Goody Huts into Botanical Testing Stations

Deliverator · Apr 16, 2010

This is a very old idea of Ahriman's that has never been implemented:

AH29
Suggestion:
In the books there is much talk about the Imperial desert Botanical Testing Stations.
When the Atreides arrive on Dune there is mention that there are hundreds of them scattered around from the Imperial Botanical Testing era (when they were evaluating terraforming feasibility).
In one of the books people take refuge in them and loot them for stuff.

How about changing the Tribal Village into Botantical Testing Stations?
Particularly if we have the post-disaster Dune scenario in the back of our minds, it is easy to see that there could be much to gain in terms of equipment/wealth and technology from being the first to plunder these testing stations.
So I think they fit at least as well as Tribal Villages, but have more Dune flavor.
Would need some new art, obviously.

In the long run, I'd probably suggest tweaking the bonuses available from tribal villages (especially if we turn them into botanical testing stations), so that they don't give entire free techs, which is too much randomness and too much power.

In terms of what benefits the stations give, there are some interesting amendments Xienwolf has made to Goody Huts for Fall Further that we could use:

CIV4GoodyInfos.xml
<iScience>, <iScienceRand1>, <iScienceRand2> - Functions like iGold and partners to grant research toward current Tech being researched. These values are Percentages, the first is guaranteed and each of the others are random caps. So you could set iScienceRand1 to 100 for a completely random addition of Research, or set iScience to 100 for a guaranteed finishing of current research. These values can be negative as well as positive, and will never provide overflow research. Percentage is modified by gamespeed, so on Marathon games you will gain 1/3 of the listed percent, and on Quick games you will gain ~130% the listed. Thus to get a free Tech (just started researching it) on Marathon, you would need a Science value of 300 after both Randoms, but to get a free tech on quick you would only need a 67 after both randoms.
<PromotionAdds> & <PromotionRemoves> - Promotions listed will be granted to (revoked from) the unit popping the goody, or to any unit created by the goody instead (for free units or Barbarians). If promotion is being given to the unit who popped the result then it must be a valid promotion for the unit (ie - proper unitcombat)
<iMinTurnsElapsed> & <iMaxTurnsElapsed> - Earliest and Latest in the course of a game that the goody can be granted. Weighted by gamespeed

Here are is the vanilla Goody Infos copy and pasted. Hopefully this shows what effects are available.

Spoiler :

Code:

