making an apocalyptic mod.

[ghost toast]

I'm just going to start making observations as I go through this thread.

The first thing I noticed early on was that your buildings all look very similar, too similar. But, maybe you change that later on, so I'll wait until I reach the end to comment more on that.

As to Washington D.C.? My gut says don't make it right now. Maybe later, but for the time being I'd worry about getting the main basics of you mod figured out. Later on I would consider it.

And since you specifically ask about what we think your mod should do--regarding being the USA or even Earth--I would say, make multiple versions of the same mod. Again, first start with the basics, the framework of the mod, that could be applied to any post-apocalyptic planet. When all of that is done, release it as a standalone mod. Call it Ghost Coast Apocalypse or something.


Later, add in Washington DC, the Statue of Liberty, whatever other things you want that are specific to Earth. Release that stuff in a second mod called GC Apocalypse: Cool Scenario Name Here.

Gives players more choice when it comes to deciding what they want to play.

Buildable world wonders:
Mad Max Thunderdome
Half Life 2 Citadel and Black Mesa East

Natural wonders:
Walking Dead--Center for Disease Control & Prison
Planet of the Apes--Statue of Liberty Hand
The Postman--Bridge City
Zombieland
Half Life--Black Mesa
Left 4 Dead--Mercy Hospital
Left 4 Dead 2--Whispering Oaks
Resident Evil--Looking Glass House
28 Days Later--Balfron Tower
The Mist--Arrowhead Project
The Tripods--White Mountains




Lots of cities as well you could include in the mix--City 17 from Half Life 2, Bridge City and Pineview from The Postman, Raccoon City.


Regarding trees, I'd say reduce their numbers. But you might also consider another mod with few or none.

Eras
1: Survival
2: Fighting Back
3. Rebuild
4. Last War



I don't know where you've looking besides Fallout for ideas, but here are some I'm familiar with:

Games:
Rebuild 1 & 2
Half Life 2
Neo Scavenger (mostly forests, you may look at the buildings in that game for inspiration)
Caravaneer 1 & 2 (almost entirely desert settings)

Movies:
The Postman
World War Z
I Am Legend
28 Days Later
Shaun of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead


I'd look at some pictures of these games and movies.

28 Days Later Henry West great general, probably lots of others from other media

President Madagascar from game Pandemic.

I am legend Great Doctor Robert Neville--you could have a zombie virus spreading through cities or something, and doctors would help to treat the virus, with great doctors getting closer to cures to varying extents.


Feral ghouls--can't you just have the game randomize which type barbarians get?




Ok, I finished going through the thread. The big thing that stuck out to me was that the tone of gray for your buildings is too boring--I would have more variety, slightly different tones of gray, brown, etc, instead of the same color for all your buildings.

Ok, so I think that's good for now, should serve to give you some fuel for your mod for a while

i love your notes great work i will look into the things you have stated.
as for the buldings they are all gray cause i have not colored them yet.
these are mainly concept art at this point idk what im keeping but ill be making 20 more ruins before i start coloring them.

as for right now i haven't make any buildable buildings for my mod.
i need to finish the tech tree once i have made all the units and building art.

but for right now im only on how the ruins and city sets look. besides that they don't have any color. i haven't done that part yet. the generic gray on everything is just a place holder dds file.
im not making the custom direct draw surface for my models until im done with model creation.
once i have made them all and decided what makes the cut, ill color them. as for right now im only worried about the 3d structure of the models.

i have yet to full make or post them but i have some world wonders to build with building models.

but for right now as it stands im only worrying about making the models for my setting as of right now.
ill be replacing trees with ruins in a way.

so ill need many ruins with lots of veriety.

then i need resources.
like crashed planes/satellites
ruined tanks/vehicles
abandoned/ruined factories.

this will be a complete overhaul for civ 5. a completely brand new game.
if you seen it in civ 5 it wont be in this mod basically.

i have a ton of work still to do
i have been going through my models for the last week. im gathering and sorting them for what ill need/want.

i will take several things you said into consideration.
i love your ideas keep em coming.
ill look to make them one day in the future.

