So I've decided to scrap my original mod plans (World Piece Mod) and go with something that I've seen hinted at here and there mashed in with a few other ideas for this and that and baked at 350 for 2 hours.
Overall Goal:
The primary purpose of the mod is to enhance the players control over their own civilization so they can adjust it based on the map they are playing rather than pre-defined attributes. The civilizations will retain their "primary traits" and unique units as in the original game, the majority of the changes will be additions.
In addition to increasing player control I am planning on re-designing the difficulty levels so they make more sense, currently there no "flat" difficulty level with no bonuses or penalties for either the player or the AI despite what the manual may lead you to believe. The baseline for the difficulty level changes will be the Noble level and the Standard map size, each of those options will use the exact values defined within the rest of the mod files without any alterations. For example, the standard map size will use 100% of the research cost as defined in the technology xml file.
Military units will be adjusted so there is less of a "rock, paper, scissors" feel to combat with many units loosing abilities against a specifc opposing unit in favor of more generic abilities. Later era units will be given additional bonuses over earlier units, ideally a modern armor unit would be able to roll through an entire stack of Praetorians with the only damage taken being some scratches to the paintjob. Additional units will also be added to eras that have been, in my opinion, overly simplified. Some examples include separating land-based fighters from naval fighters that can use carriers, adding in modern submarines and preventing units like infantry from becoming obsolete.
And finally, I will be tweaking the game speeds to allow for more mid-late game play without feeling as rushed as it currently does. The Normal speed will be used as the baseline for a "casual" game pace and the Epic & Quick speeds will be adjusted from there. The intention will be to keep the game pace interesting without it being too slow (and potentially boring) or too fast (and potentially frustrating). Since the ideal pace is so objective and each player has their own preferences I may consider adding additional speed options.
Customizing the Civilizations:
To allow players to customize their civilization I have removed all starting technologies from each civilization. Each starting player receives a "Chieftan" unit at the start of the game instead. Like the Great Scientist a Chieftan can create a unique building (consuming the Chieftan), unlike the Great Scientist the Chieftan will have a choice of buildings to create. The building you choose to create will acomplish two things; First it will grant you two free technologies, essentially allowing you to chose which technologies you start with. Yes, this does mean you can pick mysticism & meditation to discover Buddhism on the first turn. Since you are doing that in lieu for selecting more common technologies such as argiculture or the wheel the overall effect is really no different than the normal research process. The second effect of the building you select is the new "Minor Trait" for your civilization (see below). Since this trait is defined by a building it adds some more incentive to defend your capital and conquer other capitals (although I should note that the AI has occasionally built these building in their second city). The chieftan is not a normal great person, they can't be used to start a golden age and they can't provide you with additional research, as a result the AI does use them as intended.
Minor Trait:
This is the part I need some help with, I have some general traits already but since I have my own preferences it would be better to get ideas from other players. Anyway, the current list is:
Warlike
The Warlike trait gives the civilization +4 experience to all units created in the capital and +2 to units created in every other city. It also reduces war weariness in all cities by 25%.
Seafaring
Seafaring nations must have a coastal city (the building will be unavailable otherwise). This trait adds +1 food and +1 commerce to all water tiles as well as giving all naval units created in this city +4 experience and reducing their production cost by 25%.
Hardy
The hardy trait gives you an initial population boost of +1 which can be very helpful at your first city. It also gives you +2 health in this city and +1 health in all other cities. The +1 population in acient era starts is suprisingly helpful.
Prosperous
A prosperous civilization will enjoy one additional trade route per city and a +25% gold bonus at all cities.
Advanced
Starting as an advanced civilization gives you three free technologies at the start of the game rather than the normal two. You will also receive a 50% boost to research at this city.
I think that's long enough for an initial post, it will be interesting to see the ideas & comments you guys can come up with
I've already completed the "baseline" difficulty setup for Noble & Standard maps and the "minor trait" changes are in place and being tested. I was able to pull the speed changes straight out of my old mod so that part should be done as well.
