WesW
Creator of the Medmod
The Medmod VI v.11, available on the hub or zipped at the bottom of this post.
Improved AI performance, smoother gameflow, more realistic combat and better overall balance are the aims of this comprehensive mod. An "*" at the end of a sentence denotes version 8 changes, while ** denotes version 9 changes.
AI development- The AI no longer declares war for no reason and with no preparation. In Addition, it now grows larger cities, upgrades units sooner, improves tiles earlier and even repairs pillaged resources.
ICS- Minimum city distance increased from 3 to 4. (No more cramming cities together, and no more AIs coming and plopping cities down right next to you.)
Units and Combat
Stacks- Up to five units may now be stacked on the same tile.**
Experience levels reduced from 10 to 7. You now receive bonuses at 7, 21, 42, 70, etc.
Upgrade costs for units have been increased by about 50%. It should now take multiple turns for you to upgrade your units.
Obsoletion- Except for unique units, units now go obsolete when their immediate successors become available, to keep the AI from continuing to build obsolete units. The exception was made for unique units so that you can have the option of continuing to produce them for their abilities, and immediately upgrade them if you like.
Eras- Longswordsmen have been reduced in strength to to 15, Musketmen have been increased in strength to 20, and Riflemen have been increased to 27. This now puts Musketmen in their historical place as successors to Medieval units. (The lessening of differences from one upgrade to another also means that you're not totally screwed if you have to fight a slightly more advanced enemy.) Medieval melee units now upgrade to Musketmen.
Cities and Siege- Siege units have had their field strength reduced by about a third, though their siege strength has been increased so as to remain the same. In addition, naval units have been given the siege bonus too, so they now make for effective bombarders.
Cities' ranged attack has been increased by 50%, and garrisoned units now add 25% of their strength to city defense, up from 20%.
Musketmen and Lancers no longer ignore city walls, so go ahead and build that castle, because its effect now lasts a while.*
Mounted units- Mounted units have the Shock I promotion to complement their city attack penalty, to represent their traditional strengths and weaknesses. The strengths of Knights, Lancers and Tanks have been reduced by about 10% to offset their Shock ability.
Knights now upgrade to Lancers, and Lancers to Cavalry.
Siamese War Elephants have been reduced to 16 str., but get the Shock 2 bonus to compensate.
Camel Archers now have a 50% defensive bonus versus mounted units. (Horses don't like the smell of camels.)
Cavalry's penalty versus mounted units has been removed, as has the Lancer's defensive penalty.
Pikes- Civil Service has been moved back behind Chivalry, meaning that Pikemen now come after Knights, as they did historically. This should give a window for Knights to dominate the battlefield, at least the open field.
Pikemen are now strength 12, with a 75% bonus versus mounted units. This puts their strength between that of Knights and Lancers on open terrain when facing these units. Note that the mounted bonus for spearmen and pikemen is now lost when these units upgrade.*
Landsknecht are now 15 str. and cost 120, making them a significant unit. (50 cost? What were they thinking, Zerg rush?)
Bows- Longbowmen have lost their range bonus, but gained the indirect fire ability, plus a 50% defensive bonus versus mounted units. (They used stakes to shield themselves from cavalry charges.)
Crossbowmen and Longbowmen now upgrade to Cannon, so as to make use of their promotions. Note that they still go obsolete with Gunpowder.
Naval units- Embarked units now have a visibility range of 1.
Battleships now have 5 movement.
Guided Missiles' strength has been increased from 60 to 80.*
Missile Cruisers and Carriers can now carry one more missile and plane, respectively.*
Misc.- Barbarian units have had their strengths reduced by one and Camps spawn somewhat less often.
Anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns have been reduced to 27 str., so as to make them more specialized.
Panzers have lost their extra movement, but now begin with the Blitz promotion.**
Modern Armor now requires Oil.
Helicopters are now eligible for Shock and Drill promotions.**
The Longswordsman has been re-named the Man-at-Arms.
Legions now have 3 movement.