<Civ4GoodyInfo xmlns="x-schema:CIV4GameInfoSchema.xml">
	<GoodyInfos>
		<GoodyInfo>
			<Type>GOODY_LOW_GOLD</Type>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_GOODY_GOLD</Description>
			<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_GOLD</Sound>
			<iGold>20</iGold>
			<iGoldRand1>21</iGoldRand1>
			<iGoldRand2>21</iGoldRand2>
			<iMapOffset>0</iMapOffset>
			<iMapRange>0</iMapRange>
			<iMapProb>0</iMapProb>
			<iExperience>0</iExperience>
			<iHealing>0</iHealing>
			<iDamagePrereq>0</iDamagePrereq>
			<bTech>0</bTech>
			<bBad>0</bBad>
			<UnitClass>NONE</UnitClass>
			<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>
			<iBarbarianUnitProb>0</iBarbarianUnitProb>
			<iMinBarbarians>0</iMinBarbarians>
		</GoodyInfo>
		<GoodyInfo>
			<Type>GOODY_HIGH_GOLD</Type>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_GOODY_GOLD</Description>
			<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_GOLD</Sound>
			<iGold>20</iGold>
			<iGoldRand1>51</iGoldRand1>
			<iGoldRand2>51</iGoldRand2>
			<iMapOffset>0</iMapOffset>
			<iMapRange>0</iMapRange>
			<iMapProb>0</iMapProb>
			<iExperience>0</iExperience>
			<iHealing>0</iHealing>
			<iDamagePrereq>0</iDamagePrereq>
			<bTech>0</bTech>
			<bBad>0</bBad>
			<UnitClass>NONE</UnitClass>
			<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>
			<iBarbarianUnitProb>0</iBarbarianUnitProb>
			<iMinBarbarians>0</iMinBarbarians>
		</GoodyInfo>
		<GoodyInfo>
			<Type>GOODY_MAP</Type>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_GOODY_MAP</Description>
			<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_MAP</Sound>
			<iGold>0</iGold>
			<iGoldRand1>0</iGoldRand1>
			<iGoldRand2>0</iGoldRand2>
			<iMapOffset>4</iMapOffset>
			<iMapRange>4</iMapRange>
			<iMapProb>80</iMapProb>
			<iExperience>0</iExperience>
			<iHealing>0</iHealing>
			<iDamagePrereq>0</iDamagePrereq>
			<bTech>0</bTech>
			<bBad>0</bBad>
			<UnitClass>NONE</UnitClass>
			<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>
			<iBarbarianUnitProb>0</iBarbarianUnitProb>
			<iMinBarbarians>0</iMinBarbarians>
		</GoodyInfo>
		<GoodyInfo>
			<Type>GOODY_SETTLER</Type>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_GOODY_SETTLER</Description>
			<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_SETTLER</Sound>
			<iGold>0</iGold>
			<iGoldRand1>0</iGoldRand1>
			<iGoldRand2>0</iGoldRand2>
			<iMapOffset>0</iMapOffset>
			<iMapRange>0</iMapRange>
			<iMapProb>0</iMapProb>
			<iExperience>0</iExperience>
			<iHealing>0</iHealing>
			<iDamagePrereq>0</iDamagePrereq>
			<bTech>0</bTech>
			<bBad>0</bBad>
			<UnitClass>UNITCLASS_SETTLER</UnitClass>
			<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>
			<iBarbarianUnitProb>0</iBarbarianUnitProb>
			<iMinBarbarians>0</iMinBarbarians>
		</GoodyInfo>
		<GoodyInfo>
			<Type>GOODY_WARRIOR</Type>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_GOODY_WARRIOR</Description>
			<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_WARRIOR</Sound>
			<iGold>0</iGold>
			<iGoldRand1>0</iGoldRand1>
			<iGoldRand2>0</iGoldRand2>
			<iMapOffset>0</iMapOffset>
			<iMapRange>0</iMapRange>
			<iMapProb>0</iMapProb>
			<iExperience>0</iExperience>
			<iHealing>0</iHealing>
			<iDamagePrereq>0</iDamagePrereq>
			<bTech>0</bTech>
			<bBad>0</bBad>
			<UnitClass>UNITCLASS_WARRIOR</UnitClass>
			<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>
			<iBarbarianUnitProb>0</iBarbarianUnitProb>
			<iMinBarbarians>0</iMinBarbarians>
		</GoodyInfo>
		<GoodyInfo>
			<Type>GOODY_SCOUT</Type>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_GOODY_SCOUT</Description>
			<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_SCOUT</Sound>
			<iGold>0</iGold>
			<iGoldRand1>0</iGoldRand1>
			<iGoldRand2>0</iGoldRand2>
			<iMapOffset>0</iMapOffset>
			<iMapRange>0</iMapRange>
			<iMapProb>0</iMapProb>
			<iExperience>0</iExperience>
			<iHealing>0</iHealing>
			<iDamagePrereq>0</iDamagePrereq>
			<bTech>0</bTech>
			<bBad>0</bBad>
			<UnitClass>UNITCLASS_SCOUT</UnitClass>
			<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>
			<iBarbarianUnitProb>0</iBarbarianUnitProb>
