Anno Domini Classic: discussion thread part 3 (warning: lots of images on page one)

[Partizanac]

Me thinks you should look at these units before you finish this LH

Spoiler :

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

I've seen those, but can't find a helmet to match; I'll see what I can do...

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Here's another attempt; I think this is much better than the first one:

 

[Mirc]

It is!

 

[Partizanac]

Yes! hes great, but maybe some kind of a harbor in the back

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Thanks for the comments, guys. He's rendering now . I felt that this background was better than a harbour; he's an invader, so I pitched him as landing on the shore ready to invade rather than pulling into a harbour and doing it the gentlemanly way .

 

[St Exupère]

@R8XFT: will this beautiful mod also play on an historical map, with pre-set ressources a la ROCX?

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

@R8XFT: will this beautiful mod also play on an historical map, with pre-set ressources a la ROCX?

Not initially, but there are plans for several historical scenarios, involving these and other civilizations following the Anno Domini ruleset. Actually, you've made me want to let the cat out of the bag on a little plan I had. Ok, here goes (this is for the future though):

• "Play as the Romans"
• "Play as Egypt"
• "Play as the Norse"
• "Play as the Anglo-Saxons"

These are four scenarios I plan to work on once the mod's released. Each will feature the following:

• Culture group specific to the Civilization you're playing as
• Historical map to suit that civilization
• New civs that were important in the history of the civilization
• Special advisor set to match the civilization
• There will be multiple choices for the leader of the civilization, each leader having different traits and possibly some different buildings and effects - this can be achieved in the editor, having, for example, "Rome" as one civ, "Rome " as another, or by calling them "Rome", "Romans", "Roman Empire". The "Rome" civs can be flagged as "player" civs only, the rest as "computer" civs only.

 

[LMR]

That's a very good idea, having a selection of "Romans" to choose from so it can complement your style of play.

 

[Stormrage]

Thats an awesome idea!

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

My brother is over here at the moment, hence there'll be little progress on the mod for a few days - but don't worry - the May 9th date Jasmine quoted in the video is still on. Just to show you that I'm making progress, at the bottom of page one, I've posted the trade race screen and also a view from Thebes - which shows four Egyptian specialists .

 

[T.A JONES]

I've posted the trade race screen and also a view from Thebes - which shows four Egyptian specialists .

Good job man! I never saw the spaceship screen modded so well! Well ok, Ive never actually seen it modded before but this is fine example if their ever was one. I wish I had this shot when I was pitching the 'Spice Road' as prime example for optimum 'Space Race' format in the 4ums. (resources tied spaceparts)
Lots of CIv4 players have come to know this part of your mod well.

Relax good while you hang with your bro. You deserve a good break after droppin these shots on us.

Cool sneak peek schedule on page1. Ill be staying tuned for the latest.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Updates

The main update is that there are now 28 civilizations in Anno Domini. I've given some of the culture groups the same special buildings in some points - so for example, whilst only the Spartans get the Spartan barracks, all the Greeks get the Greek temple. Likewise, all Celtic civs get the Druid's grove and certain other Celtic buildings, but they all get their own individual specialities as well - for example, the Iceni have "Boudicca's revenge" which builds an Iceni chariot every five turns. I am definately limiting it to 28 though, and it does give one civilization for every trait combination.

The new civilizations you don't already know about are the Byzantines, Gaul, Iona and Nabataea. Why Iona, I hear most of you cry? I wanted civilizations who could offer a different style of play; Iona is able to build pollution-busting buildings before pollution even starts and will have a "factory"-type building which doesn't pollute either. Furthermore, they'll have access to three bonus resources which will be on terrain types which normally don't yield very much, offering the possibility of building better cities in harsh environments. Oh, and they'll have the Celtic flavoured stuff too.

I'm now calling the Anglo-Saxons just "Saxons."

So, the civ list is as follows:
Athens
Byzantines
Carthage
Celtiberians
Coritani
Dacia
Egypt
Eire
Florence
Gauls
Goths
Harappa
Huns
Iceni
Illyria
Iona
Israel
Kushan
Macedonia
Nabataea
Normans
Norse
Persia
Rome
Saxons
Sea people
Slavs
Sparta


Play as the Saxons

As many of you know, I always intended Anno Domini as a ruleset, which could be altered to allow new civs to play. Also, I've changed civs more times than a little, which leaves unused civs feeling unwanted .

A few posts ago, I announced that I would work on a few "Play as..." modifications of Anno Domini. The first one I'll do is "Play as the Saxons." Would it be better to lose some (or all) of the civs that historically weren't in contact with the Saxons and add a few that were connected to them? I'm thinking that the Sea people, Harappans, Kushan and the Greek civs are ones I could "lose" - maybe making the Greek civs just one civ - i.e. Greece. That would free up five slots - and I've leaderheads available for the Alemanni, Jutes and Marcomanni - and feel that maybe the Burgundians and Franks could be added as well.

