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A thread for any mod idea that you have and people can offer suggestions about the concept and workability.
To Start.
The Republic of Genoa - la Superba
UA - Cannot found/annex Cities. Has access to unique settler units. Declaration of friendships with other civs grants 3 gold per turn for both civs, scaling with era and adds an additional diplomatic positive modifier. Gold purchased units are 25% cheaper and start with full EXP
Unique National Wonder - Bank of Saint George. Medieval National Wonder. Replaces Printing Press (on earlier tech). Provides free Bank.
Foreign trade routes provide extra gold to both civs. Completed trade routes led to lump sums of GPP for Great Merchants
SpoilerCommon Traits :
+1 Culture
+1 Great Diplomat Points
+1 Paper
1 Civil Servant specialist
+20% production of diplomatic units
All diplomatic units receive the Literacy promotion: Grants +5 Influence when you conduct a diplomatic mission, +1 movement for diplomatic units, and the ability to ignore terrain costs
Unique Settler Unit - Genoan Trader. Does not settle a city. Can be purchased with gold. While produced, it does not halt city growth. Instead creates a unique citadel which claims all tiles within first ring around the Citadel and luxury and strategic resources in the second ring. These resources contribute to Genoa's trade route resources diversity.
The Trade post acts as a fort in terms of defence. If razed, Genoa loses the Trade Post.
Does not have to be founded next to Genoan territory. Can claim a civ or CS territory in doing so, with the normal diplomatic penalty.
+1 Supply limit for each one founded
Genoa can found 1, for every 2 population in Genoa.
This prevents Genoa from just spamming these all over the map.
UU - Genoese Crossbowmen - Unique Crossbowman. Has higher base Combat Strength and Ranged combat strength
Starts with Cover 1
Earns an additional 5 EXP for every Gold building in Genoa (Market, Caravansary, Customs house and Bank), for a total of 20 extra EXP
Genoa would basically be a expansive OPM. They can settle psuedo cities in order to gain access to
resources, allowing them to make more valuable trade routes, and create monopolies, which are normally limited for tall civilisations. They can also help create a strategic buffer around the capital for defensive purposes. They would have similarities to Venice, their historical rival, but would play differently. Fewer trade routes, but generally more powerful ones.
Genoa historically was also extremely important as a city of commerce, which helped provide a financial backing for the Spanish empire, which is why they have these gold bonuses. Lending isn't really a thing, so flat gold bonuses are likely the best way to do this.
Finally, Genoa was known for its crossbowmen. They weren't unique in using crossbowman, but they were known for being able to levy large numbers of highly professional crossbowmen. They were also known for their pavises, used to shelter behind while reloading, which justifies Cover 1.
sounds really cool... i love these add-on civs, just started trying some of PD's and a few others recently. Generally, i want my game to be like an encyclopedia when i have new things i've never heard of.. including a lot of pedia history makes a good civ add-on a great mod imo
sounds really cool... i love these add-on civs, just started trying some of PD's and a few others recently. Generally, i want my game to be like an encyclopedia when i have new things i've never heard of.. including a lot of pedia history makes a good civ add-on a great mod imo
UA: THE ILLUMINATION OF TIRIDATES
Your Capital converts to the first Religion founded and receives half the Holy City's Faith Per Turn whilst following it. Converting conquered cities to this Religion eliminates their occupied Unhappiness.
UB: VANK (GARDEN)
The Vank is the Armenian unique building replacing the Garden. The Vank contains a Writer Specialist slot. When this slot is filled, religious pressure for the first Religion founded is exerted over the city, slowly converting its population to that Religion each turn. Unlike the Garden, the Vank requires a nearby Mountain instead of a Lake or River. It also yields a small amount of Faith.
UU: MAMIKONIAN (GREAT GENERAL/GREAT PROPHET)
The Mamikonian is the unique Armenian replacement for the Great General. All Mounted Units that start their turn within 2 tiles of a Mamikonian receive the unique Nakhrar promotion. This promotion grants a 33% combat bonus when attacking cities and increases the amount of Gold earned from pillaging them. In addition to replacing the Great General, the Mamikonian also replaces the Great Prophet, allowing it to build Holy Sites or to spread Religion, though it cannot found its own.
Now firstly, the UA isn't really historical. Since it refers to Armenia converting to Christianity, not Judaism or Zoroastrianism which were pre-existing religions at the time, (and at the time Armenia was mostly Zoroastrian before it went Christian). So instead.
UA THE ILLUMINATION OF TIRIDATES
Receive a free, extra strength missionary of each religion founded, in the capital. May purchase missionaries of any religion at -50% faith cost in any city. Owned Cities of majority religion have 1+ happiness and -10% needs. May faith purchase Defense and Military Training Buildings.
This means Armenia can select any religion, picking the one best suited to its own interests. It can pick the one that has the best beliefs, the one that offers the best diplomatic options, or just the one nearest. This allows Armenia to follow the Zoroastrian to Christianity path that it did historically, jumping ship from Persia/The Sassanids by rejecting their religion.
Majority religion gives some unhappiness controlling and raw happiness but doesn't force conquest. So Armenia could be played peaceful wide, or tall.
Finally, they can purchase Defence buildings (aka the wall-castle-etc line) and the military training line (barracks-Armory-etc line) of buildings. Same wording as the existing Japan UA.
UB: Vank (Garden)
No terrain requirement. Contains a Writer Specialist slot, and all writer specialists in the city produce 1+ faith and culture. The Vank also has faith as a base yield. Available earlier, at a cheaper production cost.
UU: Ayrudzi (Horseman)
Greater combat strength. No movement penalty from rough terrain, and benefits from defensive bonuses. Starts with Shock 1. Can be faith purchased.
