Blaze's FfH MaxMod

[BlazeRedSXT]

I love the bucket Gutus. I think its great... If Kael can throw in Monty Python references, I don't feel bad about dropping in a Star Trek easter egg. It should be a relatively small file, so you can just add it to your post pretty easily, and I can just pull it from there.

I think thats Whirlwind maybe? level 2 air spell. I can't say I have noticed that, it may be related to FfH as a whole, since I know I haven't changed anything on that spell, but if its still an issue when 22 comes out, I'll fix it here.

CV, I don't have the Heroes not become Heroic out yet. Its irritating that you get it and it renames your hero, but its pretty minor. I have been patching this thing like mad since I came out with it, so I am saving some things up for when Kael and Co release 22(there may be some useful stuff in there that I can use to make some of these fixes and updates we've been talking about better), and get a really good update running.

Cheers!

 

[cvlowe]

Just noticed I quoted the wrong post, should have been #158...

I wasn't complaining, I already knew about the hero issue, and I'm a couple patches behind anyhow (drawback of playing huge-marathon). I was just pointing it out as a funny example!

 

[Gutus]

Ok BlazeRedSXT, here it is. I have attached it to this post. I have used DXT1 compression. If that screws anything, please let me know.

I have no time currently to look at the spell issue, but as soon as I will be ready I will let you know. And BTW I won't be here for the next week, as I am going on holidays.

 

[BlazeRedSXT]

Awesome Gutus! I'll get it tested soon as I can, and have a good holiday!

Cheers!

 

[BlazeRedSXT]

Okay, update on the little bugs and tidbits I have been working on(and hope I don't have to change too drastically when 22 comes out).

The new Button for Shapeshift is in!
- I checked and couldn't find any other spell button that was not functioning correctly, So, when you get back Gutus, let me know which one in specific you were having trouble with.

I found I can implement the following on my Hero Change: I can allow for real Heroes to always pass their status down to their slayer. And that new Hero can have a limited chance to pass this status on to whoever ruins their day... But to get it to work smoothly on the surface, I need to add a couple lines to the SDK. I am guessing everyone thinks this is a much better way to do it than automatically passing that Heroic status forever?

It looks like Hill defense is hard coded to the SDK, but I am looking into that, and testing somethings right now, so that may be a change thats going to go live.. we'll see.

I haven't had time to run some games and test some of the over-forting or over-pasturing that has been reported, but I'll try and do that over the next period of time.

I think thats it, what I can think of right now, ohh, I am working on the Towers being more useful. Before you start shouting, I know this is most likely overpowering, but haha... lets see what you all think. First, I started by doubling the cost of all the Towers, then, adding in production cost reductions of 33% per for 3 of each required mana(I noted these bonuses don't reacted additively, so that the total cost is still higher than the original by a good percent even with all the bonuses added). Then I added a Bonus Mana of 1 for those same 3 mana types. It essentially doubles your mana, at a significant cost, but I guess I am looking for ways to promote a high magic level game, considering how generally rare mana is. Also, I noticed a number of folks are concerned about the power of the Alter chain of wonders, and instead of "nerfing" that, I just upped the Towers as an alternative. Also, since I support and enjoy the Total Victory mod/conditions, I don't see the Towers as a means to an end anyway, if that makes sense. I think I am going to have to up the AIwieght for it, and since their all national wonders, the AI gets the same potential benefits. Just playing with it

Cheers!

 

[onedreamer]

I checked, and that was definitely the case. I'm not sure why.. I looked at the code you were using, and it looked like it should have been valid(but then, it seemed like you used a number of False/True returns to get the correct promotion state.. and frankly, I started getting dizzy tracing it)... but I jsut rewrote it so it was bit more direct in its promotion setting, and it seemed to work fine at that point. I also added Forts and Towers as visibility points.

I copy-pasted Maniac's code and it worked handsomely. But you have to also edit promotions xml and spells python.

