Chronicles of Adea - fantasy mod development thread

[PawelS]

So the pipes and buttons are built when the game is started/loaded? Then making them different for every player should work properly in single player, there can be problems with them only in hotseat (mods can be played in hotseat using Gedemon's Custom Advanced Setup Screen). To make them work in hotseat I'll have to check the active player every time the screen is shown, and if it's different than the last active player, it should rebuild the entire policy tree - it's a bit complicated indeed, but I think it's doable.

 

[PawelS]

Perhaps I made a mistake in the icons I made for this. The background of Alpha dds must be white, which unmasks the icon color. It looks from picture like the background of the Alpha dds is black.

When I view the .dds files in IrfanView, the icons are black on gray background, while the icons in Faerun mod are white on gray background.

 

[PawelS]

@FramedArchitect: Can you tell me how to recolor these icons to white? I'm really bad at editing graphics...

 

[FramedArchitect]

@FramedArchitect: Can you tell me how to recolor these icons to white? I'm really bad at editing graphics...

I updated the icons here.

You can recolor the backgrounds by selecting the background then using the paintbucket tool to fill with white.

 

[PawelS]

Thanks again Do you mean using a program like Photoshop (which I don't have) or Gimp, or can it be done using simple programs like IrfanView? And I would need to edit the .psd file and then resize it and convert to .dds, or it's possible to edit the .dds files directly?

I don't need it this time because you did it for me, but I ask in case I need to do similar things later

 

[PawelS]

Update: I'm working on Unique Units, for now the Archons have the highest amount of them - I think they will have about 12 UUs in the alpha, based mainly on Roman, Greek and other ancient units, as well as some religious ones (Crusader, Paladin).

 

[FramedArchitect]

Thanks again Do you mean using a program like Photoshop (which I don't have) or Gimp, or can it be done using simple programs like IrfanView? And I would need to edit the .psd file and then resize it and convert to .dds, or it's possible to edit the .dds files directly?

I don't need it this time because you did it for me, but I ask in case I need to do similar things later

Hi. Using psd you can edit the dds files directly (though they have to be resaved in dds format or they default to psd format). In that case, the dds file does not have to be resized as it's already the correct size.

I have never used those other programs so I have no advice to give there.

Yes, if you have other simple icons to format and export, I can do it via psd fairly quickly

 

[Pazyryk]

For editing existing dds files, Gimp has an "Overwrite ... " option in the file menu. Seems to re-save a file in its current format. I've used it to recolor a bunch of resources.

 

[PawelS]

Update: I almost finished working on the traits, here is the current version of them (with automatically generated descriptions). There are some differences compared to the race descriptions at the beginning of this thread, I will update them when making a new thread in the modpacks sections after releasing the alpha version of the mod. Also, the traits will be changed in the future, when I add Unique Policies, as some things from traits will be moved there, and new effects added to traits.

 

[Wodhann]

Demons

Spoiler :

I'm pretty sure a demon would use a pentagram upside-down, not pointing upwards. It's common knowledge that a pentagram pointing up is a sacred/magic symbol and one pointing down would be its satanic counterpart, much like a downwards cross.

 

[bane_]

Downard cross is the symbol of Saint Peter, who asked to be cruficied that way because he wasn't worthy of diying the same way as his god. It's quite sacred, being the first Pope and all and - if I'm not mistaken - the Pope to this day wear this symbol as a show of humility.
About the pentagram, I have no idea, I know Morrocco uses it though.

@PawelS, although I'm not an experienced modder, I would like to help in anyway you need. This is a very interesting project.

 

[Wodhann]

Downard cross is the symbol of Saint Peter, who asked to be cruficied that way because he wasn't worthy of diying the same way as his god. It's quite sacred, being the first Pope and all and - if I'm not mistaken - the Pope to this day wear this symbol as a show of humility.

Ah yes, I forgot about that. I know some "satanic" folks use the downward cross though.

But yeah - A downward pentagram is pretty much a (if not "the") symbol of satanism, demons and all that.

 

[bane_]

But yeah - A downward pentagram is pretty much a (if not "the") symbol of satanism, demons and all that.

I don't know if it's the power of suggestion, but if you look at the downward pentagram it seems a bit like a goat with two spiky 'demon-y' horns.
Ok, I believe it's time for me to take a break from the internet...

 

[Wodhann]

I don't know if it's the power of suggestion, but if you look at the downward pentagram it seems a bit like a goat with two spiky 'demon-y' horns.
Ok, I believe it's time for me to take a break from the internet...

It's not just you, some of these pentagrams are actually drawn with goat faces on them (google it and you'll see).

 

[PawelS]

About the pentagram: in my list of proposed civ symbols I only wrote that it should be a pentagram, without any information about its orientation. And such details aren't really important to me - the symbolism in a fantasy world doesn't have to be the same as in our world.

@PawelS, although I'm not an experienced modder, I would like to help in anyway you need. This is a very interesting project.

Thanks for your offer! The area where I need help the most ATM (and don't have skills to do it myself) is 2D art, especially the leader pictures. So if you can create them yourself, or find them somewhere where we can get permission to use them, that would be very helpful.

 

[bane_]

OOps, I've been a bit away from Civ coding (due to the constant frustration), sorry for the delayed response, but, to make it even worse, it's not the answer you are waiting for as I don't have the ability of modelers to complete your request.

Still, if you need anything, you can always ask.

 

[PawelS]

OOps, I've been a bit away from Civ coding (due to the constant frustration), sorry for the delayed response, but, to make it even worse, it's not the answer you are waiting for as I don't have the ability of modelers to complete your request.

