Branch "Yields" - Base Setup: Yields, Professions, Buildings, Experts, ... [IMPLEMENTED]

[raystuttgart]

Ok, I will try to implement this package now.

These are actually the new core game mechanics of this branch or in other words the reason I wanted to have all these Yields.
It is supposed to give the economy a lot more life and immersiveness - having the player actually react on market prices to e.g. speculate.

3) New Economy System (about 2 month)

• "Actual Supply System" in Europe / Africa / Port Royal
• "Actual Triangle Trade" (there is a thread of its own for it, but it is to be integrated)
• New Foreign Market Events that trigger (temporary high) demand in Europe / Africa / Port Royal
• New Domestic Market Events that trigger (temporary high) domestic demand in specific Cities

 

[raystuttgart]

Solving a small issue in Billboard Icons related to GameFonts (due to high number of Yields) [DONE]

Outdated:

Spoiler :

Currently still working on this.

I already had some progress - meaning that "WTP Custom City Billboard Icons" work again.
But I am still having issues with "Vanilla City Billboard Icons" (e.g. Defense Icon, Unrest Icon ...).

That is pretty much the final tiny issue I still have to solve for the GameFonts I created for branch "Yields".
For some stupid reasons the Vanilla programmers decided that some Icons should be hardcoded in the exe ...

Whatever, I will fix this eventually - one way or another ...

---------

Edit:
Now everything works fine as it should - all Icons in Screens and City Billboard match perfectly the new GameFonts of "Yields".
I had to code around "Vanilla Billboard Icons" a bit, but at least nothing in Billboard depends on hardcoding in exe anymore.

P.S.:
This small task took me almost the complete day - or at least the time I could afford for modding today. (4h+)
Such ugly desing faults like hardcoding in exe - which is not accessible to modders - really cause lots of trouble.

 

[Mr. ZorG]

Generally the following happened:

2) Constructing Ships (except Coastal Ships) has become a bit more challenging **

the screenshot does not show how much more complicated the construction of ships is now. have new resources been added to build them?

 

[raystuttgart]

have new resources been added to build them?

Yes, "Hardwood" is a new Resource.
(Required for most Ships, except Coastal Ships)

see Screenshot

 

[JohnAdamski]

Would it make sense for Colonial Self Supply - Domestic Market goods to have an effect on the population of the city in which they are consumed? 150 units of coffee consumed on domestic market=+1 production for 15 turns or something of the like? Similar to the main Civ game except the resource benefit would be correlated to how many units of the resource were consumed by the city and would only last a limited number of turns.

Also, I've always thought the initial ship should carry more than just a settler and a specialty unit, but I understand that might accelerate the initial city development in an unbalanced way. One thought I had is adding a third unit to the initial landing party with a new unit type called an "Adventurer". This unit would be a colonist base +50 guns, +50 tools, +50 lumber, explorer I, wild animal hunter I, +1 strength, +1 fur yield, +1 fish yield. -2 all professions, -2 all production other than fur and fish. Finally, the Adventurer would be forced out of the city after a certain number of turns and not have an option to garrison. After the Adventurer has either founded 3 cities, killed 10 wild animals, or been promoted to Veteran III, he would become an Elder Statesmen -1 liberty bell.

The historical context is that many people coming to the new world were fiercely individualist and sought solitude, adventure, and freedom to roam without constraints of modern society. These are not people seeking religious asylum or scouting territory to fulfill some civic responsibility, nor were they looking to make a fortune or taking another route in lieu of a prison sentence. They were simply, explorers. These are the folks that would have founded cities in Kentucky in the 1760s and left for Arkansas by 1774 and the first permanent European settlement was founded. They can live off the land, move well, defend themselves, and don't like to be tied down in a city. After years of experience (thinking Davy Crockett) they become Elder Statesmen and retire into domestic life.

Last thought, if you have too many liberty bells in relation to population and happiness, there could be a "nepotism" penalty. The idea is that the political machine in the city has become too strong and there is a feedback loop of cronyism and nepotism in the city that has to be purged. Penalty might be some turns of unrest, or on the extreme end, one of your elder statesmen could become a petty criminal. Possibly there could be a jail concept where an elder statesman would have to go as the nepotism penalty. The jail could also receive petty criminals from Europe and captured raiding natives.

