Everything is going pretty well, I'm still in the flavoring phase. So I'm doing a lot of playtesting to make sure all of the units I have made/altered look good, I've managed to get everything more streamlined. Prior to this I did everythign hap-hazardly, which resulted in the delay of Module Pack III's release to the point that a new version of civ came out, which meant I had to redo everything. I should be done with the flavoring portion of the mod within the next week or so, which is not difficult but extremely tedious and time-consuming. I am also working with some people on getting some units finished, a lot of them will be unique to this mod, with AchillesZero and Bakuel so this mod is going to have some really awesome units that other mods will probably drool over (and of course will be able to have, I am not a mizer after all). One caviot to streamlining my work is my hiatus from LH-making. I know its probably unfortunate for a lot of people who were promised/wanted Askia et al, but if I focus on one thing I time it gets done better.
Once I finish flavoring the base-civ's units I will add Polynesia, Israel, Iroquois, Sioux and Franks to the mod. I am considering adding some ancient middle-eastern civs like the Phoenicians, Hittites, Nubians and/or Assyrians but I might save those for the modules/Deluxe Edition. I haven't decided upon that just yet. After that I will be adding the new religions and then following that the ethnic city-styles/improvements. Once all of the artwork is finished I'll add in a few new future techs/units/buildings/wonders/features. Then I'll add stuff like Inquisitors and Spy Promotions and possibly some new features that I will, as usual, ask you guys about.
So its a long way coming, but believe me I will keep you updated on any and all changes I make to the base game. Ultimately I want to keep it as close to the normal game as possible while still offering enough changes to warrant a new mod.
On a more LITERAL basis, I am currently playing a test-game as the Mayans with the Byzantines, Russians, Celts, Aztecs, and Malinese as my rivals. Part of it is to check for CTD/MAFs (which I am happy to report have not occured so far and I am in the industrial era) but also to make sure I didn't make any mistakes in the animations or XML. I have noted a few issues which get resolved as I play. The Mayan set looks great, and so do the others. I suppose on my next playtest I'll provide some screen shots so you guys can follow along with what I am doing.
What I am considering at this point is to save and offer a test mod to a few people after each interval I pass. So once I finish flavoring the civs I'll probably send a couple of you guys a test-mod to try out in case I missed anything. Then I'll do the same thing after I add the new leaders and civs, then I'll do it again after I add the new future techs and units and so on and so forth until I am sure the mod is as perfect as I can possibly create. But do not confuse my lack of posting with inactivity, I work on this mod at least as much as possible everyday. I am glad you are interested, and I hope you ultimately LOVE the finished product. It may not be as over-the-top as a mod like Quot Capita or Legends of Revolution, but I hope that when I am finished this is a good compromise between maintaining the original game-mechanics of BtS while adding enough new features to emulate a new expansion to the game.
EDIT: I just want to say to those of you who waited the SIX MONTHS (yes, SIX MONTHS) for Module Pack III to be released only to see it fall by the wayside - MODULE PACK III WAS BASICALLY FINISHED when BtS 3.19 came out. In fact all of the civs in it were playable, there were only a few graphics/traits/stats/etc. issues involved that prevented me from releasing it. I just don't like releasing crappy products. So there isn't going to be much of a wait between the release of Diplomacy II and all of her module packs. So there will be a flood of material once the base mod is finished.
EDIT2: @ I'll do the next playtest w/ screens as China so you can see the Chinese set in action!!! There is also some talk of a Sun Yat Sen LH. Currently China has Mao Tse Tun and Qin Shi Huang as the leaders (obviously) and I am adding Tang Taizong from the first Diplomacy mod as well as Empress Dowager Cixi (courtesy of Ekmek). Now, I understand that Cixi may not have been the best choice, and there are plenty of able-bodied Chinese leaders being discussed in the LH Request thread. The reason I am thinking of using Cixi is because I think there should be more female leaders in the game, but I might consider a different fourth leader for China. I am limiting every civ to four leaders. Civs like Rome, which will be getting a new leader in the new mod, already have four leaders. But I will be dropping one of them to make room for the new one. So if you have ideas for a new leader keep in mind that I am limiting the leader-roster to FOUR PER CIV.
