Really Advanced Setup

General Tso

Panzer General
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Really Advanced Setup

This mod includes all of the standard options normally found in the Advanced Setup screen. It also adds new features which allow you to modify game play significantly. Works with Brave New World and all earlier versions of the game.

Download:
Current Status: Version 15 (Works with Brave New World and all earlier versions of the game. Does not work with Beyond Earth.)
http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=20830.

Download the file and copy it to your Civ5 Mods folder: "My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization 5\MODS".
Enable the Really Advance Setup mod in your game and click "Next".
Then click "Single Player" then "Set Up Game" then "Advanced Setup".
Do not click "Back". That just causes you to exit the mod.

The following options are available.

Active Civilizations
This allows you to determine which civilizations are active. Deactivate the Civs that you don't want and they won't show up. Even when using randomly selected civilizations.

Starting Bias
Allows you to set starting bias for any player to: Start Along Ocean, Start Along River, Region Priority, or Region Avoid. The region biases allow you to select up to three regions such as grass, plains, hills, desert, tundra, jungle, forest, and hybrid.

Starting Bonuses
You can set the amount of Gold, Culture, Faith, and Free Techs that each player will start with.

Starting Units
You can individually control which units each player will receive to start the game.

Terrain, Features, Resources, and Natural Wonders
There are two methods available to add these items to the map. They can be placed relative to any player's starting location. They can also be scattered randomly across the map. There are numerous options available that allow you to place as many of these various items as you wish on the map. You set the guidelines when setting up the game. The items are then added automatically when the map is made.

Starting Visibility
You can increase the amount of the map that is visible when the game starts. This option applies to all players.

New Game Options
Disable Nuclear Weapons, No Science, No Policies, No Happiness, Always War, and Always Peace.



Players Panel:
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Player Bonus Panel:
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Map Bonus Panel:
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Map Panel:
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Game Panel:
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Thanks for the comments. I'm just finishing up the code for the "Settlers Optional" feature. Everything else appears to be ready to go. I should have version 1 ready in the very near future. I'm looking for some people to do some testing for me. Since most of this mod is involved with setting up the game before it starts testing should be relatively easy. For the most part just setting up a new game and letting me know if you run into any problems when the game starts is all that is required. The only current exception is if the "Settlers Optional" setting is used. But even that only directly affects the game near the beginning.
 
Very Cool Idea! The "active civs" option will be very popular. I was looking to make advanced start rebalancing mod myself since those are unplayable atm (with the :c5gold: upkeep for example). This mod should solve that easily with the yields and units being able to be detailed. That leads me to a few questions, though keep in mind I'm trying to be helpful by listing possible problems ;)

  1. Advanced Starts have a few other distinctions that could be interesting, different techs for example assigned to civs, the sight radius visible at the start or the starting population (and free buildings) of newly founded cities. Could those be set as well? (please please ;) Or a option for ticking goody huts on/off or the # of barb camps)
  2. How will the free units the AI receives interact with the units set in that table? Will those be set back? I'd rather they keep the balance set by the base game/mod itself?
  3. How will naval units work when the civ in question starts inland? Does it search the next sea tile or delete the unit? (Similarly can you assign Air units for later starts?)
  4. I hope this mod will be compatible with CivUP/GEM, but I can guess they both meddle with Map creation. I'd possible prefer a option that is restricted to free yields/units in that case?
  5. And lastly: What does the "Settlers Optional" setting actually do though? I can't imagine anything really. sorry ;)

So yes, this mod makes me very happy. Now I only need a mod that makes the new continent on Terra interesting and help to copy the Mayan Calendar changes to other civs as well (i.e. a Roman Calendar for the Romans ;)).

So one more thing I need to say (even in advance): :goodjob:
 
Mars83:
I have Gods & Kings installed so that is the only way that the mod has been tested. There are no obvious reasons for it not to work in vanilla. If you don't have the expansion I'd be very interested in know if it works for you. If you want to try it out the first version should be released very soon.

mitsho:
1. You have some good ideas there. I added them to my notes. They won't make it into the current version. But some of them could very well end up being added down the road.

2. I'm not exactly sure what you mean here, but the only thing that is directly changed by the mod is the number of units received when the game starts. Once the AI founds (or captures) it's first city it should act in it's usual manor. One note: when you change a player's starting units by adding an entry to it's unit list in the mod, that player no longer receives any of it's standard starting units. That just means that what you see in the list is exactly what they will receive when the game starts - assuming there is a valid plot to place each unit.

3. Naval units will be placed on nearby water tiles - as long as there are any nearby. Unit placement is limited both by the mod which has a maximum distance (it can be changed by the player if they wish) and by the game engine (the game won't place land units on a separate land mass - naval units have some restrictions to). One problem which I haven't addressed yet is that there are no checks done when the naval unit is placed. So you can end up with naval units in places like a one plot lake. I'm not sure if I will get that problem fixed for the first version of the mod. Partly because I want to get the first version out so people can try it. I also would like some input on how people want naval units placed so I thought it might be best to let them try it first then comment. Just skip single plot lakes or skip all inland lakes? etc...

