Great Explorer Mod (Custom Great Person)

[Leugi]

Update: Added Custom Icon, Water Requirement for Magellan's Expedition and changed the Great Explorer model to the Great Merchant (because you don't see it so often and it fits more with Explorers)

Alright, a bit inspired by the announcement of Brave New World, with all its new tourism and exploration focus (World Congress requiring meeting all of 'em civs).



Great Explorer Mod

Features:

• A new Great Person called "Great Explorer", which has improvement movement (a bit like mounted units, and can embark without Optics [not to Ocean tiles]) and has a special ability called Discover Ancient Ruins (The Great Explorer is consumed, Ancient Ruins appear where the Great Explorer is standing)
• A new Specialist called "Scholar" (necessary to produce Great Explorers) which yields +2 Culture and +1 science, while working towards Great Explorers by 1 GP point per turn. The Scholar Specialist adquires spaces on the following buildings
  
  Monument
  Museum
  Library
  University
  The Great Oracle
  ​
• The Great Lighthouse now Gifts a Great Explorer
• A new Wonder (which could actually be considered a project, but is not such for practical reasons) called The Magellan Expedition upon the discovery of the Compass. With strong yields of all kind which gifts 2 Great Explorers which can embark onto ocean without Navigation.

The mod does not feature custom icons, but will soon enough.

Screenshots:

Spoiler :

Download The Great Explorer v1.

 

[Pouakai]

Awesome, I was thinking about the possibility of Great Explorers as well, glad to see you've made it! I'm not sure about some of the choices for buildings, but I guess as a scholar it makes sense (As opposed to an explorer specialist)

 

[Leugi]

Yeah, the biggest issue was "what kind of specialist would work with an Explorer?" and really, Explorer Specialist sounded quite weird, so decided to add "Scholars"... But then the buildings have to be of a different kind than what you would usually consider for Exploration itself... Anyway, it plays rather well, but it'd be good to know opinions of how it works ingame... Anyway, enjoy!

BTW could a mod please change the Thread's title? to Great Explorer Mod (Custom Great Person)

Moderator Action: Thread title changed as requested, moved to a sub-forum where it will not get lost in the crush of threads.

 

[Leugi]

Thanks for the Moderation Action! Just noticed it by now hehe.

Anyway, did a little update to the mod.

• Magellan's Expedition should now require water to be built
• Great Explorer's model switched to the Great Merchant, because it fits more. Many Ancient Explorers were also traders and as such had to use camels or other animals to get by. And the Modern car of the Great Merchant also fits more for an explorer
• Added a Custom Icon for the Great Merchant!

Check the link to download the Update

 

[kaspergm]

Just a question, but will this increase the cost of other GP when it appears? Because the benefit of getting what is essentially one ancient ruin seems a bit ... underwhelming ... if it means cost of other GP goes up.

 

[Leugi]

Just a question, but will this increase the cost of other GP when it appears? Because the benefit of getting what is essentially one ancient ruin seems a bit ... underwhelming ... if it means cost of other GP goes up.

From what I have played, the rate of Great People doesn't drop at all, though for this the rate of the Great Explorer is quite low actually...

I've actually been trying to think of ways that wouldn't imply new specialists. I can't find easy ways, but here are the options:

• Get a Great Explorer with each 3 or 5 wonders. It seems fairly possible.
• Get GP points per turn for each connected city to the capital (don't know how on earth to do that)
• Get GP points for each 12 tiles you discover on the map (also don't know)

If anyone knows another nice option for this, it'd be nice

 

[Hyronymus]

Just a few suggestions:
- get a great explorer upon discovering a certain % of the world
- get a great explorer from a City State upon discovering an unknown civilization for them
- get a great explorer after raiding a certain # of ruins

 

[OursIstheFury]

Just thought I'd point out a potential incompatibility with GEM (Communitas) mod. Some buildings stop showing tooltip information, and, after a fashion, the city view UI/menus stop functioning (i.e. won't show list of buildings owned, specialists, etc.). Never actually got to the point where I had an explorer before crashing.

I'll definitely have to try this mod out another time, though. It's apparent a lot of time went into it and I think the concept is great. I love ancient ruins and it bums me out that they disappear after the first 40 rounds or so.

 

[Leugi]

Ok... so, decided to wrap up a BNW version of the Great Explorer, so brainstorming time!

The following ideas are likely going to happen:

• The method for obtaining Great Explorers will no longer be through specilists (yeah, no more scholars). Instead, city-states you're friends with will generate +3 GP points towards Great Explorers (allies +6).
• More wonders providing free Great Explorers could be made. Need some help with thinking. The Great Lighthouse will grant a free Great Explorer and generate points towards GEs.
• I'll try making the Exploration tree allow you to buy Great Explorers with faith, Great Admirals will be boughtable with Honor alongside with Great Generals (they are both combat centered after all)
• The first one to get to the following techs will get a free Great Explorer:
  • Optics
  • Compass
  • Navigation
  • Telegraph
• Portugal will get a free GE upon the discovery of Navigation.
• Techs will increase GE's mobility hugely:
  • Sailing: Allows GE's to embark, unlike other units.
  • The Wheel: +1 Movement
  • Compass: +1 Movement while embarked
  • Navigation: May move impassable

The following are ideas, so yeah, they might chance hugely.

• Option A: Great Explorers as Archaeologists.
  • Unit ignores terrain cost and has +2 Movement. May enter rival territory. Embarked moves as fast as a naval unit. No sight penalties on embarcation.
  • When finding Ancient Ruins it may choose the bonus.
  • Temporarily allows you to see Antiquity Sites. The Explorer may dig the sites to create Ancient Ruins and an Artifact (no landmark, probably)
• Option B: Great Explorers as uber Scouts.
  • Unit ignores terrain cost and has +2 Movement. May enter rival territory. Embarked moves as fast as a naval unit. No sight penalties on embarcation.
  • When finding Ancient Ruins it may choose the bonus.
  • May defend and attack unlike other Great Persons. Combat depends on technologies discovered.
• Option C: Great Explorers as pioneers/colonists
  • Unit ignores terrain cost and has +2 Movement. May enter rival territory. Embarked moves as fast as a naval unit. No sight penalties on embarcation.
  • When finding Ancient Ruins it may choose the bonus.
  • May trade exotic goods when adjacent to a city (like the portuguese UU, but 3 times). May also be expended to create a Colony outside your territory, which claims adjacent tiles and connects the resource they are built on. (of course, it may not be worked, so you receive no gold or whatever)

Any other ideas / opinions?

 

[Scorpion1211]

Hi guys. can anyone fix it for Vox Populi? I suppose it's compatible with VP but I noticed it spawned too much. I can get a few of great exxplorers per a turn. I don't think it's good