Deliverator
Graphical Hackificator
Me too. I skipped to DV20.
Your patch should be 1.5.4 - I decided naming mine 1.5.2b was a bad idea so I took 1.5.3.
incremental patch discussion
- Thread starter davidlallen
- Start date
Me too. I skipped to DV20.
Your patch should be 1.5.4 - I decided naming mine 1.5.2b was a bad idea so I took 1.5.3.
davidlallen
Deity
Thank you for not using letters. I meant 1.5.4, thanks for the correction.
City list redisign maybe. I had some crazy ideas there but none of the coders have replied.
davidlallen
Deity
@ Deliverator, I notice you put a 1.5.3 announcement into the modpack thread. I updated the first post in that thread to match. Do you get download counts from your file hosting place? I would be curious to know how many of the 600+ downloaders of 1.5 also download 1.5.3.
Deliverator
Graphical Hackificator
Prepare to be underwhelmed. Only 8 people have download patch 1.5.3 so far. I'll keep you posted.
I think it was right not to publicise it too much until we were sure the Aqueduct CTD was behind us.
There are 122 downloads of the music pack since 1.5 went out which suggests people are engaging.
Seeing as you are doing a 1.5.4 soon, I reckon we should release that in the same way as we did 1.5 - upload to the modpacks db and post in announcements and the modpacks thread again.
I think the OP in the modpacks thread needs more screenshots, in particular the things that really make the mod stand out - city screen, new look homeworld screen, new terrain art. If there's a good set of screenshots in the OP it'll have a positive impact. People are less likely to click away to the website as a link is less immediately engaging. I know I said I'd do a new worm screenshot - I should be able to do that before tomorrow together with your terraforming requests.
I think it was right not to publicise it too much until we were sure the Aqueduct CTD was behind us.
There are 122 downloads of the music pack since 1.5 went out which suggests people are engaging.
Seeing as you are doing a 1.5.4 soon, I reckon we should release that in the same way as we did 1.5 - upload to the modpacks db and post in announcements and the modpacks thread again.
I think the OP in the modpacks thread needs more screenshots, in particular the things that really make the mod stand out - city screen, new look homeworld screen, new terrain art. If there's a good set of screenshots in the OP it'll have a positive impact. People are less likely to click away to the website as a link is less immediately engaging. I know I said I'd do a new worm screenshot - I should be able to do that before tomorrow together with your terraforming requests.
davidlallen
Deity
I'll be happy to include whatever screenshots you can make. I find long forum posts of screenshots less engaging than a website with slightly smaller pictures and some text; but given the screenshots, maintaining two such sites is only slightly more work than one.
The way we have been building patches, the main difference between 1.5.4 and 1.6 would be rebuilding the pak file, so that subsequent patches do not have to keep repeating the same bulky terrain textures and homeworld art.
Numbers are cheap, what do you think about 1.6 *instead* of 1.5.4? The only drawback is that the terraforming change is fairly large and may require some balancing; so perhaps 1.5.4 should focus on that, and any tuning can go into 1.6 a few days later?
Deliverator
Graphical Hackificator
I don't mind, 1.6 works for me. It would be good to have a high-level changelist of changes/improvements since 1.5 to post up.
I'm reasonably satisfied that the major terrain change issues have been resolved in the two patches I've done. I'm not sure about balance from a growth/economics point of view - that would be worth running a few autoplays to establish.
I'm reasonably satisfied that the major terrain change issues have been resolved in the two patches I've done. I'm not sure about balance from a growth/economics point of view - that would be worth running a few autoplays to establish.
Ahriman
Tyrant
New terrain screenshots and homeworld shots in particular sound good.
This sounds good.
Deliverator
Graphical Hackificator
I'm most keen to see the religions implemented. That feels like a key component of the mod not yet in place, together with getting more uniqueness into the civs. I can take the Gamefonts work. I would think the custom code required for the religions is the most challenging part.
UUs and UBs can be added gradually from here on as we think up strong ideas.
