Event Ideas

[Ahriman]

A handful of Warhammer events which might fit here with tweaks (most don't - no vampires and dark elves and chaos gods in Dune....).

Apostasy
Requires: state religion present in one of your cities.
Some of the faithful have begun to follow false teachings; in doing so they have wandered from the true path. (Removes state religion from the city.)

Inquisition
Requires: non-state religion present in one of your cities, religious mandate tech tech.
Heretics are following alien ideals in our city, shall we:
a) Tolerate their presence for now (+2 unhappy for 20 turns)
b) Root them out. (removes non-state religion, -50 culture in city, -50 gold).

Financial reforms
Requires: guild banking tech.
A notable banker has offered to re-reform our finances to improve efficiency. Should we accept?
a) Yes, let us revise our antiquated system. (-200 gold, -5% inflation).
b) No we're doing just fine.


[I'm really sad that Warhammer hasn't worked out, due to lack of coder time/interest, we had some fantastic event designs, and Orlanth had implemented many cool ones already. Like:

Spoiler :

I. Requires: Empire or Brettonnia or Tilea or Kislev or Estalia or Araby or Cathay or Ind or Nippon.
The countess of [cityname] is rumored to have unnatural cravings for blood.
a) Dismiss the rumors, we have no evidence. (Permanent -1 unhappy in city).
b) Pay to have her assassinated before this spreads any further. (-100 gold, Requires Professional contracts tech OR Tilea civ)
c) Have the clergy investigate. (Requires statereligion temple OR fanaticism tech. Triggers IIa, IIb or IIc on the following turn, 1/3 probability each)

IIa
The countess is dabbling in the dark arts to remain young and beautiful.
a) We will tolerate no such heresy, have the guard attempt to arrest her before she turns the populace against us. (-30 influence, 50% no other effect, 50% civil disorder for 2-4 turns)
b) Leave her be. (permanent +1 unhappy in city, permanent -1 influence per turn in city)
c) Call in the inquisitors, they know how to purge such peopple. (Requires fanaticism tech, -1 city population)
d) Dark arts you say? Tell me more! (Requires: lore of shadow tech or lore of death tech, adds +150 beakers to current research, +1 unhappy in [city] for 20 turns)

IIb
The countess of [city] is a vampire!
a) Attempt to slay her. (Spawns Lamian vampire and 3 zombie warrior units, city enters 1 turn civil disorder.)
b) Call in the inquisitors, they know how to destroy such creatures. (Requires fanaticism tech; -1 population, 50% no other effect, 50% civil disorder for 3-5 turns)
c) Invite her to tea. (permanent +2 unhappy in (city), permanent -1 influence in city, permanent +2 diplomatic relations with Sylvania and Lamia.)

IIIc
It was only a rumor. Peasants are like children, they will believe the wildest tales. (no effect).

And we were even going to have:

Spoiler :

Dunewars easter egg.
"A chaotic rift opens, rending time and space. There is a bright flash of light, and a strange metallic bird appears in the sky. It lands in front of you, and a doorway opens on its side. A man wearing a strange suit of armor lurches out, and collapses on the ground at your feet.
Spawn Atreides Hawk thopter.
[Ok, maybe not ]

 

[db0]

Eh, I can't be sad for a WH after I've lost Doomtown CCG, Dune CCG, 7th Sea CCG, Legend of The Burning Sands CCG, Chronopia, Warzone, Void, and too many other amazingly good concepts to mention. Every game I played ended up dying

Oh well.

At least many of these events we can modify to some extent and re-use them. We don't have the kind of Chaos Corruption that WH had, but we can still play on the anti-technology sentiments of the more religious civs.

 

[Ahriman]

Oh, I meant a Warhammer mod for Civ4 (see my sig). We had a basic version working a couple of years ago, and then recreated it from the ground up using an updated codebase from the Fall Further FFH modmod to make it work with BTS 3.19 and had a huge detailed design, but team leads have dropped out and the main coder has run out of time/enthusiasm and the project seems to have fallen apart, shortly before the finish line. Very sad, we had so much of the content already.

