Alpha testers needed for Steph's mod 2

I have uploaded a new patch.

I really hate adding buildings, and I screwed it big time when I did the patch yesterday. If you look at the pedia entries, or at the science advisor, it crashed immediately (and also during loading).

It should not crashed anymore with the 07_07_28 patch.

Note that the graphics currently use "no icons"

I have also added a new French specific tech, wonder and unit, the Knight templars (produced by the wonder).

And I have started to add the scout/ explorer and spy lines.

I've also upgraded the French 07 cuirassiers graphics.
I went to your website and there is no 07_07_28 patch link.

I typed this into my address bar and it started the download:
http://stephane.f.david.free.fr/CivMod/Files/StephMod_Update_07_07_28_Test.zip
 
Steph_NoPop
July 28, 2007

Continents 70%
Normal Climate
Temperate temperature
4 Billion age
Standard size
Roaming barbarians
Default rules
All random enemies
Normal aggression
Regent difficulty
Playing Americans.

1. It might not matter, but when the cursor hovers over Tribal Wars, the Sid Meier science advisor calls it Fascism.

2. How strange. I have 3 US_01I # Warriors, 1 US_01I - Warrior, and 1 Slave worker, and the Military Advisor screen shows that I have 1 unit.

3. I'm including a screenshot of the strange Military advisor screen.

weird_military_screen.jpg

4. Mexicans declared war on me! Idiots. It's 2220 BC.

5. China started on my island for the first time.

6. Peace has been declared with Mexico, with me as the victor. The Bowman was absolutely vital.

7. This is the best I've ever done as the Americans. I've been able to close off paths of movement for the Andeans and Mexicans. It gives me the greatest opportunity for growth.

8. Nooooo! I can't build roads on Tundra. :(

9. China is approaching me. Most likely to start a war.
 
Steph_NoPop
2. How strange. I have 3 US_01I # Warriors, 1 US_01I - Warrior, and 1 Slave worker, and the Military Advisor screen shows that I have 1 unit.
your initial warriors don't require maintenance, only the slave does (actually, it shouldn't), so it says you have 1 unit with maintenance, but you don't pay it as you are entitle to 7 units (Despotism: 3 units + 2 / city, toal 7).

8. Nooooo! I can't build roads on Tundra. :(
As they give 0 trade bonus for road, Tundra, MArsha and Volcanos can't have roads.

9. China is approaching me. Most likely to start a war.
Perhaps they just want to open restaurant.

Any comment about the "don't rquire population to build units change?"

Did you try the scout?
 
10. It might not matter yet, but my units still have the ability to add themselves to my city.

11. At the time that I get it, the scout seems completely useless. It has a move of 1, and I've already explored 99% of the continent.

12. Chinese scum declared hostilities.

13. I made peace with China. They declared war on Andes.

14. ERROR READING FILE
Missing entry in "Scenarios\..\Scenarios\Steph_History\text\PediaIcons.txt"
ANIMNAME_PRTO_3I_IronSword_Ib
 
10. It might not matter yet, but my units still have the ability to add themselves to my city.
I did not change that part yet, I'm waiting for a final decision about population cost.
I see 3 options:
- Remove it completlty. Easier for the AI, but won't reduce expansion as much as I'd like
- Keep it as planned: for all the "big" infantry units. So Spearmen, Riflemen, etc. But small sze units (bowmen, swordsmen, knights, special forces) will not use population. However, they have some HP penalty. To make it short.
- Another solution would be to use the pop cost only for relatively recent armies, so the population drop happens when figthing "large scale wars", such as the Napoleonic wars, WWI, or WWII. So it would happen when your cities are already in place, and would not hamper the initial development of the AI that much.

11. At the time that I get it, the scout seems completely useless. It has a move of 1, and I've already explored 99% of the continent.
Oh, the scout is not there for exploration only... But for scouting. You get it with militarism, as the same time as swordsmen. It has only one move, but it treats all terrain as road and is invisible.
You can send it in ennemy territory to monitor their progress and they don't know you are there.

