Here is a potentially all inclusive list of what I have set up for 051. I don't go into too much detail about how modular loading works now, just know that it was a huge pain to set up, but now absolutely everything you want to do in a module (except Python) should be possible. And quite a few things you didn't know you wanted to do even.
First part: Everything is possible: This basically just means you can set a PrereqPromotion in PromotionInfos and not have the world end.
Second Part: New things you didn't know you wanted are possible: You can now modify a single line of anything in the XML to be a new non-default value and it will change ONLY that line. So if you wanted to have Acheron have a higher strength, you could simply have your module be:
Code:
<Civ4UnitInfos xmlns="x-schema:CIV4UnitSchema.xml">
<UnitInfos>
<UnitInfo>
<Type>UNIT_ACHERON</Type>
<iCombat>999</iCombat>
</UnitInfo>
</UnitInfos>
</Civ4UnitInfos>
Acheron would retain all of his other stats, the FreePromotions and everything else, but now have a strength of 999.
Now, it gets a bit annoying if you want to REMOVE something which is not a default value. In that case you have to set one of the new boolean flags in your module and include the full data for that type. But that is how people currently write modules anyway, so it isn't like life got much harder
Anyway, on with the list:
- CIV4PromotionInfos.xml & CIV4UnitInfos.xml
- <CommanderPromotion>, <MinionPromotions>, <MasterPromotions> & <SlavePromotions> - These fields specify Promotions which the unit will grant to other units in this relationship with itself. <MinionPromotions> are granted to any Minions(Followers) attached to the unit, so are useful for Commanders. <MasterPromotions> are granted to the unit who summoned you into being, so are useful on summons...
- Commander and Minion promotions are limited by the CommandRange of the Commander in the relationship. If the Minion also has a Command Range, that doesn't matter at all.
- MinionPromotions must pass CvUnit::isPromotionValid checks, which primarily means that the Minion must have a valid UnitCombat for the promotion which is being attached to him, otherwise he won't gain anything. For Minions capable of changing UnitCombat, I advise that you set any promotions limited by UnitCombat to <bValidate> so they are removed from the Minion automatically when he changes to an invalid UnitCombat type
- <iCommandLimit> - This modifies how many units the Commander is able to have attached to him. Units are not forced to stop following the Commander when his Command Limit is reduced (by gaining a negative or losing a positive), so python needs to force the units off of the Commander when doing such a thing, or you just have to allow the Commander to have some extra Followers for a while.
- <iCommandRange> - This modifies the range at which the Commander and the Minion apply promotions to each other.
- <iCommandXPShareRate> - This modifies the XP gained by the Commander from his Minion's when they get XP in combat
- CIV4UnitInfos.xml
- <iCommandLimit> - This modifies how many units the Commander is able to have attached to him.
- <iCommandRange> - This modifies the range at which the Commander and the Minion apply promotions to each other.
- <iCommandXPShareRate> - This modifies the XP gained by the Commander from his Minion's when they get XP in combat
- CIV4SpellInfos.xml
- <PrereqAvailableCommander> - Spell can only be cast if there is any Commander on the tile other than the unit trying to cast the spell which has free space in its Command Limit
- <PrereqIsMinion> - Spell can only be cast if the unit has a Commander Unit it is attached to
- CIV4ReligionInfos.xml & CIV4CorporationInfos.xml
- <iTGAIndex> - This indicates which TGA icon to use for the Religion/Corporation. It allows you to link the icons to the Religions/Corporations in any order you desire, and even skip some if you want to. Magister should love that, he can finally sort his XML from Good to Evil or whatever else he wants
Note that you are saying what order they go in, not which TGA slot to use (as each religion/Corporation actually uses 2 slots, so the number here is multiplied by 2 to choose the main slot, and 1 is added to that to get the Holy City/HQ slot). You'll notice that our TGA includes every resource I could find, even though we don't personally use them all yet, and every religion/Coporation from both Orbis and Fall Further. I decided to be nice to Ahwaric and save him the hassle of modification to the TGA if he imports this feature.
- CIV4BuildingInfos.xml
- <EquipmentPromotion> - This field is required for the new "no Unit's" approach to Equipment. If a building is "portable" like the Crown of Akharien and Dragon's Horde, identify what promotion carries the building with this field.
- GlobalDefinesAlt.xml
- GAMEFONT_TGA_RELIGIONS & GAMEFONT_TGA_CORPORATIONS - Specifies how many blocks are available for Coporations and Religions in the TGA. This is required so that the Corporations and Bonuses start to load from the proper location. Change this if you modify the dimensions of the TGA for some reason (which you would only really do if you were seeking to add more than 46 total religions/Corporations to the game, which is just sick and wrong! )
- EQUIPMENT_HOLDER - Informs the DLL which Unit to use to place Promotions on when items are dropped in the field. This unit should always be flagged bNeverHostile and bCommunalProperty or things massively fail for the system. I know, hardcoding sucks, but sometimes it is needed
- BASE_COMMANDER_XP_SHARE - Sets the basic percentage of XP gained in Combat by a Follower which is also granted to his Commander. Tags in UnitInfos and PromotionInfos further modify this value. Negatives are allowed, though I wouldn't advise it as I never set up safeguards to prevent negative total XP on a unit and don't know what will happen if that comes to be.