Armenia cavalry was famed in the region, and their cavalry was used by the various powers in the regions, with Armenian cavalry in long-standing units. They were well suited to the rough terrain of their homeland and were practised as charging into enemy formations. They had a well-developed horse breeding horse culture and uniquely paid their tribute to the Persians in horses.
I actually prefer the existing mod in comparison to your proposed changes. I get that it doesn't exactly mirror the true history of Armenia, but it gets its point across in a way that makes for an interesting and elegant gameplay angle.
Even if it were possible to code having multiple missionaries purchasable in a single city with different religions to spread, having 5+ nearly identical missionaries in a city list sound like a nightmare.
I don't think the UA compensates Armenia enough for not having access to a founder, Enhancer, or the full power of Reformation, and having no control over its own belief choices, but getting half of a foreign holy city's faith output is a start. Their UA certainly has a unique utility though, where inquisitors' Remove Heresy action functions as a free Courthouse in conquered cities.
Replacing the GProphet with a unit that can't found is pretty brilliant as a way of preventing Armenia from founding. It also means that Armenia can subtract total religions active from the game if they focus on early faith.
I would change the Vank, since auto-converting your cities every turn makes them immune to foreign religion, which is something Spain currently does, and I really don't like it. I think a 1 time action on construction would be better. Instead of having a mountain restriction, they could have a bonus for being near mountains instead. Also, it's just too many things capable of doing the same thing. You have a UA that removes occupied unhappiness via conversion, so you can remove unhappiness with a courthouse OR an inquisitor OR a vank. I don't think you need a UA that makes courthouses useless AND a UB that makes inquisitors useless. I hate it when unique components only exist to replace the function of something else.
Here's what I would do:
SpoilerJFD's Armenia :
Your Capital converts to the first Religion founded and receives half the Holy City's Faith Per Turn.
+1Happiness and no Unhappiness from occupation in cities following the First Religion
+5Production to Holy Sites and Citadels.
UU: Sparapet (G. GENERAL/G. PROPHET)
The Sparapet replaces both the Great General and the Great Prophet
cannot found a Religion
can be expended to build Holy Sites and Citadels
can Spread Religion
has +15% combat aura
All Mounted Units that start their turn within 2 tiles of a Sparapet receive the unique Nakharar promotion (+33% combat bonus when attacking cities and gold from attacking Cities)
UB: Vank (GARDEN)
+2, +2
+25%Great Person Rate in this city
1 Specialist in this City does not generate Urbanization
1 Writer Specialist
+1 and from Cocoa and Citrus
+1Faith and Culture for every Mountain within 3 tiles of the City
The Vank contains a Writer Specialist slot. When this slot is filled, religious pressure for the first Religion founded is exerted over the city, slowly converting its population to that Religion each turn. Unlike the Garden, the Vank requires a nearby Mountain instead of a Lake or River. It also yields a small amount of Faith.
Spoiler3/4 Unique Component :
Ayrudzi (Horseman)
13CS
3 Moves
Cover I
Azatavrear promotion (Double Movement in Hills. Gains +3 CS at lvl 4. Stays on Upgrade.)
Kachkar (Monument)
+2
+25% Border Growth Rate in City
+1 Production to Mines and +2Faith from Workshops
Well the point of my UA is to give flexibility, in choosing the religion. But yeah the purchase any missionary thing could go. Just the free missionary on religion spawn.
Also, I don't like Nakharar promotion. Armenian cavalry weren't siege experts, and you are essentially adding another Mandekalu Cavalry when you moved them back to Knights for being too much of a threat to cities early on. Cover 1, a siege promotion on a GG, and 16 CS makes them very much an anti-city line. Let alone having Knights, which have full normal movement, hill movement, +3 CS on an already powerful unit and can hit cities without penalty. The Statue of Zeus and Alhambra are just gravy and would make them unstoppable.
Kachkar is an idea. Not sure about mine synergy. And it is basically the same as a monument until you get a mine, which is terrain dependent.
One idea I had was an early UB that grants a free horse near the city, including on hills. Similar to the Shoshone, Buffalo Pound. Or it could be a part of the UA to have a horse spawn near the city after discovering them. Horse culture and a key horse-trading area, even in mountainous terrain, and in-game an early horse UU without a no strategic requirement. Could go on the Kachkar, maybe thought it is a tad early.
Not really attached to the Vank. It could stay or go.
I was also thinking of an early Grand Temple, Etchmiadzin which grants the benefits of the Founder Belief wonder attached to the majority religion, and once built stops spawning new missionaries from the UA. So yields, extra yields on holy sites, pressure, and votes per cities following the religion. But no reformation belief. And something else in addition. Leaning towards something diplomatically flavoured. Maybe faith and culture on trade routes with co-religionists for both parties, which encourages you and your religious buddy to send each other lots of trade routes, and pushes the buddy angle. And even if that civ gets pissy, you can still send trade routes to city-states of the religion.
I don't really like Prophets and Great Generals being the same unit. Generals are something kept around for the radius bonus, while Prophets are used to make a bunch of Holy Sites. And Citadels are a worse improvement than Holy Sites. 5 production is also just Hero Worship. And Armenia doesn't really seem to have too much pushing it to a unique Great general.
Not sure if it really fits Armenia, but a non-founding civ could have a bonus based on planting lots of Holy Sites. Could be a range of different possibilities. Extra Yields, a per cent bonus to something, a combat bonus, Golden ages, or WLTKD, GPP production, etc. Maybe a lump sum of happiness to each one, like Landmarks, but available much earlier.
The one concrete idea I had was, every created Holy Site, also generates a unique artifact Great Work, a Religious Relic/Artifact. You know how churches collected all sorts of stuff, like bones of saints, pieces of the true cross, etc. The Vank could have an artifact slot, and there could be a bonus for having a relic in the slot.
