[GS] [Help Needed!] Cantonese Civilization for Portfolio Project

[suvic]

Hello everyone;

I'm new to this site, so hopefully this is the right place to put this. As the thread title states, I'm attempting to create a mod for this game including the Cantonese people as a civilization, as a portfolio project for university. Most everything for this project is either completed (traits, agendas, uniques), or in progress (soundtrack, ambience, civilopedia entries, character models and animations).

I've tried messing around with modbuddy, using some guides on youtube (most notably the one by keniisu) though my understanding of code is incredibly weak, and so I can't for the life of me make sense of how it really "works" in a broad sense. For instance, I understand there's supposed to be a spreadsheet containing everything that can be done in the game, but I can't make much sense of how to put that into code.

I guess this is a pretty weighty request for my first post on this site, but would anyone be so kind as to point me in the right direction, or perhaps even walk me through it?

I'd be up for posting more of what I have so far - though I find this post is long enough, so I'll perhaps save that for if there's any interest.

Thank you!

 

[maconnolly]

Not to blindly trumpet my own solution but, what the hell: have you seen the Custom Civilization - ModBuddy Template I have created for exactly this task?

I created it relatively recently and feedback to me suggests it allows newcomers to easily follow along. It was designed with new modders in mind.

I know the Keniisu video tutorials and templates which you may be using - in my opinion, those are not fully complete and result in failed mods.

One of the key skills in being able to design a mod successfully is understanding how to reference the existing, base-game code. Without this particular skill, in my opinion, building your own functional mod is nigh-on impossible. I believe it is more important to learn the way cross-referencing base-game code works than it is to understand the exact code syntax (which is visually quite easy to figure out when you're looking at it in ModBuddy).

Please do share what you have thus far and/or where you are getting stuck, if there's a specific point. If you want fuller, general guidance/advice, I can try and connect with you to give that advice.

 

[suvic]

Not to blindly trumpet my own solution but, what the hell: have you seen the Custom Civilization - ModBuddy Template I have created for exactly this task?

I created it relatively recently and feedback to me suggests it allows newcomers to easily follow along. It was designed with new modders in mind.

Thanks for the reply!

I'd only been on the site once before, to scout out whether I could ask for help (I really needed it!) so I hadn't run into this resource. I'll be sure to check it out though! As for cross-referencing code, I vaguely understand that the .xml(?) .sql(?) files reference each other, but seeing as there are many formats of ModBuddy 'code' I can't quite draw any syntaxial conclusions from my elementary java background. As for what I've gotten so far, I'll go ahead and post the text-related information; feel free to critique, as I don't have many in my circles experienced enough to really do so:

"Arise, Wong Fei-Hung, Hero of Foshan; your people need you. Hard work pays off, great master, and you understand this more than anyone else. Filled by determination by the skill of your bare hands and awe at your discipline, men will flock to your side in search of leadership in hard times. You will show them the way. Inspire millions with your bravery, and lead them toward the path of liberation - surely, this is what it means to be only human.'"

Wong Fei-Hung Leader Ability : Hero of Foshan
When declared war upon, all bordering enemy cities lose loyalty. Melee units have +2 combat adjacency bonuses, and another +3 if fighting inside a Cantonese city. Gain access to the Industrial-era 'Merchant Volunteer' Unique Unit.

Wong Fei-Hung Leader Agenda : Liberation Front
Likes to keep his military units out of foreign cities, and respects those who do the same. Dislikes civs who have military units stationed in foreign cities.

Merchant Volunteer : Industrial era melee unit when Wong Fei-Hung is leader. Cheaper to produce and weaker than average; however, combat strength +5 when fighting adjacent to, or +10 when inside, a Cantonese Tong Lau.

Cantonese: Four Asian Tigers : Whenever completing a city project, receive science equivalent to 25% of its production cost.

Flying Tiger : Industrial era unit, replaces the biplane and is unlocked earlier. Low movement and range.

Tong Lau : Industrial era improvement. Yields:
+3 gold
+2 gold if on shore
+1 amenity if on shore
+2 gold if trade routes go to this city
+2.5 housing
+2 production if adjacent to city center

I'm entirely aware that Wong Fei-Hung isn't anything comparable to many western leaders in terms of fame, as he was just a martial artist, but he is a very important folk hero to the Cantonese people (which shouldn't conflict too much with the prewithstanding China civ, I don't think, as they are debatably an ethnic group (Baiyue) like the Khmer or the Gauls, who technically may have some geographical or political overlap with other civs)

I'm also not too sure regarding the name of the civ ability, as the term 'Four Asian Tigers' only referred to Hong Kong, and not to the entire Guangdong region. In any case, I'll likely need to overwrite the existing Hong Kong city-state, similar to what Korea did to Seoul.

I'm working with the soundtrack - I've been in contact with Geoff Knorr concerning some advice with that; as I work in midi, however, my struggles are more with composition than orchestration, at least until I can get a more professional-sounding ensemble (which is planned). The Cantonese theme will be a mixed composition of the following three songs:

(All eras) "Chain Buckles"

(Only in Medieval era) "A Widow's Lament"

(During and after Medieval era) "Red Embroidered Shoes"

Ambience will, of course, feature the timeless "General's Mandate".

I've studied how the themes reflect the history of the country/people, so I've chosen these accordingly.

As for where I'm stuck - I can't get any of this to work, but I'll be looking into your template shortly to try and make some sense out of the chaos that is the code.

 

[sunny19879394]

Sorry I have not been this forum for a very very long time....I am a HongKonger so if there is still anything that can help you?

 

[sunny19879394]

Also I have made a Hong Kong civ and even have background music so for modding issue i can help a bit as well

 

[suvic]

That would be much appreciated, any help is monumental!

I've sent you a message, hopefully it works (I'm still not yet entirely acquainted with this site) but perhaps we may converse through there.

Thank you!