I won't post the vast majority of events here, because they don't suit our purposes. Non of the Corruption things translate very well, and many of the events were about barbarian unit creation, but thats kinda dull here since we don't have so many UUs (all factions are human - in Warhammer nearly every unit was a UU - see the main unit design here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=334546).

So many awesome things in that mod. We had hero units that automatically improved over time, and had RPG-like levelup systems.
Different magic systems for Elemental magic, Colleges magic, Chaos magic, Elven magic. Awesome unique map features, that tied to events. [Eg an Elven Prince might show up at the Altar of Khaine.]

 

[Ahriman]

Some common religion-based events.
Some of these need better text.

Zeal.
Requires: Mahdi state religion, city with Mahdi religion.
A group of fierce young warriors in <cityname> volunteer to fight for the cause. Gain 2 Zealot units in <cityname>.

Imperial splendour.
Requires: Imperial state religion, city with Imperial religion.
Our subjects in <cityname> respect our loyalty to the Imperium: we must hold on to our traditions in this chaotic age. +200 culture in <cityname>

Dividend
Requires: CHOAM state religion, city with CHOAM religion.
We receive a dividend from our stake in CHOAM. +100 gold.

Water use.
Requires: Shai Hulad state religion, city with Shai Hulad religion.
Our citizens still practice the old ways, and avoid wasting water. +50% of water to gain next population level in <cityname>.

Technical efficiency
Requires: Thinking machines state religion, city with thinking machines.
Our use of Thinking Machines allows us to re-optimize our production capacity. +100 hammers in <cityname>.
[Or, -3% inflation.]


Requires Qizarate state religion, city with qizarate religion.
Our practice of the One True Faith attracts pilgrims. +1 population in <cityname>

Zensufi Purity
Requires: Zensufism state religion city with Zensufism.
Our religious purity keeps us clean of the diseases of the Powindah. +1health in <cityname>

 

[Ahriman]

Atomic protesters.
Requires: Great Convention Breached! wonder
Your citizens are furious that you have breached the great convention. +2unhappy.

Thopter crash.
A thopter carrying senior <civname> advisors has crashed in your territory near <cityname>. What shall we do with the survivors?
1. Rescue them, and return them unharmed. +1 diplomatic relations with <civname>
2. Interrogate them, to learn what they know, then return them. +100 espionage points with <civname>.
3. Claim they died in the desert, then force them to reveal all their secrets with torture. Requires Harkonnen. +150 espionage points with <civname>
4. The outsiders cannot be permitted to report what they know. Take their water to the deathstills. Requires Fremen. +20 water in <cityname>.

Accident
A visiting noble from <civname> has died in a tragic accident while visting our palace. They demand compensation.
1. This was not our fault! Hold our ground. -1 diplomatic relations with civname.
2. Pay compensation tot he man's family, with our apologies. -75 gold.
3. See if we can smooth things over diplomatically. Requires Bene Gesserit. No effect.

Playwright [Can we make this more thematic - I think there are references to some particular genres of theatre somewhere?]
Requires: city with theatre.
An esteemed playwright has created a new work - it is proving very popular. +1 gold yield to theatre in <cityname>.

 

[Ahriman]

Deliverator, David and others. Feedback on any of these would be appreciated.
Is the flavor decent? Are the mechanics feasible? Is there more data we should be providing with suggestions? Is there a real chance of implementing this? Should we keep going?

* * *
Council advantage
Requires: High Council tech.
We have gained political advantage in Landsraad negotiations concerning <cityname>. How should we best exploit this?
1. Push to have our harvesting territory expanded. Gain +1000 culture in <cityname>.
2. Lobby to have additional harvesting facilities constructed in <cityname>. Gain [spice building, I forget the name, that gives +1 free spice] in <cityname>.
3. Use our advantage to advance the agenda of other Houses - in exchange for a healthy bribe. +250 gold.

