Codefreak5's Fire Emblem Civilizations

[codefreak5]

I prefer the top-right icon as well; red-and-gold looks great for Ferox. The logo is a bit off-center, though, but you can fix that when you make the new one. It looks awesome anyway, though! Thanks for making it!

I started on the XML files. So far, there's only a basic Civ file, with only the Civ's name and colors; and a Feroxi Arena file which is currently a renamed Colosseum, with no unique attributes. The unit and leader files will come when we decide just what they'll be. I'm thinking a Feroxi Warrior as a Longswordsman replacement, with a strength buff and possibly a promotion to act like one of the Warrior's FE skills. The leader file will be more difficult, since there will likely be two, switching off through the UA. It's not something I've handled before, so I don't know if I need one file for both Basilio and Flavia, or one for each of them.

I think the UI would be the tricky part, but I think you could do something like that, depending on how extensive you wanted the different Khans' UAs to be. You could look at JFD's Lincoln for a basic idea -- part of Lincoln's UA is that, when you go to war, you get to "make a speech" and effectively choose a dummy policy for the civ to have during the course of the war. So you could do something similar, every so often you pick which Khan you want, and they provide a set of dummy buildings, dummy policies, or other Lua flags that can affect things like building costs or production or whatever else you wanted to manipulate. So one Khan could increase military production, while the other reduces the cost of defensive buildings, or something.

As for the AI, what you'd have to do is include some code to help the AI decide which strategy it wanted to follow -- or, worst comes to worst, make it purely random. That's how JFD's Lincoln works as the AI -- it randomly chooses which "speech" to make.

UI manipulation would be difficult, as will AI coding, mostly because I don't know if the former's possible and haven't ever touched the latter, but I'm sure we can figure something out once we work out all the details. We'll also have to account for game balance when coming up with the various UAs and how many choices the player should have by the late-game.

Thanks for putting your word in, bouncymischa.

Omega, nice avatar. It's... Beautiful

Now, I have a headache, and it's interfering with my ability to think about things, but hopefully we can discuss more about the leaders and the UA tomorrow.

 

[Kiang]

I don't think that we need two separate leader files for our dual-led Ferox - the main purpose of the leader files is to flavor AI personalities, and, while it would be cool to have dynamically changing AI personalities, I really don't think that switching between the two is possible (especially in regards to the leader screen, which is referenced in the main Civilization file).

That said, we could easily have a leader called "Basilio & Flavia" or whatever, a leader screen with the both of them, the dialogue with a "B:" or "F:" to denote the character speaking, et cetera. We're going to be well over our heads already with the UA, anyway; best not to complicate things further.

As for the UA itself; UI editing is totally possible, and so is AI programming. The easiest way to accomplish our desired goal, of course, would be to take bits and pieces from JFD's Lincoln-led America (generously suggested by bouncymischa), whereupon the tough part would be coming up with a way to randomly select two dummy policies from a list every time there's a hypothetical change in Feroxi leadership. It'd take some heavy-duty Lua-ing, for sure, but it's already been done before, so there's that.

 

[Kiang]

Oh, and I'll get right onto making art as soon as we've come to a consensus over the leader/s, building, and unit.

 

[codefreak5]

I don't think that we need two separate leader files for our dual-led Ferox - the main purpose of the leader files is to flavor AI personalities, and, while it would be cool to have dynamically changing AI personalities, I really don't think that switching between the two is possible (especially in regards to the leader screen, which is referenced in the main Civilization file).

That said, we could easily have a leader called "Basilio & Flavia" or whatever, a leader screen with the both of them, the dialogue with a "B:" or "F:" to denote the character speaking, et cetera. We're going to be well over our heads already with the UA, anyway; best not to complicate things further.

