Éa, The Ageless and the Divine (phase 2, alpha)

[3335d]

I feel for your pain. I used to be a mac user until I needed to do a little coding for work in 2000, which forced me to transition over to the dark side.

I have no idea how they are porting over to Mac. Are the Lua/XML files identical for PC and Mac (other then the recent patch)? Even if so, at some point in the near future I'm going to start dll work. I suspect that dll mods don't work for Mac. But I could be wrong...

I think that DLL will work for Mac when they release the Fall Patch for that platform.

 

[Aerolight]

Great work. A question:when processing AI's turn, sometimes the diplomacy screen blinks once and disappeared and I don't know what was he saying, nor what was my opinion. what was happening?

 

[Killzerslaul]

Great work. A question:when processing AI's turn, sometimes the diplomacy screen blinks once and disappeared and I don't know what was he saying, nor what was my opinion. what was happening?

I think that's when the AI is trying to talk to you but isn't allowed because one of you doesn't have a character appointed as ruler.

 

[Pazyryk]

I think that's when the AI is trying to talk to you but isn't allowed because one of you doesn't have a character appointed as ruler.

Exactly. This is what coders call a "kludge". The dll asks for the leader screen and the mod's Lua logic immediately closes it. (I can remove the kludge after I do a bit of dll work.)

 

[oChuckles]

I'm very interested in helping with this project. It's eerie how much of it looks like an idea I had for a civ V mod just before it came out. I could bombard you with questions and credentials (probably in a PM,) but first I'd like to ask a simple question. Although I see that you've enlisted the help of many artists, it doesn't look like the programming and design are currently much of a team effort. Are you open to more programmers and designers?

 

[Pazyryk]

Although I see that you've enlisted the help of many artists, it doesn't look like the programming and design are currently much of a team effort. Are you open to more programmers and designers?

Just to clarify: I have many artists that have agreed to let me use existing personal art for 2D images (all under the condition that they aren't cropped or otherwise molested). We have 0 artists doing 2D icon art, 3D unit art, or unit conversions from Civ4 for the mod -- though we desperately need them.

On the programming side, yes. Especially ddl stuff since I don't know C++ yet. For a start, we need full control of unit movement (violating cities and 1upt) for the GPs so I can remove the nasty Lua hacks I've used. On the Lua side, the action/spell system is very modular -- so pretty much anyone can program new actions or spells (all Lua) if they want to learn the system. The existing AI (all Lua) also needs a lot of testing, calibration, programming, and integration with the core dll AI.

On the design side, this is the area where I am the most possessive. I've more or less mapped out the 12 phases in a design doc that I am unlikely to reveal to anyone. It's not complete though or completely rigid. If someone is an active artist or programmer on the project, I could imagine opening up discussion on an upcoming phase (or two). Phase 3 and 4 basically get us to a functional game, but there is a ton of work to get there and I'd be grateful for help. To be honest, I have no idea whether this will evolve into a team effort or not. I'll take help where I can get it and give appropriate credit (see existing Credits). But it's my baby, so to speak.

I'm also quite open to modmoders (how I got my start with FFH). That's one way to benefit from the work already done but still have full creative freedom. It's collaborative in a sense because code/art/ideas can be adopted back to the parent mod.

 

[Aerolight]

I think that's when the AI is trying to talk to you but isn't allowed because one of you doesn't have a character appointed as ruler.

But I ACTUALLY had one.

 

[Killzerslaul]

But I ACTUALLY had one.

the AI also needs a ruler.

 

[Pazyryk]

Éa II, v2 posted on the OP along with a revised game manual (will break saved games)

Couple notes before the changelog:

• Make sure you remove v1 from the MODS folder. (This is also a good time to delete the cache and ModUserData as suggested in post #2, if you aren't doing that anyway.)
• You need to be aware of the little GP icon in the lower left corner of the screen (when the unit panel isn't there) or above the unit cycle selectors. This is the only way to get your GP back if she is doing a "sustained" action (otherwise, you won't see them again until they are ready for a promotion).
• My main effort over the last 2 weeks was getting the spell system up a running. I've filled in some missing text (with lots of help from Killzerslaul) but there is still a lot of work to do there. The next two weeks I hope to get back to the basics: making sure all of the policies, techs, etc actually do something.
• I'm still in the middle of splitting Mana and Divine Favor into two different things. They are really different (with different art and text) and you should only see one at any given time. But right now it's a bit messy: Mana uses the "Gems" icon in the top bar but a different icon as a plot yield (one I made but it is not very good); Divine Favor uses the base "Faith" icon. In a few cases (e.g., disciple help text) you will still see Faith references rather than Mana or Divine Favor. It'll all get worked out eventually...
• The Revelry spell is broke at the moment so I disabled it.
• Magic Missile is pretty cool, but the graphics are ... well ... interesting. (I was trying to get some help on it at the end of this thread if anyone is an expert in this area.)
  