I think Wonders needs a thread to gather up ideas, I don't think it is the sort of thing where you can just blitz out a design. We need to gather a set of things that may make good Dune themed wonders and then decide the effects. I can open a thread sometime soon.
davidlallen
Deity
(redirect to religion thread)
Deliverator
Graphical Hackificator
1.5.3 now has 20 downloads. If it was in the download db too I suspect that number would be higher.
davidlallen
Deity
Here is patch 1.5.4. The main goal is to rewrite the terraforming code so that it is less complicated and does more. We have also added some cool graphics to the homeworld screen and replaced a lot of the non-matching unit buttons.
Download: this link (18 MB). Download 1.5 first (this link). Release notes for 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.5.3 a few posts back in this thread.
Rewrite terraforming and fresh water interaction
* New rule for terraforming: the terrain of any land plot with fresh water, owned by a player following the Arrakis Paradise civic, may improve from terraforming. Rugged and badlands upgrade to rock; rock and graben upgrade to anchor grass; anchor grass upgrades to grassland.
* After a plot upgrades to grassland, a lake may appear. Since this is itself a source of fresh water, plots around it may then upgrade.
* A plot may have a terraform upgrade, but loses fresh water or is no longer owned by a player following the Arrakis Paradise civic. These plots will quickly lose their upgrade, although rugged, badlands and salt never re-appear.
* Fresh water now extends into desert waste (one line change in cvplot.cpp)
* Spice and worms will not come adjacent to fresh water; as fresh water spreads, spice and worms recede.
* Reservoir of Liet creates fresh water within entire BFC of city
* Windtrap no longer spreads fresh water
Economic changes
* Temporarily delete whip effect (hurry population) from civics; we don't understand the reason yet, but AI civs use whip way too much.
* Several buildings (Spotter Control, Desert Dock, Imperial Space Port(!?)) could only be built adjacent to water, due to flag bWater.
* Reduced foreign trade route benefit of Spotter Control to 50%. Still trying to keep foreign commerce yield under control.
* Reduced polar desert waste yield from 2w 1h 2c to 1w 1h 1c. We had discussed the risk of "polar supercities", which seems to have been justified. This will reduce it a little.
* Spice and sandworms can no longer enter polar desert waste terrain.
* Temporarily(?) eliminated Single Currency Landsraad Resolution: it has an exponential effect on foreign trade revenue.
* Reduced bonus from peaceful foreign trade from +100% to +50%.
Miscellaneous changes
* Merged homeworld screen version 2.04 from koma13 and deliverator; cool spinning homeplanet globe to watch while you order units. Only works with game graphics quality set to high)
* New buttons and city screen art for specialists and great people
* Start religion rewrite: icons and names for religions; unit art for missionaries. This is not very far along; the unit names, building names, building art, building effects, religion founding restrictions, etc are not in place.
* Failed to update gamefonts files with religion fonts; Landsraad shows up as (102) and Imperial shows up as a six pointed star instead of five pointed.
* Added desalinate action: converts salt pan into graben
* On game start, add several unique terrain features to map. So far there is only one (Rock Arch) but we will add more.
* Checked all units for impassable terrain: suspensors and vehicles (except walkers) cannot move into mesa
* Followers of Arrakis Spice civic get a -2 reaction (per reservoir) against owners of Reservoirs of Liet. This is now capped at -8 and if the follower changes civic, then the penalty is removed. (ED2)
* Changed text of "U.N" resolutions to "Landsraad"
Download: this link (18 MB). Download 1.5 first (this link). Release notes for 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.5.3 a few posts back in this thread.
Rewrite terraforming and fresh water interaction
* New rule for terraforming: the terrain of any land plot with fresh water, owned by a player following the Arrakis Paradise civic, may improve from terraforming. Rugged and badlands upgrade to rock; rock and graben upgrade to anchor grass; anchor grass upgrades to grassland.
* After a plot upgrades to grassland, a lake may appear. Since this is itself a source of fresh water, plots around it may then upgrade.
* A plot may have a terraform upgrade, but loses fresh water or is no longer owned by a player following the Arrakis Paradise civic. These plots will quickly lose their upgrade, although rugged, badlands and salt never re-appear.
* Fresh water now extends into desert waste (one line change in cvplot.cpp)
* Spice and worms will not come adjacent to fresh water; as fresh water spreads, spice and worms recede.
