textures I made for myself a while ago. Screenshots and zip below.

In the meantime I copied in some textures from BM, if only because the ones from IG were causing eyestrain. I edited the BM detail textures for grassland and plains so they don't seem bland next to the rest of the IG stuff. I'm also using the river and road textures I made for myself a while ago. Screenshots and zip below.

I have a BM only expanded graphics pack ready and will UL later to day. Ive also made some of my own textures out of BM's to be brighter. Yet when I put them in game I get these intermittant lines where the grid lines would be. What settings do you use to save your textures? Ive been using DXT3, w/ mipmaps. As far as I can tell that is what firaxis and BM use. Are there other settings that you used?

I save to tga (uncompressed!) and convert to dds with the command-line tools from Nvidia. I'd try that if you're using something else. The blend and grid textures should be DXT3 and the detail textures should be DXT1, everything should have 10 or so mipmaps.

I hope you'll try the rivers and roads in that zip file. It's hard to see the difference in the screenshots, but they're a huge improvement and nobody's modded them yet that I know of. The rivers have a really minor tiling problem that I never got around to fixing, but I can finish them if you want to use them.

I save to tga (uncompressed!) and convert to dds with the command-line tools from Nvidia. I'd try that if you're using something else. The blend and grid textures should be DXT3 and the detail textures should be DXT1, everything should have 10 or so mipmaps.

Thats the compression that Ive been using with GIMP. Yet I still get these wierd lines inbetween the plots. Its pretty much how all textures are saved in Civ. It would have to be a problem with GIMP's options then.

Well, I figured out the balance issue I had. At some point I dropped from Emperor to Monarch to get used to Revolutions, and ... then I figured it out.

However the problem that I have now is that revolutions expands the gap between Monarch and Emperor - the problem is early expansion, and revolutions adds another penalty to limit early expansion. I find that Monarch is essentially a cake-walk, and Emperor is quite difficult.

I think one big issue is that early in the game you can either focus on hammers or gold, but not both. If my only concern is running a deficit, I can (somewhat) balance the two by adjusting tile focus. I haven't looked into how the bankruptcy code checks work, but if it's possible to offset some values by production (primarily to impact the first era or two) I think that might be nice.

To be honest I really don't know what the good or correct fix is, but right now I'm stuck halfway between Monarch and Emperor. I'd post this in the revolutions main forum, but I know you made changes to how bankruptcy is calculated and I'm not sure where the best fix is.