Deth McBone’s ‘Galactic Epic’ creation thread

[Deth McBones]

have you read the Foundation series? i think some interesting ideas could be taken from this, including psychic powers, personal vs. large scale shields, and more.

I snapped up the Foundation series once I read the first book. I think I only got my hands on two or three more, but I loved the soft sci fi arguments and situations that that series threw at the reader.

Psychic powers are going to play a large role in one of the Alien civs, but the real problem lies in proper implementation of units. There is no really good animation that could be cut 'n pasted to create psychic units. I kinda wanted 'my' universe's psychic power to be limited to communication and concious-sharing as common traits and telekinesis and mind control as rare traits. The only real good comparison to existing Civ units would be Jedi force powers. If you really want to know what I have in store for the Alien psychics and have some ideas regarding gameplay, units, or just thoughts, PM me.

I also liked the Foundation series' focus on rather real technology. They had 'nucleics' which were nuclear and fusion power in the first book, and their complex and limited understanding of psychohistory was kind of a near-future fusion of economics, sociology, history, and mathematics. Also the idea of an Empire falling into disrepair just might be one of my planned scenarios (probably the last one ).

Speaking of books I used as inspiration, if anyone really likes a good hard sci fi book, and doesn't fear 1000 page epics, you should look into Peter F Hamilton's Pandora's Star, and its sequel, Judas Unchained. It is a huge, sprawling work, but it takes place in the 25th? century, where mankind has progressed through the stars not on FTL ships but with wormholes. It really is quite cool, and was one of the reasons I decided to see this mod through. As far as hardware goes, this book goes the whole nine yards. Forcefields, lasers, guns, even FTL ships, he chronicles it all. And throws in some cool socio-political intrigue and some good characters. (Okay enough of the shameless plug, but I really liked his books, and since we were talking of the Asimov books...but I digress)

Philadelphus,
Your radar towers and airbases are going to be implemented later in the tech tree, but perhaps we could find some applications for some scenario specific devices for the first...scenario. I usually no-change automate my leftover workers (shift-a I believe.)

Point taken on the upgrade paths.

As for the tachyons, I have tried to make myself understand that wikipedia article before. I have come close, but the best way I could relate a kind of FTL drive was to say that, much like when man first split the atom and released immense amounts of energy, so could future scientists find a way to capture charged tachyons (tachy-ions) in extremely charged atmospheres (just a way to actually nail down a type of terrain to hold the tachyon resource) and split them or harness them to propel a mass to FTL speed. It was plausible, and futuristic, so I ran with it. Originally tachyions were needed for all ships with FTL drive and could be found in the atmospheres of Gas Giants and Poison Planets. I had to remove this for this scenario, because it would be absolutely silly if everyone had ANOTHER resource right outside their doorstep. So now I have the problem of resource-free FTL flight. (Kind of a problem when you think of epic space scenario- which I'm trying to make as my final result [think of it- a civ trading up while stuck on their own homeworld, then suddenly bursting from its own system to snap up others...interesting but improbable...or maybe I have a bias....I don't know I ramble...It's late...])

Okay, I need to sleep.

We can figure out what wonders we need with a little brain power and creativity...

And I'm glad the trade system seemed to be plausible and didn't drive people batty.

Jeez! What is with my freakin' long posts?

And, btw, Watchmen is real heavy. Violent, but very complex.

 

[Deth McBones]

Okay, OP got a facelift, and post #3 now includes details about the units and improvments. Previews to follow if anyone wants to see them. Really have some questions though:

Which flags govern airdrops and airlift?
I think I remember airlift requiring the veteran air flag, but does the airdrop one need it as well?

And, I could use some help on some of the improvements. For science I went for a hard physics feel, but that could change to a more computer-centered approach.

First generation unit stats are up, and first off I have to apologize to my beta-testing crew. A lot of my biq was missing the right stats. Now you guys who know how to balance a game can take a gander if you feel like it.

Alright, Beta testers, I should have an updated biq with stats this weekend, with a more detailed upgrade next week. That one will include some extra units, wonders, and LHs.

 

[CiaranB123]

First generation unit stats are up, and first off I have to apologize to my beta-testing crew. A lot of my biq was missing the right stats. Now you guys who know how to balance a game can take a gander if you feel like it.

Don't worry about it

Alright, Beta testers, I should have an updated biq with stats this weekend, with a more detailed upgrade next week. That one will include some extra units, wonders, and LHs.

Oh, I'm getting a new computer on Friday and I'll not be playing Civ for ages because I have more games that can play on that computer and not on this one. I'll still be on the forums, but not as much and not on Civ... sorry

 

[Deth McBones]

Alright, well at least you got to test my scenario out!

Have fun with your new games, I know exactly what that is like. I went from a Dell Dimension to an Alienware laptop. I have so many games on my Alienware! But, I couldn't be pulled away from Civ III. Runs in the family. My dad has played vanilla Civ since it came out. I still can't find a better game for him to play. Nothing beats Civ's complexity and is easy on machines.

And also, this means I could use some more beta-testers....

