[BTS] Air Forces Module

[Gedemon]

Air Force

*Updated to v0.3 (sep 15, 2007)*

Inspired by TheLopez air forces mod, it includes more air promotions, 6 new unit types, and 60+ planes for diversity. And pedia entry are filled (english text mostly).

On above picture, you can see from left to right :
Fighter, light bomber, bomber, early jet fighter, strategic bomber, jet fighter, strike fighter, attack aircraft, stealth fighter and stealth bomber.

(up to down are US, russian, french and middle-east style)






(click for full size)

-- Installation instructions --

Spoiler:

extract using 7zip directly into to your "Sid Meier's Civilization 4\Beyond the Sword\Mods\your_mod_name" folder.

Ethnic air style for vanilla BTS or Civ specific artstyle are included in zip files in "Assets\Modules\Air Forces\XML\Airforces". Extract the one you want to use in this folder.

You'll have to do some copy/paste to make civ specifics air forces, the vanilla style can be use directly.


ask here for more details

all units artdefines are XML-ed and ready to use

all planes are animated, and have been rescaled using nifviewer when needed.

modular XML loading must be set ON in the INI file, see the "How to Use Plug and Play Mods" by purplexus for complete installation instruction of modules.

Download on Database : [BtS] Air Forces module (5,45 MB)

Spoiler for SDK Modifications & configuration:

The AirForces_GlobalDefines.xml file in "..\Assets\Modules\Air Forces\XML" is used to define some of the SDK change.

MAX_INTERCEPTION_PROBABILITY : from vanilla BTS, was 100. At 200 fighter can use promotion to gain more than 100% interception probability. That means a fighter can still intercept incoming aircraft, even if it is badly damaged. So before adding interception promotion to a plane, you'll better add it some strenght.

MAX_EVASION_PROBABILITY : from vanilla BTS. Was used to cap promotion, now is also used to reduce total evasion probability if superior to the value here to insure a minimal chance of interception (5% is mod default). ie : stealth fighter has 50% chance of evasion, on recon it gain 50% more, total is 100%, making it totally un-interceptable. With MAX_EVASION_PROBABILITY = 95, the total evasion chance is reduced to 95%. Cruise missile are also affected by this value.

EXTRA_MAX_AIR_DAMAGE_TO_SEA : new value, adding max damage to sea units, unitclass with iAirCombatLimit+EXTRA_MAX_AIR_DAMAGE_TO_SEA>=100 can sink ships. (mod default is 30 allowing light bomber, strike fighter, attack aircraft and stealth fighter to sink ships)

REDUCED_MAX_AIR_DAMAGE_FROM_PLOT : percentage of plot defense value used to cap maximum damage to ground units. example with 50% (mod default) : a ground unit on a clean spot can get a maximum damage of 90% from attack aircraft, but in a city it will get 50% of the city defense value to reduce the max damage. If the city is at 100%, then the attack aicraft can do only 90 - (50/100 *100) = 40% max damage to the ground unit.

RECON_EVASION_PROBABILITY : evasion probability added to planes on recon mission. (mod default = 50)

REBASE_EVASION_PROBABILITY : not used yet

PARADROP_EVASION_PROBABILITY : evasion probability added to paratroops. (mod default = 25)

RESUME_MISSION_ON_KILL : (0 or 1) set to 1 it will allow a plane to continue it's mission after being intercepted if the interceptor has been killed. (mod default = 1)

REBASE_RANGE_MODIFIER : Air units can rebase at AirRange * this value. (mod default = 2)

REBASE_MINIMUM_RANGE : minimum range to rebase mission. mod default is 12, to reflect the fact that cruise missile are transported from a city to another and not using their own range value of 5.

-- Version history --

*Updated to v0.3* (Sep 15, 2007)

+ added sdk change
--- ability to sink ships for unitclass with iAirCombatLimit >= 70
--- rebase mission at 2x air range
--- recon mission can be intercepted (50% evasion probability)
--- hilly terrain, jungle, forest and city defense reduce the max damage you can do to ground unit
--- 25% evasion probability to paradrop
+ small change on stats to reflect sdk changes
+ moved promotion icons out of module, small icons working now

*Updated to v0.2b* (Aug 23, 2007)

+ fixed gameplay issu where some promotions where not available because of the way BtS managed interceptions.
+ added some interceptions promotions to ground-air and sea-air units.
+ reworked stats to be clearer to read

*Updated to v0.2* (Aug 21, 2007)

+ fixed bug with promotions
+ added anti-aircraft artillery unit (optional : if you don't want to use it just remove the AA Gun Folder in your Assets\Modules\custom units\ folder) model by sharick


-- known issues --

- plane icons blurred with Low Resolution Textures turned ON.


-- Credits --

Special thanx to all units maker, especially snafusmith, asioasioasio and Nautil

[Solver]

Wow, looks extremely impressive

[DrJambo]

Looks nice! What are the new air promotions?