14. ERROR READING FILE
Missing entry in "Scenarios\..\Scenarios\Steph_History\text\PediaIcons.txt"
ANIMNAME_PRTO_3I_IronSword_Ib
I'll correct that, I hope there aren't to many erros in the "other civ"
 
Oh, the scout is not there for exploration only... But for scouting. You get it with militarism, as the same time as swordsmen. It has only one move, but it treats all terrain as road and is invisible.
You can send it in ennemy territory to monitor their progress and they don't know you are there.
Ah, it's invisible. This seems like a good idea, but unfortunately, there's a bug with invisible units. I don't know if the bug extends to land units, but I guess it does; it definitely exists for water units. If the AI moves one of their units into your unvisible unit, it immediately starts a war. You might want to give it hidden nationality.
 
Ah, it's invisible. This seems like a good idea, but unfortunately, there's a bug with invisible units. I don't know if the bug extends to land units, but I guess it does; it definitely exists for water units. If the AI moves one of their units into your unvisible unit, it immediately starts a war. You might want to give it hidden nationality.
The scout is part of your military, so use it carefully: it could get caught.
I'm not sure if it would start a war, as the scout has no defense. Worth testing.
The hidden nationality is the spy.
 
15. I liked the pop limits of 7 and 14 better than 6 and 12.

16. For some reason, the Mexicans decided to chop down all of their trees.

17. Yep, the invis scout caused a war between me and the Chinese. I recommend hidden nationality for them.

18. I switched to the modern age on the science screen.
FILE NOT FOUND
"art\civilopedia\icons\units\BondSMGSmall.pcx"

19. I must admit that I sort of liked the buildings that became obsolete. I actually miss them. I'm surprised with myself. I guess those buildings gave your mod some interesting originality.

20. I don't know if it matters much. The US_04I # Archer is 1% better than US_03I # Warrior and it's cheaper.

Hey, where's the tech for planting forests? I can't tell where it is now.
 
15. I liked the pop limits of 7 and 14 better than 6 and 12.
Ok, I can put it back, it was just to see the effect on the "produce and pollute to much" problem.

16. For some reason, the Mexicans decided to chop down all of their trees.
Perhaps they needed wood?

17. Yep, the invis scout caused a war between me and the Chinese. I recommend hidden nationality for them.
Ok I'll need to find how to better differentiate spy and scout then.
Any suggestion?
Should I remove the invisible for the scout, and just make it use all terrain as road?
Perhaps give him radar?

18. I switched to the modern age on the science screen.
FILE NOT FOUND
"art\civilopedia\icons\units\BondSMGSmall.pcx"
The US spy strikes again.

19. I must admit that I sort of liked the buildings that became obsolete. I actually miss them. I'm surprised with myself. I guess those buildings gave your mod some interesting originality.
Ah! Glad you now see the points in adding them!
I'll put them back, but with better explanation in the civpedia. However, I'll do just a few in the very first era, to double check they are indeed working properly

20. I don't know if it matters much. The US_04I # Archer is 1% better than US_03I # Warrior and it's cheaper.
The warrior is indeed less intersting now... But he also comes before the archer, so you could use him in the iron age, while you wait for the archer in the dark ages, so it's not a big deal. Perhaps I could just increase a bit the cost of the archer, or decrease the swordsman?

Hey, where's the tech for planting forests? I can't tell where it is now.
From memory,... Agricultural revolution? In the middle ages?
 
Ok I'll need to find how to better differentiate spy and scout then.
Any suggestion?
Should I remove the invisible for the scout, and just make it use all terrain as road?
Perhaps give him radar?
One of these would be ok in my opinion:
1. Invis, hidden nationality, all terrain as road, 1 move point
2. Invis, hidden nationality, all terrain as road, 1 move point, sees 2 tiles
3. All terrain as road, 1 move point, sees 2 tiles
4. Invis, hidden nationality, all terrain as road, 1 move point, sees invis
5. Invis, hidden nationality, 1 move point, sees invis
6. Invis, hidden nationality, 1 move point

Can the spy do stealth attack missions? I don't remember what he does. One easy way to differentiate them is that the Spy is an attack unit, whereas the scout is not.