- CIV4GameOptionInfos.xml
- GAMEOPTION_DARK_FORESTS - Controls the presence of Dark Forests or Daikanos as an extra early game hazard (which one of the two you actually get is randomly selected)
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New Modular Loading System:
Ok, so I have integrated WoC Lite, details are in the first post with a link to their thread. The basics which are important to modders are these:
Modular Loading can now handle EVERY DAMN FIELD, even ones which are self-referencing.
You must absolutely NEVER turn Modular Loading on in the INI. It will always work if you place a module in the Modules folder, but if you turn on modular loading, then things break because we revert half of the system to base Firaxis methods. If you wish to disable your modules, delete them, move them, or use the MLF files.
I will not go into details with anyone about the MLF files unless they are at the point where they are needed. In short: You don't need them. Individual modders can read up on WoC to see what they are and how they work, but I don't see anyone getting to "fancy" any time too soon that they need help with this, so I won't confuse you by discussing it. If you need help after reading up on WoC, then post here for more details.
There are some new tags involved with the WoC setup. As with the MLF, I don't see anyone needing them too badly, so just use the details in the first post and ask questions as you need to. The two things I will remind you of from the first post is that bForceOverwrite is something I wrote for the system myself, so don't look for information on that in WoC, and that these tags can be added to any Schema I didn't already add them to and they'll still work perfectly fine. They are INCREDIBLY UNIQUE in that regard, so don't expect this to work with any other fields in XML. And I added them to pretty much every file you might want them in anyway, so it probably won't come up
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Equipment System:
One major change you'll notice is that Equipment no longer exists as individual units. With 2 exceptions, the Golden Hammer (because it is a Worldspell, so deserves to have a flashy item for a little while, but the AI might actually handle it better if I went ahead and got rid of them completely as well. Also if I didn't let them stay as a unit then you would need to pick up the Hammers before you could settle them in your city as you cannot control the Container) and Pieces of Barnaxus. Again because it is kind of special as a World Item, though actually it'll only show up if placed by worldbuilder if I don't miss my guess. Both could easily be ditched for the current system, but I felt kinda bad about deleting EVERYTHING from the old item system, ya know?
Anyway, now all equipment not on a unit exists in a copy of the Treasure Chest known as a "Container" in the code. Python will tend to create a new container every time it "places a promotion on the ground" where the DLL is smarter and will add dropped items to pre-existing containers on the plot, but if there is a duplicate promotion trying to drop (damn those Jade Torcs!) then a new container is made. Once any container loses all promotions on it, it is deleted. As a backup precaution, if any container runs the ::doTurn sequence and doesn't have any promotions, it deletes itself. And since it is now they first item in the XML, no more Athame's laying all over the map because you click around blindly when opening worldbuilder!
Now, the stranger things about containers: They all belong to the Orcs. No more having a civilization stay alive because they were once carrying Orthus's Axe and then dying a second time when someone finally picks it up. But everyone can take gear from a Container due to the bCommunalProperty tag, and even if you drop an item in an undefended town (delete the last defender while he is holding an item) the Barbarians won't claim the city because they are also bNeverHostile. The end result of this is that even HN units can now take equipment, AND you can pick up equipment which was dropped by an ally, because no longer do you have to kill something to gain the gear.
One minor side-effect I can recall from this setup is that now a unit carrying the Golden Hammer can give it to a Craftsman directly. This was briefly mentioned earlier as a part of the reason Golden Hammer's still exist. When a unit carrying a Hammer dies they drop a Container which belongs to the Orc Barbarians, and thus you don't have a Hammer which can join the City as a free specialist.
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Master/Commander System:
Ok, so for a while now we have had a Master/Slave system in place for summoned units. It makes it real handy to see what you have summoned and who summoned you and switch between them. There are a few more things I want to do with this than just restrict summons to actually 1 per caster, but allow errant exceptions to work in your favor (like summoning Skeletons on a Graveyard meaning your cap is temporarily 2 higher, rather than you are now 2 closer to it). A few of those systems are in place now, along with a "Sister System"
Feedback promotions: These can originate from the Caster or from the Summoned Slave. They apply a promotion to the other member of the link. So for instance: You could modify the Balseraph's "Summon Puppet" spell to create 2 puppets which are permanent, but they are more easily resisted and have a chance to fizzle spells. This (under the old system) would mean you have 3 casters now instead of 1, and 2 of them are kinda crappy. But with the new system, you can apply a promotion to the puppets which uses the Feedback System to place a <bCannotCast> promotion on their Master. Now the main caster is not allowed to cast spells anymore, so you have moved from "I get 2 more casters for free? I don't care if they suck! Gimmie!" to "I can use my REAL caster at full potential, but risk getting killed on the battlefield, OR I can summon my puppets and have TWO casters (though they aren't quite as effective individually) AND keep my mage back home where he is safe..." See, now it is a tactical decision... (NOTE: The puppet change has not been implemented, I just think it is a good idea personally, but haven't pushed to get it placed in the actual mod. Not sure I have even mentioned it before now...)