Changelog:

• (Has all hotfixes from v 1)
  --Bugs--
• Fixed some logical problems with action system that couls lead to inappropriate "delayed due to shortfall" occurrences and actions being disabled when they shouldn't be
• Fixed GPs not being embarked at sea
  --Gameplay--
• Spread/regeneration strength of all Living Terrain is reduced to 0 in a 3 ring radius around starting plot for Man only (note that a feature in the 4th ring can spread into the 3rd, but the resulting 0 strength features do not themselves ever spread or regenerate)
  --UI & Graphics--
• Order of city names now randomized
• Living Terrain strength is now shown in map mouse-over, e.g., "Terrain: Jungle (5)"
• Mana and Divine Favor now have separate icons (the actual icons used are still placeholder: Divine Favor uses the base "peace" icon and Mana uses a "gems" icon)
• Added a bunch of help texts (thanks Killzerslaul!); all text keys should be done for buildings now (except pedia)
• GPs all have single-unit graphics now
  --New Stuff--
• [Action] Build (Engineer): +mod/2 production per turn; sustained
• [Action] Trade (Merchant): +mod/2 gold per turn; sustained
• [Action] Research (Sage): +mod/2 science per turn; sustained
• [Action] Perform (Artist): +mod/2 culture per turn; sustained
  *Above actions are analogous to the existing Worship action for Devouts; they have to be done in a city but any number of GPs can do them simultaneously (unlike take residence)
• Added UI for learning new spells. It's a popup triggered by a special Learn Spell "promotion"
• [Spell] Bless (Divine; requires Divine Liturgy): adds promotion to nearby living units that increases natural healing by 10%; chance of wearing off is 1/mod per turn
• [Spell] Curse (Divine; fallen version of Bless; requires Maleficium): adds promotion that prevents natural healing
• [Spell] Éa's Blessings (Divine; requires Pantheism): strengthens existing living terrain (forest, jungle, marsh) for spread and regeneration by mod%
• [Spell] Ride Like the Wind (Divine; Cult of Epona free spell): +2m for nearby horse-mounted as long as they stay w/in 4 plots of caster
• [Spell] Purify (Divine; Cult of Pure Waters free spell): removes all corrupting spells such as Curse, Defilement, Hex, etc.
• [Spell] Fair Winds (Divine; Cult of Ægir free spell): gives +1m to nearby naval units via permanent promotion
• [Spell] Revelry (Divine; Cult of Bakkheia free spell): adds +mod happiness to city; sustained
• [Spell] Sanctify (Divine; requires Divine Liturgy): adds promotion that increases natural healing by 5% (stacks with Bless) and protects from negative spell effects
• [Spell] Defile (Divine; fallen version of Sanctify; requires Maleficium): adds promotion that decreases natural healing by 5% and prevents good spell effects
• [Spell] Hex (Arcane; requires Maleficium): adds promotion that gives -20% attack/defense
• [Spell] Magic Missile!!! (Arcane; requires Thaumaturgy): Caster can perform a ranged attack with strength equal to the caster's modifier.
• Added Disciple specialist; 1 slot for Shrine and Monastery for now (need more...)

 

[oChuckles]

Just to clarify: I have many artists that have agreed to let me use existing personal art for 2D images (all under the condition that they aren't cropped or otherwise molested). We have 0 artists doing 2D icon art, 3D unit art, or unit conversions from Civ4 for the mod -- though we desperately need them.

Hmmm, I may be able to get some help from some friends or coworkers, but I'm personally much more interested in programming and game design.

On the programming side, yes. Especially ddl stuff since I don't know C++ yet. For a start, we need full control of unit movement (violating cities and 1upt) for the GPs so I can remove the nasty Lua hacks I've used. On the Lua side, the action/spell system is very modular -- so pretty much anyone can program new actions or spells (all Lua) if they want to learn the system. The existing AI (all Lua) also needs a lot of testing, calibration, programming, and integration with the core dll AI.

I used to write a lot of C++ a couple of years ago, but have since only done little C projects here and there. Regardless, I'd like to get comfortable with the Lua/XML side of things before I dive into the dll. I'm very familiar with Lua and XML as technologies, but not Civ V's specific systems. The only Civ V modding I've done was a map script that I significantly altered from Perfect World 3 (which, although incredibly cool, I never published.) I think at first I'll probably just poke around your code to get a feel for how things work. Unless you have another suggestion!

