2nd attempt; space armarda

[Smoking mirror]

OK, I'm going to try to get the mod in to a playtest version this weekend, so that means finishing the terrain, and terrain effects (such as roads) as well as finishing a few more units.

For the pedia txts etc.. I'm going to add place holders for the moment, then write the full txt later.

Heres another city style, I think this enough citys for now. I want to keep two or three city styles in reserve, for when extra civs and aliens are added.

 

[Sword_Of_Geddon]

A later era version of that last city set you posted could look somewhat like Space Dock from Star Trek 3 and 4. It would look better upright though, if thats possible.

 

[Smoking mirror]

Unfortunately the city.PCXs are able to have quite big images but only side ways.

Here is a screenshot from the editor showing the new cities, along with a territory border experiment. You can also see ruins and the new revised (darkened) red zone.

For the roads I'm probably going to use multiple minature space stations, representing refueling stations. For mines I'm going to have orbital elevators (can only be built on planets) and for irrigation i'm going to use zero-point-energy grids which can extract energy from the vacum of space itself!

Radarstations are going to be gravotronic sensor stations and fortresses are going to be aegis shield stations.

most terrain improvements will come rather late compared to a normal civ III game. I want to pose a tactical challenge to the player, how do you build an empire with limited terraforming options? Workers will be able to harvest asteroids to get extra shields and if they connect thier trade network to a "asteroid belt" resource they can "shepherd" the asteroids (plant forest) to where they are needed, providing extra sheilds. This is a standard SF idea, and even has a name, "the O'neil halo". Asteroids are moved in to near planet orbit, hollowed out and turned in to industrial bases.

At the moment the territory borders are three jagged lines. Should I reduce that to two? It would make them thinner than the zone borders but they would be more vivid...

 

[WildWeazel]

It all looks good, but the terrain and culture borders look a little too similar, and the culture border completely obscures the terrain border. Maybe using two jagged lines, also thicker and inset a little bit would help.

Is there any way to make the sun's base red? ( I don't remember what terrain is what anymore)

 

[Sword_Of_Geddon]

I like the way this is coming so far.

I had another idea for a city, maybe a modern-estue city(Skyscrapers etc.) but only with a dome overhead. I'm not sure what the dome would be made of, Perhaps its some sort of ulta-thin alloy that blocks radiation and harmful space particles, but allows the inhabidants of the city a view of space.

Theres also the "Donut" shaped space colonies from the various Gundam incarnations.

 

[Saturn6]

I like this mod. However, you might want to start thinking about a new thread. With 13 pages I didn't read all of it, so you might also want summary posts where you have a summary of what happened since the other summary post. That would make it easier to read.

From,
THE EMPEROR

 

[Tholish]

If you reduce terraforming options so the player has to think, what will that do to the poor AI? You can't have things like land transports (which a human will use but the AI won't) and similarly you can't expect the AI to become a forest farmer. The AI will plant forest if thats the best way to maximize the terrain value, but it won't repeatedly cut it down and replant it to harvest shields. I think. Let me try a test mod, all tundra, except forest produces 2 food, plant forest requires no tech and no terrain produces shields...

 

[Neomega]

If you reduce terraforming options so the player has to think, what will that do to the poor AI? You can't have things like land transports (which a human will use but the AI won't) and similarly you can't expect the AI to become a forest farmer. The AI will plant forest if thats the best way to maximize the terrain value, but it won't repeatedly cut it down and replant it to harvest shields. I think. Let me try a test mod, all tundra, except forest produces 2 food, plant forest requires no tech and no terrain produces shields...

An army is a sort of land transport. In my mod I have a unit called "mobile base". I don't know if the AI will build it... but you can make the AI build anything... with wonders. But I do know the AI will put units in it and move them around.

In all honesty, this makes the possibilities endless. With a little creativity, you could have spaceships outfitted with various "weapons" called "foot units", and the AI will use it. Have an actual variet of customized spaceships/armies. It would only depend on placement of the various animations.

