More Unique Components for Vox Populi

3rd and 4th Unique Components for VP - Official thread 88.10

Don’t change the text files or dummy files either. Otherwise, yeah, you can change any of the other folders, but those pretty much don’t contain any changes
 
I do get @Enrico Swagolo's concerns, so before I do any further work, here are some other Steam Mill ideas:
  • Go for a Great Engineer focus. +3 GE points, Engineers cost -1 food to work. This is also quite simple to do.
  • Or, GE points from constructing buildings, as suggested earlier, but perhaps we can preempt the 'not constructing buildings' cheese by only granting it for Industrial or later buildings.
  • Strategic resource focus. Give the +3 gold from Coal to all other Strategic Resource. +5% production for each source of Strategic Resource in the city. Downside of this is it slightly steps on Ostrog's toes.
  • Keep the trade route focus as mentioned previously.

Just -food on the Engineer isn't enough, they're probably the most niche Great Person specialist late game. It's also just about 0-4 Food per city in most cases. Too little too late. It's not likely to make me work them in a city I wouldn't otherwise - pretty much unlike the Grande Ecole which right now is okay balance-wise.

I suggest a pure GE focus, or something else entirely. I'm mostly against SR focus and TR focus,, but something mixed could work. Factories and Steam Mills have an innate Internal Trade Route burst, it could be stronger for Steam Mill (considering Victoria, not by much - maybe 60/75:c5production: up from 50:c5production:). Is something like +Engie burst per city possible? Like, every city increases the power of his rush ability, or maybe every city gains Production whenever a Great Engineer is born. Besides that, my suggestions are:

Add a bigger Specialist bonus. Maybe slightly increase Manufactory bonus. Maybe add Great Engie points.
Great Engineers no longer solve problems like what is beauty
Great Engineers solve practical problems

But in general if Great Engineers are to be made stronger for England, it could be useful if the specialist had a clear yield bonus, so the AI's Automatic Govern Citizens Management works them and AIzabeth/VictorAI benefit just as much as regular players. This would help the AI in cases they'd usually ignore working the Engie.

I think it'd be very helpful if other guys spoke out on what they want Steam Mill to be though. I don't really have many ideas.
 
Having steam mills increase GEng bulking is possible; the code already exists to do that.

Well, what did steam mills do in real life england?

Steam power was first used by Newcomen to run water pumps in order to keep mines clear of floodwater. This application was made much more efficient by Watt, who added a condenser chamber to the process.(Bonus to mines and coal)

The people to first leverage the power of coal-burning steam engines were the English (earlier tech).

The steam mills hit their stride when applied to factories. The steam engine and water frames were the first move towards salaried, hourly wage work, replacing contractual labor (reduce maintenance, or higher gold efficiency through some other effect)

English inventors continued to catapult the British empire ahead of other industrializing nations through developments like the horizontal pump, the Cornish engine, and other minor boosts to coal efficiency (use less/no coal in comparison to other civ’s factories). England got its second wind with the second half of the industrial revolution through advances in blast forging, steel metallurgy, mass production of metal tools, the telegraph, and leveraging massive cost cuts in transportation through railways (some bonus to science from production)

The textile industry was the industry most directly affected by steam power and industrialization. Raw cotton from the colonies was processed into cloth at impossibly fast rates, increasing the standard of living of British subjects the world over (gold to TRs).
 
Quick question, the new hotfixed version 43 comes as a zip. Do I need to make a folder in MODS and dump the contents in there or is the zip file fine? I tried doing it as zip file and didn't get anything, but maybe I did something wrong without realizing it.
 
You can unzip it into a folder inside your MODS folder. Steam workshop mods are 7zipped, and ciV unpacks those automatically, but I just used regular .zip
 
For the Steam Mill: give Engineers more Yields. We could have 3 slots for Engineers ( up.from 2).

We need a way to generate :c5greatperson: points for Great Engineers. This is the more important part to think about. Should we go with:
  • A base rate of :c5greatperson: points and a bonus % to Engineers.
  • Gain :c5greatperson: points from new Buildings, Units, Pop Growth, Tech, etc.
  • Gain :c5greatperson: from Trade Routes, somehow
 
Or maybe they can increase the instant yields for Great Engineers? Every Steam Mill increases GE yield by half as much as a manufactory?
 