The four leaders for the Saxons could be Penda (as per the "classic" game of AD), Alfred the Great, Hengist and....I'm thinking about Bede for a "spiritual and philosophical" approach. The buildings freed up by the civs departing the game will have to go to the ones entering, but if I've any free buildings, I might give each Saxon leader their own unique building as well - adding to the choice of gameplay - Bede, for example, could have Bede's monastry, giving a free church in every city.

Looking at the tech tree, I feel I could potentially rename a few techs to give them a Saxon feel; I could re-do my Saxon advisors from Rood and the Dragon (I feel they could be improved upon). Oh, by the way, the old advisors have become specialists in Anno Domini; from left-right, there's the Ring-giver (+1 tax; +1 corruption-lowering), Thatcher (+1 construction; +1 tax), Musician (+1 luxury) and Soothsayer (+3 science).

Another thought I had was to maybe change the Silk Road wonder victory (which replaces the Space Race) and also the New World victory (which replaces the diplomatic victory) to give two unique ways of winning only available to the Saxons - something with a Saxon feel to it.....

Any thoughts?

 

[Plotinus]

...Thatcher...

No, this specialist should drastically reduce production and cause massive unhappiness... [/satire]

Another thought I had was to maybe change the Silk Road wonder victory (which replaces the Space Race) and also the New World victory (which replaces the diplomatic victory) to give two unique ways of winning only available to the Saxons - something with a Saxon feel to it.....

Any thoughts?

For a diplomatic victory, I was thinking perhaps the Synod of Whitby - though perhaps it's too early to be a late-game victory. On the other hand, the Saxons got conquered a fair while before the end of the mod, so there's not much you can do about that. You could have the Domesday Book as a wonder victory, perhaps - Norman, of course, not Saxon, but see previous problem.

I like the idea of having Bede as a leader, although of course as you know he wasn't one really. As an alternative, I suggest Dunstan of Canterbury, who was more of a statesman as well as an ecclesiastic:

Dunstan of Canterbury
909-988

Dunstan of Canterbury was a major figure in the rebuilding and reformation of the monasteries in the period after the conflicts between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes. His stature in life is reflected in the number of early Lives of him – two within some years of his death, others by William of Malmesbury and Eadmer of Canterbury, and even an Icelandic saga.

Dunstan was born in Baltonsborough in Somerset, to a noble family related to the ruling house of Wessex. He was educated at Glastonbury, at this time already a place of mystery and pilgrimage, whose library attracted scholars from Ireland and elsewhere. He not only immersed himself in religious works – especially those of Bede – but also became an accomplished painter, harpist, and metal-worker. Dunstan is traditionally honoured as the inventor of the Aeolian harp, but in fact it seems not to have existed before the seventeenth century.

In 923, Dunstan’s uncle Athelm became archbishop of Canterbury, and the family moved up in the world. Two years later, Athelm crowned their relation Athelstan king of Wessex. Athelstan was an enormously successful king, who consolidated the successes of his grandfather, Alfred the Great, to become the first real king of England, and waged brilliant campaigns against rebels in York, Northumbria, the Danes, and more or less anyone else who threatened his hegemony over England. The rather other-worldly Dunstan seems not to have fitted in well at the court, where he was bullied by the other young men. After Athelm died in 925, Dunstan’s star waned and he returned to Glastonbury.

Yet another relative, Alphege, became bishop of Winchester in around 933 and set about trying to persuade Dunstan to become a monk. Dunstan resisted fiercely (citing the charms of his girlfriend), but after a serious illness changed his mind and became a monk in 936. Although he often visited Winchester, he still spent most of his time at Glastonbury. Here he was encouraged by Aethelfleda, a widow living as a hermit near the church.

In 939 Dunstan returned to the court – now under Athelstan’s brother, King Edmund, who unexpectedly made him abbot of Glastonbury soon after. As abbot, Dunstan rebuilt the monastery and extended the already renowned library, and strove to follow the rule of Benedict as closely as possible. Of particular interest from this period of reform is the peculiar manuscript known as Saint Dunstan’s Classbook, a compilation of learned treatises (including Ovid, and written partly in Welsh). The book dates from the time of Dunstan and is apparently actually written in his own hand. This book, together with other manuscripts and compilations from Glastonbury at the time, testify to Dunstan’s scholarship and his determination to improve standards of learning. He was equally keen to improve artistic and calligraphic standards as well – the Classbook features line drawings, including a self-portrait of Dunstan kneeling at the foot of Christ; and the scriptorium was one of the first in England to use continental Carolingian minuscule.

