Exotic Unit Pack - Mod Collaboration Thread

[DracoTheGreat]

Yeah, will keep an eye out for any crashes, etc.

 

[sman1975]

Perhaps this version of the class definition is closer to what you had in mind - let me know what changes it still needs:


And if Sagittary doesn't work for you, perhaps Marksman, Crackshot, Deadeye, Deadshot, Toxophilite, Sharpshooter, Bowyer, etc. might be a better choice?

 

[sman1975]

BTW - one of the things I should have/but didn't fix is the contract duration. It's supposed to be 20 turns, but for testing I temporarily set that to 6 turns - so the event would fire more often during testing. The costs are accurate, based on a 20 turn contract.

The error is at the bottom of the MercFunctionPopup.lua file:

function OnGameInit ()
    g_GameStartTurn = Game.GetGameTurn()                                                    -- Determine first game turn for later processing
    setContractParameters()
   
    g_Contract_Duration = 6                -- FOR TESTING - remove from final version!!!
    g_Contract_Prompt = 4

end

Where the Duration is set for 6, and the Prompt for 4. For some reason, I didn't follow my own advice in the comment line....

If you feel brave, you can delete those 2 lines using Notepad, save the file, then restart the mod. It shouldn't hurt anything, even saved games. I'll be sure to actually make that correction in the next version of the mod.

My current work plan is to "fix" text throughout the mod, add civilopedia data, correct entries that are no longer correct, etc.

*********************************************************************************************************************************

I'm currently thinking of a class of units who perform those spy type missions you mentioned previously, like attempting to destroy a building. Have 3 units in mind: Arsonist, Assassin, and Saboteur. I'm currently seeing them as inexpensive, but limited in what they can do - like a Missionary or something like that. No combat strength, but ability to perform 1 mission that destroys the unit. Maybe they can move on enemy territory without declaration of war, like Great Prophets? And using them has a (rather large) chance of lowering your reputation with other civs.

Possible missions: Earlier versions of the unit can only do the first few missions, and at lower chance of success.
1. Pillage an Improvement
2. Poison a city's water supply
3. Destroy a city's current production item
4. Destroy a city's building (not Wonders, though)
5. Cause anarchy for a few turns in a city
6. Recruit Barbarian partisans

Certain buildings (Constabulary, Police Station, etc.) make successful missions harder. Certain buildings (University, Military Academy, etc) can give these units a unique promotion that makes them more likely to succeed in a mission - maybe even survive?

As you can see, this is almost a separate mod in itself. I'm seeing it as a streamlined version of Tomatekh's Great Spy mod, that is simpler, and doesn't impact/dominate gameplay in the same way his does. I want it to be a "minor benefit" and not game changing.

Assuming, of course, that one can get the AI to use this capability in any manner. Otherwise it's a boon to the human player at the expense of the AI, and this game doesn't need much more of that...

Just a few thoughts. Nothing I plan on working on soon.

 

[DracoTheGreat]

Yeah, I like those ideas! They are basically what I had in mind. Except maybe a certain diplomatic thing before being allowed into territory? Like, the user of the unit must denounce the target civ or something.

As for testing, currently, the AI has used the rabble unit. Not barbarians. Actual AI. Specifically, Korea.

So, hey, the mercy function works!

 

[sman1975]

The barbs should be using the Rabble - maybe you haven't seen them yet? City States too. In the "final" version of the mod I'm working on now, the actual overrides are in place to prevent the Barbs/CS from using most of these units - they're limited to major civs. Easily changed by a player, though, but as a default, they'll be prevented from using any unit in this mod.

I should be through cleaning up all the text sometime tomorrow, and will have had the chance to run a few 500+ turn games, so see how stable the mod is. At that point, I'll put development on hold until you can give me whatever findings, observations, fixes, etc., you've come up with through testing. After those fixes, I think this beast is ready for release to the big wide world!

 

[DracoTheGreat]

Oh, i know. You mentioned it previously. I was just letting you know that civs were actually using them. Also, I don't usually play with barbs, cuz they're annoying.

 

[sman1975]

Have ran 3 test games (each 700+ turns) and the mod has been completely stable. I've seen the AI use the camel units extensively, and as expected the Merc units are also appearing regularly. I have yet to see a single elephant unit, and have only seen a handful of the Dog Soldier units. Not of the other Sagittarii units have shown up once.

Am planning on adding a few of the new units to the Barb/City State list of possible units: Rabble for sure, and possible 1-2 units per era, to give them a little more variety of units to field.

So, I'm going to buff the flavors for those units and see if they can't be spawned more often. Other than this, the mod seems to be working well.

 

[DracoTheGreat]

In my game, the Akkadian Horse Archers were quite frequent.

