[MOD] Planet Roanoke, a/k/a all SMAC'ed up

Padmewan

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"Yes'm, we came out of hibe 30 clicks early, we did, and that's what did us in." The man looks old enough to have seen Planetfall. A twitch periodically ripples from his left eye down to his hand, a marker of the psychic toll Roanoke has taken on its trespassers. "Sumpin in breaking the ionic boundary shorted L-Support. Lost a whole bay of civilians. Let 'em spoil, too. Weren't 'recycling' then." He gestures meaningfully at his Orgsoup.

"Ship wasn't meant to support that many Breathers. Engineers pulled off some miracles recycling the oxy, but it wasn't enough. No way we were going to make it to New Eden." He looks out the glassteel at the twinkling stars. "Nope, it was Plan B for us, and our best hope was this chunk o' rock we're standing on now."

"She's no beauty, but when we saw her we thought we were lookin' at heaven. Or maybe it was the oxy-depro. By then the whole ship was so lightheaded we were barely flying straight. Maybe that explains the FUBAR podlaunch sequence. That, or a mutiny. Maybe a bit o' both."

"Some Old-World Fundies think it's destiny we ended up here. They say they heard the planet itself calling to us like a 'celestial siren' and all. We wanted to reach the New Eden, but you and I both know this ain't the Promised Land... we're the Lost Colony of Roanoke."

Early in the second millenium of the Common Era, mankind has begun colonizing nearby star systems. Like the first settlers of the First New World, these new colonists depart their homeland for a variety of reasons: the thrill of discovery, religious mission, entrepreneurial greed, or simple hope for a fresh start. But instellar travel is no safer than early colonial seafaring. So it was that the Mayflower II hit a series of disasters as it passes through a "slingshot" system, leaving it unable to reach its destination. With life-support stretched beyond capacity, the crew have no choice but to crash-land onto the nearest (barely) habitable planet.

The ship breaks up in orbit, and thousands perish. But a hardy few survive, only to face new challenges on a hostile new world...

MOD GOALS
This is a sci-fi mod about early human interstellar colonization, inspired by Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (SMAC). As a work of sci-fi, it sits, like SMAC, somewhere between hard science and sci-fantasy (e.g. Star Wars). Here are some of the goals I set for myself when I started this project:
  1. Tell an exciting story. Rather than copy the SMAC story wholesale, I'd like to capture its feel -- both a sense of discovery as well as an unfolding plotline that the player moves forward however she chooses. While movies and multimedia would be ideal, given likely limitations text storytelling is a desirable vehicle for me. I err on the side of "literate" and DO think text-based insterstials would not only be acceptable but desirable, though of course a movie would be better.
  2. Provide exciting choices. I would like for the "builder" option to be just as fun as the "conqueror" option. I would also like the game mechanics for non-violent conflict to be just as fun as violent conflict. For example, "economic competition" should be just as fun as battles -- perhaps by leveraging the battle model.
  3. Provide "moral" choices. I liked how SMAC delivered an ecological message without forcing you to accept it (victory was quite possible as an eco-abusive Morgan). I would like the player to confront these choices -- whether as a matter of selecting civics or terraforming the landscape. The Strip Mine improvement might, for example, provide an immediate boost to production but destroy the land's long-term value. As a consequence, users of the Strip Mine would be forced to constantly move like locusts to stay alive.
  4. Be easy to learn. Techs and units should be intuitive, and there shouldn't be layers and layers of concepts. Since the setting is sci-fi, the beginning should be more intuitive, and new complexity should be added in digestable chunks. All else equal, always choose the simpler option.
  5. Be immersive. As much as possible, I'd like the end product to be well-polished, with a consistent style and feel. (For example, try to avoid the "clip art" approach to unit graphics).
  6. Have fun -- of course! Honestly I'm having plenty of fun just creating this mod, but I hope the result will also be fun to play :).
 
Download version 0.15 (note: this version INCLUDES the texture and sound packs listed below - you do not need to download them separately)

Terrain Textures
Sound Pack

MAP INSTRUCTIONS: After unpacking this mod, you will see a file called "Roanoke.py". Put this file in your map directory (I use "/Civilization IV/PublicMaps/" in my main install directory but you may prefer the one in your "My Games" directory).