The warrior is indeed less intersting now... But he also comes before the archer, so you could use him in the iron age, while you wait for the archer in the dark ages, so it's not a big deal. Perhaps I could just increase a bit the cost of the archer, or decrease the swordsman?
Hmm, how about leaving the archer alone for now, but just making a note of this. His cheaper cost could reflect cheaper building materials for his weapons?

From memory,... Agricultural revolution? In the middle ages?
Yeah, that's where it is. The icon for the tree was covered by another technology.
 
One of these would be ok in my opinion:
1. Invis, hidden nationality, all terrain as road, 1 move point
2. Invis, hidden nationality, all terrain as road, 1 move point, sees 2 tiles
3. All terrain as road, 1 move point, sees 2 tiles
4. Invis, hidden nationality, all terrain as road, 1 move point, sees invis
5. Invis, hidden nationality, 1 move point, sees invis
6. Invis, hidden nationality, 1 move point

Can the spy do stealth attack missions? I don't remember what he does. One easy way to differentiate them is that the Spy is an attack unit, whereas the scout is not.
Yes, but if the Spy attacks and does the same as the scout, scout is useless..
The Spy will get stealth attack. Later. When the list of units is completlty finished. For the moment, it just attacks.

So Spy: invis, hidden nationaly, small attack. See one tile. 2 MP, but does treat all terrain as road.

Scout: invis,hidden nationaliy, no attacks, see two tiles, treat all terrain as road., 1 MP Upgrade to explorer, not invisible, no attacks, but two MP.
 
Yes, but if the Spy attacks and does the same as the scout, scout is useless..
The Spy will get stealth attack. Later. When the list of units is completlty finished. For the moment, it just attacks.
I noticed that the Americans can't build a Spy. So can the differentiation between Americans and other nations just be that some countries get Spies and some countries get Scouts?

By the way, it would help tremendously if you put into your first post in this thread all of the nation names as you have them in your mod. I can never remember the names you chose. For example, I can't remember if you put the Mongols in your mod (I think you didn't).

I'm guessing Mexico, Andes, and America should get Scouts instead of Spies. I can't think of what nations on the Eastern Hemisphere should get Scouts instead of Spies. Do you have a Southern African nation? Perhaps the Indians don't get Scouts nor Spies (do you have India in the mod?).
 
I noticed that the Americans can't build a Spy. So can the differentiation between Americans and other nations just be that some countries get Spies and some countries get Scouts?

By the way, it would help tremendously if you put into your first post in this thread all of the nation names as you have them in your mod. I can never remember the names you chose. For example, I can't remember if you put the Mongols in your mod (I think you didn't).

I'm guessing Mexico, Andes, and America should get Scouts instead of Spies. I can't think of what nations on the Eastern Hemisphere should get Scouts instead of Spies. Do you have a Southern African nation? Perhaps the Indians don't get Scouts nor Spies (do you have India in the mod?).

I'll update the OP with the list of civilizations. I think I'll give scouts and spies, put depending on civ, some will have both, some will not.
 
You still have no link to your 07_28 patch on your website. Most of the text in your opening post here and on your website are out of date.

EDIT: By the way, the Chinese built what looks like a vast army in my current game. I think this is a reflection of the pop requirement removal for units.
 
21. I conquered the hated Mexicans. I intend to use the scout unit to start a war with China and eat their nation.

22. I think the Newspaper building is too weak. As it is, it's sort of useless. I never need to build it. However, I think it would be more useful if it provided 2 culture instead of 1.

23. With enough buildings, the productivity of cities goes through the roof. Also, the cost of troops is relatively low, so it's easy to build a gigantic army. The problem comes with the maintenance costs.

24. The Military Advisor screen is impossibly slow.

25. Amazing! My Privateer successfully turned to attack a Chinese ship using broadside shots, but then, my Privateer was attacked by a barbarian ship. Both ships fought facing forward instead of using broadside shots.