Council concessions
Requires: High Council tech.
Circumstances in Landsraad negotiations concerning land near <cityname> have moved against us. We may be forced to make a major concession.
1. Accept a restriction on our territorial influence. -1000 culture in <cityname>. [Don't let it go below zero though.]
2. Pay some bribes to avoid concession. -200 gold.
3. Who are they to order us around? Defy any ruling made against us. +2 permanent unhappy in <cityname>.

 

[db0]

Deliverator, David and others. Feedback on any of these would be appreciated.
Is the flavor decent? Are the mechanics feasible? Is there more data we should be providing with suggestions? Is there a real chance of implementing this? Should we keep going?

Yep, this would be good to know.

Btw, sorry for being a absent. Been rather busy lately but I'll get back to it.

 

[Jester Fool]

There are quite a lot of REALLY good ideas in the entire thread. I can't pick my favorite ones. The hard part will be to decide what gets included. Hopefully Deliverator can chime in on what is practical to code (which would help to narrow the list of candidates for inclusion).

 

[Ahriman]

The hard part will be to decide what gets included

Honestly, I don't think this is the hard part.

I do not think we should add events unless we can add *many* events. A few dozen, at absolute minimum. Vanilla has well over 100 events, and still people complain that there isn't enough variety. That is why this needs to be a major effort, or not be done at all.

We want most events to be rare; we don't want the same handful of events coming up every time you play.

I think the hardest thing is in developing enough interesting events so that any individual one doesn't happen too often.

 

[Ahriman]

Trying to think up some more Civic-favored events.

Trade competition
Requires: Solaris economy tech
Our traders in <cityname> are hard pressed by competitors.
1. This will erode our long-term profitability. Create a permanent -10% trade route yield building in <cityname>.
2. Buy out the competition, we need to preserve our market position. -50 gold.
3. Our mercantilist policies will keep the outsiders at bay. No effect. Requires Mercantilism civic.

Trade opportunity
Requires: Solaris economy tech.
Traders in <cityname> have identified valuable new export opportunities, but do not have sufficient capacity to exploit it fully.
1. Take what profits we can with the existing capacity. +50 gold.
2. Invest in our firms to increase their capacity. -100 gold, create a permanent +1 trade route building in <cityname>
3. With our free trade system, new firms will enter. Create a permanent +1 trade route building in <cityname>. Requires free trade civic.

Social unrest
Requires: Arrakis habitation tech.
The pyons in <cityname> are clamoring for more political rights, which are fiercely opposed by the petit-nobles and the traders.
1. Support the rights of the lower classes; this will anger the nobles. Permanent -20% culture production in <cityname>.
2. Fund some development projects, which will ease the suffering, but make no political concessions. -100 gold.
3. I will brook no dissent; round up the protest leaders and have them executed. Permanent +1 unhappy in <cityname>.
4. In our system of caste, everyone must know their place. Thus, order is preserved. Require Faufreluches civic. No effect.

Uncertainty
Economic uncertainty in <cityname> is making our traders unwilling to invest. This contraction will harm our economy.
1. The lack of investment will cause an economic downturn. Create -50% gold, building in <cityname> for 10 turns.
2. Our economic planning will ensure that sufficient investment takes place. Require Planned Economy civic. no effect.

 

[orlanth]

Great to see that this mod's still being further developed and will be getting some interesting Events - I've always thought they're an underused feature of Civ4 that can really add a lot to the game.

I'll post my Events files from the Warhammer mod that Ahriman had dug up again a few months ago, you're welcome to adapt any of these for DuneWars or use them for ideas.

Some could actually be copied directly over with a little modification; for example the Council series of events where the governor of one of your cities becomes known for one of a variety of personal traits (repressive, indulgent, militant, scholarly, miserly, etc), you can then choose to replace him or accept some slight local bonuses/penalties based on his idiosyncratic style.