As for the UA itself; UI editing is totally possible, and so is AI programming. The easiest way to accomplish our desired goal, of course, would be to take bits and pieces from JFD's Lincoln-led America (generously suggested by bouncymischa), whereupon the tough part would be coming up with a way to randomly select two dummy policies from a list every time there's a hypothetical change in Feroxi leadership. It'd take some heavy-duty Lua-ing, for sure, but it's already been done before, so there's that.

Right; keeping the leaders simple and doable. The dialogue sounds like it'll be fun to write; have fun with it!

I've already downloaded JFD's Lincoln-led America, and I'm going through it to make sense of the UA code. Its AI code takes a random selection from the policy list, so it shouldn't be too difficult to modify that into picking two. It's got some UI code too, so I have something to learn from. All that's left is coming up with the traits, and unlocking more as the game progresses - likely on an Era-based schedule.

It's all easier said than done, of course.

Oh, and I'll get right onto making art as soon as we've come to a consensus over the leader/s, building, and unit.

Awesome! I look forward to seeing your designs.

 

[Kiang]

Great! I'll get right on bettering the icon and experimenting with different Arena and Fighter ideas.

 

[Omega124]

I'm thinking a Feroxi Warrior as a Longswordsman replacement, with a strength buff and possibly a promotion to act like one of the Warrior's FE skills.

Warrior's class skills in Awakening are Rally Strength, which increases the strength of nearby units; and Counter, which instantly deals the damage done on a Warrior back to the enemy. Counter seems... really hard to code for Civ 5, so I think Rally Strength would be the better ability. Just make Feroxi Warriors have the GG radius around them.

Omega, nice avatar. It's... Beautiful

 

[codefreak5]

It's been quiet for a couple days, so I'll share what I've been doing and thinking.

I took some time to dig through the Lua and XML from JFD's mod, and I have a basic understanding of how it works; what all of the functions do, and when and how they trigger. Using this, I can make the UA code for our mod.

I finished setting up XML files for the mod. There's a leader file with prospective values for the flavors, empty diplomacy quotes, a placeholder trait that does nothing, and minor Civilopedia information, along with Sound and Atlas files. There are currently placeholder art assets - blank white circles and Ylisse's map, DOM, and diplomacy screen - and placeholder music (also Ylisse's). This is all so I can use the mod in-game, to test out things before Kiang finishes the art.

Great! I'll get right on bettering the icon and experimenting with different Arena and Fighter ideas.

Take as long as you need!

Warrior's class skills in Awakening are Rally Strength, which increases the strength of nearby units; and Counter, which instantly deals the damage done on a Warrior back to the enemy. Counter seems... really hard to code for Civ 5, so I think Rally Strength would be the better ability. Just make Feroxi Warriors have the GG radius around them.

Regardless of whether or not Counter's possible to code, I think it would destroy balance for the unit. Rally Strength probably is the way to go.

I have a couple ideas for the Arena. One is what Kiang suggested, where units stationed in cities with an arena gain XP. There would have to be a limit on how much XP they get, or how often they get it, to prevent people from just keeping their units in cities for the free promotions.
I feel like I've said that before. Probably because I have.
Another idea is a gold bonus, either GPT or some other cool bonus that I haven't thought of yet. People use arenas in FE not only for the level grinding, but for the gold, and some kind of gold bonus from the Arena could represent this.

So, what's everyone else been doing?

 

[Kiang]

So, what's everyone else been doing?

I've been gathering some art assets and reliving my childhood with Age of Empires III. I don't know when the art'll be done, but probably sometime around next weekend. Glad to see that you (sort of) figured out the Lua! =D

 

[Omega124]

So, what's everyone else been doing?

Well, I don't have anything to do, if you want me to help. Otherwise, I've been theroycrafting about making a possible scenerio of Archanea and Valm, but having civs from both the present and 1000 years in the past (So both Ylisse and Altea on the same map).