Peace treaties now last 15 turns, since the AI now declares war more frequently.**
The costs of some modern units have been increased by 50.**
Terrain and Growth- Flat terrain no longer carries a defense penalty, except for Marsh. Hills now give a 33% bonus to units and a 25% bonus to cities.
Iron is now revealed with Mining, so you'll know early on where you need to go. (or if you're screwed and need to start a new game)
Flood Plains now give an extra food, and Forests give +1 prod. and -1 food. (No more wooded hills that give the same output as grassland.)
Oases may now be improved.
Incense now gives 2 extra gold.
The cost of buying plots has been reduced by 10 gold.
Cities now take 1/8th more food to grow, since the timeline is longer compared to the default game.
Resources and Improvements- Undeveloped resources now give a base 1 bonus (Base 1= 1 food, 1 prod. or 2 gold), and improving resources now gives a Base 2 bonus. (Thus an improved resource gives a base 3 bonus versus plain, undeveloped land.) In addition, bonuses have been added where necessary to ensure that each improvement type receives a base 2 total bonus from buildings and/or technology.
Fish have their bonus of 2 food back, and the culture cost of coasts has been reduced so that cities will now again claim sea resources.
The tech bonus for Fishing Nets has been set to Steam Power.
Oil Wells and Platforms now give 5 prod.
Forts and Citadels give +1 and +2 prod., respectively. (Forts are meant to take the place of Civ 4's workshop improvement.)
Strategic resource exhaustion penalty reduced to 33%.
Buildings- Harbors now give 2 culture, plus 25% gold and 1 science per 3 pop in addition to their existing effects, to simulate the effects of trade.
Seaports give two culture and 1 science per 3 pop, plus each sea tile gives +1 gold, in addition to their existing effects. (Imo, coastal cities were totally shafted with the elimination of trade routes, and this is my way of trying to bring them back to their historical significance.)
The Garden has been re-named the Public Park, which increases happiness by 4 and is available with Biology. The Theatre picks up the Garden's Great People ability. Note that the Theatre's Great Person effect isn't accounted for in the pop-up that shows the progress rate until Person creation, but I am sure that it is working.
Mints now improve Gems as well, so that they are as valuable as gold and silver.
Ironworks require Iron and only give 6 prod., but add 2 prod. to each source of Iron, so you'll want to build them in cities with multiple sources of Iron.
Banks now give +3 gold in addition to their normal effect.*
Factories now add 1 prod. to each source of Coal and Aluminum.*
Hydro Plants now give an additional bonus of 1 gold to river tiles.
Military Bases now give 15 experience.
Windmills and Factories give 4 and 8 production, respectively, while the costs of Stables and Forges has been reduced to 80.*
Universities and Public Schools have been set back to their previous effects.
Armories are now available with Steel.
Happiness- Luxuries now give 5 happiness.
Happiness effects of the Circus ,Colosseum and Theatre have been returned to their previous values.
Unhappiness per city reduced by 50%, to 1.5.
Unhappiness per captured city reduced to 3, and capture percentage of pop increased to 75.
Unhappy growth penalty reduced to 50%, and very unhappy production penalty reduced to 33%.
National Wonders- Required number of buildings has been changed from "all cities" to between 4 and 6, and the increase in cost per city has been reduced by about half. Now expansionist civs should have some chance to build them at a reasonable cost. Note that the code went screwy when I started messing with it, so the no. req'd and cost are only estimates.
Great People Buildings- The bonus tech for Academies, etc. increases their effect by 100 percent.
Projects- The Apollo Program has been moved back to Nuclear Fusion.**
World Wonders- The Chichen Itza's effect has been reduced to 30%. (It was just too powerful if someone like the Persians got it.)
Specialists- Engineers give 3 prod., and Merchants give 4 gold. (The AI loves specialists, so I gave them more value to match the production of tiles.)
Policies- Oligarchy's city attack bonus reduced to 50%, since the base strength of the attack has been raised by 50%.
