Final Fixes Reborn

[PPQ_Purple]

Update. I did some random testing and discovered that the horse used for the dragoon uses the same texture format that this one does. So if you like you can apply the metalic horse to the dragoon as well with no extra work on my part. Personally I am not sure if it would be a good idea but like it's an option so I figured it'd be fair for me to mention it.

 

[PPQ_Purple]

Alright than, you guys should know the drill by now.

This model has been the toughest single job I had to tackle so far for CIV. It has skinning, transplanting bits from other models, editing meshes in 3D max, creating new meshes.... I basically had to break open every trick I know to get this done. But I am pleased with the result.

Included in the screenshot are:

Light cavalry version


Heavy cavalry version


And a little something I cooked up because I am crazy like that.

I'll be including all three in the final download once I am done with a sizable enough unit pack to be worth a publish. Also, the likely way this will go up as an upload is as a module simply because I already have a custom module I made that I use for testing purposes and it will be easier to publish that than to mess around with all the XML for the game. Plus like splitting the XML into civ specific modules is going to do wonders for later updates. Take it from a professional programmer.


So, comment, rate and subscribe. My work rate is directly fueled by how many likes I get.

 

[black_imperator]

Very nice, i think i do prefer the more armored version. As for the third one, i'm thinking event unit ^^ (and if you ever figure out animation, having the key turn during the idle animation would be great ^^)

 

[PPQ_Purple]

Whilst we are on the subject do you think I should start a new thread for this? I need to upload screenshots somewhere so the conversation system won't do. But I feel I might be cluttering this thing up too much.

Also, how much diversity do you want for the recon line? It would just appear to me that in general that line seems not to lend it self to uniqueness on account of it all being rugged outdorsman typs that'll look the same.

 

[black_imperator]

You can do a new thread if you want, yes ^^

As for the recon line, they should still take after their civ style as much as possible. most of the default ffh civs do that well, for the early units in the line (Scout and Hunter)

 

[Bearmarshal]

That is a very nice horse, Purple!

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More...

Issues and concerns:

1. The AI should probably prefer Floodplains over Plains when using Spring and Scorch.
2. Should casting Resurrection on a graveyard really take 7 turns? It's quite a steep price to pay for a single Champion.

Thoughts:

1. Do we really want spells with widely separate effects triggering under highly conditional circumstances? For example, do we want Spring to both terraform and put out fires, especially at the same time? I'd be for splitting these into two separate spells, much like has been done with Resurrection and Resurrection (Graveyard).
2. Shouldn't Dasher start with Monstrous Creature and Hero like the other animal heroes?
3. By the way, is Dasher a part of Erebus lore or just a name born out of lack of inspiration? If the latter, I would be for renaming it "The Great Stag", either saying this is the very beast Kylorin rode into battle against Mulcarn on, or at least its spiritual descendant.

 

[black_imperator]

1. The AI should probably prefer Floodplains over Plains when using Spring and Scorch.

1. I'll see if i can tweak that easily.

   [*]Should casting Resurrection on a graveyard really take 7 turns? It's quite a steep price to pay for a single Champion.

Agreed.

1. Do we really want spells with widely separate effects triggering under highly conditional circumstances? For example, do we want Spring to both terraform and put out fires, especially at the same time? I'd be for splitting these into two separate spells, much like has been done with Resurrection and Resurrection (Graveyard).

1. I'll get to that when i do some Magic Rework.

   [*]Shouldn't Dasher start with Monstrous Creature and Hero like the other animal heroes?

   Done.

   [*]By the way, is Dasher a part of Erebus lore or just a name born out of lack of inspiration? If the latter, I would be for renaming it "The Great Stag", either saying this is the very beast Kylorin rode into battle against Mulcarn on, or at least its spiritual descendant.

damn i didn't remember that kylorin stag thing. Ok for The Great Stag.

 

[Vorpal+5]

The mod displays right with the steam beta version. I wonder why Steam is not proposing good old 3.19 by default?

What is the meaning of the victory condition 'gone to hell'?

If I edit Hellfire chance in globaldefines from 200 to 50, will I have 4x more infernal units spawn when the apoc triggers?

What is the max size civ4 engine can handle, I'm trying to play bigger than huge... 2x size of huge (in surface)?

 

[black_imperator]

What is the meaning of the victory condition 'gone to hell'?

Victory comes for the Civ that influenced the AC the most when 90% of the landmass is hell terrain

If I edit Hellfire chance in globaldefines from 200 to 50, will I have 4x more infernal units spawn when the apoc triggers?

no, you need to increase the value to increase the chance of a hellfire spawning on a tile

What is the max size civ4 engine can handle, I'm trying to play bigger than huge... 2x size of huge (in surface)?

I have no idea, though other mods are using larger map sizes than we currently have.

 

[Vorpal+5]

Thanks for the reply Black Imperator.
So about the Hellfire chance, what would give in average 1 hellfire every 25 tiles?
Can you confirm each get an hell unit when it appears?

