Alagaesia TC

Alagaesia Total Conversion.


By: ClassicThunder
Version: Unreleased
Eta: None yet

The Team:
ClassicThunder
Lead
lshockley
Civics, Texts and lots of buttons.
Sto:
Map related Python coding
Hydrahypnotizer:
Wonder Movies


Credits:
Talkie_Toaster:
For his feedback and help beta testing.
Kael:
For all the help he has given me with my python problems
Lopez:
For his Tech Tree Editor that allowed me to rebuild my tech tree from scratch 3 times.
Rabbit White:
SeZereth:
GarretSidzaka:
Thanks for many of the various graphics you have made and released.



Background Info
I've been working on an Alagaesia total conversion. Mostly it's using the history that can be found in Eragon and Eldest as a guide to create a fun action filled fantasy mod. As a disclaimer I am not sticking to the story too closely. I want to be flexible and add on new ideas as they come. For those who don't know much about the books, they take place in a very renaissances like period. In Alagaesia magic isn't sending powerful flames and energy blasts at an opponent, it's invading you opponents mind to find flaws in their defense or posses them, and to enchant and enhance everyday item. In Alagaesia TC you will be able to relive the history of Alagaesia from the arrival of humans and elves to the rediscovering of the deepest most deadly secrets of magic.

What's Been Done
So far I have a working dragon spawn system that is pretty accurate to how dragons behave in book. They sleep for a while, then wake up and randomly attack your cities. I plan to make a bonus for killing sleeping dragons and also intend to add other such elements that will prevent the game from becoming predictable. It's balanced because the dragons are spread evenly across the map, neither too close nor too far from the civilizations. The difficult spawning system was programed by Sto. I set the attack handing code up.

I've also made a new tech tree from scratch, and redone all the civics from scratch. They now reflect the different civics that are to be found in the actual book series. There are also currently 3 civilizations: the Dwarfs, Empire, and Varden. The civs have the proper leaders such as Nasuada, Galbatorix, and Hrothgar.

Coming in the Near Future
After I fix the civics and tech tree a bit more, I'm going to add lots of units and buildings. After that, more python to make the game play more exciting. I intend to create a magic system that reflects how magic is used in the books. Another big thing I intend to do is make race specific techs that will make it so choosing a nation has a huge impact on game play.

Now for a more detailed list.
Weapon Upgrades: Units equipped in a city with an iron smith will be more powerful than units equipped by a bronze smith.
Magical units: Have a chance of killing more than one unit per attack (Like the breaking into an opponents mind in the books).
Fire Siege Units: Catch cities on fire and reduce defense and defender's health.
Angry mobs: Sometimes very angry citizens revolt and start burning farms.
More Civilizations: The Urgials and Elves to name just 2. Might add in the Grey folk later.
Lots of units and buildings: I've been looking around and making a nice pile of unit files to start adding.


What I Could Use Some Help on Please

Beta Testers
Button Creators
3D Graphics

PM me please if you're interested in helping. You will of course be given all due credits, and have for as much as it counts my appreciation and e-cookies.

Random ScreenShots (Will be updated soon)
The updated civics.


One of the results of a dragon searching for a new home.


I like fire so here a nice complement to the dragons


The new tech tree. Very much a WIP, but I would like feedback on it please.
Thanks To
Lopez for his TechTree editor
Rabbit White for his Guild War Buttons.
And FhF 2 for 4 or 5 of their buttons.



Any ideas, criticism, and comments are welcome!

Decided that I need 1 more reserve.

Hey Classic,

I think this mod is a wonderful idea - very creative! The teasers look great!

Some ideas:

It sounds like you have lots of new units. I don't think just any unit should be able to slay a dragon. Have you considered adding a special dragon slayer unit? Or even better, you can't attack a dragon unless you have a "St. George" promotion (maybe available after combat 2). Or something or other...