 

[Gutus]

I think these changes are great, one thing I let slipped with the icon. I see the template has a lot of alpha channels. I do not know if mine will be working properly, as I have only used the biggest layer. If anyone could verify if there are any issues with the new icon, it would be much appreciated.

Dorn with those hills defences! I have started to learn to mod on my own and I was searching for that, but only found forests. Thanks for the info BlazeRedSXT.

As soon as I will finish my current game on your mod, I will give a try to the new version. My question - do you think it would be better to reinstall the ff2 0.21 as well? I mean I heard of a lot of issues with reinstalling mod mods on this forum and I just want to make sure.

 

[BlazeRedSXT]

Thanks for checking in Gutus. Your button seemed to work pretty well for me. It seemed brighter and higher contrast than most of the other buttons, but you also used a real light background, which most buttons don't. But it looked pretty good to me.

Yeah, the hill defense thing is interesting. I traced it through the SDK a good ways, and still never found exactly where it dictates what the value of mEXTRAHILLSDEFENSE(I think I remember that correctly) is. There is an iDefense line in the TerrainInfo file, and that may either override that, or add to it, I haven't tested it yet, but that may be the key.

Hard to say about re-installing. I have something like 4 different versions of 21 in my mods folder(I should really cut that down), trying to keep on top of current version, and test versions as I do different things with it. I think, especially if you are jumping a few revisions, it might be a good idea to go ahead and do a full re-install. And sadly right now, I don't have the main Installer updated, so you'll have to install the patch on top of that(or well, in theory, the patch should include all the patches before it, so if you have an earlier Install, it should be okay).

Onedreamer, I appreciate your input, I am well aware of the various components that were part of that code. I really am not sure why it wasn't work quite as I expected, but as I said, it got taken care of with a little rewrite... maybe it was conflicting with something else I am not aware od... that can happen more than one would think!

I am not sure when 22 is due out, but I think relatively soon, so a big update will happen there, and thats when a lot of the newest stuff we've been discussing finally gets to go out. I'm pretty excited about it myself.

Cheers!

 

[cvlowe]

Started a plain- FfH game as Sheaim, and WHAT a difference after a game of RoM (still in progress) and 500+ turns into a game using this mod. OK so there is not as much choice in the game- not as any high powered heroes/promotions/specials/etc.. But workers? holy cow, they zip around building stuff so fast I thought there was a mistake

 

[BlazeRedSXT]

Wow, thanks for the feedback cvlowe. I'll take that as a huge endorsement.

I was looking at the modcomp thread here, and looked into Mr Underhills recommendations, and I like them, especially the Trade/Tech routes and Influence Driven War. Not sure, because of the Hero/Unique unit structure of FfH, Dales stuff would work. Half of his mod is focused on modern type stuff, but Stacked combat might make the unique unit issue hard to handle(though I haven't looked at the code yet). But a lot of folks have been talking about the ranged "bombardment" for a while now.. that part would certainly make non-magic civs more competative, since they don't have fireballs and maelstroms to hurl about. just some thoughts, and I know Kael mentioned he was going to look at a number of modcomps once the new expansion and that migration happened.. but that is not going to happen for a few months yet.

Cheers!

 

[cvlowe]

It is- playing this is like an entirely new game

I posted this on the changelog thread, but maybe it could be better tested in a mod-mod like this first. Would it be possible to allow civilizations other than the Kuriotates to use settlements? Not build them, but if a city is conquered far from your main territory, give an option to turn it into a military base instead of a full-fledged city to avoid the crushing maintenance costs that can be incurred. Obviously there would need to be limits of some sort. Some possibilities- must be a minimum distance from any other cities you own or must be below a certain population.

Just an idea- I have no clue if it is even possible.