* Reservoir of Liet creates fresh water within entire BFC of city
* Windtrap no longer spreads fresh water
Economic changes
* Temporarily delete whip effect (hurry population) from civics; we don't understand the reason yet, but AI civs use whip way too much.
* Several buildings (Spotter Control, Desert Dock, Imperial Space Port(!?)) could only be built adjacent to water, due to flag bWater.
* Reduced foreign trade route benefit of Spotter Control to 50%. Still trying to keep foreign commerce yield under control.
* Reduced polar desert waste yield from 2w 1h 2c to 1w 1h 1c. We had discussed the risk of "polar supercities", which seems to have been justified. This will reduce it a little.
* Spice and sandworms can no longer enter polar desert waste terrain.
* Temporarily(?) eliminated Single Currency Landsraad Resolution: it has an exponential effect on foreign trade revenue.
* Reduced bonus from peaceful foreign trade from +100% to +50%.
Miscellaneous changes
* Merged homeworld screen version 2.04 from koma13 and deliverator; cool spinning homeplanet globe to watch while you order units. Only works with game graphics quality set to high)
* New buttons and city screen art for specialists and great people
* Start religion rewrite: icons and names for religions; unit art for missionaries. This is not very far along; the unit names, building names, building art, building effects, religion founding restrictions, etc are not in place.
* Failed to update gamefonts files with religion fonts; Landsraad shows up as (102) and Imperial shows up as a six pointed star instead of five pointed.
* Added desalinate action: converts salt pan into graben
* On game start, add several unique terrain features to map. So far there is only one (Rock Arch) but we will add more.
* Checked all units for impassable terrain: suspensors and vehicles (except walkers) cannot move into mesa
* Followers of Arrakis Spice civic get a -2 reaction (per reservoir) against owners of Reservoirs of Liet. This is now capped at -8 and if the follower changes civic, then the penalty is removed. (ED2)
* Changed text of "U.N" resolutions to "Landsraad"
Pascal Renard
Chieftain
Link seems to be broken ! 
Deliverator
Graphical Hackificator
I have mirrored 1.5.4 here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dtoiowywjjz
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?dtoiowywjjz
davidlallen
Deity
Fixed. Please use the forum download so we can count downloads.
davidlallen
Deity
Probably in the next 8 hours, I will have the religion spread, founding/converting, and basic building xml done. Is there anything that people plan to work on this weekend, which could go into a 1.5.5 patch? I can release my own stuff, or wait for anything others may contribute by Sunday evening.
There are about 850 downloads of 1.5, and about 250 downloads of 1.5.4. I guess that means 600 people either never noticed the 1.5.4 patch, or they downloaded and forgot about it. Or they downloaded 1.5 and hated it, and stayed away from 1.5.4.
At some point when we release 1.6, we can either recycle the 1.5 download slot (keeping the download count) or start a new download slot (resetting the download count to zero). I am pretty sure most mods recycle the slot to keep a cumulative download count. Any opinions?
There are about 850 downloads of 1.5, and about 250 downloads of 1.5.4. I guess that means 600 people either never noticed the 1.5.4 patch, or they downloaded and forgot about it. Or they downloaded 1.5 and hated it, and stayed away from 1.5.4.
At some point when we release 1.6, we can either recycle the 1.5 download slot (keeping the download count) or start a new download slot (resetting the download count to zero). I am pretty sure most mods recycle the slot to keep a cumulative download count. Any opinions?
Deliverator
Graphical Hackificator
I plan to do a few things tomorrow that might make a 1.5.5 patch. Art stuff only apart from a couple of new Leaders.
I have set up a Dune Wars moddb page for some more exposure. I'll try and set up a Dune Wars developer group there so we can all edit it and it doesn't look like I'm the only person involved. I've submitted a news story for 1.5.4 release but it's not been approved yet (possibly because I'm linking to the CFC page).
I have set up a Dune Wars moddb page for some more exposure. I'll try and set up a Dune Wars developer group there so we can all edit it and it doesn't look like I'm the only person involved. I've submitted a news story for 1.5.4 release but it's not been approved yet (possibly because I'm linking to the CFC page).
Deliverator
Graphical Hackificator
Here's a patch with an assorted set of changes I've made this weekend, for inclusion in patch 1.5.5.