 

[bouncymischa]

I have a couple ideas for the Arena. One is what Kiang suggested, where units stationed in cities with an arena gain XP. There would have to be a limit on how much XP they get, or how often they get it, to prevent people from just keeping their units in cities for the free promotions.
I feel like I've said that before. Probably because I have.
Another idea is a gold bonus, either GPT or some other cool bonus that I haven't thought of yet. People use arenas in FE not only for the level grinding, but for the gold, and some kind of gold bonus from the Arena could represent this.

I've seen a few mods where units can gain XP per turn by doing certain things, so you could do something like "+1 XP per turn" for sitting in a city with an Arena...

One idea that occurred to me for the GPT idea -- since I'm presuming units stationed in the city would be fighting in the Arena, it'd be cool if you pegged the GPT to the unit's level -- say 1 GPT per level of the unit. So a wimpy level 1 unit might only generate 1 gold per turn, but bring in a veteran level 4 unit to fight in the Arena and you get and extra +4 GPT! Or, if that's not impressive enough, double it so the veterans bring in an impressive +8 GPT...

On the other hand, it still does encourage people to have units sitting in cities, rather than out there beating up stuff. You could possibly have it so that a unit generates gold in the city as it passes through (I think you could just use Unit.SetXY and check to see if the plot has an Arena), although you might need to set up flags so that a unit can only fight in the Arena every so often. Otherwise you'd just get people cycling units in and out of the city to fight in the Arena...

 

[Kiang]

One idea that occurred to me for the GPT idea -- since I'm presuming units stationed in the city would be fighting in the Arena, it'd be cool if you pegged the GPT to the unit's level -- say 1 GPT per level of the unit. So a wimpy level 1 unit might only generate 1 gold per turn, but bring in a veteran level 4 unit to fight in the Arena and you get and extra +4 GPT! Or, if that's not impressive enough, double it so the veterans bring in an impressive +8 GPT...

I like this idea. For a basic building effect, how about units in cities with arena get, say, +2 exp and +1 GPT? AS bouncymischa suggested, I also agree that the gold should scale by level, although I'm not entirely sure how you would Lua that.
I have the Lua for distributing cool stuff when units are in cities with specific buildings, courtesy of bane_, but I'm not at my main computer right now. Will send it when I can. =)

 

[codefreak5]

Well, I don't have anything to do, if you want me to help. Otherwise, I've been theroycrafting about making a possible scenerio of Archanea and Valm, but having civs from both the present and 1000 years in the past (So both Ylisse and Altea on the same map).

Sounds interesting. I'd be interested to see where this goes.
If you do want to help with this mod, you can suggest things for Ferox's uniques. UU and UB effects, or possible UA choices, anything that comes to mind.

I've seen a few mods where units can gain XP per turn by doing certain things, so you could do something like "+1 XP per turn" for sitting in a city with an Arena...

One idea that occurred to me for the GPT idea -- since I'm presuming units stationed in the city would be fighting in the Arena, it'd be cool if you pegged the GPT to the unit's level -- say 1 GPT per level of the unit. So a wimpy level 1 unit might only generate 1 gold per turn, but bring in a veteran level 4 unit to fight in the Arena and you get and extra +4 GPT! Or, if that's not impressive enough, double it so the veterans bring in an impressive +8 GPT...

On the other hand, it still does encourage people to have units sitting in cities, rather than out there beating up stuff. You could possibly have it so that a unit generates gold in the city as it passes through (I think you could just use Unit.SetXY and check to see if the plot has an Arena), although you might need to set up flags so that a unit can only fight in the Arena every so often. Otherwise you'd just get people cycling units in and out of the city to fight in the Arena...

When I thought of the GPT idea, I was thinking back to arena fights and the prize money you get when you win. GPT per level's an interesting idea, and it brings some encouragement to level up your fighters.

Obviously, there's still the issue of having units hanging around cities all the time for bonus gold and XP. Your suggestion to only allow units to fight every so often will help mitigate the problem, and I also think having your units take damage, and/or the possibility of losing gold, can also help.