In 955 Dunstan fell out with another king, this time Edwy, after an incident at his inaugural banquet. Dunstan was exiled to Ghent. Meanwhile, in 957, Edwy succeeded in alienating many of his people, and those in Northumbria and Mercia swore allegiance to his brother Edgar instead. Edgar recalled Dunstan, compensated him for his unjust exile, and appointed him bishop – apparently without a see. In 959, Edwy died and Edgar became undisputed sole king of England. He dismissed the recently appointed archbishop of Canterbury, Byrhthelm, and replaced him with Dunstan. The two worked closely together for many years: most of Edgar’s royal decrees were confirmed by Dunstan, who clearly had a central role as royal adviser. Edgar was an important law-giver in English history, and his laws formed much of the basis of the legislation of subsequent Anglo-Saxon kings. It was also Dunstan who compiled the form of Edgar’s coronation, which has been followed for the coronation of English monarchs ever since.

Like Dunstan, Edgar was keen to reform and revitalise the monasteries of England, which had still not recovered from the devastation of the wars with the Danes. The two were helped in their endeavours by a number of allies whom Dunstan nurtured within the church. One was Ethelwold, who had been a friend at Glastonbury and whom he made bishop of Winchester in 963, and who was a zealous monastic reformer. Another was Oswald of Worcester, later archbishop of York. These and others, under Dunstan’s guidance, revitalised many monasteries that had lain empty for years, and founded many more.

In around 970, a council was held at Winchester to regulate all of these newly thriving monasteries. Monks from Fleury, Ghent, and Corbie all attended to offer advice from the continental monastic reform movement. The council produced the Regularis Concordia, a rule for life in all the Benedictine monasteries in England

Dunstan was archbishop of Canterbury for 28 years, one of the longest periods of tenure of any archbishop of Canterbury; and as such he was a pivotal figure in the rebuilding of England in the tenth century in his scholarship, his close relationship with the king, and his zeal for monastic reform. He was regarded as a saint very soon after his death in 988.

He has been regarded by some as an alchemist, perhaps partly because of the mystical associations of Glastonbury. John Dee claimed to have discovered alchemical vials at Glastonbury that had belonged to St Dunstan, and in his day a treatise on the philosopher’s stone was circulated under the saint’s name.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Thanks for the suggestions, Plotinus!!

I've renamed the "soothsayer" citizen to "scop" after having a root through Rood and the Dragon. Actually, you can see the influence that scenario has had on the Saxon tech tree...here's the first era for you to have a glance at.

Modmaking's over for a handful of days whilst I spend some time with my brother, though I might be back here to visit .

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

I've recently had some thinking time and have worked out a good compromise to make this a 31 civ mod and have the special buildings; I'm bulking certain civilizations together for some buildings - for example, all the celtic civs will get the druid's grove. The three I'm adding are the Jutes, the Scots and another Indian civ - this is going to be Blue Monkey's choice . Over in his Bharata Varsha Bazaar, I've asked for information that will help me flavour a small Indian culture group, consisting of Harappa, the Kushan and the Indian civ of his choice; the Bazaar already hosts a certain amount of information. I also hope to do a small handful of Indian units to help with this flavouring .

In other news, I've swapped around a couple of techs and taken out a building or two that people don't tend to build - such as the elder's hut. Over on my other PC, I'm working on a King Alfred the Great leaderhead to replace Penda for the Saxons; I'll no doubt re-name them the Anglo-Saxons again!

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

Further thoughts (whilst on the train )
I've been considering the traits. Previously, I'd altered the expansionist trait, renaming it "spiritual" and allowing cheap temples, churches, etc. The religious trait had changed to "stable" and offered cheap courthouses as well as the ability to change governments without long periods of anarchy. Should I change this again? Here's what I'm thinking:

• "religious" becomes religious again (but I'll keep the "spiritual" name), having the cheap temples and no anarchy between governments
• "expansionist" becomes "protective" - in addition to the hard-coded advantage for no bad goody huts, there would be the facility to build palisades from the start and have cheaper barracks and walls

Any thoughts? Maybe the Normans and Scots would be protective. Who knows, I might bring the Trojans in somewhere ...

 

[Plotinus]

I think I prefer the traits how they are, to be honest - they seem a bit more useful that way, not to mention more logical.

 

[Rob (R8XFT)]

I think I prefer the traits how they are, to be honest - they seem a bit more useful that way, not to mention more logical.

Okay, thanks for the comments; hopefully you'll have noticed the Rood-influenced first era for the Saxons above as well and I hope you like it .

 

[Plotinus]

Oh yes indeed! It's nice to know that the scenario I knocked together all that time ago is still inspiring people...