+ Polished Koma's latest Homeworld screen patch (HWPatch2.05)
- Added planet graphics for Wallach IX and Ix.
- Tidied up heighliner graphic.
- Added descriptive text for each homeworld to DuneWars_HomeworldText.xml
+ Added 3 new leaders with leaderheads
- The Executrix (Ordos) - Financial/Aggressive - (The picture is of the Speaker, but he (or she?) only speaks for the Executrix in the Westwood apocrypha)
- Lady Margot Fenring (BG) - Spiritual/Organized
- Princess Wensicia (Corrino) - Imperialistic/Aggressive
- Alia moved to Atreides (Who says one Civ can't have 4 leaders?)
+ New Religion sounds - I think these should be bundled with the mod rather than the Music Pack as they don't take up very much space. Not yet XML'ed in for the units and buildings, just for spreading/founding.
+ I decided to use all the planet NIF stuff I've learned recently to make a new Main Menu. (Cue astronomical critcism of the proximity and size of my moons...)
+ Renamed Eras as suggested by Ahriman to:
1) Ayat - The signs of life
2) Wali - The untried youth
3) Mihna - The season for testing
4) Hajra - The journey of seeking
5) Tahaddi - The challenge of combat
6) Ijaz - The undeniable prophecy
7) Alam Al-Mithal - The mystical world
DOWNLOAD HERE
Edit: It's for 1.5.4 if you haven't guessed.
.
+ Polished Koma's latest Homeworld screen patch (HWPatch2.05)
- Added planet graphics for Wallach IX and Ix.
- Tidied up heighliner graphic.
- Added descriptive text for each homeworld to DuneWars_HomeworldText.xml
Spoiler :
+ Added 3 new leaders with leaderheads
- The Executrix (Ordos) - Financial/Aggressive - (The picture is of the Speaker, but he (or she?) only speaks for the Executrix in the Westwood apocrypha)
- Lady Margot Fenring (BG) - Spiritual/Organized
- Princess Wensicia (Corrino) - Imperialistic/Aggressive
- Alia moved to Atreides (Who says one Civ can't have 4 leaders?)
Spoiler :
+ New Religion sounds - I think these should be bundled with the mod rather than the Music Pack as they don't take up very much space. Not yet XML'ed in for the units and buildings, just for spreading/founding.
+ I decided to use all the planet NIF stuff I've learned recently to make a new Main Menu. (Cue astronomical critcism of the proximity and size of my moons...)
Spoiler :
+ Renamed Eras as suggested by Ahriman to:
1) Ayat - The signs of life
2) Wali - The untried youth
3) Mihna - The season for testing
4) Hajra - The journey of seeking
5) Tahaddi - The challenge of combat
6) Ijaz - The undeniable prophecy
7) Alam Al-Mithal - The mystical world
DOWNLOAD HERE
Edit: It's for 1.5.4 if you haven't guessed.
.
Deliverator
Graphical Hackificator
The ModDB page seems to be working quite well. I uploaded 1.5 and 1.5.4 to there since the mod will appear in more lists that people are likely to look at. I've submitted a Dune Wars Team group, but it is not approved yet. They have some nice analytics you can look at:
The two 'D's signify the approval of Dune Wars 1.5 and 1.5.4 on the site. The green line shows image views. If we keep releasing new screenshots, etc that should grow that number. The site is set up so that the latest new downloads and articles appear very close to, if not on the homepage, which is good exposure.
Downloads is at 45 which you have to divide by two since people are downloading 1.5 and the 1.5.4 patch separately. Almost all of that is today. If we submit more images and the occasional update article that should keep things ticking over. I think it's beneficial to step out of the Civfanatics bubble once in while.
The two 'D's signify the approval of Dune Wars 1.5 and 1.5.4 on the site. The green line shows image views. If we keep releasing new screenshots, etc that should grow that number. The site is set up so that the latest new downloads and articles appear very close to, if not on the homepage, which is good exposure.
Downloads is at 45 which you have to divide by two since people are downloading 1.5 and the 1.5.4 patch separately. Almost all of that is today. If we submit more images and the occasional update article that should keep things ticking over. I think it's beneficial to step out of the Civfanatics bubble once in while.
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