I like this idea. For a basic building effect, how about units in cities with arena get, say, +2 exp and +1 GPT? AS bouncymischa suggested, I also agree that the gold should scale by level, although I'm not entirely sure how you would Lua that.
I have the Lua for distributing cool stuff when units are in cities with specific buildings, courtesy of bane_, but I'm not at my main computer right now. Will send it when I can. =)

That's a good starting value, and we can tweak it if necessary in the future. Scaling by level in Lua is simpler than it seems, to me at least; there's a method for getting a unit's level, and that can be used to multiply the exp and GPT values, or as part of a set of conditionals if the increase per level isn't static.
I await the Lua code. Thanks in advance for sending it over!

 

[Kiang]

I await the Lua code. Thanks in advance for sending it over!

Ta-daaa~~
=D

-- Get cool stuff from sitting in cities
-- Author: bane_
-- DateCreated: 7/19/2014 4:15:37 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------
function ArenaTraining(iPlayer)
	local pPlayer = Players[iPlayer] 
	if pPlayer:IsAlive() then 
		for pUnit in pPlayer:Units() do 
			if pUnit:GetBaseCombatStrength() >= 1 then 
				local pPlot = pUnit:GetPlot() 
				if pPlot:GetPlotCity() and pPlot:GetPlotCity():IsHasBuilding(GameInfoTypes["BUILDING_FEROX_ARENA"]) then 
					pUnit:ChangeExperience(2) -- Can put more cool stuff after here, like gold
				end
			end
		end
	end
end
GameEvents.PlayerDoTurn.Add(ArenaTraining)

 

[codefreak5]

Ta-daaa~~
=D

-- Get cool stuff from sitting in cities
-- Author: bane_
-- DateCreated: 7/19/2014 4:15:37 PM
--------------------------------------------------------------
function ArenaTraining(iPlayer)
	local pPlayer = Players[iPlayer] 
	if pPlayer:IsAlive() then 
		for pUnit in pPlayer:Units() do 
			if pUnit:GetBaseCombatStrength() >= 1 then 
				local pPlot = pUnit:GetPlot() 
				if pPlot:GetPlotCity() and pPlot:GetPlotCity():IsHasBuilding(GameInfoTypes["BUILDING_FEROX_ARENA"]) then 
					pUnit:ChangeExperience(2) -- Can put more cool stuff after here, like gold
				end
			end
		end
	end
end
GameEvents.PlayerDoTurn.Add(ArenaTraining)

Thank you! I can easily make adjustments with this.
Give bane_ my thanks as well!

 

[codefreak5]

It's been a while. I'm been busier than usual the past week or so, so I haven't fiddled around with the Lua quite as much as I'd have liked to. The gold bonus has been added, and I've been messing around a bit to try and limit when the bonuses activates. No progress, so far.

Kiang, do you expect the art assets to be finished soon?

 

[Kiang]

Kiang, do you expect the art assets to be finished soon?

I do indeed.

 

[codefreak5]

I do indeed.

Awesome! They look great, Kiang. Thanks for making them. I've added them into the mod.

Here's a look at what else has to be done:

• UAs and code
• Diplomacy Screen and Dialouge
• DOM Screen and Text
• Map
• Civilopedia Entries
• Finalizing Arena bonuses and coding

I believe the next step we should take is creating the unique bonuses for the UA, and deciding how they'll be handled - how many there should be, if and when more should be added as the game progresses, etc.

 

[Kiang]

I can take a crack at everything except the coding. I know a guy who'd be excellent at getting some civilopedia and diplomacy text up, and I'd be more than happy to help brainstorm Arena and Trait effects.

I say we put the Arena at +2 exp and, say, 1/8th combat strength gold per turn, just for starters. If that's too complex, and simple +2 gold will work as well. As always, this is just temporary; we can test it for balance later.