			<iMinBarbarians>0</iMinBarbarians>
		</GoodyInfo>
		<GoodyInfo>
			<Type>GOODY_WORKER</Type>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_GOODY_WORKER</Description>
			<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_WORKER</Sound>
			<iGold>0</iGold>
			<iGoldRand1>0</iGoldRand1>
			<iGoldRand2>0</iGoldRand2>
			<iMapOffset>0</iMapOffset>
			<iMapRange>0</iMapRange>
			<iMapProb>0</iMapProb>
			<iExperience>0</iExperience>
			<iHealing>0</iHealing>
			<iDamagePrereq>0</iDamagePrereq>
			<bTech>0</bTech>
			<bBad>0</bBad>
			<UnitClass>UNITCLASS_WORKER</UnitClass>
			<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>
			<iBarbarianUnitProb>0</iBarbarianUnitProb>
			<iMinBarbarians>0</iMinBarbarians>
		</GoodyInfo>
		<GoodyInfo>
			<Type>GOODY_EXPERIENCE</Type>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_GOODY_EXPERIENCE</Description>
			<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_XP</Sound>
			<iGold>0</iGold>
			<iGoldRand1>0</iGoldRand1>
			<iGoldRand2>0</iGoldRand2>
			<iMapOffset>0</iMapOffset>
			<iMapRange>0</iMapRange>
			<iMapProb>0</iMapProb>
			<iExperience>5</iExperience>
			<iHealing>0</iHealing>
			<iDamagePrereq>0</iDamagePrereq>
			<bTech>0</bTech>
			<bBad>0</bBad>
			<UnitClass>NONE</UnitClass>
			<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>
			<iBarbarianUnitProb>0</iBarbarianUnitProb>
			<iMinBarbarians>0</iMinBarbarians>
		</GoodyInfo>
		<GoodyInfo>
			<Type>GOODY_HEALING</Type>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_GOODY_HEALING</Description>
			<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_HEAL</Sound>
			<iGold>0</iGold>
			<iGoldRand1>0</iGoldRand1>
			<iGoldRand2>0</iGoldRand2>
			<iMapOffset>0</iMapOffset>
			<iMapRange>0</iMapRange>
			<iMapProb>0</iMapProb>
			<iExperience>0</iExperience>
			<iHealing>100</iHealing>
			<iDamagePrereq>60</iDamagePrereq>
			<bTech>0</bTech>
			<bBad>0</bBad>
			<UnitClass>NONE</UnitClass>
			<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>
			<iBarbarianUnitProb>0</iBarbarianUnitProb>
			<iMinBarbarians>0</iMinBarbarians>
		</GoodyInfo>
		<GoodyInfo>
			<Type>GOODY_TECH</Type>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_GOODY_TECH</Description>
			<Sound/>
			<iGold>0</iGold>
			<iGoldRand1>0</iGoldRand1>
			<iGoldRand2>0</iGoldRand2>
			<iMapOffset>0</iMapOffset>
			<iMapRange>0</iMapRange>
			<iMapProb>0</iMapProb>
			<iExperience>0</iExperience>
			<iHealing>0</iHealing>
			<iDamagePrereq>0</iDamagePrereq>
			<bTech>1</bTech>
			<bBad>0</bBad>
			<UnitClass>NONE</UnitClass>
			<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>
			<iBarbarianUnitProb>0</iBarbarianUnitProb>
			<iMinBarbarians>0</iMinBarbarians>
		</GoodyInfo>
		<GoodyInfo>
			<Type>GOODY_BARBARIANS_WEAK</Type>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_GOODY_BARBARIANS</Description>
			<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_HOSTILE</Sound>
			<iGold>0</iGold>
			<iGoldRand1>0</iGoldRand1>
			<iGoldRand2>0</iGoldRand2>
			<iMapOffset>0</iMapOffset>
			<iMapRange>0</iMapRange>
			<iMapProb>0</iMapProb>
			<iExperience>0</iExperience>
			<iHealing>0</iHealing>
			<iDamagePrereq>0</iDamagePrereq>
			<bTech>0</bTech>
			<bBad>1</bBad>
			<UnitClass>NONE</UnitClass>
			<BarbarianClass>UNITCLASS_WARRIOR</BarbarianClass>
			<iBarbarianUnitProb>20</iBarbarianUnitProb>
			<iMinBarbarians>1</iMinBarbarians>
		</GoodyInfo>
		<GoodyInfo>
			<Type>GOODY_BARBARIANS_STRONG</Type>
			<Description>TXT_KEY_GOODY_BARBARIANS</Description>
			<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_HOSTILE</Sound>
			<iGold>0</iGold>
			<iGoldRand1>0</iGoldRand1>
			<iGoldRand2>0</iGoldRand2>
			<iMapOffset>0</iMapOffset>
			<iMapRange>0</iMapRange>
			<iMapProb>0</iMapProb>
			<iExperience>0</iExperience>
			<iHealing>0</iHealing>
			<iDamagePrereq>0</iDamagePrereq>
			<bTech>0</bTech>
			<bBad>1</bBad>
			<UnitClass>NONE</UnitClass>
			<BarbarianClass>UNITCLASS_WARRIOR</BarbarianClass>
			<iBarbarianUnitProb>40</iBarbarianUnitProb>
			<iMinBarbarians>2</iMinBarbarians>
		</GoodyInfo>
	</GoodyInfos>
</Civ4GoodyInfo>