I've had inclinations from time to time to work on a TSL earth map specifically tailored for use with VP. YNAEMP's resource allocation in particular doesn't work out so well with VP.
I've had inclinations from time to time to work on a TSL earth map specifically tailored for use with VP. YNAEMP's resource allocation in particular doesn't work out so well with VP.
I'm certainly in complete support of that! I've been wanting my TSL games to have accurate resources, but VP's system throws that off. A mod that helps control the City-States in TSL games would also be highly welcomed. It's bad enough when colonial CS' spawn in games where I expressly disable colonial civs (America and Brazil) but too often Asia is left barren of City-States while Europe has too much, which is crippling for Siam and Mongolia...
As for my own idea, not sure if anyone would like it at all as it's a Fictional Civ ^_^; But I can't stop thinking about Disney's Atlanteans as a custom civ. Here's the rough concept I got in mind:
Leader- Queen Kidagakash "Kida" Nedakh
Unique Ability- Lost Empire (Cannot create settlers or found cities, but get increased Yields from worked tiles and Specialists, and Units within borders automatically heal each turn. Bonuses scale with Era, perhaps with overall population playing a part to evoke the "Heart of Atlantis'" power)
Unique Unit- "Atlantean Hunter" (Spearman replacement. Has no movement penalties in rough terrain, better sight, and bonus CS in rough terrain)
Unique National Wonder- "Carved Pillar" (National Monument replacement. In addition to normal bonuses, provides better Science and would drastically improve Coastal/Ocean tiles, since this would be a Tall/Tradition civ with a coastal bias)
Alternatively, Altantis could be led by King Kashekim Nedakh, whose UA would still penalize settlers/founding cities and grants the automatic heal in borders but has a significant bonus to conquest (with the unique components to match), whereas his daughter is geared towards Science or Culture Victory. The idea being that, while Kida represents Atlantis at the end of the movie (a fallen civilization on the road to recovery), Kashekim represents Atlantis in its prime; a sprawling empire with advanced tech during the age of antiquity, and primed to conquer the world before being submerged under the ocean
EDIT- Aside from that above idea of mine, some mods I'd really love to see are more VP viable Native American Civs. So far, the Tlingit and Inuit are the only ones that have been made VP viable, which are great. But there are so many other groups deserving rep; the Lakota, Blackfoot, the Tainu, Mapuche...
In regards to custom civs, does anybody know if there are any glaring limitations when dealing with the creation of unique civilian units?
I initially wanted to have my "Supreme Leader" as a Prophet/General replacement, but it's presented me with some issues in terms of gameplay and logistics, some of which may be seen in this very thread discussing Armenia, so although it's not ideal, I'm almost wondering if making my UU a civilian unit (e.g., the Macedonian Strategos) would give me more flexibility considering I'm a noob to all this.
Please someone make White Walkers mod that works with the current version!! It is basically barbarians unleashed mod: you fight for survival, insane barbarian spawn rate.
So preferably I would've just waited to release the civ once completed -- Supreme Leader is second-to-none when it comes to operating in secrecy, after all -- but realistically that was never going to happen due to my modding inexperience. After initial aspirations lingered over many months of planning, I think I'm confident enough to finally release the first peek at Best Korea. I'm not using the current NK mod as a template; DPRK will be completely from scratch, custom tailored for VP usage + 3/4 UC compatibility.
I tinkered with a bunch of different ideas / implementations for all facets of the kit -- ironically, figuring out the "Supreme Leader" was the hardest part to incorporate, and I can still envision me tweaking it -- including many hours of researching and brainstorming, so I hope to get some feedback before I attempt to create what will hopefully become a truly glorious civ. I'll leave my notes and reasoning throughout the post, so please feel free to critique, as Supreme Leader will spare you for just this occasion...
Throughout this process, I found out just how many variables there really are to consider with regards to balance, AI, and how things will puzzle / synergize together over the course of any given game. I'd like to say thank you again to Gazebo and all of the modders for the work they do around here, as it's inspired me (hard to do these days...) to take a crack at this, even if I ultimately can't make Best Korea come to fruition. Despite my antics on this forum at times, I want to make one last thing clear: the civ itself will not be a joke / meme. I took this quite seriously, devoting a plethora of hours with just the planning alone so far, while still trying to preserve a bit of humorous tone. Now without further ado, I present The One and Unly...
Kim Dynasty's DPRK for VP
UA: Juche
Receiving a denouncement triggers 10 turns of "We Love the Kim Day", which grants Cities + 100 GAP, 50 Culture, and 10% Unit Production, scaling with Era.
Uranium is revealed upon researching Construction, and deposits provide double the quantity.
May purchase Nuclear Missiles with Faith.
Spoilernotes :
*I initially had 3 separate unique versions of WTLKD (I assumed that's not even possible to implement) to represent the 3 most important holidays devoted to each Kim, but it was simpler to consolidate them, and after I realized I could literally replace "King" with "Kim", it was a no brainer:
Day of the Sun (Il-Sung's birthday; Il-Sung is Korean for "become the sun") = GAP boost
Day of the Shining Star (Jong-Il's birthday; lots of cultural arts/festivities) = Culture boost
Day of Songun ("Military-first"; although this day technically revolves around Jong-Il, it was only recently brought to prominence by Un, and Jong-Un still has no official DoB, so this day has now essentially been assiciated with him) = Unit Production boost
The North Koreans follow their own unique calendar that see their citizens receive more food rations during these holidays, so a unique WLTKD fits great (I can tweak the numbers if need be). It's also a nod to China's "Empress Day", considering they're North Korea's main ally. I contemplated needs reduction here as well, a la Brazil, but decided it was too much. The denouncement trigger is an awesome unique touch that I feel really embodies the civ.
