DJ Bonebraker
a.k.a Laura
Well, It's been over a month since I've posted an honest to goodness update on exactly how my Final Fantasy mod has been progressing.
Well, folks, I'm happy to say that even though I have a ton of work ahead of me, I've made huge progress. I might even venture to say that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel (although it could just be another freight train coming my way...).
First, all the techs, units and wonders for the ancient age have been finalized in the BIQ editor. I still need to do the graphichs for the Iifa Tree (Pyramids), South Gate (Great Wall), and possibly the Temple of the Goddess (Temple of Artemis), although from what I've seen of Jueno Archietecture from FF XI screenshots and the area maps in the strategy guide, I could probably just leave it with the standard graphics and it would work just fine. As a matter of fact, this week's current projects call for completing the Iifa tree and starting on the model for the Makou cannon unit (which will be my FIRST ever unit attempt, so wish me luck ).
As for the Middle ages, I've got most techs done, as well as about 50% of the wonders renamed and the new graphics for them. the ones that still need graphics are Bugenhagen's Observatory (Copernicus' Observatory) Cid's Workshop (Leo's), the Zanarkand Dome (Shakespeare's Theater), Aeris' Church (J.S. Bach's), and Alexandria Castle (Sun Tzu's). I've successfully added all the graphics and stuff for the Orbonne Monastary (Sistine Chapel), and the other wonders that I haven't named are still undecided.
I've also managed to add all the main line units with the appropriate upgrades. The Offensive line, based on the Fighter job progression, starts with the Fighter (warrior), who upgrades to Knight in the ancient age with Iron Working, Paladin in the Middle ages with Monotheism, Swordmaster in the Industrial Age with "Steel" (going to be changed to 'Mythril'), and Samurai in the Modern age with "fission" (will be changed to Makou Energy or Magitek).
The middle of the road units (have less attack than a normal offensive unit, but greater than a normal defensive unit, and less defense than a normal defensive unit, but more than a normal offensive unit, plus they're slightly cheaper to build and require less resources, best for harrying attacking enemy troops as they cross your borders) start with the warrior in the ancient era, available with metalworking, upgrade to Gladiator in the Middle Ages with Feudalism, upgrade to Lancer in the Industrial age with Nationalism, and here the unit gains a bombard attack, to represent the well-known "Dragoon Jump" from the FF series. In the modern age, with the advent of "rocketry" (Will change that tech to something, not sure what...), the lancer upgrades to a Dragoon, and gains a bombard range of 2 to represent the improved Dragoon Jump.
The Defensive units starts with Archer, upgrades to Ranger, then to Gunner, and finally to Sniper. I'm making all the standard (non-unique) ranged units female, and the only graphics I'm missing is one for the Middle ages (a longbow woman if you will). For Armor, I have the dwarven battle wagon in the Late middle ages with metalleurgy, but requires Dwarves, Saltpeter and Iron to build. Upgrades in Industrial era to Steamtank with "Ironclads" (will be changed to "Advanced Steam Power") and requires Iron and Coal (duh!). In the Industrial age, with motorized transport, upgrades to tank (uses Kinboat's awesome Mk IV tank), and modern age upgrades to Hover Tank.
I've added 6 Final Fantasy based civs, and unique units for 5 of them. I've added the Yevon Warrior monk (replaces gunner, has bombard attack and slightly increased defense), the Shinra Grosspanzer (replaces hovertank, has higher bombard and defensive value, but same attack and movement). For the Kingdom of San d'Oria, I've basically duplicated all the Elvaan units, but made it so that the San d'Orians didn't need the Elvaan resource to build them, but couldn't build the cheaper human equivalents. The Republic of Bastok has all it's UU's. Starting in the middle ages instead of the Paladin, they build the Bastok Paladin, which upgrades to the Bastok Swordmaster and eventually to the Bastok Samurai. All the Bastok offensive units have a slightly increased attack to represent superior forging and smithing at the Bastok Ironworks.
The civs that I've added so far are (culture group in parenthesis, followed by Final Fantasy game #):
The Shinra Corporation (Native American) VII
The Church of Yevon (Mideast) X/X-2
The Al Bhed (Mideast) X/X-2
The Kingdom of San d'Oria (Europe) XI
The Republic of Bastik (Europe) XI
The Federation of Windhurst (Asian) XI
On the table for addition this week:
The Grand Duchy of Jueno (Mediterranean) XI
The Kingdom of Alexandria (mediterranean) IX
The Regency of Lindblum (Mediterranean) IX
I've added leaderheads for Rikku, chieftess of the Al Bhed, and thanks to Frenchman for the graphics, and I'm using Embryodead's High Elf to represent Prince Royal Trion I of the Elvaan kingdom of San d'Oria.
I've also added a special Mage unit that's available in the early middle ages, but requires certain circumstances to be created. First, the tech "Magic" must be researched, then a city that has a library must build a Mage tower (see sig link), which generates a Mage every 15 turns. Mages deal enough damage to take out a Sniper (the best defensive unit), but have a defense stat that's so low that a Knight stands a fair chance of defeating them in battle. Wizards also have a bombard attack equivalent to modern artillery, which along with the high attack ensures that they're still useful even in the modern age, but not too over powered for the middle ages (you just have to keep on your toes to counter a mage rush during the middle ages and "greet them at the gate" so to speak).
