Fantasy Army Unit Modpack (V5)

sman1975

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to play a normal Civ V game, but with a few extra units that have supernatural abilities? Not a complete fantasy setting or replacement game, but one where a different type of unit adds an extra dimension or two that normal Civ V units can not?

This mod seeks to add just those units. It will be a work in progress as units are added to the mod.

The first unit is the "Magus" class - an evolving group of supernaturalists who gain capabilities as time progresses.

Instructions: Just download the mod, the copy it to the game's MODS folder. Start the game, then enable the mod, review the manual, and use the new capabilities to their fullest.
 

Attachments

  • Fantasy Army Notes.zip
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The files in the Notes.zip consist of a 1 page document describing the class and its associated promotions and buildings. The second file is the "draft" atlas containing the icons that will be used in game. The top row is the unit icons for the 6 magus units. The next row is the associated prerequisite building required to build that unit. The third row contains the flags over those units in game. The rest of the icons were just things I was collecting as I looked through my library of icons - trying to find the best ones to include.

What's working: All 6 of the units work, their associated promotions work.

What needs to be done: buildings added (not a long task), and adjustments to the atlas files.

Adjustments: I plan on swapping the second and third flags - seems like a better evolution in time. I also plan on using the 4th unit icon (top row) for the second unit (moving the "alchemist" icon to the "mystic" - just looks more like the unit on the map). I plan on taking the 5th icon (the Gandalf-looking one) and recoloring it for the 3rd unit (Wizard - with a dark gray coat), and the 5th unit (Thaumaturgist- with a purple coat). The original 5th icon will move to the 4th place (alchemist) - as the icon is already blue, it matches that unit on the map, so won't need any more changes. I can also recolor it to a red coat for the Psionicist (6th icon) if it would be better than the one that's already there.

Also needed - custom artwork for the "Magus" promotion. Takes a few hours, but not too difficult.

Sooooo..... I hope to have V.0 (rough BETA) done tomorrow, if I can get the time together, and post it to civfanatics.com in the resource area. I'm open to any suggestions on changes. The Magus' are designed to be overpowering religious units - to provide some "beef" to those units that the prophets and missionaries just don't have. The build limit is intended to keep them from dominating the game - and those numbers may be a bit high.
 
Units and buildings completed/tested. Need to finish the changes on the artwork and it should be playable at that point. Hope to have artwork done today. Will post the mod when it's done.

I'm starting to thing about what's next and am thinking like this - the mod has 3 "classes" of units:
1. Magus (Shaman, Mystic, Wizard, Alchemist, Thaumaturgist, Psionicist)
2. "Melee" class (Assassin, Partisan, ...)
3. "Support" class (?)

This leaves room in the icon atlases for 1 more class, which can be added later after a lot of playtesting with the units to add what is really missing.

The biggest problem I have is the availability of existing unit models which can be added to the mod. Not a lot of "spellcaster" models with decent animations.
 
Several changes were required to the units and the buildings to get everything working correctly. Attached is the revised version of the design notes.

Changes made - allowing firs 3 Magus units to build holy site; next 3 build academies, like the Great Scientist.

Fixed overrides, so barbs & city states don't get most Magus. They both get Shamans, though.

Put in the building requirements that are prereq for the Magus unit - e.g. must have a Stone Circle built in order to produce/purchase Mystic.
 

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  • Magus Class Design Notes.pdf
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Necormancer class is finished. It adds 5 units that evolve over time:

Illusionist (classical) - Medium (Medieval) - Conjuror (Renaissance) - Summoner (Modern) - Necromancer (atomic)

Class photos attached. Updated class stats attached.

Units are working, and "moderately" tested. Will work on the more tomorrow.
 

Attachments

  • Necromancer Class.zip
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  • FA Class Notes.pdf
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New Version (V.5) uploaded. Mostly cleaning up code, and modifying it so it will be simpler to add units to the mod, but also make it easier for players to dynamically choose which units they want in the game or not.

Not many changes coming in the next few days. After that - the "assassin", "vampire", and "dragon" classes will be the next ones I work on.
 
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Regarding the Assassin Class, here's my ideas:

I'd make it a ranged unit with a ranged attack that's weaker than a regular archer, but has enough melee combat skill to hold its own against a dedicated melee unit. I'd probably go with something like this as far as upgrading goes:

Tracker (hunting): I'm thinking they might throw tomahawks or bolos or something.

Assassin (some classical tech, not sure which yet. Mathematics?): A ninja-like unit which throws knives.

Spy (printing press?): A guy with a pistol resembling an old-school spy. Bonus points if they wear a trench coat or a mask or something.