It would be good to come up with the complete list of effects we want for the testing stations.

Jester Fool · Apr 17, 2010

I think Botanical Testing Stations should NOT give either settlers or workers - seems weird given that Dune is a desert planet. Technology (free or beakers towards currently researched tech), gold, or raw materials would be appropriate IMO. If possible to code, raw materials would add X number of hammers to the closest city's production. Think of it as a 'salvage' bonus using the materials recovered from the BTS.

Deliverator · Apr 17, 2010

Yes, free settlers and workers are a bit strange.

If the stations have been taken over as Smuggler bases then you could have either:

"The station is a Smuggler base. They are hostile!" which spawns barbarian Soldiers/Infantry.

Or:

"The station is a Smuggler base. They are agree to cooperate." which gives you a free Soldier/Infantry unit.

Another hostile one could be:

"The stations is a hideout for Waterstealers. They want to take your water!"

We have discussed before having a barbarian only unit and a Waterstealer unit is a good fit for this. Not sure what the stats would be. If they are quite strong we could perhaps use the min turns elapsed value to make sure you don't get them too early.

Ahriman · Apr 17, 2010

I love the idea overall. Needless to say.

My main thoughts is that goody hut effects need to be:
1. Significant and useful.
2. Flavorful.
3. Order-of-magnitude balanced; we can have negative effect, moderate positive effect, strong positive effect.

I think 1 rules out weak/lame effects like map revealed.
No workers and settlers, agreed.
I think the fact that huts are generally popped by scouts and scout thopters rules out promotions as being useful mostly, and experience.
Free soldiers and scouts aren't that useful either; if we're going to have free units, lets make them *significant*. Like, you find an infantry unit, or maybe even a quad or vulture thopter in working order (but maybe one that starts with a "damaged" or "poorly maintained" penalty that gives a -20% strength penalty, so these aren't too powerful).
Free techs are too strong. I can see a weak positive outcome that gives say +25% to the current tech, and a positive outcome that gives say +50% to the current tech.

I like the idea of finding a smuggler base popping barbarian soldiers. Finding the Water Stealers could pop a single barbarian crysknife fighter.

Gold is fine, but call it spice. "We have discovered a small stockpile of spice." +X gold. "We have
discovered a large stockpile of spice." +Y Gold.

Planetfall has some interesting goody hut impacts, we could steal some of theirs (including code).

Some other ideas:
Salvage some useful equipment. This could either give an automatic one-shot hammer boost in your closest city, or could create a Supply pod unit that has a minature great engineer ability, and great engineer AI. Make it a 2 move suspensor unit with 1 strength, and can be sacrificed in a city for a hammer bonus (~40 hammers?)