KNOWN BUGS
  • CTD when turning on tile grid
  • "Irrigation" (from the "Terran Air" feature created by Aerators) only works for Hothouses built AFTER the Aerator.
  • Some buttons still missing
  • Dierdre STILL starts with an extra Probe
UPDATES
- New civilisations (Diemos)
- New leader traits (Diemos)
- New faction leaders (1 per faction to allow for more players) (Diemos)
- New faction-based HQs (1 leader each for more players) (Diemos)
- set xp caps for barbarians and animals up to 15
- removed all entries for great persons and removed GP points from current wonders
- switched lattice roaming characteristics of the (2,2 and 3,1) animal pulses so only the stronger one can leave the lattice
- gave animal pulses -25% vs airborne units
- general code tidying
- Reduced base energy output of squares back by 1 to slow the quick fire techs at game start

Spoiler :

Version 0.149g
- Put in all files, made into executable (thanks Jenks!)
- pink blob hover bug for units with customised icons FIXED (spot by ErikG !)
- took the +50% city defense off the pulse dampener
- armored unit characteristics now all 'no defensive bonuses' and '20% withdrawal chance'
- upped fusion rover cost to 90 (from 70)
- reduced EMP infantry cost to 60 (from 80), changed bonus vs armored +50% (from +100%)
- Borg Tank now requires He-3 (as with other armored units: fusion rover & fusion tank) and lattice crystals (as with fusion tank)
- four ugly / faulty bits of coding found and fixed
- all difficulty levels are now the same (set to the noble setting) to ensure all playtesting is of the same level of game
- removed access to City Garrison promotion tree for psionic units
Version 0.149c,d,e,f
(Work by Jenks)
- gave probes the flat movement characteristic
- done some work trying to advance the lifeform spreading 'prophets'... unfinished, couldnt find the dendrite building to put as the prereq for cyneid prophet...
- made the cyneid and mutagen units/prophet require the cyneid religion as a prerequisite to building
- roaming psionic energy pulses AI changed to 'Attack' (hopefully more aggressive)
- adjusted pulse dampener to +100% vs other psionic units (now has a bonus against all pulses, including lattice-roaming pulses)
- redistributed the Borg / Cyneid / Mutagen specific units out of the species combat_classes
- added another species-type promotion, 'Native'
- removed the 'native' promotions tree, made all the native units 'psionic' unit combat types with the new native promotion
- introduced Airborne as a unit combat category (added probe / zeppelin)
- introduced Fibersea as a unit combat category (added Fibersea Explorer)
- added a 'Artillery' combat class, its empty at the moment but figured we will have some seige or artillery units at some point
- removed all redundant unit categories (gunpowder / archery / naval / mounted / helicopters etc.)
- tidied up the code spelling-wise so that it always reads CYNEID, I have been commenting on the species as Cyeneid elsewhere as i have been misspelling it!
- changed Vitologist stats again, taken away -ve culture to (4/-1/-2)
- fixed the Seige I, II, III promotions bug for Armored units (they wont accept collateral damage bonuses for some reason on this combat class. seige promotion concept changed to +10% bombardment and +1 first strike per level of I-III)
- fixed the Rover I, II, III promotions for Airborne units (similarly civ wont accept adding withdrawal rate on this combat class. level I now gives 1 first strike chance, II gives +1 visibility, III gives +1 movement) will look into these bugs more ...
- removed Great Person points from the Datalinks so there is (currently) no way to make great people
- removed redundant code for vanilla improvements and worker actions (lumbermill/fallout etc.)
- introduced two python files PyHelpers.py and CvAdvisorUtils.py to remove unwanted 'congratulations on building your first helicopter' popups etc.
- assigned some civ issue icons for the new combat classes
- various XML cosmetic changes (to do with gold - > energy etc.)
- tidying of the civilopedia comments to reflect the changes
(work by ErikG)
- Updated fonts and meshed them with XML files
- Changed screen yield overlay to new iconography
- Added hover image for NH3 resource
(work by Padmewan)
- Adjusted Pulse Dampener to iCombat = 1, +400% vs. Psi, +50% city defense
- Adjusted Pulse to iCombat = 4
- Restored Applied Physics as prereq for PD
- Adjusted Militia to +25% city defense
- Removed hill defense from Security
- Raised Zeppelin cost to 30
- Changed default AI for Salvage to Great Artist
- Restored Wild Energy AI to "Animal" (otherwise game doesn't seem to create them)
- Changed placement for Wreckage to exactly 2, 3 tiles away from starting location
Version 0.149b
  • Pulse Dampener CTD FIXED
  • Probe now moves 1, but can enter Lattice
  • Zepplin now moves 2. (Still can't pick stuff up, that takes some more XML work than I have time for right now).
  • I've tweaked the combat values of the Pulse and Pulse Dampener so many times that I have no idea what it used to be, but the values are now:
    Pulse = combat 3, + 50% vs. most units
    Pulse Dampener = combat 2, +100% vs. Pulse
