MagePunk

[Erebras]

PUBLIC BETA. To put it simply, MagePunk is set in a fantasy setting somewhere between The Mists of Avalon, Middle-Earth, and The Land of Oz, taking the player from the early Middle Ages through the Industrial Revolution. Elves, dwarves, etc from Dark Ages to World War I, set on an island-nation beginning to rebuild after the cataclysmic downfall of the Overking. Each player or civilization is a tribe or people desiring de facto governance of the land, and even the non-humans have their reasons to pursue supremacy. Much of the game is scaled-down (from global to continental) and abstracted (all the players share involvement in an overarching government, representing interests within that government, whether as members or rebels or client states).

 

[Erebras]

Excerpts from Civilopedia:

EXPEDITIONARY (ELVEN MODERN INFANTRY)

Spoiler :

"With the development of modern warfare, the elves have finally come to the realization that magic, though still useful and ever a part of their otherworldly heritage, cannot serve in the stead of technology within the bounds of a world dominated by industrialization, where astrology has given way to astrophysics, alchemy to chemical engineering, and wands to swagger sticks. It is very telling that the groves lovingly tended by those of old have their understories now broken by the chimneys of workshops in which toil changeling proletarians turning out contraptions which in days of yore would have been declared magical wonders and marvels. The humans have even conflated this labor-class with their own folklore, for it has reached the ears of the elves that the humans tell their offspring of toymakers at the top of the world working diligently throughout the year, fashioning rewards for well-behaved children which are delivered on some night just after the winter solstice has passed. " --- from DESC_PRTO_Expeditionary

FAERY PRINCESS

Spoiler :

"Elven society is dominated by magical ladies of royal and noble birth, but admittedly, the so-called "fairy princesses" (an epithet [not] used by elves, it must be noted) are no more princesses than the "fairy godmothers" are actually godparents. Nonetheless, it is an approximation of the role and status these enchantresses enjoy. If an outsider were to actually perceive the vast web of intrigues, connexions, and counterplots these elven wizardesses have masterminded, it would absolutely blow their mind. The philosophers among the cities of men speak of some "butterfly effect" creating hurricanes on the other side of the world, but little do they know that this flapping is done by the wings of an entirely different sort of creature." --- from DESC_PRTO_Faery_Princess

 

[Erebras]

The scenario requires many units from the Warhammer mod, and three from LotM. It also requires units from various Conquests and the Extras folder in PTW. It also requires the following leaderhead FLCs: Churchill Industrial (backward and forward), Churchill Medieval (backward and forward), Prince Etienne of Glantri (Glan_B01 - Glan_D02), and Pope (backwards and forward). These can be found in the downloads forum.

The units you need from the Warhammer mod are:

Spoiler :

GenericLateKnight
Longbeard
Elf Spearman
Wood Elf Spearman
Wood Elf Archer
DwarfArcher
Dwarven Spearman
DwarfMiner
DragonSlayer
DwarfSettler
DwarfRanger
Dwarf Ironbreaker
Ironmask
Ironbreaker
DwarfQuarreler
Spearmaiden
Robin Hood
Elven Spearman
Wood Elf Rider
Elven Warrior
WalloonKnight
Elven Bowman
Elven Swordmaster
SmBlackDragon
Dragon Black
LandsKnecht (needs to be resized)
Man-at-Arms
Warg Rider
Goblin Archer
Sounds
English Crossbowman
GenericKnight
European Swordsman
European Spearman
Dragon Sounds
Italian Foot Knight
Dire Wolf
Wolf Ride
Runesmith
Airship

The units you need from Lord of the Mods:

Spoiler :

WoodsmanCIV
Elf Spearman
Rohirrim

The units you need from the CivSpecific mod:

Spoiler :

Bomber Industrial Age
Cannon Middle Ages
Caravel
Cargo
EtruscanChariot
Fighter Industrial Age
Galleass
Longboat
Longship
Merchantman

The units you need from elsewhere in the Civilization game:

Spoiler :

FROM Napoleonic Europe Conquest
Grand_Battery
Guard_Infantry (needs to be resized)
Musketman (rename folder and ini NapoleonicInfantry)
Nap_Infantry

FROM Middle Ages Conquest:
Longship
Spy

FROM Age of Discovery Conquest:
Colonist

FROM WWII in the Pacific Conquest:
Allied Carrier

FROM PTW Extras World War II:
British Rifleman
German Flamethrower
German Heavy Machinegunner
German Rifleman
Italian Rifleman
Russian Rifleman
German Rifleman
Italian Rifleman
Russian Rifleman

And the dwarves and hobbits and a few other units are included in the attached folder.