As for different versions i have also tossed that idea around. making multiple different scenarios.

i'm so glad some one finally is gonna help me with ideas and talk this out with me.

 

[ghost toast]

if you look at the zoomed in city pics should i add more scrap building models?
More Scrap building?
Big water tank?
Shipping containers?

or is that ok for the first era? for the scrap city set.

im even starting to think i should further divide eras for model progression look.
giving every era beginning and end.
Ill be doing something not many people do ill be also making models deteriorate or grow as the time goes on.
ill be making capitals change with the eras.
ill be making city building models you get from certain building also change with the eras.
Wonder building models will also change as the eras progress. some becoming dilapidated, some growing to a magnificent spender in the last era. depending on what the models is.
for the ruins that wont be to hard. ill slowly add moss and other stuff to the ruins as eras progress. that will just be a recoloring once i start the coloring process.
then maybe replace buildings with ruble in the later eras. so it will look like the ruins age and collapse at the eras progress.

The ruins are not here to stay the main point is for the look and to be torn down like forest tiles to build new ones.

but the ones no one does anything will will change over the eras. becoming more and more dilapidated.

i want a focus on rebuilding the world and i want to really see it.

humanity will rise again through the ashes of the dying world.

the later era cities will be much larger having skyscrapers and awesome sci-fi buildings.

i even have some floating cities i might use idk yet. ill have too see how it comes out.

that will have to be build like a wonder. but it might look great.

many people when making stuff don't worry about this kind of stuff most people in the coding put the era as any.
ill be making models per era for each building, improvement and feature.

Really until i can get all the graphics worked out I'm not doing the real bulk of the coding.
As for right now i'm strictly looking at the 3d structure of stuff. not the color i haven't done that yet.

just for the heck of it ill make my alien capital building early to show exactly what i mean with model progression through the eras.
the alien capital i would like to grow as the eras go on.

So ill get back to it.

 

[ghost toast]

using the eras line in the art defines.
i can make the palace go through those above phases.

those will be the last 3 era phases

<ArtDefine_Landmarks>
<Row>
<Era>ERA_1</Era>
<State>Any</State>
<Scale>1.0</Scale>
<LayoutHandler>SNAPSHOT</LayoutHandler>
<ResourceType>ART_DEF_RESOURSE_ALL</ResourceType>
<ImprovementType>ART_DEF_PALACE_ALIEN_1</ImprovementType>
<Model>PALACE_ALIEN_1.fxsxml</Model>
</Row>
<Row>
<Era>ERA_2</Era>
<State>Any</State>
<Scale>1.0</Scale>
<LayoutHandler>SNAPSHOT</LayoutHandler>
<ResourceType>ART_DEF_RESOURSE_ALL</ResourceType>
<ImprovementType>ART_DEF_PALACE_ALIEN_1</ImprovementType>
<Model>PALACE_ALIEN_2.fxsxml</Model>
</Row>
<Row>
<Era>ERA_3</Era>
<State>Any</State>
<Scale>1.0</Scale>
<LayoutHandler>SNAPSHOT</LayoutHandler>
<ResourceType>ART_DEF_RESOURSE_ALL</ResourceType>
<ImprovementType>ART_DEF_PALACE_ALIEN_1</ImprovementType>
<Model>PALACE_ALIEN_3.fxsxml</Model>
</Row>
</ArtDefine_Landmarks>

<ArtDefine_LandmarkTypes>
<Row>
<Type>ART_DEF_PALACE_ALIEN_1</Type>
<LandmarkType>Wonder</LandmarkType>
<FriendlyName>Alien Palace</FriendlyName>
</Row>
</ArtDefine_LandmarkTypes>

I believe wonder is correct there if not use improvement it shouldn't matter.


in the buildings xml
make a new palace class
use the friendly name above make in the landmark art defines

in the civilization xml use the palace class override buildings to replace it with the new alien capital.

i should start adding and starting the process of flushing out some of the civilizations
the main thing stopping me is i need artwork for them.