*Uranium unlocking early seems crazy, but it's the main unique essence of the civ, and only equates to a reasonable early science bump (improved quarries have +2 +1 , receiving +4 only much later from Research Labs). Besides, you'll only have a few deposits on hand -- although due to dependence, DPRK will definitely have strategic flavour for Uranium spawns, similar to Mongols / Askia + horses, etc. -- no different than if you had a lapis lux start. The main potential residing in this trait is the ability to secure one of the best monopoly bonuses (Uranium + attack / science) way earlier than normal. I know North Korea is probably the opposite of a technological powerhouse like Mr. Sejong (although the DPRK claim to have the highest literacy rate in the world), but for gameplay / fun, this must be the foundation for the civ. Same goes for faith; they aren't religious in the normal sense, but I've utilized faith for theme / gameplay due to the cult like following of the nation's citizens.
*Nukes with faith is self explanatory and was the easiest trait in the entire kit, though I initially had Atomic Bombs / Guided Missile included, but once again had to trim some fat, for balance concerns. Very much the civ's biggest wildcard, which even in games with little hope, will keep civs on the edge of their seats.
UCU - Supreme Leader (Unique Civilian Unit)
Can not be built or purchased; spawns in the capital after researching Military Theory, Military Science, and Atomic Theory.
Increases Military Supply by 3.
Generates +3 Faith, Culture and GG points per-turn while stationed on Uranium ("Enrichment")
Adjacent owned units receive the "Songun" promotion, which gives + CS and XP for the turn; enemies within 2 tiles receive "Near terrifying opponent".
Spoilernotes :
*I really struggled with settling on this, initially wanting to have it be a GG / Prophet, and then theorizing on a multitude of other scenarios, but hopefully I've now found a good implementation. I'm actually excited to hear if anyone else has any other ideas; I was naive to not anticipate the hardships that came with trying to mold a worthy specimen in the image of The Glorious One.
*Their will be 3 Leaders spawn over the course of a game, so opportunity can re-present itself even if one is captured/killed (AI friendly, as ironically the kit doesn't rely on the Leader to carry them), but you will obviously get full value from utilizing all 3 once available. I initially had the spawns set for 6/12/18 policies, and that's still an option to somewhat dramatize and embellish the representation of Il-Sung = Ancient = GA, Jong-Il = Medieval/Renaissance = Culture, Jong-Un = Modern/Ideology = Songun, but Ideally the first Leader comes online before Iron Working, otherwise you'll be constructing a 3/4UC UB dedicated to a leader that doesn't exist yet (or maybe we'll role-play that it's just foreshadowing his/their arrival)... Spawning at the 3 thematic techs basically achieves the same effect with more consistency, and also keeps the main power spike for late-game, as you'll only have 1 possible Leader until the second arrives in late Industrial era.
*After researching some DPRK numerology, it seems 9 is their magic number, so supply = 3 (all 3 Leaders =9). Having an early +3 supply is solid for war, but not game-breaking.
*Same thing applies for "Enrichment" with yields of 3. It's a tangible boost in the early-game, but tails off as the game progresses until the UB can take over late. Provides two options of play: while at war, send him/them near the front-line in order to reap the combat benefits while leading your troops to victory, then station him/them on a deposit while at peace, to continue enriching your pristine figure(s) with yields. Ideally I'd have the "Enrichment" yields scale, but 3 will do to start.
*Resisting the urge to bestow Supreme Leader with a truly glorious promo was extremely difficult, but I decided to keep it simple. Scary Supreme Leader is self explanatory, meanwhile "Songun" incorporates aspects of Khan / Induna and doesn't really need to be that elaborate to be effective. I haven't even specified CS or XP numbers yet, but the XP trait will synergize with the Koksan (3/4 UU).
UB - Juche Tower (replaces Hermitage):
Available at Architecture Does not require Opera House
250 Production Cost (scales with number of Cities on Empire) +5 Culture
+1 Culture for every 4 citizens in the city Uranium deposits and Military Academies each gain +2 Culture and Faith Culture cost of adopting new policies reduced by 10%
50% reduction in effectiveness of enemy spies in the city in which it is built, and halves the Tourism bonus from technologies of other players
Empire Unhappiness Needs Modifier -5%
Contains 3 slots for Great Works of Art or Artifacts (+5 Gold / Culture if themed)
Spoilernotes :
*The tower is technically the national monument, but I wanted to space the civ's components out, and this brings it at least somewhat in line with it's actual real-world construction in the modern era. It also technically houses a small museum / tour where visitors can become enlightened in the way of Juche, so that's good enough justification for me (plus the old NK mod also had it as Hermitage replacement). The final sell was that Hermitage = Hermit = "the path alone" = Juche.
*Makes the silly American Smithsonian look like child's play! Hehehe, but in all honesty, the Smithsonian IMO is really underwhelming in no-man's land and needs a buff in it's own right, so don't be alarmed that my replacement is much more satisfactory. Plus, it's a late national wonder, so it has to pack some serious 'Unph'...
*Uranium / Academies get a minor yield boost for flavour, but lower than American Musuem / Broadcast Tower, due to JT's other bonuses being superior.
* Policy reduction cost is a really cool juxtaposition with Eiffel, and should help ease wide play.
*I took some aspects of Great Firewall, and just halved the bonuses, though I may change the "50% in city" to "25% in all cities". I think what I have will do a good job of simulating the secrecy / isolationism of the DPRK, while simultaneously not shutting down others' spy / tourism game completely. I even had "no enemy archs in DPRK land", but pulled it after reading how the North has surprisingly engaged in joint excavations on their land.