 

[raystuttgart]

4) Working on Screens / Billboard / Yield Order in Rows (about 1 month)

• 3 rows of Goods in City Screen (adjustment to much larger number of Yields)
• Domestic Advisor Screens (adjustment to much larger number of Yields)

This also still needs to be done and once I find time and motivation I will at one point of course try to do it myself.
(I keep postponing it because I am not very good at Python and thus get frustrated with searching Python bugs quite easily.)

If I could get some help with the adjustments of those Screens it would be highly appreciated.
(Every piece of work that I do not have to do myself gives me a bit of time to finish something else.)

This is actually one of the main blockers for a release of this branch ...
So having this solved would actually bring this mod one major step forward.

 

[raystuttgart]

Adding Europe / Africa / Port Royal Quests to consider the new Yields [IN WORK, @Raubwuerger]

@Raubwuerger is currently working on this.

 

[raystuttgart]

Ok, the 3-Row-CityScreen is done.
(I am going to "resort" the order of the Yields the Upcoming days.)

3 rows in City Screen (adjustment to much larger number of Yields) [DONE]

Spoiler :

 

[raystuttgart]

Ok now the 3 rows are also sorted again, so they are nicely aligned for UI.

1st Row: Strategic Raw Yields, Luxury Resources, Livestock Animals, Strategic Final Yields
(... more or less everything that did not fit into the other 2 rows. But it is also the one to think the most.)

These here are the ones that actually matter considering alignment:
2nd Row: Raw Cash Yields, needed for row 3 (thus also aligned to row below)
3rd Row: Produced Cash Yields, refined from row 2 (thus also alinged to row above)

 

[raystuttgart]

I will now start to work on this here, which is intended to make trade / economy a bit more dynamic and interesting.

• New Europe Market Events that trigger price increases / decreases in Europe / Africa / Port Royal

The idea is pretty simple:

From time to time "Market Price Events" will trigger.
(It is going to be an enhancement of the Python Event System.)

These "Market Price Events" can cause price increases / or decreases for a good specific good in one of the Markets Europe / Africa / Port Royal.
(After a random amount of turns a "Reverse Market Event" is triggered that reverses the price effect again, so it is a temporary increase.)

These "Market Price Events" will have random chances and may repeat during the course of the game.
(XML config will be made so you should see one of them about every 20 turns in average.)

Most likely these events will also have other requirements.
(Not yet sure, I will see when I start implementing the system and some examples.)

------

Thus scenarios should occassionally occur which may make it interesting to buy something cheap in e.g. Africa and sell it expensive in e.g. Europe.
Or scenarios may occur where you purposely do not want to sell one of your Colonial goods until the price has recovered again.
Or scenarios may occur where you drastically increase production of a Colonial good just because the price in e.g. Europe is temporary so lucrative.
...

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Technical Comment:

I first thought that this could be implemented fully in DLL, but after further thinking about it, I decided against it.
Python Event System with its XML configurability and easy to access Python code simply is more flexible for the future.
Also the Python Event System may even allow to tell a small story to explain what caused that Market Event.

------

Gameplay Comment:

The gameplay value of this partially depends on the implementation of "Actual Triangle Trade".
(But even without that feature it should still cause a more dynamic / interesting market behaviour.)

 

[raystuttgart]

New Domestic Market Events that trigger high domestic demand in specific Cities [DONE]

This is now done, see here.
(It is one of the many small features that are supposed to make economy gameplay more fun and dynamic.)

 

[raystuttgart]

Ok, I got detracted a little bit this weekend with supporting other team activities - which was definitely worth it though.
But this here is still at the top of my todo list and if I find some time I may finish it during the course this week.

New Europe Market Events that trigger price increases / decreases in Europe / Africa / Port Royal (for specific goods)

Otherwise I will also start looking into this here if adjsutments are necessary:

Domestic Advisor Screens (adjustment to much larger number of Yields where necessary)

 

[raystuttgart]

Adding Europe / Africa / Port Royal Quests to consider the new Yields [IN WORK, @Raubwuerger]

@Raubwuerger first thanks for investing the time and effort for merging branches.
(It was definitely one of the most important tasks to be done - if not the most important of all.)

Otherwise, could you give an update on the Europe / Africa / Port Royal Trade Quests?
(How many weeks do you think you will still need for it ?)

