[MOD] Colonization: 2071

[Nightinggale]

"traces of an advanced alien race named the Progenitors".. who left behind the above Progenitor Ruins and other sites, for archaeologists to launch Expeditions to and recover valuable Artifacts, just like in good old 2071!

I wonder if this is sheer coincidence or if some Firaxians were actually playing this mod at some point?

I'm pretty sure they keep an eye on the modding community and it is likely that they have tried quite a number of mods, including col2071. The question is if anybody responsible for naming aliens in BE is aware of the nameclash. Somehow I don't think so, though I will not rule out that a single person came up with the name and didn't tell that he actually found it online. Or possibly forgot that he read the name at some point and he genuinely believes he came up with it even though he didn't. It might also be a twist of fate, like the guy who invented the car and his patent application was rejected because somebody else patented the car the same year (that sucks!) or that two people came up with the idea for the telephone at the same time and submitted patent applications for it the very same day.

I haven't tried BE and I don't plan to. I like Alpha Centauri and the civ4 engine, but I hate the civ5 engine. There is a lot of good in it, but also some gamebreaking flaws, not to mention being modder unfriendly compared to civ4.

Btw I can't see the image. Would somebody please add it to this thread. Off-site linking is bad, because something like this can happen. Also off site images might vanish while forum images stays.

 

[clanky4]

As an update on future expansions of this mod, I have continued to collect art and sound assets and ideas, but in order to ensure stable compatibility with the M:C DLL, implementation will hold off until M:C code base reaches a more final/stable version. This will hopefully enable lots of cool new features, but I was unable to figure out what makes the current version not work with the new DLL, so it's best to wait for a final/stable code base before developing modmods using that.

I converted more star wars junk since you've been away in case you want to use it.

 

[clanky4]

Out of curiosity what is the current state of the M:C development? Might be worth re-re-re-downloading civ4 colonization.

 

[Nightinggale]

Out of curiosity what is the current state of the M:C development? Might be worth re-re-re-downloading civ4 colonization.

Very active at the moment and should be playable. Any help is welcome, which includes ideas and playtesting.

 

[Lib.Spi't]

Yeah there is released download out which is pretty close to up to the latest dev (mostly cause I am lazy with source builds! So kailric releases them for me)

 

[orlanth]

Yeah it's most likely either coincidence, or a Progenitor mind virus. I thought it was weird though they had both the name Progenitors, and Progenitor Ruins as map features, and have the mechanism of a unit building Expeditions there to reclaim Artifacts. I guess it's not that unique a concept though; and anyone's more than welcome to reuse anything from this mod if they happen to like it!

You're not missing much on the screenshot image but I guess you can find it here http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13939&d=1421506951. I've almost run out of permitted space to attach files at civfanatics, and the mind virus is making me too lazy to sift through all my old posts to delete old attachments, does anyone know a good way to fix this?

I converted more star wars junk since you've been away in case you want to use it.

Sure I'm always up for some good star wars junk! There was some interest in using 2071 as a base for a star wars mod, but I can't remember who the modder was. (if you're still around speak up now!)

PS someone download the mod 2 more times & we're shooting for 8K! It's encouraging to see some love out there for an obscure mod of an old but good game!

http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/downloads.php?do=file&id=216"

 

[clanky4]

CIS is the best faction

 

[PatriotNorwood]

Sure I'm always up for some good star wars junk! There was some interest in using 2071 as a base for a star wars mod, but I can't remember who the modder was. (if you're still around speak up now!)

That would be me, but unfortunately I have been rather busy and never quite figured out modding. I keep saying I'll pick it up again, but I can't really promise anything at the moment. :/

Nice work with those models Clanky.

 

[Kailric]

So I finally got around to trying Firaxis' "Beyond Earth" remake of Civ5 (being free to try this weekend on Steam), and imagine my surprise when I come across this:

"traces of an advanced alien race named the Progenitors".. who left behind the above Progenitor Ruins and other sites, for archaeologists to launch Expeditions to and recover valuable Artifacts, just like in good old 2071!

Now that would be totally cool if you did inspire them, I bet they would never admit to it. We'll know though for sure if out pops some alien race named the Kailrics

Anyway, this may be heresy to say around here but so far Beyond Earth doesn't seem as bad as some reviews led me to expect - it's certainly not a huge step beyond vanilla Civ5 and doesn't have the unique economy of Colonization, but overall it plays like a fairly well constructed scifi total conversion mod of Civ5, of which there are currently precious few. I'm not sure yet whether I'll actually buy it (haven't played long enough to see if the Progenitors have any more role than the above ) but if you like Civ and scifi conversions like Planetfall it is worth giving it a try this weekend.

How does it compare to the old Alpha Centauri? I played a bit of the demo but not enough to give a review. I really liked AC's diplomacy best of all, and how you could form alliances and win together.

As an update on future expansions of this mod, I have continued to collect art and sound assets and ideas, but in order to ensure stable compatibility with the M:C DLL, implementation will hold off until M:C code base reaches a more final/stable version. This will hopefully enable lots of cool new features, but I was unable to figure out what makes the current version not work with the new DLL, so it's best to wait for a final/stable code base before developing modmods using that.

That sounds awesome. Yeah, M:C is constantly evolving, and honestly, I'm not sure when it will stop. We need to figure it out though as this could go on forever. There is just so many things on the table yet, but we should really finish what we have up so far right down to completing the Pedia. Then make concentrated addons and expansions in the future.

 

[Nightinggale]

Yeah, M:C is constantly evolving, and honestly, I'm not sure when it will stop. We need to figure it out though as this could go on forever.

We need to make a new release soon, one where the XML vs DLL is fairly well specified. Then next time M:C releases, the XML vs DLL is well specified again meaning we will end up with a well specified list of changes, which "submods" needs to apply to in order to use the updated DLL.