*Hermitage / Smithsonian get -10% to boredom in all cities, so I just buffed this a tad by tweaking it to -5% empire needs (half of Chichen Itza bonus). Like I said, I had this in the WLTKD at first, but incorporated it here instead because of the wide synergy, and also Juche = self reliance = less need for outside help. Ultimately I guess this could be left out, but I'd like to see it included to start.
Spoiler3/4 UC :
UU - Koksan (replaces Artillery):
Available at Ballistics
Does not obsolete 1222 Production Cost
3 Range
2 Movement
40 CS, 55 RCS
"Siege 1"
"Cover 1"
"Indirect Fire" "Range"
"Backfire" (lost on upgrade) - if attacking farther than 3 tiles: 40% chance to miss, 10% to be destroyed; unit gains triple XP if attack lands successfully.
*This was a bit of a tricky one, but after reading up on what little is known of this weapon, the DPRK essentially compromise safety and reliability for better range by using excess propellant. The result in real-world applications are yet to be known, though it's speculated that things would go over quite poorly for the North if they were to ever engage in a prolonged sustained fire. Though, for the sake of this game and fun, we'll give it extra power, range (Artillery obviously already starts with 3 range), and XP potential in exchange for the risk. It's a late unit, so the impact must be tangible.
*"Backfire" is lost on upgrade because nobody will enjoy their highly promoted Rockets self-destructing on them (you won't enjoy your Koksans blowing up either, but good thing you can always build more, or just don't take the risk of firing from 4 tiles...). If it seems too harsh, I'll just change it to something like "10% to be left with 1 HP" or "10% to lose half of max HP", so that a full health unit could be saved and re-healed. The idea would be to surround the Supreme Leader with Koksan (giggity, that's his fetish), and have them farm waves of XP with the " Songun" synergy, preferably without any of them being on the wrong side of their own boom booms... Once you unlock Rockets, you can upgrade you highly leveled Koksan and be on your way to more glory.
UB - Mansudae Hill Grand Monument (replaces both Heroic Epic and National Monument):
Available at Iron Working
Requires a Barracks and Monument in the city
350 Production Cost (scales with number of Cities on Empire)
+1 Production in the City for every 5 Citizens
Receive a free Great Writer in the city +3 Culture, Faith +1 Faith and Production to Monuments on Empire 33% Great People generation in this city During 'We Love the Kim Day', city Gold, Science, and Production increases by 10%
Receive 15 Culture when a Citizen is born in your Empire, and 50 GAP whenever you unlock a policy, scaling with Era Cities permanently acquire +1 to all yields for every denouncement made on the DPRK
All land units created by this city (past or future) receive the "Morale" promotion
Increases the military unit Supply from population by 5% in all Cities
Contains 2 slots for Great Works of Writing (+5 / if themed)
*As previously mentioned, I fought back and forth with Juche Tower and the replacement factors, considering that Mansu Hill is practically attached to the Korean Revolutionary Museum, which resembles the Hermitage and is one of the largest structures in the world. The buildings are interchangeable, but at the end of the day I think the civ plays better like this -- if playing with no 3/4 UC, this also ensures you wont unlock both components early and have nothing for the late-game. Mansu Hill is a prime candidate to represent both early national wonders, plus, how could someone not acknowledge the Supreme Leaders as the National Monument of the DPRK? The country currently houses over 34,000 statues of Il-Sung alone! Praise be.
*The statues are actually bronze, but that would be too advantageous to unlock the National Monument's benefits at Bronze Working, so it stays at Iron which is still a nice boon to skip having to research the top of the tech tree early.
*National Monument and Heroic Epic together bring +2 Culture, so I added another point along with some faith for flavour. Monuments gain a hammer and some more faith for flavour (check out Mansudae Overseas Projects).
*I bumped the GP% up a bit from 25%, and tweaked the supply from pop to 5% in all cities in order to reflect North Korea having the largest Paramilitary in the world.
*This UB has the task of replacing 2 national wonders, so again, the 'Unph' had to be substantial. I added the Halicarnassus bonus to synergize with "Kim Day", and applied the denouncement trigger for more unique potential yields. The DPRK ideally ends up ruffling a few feathers, so 5+ denouncements over the course of a game should play quite nicely as a unique feature, hopefully without it being exploitable.
A few final points:
In order to reflect the nation's poverty, I specifically left out gold from any flat yields. The neat thing is that DPRK should also have tall viability while still representing threat as a loose cannon. Order / Autocracy will both be strong choices. Three of the four components are one-and-done, so I had to find fun and interesting ways to disperse the rewards accordingly and in a balanced fashion, which I think I've managed to do on paper. UB>UA>UCU, while both 3/4 UC should contribute considerably strong aspects to the overall package.
@pineappledan , as the head honcho of this department, let me know if you see anything that immediately sticks out to you as a potential issue, and if you believe creating DPRK is feasible. I also have all the artwork selected, though after fussing with GIMP it'd probably take me 20 days to manage something that'd take AsterixRage 20 minutes, so I'll worry about that after.
This is quite a large post and I'm sure I missed relaying a thing or two, so don't mind if there's some oversight on my part. I'll create the necessary thread in the mods repository when it's time. Let me know what you all think.
So preferably I would've just waited to release the civ once completed -- Supreme Leader is second-to-none when it comes to operating in secrecy, after all -- but realistically that was never going to happen due to my modding inexperience. After initial aspirations lingered over many months of planning, I think I'm confident enough to finally release the first peek at Best Korea. I'm not using the current NK mod as a template; DPRK will be completely from scratch, custom tailored for VP usage + 3/4 UC compatibility.