Same on the elephants. They have the Elephant resource, like, it's appearing in the trade screen, but no units.

Also, I have had a hard time finding ivory. Do you think the mod is making it less common, or am I just having bad luck?

 

[sman1975]

Must be all bad luck. On the last two of my standard map size games, only 1 civ had Ivory in both games...

Nothing in this mod impacts the map generating scripts. Trying to change map scripts really harms compatibility - since so many mods already change those scripts (like YnAEMP).

I suppose I could alter one of the elephant buildings to create the resource like we do with camels. Or both buildings? And perhaps let it only create 1 instead of 2 elephants?

 

[DracoTheGreat]

If you want to. Although, I think it's more realistic if we left it this way. If you don't have the resources or are at least near them, you don't get them.

 

[sman1975]

OK. Have made all the text updates and all the changes to the Sagittarii class, based on the chart in post #182. Also corrected a few other "typos" and inconsistencies. As far as my notes are concerned, V1 of the mod is complete, pending the findings from your testing.

I agree with you about the elephants. Would prefer to leave them as is. Will continue to tweak the flavors a bit, so at least the civs that actually have Ivory will be highly incentivized to build the elephant units.

I'm thinking about adding these merc units to the Barbs/CS: Rabble (ancient), Ghazi (classical), Condottieri (Renaissance), Guerilla (Modern), and Private Mil Contractors (Info).

The rest of the Merc units would be restricted to major civs.

 

[DracoTheGreat]

Yep, that sounds great.

 

[DracoTheGreat]

So, the AI seems to be in love with the Akkadian Horse archer units. Currently, they seem to be a little OP.

That's mainly because they don't require horses. I think that shouldn't be the case, 'cause the Hunnic Horse Archer doesn't require horses, and we're trying to keep that one unique. Also, I think that causes the AI to use the Akkadian Horse Archer as a replacement for regular archers.

So, I think for the next update, you can make it so the new units that are added do require horses as a prerequisite. That's about all, for now. The game is taking a while 'cause my PC sucks.

 

[sman1975]

Good feedback. All of the new units may seem a bit OP, but as long as the AI uses them in a similar way as a human player, it empowers all civs equally, and doesn't represent a cheat for the human player.

I'll update those two horse archer units, and maybe nerf the flavors just a bit. If you like, I can post those changes with all the ones I made yesterday. This way you'd be testing (what I hope will be more or less) V1.

Also, one of my main questions to you is about merc pricing. As you're playing through the game, appreciate if you can look at the prices for the mercs. If you're playing a standard game speed, the 20 turn contract represents about 1/3 of that unit's overall "life cycle." This means how long the unit is viable, competitive against other units of that historical period when compared to other similar units - more or less 60 turns for any given unit.

The formulae are set up so the merc will cost a bit more than simply purchasing those similar units with gold - but in this case - you pay for it in 3 "installments" if you will. And while, overall, it may cost 25% more to purchase a Ghazi instead of a Swordsman, you can obtain that unit if you don't have enough to purchase the Swordsman, and it won't cost you any gold maintenance during its life span.

So, to make a long story longer - the basic question is - do you think the mercs are priced correctly, when compared to similar units of the era? Are they "tempting" to you as a player?

The AI gets these units awarded to them throughout the game - every turn there is a 5% chance (easily adjustable) that they get a current merc unit. They don't lose gold when getting these units (a nice perc), but somewhere near 22 turns later, the unit disbands on them. They'll get the benefit of a free unit that costs no gold maintenance, but most of the time these units perform parade duty around the capital. It really helps them defend their cities, but not much help in launching an offensive. It's a set up I actually like. Makes the AI harder to conquer, but doesn't give them a lot of new firepower to annoy neighbors. Well, not all the time.

So...... Let me know if you want me to publish the latest version with the 2 horse archer adjustments. Can post it in a few minutes whenever you'd like.

 

[DracoTheGreat]

Will it affect saved games, though?

Either way, post it.

And, yeah, I'll look at the prices.

 

[sman1975]

New version posted - should be ok to use with saved games. Let me know if it isn't.

New version of the horse archer class:

 

[DracoTheGreat]

I can't seem to build the Akkadian Horse Archers anymore. Like, I have the horses, but they won't show up in the production list.

As for the mercs, I think their prices are fine. Like, I think they're useful if you don't have iron, or horses, yet still want to use . . . something similar to the swordsman/longswordsman or any form of cavalry.

So, yeah. Their prices are fine the way they are.

 

[sman1975]

I'm seeing a ton of errors in the database. let me get back with you on this.

 

[DracoTheGreat]

kk

 

[sman1975]

OK. Try the latest update. I've checked out the logs on the small adjustment I made previously that cause so much bother. Should be working now.