 

[WildWeazel]

...and similarly you can't expect the AI to become a forest farmer.

I believe one of the patches prevented planted forests from being harvested for shields. SM is just explaining what plant forest and harvest forest will be raplaced with, and how it would be explained.

 

[Smoking mirror]

I believe one of the patches prevented planted forests from being harvested for shields. SM is just explaining what plant forest and harvest forest will be raplaced with, and how it would be explained.

Yeah, you can olny get shields from a forest harvest the first time its done, but the idea is for cities to use asteroids for industry and extra food (carbecious crondite asteroids are a ready suppy of water and air). I'm prety sure the AI will plant forests all around their cities if it helps improve the land (And they don't have any other options).

Obviously its going to need a full playtest to see waht ideas are workable and what are not.

My photpaint program has stopped working, its giving a visual basic runtime error every time I try to load it so I've prolly got to reinstall it. I'm going to work on the roads today.

 

[Vadus]

I guess the asteroids are forests ? Then you have to pay attention, that irrigation on a forest is possible but not visible in game, because the forest-tile lies over the ground-tile (eg. grassland). But a mine is visible on forests

 

[Smoking mirror]

I guess the asteroids are forests ? Then you have to pay attention, that irrigation on a forest is possible but not visible in game, because the forest-tile lies over the ground-tile (eg. grassland). But a mine is visible on forests

Yeah, but the asteroids are going "float" on a transparent background so it'll just look like the asteroids are above whatever I use as the irrigation.

I think what I'm going to do is start a new thread soon, using Open FX to make units. My own program is too time consuming and difficult to get what I realy want. So today I'm downloading OpenFX and starting work on some of the core units.

 

[Sword_Of_Geddon]

I like the way this is coming so far.

I had another idea for a city, maybe a modern-estue city(Skyscrapers etc.) but only with a dome overhead. I'm not sure what the dome would be made of, Perhaps its some sort of ulta-thin alloy that blocks radiation and harmful space particles, but allows the inhabidants of the city a view of space.

Theres also the "Donut" shaped space colonies from the various Gundam incarnations.

 

[subbss]

Didn't you say that already in post 485?

@SM, I love the look of that screenshot you showed with the cities!

 

[Smoking mirror]

Argh! Open FX designer is realy difficult to understand!

Its toatly different to what I'm used to.

Oh well, I'll keep banging away, Guess I can just use DFX models imported from corel 3d if needs be.

 

[Sword_Of_Geddon]

Didn't you say that already in post 485?

@SM, I love the look of that screenshot you showed with the cities!

Actually I did. But noone responded to it so I posted it again. I don't like having well-thought out suggestions or comments ignored accidently or otherwise. Its my way.

 

[WildWeazel]

Actually I did. But noone responded to it so I posted it again. I don't like having well-thought out suggestions or comments ignored accidently or otherwise. Its my way.

If we respond, will you go away?
That's a good idea, also huge spheres connected by scaffolding would be cool.

 

[Sword_Of_Geddon]

I'll stop posting it

 

[Smoking mirror]

If we respond, will you go away?
That's a good idea, also huge spheres connected by scaffolding would be cool.

No don't go away, I need all the help and sugestions I can get.

I have to say, very much respect to anyone who has been trying to learn Open FX lately, the modeling side is realy quite difficult. I'm used to just doing extrusions of simple shaps, its taking some real effort to get my head around verticies and all that. I think what I may well do to start with is to make the basic models in CorelDream 3D, and then export them as DFX files to open FX. Then I can start adding textures and things there.

Eventualy I hope to be as good with Open FX as anyone else, and also to make my own models.

 

[Smoking mirror]

O.K, I think I'm getting the hang of Open FX (not too bad for two days work).

Heres a test animation I made for a war shuttle, I've got the model all ready, need to do the animations though. This is the death animation, this is the sort of effect I was suggesting for viking yeti's unit, a cloud of super heated steam and air released by the nuclear reactor when the hull is breeched;