I like fixing bugs and improving things at my own pace. Generally when I encounter something that bugs me, I want to fix it. However, I don't want to get in the way of a granddesign of yours if it means my efforts will be wasted. For instance, I want to add text to the social policies so that one doesn't have to read the manual to know what they do. Does that sound reasonable? Or would the text end up becoming irrelevant come phase 5 (or whatever)? This is both a specific question and a general question: is this trepidation a valid way to feel about contributing, or am I worrying too much?

I'd probably want to start with something simple like UI descriptions, but I'd also really like to write estimators for those non-simple traits... I actually really enjoy writing AI. (Do you?)

Are you using any version control? How would I submit changes?

As for design, I have many ideas, but now isn't really the time. There's a lot to be done with the features that are already in. I'm also sure my ideas right now are uninformed since I haven't played more than a few games of Éa (not getting past 100 turns even,) and don't really know where it's headed.

 

[Pazyryk]

For instance, I want to add text to the social policies so that one doesn't have to read the manual to know what they do.

Done already for the openers (in v2) but not for other policies. I'd be happy if you wrote the xml for the others. In general, just ask here if you want to make sure you're not duplicating effort. (Don't do promotion texts: I wrote these already and they are going out in a hotfix tonight.)

Version control is me. If you post a file with missing TXT_KEYs, I'll add them into the next version or hotfix. Same for fixed or improved code sections or art or whatever. If you wanted to write a new spell, just post your idea here for discussion. I'll let you know if it is doable (with current systems) and appropriate for the main mod. Then you can write the code and post it (maybe someone else will want it even if I don't).

If you want to look at the current code to add something (e.g., a spell) or improve something (AI), here are the relevant places to start:

Actions and Spells (spells are really just a kind of Action)
EaActions.sql
EaActions.lua
Actions are defined as new DB entities in the first file, which has some generic control like where to display (action or build panel), action icon, and basic prereqs like tech or policy. The Lua file has (optional) methods at the end for each action including Test, TestTarget, SetUI, SetAIValues, Do, Finish and Interrupt. You just have to look at examples, but this is how an action gets integrated into the UI and AI and has its effect on the world.

Civ tech and policy choices AI
EaAI.sql
EaAI_Civs.lua
The first file defines values for plots (features, resources, etc.) when the AI is deciding what name to target early in the game. Some civ names are missing now which is why the AI will never target them. There are also CivPlans, which are never seen by the player but basically set the AI agenda at the civ level. They are essentially "scripts" for selecting the next tech and policy. There are potentially any number of CivPlans possible for each name (though they don't necessarily exist yet).

GP movement and actions AI
EaActions.sql
EaActions.lua
EaAI_People.lua
Actually, most of it is controlled by the Action definition itself in the first two files. For the most part, you can add a new action in these two files and it will work if it is modeled on one that already exists. There is a column in EaAction.sql called AITarget that tells the AI where to look when evaluating an action. You can see examples of "OwnCities" or "ForiegnCities" here -- so a new action using these tags will work from the definition only. But there is no "OwnUnits" yet (there is no code for it in EaAI_People.lua yet), hence the AI won't do the Train Unit action. (Combat AI is a bit different, so the various buff spells are working.)


Edit: If you want the ModBuddy template just ask and I'll post it. (Or if you don't know why that would be useful, just ask and I'll tell you.)

Edit2: Another place to tinker around with code is in balancing of the start location. This is all controlled in AssignStartingPlots.lua (in the mod this is in the PreGame folder -- the file there replaces the core game file of the same name). I did a very quick and dirty fix to make sure every start plot got at least 1 adjacent bonus food resource. But this file will need a lot of adjustment to work right for this mod.

 

[oChuckles]

Yes, I don't know about the Mod Buddy template. Please enlighten me!

If you're interested in my design ideas, here are some based on the big idea I had for a very similar mod just before V came out.

- Druid spell: Enchant. Spend X turns to enchant an unimproved tile. The tile gets the nuclear fallout graphic (for the sake of ease.) Non-allied units have a movement penalty and take damage if they end turn on the enchanted tile. (Think Galadriel's Lorien.) I also thought it might be cool to have some tiles start out enchanted (perhaps allied with the Fae?)

- Devout spell: Dispel Enchantment. (self explanatory)

- A building that was just called "tower" that gives a (substantial) yield bonus to natural wonder tiles, as well as a defensive bonus (requires walls.)

- A set of tile improvements (for various terrain types) that give a yield bonus to adjacent unimproved tiles of the same type. I think this could be a fun little minigame for panthesitic civs, where you try to maximize your yield based on the terrain and your population. An example could be "Sietch" - builds on a desert tile. Provides a defensive bonus on that tile. Adjacent unimproved desert tiles give +1c,+1g. With your low population cities, this bonus might have to be moved from the tiles themselves, to the improvement? (ie, "this improvement gets stronger the more adjacent unimproved deserts there are.)

