Tarot: Land of Arcana (WIP)

The Major Arcana cards are all techs now instead of wonders. And the Tech Lists for each Era are starting to look good.

I pretty much eliminated all of the standard techs. They aren't really needed. So now the screens will be short and simple.

Anyway, I feel like I am on schedule now and that everything is progressing nicely.

The Rider-Waite tarot card images are all in the public domain, which is awesome: Copyright Status.

The Hanged Man.



The card symbolizes Divinity. Letting go of the Self to achieve Divinity. It also symbolizes attaining Wisdom through contemplation.

Anyway, I never looked closely at this card before. I sort of assumed "Hanged Man, must be bad". And this is not true. Notice how the Hanged Man is sort of glowing in happiness (divinity) and completely at ease, with his legs crossed...

Ok, I have a pretty cool idea. I'm going to try to make the tech screens look like a Celtic Cross spread, similar to this,
but better. Instead of 10 cards, it will be 10 techs:



And I can put images in the background to make it look like a card reading session is going on...

And I could have additional techs on the left, top, right, and bottom area of the screen if I need them.

Ok, I have a pretty cool idea. I'm going to try to make the tech screens look like a Celtic Cross spread, similar to this,
but better. Instead of 10 cards, it will be 10 techs:

Click to expand...

Grey Wolf... Good Idea and is in keeping with the Game

Vuldacon said:

Grey Wolf... Good Idea and is in keeping with the Game

Click to expand...

Thanks Vuldacon.

And I should give some credit to Blue Monkey because he told me about the Celtic Cross spread earlier.
I just finally realized a good place to use it...

Since each Suit has a Queen and King as a Minor Arcana card, all of the government types will be Monarchy.

Government Types:
Cups - Monarchy
Pentacles - Monarchy
Swords - Monarchy
Wands - Monarchy

This creates an Old Kingdom kind of feeling which is good...

This creates an Old Kingdom kind of feeling which is good...

Click to expand...

Gray Wolf... I agree. Looks like you are giving plenty of thought to the Game and it appears to be developing well.

Ok, I changed the Magnum Opus/Spaceship screen again. I needed to use Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water as technologies in the Ancient era (Age of Innocence). For example, when you study and learn about water, you can build Harbors, Ponds, Aquaducts, etc.

So I replaced Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water on the Magnum Opus screen with the Chamber, the Altar, the Mirror, and the Circle. And I also changed Matter and Spirit to the Skull and the Crown.

Anyway, it looks better now. And I should be finished with my Age of Innocence tech screen soon. I'll post some screenshots of it when it is done.

Swords: Air, The Nobles
Wind, East
Militaristic, Expansionist
European, German, Prussian, Austrian, Bulgarian, Bohemian, Roman.
Charlemagne

Ace of Swords: Triumph, Conquest.
2 of Swords: Balance, Courage, Focus.
3 of Swords: Sword-Pierced Heart.
4 of Swords: The Effigy, Tomb.
5 of Swords: The Traitor.
6 of Swords: The Boatman
7 of Swords: The Thief.
8 of Swords: The Prisoner.
9 of Swords: The Nightmare.
10 of Swords: The Victim.
Page of Swords: The Spy.
Knight of Swords: Knight of Wrath.
Queen of Swords: The Sad Queen.
King of Swords: Authority, Judge.


Cups: Water, The Clergy
Water, West
Religious, Seafaring
Mediterranean, French, English, Greek, Spanish
Joan of Arc

Ace of Cups: Water, Joy, Abundance.
2 of Cups: Love, Passion, Sympathy.
3 of Cups: Group Celebration.
4 of Cups: Self Reflection.
5 of Cups: Sorrow.
6 of Cups: Nostalgia.
7 of Cups: Dreams, Visions.
8 of Cups: New Journey.
9 of Cups: Success. Satisfaction.
10 of Cups: Perfection.
Page of Cups: Student, Imagination.
Knight of Cups: Knight of Grace.
Queen of Cups: Queen of Virtue.
King of Cups: The Commander.

Pentacles: Earth, The Merchants
Earth, North
Commercial, Scientific
Middle Eastern, Turkish, Persian, Arabian
Sultan Osman I

Ace of Pentacles Earth, Gold.
2 of Pentacles: Gaiety.
3 of Pentacles: Skilled Nobel.
4 of Pentacles: Guarding Wealth.
5 of Pentacles: Disorder, Misery.
6 of Pentacles: Charity.
7 of Pentacles: Wealth, Maintenance.
8 of Pentacles: Skilled Worker.
9 of Pentacles: The Aristocrat. Wealth.
10 of Pentacles: Family. Wealth.
Page of Pentacles: Scholar, Student.
Knight of Pentacles: Loyal Knight.
Queen of Pentacles: Generosity.
King of Pentacles: Authority.

Wands: Fire, Farmers
Fire, South
Agricultural, Industrious
Asian, Chinese, Russian
Hongwu

Ace of Wands: Fire, Power.
2 of Wands: Dominion.
3 of Wands: Strength
4 of Wands: Celebration.
5 of Wands: Strife.
6 of Wands: Victory Horse.
7 of Wands: Courage.
8 of Wands: Swiftness.
9 of Wands: Good Protection, Defense.
10 of Wands: Burdened.
Page of Wands: Adventure, Travel.
Knight of Wands: Knight, Leadership.
Queen of Wands: Queen, Fire, Honor
King of Wands: Authority.

