D&D Mystara Expansion Discussion

Ok, I have been planning an expansion for the Mystara mod, but I lost the notes during the chaos of Hurricane Rita. So I am starting a thread for those with ideas or opinions to go ahead and post them here. I will be working on a list which I will pull form various threads and copy it here, updating it with the comments in this thread.

If you haven't played Mystara, then look here for it: Mystara Mod

Ok guys. Help me renew my notes. Please.

I also included a poll to see how much interest there might be in making the mod for Civ 4 later on.

Although I would love to see it expanded I think you would have a lot more controll to make it even better in Civ IV. However, by the time enough units come out for Civ IV you could already have expanded it for Civ III.

Well, I was waiting for the update before downloading this well received mod. Looks like I won't have that luxury Downloading now.

About the pool:
As Sildo pointed out, even if Civ4 has more possibilities, we're far away to have all the required units for this mod in the new format. I'll go for a C3C expansion before porting (or rethinking) it for Civ4. Anyway, that your mod, your works and your time. You put them where you want

Ditto for me. I voted to have it expanded and then translated into Civ4.

As for helping you with your notes, do you need someone to scan through all of the posts or simply restate what their own ideas were?

I've modified my own biq in the following ways:

1 - Increased the rate that SWs spawn the cool units. Not much, maybe 20% faster.
2 - Increased att rating on all Iron Working units.
3 - Added horses, camels to Domestication. Added wolves, elephants, and something else to Outdoorsmanship.
4 - I added 1 food to a lot of the bonus resources to help the non-agricultural civs. It ends up really aiding the ag civs, but it has helped expansion.

Personal wishlist:

1 - I'd like to see a resource added to the marsh or jungle for just the lizzies, like the mushrooms.
2 - Potentially allow dwarves to settle mountains and Sind to settle desert. Maybe.
3 - Maybe allow blitz functions for artillery, if possible. I haven't tried this myself, but it'd be nice to double hit someone waiting outside your city.

I voted expand first and then Civ 4 ... because who knows how good Civ4 will be ??? ... They may have dumbed it down so much that C3C will become the game of choice

woodelf said:

2 - Potentially allow dwarves to settle mountains and Sind to settle desert. Maybe.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, this isn't possible.

woodelf said:

As for helping you with your notes, do you need someone to scan through all of the posts or simply restate what their own ideas were?

Click to expand...

I'm plannig to scan through all the posts, but if you're volounteering that would save me some time. I'm working on something for Heart of Destiny right now, so I won't get to it myself for a bit. If you don't want to, I'll get around to as soon as possible. For those who wish they may repost their ideas. When I begin setting up the expansion physically, I'll be compiling as many ideas that can work into the mod.

Come Monday I'll have some free time and start sifting through the main discussion thread. Hopefully the others will post their main wishes here, but if not I'll find them.

Plotinus said:

Unfortunately, this isn't possible.

Click to expand...

Actually it is possible, but it might seriously affect the balance of the game. If you allow the mountain terrain to be settled and leave only the dwarf settler as non-wheeled than it can be done. I've tried it and it needs balance since not many other civs can get to them to attack and they can't build roads themselves for quite awhile. Maybe making the current dwarf settler wheeled and then adding a later era unit that isn't would make the mountains more exciting, maybe?

Woodelf, what happens when a setteler goes on a mountian road?

Until you get gnome engineers I don't think anyone can build roads. Even with the roads in mountains they can't be settled unless you check the able to be settled box in the biq under mountain terrain. Same with desert.

tjedge - sent you a PM. I've sifted through the main discussion and hopefully found all of the ideas, fixes, and whatnot.

Thanks woodelf. The dwarves with cities in mountains is possible, but the mountains are too easy to defend. Not sure I would want the dwarves to have that much advantage, other than wandering across the mountains and using them as giant walls in the early eras.

Here comes a potentially ugly cut/paste job from Word....

1 - Originally Posted by grumbler 6-25-05
- tech "Magic items" should be connected to "Medicine", but is connected to "Knights of the Sky"
2 - Blacksmith pedia is wrong.
3 - Adventurer parties responses vary widely.
4 - That could work too. That is good. Maybe I'll do away with the adventure party alltogether and create a thief. I could just use the spy unit from the Conquests. I think I will still keep the adventurer party, but it will not be invisible. Great ideas guys!

EDIT: In fact I can make the Thieves Guild a SW and have it create the thief every few turns.

EDIT2: I'll add your names to the credits for the expansion patch.

-response from you to rhialto et al.
5 -
- Quote:
Originally Posted by rhialtoSuggestion: Change the effect of the thieves' guild to reduce corruption instead of increasing tax income. It nad the merchants' guild come at almost the same time, and the double whammy of ncome boosts means I am now researching at maximum pace and still earning over 1000 gold a turn.In-game explanation: The guild controls the actions of the thieves, which in effect reduces corruption.