I tinkered with a bunch of different ideas / implementations for all facets of the kit -- ironically, figuring out the "Supreme Leader" was the hardest part to incorporate, and I can still envision me tweaking it -- including many hours of researching and brainstorming, so I hope to get some feedback before I attempt to create what will hopefully become a truly glorious civ. I'll leave my notes and reasoning throughout the post, so please feel free to critique, as Supreme Leader will spare you for just this occasion...
Throughout this process, I found out just how many variables there really are to consider with regards to balance, AI, and how things will puzzle / synergize together over the course of any given game. I'd like to say thank you again to Gazebo and all of the modders for the work they do around here, as it's inspired me (hard to do these days...) to take a crack at this, even if I ultimately can't make Best Korea come to fruition. Despite my antics on this forum at times, I want to make one last thing clear: the civ itself will not be a joke / meme. I took this quite seriously, devoting a plethora of hours with just the planning alone so far, while still trying to preserve a bit of humorous tone. Now without further ado, I present The One and Unly...
Kim Dynasty's DPRK for VP
UA: Juche
Receiving a denouncement triggers 10 turns of "We Love the Kim Day", which grants Cities + 100 GAP, 50 Culture, and 10% Unit Production, scaling with Era.
Uranium is revealed upon researching Construction, and deposits provide double the quantity.
May purchase Nuclear Missiles with Faith.
Spoilernotes :
*I initially had 3 separate unique versions of WTLKD (I assumed that's not even possible to implement) to represent the 3 most important holidays devoted to each Kim, but it was simpler to consolidate them, and after I realized I could literally replace "King" with "Kim", it was a no brainer:
Day of the Sun (Il-Sung's birthday; Il-Sung is Korean for "become the sun") = GAP boost
Day of the Shining Star (Jong-Il's birthday; lots of cultural arts/festivities) = Culture boost
Day of Songun ("Military-first"; although this day technically revolves around Jong-Il, it was only recently brought to prominence by Un, and Jong-Un still has no official DoB, so this day has now essentially been assiciated with him) = Unit Production boost
The North Koreans follow their own unique calendar that see their citizens receive more food rations during these holidays, so a unique WLTKD fits great (I can tweak the numbers if need be). It's also a nod to China's "Empress Day", considering they're North Korea's main ally. I contemplated needs reduction here as well, a la Brazil, but decided it was too much. The denouncement trigger is an awesome unique touch that I feel really embodies the civ.
*Uranium unlocking early seems crazy, but it's the main unique essence of the civ, and only equates to a reasonable early science bump (improved quarries have +2 +1 , receiving +4 only much later from Research Labs). Besides, you'll only have a few deposits on hand -- although due to dependence, DPRK will definitely have strategic flavour for Uranium spawns, similar to Mongols / Askia + horses, etc. -- no different than if you had a lapis lux start. The main potential residing in this trait is the ability to secure one of the best monopoly bonuses (Uranium + attack / science) way earlier than normal. I know North Korea is probably the opposite of a technological powerhouse like Mr. Sejong (although the DPRK claim to have the highest literacy rate in the world), but for gameplay / fun, this must be the foundation for the civ. Same goes for faith; they aren't religious in the normal sense, but I've utilized faith for theme / gameplay due to the cult like following of the nation's citizens.
*Nukes with faith is self explanatory and was the easiest trait in the entire kit, though I initially had Atomic Bombs / Guided Missile included, but once again had to trim some fat, for balance concerns. Very much the civ's biggest wildcard, which even in games with little hope, will keep civs on the edge of their seats.
UCU - Supreme Leader (Unique Civilian Unit)
Can not be built or purchased; spawns in the capital after researching Military Theory, Military Science, and Atomic Theory.
Increases Military Supply by 3.
Generates +3 Faith, Culture and GG points per-turn while stationed on Uranium ("Enrichment")
Adjacent owned units receive the "Songun" promotion, which gives + CS and XP for the turn; enemies within 2 tiles receive "Near terrifying opponent".
Spoilernotes :
*I really struggled with settling on this, initially wanting to have it be a GG / Prophet, and then theorizing on a multitude of other scenarios, but hopefully I've now found a good implementation. I'm actually excited to hear if anyone else has any other ideas; I was naive to not anticipate the hardships that came with trying to mold a worthy specimen in the image of The Glorious One.
*Their will be 3 Leaders spawn over the course of a game, so opportunity can re-present itself even if one is captured/killed (AI friendly, as ironically the kit doesn't rely on the Leader to carry them), but you will obviously get full value from utilizing all 3 once available. I initially had the spawns set for 6/12/18 policies, and that's still an option to somewhat dramatize and embellish the representation of Il-Sung = Ancient = GA, Jong-Il = Medieval/Renaissance = Culture, Jong-Un = Modern/Ideology = Songun, but Ideally the first Leader comes online before Iron Working, otherwise you'll be constructing a 3/4UC UB dedicated to a leader that doesn't exist yet (or maybe we'll role-play that it's just foreshadowing his/their arrival)... Spawning at the 3 thematic techs basically achieves the same effect with more consistency, and also keeps the main power spike for late-game, as you'll only have 1 possible Leader until the second arrives in late Industrial era.
*After researching some DPRK numerology, it seems 9 is their magic number, so supply = 3 (all 3 Leaders =9). Having an early +3 supply is solid for war, but not game-breaking.
*Same thing applies for "Enrichment" with yields of 3. It's a tangible boost in the early-game, but tails off as the game progresses until the UB can take over late. Provides two options of play: while at war, send him/them near the front-line in order to reap the combat benefits while leading your troops to victory, then station him/them on a deposit while at peace, to continue enriching your pristine figure(s) with yields. Ideally I'd have the "Enrichment" yields scale, but 3 will do to start.