And, dragons should be able to collect add'l hit points as they survive attacks, so there's the potential of an undefeatable dragon living forever and eternally harassing your civ.

That'd be cool if dragons could set cities/cottages/forests (etc.) on fire - Arexack_heretic made a new DEADFOREST feature that he might be willing to share with you? Trogdor strikes again!

Finally, maybe some new medieval music. ? (I can help with this if you're interested.)

-Laina

Thanks for the feedback lshockley its encouraging to have some feedback.

lshockley said:

It sounds like you have lots of new units. I don't think just any unit should be able to slay a dragon. Have you considered adding a special dragon slayer unit? Or even better, you can't attack a dragon unless you have a "St. George" promotion (maybe available after combat 2). Or something or other...

Click to expand...

I intend to have it so that no one unit will have a chance against a dragon. In order to defend against their attacks your going to need lots of units. And kicking them out of their lairs is going to be near impossible but very rewarding. Only a Dragon Rider or one of the more powerful magicians may be slightly more powerful.

lshockley said:

And, dragons should be able to collect add'l hit points as they survive attacks, so there's the potential of an undefeatable dragon living forever and eternally harassing your civ.

Click to expand...

Interesting idea I'll add it in so long as it dosen't make the dragons too lethal.

lshockley said:

That'd be cool if dragons could set cities/cottages/forests (etc.) on fire - Arexack_heretic made a new DEADFOREST feature that he might be willing to share with you? Trogdor strikes again!

Click to expand...

Another interesting idea. However it would be difficult to stop the improvement from being destroyed instantly. However I do know how and am goint to make the cities catch on fire.

lshockley said:

Finally, maybe some new medieval music. ? (I can help with this if you're interested.)

Click to expand...

I'll PM you about this, and thank you for the offer .

Originally Posted by lshockley
That'd be cool if dragons could set cities/cottages/forests (etc.) on fire

Another interesting idea. However it would be difficult to stop the improvement from being destroyed instantly.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Maybe the plot could be pillaged? For instance, a town would be reduced to a village? (And the gold could be added to the value of dragon's gold pile!) You could identify other featuers that would be removed (pillaged) by fire - farms, lumbermills, watermills, etc. (I never liked that mines could be pillaged - they are much more permanent since they are dug into the roots of the mountain.)

I'm just kind of throwing my ideas at you, without thinking about whether it's doable or not, so, please don't hesitate to throw them out the window.

-Laina

I've been thinking about the new civics shown in the screen shot, and have some suggestions.

Government Civics

Some of the gov't civics sound kind of redundant. For instance - tribal council and elder council are usually the same thing; it's generally the tribe's elders that make up a tribal council. Also, tyranny isn't really that much different from absolute monarchy, in that one person has absolute control.

Suggested:
Anarchism - lack of hierarchical governance
Tribal Council (Tribalism) - small tribes guided by tribal council
City-States - regions controlled by powerful or wealthy cities
Theocracy - perceived "representative" of God has absolute power
Monarchy (Tyranny) - single (non-holy) ruler with absolute power
Constitutional Republic - head of state and other officials are elected as representatives of the people and must govern according to existing constitutional law
Democracy - state decisions are made by majority vote of all citizens

Alternately, you could combine Theocracy and Monarchy into "Autocracy" and put Patriarchy in between City-States and Autocracy.

Just some thoughts! -Laina

lshockley said:

I've been thinking about the new civics shown in the screen shot, and have some suggestions.

Government Civics

Some of the gov't civics sound kind of redundant. For instance - tribal council and elder council are usually the same thing; it's generally the tribe's elders that make up a tribal council. Also, tyranny isn't really that much different from absolute monarchy, in that one person has absolute control.

