[Development Thread] Fictionalization IV

[cfkane]

Alright, it's been a month.

I just want to say that I've been a bit held up by school work this past month, but I'm still working hard on the mod.

 

[cfkane]

First post has been updated.

 

[Stetson]

Oh, WOW! Downloading now, this looks like the best mod I have ever seen. I am a huge myth and folklore buff, and all the Wold Newton stuff, various mentions to famous and not so famous books and movies... You had me at 'Rearden Steele', I just hope I can make the legendary anti-hero 'Toohey', bwahaha. Is there anything I can do? I've got a load of suggestions, but I imagine you're probably pretty busy with this and life already... Either way, if it's all right, I'll comment when it's done downloading.

 

[Skitters]

Seems an interesting idea!

I notice you have "Zuul - the "prehistoric b****" from Ghostbusters" as a unit...does that mean there is room for the Stay Puft Marshmallow man?!

Also, if you have room for Brigadier-General Sir Harry Paget Flashman VC KCB KCIE
- I'd personally beeline for whatever tech was required for him!

"Harry Paget Flashman describes himself as a large man, six feet and two inches (1.88 metres) tall and close to 13 stone (about 180 pounds or 82 kg). In Flashman and the Tiger, he mentions that one of his grandchildren has black hair and eyes, resembling him in his younger years; his dark colouring frequently enables him to pass (in disguise) for a Pathan. He describes his only two talents as a gift for horsemanship and languages (but sometimes makes it up to four by adding fornication and cricket). He also had the means to impress important people he met, usually with excessive toadying. His other gift was his success with women. The list of his sexual conquests (see below) is long (apparently up to 478 at about halfway through his life (whilst languishing in a Gwalior dungeon during Flashman and the Great Game he counts them) and includes several famous women. Despite his natural abilities and imposing figure, Flashman was a coward, running from the danger he constantly found himself in. He was also a bully to his (supposed) inferiors and found joy in creating trouble for people he did not like."

 

[TheBladeRoden]

If you plan on doing more UU's for each civ I might just submit my old drawings for either a Meso Tank

Spoiler :

or an Easter Island Golem

Spoiler :

 

[cfkane]

Seems an interesting idea!

I notice you have "Zuul - the "prehistoric b****" from Ghostbusters" as a unit...does that mean there is room for the Stay Puft Marshmallow man?!

Also, if you have room for Brigadier-General Sir Harry Paget Flashman VC KCB KCIE
- I'd personally beeline for whatever tech was required for him!

"Harry Paget Flashman describes himself as a large man, six feet and two inches (1.88 metres) tall and close to 13 stone (about 180 pounds or 82 kg). In Flashman and the Tiger, he mentions that one of his grandchildren has black hair and eyes, resembling him in his younger years; his dark colouring frequently enables him to pass (in disguise) for a Pathan. He describes his only two talents as a gift for horsemanship and languages (but sometimes makes it up to four by adding fornication and cricket). He also had the means to impress important people he met, usually with excessive toadying. His other gift was his success with women. The list of his sexual conquests (see below) is long (apparently up to 478 at about halfway through his life (whilst languishing in a Gwalior dungeon during Flashman and the Great Game he counts them) and includes several famous women. Despite his natural abilities and imposing figure, Flashman was a coward, running from the danger he constantly found himself in. He was also a bully to his (supposed) inferiors and found joy in creating trouble for people he did not like."

I actually had him listed as one of the great spies!

And I'd love to have Stay Puft in the game, though I don't think Zuul herself would work as a buildable "hero" character (truth be told I was looking for a third Sumerian character when I was still on the old "three heroes per civ" plan). Though either her or Stay Puft could show up because of an event.

I'm planning on making several events where notorious monsters and such show up. This would include the appearance of mythological monsters (dragons, etc.), alien invasions (I'm working on a unit model for a Tripod from War of the Worlds), and zombie outbreaks. The events of Ghostbusters could easily fit in this way.

but even if that doesn't come to fruition, I've listed Egon Spengler as a Great Engineer

 

[cfkane]

If you plan on doing more UU's for each civ I might just submit my old drawings for either a Meso Tank

Spoiler :

or an Easter Island Golem

Spoiler :

Those look pretty good. Are you a unit modeler?

Oh, WOW! Downloading now, this looks like the best mod I have ever seen. I am a huge myth and folklore buff, and all the Wold Newton stuff, various mentions to famous and not so famous books and movies... You had me at 'Rearden Steele', I just hope I can make the legendary anti-hero 'Toohey', bwahaha. Is there anything I can do? I've got a load of suggestions, but I imagine you're probably pretty busy with this and life already... Either way, if it's all right, I'll comment when it's done downloading.