Adopting Rationalism now gives you a free tech, since Research Agreements are prohibited.**
Civ bonuses*- English Golden Ages now last 30% longer, ala the Persians (see Elizabeth: The Golden Age). The Turks now have a 40% chance of converting land barbarians, ala the Germans (see origin of Janissaries). Germany's chances to convert Barbs reduced to 40%, and land maintenance reduction set to 15%. Persia's GA bonus has been reduced to 30%, as has Gandhi's population unhappiness bonus.
Technologies- Tech costs have been increased significantly, from small Ancient-era changes up to a tripling in cost by the Modern Age.
In addition, Research Agreements have been removed from the game. (After you play a game or two, you'll wonder why they were ever there. This also helps to keep the timeline on track.)
Civil Service has been moved to the end of the Medieval era, to shorten the gap between it and Fertilizer, so that river and non-river farms aren't unequal for so long a time.
Many tech. preqs added to the military techs, to prevent bee-lining.
Culture- Growth in the cost of later tiles reduced a little. Again, this has worked out quite well in my games.
Also, culture growth should now acquire hills, forests and flood plains as easily as flatlands, and, hopefully, river tiles easiest of all.
City-states- Cultural CS's now give 50% more culture, while Maritimes give +1 food Post-Renaissance. (With the increased city growth in the game, the additional food from Maritimes doesn't mean as much. I also prefer to play with fewer than the default number of CS's, which limits the opportunities for explioting them.) Also remember, if you feel that Maritimes are an exploit, simply don't exploit them.
Great Generals- After some research, I decided to replace several of the GG's in the game, so be on the lookout for Hannibal, Frederick the Great, Wellington, the Duke of Marlborough and others. Also, GG's now have 3 movement.
About the Medmod series: The Medieval Mod series started out in 1999 with a small mod to address some issues in the medieval period of the game Civilization: Call-to-Power, and eventually grew to encompass the entire game. As things worked out, I kept the name Medmod for the name recognition not only for that mod, but all my mods. For my work on CtP I and II, I was inducted into the Apolyton HoF a few years back.
Next I went on to the Total War series' Medieval edition, and the Medmod IV, or WesMod as some knew it, again earned me HoF recognition, this time at TotalWar.org. Since then I have continued to mod games, though none were near as big a project as these early works.
Improved AI performance, smoother gameflow, more realistic combat and better overall balance are the aims of this comprehensive mod. An "*" at the end of a sentence denotes version 8 changes, while ** denotes version 9 changes.
AI development- The AI no longer declares war for no reason and with no preparation. In Addition, it now grows larger cities, upgrades units sooner, improves tiles earlier and even repairs pillaged resources.
ICS- Minimum city distance increased from 3 to 4. (No more cramming cities together, and no more AIs coming and plopping cities down right next to you.)
Units and Combat
Stacks- Up to five units may now be stacked on the same tile.**
Experience levels reduced from 10 to 7. You now receive bonuses at 7, 21, 42, 70, etc.
Upgrade costs for units have been increased by about 50%. It should now take multiple turns for you to upgrade your units.
Obsoletion- Except for unique units, units now go obsolete when their immediate successors become available, to keep the AI from continuing to build obsolete units. The exception was made for unique units so that you can have the option of continuing to produce them for their abilities, and immediately upgrade them if you like.
Eras- Longswordsmen have been reduced in strength to to 15, Musketmen have been increased in strength to 20, and Riflemen have been increased to 27. This now puts Musketmen in their historical place as successors to Medieval units. (The lessening of differences from one upgrade to another also means that you're not totally screwed if you have to fight a slightly more advanced enemy.) Medieval melee units now upgrade to Musketmen.
Cities and Siege- Siege units have had their field strength reduced by about a third, though their siege strength has been increased so as to remain the same. In addition, naval units have been given the siege bonus too, so they now make for effective bombarders.
Cities' ranged attack has been increased by 50%, and garrisoned units now add 25% of their strength to city defense, up from 20%.
Musketmen and Lancers no longer ignore city walls, so go ahead and build that castle, because its effect now lasts a while.*
Mounted units- Mounted units have the Shock I promotion to complement their city attack penalty, to represent their traditional strengths and weaknesses. The strengths of Knights, Lancers and Tanks have been reduced by about 10% to offset their Shock ability.