Suggested:
Anarchism - lack of hierarchical governance
Tribal Council (Tribalism) - small tribes guided by tribal council
City-States - regions controlled by powerful or wealthy cities
Theocracy - perceived "representative" of God has absolute power
Monarchy (Tyranny) - single (non-holy) ruler with absolute power
Constitutional Republic - head of state and other officials are elected as representatives of the people and must govern according to existing constitutional law
Democracy - state decisions are made by majority vote of all citizens

Alternately, you could combine Theocracy and Monarchy into "Autocracy" and put Patriarchy in between City-States and Autocracy.

Just some thoughts! -Laina

Click to expand...

Interesting ideas Laina. However, because of the time and situation democracy and a Constitutional Republic are not really practical. The setting of the mod is basically runs from ancient to renaissances style living and government. Also a tribal council is meant to be a collection of leaders from nearly independent tribes. The elder council rules over a united nation. I wish to keep both of the civics as they are represented in the books. Perhaps you could suggest more a clear terminology that would imply these differences than the ones I thought up?

Ahhh... that's a great idea - the time period stops at the Renaissance. I was wondering how you were going to fit the dragons into modern times.

How about tribalism instead of tribal council? That way you don't have two "councils" - could avoid confusion. To me, tribalism implies multiple, independent tribes.

I do like theocracy as a gov't - I thought it was kind of out of place in the vanilla religious category.

I've been thinking that maybe certain civics across categories could complement each other - so for instance, running theocracy (gov't), fear of god (morality) and organized religion (relig.) simultaneously gets you some add'l bonus... ? What do you think?

Again - just suggestions. I haven't read the books - though I do have a copy of Eragon that my brother gave me - I'll bump it to the top of my to-read pile so I can better screen my ideas.

I do have some suggestions on the other categories - I will post them tomorrow with historical accuracy re: the time periods in mind.

-Laina

Moral Civics

Here's some suggestions for moral civics. I think these are mostly title changes, as Self Interest replaces Self Perseverance, Fear of God replaces Love of God, Societal Ethics replaces National Pride, and Societal Englightenment replaces Protect the Weak.

Suggested:
*Self Interest - each individual behaves in whatever manner suits their personal morals
*Family Loyalty - personal decisions are rewarded/penalized by family unit
*Self Enlightenment - personal morals require a neutral or positive effect for stander-bys
*Fear of God - strict adherence to religious moral code inspired by penalty of damnation; may be enforced by society depending on gov't and religious structure
*Social Norms - societal moral norms exist; immoral actions penalized by society
*Societal Enlightenment - high societal moral norms prohibit knowingly harming others; societal retribution is swift and severe

(Societal Enlightenment is probably a couple characters too long.)

I was thinking about "National Pride" - I don't think national pride normally affects personal ethics. I don't think an average individual would say to himself: "I'm not going to commit this amoral activity because I love my country," or "because it will give my nation a bad name."

On the societal level, historical examples of societies doing bad things out of "national pride" usually have similar circumstances - they are accompanied with repressive tyranny, use of military force to ensure compliance, and the existence of an underground relief movement.

I like the idea of Social Norms better - I think this covers both good and bad ethical scenarios, and allows the other civic choices to dictate whether the social norms will represent good moral causes or bad moral causes.

What do you think? -Laina

interesting idea. you might want to review some of the spelling though...

Hi Guangxi!

Yeah - I noticed "Englightenment" after I had posted. And now that I look at it again, "Here's some" is not correct either... did you see anything else that was misspelled?

Also - the addition of a morality civic category is ClassicThunder's idea, not mine. You can see the rest of his new civics in the screen shot above!

-Laina

Legal Civics

What type of legal system did you have in mind for “Mental Trial”?

I think your intent for Military Suppression is a legal system where crimes or facts are not brought to light due to government interference… is this correct? If so, I think maybe Military Suppression and Discrimination can be combined under the description below. I would like to suggest “Religious Law” to replace Military Suppression; I think it might also fit in nicely with the time period.