The a +5% GE bulb modifier is doable; it’s vanilla code from the ISS wonder.

For my part, I’d rather stay away from increased bulb chance because I had hoped to do something similar with Khmer, if I ever make the VP compatibility for sukritact’s version of Khmer

That’s just my own bias tho
 
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Just a random idea I had, I'm certainly not wedded to it. I would, however, prefer if any well-received ideas were not restricted to modmod civs, as not all of us like to use them.

However, I am just one vote, and I do not take any of this stuff personally, so feel free to follow your own preferences. You are the main author after all.
 
Let's make the Steam Mill purely GE focused then. I'll take out the gold to trade routes portion.

I think I like the GE points from constructing buildings the most, I'll have it give 5% - 10% of GE progress per building. Then it can get a simple bonus to engineer specialists on top, like +2 production. Or we can do +1 production to all specialists. That should be enough to make the Steam Mill more interesting.

Bonuses to bulbing feels like it leans more towards tall civs, which an English/British civ probably shouldn't be.
 
v42 oficially released.
 
MkIy60X.png


Finally done with the Steam Mill code. Debugging took a while.

The code will be incorporated in the next VP version, but I'll put my DLL and SQL here so you can do some testing and release the next version sooner. Use version 2-17-3 of VP.

You should replace all references of VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL to STEAM_MILL. I'm purposely making my Steam Mill have a different type/string reference from the 3/4UC one.

Currently it grants 10% of the progress to the next Great Engineer when a building is constructed, and gives +2 Production to engineers.

SQL:
Code:
--==========================================================================================================================
-- BUILDINGS
--==========================================================================================================================
-- Buildings
--------------------------------
INSERT INTO Buildings
       (Type, BuildingClass, Cost, GoldMaintenance, ArtDefineTag, SpecialistType, TradeRouteTargetBonus, TradeRouteRecipientBonus, MinAreaSize, ConquestProb, HurryCostModifier)
SELECT   'BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL', BuildingClass, Cost, GoldMaintenance, ArtDefineTag, SpecialistType, TradeRouteTargetBonus, TradeRouteRecipientBonus, MinAreaSize, ConquestProb, HurryCostModifier
FROM Buildings WHERE Type = 'BUILDING_FACTORY';

UPDATE Buildings SET Cost = 1000, GoldMaintenance = 6 WHERE Type = 'BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL';
UPDATE Buildings SET PrereqTech = 'TECH_STEAM_POWER' WHERE Type = 'BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL';
UPDATE Buildings SET Help = 'TXT_KEY_BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL_HELP', Description = 'TXT_KEY_BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL', Civilopedia = 'TXT_KEY_CIV5_BUILDINGS_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL_TEXT', Strategy = 'TXT_KEY_BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL_STRATEGY' WHERE Type = 'BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL';
UPDATE Buildings SET SpecialistCount = 2 WHERE Type = 'BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL';
--UPDATE Buildings SET TradeRouteTargetBonus = 3, TradeRouteRecipientBonus = 3 WHERE Type = 'BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL';
UPDATE Buildings SET IconAtlas = 'COMMUNITY_ATLAS', PortraitIndex = 36 WHERE Type = 'BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL';
--------------------------------
-- Building_ImprovementYieldChanges
--------------------------------
INSERT INTO Building_ImprovementYieldChanges
       (BuildingType, ImprovementType, YieldType, Yield)
SELECT   'BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL', ImprovementType, YieldType, Yield+2
FROM Building_ImprovementYieldChanges WHERE BuildingType = 'BUILDING_FACTORY';
--------------------------------
-- Building_YieldChanges
--------------------------------
INSERT INTO Building_YieldChanges
       (BuildingType, YieldType, Yield)
SELECT   'BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL', YieldType, Yield
FROM Building_YieldChanges WHERE BuildingType = 'BUILDING_FACTORY';
--------------------------------
-- Building_Flavors
--------------------------------
INSERT INTO Building_Flavors
       (BuildingType, FlavorType, Flavor)
SELECT   'BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL', FlavorType, Flavor+5
FROM Building_Flavors WHERE BuildingType = 'BUILDING_FACTORY';
--------------------------------
-- Building_ClassesNeededInCity
--------------------------------
INSERT INTO Building_ClassesNeededInCity
       (BuildingType, BuildingClassType)
SELECT   'BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL', BuildingClassType
FROM Building_ClassesNeededInCity WHERE BuildingType = 'BUILDING_FACTORY';
--------------------------------
-- Building_YieldChangesPerPop
--------------------------------
INSERT INTO Building_YieldChangesPerPop
       (BuildingType, YieldType, Yield)
SELECT   'BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL', YieldType, 50
FROM Building_YieldChangesPerPop WHERE BuildingType = 'BUILDING_FACTORY';
--------------------------------
-- Building_ResourceYieldChanges
--------------------------------
INSERT INTO Building_ResourceYieldChanges
       (BuildingType, ResourceType, YieldType, Yield)
VALUES   ('BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL', 'RESOURCE_COAL', 'YIELD_PRODUCTION', 3);
--------------------------------
-- Building_GreatPersonProgressFromConstruction
--------------------------------
INSERT INTO Building_GreatPersonProgressFromConstruction
       (BuildingType, GreatPersonType, EraType, Value)
VALUES   ('BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL', 'GREATPERSON_ENGINEER', 'ERA_INDUSTRIAL', 10);
--------------------------------
-- Building_SpecialistYieldChangesLocal
--------------------------------
INSERT INTO Building_SpecialistYieldChangesLocal
       (BuildingType, SpecialistType, YieldType, Yield)
VALUES   ('BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL', 'SPECIALIST_ENGINEER', 'YIELD_PRODUCTION', 2);