I didn't mean 3D modelling, I mean static pictures of the leaders - there are some good ones in the opening post of your L5R mod thread, so I thought you can find some good ones for this mod too

Still, if you need anything, you can always ask.

Of course ideas are always welcome (for example for unique units and buildings for the civs). I don't need help with coding atm, I'm going to do it all myself.

Also I will need text descriptions for civs, units, buildings etc., but it's not important at this stage of development, they can be added later.

 

[S.O.T MAHak]

Of course ideas are always welcome (for example for unique units and buildings for the civs). I don't need help with coding atm, I'm going to do it all myself.

Have you thought about pantheons, beliefs, spies, ideologies and great works?

Edit: Anyway I came up with some ideas.

Griffites- UU: "Conquistador", the same unit Spain have(might need a different name though) but can found city on same continent. I think this fits well with the Griffite theme of a civ of horsemen.

Archon- UU: "Holy Legion" (you probably had something similar in mind), basically the same as the roman vanilla version(when I say vanilla I mean, un-modded BNW), but some faith gained when it kills another unit.

Vodniks- UU: "Shore Dweller", unique worker that can build boats, like Samurai in vanilla. Plus it can "build" marshes, but only on grassland with freshwater source next to and there must not be another marsh next to it already.

Snobar- UB: "Meadhall", I don't have any good bonus ideas, maybe some bonus XP for melee units, since they got inspired by the stories of great valor in battle, they heard at the Meadhall.

Azracs- UI: "Pyramid", give some bonus culture or faith. Must be built on flat desert, can't be next to another pyramid, take a lot longer to be built then other basic improvements. Maybe the graphic feature that shows up next to the city who builds the vanilla "Great pyramids", can be use as graphic for such an improvement.

 

[PawelS]

Have you thought about pantheons, beliefs, spies, ideologies and great works?

Religion will work like in normal game, but there will be no distinction between various types of beliefs (pantheon, founder, follower etc.) - you can pick any belief as pantheon, any 2 beliefs when you found a religion, and 2 more when you enhance it. Every belief will refer to a particular god, and will allow building temples to that god. Also I consider making some civs start with a pre-defined pantheon.

Ideologies will be changed to Alignments (Good, Neutral, Evil), but they probably won't be present in the first released version of the mod.

No espionage or great works (or tourism) for now.

Edit: Anyway I came up with some ideas.

Griffites- UU: "Conquistador", the same unit Spain have(might need a different name though) but can found city on same continent. I think this fits well with the Griffite theme of a civ of horsemen.

Actually it's the Dreamers civ that gets the Conquistador, as this is the expansionist civ inspired by the colonial empires. (They also get Conquistador Musketman, an advanced recon unit.) The Griffites are more like medieval kingdoms - they get Knights as one of their UUs.

But the Conquistadors don't get the ability to found cities, as this aspect of the game is changed - unhappiness from number of cities is greatly increased, unhappiness from population decreased, and you can't build Settlers, but you get them for free when you have enough happiness (this helps the AI a lot in maintaining the right pace of expansion). What I want to achieve with this system is better balance between players (no "runaway civs"), and maintaining some wilderness where barbarians and monsters can spawn, through the course of the game.

Archon- UU: "Holy Legion" (you probably had something similar in mind), basically the same as the roman vanilla version(when I say vanilla I mean, un-modded BNW), but some faith gained when it kills another unit.

They have both Legion (which is similar to the vanilla game version), as well as Crusader, which can be purchased for Mana*, and gets Mana for killing units.

* renamed Faith, as it will be also used for magical purposes, not only religious

Vodniks- UU: "Shore Dweller", unique worker that can build boats, like Samurai in vanilla. Plus it can "build" marshes, but only on grassland with freshwater source next to and there must not be another marsh next to it already.

Interesting idea - perhaps in can be a unit that performs the functions of both Workers and Work Boats (but without getting "consumed" when building a Fishing Boats). About planting new features (marsh for Vodniks, forest for Elves, jungle for Lemuria) - I'm definitely going to add such possibility at some point, although there can be some technical difficulties.

Snobar- UB: "Meadhall", I don't have any good bonus ideas, maybe some bonus XP for melee units, since they got inspired by the stories of great valor in battle, they heard at the Meadhall.

Good idea, noted

Azracs- UI: "Pyramid", give some bonus culture or faith. Must be built on flat desert, can't be next to another pyramid, take a lot longer to be built then other basic improvements. Maybe the graphic feature that shows up next to the city who builds the vanilla "Great pyramids", can be use as graphic for such an improvement.

Actually I gave them another desert-only improvement, something like the one Morocco has. Various "Ancient Structures" (including Ancient Pyramids) will be generated on the map at the start of the game (I don't know how to use wonder graphics, so I will use El Dorado graphics for now).

I have a similar idea for one of the civs (not in the current list of 12) as you for the Pyramids - it will be a civ that can construct special statues, that will produce culture and mana, and give a combat bonus to nearby units.

 

[S.O.T MAHak]

I loved to contribute with more ideas for UB/UI/UU!
But could you update(or expand upon) the lore of each civ, so it would be easier to come up with ideas that fits the different themes.

One question I have is about the Lemuria.
Are they like "all animal life is sacred and must be protected at all cost" types or more like "jungle law, the strong and powerful have any right to subjugate the weak" types?, in which case the, in game, hunting of deer and sea animals would not bother them a bit.