Thanks. It's been awhile since I last updated that file; I've made a lot of progress since I uploaded it. I'm not quite at a good stopping point but I should be able to give an updated release by the end of the month.

And if you have any suggestions, feel free to give them. Though keep in mind that I'm pretty much on my own with this mod, so be modest when asking requests

 

[Stetson]

Haha, don't worry... I'm still new to the whole modding scene, so I wouldn't burden you by yakking at you to do this and that. But! I do have loads of ideas, and if one of them strikes your fancy, or inspires you on a new idea, go for it! There's way too much fun stuff to play around with, here... For one thing, is it possible to make leader-specific UU? Big Brother could have 'educators' for example... Secondly, as a 'great scientist', perhaps we could add Mycroft Holmes? Also, since so many cultures have tombs for unknown soldier, maybe the Unknown Soldier should be a 'hero' unit.

 

[cfkane]

I don't know about leader-specific UUs, but I have toyed around with having religious UUs based on fiction; the Jewish Golem, the the Islamic Djinn, and so on. Plus, that way civs that practice the Cthulhu's Call can summon Shoggoths.

But the thing that I'm definitely going to include are civ-specific Legendary units, which I've talked about earlier in the thread. These would be a specific kind of character that features prominently in a civilizations folklore. For example, the Greek legend unit would be a centaur. The American one would be a wild west gunslinger. And so on like that. But for now, I'm saving that for a future version.

My biggest concerns right now are

1) Artwork. I have little to no experience with 3d modeling so I really need help with it.

2) Coding. Most of the wonders I've planned need new XML tags, which requires an SDK coder, which I am not.

3) Help with the hero units. I've made a long list of characters that I want to include as hero units, but I haven't figured out how to make them all work. Some are easy; units like Heracles and Superman would simply be powerful fighters. But the non-combat units would need more nuance to them. I've already figured out how to do some - Sherlock Holmes would automatically create a Baker St. building that gives special bonuses when he's stationed in a city - but others I'm drawing a bit of a blank on.

Oh, and I've already included Mycroft Holmes in the game, but as a Great Spy, not a scientist (Mycroft, as I remember, was heavily integrated into MI5 in the Holmes stories). If you've downloaded the mod, you can open up the units XML file and see which characters I've put on the Great People list.

The unknown soldier idea sounds interesting, but I don't know how to reconcile it with the theme of the mod. I'd need to see if there was a specific piece of fiction that I could draw from before I include it in the game.

 

[Inganno]

Hey folks!

This mod looks fantastic... And I have a few minor requests :]

1.) Could you PLEASE include some of the Next War stuff, like the Mech warriors and the Cyborg infantry? I can't play Big Brother without hoping for my own distopyian future robot army...
2.) I think Umbrella Inc. could be a feasible corporation. I'd like Umbrella to be more of a research (with biological resources such as cows, horses, etc.) and Cyberdyne to be simply production... Or something like that.

...That's really about it. This has huge potential. Thanks!

 

[cfkane]

Sure. Some of the more basic facets of Next War would work well in this.

I like the Umbrella suggestion, but I'm not sure if I can fit it in with the other corps. I chose the fictional corporations in this mod because they're more or less direct counterparts to the corporations in the game. Cereal Mills and Wonka both handle food, Dinoco and Std. Ethanol handle fuel, etc. And as of right now my main research corporation is Black Mesa. I'd love to include Umbrella, but I'm worried that having two big research corporations might end up being redundant.

 

[cfkane]

I've implemented the basic aspects of Next War: the future era, the units, the techs... Seems like something I should have done in the first place.

Anyway, I just need to program in some of the wonders I have planned and then I'll be able to release a second beta.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

can't wait

 

[cfkane]

Okay, I officially suck at giving updates

Long over due, the second beta is out

http://forums.civfanatics.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=9116

I was having trouble with some of the unit models. Some aren't in the playable game, but a few of the ones I was working on are in their unfinished mode in the Art folder. If you can do more justice to them, I could really use the help.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

I'll play as soon as i get home...

though if i can make a request, i hate the original terrain from Civ and BTS... go into the graphics download section, and find the terrain from FFH... it looks much better than the original...

thanks alot. i can't wait to play

 

[cfkane]

So, has anyone played it yet? Any feedback, good or bad, is welcome.

 

[thomas.berubeg]

I say we need Flashman as an actual unit

 

[cfkane]

Fictionalization IV now has a forum at CivJunction

 

[Prebral]

Downloaded and tried. However, I report two issues:

Miles Gloriosus has power 9 and gains experience, but can not gain levels. I suppose it is because he is a modified Great general...?

Also, the game has crashed while reloading, but I do not know reasons.

 

[cfkane]

What were you doing when it crashed? Were you going from the main game to the menu? Unloading the mod?