- In my idea, uranium was made into "dragon eggs." Dragon egg tiles would start as barbarian camps that have a dragon and spawn dragons. There was a late tech called "Dragon Taming" that let you use the eggs for your own dragon units. Dragons as barbarians were not so different from other barbarians, maybe a little stronger. But of course they could move over mountains, as could the tamed dragon unit.

 

[Pazyryk]

Éa II, v3 (won't break v2, will break v1 saved games)

Changelog:

• Added help texts for promotions.
• Éa's Blessings: removed a tech req that it wasn't supposed to have
• Éa's Blessings: fixed so it will work on 0 strength features
• Improvements to AI so it can now do the Train Unit action
• AI Sidhe won't ever do the Lead Charge action (probably you shouldn't either if you play this race)

 

[oChuckles]

Here's the policy descriptions. There are some capitalization and punctuation inconsistencies, but all the icons are in. I used [ICON_PEACE] for favor and [ICON_MANA] for mana, as nothing built-in looked appropriate (so mana symbols will show up as a blank space). I also used bullets in places that your descriptions had semicolons.

 

[Pazyryk]

Thanks!

Your text file didn't get the v3 help texts I added (not surprising since it came out 2 hours before your post) so it adds some (policies) but removes others (promotions). The attached file has both.

This is going in v4 of course but here's the improved help texts for those that don't want to wait.

 

[oChuckles]

Here's a really crazy idea for way down the road:

Instead of turns being years, they're seasons. This allows you to have essentially fractional yields for farms and festivals. For instance, farms could yield 0 in winter, 4 in spring and summer, and 6 in autumn. This makes them yield 3.5 food on average. It adds some micromanagement where you want specialist slots or other tiles for the winter season. I could definitely see major Spirits for each season as well that give, say, combat bonuses during certain seasons, or even have the ability to make it stay a certain season for longer than a turn. Or maybe a snow-specializing unit that gets a combat bonus on ice tiles in the summer, ice and tundra tiles in the fall and spring, and all tiles except desert in the winter.

As a stretch goal, it would be very cool to have 4 seasons as "continents" that get cycled every turn. The current continents have some aspects that could work for seasons, but not others (NA autumn forests are good, but I think spring grasslands should have wildflowers and winter forests should be dead and brown )

I think it's a rich idea, if a little problematic to implement. And it sort of collides with various numbers used to balance GPs and their lifespans.

Could be a modmod, even... "Éa: Seasons"

 

[Pazyryk]

Ouch! That one's hard to do.

I like your idea up-thread about enchanting/disenchanting forests. That easily fits into the existing "strength" framework, with Éa's Blessing being the enchantment spell. Right now, strength is just the percent chance of spread or regeneration (if removed) per turn (weakened by 1 for each chop/removal). But perhaps very strong features can do other things like slow or damage units. You can attack these in a "non-magic" way with an army of workers (already in the game). There will of course be magic spells to fight back too.

 

[FramedArchitect]

I like your idea up-thread about enchanting/disenchanting forests.

I did a very unsophisticated version of this idea for an upcoming mod. A certain policy choice allows "Druid" unit to create an improvement on forest tiles. When the improvement (spell) is complete, it pops two Treant units and removes the improvement.

 

[Lord Yanaek]

Hello.
I've been watching the progresses of this mod closely, as i always liked Fantassy mods (i spend way more hours playing FFH2 than any other Civ4 games, modded or not, together) even though i didn't actually test it as it's still alpha.
A couple days ago i saw Pazyryk's post about artwork. As i have some experience with vector, i followed his advice and tried a design for a spell.
I played some turns to see how spells were implemented. I've seen they take the place of great works, but I'm still unsure what resolution(s) should be used. However, since it's vector, it's pretty easy to rescale.
Here is an example for "Magic Missile" spell (yeah, i know it's not in the game yet).

I tried a "scroll" design as those are spell. I wasn't sure how well this would fit in the game so I put the image on top of a screenshot.

 

[Pazyryk]

That looks great!

It would be nice to have a template "spell scroll" that all the spells could be drawn onto. In fact, what I would really like is 3 different templates -- for Arcane, Divine and Divine(fallen). Maybe just a subtle shading difference would be enough. Or I suppose that the spell symbol itself could be differently colored.

Right now the game forces small assets (icon size 45) because I'm only modding UnitPanel_small.xml (the spell selection UI also uses 45). At some point I'll have to mod UnitPanel.xml also which uses 64. I'm not sure what the pedia uses. Largest size (whatever that is) would be nice to have.

There will be a separate Spell IU. Right now it was easiest for me to piggy-back off the worker build UI. I think it will be the same size icons, but shown somewhere else (maybe to the right of the unit panel).

Magic Missile works btw. It's an arcane spell so Druids can learn it (Thaumaturgy tech is prereq).