Another set that was popular in playtesting were the Uprising events, which serve as a balancing mechanic to create challenges for civs that are pulling too far ahead. Mine used basic stuff like checking for civs with high total population and techs in the eventtriggers, then used python to spawn some barbarian units after a delay. Someone with more knowledge could create a basic Python cando function that adjusts occurrence chance depending on total score relative to other players, with a further adjustment for difficulty level. That can really help spice the game up (ah the pun!) for more advanced players while avoiding mercilessly crushing weaker ones or the AI.

Anyway, Ahriman's right that the most important thing is to get a fairly large set of events working and implemented, you'll need to get at least 70 to prevent repetition. Since the XML for events is pretty limited, I actually found it too cumbersome to try to have many events predesigned beforehand; I really just cranked out a bunch of em quickly on the fly based on what was easiest to accomplish given the available XML.

 

[db0]

Another set that was popular in playtesting were the Uprising events, which serve as a balancing mechanic to create challenges for civs that are pulling too far ahead. Mine used basic stuff like checking for civs with high total population and techs in the eventtriggers, then used python to spawn some barbarian units after a delay.

To tell you the truth, I'd avoid such kind of event, as it can seem unfair to be punished for doing good. It will frustrate people, especially in multiplayer. However a better alternative might be to provide some more powerful boosting events for those civs that fall back. That might give them a chance to catch up a bit and will avoid frustrating the players.

 

[Ahriman]

The main effect of the Uprising effects was not as an anti-slippery slope mechanic, it was as a fun way of making sure that warfare was pretty constant and your military was important even when you were at peace. The anti-slippery slope mechanic also never really "seemed" that way to the player, because they didn't observe the event triggers, and so they really had no way of knowing that they were getting a few more uprising events if they were further ahead.

Uprisings also forced the human player to keep at least a couple of units in every city they had; this deliberately reduced one of the main human advantages over the AI, which is that the AI spreads its army to protect every city, whereas the human player tends to garrison only border cities with potential enemies, leaving core cities lightly defended.

However, I don't think either of these reasons apply particularly well to Dune Wars. I think the setting is one where the vast majority of conflict is between the in-game House Majors, rather than the Warhammer setting where it was perfectly possible that there were necromancers hiding in the forest, that ork raiding parties would descend from the mountains, where a dragon might be sleeping in a cave deep underground, and so forth. And the nature of the mapscript means that we don't really have "core" and "border" cities so clearly defined anymore. The mechanics already make multiple cities vulnerable, and so reduce the human player's ability to leave some cities very lightly defended. I'm ok with the Dune style where barbarians matter in the early game, but not much beyond there (except sandworms). I think adding the waterstealer also made the early game barbs much more intereseting.

I could see a handful of Uprising events (like guild-sponsored anti-terraformers) but I suspect they probably shouldn't be a major focus of the events we create.

 

[strategynoob]

Obviously I'm not a contributor to this great mod, but if this conversation is still open, I would like to humbly make some suggestions as a player. I have purposely left bonus gold and beakers amounts unspecified as I defer to you on how much or little the rewards should yield:

==
Event: "False Prophet"

A ragged man with piercing blue eyes has emerged from the deep desert, claiming to be the "true" Kwisatz Haderach and preaching doom and gloom to all who settle Arrakis.

-Take him in for observation. Though he's clearly deluded, there may be truth in his words. (Requires Bene Gesserit) (Gain -1 Unhappiness in all cities for X turns. Gain +Y beakers, where X=3? 5? and Y=...20?)

-Brother, you may not be our true savior, but you're clearly a holy man. Join our ranks. (Requires Fremen) (Gain 1x Great Prophet)

-Feign sympathy to the man's cause in exchange for information on the location of nearby spice deposits. (Requires Ordos) (Gain +Z gold, where Z=30? 50?)