Find a cache of water. This could give a one-shot water bonus in your closest city, or could add a "water supply" feature to the tile that gives that tile permanent +1 water income.

Similarly we could have some friendly smugglers that gives +1 commerce, and some functioning equipment that gives a permanent +1 hammer bonus.

Find a nursery of some kind; creates a fresh water feature on the tile, and transforms the tile to anchor grass. Or just create a cereal, dates, etc. resource.

The station has great defensive attributes; create a Fort improvement on the tile (complete with cultural increase for the discovering player).

The station has functioning windtraps; add a windtrap improvement on the tile.

If we did have use promotions, we could add the "stillsuits" promotion that gives +1 movement. That would be useful even on a scout unit.

Ahriman · Apr 17, 2010

Another possibility:
"You discover a camp of spice traders willing to work for you."
Add a spice resource to the tile, and a fort. So that your spice income is higher by 1. Might be hard to get to work well.

Deliverator · May 3, 2010

I have the graphic for this done. Hopefully this looks suitably derelict.

Spoiler :

I made it by combining the destroyed Arcology with some Jungle trees and bushes.

Effects-wise I have merged the Science effect tags from FF into my local SDK, and I'm planning to merge the Bonus creation stuff from Planetfall too.

I like pretty much all the ideas here so far, but it will take a little time to implement them.

Jester Fool · May 3, 2010

Deliverator said:
Hopefully this looks suitably derelict.

Indeed. Great work Deliverator! :goodjob:

Teodosio · May 4, 2010

What about having both tribal villages and botanical stations? They could provide different effects, a bit like dungeons/nests/caverns in Fall from Heaven!

dammitbiscuit · May 4, 2010

I really like this idea. I personally turn off tribal villages when playing Dune, because, to me,

1 - natives should be hidden away in nearly impossible-to-find sietches
2 - they're more likely to slit your throat than give you goodies
3 - the AI always finds them first anyways

Again, as I mentioned in my wordy feedback post, I have only read Dune, awhile ago and only once. I haven't read any sequels or seen the movie. So my impression of Arrakis may be a bit inacurrate.

Deliverator · May 4, 2010

What about having both tribal villages and botanical stations? They could provide different effects, a bit like dungeons/nests/caverns in Fall from Heaven!

I prefer stations instead of villages rather than both, but with a wider range of interesting effects. I think the lack of villages can be explained by our vague post-apocalyptic backstory...

Unrelatedly, it would be good to have more dunish names for the improvements Cottage, Hamlet, Village, Town. I guess we can add Pyon to Village perhaps.

they're more likely to slit your throat than give you goodies

Well, I've already added a bad goody that spawns "Waterstealers" - barbarian Crysknife Fighters at some difficultly levels. The distribution of good vs bad goody huts can is specified per difficulty level (in HandicapInfos.xml) so we can make the easy settings have most the good results and give the tough settings more bad results.

3 - the AI always finds them first anyways

I usually get at least a couple...

Ahriman · May 4, 2010

Unrelatedly, it would be good to have more dunish names for the improvements Cottage, Hamlet, Village, Town. I guess we can add Pyon to Village perhaps.

I like the idea, but I think we should only do it if we can get ~3-4 interesting Duneish names - it would feel strange otherwise. And unless we use Sietch, I can't really think of any other obvious names that feel right. The books only really refer to the pyon villages and then the cities.

We'd also need to make it really clear to players that these are the same as vanilla cottages (perhaps just keeping the cottage icon on the worker build menu is enough).