Suggested:
Might Makes Right – lack of legal process allows the powerful to do as they like
Religious Law – state laws intertwine with the code of ethics set forth by a society’s dominant religion
Royal Judgment – laws are established by imperial decree and enforced, amended, or repealed at the King’s will
Judicial System – a combination of civil and common law where laws are established and subsequently modified by legal precedent in interpretation; a system exists to try cases, determine guilt, and pass sentence
Discrimination – a judicial system where fair justice under the law is not available to all members of society due to discrimination based on race, religion, citizenship, wealth, and/or political position
Justice For All – a judicial system where fair justice under the law is guaranteed to all members of society

-Laina

Economic Civics

I think these are basically the same as ClassicThunder’s initial economic civics with new and improved titles.

Suggested:
Agrarian Survival (replaces Gluttony) – Most citizens’ livelihood depends on the success of their harvest.
Manorialism (replaces Feudalism) – An advanced form of peasantry where parcels are leased from a landowning lord for monetary rent plus a percentage of the parcel’s output. Although governed by public law and local custom, manorial living conditions vary from manor to manor depending on the benevolence and prosperity of the manor’s lord.
Mandatory Tithing (replaces Bureaucracy) – A portion of farmers’ and craftsmen output (typically 10%) is payable to the Church to support its existence and activities.
Cottage Industry (replaces Town Market) – Goods and services are exchanged for other goods and services in barter by direct mutual agreement between trading parties, usually independent farmers and craftsmen.
Guild System (replaces Regulated Market) – Craftsmen associations are able to influence the regional business climate. Each guild controls the instruction method and acceptance of new apprentices in its particular trade.
Free Market – The price of goods and services is determined by direct mutual agreement between buyer and seller.

Any thoughts? Just one more to go! -Laina

Interesting ideas Laina,

I intend to add some of the civics you suggest. Some of them such as Mental trial are going to be civ specific. So slightly enlarging the number of civics is probably a good idea. As only 4 or 5 of them will be accessible to all civilizations.

hope i`m not sounding like a spelling nazi;
covonant--> covenant
misticism--> mysticism
herboligy--> herbology
wispers from the past--> whispers from the past
posions--> poisons
stirups--> stirrups
magic missles--> magic missiles
calvary--> cavalry
burracasy--> bureaucracy
tyrancy--> tyranny
persuit of power--> pursuit of power
persuit of happiness--> pursuit of happiness
fanatatism--> fanaticism
sercreat of magic--> secret of magic
possestion--> possession
immortalation--> immortality [?]

and might i suggest chivalry for a morality civic?

Guangxi said:

hope i`m not sounding like a spelling nazi;
covonant--> covenant
misticism--> mysticism
herboligy--> herbology
wispers from the past--> whispers from the past
posions--> poisons
stirups--> stirrups
magic missles--> magic missiles
calvary--> cavalry
burracasy--> bureaucracy
tyrancy--> tyranny
persuit of power--> pursuit of power
persuit of happiness--> pursuit of happiness
fanatatism--> fanaticism
sercreat of magic--> secret of magic
possestion--> possession
immortalation--> immortality [?]

and might i suggest chivalry for a morality civic?

Click to expand...

Thanks Guangxi I'll fix all of those now.

Have you guys seen this mod? or has that mod died?

Talkie_Toaster said:

Have you guys seen this mod? or has that mod died?

Click to expand...

Yes I have.

However, I began work on this mod over a week before discovering the Eragon mod. I draw no ideas or resources from that mod either, I haven't even read it except to find the last post date to see if it was dead. The last post was last august so it appears to have died without a release, something this mod wont do.

Talk to you later,
ClassicThunder

Religious Civics

I was initially thinking you could add Skepticism as a sort of anti-religion civic - but after thinking on it, I don't know that it would be a worthwhile civic - it would probably be very similar to free religion, which would eliminate its in-game usefulness.

Also, Religious Superiority and Persecution are sort of the same thing, but you may have a reason for having them both.

-Laina