*Resisting the urge to bestow Supreme Leader with a truly glorious promo was extremely difficult, but I decided to keep it simple. Scary Supreme Leader is self explanatory, meanwhile "Songun" incorporates aspects of Khan / Induna and doesn't really need to be that elaborate to be effective. I haven't even specified CS or XP numbers yet, but the XP trait will synergize with the Koksan (3/4 UU).
UB - Juche Tower (replaces Hermitage):
Available at Architecture Does not require Opera House
250 Production Cost (scales with number of Cities on Empire) +5 Culture
+1 Culture for every 4 citizens in the city Uranium deposits and Military Academies each gain +2 Culture and Faith Culture cost of adopting new policies reduced by 10%
50% reduction in effectiveness of enemy spies in the city in which it is built, and halves the Tourism bonus from technologies of other players
Empire Unhappiness Needs Modifier -5%
Contains 3 slots for Great Works of Art or Artifacts (+5 Gold / Culture if themed)
Spoilernotes :
*The tower is technically the national monument, but I wanted to space the civ's components out, and this brings it at least somewhat in line with it's actual real-world construction in the modern era. It also technically houses a small museum / tour where visitors can become enlightened in the way of Juche, so that's good enough justification for me (plus the old NK mod also had it as Hermitage replacement). The final sell was that Hermitage = Hermit = "the path alone" = Juche.
*Makes the silly American Smithsonian look like child's play! Hehehe, but in all honesty, the Smithsonian IMO is really underwhelming in no-man's land and needs a buff in it's own right, so don't be alarmed that my replacement is much more satisfactory. Plus, it's a late national wonder, so it has to pack some serious 'Unph'...
*Uranium / Academies get a minor yield boost for flavour, but lower than American Musuem / Broadcast Tower, due to JT's other bonuses being superior.
* Policy reduction cost is a really cool juxtaposition with Eiffel, and should help ease wide play.
*I took some aspects of Great Firewall, and just halved the bonuses, though I may change the "50% in city" to "25% in all cities". I think what I have will do a good job of simulating the secrecy / isolationism of the DPRK, while simultaneously not shutting down others' spy / tourism game completely. I even had "no enemy archs in DPRK land", but pulled it after reading how the North has surprisingly engaged in joint excavations on their land.
*Hermitage / Smithsonian get -10% to boredom in all cities, so I just buffed this a tad by tweaking it to -5% empire needs (half of Chichen Itza bonus). Like I said, I had this in the WLTKD at first, but incorporated it here instead because of the wide synergy, and also Juche = self reliance = less need for outside help. Ultimately I guess this could be left out, but I'd like to see it included to start.
Spoiler3/4 UC :
UU - Koksan (replaces Artillery):
Available at Ballistics
Does not obsolete 1222 Production Cost
3 Range
2 Movement
40 CS, 55 RCS
"Siege 1"
"Cover 1"
"Indirect Fire" "Range"
"Backfire" (lost on upgrade) - if attacking farther than 3 tiles: 40% chance to miss, 10% to be destroyed; unit gains triple XP if attack lands successfully.
*This was a bit of a tricky one, but after reading up on what little is known of this weapon, the DPRK essentially compromise safety and reliability for better range by using excess propellant. The result in real-world applications are yet to be known, though it's speculated that things would go over quite poorly for the North if they were to ever engage in a prolonged sustained fire. Though, for the sake of this game and fun, we'll give it extra power, range (Artillery obviously already starts with 3 range), and XP potential in exchange for the risk. It's a late unit, so the impact must be tangible.
*"Backfire" is lost on upgrade because nobody will enjoy their highly promoted Rockets self-destructing on them (you won't enjoy your Koksans blowing up either, but good thing you can always build more, or just don't take the risk of firing from 4 tiles...). If it seems too harsh, I'll just change it to something like "10% to be left with 1 HP" or "10% to lose half of max HP", so that a full health unit could be saved and re-healed. The idea would be to surround the Supreme Leader with Koksan (giggity, that's his fetish), and have them farm waves of XP with the " Songun" synergy, preferably without any of them being on the wrong side of their own boom booms... Once you unlock Rockets, you can upgrade you highly leveled Koksan and be on your way to more glory.
UB - Mansudae Hill Grand Monument (replaces both Heroic Epic and National Monument):
Available at Iron Working
Requires a Barracks and Monument in the city
350 Production Cost (scales with number of Cities on Empire)
+1 Production in the City for every 5 Citizens
Receive a free Great Writer in the city +3 Culture, Faith +1 Faith and Production to Monuments on Empire 33% Great People generation in this city During 'We Love the Kim Day', city Gold, Science, and Production increases by 10%
Receive 15 Culture when a Citizen is born in your Empire, and 50 GAP whenever you unlock a policy, scaling with Era Cities permanently acquire +2 to all yields for every denouncement made on the DPRK
All land units created by this city (past or future) receive the "Morale" promotion
Increases the military unit Supply from population by 5% in all Cities
Contains 2 slots for Great Works of Writing (+5 / if themed)
*As previously mentioned, I fought back and forth with Juche Tower and the replacement factors, considering that Mansu Hill is practically attached to the Korean Revolutionary Museum, which resembles the Hermitage and is one of the largest structures in the world. The buildings are interchangeable, but at the end of the day I think the civ plays better like this -- if playing with no 3/4 UC, this also ensures you wont unlock both components early and have nothing for the late-game. Mansu Hill is a prime candidate to represent both early national wonders, plus, how could someone not acknowledge the Supreme Leaders as the National Monument of the DPRK? The country currently houses over 34,000 statues of Il-Sung alone! Praise be.
*The statues are actually bronze, but that would be too advantageous to unlock the National Monument's benefits at Bronze Working, so it stays at Iron which is still a nice boon to skip having to research the top of the tech tree early.