 

[eerr]

basic towers-
how about, they give the effect of an extra mana for all adepts instead of giving extra mana entirely?
(and +2 xp for arcane units built per tower)

 

[BlazeRedSXT]

Hey CV, I think its probably possible, but in some ways I agree with the general idea that they do add to the Sprawling civs flavor, and spreading it around too much might not be a good thing.
That being said, it would probably be possible to create an entirely new "city" type, call it an Outpost, created by a unique unit available to all civs that functions in much the same way as a settlement would, but I would probably make it even more limited. Allow it to build Walls and Castles, no units, -1 Culture permanently, so that it would never be able to spread culture or grow... A real "populated" Fortress.

eerr, I don't know if that would be possible. I think they either would have access to the bonus or not. Well, lets say its not impossible to do, but it would be a huge CPU burner, since Python would have to check every turn for a given tower, then add any "real" Bonuses and add those to the function, then check for magic units and give them access to the correct spell level. Pretty messy.
With the adding of Mana creation in the towers, I would hesitate to add any more bonuses to it, plus there are already a pretty large number of different ways to add xp to arcane units, depending on your civ.. Cave of Ancestors, Command Posts, Titan wonder, as some examples, plus a few civic options to increase their base xp... I would hesitate to add another way to make significantly powerful units more powerful so quickly.

Also a note on Hills and defenses, it looks like iDefense in the TerrainInfo files doesn't do anything for hills. I'll have to keep tracking down that SDK function to fix that.

Cheers!

 

[cvlowe]

I was thinking more of an option when you conquer a city- convert it to an outpost instead of a full-fledged city. Though looking back- that might be unbalancing. Never know unless you try though

 

[snarko]

Hills defense is defined in GlobalDefines.xml.

Spoiler XML :

<Define>
<DefineName>HILLS_EXTRA_DEFENSE</DefineName>
<iDefineIntVal>25</iDefineIntVal>
</Define>

Spoiler SDK :

CvGlobals::cacheGlobals() {
...
m_iHILLS_EXTRA_DEFENSE = getDefineINT("HILLS_EXTRA_DEFENSE");
...
}


int CvGlobals::getHILLS_EXTRA_DEFENSE()
{
return m_iHILLS_EXTRA_DEFENSE;
}


int CvPlot::defenseModifier(bool bIgnoreBuilding, bool bHelp) const
{
...
if (isHills())
{
iModifier += GC.getHILLS_EXTRA_DEFENSE();
}
...
}

int CvUnit::maxCombatStr(const CvPlot* pPlot, const CvUnit* pAttacker, CombatDetails* pCombatDetails, bool bAttacking) const
{
...
iModifier += pPlot->defenseModifier((pAttacker != NULL) ? pAttacker->ignoreBuildingDefense() : true);
...
}

 

[MagisterCultuum]

It seems like the new affinity system makes the priests' mana-based strength bonuses pretty simple.

 

[BlazeRedSXT]

Thanks Snarko! I don't know why I never thought to check there. That problem is solved anyway.

Magister, not sure what you mean by simple. If you mean a simple construct in comparison, then certainly thats true. If you mean simple to get the bonuses, not sure how the new system coming out would make it any more simple. Generally maps don't have a mass of Mana bonuses, so picking and choosing which mana you build is still an issue(or with my Tower system, a massive time consuming issue). I may certainly re-evaluate which Type of mana best suits the combat bonuses based on the new affinity system and its bonuses, or maybe some different bonus besides a simple Str bonus will become warranted. Just have to wait and see what all the various mana bonuses turn out to be.

Cheers!

 

[MagisterCultuum]

It just makes it simpler to code. If you are keeping their bonus a mana-based strength bonus, all you need is to give them affinity values. You wouldn't need add that part of the code to your mod of .22, just type a couple of numbers in the excel file.

 

[cvlowe]

I can't download the v7 version of your mod.

 

[BlazeRedSXT]

Quite right Magister, but if I am seeing that affinity thing right, if I were to use it, it would be possible to have a priest with a very high str rating, since the affinity adds Str per mana type, which I don't think I am looking to do, but its possible.

CV, I just tested the link, and was able to download it fine, what was the error you got when you tried to download it?

Cheers!