4. I'm not familiar with CivUP/GEM. My mod currently only changes things after a map is created. That might change in the future but I'm only going to do that if some really cool option presents itself and requires a change. Really Advanced Setup should work with any mod that doesn't change the Advanced Setup screen. But I have done no testing with other mods so I can't be sure of that - there may be unforeseen problems that I'm currently not aware of.

5.The Settlers Optional means "Starting Settlers Optional" - I think I'll change the text to make it clearer. If this box is unchecked then every player is guaranteed to have at least one settler - just like the standard game. If you create a unit list for a player and do not include any settlers one will automatically be created when the game starts. If this box is checked then the player will start with no settlers. That way you can have a game where one or more major civs start without settlers and they have to capture a city in order to survive. It's currently up to you to make sure that you give these civs the units needed to capture a city. I may change that in the future but I'm not sure - I prefer giving the human player that is setting up the game as much freedom as possible.

Edit: I forgot to answer your question about air units. I haven't done any testing yet but since they require a city I assume they do not work at this time. I'll put them in my to do list - I should be able to add them when a player builds their first city.
 
Oh, no hurry, I'm just throwing out ideas ;) Take your time. And thanks for the lengthy answer

2. On higher difficulty levels, the AI starts with additional units depending on their personality (i.e. conquest or peaceful) and their placement (coastal receive extra ships). At least that's how it works in GEM. Due to your answer, I think these should be compatible, but it needs testing ;)

3. I'd say skip all inland lakes.

4. Try it out, it's a very good balance mod that keeps close to the base game, but also squashes some very annoying bugs and for example has a gold spending mechanism that makes the AI more competitive. As for why I was asking, GEM has a System in place that distributes ressources for each player. (Though that thread hasn't been updated, the new system doesn't give the exact same amount of ressources, but a range that adds up to the same amount for all regions + extra copies for civs with early UU that use them).

But due to your answer I think they should work together as long as I don't change the ressources. (Or rather, these would just be extra ressources, no?)

5. That sounds like a fun way to play. Not sure if the AI would declare war without a single city though? Needs to be tested though. How will the Capital then be placed if they conquer a city? For the conquest victory condition, will the first city they conquer count, or the tile they start on or will they just not have a capital city that counts towards the victory?

and another point:

6. Are City States/Minor Civilizations changeable as well? Can there be a similar button like "Copy to all City States"?
 
3. Naval units will be placed on nearby water tiles - as long as there are any nearby. Unit placement is limited both by the mod which has a maximum distance (it can be changed by the player if they wish) and by the game engine (the game won't place land units on a separate land mass - naval units have some restrictions to). One problem which I haven't addressed yet is that there are no checks done when the naval unit is placed. So you can end up with naval units in places like a one plot lake. I'm not sure if I will get that problem fixed for the first version of the mod. Partly because I want to get the first version out so people can try it. I also would like some input on how people want naval units placed so I thought it might be best to let them try it first then comment. Just skip single plot lakes or skip all inland lakes? etc.../QUOTE]

Could you not assign a coastal start bias if a naval unit is put in the starting units?
 
In Really Advanced Setup when you modify a player's units they replace the players original units that where created when the map was created. When you add resources you are just placing new resources in an area that is specified by the player's starting location - they do not replace existing resources.

mitsho:
2. Really Advanced Setup creates it's units at the beginning of the game but after the map is created. If you have modified the starting units for a given player using Really Advanced Setup then those units will replace any units created when the map was created whether they are standard units or units created by another mod. If another mod creates units any time after the start of the game then those units will appear in the game. Assuming of course that the two mods work OK together.

4. Any resource added by Really Advanced Setup are "extra" resources. They will not be placed over top of existing ones.

5. I've modified things - they declare war now. ;) Unfortunately they still act like idiots at times but that's just the standard AI doing it's thing.

6. I'm thinking about adding a whole new panel just for city states but I haven't made up my mind yet.

filli_noctus:
That's an interesting idea. I'll add it to my notes. If I can implement it I'll probably just let the human player select a civ's starting bias from a list of all of the available options. That would give more flexibility.
 
How will naval units work when the civ in question starts inland? Does it search the next sea tile or delete the unit? (Similarly can you assign Air units for later starts?)"

I just added Air units so they are now in the mod. They show up after the player builds their first city.
 
Thanks for the supportive comments.

While testing actual game play using the mod I found that there where some issues when activating "Starting Settlers Optional". Depending on how the game was set up it was possible to start with some players not having a realistic chance to win. Also the modified AI was not flexible enough. I'm in the process of correcting these problems which will move the release of the first version of the mod back at least a week.