Agent (radio): A James-Bond style modern spy.

Black-Op (stealth): I'd go with something sort of cyberpunk for this myself, akin to JC Denton or Adam Jensen.
 
After extensive research into the models I have on hand and can get working, here's how I see the units making up the Assassin class:

1. Bandits (Ancient, avail @ Trapping) - Hand Axe Barbs
2. Marauders (Classical, avail @ Currency) - One of the javelin throwers from the Stone Age Pack (https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/civ5-stone-age-pack.23674/)
3. Assassins (Renaissance, avail @ Printing Press) - Assassin art (https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/assassin.18578/)
4. Guerrillas (Modern, avail @ Radio) - the "paramilitary commandos" from the Crazy Scotsman's Omnibus mod, which is, I think, based on the UK paratrooper, modified to look more paramilitary-like than professional military
5. BlackOps (Information, avail @ Mobile Tactics) - one of the Modern era Spec Forces mods here ( the one looking most BlackOps like): https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/categories/civ5-modern-era-units.134/

Just cannot find any "James Bond" or trench coat type units to use here. Closest I found is the actual "Archaeologist" figure from the game - but I'm not sure I can force any combat animations on the unit. I'll experiment with that in a few days, but I haven't had much luck in the past getting civilians to attack. At best they "freeze" for a few seconds while combat takes place, at worse they crash the game when the attack begins.

Finished the first unit - Bandits. Reskinned the Barb Hand Axe unit, as it's the only one I've found that throws something smaller than a spear. I modified the unit so it is now Team Colored - so it will look like it should for any civ. Was thinking about fabricating a bandana for a mask, to take the place of the beard....

Not sure if you think the Bandit should consist of a single figure in the unit or a group. Original Barb Hand Axe has 10 figures at full strength.

Promotions for the class will probably entail "move after combat", "extra chance of withdrawal", "extra defense", "pillage at no move cost", "no penalty for moving in hills and forests", "ignore zone of control" - with the earlier units having fewer of these and less powerful, and later versions having most of them at higher levels. Will probably change the "yield from kills" from faith to gold. Just makes more sense for this class.

May want a paradrop option for #5 as well - somewhere between a normal paratrooper and Xcom - between 9 & 40 squares, maybe 25?

Also - the icon and flag are temp, place holders. I'll work on those later.
 

Attachments

  • Bandits Pix.zip
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Well, scratch that.... The Assassin class is finished as described in the previous post, and my it's disappointing.... Doesn't look all that good and frankly doesn't add anything interesting to the game...

I think I'll try to re-work it completely - going back to more of what Protagonist had in mind: each unit as a single "person" or character.

I've had "some" luck getting civilian artwork to engage in combat and not crash the game, so I think I'll put more time into that. the new "plan" would look something like this:

The basic class is going to be called "Operative" (am trying to avoid using words that already are used in the Civ V game, so "spy" shouldn't be used to avoid confusion):

1. Bandit (ancient era): as before - hand axe barb
2. Marauder/Renegade (classical era): Some kind of horse archer - with appropriate "dark themed" artwork
3. Assassin (renaissance era): as before
4. Agent Provocateur (modern era): Not sure of the art yet (or the name) Perhaps the re-worked Archeaologist
5. BlackOp (info era): A couple of possible units in mind - will look like a thinner/darker Xcom unit

Am moving away from the combat type promotions and thinking more like the ability to move into foreign territory, some kind of invisibility, weaker units that don't defend well when discovered, longer visibility/move speed, ignore zoc, weaker against cities
 
I like the idea of having them get non-combat promotions. Actually, I particularly love the idea of them having some sort of invisibility.

BTW, here's another idea for a unitclass: The Mystic Warrior/The Hero. These would most likely be melee units that are weaker or harder to build than the warrior unit lineage, but they buff units near them with magic. Some ideas for eras:

Ancient: The Rune Warrior

Classical: The Argonaut

Medieval: The Paladin

Renaissance and Industrial: The Gun Mage (I'm not entirely sure what they would look like. Maybe a Pistolero if you can find one? Speaking of, that could also work for a unit to use for a Renaissance operative)

Modern and Atomic: The Super Hero (for this one, might be able to reskin a swordsman or something for the model? Not sure)

Information: The Sentai (I'd probably just use a variation of an Xcom or something?)
 
The only pistol units I've been able to find are horseback. I found an unfinished, non-working vanilla mod that has some warhammer 40k advanced units with a laser pistol. Spent a few hours with them but haven't got the animations working correctly yet.