For a list of some trait effects, which I agree should be expanded as the game progresses, here are a few ideas (mostly militaristic, as befitting Ferox, but not exclusively):

• +X% melee combat strength (duration of Khan's reign)
• Enter a golden age (one-off)
• +X% of current gold saved up (per turn, and for duration of Khan's reign)
• +10 happiness (duration of Khan's reign)
• Free tech (one-off)
• Double influence with all city-states met (one-off)
• +X% melee unit production (duration of Khan's reign)
• Feroxi UU spawns in every city (one-off)
• -50 to 90% unit upgrade costs (duration of Khan's reign)
• +X% melee defensive bonus (duration of Khan's reign)
• Gold from kills
• Double exp from Barracks (duration of Khan's reign)
• +X city combat strength and +X city HP (duration of Khan's reign)
• Force peace with the Barbarians (duration of Khan's reign)
• +X for melee units (duration of Khan's reign)
• Extra trade route (duration of Khan's reign)
• Great General appears (one-off)
• + food in the as 1/4 the strength of garrison (duration of Khan's reign)
• Free Arena in capital (one-off)

I don't know for sure if we want to include one-offs along with the duration effects, but it may make for some interesting contrast.

Also, the original idea was to open up a UI window so for the player to choose which of the two Khans would next assume the throne. To nerf the trait slightly, to represent the unpredictability of the Khan selection process, and, most importantly, to simplify the code, we could totally take away the player selection aspect. The code could choose randomly from the list of Khan effects (excluding those reserved for future eras and those that have already been chosen) and then notify the player accordingly with a pop-up notification, something along the lines of:

"The Great and Powerful Regna Ferox has held a tournament in Castle Ferox! After a epic and suspenseful battle, the new Khan of Regna Ferox has been decided: 'MadeUpKhanName' of "ProxyCityOrPlaceName!'"​

And then the trait description would go underneath that. =)
I'm still not sure how many turns should pass between tournaments, but it should definitely change depending on the game speed.

 

[TheSuperDodo]

Hey. I've been following this thread for a while and I wanna say that it seems awesome. So here are all the things I wanted to say so far:

Is it possible to make sure that a trait effect wouldn't repeat itself twice in a row? Cause that would be quite annoying or boring if it would.

Also I think I could help with the Civilopedia and DOM entries. I have a nice amount of knowledge in the lore of Fire Emblem and I'm quite good at writing.

I'm also studying C# but I don't think there's anything I can do to help with coding...

P.S.
Nice art

 

[bouncymischa]

I say we put the Arena at +2 exp and, say, 1/8th combat strength gold per turn, just for starters. If that's too complex, and simple +2 gold will work as well. As always, this is just temporary; we can test it for balance later.

One idea I'd considered was that the Arena could generate gold equivalent to the level of the unit stationed there, so putting a veteran unit in the Arena would generate more gold -- who wouldn't want to go see some famous veterans fight? But it depends on whether or not you want your vets hanging out in your cities... although it could be a good excuse to rotate them off the front lines for some R&R?

Also, the original idea was to open up a UI window so for the player to choose which of the two Khans would next assume the throne. To nerf the trait slightly, to represent the unpredictability of the Khan selection process, and, most importantly, to simplify the code, we could totally take away the player selection aspect. The code could choose randomly from the list of Khan effects (excluding those reserved for future eras and those that have already been chosen) and then notify the player accordingly with a pop-up notification, something along the lines of:

"The Great and Powerful Regna Ferox has held a tournament in Castle Ferox! After a epic and suspenseful battle, the new Khan of Regna Ferox has been decided: 'MadeUpKhanName' of "ProxyCityOrPlaceName!'"​

And then the trait description would go underneath that. =)
I'm still not sure how many turns should pass between tournaments, but it should definitely change depending on the game speed.

Having a random selection of Khans would actually be easier to do than having a UI window -- admittedly, I say that because I'm still struggling to figure out how UI windows work myself, while I've managed to get randomly selected traits working for one of my civs. X3 Most of those ideas you listed look relatively easy to implement, although I'm not sure you can force a peace with barbarians...