 

[Virote_Considon]

Just dropping in to say that I'm enjoying all the reports

 

[Philadelphus]

As for the tachyons, I have tried to make myself understand that wikipedia article before. I have come close, but the best way I could relate a kind of FTL drive was to say that, much like when man first split the atom and released immense amounts of energy, so could future scientists find a way to capture charged tachyons (tachy-ions) in extremely charged atmospheres (just a way to actually nail down a type of terrain to hold the tachyon resource) and split them or harness them to propel a mass to FTL speed. It was plausible, and futuristic, so I ran with it. Originally tachyions were needed for all ships with FTL drive and could be found in the atmospheres of Gas Giants and Poison Planets. I had to remove this for this scenario, because it would be absolutely silly if everyone had ANOTHER resource right outside their doorstep. So now I have the problem of resource-free FTL flight.

Ah, tachy-ions. I get it now.

Just a few more thoughts from my test that didn't make it into the first post (I knew I should have been writing them down as I played!): Specialists. Specialists play a big part in this game, since it's easy early on to get more citizens in a city than you have available tiles to work. I think the addition of Civil Engineer and Policmen specialists (renamed, if needed) would add another layer of strategy to the game. Managing your specialists to help your gold, science, extra shields, etc. would be an additional level of control that would make the game more interesting(since the format of the game almost entirely does away with the need to micromanage, putting some back in could actually be fun). Civil Engineers (giving 2 shields) could be very useful, as the extra shields they provide when constructing improvements could help a new outpost grow quicker. You'd have to make strategic decisions: do I put this second citizen on food to help grow my base faster by a few turns, or do I use him as a Civil Engineer to help get an Orbital Laser Defense up quicker before my rival attacks?
I also think "accountants" should provide 2 gold, instead of 1, that way they seem a little more impactful.

Also, for a last-age defense unit, have you considered using this excellent forcefield unit? I'm not sure if it would fit it with what you have in mind, though. I wonder if it's possible to have an immobile air-droppable sea unit that could serve as a deepspace outpost to protect your ships?

Ah, thanks for the unit and building info. That'll help in making building decisions.

Just a small error, but I assume you meant to say "Titan, the largest moon with an atmosphere in the Solar System" in the title of your picture in the second post. Sorry to point it out, it just kinda bugged me.

 

[Deth McBones]

Ah, darn, yes...those specialists. I mean to include 'upgraded' citizens once the proper techs are researched. Should be really easy to add them in, I just wish you could make citizens go obsolete. I meant to make them ineffective. Remember that this scenario is the first of many. This is the dark ages still for mankind. Sure, we've gotten our feet wet outside our system, and it is the Golden Age of Discovery, but living conditions aren't perfect...yet. Claustrophobic hallways and constrictive quarters aren't exactly fun. There is a reason you cannot build Atmosphere Generators yet. Technology is still begin researched. In normal civ, you are still restricted to under 12 pop in cities until Medicine, in the third age. I do need to implement the civil engineers and policemen, you are completely right. We'll see how big an impact the bureaucrats have if they give an extra gold.
The forcefield unit is giving me fits. It attacks like a unit. It's more like an improvement. It has a pro-active laser blast attack and a passive shielding attack. Should shields harm ships and landing troops? One way I thought was to make it a sea unit, thereby making it the top of the hit list when it came to bombardment, and give it a bunch more HP to soak up hits, but the AI would never build an immobile sea unit. And what happens if a city builds five of them? This application might work with pre-placed forcefields though. Also, I do know really know if your air-drop thingy works. I'll do some testing. The deep-space outposts to help defend your ships, however, are definitely going to be fortresses buildable by the escort class/frigates.

The info I put up will probably be copy-pasted into the Civilopedia for the next major update. It really helped me iron out my improveents, and as I said before, it showed me how messed up my unit stats were.

And lastly, the 2nd post has been changed. I was probably suffering from sleep-deprivation when I read it, but I could have sworn it was the largest...thank you for correcting me.

And, I might not have a lot for this next update...RL is steadily getting busier and busier...and it's annoying....

 

[Philadelphus]

Sounds good. I guess it makes more sense why there's so (comparatively) little technology at this point when you look at the big picture. For some reason I keep thinking of it as a mod, rather than a scenario.

Maybe the forcefield could be that pre-placed high-defense unit for the Solar System to prevent too much early warfare? It might look silly later on, though, if your colonies, that are better than your homeland in many ways, can't reach that level of defense. Unless you made it have a low defense, but lots of hitpoints... It's kind of throwing me off too -- just thought I'd throw it out there.

There isn't much difference between Titan and Ganymede -- they're both bigger than Mercury, which is amazing enough! -- but Ganymede just edges Titan out for largest moon.

No worries about the next update. I have a midterm coming up next week, so I might not be able to do much testing until the week after that, which is Spring Break.

 

[bigdog5994]

i just noticed this thread and im really impressed and excited especially since the link for Space Opera doesn't work

where do i download the beta or whatever it is?