Am off the project for a few days for actual work... hope to be back Sunday or so. The hero class looks good, subject to change based on available artwork.
 
Was thinking about creating a new class - recon.
1. Ravens (ancient)
2. Eagles (classical)
3. Steampunk Balloon 1 (renaissance)
4. Steampunk Balloon 2 or 3 (industrial)
5. Zeppelin (WW1 type airship) (modern)
6. U2/Spyplane (atomic)
7. UAV (info)

The first 5 could explore over enemy airspace - hard to detect, easy to bring down, and they lose HP every turn (~33%) - giving them about 3 turns over enemy territory before they crash and burn.

Last two (6 & 7) would be more "conventional" - flying out of a friendly city, subject to intercept, etc.

The basic reason for the expansion is to look at adding "more" to the mod than just fantasy units - adding units that fill in some of the gaps in late game. Adding a few extra units - including land/sea/air combat units may also make the game a little more fantastical and broaden the fun - especially in the info era, which needs more (sci-fi type) units I think.

If you're really not OK with the idea, I can split those units into a "late game" expansion mod, separate from this one.
 
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New Version of the Mod Posted!!! V6.

Adds the "assassin" class, which contains these units: Bandit (Ancient), Marauder (Classical), Assassin (Medieval), Operative (Industrial), Commando (Atomic), and BlackOps (Information).

They are intended to be a better recon unit than the scout - they have better skills, but are also much weaker than the standard infantry unit of the era.

These units have promotions to make them better recon units: They may move through rival territory, ignore enemy zones of control, receive bonuses when attacking wounded units or from the flanks, chance of withdrawing from losing combat, extra defense, move after combat, and pillage without movement costs. The earlier units in the class have fewer of these promotions and/or weaker versions.

Have also included a "parade field" map you can open if you want to see all the new units up close - and examine a city with all 9 new buildings. Instructions are in the downloads area with the mod.

I think I'll work on the "Hero" class next. The "recon" class mentioned in the previous post (#13) will probably move to a different mod - one that adds some units to the latter half of the game - which it could really use - to make it more interesting to play.

After the hero class, I will work on a "support" class which will simply add Great General bonus and improved healing (i.e. Medicine Man, Apothocary, Medic, Empath)

After those two classes are complete, there are a few assorted random beasts I'd like to add to the mod (lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my...) but can't decide if I should create a "druid" type of class to control the beasts, or simply add them to the assortment of creatures that spawn as barbarians. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
 

Attachments

  • Fantasy Army Mod Notes.pdf
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@Protagonist: a question about this:
These would most likely be melee units that are weaker or harder to build than the warrior unit lineage, but they buff units near them with magic.

Using only XML, there are only 4 basic "buffs" that a unit can give to another: a great general (+combat strength), healing improvement (+HP/turn), a unit may contribute movement points to a stacked Great General, and the "sapper" promotion Assyrian Siege Towers give to adjacent units (improves their city attack). I'd prefer to avoid any LUA-based buffs that could lower compatibility with other mods - unless absolutely necessary.

As I'd like to build a "support" class - basically a super healer (civilian unit) - this leaves the other two useful buffs of great general and sapper. These are pretty good for a "hero" type unit - but it begs the question: do we give the Hero unit combat strength - which prevents it stacking with other combat units, or do we keep it a "civilian" unit with no strength but is stackable with other combat units?

The problem of keeping it a civilian is the AI tends to be rather cavalier with its great generals, often sending them willy-nilly into the wild unprotected. I've tried units like these in other mods and if they don't have combat strength the AI tends to flush them most of the time and not use them well.

So - let me know if the Hero (mystic warrior) class should be a combat unit or a civilian unit - and I'll built it from there.

Also - if you had something else in mind by "buff them with magic" let me know what effects you had in mind and I'll see if I can figure out how to code them.

Thanks!
 
New Version of the Mod Posted!!! V7.

Adds the "mystic warrior" class, which contains these units:Rune Warrior (Ancient), Argonaut (Classical), Paladin (Medieval),Gun Mage (Renaissance),Overlord (Modern),Sentai (Information).

They are intended to be a capable unit, almost as good as the melee units of their era - but they also have leadership skills as well as other benefits that make them quite useful on the battlefield.

These units have promotions to make them better combat units: These promotions provide Great General bonus, frighten nearby enemies (lowering their combat strength), allow movement-free pillage, capture defeated enemies, enhanced city attack bonus for nearby friendly units, extra defense, move after combat, and pillage without movement costs. The earlier units in the class have fewer of these promotions and/or weaker versions.

Have also included an updated "parade field" map you can open to see the new units up close.