Spoiler :

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[Erebras]

Well, I'm encountering an upload error of some sort, but the folder I'm attempting to upload contains:

Plotinus':
Dwarven Axe Thrower
Dwarven Pikeman
Hobbit
Hobbit Farmhand
Hobbit Archer
Hobbit Spearman
Hobbit Burglar
Hobbit Bowman
Hobbit Mayor
Hobbit Outlaw
--and--
Teutonic Knight (BeBro) (rename it TeuKnight)
BrotherhoodAirship (Hikaro Takayama)
Briton Horseman (Sandris)
Beaver Worker (Plotinus)
Golem (use default Worker folder, rename it this)
Manifestation (use Holy Relic from Conquests, rename it this)
Morane_SaulnierH (Wyrmshadow)
Zeppelin (Wyrmshadow)

--plus, you need the Rocrider (this uploaded fine)

 

[Erebras]

This is a basic version of the scenario. It has three human factions -- the Romano-British Pritani, the Ancient-British Cruthini, the Norse Vikings -- and three non-human factions -- elvenkind, dwarven Dwarrow, hobbit-like Mannikin. Later I will add an undead faction, Tenebrae, and eventually the entire setting will be fleshed out. The unit lines are not incomplete. For example, the dwarves have the equivalents of swordsmen, pikemen, musketmen, riflemen, and infantry, and so do the other civs.

But the scenario needs more work. Some of the units need to be resized, animations need to be reassigned, attack sequences added, and so forth. Also, no provision has been made for units that start a Golden Age. The great wonders are given simple names, with no further explanations given.

MagePunk has not been adequately playtested. If people wish to try the scenario out, please provide me with feedback about error messages or concepts that just don't work. I'll continue to develop and tweak this mod until I get it right, but for now it provides a pretty sound foundation for further modding. I invite others to post their own changes and additions to the scenario.

 

[Erebras]

* The game begins in the second era (Dark Ages); but many useful -- and cheaper -- technologies can be researched in the first era (Lost Knowledge).
* I've deviated from the norm for units. Basically you have assault units (high attack, low defense) such as swordsmen and horsemen, defensive units (low attack, high defense) such as spearmen, and shot units (high attack, very low defense, range 0 bombard). The idea is that ranged attack units such as bowmen need to be defended or they'll be overrun and ranged attack units get a first shot against attackers when defending. I DO NOT KNOW YET IF THIS IDEA WORKS. I'll be redoing the unit values once it becomes painfully obvious that cavemen are overwhelming musketeers. The inspiration for the concept is the pike-and-shot bastion formations, tercios, etc used in the early modern period.
* Spellcasters are special units that double as artillery and FLAK (since undead and spells will be air units once they're added). This encourages the AI to escort their wizards, although, again, since I've seen the AI use FLAK but not catapults, it remains to be seen how this works out.
* Map Graphics may be a bit disconcerting, but not totally alien. Mines are replaced with worker camps, because some tree squares cannot be chopped down for the onetime shield bonus, but can be improved with a mine for increased production, like hills. Deserts still retain their coloration, but now they are a type of hill, with the appropriate defensive bonuses. Grassland shields are now stacks of cut peat.
* Because air units are reserved for undead and magic effects, traditional air units -- such as bombers and fighters -- had to become a type of land unit: very long range artillery, basically.
* The year is unimportant. You start out in Year One AD. Each turn thereafter is the name of a traditional month (Honey Moon, Hunter's Moon, Harvest Moon, etc.)
* All early "governments" have a standard tile penalty. Some improvements require a type of government. If you want Roman amenities, you'll need Imperialist. To build large pagan structures, you'll need Moot. Later "governments" -- those showing up in later eras -- allow you to take advantage of "advances in agriculture" so the penalties go away along with the corruption.
* MagePunk is based on historical Britain. It is NOT Britain. The setting is intended for the game to be played on a Pangaea setting, rather than archipelago or continents. Most Pangaea maps generate islands, so a random map with the right settings can kind of look like Britain. I did not recommend Pangaea in the Scenario Properties page, but I should have.

 

[Erebras]

I've decided to shelve this project. I was never able to get into Civ IV -- indeed, I only purchased it to play a SMAC mod -- but Civ V is another matter. I'm hoping to find proper terrain graphics for Civ V to make a worldship scenario, but in the meantime I'm going to adapt this mod (MagePunk) and my PostEpochalypse mod to Civ V if I can. It's amazing to me how many hundreds of hours gets wasted when I stop playing a version of Civ, but at least the original research and core concepts aren't wasted.

It's been a fun ride. Time to move on.