Swords: Air, The Nobles
Wind, East
Militaristic, Expansionist
Asian, Chinese, Russian
Hongwu

Sacred Sword
Sacred Sword. Tom2050



Piercing Sword
Sacred Sword. Tom2050


Queen's Guard
Charna (Silver Armored Female Warrior). Tom2050.


Chinese Chariot
Chinese Chariot

Cups: Water, The Clergy

Water, West
Religious, Seafaring
Mediterranean, French, English, Greek, Spanish
Joan of Arc

The Seeker
Jenova - Magic Female Archer. Tom2050.


The Lord of Sorrow
Banshee. Tom2050.


Celtic Chariot
Celtic Chariot. Lorenzarius, Bebro.



Knight of Cups
Gallic Horseman. Sandris.


Whirlpool
Whirlpool. Tom2050.

Pentacles: Earth, The Merchants
Earth, North
Commercial, Scientific
European, German, Prussian, Austrian, Bulgarian, Bohemian, Roman.
Charlemagne

Etruscan Chariot
Etruscan Chariot. Lorenzarius, Bebro.


Unholy Sword
Unholy Sword. Tom2050.


Knight of Pentacles
Maratha Empire Heavy Cavalry. Balam Agab. (using as Middle Eastern Cavalry)


Roman Cavalry
Roman Cavalry. Bebro.

Dire Wolf
Dire Wolf. EmbryoDead.

Wands: Fire, Farmers
Fire, South
Agricultural, Industrious
Middle Eastern, Turkish, Persian, Arabian
Sultan Osman I

Turkish Light Cavalry
Maratha Light Cavalry. Balam-Agab.

Tigray Swordsman
Ethiopian Swordsman. Plotinus


Ethiopian Swordsman
Ethiopian Industrial Swordsman. Plotinus.


Assyrian Chariot
Assyrian Chariot. Lorenzarius and Bebro.


Firewall
Firewall. Tom2050

I'm thinking about dealing Tarot cards for each era in a Celtic Spread, and using them as Techs, whatever they are. And just let fate decide.

This mod is definitely like a piece of art or a story. It's totally different than a historically based mod so I guess I could get away with anything. However, I want to make a good piece of art and tell a good story! And that's why this is taking so long.

So, like always, I welcome any feedback and suggestions.

Reserved.

I think my original idea to create a special unit for each of the Minor Arcana cards is just not going to work. This is because the Minor Arcana cards are just that ... cards. They are not offensive or defensive type units. If anything, they are more like counselors than military units...

And I want the game to be as simple to play as possible so I don't want to add all 56 Minor cards as techs. That would overwhelm the tech screen...

So I think I'm just going to use about 10-12 of the Minor cards as techs and create the feeling that your fortune is being read while you are playing the game ... and hopefully the player won't notice which cards are not in the game ... and just be absorbed with the ones dealt to them.

Edit:
I solved this issue. I'm going to make special units and give them back-stories related to the Minor Arcana cards. Also, each Kingdom will have to study all 4 Kingdoms as techs and those tech descriptions in the Civilopedia can explain the meanings behind cards. As long as the Civilopedia keeps people involved with the Tarot cards, I think the game will flow well and be good, interesting, and fun.

Maybe I'll create a tech screen for each suit. And each suits layout will essentially be the same, using the same x and y locations for techs.

Each era screen could have 10 cards in a Celtic Spread and then other techs along the side of the screen (Minor Cards and occult related techs). This way, all the cards will be in the game. Each suit would see all of the Major cards and a mixture of 14 different Minor cards and some constant occult related techs that each suit has to learn...

For example, the wands would see all 22 Major Cards and a mixture of 14 different Minor cards (Ace of Wands, Two of Swords, Three of Pentacles, Four of Cups, ... King of Wands)... and some standard occult-related techs. So let's just say this adds up to be about 50 techs overall for each suit...divided by 4 eras, which makes about 12-13 techs per era for each suit. That's still simple and elegant...

Plotinus, if you are still reading this, I think you created custom tech screens for each civilization, so maybe you can give me some general advice on this? I think you just have to make sure you use the same x and y location for techs, right?

I'll experiment with it and see how it works...

Helpful link I found about this here: multiple tech trees

Edit: I decided not to mess with multiple tech trees...

Ahhhh yes. Simple solution. I'll just have 1 tech called Minor Arcana. And each suit is required to learn the Minor Arcana. And each suit will have a zero era free tech for their own suit. And after the Minor Arcana is learned, each suit can start building all sorts of suit-specific units.

Other possibility. Have 4 techs called Cups, Pentacles, Swords, and Wands. Each suit has to learn about each suit's Minor Arcana cards. And after they learn their own suit, they can start building suit-specific units. (I'm leaning towards this approach right now).

Anyway, either one of these is simpler to handle. And the Civilopedia entries for each special unit can have language that ties into various Minor Card descriptions...so it sounds like units are based on those cards...

But I will still think about this some more before I commit...

This is one strange mod...

Edit:
I'm locking in the 4 tech approach. Cups, Pentacles, Swords, and Wands. I like the idea of each Kingdom having to master knowledge of each Kingdom, including their own, before they can advance with special units...

I put the building information in one place now. Here's the current list of Improvements, Small Wonders, and Wonders.

Note: There are still too many right now so many of these will eventually be weeded out...

I fixed my front page. It has better links to everything now so I can maintain these lists easier...