-Ignore this madman. We have more important things to do. (Nothing happens)


==
Event: "Duncan Returns"

A man claiming to be the original Duncan Idaho, the Atreides family swordmaster, arrives at your doorstep, demanding audience with you.

-Welcome home, loyal subject! (Requires Atreides) (Gain 1x improved Ducal Guard, +1 strength, City Defender I)

-Duncan! You're alive! It is I, Paul! Come join me in my new cause! (Requires Fremen AND Paul Muad-Dib) (Gain 1x improved Crysknife fighter, +1 strength, +20% vs. guardsmen, +20% vs. melee)

-You are hereby granted amnesty by order of the Imperial Throne, Duncan Idaho. Attend to your new duties as house swordmaster immediately. (Requires Corrino. All units trained at [Nearest City] permanently gain +2 XP when built)

-Atreides scum! Your only purpose is to entertain us with your eventual death in our gladiator pits! (Requires Harkonnen) (Gain +1 happiness in all cities for 10 turns)

-Of course we believe you, Mr. "Idaho." Come right this way and we'll perform a quick DNA test to ensure you're not a clone. (Requires Ordos. Gain +X beakers, where X=25? 30?)

-Ignore this lunatic. The real Duncan Idaho is long dead, after all. (Nothing happens)


==
Event: "Stunted Worm"

Your engineers have discovered a stunted sandworm trapped in [Your City Name Here]'s industrial complex. What will you do?

-Excellent. Begin the incantations for the Water of Life at once! Though potentially deadly, this ritual will advance our cause. (Requires Bene Gesserit) (Lose -1 population in all cities. Gain 1x free tech)

-Brothers, we must set free the Shai-Hulud! Release the worm back to the desert, and rejoice! (Requires Fremen) (Gain +1 happiness in all cities for 10 turns)

-Send the specimen to the labs for dissection immediately. We're one step closer to fully synthetic spice production. (Requires Bene Tleilax) (Gain +X bulbs, where X=25? 30?)

-See to it the specimen remains healthy and add it to our city's collection of exotic animals. It is truly a wonder. (Requires House Ecaz) (Gain permanent +Y happiness in Your City Name Here, where Y=2?)

-See to it the specimen remains healthy. Then put it up for sale on the open market. No doubt someone will pay good money for it. (Requires Ordos) (Gain +Z gold, where Z=50?)

-Dispose of the creature. We have more important things to do. (Nothing happens)

 

[strategynoob]

Thought of one more:

==
Event: "I WILL kill him!!!!"

Tensions between you and [Civ You Have The Worst Relations With] grow worse during a gladiatorial arena battle between your champion and [Civ You Have The Worst Relations With]'s champion, a burly slave with a subliminally implanted submissive code word. Your champion is nearly bested and will surely be defeated if you don't use the code word.

-Use the code word, allowing your champion victory. (Lose -X relations with Civ You Have The Worst Relations With. Gain +1 relations with all other Civs, where X=3? 5?)

-Don't use the code word, allow your champion to fall fairly. (Lose -1 relations with all Civs, including Civ You Have The Worst Relations With)

-Halt the arena battle before it ends, using the dramatic event as an opportunity to declare a strong truce. (Gain +Y relations with Civ You Have The Worst Relations With. Lose -1 relations with all other Civs, where Y=3? 5? 10?)



Diplomacy floatover text:

-X relations with Civ You Have The Worst Relations With:
"Your champion clearly cheated in the arena!"

+1 relations all other Civs:
"Your champion fought bravely and put on quite an entertaining show."

-1 relations with all Civs, including Civ You Have The Worst Relations With
"Your gladiator champion proved weak and not entertaining in the least."

+Y relations with Civ You Have The Worst Relations With:
"Your dramatic gesture at the arena has caused me to rethink our differences."

-1 relations all other Civs:
"You defied gladiatorial tradition and cheated us of a glorious arena battle!"