Knights now upgrade to Lancers, and Lancers to Cavalry.
Siamese War Elephants have been reduced to 16 str., but get the Shock 2 bonus to compensate.
Camel Archers now have a 50% defensive bonus versus mounted units. (Horses don't like the smell of camels.)
Cavalry's penalty versus mounted units has been removed, as has the Lancer's defensive penalty.
Pikes- Civil Service has been moved back behind Chivalry, meaning that Pikemen now come after Knights, as they did historically. This should give a window for Knights to dominate the battlefield, at least the open field.
Pikemen are now strength 12, with a 75% bonus versus mounted units. This puts their strength between that of Knights and Lancers on open terrain when facing these units. Note that the mounted bonus for spearmen and pikemen is now lost when these units upgrade.*
Landsknecht are now 15 str. and cost 120, making them a significant unit. (50 cost? What were they thinking, Zerg rush?)
Bows- Longbowmen have lost their range bonus, but gained the indirect fire ability, plus a 50% defensive bonus versus mounted units. (They used stakes to shield themselves from cavalry charges.)
Crossbowmen and Longbowmen now upgrade to Cannon, so as to make use of their promotions. Note that they still go obsolete with Gunpowder.
Naval units- Embarked units now have a visibility range of 1.
Battleships now have 5 movement.
Guided Missiles' strength has been increased from 60 to 80.*
Missile Cruisers and Carriers can now carry one more missile and plane, respectively.*
Misc.- Barbarian units have had their strengths reduced by one and Camps spawn somewhat less often.
Anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns have been reduced to 27 str., so as to make them more specialized.
Panzers have lost their extra movement, but now begin with the Blitz promotion.**
Modern Armor now requires Oil.
Helicopters are now eligible for Shock and Drill promotions.**
The Longswordsman has been re-named the Man-at-Arms.
Legions now have 3 movement.
Peace treaties now last 15 turns, since the AI now declares war more frequently.**
The costs of some modern units have been increased by 50.**
Terrain and Growth- Flat terrain no longer carries a defense penalty, except for Marsh. Hills now give a 33% bonus to units and a 25% bonus to cities.
Iron is now revealed with Mining, so you'll know early on where you need to go. (or if you're screwed and need to start a new game)
Flood Plains now give an extra food, and Forests give +1 prod. and -1 food. (No more wooded hills that give the same output as grassland.)
Oases may now be improved.
Incense now gives 2 extra gold.
The cost of buying plots has been reduced by 10 gold.
Cities now take 1/8th more food to grow, since the timeline is longer compared to the default game.
Resources and Improvements- Undeveloped resources now give a base 1 bonus (Base 1= 1 food, 1 prod. or 2 gold), and improving resources now gives a Base 2 bonus. (Thus an improved resource gives a base 3 bonus versus plain, undeveloped land.) In addition, bonuses have been added where necessary to ensure that each improvement type receives a base 2 total bonus from buildings and/or technology.
Fish have their bonus of 2 food back, and the culture cost of coasts has been reduced so that cities will now again claim sea resources.
The tech bonus for Fishing Nets has been set to Steam Power.
Oil Wells and Platforms now give 5 prod.
Forts and Citadels give +1 and +2 prod., respectively. (Forts are meant to take the place of Civ 4's workshop improvement.)
Strategic resource exhaustion penalty reduced to 33%.
Buildings- Harbors now give 2 culture, plus 25% gold and 1 science per 3 pop in addition to their existing effects, to simulate the effects of trade.
Seaports give two culture and 1 science per 3 pop, plus each sea tile gives +1 gold, in addition to their existing effects. (Imo, coastal cities were totally shafted with the elimination of trade routes, and this is my way of trying to bring them back to their historical significance.)
The Garden has been re-named the Public Park, which increases happiness by 4 and is available with Biology. The Theatre picks up the Garden's Great People ability. Note that the Theatre's Great Person effect isn't accounted for in the pop-up that shows the progress rate until Person creation, but I am sure that it is working.
Mints now improve Gems as well, so that they are as valuable as gold and silver.