In the meantime here's the improvements I'm working on. Some improvements are 100% completed, some are mostly completed but need a little work, one or two haven't been started. If you would like to give any input on how you think they should work - feel free to do so.

1. Early Courthouse. This options allows players to build courthouses from the very beginning of the game. I added this option because with "Starting Settlers Optional" it's possible for a large number of players to have captured cities early in the game. This option can also be used without "Starting Settlers Optional" if you wish.

2. Improved AI for players that start with no settlers. I'm working on making the AI players more flexible so that they will respond to changes in the game better.

3. Implement "game rules" when "Starting Settlers Optional" is active. For lack of a better term I call these game rules. Depending on how the map starts out some or all of these rules may apply. They only affect players with no starting settlers and they are only applied before the game starts. They have no effect once game play has started.

If the following looks intimidating - don't worry. You don't need to remember all of these rules. I'm just mentioning them here so people understand how things work. The important thing to understand is that even with "Starting Settlers Optional" active some players may be given settlers automatically (and have their other units modified) if they start in a unfavorable position where it's impossible to win. Selecting certain options can help alleviate this problem. Maps that have plenty of city-states or large landmasses are good. While maps with few city-states or small landmasses are bad. For example a Pangaea map will probably start out just like you set it it up while an Archipelago map will end up with most or even all of players having a starting settler. If you're not interested in the details of how things work - just skip the rest of this post.

Rule #1: If a player starts with no settlers and there are no other cities accessible by land that can be attacked then it will automatically be given a settler. Examples: Only one player on a landmass or two players on a landmass and they are teammates.

Rule #2: At least 50% of the players located on a given landmass will have settlers. This includes city-states. That way we don't end up with something like a landmass containing five players and one city - four players would probably have no chance to win.

Rule #3 If a player is automatically given a settler then their combat troops will be reduced or changed. When a player is given a settler they now have a big advantage over players with no settlers so their combat strength will be adjusted. I haven't decided yet whether to reduce their strength or just eliminate their units and give them some default units based on the starting era. Maybe I'll make it an option. Any suggestions - Should this be implemented? How should the units be changed and by how much? Should this rule affect the human player's units?
 
Maybe we could help a bit more if we had a Beta version to try it out. :mischief: Like starting a few games and posting the lua logs so you can compare them. I'd guess it would help you a lot and we could try it out. The set up and the basic functions seem to work already, but nothing will be perfect anyways ;)

I also wouldn't try to balance across all possible map scripts, map sizes and game speeds. Seems like an impossible task.

As for your question. If a civ gets a settler, I would simply make a list of unit_classes and then deduce them until you have taken a way the amount equal of a settler (at whatever level we set this). This should work for every manually set collection of units as well as some other mods (i.e. GEM adds unit classes like Mounted_Archer, Vanguard and a few naval ones - these would simply be skipped).

I'd go something like this: Siege, Siege, Soldier (offensive), Naval, Mounted, Ranged, Soldier (offensive), Mounted, Soldier (defensive = spear), Soldier (defensive). And then loop this.

I'd put the worth of a settler at x4 of its production cost for a start. Not sure how that would balance itself out.

I'd guess this is your first option? Default units may destroy the balance set for the other civs manually...

May I ask how you improved the AI of AI's that start without settlers?

(And is there a preliminary date of publishing the mod?)
 
I'm planning to release version 1 within a week. If things aren't quite perfect I think I'll do what you suggested and release a beta version. As a matter of fact I guess it will be a beta version either way since I'm the only one who has tested it so far. I'll finish up the start up code for no settlers, polish up the AI a little and then it should be ready for the first release.

I improved the AI by manually making it more aggressive. My AI code actually controls the individual units. If an AI player has no settlers or cities early in the game it will go all out to find the nearest city and take it. After all without that first city it's dead meat.

The one "problem" that will still exist even after I finish with the things that I mentioned above is that the human player has to give the AI enough units to have a realistic chance at taking a city. Something like 3-4 warriors and 1-2 catapults or archers usually work pretty consistently in my testing. I guess I could do something like have a minimum number of combat units but that will be decided after the beta test. The overall aim of this mod is to give the human player as much flexibility as possible when setting up the game.
 
I have to say that the unit balancing ideas are a little too complex up to now, so I suggest to make it optional.
And about the idea itself, it's quite good. A little like the Mongol invasion champign. Besides the mod using this idea you could even delevop a mod called "Civilization V City Defence", Just a "little more difficult" tower defence game.
 
this looks very cool. i had an idea, but i can't find it anywhere else and i don't know anything about modding so you can use it if you like. there should be an option where you can select your start bias. the base game lets you disable it, but i'd really like to be able to start near desert or coast or whatever without needing to constantly restart the game.
 
That idea is in my to do list. If it's possible to implement, I'll probably add it in the future.
 
Version 1 has just been released if anybody is interested. The link is located at the bottom of the first post in this thread.
 
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