26. US_06I # Pirates have free upkeep??? I'll gladly build 600 of them.

27. The Chinese pukes declared war on me. I'm fighting a Chinese 5I - Pikeman. He's got a 6 defense. My best trooper has an attack of 7. That's my US_06C + Mounted Shooter. It's kind of sad to watch the battle because I'm just throwing my soldiers lives away to try to kill this Pikeman.

28. I just took Ollantaytambo from them, and they had around 6 defenders in it. :( Ollantaytambo was only a size 3 city. I can't imagine the vast size of their armies in their other cities. :(

29. I'm going to have some trouble with the Chinese 05C - Heavy Knight.
 
21. I conquered the hated Mexicans. I intend to use the scout unit to start a war with China and eat their nation.
Good luck. Just a reminder. America is weaker at the beginning of the game. Unless you are technologically superior to an ennemy, you should wait for the 3rd era before launching large war.

22. I think the Newspaper building is too weak. As it is, it's sort of useless. I never need to build it. However, I think it would be more useful if it provided 2 culture instead of 1.
Ok,

23. With enough buildings, the productivity of cities goes through the roof. Also, the cost of troops is relatively low, so it's easy to build a gigantic army. The problem comes with the maintenance costs.
The population cost was there to prevent having to many units. However, a large army should be very expensive. My idea was to try to force the player and the AI to have relatively small armies. Or to seriously endanger their economy.
So keep playing a bit and tells me if the pop cost removal is really interesting or not.
I think I should keep it for the larger units: main infantry, large cavalry or armor forces, largest ships (Battleships, Carrier), and remove it for the elite forces (knights), support forces (archer), as they usually have a HP penalty for "small size unit". And artillery, aircraft and most of the ships would not need it.
So for instance, the Battleships would require 1 pop cost, but the Battlecruiser, which are a bit weaker, would not. It can help differentiate between units.
And to avoid endangering the AI to much at the beginning of game, the pop cost can appear only at a given point. It could be military formation in the iron age. Or Renaissance tactics during the Renaissance age?

24. The Military Advisor screen is impossibly slow.
I don't think I can make much about it, except reduce the number of units :(

25. Amazing! My Privateer successfully turned to attack a Chinese ship using broadside shots, but then, my Privateer was attacked by a barbarian ship. Both ships fought facing forward instead of using broadside shots.
Interesting. I'll try to set up a test case with these units and check if it happens everytime. I may find a explanation of the problem then.

26. US_06I # Pirates have free upkeep??? I'll gladly build 600 of them.
Oups... It may not be the wisest idea. Should I put an upkeep back?

27. The Chinese pukes declared war on me. I'm fighting a Chinese 5I - Pikeman. He's got a 6 defense. My best trooper has an attack of 7. That's my US_06C + Mounted Shooter. It's kind of sad to watch the battle because I'm just throwing my soldiers lives away to try to kill this Pikeman.
I've thought for quite sometime now that I could give a range of 1 to support unit (archer, riflemen). So you could pincushion the pikemen with arrows. And we could have a better use of ROF. It would seem reallistic. Except then you could also bombard ships. However, it would require the ship to be near the coast.
With if I change the US archer, give it a range 1 bombardment, but reduce the attack by one, so you could try it in your next game?
I think it would be interesting.

28. I just took Ollantaytambo from them, and they had around 6 defenders in it. :( Ollantaytambo was only a size 3 city. I can't imagine the vast size of their armies in their other cities. :(
That wouldn't have happened with pop cost for units
:mischief:

29. I'm going to have some trouble with the Chinese 05C - Heavy Knight.
China is a strong civ.


There is something I'd like to get feedback on. What about the two versions of units, the - and the +.

The goal was to prevent a civ from being completly crushed by another because it has no iron nor oil. I supposed you could always find some, but
1) the cost of the unit is doubled (you need more time to get the resources)
2) the unit having less resources, it's smaller size, so it has a -1 HP (instead of building 100 tanks in the regiment, you can build only 60)
3) It has reduce MP or range when oil was required.

I think it helps preserving balance, but at the cost of doubling the number of units.

What are your thought about that?
 
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