Strings:
Code:
       <Row Tag="TXT_KEY_BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL">
           <Text>Steam Mill</Text>
       </Row>
       <Row Tag="TXT_KEY_CIV5_BUILDINGS_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL_TEXT">
           <Text>Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam cars (and other motor vehicles), agricultural engines used for ploughing or threshing, marine engines, and the steam turbines used as the mechanism of power generation for most nuclear power plants. They were introduced during the 18th century and widely made for the whole of the 19th century and most of the first half of the 20th century, only declining as electricity supply and the internal combustion engine became more widespread.</Text>
       </Row>
       <Row Tag="TXT_KEY_BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL_HELP">
           <Text>+1 [ICON_PRODUCTION] Production for every 2 [ICON_CITIZEN] Citizens in the City. Manufactories worked by the City gain +4 [ICON_PRODUCTION] Production.[NEWLINE][NEWLINE]Gain 10% of the progress towards the next [ICON_GREAT_ENGINEER] Great Engineer in the City when constructing buildings which are Industrial Era or later.[NEWLINE][NEWLINE]+2 [ICON_PRODUCTION] Production to Engineer Specialists.[NEWLINE][NEWLINE]Nearby [ICON_RES_COAL] Coal: +3 [ICON_PRODUCTION] Production.</Text>
       </Row>
       <Row Tag="TXT_KEY_BUILDING_VICTORIA_STEAM_MILL_STRATEGY">
           <Text>Unique British replacement for the Factory. The Steam Mill is cheaper, requires no [ICON_RES_COAL] Coal, is available earlier than the Factory, and provides additional Production to [ICON_RES_COAL] Coal worked by the City. The Steam Mill also provides [ICON_GREAT_ENGINEER] Great Engineer points when constructing buildings, while increasing the [ICON_PRODUCTION] Production of Engineer specialists. Since Steam Mills do not require Coal, you can use your Coal surplus to build Seaports and Coal Plants, or you can trade it away for a large amount of gold.</Text>
       </Row>

You'll need to replace a few VP files. You should make a backup and keep it until the next version, but leaving the files after pasting should be fine too. Download from Mediafire.

