Aliens, Predators, and Engineers. Oh my!

[WrathRaptor]

I'll admit to being something of a lurker on these forums for some time. I haven't done any modding on a Civ game since SMAC/SMAX. I've enjoyed playing several excellent Civ IV, V, and now BE mods.

But, the time has come! Finally, a Civ game in which I can build some mods that really interest me. So, I'm undertaking a mod project to bring elements of the Alien, Predator, and Prometheus movie franchises to Civ: BE.

I'm in the process of modifying/polishing Linear's 'Weyland-Yutani' sponsor for my purposes.

I'm also working on adding the following sponsors/factions:

• USCM: The United States Colonial Marines, I actually haven't decided if I want this to be a Sponsor, or if I want them to be a UU available to the Wey-Yu Sponsor. Stay tuned for more details on this.
• Yautja: A.k.a. the Predators, might have 2 Yautja factions, enhanced leashing of native aliens (this will include leashing Xenomorphs, see below), faction specific buildings/techs/wonders, have a specific mobile orbital unit, some complex diplomatic relations with respect to human and Engineer factions, and going to require some custom art (I'm looking to recruit someone to assist with this part of my project, this is my weak area)
• Engineers: The Space-Jockeys, can create Xenomorphs, have a specific mobile orbital unit, hostile to all human and yautja factions, faction specific buildings/techs/wonders, also going to require some custom art
• Xenomorphs: not a playable faction but rather a separate set of aliens on the map, my idea here is to have them in addition to the normal in-game aliens mostly as a bioweapon used by the Engineers and the Yautja, the possibility of them going rogue through random events, they wouldn't kill units but would "convert" them into more Xenomorphs, they would also be hostile to native aliens once they are rogue, their use by a faction would trigger more hostility from native aliens towards that faction, I have some other enhanced abilities I'm considering as well as random events that would introduce them (think resource pods or derelict settlements that are full of eggs, ), multiple classes including but not limited to: facehuggers (stealth unit that steals population points from cities or attacks units creating drones), drones (melee unit), praetorians (stronger melee unit), and queens (ultimate unit, can create Xenomorph hives which generate more Xenomorphs)

With respect to faction-specific techs/buildings/wonders. I don't know how specifically achievable this is. It might be unworkable as I currently envision it. I'll cross that bridge when I get there. If anyone has any ideas, don't hesitate to speak up.

I'm planning for some affinity-specific unit abilities that will help counter the Xenomorph threat. But, they will be pretty difficult to manage early in their appearance. Also adding effects to some of the buildings that are Xenomorph-specific counters.

I'm also going to work on some map scripts to go with these mods, in an attempt to add some additional flavor.

I can just see Apollo difficulty games rapidly descending into a Xenomorphic nightmare with all those extra units the AI sponsors get at the beginning. Bwahahahahahaha!!!

Lastly, I'd like to create some specific victories to go along with this. But I'll leave that up in the air for now.

I guess that's it for now. I think it's an ambitious project. We'll see how the reality pans out compared to my vision of it. If anyone is interested in working on this project with me, I'd welcome the assistance. I've got a good friend volunteering his support to help tackle bugs. He feels as I do about this project, it could turn into a helluva lot of fun to play.

And with that. Here. We. Go.

 

[WrathRaptor]

Mod Progress Update

I'm nearing a workable solution for the Weyland-Yutani sponsor, courtesy of reviewing Ryika's Ayuri Clan sponsor. It helps to see the successful work of others.

(As a side note, I have a deep respect and appreciation for Ryika's mods, I've played many of them in the past. They are of exceptional quality.)

I'll be sharing details of the Wey-Yu sponsor at the time that I publish it (I'm thinking by the end of this week). It's going to make my USCM sponsor easier to do as well, which I expect to follow shortly thereafter.

Additionally, I think I've found a way to write the Xenomorphs into the game as a second alien species. That's going to take more work. But it appears more hopeful than I previously thought. Now, I just need to acquire some 3D art for them.

As for the Yautja and the Engineers, the more I think about them as a faction in-game, and how they'd interact diplomatically with human factions. I think I'm going to make them non-playable factions, and limit them to 1 city for the Yautja, and to a few cities for the Engineers.

 

[Doviello]

You can edit the current models for aliens like other modder have done. I think it was the "alien strains" mod for BE that did it that i remember... some aliens were recolored and got stats changes, other were edited in size and number.

I remember being quite surprised by exploring the oceans and finding a HUGE oversized drone flying over a lake.. or a huge purple manticore next to a black, 2-move siege worm that moved around pillaging my stuff (all of it). Bringing new 3D models is definitely not something you want to do unless you know how to do it. On the other hand, if you do go out of your way to create those models for your mod, maybe firaxis will offer you a job haha

(no they don't have money to finish BE so they probably aren't hiring )