Deliverator · May 10, 2010

After a whole lot of SDK merging, here's my latest list of new Goody Hut effects:

Spoiler :

Code:

<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_COFFEE</Type>
	<Description>The station contains an abundant Coffee Plantation.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_DISCOVERBONUS</Sound>
	<BonusType>BONUS_COFFEE</BonusType>
	<ImprovementType>IMPROVEMENT_DESERT_PLANT</ImprovementType>
</GoodyInfo>			
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_INCENSE</Type>
	<Description>The station contains a thriving Incense Bush Plantation.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_DISCOVERBONUS</Sound>
	<BonusType>BONUS_INCENSE</BonusType>
	<ImprovementType>IMPROVEMENT_DESERT_PLANT</ImprovementType>
</GoodyInfo>		
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_DATES</Type>
	<Description>The station contains an abundant Date Plantation.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_DISCOVERBONUS</Sound>
	<BonusType>BONUS_DATE_PALMS</BonusType>
	<ImprovementType>IMPROVEMENT_DESERT_PLANT</ImprovementType>
</GoodyInfo>			
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_CEREAL</Type>
	<Description>The station contains a thriving Cereal Plantation.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_DISCOVERBONUS</Sound>
	<BonusType>BONUS_CEREAL</BonusType>
	<ImprovementType>IMPROVEMENT_DESERT_PLANT</ImprovementType>
</GoodyInfo>	
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_WATER_SUPPLY</Type>
	<Description>You have found a new supply of fresh water!</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_DISCOVERBONUS</Sound>
	<BonusType>BONUS_GROUNDWATER</BonusType>
</GoodyInfo>				
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_LOW_PRODUCTION</Type>
	<Description>You have salvaged some functioning equipment.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_BUILD_PLANTNUCLEAR</Sound>
	<iProduction>16</iProduction>
	<iProductionRand1>7</iProductionRand1>
	<iProductionRand1>7</iProductionRand1>						
</GoodyInfo>	
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_MEDIUM_PRODUCTION</Type>
	<Description>You have salvaged some functioning equipment.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_BUILD_PLANTNUCLEAR</Sound>
	<iProduction>25</iProduction>
	<iProductionRand1>13</iProductionRand1>
	<iProductionRand1>12</iProductionRand1>						
</GoodyInfo>						
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_LOW_SCIENCE</Type>
	<Description>You have discovered some blueprints on minimic film.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_BUILD_OBSERVATORY</Sound>
	<iScience>16</iScience>
	<iScienceRand1>7</iScienceRand1>	
	<iScienceRand2>7</iScienceRand2>				
</GoodyInfo>		
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_MEDIUM_SCIENCE</Type>
	<Description>You have found some shigawire recordings containing scientific secrets.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_BUILD_OBSERVATORY</Sound>
	<iScience>25</iScience>
	<iScienceRand1>13</iScienceRand1>	
	<iScienceRand2>12</iScienceRand2>				
</GoodyInfo>
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_LOW_GOLD</Type>
	<Description>You have found a small stockpile of spice.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_GOLD</Sound>
	<iGold>20</iGold>
	<iGoldRand1>21</iGoldRand1>
	<iGoldRand2>21</iGoldRand2>
</GoodyInfo>
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_MEDIUM_GOLD</Type>
	<Description>You have discovered a stockpile of spice.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_GOLD</Sound>
	<iGold>20</iGold>
	<iGoldRand1>36</iGoldRand1>
	<iGoldRand2>36</iGoldRand2>
</GoodyInfo>		
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_HIGH_GOLD</Type>
	<Description>You have discovered a large stockpile of spice.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_GOLD</Sound>
	<iGold>20</iGold>
	<iGoldRand1>51</iGoldRand1>
	<iGoldRand2>51</iGoldRand2>
</GoodyInfo>
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_WARRIOR</Type>
	<Description>You encounter friendly smugglers who agree to join forces with you.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_WARRIOR</Sound>
	<UnitClass>UNITCLASS_INFANTRY</UnitClass>
	<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>					
</GoodyInfo>
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_STILLSUIT</Type>
	<Description>You have found some Fremen stillsuits in good condition.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_UNITGIFTED</Sound>
	<UnitClass>NONE</UnitClass>
	<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>			
	<PromotionAdds>
		<PromotionType>PROMOTION_STILLSUIT</PromotionType>
	</PromotionAdds>
</GoodyInfo>		
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_QUAD</Type>
	<Description>You have found an old but still functional Quad.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_UNIT_BUILD_TANK</Sound>
	<UnitClass>UNITCLASS_QUAD</UnitClass>
	<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>			
	<PromotionAdds>
		<PromotionType>PROMOTION_POORLY_MAINTAINED</PromotionType>
	</PromotionAdds>
</GoodyInfo>
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_VULTURE_THOPTER</Type>
	<Description>You have an old but still functional Vulture Thopter.</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_UNIT_BUILD_TANK</Sound>
	<UnitClass>UNITCLASS_VULTURE_THOPTER</UnitClass>
	<BarbarianClass>NONE</BarbarianClass>			
	<PromotionAdds>
		<PromotionType>PROMOTION_POORLY_MAINTAINED</PromotionType>
	</PromotionAdds>
</GoodyInfo>
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_BARBARIANS_WEAK</Type>
	<Description>You are ambushed by a group of hostile Smugglers!</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_HOSTILE</Sound>
	<iExperience>2</iExperience>			
	<bBad>1</bBad>
	<UnitClass>NONE</UnitClass>			
	<BarbarianClass>UNITCLASS_WARRIOR</BarbarianClass>
	<iBarbarianUnitProb>20</iBarbarianUnitProb>
	<iMinBarbarians>1</iMinBarbarians>				
</GoodyInfo>
<GoodyInfo>
	<Type>GOODY_BARBARIANS_STRONG</Type>
	<Description>You have disturbed a group of Waterstealers!</Description>
	<Sound>AS2D_GOODY_HOSTILE</Sound>
	<bBad>1</bBad>
	<UnitClass>NONE</UnitClass>					
	<BarbarianClass>UNITCLASS_CRYSKNIFE_FIGHTER</BarbarianClass>
	<iBarbarianUnitProb>20</iBarbarianUnitProb>
	<iMinBarbarians>1</iMinBarbarians>
	<iMinTurnsElapsed>7</iMinTurnsElapsed>
</GoodyInfo>