Well, that's about all that I can think of right now. So what do you think so far. (I may have more screenshots to post from the present alpha playtesting session later this week, when I get to the middle and industrial ages).
Well, folks, I'm happy to say that even though I have a ton of work ahead of me, I've made huge progress. I might even venture to say that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel (although it could just be another freight train coming my way...).
First, all the techs, units and wonders for the ancient age have been finalized in the BIQ editor. I still need to do the graphichs for the Iifa Tree (Pyramids), South Gate (Great Wall), and possibly the Temple of the Goddess (Temple of Artemis), although from what I've seen of Jueno Archietecture from FF XI screenshots and the area maps in the strategy guide, I could probably just leave it with the standard graphics and it would work just fine. As a matter of fact, this week's current projects call for completing the Iifa tree and starting on the model for the Makou cannon unit (which will be my FIRST ever unit attempt, so wish me luck ).
As for the Middle ages, I've got most techs done, as well as about 50% of the wonders renamed and the new graphics for them. the ones that still need graphics are Bugenhagen's Observatory (Copernicus' Observatory) Cid's Workshop (Leo's), the Zanarkand Dome (Shakespeare's Theater), Aeris' Church (J.S. Bach's), and Alexandria Castle (Sun Tzu's). I've successfully added all the graphics and stuff for the Orbonne Monastary (Sistine Chapel), and the other wonders that I haven't named are still undecided.
I've also managed to add all the main line units with the appropriate upgrades. The Offensive line, based on the Fighter job progression, starts with the Fighter (warrior), who upgrades to Knight in the ancient age with Iron Working, Paladin in the Middle ages with Monotheism, Swordmaster in the Industrial Age with "Steel" (going to be changed to 'Mythril'), and Samurai in the Modern age with "fission" (will be changed to Makou Energy or Magitek).
The middle of the road units (have less attack than a normal offensive unit, but greater than a normal defensive unit, and less defense than a normal defensive unit, but more than a normal offensive unit, plus they're slightly cheaper to build and require less resources, best for harrying attacking enemy troops as they cross your borders) start with the warrior in the ancient era, available with metalworking, upgrade to Gladiator in the Middle Ages with Feudalism, upgrade to Lancer in the Industrial age with Nationalism, and here the unit gains a bombard attack, to represent the well-known "Dragoon Jump" from the FF series. In the modern age, with the advent of "rocketry" (Will change that tech to something, not sure what...), the lancer upgrades to a Dragoon, and gains a bombard range of 2 to represent the improved Dragoon Jump.
The Defensive units starts with Archer, upgrades to Ranger, then to Gunner, and finally to Sniper. I'm making all the standard (non-unique) ranged units female, and the only graphics I'm missing is one for the Middle ages (a longbow woman if you will). For Armor, I have the dwarven battle wagon in the Late middle ages with metalleurgy, but requires Dwarves, Saltpeter and Iron to build. Upgrades in Industrial era to Steamtank with "Ironclads" (will be changed to "Advanced Steam Power") and requires Iron and Coal (duh!). In the Industrial age, with motorized transport, upgrades to tank (uses Kinboat's awesome Mk IV tank), and modern age upgrades to Hover Tank.
I've added 6 Final Fantasy based civs, and unique units for 5 of them. I've added the Yevon Warrior monk (replaces gunner, has bombard attack and slightly increased defense), the Shinra Grosspanzer (replaces hovertank, has higher bombard and defensive value, but same attack and movement). For the Kingdom of San d'Oria, I've basically duplicated all the Elvaan units, but made it so that the San d'Orians didn't need the Elvaan resource to build them, but couldn't build the cheaper human equivalents. The Republic of Bastok has all it's UU's. Starting in the middle ages instead of the Paladin, they build the Bastok Paladin, which upgrades to the Bastok Swordmaster and eventually to the Bastok Samurai. All the Bastok offensive units have a slightly increased attack to represent superior forging and smithing at the Bastok Ironworks.
The civs that I've added so far are (culture group in parenthesis, followed by Final Fantasy game #):
The Shinra Corporation (Native American) VII
The Church of Yevon (Mideast) X/X-2
The Al Bhed (Mideast) X/X-2
The Kingdom of San d'Oria (Europe) XI
The Republic of Bastik (Europe) XI
The Federation of Windhurst (Asian) XI
On the table for addition this week:
The Grand Duchy of Jueno (Mediterranean) XI
The Kingdom of Alexandria (mediterranean) IX
The Regency of Lindblum (Mediterranean) IX
I've added leaderheads for Rikku, chieftess of the Al Bhed, and thanks to Frenchman for the graphics, and I'm using Embryodead's High Elf to represent Prince Royal Trion I of the Elvaan kingdom of San d'Oria.
I've also added a special Mage unit that's available in the early middle ages, but requires certain circumstances to be created. First, the tech "Magic" must be researched, then a city that has a library must build a Mage tower (see sig link), which generates a Mage every 15 turns. Mages deal enough damage to take out a Sniper (the best defensive unit), but have a defense stat that's so low that a Knight stands a fair chance of defeating them in battle. Wizards also have a bombard attack equivalent to modern artillery, which along with the high attack ensures that they're still useful even in the modern age, but not too over powered for the middle ages (you just have to keep on your toes to counter a mage rush during the middle ages and "greet them at the gate" so to speak).
Well, that's about all that I can think of right now. So what do you think so far. (I may have more screenshots to post from the present alpha playtesting session later this week, when I get to the middle and industrial ages).