I like this suggestion of the Assassin better. It does fit more. Maybe I'll do both and give them different abilities. Like allowing the thief to see invisible and be able to pillage as well as being invisible, but not strong enough to actually take over a city. Then the Assassin could have stealth attack for certain units and be unable to see invisible but be invisible. Of course both would have hidden nationality to keep from unintentional wars from breaking out. The Thieves Guild might be a bit overpowered as an improvement. It already has reduce corruption along with the extra tax and no maintenance cost. Wether it becomes a unit producing SW or not I'll drop the tax addition and make it more balanced. 7-21-05, you…..
6 - Originally Posted by Anti-christ
Speaking of elf civs...I am still playing as the true elves and noticed a minor spelling error the elven scout is spelled 'elvin' whereas all other elvish units are spelled 'elven'

Also, the elven mustketeer is misspelled as 'elven muskateer'
7 – Shires….varying ideas of being overpowered. Cost too low? stats too high? Personally, I like them as is.
8 - Originally Posted by Anti-christ
In light of the current conversation, I decided to play the shires just to see what they are like and I must say the are fairly powerful but not overly so. I did notice a civilopedia error though, I have the ability to build seige catapults with the shire but in the civilopedia entry it says that this unit can only be built by eusdria and yavdlom? So either shires needs to be added to the list or I'm building the wrong type of seige machinery.
9 – I lowered barb stats in my biq, not sure if anyone else did.
10 – SW spawning rates discussed a lot.
11 – Something about dragon SWs by you on page 11.
12 – golem stats seem outdated.
13 – giant stats too low?
14 – Kastelios and Atruaghin LHs. – several suggestions posted.
15 – increase boat transport capacity by 1.
16 – Some have turned disease off, needs tweaking?
17 – Changing clan and norse adjectives?
18 -

Originally Posted by Anti-christTjedge, I was playing the wood elves and just built an elven seer and he doesnt have the recon ability, well he does but it has 0 range. I was able to click the recon button but I could only recon the square I was in.EDIT: P.S. I got into the editor you have the operational range for him set to 0 should it be at 15 like the regular seer?

Uh, oops. Yeah that should be the same as the seer. That was a last minute addition to the mod so that unit never got a real test. Thanks for spotting that. (Writes in notes for expansion).
19 - That's right. That is why I removed that resource in radius effect. I'll have to play around with this in the beta for the Expansion. The Blacksmith might return to requiring the resource and the gnome workshop not needing a blacksmith. You, post 261.
20 – Increase iron working stats by one.
21 - Minor bug: You have "Floting Ar" in the Alphatia city list. It should be "Floating Ar". – rhialto
22 – (From Dracleath) - I've been playing a bit lately and have taken to hunting down new unit animations to put in where there are ones that either I don't particularly like or which are placeholders. I thought I'd post these here in case anyone is interested or has other replacements to suggest and to give suggestions for the expansion.

Unit and animation I'm using for it now.

Shadow elf swordsman --> Executioner
Sindi infantry --> Harad Swordsman
Kwylethar Swordsman --> Darkelfassassin
Death Guard--> DarkElfBlackguard
Hobgoblin Spearmen --> Hobgoblinspearmen
Hobgoblin warrior --> sneakygit
Dwarf Settler --> dwarfsettler
sind pikeman --> arab pikeman
sind spearman --> Stone Dog
sind crossbowman --> water seeker
norse archer --> kossar
Orc archer -> night goblin Fanatic
Thoul --> Great unclean one
23 – Plus anything added to the new discussion.

Contributors – most single posters omitted…Apologies if anyone missed.

bloodofages
rhialto
grumbler
Left
Nanocyborgasm
Rofflecopter
Anti-Christ
Nwoll
Wolfhart
Krexel
Dracleath
woodelf

Hopefully you can sift through this tjedge and have some of my jumble jar your memory. I'm sure your notes were way more inclusive.

That works, ugly or not, it's there and readable. Thanks woodelf.

About the installation:
It's annoying when the zipped or the installation file suppose you've installed your game in the default directory.

Don't "compress" the files from Program Files/...
Just do it from Conquest or Scenario, it's enough.

Maybe use the expansion as a "beta" then if all is well upgrade it for civ 4 that way ppl with low spec pcs can enjoy the expansion, if they cannot run civ 4. Also it would be a good way to test the expansion for any bugs until tjedge1 realeses it for civ 4

Supa said:

About the installation:
It's annoying when the zipped or the installation file suppose you've installed your game in the default directory.

Don't "compress" the files from Program Files/...
Just do it from Conquest or Scenario, it's enough.

Click to expand...

Good idea Supa. That seems to be the biggest problem I've had with folks. I always install my games into the default, so it never accured to me anyone wouldn't.

Actually I've got a better sind animation series worked out, I'll post it tommorow, but basically I'm using the aiel for the spearman and archer, the indian infantry (the one that looks like the saracen infantry but has a chain coat) for the 3rd age infantry, and the saracen bowman for 3rd age archer.

For cav, I'm using the arab horseman (not the cut and paste one, but I think the dom pedro one) for the first unit, the answar warrior for the second one, and the ottoman knight (not the sipahi but the custom knight) for the third one.

I'll work out a good unit animation series for some other civs as well, I think denagoth generally needs a revamp with all the new dark elves out lately.


Also as a suggestion for the expansion, I'd really like to see the dragons merged into 2 or 3 types and those extra wonders used for giving small wonders to the units like nagas that are currently under enslavement and adding units to civs that don't have many wonder units like the human civs.

Good ideas Dracleath. The abundance of dragon SWs could be combined and have a couple more SWs for the poor humans.

I'll be interested to see your animation series as well.