Old West Mod CivFan Thread

[KingArthur]

a few smoky things: city smoke, campfire smoke, oven, chimney..some benign version of the disorder animation might be a start...

Um.. smoke signals?

 

[Tortosa]

My wish list in this regard, which I've probably posted elsewhere is:

Water Shimmer
Old Faithful
a few smoky things: city smoke, campfire smoke, oven, chimney..some benign version of the disorder animation might be a start...

I just had an idea, Pounder removed the skull from the plague animation a long time ago, would it be possible to use his animation to have the vultures fly over some of the desert areas, to show how inhospitable it is there?

 

[Balthasar]

Um.. smoke signals?

Good idea: Perhaps a smoke signal team. Look, I found this GIF in one minute in a google search:



Y'know, I think a little smoke like this from a city would add a lot of realism. Or from a camp. For most of history, where there was smoke, there was civilization. It also looks like steam, or a steam vent - hotsprings, perhaps.. Stand-alone, it could be the precursor to a prairie fire (Tom's wall of flame). It's just a wishlist...

Joe, that Tiano Piroga is a good find. I haven't paged through the HistoriCanada mod for awhile..

Tortosa: also a good catch. I'd forgotten about that Plague animation. You reminded me that I didn't even have an Animations folder in my mod folder. I need to grab Vuldacon's Volcano animations, too.

 

[KingArthur]

I take it you know about Vuldacon's camp fire...

http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=12236

 

[tom2050]

That little gif right there could be turned into a unit pretty easily. Here's the FLC. If someone wants to upload it to the database, be my guest. I didn't make any PCX/INI/Sounds or anything, FLC only.

SmokeSignal.rar

 

[T-mun]

Very nice conversion, Tom. Someone, if not you, should put it into the DB...

 

[Joe Cool]

Balthasar, would you have a use for this if I were to finish it up?

(Its still a little rough, particularly the last emotion, and I know he's missing a bandana, but its a start)

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

I like him, Joe - he should go into every Western mod! Perhaps though he's suited more to being one of the other advisors; I'd imagine a military advisor to either look "rougher" (for want of a better word) or be in a military uniform.

 

[Joe Cool]

Well, there's always Clint Eastwood to make up for that, or I could use the cavalry uniform I'm using for the U.S. Officer leaderhead.

 

[Balthasar]

Balthasar, would you have a use for this if I were to finish it up?

(Its still a little rough, particularly the last emotion, and I know he's missing a bandana, but its a start)

I looks great, Joe. Of course I can find a use for it, although I'd appreciate if he could have another name, like Rocky Raccoon, Trade Advisor.

I've spent the weekend with the Sioux, so to speak, and have found a rich source of Wonders, Techs, and units. For instance, >this< document describing the "Seven Sacred Rites" and "Seven Laws". I was also interested in descriptions of the Navaho Witchery Way, which, as a tech, would enable Skinwalkers, who are shape-shifters (i.e., unit + animal unit attack, fortify).

Another unit that could be valuable would be a Heyoka, or Sacred Clown. The latter moniker is what white men called the Heyoka when they saw them because of their resemblance to European clowns and Jesters, and they did have similarities to Jesters, being about mischief and being the only ones allowed to poke fun at the Chiefs, for instance, but in Sioux culture they were much more than that, considered (like we might consider some of our modern comedians) to be both very wise and perhaps a little magical.



The text that accompanies the latter picture says:

Consider the Native American Heyoka, the sacred clowns who are known for doing things backwards, upside down, or in some way contrary. One clown might ride a horse wrong-way-around, put on a woolen blanket on a hot day, question sensitive taboos, or speak aloud ideas others feared to express. These clowns&#8217; strange ways cause people to laugh, to think, to penetrate more deeply into themselves, to become aware of fears, hatreds, and weaknesses, to examine self-deceptions&#8212;to look at what lies underneath the rock. The Heyoka are the carriers of sacred knowledge.

 

[Joe Cool]

I looks great, Joe. Of course I can find a use for it, although I'd appreciate if he could have another name, like Rocky Raccoon, Trade Advisor.

I just called him John Wayne because that's the face I was going for, and aren't all advisor .pcx's interchangeable? But sure, I can change the name/designation.

Do you think he needs a bandana, and would you like me to try and rustle up either a Clint Eastwoodesque or U.S. cavalry head?

 

[Balthasar]

I just called him John Wayne because that's the face I was going for, and aren't all advisor .pcx's interchangeable? But sure, I can change the name/designation.

Do you think he needs a bandana, and would you like me to try and rustle up either a Clint Eastwoodesque or U.S. cavalry head?

Whether or not he needs a bandana is your choice to make. A Cavalry head could be a military advisor. And of course, we haven't seen any of these folks yet:

 

[Joe Cool]

Its a regular AMC marathon you got there!

 

[Balthasar]

Its a regular AMC marathon you got there!