I think i should start with adding the alien civilization.
using the mothership omicron mod.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=657125471

ill be taking mainly the artwork for the civ. and expanding heavily upon the creators mod.

i think ill do that now so i can get these 3 alien palaces in the game now

 

[ghost toast]

im not sure how the palace should start off in the game.

Mothership Omicron uses a crashed spaceship. i could do that but i don't like that idea.
i want it to be more of a colony not a crash landing.

I want the aliens to be a drastically different civilization. from every other.
The earth will start being colonized by them. but you will decide what the fate of the colony will be.
are you here for earth's resources?
are you here to conquer?
are you here to trade?
are you here to even help the earthlings after seeing them destroy themselves?

this will be done by making choices with world wonders and national only the aliens with have access too.
world wonders and national wonders once built will block other ones. making the choices.
these wonders will sometimes not be buildings.
I'm thinking for the alien only national wonders. it would be something like galactic republic decisions. choosing between more diplomatic things or war related things.
other things like requests for things. your colony request things from your main alien civilization.
Building national or world wonders.
request for resources (giving free and resources unique to the aliens)(resources you can either horde or trade to the earthlings, resources the alien monopolize completely)
request for defensive units (giving free units only gained this way)
and other things.

I'm thinking even things like whether or not you trade with the earthlings or your main alien race. or both.
aliens will only gain trade routes through there special national wonders.
choosing to spend recourses they mine on earth on them, but the pay off would be money or special recourses. or a free great person, or something idk yet.
or by getting a trade route to trade normally with the earthlings.

hopefully by the time the aliens are all said and done they will feel more like a colony having to gear up towards a specific goal or need.
you will make these decisions but block others. most of these will be small decisions that slowly build upon one another allowing you to go into them all.
choosing between a new type of unit or building or a new trade route, or even culture

i want them to almost feel like they have to almost ask for permission to conquer earth, or trade with them, or do a lot of stuff.
i want it to feel like they already had the ability and the technology but they needed permission by there governing body,
they need to gear up towards making more and more weapons here on earth or asking for more and more invasion units.

or the other directions are you here to deplete earth of its resources while the humans are dying off.

are you here to uplift and save humanity with your superior culture.

 

[Iconian]

Wow, you posted four big posts just since I wrote that last night? You're nothing if not prolific

 

[Iconian]

Expect that it will be a while before I read them though.

 

[ghost toast]

The wonder route didn't go as i had hoped and i learned some things about wonder model and improvement era model variants.

i had to do this one by making an improvement setting up and an Lua to place the improvement on the capital. Provided by the omnicron alien mod or what ever it was.

local iCivilizationBMAliens = GameInfoTypes.CIVILIZATION_BM_ALIENS

include("MapmakerUtilities")
include("MischaIteratingPlotsFunctions.lua")

local allPlots = {}
local ring1Plots = {}
local ring2Plots = {}

local allTerrains = {}
local ring1Terrains = {}
local ring2Terrains = {}

local allFeatures = {}
local ring1Features = {}
local ring2Features = {}

function GetCount(array, index)
  return array[index] or 0
end

function IncCount(singleArray, combinedArray, index)
    singleArray[index] = (singleArray[index] or 0) + 1
    combinedArray[index] = (combinedArray[index] or 0) + 1
end

local namingFunctions = {}

function AnalysePlots(pPlot)
  allPlots = {}
  ring1Plots = {}
  ring2Plots = {}

  allTerrains = {}
  ring1Terrains = {}
  ring2Terrains = {}

  allFeatures = {}
  ring1Features = {}
  ring2Features = {}

  allResources = {}
  ring1Resources = {}
  ring2Resources = {}

  for pRingPlot in PlotRingIterator(pPlot, 1) do
    IncCount(ring1Plots, allPlots, pRingPlot:GetPlotType())
    IncCount(ring1Terrains, allTerrains, pRingPlot:GetTerrainType())
    IncCount(ring1Features, allFeatures, pRingPlot:GetFeatureType())
    IncCount(ring1Resources, allResources, pRingPlot:GetResourceType())
  end