Version 0.149a
  • Upped Vitologist to 4 food to account for 3-food population
  • Fixed Python code that left fake "Terraform" improvement in place after being built
  • Inserted warning about Pulses
  • Changed Pulse code to generate 1 pulse / unhealthy pop; ends at Era II (not a permanent fix)
Version 0.149
  • Implemented "Irrigation" system for bonuses and hothouses.
  • Implemented Chalid's tech slower
  • Reduced incidence of CO2 and NH3
  • Nerfed the Genomy civics, some units
  • Implemented Energy Pulses that manifest every 10 turns and attacks each city until the natives organize or player hits Era II
  • Implemented RogerBacon's Flying mod to enable Pulse to travel linearly without regard to terrain.
  • Gave all civs extra units for defense
  • Implemented ship Wreckage, Salvage, and some special Salvage Buildings
Version 0.1474
  • Fixed CTD caused by improper Security Battalion graphics
  • Removed Security Squad and replaced with Militia for starting units
  • Gave Security and Brig civs Security Battalion as starting units
  • Implemented Cyneid unit 2 ("catapult")
  • Implemented Bomber
Version 0.1473
  • Added initial units and buildings for Era II (much thanks to woodelf and 3D modelers)
  • Readjusted tech costs for Era I
  • Created Genomy (lifeform) civics
  • Added improved flags (thanks Senwiz)
  • Connected Genomy to "State Lifeforms" (much thanks to Kael)
  • Converted Propoganda Machine to Nt'l, not World Wonder
Version 0.1471
  • Extended tech tree to Era II (much thanks to woodelf), including:
  • - Adjusted bonus appearances by tech
  • - Adjusted obsolete techs for buildings
  • - Set techs for trading, etc.
  • Removed negative health from "terran air"
  • Switched life support and biosynthesizer
  • calibrated appareance of bonuses to analogouse bonuses in Civ4 (e.g. He3 = Horses, Crystal = Iron)
Version 0.147
  • Added "Terran Air" feature to correct for AI not building terraforms
  • Included Rabbit, White's Warhammer 40K Chimera unit for Combat Engineer
  • Separated sound files for smaller download
  • Changed in-game graphics for high wind bonus
  • Minor changes to tech buttons, text
  • Screwed up some faction flags
Version 0.146b
  • Corrected Solar Plant model bug that caused CTD
  • Added non-buildable, low-power military unit for starting if the faction doesn't start with probe
  • Rebalanced Hothouse and Terraform to attempt to get AI to build both
  • Created buttons for most facilities and units:
  • Small changes to Native (Barbarian) cities/units.
0.146
  • Moved text to text keys (painstaking work by woodelf)
  • Lots of small text changes
  • Changed Terraform to "trick" AI and also auto-build Hothouse upon completion.
  • Gave CO2 and NH3 a placement order of 0 (1-2 tiles away from starting locations).
  • Enabled Hothouse to discover Corn as well as Rice and Wheat. Eliminated any bonus food for these, but they do give health. Become available at Cyrobiotics (probably should be later)
  • Created Extractor improvement for Basalt
  • switched techs for Build Hothouse and Biosynthesizer
  • Gave HQ +1 psi and made the first 3x3 expansion @ 20 psi; otherwise the AI could be crippled.
  • Changed Resonator to require Lattice or Resonance Wash in anticipaton of river removal. (Of course, that would remove Resonance Wash!)
  • Added Solar Plant (+1 energy) at Adaptive Energy
0.145
  • Fixed city, jungle soundloops
  • Upped psi (culture) expansion to 0 / 50 / 200 / 2000 / 50000 at Gamespeed-Normal
  • Changed Probe to Dual's TIE Raptor
  • Added Thermal Vent bonus (smoke FX; +Food or +Energy depending on improvement)
  • Removed Warrior and Worker goodies and replaced with Agribot goody (build hothouse; consumed on build)
  • Moved Civic:Democracy to Ethical Calculus
  • Moved Civic:Free Society to the Future...
Version 0.143
  • Fixed mouseover CTD issue by setting coast food value = 1.
  • Removed water working ability altogether from Era I techs. (Will be addressed in Era II)
  • Renamed land types: Wasteland (0/0/0), Basalt (-1/2/0), Sand (0/1/0), Soil (1/0/0).
  • Excised XML Unit errors thanks to woodelf!
  • Moved Network Node building up to Knowledge Networks
Version 0.141
Big props to Krikkitone for contributing 95% of the ideas in this big revamp!
  • Upped land value to 1 food to prevent CTD bug described above
  • Temporarily removed terrain graphics to reduce download size and GPU strain.
  • Replaced many graphics with Rabbit, White's moon/future/sci-fi units and Dual's Master Blaster
  • Completely revamped tech tree.
  • Lattice (Jungles) now look more alien. Thanks Kael!
Version 0.12
  • Tweaked tile values (no "river" commerce, windmills only in high wind) to make Resonance more urgent for economy
  • Experimenting with ambient sounds (but removed gunship noise!)
  • Reskinned Pyramid, Pentagon shape resources. (Could not get Spiral and Circle to cooperate)
  • Tweaked Tech Tree to be somewhat more legible
  • Tweaked some text in text.xml
Version 0.11
  • Replaced giant pink ziggurats with pentagons
  • Removed unused diplomacy music files (saves 8.6 MB!)
  • Embedded Assets folder in containing Roanoke folder