Because I consider working on the Python Event System for Europe / Africa / Port Royal Market Events.
(Thus we would most likely be working in the same files and if possible that should be avoided.)

------

So if you would e.g. say that you will finish in the next 2 weeks, I would rather work on another task first.
(e.g. Look at the Advisor Screens or one of the many other unfinished implementations.)

Thanks in advance for feedback.

 

[Raubwuerger]

Hello raystuttgart,

sorry for my late reply. The events for Europe are almost ready. I haven't started with the other ports yet.
But I want to finish it by the end of the week ...

 

[raystuttgart]

Hi guys, I implemented 3 more Goods.

Actually there is in fact reason for this and I also discussed it with some team members.
(We may have concepts in the future where troops need to be supplied and those goods would be needed for it.)

--------
Charcoal and Blackpowder (aka Ammunition)

Charcoal will also become an alternative to normal Coal to produce Guns and Cannons.
Charcoal will otherwise be needed to produce Blackpowder. (Will also be used to equip troops and build ships)

1) Wood -- Powderhouse --> Charcoal
2) Charcoal --- Powderhouse--> Blackpowder

---------

Bakery Products (aka Provisions)

3 raw goods could be used to produce Bakery Products.
Bakery Products may also be renamed "Provisions" and serve to equip troops.

3A) Barley -- Bakery --> Bakery Products
3B) Rice -- Bakery --> Bakery Products
3C) Cassava -- Bakery --> Bakery Products


Colopedia:
(Currently just Buttons)

Spoiler :

Europe Screen:

Spoiler :

 

[raystuttgart]

By the way:
City Screen is currently corrupted a bit because I added these 3 new goods.

But do not worry, I will repair / correct it again tomorrow.
(It is already a bit late today and I start getting tired.)

-----

All the rest for these 3 goods will be implemented step by step.

1) Experts
2) Buildings
3) Professions
4) Founding Fathers

 

[raystuttgart]

The City Screen is fixed again.
This is a 16x9 resolution: 1920x1080

 

[raystuttgart]

@Schmiddie:

Please let me know when you are done with the graphics for the new Experts.
Please also send me the ArtDef names so I do not have to search.

---------

STEP 1:

Then I can configure them as Units / Experts in the game:
(I simply need to start with those and then build the rest.)

1) Master Charcoaler
2) Master Blackpowder Maker
3) Master Baker

----------

STEP 2:

After that I would need to get the 2 Buildings we will add:
(I could start with just the base building and later we could add the expansions.)

1) Baker House
2) Blackpowder House

Then I will implement them in XML and also adjust City Screen.

---------

STEP 3:

Once both steps above are done I can implement the new Professions.

1) Charcoaler
2) Blackpowder Maker
3) Baker (in 3 variations)

Then I will also do most of the other configurations.
(Like e.g. adjusting Civ4Civiliatzion Infos for Natives.)

---------

STEP 4:

After that we should also implement Founding Fathers
(But until now I do not found good historic persons.)

1) FF Charcoal + Blackpowder
2) FF for Baker

---------

STEP 5 to 7:

5) Domestic Demand for Bakery Products
6) Profession Equipment Amount for Blackpowder / Expert Recruit Prices Europe
7) Ship Construction Amount for Blackpowder / Ship Buy Prices Europe


----------

As I said, I would have to work in this order:

1) Experts
2) Buildings
3) Professions
4) Founding Fathers
5) Demand for Bakery Products
6) Profession Equipment Amount for Blackpowder / Expert Recruit Prices Europe
7) Ship Construction Amount for Blackpowder / Ship Buy Prices Europe

 

[raystuttgart]

(Roasted) Coffee and (Roasted) Cocoa have been moved from Warhehouse building chain to Roastery (already used for Roasted Peanuts) building chain.
--> Warehouse does not have any building slots anymore and also does not need to be given that much space anymore.

Reasons:

1) It fits well considering immersion (to have all "Roasting Profssions" in one building)
2) Warehouse was a bit too overpowered (compared to other production buildings)
3) We can be moved to gain additional space for new Buildings (e.g. for Blackpowder)

 

[Schmiddie]

Don't we need a step 5: Implementing Demands for these goods, requirements for units (e.g. ships) etc.?