  for pRingPlot in PlotRingIterator(pPlot, 2) do
    IncCount(ring2Plots, allPlots, pRingPlot:GetPlotType())
    IncCount(ring2Terrains, allTerrains, pRingPlot:GetTerrainType())
    IncCount(ring2Features, allFeatures, pRingPlot:GetFeatureType())
    IncCount(ring2Resources, allResources, pRingPlot:GetResourceType())
  end
end

function IsBMAliensCiv(iCivType)
  return (iCivType == iCivilizationBMAliens)
end
 
function IsBMAliensPlayer(iPlayer)
  return (iPlayer ~= -1 and IsBMAliensCiv(Players[iPlayer]:GetCivilizationType()))
end


function OnSetBMAliensPopulation(iPlotX, iPlotY, iOldPop, iNewPop)
      -- Is this an alien city?
    print("Calling OnSetBMAliensPopulation")
    local pCity = Map.GetPlot(iPlotX, iPlotY):GetPlotCity()
    local pCityName = pCity:GetName()
      if (IsBMAliensPlayer(pCity:GetOwner())) then
        print("Alien city (" .. pCityName .. ") has changed population.")
        print("Previous population: " .. iOldPop)
        -- Has this city just been founded
        if (iOldPop == 0) then
            print("Was 0 pop")

            local iCityOwner = pCity:GetOwner()
            print("Owner is: " .. iCityOwner)
            local pPlayer = Players[iCityOwner]
            print("Civ is: " .. pPlayer:GetCivilizationShortDescription())
            local pCapital = pPlayer:GetCapitalCity()
            print("Capital City Object: " .. tostring(pCapital));
            if (pCapital ~= nil) then
                print("Capital City Name: " .. tostring(pCapital:GetName()));
            end

            if (Players[pCity:GetOwner()]:GetCapitalCity() ~= nil) then
                print("Non-capital city founded.")
                SetBMAliensCityName(pCity)
            else
                local pPlot = Map.GetPlot(iPlotX, iPlotY)
                pPlot:SetImprovementType(GameInfoTypes.IMPROVEMENT_ALIEN_PALACE_1)
            end
        end
    end
end
GameEvents.SetPopulation.Add(OnSetBMAliensPopulation)

Then this Lua to make it progress as i want to too. civ doesn't allow for as many era state variants as i would have hoped for.
Maybe i should do a re-install delete my mod user data and cashe folder
something screwy could have happened with it during my escapades

--------------------------------------------------------------
local AlienPalace1 = GameInfoTypes["IMPROVEMENT_ALIEN_PALACE_1"]      
local AlienPalace2 = GameInfoTypes["IMPROVEMENT_ALIEN_PALACE_2"]              
local AlienPalace3 = GameInfoTypes["IMPROVEMENT_ALIEN_PALACE_3"]      

local AlienPalace2Era =     GameInfo.Eras["ERA_CLASSICAL"]
local AlienPalace3Era =     GameInfo.Eras["ERA_MEDIEVAL"]

local width, height =         Map.GetGridSize()
local terrainTundra =         GameInfoTypes.TERRAIN_TUNDRA
local featureForest =         GameInfoTypes.FEATURE_FOREST
local terrainDesert =         GameInfoTypes.TERRAIN_DESERT
local terrainSnow    =     GameInfoTypes.TERRAIN_SNOW
local featureFloodPlains =     GameInfoTypes.FEATURE_FLOOD_PLAINS
local featureJungle =       GameInfoTypes.FEATURE_JUNGLE
local featureMarsh =         GameInfoTypes.FEATURE_MARSH
local plotHills =          PlotTypes.PLOT_HILLS