Next up: the support class - basically civilian units with a robust healing capability, perhaps some kind of "worker" skills as well (i.e. repair improvements) - but no Great General bonus - isn't needed with the mystic warriors.
 
My thoughts:
The Hero Unit would definitely be a military unit with actual combat strength.

The idea behind most of my suggestions so far has been to harken to the typical RPG trope of "Fighter, Thief, Mage" as primary classes (or in this case, warrior, archer, mage), and then having hybrids (assassin, magic knight, and druid or something). I was thinking "Hero" might work as a magic knight.

A good idea for healer might be a cleric class (some fantasy settings go 'fighter, thief, mage, priest), but then I'd probably make the Hero a warrior/healer. Or you could just make the healer be a literal doctor.
 
Yes - I agree. I built them with combat strength just in case you wanted it that way. Just seems to make more sense. The only issue is the 1 unit per hex - but as they're "close" to a regular melee unit of their eras, they shouldn't be at too much of a disadvantage, especially with the defense buff from the class promotion.

The healer will probably have remain a civilian (e.g. no combat strength, or competitive combat strength that is defensive only - actually, that's better - keeps them more viable if the AI neglects them in the open). I have some good artwork for the class, but none of the models have an attack. Plus being a civilian, they can stack with combat units, which might make them more useful.

The current plan is 6 units: Medicine Man (ancient), Cleric (Classical), Apothecary (medieval), Medic (industrial), Corpsman (Atomic), and Empath (Information - but will have additional skills like visibility = 5 or something like that).

The obvious promotion is medic (more than 5 HP heal, though - probably will scale through the eras), repair (so it can heal itself every turn even if it moves).

I'm very interested in your thoughts on the "magic buffs" you mentioned previously. The things I've added to the promotions (so far) have all been XML-based, which keeps the mod more stable and more compatible with other mods. If you have any ideas for any other, more exotic effects - let me know what they are so I can start researching how to implement them with LUA. For example, the Necromancer units may "recruit" destroyed units? Wizards may be able to steal tech? Hero units may increase range distance when they're stacked with ranged units, etc. Basically anything you want probably can be coded - just need to get a good set of suggestions so I can start researching how others have done things like it in the past.

Of course, you have to be mindful of not making these new units too overpowering. That's something playtesting will have to examine.

After the support class is done (hopefully in the next couple of days), I think I'll start working on a "druid" type of class - combat units with lots of animal escorts. I have some good fantasy creature models (dragons, wraiths, beholders, ogres, etc) and it may be cool to have a hybrid unit that is part scout/recon, and part (weaker) melee. Those take a little longer to build, but they look very good in game.

Thanks for the input - it really helps.
 
I just had another idea for a mage/ranged/stealth class of some sort: monks/martial artists! Modelling it shouldn't be too difficult. I'd probably reskin a scout. If you give it a ranged attack, you can have it throw fireballs using the torch throwing animation.

Mechanically, I think I'd make it an a ranged unit that's weak by default but stronger when standing next to an allied unit. Just an idea.

As for support buffs given by magic units, the ones I like the most are weakening nearby enemies or strengthening nearby allies. Some units might have an advantage when they're on a certain type of terrain or on their own/their enemy's terrain.
 
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The Monk class with the attacks and capabilities you outlined sounds pretty doable - just need to get an idea how many units you'd like in the class and what their names might be (maybe something like "Novice", "Zelator", "Adeptus", "Magister Templi". These abilities are already in the database and not difficult to adjust. If you know of any scout unit you've seen in the past you'd like to include, let me know where to find it.

I'll start working on the Monks when I get the "support" class (Cleric) done - hopefully this weekend. The Cleric units have multiple models per unit and those tend to be a bit buggy while developing - spending a lot of time this morning testing to make sure the units and models are stable. The "raven" model is giving me a ton of crashes when I include it as part of the "Cleric" unit - which is quite annoying as it works fine as part of the "Illusionist" and "Medium" and necromancer units - using the exact same files! Ugh...

So, I've been running all the units through lots of 100+ turn games using Live Tuner. The existing units (minus the "Cleric" units itself) seem stable, although the game has CTD'ed a couple of times when exiting the game. Other than that it seems relatively stable - but I'll keep running these long tests off and on the next few days to make sure.

The terrain bonus capability is already in the database and easy to redesign/augment. Just need to match a given unit and/or class to a terrain type to set it all up. Most useful terrain types are probably forests, hills, jungles, and snow - the rest are supposed to be very common. Just let me know how u want to match up the units to the terrain and I'll add the promotions to the units you choose.
 
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