Gaius Octavius
Deity
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2006
- Messages
- 4,016
[BtS Mod] Civ-Specific Unit Art
I pretty much have a monopoly on civ-specific things, so I thought I'd continue with my ideas for greater flavor.
Now we all know that in BTS, there is a great new feature which allows you to incorporate "Ethnically Diverse Unit Art," so the same unit will look different for different civs, just as Rabbit White has already done. The best thing is you don't have to add new units, only new art styles.
While Rabbit's done first-rate work, I always thought his mod fell short in one area: the units are not civ-specific. They are culture-specific. Obviously, this won't make much difference in the early eras (I can't imagine an ancient American archer would look all that different from an English one), but it makes a HUGE difference by the late game.
Furthermore, Rabbit, White is reluctant to do anything about it. Here's what the master himself said when asked about making modern units:
All right, that's fine. I can understand his reasons. I guess I'm just "one of those people."
For me, one of the big selling points of a game like Civilization is the immersion. Playing as America should have a distinct feel to it, completely different than playing as the Greeks; even if their units are exactly the same in strengths and abilities, the simple cosmetic differences help immerse you in a totally different world. It bugs the crap out of me when I see the Americans flying around with MiGs instead of F-15s, and the Japanese using Spitfire-style prop fighters.
The aim of this mod is to collect and implement unit art from all over, so we can finally have Civ-Specific Units. (We don't have to replace every single unit, just the ones that need it the most.) Each Civ will get its own art style tag.
Important Note: Please make all the suggestions you want. However, I ask this: only make a suggestion for a unit that has already been created (or is about to be created), and provide a link to the specific file/thread on CFC or Apolyton. I can't afford the time to go unit-hunting for everything!
If you really want a unit that hasn't been made yet to be included, go bug asioasioasio, Chugginator, or Snafusmith about making it.
My ideas so far:
Obviously, for the modern era there are a lot of civs that don't need a specific unit. (What does a modern Carthaginian tank look like?) And if you look at my list closely, you'll see that many of the African units are the same for the Zulu, Mali and Ethiopians. However, there will still be significant differences, particularly when it comes to the Europeans.
So to recap:
We will be starting out with a cultural-specific system like in the EDU mod, but every civ-specific unit that is available to be added will be. I may also add GeoModder's excellent diverse citystyles mod later on, and I'll likely include my Civ-Specific Great People mod.
And to all the naysayers who are going to tell me this is a lot of work for a little feature, that it's not all that important, that you don't care about graphics: Go away. I really don't care if this sort of thing is unimportant to you. Nobody says you have to download it. Leave it for those of us who enjoy flavor for the sake of flavor.
I pretty much have a monopoly on civ-specific things, so I thought I'd continue with my ideas for greater flavor.
Now we all know that in BTS, there is a great new feature which allows you to incorporate "Ethnically Diverse Unit Art," so the same unit will look different for different civs, just as Rabbit White has already done. The best thing is you don't have to add new units, only new art styles.
While Rabbit's done first-rate work, I always thought his mod fell short in one area: the units are not civ-specific. They are culture-specific. Obviously, this won't make much difference in the early eras (I can't imagine an ancient American archer would look all that different from an English one), but it makes a HUGE difference by the late game.
Furthermore, Rabbit, White is reluctant to do anything about it. Here's what the master himself said when asked about making modern units:
Spoiler :
All right, that's fine. I can understand his reasons. I guess I'm just "one of those people."
For me, one of the big selling points of a game like Civilization is the immersion. Playing as America should have a distinct feel to it, completely different than playing as the Greeks; even if their units are exactly the same in strengths and abilities, the simple cosmetic differences help immerse you in a totally different world. It bugs the crap out of me when I see the Americans flying around with MiGs instead of F-15s, and the Japanese using Spitfire-style prop fighters.The aim of this mod is to collect and implement unit art from all over, so we can finally have Civ-Specific Units. (We don't have to replace every single unit, just the ones that need it the most.) Each Civ will get its own art style tag.
Important Note: Please make all the suggestions you want. However, I ask this: only make a suggestion for a unit that has already been created (or is about to be created), and provide a link to the specific file/thread on CFC or Apolyton. I can't afford the time to go unit-hunting for everything!
If you really want a unit that hasn't been made yet to be included, go bug asioasioasio, Chugginator, or Snafusmith about making it.
My ideas so far:
Spoiler :
Obviously, for the modern era there are a lot of civs that don't need a specific unit. (What does a modern Carthaginian tank look like?) And if you look at my list closely, you'll see that many of the African units are the same for the Zulu, Mali and Ethiopians. However, there will still be significant differences, particularly when it comes to the Europeans.
So to recap:
We will be starting out with a cultural-specific system like in the EDU mod, but every civ-specific unit that is available to be added will be. I may also add GeoModder's excellent diverse citystyles mod later on, and I'll likely include my Civ-Specific Great People mod.
And to all the naysayers who are going to tell me this is a lot of work for a little feature, that it's not all that important, that you don't care about graphics: Go away. I really don't care if this sort of thing is unimportant to you. Nobody says you have to download it. Leave it for those of us who enjoy flavor for the sake of flavor.