TO-DO LIST

  • Continue balancing opening options (Bagheera has been doing much work here)
  • Mod SDK to allow for "missile" units
  • Mod SDK to remove earth features from map generation even if not using our "official" map
  • Get rid of pink unit icon / popups
  • Update list of credits and other info below!!!
 
The colonists start in the wreckage of the Mayflower II and whatever equipment they can salvage and reconstruct. The first few months are marked by hardship, as survivors cobble together life support systems, manufacture shops, and energy collectors. Each faction has its own path to survival: the BioDeck survivors can build a simple life support system; the Engineers can build a basic factory; while the Barracks can scour the surrounding terrain for wreckage resources.

Eventually, by building a psi clinic, surviving citizens are able to work the surrounding 3x3 tile around the crash site. They can finally begin building hothouse, mines, and other basic improvements to begin the long climb back to advanced civilization.

It is then that the colonists discover that the planet is not uninhabited, after all...

Spoiler :

Roanoke is, in fact, a node in some sort of galaxy- or even universe-spanning, interdimensional, alien system, perhaps used for some sort of unfathomable calculation. Whether it is abandoned, broken, or simply inactive for the time being is unknown. By retroengineering these features, humans begin unraveling secrets of the universe at a pace unmatched by their history on Earth.

Roanoke has self-defense mechanisms, to whit, "Barbarians." Like the mindworms of Chiron, these beings try to destroy human settlement, and can appear without warning. They utilize Psi-energy to attack, and thus take on forms feared by humans: wild animals and monsters. They have almost no physical presence, at least not in the dimensions that humans can sense.

Over time, however, some of the planet's defensive agents have gone "wild," and the arrival of humans and their free will causes them to break off from planetary control. These beings develop consciousness and self-awareness, and in time can become powerful allies of the humans and brokers between them and the Planet; trade with this faction is critical to the "Ascendance" victory condition. [This AI-only faction will only be possible through some heavy-duty programming, I think!]