--0 is Marathon 300%, 1 is Epic 150%, 2 is Standard 100%, and 3 is Quick 66%

local iGameSpeed = GameInfo.GameSpeeds[Game.GetGameSpeedType()].GrowthPercent / 100
local AlienPalace1_Threshold =     2 * iGameSpeed
local AlienPalace2_Threshold =     2 * iGameSpeed
local AlienPalace3_Threshold =     2 * iGameSpeed

local MapTable = {}

function UpgradeAlienPalace1(plot, pPlayer)
    if plot:GetImprovementType() == AlienPalace1 then  
        if MapTable[plot] == nil then --Only initialize when it's a new one
            MapTable[plot] = {type = AlienPalace1, counter = 0}      
        end
        if AlienPalace2Era.ID <= pPlayer:GetCurrentEra() then
            if not plot:IsImprovementPillaged() then
                if plot:IsBeingWorked() then
                    MapTable[plot].counter = MapTable[plot].counter + 1
                    if MapTable[plot].counter >= AlienPalace1_Threshold then
                        plot:SetImprovementType(AlienPalace2)
                        MapTable[plot].type = AlienPalace2
                        MapTable[plot].counter = -1              
                    end
                end
            end
        elseif MapTable[plot] ~= nil and MapTable[plot].type == AlienPalace1 then
            MapTable[plot].type = nil
            MapTable[plot].counter = nil
            MapTable[plot] = nil
        end
    end
end

function IsValidForAlienPalace3(plot)
    if (plot:GetTerrainType() == terrainSnow) then
        return false
    elseif (plot:GetTerrainType() == terrainDesert and plot:GetFeatureType() ~= featureFloodPlains) then
        return false
    else  
        return true
    end
end

function UpgradeAlienPalace2(plot, pPlayer)
    if plot:GetImprovementType() == AlienPalace2 then
        if MapTable[plot] == nil then
            MapTable[plot] = {type = AlienPalace2, counter = 0}      
        end
        if AlienPalace3Era.ID <= pPlayer:GetCurrentEra() then
            if not plot:IsImprovementPillaged() then
                if plot:IsBeingWorked() then
                    if IsValidForAlienPalace3(plot) then
                        MapTable[plot].counter = MapTable[plot].counter + 1
                        if MapTable[plot].counter >= AlienPalace2_Threshold then
                            plot:SetImprovementType(AlienPalace3)
                            MapTable[plot].type = AlienPalace3
                            MapTable[plot].counter = -1
                        end
                    end
                end
            end
        end
    elseif MapTable[plot] ~= nil and MapTable[plot].type == AlienPalace2 then
        MapTable[plot].type = nil
        MapTable[plot].counter = nil
        MapTable[plot] = nil
    end
end

function IsValidForTown(plot)
    if (plot:GetTerrainType() == terrainTundra and plot:GetFeatureType() ~= featureForest) then
        --print("Not Taiga")
        return false
    else
        --print("Valid for Town")
        return true
    end
end

function DowngradePosts(plot)
    if plot:GetImprovementType() == AlienPalace2 and (not IsValidForAlienPalace3(plot)) then
        plot:SetImprovementType(AlienPalace1)
        MapTable[plot].type = AlienPalace2
        MapTable[plot].counter = -1  
    elseif plot:GetImprovementType() == AlienPalace3 and (not IsValidForAlienPalace2(plot)) then
        plot:SetImprovementType(AlienPalace2)
        MapTable[plot].type = AlienPalace2
        MapTable[plot].counter = -1  
    end
end

function UpgradePosts(PlayerID)
    local pPlayer = Players[PlayerID]
    for y = 0, height-1 do --loop through the whole map
        for x = 0, width-1 do
            local plot = Map.GetPlot(x, y)
            if Players[plot:GetOwner()] == pPlayer then
                UpgradeAlienPalace1(plot, pPlayer)
                UpgradeAlienPalace2(plot, pPlayer)                                  
                DowngradePosts(plot)
            end
        end
    end
end

GameEvents.PlayerDoTurn.Add(UpgradePosts)

I learned to add completely new wonder models to the game for building i i might have to replace existing ones civ 5 models with models of the same name.
thats not a problem anway i wasn't gonna use them anyway i want all new everything. as much as i can.
this is learning more and more towards being having tp strictly be a dlc mod added to the dlc folder instead of using civs mod section.
I can be a lot more intrusive that way and it would be multiplayer compatible if every play has it in theory