[Gedemon]

glad you asked it, that allows me to find out there is a mess with the original promotion file and the one in the module

I'll post a fix tonight along with a description note for promotions.

[Gedemon]

updated to 0.2 :

- fixed bug with promotions
- added anti-aircraft artillery unit (optional : if you don't want to use it just remove the AA Gun Folder in your ..\Assets\Modules\custom units\ folder) model by sharick

Here's the promotion list, and a few details :
01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06

[jkp1187]

Oh my god...a B-52....I've been waiting for this for two years.....


Thanks. This looks fantastic. At the very least, the B-52 image is going to replace the B-17 in my file of standard tweaks.

[jkp1187]

Downloaded it into the mod folder, but it doesn't seem to be working....

[Gedemon]

what is your path under the mod folder ?

see the "How to Use Plug and Play Mods" by purplexus for complete installation instruction.

I'll post a new update this week-end, as there is still some problems with the promotion system.

and if someone could give me a clue on how to make working mipmap with dxtbmp to get ride of those small pink icons, I'll be happy !

[Grave]

Nice stuff!


Does the Bone (B-1) have a high poly count? I remember the one released a while back had a high poly count to it.

[jkp1187]

Originally Posted by Gedemon

what is your path under the mod folder ?

see the "How to Use Plug and Play Mods" by purplexus for complete installation instruction.

I'll post a new update this week-end, as there is still some problems with the promotion system.

and if someone could give me a clue on how to make working mipmap with dxtbmp to get ride of those small pink icons, I'll be happy !

Thanks...I had Modular Loading = 0. Hadn't even heard of "modular loading" before, all of the other mods I'd tried just loaded up....

Does "modular loading" mean I could pick and choose which elements from your mod I want to have, without having to edit the XML files?

[Gedemon]

Originally Posted by Grave

Nice stuff!


Does the Bone (B-1) have a high poly count? I remember the one released a while back had a high poly count to it.

yes that's the one

the Rafale, T-50 and Tu22 are also too high in poly count.

not an issue on my brother's PC (XP2400+ - geforce 6600 - 512 MB), and I don't know if it does impact on lower config.

I use the B1 as a fake Tu-160 for east block, I'll take any advice for remplacement with less poly unit.

Originally Posted by jkp1187

Does "modular loading" mean I could pick and choose which elements from your mod I want to have, without having to edit the XML files?

no, you can't change element of a module without XML editing.

but you can combine different modules to make your own mod as long as the modules do not change the same files, and it's really fast to set up this way.

If you have question on how to change this or that in this module, I'll try to answer here if it can be done easily.
(edit : you can already see that the Anti-Aircraft Artillery is a module in itself, and can be removed/added as you wished)


and now

*Updated to v0.2b* (Aug 23, 2007)

- fixed gameplay issue : some promotions where not available because of the way BtS managed interception.
- added some interceptions promotions to ground-air and sea-air units.
- reworked stats to be clearer to read and better gameplay

known issue : pink square instead of small promotion icons. I'll take this as a BtS bug, the icons appears correctly on Warlords version

sorry, it's again a full download, I'll provide a smaller zip with only updated files for next version. I hope that the hardest part has been done, and only small adjustment may be needed from now.

[jkp1187]

Got it to work. Not bad. A couple of constructive thoughts:

1.) For an expansion pack added just to the basic 'epic' game, there may be too many new units. I'm not sure that early jet fighters or light bombers (or, for that matter, strike fighters,) add all that much to the equation. (As units added as part of a mod that reworks the tech tree in a modern era scenario, though, they would be just fine.) Is it as easy to remove a couple of the air units as it is the anti-aircraft artillery unit?

2.) It would be nice if the torpedo promotion permitted lethal bombardment of naval units.

3.) The unit icons all appear rather fuzzy in the civilopedia (I did not check it out in the game.) The promotion icons all appear fine, no green.

4.) This mod might mesh well with NextWar. (See here for a 'cleaned up'/enhanced version of the NextWar mod to which I had a small contribution.)

Anyway, overall a very nice job. Thanks for sharing this.

[Gedemon]

thanx for your feedback

1/ you're right, and I may release a version without any gameplay change. However I advice using this with marathon speed to prevent units being obsolete in 3-4 turn. I made it with this setting in mind

To do that you need to remove all the unit type entry in AirForces_CIV4UnitInfos.xml, AirForces_CIV4UnitClassInfos.xml, and all *_CIV4UnitArtStyleTypeInfos.xml (where * is the civ or flavor name)

2/ again, yes, and I thought of it. Sadly it needs SDK change and this won't be a module anymore. maybe in my combined mod. (with gatling gun for same effect on land unit)

3/ can you detail this ?

4/ you can edit the AirForces_CIV4UnitInfos.xml and change the tech entries of whatever unit with some used in next war.

btw next war is in my wishlist for my combined mod, but not soon, and using marathon myself, I'll surely keep the tech spawn of air units.