Eventually the colonists re-contact Earth after figuring out a new communication medium that bypasses, or more accurately leverages, the planet's resonance. Earth is now rent by World War, and the nation contacted (which one is irrelevant) sees Roanoke as of great strategic value. Any faction that adopts the "Pureblood" lifeform can build a Wonder that establishes a "gate" between Roanoke and Earth, spawning Earth forces to fight on that faction's side. (However, adopting "Pureblood" brings significant disadvantages, so the gameplan needs to be conquest or failure!)
 

Survivors of the Mayflower II Science Deck establish their first base, but they lack the equipment (and discipline) to "leave the base." Instead, a robotic probe is exploring this alien landscape.

Planet Roanoke, unlike Chiron of SMAC, starts as a desolate wasteland. [I'm not a scientist, so some of this needs filling in.] The gravity is higher than Earth's, holding a dense but cold atmosphere (average temperature hovers at -80C) -- there are significant frozen CO2 and NH3 assets that the colonists can mine for early horticulture.

The most striking feature of Planet V is its expanses of "Fibersea" (visible at lower-right in image above), which are dense mats of sharp silicon tubes, ranging in size from razorwire to hundreds of meters thick. Related to this Fibersea are terrestrial "lattice" structures that cover a significant portion of the land.

The unusual and frustrating property of both the Fibersea and the Lattice is that they interfere significantly with normal electronics -- close proximity is almost certain to short most circuitry. It would be safe to assume that these structures have something to do with the crashing of the colony ship.

TERRAIN VALUES
Wasteland : 0 / 0 / 0
Basalt : -1* / 2 / 0
Sand : 0 / 1 / 0
Soil : 1 / 0 / 0 (terraforming only)
Terran Drylands : 1 / 1 / 0 (terraforming only)
Terran Grasslands : 2 / 0 / 0 (terraforming only)
Stripped : 0 / 0 / 0 (terraforming only)

* - Technically it's 0/2/0, but this does not allow good food improvements.


RESOURCES
Basic resources are the same in this mod as Civ4, but with some SMAC-flavored names:
* Nutrition
* Producton
* Energy

In addition, there are:
* Research
* Psi (culture)
* Stored energy

Roanoke is actively hostile to its settlers, and whether through the mysterious workings of fiber/lattice or by the colonists' own fears, civilians cannot work outside a certain Psi threshold. (At least, that's my story of cultural borders for now). In this mod, Psi functions as a resource that can be stored up, then spent down, unlike the Civ4 approach, in which culture is a one-way expansion.

FEATURES
Lattice - Very much like Xenofungus, and like Xenofungus, become more useful over time. Currently this can't be modeled in XML, but we can create improvements (the equivalent of lumberyards) to capture this idea if we like it.

IMPROVEMENTS
These are not completely helpless colonists, but rather come prepared with terraforming tools (though much was lost in the crash landing). At the outset, the most important improvements will be food-related. If the faction adopts a particular race (see "Religion" below), certain improvements should produce more or less food. [This is not possible through vanilla XML tweaking, but I have some workaround ideas]. Terraforming should be a major option.

Around Era II, players will be given a choice of what direction they seek to take their civ: the original plan, which is to terraform towards Earth-like conditions (or beyond) or switch to a new survival paradigm. For example, it will be possible to build a production-centered civ that builds capacity through production (buildings) rather than through growth (people).

  • Hothouse/Farm (depending on tile) -- +1 nutrition (+1 if Anthrocentric civic)
  • Mine -- +2 minerals
  • Wind turbine -- +2 energy
  • Resonance collector -- +1 minerals, +2 energy; "irrigates" Resonance energy (irrigation works on energy, not food, in this mod) [Note: this may need to be revisited, as irrigation is coded in C++ as food-related)
Specials
  • Terraform -- Each terraform causes the terrain to go "up" one level of nutrition and "down" one level of minerals. For example, Basalt becomes Sand, and then Soil; eventually it will be possible to create Terran environments -- or perhaps better.
  • Borehole -- -6 food, +6 minerals, +6 energy. Immediately terraforms the lands to "Stripped" (no values, no improvements, including Boreholes, to prevent exploit). They work like reverse cottages -- after several turns they drop in value, until they collapse.