 

[ghost toast]

Spoiler First in game look at the alien capital :

there is an error with the left side of it i need to flip the texture surface around in blender it is inside out on that side
i also need to put the models lower down in blender they are up to high

No dds yet, it is gray and colorless like the rest so far. i do have some dds files for it but i haven't ever looked at them.
they might same me a little time ill jut recolor them maybe. i might not like em or they might be perfect. ill check em out and or create a dds at a later date when i do the dds files in build. i have a lot of custom dds files to make.
I just need to flip the texture surface around in blender and re-export it.

 

[ghost toast]

Wow, you posted four big posts just since I wrote that last night? You're nothing if not prolific

ya i been posting not stop on here since i started it.

hopefully people will throw me a bone and jot down some ideas and thought like you did.

ideas people come up with ill try to make it happen.

even if im not on that part yet it will be immortalized here for when i am on that part.

after i do all my graphic design and units and can finish my tech tree and really work that out and see what all i can do how sci-fi can i get.
the unit reskins and the units in my collection and reskins of them will be what defines how sci-fi i can get.

when i get to units ill see about testing bringing in psb files from other games.

and making models as effects too.

but that after making the ruined earth setting I'm going for.

 

[ghost toast]

I should add space ships to the landing pads right?
before you answer i cant make em move they would just sit there.
i with i could do animations i would make ships come and go or try really hard too

 

[ghost toast]

if any one know how to rig units to skeletons message me.

or

if any one how to properly set up animations in general assuming i already have em then export them to for civ 5.

beyond what units i have for civ 5. i have many more units with animations, and some just meshes in need of rigging that could be brought in.

for example show me how to make a quick animations that is still not moving i can try to bring in my floating turtle city as a unit, wont be good for this but i could post that for one of the fantasy mod designers.
i still have things i wish i could use for this mod like like the apocalyptic vehicles models i have and the survivors units from a civ 4 mod.
but ill try my hardest when i get to it to take existing vehicles and color them to look all beat up and slapped together for the early eras.

 

[ghost toast]

ill start testing too see if i can have the workers remove my ruin features it should work easily and be straight forward using the below code lines from civ5builds file in civ5's files.
i dont want to get into the bulk of the coding but i do want to make sure what i do have so far is complete fictional.

        <Row>
            <BuildType>BUILD_FARM</BuildType>
            <FeatureType>FEATURE_MARSH</FeatureType>
            <PrereqTech>TECH_MASONRY</PrereqTech>
            <Time>600</Time>
            <Remove>true</Remove>
        </Row>
        <Row>
            <BuildType>BUILD_MINE</BuildType>
            <FeatureType>FEATURE_JUNGLE</FeatureType>
            <PrereqTech>TECH_BRONZE_WORKING</PrereqTech>
            <Time>700</Time>
            <Remove>true</Remove>
        </Row>
        <Row>
            <BuildType>BUILD_MINE</BuildType>
            <FeatureType>FEATURE_FOREST</FeatureType>
            <PrereqTech>TECH_MINING</PrereqTech>
            <Time>400</Time>
            <Production>20</Production>
            <Remove>true</Remove>
        </Row>

i should be able to just add in my new features designating the new ones to be removed as well doing it for all current then adding in my new improvements as i design them.

 

[ghost toast]

Spoiler graphic resource and improvement testing pics :

for some reason the mine is removing the graphic completely unlike the farm and camp improvement.

its not removing it through the command line. its not set too do so.
ill have to look into the how and why.
i believe it is the landmarkshader_stencil asigned too it in something like nexusbuddy granny editor. the mine one is much larger then the rest.
i believe it is used to remove the trees occasionally poor out of the tiles and to remove trees under a model so the things like the lumbermill and camp can sit inside a forest with out having the tree poke through your model.

like in the this picture here. you can see the model and the trees are overlapping.
having a flat mesh assigned landmarkshader_stencil fixes that.
the mesh must be added using something like blender then assigned as landmarkshader_stencil in nexusbuddy

Spoiler :

 

[ghost toast]

here is an example of the landmarkshader_stencil i mentioned this is one of the civ5 mine models

Spoiler :

 

[ghost toast]

I'm just going to start making observations as I go through this thread.