Of course, this can be applied in the other direction as well, but having the Master apply promotions to his slaves is ALMOST just like the PromotionSummonPerk field. Except in this method you can grant as many promotions to the slaves as you want to with a single promotion on the master, AND if the master learns the promotion with the perk after having summoned a unit it is automatically applied to his currently existing slaves instead of forcing him to re-summon them to gain the bonus.
Now, the "Sister System" I mentioned is that in addition to Master/Slave, we now have a new relationship category of Commander/Follower (in the code it is called Commander and Minion, don't get confused). This is used for the Great Generals, and a few assorted UUs/Heroes. Unlike the Master/Slave system, you use existing units to be Followers, and you can separate the bond at your leisure. Commanders have a certain limit for how many units may follow them, AND there is a range involved, more on that in a bit. Also unlike the Master/Slave system, is the XP feedback. For Master/Slave you need the slave to die, then the Master gains a portion of the slave's XP for himself. But in the Commander/Follower system, any XP gained by the followers in combat (so not training XP or Free XP, or Spirit Guide, or Event, or Goody hut....) is also applied in part to the Commander. The rate is not terribly high, and it is further modified by the difference in levels between the Commander and his Followers. So Winston Churchill leading a Boy Scout means that while the Boy Scout might get a TON of XP from slaughtering some field mice, Mr. Churchill hardly feels it is worth waking up to take notes. Likewise if that Boy Scout turns around and leads Donal Lugh himself, the things which Donal is doing to random Orcs while wiping his mouth after a satisfying mid-morning brunch are so far beyond what the Scout can understand that his notes will be inadequate to impart much learning from. (in short, Feedback XP is most significant if the levels of the Commander and Follower are well matched, so changing out your Followers or ensuring that each of them gains XP at a roughly equal pace is ideal, otherwise they out-level the commander and he starts sucking in the XP gain department. Likewise using a maxxed out Commander to Powerlevel your new recruits means that Mr. Commander isn't going to get any further promotions any time soon).
Now, you probably forgot that I mentioned Command Range. Commander's ALWAYS gain XP from their followers, no matter what the range is. And follower death just means another slot is open for a new follower on the commander. But the promotions applied by the Commander to his Followers (or the Followers to their Commander) are restricted by the Command Range of the Commander, thus forcing them to be out on the front lines. For many Commanders that limit might be 0 (same tile only). Additionally, Commanders don't just apply their promotion bonuses to EVERY unit which follows them, many times the unit must meet certain requirements (primarily UnitCombat) to gain the promotion. The Promotions which Followers can grant to their Commanders are also limited to the Commander's Command range, but are not limited by any other factors (like Commander's UnitCombat).
I have it set up right now to only display your first 6 Summons or Followers. No unit can have more than 1 Master or Commander, so that portion of the interface is not an issue. But the Slaves/Followers are controlled by 2 variables in CvMainInterface near the top of the file:
g_iSlaveRowLength = 1
g_iSlaveColumnHeight = 6
The interface looks fine if you change the 1 to a 2, and then you can display up to 12 summons or followers. You can modify the 6 as well, but then things start not to look quite as pleasant. Of course, someone who is comfortable with CvMainInterface can modify things outside of those 2 variables to their heart's content to seek a better layout than I cobbled toegether
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Domination:
As a minor add-on to the Commander/Follower system, Domination has been changed. Now when you Dominate a unit, it is attached to your Archmage as a Follower. To my knowledge there aren't any Commander Promotions available to anyone capable of learning Mind III, so you won't be granting them any promotions, but you do get to enjoy the XP feedback which the Commander System employs. As a counter-balance though, you are now limited to 3 Dominated units at a time, and if the Archmage dies, or you attempt to stop the Dominated unit from Following the Archmage, the unit will return to their original owner (assuming that player is still in the game, if they are not, then the unit just becomes a normal non-Commanded unit). You are not allowed to simply delete the Dominated unit either, so if you want to free up a slot, you need to either return one of the units, kill the original owner of one of the units, or suicide one of the units by means more creative than the DELETE key.
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New Civic Screen:
Ok, one thing which is a HUGE PITA about the Civic screen is that if you add a new capability to a Civic you need to modify the DLL AND Python to display the information. This is because it no longer supports multi-line text. Not sure why it doesn't support it, I'll be seeing if I can re-enable that though because that portion of the current setup is a huge pain for modders.
Also seeking to eventually add a "Quick View" row to the top where you will just see a button for each of your current civics, and tiny buttons under them for each civic you are capable of selecting within the category at that time. Then if you know the Civics by look alone, or are content with mouse-over help popups, you don't need to scroll through the screen. Overall, should be fairly easy to set this up, but it wasn't worth delaying 051's release for me to have the time to make sure I did it all right.
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I've got people hating each other because they don't follow the same religion but no one hates me because I'm uniqueCult. I guess there is a problem with CvPlayer::isUniqueCult?