The new tags in full:

iScience, iScienceRand1, iScienceRand2: Contribute a percentage towards you Current research. So GOODY_LOW_SCIENCE can contribute a maximum of 30% of your current research and GOODY_MEDIUM_SCIENCE a maximum of 50%.

iProduction, iProductionRand1, iProductionRand2: Contribute an amount of hammers to the nearest city. Using the same mechanism as chopping forests in vanilla.

PromotionAdds: Three possibilities:
UnitClass and BarbarianClass are both NONE: Promotion added to popping unit
UnitClass specified: Promotion added to Free Unit
BarbarianClass specified: Promotion added to spawned Barbarians
(iExperience also follows the same rules so you can give Free Units and spawned Barbs XP)

iMinTurnsElapsed, iMaxTurnsElapsed Earliest and Latest in the course of a game that the goody can be granted. Weighted by gamespeed

BonusType creates this Bonus in the tile

ImprovementType creates this Improvement in the tile

(More on the Stillsuit promo soon.)

I think the only idea from this thread not catered for is the direct change to tile yield, and the Fort on good defensive terrain.

Each Handicap (Difficulty) level has a list of Goodies specified for example:

Spoiler :

If you specified GOODY_HIGH_GOLD once and GOODY_LOW_GOLD nine times in this tag list and nothing else, then there would be a 1/10 chance of getting a high gold goody and 9/10 chance of a low gold one. So I'm looking for some thoughts on how we should be balancing this both generally and for different difficulty levels. We can of course has the same distribution of Goodies at all difficulty levels if we wish.

If anyone has more imagination ideas for this the post them up.