BONUSES
I would like to keep bonus resources both simple and diverse, as they are in vanilla Civ4 (e.g. lots of resources, but mostly with the same game mechanic -- same effect, same discovery time, same exploiting tech/improvement). If we cut back on resources somewhat, we can make up for it by enabling the player to choose between how to use some bonuses. For example, geothermal vents could be used to heat up greenhouses, or to generate energy.

Bonuses will also work differently based on lifeform. The energy-based Cyneid, for example, get extra happiness from "Chaos" resources like High Winds. Production-phile Borgs enjoy mineral resources.

  • CO2, NH3 -- Nutrition / health
  • HE3 -- Strategic (fusion)
  • High winds, geothermal vents -- energy
  • Terran bonuses -- not found but "discovered" in hothouses after Genetic Engineering
  • Native life -- unknown
  • Strange shapes -- unknown
 
Each civilization, or "faction," represents a different segment of the mother ship before it had broken up - the Engineering Bay, the Biodeck, the Security barracks, etc. The leader of each is the ranking surviving officer. (It is believed that the Captain went down with her ship).

Currently I am using factions and leaderheads borrowed from SMAC, but I'm looking for alternatives! Also, "Biodeck" is not a good name for a civ, so any name that fits with the storyline would be welcome.

  • Biodeck (Naisiunta) ~ Diedre, Cha'Dawn
  • Engineering Bay ~ Domai
  • Science Deck (Tekhneans) ~ Zakharov, Roze
  • Security Barracks (Polician) ~ Santiago, Yang?
  • First Class (Moja) ~ Morgan
  • Steerage (Hudmass) ~ Lal, Miriam
  • Prison / Brig ~ Svensgaard? Yang?

(Note: the current version has only Diedre, Zakharov, Santiago, Morgan, and Lal.)

TRAITS

Traits are yet to be implemented, but could include:

Resilient (like Creative)
Flexible (like Spiritual)
 

As in SMAC, I would love for the technologies to "tell the story" of colonizing and then thriving on Planet. At the same time, I know that most people (myself included) probably only listened to each story once or twice before clicking on. Still, at least the first time through I'd like the player to experience an unfolding discovery in as immersive a way as possible.

I'd also like for the player to be able to "branch" as much as possible in the tech tree, and be able to make a meaningful and perhaps decisive choice among possible branches. For example, if the player decides to pursue a "Borg destiny" (see the "Races" section), he should be able to choose pursue that branch fairly exclusively and then "fill in" later, if necessary.

Currently I have the techs divied up into the following eras:

1. Survival
2. Adaptation
3. Growth
4. Awareness
5. Ascendence

As in Civ4, some techs are major "breakthroughs" that also "break" old paradigms (e.g. calendar for obelisks). Some of the key techs I am imagining include:

Spoiler :

Resonance -- The first step towards understanding the fibersea and lattice. The colonists discover how to transmit information across the fibersea and "harvest" energy from it.

Intelligent Design -- A major paradigm shift in which scientists realize and acknowledge that the planet they live on is almost entirely a construct of an intelligent actor. This discovery obsoletes most scientific infrastructure up to that point, so it is both a breakthrough and a major setback.

Matter transmission -- Having uncovered major vectors of string theory, the colonists discover how to "encode" physical objects, including live beings, and transmit them as energy, e.g. over the fibersea. The beginning of "sailing" as well as opening the door to eventual re-contact with Earth.
 

The system of religion is replaced with Lifeform (species / race). At various points in the game, new Lifeforms are born that introduce both new capabilities and problems. As we find on Earth, simply getting races to get along is a miraculous feat -- never mind sentient species.

My hope is that we'll be able to reshape the religion system so that official adoption of a favored or promoted lifeform will shape a faction's tendencies. For example, Cyneid lean towards scientific discovery and espionage, while the Borg favor production and war. But, which lifeform each faction adopts should also be shaped by conditions -- a faction that has low food potential but high production potential should probably switch to a Borg existence.

These are the species I've come up with so far:

Cyneid -- Conscious software that evolves into beings of pure energy. For Cyneids, energy = food. Focii: Research, Espionage. Inspiration: Jane from Speaker for the Dead (Ender's Game series)

Mutagen -- Psionically talented humankind adapted to the planet's environment. Focii: Psi (culture), Growth. Inspiration: er, X-Men?