Ironworks require Iron and only give 6 prod., but add 2 prod. to each source of Iron, so you'll want to build them in cities with multiple sources of Iron.
Banks now give +3 gold in addition to their normal effect.*
Factories now add 1 prod. to each source of Coal and Aluminum.*
Hydro Plants now give an additional bonus of 1 gold to river tiles.
Military Bases now give 15 experience.
Windmills and Factories give 4 and 8 production, respectively, while the costs of Stables and Forges has been reduced to 80.*
Universities and Public Schools have been set back to their previous effects.
Armories are now available with Steel.
Happiness- Luxuries now give 5 happiness.
Happiness effects of the Circus ,Colosseum and Theatre have been returned to their previous values.
Unhappiness per city reduced by 50%, to 1.5.
Unhappiness per captured city reduced to 3, and capture percentage of pop increased to 75.
Unhappy growth penalty reduced to 50%, and very unhappy production penalty reduced to 33%.
National Wonders- Required number of buildings has been changed from "all cities" to between 4 and 6, and the increase in cost per city has been reduced by about half. Now expansionist civs should have some chance to build them at a reasonable cost. Note that the code went screwy when I started messing with it, so the no. req'd and cost are only estimates.
Great People Buildings- The bonus tech for Academies, etc. increases their effect by 100 percent.
Projects- The Apollo Program has been moved back to Nuclear Fusion.**
World Wonders- The Chichen Itza's effect has been reduced to 30%. (It was just too powerful if someone like the Persians got it.)
Specialists- Engineers give 3 prod., and Merchants give 4 gold. (The AI loves specialists, so I gave them more value to match the production of tiles.)
Policies- Oligarchy's city attack bonus reduced to 50%, since the base strength of the attack has been raised by 50%.
Adopting Rationalism now gives you a free tech, since Research Agreements are prohibited.**
Civ bonuses*- English Golden Ages now last 30% longer, ala the Persians (see Elizabeth: The Golden Age). The Turks now have a 40% chance of converting land barbarians, ala the Germans (see origin of Janissaries). Germany's chances to convert Barbs reduced to 40%, and land maintenance reduction set to 15%. Persia's GA bonus has been reduced to 30%, as has Gandhi's population unhappiness bonus.
Technologies- Tech costs have been increased significantly, from small Ancient-era changes up to a tripling in cost by the Modern Age.
In addition, Research Agreements have been removed from the game. (After you play a game or two, you'll wonder why they were ever there. This also helps to keep the timeline on track.)
Civil Service has been moved to the end of the Medieval era, to shorten the gap between it and Fertilizer, so that river and non-river farms aren't unequal for so long a time.
Many tech. preqs added to the military techs, to prevent bee-lining.
Culture- Growth in the cost of later tiles reduced a little. Again, this has worked out quite well in my games.
Also, culture growth should now acquire hills, forests and flood plains as easily as flatlands, and, hopefully, river tiles easiest of all.
City-states- Cultural CS's now give 50% more culture, while Maritimes give +1 food Post-Renaissance. (With the increased city growth in the game, the additional food from Maritimes doesn't mean as much. I also prefer to play with fewer than the default number of CS's, which limits the opportunities for explioting them.) Also remember, if you feel that Maritimes are an exploit, simply don't exploit them.
Great Generals- After some research, I decided to replace several of the GG's in the game, so be on the lookout for Hannibal, Frederick the Great, Wellington, the Duke of Marlborough and others. Also, GG's now have 3 movement.
About the Medmod series: The Medieval Mod series started out in 1999 with a small mod to address some issues in the medieval period of the game Civilization: Call-to-Power, and eventually grew to encompass the entire game. As things worked out, I kept the name Medmod for the name recognition not only for that mod, but all my mods. For my work on CtP I and II, I was inducted into the Apolyton HoF a few years back.
Next I went on to the Total War series' Medieval edition, and the Medmod IV, or WesMod as some knew it, again earned me HoF recognition, this time at TotalWar.org. Since then I have continued to mod games, though none were near as big a project as these early works.