[Gedemon]

Here's another thing that bother me :

I don't know why, but sometimes the last entries of my civname_CIV4UnitArtStyleTypeInfos file are ignored by the xml loading

I fix it by adding the same entry multiple time, but it looks more like a temp patch than a real fix...

for exemple, the end of my viking unitartstyle file looks like that :

				<StyleUnit>
					<UnitType>UNIT_SAM_INFANTRY</UnitType>
					<UnitMeshGroup>
						<EarlyArtDefineTag>ART_DEF_UNIT_SAM_INFANTRY_EU</EarlyArtDefineTag>
						<LateArtDefineTag>ART_DEF_UNIT_SAM_INFANTRY_EU</LateArtDefineTag>
						<MiddleArtDefineTag>ART_DEF_UNIT_SAM_INFANTRY_EU</MiddleArtDefineTag>
					</UnitMeshGroup>
				</StyleUnit>
				
				<!-- Swedish Air Force -->
				<!-- _________________ -->
				<StyleUnit>
					<UnitType>UNIT_STRIKE_FIGHTER</UnitType>
					<UnitMeshGroup>
						<EarlyArtDefineTag>ART_DEF_UNIT_JA37</EarlyArtDefineTag>
					</UnitMeshGroup>
				</StyleUnit>
				<StyleUnit>
					<UnitType>UNIT_STRIKE_FIGHTER</UnitType>
					<UnitMeshGroup>
						<EarlyArtDefineTag>ART_DEF_UNIT_JA37</EarlyArtDefineTag>
					</UnitMeshGroup>
				</StyleUnit>
				<StyleUnit>
					<UnitType>UNIT_STRIKE_FIGHTER</UnitType>
					<UnitMeshGroup>
						<EarlyArtDefineTag>ART_DEF_UNIT_JA37</EarlyArtDefineTag>
					</UnitMeshGroup>
				</StyleUnit>
				<StyleUnit>
					<UnitType>UNIT_STRIKE_FIGHTER</UnitType>
					<UnitMeshGroup>
						<EarlyArtDefineTag>ART_DEF_UNIT_JA37</EarlyArtDefineTag>
					</UnitMeshGroup>
				</StyleUnit>
			</StyleUnits>
		</UnitArtStyleTypeInfo>
	</UnitArtStyleTypeInfos>
</Civ4UnitArtStyleTypeInfos>

with only 1 or 2 entry, the JA-37 does not appear in game

I hope I'll find why I must do this for some units

If anyone has a clue on what I may have done wrong in others file, let me know !

[NikNaks]

I found that for some reason adding comments half way through messes things up. Maybe you could try that?

[jkp1187]

Originally Posted by Gedemon

thanx for your feedback

1/ you're right, and I may release a version without any gameplay change. However I advice using this with marathon speed to prevent units being obsolete in 3-4 turn. I made it with this setting in mind

To do that you need to remove all the unit type entry in AirForces_CIV4UnitInfos.xml, AirForces_CIV4UnitClassInfos.xml, and all *_CIV4UnitArtStyleTypeInfos.xml (where * is the civ or flavor name)

Okay. Thanks!

3/ can you detail this ?

See attached.

[Gedemon]

Originally Posted by NikNaks93

I found that for some reason adding comments half way through messes things up. Maybe you could try that?

bingo, seems to be that, thank you

[Gedemon]

Originally Posted by jkp1187

See attached.

Do you use the Low Resolution Textures option ?

if so, there's maybe something to do with the way those DDS icons are saved, I'll try to fix this bug for next release.

[Grishnash]

Suggestion!
To make aircraft have a bigger role in ground control, I think you should add three new missions.
One: Guard. Guard a unit by clicking on the unit you want to guard, must be within range. It works like this. When a unit being guarded by a aircraft is attacked the aircraft will(right before the attack) air strike the attacking unit unless stopped by AA. Only one aircraft will attack at a time, and only once. However you can have more then one aircraft guard the same unit, so that if it gets attacked more then once it will still have air support. Guarding a unit also works agaisnt air strikes at the guarded unit. Can only guard one unit at a time.

Two: Ground Control. Ground Control is just like intercept but agasint ground and sea units

Three: Air to Air. Air to Air is just like Air Strike but towards Air units. You can Air to Air anywhere within range. Air to Air is likely to hit or fight with any enemy aircraft within range. The closer you to where the enemy air craft is the more likely you are to strike. I.e; Air to Air-ing enemy city that has three enemy aircraft in it. 100% chance of going into combat. But won't touch ground units or city def.

Also rebase should have a range of +3? of normal range. And should be able to be stopped by AA.
Also getting intercepted should only have a 50% chance of stopping the aircraft from hitting its target, just with 50% less damage.

Well, Thats it for now, I would put more but... Nah!
What ya think?




PS. Good job, looks good! :P

[dbkblk]

Hey Gedemon !
EDIT: If you need help with french translation, let tell me !
H.