Borg -- Human/machine symbiotes. Resistance is futile. If fully adopted, the Borg eliminate happiness issues at the cost of research and psi. Focii: Production, Military. Inspiraton: Star Trek, natch.

Native -- to be determined .... Inspiration: SMAC.


Civ4 handles religion as binary on/off options, which isn't really all that great for this adaptation. If possible, I'd love to adapt the culture identify slider to measure religious (species) population, somewhat like Masters of Orion.

In the meantime, the effects of race will have to be captured in buildings, specialists, and units. Most of the species should add new capabilities and flavor, but not drastically unbalance the game. For the most part, races should be able to co-exist, though not always happily. The Borg, I think, could be somewhat different: right now I think that they grow through building rather than population, and to enforce that mechanism perhaps they are only capable of strip-mining...
 
The primary units in the first era are near-future ones; they are squared off not so much against each other as against the quite dangerous native life. First-era units cannot enter Lattice, except one type of worker and the zeppelin (scout), which floats above it. The Lattice shorts out most conventional units, and only later do the colonists discover alternatives and workarounds.

Unit classes

Infantry - conventional
Mounted - conventional
Psi - Used by native and mutagen lifeforms
Hack - Used by Cyneid; like artillery
 



Civics
(Very much in brainstorming mode, despite these icons! I have concepts but not much in the way of mechanics, yet)

Government
Autocracy
Democracy
Hive
Philocracy (Philosopher-King)
Consentience (Mind Meld?)

Economics
Simple
Planned
Free
Green
Synergy

hmmm... I'm limited in my images ... will continue into the next post, I guess...
 
(Civics, Continued)
Society
Simple
Free
Caste (Brave New World)
Eudaimonic


Values
Survival (run, run away!)
Power
Knowledge

Genomy
Anthrocentrism -- non-human lifeforms produce unhappiness
Tolerance -- er, not anthrocentric
Chauvinism -- Promote one lifeform above all others


...and NOW barbarians...

As in SMAC, the barbarians are the planet's self-defense mechanisms. They are actually other-dimensional lifeforms that manifest in the human mind as their worst fears -- from simple animals to mythological beasts. As the humans become more powerful, so too does the native life.

Ideally, you would begin learning techs that would enable you to communicate with barbarians, convert them to your cause, and win thereby win the game. Not sure if this is possible; this role may need to be played by a minor civ.
 
Spoiler :

Earth Portal -- Once contact with Earth is re-established, a faction that has adopted "Purebreeding" can build a portal to Earth through which Earth's Neo-Fascist shock troops can teleport. (Since factions that adopt "Purebreeding" are probably seriously handicapped but also violently conflict-driven, this is a balancing tool).
 
Who knows, I may have more to say later :p
 
Thanks go first to Firaxis, of course, for creating not only Civ4 but also SMAC, which inspires this mod. My intent is to pay tribute to SMAC but not to rip it off; thus, any "borrowing" of assets from that game is a placeholder. I have every intent to remove all SMAC-derived asset and replace it with original art and text as we create them. However, for now I consider this mod a "remix" of SMAC -- SMAC'ed Up, if you will.

TEAM ROANOKE (incomplete list)
woodelf:king: - Psi Clinician
Krikkitone - Cyneid Axon
Padmewan - Borg Drone

I have borrowed liberally from many mods and mod components posted here. If I forget any, please remind me:

  • The Song of the Moon provided inspiration and showed me that this can be done! The Moon Worker has found its way onto Roanoke, and perhaps much more...
  • Specifically, matthewv's Biodome is now our Life Support System graphic. Thanks also for map scripting help!
  • Laster Lexx's Greenmod taught me how to terraform, and his resources tutorial explains all there is to know about Resources XML.
  • C.Roland's Solar Plant, Zeppelin, and Futuristic Tank Skins
  • King Tuxx's religion modification guide is so complete, I can't cope
  • Kael, for everything, including the jungle reskin; we will soon enough start ripping off FFH for our own uses ;)
  • Rabbit, White for his inspiring models, including the ones on loan from the Moon Mod
  • Sevo's Faces of God has not yet made its way into this mod, but it has already led to some great ideas
  • Ditto for RogerBacon's Bad People Mod
 
This seems well thought-out and is very interesting to me! I personally haven't played Alpha Centauri, so most of this is new to me. I wish you luck and will have to see how this plays out. Nice job so far :)
 
Yes! Finally live and I can put it into my sig. ;)

Now to get my xenofungi/jungle working....
 