 

[Ahriman]

Obviously I'm not a contributor to this great mod

You are now
These are some great ideas.
Perhaps a Tleilaxu option for the Idaho event.
"Excellent, we have been searching for this DNA strand for quite some time. This should make a profitable addition to our ghola product line." +100 Gold.

 

[strategynoob]

Umm, maybe this as a late-game event, when all players presumably have decent defenses?

==
Event: "Wormsign the likes of which even God has never seen"

(This event evenly, but randomly, spawns X barbarian sandworms of random strength(?)*, where X = Number Of Desert Tiles In The World / 3? / 4? / 5?)

* (Maybe there should be an algorithm that determines some percentage of the worms being 20, 40, 60, or 90 STR? I dunno.)


Sire, our field operatives have called in the largest sighting of sandworms ever reported in the planet's history! The very earth trembles beneath our feet, even now! What shall we do?

-Brothers, this is our sign! The time has come for us to liberate Arrakis from its oppressors! (Requires Fremen) (Gain 5x worm-riding units, sorry, forgot their name)

-Marvelous. Let us observe this fascinating miracle of nature...from a distance. (Requires House Ecaz) (Gain +2? +3? happiness in all cities for 10 turns)

-More worms means more spice. It's a simple enough equation. Let those brave enough to seek their fortunes remain here with us and reap the rewards. (Requires Ordos) (-1 population in all cities. +1 gold on all gold-producing tiles for 5? 10? turns)

-Don't panic! Proceed to the shelters in an orderly fashion! Above all else, don't panic! (-1 population in all cities)

 

[Deliverator]

There are loads of good ideas here and I am definitely in favour of events for adding flavour. I'm slightly intimidated at the amount of work it might be to implement a large number of events having not yet attempted to implement one. It might be one of those things that is not as bad as you think it's going to be I suppose. While there as still core gameplay refinements and features to work on I would probably focus on those first.

 

[strategynoob]

There are loads of good ideas here and I am definitely in favour of events for adding flavour. I'm slightly intimidated at the amount of work it might be to implement a large number of events having not yet attempted to implement one. It might be one of those things that is not as bad as you think it's going to be I suppose. While there as still core gameplay refinements and features to work on I would probably focus on those first.

Humm, might it be worth it to start with really simple ones? Some of FFH2's simplest events just change the contents of a tile, like how prairie dogs add +1 commerce or how mushrooms add +2 food. Maybe there could be events like, water has been discovered on this tile? Dates have sprouted here? A minor earthquake has decreased production on this hill?

 

[Ahriman]

Some of FFH2's simplest events just change the contents of a tile, like how prairie dogs add +1 commerce or how mushrooms add +2 food. Maybe there could be events like, water has been discovered on this tile? Dates have sprouted here? A minor earthquake has decreased production on this hill?

While a few of these are ok, in general we want to stay away from dull events that don't add much flavor.

We want events to highlight themes from the books (like water shortage, religion as a tool of control, tradition vs reform, the Triumvirate of Emperor, Landsraad and Guild, the rarity and specialness and economic importance of Spice, etc); any event that doesn't do this (like a minor earthquake) should probably be cut.

Also, in general:

No-Choice events should be positive (i.e. grant the person something)
If an event is negative, it should provide options to allow the player to choose how it affects them (do you want to lose money, water or happiness, etc.). This way they can select the least harmful option.
Events should reward player choices (Faction, Leader Traits, Civics etc)
Events should have some flavour which hints at a living world outside their borders.

Its worth creating a couple of simple events to make sure that they work properly, but otherwise we probably shouldn't add more events unless we're hoping to add a ton.
Remember that Landing Stages and unique resources require events, so the player cannot turn events off (if they don't like the events we make) without also impacting core mod features.
ie Events aren't really optional.

I imagine that there is an awful lot we can do from stealing syntax from Fall From Heaven2 and other mods.