And that doesn't even include some of my favorites, like Goldblum's gambler in Silverado and Fonda's Cat Ballou...

 

[Blue Monkey]

Rather than the Pueblo version of a Heyoka (what your pictures show) perhaps you could use a Contrary. Warriors with more or less regular looks & weapons, but take vows to do things like ride their horses into battle backwards, stake themselves to the ground armed with only a club, follow the opposite of commands & say the reverse of what they intend to do.

 

[Balthasar]

Contraries, Heyokas, sacred clowns, whatever; that's my point: I'm trying to think of Shaman units for the Native American civs. Heyokas appear in Sioux culture, and Plains Indian culture in general, in the Pueblos, the Hopi, and..more, I guess. The point is, that a Heyoka unit would be useful.

But, my purpose wasn't just to cast broad hints about a new unit, either. I was thinking that some types of Shamans could be developed from existing units. For instance:

Spiritwalker = Shaman set as 'air' unit with 'recon' ability, or with 'invisible' flag. Right? See what I'm thinking?

Skinwalker = unit + animal fortify, attack anims. Not too smooth, but effective.

Dreamwalker = similar to Spiritwalker, probably.

One could limit them to tribes that actually had that subculture. Certainly.

That goes to the second part of my research (please correct me if I'm wrong):

Almost all of the tribes had Societies, or Lodges which usually had animal names, i.e., Bear Lodge, Buffalo Lodge, etc. Some were ceremonial, i.e., Sun Dance Lodge; some were militaristic, i.e., Dog Warrior Lodge. There were even distinctions within societies, i.e., winter and summer Heyoka societies.

To simulate this, we could use societies to build units: the Buffalo Lodge would produce Buffalo Warriors, for instance. The shaman units could be built by a Medicine Lodge, which could be a tech and or an improvement, or both.

And if you want to see the basis of the weirdest tech ever, read about the Navaho Witchery Way.

 

[Goldflash]

I second the mustache off of a Tom Selleck Unit/Leaderhead/Adviser.

 

[Blue Monkey]

Spiritwalker = Shaman set as 'air' unit with 'recon' ability, or with 'invisible' flag. Right? See what I'm thinking?

Planning something similar for a saddhu unit in the Bharata mod. Except with the ranged recon flag used for scouts/spies - forget what it's actually called .

As to cultures: you could make the units dependent on regionally available resources. Pipestone for the Plains tribes, etc.

 

[Balthasar]

Planning something similar for a saddhu unit in the Bharata mod. Except with the ranged recon flag used for scouts/spies - forget what it's actually called .

Radar? You know I never saw that flag before until just now. Ever. What does it do?

As to cultures: you could make the units dependent on regionally available resources. Pipestone for the Plains tribes, etc.

Shale stone in the Northwest, Peyote in the Southwest, Redwoods in California, Snakes or Gators in the Bayou. Am I on the right track?

 

[Blue Monkey]

Radar? You know I never saw that flag before until just now. Ever. What does it do?

I can only tell you from a player's point of view. Choose that action & a target tile - a certain range of tiles around the target are revealed. The spy unit in TAM has the proper settings, iirc.

Shale stone in the Northwest, Peyote in the Southwest, Redwoods in California, Snakes or Gators in the Bayou. Am I on the right track?

There's a major geographical/bioregion split between Northern & Southern California. North of the San Francisco area will be more like the Northwest (as are the cultures). South splits between coastal & inland. The further inland the more the terrain & cultures are like their neighbors to the East - Apaches in the area adjacent to Az., Paiutes on the Eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Coastal groups have there own unique culture. Chumash would be typical.

There was a trading network between these areas - mostly in materials used in rituals. It might be interesting make later shamanic units require a second resource not available locally. Both sage & sweetgrass for the sundance ceremony small wonder that autoproduces contrary warriors, for example.

So maybe shamanic resources should be
Abalone & reeds for the coastal Californians - they were known for their beadwork & amazing baskets. Baskets that are watertight & can be used for cooking. Part of their ceremonial practices involve basket offerings. They would trade with other tribes for feathers, etc. to be used in ceremonies. There are instances of Amazonian parrot feathers being incorporated in Californian & Southwestern artifacts.

Redwoods for the Northwest - both for the ceremonial lodges & for the transformational masks used in their ceremonies. Also abalone for the distinctive buttons used in their ceremonial attire. Copper is important for the potlatches. Maybe there's a trade opportunity there with high plains Paiutes?.

Sage for the Southwest - smudging is done at practically every ceremony. Often burned in an abalone shell - so they'll need to trade with the Californians. Also special clays used for making sacred vessels (including Kachinas) - locations are protected & the clay must be collected with appropriate rituals by specially trained shamans. Sage could be traded to the Plains cultures for sweetgrass & to the NW for cedar. Both are used as incense/smudge in some ceremonies. Same goes for pipestone from the Plains & tobacco from the SE.