The first thing I noticed early on was that your buildings all look very similar, too similar. But, maybe you change that later on, so I'll wait until I reach the end to comment more on that.

As to Washington D.C.? My gut says don't make it right now. Maybe later, but for the time being I'd worry about getting the main basics of you mod figured out. Later on I would consider it.

And since you specifically ask about what we think your mod should do--regarding being the USA or even Earth--I would say, make multiple versions of the same mod. Again, first start with the basics, the framework of the mod, that could be applied to any post-apocalyptic planet. When all of that is done, release it as a standalone mod. Call it Ghost Coast Apocalypse or something.


Later, add in Washington DC, the Statue of Liberty, whatever other things you want that are specific to Earth. Release that stuff in a second mod called GC Apocalypse: Cool Scenario Name Here.

Gives players more choice when it comes to deciding what they want to play.

Buildable world wonders:
Mad Max Thunderdome
Half Life 2 Citadel and Black Mesa East

Natural wonders:
Walking Dead--Center for Disease Control & Prison
Planet of the Apes--Statue of Liberty Hand
The Postman--Bridge City
Zombieland
Half Life--Black Mesa
Left 4 Dead--Mercy Hospital
Left 4 Dead 2--Whispering Oaks
Resident Evil--Looking Glass House
28 Days Later--Balfron Tower
The Mist--Arrowhead Project
The Tripods--White Mountains




Lots of cities as well you could include in the mix--City 17 from Half Life 2, Bridge City and Pineview from The Postman, Raccoon City.


Regarding trees, I'd say reduce their numbers. But you might also consider another mod with few or none.

Eras
1: Survival
2: Fighting Back
3. Rebuild
4. Last War



I don't know where you've looking besides Fallout for ideas, but here are some I'm familiar with:

Games:
Rebuild 1 & 2
Half Life 2
Neo Scavenger (mostly forests, you may look at the buildings in that game for inspiration)
Caravaneer 1 & 2 (almost entirely desert settings)

Movies:
The Postman
World War Z
I Am Legend
28 Days Later
Shaun of the Dead
Dawn of the Dead


I'd look at some pictures of these games and movies.

28 Days Later Henry West great general, probably lots of others from other media

President Madagascar from game Pandemic.

I am legend Great Doctor Robert Neville--you could have a zombie virus spreading through cities or something, and doctors would help to treat the virus, with great doctors getting closer to cures to varying extents.


Feral ghouls--can't you just have the game randomize which type barbarians get?




Ok, I finished going through the thread. The big thing that stuck out to me was that the tone of gray for your buildings is too boring--I would have more variety, slightly different tones of gray, brown, etc, instead of the same color for all your buildings.

Ok, so I think that's good for now, should serve to give you some fuel for your mod for a while

""
Later, add in Washington DC, the Statue of Liberty, whatever other things you want that are specific to Earth. Release that stuff in a second mod called GC Apocalypse: Cool Scenario Name Here.

Gives players more choice when it comes to deciding what they want to play.

Buildable world wonders:
Mad Max Thunderdome

Natural wonders:
Walking Dead--Center for Disease Control & Prison
Planet of the Apes--Statue of Liberty Hand
The Postman--Bridge City
Zombieland
Half Life--Black Mesa
Left 4 Dead--Mercy Hospital
Left 4 Dead 2--Whispering Oaks
Resident Evil--Looking Glass House
28 Days Later--Balfron Tower
The Mist--Arrowhead Project
The Tripods--White Mountains

""

"Gives players more choice when it comes to deciding what they want to play."

yes i love choices. i can do that. ill make the base like i'm doing and make a few expansions and scenarios.

that would allow me to have the liberty of making things that would normally conflict with one another putting them in as 2 different expansions that are incompatible with one another that would be loaded as one or the other.