Overall Goal:
The primary purpose of the mod is to enhance the players control over their own civilization so they can adjust it based on the map they are playing rather than pre-defined attributes. The civilizations will retain their "primary traits" and unique units as in the original game, the majority of the changes will be additions.
In addition to increasing player control I am planning on re-designing the difficulty levels so they make more sense, currently there no "flat" difficulty level with no bonuses or penalties for either the player or the AI despite what the manual may lead you to believe. The baseline for the difficulty level changes will be the Noble level and the Standard map size, each of those options will use the exact values defined within the rest of the mod files without any alterations. For example, the standard map size will use 100% of the research cost as defined in the technology xml file.
Military units will be adjusted so there is less of a "rock, paper, scissors" feel to combat with many units loosing abilities against a specifc opposing unit in favor of more generic abilities. Later era units will be given additional bonuses over earlier units, ideally a modern armor unit would be able to roll through an entire stack of Praetorians with the only damage taken being some scratches to the paintjob. Additional units will also be added to eras that have been, in my opinion, overly simplified. Some examples include separating land-based fighters from naval fighters that can use carriers, adding in modern submarines and preventing units like infantry from becoming obsolete.
And finally, I will be tweaking the game speeds to allow for more mid-late game play without feeling as rushed as it currently does. The Normal speed will be used as the baseline for a "casual" game pace and the Epic & Quick speeds will be adjusted from there. The intention will be to keep the game pace interesting without it being too slow (and potentially boring) or too fast (and potentially frustrating). Since the ideal pace is so objective and each player has their own preferences I may consider adding additional speed options.
Customizing the Civilizations:
To allow players to customize their civilization I have removed all starting technologies from each civilization. Each starting player receives a "Chieftan" unit at the start of the game instead. Like the Great Scientist a Chieftan can create a unique building (consuming the Chieftan), unlike the Great Scientist the Chieftan will have a choice of buildings to create. The building you choose to create will acomplish two things; First it will grant you two free technologies, essentially allowing you to chose which technologies you start with. Yes, this does mean you can pick mysticism & meditation to discover Buddhism on the first turn. Since you are doing that in lieu for selecting more common technologies such as argiculture or the wheel the overall effect is really no different than the normal research process. The second effect of the building you select is the new "Minor Trait" for your civilization (see below). Since this trait is defined by a building it adds some more incentive to defend your capital and conquer other capitals (although I should note that the AI has occasionally built these building in their second city). The chieftan is not a normal great person, they can't be used to start a golden age and they can't provide you with additional research, as a result the AI does use them as intended.
Minor Trait:
This is the part I need some help with, I have some general traits already but since I have my own preferences it would be better to get ideas from other players. Anyway, the current list is:
Warlike
The Warlike trait gives the civilization +4 experience to all units created in the capital and +2 to units created in every other city. It also reduces war weariness in all cities by 25%.
Seafaring
Seafaring nations must have a coastal city (the building will be unavailable otherwise). This trait adds +1 food and +1 commerce to all water tiles as well as giving all naval units created in this city +4 experience and reducing their production cost by 25%.
Hardy
The hardy trait gives you an initial population boost of +1 which can be very helpful at your first city. It also gives you +2 health in this city and +1 health in all other cities. The +1 population in acient era starts is suprisingly helpful.
Prosperous
A prosperous civilization will enjoy one additional trade route per city and a +25% gold bonus at all cities.
Advanced
Starting as an advanced civilization gives you three free technologies at the start of the game rather than the normal two. You will also receive a 50% boost to research at this city.
I think that's long enough for an initial post, it will be interesting to see the ideas & comments you guys can come up with
I've already completed the "baseline" difficulty setup for Noble & Standard maps and the "minor trait" changes are in place and being tested. I was able to pull the speed changes straight out of my old mod so that part should be done as well.