 

[Deth McBones]

Okay guys, thanks for bearing with me. I have been really busy the past couple of days, but in between classes and such I have improved the scenario quite a bit. My playtests have seen widespread colonization by the AI, and that was even on a lower difficulty setting. New terrain has been added, the civpedia has the improvements updated, more units have been added, and tonight I will add in the LHs. Instead of a super-defense unit (for now, unless somebody comes up with a better idea) I have made the colonization auto-producing improvements (yes plural) have extra defense tacked on to them, and have seen results as expected. Also, armored units now have an extra HP, as they were kinda wimpy before. Naval units now have HPs to scale with their size, and the human upgrade lines have been worked out. Victory Point scoring is now standard, and it now takes about 25ish goods to win the game. Wonders have been fleshed out, and with some cool new Wonder Splashes (if I may say so myself). Overall, a big improvement. I think I'll post up the game that I'm playing up on Atomic Gamer when I get back to my real compy. I'll PM you guys when its up. Public beta-testing is within reach, just a few things left now.

 

[Virote_Considon]

Can hardly wait! I hope I'll have enough time to test when you make it public!

 

[Deth McBones]

Thanks, Virote, I know you're busy with your other mods. Haven't heard much from your Industrial Espionage, how is that coming? It's a very original idea, and those new units you made were absolutely awesome!

 

[Virote_Considon]

Its going quite slowly, although I'm working on it right now! I just have to add a few new resource-based unit lines, a few more resource-based improvements and wonders, then add in some wonders for the cities themselves, and I should (hopefully) be ready for a public alpha!

EDIT: I just looked at the date for the creation of the first Industrial Espionage .biq. 17th of March 2006. If only I'd checked it yesterday!

 

[Deth McBones]

Okay, pre-public beta team, the new folder is up. Lots of fixes for you guys. Also included an alternate .biq, Next Few Footprints, which has pre-placed colonies for all human factions. The 'normal' game, however, is greatly improved, much slower, and is really fun to play. A whole bunch of stuff has been added. Please upload your thoughts and screenshots when you have the time. I will be uploading more screenies later in the week. Really exciting stuff.

Unfortunately RL has steadily encroached on my time to work on this, so I might be taking a week off, or just as easily putting a lot of work into this.

 

[Philadelphus]

Alright, Spring Break is here, which means more time for testing! I take it the new file is at the same location as the old one?

 

[Deth McBones]

Aye. Just follow the link in your PM. Should be straight to my Atomic Gamer folder. If not, just back up from the file to the file folder.

 

[Philadelphus]

Well, I fired up another game, this time as the Cosmic Collective Bloc[Saturn]. Some of the differences were noticable right away -- like the voyager probes having only 1 HP, and the new wonders. I could definitely tell there was some work done on this. The new wonder splashes and leaderheads were a nice touch.

Some bugs I found:

• Leader gender - Hu Won of the Socialist States referred to herself as "he"!
• VirtuaEden wonder - misspelling?
• Tesla sound problem - when I clicked on the Tesla Tank in the production queue to build it, the game crashed due to not finding the sound file "TwslaRun.Wav". A simple .ini fix took care of it, but make sure you do it before playing a long time without saving!

My only other problems while playing all involved text, either the Civiliopedia or other in-game text. For instance, the opening message upon starting the scenario seems a little tame. I realize that making sure all the text entries are correct is a tedious and thankless task not high on the list, so no hurry. I did notice (and find helpful) the entries for many of the buildings and wonders. Some of the text entries you might want to give priority to are the ones for the governments, so people can make an informed choice, and the ones for the effects of technology (e.g, whether it allows embassies to be built, causes workers to work twice as fast, etc.)

Personally, I enjoy reading the science advisor's little comments on each technology. If you have no plans to update them any time soon, would it be alright if I drafted a list of some for you to consider?

 

[Deth McBones]

Sure, blaze away with the tech explanations. In fact, I'll post up some of my thoughts about the resources, so you can get a handle on how I'm doing my technology.

VirtuaEden is a Virtual Eden, I just couldn't think of a good thing to replace whatever it replaces. I don't know. I still need good wonder ideas. Now I can make just about any picture on the web a wonder splash, so I just need the ideas. Oh, and sorry about Corsair's Alley (which I really liked the sound of). It has no units to autoproduce like it will. A Pirate Corsair with about a 4/4/4 stats.

I have fixed the gender issue. Whoops.

Thanks for the tesla bug.

I will be writing the descriptions soon. I'm still adding units for the other civs right now, and my weekend is kinda full. So what else needs to be fixed for the public beta?

 

[Philadelphus]

Just checking in, how's this project coming? I'm afraid I've been too busy to post for a while, now that Spring Break is over life is back to its usual hectic pace.

 

[Deth McBones]

Thanks for asking, but actually my RL has been really busy with tests before Spring Break, for me, but my last day of class for a week is today! I plan to try to get the public Beta up some time next week, as I have a whole week of nothing to do.

And, as a side thought, I've started work on the next scenario. I got bored with working on the first one and made up a map for the next one. And I also made a (biggish) decision and added in another civ, which will play a small role in the first scenario and a larger role in the next scen. (Hint for you pre-public guys, they'll balance out the southern neighbor.)

Also, I've thought up some more small and large wonders that have yet to be implemented.