I think one of the biggest hurdles for me personally is how close to SMAC do "we" want to go? The idea, the sounds, the techs, the factions, ect? The idea is nothing new. The sounds take me back 7-8 years and I love them. The techs and factions are like old friends, but we don't want to step on Firaxis or the Apolyton guys toes. I'm going to try to cook up new factions names at some point.

One thing I think we agree on (now after you convinced me via email) is that the tech buttons and all buttons should stay SMAC style. The are simple, elegant, and tell a story about the tech itself. Very cool.
 
This sounds very interessinting, i really love the fungus idea!
keep on going!
Perhaps my dryad can be used for some alien abominations (dont know if that is planned...) ;)


Perhaps i will be interested in designing some futuristic units (infantry or alien life forms :p ). so tell me if you are interested in me doing this ;)

or even buildings...
well well if i wouldnt be busy with so much else...
 
seZereth said:
This sounds very interessinting, i really love the fungus idea!
keep on going!
Perhaps my dryad can be used for some alien abominations (dont know if that is planned...) ;)


Perhaps i will be interested in designing some futuristic units (infantry or alien life forms :p ). so tell me if you are interested in me doing this ;)

or even buildings...
well well if i wouldnt be busy with so much else...

Sez, the Dryad or some variation of your tree dude is something I'm trying to push through. :) I think a Plant religion would work. Help me work on Pad. ;)

I would love to see what sort of alien life forms you could come up with. That would be a huge help. Also, more borg type units, and whatever psi/energy guys we dream up.

Buildings or geometric resources are needed. Stuff that the colonists don't understand, but eventually through tech figure out.

Any idea how to solve my terrain issue that I posted in the C&C? It looked like xenofungi except for the shadowing....
 
seZereth said:
Perhaps my dryad can be used for some alien abominations (dont know if that is planned...)

Perhaps i will be interested in designing some futuristic units (infantry or alien life forms :p ). so tell me if you are interested in me doing this

or even buildings...

I've definitely been eyeing the Dryad as the most "alien" of the unit models so far. No offense to her!

Would love your thoughts on how Cyneid (software) units should look. In the city shot above, you can see a Cyneid specialist -- I was envisioning them as glowing energy balls, in this case with colored squares floating around. They are used like catapults -- to hack enemy defenses or units.

The three existing lifeform units are all "missionaries" and therefore non-combat. A Borg prototype (SEAL w/ no weapons?) and Mutagen seed (Warrior with no weapons) would really help!

As woodelf sez above, he's been trying to mod the basic city look/feel -- would love any help on that!

woodelf said:
Sez, the Dryad or some variation of your tree dude is something I'm trying to push through. :) I think a Plant religion would work. Help me work on Pad. ;)

Any idea how to solve my terrain issue that I posted in the C&C? It looked like xenofungi except for the shadowing....

Well, let's figure out what these plant lifeforms can do (beside Photosynthesize). Truthfully, a lot of these lifeforms can be "invisible" and do most of their work inside cities, just as you don't see a lot of Buddhists running around in a vanilla game ;)

As for the xenofungus, er, Lattice, I was kinda picturing them being like Arches National Park in Utah on steroids. (They are made of silicon, after all).
 
Padmewan said:
My hope is that we'll be able to reshape the religion system so that official adoption of a favored or promoted lifeform will shape a faction's tendencies.

In the meantime, the effects of race will have to be captured in buildings, specialists, and units. Most of the species should add new capabilities and flavor, but not drastically unbalance the game. For the most part, races should be able to co-exist, though not always happily. The Borg, I think, could be somewhat different: right now I think that they grow through building rather than population, and to enforce that mechanism perhaps they are only capable of strip-mining...

Religious Buildings, and religions themselves, can be used to give effects only when they are the official religion (at least happiness and commerce, I'm not sure about % boostings/food production.)
 
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