IDK if you changed anything compared to the parent mod, but Hyborem rarely does anything when I play, too weak and fearful of the others factions.

 

[black_imperator]

move it up to 400 to have it once every 25 valid plot ( meaning flatland, non-bonused, empty plot). All will get a champion and spawn more units.

I noticed that too and changed a few AI things in the next build, he should be more aggressive and efficient ( He did manage to beat me once recently.)

 

[8BitArchitect]

[snip]

What is the max size civ4 engine can handle, I'm trying to play bigger than huge... 2x size of huge (in surface)?

I've had some success running maps about twice the size of default on the 'Stable' version, with only occasional crashes and moderately extended load times. I haven't tried recently on the nightly/beta version because it has much longer IBT times for me from the start of the game (my guess is there's more AI features dependent on python in the nightly version.)

 

[black_imperator]

actually, there should be less python features, i moved some of it from python to c++

 

[Vorpal+5]

I managed to start (currently at turn 50) a game on this beast of a map:
<iGridWidth>55</iGridWidth>
<iGridHeight>35</iGridHeight>

I patched up the EXE to 4 gigabytes usage thanks to a small utility (4gb_patch.exe)

I have an extra question, I would like to play without the city sound that I find bothersome after a while (all civ4 games have this sound), what is its name exactly, how I can I mute it?

On the other hand, I liked the little trumpet sound when you clicked on a promotion button, but this is gone from the mod. How can I restore that?

 

[black_imperator]

Errr, sound is not something i've particularly looked into, so i'm not sure. I'll see what i can find

 

[8BitArchitect]

I managed to start (currently at turn 50) a game on this beast of a map:
<iGridWidth>55</iGridWidth>
<iGridHeight>35</iGridHeight>

I patched up the EXE to 4 gigabytes usage thanks to a small utility (4gb_patch.exe)

[snip]

I thought that the game was patched to use 4GB by default in the later patches? If this is not the case I'd appreciate a link to that patch.

 

[Vorpal+5]

Here you go, that's a wetransfer link valid 10 days:
https://we.tl/u9uRirtQGI

 

[Bearmarshal]

I have an extra question, I would like to play without the city sound that I find bothersome after a while (all civ4 games have this sound), what is its name exactly, how I can I mute it?

On the other hand, I liked the little trumpet sound when you clicked on a promotion button, but this is gone from the mod. How can I restore that?

The city sounds are set inside the <CitySoundscapes/> tags of every era in \Assets\XML\Gameinfo\CIV4EraInfos.xml. I don't know what happens if you leave them empty or remove these entries entirely, though...

The promotion sound is restored by adding <Sound>AS2D_IF_LEVELUP</Sound> to every promotion you want it on in \Assets\XML\Units\Civ4PromotionInfos.xml. Yes, that will be a lot of work. Right now, it's only enabled on certain level up awards, such as the Commander promotions awarded to Fort Commanders upon reaching certain levels.

________________________________

Finally won my last game, started up a new one and immediately found some more to bring up:

Bugs:

1. Elven and Dark Elven don't ignore the movement cost of New Forests.

Issues and Concerns:

1. Speaking of sound, the roaring sound of Sea Serpents and the different dragons loop constantly as part of their idle animation, which becomes very annoying if you have a lot to do in the area where they're on screen. It isn't obvious from the XMLs how to turn it off, though...

 

[Vorpal+5]

Thanks a lot Bearmarshal, you are very helpful

If I may... I would like to have my Honored Bands (Scion axeman) with heads. I removed the headless promotion from them but still, they miss their head in the model. I get it, it is thematic to an undead somehow, but still...

Totally unrelated to that, all defensive bonus indicators on all my cities are gone. Is it only cosmetic or I have 0% bonus even in my capital (since 30 turns, all my cities). How do I restore that?

 

[black_imperator]

1. Elven and Dark Elven don't ignore the movement cost of New Forests.

Fixed next commit. For the sound thing, i'll see what i can do

Thanks a lot Bearmarshal, you are very helpful

If I may... I would like to have my Honored Bands (Scion axeman) with heads. I removed the headless promotion from them but still, they miss their head in the model. I get it, it is thematic to an undead somehow, but still...

Totally unrelated to that, all defensive bonus indicators on all my cities are gone. Is it only cosmetic or I have 0% bonus even in my capital (since 30 turns, all my cities). How do I restore that?

i have strictly no idea of what happened to your cities. is it just cosmetic or did it really disappear ? is it happening to your neighbours too ?



So, in order to give you a glimpse of what may come, and to help me put my ideas in order and collect feedback, i've decided to start a series of dev diaries. Now, i want this to be a bit more interactive than usual, so instead of me deciding what i want to talk about, you'll be able to choose amongst a bunch of themes. More details here : https://docs.google.com/document/d/14P90zYvnsodp-PLfRDmAehvX--nuhGV6yhKZMUxy9NI/edit

I'll post the dev diaries both here and in the doc.