Ahriman · May 10, 2010

Nice work.
I really like the graphic above too.

I think the only idea from this thread not catered for is the direct change to tile yield

Its not that important to include. Also, you could hack this by making Features like "water resources", "energy resources" and having the goody add these to the tile like in Planetfall, or just directly add a groundwater or other bonus resource.

So I'm looking for some thoughts on how we should be balancing this both generally and for different difficulty levels.

I think we should probably aim for a roughly 1/4 major good, 1/2 minor good, 1/4 bad distribution?

We can of course has the same distribution of Goodies at all difficulty levels if we wish.

Hmm. I'd probably eliminate the "bad" resources for the lowest 2 difficulty levels, and remove any truly huge bonuses (free techs) from Monarch and above.
Otherwise its probably fine to have them as is.

dammitbiscuit · May 11, 2010

It doesn't always have to be smugglers, though admittedly smugglers are a very common resource in Dune, lol.

Other ideas to maybe add some variety:

You find the hideout of some escaped convicts/thieves/con artists, and offer them amnesty in exchange for their service as Soldiers/Scouts/Missionaries. (latter'd require you to have a state religion, obv)

You find some UNfriendly smugglers, but after a tense standoff they surrender themselves to the mercy of your empire.

You find some friendly smugglers, but negotiations for their services break down, and they attack!

You find a family secretly growing/harvesting ((resource)) in the botanical hut for personal gain. You bar them from the premises and ((something something it belongs to the king now,

es!))

Note: this could simply be alternative flavor text for discovering a resource out in the wilderness. Such resources may or may not get successfully annexed into your territory, which always annoyed me in Alpha Centauri. "You discover valuable nutrient resources in the pod!" Oh. Great. Well that territory is unreachable for me at this point, so even though I opened the pod, I guess I located resources for some OTHER jerk.

OR, this could be a new major bonus: you could "order it to be transplanted to your royal gardens", granting access to the resource but without requiring control of the tile. I figure this probably is considered "breaking the game" to get resource access without tile control, but I just thought I'd mention it anyways in case it gave you an idea.

Jester Fool · May 23, 2010

Congratulations to Ahriman (for the original idea) and Deliverator (for the implementation) for replacing goody huts (or whatever they used to be - can't seem to remember) with Botanical Testing Stations. :goodjob:

Not only are BTS (for short) appropriate to the setting (i.e. from the books), but from a design standpoint, they are more elegant (love the graphic) and the results you get from them (A++ on the rewritten descriptions) are much more in keeping with the Dune theme. Bravo!

I dare anybody to disagree... :mischief:

Deliverator · May 24, 2010

Thanks JF.

One thing I am unsure about is whether the amount of hammers coming from the production BTSs is high enough. How do people find that?

Jester Fool · May 24, 2010

@ Deliverator - I'll keep an eye open. Not to sound cheesy, but you really are "The Deliverator" (I can't stress enough how much I enjoy the new material!)

Deliverator · May 24, 2010

Jester Fool said:
@ Deliverator - I'll keep an eye open. Not to sound cheesy, but you really are "The Deliverator" (I can't stress enough how much I enjoy the new material!)

No, if I was really the Deliverator, I'd wield a matching set of samurai swords and deliver pizzas for a living. Great book and author by the way. Stephenson's Baroque Cycle is one of the most enjoyable things I've read.

Jester Fool · May 24, 2010

@ Deliverator - Thanks for the link.

I LMAO! I have always enjoyed zany, humor filled books. I think I'll add 'Snow Crash' to my collection.

Ahriman · May 24, 2010

http://cascadefailure.comicgenesis.com/d/20091018.html

Unfortunately, I'm not under 25.... and will thus never be Hiro Protaganist.

Snow Crash, along with Neuromancer, is basically the birth of Cyberpunk. Both must be read before even *thinking* of seeing the Matrix.
[Or playing Shadowrun.]

Goody Huts into Botanical Testing Stations

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