One thing I have on my todo list is to get rid of hardcoded yields. That way it will be one DLL fits all mods. I don't think that will happen in the near future though.

 

[Lib.Spi't]

Yeah I would say its the dll elemebts that are the most important things to get done, as xml work can be completed by just about anyone any time. Dll is also the thing that will 'break' mod mods.

 

[orlanth]

Captain's Log, supplemental:
Just sending a quick subspace shout-out for any sci-fi Civ fans about Sid Meier working on a new TBS game in a deep space setting!

Not quite sure yet how this will end up, but the main differences from classic space 4X seem to be the focus on having a few highly customizable units that participate in turn-based tactical battles. I'm glad to see the 2071 mod is still uniquely weird in letting your colonies spread across the terrain of planets floating in a sea of Deep Space.


Link to video.


Link to video.
(skip to 30min if you wanna see gameplay footage)

 

[clanky4]

the main differences from classic space 4X seem to be the focus on having a few highly customizable units that participate in turn-based tactical battles.

Isn't that exactly what their ploy for Beyond earth was?

 

[orlanth]

hmm I don't know if that was part of their ploy for BE (I must be the victim of a Progenitor mind wipe!) however I don't recall those units being customizable from my experience with the demo (they could get some traits depending on which of the 3 society "paths" you went for).

 

[Kailric]

As you know we are working on the DLL and such in M:C to eventually merge it with 2071. There is one issue that will need to be addressed unless we fix it so it isn't an issue and that is the FF Categories. In M:C we moved the Trade Category to the end of FFs Category and it gets drop from FFs and is turned into the Trade Points and Trade Techs. So, question is, what do you want to do with Trade Techs?

I am thinking of moving Trade Points to its own system and leave the FFs alone, that would be best, actually. But still, you will have the option of using Trade Points and Techs so you can be thinking about what you want to do with those.

Edit: Also, Civics, you could be thinking about what Civics you could use in 2071 as well.

 

[Lib.Spi't]

You could discover an alien black market trader!

Like in Startopia

 

[Nightinggale]

Edit: Also, Civics, you could be thinking about what Civics you could use in 2071 as well.

The civic merge is progressing quite nicely. While it would be good to make a plan for want to code, I don't think it will really influence the DLL work.

You could discover an alien black market trader!

Like in Startopia

We have that covered quite nicely in the DLL in the sense that civics can unlock trade screens.

 

[orlanth]

hmm excellent.. plenty of time to scheme..

You can go ahead with having the Trade Points however you think is best for M:C - I guess maybe I could adapt them as something like Progenitor Secrets or Transcendence, making it a special type of point that's gained by exploring unique map sites and building special sensor installations (instead of trade), and can unlock special tradescreens (eventually even the Progenitor Homeworld ) and other cool techlike effects.

I've also thought it could be cool to be able to discover/unlock access to the different Sail-to-Europe plot types (ie EUROPE_WEST etc in EuropeInfos.xml) via Techs or FFs. If tradescreens can be independently linked to sail-to-europe plottypes, this could enable some really cool/flexible modding effects. When you're departing a tradescreen, you could choose to emerge in any of the sail-to-europe plottypes linked to that tradescreen, as long as you'd unlocked access to them . In more normal earth-based mods this could also allow you to unlock special travel routes and passages like the Northwest Passage or the Trade Winds or Roaring Forties.

The new Civic features will be awesome to play with (both for real Civics and for Techs as well). I remember you mentioned letting Civics control what your default Elite unitclass is (ie what Unitclass gets born using Luxury Food) as well as what your default peasant unitclass is (ie what Unitclass is created from population growth from normal Food).
Maybe in 2071 your Civics would also do this, so depending on how your society develops you could have Cybernetic Elite or Eugenic Elite, and Civil Rights civics can improve your default unitclass from lowly Proletarians to Free Colonists. I have no idea how the current Spices and Luxury Food system could translate to 2071 though, or other things made specific to Knights etc.

 

[Lib.Spi't]

It could be something like Genetic Material(Spice) and Gene Sequencing (Lux. Food) and these make Super Alien Hybrid Cybernetic Eungeniced Beings!

 

[Nightinggale]

If tradescreens can be independently linked to sail-to-europe plottypes, this could enable some really cool/flexible modding effects.

If I remember correctly, CvPlot contain a bool for each trade screen, telling if that trade screen can be accessed from that plot or not. This mean each trade screen has a map of access points. If it overlaps with another trade screen or not doesn't matter as they are 100% unaffected by each other.

In other words you can code a map generator to place access points for each trade screen precisely like you want. You could place one on the centre of each planet if you like and make one for each planet. I'm not sure if it's a good idea for gameplay, but the DLL can handle it as it is right now.

The new Civic features will be awesome to play with (both for real Civics and for Techs as well). I remember you mentioned letting Civics control what your default Elite unitclass is (ie what Unitclass gets born using Luxury Food) as well as what your default peasant unitclass is (ie what Unitclass is created from population growth from normal Food).

It's quite simple actually. Civics have for quite a while had two tags for unit growth. One for normal food and one for luxury food. The calculation for which one you get is quite simple:
Loop all civics. If it sets a new growth unit and you are allowed to use that unit, it will store it if the ID is higher than the currently used growth unit.

This mean if you have a civic, which growth #2 and one which growths #5, then you will get #5. This mean XML order of units (or was it unitclasses) matters.


I have been thinking about the growth code. I would like to merge it all into one. Civics can then set growth unit and which yield is used to grow it. That way you can have 5 growth yields if you want, purely by XML setup and you can have just one. However YIELD_FOOD will presumably stay hardcoded in the AI DLL code forever meaning you can't have none. It's far from top priority though.