""Buildable world wonders:
Mad Max Thunderdome
Half Life 2 Citadel and Black Mesa East""

Spoiler mad max thunder dome concept art pics :

Spoiler half life 2 citadel concept art pictures :

 

[ghost toast]

Spoiler project arrow head concept art :

https://stephenking.fandom.com/wiki/Arrowhead_Project

Spoiler The Postman--Bridge City concept art :

unrelated while searching i found this pic


i have (or had if i can find it) a model of this a very good one. it might be to detailed for civ idk. ill see later.




"Half Life--Black Mesa"

i never played the game. maybe i should 1 day. i was unable to find a satisfactory picture. i don't know what the black mesa is cause never played the game so i also don't know what i was looking for.

Spoiler zombieland concept art :

"Wild Adventures
The family hotspot has one of the South's largest ride collections. Indie hit "Zombieland" filmed throughout the state, including Atlanta, Hapeville, Newnan and Powder Springs. But, the most iconic scenes were at a zombie-infested theme park, played by the Valdosta attraction."

i was unable to find any good suitable pictures but i found the theme park map. would have been nice to find a good sky view picture but i couldn't find one.
ill just use that map as a layout design and wing the rest just making a random theme park

Spoiler Balfron tower concept art :

 

[ghost toast]

"Planet of the Apes--Statue of Liberty Hand"

i like that idea i was thinking of making a destroyed or old statue of liberty along with a few other things like the eiffel tower, the pentagon, iconic skyscrapers like the Chrysler building, 40 wall street, shanghai tower, shanghai world financial center, Torre Glòries, space needle, cn tower, the shard, Burj Khalifa, marina bay sands, and Aldar's HQ in Abu Dhabi
ill do some of these as world wonders to build and some will be natural wonders

ill do other buildings like the lotus temple, and The Eden Project

ill do some ports too.
ill do some regular ruined port tiles but i believe the port of shanghai is large enough to be a natural wonder taking up the entirety of a tile

 

[ghost toast]

Besides buildings i would also like to use and make more things like the crater natural wonder civ5 has.
Some sort of acid pond or acid lake wonder.
I want more natural wonders that are also kinda natural not just ruined large left over buildings.

i also need to fix the fallout terrain feature bug. where fallout removes natural wonders, forests, jungles, flood plains, and all other features. as civ 5 allows for 1 feature per tile.
i guess ill redo it and rework the whole fallout concept. it can no longer stay a feature unless i fix the feature issue.

i want fallout in many places and over many things.

i was gonna try and change the look of the fallout too and see how that goes. its a psb effect type if i remember correctly. i just need a suitable more pleasing replacement.
whether i find one inside civ or try to add a new one.

it would probably be easier to have it stay a feature.
add it in as and improvement aswell to add over features with out improvements.

ill also just cut out the middle man and just add the fallout effect to a few things. using an lua to swap in and out the same 2 versions of the same model 1 with the fallout effect added to its fx trigger and one with out that effect.

 

[ghost toast]

i really need to organize files i have for blender better. and organize the piles of unorganized stuff i have here and there.
for right now i added civilization beyond earth models to my collections ill be importing them to blender and get them all pieced out and stored for later use.
ill be using a few resources from it. the water resources are great for what i need.
The beyond earth units i believe are already game ready for civ 5 and interchangeable for each game ill find out ill guess.

The aliens from it are gonna be great for the tyrranid race i want to do it would really improve their model diversity i have very few actual tyrranids
i never envisioned the race being "the tyrranids". but i do want them to be a hive species.

 

[ghost toast]

water feature idea garbage patches.

Spoiler :

maybe even the fantasy garbage island from family guy. where they poked fun at the pacific garbage patches taking the nick name garbage island and made it into a real island.
I could make the garbage patches as features and make a garbage island that's a natural wonder.
i could make certain water resources only spawn on garbage patches.

am i onto something with that concept or is it dumb?