- CvGameCore_Expansion2.dll: ...\MODS\(1) Community Patch
- UnifiedYields.xml: ...\MODS\(1) Community Patch\Core Files\PNM Mods DB\API
- CityView.lua: ...\MODS\(6a) Community Balance Overhaul - Compatibility Files (EUI)\LUA
 
Very cool. In my opinion, the original steam mill was below the desired power curve, but not grievously so. It was missing something to set it apart beyond being earlier/cheaper/no requirements. The +10% on GEng manages to do that, and I don’t think the additional +2:c5production: necessarily adds anything. I’ll probably drop the specialist bonus for MUCfVP
 
I disagree, Steam Mill was the worst UB in both vanilla VP and MUV4C. It'll still be average at best at +2 Prod for Engineers. The 10% GE per building built is more likely to pose a problem. I can already see ways to abuse this if you can sell to get it again. It'd be better if it encouraged having well-built cities instead of either incentivising them being lackluster as you reach Industrial era (if a building being built once means you cannot repeat, some buildings could be delayed for GE points), or purposely destroying your constructed bulidings. Something like +1 :c5greatperson: Great Engineer point for every 5 buildings in the city, maybe? This way there's no way to abuse it.
 
Finished a game as Japan. Overall the game great even though I wasn't really able to use my Samurai timing well due to terrain. I ended up winning with Science because I was too lazy to conquer the last 3 capitals and Diplomatic was taking too long.

The culture from ITR was great, and the Yamato is insane. Not sure the Golden Age points from Yamato are in any way meaningful except for fun flavor, if you're going to win the game at that point you'll have permanent Golden Ages anyway. I had a backlog of over 400k GAP when I finished the game. I also made the mistake of upgrading them which is just a straight downgrade to 2 range Missile Cruiser, so you have to trade 1 range for the missile capabilities which I never use anyway. Overall felt the 3/4UCs were pretty good and felt reasonably balanced.
 
Just updated to v42 and playing Rome, my Latifundum aren't spawning Figs on completion. After I noticed it the first time I tried another 2, neither of them spawned either. I booted up a 2nd game just to see and I'm still not seeing any Figs spawn. All I have mods wise are this, the newest VP, EE, and ENW, which shouldn't cause an issue. Any idea?
 
@pineappledan I forgot to mention, I removed the gold from trade routes, so you should consider that as well.

I disagree, Steam Mill was the worst UB in both vanilla VP and MUV4C. It'll still be average at best at +2 Prod for Engineers. The 10% GE per building built is more likely to pose a problem. I can already see ways to abuse this if you can sell to get it again. It'd be better if it encouraged having well-built cities instead of either incentivising them being lackluster as you reach Industrial era (if a building being built once means you cannot repeat, some buildings could be delayed for GE points), or purposely destroying your constructed bulidings. Something like +1 :c5greatperson: Great Engineer point for every 5 buildings in the city, maybe? This way there's no way to abuse it.
Both should not be viable.
  1. Like the Industry opener, the GE points are only granted if the building never existed in the city before.
  2. The GE points are only granted if the completed building is at least Industrial Era, and Steam Mills are an early Industrial building.
 
Just updated to v42 and playing Rome, my Latifundum aren't spawning Figs on completion. After I noticed it the first time I tried another 2, neither of them spawned either. I booted up a 2nd game just to see and I'm still not seeing any Figs spawn. All I have mods wise are this, the newest VP, EE, and ENW, which shouldn't cause an issue. Any idea?

There's several explanations that I know from my Roman time.

1.There's no free spots adjacent to the Latifundium luxury. Everything might be water or taken by resources. Check if that is the case, Figs only spawn if there's an adjacent tile there's nothing on
2. If it appears like there are non-water, non-resource adjacent tiles, it might still be misleading. It's likely there's Uranium/Aluminium/Oil/Coal in the spots that appear possible, and even if you can't see a resource that's there and won't for 200 turns, Latifundium doesn't care
3. Marisa stole the precious Fig
4. Rome has given no Figs about the Latifundium, and so no figs are there
5. There's Fig all you can do about this

To sum up it's either a new bug (it did work previously), or there's no viable adjacent spots.

Both should not be viable.
  1. Like the Industry opener, the GE points are only granted if the building never existed in the city before.
  2. The GE points are only granted if the completed building is at least Industrial Era, and Steam Mills are an early Industrial building.

You thought of everything then, I have no complaints left and am in favour of this. Without the possibility of easy abuse, it'll be one glorious, unique and cool UB.
 
You thought of everything then, I have no complaints left and am in favour of this. Without the possibility of easy abuse, it'll be one glorious, unique and cool UB.
You thought of it, I just read your comment. :)
 
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