*National Monument and Heroic Epic together bring +2 Culture, so I added another point along with some faith for flavour. Monuments gain a hammer and some more faith for flavour (check out Mansudae Overseas Projects).
*I bumped the GP% up a bit from 25%, and tweaked the supply from pop to 5% in all cities in order to reflect North Korea having the largest Paramilitary in the world.
*This UB has the task of replacing 2 national wonders, so again, the 'Unph' had to be substantial. I added the Halicarnassus bonus to synergize with "Kim Day", and applied the denouncement trigger for more unique potential yields. The DPRK ideally ends up ruffling a few feathers, so 5+ denouncements over the course of a game should play quite nicely as a unique feature, hopefully without it being exploitable.
A few final points:
In order to reflect the nation's poverty, I specifically left out gold from any flat yields. The neat thing is that DPRK should also have tall viability while still representing threat as a loose cannon. Order / Autocracy will both be strong choices. Three of the four components are one-and-done, so I had to find fun and interesting ways to disperse the rewards accordingly and in a balanced fashion, which I think I've managed to do on paper. UB>UA>UCU, while both 3/4 UC should contribute considerably strong aspects to the overall package.
@pineappledan , as the head honcho of this department, let me know if you see anything that immediately sticks out to you as a potential issue, and if you believe creating DPRK is feasible. I also have all the artwork selected, though after fussing with GIMP it'd probably take me 20 days to manage something that'd take AsterixRage 20 minutes, so I'll worry about that after.
This is quite a large post and I'm sure I missed relaying a thing or two, so don't mind if there's some oversight on my part. I'll create the necessary thread in the mods repository when it's time. Let me know what you all think.
Balance isn't my strong suit, but I will note that humans can't denounce other humans, so this civ would be significantly weaker in multiplayer without AI players.
In singleplayer they depend on the AI choosing to denounce you, and in maps with lots of civs if you're globally unpopular those bonuses could add up quickly (although I am fixing a few exploits that can be used to reduce AI opinion).
Some of what you propose can be done with existing code, other things would require new code, but probably most of it can be done in LUA.
Damn, can't believe I completely overlooked that. Well we can't have that now, can we? That's a shame because it was such a good idea! It'll be hard to come up with another trigger as good as that one, so there's some air already out of my tires
In singleplayer they depend on the AI choosing to denounce you, and in maps with lots of civs if you're globally unpopular those bonuses could add up quickly (although I am fixing a few exploits that can be used to reduce AI opinion).
Yeah, I figure I can hopefully manage the XML/SQL with the SDK, but I knew there would be some LUA involved, which I always anticipated as being the biggest hurdle. I'll try to deal with that after I hopefully get the ball rolling with the rest of the kit. Thanks for the help !
This all sounds very doable, except 2 things sound beyond my knowledge/experience. I'm not sure if they can be coded:
Revealing a resource early - I'm thinking this might take some DLL or something. Not sure how this could be done.
Denouncing used as a trigger - Major civ diplomacy interactions (denunciations, meeting etc.) have pretty spotty coverage for how lua can hook into those events. I'll have to do some digging if someone has figured out a workaround.
I am very interested to play the better korea modmod in the future
The denunciation thing is super unique and I think if played in multiplayer but the humans take turns to play (e.g. player one end turn -> player two start, and end -> player 3) it might still work? Not exactly sure for simultaneous multiplayer thou
But wondering is it ok to have both UB be national wonders? As most of the time, it tends to be just one national wonder?
Revealing a resource early - I'm thinking this might take some DLL or something. Not sure how this could be done.
Denouncing used as a trigger - Major civ diplomacy interactions (denunciations, meeting etc.) have pretty spotty coverage for how lua can hook into those events. I'll have to do some digging if someone has figured out a workaround.
Thanks Dan, I really appreciate any help I can get with this. I reveal certain resources like cattle at game start by just changing an xml, so I just assumed that part would've been relatively easy to establish. The denouncement thing, though awesome, is evidently a long-shot, but I'll hold out some hope while brainstorming some other thematic/unique triggers. It was initially a big eureka, but I guess I just got ahead of myself considering I only play single player. Maybe @Gazebo can be kind enough to grace my concept with his scrutiny, offering any insight into what may lay ahead as the best course of action in accommodating DPRK for VP? Unfortunately I can't really proceed with anything if there's no feasible way for me to attain some of the intended features.
Ideally you wouldn't have two buildings as national wonder replacements, no, but DPRK is a special exception. The old mod had a Military Academy building, and I toyed with that idea, but ultimately the Mansu Hill Monument is just too unique and awesome to pass up. Though obviously a modern building, I could logistically place it early in the tree, to spread some fun out for the civ and provide early bonuses to satisfy throughout the game. It's also unique in the fact it's the only building (I think...) to incorporate 2 NW's together as a replacement. Like I'd mentioned in the OP, because of these facts the UB's needed to be strong and offer sustained fun/rewards throughout the course of a game.
I'll change the yields to +1 for every denouncement though, if that feature could ever be salvaged, and if not then I'll figure something else out to add.
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faith output is a start. Their UA certainly has a unique utility though, where inquisitors' Remove Heresy action functions as a free Courthouse in conquered cities.
Happiness and no 
Unhappiness from 
occupation in cities following the First Religion
Production to Holy Sites and Citadels. 
gold from attacking Cities) 
Great Person Rate in this city
and 
CS
GAP, 50 
+1 
Military Supply by 3.
GG points per-turn while stationed on Uranium ("Enrichment")
Tourism bonus from technologies of other players
Great Works of Art or Artifacts (+5 
Movement
RCS
Citizens
!
